Is there even a chance during the free dining dates that we could walk into a table s

[Elliesmommy]

I signed up for the "free" dining plan and upgraded to include one sit down meal a day.

(I put "free" in quotes because there were cheaper deals available without the "free" dining plan.)

Because I booked our vacay only two months in advance, our table service options are slightly limited. Okay... understandable...we will deal

When I signed up for "free" dining, I was still under the idea that dining was easy to get without a rezzie at most restaurants.... apparently things have changed at WDW in the past few years and I am learning that rezzies are pretty much required for any sit down meal, especially during the "free" dining times.

I am usually a spontaneous person, and so is my husband, however we are now required to plan which park we are going to on which day and where we are going to eat that day. This requires us to know the weather ahead of time, know what we will be hungry for, and what time we will be hungry. Hmpf....

Wish I would not have upgraded and stayed with counter service meals....my bad

Anyway, after days of looking through table service menus, I am frustrated, tired, and ready to just take my chances on walk up rezzies.

Is there even a chance during the free dining dates that we could walk into a table service restaurant and get seated without a prior rezzie?
Any restaurants have a better chance than others for walk ins? I am not picky, I just am not a person to carry around a spreadsheet planner... ya know?

I am not complaining, I am just trying to make the most out of my poor decision...

 

[Nadjalu]

Your chance of walking up to a TS without an adr during free dining is SLIM to none. Honestly.

Last year during the slowest season of the year...right after Thanksgiving, every day upon entering the park at 10amish....there were big signs....All TS restaurants booked, please enjoy a meal at our CS places.

If you are so frustrated now, you will be even more when you have paid extra money and can't get in.
I would see if you can change back to the CS plan and do that.

If you can't, I would simply make adrs for foods that you know you like.
If you don't have hoppers it is best to make them for places in the resorts, that way you can leave to eat and then return to the park you were at.

But to walk up....in all honesty you will be turned away or have more than a 2+ wait at the most unpopular restaurants.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Considering you've already put down the $ for the TS DDP meals- while far from spontaneous- it would be best if you try and book something each day. Dinner is going to be the most bang for your buck. You could always look on the Disney web site to see what's available currently for dinner each day and just pick one. If you wind up with or walk in to something better, you can cancel it- but at least you'll have something booked and know that $ you've spent for TS isn't being wasted on CS.

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

there was only two of us last year during free dining. There were several occassions that we managed to get in a TS restaurant which included Boma, Plaza, Yak and Yeti, Sci Fi, Mama Melrose.

We would decide in the morning walk over to the restaurant as soon as it opened and asked about their availability. We were not requesting to eat straight away so you don't need to worry that you will have to eat really early!

I guess it all depends on the size of your party and how flexible you are! But I would some ADRs for the restaurants you really want!

 

[mousefan1972]

I really don't understand how people can say, "How do I know when I'll be hungry 6 months from now?" Do you not eat dinner around the same time every night at home? Do you dine at 5 pm one night and 9 pm the next? Probably not. We eat dinner at home around 5:30-6 pm each night, so that is the time I book our dinner reservations when we are in Disney. And as for the other argument, "How do I know what I'll be hungry for?" Again, do your tastes change from night to night? Either you like steak, or seafood, or you don't. I think some people make this harder than it needs to be.

I do agree that if you are not a regular visitor to WDW (we are) that it can be hard to know what park you will be in. If your plans aren't certain, book a dining ressie at a resort or at DtD. That will give you more flexibility.

 

[Elliesmommy]

Mousefan1972,

In my experience in life, many people are not able to keep a steady schedule.

My family for example, I work 12 hour days a few days a week, have night school on others, day school on others.... my husband works various hours as well. We do not have a solid schedule to eat around.

Also, although I may find Mexican food appealing today, I may not find it appealing at the time of our rezzie. Like I said in my OP, I am not complaining. It is my own fault for not researching before I booked.

It is a vacation and I want it to be relaxing and worry free... that is all.

 

[ratlenhum]

At a few of the places we ate this summer, walk ups were told "we're only seating people with reservations at this point."

We were there before the free dining deal started in August. We had free dining with a PIN though. So it wasn't even crazy free dining time and people couldn't get tables. I wouldn't chance it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You simply need to be flexible. Many of the restaurants are in parks, but many Dining Plan restaurants are in resorts as well. These are often less busy - and thus more likely to be able to seat you - than the in-park locations.

You can go to City Hall in the Magic Kingdom, Guest Services at any other park, or ANY sit-down restaurant and ask for assistance. All the restaurants are connected to the same system, all have the same data. The Cast Members will be able to tell you where there's seating. Some less convenient, often overlooked locations are Maya Grill at Coronado Springs, Boatwright's at Port Orleans, Olivia's at Old Key West, and Turf Club at Saratoga Springs.

 

[blurgh]

I'm going in a week, for 5 days, and for every day of the trip, there's 40+ restaurants available for ADR's currently, and 50+ for one of them. the really popular places aren't available, but I basically could have booked anything I booked 3 months ago, right now.

It probably depends on when you're going, but I think if you're going on a really off week and you're not too "choosy" about where you eat, you should be able to get something walking up.

Honestly, I think it's going to be dead when I go. I could have booked my entire trip today, hotel, dining, everything, right now.

edit: I'm not really condoning this, I'd go with placeholder ADR's regardless, so don't blame me if things don't go exactly as planned. lol. But it really doesn't seem like they've totally packed the resorts and restaurants with rampant free dining.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'm going to amend that to say your chances of walking into a restaurant INSIDE a theme park, or a popular restaurant, are slim, but not none.

Since you need to use your TS credits to get the value for them (you did pay for them by upgrading, and you did state you gave up a better discount for upgraded free dining) you may want to try restaurants at Downtown Disney (Raglan Road, Planet Hollywood, Wolfgang Puck Cafe and Cap'n Jack's accept the dining plan out there) or restaurants in outlying resorts - Olivia's at Old Key West, Shutters at Caribbean Beach, Turf Club at Saratoga Springs, Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Villas, Maya Grill at Coronado Springs. You may also want to try some of the signature restaurants as they do not get as much traffic as the 1-credit restaurants (with the exception of California Grill and Narcoosees near fireworks times)

If you want any character meals you should probably at least try to make reservations for those.

 

[Krmrr]

My wife and I are going for 5 days starting Dec 3rd. On the 4th, we will be at Epcot. Will eat a late lunch and attend the 1st Candlelight processional. After that we MAY eat, I have been checking as of 5 min. ago; there were 10 TS restaurants with available dining and 14 time slots ranging from 6:45 to 9:30. Also all of the Downtown Disney dining plan restaurants, except Planet Hollywood, have at least 2 slots open. Since I have a car and am not sure how hungry, etc., I'm going to wing it. I'll keep checking and if everything fills up I might make and ADR.

Just use the online reservation service; but in the area(s) you think you might be that day and go to the top of the time box and check Dinner and check the participate in the dining plan. In seconds you can see if you have any places to eat.

 

[mousefan1972]

Mousefan1972,

In my experience in life, many people are not able to keep a steady schedule.

My family for example, I work 12 hour days a few days a week, have night school on others, day school on others.... my husband works various hours as well. We do not have a solid schedule to eat around.

Also, although I may find Mexican food appealing today, I may not find it appealing at the time of our rezzie. Like I said in my OP, I am not complaining. It is my own fault for not researching before I booked.

It is a vacation and I want it to be relaxing and worry free... that is all.

I'm sorry, I should have added a *not directed at the OP* disclaimer in my post. I thought of it after I went to bed. So many people DO complain here (not you) that they didn't book their dining ressies 6 months out because how could they possibly know when they would be hungry that far in advance, etc. Then, 4 weeks away from their trip, they complain that they can't get the ressies they want at the times they want.

It sounds like the DDP w/ the TS included may not be right for you. We are used to a fairly predictable schedule at home, so we don't find it stressful to schedule a TS for dinner every night in Disney. But if it will cause you stress to have to adjust your plans to make your ADRs, should you switch back to the QSDP instead? I'd hate for you to be stressed out on your vacation...

 

[Missytara]

Don't forget that you can sit at the bar and use your table service credits.

I go by myself and booked a table for 1, for each night in anticipation of free dining being extended and it was, for sure.

Each night, I noticed if there was seating at the bar, I offered to give up my 2-top to the next person and they were happy to move up on the list.

You can do the same thing with two people. It is somewhat easy at certain times of day to find room at the bar.

 

[skullsplitter]

I'm going in a week, for 5 days, and for every day of the trip, there's 40+ restaurants available for ADR's currently, and 50+ for one of them. the really popular places aren't available, but I basically could have booked anything I booked 3 months ago, right now.

It probably depends on when you're going, but I think if you're going on a really off week and you're not too "choosy" about where you eat, you should be able to get something walking up.

Honestly, I think it's going to be dead when I go. I could have booked my entire trip today, hotel, dining, everything, right now.

edit: I'm not really condoning this, I'd go with placeholder ADR's regardless, so don't blame me if things don't go exactly as planned. lol. But it really doesn't seem like they've totally packed the resorts and restaurants with rampant free dining.

How do you see the available ADRs for all restaurants? Or are you checking each one individually?

 

[Alabama Minnie]

We have always had better luck getting in at LUNCH without ressies and asking early. We have been "worked-in" at 50's Primetime (DHS), LeChefs (Epcot) and believe it or not, 3 times for LUNCH at CRT (MK). Then you could grab something counter service for dinner. I think it is easier if there are only 2 of you and maybe not as difficult since you are going in January. Good Luck!!

 

[Krmrr]

Go to the Disney Website. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/

Click on Where to eat and scroll down to Make Dining Reservations.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/

Under make a Reservation, click on Location and you can choose the area you are primarily interested in (Use Epcot, for example)

Use the calendar to choose your date.

Now, go to the top of the time box and check Dinner. You will not see Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner unless you MOVE up from 6:30 a.m. It is better to choose dinner than say 5:30 pm. Since it only looks around 5:30 and Dinner checks all times.

Move to the box in front of "Only show restaurants participating in the Disney Dining Plan" and check it.

Put in # of Diners.

Now click on "Search for a table"

It will show you all the Places and the times available for ADRs. Also, lists those places that all not available (FULL).

NOTE: On the left side you will see a box Narrow your Search. Here you can add in other areas. For example, check on Down Town Disney and those places are added, uncheck the Epcot box and those will be remove leaving only Downtown. You can quickly check each area for availability.

Hope this helps,

Have FUN!

 

[skullsplitter]

Yeah, I know how to do this. I was hoping there was a way to check a week at a time or multiple days. Thanks for replying though.