Are all the PS's Necessary?

[VW_Guy]

I'm sorry, I'm sure this has probably been asked ten million times before, and if it hasn't its probably a stupid question , but, here it is:

My GF and I are going down to the 'World in late July (21-25), and we got the MYW Dining Plan. If we can, we would like to have dinner every night in a different country at EPCOT, since we don't have to worry about being frugal with the plan. However, we are both very laid-back people, and much of the trip will be unstructured roaming around the parks. So, my question is, if we aren't sure of our plans until the night before, or even day of, will we still be able to get in at all the nice restaruants in the showcase?

Keep in mind we are used to eating late (usually after 8PM) so we don't mind closing down the place, and it will just be the two of us (usually a table for two is a lot easier to get, IMO).

 

[Aimeedyan]

At that time of the year, I would expect to be turned away from places as a walkup. You are more than welcome to make PS's once there with guest services at your hotel, but be prepared to not have any openings.

We were there the 2nd week of May, things were really not crowded at all, and most places were turning away walkups all together. In July, things are much more crowded. With the new dining plan, people have been reporting no walkups at most restaurants, even the ones you used to always be able to get into, because more people are dining table service due to the dining plan.

If you know you want to do dinner at Epcot every night then I don't see how making a later PS each night to ensure you get a table service dinner will hinder your plans, you know? if you already know you want to be in Epcot each night you might as well make those plans. You can always change them later, not show up, or whatever if things change, but I've found it's better to be safe then sorry.

 

[flminivanmama]

i just tried to make PS for lunch and dinner at MGM (brown derby and sci-fi) in late June and there were none to be had for my size party

 

[bwallace]

Last Friday Le Cellier was turning away walk ups at around 7 when we showed up with our PS

Teppanyaki had been doing the same a couple of days before.

I'd make some as a safety net, then scrap 'em if you find a place you can walk up at which you'd prefer

 

[Micca]

It sucks to be tired, hot, and hungry with no PS at WDW. I guarantee you'll be hot, YMMV on the other variables. Do yourselves a favor and book PS. You can change your mind and cancel if need be.

 

[DebbieB]

I know at Rose and Crown their last PS time was 8:00pm. You would have more luck with walkups early, say between 4:00 and 5:00.

 

[Tiger926]

We always travel in July every year, and before the popularity of DDE (a few years back), we never usually made too many Priority Seatings (now Advanced Dining Reservations) - there was only my DH and myself. In the past 2 years we have added our Princess (turning 2 next week!), and we now make Advanced Dining Reservations for 2 reasons: 1 ) She needs to eat - as someone said, it's no fun to be hot and tired, but add a cranky baby to the mix, yikes!! and 2) Since the addition of DDE for Passholders, we found that on our last trip, last month, that every place was packed and thank God that we had reservations. Just finished my 2 weeks of Advanced Dining Ressies for our next trip in July and we wouldn't do it any other way! It never ceases to amaze me how many times I see adults arguing about trying to get seats in a very crowded Disney restaurant. I want to shake their heads and remind them that there are thousands of other people needing to eat as well, so a little advanced planning is necessary. For those 'Fly by the Seat of Your Pants' kind of people who don't like to plan ahead, expect to eat lunch or dinner either very early or very late - no other options available in the summer when it is crowded - especially now since so many of us have added DDE dining card to our meals.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[Grumpy92]

Here is a good PS rule of thumb.

You dont need a PS unless you want to:

* Dine at a popular time Lunch at noon or Dinner from 6-8pm
* Want to do a character meal.
* Going during a school holiday or natl holiday.
* Want to dine at a popular restaurant.
At EC that would be Le Cellier, San Angel In, Chefs de France, Mitsokoshi Teppanyaki, R& C, Alfredos. Sorry that is almost all the restaurants and when gst cant get into those they fill the others.
I would suggest PSs for dinner since you are going during the summer. You can always cancel them or reschedule. But I would hate to see you turned away at the door or have a wait time of 90 minutes or more.

Just this week I called for a PS for dinner next week and my first choice was already booked up. It was an EC restaurant,

 

[TJA]

We didn't make any reservations for our trip last week (May 18-25). The only time LeCellieur in Canada could get us in was when I stopped there around noon time and asking for a reservation that evening. They had seating available either early (4:30ish) or late (8:30ish). So it looks like the late part would suit you just fine. The only time this might not work is on the weekend. We stayed at Beach Club and were amazed at how Epcot countries "exploded" with people on the weekend.

However, one country that we had NO problem getting seated at was Italy. We ate there 3 times, including on Saturday night, with no reservations. This restaurant has loads of seating, though.

I would shoot for the smaller restaurants (i.e., LeCellieur) on weeknights, if possible.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

I just don't like the thought of wasting time waiting to eat, so we are doing PS (Adv Res) for every meal on our trip in Nov. Even where we live at, which is a small place, the steak houses and popular places have at least an hour wait and much longer on the weekends. I wouldn't want to spend my Disney time waiting for a table.

 

[Nora94]

we spent 9 night there from April 22 - May 1. We left home with ps for Cinderella's table breakfast, Chef Mickeys and Whispering Canyon. The rest of our ps we made the morning of or the day before and it was fine. There were always a few openings - even for Narcossee's. One night we did Concourse and got a nice time. We get there about 10 minutes late, and the person in front of us didn't have a ps. They were told at least 2 hours before they were sat. We were seated w/in 10 minutes.

So, yes, you should make ps, but you can probably make them while you are down there. I found the front desk in person an easier way to do it than calling on the room phone. I was on hold forever on the phone...

Nora

 

[jarestel]

We make a few PS's at places we definitely want to eat at, but don't bother with booking meals for every day that we're in WDW. With the number of restaurants in and around the world, we haven't had to go hungry yet!

 

[heffalump9]

We just returned from the World on 4/30 and we were glad we had all our PS's lined up, I have never seen so many walk-ups turned away. Due to really bad weather we had to go back to the AKL one day about 4:30pm and we could not get into the Boma for dinner the only spot they had available was for 8:30pm, luckly the shrimp baskets at the Mara were good and we brought back pastry from France for dessert.

 

[RedNeckChik13]

Its actually harder to get a table for two than for 3 or 4 belive it or not...I almost never see availablility for parties of 2 at Le Cellier last second. Or a lot of other resturaunts either.

 

[greenyskp]

It takes 10 min to make a PS. If your laid back...why give a possible chance of ruining your dinner plans of dining around the world?

Make the plans late. Go to the restaurant when you want, if their is a wait, you can come back for your PS. If not, you can eat.

Dont forget PS's arent reservations and are not set in stone. It simply puts your name on the waiting list, months before you get there. And if you miss a PS they arent going to upset, we usually make around 10 PS's for a trip and usually only end up doing 5 or 6. Theyre there just in case.

I would make them. I dont see the harm in doing so. And you might have more grief and arggravation if you wait.