ADR Questions

[thewall2k]

I had a couple of questions and I was hoping that maybe someone on here could help.

My Wife and I will be traveling with our then 10 month old son Henry in January down to the world for a week. We are big fans of Disney restaurants, and are just now starting the process of ADRs. We are staying offsite so we are taking them one day at a time starting today. I have a couple of questions though.

1. Does Henry count as part of our reservation? He maybe eating table food at that time(we just started cereal and veggies) but no matter what it is not like he will have his own meal, he would have some of ours.

2. My parents are most likely going to be joining us for either part of or all of our trip and we would like them to to join us at the restuarant. If for some reason they don't come or aren't there for one of them are we able to lower the number of people on the ADR, are we better off doing that through the dining phone line or in person at the restaurant. We are going to try and go to some popular places and I don't want to take away a chance from someone else to eat there if something changes.

Thanks in advance for your help.

We already have our first ADR at Le Cellier on 1/22/2011 at 5:20PM wooohooo.

 

[Cafeen]

I had a couple of questions and I was hoping that maybe someone on here could help.

My Wife and I will be traveling with our then 10 month old son Henry in January down to the world for a week. We are big fans of Disney restaurants, and are just now starting the process of ADRs. We are staying offsite so we are taking them one day at a time starting today. I have a couple of questions though.

1. Does Henry count as part of our reservation? He maybe eating table food at that time(we just started cereal and veggies) but no matter what it is not like he will have his own meal, he would have some of ours. - Yes, if he's at the table, he should be on the reservation. Doesn't matter if you're ordering food or not for him. If at a buffet/fixed price location, he'll still be free as this is dealt with at the time of dining rather than booking. CRT and other pre-paid locations will also request the ages of the children for this reason.

2. My parents are most likely going to be joining us for either part of or all of our trip and we would like them to to join us at the restuarant. If for some reason they don't come or aren't there for one of them are we able to lower the number of people on the ADR, are we better off doing that through the dining phone line or in person at the restaurant. We are going to try and go to some popular places and I don't want to take away a chance from someone else to eat there if something changes. - You're better off aiming high. It's easier to show up with slightly fewer than slightly more. Difficulty in changing the reservation may be roughly equivalent though. There is no actually modifying the reservations once booked, you would have to rebook and cancel to change the party size. Typically, it's suggested to attempt to change as many as possible (keeping similar times). For those that you can't get new reservations for, just letting them know a bit ahead of time can help.

Thanks in advance for your help.

We already have our first ADR at Le Cellier on 1/22/2011 at 5:20PM wooohooo. - Congrats .

Comments above in green. (And thanks forum software for calling me an idiot for hitting post before typing that line! "The message you have entered is to short. Please lengthen your message to at least 1 characters." )

 

[thewall2k]

Thanks for the info Cafeen, it was very helpful.

 

[purple figment]

Because you'll need a larger table for a party of 5 (you'll need a "6 top table" rather than a 4) it is best to make the reservations for 5 people. I have found that restaurants are more accommodating if you arrive with fewer people than with extra.

Even though Henry won't be eating he needs to be counted so that the restaurant can allow for space for a high chair and because of fire code regulations.

The only problem you will encounter is if any of your reservations require a credit card guarantee when you MAKE the reservation. Typically these are dinner shows, some character meals and some signature restaurants. There is a deadline after which they will charge you if you don't cancel or if some of your party do not show up so make note of any reservations where they ask for a credit card number and act accordingly.