Wait time with ADR?

[AllyElly]

Hello! I believe when you make an ADR you do not have a reservation, you just get the next available table that fits your party - is that right? With an ADR what is the average wait time before you get seated? What is the longest you have ever waited and what places take the longest to seat you? I'm just trying to get an idea of how long an entire TS meal will take so I can plan the day around it.

Thanks!

 

[Pakey]

Most seat within 10 minutes of ADR time.

The longest we have waited is 70 minutes (Le Cellier), 50 minutes (Ca Grill), 20 minutes (Crystal Palace). Others we have had repeated late seatings are at Coral Reef and Sci Fi.

 

[Nadjalu]

In 3 seperate vacations of 7 days/ 6 nights we have never waited more than 15mins to be seated. And that is doing a TS everyday.

We always show up at least 15mins early to the ressie. Sometimes even an hour early and still no issue.
Even at places like LeCellier (which we showed up 2 hours early once and was seated within 5mins...was told it would be at least an hour though).
Ohana is another we haven't had an issue at.
The longest wait we had was on our first trip and it was at Crystal Palace...still only 15mins though.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

We've waited over an hour at PTC. Thank goodness they have a great bar(The Tune-In Lounge). Usually 30 minutes is a long wait. Fifteen is common and instant seating happens often enough.

 

[catne]

think it really can depend on which night of the week you're eating, and what time. We have waited nearly 20 minutes just to check in at Kona Cafe on a Saturday night for a 7:30 PM ADR...and we were seated withing 15 minutes of our ADR time, but couldn't believe that line just to check-in. People without ADRs were being told 90 min. waits.

We usually eat closer to 5:30 PM (we're early risers, so lunch is early & we're hungry for dinner by then.) That's usually close enough to opening time (or it is opening time) for a lot of restaurants...we're almost always seated in 5 or 10 min.

 

[CathieArms]

The only real wait we've ever had (meaning longer than 10 minutes) was at Akershus, and that one seemed to be *forever*. It was maybe 30 or 40 minutes.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

An ADR is a reservation, Advance Dining Reservation

You should be seated as soon as possible, obviously things can happen that can cause delay in seating in a restaurant (everything from a table staying an extra long time or problems in the kitchen.....etc.... who knows)

However, it is a reservation, and will be treated as such.

 

[mainegal]

I have waited ten minutes. More commonly, 15 - 30 minutes. Really, quite annoying!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Tough question.
2) Different on any given day, any given eatery, any given time.
3) Waits can be walk-right-in to 90 minutes.
4) And, that is with a confirmed ADR !
5) Reasons (from practical experience):
. . . people simply eating slower that day/time/place
. . . there are zero no-shows for ressies scheduled *
. . . lots of people showing up with more folks than on ADR
. . . less kids - if early, adults eat slower to enjoy
. . . more kids - if later, kids eat slower due to being tired/picky
. . . absenteeism in kitchen or server ranks
. . . people ordering mainly long-cooking menu items

* Example:
. . . An eatery schedules a full eatery of tables every 50 minutes.
. . . Actual average time is 57-minutes per table.
. . . If everyone shows, they are behind during the first hour.
. . . And only get ahead if people eat fast or there are no-shows later.

 

[maxiesmom]

An ADR is a reservation, Advance Dining Reservation

You should be seated as soon as possible, obviously things can happen that can cause delay in seating in a restaurant (everything from a table staying an extra long time or problems in the kitchen.....etc.... who knows)

However, it is a reservation, and will be treated as such.

Actually, the name is misleading. An ADR gets you the next avaialble seat for your party size from that time point. It is not a reservation for a specific time.

 

[winterman]

Actually, the name is misleading. An ADR gets you the next avaialble seat for your party size from that time point. It is not a reservation for a specific time.

I agree with this but to clarify. A table is NOT sitting empty, waiting for you to arrive.

 

[Hopefully]

We are usually seated in about 15 minutes - sometimes longer, you never know.
Last October I stood in line 45 minutes to check in at the podium at Biergarden and then waited 30 more minutes to be seated. This was a Saturday night durning F & W and Epcot was a madhouse. What was maddening however, was when we were seated about half the tables were empty. So I don't know what happened that night.
We usually plan 90 to 120 minutes for a sit down dinner.

 

[rsimon]

If you don't like waiting, you need to make ADRs for the first dinner seating which is what we do most of the time. We have waited longest at later times and in the smaller places with fewer seats.

As previously posted, there are no actual table reservations. The ADR system is just so they can judge the number of tops they have coming vs the number they can turn in a night and those are divided into the number time slots they have. The reality is, people show up early for their ADR and some stay longer than they would expect so the number they can turn within a time slot varries.

 

[crabbygal902]

I like to plan out my time at Disney, too.

I figure in 2 hours for dinner, and a little more for places like Le Cellier and 'Ohana. I also try to get early seatings (around 5-5:30ish) before the ADRs get backed up. Early dinners are better for my kids and the other children we travel with anyway.

 

[Silver Queen]

We have had very few problems with our ADRs. In many cases we are seated immediately. If there is a wait it's usually 10 minutes or so. One exception was an ADR that we had last month at Jiko. We waited about an hour and in addition there was a 20 minute wait to get a cocktail at the bar while we were waiting. It was a Wednesday night, but apparently there was some kind of back up. The manager was extremely gracious to us, comped (We weren't angry, didn't ask for anything, just made a few inquiries as we waited), and gave us an excellent server. This wasn't our first trip to Jiko so didn't diminish our positive opinion of the restaurant.

 

[MHSweb79]

Our longest waits (over 30-40 minutes)

1. Mama Melrose (when we were seated at least half the tables were empty, despite a very large, hostile crowd waiting to be seated. They must have been shorthanded that night)

2. LeCellier - Big crowd, small restaurant

3. 'Ohana - Long line just to check in, and this was the first seating of the night

Other times we were seated immediately (Teppan Edo seated us well before our ADR time, probably because we were a party of 2 that time) or within just a few minutes. It's really tough to predict.

 

[MM27]

Just got back on Saturday night and had 6 TS meals. The only one we waited for was 1900 PF dinner. There was a lady that I was speaking with in the lobby that said she was waiting for 50 minutes and she really wanted to leave, but her daughter really wanted to see Cinderella. I felt really bad for her because she had two younger kids that were getting really tired, hungry and grumpy. It was their first day and it was less than magical. Her husband kept pointing out other groups that arrived after they did that were getting tables ahead of them.

 

[michael's mom]

We also just got back Saturday night (arrived on the 14th) and were seated within 10 minutes of our arrival for every meal we had (5) except Teppan Edo. We waited a little longer than that, but we arrived early so we were seated pretty close to our ressie time anyway. And, it was just a miscommunication that caused the delay. Not a real big deal.

Our ADR's were at:

Kona Cafe Thursday breakfast
Crystal Palace Sunday breakfast
50's Prime Time Tuesday dinner (they seated us early)
Teppan Edo Thursday dinner
Chef Mickey's Friday breakfast


Good luck!

 

[jbuey22]

we had our longest wait at Ohanas character breakfast, 45 mins. We also had about 30 min waits at Lecellier and MMR. I think it is best to show up around 20 mins early if you are in a hurry! We usually wing it though and are not in a rush.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

We arrived about an hour early.. partially so we could scope out the resorts and such and we were always sat within 10 minutes. We were out of the restaurants before our real ADR time each time.