Being seated at the Lamplight bar is great. The stools are comfortable and you do not tend to be bothered by others. The bar staff are friendly and helpful. You do get better service and you never feel rushed to finish up, pay the bill and leave. The (not so) secret menu cocktails are tremendous. I go solo or with a friend quite frequently. If you’re a small party and it’s busy, you’ll get seated inside - we’ve found the bar experience much more enjoyable than table service. If your reservation time is shortly after they open for brunch or lunch, many tables and seats at the bar are empty - in such instances, I have been successful in changing seats to a preferred location.
At Trader Sam's, a party of two will be seated at the bar. It’s so small, and tends to have such a long walk-up waiting list, there is a lot less flexibility. You take what they give you - however, timing is everything. If a number of people have recently departed and a significant number of seats are available at the bar, I have had success in switching to a more desirable location. The best seats for maximizing the experience are near the corner closest to the front door - it’s the only location where there is an unobstructed view of every enhanced effect. But anywhere at the bar is great - the one exception are the two seats closest to the restrooms - the counter is much lower (It’s more of a table) - with more challenging sight lines.
Now that the parks have reduced their cancelation policy to 2 hours instead of the day before, reservations for all the restaurants now open up fairly regularly throughout the day. FYI, almost everyone plans their Disney day focused on rides and attractions. We focus ours on drinking cocktails at Lamplight and Trader Sam’s.
