Walk in without reservations??

[kathyclownfish]

I've made several advance reservations for our trip next week...but couldn't get a few of my first choices. Could our family just "walk in"?? Has anyone ever been turned away at any of the restaurants in WDW??

 

[pumba]

I would not take a chance on this.....we have been to disney even in the slow season and not able to get into the ones we could not get thru the reservation center ....
Keep calling or look back on the dining reservations on line.....you never know what could happen....

 

[chocovrdmicears]

We have had some success "walking in"...this past June we were able to be seated at 50's Prime Time, The Plaza and San Angel Inn. But I have seen many, many people being turned away at various places. I would continue to try and book something on-line. I tried for 5 months to get into Chef Mickeys and was finally able to book dinner 1 week before we arrived.

 

[B-Ride]

We only tried this once, walking up to Mama Melrose at 7:00PM and asking for a table. The CM just gave us a look like we were from another planet.

Walk-ups to happen, but I would definitely not wait to the last minute like we did.

 

[Pakey]

Yes we have been turned away. We aren't very good at planning our meals ahead of time, certainly not 6 months ahead, so we often wing it. We don't care so it's not bothered us to not be able to get in (we are fine doing CS or in-room dining).

The resort restaurants, except for character meals and Ca Grill anywhere near fireworks time, are easier to walk into than any of the park restaurants.

 

[waynesgirl]

Gotten lucky and been turned away-both. I seem to have luck when I call the day before or even the same day as many people cancel at the last minute.

It's a turkey shoot!

 

[honeydiane1953]

Last Spring we tried to walk into The Brown Derby and they said NO. However they called up Prime Time and they took us right away. It was our first time to PT and we loved it. So you can try. All they can say is no.

 

[VanessainWonderland]

This past September (free dining), I was able to call Chef Mickey's directly from my hotel room (AKL) and got a reservation for that day. It was kinda late...about 8:45. I arrived early either way, checked in, hung out a bit, and was called for my table earlier than my reservation time.

Maybe that will work out for you....you never know.

 

[catne]

in mid-January or similar very slow times...easy walk-ins virtually everywhere - our experience was most restaurants, including some of the very popular ones, had a lot of empty tables, even at prime times. During Spring Break weeks/holiday weeks...good luck, you'll need it. Not saying you won't get in, but chances are very slim. Your best bet would be to go right when restaurant opens (so early) or go at very off times, and towards the end of serving time -- like a very late lunch 3:00 or 3:30.

 

[disney777]

People also recommend trying at the 45 day mark for the day you want. That is the last chance people have to cancel their vacations without penalties. That's when some reservations may open up at the restaurants.

 

[RMulieri]

March is very busy at WDW and walk ins will be difficult.I almost always have seen people turned away at the more popular places like Le Cellier, Chef Mickeys etc. If you are in the area of the particular restaurant you are interested in, by all means stop in and ask.But I wouldn't count on it

 

[monkeybug]

Walk in's are a slim chance, but we got several things we wanted by calling a few days ahead of time, or even the day of. People cancel things all the time. We canceled the Wave and Chef Mickeys (just switched times) on our last trip.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You can try calling dining from your resort, or when you enter the Park go directly to Guest Relations and see what can be done.

If you do walk-up to a restaurant, your best option will be within the fist 15 minutes of opening.

Note - If you do get a reservation or walk-in, and you have a reservation for that same meal (at a different time or restaurant), please cancel it so others may have an opportunity and not get turned away.

 

[shocker]

I wouldn't leave it to chance but with that said if there is a place you'd really like to try but can't get an ADR for I'd certainly try as a walk-in. Yes, I've heard them turning away all walk-in traffic on different occasions. But, we've also had later ADR's that we've gone early for (making us a walk-in for that time slot) but it does open up our seating time that we had for later for someone else to try and snag. So, it's worth trying but if a specific location is important to you than try for an ADR, even checking back occassionally to see if somethings opened up. My friends came back saying "You never told us we weren't going to be able to eat" they had no ADR's and ended up at CS the whole time.

 

[aussietravellers]

We were able to get a few walk ups to TS restaurants and it was in April/May of 2008. There were a few that we could not get ADR's for due to our trip bring organised at the last minute and we are big TS eaters. We did call constantly during our stay to see about cancellations with no luck so here is the list of ones we got into as a walk up and the ones that turned us away.

We got walk ups at
Chef Mickeys (got there at opening for breakfast, no trouble getting a table).
Crystal Palace (even with the CM walking along the line saying if you don't have an ADR there are no tables, everybody would leave and we stayed, got to the front of the check in line, said no ADR, and we were seated in less than 5 minutes)
Cape Mays Breakfast
Yak & Yeti
Boma
Sci-Fi
50's Prime Time

We were turned away from
Coral Reef and Garden Grill (but ended up getting an ADR later in the week through constant calling)

 

[AirGoofy]

Last year in October, we were turned away from Le Cellier w/o reservation but were able to walk-in to Coral Reef. I would prefer to go w/o reservations because I hate to have my vacation on the time schedule, but it is risky.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Your best bet for walk-ins is for medium to less popular places - we walk in to Tusker House for lunch all the time.

But typically if you want one of the REALLY popular places (like Ohana or Le Cellier) you need to book in advance b/c they rarely have walk-ins.

What you can do though is check at guest services in MK and see if there's anything available on the days you need - we've had luck this way w/ Boma. Also, if you do walk-in, try to do it as soon as the restaurant opens for the meal you want - like 4:30 for dinner.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It depends on the time of year and time of day. If it is the summer, GOOD LUCK! You will get turned away.

Sometimes you get lucky, though. We were able to walk in to Sci-Fi in the middle of July, but we had to sit in one of the "UFO" tables (circle picnic tables in the back).

 

[lzbee]

I don't recommend it.... sometimes the restaurants are completely booked... or if they do allow you to wait... it will be an extended wait. You should check the disney online reservation system to see if any of the restaurants you want have come available.

 

[WDWBlue]

We had a 4pm reservation at Crystal Palace last summer, but we were hungry by 1:30p. We showed up, and they seated us within 5 minutes, so this was basically a walk up.