Walk-up seating at Ohana, 1900 Park Fare?

[Lesley]

I know that as a rule, it's best to have reservations for Disney restaurants. That said, we have had some luck in the past walking up and being seated (during busy evenings, no less) at various restaurants, including the princess dinner at Epcot. We had to wait, but generally places have been able to put our name down for sometime in the next 30-40 minutes, allowing us to go do other things and come back.

My question is, has anyone ever done this at Ohana or 1900 Park Fare? I have potentially 2 evenings when my 6yo dd and I will be on our own without park tickets. Also we've generally done walk ups later in the evening (8:30 and later), but I'm wondering if it's generally possible at opening time as well. I know there was a time when the didn't book the restaurants full with reservations, but always left slots for walk ups. I don't know if this has changed.

Any other suggestions of fun things to do with a 6yo in the afternoon/evening would be appreciated as well. I have a feeling she'll be a little disappointed that her sister is going to the parks and she isn't- so I want to make our time together special.

Thanks!

 

[MHSweb79]

Are you going during Free Dining? If so, then it's highly doubtful that you'll get into 'Ohana, which is one of the toughest ADR's to get. Not sure about 1900 PF.

During FD, many (if not most) restaurants will have a sign saying something like "In order to accommodate guests with reservations, no walk-ups will be accepted."

But there have been many reports here of people getting lucky. If you have the time, it certainly can't hurt to try!

 

[Lesley]

Nope, it'll be the week before free dining begins. Thanks- exactly, doesn't hurt to try. The nature of 6yo's and plans around what other people are doing just means that we have to be flexible.

 

[Nadjalu]

We have been to Ohana during FD and not during FD and have seen people turned away or given a 2-3 hour wait. Probably an issue with a 6 yr old. They usually can't wait that long.

Not sure of the other place, hopefully others can give experience with that.

Any way you can make an ADR just in case? That way you are covered? Might be worth doing. You can always cancel it the day of if you know you aren't going to use it.

 

[allshookup]

We were told Ohana was booked all week for a trip in August a couple years back & it was during free dining. We ended up walking up to see if we could get anything & they said yes but it would be an hour wait. This was at 9pm & we were one of the last groups seated, but we didn't mind we just had a couple of drinks at the bar & we ended up with a great view of Wishes. Never hurts to try but just have a back up plan in case.

I would think you would have less of a chance at 1900 since it's a character meal, but I never tried it either so can't say for sure.

 

[dawgs4disney]

I could be mistaken, but I think you will definitely have a hard time getting into Ohana's and quite possibly 1900 Park Fare since it is a character meal. We are going in September and tried making reservations for Ohana and was told nothing was available. I asked if they left any open when they first opened and they said they used to, but not in the last year or two. One thing that my kids enjoy is T-Rex or Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney and then browsing in World of Disney and Goofy's Candy Company. Downtown Disney is a lot of fun at night. Another fun and inexpensive place to eat is Beaches 'n Cream(50's style diner) at the Yacht and Beach Club. They don't take reservations, so you may have a little wait if you are there at prime dinner time. You could then take the ferry boat or walk over to the Boardwalk, which is a fun atmosphere at night (jugglers, and other entertainment). I don't know where you will be staying, I am guessing on the monorail since both O'hanas and 1900 Park Fare are on the monorail. You could always grab a quick bite to eat at Contempo Cafe or the Wave at the Contemporary and then ride the monorail. You can also watch the electric pageant and Wishes from the beach at the Poly. Good Luck! I would probably snag a reservation to be safe. You can always cancel!!

 

[Lesley]

I can't even plan a date for a reservation at this point because our friends' plans aren't firm yet- or I might just call and try. I'll keep Rainforest in mind. I have found that reservations don't work so well with my youngest anyway- it's difficult to know one day to the next when she'll be hungry, but we can work it out within a few hours. Last year when we went to Chef Mickey's she slept through part of the meal, then woke up and was incredibly cranky- not something I want to repeat (and if it's just me and her, I won't!). She does enjoy late nights, so that's not a big deal.

We'll be staying at Port Orleans Riverside, but likely dropping off my 10yo at the MK to meet her friend's family. We will have our van on property if we need it. Depends on where we're going. We just happen to LOVE Ohana, and my 10yo dislikes it immensely. I was thinking that as a party of two our chances of getting a table might be better. Kona could be an option- or the sushi bar if she's in the mood. I'm pretty sure she'd like the tempura shrimp roll.

Beaches and Cream is a great idea, and we could visit the Boardwalk and perhaps watch the Epcot fireworks from the bridge. There's also the possiblity of the Fort Wilderness campfire- pony rides earlier.

Lots of ideas- actually she's most thrilled about the idea of tea at the Grand Floridian. I've been trying to get to that for YEARS and it has never worked out...but we'll see!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[catne]

If you do try for a walk-up at 'Ohana right when it opens, and they tell you no or give a really long wait time -- go around the corner to Kona Cafe -- good food and a really fun dessert (Kona Cone) There's usually walk-ups available at Kona until about 6:00 or 6:30.

Same thing if you try a walk-up at 1900 Park Fare--if they can't seat you, try Grand Floridian Cafe -- really pretty place, good food. Again, they're not usually busy until later in the evening.

 

[Lesley]

Oddly enough, the supposed "after 4" ticket included in our package was a full day ticket. Our friends picked up my older dd at POR and took her to the MK for the full day with them. I had a whole day with my 6yo at our resort. We needed to do laundry, she wanted to go to the pool, then she wanted to just hang out in our room and play with her toys. We ended up walking over to POFQ at around 8pm- she wanted to have dinner and try beignets. It was a pleasant day and I got to spend much of it in bed reading!

As far as walking up at restaurants goes however, I thought we did pull off a pretty good seating that I didn't expect. After we had checked out of Bay Lake Tower on our last day of the trip, we went for a monorail ride and then our older dd got hungry...and tired, and sad we were leaving. So I decided to just check in at Chef Mickey's to see if we could be seated for lunch. They were able to take us immediately!

I didn't realize until after we returned home that Chef Mickey's hasn't been open for lunch in a while, so they probably didn't have too many reservations. But we were feeling incredibly lucky. We had a great lunch!