PS how important really???

[loriwvu]

I'm rather new here and will be going to WDW for the first time in 20 years in May. We are taking our children 1 and 4. How necessarry is PS for places like the Sci Fi and 50's Prime Time? We want our schedule to be pretty flexible. Are we okay just making them the night before from the WL resort. I have made our PS for our character meals. We may be interested in Coral Reef too.

Lori

 

[crisi]

We had no luck getting in with no PS in Feburary 2002 at Sci Fi around lunch time (1 1/2 hour wait projected). We didn't try calling the night before.

 

[Gaiusrex]

If there is somewhere you really want to go, make sure you PS early. If you eat at non-traditional times, you may have better luck. last time I went, my wife wandered around Epcot looking for places that had < a 45 minute wait. We walked for such a long time, we tired out and ended up getting room service.

On the upside, we did see all of the World Showcase

And for the record. We did that during the "slow" time of December '99

 

[sha_lyn]

Considering how many times I've heared them anounce that anyone without a PS wouldn't be seated (at verious WDW restaurants) and the crowds I've encounters at PTC each time we've eaten there, Iwould say PS's are pretty important. Last yr we went the 1st week of May, which should still be slow. Well all the restaurants were packed, and I had trouble making or rearranging PS's at the last minute.

 

[Epcotgal8]

Both Sci-Fi and 50's Prime Time are very popular spots in MGM so if I were you I would make p.s. arrangements BUT keep in mind that there is no penalty if you don't keep your p.s. So if it turns out that you change your mind about where or when your p.s is you could either stop by the restaurant itself and check with them about changing the time, how long of a wait it would be if you wanted to get in ASAP or skip your p.s. altogether. Even with a p.s. you still have options and can keep your schedule flexible, but it is good to have a p.s. to fall back on so you don't find yourself hungry and wanting to get out of the heat (or rain but I hope you have all blue skies) and finding all the sit downs have an hour long wait.

 

[drusba]

That time of year you should be able to get a dinner time close to what you want by just calling the day before or even early morning of for the restaurants you mention and most others. Just try to avoid walking up with no PS at all.

 

[travelbug]

We just returned from a wonderful trip, and had made no PS ahead of time. But here's what we did. We ate counter service for most lunches. Then we came back from the park for an afternoon break. During that break, we decided where we'd like to have dinner. Then we had the front desk (BCV) make a PS there. It was usually just 2-3 hours before we wanted to eat, and we had no trouble getting the PS. Worked perfectly for us, and didn't cramp our style at all.

When I get around to it, I'll post a report on where we ate and how it was. Overall, our restaurant experiences were awesome!

 

[Halle]

We were at BCV 2 weeks a go and didn't have any trouble getting PS last minute. This is the first time that we have been this lucky....we have gone at least once a year for the past 17 years. I'd try to figure out the kids schedule and make a few PS before you arrive. Have a great trip!!

 

[gonga]

I suggest making ps for dinners, since you really don't know where or what park you willl be in during the day. We have gone to 50's and although we could not get a table, we did sit at the bar and have lunch and a drink. Just as much fun and it was faster!

 

[eeyore0062]

Depends on a few factors:

1) time of year
2) restaurant
3) time of meal
4) ages of children (trying to find a sitdown restauarant without a wait, or a counter service without a line can be very aggrevating)
5) how much you have your heart set on eating at a particular restaurant.

That being said... if you are going during an off season, don't care which restaurant, eat at off times, don't have kids, or have very patient kids, then you will be OK.

We always make at least one PS per day, so we can count on where we are eating and when.

 

[Scottwdw]

Great stuff on PS!! One note, IF you are asked for a credit card when making a PS, like for the Castle or a Dinner Show, there will be a penalty for not showing up.

Remember Priority Seatings are NOT a reservation but just a time slotted for you to get the next available table for your party size.

For more information on PS at WDW, check out my site (use links in my signature).

 

[jfulcer]

We've always had pretty good luck with just making our PS when we get to the park. We don't like to be tied down to a schedule so it's the same for us.

A couple times when we couldn't get a PS at the time we wanted, we asked what other times we could get and either had a late or early dinner/lunch. It was easy enough to get a snack mid afternoon to tide us all over for a late dinner.

One of the best times we had at Hollywood and Vine was when we ate just after they opened for lunch. There weren't a lot of people in the restraunt and we pretty much had the characters to ourselves for the first 10 mins.

 

[jwfla422]

I am the queen of PS. I always make too many and don't use half of them.

Last trip which was over President's Day weekend, that Friday night I had 1 which was at a resort but after a long afternoon of not doing much I promised dd we could go to EPCOT instead, she really wanted to go.

Let me tell you there was NOTHING at ANY sitdown restaurants available that night. Well, it was also Valentine's day which I'm sure contributed to it. We ended up eating at the Electric Umbrella. I had a horrible fast food pizza and was cursing myself for not making PS at one of the countries prior to that night.

If I suspect that we'll be going to a park during a busy time I will always make a PS from now on. This happened to be a busy weekend but you never know even in May especially around the holiday weekends or even on the weekends, many WDW restaurants are popular with locals. You'll definitely want to make PS for Coral Reef.

 

[Rafikifan]

It is just too iffy to say whether a place will be crowded or not even if you go at what is supposed to be a slow time. I've been in May twice and even at times when a park wasn't crowded it could still be hard to get in to a restaurant without a p.s. One day last May I called Disney dining first thing in the morning to get a p.s. for dinner at Alfredo's that night and they had nothing until the next evening. While MANY times you can be successful dining where you want to without a p.s. you just can't be sure so if there's a place that you want to try I'd go ahead and make one.

 

[Hopefully]

We were in WDW the 2nd week of February and I thought the beginning of the week was unbelievably slow (I wondered how they could continue to do what they do with so few paying guests - and this was our 8th trip - the slowest EVER) That said, we had made PS for Rose and Crown before we left home, the ONE place my husband wanted to go. We were able to make same day PS for Teppanyaki (sp) from the hotel (BCV) in the afternoon. Even though I thought it incredibly slow, we could not get into le Celliar at all. So as others have said, if you have your heart set on an experience, make PS. IF you are willing to "Hope and Try" go for it, but know you may not find "any room at the Inn" Have a wonderful trip!
We also ate at ESPN with about a 5 minute wait and the Big River Works with no wait.