It's never crowded for lunch. It was jam-packed for dinner when we were there two weeks ago. Why?
Free dining. Everyone wants to use their TS credits for dinner -- not lunch.
We liked our dinner there okay, but the waiters were totally harried and the whole meal was rushed. Additionally, they have also changed the dessert our boys loved to something that clearly is cheaper and easier to make (no doubt because with free
DDP everyone is ordering dessert). We do like their spinach noodles with pepper shrimp, which is different than the usual Chinese dishes available in the Northeast. If we go again, it will only be for lunch, however. Not dinner.
We were able to walk in for lunch anywhere we wanted to eat two weeks ago. Any 1TS restaurant we dined at was packed for dinner and not taking walk-ups.
Fortunately, all but two of our dinners were planned for either a 2TS restaurant (Jiko) or restaurants that don't take DDP, (Bistro and the Swan/Dolphin restaurants). We also spent time at Universal and ate several meals there, which were "universally" delicious, I might add.