Don't always have to have a reservation?

[paulapooh7]

Hi,, I went to Disney three years ago for the first time, we did not know that you had to make reservations at the restaurants. We walked right into the Rainforest Cafe, we had a seat in 10 min. It was fairly busy too ,, we went in Aug. So was that just a rare event or is it fairly easy to get seated with out a reservation? Thanks.............. Paula

 

[weluvpluto]

We may be in the minority, but we don't make PS before we get there. It all depends where you want to eat, I guess.
We never have a set plan of which park we're going to be in every day or how long we'll be at any one, so usually the morning of or day before I'll try to get a PS if there's somewhere we want to eat.

 

[Jan]

we went in may '03 when the crowds were still a bit down, and we did have trouble getting in at times. most of the trouble was at dowtown disney, where the wait was 1-2 hours at most of the restaurants - even planet hollywood (ick!). we ate off site quite a bit that trip b/c we had no PS. problem was, we would drive off site, and then have a 45 minute wait for a Fridays or some other chain. This time I am ready with a PS for each day. But that just fits my personality - I am a planner. To me, half the fun of a vacation is planning.

 

[OKW Lover]

Hi,, I went to Disney three years ago for the first time, we did not know that you had to make reservations at the restaurants. We walked right into the Rainforest Cafe, we had a seat in 10 min. It was fairly busy too ,, we went in Aug. So was that just a rare event or is it fairly easy to get seated with out a reservation? Thanks.............. Paula

That's a VERY rare event. I've had such long waits at RF that I won't even consider them any more.

 

[Twigs]

We only make PS for a restaurant when we don't want to take a chance on not getting in. Otherwise we usually make our PS early in the morning before we leave the room each day.

 

[Dancind]

How many were in your party when you did this? I think it makes a big difference. I think with a party of two it's pretty easy to get in, we have three so we try to plan a little. Most times we can do same day in the morning. We are hosting family for our summer trip, there will be six of us one week and seven the next, and I'm already having trouble getting PS's at anytime later than 5:30.

 

[jarestel]

You can usually get in somewhere without a PS, or a last minute one. This works if you're not too fussy about where you want to eat, but if you have your heart set on specific restaurants, I'd make a PS. Many times you can still get in most places with only a day's notice. Good luck!

 

[Twigs]

How many were in your party when you did this?

This past Feb. we were there Presidents week, for the most part we were a party of 7, a few nights a party of 10, but we were very flexible with time and did get some late seatings.

 

[DisneyMim]

We just came back and didn't make any PS ahead of time, as usual. We had no problems eating where we wanted. By all means if it makes you feel better and you know where you want to go make them in advance, but if you can be flexible and are like us you can be OK. We usually make them in the morning for that eveing or the next day or two.

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

We only make a PS if its somewhere we really HAVE to go and would be disappointed if we didnt get in. Otherwise we wing it. Who knows 90 days out where they want to eat today you might feel like burger on the day itself maybe you feel like sushi.

 

[floridagirrl2]

We never make PS because we like to be spontaneous (plus we've attended several times during the Food and Wine Festival, and prefer to just go booth to booth at Epcot). But if we were going at a busy time of year, I would go ahead and make some PS arrangements.

We ALMOST didn't get sit-down service on DH's birthday last December 18th (just at the very beginning of the Christmas rush)--luckily, the Rose and Crown let us walk in at 4:30 PM (after telling us a bit earlier that they were completely booked for PS for the entire evening).

If you would be disappointed to miss out on sit-down service, AND you are planning a trip at a somewhat busy time of year, I would go ahead and make some PS.

 

[Disney Debbie]

Another one who makes PS's the day I'm there. The only time I've made them in advance was when DD was young and we went to Cindy's breakfast. The only time I've not been able to get in where I wanted was this last trip my Mom and I went on 3/5/05. We couldn't get a ressie at LeCellier. We didnt' even go try until after lunch though! So we got one at Germany and ended up walking right in at France instead right when they opened for dinner.

As long as you don't have your heart set on a certain place at a certain time I don't think there's any need to make PS's in advance.

 

[bugsy]

We only make PS for a restaurant when we don't want to take a chance on not getting in. Otherwise we usually make our PS early in the morning before we leave the room each day.

I agree completely--we only made PS'S for Yachtmans Steakhouse,
Narcoossees, and Sci Fi. everything else we pretty much plan to follow
our whims..

 

[crisi]

We had really bad luck in early Feb several years ago...and we've watched people be told "no walkups" or "two hour waits." Last October the only seating available the morning of for Spoodles was at 5:00pm - which was fine with us, but if we had wanted to eat there late we'd be out of luck. We've also spent twenty minutes on the phone on hold making "day of" reservations, something I'd rather not be spending vacation time doing.

 

[paulapooh7]

Hi,, I went to Disney three years ago for the first time, we did not know that you had to make reservations at the restaurants. We walked right into the Rainforest Cafe, we had a seat in 10 min. It was fairly busy too ,, we went in Aug. So was that just a rare event or is it fairly easy to get seated with out a reservation? Thanks.............. Paula

We had 6 in our party that day at Rainforest Cafe,, just got lucky I guess

 

[java]

Depends on time of year and how flexible you are with your times. Even at the busiest times of year I have seen tables for 2 people walk up and be told to come back after 10PM. So they got tables but much later than we could eat. Also you can do the big restaurants at Epcot for lunch most days without a ressie. I even had a friend get a table for cindy's breakfast without a ressie in Sept.

 

[shafke]

The only places that I feel are a must do for PS is any of the character meal. Especially, Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, and of course Cindy's. Most of the table restaurants reservations can be made the day you want to eat there. I can't recall having trouble getting a PS for say an Epcot restaurant the day we wanted to eat there.

 

[EthansMom]

I've done a trip with some PS's and a trip with no PS's. My kids and I are very schedule-oriented -- we like to eat lunch at lunch time and dinner at dinner time and go to bed a the same time every night.

For us, PS's work best for lunch. For our upcoming trip, I've also made PS's for character dinners. Dropping in to a sit-down restaurant at noon and being told we have a 50 minute wait for a table just doesn't work for us -- kids screaming, parents frazzled (not fun!).

On the other hand, since we tend to eat dinner earlier than many people on the East Coast, I don't worry much about PS's for dinner.

 

[excited4Disney]

I would recommed making a PS for the places that you have your heart set on eating at. I made no PS last week on my trip & had no wait for rain forest cafe, but didn't get to eat at 50's prime time because they had PS from 11am-close.

 

[Bracho]

I too have walked in and have heard the hostess saying no walkins... I make PS to make sure I get to eat at all the places and times I want... the last thing I want to do is turn eating into one of the rides where I'm waiting in a line hoping for a table.