We had no problem getting bar for 2 just walk-up on a Thursday evening. We got there around 5:45, and were quoted an hour wait, but it was less than 45 minutes. We browsed the shops, and realized they had already sent us a text that our spot was ready! When we got there, it was a little wait to get seated, but we were inside and with menus by 6:30.
I second this - Trader Sams is a bit of a walk from the Parks and Very limited seating inside. I would say get a reservation, which is also a much better chance of being seated inside where all the fun is. For just the "outside" ambiance, you can just grab something at nearby counter walkup.
That's good news! Changing my react@FeistyDisneyMom not sad, I was on it! I got it
I was able to reserve dining before 6am PST. It varies, but I was able to reserve around 7am EST on some of my reservation days.
A lot less, but honestly there doesn't seem to be any difference between outside Trader Sam's and Tangaroa Terrace. The enchanting ambiance is really only in the bar itself.
I can confirm that the reservations for Trader Sams open at the 60 day mark at 0600 PST
We have had good luck with walk up, but there are just two of us. I'm guessing a larger party might have a harder time.
Yes, and also try signing up for dining notifications. There are a few non-Disney companies that let you sign up for Disney dining alerts so that if someone cancels a reservation you are looking for, they'll send you an alert. You do have to be fast at grabbing them. I used the one that starts with Mouse (we're not allowed to link it) and a lot of Trader Sam's reservations opened up within the last couple of days before my trip. I'd gotten a couple alerts before that but was never quick enough to snag one earlier, I think because they didn't show up often and would just randomly come through so by the time I did see them they were already gone. In the days close to my trip, though, I was checking a lot and would see that I had a dining alert, know that I only had it for TS's, and immediately go to Disneyland.com dining (I often had it up on my desktop already) and try to grab it. I was successful a few times but only needed one so I didn't complete the others, just looked to see if they were still available out of curiosity.
I read that the reservations are often for even numbered parties, so look for 4 or 6.Thanks. Yep - we are a party of 5 (with kids, so the before - 8 p.m. rule would apply, even if it wasn't Halloween Party night for us.). We may go early and take our chances
I’ve never heard of this! Good to know for future trips!
