Eating in Disney World can be a little tricky right now.

With limited capacities remaining in most Disney World restaurants and demand and capacities rising for the parks as a whole, tables in popular spots are in pretty high demand. This is true for restaurants with Advance Dining Reservations and even for some that are walk-up only. There’s even one restaurant in Disney World that you need to rope drop (in a manner of speaking) if you want to visit!

Nomad Lounge in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is one of the most popular lounges in Disney World. Located in the same building as Tiffins, this spot serves up amazing drinks and small plates in an atmosphere that you might have a hard time believing is in a theme park. It’s no wonder this place is so popular!

And when we say it’s popular, we mean it. Typically, Nomad Lounge opens at 11AM and if you’re not at the restaurant right when it opens, you might have a hard time getting a seat! The tables fill within minutes of the lounge opening each morning.

Now, this spot does use the Mobile Dine Walk-up Waitlist. So, if the tables are full (which is likely), you can attempt to get on the mobile waitlist through the My Disney Experience app. Here’s the catch though, that waitlist ALSO tends to fill up!

Within those first few minutes of Nomad Lounge opening, it’s common to see a message noting that the “Walk-Up List is at capacity.” AND, it stays that way pretty much all day (Occasionally you can get a table in the late afternoon, but we wouldn’t count on it). So, with no Advance Dining Reservations, eating at this popular location is NOT easy.

 

If you DO want to visit Nomad Lounge (which you should, since it’s amazing), there are a few ways that you can try to get in. The first is to “rope drop” the restaurant. Arrive at the entrance to Nomad Lounge, located on the Pandora-facing side of Discovery Island PRIOR to the opening time. If it’s 11AM, consider hanging around outside around 10:30AM.

Similarly, you can attempt to “rope drop” the Walk-Up Waitlist. At or just before opening time, pull out that phone and get ready to hop on the waitlist as soon as it becomes available. It might not be quite as intense as trying to get a Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group, but Nomad Lounge tables are a HOT commodity!

And if you can’t get to the restaurant or on the waitlist right at opening, don’t despair! You might still be able to snag a table by using a refresh method similar to how you might look for Fastpasses or dining reservations. Throughout your day, repeatedly tap the “Join Walk-Up List” button on the Nomad Loung page in the My Disney Experience app — even if the page is displaying the “Walk-Up List is at capacity” message.

Remember, people are constantly being seated or bailing from the waitlist, so your goal here is to catch the moment a space opens up on the list. We’ve had a LOT of success getting into Nomad Lounge by tapping that join button over and over again until we get through. So, if you’ve got a long line, get tapping. The more that page refreshes, the more likely you are to catch a spot on the waitlist. 

Still, if Nomad Lounge is a priority for you, treat it that way! With the limited capacity in the lounge, this isn’t the kind of spot that you can fit into your plans whenever. Make sure you get there at opening or get ready to be flexible based on when you can get on that Waitlist. If and when you do get in, we recommend the churros.

As always, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest tips and tricks from Disney World!