Trader Sams at 3pm

[Moliphino]

Yep - this exactly. I wanted the Hippopotomaitai mug & drink... but I wanted a fun mug more... So I ordered the Uh-Oa so I could buy that mug. They wouldn't put the Hippopotomaitiai drink in a different/buyable mug (server's words "the mugs are tied to the drinks")... since they sell you the clean mug, I also thought it was weird, but oh well. At least the Uh-Oa was fun. I'll just have to go back for the Hippo one day.

I get it now. I don't think I've ever had less than three rounds in Trader Sam's, so only having one shot at a mug didn't occur to me at first.

 

[S22]

Does anyone know around what time they usually stop taking names? I know it will vary between weekday/weekend. Just don't want to be too late to get on the list.

 

[leebee]

Saturday, August 20th, we got in line at 2:15. The line was already down to the bathroom across from Captain Cook's. It took maybe 15 minutes to get to the front of the line, where they took DD's number and said it's be 3 to 3.5 hours. She got a text at 5:42 saying we had 15 mins to check in for our table. We just ignored it at that point- we were getting ready for dinner at Toledo!

 

[Jothmas]

I arrived exactly at 2pm on Monday, September 5th, and the end of the line at that moment was the doorway to Captain Cook’s. It turned out that the first seating was filled two parties ahead of me. Fortunately, I was solo, so I hung out at the door at 3pm in case they ended up with an empty seat inside and they did have one empty seat at the bar and I was let in. It was a perfect situation since I wanted to be at the bar anyway, being solo and to hear the bartender up close do his thing with all the drinks served at the bar.

I had arrived later than I originally planned, but I would say if it’s really important to you to get in at 3pm, maybe shoot for 1:45pm to queue or earlier, since you need to plan for worst case scenario, not average or best case.

 

[MickeyMice]

last weds (8/31) i got to poly around 1:15pm and was second on line a little before 1:30, and names were taken around 2 for a 3pm return. my 7 and 6yos were entertained by the antics enough for 2 rounds. our server warned us when we tried to order something that they were out of mugs for so we would up with a zombie, an uh-oa (soon to be retired) and a rum flight (only orange shot cups left for take-home).

talking to folks in line, apparently a couple was able to walk right in the night before with no wait. so if you happen to be staying at poly or passing through and have time to spare, it probably doesn't hurt to check availability later - just don't count on it.

 

[pindecisive]

it's not set up for toddlers, but if they are not afraid of loud noises and yelling, they should be somewhat entertained in there

Go early, no kids are allowed in there at all after 8 PM.

Inside is a bar and really not set up for children.

Wow. DH and I heard that it was crowded, but we assumed that was after people left the parks. We'll be staying at the Poly soon and want to enjoy Trader Sam's.
Is this bar hard to get into all the time? Is there a "least crowded" time, or is lining up an hour before opening our best chance to see it?

While the inside is a tiki bar and will have a long wait, outside is set up to be more restaurant style. With no ressies we walked up for all of our visits last year and it never took more than 10 minutes for an outside table for two people. We'd often get quoted some crazy timelines though (like an hour), and learned just to ignore how long they said it would be.

 

[lorileahb]

Inside is a bar and really not set up for children.



While the inside is a tiki bar and will have a long wait, outside is set up to be more restaurant style. With no ressies we walked up for all of our visits last year and it never took more than 10 minutes for an outside table for two people. We'd often get quoted some crazy timelines though (like an hour), and learned just to ignore how long they said it would be.

I believe the longer waits are for inside tables.