2 Adults dining reservations?

kenshinelite

Wannabe Imagineer
Joined
Dec 15, 2013
Me and my cousin are going December 14-21. I hate feeling like if you want to eat anywhere you have to get reservations. I barely know what I want tomorrow let alone 60 days before a trip. I don't want to eat strickly quick service either. I have been a few times before and done a few high end and buffet meals. My cousin however hasn't been to Disney before. Is there anywhere at Disney I don't have to reserve that's not quick service. For adults so no character meals.
 
Not really! The day of, you can look and see what might be available, and can usually snag something. But it might not be near where you are, or what you want to eat. :)
For real one trip we tried to just go to Via Napoli for a pizza. Got turned away with a near empty restaurant. Had to call Disney park help line and made a reservation for right then and got sat. It's ridiculous
 
Depends on time of year - if its during a free dining period - you will find little to nothing has any walk-up seating.

Late the evening before and day of - you can find a few ADR's on the app - and book them. But - as a prior poster said - they may not be when or where you want. If you are picky about where you eat - this won't be great. But for those who are flexible - there will likely be choices. The available reservations tend to be early or late in a dining period, too. BUT - I've been in HS - with ZERO ADR's available for the entire day more than once.

I recommend booking ADR's in advance - and then canceling them the night before if you change your mind. And character meals ca be fun for adults, too!
 


Me and my cousin are going December 14-21. I hate feeling like if you want to eat anywhere you have to get reservations. I barely know what I want tomorrow let alone 60 days before a trip. I don't want to eat strickly quick service either. I have been a few times before and done a few high end and buffet meals. My cousin however hasn't been to Disney before. Is there anywhere at Disney I don't have to reserve that's not quick service. For adults so no character meals.
Just an FYI, fastpasses are made 60 days out (for onsite guests) but dining reservations start at 180 days so you actually could start reserving now. I have all mine for my December trip.
 
It depends on how busy it is, but sometimes in Epcot there are options. I know the restaurant int he Morocco pavilion can have good availability as they are always way out front shilling for it (it's kind of hidden back there so the passers-by won't see it). I would not expect to find too much in the parks though without needing an ADR.
 
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You can get lots of places day of, sometimes about 10 min. before. Walk ups are few and far between. You can walk up to Spice Road Tables at Epcot and eat outside. Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is walk up. Nomad Lounge at AK has a decent small plate menu. We never book ADRs in advance, all of ours are done in the afternoon day of while walking around the parks. We do have PHs so we aren't limited to a certain park and we love trying new places and don't mind eating late at night so that helps too.
 


Remember, you can cancel your reservations 24 hours in advance with no problems. So make a few now and when it gets closer you can try for something else and cancel your original ones. You don't have to use them, think of them as a backup plan.
 
Not really, no. My husband insisted we didn't make reservations the first time I brought him, because he thought that was dumb & he didn't want to plan that in advance. Come Saturday night in the Magic Kingdom, I have a hungry grumpy man who is horrified that we basically got laughed out of a restaurant (we didn't get laughed at but they were sort of surprised that he asked) after he insisted on asking to put our names on "the list" for a table. Now he always lets me book ADRs. You can cancel them up to the night before and I do this all the time. It's much better to book in advance and cancel that week than not book anything and be mad that you're having to walk around eating hot dogs the whole trip. I usually have few problems booking or changing an ADR even that day, but you don't want to get caught on a busy day and not have anything available.
 
Raglan Road ----- My wife and I have walked up a lot of times and been seated right away. Also, if there is a long wait, I will log onto Open Table and get a reservation fast than if we waited. With a reservation from Open Table, we believe we get seated faster.
 
If you ever want spur of the moment dining, and don't feel like gluing yourself to your phone researching the restaurants around you, (407) WDW-DINE is a great resource.
I don't know if everyone's experience is the same way, but I told them what we were interested in eating and they immediately found a few options.

I've also emailed WDW for information on having ribs for dinner on arrival night, and when I arrived in Orlando the dining line actually called me on the phone to follow up on my question, knowing it was time sensitive, and make sure I got a same day reservation. I was pretty impressed at this.
 
I have had luck as a party of 1 or 2 at Sci-Fi (sat in 3rd seat as hitchhikers) and the bar in 50s Prime Time Cafe. You would probably have more luck at the resort restaurants. Turf Club at SSR is nice.

If you have any interest in the Landry places (Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex, Yak n Yeti) get a Landry's Select Club card before you go. Club members do not require ADRs and get moved to the front of the line (behind any other Club members already waiting :))
 
3 years ago we were able to walk up to Via Napoli in Epcot ( I read your experience was different ) and Yak and Yeti at AK. We were there in May.
 
Your dates are included with the free dining promo; so, table service reservations are important to get ahead of time. It will be crowded everywhere. Epcot has the Candlelight Processional dinner/show packages and that adds to the booking situation.

First, you will get a more desireable time if you book early. Second, the wait won't be as long to get in. When you try to be a walk in it almost always mean a longer wait even if you are lucky enough to get in.

As another poster stated you have a 24 hour window to cancel or change your mind.

Personally, I don't want to spend the time on the spot to try and get in any where. That's a huge time waster.
 
I say book the ones you really want to go to and then try your chance at ones you are a bit meh about. I ALWAYS book my restaurants because when I was in DL I was told by a CM that a lot of the restaurants are usually booked out, and they were right, we got in some, but we had to wait a long time (which is understandable), so I always make sure I book the ones I know I want to go to and I know I will be there on the day.
 
Big River Grille on the boardwalk didn't take reservations last I knew. We walked in only wait a few minutes.
 
As long as you are flexible, you will find something to eat. The Magic Kingdom is probably the trickiest when it comes to sit down meals.
 
I got a day-of lunch ressie at BOG on my solo trip in April. You could try resort dining like Grand Floridian Cafe.
 
I think walk-up seating at MOST sit down restaurants in practically non-existent these days.
 

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