No ADR's Needed

[beccab]

I need some suggestions on restaurants that typically do not need ADR's or places that there is a good chance of getting seated in a relatively short time without an ADR.

I don't know how everyone figures out where, when and what they want to eat 180dys in advance. I find this process very challenging and I love planning ahead.

 

[LindaR]

Uummmm........counter service places?!!!!!

Seriously, the ONLY place that we have ever been able to walk into without a ressie is the place in Epcot (Morrocco).

Good luck with that!

 

[sjs314]

Counter serve is about it without ressies, last year we tried walk up at numerous places and were told flat out no, with the exception of RainForest Cafe in AK but I understand they are not on the DP so enough said, forget TS Restarants on the Dp.
The night we went over to DTD it was the same story everything was an hour+ wait, we ended up at McDonalds an now they are gone

 

[ancestry]

I pretty much agree. If you are traveling during a slower period you may be able to walk into a restaurant at an off time (like 3:00 PM for lunch or 9:30 PM for dinner) but even then I wouldn't count on it.

What you can do is look online when it gets closer to your travel date. If you choose a restaurant and time even if that specific restaurant doesn't have any availability the online booking system will show you alternate restaurants that do have openings around the time you are looking for. But keep in mind that you will get what is left that others didn't want to reserve.

 

[Mamu]

It depends on what time of year your going. Although the fall is a slow season I find ADR's are harder to get because of the Food & Wine Festival and Free Dining. Also some restaurants are harder to get ADR's because of their popularity.

We do an adult trip in March and do not have a problem getting ADR's a few day ahead. Come the spring and the summer and holiday weeks it more difficult. Unless there's a restaurant I really want to eat at and know it gets booked months ahead we wing it.

We will be returning in September and have booked our meals already. Knowing there's going to be free dining and lots of the restaurants will be booked solid.

 

[bellefromboston]

Morrocco seems to accept walk-ups often. We were able to get into Les Chefs de France and 50's Prime Time without reservations last trip. My advice would be to go to the restaurant you are interested in as soon as they open (usually 11 am) and check for availability. Also, you should try concierge at your resort. We were able to get a last minute Sci-Fi reservation this way. Also if you go early enough, Cape May Cafe (breakfast) may be able to serve you.

If all else fails, there are some excellent counter service restaurants you could try. Wolfang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich, Starring Rolls, and pretty much anywhere in the world showcase are excellent.

Good Luck!

 

[MSLRAC]

We saw walk ups accepted for breakfast at Cape May and Kona, lunch at Biergarten, Rose and Crown, The Wave and Yak and Yeti and dinner at Cape May. I don't know how long they had to wait but they were at least put on the list. But that was during a lower attendance week in February.

 

[bellefromboston]

Also, there is another thread here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2459310

that you may find helpful.

 

[christinec68]

There are a few EPCOT resort restaurants that don't take ADRs or are pretty easy to get a table:

ESPN Club (BW) - it gets crowded when there's a big sport event otherwise it's not too bad of a wait.
Big River Grill (BW) - I think you can only get ADRs 24 hours in advance or something like that. I never had more then a 15 minute wait here.
Beaches & Cream (BC) - if you when the first open or at an off hour, there might not be a big wait.
The Swan & Dolphin has some really good places.

I would look for places that don't take the dining plan - they might be easier to get a last minute ADR/Table.

 

[leebee]

Here's how I make the ADR's at 180 days out. I look at the park hours and decide which park to go to, based on extra magic hours, special shows (i.e., fantasmic isn't shown every night), etc. Then I make an ADR for my favorite restaurant at/near that park, as we don't do hopper passes. THat way I know I have something good nailed down, for sure, for dinner. As time gets closer and park hours and schedules are refined, I might make changes, but I make the new ADR before canceling the existing one. NO FLAMES! I cancel the ADR I won't be using pdq! However, at 180 days I make a general plan to ensure ADRs in restaurants I like at the times I want. If I need to tweak it at a later date, I do.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

It really depends when you will be in the parks and how flexible your eating schedule is.

Some places just say "no." This is especially true of any character meals and dinner shows. Don't have your heart set on anything specific, because without a reservation, they may no space available. At some places, it's not unusual to wait 20 minutes even with a reservation.

Eat when no one else is eating. My family waited ~20 minutes and got a beautiful spot on the patio of The Brown Derby on our last visit to DHS. Our secret was to show up at 3:15 pm. We had a great late lunch / early supper, sipped wine in the sun, and watched other potential diners being turned away in droves.

Go to resort restaurants. They tend to be less busy than park restaurants.

Go in the rain. Spoodles had plenty of room for our party of five when we headed out in a storm.

Make an ADR at whatever time is offered, but try going when you want to be seated -- you may be surprised. Artist Point had no ADRs between 5:00 and 8:45 pm, so we took the 8:45. But we walked up to the podium at 6:30 and asked if we could be seated early. "No problem sir, we can seat you right now."

 

[GrtWtNorth]

I don't know how everyone figures out where, when and what they want to eat 180dys in advance. I find this process very challenging and I love planning ahead.

I know exactly what you mean. In the past, we've only made reservations for very special meals (Victoria and Albert's, Chef Mickey's).

However, on our next trip, we're going during Food and Wine Festival. We're also planning to travel with two other couples, who are making a separate resort reservations. We drafted a short-list of restaurants we want to try during the trip, and we each made reservations for 6 people at all those restaurants on different days. We essentially have double- or triple-booked evening dining on virtually every day of our stay. We plan to cancel the ones we don't use during the trip (just hours before the reservation). We're working the system to give us the most flexible options, because randomly walking in with six adults would be very dicey.

 

[catne]

if you are going during very busy times (such as holiday weeks) then I suggest you get at least some reservations or you will probably be eating all fast-foods. It can be daunting to plan out...but you can guesstimate which parks you might be at (calendars will be out 6 mos in advance so you'll have good idea which parks will be open late on what days) You will find that most Disney restaurants offer a variety of menu items so not knowing what you're hungry for 6 mos in advance is not that big of a deal. For example, even a place like Coral Reef that's basically a sea food place has steaks and entree-type-salads on the menu. So chances are wherever you book will have something that appeals once you're there.

If you're not going at a spectacularly busy time then you can find availability at resort restaurants, usually on a walk-up or same-day-call basis. NOT character meals though...would not count on getting a walk-up at a character meal, even during slow times (not to say it cannot happen, but your chances would not be good.) Even during slow times you probably will not get walk-up availabilty at in-park restaurants, especially very small/very popular places like Le Cellier, Coral Reef, etc. Going at off-times, especially late lunches, you can usually find some park restaurant availability but not the most popular places.

We've been to Disney numerous times over the last 3 years during January (after holidays), also several times during Free dining in September (Labor Day holiday week) and also in May, both before, during & after Memorial Day weekend. At all three times (yes, even during Free Dining/holiday week) we have seen quite a bit of availability at resort restaurants...varying from a few empty tables up to mostly empty restaurants. And we had good meals at Kona Cafe, Grand Floridian Cafe, Olivia's, Maya Grill, The Wave,and Captain's Grill. If you like exotic, Sanaa at AKL is interesting. Other places to try are Raglan Road and Wolfgang Puck Cafe at Downtown Disney. If you're doing the dining plan, all of these places I've mentioned are 1 TS credit meals.

 

[beccab]

Thanks everyone for all the tips. I do already have many places picked out. There are just a few gaps that I just don't know what we will be doing. It will be just DH and myself so character meals are not an issue. Also, we will be going in the "value" season, the first week of Dec. I think I'll just use my best judgement and make some ADR's and cancel if we change our minds. We will be staying at the YC. I know the eateries at the Dolphin are an option. I have thought of prehaps going to Shula's (if we have any $$ left). Thanks again. You've all given me some good ideas.

 

[Sammie]

Just so you know the first week of December even though its value season will simply mean the parks will not be as busy as peak but Disney restaurants will be busy, it is a very popular time to go.

Also Pop Warner is around that time and other special events that will put more people into the restaurants.

 

[missminniemouse]

In the theme parks the only ones I can think of that you might be able to get a walk up at are: the Plaza, Marrakesh, Nine Dragons, MaMa Melrose, and Yak & Yeti.

I think you'd have much better luck at resort restaurants. Some suggestions I have are: Shutters, Maya Grill, Olivia's, Trail's End, Citricos, Kona Cafe, Boatwright's, The Turf Club, or Captain's Grill. These all seem to be places that aren't on a lot of people's "must do" lists. We've enjoyed Shutters, Maya Grill, Olivia's, Trails End and especially Citricos.

 

[kimysbug]

My DH surprised me with a trip last May.
We go about once a year, but this trip was a gift for graduationg NURSING school.
We had NO adr's
We either walked up or called that day and ate at some grat places
These are the ones I remembered-



Breakfast
Tusker House w/donald- called the had a ADR for an hour after we called

Lunch
Chef's de France down stairs- walked up
Rose and Crown Walked up

Dinner
Coral reef- walked up
Bistro in france up stairs- called that day
Lua at the Poly- called that day

 

[Forever Fairy]

I'd also recommend trying sitting at the bar areas for some restaurants. For example, the Crew's Cup Lounge (directly next to the Steakhouse) will serve an abridged dinner menu and the food actually comes from the Steakhouse. My DH and I found this by luck last Christmas trip (all we wanted was a good steak) and the steakhouse was booked.

For something more casual, you can also sit at the bar at 50's PT Cafe at HS and order anything off the full menu. The only thing is you may need to wait a few minutes for a seat. A lot of times, people sit at the bar waiting for their table. We've had great luck there.

 

[pooh17]

I was at the world 2 weeks ago with DH and we had no problems walking in to several restaurants.

Since it is just you and your DH, try sitting at the bar in restaurants. They don't reserve these seats.

If your schedule allows, try to dine early (~11:30am for lunch and 5-6pm for dinner). This is what we did, and we were never turned away.

Tutto Italia - lunch
Rose & Crown - lunch
Flying Fish - dinner
Turf Club (@SSR) - dinner 2xs
Jiko - dinner
Narcoossee's - dinner

 

[ValpoCory]

We drafted a short-list of restaurants we want to try during the trip, and we each made reservations for 6 people at all those restaurants on different days. We essentially have double- or triple-booked evening dining on virtually every day of our stay. We plan to cancel the ones we don't use during the trip (just hours before the reservation). We're working the system ....

So that's why I can never get a reservation.