Eating without ADR's

[mumto3girls]

My family of 5 just booked a trip for late January. We normally travel during busier seasons and we typically purchase the dining plan and make ADR's for the table service meals we want to do. We are probably going to skip the dining plan this time, but may want to do a few TS meals. Specifically we are thinking that we may want to go to Boma as we are staying at AKV and we may want to do a meal at Chef Mickey's as my youngest loves Minnie. If we didn't do a breakfast at Chef Mickey's we might want to do a TS breakfast one morning--DH loves breakfast.

I do know that free dining will be offered during out stay which makes me a bit more concerned than I otherwise would be. Does anyone have any experience with just walking up to restaurants during slower times? Can you usually get in or am I crazy in thinking we could just see how the day/trip goes?

 

[minnie mum]

Slow time or busy time, it doesn't matter. What matters is free dining. This always heavily impacts the demand for ADRs at all of the popular restaurants. There may be fewer guests in the parks, but MOST of them will have free dining, and therefore will be filling up the TS restaurants.

So it doesn't matter if you're on the DDP or not. If you will be at Disney during free dining, and you want to eat at a TS restaurant (or 2 or 3) then it would be wise to make your ADRs in advance to avoid disappointment.

Sure it may be possible to get a walk up for a Chef Mickey breakfast. But if my DH really had his heart set on eating there, I wouldn't risk his being disappointed.

 

[figment_jii]

It also depends on what meal you want to eat where and at what time. For example, if you wanted to have a breakfast at Boma, you would probably have better luck walking up than you would for dinner (at least I have had pretty good luck making last minute (next day) ADRs for Boma breakfast). Anything with characters (especially in a park) will probably be tough. As the PP said, if there is a specific place that someone in you family really wants to eat at, I would make an ADR and avoid the possibility if disappointment.

 

[juliebug1997]

If Chef Mickey's is even on your list, I would make a reservation ASAP.

 

[carebee21]

We went during free dining last Jan. and are going again this year.

Our experience was the character dining places were always packed (we did chef mickeys, crystal palace, Safari breakfast at Animal Kingdom, Ohana breakfast and the character meal at Grand Floridian) All of them were crowded and we didn't see empty tables.

Popular restaurants (Ohana dinner, Le Cellier, Fantasmic package at Mama Melrose) were also crowded with no empty tables and they were turning people away.

Everywhere else we ate seemed to be about 1/2-3/4 of the way full, including Kona Cafe breakfast and dinner, Whispering Canyon, the Dragon Chinese food place at Epcot, etc.

So, if you want to do a character meal or any of the popular restaurants, I would definately have a reservation. But if you're flexible with your wants and are more interested in the less popular dining options, you can probably get by without reservations if you really wanted.

 

[Cafeen]

We went during free dining last Jan. and are going again this year.

Our experience was the character dining places were always packed (we did chef mickeys, crystal palace, Safari breakfast at Animal Kingdom, Ohana breakfast and the character meal at Grand Floridian) All of them were crowded and we didn't see empty tables.

Popular restaurants (Ohana dinner, Le Cellier, Fantasmic package at Mama Melrose) were also crowded with no empty tables and they were turning people away.

Everywhere else we ate seemed to be about 1/2-3/4 of the way full, including Kona Cafe breakfast and dinner, Whispering Canyon, the Dragon Chinese food place at Epcot, etc.

So, if you want to do a character meal or any of the popular restaurants, I would definately have a reservation. But if you're flexible with your wants and are more interested in the less popular dining options, you can probably get by without reservations if you really wanted.

My common advice on the topic is similar to the above.

First, if you KNOW you want to eat somewhere, make an ADR. It can be heartbreaking to try to get in somewhere you had your heart set on, only to be told no.

Second, if it's a character meal, make an ADR. These pretty much always book up, busy or not.

Lastly, if it's in a park (other than Epcot), or one of the super popular meals (e.g. 'Ohana, Chef Mickey's, etc), make an ADR.

Epcot gets away from the "if it's in a park" rule as there are many restaurants there, and you can usually find something. It won't likely be Le Cellier, Chefs de France, or Teppan Edo, but Marrakesh, Nine Dragons, and the like are usually pretty easy to get into.

One thing to keep in mind is that, while there may be physical tables empty, this doesn't always mean there are openings. Staffing considerations and the like force restaurants to operate at full capacity, even with open tables (e.g. if you need 20 servers and 10 cooks to run your restaurant at capacity, and you're down to 18 servers and 9 cooks, you're new max is 90% of the old one, thus showing roughly 10% empty tables).

 

[RDP]

My impression is that there will always be availability somewhere, just don't bank on eating at a specific restaurant . There's a lot to be said for keeping it fluid and not being held to a timetable. Beware though if you have any picky eaters in your group and you can't get anything mainstream!

 

[daisyduck123]

In 2007, I walked up to the podium at Boma on Xmas Eve morning (we were staying at AKV) right after they opened that morning & the cm there said there was plenty of availability at that time. He said to come any morning right after opening & they'd be able to seat us (keep in mind this was their busiest week of THE YEAR).

* Please note though, that I would never recommend going to WDW without making ADRs. In the above situation, we had a morning that I hadn't made an ADR, so I thought I'd check availability. We had every other breakfast & dinner booked 6 months ahead of time. If you know you're going, I would go ahead & make a few ADRs. You can always cancel later.

 

[RMulieri]

Slow or busy ...Doesn't matter...IF Free dining is going on you are going to want-and probably need- adrs .You may get in as a walkup at non-popular and non-character meals( Ex-Marrakesh, Nine Dragons),But you have some specific ideas in mind and you have a party of 5 with kids( who don't always like to wait 60 mins or walk around endlessly trying to find someplace to eat).Plus no adrs and walking up( if they even will be taking any walkups) means LOST park time when at that time of year it is already shortened hours.Make the adrs, you can always cancel if you change your mind

 

[Bell30012]

Chef Mickey's is tough without an ADR but Boma isn't that difficult. You can always call 407-WDW-DINE from the parks. You can also check at any TS restaurant. In the past they have helped me find places with availability when we did last minute trips with no ADR's. The Plaza at MK and Grand Floridian Cafe are almost always easy ones to get.

 

[HelenParr]

I understand not wanting to be tied down to ADRs that may not meet your vibe that day. I agree with all the PPs that if there's a character or even signature that you really want, you pretty much have to use ADRs (or have large risk of missing out).

But for other dining venues, if you are staying onsite, you could check at your resort concierge desk in the lobby (or any lobby desk really) and ask what's open that day/night or for the next day if you have a good idea how the plan is going. That'll give some flexibility but not lock you in weeks in advance.

We have good success with walk ups, but we're just 2, and easier for them to fit us in. Five people is a lot for walk up.

 

[Gracedis1]

In May 2 years ago, we were able to get into a few restaurants without ADR's: Crystal Palace, 50's Prime Time Diner, Tusker House, and Garden Grill. We had to wait about 20-30 minutes at each place, but had a great time at all of them. So it's worth a shot. But if you have your heart set on a specific place, I'd try to make an ADR. We didn't even know about making ADR's back then!

 

[maj42169]

Walking in at Chef Mickey's is pretty much unheard of when free dining isn't being offered, so I would think it would be next to impossible to eat there if you didn't have an ADR..

 

[loves to dive]

We almost always go during Free Food and rarely ever make ADRs before we go. For us it's kinda fun to see what we can get and try new places. It helps that there are only 2 of us (will be 3 this year with new DIL) and are adults. You have to be flexible about times and location for this to work. Sometimes it works out we do the big TS meal around 2 or a tad later and just do a QS later in the evening. We don't do character dining so can't be a help there. We do usually go to the big CS location in Epcot the day we arrive make our ADRs from there, but have been known to do a walk up every now and again. We are pretty flexible people and don't usually even know what park we are going to on any given day so it works for us.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you already know that you are going to want to eat at a few specific places, book 'em now. You don't pay for them, so if you decide you aren't going to be able to use them that day, just go to Guest Services and cancel them. But, if you want to eat at Chef Mickey's or other character meal, you are going to best served by booking it now.
Free dining impacts dining options greatly. The vast majority of guests are going to be making ADRs for free dining periods...yes, the parks will be a bit less crowded in late January, but when free dining is offered, all bets are off. The program beings more people in.

 

[mumto3girls]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate the input. I may just do a couple of ADR's for the most popular places--we can always cancel and make someone else's day!

I wasn't sure how busy late January would be even with free dining. We are using our DVC points so we will not be on free dining and with the parks open shorter hours than we are used to, we were going to try to maximize our park time. When we go during the more crowded times we use the TS meals as a bit of a break and a rest from the heat, but it does tend to make you feel as though your day is scheduled around that ADR.

 

[Cafeen]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate the input. I may just do a couple of ADR's for the most popular places--we can always cancel and make someone else's day!

I wasn't sure how busy late January would be even with free dining. We are using our DVC points so we will not be on free dining and with the parks open shorter hours than we are used to, we were going to try to maximize our park time. When we go during the more crowded times we use the TS meals as a bit of a break and a rest from the heat, but it does tend to make you feel as though your day is scheduled around that ADR.

One thing to keep in mind here is that although the hours are shorter, you can likely get more done during those shorter days than you can in the longer days during the busier times of the year. This should alleviate some of the concern that you have in that aspect.

 

[Splash Mountain Fan]

I'd strongly recommend an ADR for a more popular restaurant. We recently tried to walk-in to Ohana. After waiting 45 minutes, we decided to seek an alternative. We were able to walk-in to Sanaa at AKL Kidani Village.

 

[dansyr2514]

If it were just adults and timing didn't matter, I would say it would be ok to not have adr's. But, with a child and some popular meals in your plans, I would definitely make some adr's. You can always cancel them.

 

[mumto3girls]

One thing to keep in mind here is that although the hours are shorter, you can likely get more done during those shorter days than you can in the longer days during the busier times of the year. This should alleviate some of the concern that you have in that aspect.

That was our plan, but with all the talk about free dining really drawing people in, I'm a bit concerned that I may have overestimated our ability to do that. We are taking advantage of an unexpected break in our girls' school schedule and only going for 5 nights so we want to see as much as possible in that time without exhausting ourselves. We are so excited to be able to visit Disney in a cooler and less crowded time.