Dining reservations

[julie-o]

We’re doing our first Universal trip Presidents Day weekend. I’m just getting around to dining reservations because I heard they were no big deal at universal, but I’m finding everything is booked. Do things open up last minute like they do at Disney? Any tips for where to bring a big group (9) for dinner? Do we need reservations for breakfast buffet at SF? Thank you for any help.

 

[SCSabresfan]

Two things working against you would be the fact you are going on a holiday weekend which will be busier and have a large group. Will it always be a group of nine?
If I remember correctly, SF does not take reservations for breakfast. You will have to go and put your name on the waiting list.

 

[ultimatefans]

Are you making reservations online or over the phone? There is a max of 7 or 8 people per reservation, so they'll need to split it into two reservations and note that you'd like to be seated together. Searching for 9 will show no availability. I had a group of 16 last summer and we had reservations at Mythos and Finnegan's and they had no problem seating us together. I made the reservations around 5pm to have a better chance of getting a large table.

 

[julie-o]

Thank you for these tips!

 

[julie-o]

Also, when I did a search this morning using parties of 4 or 5, there was still no availability for Saturday anytime between 4-9 at the places I looked. I'll keep trying. I really just want something for Saturday night, and breakfast, so if we don't need a reservation for breakfast, that just leaves Saturday. I'm sure something will work out. I'm kicking myself a little, since I usually plan these things months in advance for Disney, but oh well.

 

[ultimatefans]

I'd recommend calling 407-224-3663 and press option 2 which is for parties of 10 or more. Just this morning I made reservations for a party of 9. I called a few times and pressed option 3 (which is for all dining reservations) and they would tell me that there's no availability for a party of 9 because they didn't realize they need to split it up - I hung up as I'd prefer to have an agent book it that enters it correctly in the system. I have called twice and pressed option 2, and those agents seems to understand how to make reservations for larger parties, even though my reservation (and yours) was for 9 people and not 10. They split it into 2 reservations with the note that we want to sit together which worked for us last year for our party of 16, hoping we'll have success again this year for our party of 9. Mythos might be booked up for the date you need but it looks like Finnegan's should have availability. Not sure about any others. Good luck!

 

[julie-o]

I'd recommend calling 407-224-3663 and press option 2 which is for parties of 10 or more. Just this morning I made reservations for a party of 9. I called a few times and pressed option 3 (which is for all dining reservations) and they would tell me that there's no availability for a party of 9 because they didn't realize they need to split it up - I hung up as I'd prefer to have an agent book it that enters it correctly in the system. I have called twice and pressed option 2, and those agents seems to understand how to make reservations for larger parties, even though my reservation (and yours) was for 9 people and not 10. They split it into 2 reservations with the note that we want to sit together which worked for us last year for our party of 16, hoping we'll have success again this year for our party of 9. Mythos might be booked up for the date you need but it looks like Finnegan's should have availability. Not sure about any others. Good luck!

Thank you so much! Will try this.

 

[julie-o]

Update: called number recommended by ultimatefans, only waited about 30 secs, the TM was very helpful and got us a reservation for time I wanted for Saturday of Presidents’ Day weekend at Vivo!!! I’m delighted. Thank you for that tip. Maybe talking to actual humans is a good strategy