How has your luck been with day-of dining reservations at WDW?

[Fairy]

I just got off the phone with WDW Dining, and other than a Tusker House b'fast, there is NO character dining available period for al of next week. At all. Now, we were in Disneyland in May, and we had no problem having two character dining walk right in experiences. One was the Woody's Roundup and one was all the princesses at Ariel's Cove. But that's Land, not World, so I get it that they're different. Is it reasonable to expect that in WDW that we could make a day-of reservation? Do they hold back walk-in tables? Or is it just if someone cancels or a no-show? We're specifically looking at

* Chef Mickey
* Cinderella's thingie in the Castle
* A character dining at DHS (not sure which that is)

Thoughts?

[bnme]

Sorry, but I would saw your chances are slim to none for the castle and Chef Mickey's. You could try anyway because you never know. Your chances may be better at HS (Is it the Little Einstien breakfast?). I would call daily and also check online.

I was able to change my ressie time (day of) at the breakfast at Cape May Cafe last October.

Have a great trip. You will find someplace to eat if you are flexible but I would thing character meals would be very hard to score at this point.

[lablover]

We just booked a short trip to WDW, and we'll be there 3/22 - 3/24 (driving up from MIL's house). I have been checking reservation availability for Crystal Palace online daily and yesterday a 1PM opened up so I snagged that. You could check online daily and see if you luck into a cancellation.

[egoldber]

The advent of the Disney Dining Plan has made same day reservations virtually impossible at a popular time. And even at unpopular times, there is often a long wait for walk-ins.

Your best bet is to just keep calling or checking on-line right up until the day. You never know, and you may get lucky.

[mytwosons]

As others said, keep checking.

We were there last month and I think some people got walk ups to the Hollywood and Vine lunch in DHS. MK had a sign at townhall saying none of their restaurants would be taking walk ups.

ETA: Le Cellier is considered one of the hardest ADRs to get and we saw someone score a walk up. When the couple first approached (early dinner), they could only take a party of 4, but as the couple were chatting with the host, a table for 2 was added to the system.

[Tinkerbell313]

Unfortunately you have two things going against you:

1)Mid March begins a busy season (not as busy as July 4th or Thanksgiving/Christmas) with Spring Break (not college Spring Break) season starting up. It goes through until mid to end of April.

2)If you are staying onsite, you can begin making reservations 180 days in advance...which a lot of people do.

Also, the Disney Dining Reservation is unique. For example, we were a party of 8 when we went...you would figure that they can put two tables of 4 together for us...they do not do that. The tables are already set up well in advance...so we were limited in seating. Its easier for a party of two or 4 to get a reservation than a party of 3 or 5.

You mentioned CRT...they do have a cancellation policy that you need to cancel at least one day before your reservation to get your money back...I would check while at WDW...its a long shot but, if people change their mind...they might do it the day before to ensure they get properly refunded which then will open up a spot.

Also, Akershus in Norway and 1900 Park Faire both have princess meals and not as pricey (better than CRT in my opinion)...why don't you keep checking there?

If you are staying onsite, you can always check every morning with a cast member...we stayed at CBR and in the building with the food...they had a Dinsey Dining Reservation desk that was always staffed. That's how we changed our reservations on a daily basis.

[las710]

You can also check disboards.com -- they have an ADR reservation cancellation thread where people post the cancellations they are making. Here's the link...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2318894&page=5

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like too many cancellations are being reported.

I'd definitely keep checking the online reservation system (I thought it was much easier that doing it via phone). If the restaurant you want is not available, they suggest others that are and you might get lucky there.

I second the Akershus for a princess meal -- we went there and it was awesome. The princesses spent a lot of time visiting with the kids and you get a picture taken with a princess as you enter. By the end of your meal they bring you that picture -- an 8 x 10 in a little folder that is included with your meal... FREE. And the Akershus requires a credit card to make a reservation and will bill no shows, so there might be a better chance of scoring a cancellation there.

Good luck!

[hillview]

No for all but cindy castle. I did walk up to cindy's castle FIRST thing in the am and got a walk in.
/hillary