How busy are places to eat in January?

[xenole]

Toying around with the possibility of an ADR for breakfast at Chef Mickey for example.
Personally, I would rather not be tied down to any schedule and turn up at some random point and hope for the best. So how crowded do the various Disney food places get during January should I wish to try this?

 

[christinec68]

If there's a place you really want to go, you should make an ADR. You can always cancel them if you change your mind. Walk ups are not too common anymore, especially for an extremely popular place like Chef Mickeys. You might luck out with other places since January is a slower time for Disney. You'll need to be flexiable about times & places and be prepared to get CS. I also want to mention that Crystal Palace in the MK is going to be closed for refurb in January which is putting a lot of stress on the other TS places in the MK.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I agree that ADRs are very important.

However, Disney has great counter service options.

Consider making 1 or 2 ADRS, for the trip and then learn about the great variety of counter service options. That way you'll have the best of both worlds.

 

[xenole]

Did try a test booking for Chef Mickey on the 7th Jan 2010 at 7:30am and it came up with a 8am slot and a 8:15 slot for 1900 Fayre. Looks like it's not full but no idea if either of these places would be packed out at that time of morning.
May book these 2 as ADRs a few days apart but it is dependent on how busy they would be. Would rather go when it's a little quieter if possible rather than having loads of screaming kids everywhere!

 

[Pakey]

We go every January and "wing" most TS places. We've even done dinner at Le Cellier without a reservation. However, if I wanted to eat at Chef Mickey's or CRT or Ca Grill during fireworks, I would not expect to be able to without an ADR.

 

[lizzyb]

I had a hard time getting Le Cellier and chef mickeys for the end of January

 

[FredQc]

I went to WDW last January. I recommend to make ADR for restaurants you really want to eat at. It may already be difficult to book at some popular places (Le Cellier, the Castle, California Grill, etc.) on some crowded nights (weekends). However, I ate at some restaurants without ADR and there were a lot of room. So if you are flexible and ready to eat at least popular places, it should not be a problem to sit somewhere.

 

[brobrosmom]

I agree with everyone else: make an ADR if there is a "must" do place. We went this past January and got a same day reservation at the HDDR and ate dinner at LTT with no reservations and no wait. Just walked right in and we were seated.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

We couldn't get LeCellier at all for our trip!

 

[GovieMom]

For our trip in January I couldn't get Le Cellier on the night I wanted, nor Coral Reef for the time I wanted.