Anyone just "wing it"

[AirlineGuy07]

We're going back next May for 9 days and I know its important to make ADR's but sometimes its nice to just "wing it" and not have to be somewhere at a specific time. Its hard to know 90 days out which park we will be at on which days. I'm thinking about just going with the flow and whatever park we are in at lunch or dinner time we will just go somewhere there. We will probably have eat at on odd time because we dont have an ADR. Has anyone else done this?

[badkitty]

"Winging it" is getting more and more difficult especially with the free dining. Depending on when you go, most of the park's TS cannot handle walk-ups. I ended up going to the resorts and had better luck. For example, at WS I took the boat over to Big River Brewing at Boardwalk for lunch.

[kwhitt3202]

We were ther last october and many of the places were booked solid. There were people getting mad because at 7:30pm it was going to be a 2-2 1/2 hr wait to get in and some said they wernt even taking walk ups. There are those few restaurant that may hae a place if you call that morning. If we change our dinning it is mostly to roomservice or counterservice.

[MarkC]

We will embark on roughly trip #15 in 46 days, and almost every meal we just decide where to eat depending on where we are and what sounds good. We have 1 lunch and 2 dinner reservations for our upcoming trip, but every other meal will be decided when we get hungry. You should have no problems unless you want a sought after restaurant at a peak time. Have fun. Mark

[Granny Jill A]

I love doing this because I dislike being tied to a dining schedule. Unfortunately, if you have more than 2 people in your group, chances of getting in during regular dining hours are slim and none. And, if you're going during holidays, you best pack a lunch or something.

The only time I was ever able to walk in anywhere was when I was traveling solo.

Good luck and have a great trip.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Wow ~ after seeing the other posts, I guess we have always been lucky! We always have gone with the breeze and the day! :cloud9:

Usually making our dates in the morning as we walk into the park of choice for the day. There was only two of us, but never any problems and we usually go in April/May. We do tend to eat earlier than the groups (I guess . .) :shrug: Dinner was around 4:30 or so that way we could get beignets or pizza at the end of the evening before we went to bed :blush:
This uncoming trip is the first time I have ever made ADRs ( there are 7 of us) and I'm kinda bummed because what if I don't feel like going there that day?!? Oh well ~ time to learn something new I guess . . .
I guess you also have to be prepared to be flexible if something doesn't work out either.

Good Luck! :mickey:

[RockinRollerMom]

I think that just winging it is a good idea if you are not on the dining plan. If you wing it you have to be prepared to not get into a TS and have to settle for a counter service. While it is nice to not be tied down to a schedule you have to weigh if it is worth not eating at some of your favorite restaurants. Something that we do to give us some more flexability is book lots of ADR's on the monorail line. I find those easy to get to so it doesn't really dictate what park we are at each day.

[patandtwins]

Great question! We went last year, the week of July 4th. We went with inlaws and there were 10 of us total. We divided our trip into a 4 night stay at the Boardwalk Villas and a 5 night stay at Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We carefully made ADRs way in advance, but once we got there my DBIL had difficulty following any schedule (he's a relax and take it as it comes kind of guy). We ended up changing the ADRs and then, again due to my DBIL, we upgraded to the deluxe dining plan the second part of our trip (at VWL). We were doing TS at lunchtime and trying to do a few signature dining places. We had a few problems, like we could not get California Grill- even for just 2 of us. But, mostly, we had no trouble and there were up to 10 of us at any given meal (we didn't always do all 10 of us). May isn't as busy as 4th of July week. You should be ok. If you want to do some of the more popular places (Cali Grill, Le Cellier, Chef Mickey's):mickey:, then make an ADR there.

[Kathy Jetson]

We only make 1 adr for a character breakfast and wing it for the rest of the time we don't like being tied down to a resteraunt when we don't even know if we'll be hungary then. But thats just what works for us. Good luck!

[SandmanGStefani24]

yep. every time.

For me the best thing about being on vacation is the fact that I don't HAVE to be anywhere, at anytime. I go where I want, when I want. The dining is one of those things I let fall into place. Too much planning can spoil the fun sometimes.

[Hull-onian]

We never "wing it", we always have a plan A and a plan B. Ya never know,:secret:

[mjaclyn]

We never used to make dining arrangements until the last few years. I loved being able to decide on the spot when and where we wanted to eat and it made the vacation much less stressful because we weren't constantly worried about reservation times. Unfortunately, unless you want to go to the less popular restaurants, you just can't do it anymore. Some of them that usually have availability at the last minute are:

Epcot:
Nine Dragons
Restaurant Marrakesh
Biergarten

Animal Kingdom:
Yak & Yeti

I don't remember being able to get into any of the Magic Kingdom or HS restaurants at the last minute during our most recent trip - and we went during 'value' season.

[faline]

We've done several "last minute" trips and have not made advanced dining reservations for any of them. I think we've had great luck with a combination of tactics. First and foremost - no specific expectations. Second - flexibility. Third - the ability to eat at odd hours, if necessary.

What's worked for us to be a walk-up just as a restaurant is opening. This has worked for lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern as well as for Le Cellier. We were definitely prepared to be turned away at either or both.

We've also checked in at Guest Services when we first arrive at a park to see what's available for the rest of the day. (Gosh - I miss those interactive reservation kiosks at Epcot - remember those?) We've had some very good results doing this especially when we've asked for lunch at 2 p.m. or dinner at 4 p.m.

Best of luck to you!

[Woozle]

We did the wait and see 3 yrs ago. We learned our lesson. We are currently at WDW and I made adrs for everything. Most of the places we have been eating aren't allowing for walk-ins. But I will have to say that by the time we get going West Coast time its lunch here and so end up eating so close to our dinner ressies.

[twinboyz]

We have done this in the past and it seemed to work out ok for us. I do beleive that if you are going during free dining it probably is a little tough to get a table, but WDW has many options.

I will tell you it was a great feeling not having to rush off to reservations somehwere, and we were able to eat at places we probably wouldn't have planned on eating.

This is our first time using the dining plan, and we are only doing it because it was free. We prefer to 'wing it'.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[rubato]

I'm thinking about doing this on our next trip. Last time, I made ADRs for everything. I wasn't ever hungry when I was supposed to be. Plus, we would have to leave someplace or something we were all really enjoying to go make it to a meal on time. It's just food, so what if I don't get in where I want. I don't go to DW for meals, I go for entertainment! I also don't do the dining plan, so it's not like I have to use credits either.

[Disney Doll]

We do wing it sometimes, but we also eat a lot of CS. In January we got a same day ADR for Boma. I think we were just lucky though and of course it's a slower time of year. I'm not sure I would risk it in May. I like CS because we aren't tied to a schedule. However, we usually pick a couple of must do TS meals and I make those ADRs as soon as my window opens.

[Imagineer1981]

We used to always Wing it, and personally I hate ADRs...too scheduled for me

[pox24]

Winging meals is half the fun sometimes. We often do long week ends and make no ADR's. Fast food, late late dinners, appetizers from 3 or four places only, that kind of stuff. In our most recent trip we had no plans made for Sat night. We ate fish and chips in England. There were no tables to sit at so we shared the top of a trash can.... a clean one of course.... its Disney. Did I mention it was also raining! The adult beverages with the stand up fish kept us in good spirits... so to speak. Winging it is a blast.:thumbsup:

[AllDisney]

When we first started going to WDW we'd wake up in the morning and decide what park we wanted to go to that day. Sometimes, before we left the room, we'd call for reservations. If we didn't do reservations before we left the room we'd make them as soon as we entered the park.

Unfortunately, those days are gone. It's not so bad making dinner reservations 90 days out. At least you know the time & place to be for your dinner reservations well in advance:thumbsup:

[MinnieMommie]

Our trips have run the gamut of no reservations to every meal with ADRs on the dining plan. Now we usually book for some meals (at the places we know we really want to eat at) and "wing" the rest. If your heart is set on dining at a particular restaurant you might well be disappointed without reservations so keep this in mind. Being flexible will help (lunch vs dinner and time of reservation) but this is not a guarantee you will get what you want. I have been fairly lucky being flexible but again you can't count on it. If you are open to eating anywhere then the open approach you describe can be fun. With so many good options you will not go hungry and are bound to find a good meal. :mickey:

[crltkcagle]

I saw many families trying to wing it on our last trip and they were getting turned away due to know availability. While I think it would be nice to not have to be somewhere at a certain time with all the ADR's its almost impossible to get a table.

[megustamex]

We used to wing it all the time. Never made an ADR until the last few years, when Disney started offering the dining plan. Since then we haven't been able to get in anywhere we wanted by walking up - and we usually go in the off season. I think a lot of people buy the plan even in the times when it isn't free dining and book up a lot of reservations in the "slower" periods. I think it also gets people who purchased dining to commit to a TS when maybe they would have eaten CS in the past. In addition, I've noticed from looking at international sites that even if it isn't free dining time for us in the States, sometimes there is free dining offered in the UK or elsewhere. Remember you can always call and cancel a reservation if you want to wing it once you're there, but at least you'll have the opportunity to get in if you make the reservation.

[DANAM]

We never wing it. I LOVE ADR's. I don't think I could go to Disney without them. We have been 3 times with our kids for 7+ days and have never had a problem with them. I schedule my ADR's at the normal time we eat so everyone is normally really to eat.

[Princess'Mom]

ADRs are a must these days. Last month, we tried winging it and it really didn't work very well.
We ate a lot of CS. I had one ADR for Crystal Palace for the day we arrived.
While standing in line to 'check in' at CP, I overheard a woman tell someone she had two other reservations for the same time - different parks - just in case they went there instead of MK. How can that be? Does the ADR system allow that?
While we were in WDW, I tried to get dining reservations every day - to no avail. My DH was amazed that everything restaurant was booked. He couldn't understand why WDW doesn't build a few more restaurants to keep the $$ on property. We ate off site one night at a very nice restaurant, money that would have been spent on property had reservations been available. Amazing.

[DVC2004]

We used to and I enjoyed the freedom. However with the Dining Plan this is now almost impossible unless you plan on eating counter service every meal. We took a very impromptu trip in mid December and I had concierge at the Poly helping me because I could not get in anywhere. And practically all they could find us were Character meals. TAhey finally got us in to Flying Fish. Sadly ADR's are required now if you want to get in anywhere, even at traditionally "off" times.

[mrsgaribaldi]

We wing it too but we don't have any dining plan either:mickey: