meals without ressies

[theycallmewinnie]

My family is more spontaneous when it comes to eating than most. I really can't make plans in advance as we probably would not get there.

Any suggestions as to how my family could get into some of your favorite Disney park dining without reservations? Are there better times to try? Are there any places you've found where you didn't need a reservation and got seated relatively quickly?

 

[Forevryoung]

Hmmmmmm spontaneous, yet wants to know better times to try... seems contradictory but I could be wrong.

you COULD try anywhere at any time, no guarantee that they have a table for you for any time during the next 10 days, especially during the busy times of the year (from now till end of free dining then again at thanksgiving and christmas...)

I suggest trying either really early or really late (for lunch or dinner). You might be able to catch a table for a 8:45-9pm dinner. It also depends on how many people in your family.

In the parks you need reservations nearly anywhere- try guest services when the park opens and ask what is available that day and make your reservation at that point. Don't wait because they will be gone by people doing the same thing.

And my best tip is to be ready with a list of counter service places that you are going to be eating at at each park.

 

[bicker]

Sponteneity generally could lead to taking a spontaneous trip to CBR or PO for dinner....

 

[bigbabyblues]

We just got back for a 9-day trip and saw plenty of people being turned away with no ADRs. At Mama Melrose's, a family walked up around 5:30 or so and was offered a table for 8:40 that evening. That would not work for us, our kids are little and that's way too late for us. That was the only place anyone was offered a time, the rest of the places they were just turned away.

 

[Mkrop]

I would recommend making some, you can always cancel. Make sure you do cancel so someone else may be able to use it.

DH too did not want a reservation for everything. He thought it was ridculous, we could get a table blah blah. I made some mostly lunches since I have young kids never knew where we would be in the evenings.

And even our first morning we walked into Chef Mickey at 7:15 so he was convinced I was wrong.

Well then he started wanting more TS service and started calling esp Concourse Steakhouse and all the times were late, not working with my kids, we did finally get in one off day. And when I tried to movea character meal from breakfast to lunch they could not help me so I moved my ADR upa 1/2 hr to give us more time to get to the park.

ANd yes get a list of counter service places so you know where they are and maybe even what they serve. You can go on allearsnet.com and look at menus!

Have fun!

 

[winterman]

My family is more spontaneous when it comes to eating than most. I really can't make plans in advance as we probably would not get there.

Any suggestions as to how my family could get into some of your favorite Disney park dining without reservations? Are there better times to try? Are there any places you've found where you didn't need a reservation and got seated relatively quickly?

I hope you are not going during the free dining period. From what we have seen the last two years, you could have quite a wait for a table without ADRs. My guess is that during the rest of the year it would not be so bad. How big is your group? I believe a large group would also probably have to wait longer.

I would suggest that you try and make ADRs at least at a few places.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you eat very early, or very late, you may be able to be seated. Eat lunch as soon as a restaurant opens for lunch, or close to their closing for lunch.
You may be able to get seated at Marrakesh in Morocco, or Nine Dragons in China. Most of the more popular spots are going to be filled with those who made ADRs. You may find yourselves eating at counter service type spots more often than not.

 

[Inkmahm]

I hope you are not going during the free dining period. From what we have seen the last two years, you could have quite a wait for a table without ADRs. My guess is that during the rest of the year it would not be so bad. How big is your group? I believe a large group would also probably have to wait longer.

I would suggest that you try and make ADRs at least at a few places.

I'm at Disney in early December and then again in March or April. Neither are free dining periods, both absolutely require ADRs if you're going to eat where and when you want to eat. Our last trip in April we had 5:30 reserations at the Brown Derby and I saw a man come in and hear that there were NO times at all available for him to eat there. The person at the desk checked for any other restaurant at MGM for him and there was one opening at something like 9:40 pm. No, thanks. I'll plan ahead and make sure I have dinner at a reasonable hour at a restaurant that I want to eat at. I always have ADRs for dinner and probably at least 75% of the time for lunch, too. Mine are done already for our December trip.

 

[hockeybabe]

Consider TS lunches instead of dinners, you have a better chance of not waiting as long.

Be prepared to park hop; with only a few TS restaurants at MK, MGM and none at AK, EPCOT may be your best bet, or a resort TS.

Buffet style restaurants may have a shorter wait time due to the fact that patrons don't have to wait for wait staff nor do they wait for their meal to be prepared.

Check out the counter service menus at allearsnet.com and have plenty of back-up options ready. You may end up spending more time trying to find a TS or waiting around for a seat at a TS then you would if you had given up your spontenatity avoiding making ADRs. With so few choices in MK and MGM, and if you consider the possible number of tables in each restaurant, consider the number of guests in any given park in any given day, even if the ADR system didn't exist, the chances of you getting in a restaurant would be limited. I made ADRs in advance of some places we ate last trip, and still waited over an hour for Cinderella's Castle, and over 30 minutes for Ohanas. As a walk up, we waited 70 mintues for Whispering Canyon at 9 pm. Now also consider that a great number of people made an ADR 180 days out, and that the ADR system is not really a reservation, but more like holding you a place in line until the people before you are finished eating, you may decide that TS without ADRs is more of a gamble and not worth your time. Have that CS list ready, so you have something to eat and when TS's spontaniously work for you, you can feel like you got an extra dose of pixie dust! My sister didn't make ADR's, and got frustrated at MGM when they couldn't find anywhere to eat, so they left for Downtown Disney, opting to miss Fantasmic...crazy!!!! Don't miss the parks and attractions for food! Eat CS and get TS when you can, and if you can't, go home after WDW and treat yourself to some really nice restaurants!

 

[MinnieCandi]

We were at the World last November and were able to change some of the ADR's that were made advance. We had an ADR for at Spoodles and wanted to stay in the parks to eat so we were lucky and got a reservation for LLT in MK. The desk at CB helped us make the change in the morning.

However, when we got to LLT that evening the CM at the desk turned away three groups people telling them they had no tables left for the rest of the night. We did have a reservation, so we only had to wait about 5 minutes for our table.

So the question is, how spontaneous are you? You could try to make reservations in the morning and you might get lucky like we did. But I would not try to walk into a table service restaurant and expect to get seated.

To be safe, maybe you could make just a couple of ADR's at the places you really want to eat (especially character meals), and then play it by ear for the rest of your meals. Good Luck!

 

[robinb]

I'm sorry, but "spontaneous" and "table service meals" simply do not go together anymore. Heck, "3-months-in-advance" and "character meals" is a no-go too!

You will be fine if you are happy with Counter Service meals in the parks and the Food Court at your resort. The Pepper Market at CSR has great food with a very short wait. You also *might* be able to get a last-minute reservation at one of the out of the way resort restaurants like at POR, OKW or SSR. I know that there is sometimes availability at DTD ... my family was able to get a reservation at the Irish restaurant with one day notice during free dining last year. I still wouldn't just *show up* at any of those places hoping to get in! I would try to make a reservation earlier in the day, but that takes the "spontaneous" out of things.

There are other places on the Boardwalk which do not accept reservations at all: ESPN Club, the Big River (?) Brewpub, and Beaches and Cream. Be prepared to wait for all of them during regular dinner times.

Good luck!

 

[dischick4778]

I think it depends on a couple of things - what time of year and how many people. It is not impossible, but you have to be willing to be flexible. You could try each day as you get to the park your interested in checking for any ressies available for that evening. Not exactly spontaneous, but close enough. As long as you're willing to have either an ealry or late dinner you should be fine. You could even do late lunches (say around 3 or 4) and then have really yummy dessert later on. Also, there are some restaurants that are generally more accomodating because of space, like Fulton's Crab House. I have gone there several times with a ressie and didn't need it because there was no one waiting since they have a lot of tables. As I said, it is possible but you have to be flexible.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Oooo I love spontaneity. In fact, I plan on being spontaneous tomorow at 3pm.

 

[sunee]

Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom isn't too hard to snap up. I often call the same day - once I called 30 minutes ahead of time - and get seating. You can also monorail over to the Poly or GF to eat there.

Mexico in Epcot is usually pretty easy for lunch or EARLY dinner. So is the Garden Grill. Restaurant Marrakesh (a really great meal and experience - belly dancer! ) is almost always available whenever you want to eat.

50's Prime Time Cafe in MGM isn't too hard to get for lunch - even dinner sometimes. I have called and found they were booked, but it doesn't happen a lot.

If you aren't too picky about where you're eating, you should be OK. Me, myself, I don't like having to think about this stuff while I'm there and usually plan it out ahead of time. But, that's me. I've got Disney Dining on the speed dial...so there you go.

I've made plenty of last-minute trips. Last-minute, as in we decide to go that night or the next day. And I've never had to eat all my meals in the hotel or at counter-service place. Just call ahead of time.

The really weird thing is that if you show up at the podium, they'll turn you away. But if you then walk out the door and call, you can get a seat. Strange, but true.

 

[eliza61]

My family is more spontaneous when it comes to eating than most. I really can't make plans in advance as we probably would not get there.

Any suggestions as to how my family could get into some of your favorite Disney park dining without reservations? Are there better times to try? Are there any places you've found where you didn't need a reservation and got seated relatively quickly?

My family and I stopped making ADR's the last couple of visit. We too also love to travel pretty spontaneously and I hate trying to figure out what I'm going to eat 6 months in advance. Here are some of my tips. 1 thing you should know, we go to Disney almost every year, so I've done almost every restaurant. So my mind set is a little different, if I don't get into a particular restaurant is not a big deal.

1) Are you flexible. Trying to eat during prime feeding is impossible without a adr. I've never been turned away for a dinner at 7:00 pm. Never. We also love eating what we call brunch. It's a very late breakfast or early lunch. This is very easy especially for TS because a lot of people don't do TS's for breakfast. Once again we have walked into major restaurants in the parks.
2) Character meals require ADR's. period. The DDP has made this very affordable especially for families with kids.
3)Resort restaurants have been easy to get into for us. This may require some travel time but we've had great success.
4) When you wake up every morning, call down to Disney Dining. See what is available-then go with it.

Once again, the key is flexibility. Ooh I should mention, we go during slow to average times. Last trip was March 17th-27 of this year. Didn't have 1 ADR, didn't wait more than 30 mins. We ate at
Tony's MK
Mama Melrose MGM
Sci-fi diner MGM
Whispering Canyon cafe Wilderness lodge
Yacht club galley Yacht club
Boma AK
Rainforest cafe AK

Next trip 11/6-11/10 Jersey week. 1ADR planned because it is my son's 14th B-day and we wanted a cake.

 

[madcoco]

We visited Epcot Sat and walked right up to the UK and was seated right at opening(12PM) without ressies.
Had a good meal.Quality was still there but portion size definitely decreased a bit. Not complaining. The Imperial Beer Sampler hasn't changed and is a meal in itself.

 

[theycallmewinnie]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We aren't looking for character meals or anything really special - just thought I might be able to get in a more relaxing meal than counter service. Since we will be there in mid-June, just a nice place out of the heat will do.

As to whether or not we are really spontaneous, well my husband is, but sometimes I like to be ahead of the game with a few alternate plans (it keeps me sane). yes, planned spontaneity - an oxymoron.

Perhaps your suggestions of brunch/early lunch or early supper will work as I could call that day for a time.

As to cancelling, I really don't like doing this - it seems like people should not be scooping up reservations that the next person could use. (Especially those of you that really like to have your plans made well in advance and are disappointed).

Again, thanks to all for some interesting choices, too!!

 

[kimberh]

I just returned from a trip the 3rd week in May. I saw numerous families being turned away from TS restaurants, at the park restaurants. Please post back and let us know how your trip went with the meals.

 

[scrapperjill]

Seems to me like you could end up spending ALOT more time searching for a place to eat when the fancy strikes....than it would take to put some planning into the day. I don't like the idea of being stuck to a rigid plan either...but I also don't like the idea of spending an hour hunting for someplace that'll take us in for a meal. I think one big question is...are you on the DDP? Or are you paying OOP? I just ask because if you are on the DDP how will you feel if your not able to get into any TS places to use your credits? IMO that would be a waste of being on the DDP...if that was the case.

Like I was saying I don't like being on a rigid plan while on vacation either...BUT planning in a few meal times really doesn't seem like the worst idea....it would really only come down to really planning one a day. And with that you could sorta go on what your family eatting schedule is like at home.

Good luck...if you decide to go totally spontanious

 

[2angelsinheaven]

We find that Germany, China, Moroco in EPCOT normally have openings. The Plaza in MK sometimes is open. Whispering Canyon at the WL is another one.