Is it really necessary to make ps's ??

[PooohBear]

Ya know, I realize that if you want to go to HDD or CP or things like that, that you need a ps! but .... say if you feel like eating at O'hana's or Boma's or Chef Mickey's, on a certain day while you're there, do you really need a ps?! I have a hard time planning out my meals when I really don't know what time we'll want to leave a park or just when we're hungry or what everyone will feel like eating this day or that day !! I just don't know what to do !!!

 

[mjmcca]

I would make them but you can make them the day of or the night before if you arentt oo picky about the time you want to eat. On my last trip i made PS at town hall on maisntreet 2 times. When i entered the park I went and made the PS. If i had waited unitl later inthe day i would have never have been able to just show up at the resturant and get in. We did Crystal Palace for lunch and Liberty Treet Tavern for dinner this way. I could have made PS for any resturant i wanted at Town Hall when i got to the MK.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Agree-at least try to make them the same day. IF you have a hard time doing so, you'll know there will likely be problems if you just show up!!
Always disappointing to show up at a particuar restaurant and be told there's no more room the whole evening.
Of course, folks often report "winging it" and having no problem whatsoever.
A lot depends on which restaurant, what day, and what time you plan on dinner.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I think since you are going close to Christmas you should at least make 1 PS per day.

Lori

 

[momxx5]

It depends what time of year you are going. If you are going during the holiday season, the restaurants may very well be booked.

If there are any "must do" meals, I would definately plan for them....Chef Mickeys, Sci-Fi, Liberty Tree, etc.

Are you traveling with children? It is a lot harder to wing it with children - long waits for meals makes for cranky kids. However, if you are willing to try and if not head over to counter service then you would probably be all right.

I would hate for anyone to have their heart set on something, only to be turned away.

I guess it really boils down to how flexible you are.

 

[n2mm]

If you don't care how late you might be eating I wouldn't worry. While we were there in mid-Jan one year, we thought maybe we would get into Chef Mickey's without a PS. Unless we wanted to eat at 9:00 PM at night there was not a single night we could get in any earlier than 9:00 PM, so didn't do it. I thought, this was a slow time, no holiday, no convention, nothing. An eye openner for us, the experts--the CM family. I would say you can wing it for a few places, but the popular ones, like Chef Mickeys, O'hanas and even Boma's need PS. Any character meal needs a PS. When we were at chef Mickey's this past July, the CM announced to the crowd that they were completely booked for the night and that they were excepting no walkins, this also happened to us in July for Hollywood and Vine, and folks at the Plaza and 50s Prime Time were told that there were no opennings until after 8:45 PM. So if you don't have a problem eating extremely late, I wouldn't worry about PSs. We do change our PSs when we get there sometimes the morning of or night before, but it's nice having one to fall back on if there is nothing available.

 

[Sharlag]

I just called in my PS's last night for October 13 - 20. I had a hard time getting a Chef Mickey's breakfast during normal breakfast hours. Ended up with a 10:20am on Tuesday (wanted one earlier).

You'd think Tuesday mid-October would be a "low-demand" day, but apparently not!

Sharla

 

[Mortlives]

I'll be doing an advance PS for 'Ohana, but only because it's where I decided I wanted to go for my birthday. Since my birthday is on a holiday, it's better to be safe than sorry. Other than that, we can pretty much wing it.

Kungaloosh!
Morticia.

 

[crisi]

Another problem with winging it at those restaurants in particular - they are hotel restaurants. If you can't get into Chef Mickey's and are hungry - you will probably end up at the Concouse Steak House - will that be OK? Or you'll end up at the snack bar or traveling to another restaurant. A booked Boma and your choices are Mara or Jiko. This happened to us at WL - we wanted Whispering Canyon - booked until 9:00. Artist's Point was out of the question with tired hungry cranky small children. So we ended up with a meal out of Roaring Forks - which wouldn't have been horrible if I had thought I'd be eating chicken fingers for dinner.

By the way, this was early Febuarary - a slow season.

 

[kirkharrod]

We make a one PS for each day because last February, we left one day without a PS, and ended up eating hot dogs or going to bed hungry because we could not get in anywhere.

 

[PooohBear]

I really do want to get into Bomas, Chef Mickey's and O'hanas, so I will definately make reservations for those places and just work it out ! Thanks so much for the info!! I thought I could just wing it, i'm glad I asked everyone !!!! :thewave:

 

[natt]

Here is my experience with PS. Note: the last two trips we have visited during early/mid August. Much to our surprize, the parks were not nearly what we'd imagined they would be like, having traveled at off times on other trips.

On both trips, I made both lunch and dinner PS's (1 per day, as others have suggested). Once, for dinner at Les Chefs, we arrived 45 min. prior to our seating and they sat us right away. Another, we had no PS and went to Italy, and they sat us right away. (we had also looked over the China menu and they were able to seat us fairly soon. (Both dinners were on the early side 5-ish).
Other lunch PS's, we ended up blowing off, since it just didn't work into the schedule at the moment. I might note, that the PS that we did not make at the MK, was where we ended up at Italy with no PS.

So, I guess, it all depends on when you are going, the time of day you are going, and how important is it to your trip experience to go to a certain restaurant that you want to try. I guess it also depends on your eating habits and if you can get by with just grazing. I also agree, that if a certain resort restaurant is desired, then I would make a PS for that.

 

[jann1033]

one thing to consider if you are going pre xmas...Mk and Ak will both close around dinner time so that knocks out both of those parks for dinner, Mgm will be closed only a little later, so more of the dinner time diners will only have the resorts as choices, especially around MK. when we were there last Jan.a few places were much busier than i thought they 'd be ( WC, Ohana's) and I wonder if that in part is why. this time when i was making ps, i only got my first choice of time 1 or 2 times ( was making them about 85 days out for first wk in dec)

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

If there is a restaurant you know that you want to go to for sure, then I would recommend you make a PS. And I would recommend a PS for every day, even if you decide to cancel at the last minute.

On our last trip, we made a PS for most of our dinners - whiich makes you take them for granted. On other trips, we just couldn't get into a restaurant at all, but with a Priority Seating, you get just that ... a guaranteed seating in that restaurant close to the time you booked for.

And then, I recommend you book a time approx 15-30 earlier than you actually think your group will be starving, especially if they have you order off of a menu. While you may be seated right away, often you are seated the next available table for your group size... which can take some time, depending on how many in your group or how busy they are.

It is hard to pinpoint a time you think would be appropriate for that meal, but if you at least make a Priority Seating and pick a time, using your best guess, it is definitely better than not making any plans at all.

On our last trip, we made some PS's but not on our last night, as we were unsure where we would be ... and then we couldn't get a meal anywhere. We ended up settling for fries and a softdrink at the McDonald's stand in Epcot after trying to get a great meal at one of the pavillions.

So whatever you decide upon now will be way better than what you cannot even get once you are there. Does this make any sense?!!!

Pick something in advance that you think will work. Once you are there, it is next to immpossible to arrange it. You will be far better off, no matter what time you arrange it.

 

[WDW LOVR]

If you want sit down at the typical "meal" times at MK, I would recommend it. If you want to sit down at MGM anytime, it's almost necessary. If you want Rainforest at AK or if you want a character meal, I wouldn't go with out one. Of course, this is all dependent on time of year. Peak times I would recommend PS for any restaurant that will take them.

I don't have any experience with some of the restaurants others have listed here (Bomas, Chef Mickeys, O'Hanas), but our experience has been, if you eat an early or late lunch or dinner, it usually isn't too much of a problem.

I agree with the one per day idea. Most times we eat a meal using a PS, we're so full we can't do anything other than snack the rest of the day.