ADR Problems

[bellrae]

Has anyone ever had issues at DL of showing up to your ADR only to be told that 'people are not leaving their their tables, all ADRs have a 45 minute wait'?!?! I think there another six groups in front of me. I have a 9:30 reservation I have had for two months but now won't get in til 10:15. Leaving and going elsewhere would apparently still result in a no show fee, which I think is insane.

Do DL just not factor in enough buffer time between reservations? Never had this happen in WDW - 5min wait for a table at most if you have an ADR.

just wondering if thinks a common problem or not (in which case I'll rethink dining choices in the future).

 

[KalamityJane]

I wonder if it is because they are very busy due to the race weekend? Which restaurant are you trying to get into?

 

[ArchOwl]

Oh wow, I have never had that happen and I have had tons of ADRs and been at the parks during the busiest of times. I wonder what happened? I do know that at DL it is not really a reservation, even though we call them that. They are technically a Priority Seating spot, which basically means when you arrive, they put your name in for the next available table.

Sounds like someone screwed up and let in too many walk ins or something. I hope you get a table soon.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

I have only had that happen at Blue Bayou. When I get ADRs at the first time available (11:30 am) or close to it, I rarely wait, but if I make ADRs for later in the day there has been a backlog of other ADRs before me waiting to be seated. The longest I had to wait was about 45 minutes. However I haven't experienced this with any other restaurants at DLR.

 

[Astylla]

I've honestly never run into this after 4 years of ADR . Do you have a large group by chance ? Unfortunately they cannot force anyone to leave unless they are being disruptive I would imagine. It's unfortunate but I'm sure it can happen especially on race weekends. Sorry you are delayed .

 

[bethwc101]

ADR?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

This has happened to me 4 out of the last 5 years at Storyteller's Cafe on Thanksgiving. I think they over-estimate the frequency with which they will be able to turn over tables in that situation. Groups tend to linger longer. Perhaps this is a similar type situation or they just overbooked or something went wrong in the kitchen or who knows... It's frustrating to have to wait so long, but as you point out you're kind of stuck. I wouldn't be concerned that this is the norm though.

 

[Malcon10t]

I've had it happen once or twice over maybe 100 reservations. When they are solidly booked out, this can happen. I had it happen on Christmas, we waited close to 80 mins. Wasn't happy. But it is rare.

 

[bellrae]

It was at Steakhouse 55, and table of 2, so should be easy to sit.

When I did get in (40 minutes after my reservation) took another 20 minutes to get food. I ate an hour after my reservation time. People next to me waited 20 mins for the cheque (as did I when I was finished). I suspect the reason the tables were not being emptied was that service was really slow inside. Not sure if they were understaffed or not, but did make me cranky that the girl at the front counter blamed people for not leaving their tables. Hard to do that when the server won't bring the bill!

 

[SMD]

It happened to me at Blue Bayou one year on July 17th. It was very hot and people weren't vacating the A/C. Which is why I booked it as well. This was before the no show fee. That's insane that they were still charge a no show fee in this situation, if anything they should be calling other places and trying to get people in right away to clear their backlog.

 

[srferson]

Has anyone ever had issues at DL of showing up to your ADR only to be told that 'people are not leaving their their tables, all ADRs have a 45 minute wait'?!?! I think there another six groups in front of me. I have a 9:30 reservation I have had for two months but now won't get in til 10:15. Leaving and going elsewhere would apparently still result in a no show fee, which I think is insane.

Do DL just not factor in enough buffer time between reservations? Never had this happen in WDW - 5min wait for a table at most if you have an ADR.

just wondering if thinks a common problem or not (in which case I'll rethink dining choices in the future).

That's absolutely ridiculous!
There should be a time limit on how long they can make you wait before you can leave without penalty. Like 10-15 minutes.
Because that is just stupid.

 

[CLR4321]

I'd talk to a manager and explain that you cannot wait 45 mins but also do not want to pay the fee. If you are there in person at the right time, they should accommodate you by either waiving the cancel fee or maybe bumping you up to the head of the seating list so your plans aren't screwed up.

 

[CLR4321]

ADR?

Advance dining reservation

 

[sheba201]

It happened to me on Thanksgiving a couple of years ago at Blue Bayou. There was apparently a large group (around 8 people) that were taking their time with dinner.

 

[bellazachmom]

We had this problem when visiting this past July for the anniversary.

After hearing of the huge lines for food during the 24 hour event I wanted to make sure we had a sit down reservation every day that week, just so we knew we would get to eat

We booked the Carnation Cafe on the 17th for lunch and arrived 5 minutes early, only to be told it would be about an hour before we could be seated due to tables just not turning over. They also let us know that they were completely out of desserts with only ice cream available and that a few entrees were also not available at that time.

I know that this was the anniversary and I knew that it was going to be busy, but, come on!

When I asked if we could just cancel I was told it wouldn't be possible without incurring the "no show" fee.

I took it all the way to the manager and they wouldn't budge. It was a bit frustrating. Especially since there were group after group coming in asking about eating and were told they "weren't taking walk ups at that point". When I asked if we could give our reservations to the next family that walked in I was told it wouldn't be possible. Crazy.

We were eventually seated, outside, and had a nice meal. We even lucked out and after our 1 1/2 hour wait we were eating when the Soundsational parade came by.

I did voice my concerns at Guest Services later that day but they were so overwhelmed at that point that it pretty much fell on deaf ears. I followed up with a letter after returning home and got a form letter response.

 

[Malcon10t]

It was at Steakhouse 55, and table of 2, so should be easy to sit.

When I did get in (40 minutes after my reservation) took another 20 minutes to get food. I ate an hour after my reservation time. People next to me waited 20 mins for the cheque (as did I when I was finished). I suspect the reason the tables were not being emptied was that service was really slow inside. Not sure if they were understaffed or not, but did make me cranky that the girl at the front counter blamed people for not leaving their tables. Hard to do that when the server won't bring the bill!

We were there also. We had an 815 reservation, were seated at 820a. Kitchen did seem to be taking a little longer than normal. It did seem like people were taking their time after the race. Our service was excellent. We probably did take longer than normal as we hadn't seen some people in a while. But food was excellent and service was great. We were out the door about 10-1015a.

 

[ArchOwl]

Wow, this policy of not being able to honor the time and then refusing to cancel seems really boneheaded. Wouldn't it help them clear out some backlog if they allowed some folks to leave without the no show fee?

I have never run into this problem, but it seems like a really strange approach. I hope Disney revisits this policy. I think it would be fair if they were unable to honor the time within 25-30 minutes that they would release you from the no show fee. Things happen, but that is ridiculous.

 

[Priory]

I had this happen at Big Thunder BBQ a year or so ago. We were seated 90 minutes after our ADR time. That's the only time it happened though.

 

[calilou]

They should absolutely revisit charging ADR holders the no show fee if they choose to leave because they won't be seated within 15 minutes of their time. Duh, it would help them unclog their tables. Give people the choice.

We do ADR regularly and have had to wait 10-15 minutes occasionally. Maybe once 20 minutes at BB. It's definitely not the norm. I do think they typically do a very good job managing reservations.

 

[bumbershoot]

Never had this happen in WDW - 5min wait for a table at most if you have an ADR.

just wondering if thinks a common problem or not (in which case I'll rethink dining choices in the future).

On the opposite side, I've never been seated inside 5 min at WDW. I think you've had some amazing luck there.

Weirdly we just ran into a similar situation at a restaurant in my town last night. They were turning people away. Odd.