Trader Sam's Crowds Thinning Out?

[kbelle8995]

As the newness wears off so will the crowds. I hope to be able to check it out eventually.

 

[Retro Magic]

I have a later reservation at Ohana coming up in juts over a week. Probably after that dinner, I'll save some room for a drink at Trader Sam's and hopefully we'll get in with little to no wait around 10-11ish.

 

[Xennia]

I wil be going at the end of this month. I'm staying at the resort. I will post my wait times an experience.

 

[DisneyFan2013]

I can't wait to visit Trader Sam's on my upcoming fall trip! Looks like a lot of fun from the videos I've seen. I keep wanting to call it Trader Joe's though.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

...Also, I ordered the Pearl drink and asked for no cinnamon. She said she couldn't change the recipe unless it's a medical reason. So in she puts the squirts of cinnamon syrup... Ugh. Drink would have been great without the cinnamon.

Umm...that's kind of insane. If it's not a mix, there's no reason she couldn't leave it out. Otherwise they're forcing customers to lie about allergies just to get the drink they want.

 

[Jetku]

Umm...that's kind of insane. If it's not a mix, there's no reason she couldn't leave it out. Otherwise they're forcing customers to lie about allergies just to get the drink they want.

Completely agreed. She even finished off the cinnamon syrup bottle into my drink... If it was fireball I maybe could have understood. But an extra syrup? Come on...

 

[SarahInMN]

Any updates on crowds/wait times currently for trader sam's?? We love the Cali version and can't wait to try this one!

 

[2102raven]

Also, I ordered the Pearl drink and asked for no cinnamon. She said she couldn't change the recipe unless it's a medical reason. So in she puts the squirts of cinnamon syrup... Ugh. Drink would have been great without the cinnamon.

Ideal time to go is right when it opens or around 10-11 pm. Strictly novelty bar. Agree w the post above, tried to order cocktails not on the menu and was told bar is limited to what they can make.

 

[Mikka]

It's one of those 'really depends'.

(Remember that if you just want the drinks/food, the patio is always open, and doesn't have much wait.)

Friday's and Saturday's (and sometimes Sunday's) are always worse then the weekdays. If the MK closes early for a holiday party (or whatever other reason), the crowd sometimes picks up then, too.

If you get there an hour/an hour and half before opening (more towards the first), you'll probably get in no problem. Likewise, ariving after ten or ten-thirty tends to mean crowds have slowed down as well.

If you're trying to arrive around, say, seven on a Saturday, though, you're probably looking at a few hour wait.

The major reason is this is a really small bar, and it's *amusing*. People sit around just to watch the 'shows'/chaos going on, and only- what, sixty people? fit in at once.

So my suggestion is get there before opening on a weeknight, or get there very late on a weeknight. Don't bother with the weekends, unless that's the only time available.

 

[SarahInMN]

Thanks for the info! We'll want to sit inside and had already nixed the weekends as possibilities but didn't want to spend an hour in line during the week just to get in. We'll see - we have a F&W trip this fall and are going in January 2016 as well. So a few chances.

As for the novelty piece of it, well, we own/have earned all the Tiki mugs from the West Coast Trader Sam's. Our goal is to earn all the Florida ones now.

 

[OKW Lover]

We were there on Monday, August 3rd. We walked in about 5:45 and immediately got a table near the door. As the evening progressed people came and went but only occasionally did I hear them tell anybody that they were at capacity. When that did happen, it was only 5-10 minutes before somebody left and the waiting party was admitted.

 

[Mikka]

Yeah, I personally love the show inside (the woman running around with the cowbell yelling about the emergency whenever someone ordered the Uh-Oh or the other volcano drink was always a blast). I would definitely drink a drink outside waiting, don't get me wrong, but sitting inside and watching all the chaos and fun go on is to me a prime attraction and makes the price worthwhile.

I'm going F&W this year, and hoping to sneak in, but crowds will be thinner in January, definitely. If you're looking for F&W, try a day when the MK is doing nothing totally unusual- no Halloween parties, no extra morning or evening hours, but still hopefully doing the nighttime parades and thus attracting it's usual attention. Arrive around 3:30 (if you want to be careful, arrive a bit earlier and grab a drink at the Poly's upstairs bar first to cool you down while waiting). You have to wait outside, in the heat, while the sun beats down on you (don't line up in the downstairs hallway!- they'll chase you off, and you'll have to go to the back of the outside lounge). Eventually, a young lady/good sir will come to give you a stamp, and that should get you right in. Sit and enjoy the show!


If that doesn't work, arrive late. Like, ten thirty late. From what I've heard, then it's basically walk-ups.

 

[SarahInMN]

We were there on Monday, August 3rd. We walked in about 5:45 and immediately got a table near the door. As the evening progressed people came and went but only occasionally did I hear them tell anybody that they were at capacity. When that did happen, it was only 5-10 minutes before somebody left and the waiting party was admitted.

Excellent to hear that OKW Lover! I was hoping it that weeknights would be better than weekends and to hear that its like that in August makes me hope/think November will be relatively easy peasy during the week!

Yeah, I personally love the show inside... If you're looking for F&W, try a day when the MK is doing nothing totally unusual- no Halloween parties, no extra morning or evening hours, but still hopefully doing the nighttime parades and thus attracting it's usual attention. Arrive around 3:30 (if you want to be careful, arrive a bit earlier and grab a drink at the Poly's upstairs bar first to cool you down while waiting). You have to wait outside, in the heat, while the sun beats down on you (don't line up in the downstairs hallway!- they'll chase you off, and you'll have to go to the back of the outside lounge).

Thanks Mikka! We love the show too and frankly the bartenders at Trader Sam's in Cali make the experience. Good tip on picking the right MK day and waiting outside vs inside. And yes we definitely may need to have a pre-Trader Sam's lapu lapu up in the Tambu.

Our goal between the November and the January trip is to collect all the tiki mugs at this Trader Sam's. I must admit that I am disappointed to hear that the pearl mug is plastic, alas!

 

[ilovejsparrow]

Has anyone ever gone right when they open for the day at 4 pm? I was wondering what time I should be there to be a part of the first group let in for the day.

 

[OKW Lover]

Has anyone ever gone right when they open for the day at 4 pm? I was wondering what time I should be there to be a part of the first group let in for the day.

That somewhat depends on the day you go. Friday and Saturday nights are worse and I'd say 3:00 - 3:30 to line up for a 4:00 opening. Other nights I'd guess you could get there 15 minutes early and still be seated in the opening rush.

 

[disneyjr77]

We want to go late September, it'll be myself, DH, and DD8...i was thinking of hitting it on a friday afternoon when they open, is that possible? We'll be at HS studios that morning, what time should we head over and what's the best way to get there?

 

[OKW Lover]

We want to go late September, it'll be myself, DH, and DD8...i was thinking of hitting it on a friday afternoon when they open, is that possible? We'll be at HS studios that morning, what time should we head over and what's the best way to get there?

Of course its possible. Assuming it still opens at 4:00 pm, I'd catch the Poly bus from DHS about 3:15.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Take a bus to the Polynesian from DHS. (I believe that bus stops at Contemporary first)

You'll probably need to be in line by 3:30 if you want a shot at being among the first 50 guests they let in.

 

[GreatLakes]

We stopped by twice around 9pm in early June when we were there and walked right in both times. We just had two and sat at that long bar like table in the middle of the room with some other people. If we wanted our own table we would have had to wait.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

To add another datapoint, I saw a report of arrival at 4:10 this past Saturday and an hour wait. But, as others have said, there are a lot of variables that contribute to the actual crowds and wait on any given day. Give it a shot & have a good time!!