Are lunch/dinner reservations necessary?

[scard192]

November is free dining, yes? Check the dates. If you're there during free dining, I think things will be far more limited.

Free Dining is blacked out from early October until November 15th.

 

[Allison]

3) As for "Kids Eat Free", see below . . .

You misunderstood "kids free".

 

[Uncleromulus]

Try this--eat at the bar in any restaurant that has one and where you can get a full meal.

There are MANY such spots at WDW and most times--especially early in the evening-you can walk right in and enjoy a meal.

We haven't made a reservation for dinner in a # of years and almost always we can snag a seat at the bar.

The only trouble we've had are at Swan/Dolphin places when they have large conventions. But even then early if the bar happens to be full, the restaurant usually has tables available as walk-ins.

 

[AngiTN]

I will not walk up without an ADR anywhere. We rarely make any ADR more than 1 day in advance but we always make an ADR
DH and I usually just pull up the app and book what looks good to us while on the way to the park that day.
We always get something we like, even during free dining times.
We are wiling to eat at off hours and typically aren't after something specific.

1) Make an ADR.
2) You never know when a TS eatery is fully booked.
3) As for "Kids Eat Free", see below . . .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KIDS UNDER-3 EAT FREE "411":
1) TECHNICALLY, there is no such thing as a "kids-under-3-eat-free" policy.
. . . no where in ANY Disney brochure is this mentioned
. . . there is no such policy
2) But, when done per policy, they eat almost free.
3) And, based upon CM discretion, they can eat free.
4) The official rules:
. . . kids under three can eat off the adult's plate
. . . if they order anything, like milk, they are supposed to pay for it
. . . if they order any food, they are supposed to pay for it
. . . this is anywhere, including buffets
5) What really happens:
. . at buffets & AYCTE kids actually "eat buffet food free"
. . . . . . adults could get the food, instead and give it to the kid
. . . . . . the adult could claim it is their plate kid eats from
. . . . . . they might as well have a drink, for same reason
. . . . . . it's tough to determine it was theirs or their parents
. . . . . . thus, kids can have their own plate and beverage without charge
. . at non-buffet, servers can determine if they ordered food
. . . . . . it is easy to tell if they got a drink
. . . . . . the server usually charges for food ordered for the kid
. . . . . . the server usually let's the drink go, but not food
. . . . . . the server, at their own discretion, can charge for beverage
6) So, to wrap-up, in practical terms
. . . at non-buffets, kids under-3 eat without charge ONLY from parent's plate
. . . at buffets & AYCTE, they can actually take food from the buffet table or separate plate
. . . at all meals, items are ordered for the child "might" be charged for them

7) Please remember to add your child to the table count.
. . . if there are four adults and a child, that needs an ADR for five people
. . . this is regardless whether the child is lap, stroller, highchair, or regular chair
. . . also, if the baby makes six people, the AUTOMATIC 18% GRATUITY is in effect
. . . no automatic gratuity at CRT-HDDR-LUAU-BBQ, as tips are already included in the meal price

Kid free
not
Kids eating free
Very different.

 

[KrazeeK120]

1) Make an ADR.
2) You never know when a TS eatery is fully booked.
3) As for "Kids Eat Free", see below . . .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KIDS UNDER-3 EAT FREE "411":
1) TECHNICALLY, there is no such thing as a "kids-under-3-eat-free" policy.
. . . no where in ANY Disney brochure is this mentioned
. . . there is no such policy
2) But, when done per policy, they eat almost free.
3) And, based upon CM discretion, they can eat free.
4) The official rules:
. . . kids under three can eat off the adult's plate
. . . if they order anything, like milk, they are supposed to pay for it
. . . if they order any food, they are supposed to pay for it
. . . this is anywhere, including buffets
5) What really happens:
. . at buffets & AYCTE kids actually "eat buffet food free"
. . . . . . adults could get the food, instead and give it to the kid
. . . . . . the adult could claim it is their plate kid eats from
. . . . . . they might as well have a drink, for same reason
. . . . . . it's tough to determine it was theirs or their parents
. . . . . . thus, kids can have their own plate and beverage without charge
. . at non-buffet, servers can determine if they ordered food
. . . . . . it is easy to tell if they got a drink
. . . . . . the server usually charges for food ordered for the kid
. . . . . . the server usually let's the drink go, but not food
. . . . . . the server, at their own discretion, can charge for beverage
6) So, to wrap-up, in practical terms
. . . at non-buffets, kids under-3 eat without charge ONLY from parent's plate
. . . at buffets & AYCTE, they can actually take food from the buffet table or separate plate
. . . at all meals, items are ordered for the child "might" be charged for them

7) Please remember to add your child to the table count.
. . . if there are four adults and a child, that needs an ADR for five people
. . . this is regardless whether the child is lap, stroller, highchair, or regular chair
. . . also, if the baby makes six people, the AUTOMATIC 18% GRATUITY is in effect
. . . no automatic gratuity at CRT-HDDR-LUAU-BBQ, as tips are already included in the meal price

That's good to know, but not applicable to the OP since there are no kids involved.

 

[BoatDriver]

We've had good luck eating at Via Napoli and Biergarten without ADR's during free dining times. You might want to give either of those restaurants a try hard if you're in World Showcase. They're close to each other.

This appears to be changing with Via Napoli, at least during free dining. We're going to be there during this time (without free dining), and reservations filled FAST. Via Napoli has always been a favorite and though crowded, never impossible. We tried to book it at 180+10 and could only secure a 7:40pm. I've looked a couple of times a day, every day since, and there's nothing available there from 4:00-8:00.

 

[Disneylover99]

This appears to be changing with Via Napoli, at least during free dining. We're going to be there during this time (without free dining), and reservations filled FAST. Via Napoli has always been a favorite and though crowded, never impossible. We tried to book it at 180+10 and could only secure a 7:40pm. I've looked a couple of times a day, every day since, and there's nothing available there from 4:00-8:00.

We always eat there between 2-4pm. Sometimes we book it in the morning if there is availability. Sometimes there is no availability, and we just walk up without a reservation.sometimes. So far, we haven't been turned down yet. We like to eat at off times though.

 

[BoatDriver]

I miss the days before set meal times and scheduled potty breaks. I refer to them at the DINK (Dual Income No Kids) days.

 

[smcabee]

If you dont care where you eat, no reservations necessary.