Do you have to have a reservation?

[dw123]

Was wondering if you are able to just go up to a restaurant you don't have a reservation for, and see if they have availability? Wasn't sure that was still an option, or if you had to book the reservation. Thanks for your help

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Depends on the crowd level and the restaurant. The popular restaurants book out 180 days in advance. Over Easter I was not able to get BOG, Le Cellier and California Grill any of the 6 nights for dinner. The 180+10 had filled the restaurant.

A table service restaurant inside MK would often not be available for walk up day of any time of year.

My suggestion would be to look up and see what is available the day before because the cancellation policy is 24 hrs in advance.

 

[sharonabe]

You can always go up and ask, but it is becoming more and more rare that they will actually be able to seat you.

The best thing to do for TS "on the fly," is check that morning what is available for that evening and make your ADR then. You might even be able to wait until the afternoon and see what is available, but you won't be getting the most popular places. Don't expect to see CRT or Chef Mickey or Ohana, but you will have a pretty good selection because of the 24 hr cancellation rule.

There have been reports of people walking up, asking if they can be seated, told no, they walk away and check for an ADR on their phone, make the ADR for within 30 min to an hour, and go back and eat at that same restaurant. So making the ADR is the best way to get in to eat.

 

[AngiTN]

Chances are high that any Disney ran restaurant will turn you away, even if there are open tables.

Chances are good that any leased restaurant will put your name on a waiting list.

But taking that chance is rather silly.

Nothing forcing you to plan ahead where you want to eat. There are ALWAYS, even with a crowd level of 10, some places with an opening. Maybe not the most popular or prime meal times but they are there. Just open the app and search for an open table and book it. As long as you aren't after specific meals that will work just fine for you.

The very best plan for those that want to eat last minute, check the night before for any cancellations at popular places. If there aren't any then wait and check that day for what does have an opening and book it. Eliminates the wonder on if they'll put you on a waiting list, or not.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

As previously posted by Sharon and Marykate, You can always go up and ask....however if it is a very popular or a busy time in the WDW it is getting harder and harder. Yet many people post in the forums that they are often surprised how often they are able to get a table in a popular restaurant they wanted.

Good Luck!


AKK

 

[bluezy]

Chances are high that any Disney ran restaurant will turn you away, even if there are open tables.

Chances are good that any leased restaurant will put your name on a waiting list.

But taking that chance is rather silly.

Nothing forcing you to plan ahead where you want to eat. There are ALWAYS, even with a crowd level of 10, some places with an opening. Maybe not the most popular or prime meal times but they are there. Just open the app and search for an open table and book it. As long as you aren't after specific meals that will work just fine for you.

The very best plan for those that want to eat last minute, check the night before for any cancellations at popular places. If there aren't any then wait and check that day for what does have an opening and book it. Eliminates the wonder on if they'll put you on a waiting list, or not.

Yes, this! We didn't book any TS meals on our trip in June. But every afternoon I'd check to see what was available for a party of five. There was never less than 15-20 restaurants to choose from. There probably would have been more if I had checked in the morning and if I had a smaller group. And while we didn't choose to eat at these places, we could have gotten same-day ADRs for CRT, Cali Grill, and a few other "hard-to-get" places on certain nights that week. If you're not set on a specific restaurant at a specific time, you should be able to find a TS restaurant to eat at every day.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Sounds like the best advice is to check the app for an ADR rather than trying to "walk up".

MK, Epcot and DHS also have nearby resorts that are more likely to have availability than inside the parks.

I haven't used it in awhile since I plan so far ahead but can you get an ADR by searching "Current Location" like the Open Table app?

 

[JimmyV]

As the price of the overall vacation rises, and the wait times for attractions grows (especially in what used to be the "slow" season), time becomes a more valuable and precious commodity. Sitting in a restaurant lobby for 45-90 minutes waiting for your name to be called is simply not an efficient use of time during a crowded, expensive vacation. I think that many people are coming to this realization and it causes a snowballing effect. The more people who reach this conclusion--the more people there are who make ADRs. Add to this Disney's "lock it in" campaign that promotes advanced planning, and more and more people are making ADRs. I think we have reached the: "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" stage. Unused tables are becoming more and more difficult to find, especially at any restaurant that serves good food. It may still be possible to walk in to less desirable restaurants, but that is cold comfort. If you want to enjoy the most popular restaurants with the best reputations, you pretty much have to book ADRs. And you pretty much have to do it well in advance. My next trip is about 80 days away and I have a bunch of ADRs set. But over the past week, I have looked at reconfiguring our schedule for a couple of days and have checked to see what my dining options would be were I to make schedule changes, and the pickings are very slim. And this isn't even in a "high season" time period. We are talking about days when the crowd calendars are predicting 3's, 4's, 5's and maybe a 6 here and there.

 

[AngiTN]

Sounds like the best advice is to check the app for an ADR rather than trying to "walk up".

MK, Epcot and DHS also have nearby resorts that are more likely to have availability than inside the parks.

I haven't used it in awhile since I plan so far ahead but can you get an ADR by searching "Current Location" like the Open Table app?

Sort of. You can use a filter to just search a specific park or Resort. Even DS

 

[PirateSAM]

I suspect if it's not up to the host/hostess, as the other day I was waiting to be taken back to my table and the hostess of the restaurant was telling some people she could take them with a 15 to 30 minute wait and giving out buzzers, but was turning others away saying they were completely booked and couldn't take them. Makes you wonder...you should always be nice to people you want something from!

 

[Anal Annie]

We have had limited success with doing day-of ressies (checking the MDE app online). Key to this working is to be flexible with your time. We tried 2x during the 1st week of January to use the app to get a day-of res at Via Napoli but couldn't get their limited openings to work into our FP or park schedules. They DID have some openings but we were park hopping & couldn't make the times. Sometimes you can get The Plaza or Tony's at MK the day of and I've known people getting Garden Grill by walk-up / waiting. I've also gotten into Boma rather last minute. We got into Coral Reef last summer with a 30-45 min. wait. The new Skipper Canteen in MK is not even taking ADR's (yet) so that's definitely a walk-up (as of right now). We'd prefer to schedule something the day of or a few days before we go when we have a better idea of what we want to do & where we'll be. The only ADR's I usually plan at 180 days are places like Le Cellier, BOG or O'hana that are notorious for booking completely up at 6 months. Having them planned in advance does help your chances tho. I would def. recommend using the app rather than wasting time walking from place to place.

 

[mrzrich]

Use the App to find ADR's rather than walking up. I wanted to eat at Chef's De France last minute. While waiting in line at the podium a guest in front of me asked for a walk up and was turned away. I got out of the line and decided that I would check the app to see where else I should try. Wouldn't you know it...Chef's had availability. Yet they were turning walk ups away. So I made a quick ADR on the App and was eating French Onion Soup a short while later.

 

[mrzrich]

Using the app for last minute ADRs also prevents criss crossing the park looking for an open table

 

[tabrizia]

We did walk ups at T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe, though to be fair I had the Landry card which gives you front of the line privileges at both even without a reservation. They were both taking walk ups though the wait was an hour to 90 minutes. We also did a walk up and got seated right away from breakfast at The Grand Floridian Cafe, they were not overly busy there that day. We did a couple of day of or 2 day before ADRs without trouble as well. If it is somewhere you really want to eat, I'd try for a day of ADR before walking up to the restaurant, if you don't really care if you get in or not I might try walking up. That being said, you are far more likely to get seated if you do a walk up at a hotel restaurant vs a park restaurant.

 

[AngiTN]

We did walk ups at T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe, though to be fair I had the Landry card which gives you front of the line privileges at both even without a reservation. They were both taking walk ups though the wait was an hour to 90 minutes. We also did a walk up and got seated right away from breakfast at The Grand Floridian Cafe, they were not overly busy there that day. We did a couple of day of or 2 day before ADRs without trouble as well. If it is somewhere you really want to eat, I'd try for a day of ADR before walking up to the restaurant, if you don't really care if you get in or not I might try walking up. That being said, you are far more likely to get seated if you do a walk up at a hotel restaurant vs a park restaurant.

Landry's locations are leased. Yak and Yeti is another of theirs. They always take walk ups even if you don't have their card (those corporations frown on turning away customers)
Several locations at DS are also leased, along with a few at Epcot.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You can always ask. But whether it will be easy to get seated that way depends on a lot. Which restaurant? Where is it located? What time of day? What time of year? What size party?

All the restaurants at Disney Springs are third party (not run by Disney) as are about half the restaurants at Epcot.

 

[Mom2J&J]

What about Beaches and Cream? Do I really need an ADR to get ice cream? I remember when we went back in November 2007, we walked right in.

 

[gwynne]

What about Beaches and Cream? Do I really need an ADR to get ice cream? I remember when we went back in November 2007, we walked right in.

There is a walk up to go window with a limited menu.
Are you planning to try to sit down in the restaurant? You need reservations. Lots of people go just for ice cream. It stays really busy.

 

[Hi Pluto]

We had no idea about ADRs when we went in June 2014. We were able to get a lot of walk-up seating, maybe had to wait a half hour or so, for many places. However, at Liberty Tree Tavern and Via Napoli they practically laughed when we said we didn't have reservations. And since that was almost 2 years ago, I feel like way more people will be using ADRs now and there won't be much available.

~Cari~