Do I need reservations

[kdm0516]

We are going Oct 23-29th. We plan to dine at the following:
T-Rex
House of Blues
Garden Grill
Rainforest either for breakfast or dinner
maybe 50's prime for late lunch.

Will I need to book my reservations for all of them now or can I just decide to go there that day and be seated without a long wait? I hate planning my entire day around eating. I have to choose what park I'll be in and when I'll be out months ahead of time. But I would also really like eat at T-Rex and the Garden Grill

I just tried booking T-Rex for Saturday when we get there and can't get it. I tought I read somewhere with T-Rex and Rainforest you can call them direct????

 

[mickeysgirl17]

You MUST book reservations. With all the dining plans that disney offers, reservations are sometimes booked completely up to 6 months in advance. You will be taking a BIG risk just showing up. Call or go online and book asap!!!

There is a possibility that 1 or 2 of your choices may sit you the same day, but theres a bigger possibility that you won't get seated at all.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Sorry...double post

 

[jennylyn_b]

I agree, reservations are a must! Many restaurants will be completely booked and turn you away while others may have a 90+ minute wait. We tried to do walk ups and couldn't get in anywhere. We ended up eating at cs and we were a bit disappointed.
You can always cancel the ADR's ahead of time if you decide you don't want to eat there that day.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

I agree with the pp - I would always suggest making adrs, otherwise you run a great risk of being turned away or having to wait. If you don't care where or when you eat in WDW (which could end up being counter service) then adrs are not necessary.

 

[JenGC]

Do you need reservations for quick dining restrauants? Like Toy Story Pizza Planet. I assumed I could just walk up and eat. Is that right? (I really hope that wasn't a dumb question )

 

[kdm0516]

You don't use reservations for CS, just walk up like ordering at McDonalds

Thanks everyone for letting me know. I made my ressies for the first part of our trip

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Do you need reservations for quick dining restrauants? Like Toy Story Pizza Planet. I assumed I could just walk up and eat. Is that right? (I really hope that wasn't a dumb question )

You cannot make reservations (ADR's) for quick service. They do not accept them. You must walk up. Tip: Eat at "off times". Like before 11:30am or after 2pm for lunch and before 5:30 or after 8pm for dinner to avoid long lines at quick service or having to wait for someone to be done eating to get a table. You won't have to do this everywhere. Some quick service places have lots and lots of tables and can accomodate lots of people at once.

 

[Cafeen]

T-Rex and possibly RFC (I only know for sure at T-Rex) do not release their entire inventory of tables to the Disney Dining system (they are not owned, nor operated by Disney at all). You should be able to call either of them direct (sorry, I don't have their numbers ) and get an ADR through them.

House of Blues does not release any inventory to Disney, so you'd have to call them directly as well.

Garden Grill and 50s Prime Time are definite musts though.

While not mentioned, not that out of the list, only GG and 50s PT accept the dining plan. This tends to make the others (the ones that don't take it) a bit easier to get in to.

 

[kdm0516]

T-Rex and possibly RFC (I only know for sure at T-Rex) do not release their entire inventory of tables to the Disney Dining system (they are not owned, nor operated by Disney at all). You should be able to call either of them direct (sorry, I don't have their numbers ) and get an ADR through them.

House of Blues does not release any inventory to Disney, so you'd have to call them directly as well.

Garden Grill and 50s Prime Time are definite musts though.

While not mentioned, not that out of the list, only GG and 50s PT accept the dining plan. This tends to make the others (the ones that don't take it) a bit easier to get in to.

I was able to call T-Rex and get in they said it is priority seating though. Rainforest I did the same for 9 people and got in. I was actually able to book House Of Blues online through Disney. When I chose T-Rex and it wasn't available House of Blues was under the suggestions so I booked that.
We aren't doing the dining plan since 2 of the places we want to eat aren't included. Plus, we won't do TS the whole time.
Do you recommend 50's Prime Time over Sci-Fi? Couldn't decide between the 2

 

[Cafeen]

I was actually able to book House Of Blues online through Disney. When I chose T-Rex and it wasn't available House of Blues was under the suggestions so I booked that.

Ahh yeah, I forgot about that method heh. You can't "directly" make them though .

Do you recommend 50's Prime Time over Sci-Fi? Couldn't decide between the 2

Never been to sci-fi, and haven't been to 50s PT since we went there in 1992? I think. So really can't help you there, but Sci-Fi, like 50sPT will very much likely need an ADR.

 

[Ala Charm]

House of Blues does not release any inventory to Disney, so you'd have to call them directly as well.

Actually, you can call and make reservations for House of Blues through Disney.