Walk up dining?

[kdwhite]

So somehow I just convinced my husband to go to DW the week of Thanksgiving! I knew ADRs would be very limited this week but they are almost nonexistent! Do table service restaurants keep any tables open for walk up diners? What is your experience with this? We have youngish children so we are open to eating early dinners before the crowds but not later after the dinner rush. Any advice? I plan to stalk the reservation website but trying to get some advice just incase! TIA for any advice you can offer!

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I just got back from a long weekend (Sept 11th-14th) and it was low season, but free dining. We had 3 ADRs for our dinners, and I will tell you that each and every time we were in the lobby of a restaurant waiting for our table, we saw the hostesses turning people away who were asking for walk ups, saying they were reservations only. Obviously there is no free dining at Thanksgiving, but it is a busy time, so I feel like restaurants may be instituting the same policies. FYI, we heard this being told to people at San Angel Inn, Brown Derby, and the Plaza. We did make all of our ADRs within 2 weeks of our trip, so we did have some "last minute" success. We also had no problem getting a day-of lunch reservation at Via Napoli. Good luck!

 

[msb578]

You may be able to grab some cancellations inside the parks; otherwise you'll have to settle for what's left. There are some good non-signature restaurants outside the parks that are hidden gems.

Some non-Disney restaurants in WDW can be booked by calling them directly, or on Open Table. Examples: Yak & Yeti, Rainforest Cafe, Raglan Road, everything at the Swan/Dolphin. Many restaurants in World Showcase are not owned by Disney, but I'm not sure if they can be booked directly (Via Napoli for example).

 

[loves to dive]

Last trip in May we did a walk up at lunch for Sci-Fi, evidently they never book the little tables in the back and those are first come first serve. I have made same day ADRs but we are 3 adults and not picky about times and aren't picky about what restaurant we get, we kind of like trying out new places.

 

[minnie mum]

With the heavy crowds at Thanksgiving, I would think that walkups at most restaurants will be unlikely, especially inside the parks. Few, if any restaurants set aside tables for walkups. And you don't want to be hauling a hungry family from place to place trying to find somewhere to eat.

Popular restaurants booked up months ago. Instead of searching restaurant by restaurant, just go to the dining reservation page, select the date, meal ( breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and your party size. Then select "FIND a table". It will give you a list of all the restaurants that have availability. Just pick something, so you have a backup. Then you can continue to look for cancellations for the restaurants you are hoping for. Good luck.

 

[kdwhite]

Thanks everyone, pretty much what I suspected but was hoping maybe I was wrong! We only wanted a couple of ADR's anyway! Was a able to snag Mickeys BYBBQ for the night we arrived (was hoping for HDD), and Raglan Road for our off day. Will keep looking for that elusive BOG ADR but otherwise I'm ok with this.