Dining Reservations on the Same Day?

[Granny Jill A]

Year's ago, before ADR's were born, the concierge at the resort was able to secure reservations on the same day.

Has anyone ever asked the concierge at a Deluxe hotel to try and get them dining reservations for a table-service restaurant?

[southerngirl]

Yes, I have done that. Whether you're successful depends on the time of year and popularity of the restaurant. For example, if you want an ADR at the Wave, you could probably call the day that you wanted to eat there and get a table; but, if you want to eat at the California Grill, chances are you'll need t make an ADR weeks in advance.

However, just because you pick a restaurant that's less popular doesn't mean that you're guaranteed success. Last December, I asked the club level desk at the Poly to get me an early dinner ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe. The Cafe is generally considered one of the less popular restaurants, so I didn't think it would be a problem, especially since I wanted to eat there around 5:30. I was wrong. There were no dinner ADRs to be had, so we ended up making other plans.

[Polynesian Dweller]

As southerngirl says, it's a matter of fortune really as well as which restaurant you are trying for. We've tried a few times and a couple of times they've come through but more often in recent years they haven't accommplished it.

The club level concierge really don't have any special ability to get ADRs but they do their best. Disney restaurants are just to packed to really be able to reliably get same day or next day reservations.

[Fastpasssteve]

...with some notable exceptions:

at least three times, my party's plans have changed, so (via cell phone and Disney Dining) I got reservations the same day...usually calling in the afternoon for dinner that night.

More and more, I believe that, while all the TS restaurants are packed to the gills, cancellations and changes take place. While the odds are against you, always give a call and ask. You might be lucky.

But, it's only luck.

[Figment!]

We have gotten into Chef Mickey's on the past two trips for Dinner by contacting the Dining Concierge at our hotel (Swan & Dolphin) the morning of.

As others have said, succsess will depend on time of year, party size, flexablity in dining time, and a little bit of luck.

[MOJoe]

Heck, i got a ressie at Flying Fish by asking the front desk at All Star Music! So anything is possible.

[cinderellagrl]

We almost always do this! We have had more recent luck at Citricos, Narcoossees, Yachtsman's Steakhouse, the restaurants at Dolphin and Swan (including Blue Zoo and Shulas), Kona's Cafe, and a few others. We take many short and last minute weekend trips and have had much luck with booking dining "day of"!

[faline]

We've also had success with same day reseverations. Do keep in mind you need to be flexible when doing this.

There are also times when we've been successful. One that comes to mind - we were staying at Animal Kingdom and had not booked Boma. We decided we'd like to eat there at the last minute and were unsucessful getting a reservation any time during our stay. On the other hand, on our trip last month, we walked into Animal Kingdom Lodge one morning, asked about a walk-in for Boma and were seated within 15 minutes!

On a recent trip, we were staying at Wilderness Lodge. We didn't feel like going to Downtown Disney for our prebooked reservation and were able to get a same day reservation for Whispering Canyon. So, it's not impossible.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Just last week I was able to get a few things the day of or day before by calling from our room. I was able to get a 6:25pm ADR for Yak and Yeti by calling around 10am that morning before heading out to the park. I was also able to get an 11:30am massage for DH by calling the evening before. And was also able to get Grand Floridian Cafe for a 5ish dinner ADR by calling in the morning before heading to MK. We weren't calling for Grand Floridian Cafe, but all other places we were interested in where booked. We figured this was as good a time as any to try a new place and ended up very pleased with our meal here. At least 3 times during the week we arrived around 30 minutes before our ADR time and asked if we could just check in early and we always ended up seated withing 5-10 minutes. We also were able to walk up at WCC and were seated within 30 minutes for lunch one day. We were thrilled with that one because we had tried to get an ADR there earlier in the week and nothing was available. We were in WDW from June 6th to June 15th and were shocked at how empty the parks seemed and how quickly we were seated and how easy it was to get a "last minute" ADR for a number of places. I think you should be able to find something for almost any meal. May not be your first choice of place or time, but we found that there was always something available. It also depends on when your traveling.