Room key at restaurants

[Soccerpooh]

I just read a thread that is a year old that said you can show your room key at some of the resturants at the parks and CityWalk and you will get the next available sitting, instead of being put at the bottom of the list. Is this still available, and if so, at all the restaurants in the parks and CityWalk, or just certain ones? Going in 26 days- w/o/ the kids! TIA

 

[damo]

It worked for us at the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

[AlexandNessa]

One thing you need to remember is that for most restaurants, this perk does not apply on weekends. Also, if you are going during a busy time, remember that many other hotel guests will likely be flashing their room keys too.

 

[patster734]

At Citywalk, the only two restaurants that don't provide priority seating with your room key are Emeril's and Bubba Gumps.

 

[quietgirll]

we were told at margaritaville that the wait with our key would be similar to the regular wait...and it was 45 min, so i dont think we were given much priority!!

 

[robvia]

Rush hour at the restaurants is 8pm, they're packed.
Flashing your room key will move you up on the list, but you'll still wait 20 minutes, others will wait 1 hour.
If you want to eat at Margaritaville, it's best to go earlier at 05:30pm.

If you don't mind walking around Citywalk for a while, go at 8pm and they'll give you a beeper. There's bars all over the place, so you can walk around looking at everything while waiting. You could grab a drink at the Lone Palm bar (big airplane), look at the menu, and decide what you want to order. Then when you sit down you could tell the server right away.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Keep in mind this perk doesn't work on weekend nights or holidays, too.

If there's an absolute "must-do" for you that's last minute and it's a weekend night where the room key won't do you any good, try calling the restaurant direct.

I had a situation our last trip a little over a month ago on a Friday night. We were hoping to head to NBA City for dinner. I called dining reservations from the HRH hotel phone and was told I wouldn't need them, to just "flash my room key." A while later, I was bored (waiting for the rest of my group) so I read that book that's in all the rooms. There was a disclaimer about the room key not acting as a next-available seating on weekends and holidays. So I called back to dining number to see if we could just make an actual reservation. They told me they couldn't do that; that they could transfer me to one of the dining kiosks. I was on hold forever until I finally just got disconnected.

I called 411 on my cell phone, got the number for the dern restaurant and just called them direct. The lady on the phone from NBA confirmed that, NO, your room key will not get you priority seating on weekends, holidays or SPECIAL EVENTS (like a bunch of basketball games on, lol), but you can absolutely just call the restaurant direct and make a reservation.

From now on, every time I go to USO, I'm just going to bring the restaurants' phone numbers.

 

[Soccerpooh]

Thanks for all the replies- I still expect to wait, but since it is just DH and I, it is not a big deal. Does anyone remember how far you can wander with the Margaritaville pagers? Not that sitting close with a margarita while we wait is a bad thing!

 

[Motherfletcher]

I didn't know that about weekends and holidays. We went to Margaritaville right after the Mardi Gras concert andhad the worst wait of about a half hour. They said it would be more.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Thanks for all the replies- I still expect to wait, but since it is just DH and I, it is not a big deal. Does anyone remember how far you can wander with the Margaritaville pagers? Not that sitting close with a margarita while we wait is a bad thing!

If it is just hubby and me, we usually have great success in just eating at the bar with little to no wait. You can get full service there, and it is self seating.

 

[robvia]

The Margaritaville beeper system is really good. They told us we could walk around CityWalk with it, and that's exactly what we did. We took pictures on the 2nd floor bridge next to the movie theater. Then the wife and kids went into the Ron Jons surf shop across from where the coke video screen is located. That's when the beeper went off. We ran back and went in. They must have the antennae on the roof or something.

Get the beeper, grab a drink at the outside bar, and walk around. If you come back and you're still waiting, look at the menu and decide what to order. That makes the time go faster.