How difficult is it to get into Trader Sams in mid July?

[vwlfan]

would like to take my wife there 7/9. I even made an adr at Ohanas to be sure I could park at the Poly, but afterwards would like to have a drink at Traders.

What do you suggest?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

People ask this all the time, and the reality is that it's not predictable.

...Trader Sam's is very small.
Some people report showing up at open and walking right in.
Sometimes later in the evening it can be busy.
Turnover in the bar can be slow.
Maybe you show up after someone's bachelorette party takes over the bar and wait 3 hours.
Maybe they release a new mug the week before you go, and people start lining up at noon.

I suggest hoping for the best but understanding that maybe you'll show up and it'll be a 3 hour wait.

 

[Makayla Stowell]

I went on my birthday (7/13) and didn't wait more than 30 minutes to get in. And we had a group of 6. The busiest time of year there is halloween when they have special mugs.

 

[Cinderella94]

I'm planning to go before our 'Ohana ADR the first week of July. I'm fully prepared to (and planning on, really) sit outside and hoping that helps with wait time. It's mostly about the glasses for me

 

[snowybelle]

It really is unpredictable.
Last time I was there was Friday night of Marathon weekend. Arrived around 7:30pm and waited maybe 15 minutes. Had to negotiate a bit for a place to sit (the bar is open seating, sometimes it's hard to find a spot where your party can sit together) but overall very smooth sailing.
Then the next day's 1/2 marathon got canceled due to weather and it got kind of cray.
In general I'd say -- With a little patience and flexibility, most of the time getting into Trader Sam's is very doable.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

People ask this all the time, and the reality is that it's not predictable.

...Trader Sam's is very small.
Some people report showing up at open and walking right in.
Sometimes later in the evening it can be busy.
Turnover in the bar can be slow.
Maybe you show up after someone's bachelorette party takes over the bar and wait 3 hours.
Maybe they release a new mug the week before you go, and people start lining up at noon.

I suggest hoping for the best but understanding that maybe you'll show up and it'll be a 3 hour wait.

I chuckled at your post - my husband and I went in at 10:30p on this Saturday, Feb 11th and there was a bachelorette party going on - we were told the wait was an hour and a half. We put our name in and got a pager.
We went to the patio and got the last table and had a couple of drinks, a couple of appetizers and left after an hour. The pager still hadn't gone off so I turned it in.
Since it was only open until midnight, I guess we wouldn't have gotten in even with the pager that evening so I'm glad we went to the patio.