Non guest dining

[sabarrett328]

My wife and I have an event next month in Orlando. For dinner one night we have a reservation at Boma. We wanted to go and check out the resort and hopefully see some animals before dinner. I was wondering if there is a time limit that you can arrive early before the reservation to gawk around? I was hoping to get there maybe an hour to hour and a half before our reservation.

Is that possible?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[OKW Lover]

Yes, you can do this. When you get to the guard shack at the entrance to the parking lot you'll need to show a photo ID to the guard and tell them that you have a dinner reservation at Boma. It won't be a problem to get there a bit early to wander the lobby and check out the animals on the savannas.

 

[Kingkonig]

We did that as a family (at that specific restaurant too) back 15 or so years ago.

Actually I don't know if I've ever been to Disney World (post AKL opening) without eating at Boma. But I DO know that I've been to Boma multiple times without doing anything else at WDW.

 

[sabarrett328]

I know it can be done, I was wondering if there is any restriction on how early we can get there and hang around not being a guest. I doubt there would be any way of policing it other than someone at the gate checking that we are an hour or two ahead of our seating. Something tells me it doesn't matter, since most likely we are going to stop and spend some money, but who knows. Anyone have any info?

 

[_19disnA]

Disney has gotten wise over the years to people who want to park for free at a resort and then walk to one of the nearby parks. Resorts closest to the parks are the ones that tend to have the most restrictions. Time of day and how busy they are can also matter, since they don't want the parking lots of resorts to fill up such that people actually staying there have nowhere to park. Many older threads on this topic. Some will tell you none of that matters, while others will post comments about being turned away from various resorts.............so your mileage may vary.

If you have an ADR you are generally permitted to park for some period of time prior to your reservation. People trying to 'game' the parking system also figured out that placing a mobile order was a way to get around the parking restrictions, so Disney has gotten wise to that scheme as well.

 

[sabarrett328]

Ok, well thanks for the info. I guess we will see when we get there. Traveling is partially about the adventure!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I know it can be done, I was wondering if there is any restriction on how early we can get there and hang around not being a guest. I doubt there would be any way of policing it other than someone at the gate checking that we are an hour or two ahead of our seating. Something tells me it doesn't matter, since most likely we are going to stop and spend some money, but who knows. Anyone have any info?

Your question has been answered but I'll also chime in with the "experiences vary" comment, which is why these questions tend to get different answers/responses. Generally speaking for a non park walkable resort like AKL and your relatively reasonable arrival time I highly suspect you'll have no issues at all - they'll check your ID and look up your ADR on their little device, and off you go. But it's not outside the realm of possibility that any given guard on any given Disney day decides you're on the early side and enforces something different for whatever reason, so that's why it's hard to speak in total absolutes on the topic.

All of that said, enjoy your BOMA dinner and evening around AKL!