Newbie here - do I need reservations in January?

[Sprockie]

We've been to Disneyworld several times, but always stayed off-site. We're planning for a January 2018 and staying onsite with dining plan. I see a lot about reservations. Will we be able to walk into a restaurant and be seated in mid to late January, or will we run into trouble without reservations? I suppose a lot depends on how popular the restaurant is and what time of day - I get that.

 

[sharonabe]

You will need reservations, and with the dining plan that is even more important. You don't want to leave any of those credits on the table just because you couldn't find a place to seat you.

There really is no slow time at Disney anymore. Look over the menus and see where you might want to eat. Your post says 2018. Did you mean to say 2017 or are you just planning early? If you really aren't going until 2018, you have about 9 months to look over things and make some decisions before you can make reservations. If you're going in 2017, you need to get on it!

 

[Jennasis]

Walk-ins happen...but they are not the norm. I've had luck with walk-ins at VERY late dinner times (8-9pm or later) and at places that aren't hard to get. Make ADR"S. Don't leave an expensive trip to chance.

 

[LONES]

We always travel in January, and I usually only make a few ADR's. Obviously, lots can factor into restaurant availability, but I am pretty certain you would not get shut out if you didn't make ADR's. I usually make an ADR for Boma, Ohana and BOG lunch. I would not chance those. We travel as a party of 6, and we usually do "same day ADR's" rather than walk ups for the others. We've done same day ADR's for WCC lunch, Teppan Edo lunch, Via Napoli lunch, Biergarten Dinner, Boatwright's dinner, and even scored an 8:00AM pre-park Crystal Palace breakfast the day before. We also like Restaurant Marrakesh at Epcot, and have always been able to do a walk up for lunch.

We tend to like to break up our day with a TS lunch, so I'm sure we have better luck than if we wanted dinner. If you are not terribly picky about times... this approach has worked well for us. If I were you, I would make a few "must do" ADR's, though!

 

[Hopefully]

With over 100 restaurants at WDW you will be able to eat without ADR's . That said, it is likely that you will not always be able to eat where you want, when you want. Popular restaurants fill months in advance, especially in park restaurants. With the advent of the "no show cancellation fee" folks do cancel just before their trip. So yes, you may get lucky. But on the DDP I would have all of my TS meal ADR's made in advance. And I agree, there really isn't a quiet time anymore. Just somewhat less crazy. Plan for crowds or you will be disappointed.
Good Luck

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

If Ohana is on your list, book it ahead of time. I had an ADR that I let go this past Jan (the very last week). I tried to reschedule it for any other day that week, and there was nothing available.

 

[rwdavis2]

You could skip the dining plan and not worry about losing credits. As was said you can get walk-ins unless you have someplace specific in mind.

 

[sueg]

We are going January 7-12 and availability was very limited. We didn't know that Disney marathon was that weekend & most hotels were at capacity. My point is, you never know if "something else" (big business conference etc.) is going on & you are better off making ADRs. They can always be changed/canceled.

 

[Sprockie]

Are Dining Plan people treated differently if you walk in without a reservation than cash paying people? We aren't getting park hoppers and I just can't imagine that we'd trudge around one of the parks for the day, then seek out the restaurant we booked. Knowing our park style, I can see us just stopping some place that looks good and dining there - maybe the odd reservation for something special. Without the park hoppers, I also don't want to be forced to choose one park over another on a particular day because of the dining I have booked. I like to factor in weather etc. before choosing our park for the day. So I guess I am asking, if you're a cash paying customer, will you more likely be seated than if you're a dining plan group?
Maybe no dining plan is the way to go for us.
Thank you to everyone.

 

[nco91590]

If you want to know about walk-ups, I wouldn't chance it. I know how I am, and I get super hangry and will end up eating someplace not so great just to keep from melting down. It's not my best quality lol.

I don't know if you need to do 180 day ADR's for a January trip...unless you want prime seating at a very specific place. When we went in February there were lots of same day reservations listed on MDE app. You can probably "wing it" and make your ADR's in the morning for dinner time.

ETA: I just saw your question and no. DDP and OOP customers are treated exactly the same. When you make your ADR's the system doesn't ask whether or not you're on the DDP. You have to tell your server once you're seated that you're on it. I think the PP was saying that you don't want to waste your dining credit on a poor value or someplace you don't really want to eat because you couldn't find a last minute reservation.

 

[sharonabe]

So I guess I am asking, if you're a cash paying customer, will you more likely be seated than if you're a dining plan group?
Maybe no dining plan is the way to go for us.
Thank you to everyone.

It doesn't matter how you're paying; everyone will be treated the same. The chance you take with the DDP and no ADRs is not getting full value for what you pay for the DDP. No dining plan would allow you to "eat on the fly" and not worry about the money you paid for the plan.

 

[Sprockie]

So I can use the disney app, find a place to eat that interests us, reserve and go - regardless of dining plan or paying cash?
I have a lot of research to do.............
Thanks again.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Disneys dining model is built on ADR, advanced dining reservations

I have seen many reports of walk ups turned away who then book an ADR and have a table n minutes

Many walk ups are turned away every day

If ts is important to you, make adrs

 

[KrazeeK120]

We are going January 7-12 and availability was very limited. We didn't know that Disney marathon was that weekend & most hotels were at capacity. My point is, you never know if "something else" (big business conference etc.) is going on & you are better off making ADRs. They can always be changed/canceled.

Eh, I'm not sure that a big business conference would affect restaurants all that much. Most of those types of things have some meals catered. Even a big conference isn't going to make a noticeable dent in park attendance.

Now, a huge, widely publicized event like marathon weekend, which draws many many thousands of participants (and a lot of their families) to Disney will most certainly have an impact on the parks and ADRs.

Not sure when OP is going, but the Pro Bowl is in Orlando at the end of January with events at Disney leading up to it. This could be a draw for some people.

Bottom line is that it's always a good idea to have ADRs. If you want to be relatively spontaneous, you can always book a same-day ADR using the MDE app for whichever park/area you find yourself in on that day. You likely won't be able to get into the "popular" places with this method, but you won't starve either.

 

[Harambe]

I make about 6 TS ADRs for our January trips (have been twice and am going again this Jan). I made only two dinner ADRs at about 90 days out, because the two restaurants are popular (Le Cellier and Sci-Fi) and got just what I wanted. The other ADRs are a few at our resort hotel, and a couple of places for lunch at restaurants not on the "biggie" list (like Spice Road Table). We hate big, crowded, noisy places so most of the heavy hitters are out for us, although DH wanted Le Cellier because we've eaten at every other country at Epcot and he feels we need to go to "complete the set" LOL!

If you are going the last two weeks (after the marathon and MLK weekend), you may be okay getting same day ADRs as long as you are not trying for the most popular restaurants.

 

[Cinderella94]

Are Dining Plan people treated differently if you walk in without a reservation than cash paying people? We aren't getting park hoppers and I just can't imagine that we'd trudge around one of the parks for the day, then seek out the restaurant we booked. Knowing our park style, I can see us just stopping some place that looks good and dining there - maybe the odd reservation for something special. Without the park hoppers, I also don't want to be forced to choose one park over another on a particular day because of the dining I have booked. I like to factor in weather etc. before choosing our park for the day. So I guess I am asking, if you're a cash paying customer, will you more likely be seated than if you're a dining plan group?
Maybe no dining plan is the way to go for us.
Thank you to everyone.

It makes no difference at all - I've never been a walk-up but I've overheard many people getting turned away and they've never been asked if they're DDP or cash.

 

[Lisa F]

people seem to have very good luck making last minute ADRs IF they are flexible about where and when they want to eat. I would not really recommend doing this with a big party and kids but if it's just adults I say go for it. with a 1 day cancellation requirement to not pay the $10 no show fee things DO open up the day before.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

So I can use the disney app, find a place to eat that interests us, reserve and go - regardless of dining plan or paying cash?
I have a lot of research to do.............
Thanks again.

Yes, we go a lot and we do this all the time. We rarely make ADR's anymore (unless we really want to eat somewhere new on a trip) and we simply check the MDE app while we are walking around to see what is available when we start to get hungry. If you are flexible and aren't looking for hard-to-get restaurants (BOG, CRT, etc.), you will be fine. Particularly in EP, there are some great TS that tend to have a lot of availability (we've walked up to Spice Road Table a few times and it's great). AK is fairly easy if you get a Landry's Select Card (it's $25 which goes toward your bill). With the card you get priority seating at Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti and will be seated sooner than those with ADR's. MK is a little trickier as there aren't a lot of TS, but the Plaza is now a walk-up restaurant and there are some good QS in MK (we like Columbia Harbor House). If you are willing to leave MK, there are some great casual restaurants at the monorail resorts (we like the Wave). At DHS, you can walk up at the lounge at HBD, but, again, just check the app and you'll most likely find something available if you aren't too picky.

 

[Canooknic]

Yes, we go a lot and we do this all the time. We rarely make ADR's anymore (unless we really want to eat somewhere new on a trip) and we simply check the MDE app while we are walking around to see what is available when we start to get hungry. If you are flexible and aren't looking for hard-to-get restaurants (BOG, CRT, etc.), you will be fine.

This is exactly what we do on all our February trips. There's always a couple of restaurants that we want to try so we make ADRs for those but for the other 8-12 days we just go with the flow and use MDE or OpenTable when we know roughly where we're going to be around dinner time