Surprised by Availability

[iteachlit]

Six of us are heading down for a seven night trip the last week of July. We decided to make only a few sit-down reservations for this trip which I did months ago.

Last night my daughter told me she really wanted to go to Sci-fi Dine In. My son chimed in that it is one of his favorites as well. We did not have any reservations for Friday, July 30, so I thought I would try for lunch. Off to the web site.

First, I tried 12:30 PM. Available. Then my dad reminded me that we are golfing that morning; the time may be a little tight. Agreed.

How about 5 PM? Available. Then I thought that it might be a good idea to eat a late lunch / early supper (lupper?) that day. New search!

3 PM? No, but 3:15 and 3:30 were available. Sold.

I know Sci-fi is not super-popular, but I was shocked to find availability at all different times on a Friday five weeks out. Perhaps I was helped by the party of six...

 

[Delphinus317]

Don't you love it!

We are going at the same time as you & I had no problems getting all of the ADR's we wanted at the times we wanted. I hope it's an indication of the crowd levels at that time too.

Oh & we're a party of 2!

 

[iteachlit]

We'll have to wait and see about the crowd levels. We were there in 2007 at the same time, and it wasn't bad at all.

Oh well, we're going no matter what. What's a few more friends?

 

[catne]

Unfortunately, not sure that's an indication of crowd levels...think it's more an indication of economy still in the tank so less people are eating in the Disney restaurants. We were there 3rd weekend of May, and the parks were crowded, but the restaurants we went to all had empty tables, even the ones in the parks.

We were at DHS for opening weekend of Star Wars this year...and we were there last year, too. This year, I was changing around my reservations right up until the week we went...and there was lunchtime availability for both Sci-Fi and 50s Prime Time just about any time I wanted between 11:30 & 1:30 for a party of 3. The park was jam-packed with people...TSM fastpasses were gone at 10:00 a.m. (park opened at 9:00 a.m., no early EMH) Stand-by for TSM at noon was 120 minutes. They actually had lines at One Man's Dream & the Animation Studio (never saw that before.)

Last year, all the Sci Fi & 50s Prime Time availability was gone for lunch on SWW about 2 months out. The crowds were about the same.

So I think people are being more selective about how much they'll spend on their entertainment: yes to the park ticket, no to the park dining.

 

[Kaisara]

I was surprised as well by the availability when I booked my ADR's

 

[iteachlit]

I'm sure the economy has something to do with the sit-down restaurant availability. We had the dining plan the last few trips, but we decided to skip it this time and make fewer plans. Flexibility is what we were after.

We will have breakfast in the studio (with the exception of one day at Cape May) and fill around our sit-down meals with counter service or snacks. I'm really going to track how much we spend, as I want to compare it to the dining plan cost.

We have Tables in Wonderland, as well as DVC membership, so we can save nearly everywhere.

 

[AndreaDM]

I was pleasantly surprised as well. We leave in 10 days and I didn't make any of the ADRs more than a month in advance, and we got almost everythng we wanted at the times we wanted. Of course, most of them are just for 2 of us since DH will be in conferences most of the time so I thought maybe that was why, easier to seat 2 people than 3 or more.

 

[trickiwoo]

We were there 3rd weekend of May, and the parks were crowded, but the restaurants we went to all had empty tables, even the ones in the parks.

That's the opposite of what I experience! We go during Free Dining, so there aren't a lot of crowds in the parks... but the restaurants are all full!!