Reservations for lunch or dinner?

[skuttle]

We’re going to universal for the first time in a few weeks (presidents weeks…I know super crowded). I know there are a few sit down places we want to eat. Should I make reservations for lunch or dinner? I was thinking if we just wing it for dinner we’d be able to take advantage of less crowds during later hours. But is it easy to find quick service dinner?

ETA: I’m not sure if we should do our table service for lunch or dinner time.

 

[AJA]

If you decide to eat dinner as your quick service meal make sure you keep tabs on closing times (it will be under the restaurant on the app).

 

[Jessem1133]

We’re going to universal for the first time in a few weeks (presidents weeks…I know super crowded). I know there are a few sit down places we want to eat. Should I make reservations for lunch or dinner? I was thinking if we just wing it for dinner we’d be able to take advantage of less crowds during later hours. But is it easy to find quick service dinner?

I always try and make a reservation, and if something comes up, just cancel it.
Nothing worse than starving at dinner time, and standing in City Walk looking down the barrel of a 2 hour wait at Cowfish lol

 

[Kit Jackson]

If you know there are table service places you want to go, I would advise making reservations just to be safe, especially if they are the popular City Walk restaurants.

 

[skuttle]

Oh yes I will make reservations for the table service. Just unsure if I should make them for lunch or dinner. Wasn’t sure how easy it was to find quick service dinners.

 

[skuttle]

If you decide to eat dinner as your quick service meal make sure you keep tabs on closing times (it will be under the restaurant on the app).

This was my concern! We’ve been caught by this at WDW and we’re WDW pros. I feel clueless with universal.

 

[georgina]

There is no shortage of quick service places for dinner at both parks - the usual pizza, burgers, chicken, sandwiches, salads, gyros, fish (and almost all of these can be found at fast food boulevard in the simpson's area).

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You can do quick service or table service dinner in City Walk after the parks close, to maximize park time. I would definitely suggest reservations if you want to eat around park closing time - especially at more popular places. Set up your reservation for a bit after park close so you can meander out; they'll normally seat you early if you show up a little before your reservation. For ideal dinner times at popular sit down places, around Pres week, you probably want to make reservations soon-ish.

Lunch sit down is also a nice way to take a break and recharge mid-day - even quick serve will work for this if you take your time eating.

City Walk is so convenient between the parks, you shouldn't be afraid to plan sit down lunch there as an option. There are so many good places to eat, and not much more expensive than quick serve, that you don't have to settle for "typical" theme park food.

 

[wdwrule]

We’re going to universal for the first time in a few weeks (presidents weeks…I know super crowded). I know there are a few sit down places we want to eat. Should I make reservations for lunch or dinner? I was thinking if we just wing it for dinner we’d be able to take advantage of less crowds during later hours. But is it easy to find quick service dinner?

ETA: I’m not sure if we should do our table service for lunch or dinner time.

We have done both and it’s really personal preference. I find that we reserve lunch time more often than dinner time. Keep in mind though that not all of the restaurants in Citywalk are open for lunch. Some don’t open until 4:00.

We do enjoy using mobile ordering for meals at quick service restaurants. We’ve had good experiences and have minimal wait.

 

[DisneyPanthersFan]

If you decide to eat dinner as your quick service meal make sure you keep tabs on closing times (it will be under the restaurant on the app).

Thank you - just checked and where we wanted to eat dinner tonight closes 2 hours before park close! So thank you for that advice!

 

[PollyannaMom]

How far in advance would you make reservations for early March?

 

[Kit Jackson]

How far in advance would you make reservations for early March?

I would make reservations a month in advance, especially if it's a really popular place like Toothsome, Cowfish, Bigfire, or Mythos.

 

[bearette]

We are going mid March and I just made all the reservations I wanted. Someone recommended to me that they have no penalty on last minute cancellations so just cancel if you aren't going to make it, so someone else can benefit. The longer you wait the fewer options you have. I like to do sit down table service lunch as it breaks up a long day -between 1pm-3:30pm. I don't think it applies in the parks , but lunch is usually cheaper than dinner, too. Then we can do a quicker meal to go to bed faster. I would maybe do sit down dinner after Volcano bay since they close earlier.