What is the longest time You waited to get into a Rest. without PS?

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We are going this Summer again :banana: and I made PS for my family, mom and brother and his family that are coming also.

My brother said I was silly for making them and I told him that I have made them the past 2 times we have gone and I think they save alot of time.

So thats why I wanted to ask you all how long you had to wait to get into a WDW rest. without PS?

I would like to show my brother that I am not silly! LOL
Thanks :stir:
 
There have been numerous posts in which guests have been told no availability for walkups. Le Cellier, CRT, CG and frequently Chef Mickey's have no availability for walkups. During busy time periods even more restaurants have no availability for guests without ADRs.
 
Why are brother's so difficult? :rotfl:
Last year we didn't make any PS ahead of time...MISTAKE! We ended up everynight in the resort making or trying to make them for the next day. Before we had been able to put on name on a wait list and usually could get in...NOT ANYMORE. Unless you want burgers and dogs for a week, you really need to plan & call ahead! We could not get in anywhere that we tried and being that we didn't make our PS until a day or 2 before hand we were still not able to get the times we would have liked.
Your doing the right thing. If your brother gives you anymore trouble just tell him he don't have to go eat with you!
Have a great trip!
 
Aside from the no availability thing, which happened numerous times while we were in the world in Oct 05 (to others walking up), the longest we waited was 2 hours in Oct 04 at Rose and Crown.

PS will be on our list to do before we leave in October (can't miss LeCellier!).
 

I once waited over 2 hours for a table at Fulton's because my sisters were too satubborn to make ADR...by the time we got seated at close to 10:30pm after seeing La Nouba, we were all pretty tipsy (it was chilly outside since it was January so of course, we waited in the bar!) & I didn't enjoy dinner very much.

I ALWAYS make ADR now & I highly advise you do the same...your family will thank you!
 
Other than places we knew were in top demand, we generally went without PSs, now called ADRs. We had no problems calling the night before or even earlier in the day to make PSs. During our trip in Nov., we were ignorant re: the dining plan and its effects. Granted it was a Saturday evening during the Soap weekend, Artist weekend, and the last weekend of Food & Wine, but when we tried to get an ADR for a MK restaurant or ANY OF THE RESORT RESTAURANTS, the earliest we could be seated was 9:30....and this was calling earlier in the day! We were fortunate to get in at Tony's right at opening for dinner, otherwise it would have been counterservice for us. Though I swore off doing WDW "commando" style, I've resigned myself to having to plan some type of itinerary as a basis to schedule ADRs. And unfortunately, I think it'll be that way until there is no longer a dining plan...or at least one that's not such a good deal!
 
Longest we waited was about 40 minutes at 50s Primetime for dinner (about a 20 minute wait at Sci-Fi for lunch). This was at the end of June in 2000. This apparently is not the trend. We weren't aware of the ability to make reservations at that point in time, but on the flip side, it didn't bother us if we had to get counter service instead of table service...so we were ok with being turned away as eating there was not a huge deal to us. BUT, if your heart is set on eating there or if you'll be disappointed about the chance of being turned away, I would highly recommend making ADRs, especially with the more popular places. We make about 1 or 2 ADRs per trip now...but evem so, it's not a big deal to us if we don't eat there. We're just not that way, I suppose.
 
I am planning a trip this June for my family and my brother, SIL and his DD and DS. I keep asking him about places he would like to eat and stressing to him that we need to make ressie NOW!! since we will have 9 people in our party and he is just like "give me a break, I can't believe you have to make them now....blah, blah, blah" so, I just planned 3 days at parks for both our families, made one ADR at Crystal Palace for lunch for everyone and we will do counter service the rest of the time. We are staying a week longer than them, so I just made our ADRs for the week we are there alone. So....back to your question about how long I waited for a table w/o an ADR...the last time we went I was a planning idiot! :rolleyes: I didn't know anything about planning ahead and was turned away from almost every TS restuaraunt we wanted to eat at. Most placed told me it would be at least a 2 hour wait for a table. We just gave up after awhile and did all counter service. I learned my lesson the hard way. Make your ADRs
and enjoy the good eating!
 
If we don't have reservations and decide we want to eat somewhere...we ask the waiting time. We have been told 45 minutes to an hour wait on several occasions.

You are right. You do save a lot of time with reservations, especially if you really want to eat somewhere. Now, if your brother doesn't care where he eats, then let him go without any.
 
The other thing about not making ADR's till you are there is that sometimes you can get stuck on hold when calling from the resort for an unbelievable amount of time. A few times when we have been with my sister's family and my niece's nap was longer than expected I have had to try to make them from the resort phone. I was on hold forever.
 
I think many restaurants are falling back on the "no availability" thing instead of having folks wait for extended periods of time. It seems to be a less hazardous advisory.
 
Just my two cents worth, but to me unless there is really a place where you are dieing to eat I wouldn't make reservations. My last trip was terrible, because we were on the dining plan and I made reservations every night , we were continuously having to stop what we were doing and rush to make our reservations. We missed LeCelliers by 15 minutes and they wouldn't take us. It takes alot of time to get from one place to another, rush, rush, rush....next time I'll just play it by ear, and take my chances. We got stuck in many a line that took longer than we thought, and it was very stressful to us to hurry though a ride to run to make a res., it caused us to fight, which who wants to do that at WDW. :confused3
 
The absolute longest I've waited is thirteen months :teeth: Okay, fine, I know that's not what you meant but last September I could NOT get into Le Cellier - no PS available when I booked my package, none available via the resort Concierge, nothing available walking up... so I'm going back in October, and that's the very first ADR I'll be making - in April.
The longest I've physically waited is about a half hour at Prime Time on a VERY cold February day.
 
On the last night of our recent trip we were at Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. This was Thursday, January 19, which was a very lightly-attended day. We had an ADR but it took about five minutes for me to get to the front of the check-in queue, as literally a half-dozen people in front of me were looking for walk-in accommodation, and waxed poetically to the hostess that everywhere else they checked was full-up for the night as well.

Best advice: Have ADRs!
 
We always have ADRs...the only time we did not was for The Rainforest Cafe in A.K. one time. We waited 20-30 min.

Tell your brother to read these boards & he'll see the light!
 
We just came back from Disney last week and in many places people were being turned away without PS. At EPCOT some of the waits were over 2 hours and that's JANUARY. I can't imagine the summer months.
 
My experiences from December were that the big sign was out in front of guest relations at MK first thing in the morning with availability only at the plaza. At MGM by 6pm people were in line were told if they didn't have ADR's they would not be able to eat there and recommended CS. At AK people stopped into guest services for assistance with meals for Epcot later in the day and there was limited availability in Mexico, Moracco and China. Epcot had little availability and people were being turned away. At Cap'n Jacks we could get atable after 9pm and were given a slip to return with at 9pm--this was at 5pm. I prefer to know where and when rather than if or maybe--I make the ADR's I can always cancelthem if I change my mind. For July I will have them all made by next week.
 
WOW, I guess I am not so silly. LOL :rotfl2:
It kind of sounds like sometimes you can't even get into a Rest. without PS or ADR?
I guess my brother was thinking they only take a few PS or ADR and then there would still always be some setting for folks in the parks.
It is kind of crazy that we have to make ADRS so many months in advance? :crazy:
 
Disney Fans said:
It kind of sounds like sometimes you can't even get into a Rest. without PS or ADR?
I guess my brother was thinking they only take a few PS or ADR and then there would still always be some setting for folks in the parks.

It seemed that under the old PS scenario there was some accommodation made for the walk-in guest and only the most high demand restaurants were unavailable unless you had PSs. Now it seems highly likely that there will be no ADRs available at any restaurant unless you make them ahead of time, especially during busier park times. This has put a damper on our style a bit as we've enjoyed the more spontaneous style of only making a few ADRs before the trip (for CRT, Chef Mickey) and planning the rest a day or two before, if that.
 
I forgot - when I arrived at Kona for dinner on a Saturday night and said "One", the hostess told me there'd be at least an hour wait. When I said I had a PS and gave her my name, the wait dropped to about five minutes.
 

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