Chances of same-day lunch or dinner reservations at Magellan's or Ristorante di Canaletto?

[Poohlie]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mira-costa-booking-experience.3574819/

Thanks to this thread and others on these forums, I was able to book a package at the Miracosta for August. However, I was not so lucky at 30 days when I tried book a Saturday dinner reservation for 3 for my DD's 17th birthday at either Magellan's or Ristorante di Canaletto. I was able to book lunch at Magellan's for Sunday and made a back-up Saturday dinner reservation at Oceano (buffet - the set menu was not available either), but was hoping for something a little more special than a buffet for her birthday dinner. I understand that it may be possible to book same-day reservations at the restaurant starting at 10:00 am. How have people's experience been with making same-day reservations? What are my chances at either restaurant for a Friday or Saturday dinner in August? Also any suggestions for celebrating a birthday at TDR would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

 

[Agent 86]

We normally go on weekdays, excluding Fridays. So, keep that in mind when reading the following as weekdays are less busy that Fridays and Saturdays. We've been lucky on all except one occasion (from memory) in making same day reservations for Magellan's and Ristorante di Canaletto.

But, we were there, waiting in line, before 10am. And we were flexible with our times. For example, I think the only "dinner" slot available for Ristorante was something like 4:30pm. We just had a "snack" for lunch that day so that we'd be hungry at 4:30pm.

Similarly, we normally aim for lunch at Magellan's (because it's cheaper) and we've often gotten ... maybe 11:30am or quite a late timeslot ... possibly around 2:00pm (although we were never rushed out the door to allow them to prepare for the dinner service). Once again, we just work around whatever time we get in terms of managing our hunger (not to mention trying to get / use Fast Passes).

 

[gelatoni fan]

Same day reservations are usually available for those restaurants but I've only ever eaten standby without a reservation at Ristorante di Canaletto. The wait can get up to an hour on weekends but I've eaten there with less than 10 minutes wait. Outside of peak meal times, the wait is often only 20 minutes or so.

 

[Absimilliard]

I want to try the special Soaring menu, Is it offered all day? I didn't see hours listed for it on the menu page.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I was able to successfully do same day reservations for lunch at both Canaletto and Magellan's, but I wasn't picky with times (and Canaletto we ended up getting seated around 2:10).

Granted, these were both on weekdays in early June.

 

[Poohlie]

Thanks everyone for responding - this is very
helpful! I also did not realize you could try to eat standby without a reservation - good to know!

 

[gelatoni fan]

I want to try the special Soaring menu, Is it offered all day? I didn't see hours listed for it on the menu page.

The food should be available all day (assuming they don't run out).

 

[Poohlie]

Just got back and wanted to report that I was able to get same day reservations for Canaletto (the outside patio was available for immediate seating for walk ups on Saturday and Sunday for lunch) and Magellan's for my DD’s birthday dinner.

I was 3rd in line at the entry to Magellan’s at 9:45 am on Saturday and was given the option of either 6:20 or 7:50 when I asked for a 7:00 reservation for 3 people. Earlier and later times were also available. We requested the secret room on arrival. We were seated there after a 20 minute wait and after a trip back to the podium when we were seated in the main room by mistake and/or miscommunication. The dinner was the best I have had in any Disney theme park. While I thought other things at TDR were overrated, Magellan’s was not. It was a perfect evening. We did not have the Soaring (not Soarin’ there) menu although it was available, but another set menu. They even put a candle on my DD’s dessert which was a nice touch. Thanks all for your help!

 

[Kitzka]

Thank you for bringing this post back up as well As the one in your original post. I’m hoping to get a reservation for my October trip.