Restuarants not on Dining Plan

MsDisney5

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 4, 2000
We are going in September and switched from a BB offer to a normal room WITHOUT dining plan. (Traveling with a 1.5 year old and a 7 month old and an annoying but loving grandfather who likes to throw kinks into plans we thought it was wise to not have a sit down meal everyday)

My question is......Is there somewhere that I can find a list of the restaurants that arent included in the dining plan? If there isn't I can of course sit there and click on each restaurant and see but was wondering if there was somewhere faster. The reason I am asking is because I know this loving grandfather will now say he WANTS to have a real meal as he says but we won't be able to just go anywhere since there is free dining at this time. So I am thinking it might be smart to have a list ready for him

Thanks for the help!
 
There really aren't that many anymore. I think the restaurants at The Swan and Dolphin are all not on the plan, but I can't think of any others.

You can still get day-of and day-before ADRs at a lot of places, just not the most popular ones. I would say most of the EP countries would have openings, and most resort TS places would have availability. Just ask at guest services or download the app for your phone.
 
I don't understand - even if your not on the dining plan you can still eat at any of the Disney restaurants it'll just be out of pocket - and even with free dining reservations for non character sit down restaurants are still plentiful - counter service places are another option. However if you still want a list you can probably call Disney dining and they may be able to look it up in their systems.
 


The point is the restaurant is not over run with people on free dining and the food is actually of good quality LOL!

Sadly Disney has very few options. Swan/Dolphin are my go to .

In addition most free dining people seem to try to maximize value by not doing signature restaurants so often you can get them quickly
 
There will be no difference between places; all sit down places will be mostly full with reservations regardless of free dining.
Signature will be $$$.
You can check on MDE the day of to see what is available; that is probably your best bet (and one that has a bar for you to calm yourself down while trying to please others on your vacation!).
I'd also research the most relaxing counter service places. Some are hectic (like Cosmic Ray's) and some are beautiful with interesting choices (like Tangerine Cafe in Morocco in Epcot).
 
If you want a good 'home cooked meal,' I suggest Wilderness Lodge. Great restaurant when you walk in to the left with hearty home cooking! Reminds me of Cracker Barrel (shoutout to my Midwest brethren) with fun!
 


Cancellations make day-of reservations a possibility. Plus there are a few places where you can sometimes get a walk up. The Plaza and GF Cafe come to mind, among others.
 
Cancellations make day-of reservations a possibility. Plus there are a few places where you can sometimes get a walk up. The Plaza and GF Cafe come to mind, among others.

GF Cafe is great! It's a hidden gem of Disney's restaurant's I feel. Amazing food, service, establishment!
 
I got a walk up at B&C once (not during free dining though) and I was able to add two guests to a reservation while checking in at 50s (during free dining).
 
Thanks everyone.. I know I can go anywhere being out of pocket but just foreseeing the comments that will now be "I was thinking of a sit down meal for tonight" and being that there is free dining lots of places are booked. But cancellations duh.. that'll be good for us! We are staying at Beach Club so I was thinking Boardwalk and Swan Dolphin. Thanks for the help!
 

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