Day of/no reservation Dining at Disneyland

[disland7]

We've been over at Disney World the past few years and I feel like so much has changed at DL since we've been away. I have a party of 8 and I can't for the life of me get any reservations right now for my Oct. 16-18 trip. How is it getting day of reservations or walk up? I'm particularly interested in Fantasmic packages and Cafe Orleans at Disneyland. At DCA I'm interested in Smokejumpers (monte Cristo if I can't get into Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans) and maybe Carthay Circle. Is Pym's Kitchen any good? Any other newer dining I need to try to get?

 

[dieumeye]

I did Blue Bayou walk up for 4 Saturday Labor Day weekend. You join walk up through a link in the app, although you need to be near the location to do it. Can’t say about Cafe Orleans or F! packages.

At DCA I don’t think Smokejumpers has the Monte Cristo anymore, so do check the menu on the app. Carthay Circle is trickier but I was able to snag a reservation for 4 that same trip by frequently checking the app for a few days leading up to the date. Note that there are two Carthay options offered: the regular restaurant and the “alfresco dining”. They have different menus. Pym’s is good and fun to try for something with memorable presentation.

 

[lurpee]

We've been over at Disney World the past few years and I feel like so much has changed at DL since we've been away. I have a party of 8 and I can't for the life of me get any reservations right now for my Oct. 16-18 trip. How is it getting day of reservations or walk up? I'm particularly interested in Fantasmic packages and Cafe Orleans at Disneyland. At DCA I'm interested in Smokejumpers (monte Cristo if I can't get into Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans) and maybe Carthay Circle. Is Pym's Kitchen any good? Any other newer dining I need to try to get?

I don't have any help to offer except asking if you happen to be staying on property at DLH, PP or DGC? They do save some reservations for their guests...or they used to. I haven't been since January 2020 so we can't rely on that.

I will suggest that if you don't get any reservations, try to eat lunch early, like 10:45 to 11 AM, and dinner at 4 PM to avoid larger crowds. I will say, if you want some ideas for food without reservations, "Magic Journeys" has some YouTube videos on food carts and restaurants that don't take reservations that I have never eaten at, and it has me excited to try some on my next trip. They also point out seating in some of the videos. Good luck with your reservations! And definitely check every morning as sometimes people do cancel them.

 

[Iceman93]

Party of 8 is going to be tough. If it would work, consider splitting into two parties of 4, which should help both for advance reservations and walk-up possibilities. Smokejumpers is available via mobile order, so you should be good there as long as you plan a little bit in advance to get your order in well before you're going to want to eat. The app also has an option for many restaurants to join the walk-up waitlist, but you have to be in the general vicinity of a place before it will let you do so. For something like Carthay Circle (which, as @dieumeye pointed out has a wonderful sit-down restaurant as well as an alfresco lounge experience), I'd suggest speaking with the CM at the podium and explaining that you're a party of 8 who's willing to split up if necessary and to get their advice as to whether there's any chance of getting seated.

 

[SensitiveDragon]

Yeah, undoubtedly the big issue here is the party size, 8 people is hard to get a reservation for in most places in the park. I tried with Cafe Orleans as well and was told in the app that 8 was too many and I couldn’t make the res. So, clearly some restaurants are just blocked from even attempting to make an 8 person reservation. I settled on two bookings for 4 people at about the same time, and hopefully they will be able to seat us close together! I think the downtown Disney restaurants would be easier to book for that many people if it comes down to the wire and you just need a place to eat with everyone.

 

[Pluto468]

Pym's is great. We ate there for breakfast and lunch. They have a nice outdoor seating area, too. We did mobile order once and walk-up once. The line just depends on the time of day.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

So it is hard I’m not gonna lie. I managed a breakfast at caranation cafe three days prior and a walk up at Carthay Circle Lounge.

We never succeeded at getting Blue Bayou-but we did eat at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen in DTD and it was AMAZING! And had more options that BB and cafe Orleans.

The other thing about DLR is their quick service locations are really good as well and very decently priced. And a lot of it you can split! Some places even give you to go boxes (we saw people splitting up stuff into boxes at Pym’s like you wouldn’t believe).

Keep trying. Walk ups worked beautifully (it was the first day of the heatwave and around 1 pm when I got that CCL walk up). There are always options.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Pym's is great. We ate there for breakfast and lunch. They have a nice outdoor seating area, too. We did mobile order once and walk-up once. The line just depends on the time of day.

We did the same! Enjoyed both meals there!

 

[Pluto468]

We did the same! Enjoyed both meals there!

They have a cool menu and those pretzels are amazing lol.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

They have a cool menu and those pretzels are amazing lol.

Those pretzels are AMAZING! Really enjoyed the proton punch too!

 

[disland7]

I don't have any help to offer except asking if you happen to be staying on property at DLH, PP or DGC? They do save some reservations for their guests...or they used to. I haven't been since January 2020 so we can't rely on that.

I will suggest that if you don't get any reservations, try to eat lunch early, like 10:45 to 11 AM, and dinner at 4 PM to avoid larger crowds. I will say, if you want some ideas for food without reservations, "Magic Journeys" has some YouTube videos on food carts and restaurants that don't take reservations that I have never eaten at, and it has me excited to try some on my next trip. They also point out seating in some of the videos. Good luck with your reservations! And definitely check every morning as sometimes people do cancel them.

I am staying on property at the Grand, I called the main number and she said that Disney wants everything to be done online/app and that they don't have any access to the system anymore. Maybe I'd get a different story if I called the hotel directly. I will definitely look up that YouTube - researching disney stuff is a guilty pleasure of mine for sure.

 

[disland7]

Party of 8 is going to be tough. If it would work, consider splitting into two parties of 4, which should help both for advance reservations and walk-up possibilities. Smokejumpers is available via mobile order, so you should be good there as long as you plan a little bit in advance to get your order in well before you're going to want to eat. The app also has an option for many restaurants to join the walk-up waitlist, but you have to be in the general vicinity of a place before it will let you do so. For something like Carthay Circle (which, as @dieumeye pointed out has a wonderful sit-down restaurant as well as an alfresco lounge experience), I'd suggest speaking with the CM at the podium and explaining that you're a party of 8 who's willing to split up if necessary and to get their advice as to whether there's any chance of getting seated.

Yes we've been a party of 7-9 for quite some time and have always had to split up. I'm even having problems with that this year.

 

[disland7]

They have a cool menu and those pretzels are amazing lol.

Sounds like Pym's is a must try.

 

[lurpee]

****I don't know why I can't quote suddenly, but this was in reply to disland7 about calling the hotel directly.********

Good idea! I was really surprised when I called about the dining reservations years ago thinking it wasn't a possibility and then I was able to get them. Another idea, what if you just put your name on wait lists and hang out nearby? Depending on where you wanted to eat, you might be able to get plenty of things done or entertainment. Especially knowing that you are such a large group, you know that your wait will be longer but maybe treat it like a fast pass situation. If you have an hour wait you can probably take off for 45 minutes. I believe they give you the pagers too. Your party could also take turns leaving someone nearby. I am sure that you know all of this already. I live in a tourist destination and long restaurant waits are a way of life in the summer and holiday weekends.

 

[RoseColored97]

They have a cool menu and those pretzels are amazing lol.

The pretzel was amazing, just wish it came with regular cheese not beer cheese. Then it would have been perfect!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

The pretzel was amazing, just wish it came with regular cheese not beer cheese. Then it would have been perfect!

I wish they still had the Buffalo chicken version! Love elote, but no one else in my family does and Buffalo chicken would’ve been perfect