Is Priority Seating important in January?

[KAK]

My wife & I will be taking our 3 children & my in-laws to WDW in January 05. I am a planner she is not. She says that she can't decide when and where she wants to eat this far in advance. We understand that we need to plan for the shows and character breakfasts. But in January are the resturants that busy? We will be staying at the Beach Club Villas.

 

[Harambe]

Hello KAK, and welcome! We've been in January a few times. It depends on when you go. Most of January is slow, but if you are going over Martin Luther King weekend, or during the WDW marathon, you may be more comfortable with PS's. I always plan and have the PS, because I'd rather be safe than sorry! I usually make about 5 PS's for a week long trip. Of course, popular restaurants require PS's no matter what time of year you go!

Now, if you are planning on the HoopDeeDoo review or the Luau, you can make PS's now! And I would, as the earlier you book, the better your seats for the show!

And, of course, you should have PS's for any character breakfasts that you plan to attend!

Happy Planning!

 

[topcat011]

We went the begining of February (which I thought was a slow time) We did Ohanas on our first night with a PS- there were people walking up and asking for a table and was told 1 hour wait.
We also did Cinderellas Castle for lunch one day and people were being turned away if they didnt have reservations. If you have your heart set on trying a place it doesnt hurt to set a reservation that you can always cancel.

 

[slo]

We always go in September and WDW is pretty slow at that time. But....I am really neurotic about making PS's. I just feel that I know that I am guaranteed to eat where we want to go. We have cancelled certain PS's if we decided last minute to do something else and that has never been a problem. I learned my lesson one year when we went and we wanted to eat at Chef Mickey's and we couldn't because we didn't have a PS. Ever since then I make PS's for everything!!!

Have fun!!

 

[cjsmith]

Being that you are a rather large party, I would make some PS. We're only a party of 5 and sometimes have a hard time getting a table at our favorite places even during the slow times. Pick some of the restaurants that you just MUST dine and and make your PS for the, that way you won't get disappointed.

 

[crisi]

Keep in mind that during "slow" times Disney will not fully staff the restaurants. So there may be tables, but no available seats. We had this happen to us with a late unplanned lunch at Biergarten in October (a traditionally slow time). Plenty of tables - too few servers - meant we had a twenty five minute wait for a table.

 

[solotraveler]

I'll agree with a lot of what has been said here already.

If there is a place you definately want to try- get the PS
Dinner Shows- get the PS
Character Meals- get the PS
Also, since you are a party of five, I would try to get PS for every full service meal you want to try. Better to have it than not.

Now, all that said, you have plenty of time until the PS window opens on most WDW restaurants. SO hopefully you can get the crew a little more excited about planning before then.


Hope this helps!
Solotraveler