Advice on dining without a PS?

[travelbug]

We will be in the parks Feb. 27-Mar. 2. We plan to eat breakfasts in the room, lunches at counter service places, but would enjoy some sit-down dinners if possible. We'd like to stay flexible and stop to eat when we're ready. My question is - Do you think there are ANY full service restaurants in the parks where we'd have a good chance of eating dinner without having a PS and without waiting super long? Or would that only happen in my dreams?

Would our chances be better if we did full service for lunch and counter service for dinner?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Reflection]

My family (daughter age 9.5 and I) usually travel during value season--usually in August but we have been to WDW in early December as well as early March. We usually do not bother with Priority Seatings and have not had problems or long waits. Interestingly, the long waits occur when we have Priority Seating (e.g., during our Aug '03 visit, we had a PS for Le Cellier, and after a 25-minute wait, left to eat elsewhere). I don't think you will have a problem.

 

[jwfla422]

I'd make PS at any place you think you "might" want to eat at, especially in the parks. I'm the PS guru and had 2 PS last Friday night for restaurants at the resorts. I promised dd all day we'd go to EPCOT and we didn't get there til just before dinner. I cannot tell you there was next to nothing available at ANY sit down restaurant. They were "discouraging" walk ups, booked solid. It was also Valentine's Day, a Friday night and the beginning of peak season.

Since you're going to be there during peak season I'd HIGHLY recommend making a PS or 2 at the parks because you might only have a choice of eating at a counter service place which was just what we had to do that night. YUCK, i was not really into that after eating counter service the night before!

 

[pooh2001]

Last June - the week before 4th of July

we did dinner walk-ins at Liberty Tree Tavern - MK (20 min wait)
and Le Cellier - Epcot World (no wait)

Also we did not have any problem with dinner walk-ins at
the Swan or Dolphin.

I think if you go early (5pm) or late (8pm) you have a great shot
at getting a seat fast.

We make PS and sometimes we miss them.
The kids get too tired for an expensive sit down dinner -
or we were having too much fun and missed judged our
timing.
You have to show up 10 minutes before your PS to keep them.
So, there may be some to give away

There are many places to eat at WDW.
You'll find somewhere for a bite to eat.

 

[minnie56]

We've never had a problem just walking up where and when we want!

We visit every December over Christmas/New years .......every Summer in July or August and every other year or so in the Spring (March usually) I am not a planner and never know where I will be on any given day. As such...we just arrive and sometimes wait 10-15 minutes or so. Have never waited longer. However...last Christmas Day made a PS for Cape May at The Beach Club ( We thought we should given the day)and waited almost an hour!Go figure.....

I wouldn't sweat it at all!

 

[MadMadamMim]

We were there from 2/11-2/16 and only had one reservation.. and that was for V&A's... we could have used a PS at Flying Fish for 2/15, but were able to get a seat at the "show bar' (right in front of the kitchen) which I thought ended up being better than having a table We normally ate dinner 6-7pm and never waited for a table more than 5 minutes

It was just me and DH - I don't know how it would be with more than just 2 people..

 

[kilee]

We were at Disney last week. DH would not allow a PS to be made. Afterall, he didn't know when he'd be hungry or what he was going to be in the mood for (lol). We ate at the San Angel Inn (Epcot-Mexico) without a PS, we got a table right away. When we left there was quite a wait. If you go eat at the "off" times, you should be fine w/o one.

 

[eeyore0062]

Your best bet is to go to the guest relations booth in the park that does priority seating. I have done this plenty of times at MGM and had no problem getting last minute PS for both Hollywood and Vine and Mama Melrose for lunch.

I am not sure of all of the restaurants in all of the parks that walk ups or last minute PS are accomodated, but I do know of those 2.

Hope this helps!

 

[travelbug]

Thanks, everyone, for all your replies! Sounds more encouraging than what I thought. Since there are only 2 of us and we do want to stay flexible, maybe we'll go ahead and try our luck wherever we are. If there's somewhere we decide we MUST try for, we'll go ahead and make a PS.

Great reminders to remember to try and eat in off hours, too.

Thanks again!

 

[DisneyAng]

Two wonderful restaurants that I have eaten at without ever having to make a PS are the Sci Fi Dine In Theater at MGM and San Angel Inn in Mexico at Epcot. These are both very good places to eat, and I've never had to wait long. And believe me, I always go in the extremely busy and hot days of August. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

We go off season and have done lots of walk ups including the fantasmic package. Something else that works well for is is to carry the WDW dinning number and your cell phone. If you decide that you want to eat at a resturant a hour or two before hand, call and make a PS. That puts you ahead of any walk in. Has always worked for us. We did sometimes make a PS the night before or morning that we want to eat somewhere. We don't stress over it.


Jordan's mom

 

[travelbug]

Sci Fi and San Angel would be great if we could get in without PS. Worth a try for sure!

Love the cell phone idea. I would not have thought of it.

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[crisi]

Generally speaking, the more popular the restuarant, the harder it will be to walk up. We were turned away last Feb from Teppenyaki - they were booked solid. Would have had a two hour wait at Whispering Canyon (ate in the snack bar). But we walked in (as we often do) to an early (5ish) dinner at Marrakesh and my husband and dad walked into Artist's Point (and said the restaurant was empty). We also had a 6:30ish PS at San Angel Inn and watched them turn people without PSs away - and couldn't get a table at SciFi for a late (1:00) lunch as a walk up.

Calling even an hour or two in advance does really help - especially if you are trekking back in the reaches of the World Showcase and want to try Mexico first, if you can't get in there maybe Rose and Crown, if not there, maybe you'll head over to China.......

 

[travelbug]

Thanks, crisi! You have some really helpful specifics there.

On my trip in January, my friend and I tried to eat dinner (6:00ish) at San Angel without a PS. It was a Sun. night. We were told that it would be a 2.5 hour wait. I was completely shocked! While I knew it was risky to try just walking up, I couldn't believe the wait was THAT long. We wound up eating at the Cantina outside, even though it was only in the 40s that evening.

Anyway, that's kind of what led to this question. I think that the cell phone idea is great, and we will probably do that and see what happens.

Thanks again!

 

[yoopermom]

I'd like to second the cell phone idea. When we were there last August we did this for just about every meal (except character ones). One time I stood outside Sci-Fi Diner and got a PS for 15 minutes later while my mom was at the counter being told that walk-in wait was 1 1/2 hrs! Usually called while waiting in line for the first big ride of the day, good way to use up wait time (just make sure you have paper and pencil to write down your p.s.#).
Terri the Yoopermom

 

[travelbug]

Thanks, Terri!