How needed are reservations for the Maya Grill during free dining?

[mgodisney]

We're staying at CSR from 8/25-9/1. How easy is it to walk in the Maya Grill for dinner during free dining? Are reservations as needed there as at most of the other restaurants during free dining?

 

[Cafeen]

We're staying at CSR from 8/25-9/1. How easy is it to walk in the Maya Grill for dinner during free dining? Are reservations as needed there as at most of the other restaurants during free dining?

I'd suggest it, but in reality they may not be. I walked up last year at about 6pm and only had to wait about 10 minutes (for 3). This was also during FD.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

I don't think the restaurant gets nearly the traffic you see at the monorail & boardwalk area resorts so you probably could. We haven't stayed at this resort for several years but when we did we never saw people waiting to be seated, we were seated immediately & had a lovely meal. Again, this was a few years back & it wasn't during free dining.

But me being a planner I'd probably make a ressie if I had a general idea of when I might like to go. Once you're on vacation, you can always call to change it if your time isn't convenient & then you'll know for sure how buzy they are by what would be available.

 

[disneymath]

Our trip last year overlapped with the beginning of Free Dining. We stayed at CSR and tried to get an ADR one night at Maya Grill and were told by the CM at the podium that they were booked solid. (They were turning lots of people away, not just us.) On other nights, it looked just as busy.

That said, we had a breakfast ADR at MG for the last day of our trip and decided to change it to earlier in the trip. We had no trouble doing this and could have gotten a breakfast ADR at pretty much any time we wanted on the day we wanted to switch to.

My advice would be to get ADRs ... sure you can always try to switch things around when you get there, but at least you have something booked. There are other promos that overlap with FD this year - such as 40% PINs - so you need to consider that as well. (My family will be there during FD - but for us the 40% PIN is better than FD. We paid for our DP ... ADRs have been booked since our 180 day mark.)

 

[njmeisje]

We didn't have an ADR back in March during Spring Break, and the place was EMPTY. I have to say, our dinner was, mmmm....not good. (I was going to say horrible). The steak was over done, everything very dry. I read many lukewarm reviews, but decided to try it. Well...they were right. Maya Grill is a PASS.

 

[Eeyore's Pal]

I think the bigger risk at CSR is always the convention traffic. If there happens to be a big convention at the same time as your trip, the restaurant could be packed.

As others have suggested, I would make and ADR for your 'best guess' time, and adjust it as you have more of your plans locked in.

 

[cymbaldiva]

We're staying at CSR from 8/25-9/1. How easy is it to walk in the Maya Grill for dinner during free dining? Are reservations as needed there as at most of the other restaurants during free dining?

We at at the Maya Grill last year during free dining - we didn't walk up but did call and get a same day ADR. The food was tasty and service was good... for what it's worth I'd recommend the place.

Just my .02

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I've been there during free dining, waiting to be seated, and watched countless people get turned away for not having an ADR.

Why not get an ADR anyway?

 

[tinka-belle]

We've had good luck making same day ADRs in the morning for that night, or making them the day before. Convention traffic is the key. We've often seen long waits for walk ups when there are conferences there, but had our choice of times when calling early in the morning.

As more and more people read these boards and realize that Maya Grill is a good option it will be harder to get, esp. during FD.

 

[mgodisney]

Thanks everybody, you have been really helpful. I already made our ADR's at the 180 day mark, but with our 2 preschool boys, I am fully expecting for us to not feel like going back to the park or another resort for dinner at least once during our weeklong stay. So, I was just wondering how easy it would be to make a last minute decision to stay at the resort and eat at Maya Grill.