Last minute/day of ADRs

[bbak30]

Heading down to WDW Friday for 9 days. We usually have the DDP and this our first time going without. I have 3 ADRs and we are planning some quick service and maybe even offsite meals.
Any tips on last minute ADRs we may be able to score? This is new for us but we are looking forward to some freedom.
TIA!

 

[Harambe]

And you will enjoy the freedom! We never do the DDP but did do about 6 or 7 ADRS per 10 day trip. This trip, we headed down with that many but we ended up dropping a lot of those in favor for some of the great (yet could be expensive) QS places. That allowed us to switch up our park days a few times, since we had no ADRs that we had to get to. I will always make a few ADRs each trip, but I won't feel the need to load up.

We dropped Spice Road Table for a lunch ADR, but on two different days, we walked by and could see that a walk in was possible. We also walked into Splitsville on a Thursday night and there were plenty of open tables.

 

[samsteele]

Most DIS'rs will strongly suggest that you check online for ADRs the night before or even early morning of the day you wish to eat for best selection. I agree with @Harambe that Spice Road is often open. Restaurant Marrakesh as well. Sometimes Tokyo Dining. All are decent places to eat if you find food on the menu that appeals. Another tip is to make lunch your big meal and eat QS for dinner. Sometimes significantly more lunch ADRs available at on demand TS restaurants.

 

[eastendlights]

The Wave at CR has excellent food and is almost always available last minute. Since part of your trip will include F&G, there may be more ADR's open in Epcot than usual since many go for the outdoor kitchens.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Wife and I had pretty good luck getting day-of reservations in Epcot last trip. Ate at Chefs de France and San Angel Inn. Dinners will probably be tougher but places like The Wave, Kona Cafe and Captain's Grille should all be possible.

 

[disneyvoice]

If you check for ADRs the night before you have a reasonable good chance of getting into many places. I have even been able to get places like Chef Mickey, Cinderella's Castle, BoG, etc. Day off is more difficult if you want the more popular places because people will have had to cancel their ADRs by the night before. There are still many places you can get into though - even during the busiest times we have been able to get an ADR or walk up right before we wanted to eat.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

We were able to get an early ADR for 'Ohana for our family of 5 by checking the day before! There seems to be lots of popular spots available if you check the day before you want the reservation.

 

[Disneylover99]

We find Via Napoli, Biergarten and Ohana easy for last minute reservations.
Ohana, because I think many people double/triple book it and then dump the ones they don't need a day or two out.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Maya Grill at Coronado Springs or Olivia's at Old Key West.

 

[DisBuckMan]

We've scheduled fewer and fewer ADR's on our last several trips, and we're loving it.

Our next trip is in 89 days, and we haven't scheduled a single ADR at this point, and don't plan to. Night before, or preferably same day ADR's for us from now on is the plan. Very liberating. We're looking forward to it.

On our last trip, I kept an eye on restaurants on the app while standing in lines, and there were always ADR's available both same day and next day for pretty much any restaurant.

 

[samsteele]

Thought to add that Skippers Canteen in MK and Yak & Yeti in AK often have empty tables & walk-ins are doable.

 

[loves to dive]

We are another family that don't book ADRs in advance, usually it's early afternoon while walking around in the parks since we rarely know if we want a sit down meal or just to roam around and eat. We have never had a problem finding a same day ADR, it might not be at the "must do" places but we like trying new things and every single trip find a new favorite. Right now it's Tiffins but I'm sure that will change next trip.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We made a few last minute ADR's on our last trip, we were surprised! We were there during a slower week though, but we managed to get Ohana breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, Teppan Edo dinner and Cape May Café dinner all the night before we wanted to go to each. We actually enjoyed doing it that way, instead of 6 months before.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We rarely make ADR's anymore. I typically get on my phone about 2 hours prior to when we want to eat and see what's available in close proximity to where we are at the moment. We have always been able to do walk-ups at Spice Road Table in EP, which I highly recommend.

If you are in DS or in the Boardwalk area, there are a few DS and Swan/Dolphin restaurants on opentable.com which is free to use. I usually just go on my phone and see what's available through their app. You can call many DS and Swan/Dolphin restaurants directly for same-day reservations as well. Kimono's takes walk ups if you like sushi.

If you have time, I would also suggest getting the Landry's Select Club card. It costs $25 but that goes toward your bill and it will get you priority seating at Rainforest Cafe, TRex and Yak & Yeti. You will get seated even before people with ADR's and you can show up at any time without a reservation. We use this a lot in AK so we can just go to Yak & Yeti whenever we are ready to eat lunch. Last time we were there in mid-December it was packed and we were seated literally within 2 minutes.

 

[Doug S]

Check out Touring Plans' reservation finder. It will constantly check for ADR's for a date & time range and email/text you if it finds one. This is by far the easiest way to nab a reservation.

 

[kastoney]

Hi there stranger!!!!!! Congrats on heading back again. We just got back last week and I'm already longing for another visit.

As you may recall my family is all about the last minute ADRs. Lunch is most definitely the easiest ones to come by so perhaps you could do more lunches and offsite or CS for dinner. I can literally think of no restaurant we've wanted to eat at that I couldn't find last minute. If you start looking the night before and early in the morning that is when most stuff is open up, but we've even had luck a few minutes before eating It's also fun just to check dining availability for any day of the week and see what is open and what you'd pick. For example get online now and see what options your family would have

 

[amberpi]

I love last minute ADRs, because I probably have never planned a WDW vacation more than 6 weeks in advance. I try and then wing it - you see a lot more availablity on the app than asking in person. Not sure how that works, but it does. A PP mentioned opentable.com and I wanted to second that. Last minute is pretty great - especially if you like to eat later like I do.

 

[gingerfeathers]

I had very good luck with last minute ADRs recently. Lots of options.

 

[Sepo]

If you are ever interested in an early dinner, walk ups can be a very short wait. Similarly, using the MDE app in the hour before an early dinner can be the best of both worlds: confirm what you are in the mood for that afternoon without the bonds that come with more advanced scheduling. This is most helpful at Epcot.

We stopped doing most ADRs 2 years ago and to echo what many PPs said here, incredibly liberating. Maybe an occasional location specific meal, at the GF for example.

 

[Surgie]

I also use the Touring Plans reservation finder feature. It works great! We were in Orlando last month for 4 days not visiting parks. No ADRs. We ate dinner at California Grill, Saana and Narcoossee's all through the TP reservation finder.

Two years ago four of us went to Epcot for the day. No ADR. We walked up to the Moroccan restaurant and they said they had no availability the whole evening. I stood outside on my phone and found a reservation through the MDE app that was within the hour.

Those experiences have convinced me to minimize our ADRs for our 2018 family trip. We will do a character breakfast, maybe two to be strategic for entering AK. But I agree with others. It already feels liberating to take that out of the planning equation. I am amazed at people with small children and the list af ADRs they make...sometimes two TS meals a day! Maybe it's because they have DP which we will never do. But our family is all on the same page...we'd rather visit parks and hang out at the resort and keep meals simple as we go rather than spending literally hours of our trip in sit-down restaurants.