Ouch! Friend leaves in the morning and had no ADRs as of last night.

[bertalander]

I had told her to book the free dining deal, but neglected to help her out with ADRs. She didn't have a CLUE.

So, last night I managed to snag, miraculously IMHO, dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and a late lunch at Kona for her. But she still has 2 TS credits to use. The CM I spoke with could find NOTHING for her. She has park hopper. And it's just two adults and one child. They are up for anything.

Should I try calling back again tonight for her?
She was truly thrilled we got the Princess Dinner and was totally thrilled.

Thanks for any tips.

Oh! And dh walked in and saw me planning away on the trip and just sighed. "Next tear, Honey, next year, I promise!" Oh yeh!

 

[Luv2Roam]

Hopefully she can find something at an off busy time.
If nothing is available you best bet is the resort restaurants. Maybe Boatrights, Maya Grill, Olivia's, Shutter's or Turf CLub.
Also give Raglan Road a try.
And try for right at opening, or a late lunch.
It will be a difficult time I fear.

 

[bertalander]

Yep, that's what I"m fearing. I figured I'd try calling again in a bit. If nothing still I'm going to give her a list of places to try.

We had remarkable luck last year that surprised me. I had my ADR and tweaked them for months. But one night everyone really wanted to eat earlier. So I figured I'd give it a try. They were happy to take us right then, no problem.

I"ll keep my fingers crossed for her...

Meanwhile I'm running off a copy of the confirmed snacks and wrapping a up a Guide Book for her. I'm sure they will still manage to have a good time. I jsut worry about meals.

 

[amyhughes]

I would also try Hoop Dee Do Review or the Luau they easily eat up two TS credits each and are large bookings..


We also ate at the Liberty Tree and walked in at the start of lunch no problem, no ADR.

 

[jenelope]

Don't forget about two restaurants that don't take ressies: Beaches and Cream, and ESPN Club. It might be a long wait, but it beats getting turned away completely!

 

[Traveliz]

We were there last week and really didn't have many ADRs (I won't go into why now) but we were able to walk in at Sci Fi (walked up one hour prior and asked and they gave me a couple of times), Crystal Palace (walked right in at dinner), and then went to ESPN (absolutely no wait and they even had the restaurant area closed off and only were using the bar area) and Planet Hollywood (went on Friday night and no wait at all before we went to PI).

Liz

 

[rantnnravin]

We were there last week and really didn't have many ADRs (I won't go into why now) but we were able to walk in at Sci Fi (walked up one hour prior and asked and they gave me a couple of times), Crystal Palace (walked right in at dinner), and then went to ESPN (absolutely no wait and they even had the restaurant area closed off and only were using the bar area) and Planet Hollywood (went on Friday night and no wait at all before we went to PI).

Liz

yes, but the problem this week is that many school have thurs and fri off (9/13-9/14), so a four day trip -at the least- (9/13-9/16) is do-able for a lot of families = more crowded = fewer openings at the restaurants than would have been experienced last week (or next week).

 

[mom2my3kids]

I have changed my ADR the past week and there was still availability out there..

 

[jrsmom]

We just returned. There were a couple of times at different restaurants that people walked in right after us without ADR's and got seated right after we did. One of the places was Chef Mickey's. They might be ok.

 

[rantnnravin]

OP-i PMed you

It's really great that you are so willing to help your friend find ADR's for a busy school-holiday weekend.
It's nice that you're willing to keep trying for cancellations and such.

 

[bertalander]

Thanks all!!!!!!

I just hope they have a wondefully magical time.

She looked through my last Disney Scrapbook last night and wanted to know things like how to Wake up Tinkerbell, Paintbrushes, Riding Barnstormer with Goofy... I felt like I was trying to help her cram for an exam!

I did my best by taking our last trip itenerary and trying to quickly tweak it for her... She about died when I handed her the list of confirmed snacks and a schedule of what to do dailiy, along with a cheat sheet of little magical things to do.

Now I'm geared up for OUR next trip. To make it worse my MIL is looking into a MAYBE big family trip for us all... so now I'm suddenly in planning mode!

 

[dijid]

Try for a lunch at Hollywood & Vine. The food isn't great, the noise level is high, but my kids had fun. It was the least crowded restaurant I've seen at WDW. They were taking walk ups and I've heard from others that that's not uncommon.

Also try for 4:00 or 4:30 dinner seatings. There were lots of those available at the MK when we were there.

Isn't Chef Mickey's doing a special lunch seating just for free DDP? That could be worth a try, along with the earliest they do breakfast.

Or, if they're staying at a deluxe resort, they can use their 2 credits for room service. Sure beats having to let them go to waste!

 

[septbaby]

Chef Mickey's lunch ended over the weekend.

Suggest she treat the group and try a 2TS option. Narcoossee's was absolutely wonderful!

 

[Traveliz]

yes, but the problem this week is that many school have thurs and fri off (9/13-9/14), so a four day trip -at the least- (9/13-9/16) is do-able for a lot of families = more crowded = fewer openings at the restaurants than would have been experienced last week (or next week).

But last week and two of the days I did the walk ups were Labor day and that weekend which I would think of as very busy.

Liz

 

[webshark3]

2 years and 2 grand gatherings, we were always able to get into Nine Dragons at Epcot as walk ups without a huge wait when no one else would even take walk ups at all.

Not sure that says much for Nine Dragons.... lol

 

[jenjersnap]

Chef Mickey's lunch ended over the weekend.

Huh? It's just re-starting this week after a short break, according to allearsnet.com

Chef Mickey's is offering a buffet lunch from August 28 through September 8 and from September 16 through September 22. The times are 12:30 p.m. � 3 p.m. (last seating at 2:40 p.m.) and cost is $20.99 (ages 10+) and $11.99 (ages 3-9).

http://allearsnet.com/news/hnews.htm (newsbite for 8/21)

Another lunch place is Citricos. They are temporarily serving a 1 ts lunch based on the GF Cafe menu. Easy access from MK. They had lots of openings when I called last week.

 

[PoohHappens]

Have her check with guest relations at the parks each morning. There was a sign at each that stated what had openings for that day when we were there over labor day weekend. It was usually for lunch, but there were at least 2 choices. Also try places that take a credit card hold, they tend to get cancellations in the 48-24 hour window. We had a couple places tell us they were full but to try coming at 4pm and see if there was something. All of our reservations were in the 5 pm hour and when we arrived at the location it was almost always not very busy but by the time we left it was packed.