Where to eat without ADR?

[Kaycap]

So obviously I'm new here, just tried to reserve breakfast with Cinderella and found out it's completely booked. Here I was thinking I was doing good by calling a month in advance

Do I now assume that anything good is booked? Or at least the character stuff? I wanted to go out with DH one night, but have no idea where. I guess I should put that Dine ph# into my speed dial?

 

[vicki_c]

Well, you won't starve, you can always eat counter service without an ADR.

Are you on the dining plan - that might be more of a problem - because you need to use your table service credits.

But I would call Dining back, with a list of which parks you're interested in for each day of your trip, and just ask - what do you have available for lunch at Magic Kingdom on such-and-such day. They can tell you what's open and you can see how that works for you. Or if there are other particular meals you want, call back and ask for those, of course.

You can also do this while you're in the parks, but I recommend trying harder before you get there.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

For breakfast the playhouse disney breakfast is usually never booked up at Hollywood and Vine at Hollywood studios. As for a nice dinner w/ DH you can usually get into a DTD restraunt, those ADR's usually don't book as quickly as the resorts and parks.

 

[3boymthr]

Most of the character meals might be booked up but don't hesitate to call dining and see if there is anything available, they have a few spots at the meals that aren't as popular. Also, people cancel and reschedule all the time so you might get lucky.

There are a few places not in DTD that don't take ADRs: ESPN Club, Beaches & Cream, Big River Grille & Brewing Pub (this is a micro-brewery) for sure, there may be others.

Also, per one of the books I read there a few of the resort restaurants are not hard to get into if you call about 30 days out: Captain's Grille (YC), Boatwright's (POR) and similar.

Based on what I've read either the Captain's Grille or Big River Grille & Brewing Pub might be good for a night out as the Boardwalk and Epcot WS are nearby. We're planning on having our two youngest go to the Sandcastle Club while DH & I head over to the Boardwalk or over to Epcot.

 

[ChickieToo]

What exactly are you looking for? What are tha ages of your children? Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club hotel has a great character breakfast, and they are not usually fully booked. Did you ask for lunch at the castle? Also, princesses can be seen at the Akerhaus restaurant in EPCOT for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In many ways it is even better that breakfast in the castle. You can also see Cinderella and Prince Charming for dinner at 1900 Park Fare which is in the Grand Floridian Hotel. If you are at the MK that day you can just take the boat launch over to the hotel. Ohana's is also fun, and although it does book up you might call and ask if they have anything there for dinner for the nights you are there.

One thing that this shows us all, is that you need to make your reservations at the 90 mark or else you can be left out of places you want to eat. Until very recently it was 180 days out--that was crazy. People think you are an obsessive planner if you tell them to book at the appropriate time, but they don't realize how hard it is trying to get a reservation on short notice. I am anything but a planner--in fact tonight we didn't even know where we were going to eat unitl we started driving--but when it comes to eating in WDW I plan with the best of them.

Good Luck!

 

[mark2741]

We are leaving this coming Tuesday (March 3) for an 8 day trip to WDW. I booked and planned the trip as my wife doesn't really like planning too far in advance because she finds it too painful to have to get all excited about a trip and then still have to wait a long time for the actual trip : )

So, about 6 weeks ago, I made a bunch of reservations. I know that was pretty late in the game to be making reservations, but I was having a hard time deciding. This is our 2nd trip to WDW and it was hard choosing between restaurants that we *loved* on our first trip, or trying all new ones. I opted for more of the ones we liked before.

So, of course just last week my wife decides that our trip is close enough that she will look over the reservations....and she didn't like most of them. And admittedly, I was never happy with them either, other than some like Le Celier for dinner.

So my wife starts saying things like, "I want to go to Crystal Palace, and Hoop Dee Doo Review, Ohana..." etc. All the ones that are hard to get.

Well, it took 2 calls to disney reservations, over a 3 day period, to get what she wanted. I was shocked, but I just had to call back a couple of times and we were able to get whatever we wanted, with one exception - Ohana for dinner. We settled for Kona Cafe, with the reservations CM urging us to try to do a walk-in on Ohana and if they can't seat us then do the Kona reservation.

So my point is...it's not impossible to get good reservations right up until your departure date. You just have to be flexible and be willing to call back a few times. Times open up constantly.

I just cancelled our 9:30 Hoop Dee Doo review if you're interested : )

 

[Kaycap]

Thanks for the tip on Playhouse Disney! My kids are 2 and 4, so that's perfect. DD wants to see all the princesses. I had read about the Cinderella meal at the resort, but I was so confused as to how to get there that I thought I had to stay in the park. We are driving from a timeshare.

It's all a bit frustrating that I have no knowledge on anything, but I'm grateful that I found this board. I have learned a lot!

 

[ChickieToo]

For 1900 Park Fare you can do one of two things: Drive from the MK over to the Grand Floridian after your park day; or 2) If you thought you might return to the MK after your meal you could park your car in the MK parking lot, and when you leave the park, rather than go to your car you can go to the ferry that goes to the Grand Floridian. Just return to the MK on the ferry and reenter the park.

The Akerhaus restaurant in Norway in EPCOT has about 4 princess plus Mary Poppins or Mulan so you can really get your bang for the buck there.

Good Luck!

 

[Beauty & the Best]

You might also be able to get into Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House.

We were there yesterday and walked right into lunch @ Tusker House. It was good so we left full and happy.

Also check last minute the day before you want a reservation w/ the concierge in your resort or at MK. We've used that service and gotten last minute reservations.

 

[jenseib]

If you are going in a months time, I assume you are going close to Easter, so it will be much busier the closer you get. I would try right now. Arkershus in Epcot has all three meals for princesses. 1900 Park Fare and GF has Cindrella, prince Charming and the stepmother and sisters for dinenr and I think it's Alice, Madhatter, Mary Poppins and a couple of pooh character for breakfast. Anotehr idea would be to try and get your DD (if she is 4) into the Wonderland tea party. It's like $42 for an hour with lunch and fun with Alice and the madhatter. But she has to be able to go in alone as parents have to wait outside.

 

[Lesley]

You will likely still be able to get many ADR's but perhaps not the most popular places- like Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and Le Cellier.

Places we've enjoyed as walk-up diners include Akershus for the Princess dinner (they couldn't get us in for about 90 minutes, but they told us that when we walked up and they just put us down like a reservation...technically perhaps this is not a walk up, but a same evening reservation made at the podium...the same evening The Garden Grill offered us the same), Nine Dragons (perfectly good Chinese food), The Plaza (at the MK, mostly sandwiches and ice cream, but good!), Olivia's at OKW, Hollywood and Vine, 50's Primetime, Mama Melrose, Boatwright's at POR....and I'm sure others I'm not remembering. Some of these places have become favorites after trying them on the fly.

Be flexible and definitely call to try to get what you want....but if you're stuck without an ADR (or your plans change) be flexible and just ask!

Suggestions for that date night, if you can get reservations (just try!) - Artist Point at the WL, Jiko at AKL (best meal ever when we ate there, though the chef has changed now), California Grill at the CR, Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.