Are PS ressies always necessary?

[chicky monkey]

Do I always have to have a PS in order to eat at certain places, or is there a good chance I could just walk-in if I were to go during an off-hour...i.e. 11:00 AM or maybe 2:00 PM?

What have been your experiences?

 

[crisi]

No, they aren't always necessary and some people have had great luck.

We've had lousy luck, even at off hours and even in the off season. The only place we've had great luck is Marrakesh - we've walked into this excellent but unpopular restaurant several times. Otherwise, we've always had to wait at least 20 minutes for a table - and have been turned away more than once with "nothing all evening."

That said,

Its easier for one or two people to walk in than eight.

Its easier to walk in at off times.

Its easier to walk into unpopular restaurants.

Its easier to walk in during off season.

 

[chicky monkey]

Thanks, crisi....hope we have some good luck in May. I appreciate your responding so quickly.

Have a good day!

 

[dzneelvr]

I'm going to jump in on this one.

I would NEVER hit the World without my PSs firmly in place for each day. We do June/July so would be absolutely dead in the water as far as getting in anywhere special without them.

It is also a great way to plan which Parks you want to hop to on a daily basis. My family looks forward to dining at our favorites, plus trying a few new ones each trip.
Boy--you're more couragious than I would ever be to go without PSs.

WDW on June 24th

 

[mommary]

I have just finished making all my PS's for my June trip.
I just wouldn't want to take the chance that we might not get into our favorite places.
Though you might not feel the need to make then at exactly the 90 day point (like I did) , its still comforting to know that I have my reservations.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I was tempted not to make them for early Dec but then after asking on here, changed my mind.

You can cancel them if your plans change, just make sure you do, as others may be waiting for them.

If you have your heart set on a particular place, I say make the PS. You don't want to be turned away.

Also to pipe in about Marrakesh! WOW. This is our favorite WS place now. It's wonderful and the building is gorgeous. We are both picky eaters and we found things we liked.

We're going back in Dec!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

This is the first time I have made PS before we left home. And, I only made them 4 - 6 weeks ahead of our trip for just 3 nights dinners.

The last trip we made was the first week of August and the only PS's we had were made after we got to Orlando. It can be done.

 

[crisi]

Acutally Esmerelda, it isn't a big deal not to cancel your PSs (as long as they aren't special ones requiring a credit card) because they don't hold a table for you. PSs allow you to have the first available table for your party size. Make a PS at 6:00 for four, and you'll get the first table available for four that opens around six. But if you aren't there when the table opens, they will joyfully hand it out to whoever else has checked in with PSs and needs a table for four (maybe someone with a 6:10 PS that got there early, or a 5:50 PS that showed up late or someone else with a 6:00 PS) - or - failing no one with a PS is standing around, hand it off to a walk in.


I suppose you could say its nice to cancel your PS so that someone else can call that day and get into the restaurant, but the "I don't make PS" people are more than happy when we just don't show - more tables for walk ins!

(Disclaimer, we have called to cancel every PS we've ever not shown for - generally because we are on the phone switching anyway).

 

[kapica3]

Also depends greatly on when you are going. We are going during a very busy week (Easter Break). I called 90 days out - (were going for 9 nights, which means we started calling at 6:55am for 9 days in a row back in January) to make sure we got the PS's we needed - one breakfast, one dinner for each day. (I'm am a really heavy planner and would not be able to start "the schedule" until all of my ps's are firmly in place). It wasn't easy - even at 90 days out to get exactly the time we wanted for the ps's.

Well..... after filling out my schedule I see that I made a few mistakes in planning out the time we will be readyto stop and eat. I called back yesterday which is about 3 weeks before out trip and tried to get my ps time changed for 1900 Park Fare - (pretty popular dinner) I was told there was NOTHING at all available all night long on that day. Could ya believe it!!! Thank goodness I had what I had. Well I tried this again when I realized that the 7:15 breakfast I had made at Chef Mickey's will cause more aggravation than its worth because I will have to park at the resort and then move the car to the TTC after breakfast because my original plan to park at TTC and take the monorail won't work because it doesn't start running until 7:00 and has to stop at the Poly and GF first. We'll never make it in time. Well.... again nothing available AT ALL that morning before 10:00. So again, I am lucky to have what I have.

Sorry for long post but bottom line --- make your ps's ASAP. Also if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. After 4 days of calling 3 times a day I was able to secure a more convenient time for one of my ps's. Whew!

 

[arizonacolbys]

I have gone to WDW many times without making PS's ahead of time. We always go in the off season - January, early December, September. I don't like to have every day completely planned out before our trip - it seems more relaxing to me to just go with the flow. There are only 2 of us & we do generally like to eat at off times - so this probably helps us out, too.

If going in the off season - we've always had good luck making a PS from the resort or at the park for either later that same day or the next day. I surprised my hubby with a quick trip last March when it was much busier & we couldn't get a PS for Chef Mickey's before we left home. After checked into the Contemporary, I was able to call & get a PS for 7 am the next morning .

Maybe just make a couple of PS's for very popular restaurants, or restaurants you know you really want to eat at. HTH!

 

[chicky monkey]

Thanks you guys for sharing your thoughts on this. I, like, arizonacolbys like to go with the flow too. I really don't like to map out things so far in advance. I might make a PS for a restaurant....let's say..in downtown disney, but what if i'm just having so much in the MK and don't want to leave the fun to jump on a bus to get to that particular restaurant? I think having a PS kinda makes me feel hemmed in...even though I know I'm really not.

True, having a PS would be great in order to 100% ensure that you have a seat somewhere in a nice restaurant, but when i'm on vacation, the idea of having to be at a certain place at a certain time kinda adds a little stress.

So, if there's a place I really want to go to, I suppose I'll try and make a PS when I'm there and I guess I'll see what happens. If it doesn't happen, I won't be that bent out of shape over it.

So, I guess I'll just keep doing what I've always been doing...as it seems to have worked fine for me in the past.

Sorry for the rambling. Thanks you guys for responding to this thread!

 

[crisi]

I always think its fun how different people react.

When we took our first trip with kids we didn't book a lot of PSs - we didn't know how the kids were going to travel, what time was going to work, if they'd be up for dining out each night. We got there and I discovered the following: The kids do fine sit down every night after we've run them ragged in the parks. They eat at 6:00 just fine. MOM needs a sit down meal once a day, preferably one where she can get a drink - Mom fed nothing but chicken fingers is a cranky Mom. And we have lousy luck walking in - generally because we are too busy to call at 2:00 and remember at 6:00 that we are STARVING and the kids and I need to eat NOW or we will start eating body parts (and we had a party of six). The next trip we made PSs for every night and it was much less stressful. We switched one on the fly, but spent quite a bit of time on hold to do it (convincing me that the whole "just call when you are down there" isn't as simple as it sounds).

But I can see where doing it on the fly would be less stressful for a different kind of person.

 

[n2mm]

It all depends on where you want to eat and the time of year! Character meals, I would never not have a PS for them. My favorites, I always have a PS for them. But we have also done spur of the moment PS from our rooms and have been quite successful too. Remember, most PSs can be easily canceled if you change your mind. We no longer do alot of PS, but to get into a few of our favorites PSs are a must. I've waited 30 minutes at the 50s Prime Time in the Spring with a PS and watched last October as the servers came out at Hollywood and Vine and the 50s Prime Time and announced "if you didn't have a PS, there are no more seatings available this evening". So it all depends on the crowds. But we were in WDW late January (slow time you say) and could NOT get a PS for Chef Mickeys for any of the 6 nights we were there unless we wanted to eat after 8:30 PM, so never got in. (I thought it was a slow time, but was wrong.)

 

[cjsmith]

Keep in mind that for some of the more popular restaurants that are in the hotels, like the California Grill and The Flying Fish, the locals also eat here on weekends, so it can be very hard to get in them. We were there this past weekend, and while we could get a table to 2 at most of the other places, California Grill was closed out weeks ahead of time. I had a PS, but was trying for an earlier time. I had called about 5 weeks ahead of time and still could only get 8:45 pm for our orginal PS. There wasn't anything available on any of our night for 5, so if I had wanted to bring my kids, would have been out of luck.
I still say, if there is some place that you really want to try, make PS for here, otherwise you may end up disappointed.

 

[chicky monkey]

Hmmm...I've been thinking about what you've all said, and maybe I'll go ahead and make a PS or two. This is just a trip for me and my friend....hubby is staying at home with the kids so I can have a little break! So, I doubt we will be going to a character meal.

What about Narcoosees? Is that a good place to go for dinner?
Have you all been there? Any places you would recommend?

Thanks!

 

[dznyntnh]

It really depends on time of year and where you want to eat.

Last year, I went in October and made PSs for everyday, because I was very specific in where I wanted to be and to eat.

For my trip in May, I have made 1 PS for a five day trip. I wanted to make sure I could go to Shula's a specific night at a specific time. Other than that I am completely winging it. But, as this is a shorter than usual trip, I will probably do a lot of fast food and fewer sit down type restarants.