City Walk ... Argh

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I really hate to say it but I think I'm starting to actually prefer Disney's 180 day dining game to Uni. We tried to eat at City Walk last night and for the second time it turned out to be really frustrating. We tried to make reservations 2 weeks ago but it appears the restaurants no longer take them for dinner so that was out.

We made sure to go an hour before park closing so that wasn't a factor. But Antojitos was 40-50. How long with priority seating? 40-50 mins. Ah, okay. Margaritaville was 30 mins. Do you have priority seating? Oh yes! How long? 30 mins. Apparently priority seating really only works if you have a party of 4 or less (or at least that's what the hostess at Antojitos told my husband) because they don't have many tables for larger parties. We are a group of 5. We saw group after group behind us at Margaritaville get seated right away so I guess that would be further evidence that it's true.

And to be clear, those wait times wouldn't be a big deal without the kids in tow. At home we make reservations to avoid this kind of thing. At Disney we can make a reservation to usually avoid those waits. Yes we have still had a couple of occasions at Disney where there was a longer than 20 min wait after our ADR time. That does happen but it's been pretty rare for us (probably 3 times in maybe 25 ADRs). We've never been quoted a wait of less than 30 mins at City Walk for dinner.

I wish they would go back to taking reservations. At least for larger parties. The convenience of "flexibility" is not so convenient for us.

 

[Suprachica79]

Touring plans had all 6 major parks in Orlando at a 10 for crowd levels, you
picked one of the worst nights to try and eat at UO unfortunately.

 

[nkereina]

I agree with PP that this week is not typical. Its one of the busiest weeks of the year. So I don't think its fair to judge the overall restaurant situation based on one of the busiest weeks of the year.

Were the restaurants not taking reservations because its a holiday/busy week? Or is this the case at all times now? I'd not heard that before.

As someone who goes during less busy times of year and even October during HHN which is moderately busy, we don't have that kind of luck at City Walk. But knowing you're a bigger group which has less availability at the restaurants, perhaps try dining at off times like 4pm when they open or 8pm for a late dinner if you can swing it. It would help the wait times. We were there three weeks ago and went to Antojitos at opening. We sat at the bar, but there were maybe only 6-7 tables full for the first hour after opening.

 

[MikeNamez]

I agree with PP that this week is not typical. Its one of the busiest weeks of the year. So I don't think its fair to judge the overall restaurant situation based on one of the busiest weeks of the year.

Were the restaurants not taking reservations because its a holiday/busy week? Or is this the case at all times now? I'd not heard that before.

As someone who goes during less busy times of year and even October during HHN which is moderately busy, we don't have that kind of luck at City Walk. But knowing you're a bigger group which has less availability at the restaurants, perhaps try dining at off times like 4pm when they open or 8pm for a late dinner if you can swing it. It would help the wait times. We were there three weeks ago and went to Antojitos at opening. We sat at the bar, but there were maybe only 6-7 tables full for the first hour after opening.

Looks like its something specific to the restaurant, week or bad timing because I checked the website and you can make reservations at several other locations in city walk.

 

[PantherPete]

It is a little rough at the City Walk this week. Just waited about 25 min for Antojitos. But in comparison, we had reservation me at Raglan Road this past Saturday night and still waited 40 minutes. I think it is just really busy everywhere in Orlando right now.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Touring plans had all 6 major parks in Orlando at a 10 for crowd levels, you
picked one of the worst nights to try and eat at UO unfortunately.

I never would have guessed that. I was convinced you were wrong because the parks did not seem that busy at all on Mon. Today was noticably busier. But you are right. Mon was 9/10 for US and IOA. To me it definitely did not feel like a Disney 10 or even a Disney 8 (although I would say today was). But I guess maybe Uni just doesn't get that level of busy.

Looks like its something specific to the restaurant, week or bad timing because I checked the website and you can make reservations at several other locations in city walk.

It does appear to be a group of restaurants that are not as available after 4:30. Margaritaville, NBC, Jakes (yes, I know, not City Walk but also a restaurant we were trying to book) and Antojitos has had nothing available all Nov and Dec. It seems like a group of them made this change but not all of them.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

.

Were the restaurants not taking reservations because its a holiday/busy week? Or is this the case at all times now? I'd not heard that before.

Definitely possible. I know Jakes took reservations for dinner last year this same weekend but didn't this year (the reservation times ended at 4:30). I don't know if that's a temporary change or a permanent one.

 

[damo]

We had Cowfish reservations in October.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

It does appear to be a group of restaurants that are not as available after 4:30. Margaritaville, NBC, Jakes (yes, I know, not City Walk but also a restaurant we were trying to book) and Antojitos has had nothing available all Nov and Dec. It seems like a group of them made this change but not all of them.

I agree that it’s a bit frustrating.
I’m there the week before Xmas and was keen to make bookings that will work around the Xmas parade and night projection shows etc.
While we don’t mind eating early (eg 4pm), we’d prefer to try for times when there is a better chance the live music inside the restaurants will be playing as the entertainment is part of the dining appeal for us.
Anyway, I was able to book Pat OBriens easily, but no luck with Antojitos or its back-up option, Margaritaville. We’re a family of 3, so I guess we’ll just try walking up and hope for the best.

On a separate note though, despite the wait, which restaurant did you prefer - Antojitos or Margaritaville?

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I agree that it’s a bit frustrating.
I’m there the week before Xmas and was keen to make bookings that will work around the Xmas parade and night projection shows etc.
While we don’t mind eating early (eg 4pm), we’d prefer to try for times when there is a better chance the live music inside the restaurants will be playing as the entertainment is part of the dining appeal for us.
Anyway, I was able to book Pat OBriens easily, but no luck with Antojitos or its back-up option, Margaritaville. We’re a family of 3, so I guess we’ll just try walking up and hope for the best.

On a separate note though, despite the wait, which restaurant did you prefer - Antojitos or Margaritaville?

We did not go to Antojitos because of the wait. We thought Margaritaville was fun though. The kids liked the balloon animal guy in stilts.