BOG lunch without reservations?

[2hapykdz]

Have never been inside BOG and would really like to. Headed 3rd week in September....lower crowds....how possible is it to get in for lunch without a reservation? Assuming it would be better to go for a later lunch before the turnover to dinner????TIA

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

Have never been inside BOG and would really like to. Headed 3rd week in September....lower crowds....how possible is it to get in for lunch without a reservation? Assuming it would be better to go for a later lunch before the turnover to dinner????TIA

It is VERY hard to get in without a reservation. Unless you're a solo diner. Sign up with Touring Plans reservation finder, that's how I get most of my reservations if I don't get them at the 180 day mark.

 

[kniquy]

Don't hold your breath getting in without a reservation -- your best bet is to sign up for touring plans reservation finder and be prepared to jump on it as soon as you get a text. Stalk the reservations. As you get closer to your trip you might have luck finding those who are cancelling, so again keep checking.

 

[MomOTwins]

You can go first thing as soon as the park opens and ask to be put on the waitlist and they may call you if there is a no show, but the waitlist gets long fast and it is pretty rare to be given a table. Your better chance is to check the night before for reservations from people canceling before midnight to avoid the penalty. But if your question is if you can just show up at 2:25 right before the end of the lunch service and try to get a table as a walk in, the answer is no. If there is no reservation available in the system, then there is no table for walk ups--BOG regularly sells out all times during the entire 11am to 2:30 lunch period, and the same is true for dinner (i.e., they are sold out at 4pm and at 10pm).

 

[Hopefully]

Not going to happen. 3rd week of September is lower crowds, not low crowds

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

people have to cancel 24 hours in advance to avoid a penalty so often the day or two before you want to go, you can get a last minute reservation....try that!!! This is how we often get reservations to places that are hard to book...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Even in mythical low crowds, you won't get into BOG without an ADR. The thing about dining establishments that require an ADR is that they don't queue, and the number of tables available is fixed. They don't expand capacity for "high crowds."

It can be easier to get an ADR when there is less competition, but you're still only looking at 800-1000 lunch seats per day, regardless of crowd level. And even "low" crowd levels will easily exceed that number for demand for seats.

 

[SandS_K]

Keep checking for a reservation. Check often! Just yesterday, I found an 8:30 breakfast reservation for next week. I originally had an 8:30 breakfast for a different day. Yesterday, I was double checking our plans and noticed that the hours of Magic Kingdom were changed and they were now opening at 8am instead of 9am. Well, I really didn't want an 8:30 reservation on a day at the park opened at 8am. I ended up finding a pre park opening reservation for 2 days earlier. I was checking ever hour and eventually found it.

 

[masylimed]

I agree about keep checking. DH and i are going down for a few days late October/ early November. Wasn't optimistic we would get in since i didn't think about booking some ADRs until last week. Been checking on and off with nothing available. Just booked today a noon reservation on October 31st for 2.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Likely? no. Possible? yes. We've done it twice as a party of 2. Once I saw a reservation for 1 while we were in the park and we raced over to see if they could seat 2 - we were seated. Second time, we walked up and asked nicely (even after we saw the people in front of us turned away). The CM looked at the line on the bridge, handed us menus and told us to enjoy our lunch! I wouldn't count on it though - this was total pixie dust. We also go often enough that, if we had been turned away, it would not have been the end of the world. We would have just headed for another QS. One word of caution though. If you are able to walk-up, you have no option to pre-order your food and the kiosk line gets really, really long. Long to the point that I kind of regretted getting the walk-up . . . I would just keep checking for an ADR or looking for multiple 1 person ADR's close to one another - once inside you can all sit together. If all else fails, you can walk-up. Just be prepared to be turned away.

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

Going with no reservation is fine if you are okay with expecting a "no" answer upon checking with the hostess. However, if someone in your party is really looking forward to it, then I would check every day. We found several lunch openings about two weeks before our arrival date. Even more popped up right before our vacation. PLUS, you are going in September, so if you run into foul Florida weather then you might be even more likely to get a reservation! But you probably value good weather over a potential lunch ressie I hope!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Basically its possible but unlikely that you can walk up.
Remember there are lots of people with FD during that time and BOG is an excellent use of a QS credit.

 

[HopperFan]

Free Dining season = almost no chance. Makes it a highly coveted QS.

Keep checking right up until the night before, even day of on MDE you can sometimes do better than podium.

 

[goofy4prez]

I guess anything is possible including winning the Mega Millions or snagging a seat with a walk up to BOG, and I'd say your odds are better with the Mega Millions. My advice would be to keep trying up to the last minute with MDE to see if you get lucky. Good luck.

 

[JLoinDisney]

In January my husband and I tried to do a walk up. I asked if there was any thing open for lunch (thinking it would be easier to walk up because it is lunch) and the host looked at me like i had ten heads. so apparently no, it isnt easier but i still think you should try. the worst they can say is no.

 

[Dsny4fun]

Now that dinner is 2 credits, I'm sure more people are trying for lunch. I wouldn't expect to get in without a reservation...but it never hurts to try!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Just for fun, I looked up BOG lunch ADR's for 2 for tomorrow - there's a 11:05 am and a 1:00 pm open. Just keep checking!

 

[Magical2017]

I walked up one time during a January visit. I did not have a reservation and was seated right away. I was surprised, as I had always had a hard time getting reservations. I did the woot-woot dance and the CM thought I was a little crazy.

 

[mckennarose]

It always amazes me when I see that people have gotten in as a walk up! Every time I've been to BOG I've seen people trying to get in without an ADR and every time they are turned away. I'm sure it does happen, but I've never personally seen it.

Ohana is another one that I always see people trying to walk up too. Every.single.time I've been there. This past May a lady was full-on arguing with the check-in CM for 10 minutes while I was right there waiting to check in. She was telling the CM it wasn't fair she couldn't get an ADR (she apparently tried). Her family just walked away after about 5 minutes, but she kept going on.

OP, I think you're better off either using the TP reservation finder or trying the night before when people dump them before they're charged.

 

[MomOTwins]

It always amazes me when I see that people have gotten in as a walk up! Every time I've been to BOG I've seen people trying to get in without an ADR and every time they are turned away. I'm sure it does happen, but I've never personally seen it.

Ohana is another one that I always see people trying to walk up too. Every.single.time I've been there. This past May a lady was full-on arguing with the check-in CM for 10 minutes while I was right there waiting to check in. She was telling the CM it wasn't fair she couldn't get an ADR (she apparently tried). Her family just walked away after about 5 minutes, but she kept going on.

OP, I think you're better off either using the TP reservation finder or trying the night before when people dump them before they're charged.

Lol, I see this all the time too--why people think that standing there holding up the host line will make it more likely for them to get a table is beyond me. I remember one man pulling the "do you have any idea how much I paid for this vacation" card (unspoken answer, yes, we paid it too). Another time a woman was complaining that there was "literally nowhere" to eat, so I pulled out my phone, tapped her on the back, and showed her all the counter service options within walking distance (turns out she did not mean "literally" after all).