Adding guests to ADR's???

[julie56]

Hi everyone!

We have all of our ADR's made for our September trip for our family of 5. My parents are now considering going to WDW with us and I was curious...will we have to change all of our ADR's to include 7 people? Or can we just show up at the ADR's with two extra people, explain the situation and hope it's not a problem? If we do have to call and re-do the ADR's, is there a chance we will lose our preferred times, restaurants, etc? One of those is Cindy's...How should we handle this???

Has anyone had this happen before?? Thanks!

 

[Bob P]

Hi Julie,

When you are ADDING people to an ADR it makes sense to call and let them know in advance.

When you show up with fewer people than on the ADR, it's usually not a problem, but they might have a party of 5 at a table that seats six, then they'll have to find you a table that seats eight for your group of 7.

Confused yet?

 

[danjoan14]

You need to call and change your ADR's. We were originally going with a party of seven. The seventh person was a question. I tried to make ADR's for seven, and a lot of places could only seat us in two separate tables. I changed the ADR's to six, and I had no trouble getting my reservations. Luckly, the seventh person decided not to go. It's easier to show up with less people than trying to show with more.

 

[Figment2]

Depending on how busy it is, it could be a problem to just show up. We tried to change a dinner reservation in May from 5 to 7 and couldn't without rescheduling the whole thing. Friends ended up going home instead of eating with us.

Sad part about it was, there were a LOT of empty tables yet they were still turning people away at the podium. This was at Brown Derby.

Cyn

 

[aubriee]

I originally made our ADRs for two people, but then I invited my ex to go along. I called WDW dining to see if I could just bring him along and keep the same ADR numbers. The CM immediately told me no that I'd have to cancel all my ADRs and rebook because we'd be going from a two table topper to a four table topper and with it being during the free dining period with all TS establishments booked solid, we'd probably be turned away. She was able to reschedule everything, except Whispering Canyon (of all things). I kept the WC ADR and have been calling back several times a week trying without success to change it to a three person ADR. Each CM has told me the same thing: that I better not try to show up with an extra person during the free dining period. They said any other time it probably wouldn't be a problem though.

 

[LUVMICKEY]

I just did this last week for our December trip and didn't have a problem for anyplace but one. We went from a 2 person ADR to 6 people. We did have to change all our conf. #'s, but we got all the same times except for one and that was only a 10 minute difference.

 

[Crazy Hakim]

Sad part about it was, there were a LOT of empty tables yet they were still turning people away at the podium. This was at Brown Derby.

Most likely this was due to staffing, just because there are empty tables, that does not mean that the servers on the floor weren't already at their maximum table limits. Disney has strict quality guidelines and really does not want the server to over-extend their abilities and make their entire "section" suffer because they opted to pick up an additional table.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Yes you have to change everything and hope to get the same restaurant and same time. I went from 2 people, to 4 people, to 5 people, to the final count of 10 people. What a mess it was each time, if only people would have made up there mind sooner and not at the last minute I could have avoided the whole nightmare. The only place I couldn't get my ADR changed was Whispering Canyon, so they will be eating on their own that night!!!! Thankfully with pixie dust, I was able to get an ADR for 10 people at 6:15 (instead of 6:00) at Le Cellier.

 

[shellybaxter]

. Each CM has told me the same thing: that I better not try to show up with an extra person during the free dining period. They said any other time it probably wouldn't be a problem though.

At Whispering Canyons I'd show up with three instead of two. I don't even remember any two people tables in WCC. I am usually a party of two and have always been sat at a four top so I think you would be alright at that restaurant.

I agree that it is best for the OP to try to change their ADRs but she should realize that she may not be able to get the restaurants she wants. Going from a table of five to a table of seven will be hard at some restaurants. For example she mentioned Cindy's. I believe a party of six is as big as they go for one table so she will actually be asking for a whole new table.

 

[LadyOmega]

To the OP:
Yes, whith a group that size, definitely call in advance, preferably ASAP!! You may have to change to different restaurants, or different times, or any other option to keep your group together, but I would think that it would be worth it. You really dont want to get there, and the hostess say "nope cant do it", and then your extra people would just be out of luck!!
Wow Whispering Canyon must be getting really popular!! I had to change all 6 of my ADRs from 4 people to 5 yesterday. 3 of them were just cancelled and we were given the same time, just a different table and conf. #; Liberty Tree, I had to take on a totally different night (and split up into 2 separate tables); had to find a totally new place in MGM; and I am STILL looking for Whispering Canyon for dinner prior to the Oct. 5 MNNSHP!!
This is what I was told by someone else though (don't know if this will work, maybe someone else has done this): Make a reservation like my LTT one - split up into a party of two, and a party of one. Then arrive fairly early for your ADR, and ask very nicely if they would mind seating your two parties together. Not the best situation, but maybe waiting for a little while would be better than totally forfeiting your meal at WCC. That way at least your 3rd person has their own reservation, and can't be turned away for "gate-crashing" or whatever they would call it.
This would also work for the original poster, although I think it would be harder for them to find a table that size than to find one for just three, and might be a longer wait for them. However, it may be easier to find a table for 2 (for her parents) at the same time as their present reservations, than trying to find a table for 7 at an acceptable place and time.

 

[LadyOmega]

bump for MissMagnolia