Are reservations really necessary?

[disneyfamilyof5]

Do I really need to reserve places to dine at months in advance? We are not "stick to the time frame plan" kind of people, we are just get up and go kind of people. I want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table and restaurants in Epcot. Do I need to reserve us a time and date months in advance? Or can we just show up and wait 30 minutes for a table?

 

[rcraw45425]

In one word: yes if you want to be guaranteed a place to eat other than counter service. I advise booking, then, if you see you don't want it, call and cancel. We decided the morning before we checked out that we wanted to cancel our HOB lunch and eat breakfast at 1900 Park Faire (our home resort) instead. I called and took the last PS they had for that morning at 8:40. When we arrived they were turning people away. IF you are going any time when there is the slightest chance of crowds I advise PS'. CRT is going to a character lunch that books 90 days out. IT is already booking solid. When we arrived for our 6:40 PS at Ohana on Friday night the entire lobby waiting area was jam packed. people were being turned away. The restaurants in WS fill up in the evening due to Illuminations, even Nine Dragons was pretty packed Sunday night.

 

[Took]

Answer: it depends on the time of year and the restaurant.

The time of year: during slower times, you might be able to practically walk up to some restaurants and be seated, perhaps with no wait at all. During busier times of the year, you may wait 30 minutes or even much longer for any sit-down meal, if you can even get a table at all.

The restaurant: at CRT and Chef Mickey's, especially at breakfast, you need a reservation or you have virtually no chance of getting a table. At other restaurants, you will have an easier time "walking up." Certain restaurants are just not as popular. Norway's Akershus used to be this way (things may have changed with the changes in format and menu lately).

You'll want to consider these factors in deciding if you'll need reservations. You know what works best for your family, of course, but reservations don't have to be a huge hassle and they can save you valuable time.

Took

 

[pigtail]

Depends on when you are going. 90% of the time, restaurants like CRT are sold out. Usually the wait WITH priority seating can be an hour - this would be on days like July 4 and Christmas. On a busy park day - such as Friday or Saturday - with priority seating - usually its a 30 minute wait. It really pays to make a priority seating. We see so many people walk up cause it fits their schedule at the moment - but they usually get turned away.

 

[Aimeedyan]

For CRT breakfast, yes, you'll need one. And with that restaurant, the PS go in minutes when they are released 90 days out, and some people may never get a hold of one. There is a credit card deposit on it as well, so no shows are very very rare.

Depending upon the Epcot restaurant and time of year, you might be okay. We've walked into Marrakesh without a problem, but others like Le Cellier are more popular and can run the risk of filling.

If you want to do a character meal, I would highly advise a PS. It's fairly easy to figure out which park you'll be at each day based on park hours and what you'd like to see, so you can just plan those specific meals for those days. Places like CA Grill, too, and 'Ohanas can be packed and not allow walkups at all. We've even eaten at PT Cafe and they were telling people no walkups that evening...

And remember that for most meals, you can easily cancel (or just not show up, though it's nice to cancel) if you decide to do something else. We've done this before, had a PS in MGM, but got tied up in Epcot and just stopped by and canceled our PS.

Most PS can be made 90 days out, and the hard to get character meals will be the ones to really try for that far out. Others are pretty easy to handle.

 

[Anthony1971]

Dinner shows, CRT you need to book in advance this does not mean months so long as the time you eat is not important. It also depends on the season you are going. if you are going peak season and have your heart set on eating a particular place then I would say better safe then sorry. I go every year in September (sometimes october) and I have never made a reservation. I have never had a problem in September and never waited more than 15-20 minutes anywhere. as far as dinner shows I would book them a few days before. In the whole time I have only been turned away once for a late lunch in Epcot at Canada and that was during the FWF at the end of Oct so you also had the Haloween crowds as well. please remeber though if you want to eat at prime times 5 to around 7 it will be busy--if you eat late or like late sit down lunch enjoy the freedom of eating where you want ......
again remember you will need to flexible......

 

[estnh]

I would make reservations, particularly for anything that you absolutely want to try--they don't cost anything, and you can always cancel them when you get there.

The new dining plan is bound to stretch the limits of many restaurants. Even if you only use a third of the PS you make and cancel the others, you've covered your bases and possibly made your trip just a little bit better.

 

[missypie]

If you are really a family of 5 as your screen name says, the answer is YES. I'm a compulsive planner, so I made most of my PS as 7 am on the 90th day out. But there were a few I wanted to change and even at say, 85 days out, the times I wanted for a family of 5 were gone.

I have a feeling that some of the restaurants only have one or two tables that seat a family of 5. For example, at Le Cellier, I called in the afternoon of the 90th day out...I wanted a 1:30 pm lunch PS. For a family of 5, they had 12:50 or 2:30. I could have had 1:30 if I was willing to split up my party.

I have called periodically about 60-70 days out to see if I could get some better times (where only super early times were released initially). When I ask what is available for a party of 5, they always say, "If you are willing to split your party, I can get you in at...."

Of course, if you are willing to live on counterservice, you can go with the flow.