This might be a dumb question, but....

[PrincessDreams2]

has anyone ever walked up and been seated at a TS, without an ADR??

I only made one ADR for September (1900 Park Fare dinner), as we did ADR overload last year. Plus, we are not getting the dining plan, and I am probably the ONLY one going in September who won't have it. (even though it is "FREE", I got a better deal with a pin code for 40% off the room) DD5 doesn't eat hardly anything (I pack a lot of food to bring with us), plus we really just want to focus on attractions this time around. It is just the two of us!

Anyways, back to my original question. Is it at all possible to walk up and get in? There is nothing that I have my heart set on, but you never know where the day might take us! I just thought I would ask!!

 

[RMulieri]

Anything is possible..During free dining though...very unlikely.Especially at any of the themepark eateries, Character meals, and popular resort dining.

 

[PrincessDreams2]

Anything is possible..During free dining though...very unlikely.Especially at any of the themepark eateries, Character meals, and popular resort dining.

Well, that pretty much covers everything!

 

[J&J]

better to have a ps then not. in the past we have got a seating had to wait longer and get lucky. most of the time not.

 

[beroh2253]

During free dining I have only seen people being turned away and I have been there the last 3 Septembers and have always had our ADR's well before we went. Now you may luck out if there are cancelations but I don't know, just try to get the ADR's before you go.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

This question has been posted so many times already, and I guess I got lucky. We went last September and had one week of free dining. We added a week to our trip because of evacuating our home for a hurricane. First, as several other threads are asking, we easily got an additional week at Pop, they were no where near full.

Second, we walked up to several restaurants, including Coral Reef and Garden Grill, and got in with no wait, at the 5:00 hour. A few other restaurants I made ressies for that same morning. I found that walking up to the restaurant rather than calling the dining number yielded much better results. But even with calling, there were plenty of restaurants that were available.

I still made my ADR's for this September's trip, but I know it's not the end all. So many people will write that there is no way to get into a restaurant without an ADR, especially during free dining. I doubt they even tried. We did, many times again, with very good luck.

 

[PrincessDreams2]

Thanks! I was just wondering what experiences others have had.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I went online yesterday checking out what was still available during our stay from August 14 - 23. Of course, the more popular places had no availability, but there were still places with lots of openings. In Epcot - Nine Dragons, Marrakesh, Tokyo Dining, Biergarten and Askerhus (lunch) had availability basically everyday for many different time slots. MK had openings at the Plaza and Tony's for lots of time slots, and I also found some at LTT, CRT (dinner) and a CP here and there. I didn't search AK or DHS. There were lots of openings at Kona, the Wave and the Grand Floridian Cafe. I had some luck at Chef Mickeys.

It will be busy, but there are a handful of places that you will probably be okay.

 

[shellybaxter]

Well, that pretty much covers everything!

LOL - it almost does - it leaves out less popular resort dining, which might actually work for the OP. Places like Olivias, Boatwrights, Shutters, etc

I went online yesterday checking out what was still available during our stay from August 14 - 23. Of course, the more popular places had no availability, but there were still places with lots of openings. In Epcot - Nine Dragons, Marrakesh, Tokyo Dining, Biergarten and Askerhus (lunch) had availability basically everyday for many different time slots. MK had openings at the Plaza and Tony's for lots of time slots, and I also found some at LTT, CRT (dinner) and a CP here and there. I didn't search AK or DHS. There were lots of openings at Kona, the Wave and the Grand Floridian Cafe. I had some luck at Chef Mickeys.

It will be busy, but there are a handful of places that you will probably be okay.

Isn't it fun that we can check for ourselves and not just have to wonder or call and bug the dining people

 

[zackiedawg]

Much depends on your flexibility and casualness. I have never made an ADR at Disney in my life, nor joined any meal plans or free dining deals. And I go to Disney 30-40 days a year. I've eaten at every table service restaurant in the parks and resorts (that I wanted to eat at!).

How? Well, first off, I make a first, second, and third choice - and I'm OK with any of them. Flexibility is the key. Second, I am very loose on when to eat - I've never been a 6pm-dinner type - so if the crowd thins at 8:30pm, that's when I'll eat.

If you must eat at only one restaurant no matter what that evening, and you always have to eat at 7pm...then you're up a creek with no paddle. If you can pick a nice alternate place, try new places, utilize the awesome selection of very fine restaurants at some of the deluxe resorts, and vary your schedule to eat earlier or later than the average dinner crowd, then the World opens up for you!

Note: Some places you likely will never get into without the ADR. Le Cellier, the most popular restaurant in Epcot due to the familiar 'American' style menu, is always booked from open to close every day of the year. It's a very small place, which doesn't help. You can sometimes walk up for lunch in the slower seasons, but that's about it.

I was just up to Disney a few weeks ago for a 4-day 5-night trip. I ate at San Angel Inn, Jiko, Rainforest Cafe Marketplace, ESPN Club, and Restaurant Marrakesh. All walk up, no ressies. I couldn't get into Le Cellier or Tutto Italia, the only two I tried and had to go to a backup plan.

It can be done - flexibility is the key. And remember, there are some wonderful restaurants at some of the deluxe and moderate resorts with a much better chance of getting into - such as the brilliant Jiko...as well as Artist's Point, Narcoosee's, Maya Grill, and Yachtsman Steakhouse.

 

[snykymom]

PrincessDreams2, just wanted to reassure you - you are not the only one not doing the DP - neither are we! I also got a better deal with a PIN, and don't want to be tied to ADRs, feeling like if I don't use it, I'm wasting money! (I'd feel like that even on free dining, since I'd be paying more for the room than I otherwise would.)

That being said, I've made ADRs for every day at places I think we might want to eat. If we don't, I'll just cancel the ADR (I'm not a "no show" type) and we'll eat elsewhere, TS or CS. It doesn't matter since I don't have to worry about "wasting credits." One of the benefits of not using a dining plan - flexibility! Why not just make the ADRs and see what happens? Then if you feel like a TS, you'll have it, and if not, no big deal.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Im to scared to go without any adr's. Espically during free dinning.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I walked into solo lunches at Tutto and Chefs de France and a few times we walked into other TS places right when they open but if you are going to a popular place you are going to want to make reservations

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I was able to go to a couple of TS w/o ADR...when we stayed in GF we would walk to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast w/o ADR (3x) and they sat us w/i 5 mins. When we stayed in AKL and the week we were there BOMA was booked for breakfast and we walked to the restaurant and asked if they can sit us and they did w/i 10 mins (2x)...dinner at Boma too.

 

[dancin Disney style]

It is possible....the best time, IMO, to try a walk-in is to arrive about 20 minutes before they open. So dinner, you would arrive at around 3:30-3:40pm. That goes hand-in-hand with what zackiedawg has stated. You have to be flexible, mainly, on the time that you eat but also the location.

BTW, I've had a lunch time walk-in at LeCellier. I think we only had to wait about 20 minutes. Not during FD though.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

This past December when I went to the Magic Kingdom with 3 of my friends from Orlando we walked into Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch without an ADR and were seated within 5 minutes. Later that day we then went to Hollywood Studios and for dinner we walked into 50's Prime Time Cafe without an ADR and once again got seated within 5 minutes.

Finally my family and I did not end up eating there but last year on the 1st day of free dining we were visiting the Polynesian and just for fun we asked if we could have got into Kona Cafe without an ADR and this was around 7:00 PM. The Cast Member told us they could accomodate us but we would have had a 90 minute wait. So had we wanted to eat there we could have, even with that type of a long wait.