Making Dining reservations with kids...or not?

[meggles]

We're going to DL and DCA next week and I have not made any dining reservations. We'll be taking a nap/swim break at our hotel everyday since our youngest is two. With the afternoon break and generally shorter fall hours, I feel like making ADRs might make our days too structured. On the other hand, we have to eat (!) and definitely don't want to be eating all counter service meals. We gravitate towards healthier fare in general and will likely prefer Catal/Uva bar, Jazz Kitchen, maybe Storytellers or Carthay lounge. I should say that we aren't planning on eating at BB or doing character meals- obviously you'd want to prearrange those. I'm feeling like our lunches will most likely be CS and our dinners TS since we can better time those after our break around 5/5:30.

Anyhow...do you usually make reservations, or do you tend to wing it and hope you can eat when and where you want? Especially if you have little kids!

I've checked the Disney dining site and so far a variety of times slots are open at a variety of table service restaurants though we are still a week out and I know that could change.

 

[SMD]

You could alway send someone 10 minutes ahead to put your name in for a table. Or you could try for same day reservations before you leave the hotel. But you might want to do some TS for lunch, since they tend to be cheaper at lunch than dinner.

 

[figment_jii]

For Jazz Kitchen, they say that walk-ups are welcome (and encouraged), so I would guess that they would be a good candidate for just showing up. Carthay Lounge does not take ADRs, so that's another walk-up option.

A little of my answer depends on when specifically you are going. Weekends are generally busier and I think just walk-up to any location would be tougher. I've been turned away from Carthay Lounge on a Saturday night because it was full (in October). I also thinking getting a walk-up at some of the TS location (primarily in DL) on Friday (9/26) will be tough because that's the first MHP, so I would expect to see crowds. I know in the past, they were turning away guests at Blue Bayou and Cafe Orleans.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Carthay would be the only I would make a reservation for. We have been turned away as walk ups before and I have seen them turn away others when we had reservations. We also make them at Jazz Kitchen, although we've done walk up before without a problem. We've done walk up at Storytellers, with a short wait and UVA/Catal with no wait and we are a party of 6.

 

[rms123]

As a family with small kids the same ages as yours, we usually make reservations but only the day of or one day in advance. We like cafe Orleans for a nice break and you can eat healthy there. We also really like the BBQ. So much easier if you have reservations with kids. If you want to go counter service there aren't many in DL that I like. In CA, we like the boardwalk a lot - either pizza/salads or at the Garden Grill.