Possibility of getting seated without a reservation

[OKWDVCMagic]

I am helping a friend who is taking her family on their first WDW trip next month during the week of Dec 10th.

She has called Disney Dining Reservations and all of her choices are booked. I remember this happened a couple of times to me and I would usually go to a restaurant as soon as it opened to see if I could grab a table. More times than not, I could get in. I would think that this is especially true with folks on the DDP who are booking more than one restaurant at the same time.

Does anyone know if Disney is allowing walk-ins even though DDR is saying the restaurants are fully booked?

Any other suggestions on how to handle getting a shot to get a reservation would be appreciated.

 

[aripantaloon]

It probably depends on the number of people in her party as well as where she's trying to eat and when. She would probably have no chance of eating lunch at CRT as opposed to maybe something like lunch at LTT.

ETA: I just looked at when she is going again and that time is probably pretty busy and it may be really difficult for her to get what she wants. Why didn't she make ADR's earlier if she was hoping to eat at specific places?

 

[OKWDVCMagic]

The reason for the late reservations is that she just booked the trip in the middle of October. It was a last minute surprise to her family. Her group will be a party of 4.

 

[myladyisatramp]

Thats usually a busy time in disney, you have the Pop Warner Nationals down there I think then. I don't know how many of them actually will be in parks. Its worth a shot to just go to the restaurants and try.. Also keep trying on line daily people cancel all the time...maybe something will open up...

 

[OKWDVCMagic]

As soon as she told me when she was going I checked the Pop Warner schedule. Sat is the 10th and that is PW last full day. She will be checking out on the following Thursday. She will have three adults and one 7 year old nephew so CRT is not an issue.

When I spoke with her I know she was interested in LTT, Teppenedo, Sci-Fi drive in, & Prime-Time 50's.

My son was at WDW for a marching band trip during Easter break in 2010 and we were in the same situation. I couldn't make reservations because I didn't know what time he would be free and how many friends would be coming with him. More times than not we were able to be seated but we had to wait a 30-40 minutes or eat very earlier.

 

[2forMe]

I would suggest that she check herself for availability on-line..and book what she can...assuming she has the dining plan, as you do not want to waste credits.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Keep checking. I had a party of 5 who wasn't able to really get anything good a month or two in advance and I kept checking every day and was able to get WAY better ADRs. You never know what pops up. Also, keep an eye on the Dec. ADR cancellation thread. And finally, if she STILL can't get what you want and wants to take a shot with a walk-up, I suggest being at the restaurant right when it opens. We had a reservation for lunch at Chefs de France on the 4th of July but we were amazed at how many walk-ups they were accepting.

Good luck!

 

[mommyrosa2]

We were there the week of 10/22 & based on what we saw continuously over the wk, I'd say she has a 50-50 shot of getting in certain places depending on where she goes & the time she goes, ie: we had 620 res. @ Ohana on fri., 10/28, & they had a "walk-in" line for folks w/out res...we saw 1 party of two go in & 1 party of 4 go in. The day we went to Crystal Palace for dinner (a tues I believe) we saw 2 parties of 4 get walk-in service & this was around 645p. Another night we dined at Yachtsman & again saw walk-ins get seated. All of these places were packed with people so I was definitely surprised they were taking folks w/ no ressies.

 

[CCClement]

The first trip to Disney with my family of 6 we walked up to Si-Fi. We had a 30 -40 minute wait. It seems that there are always walk ups and not many get turned away. they just have a long wait.

 

[badgirlgiz]

I would also suggest checking with the desk at your hotel to see if there are any openings they helped us get reservations many times when I couldn't get them myself.Also call the reservation line insdead of the website and if you are flexable with days and times it usually is much easier to get a early lunch and a late dinner.

 

[OKWDVCMagic]

Thanks everyone. On our family trip's to WDW in 2010 I was able to get into every restaurant we walked up to except Le Cellier. When I couldn't get in there I walked over to the Yachtsman and get in as a walk-in.

The Yachtsman turned into more than a meal when during the dinner a 6 inch green Garter snake sauntered into the dining room. The entertainment of watching the wait staff snake wrangling the Garter snake was priceless. There was a lot of flailing of hands and leaping about by the staff. It was almost like a ballet with a lot look of fear on the waiters' faces. I guess a story for another post.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I'm showing dinner availability at all four of the restaurants you mentioned (LTT, TE, 50's, and Sci-Fi) from the 10th to the 15th--although certainly at some goofy times.

As PP mentioned, I would her tell to keep checking as she gets closer to her dates. For restaurants she doesn't want to miss, I would definately make an ADR (even at an off time), and she can always try to snag a better time later.

Good luck!

 

[RMulieri]

It's possible..BUT there is free dining going .Also keep in mind with any Epcot eateries that alot of those are booked because of Candlelight processional dining pkgs.She can try it, but she needs to be very flexible and be prepared with a backup plan if they can't accomodate her

 

[Pakey]

We just got back, it was free dining, and we had no problems with walk ups everywhere we went. We even saw the CMs take a party of 16 walk up at Tusker House character breakfast that I know had shown no availability for months.

We've been dozens of times to WDW and aren't set on a particular restaurant on a particular day and we've found it pretty easy to get into TS places.

 

[LlamaMamaof2]

Second the poster above. Just returned and there was a lot of availability at sit down places. Part of it might be that you know have to give a credit card guarantee and people may be making fewer reservations not wanting to pay a fee for no show. I was able to walk about to Crystal Palace and be seated right away. The signs at the front of the parks listed availability each day I visited. I think it will all depend on the crowds and times looking for.

 

[MainMom]

Did she try lunches instead of dinner? I booked late and had to take all lunches. Managed to get dinner for CP Package.

 

[NorweJenNY]

As soon as she told me when she was going I checked the Pop Warner schedule. Sat is the 10th and that is PW last full day. She will be checking out on the following Thursday. She will have three adults and one 7 year old nephew so CRT is not an issue.

When I spoke with her I know she was interested in LTT, Teppenedo, Sci-Fi drive in, & Prime-Time 50's.

I fairly recently booked a lunch at LTT & a dinner at 50s PT for that week. There were several openings available at the time. When I tried checking some times online, I found that I kept having to re-set the calendar to the date I wanted. Maybe she didn't re-set it when checking other restaurants and it was actually looking for the current date when she checked... or if she called for ADRs, maybe she got a CM who didn't know what he/she was doing - that also happened to me once recently.

I can see Sci-Fi being a hard one to get. I don't know about Teppan Edo. But I'm thinking she should certainly be able to get Liberty Tree (lunch) and 50s (lunch or dinner), as long as she's not only looking for one specific time on one specific day only. Try lunch before noon or after 2p... or dinner before 5p or after 7p. And she might have better luck at resort restaurants - there are lots of great options in many of those.

 

[pjhootch]

The Yachtsman turned into more than a meal when during the dinner a 6 inch green Garter snake sauntered into the dining room. The entertainment of watching the wait staff snake wrangling the Garter snake was priceless. There was a lot of flailing of hands and leaping about by the staff. It was almost like a ballet with a lot look of fear on the waiters' faces. I guess a story for another post.

Dinner AND a show.

 

[GirlOutlaw]

On our last trip to DHS we had no problem getting a same day RSVP at Sci-Fi drive in, & Prime-Time 50's. We went to the checkin stand as soon as they opened and asked if they had a cancellations or openings.

 

[MatzoRella]

I don't suppose they permit walk-ups prior to park opening, do they? Thanks.