ADR's - are they on time?

[Spanky2]

Hi!

OK, first trip to WDW for one week coming up in Sept 2010 .

I heard from a friend that visits WDW often that your schedule ADR is merely a "suggested time to arrive" and not an acutal reservation. She suggested that if we had a dinner reservation for 6 pm, we should show up at 5 pm, just to be seated at 6pm? This seems very strange. Do you really have to wait an hour for your table???

Thanks!

 

[Lynn5700]

It depends on the restaurant. If you have a late ADR at Ohana, you may have to wait a little bit. Also, at the California Grill, you may have to wait a little.

Honestly, I have shown up to restaurants 30 to 60 mins before and have been seated right away. It just depends how busy the restaurant is.

 

[Missytara]

You should arrive about 10 - 15 minutes early; but no more than that.

 

[KatMark]

They suggest you arrive 15 minutes before your ADR time. Once you check in for your time, the next available table for the number in your party should be yours. We have gone during free dining early in September three of the last four years. We have been seated promptly at all but two of the restaurants we had ADR's for (and, coincidentally, the two we waited a long time for -- over 25 minutes -- were two restaurants we would never go back to because of food and service).

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The only time we have been seated past our scheduled ADR time was at the popular restaurants like Chef Mickey's, Ohana and Boma, which usually happens a lot at those locations. Plus another factor for that happening at those locations is going at peak times like 7:00 PM.

 

[Hopefully]

As PP have said, the suggestion is to check in 15 minutes before your ADR time. You will then be given the next available table for your party size. An ADR is not a reservation in the traditional sense - they are not holding a table for you to arrive, but rather give you the next avaialble table you will fit at.
Most times we are seated within about 15 minutes of our ADR time. But it is possible to have to wait if the tables are not turning over as expected. Last October we waited over 45 minutes at the Biergarden, after standing in a 25 minute line just to reach the podium to check in!! This was the worse we have experienced.
I would never arrive an hour ahead of my ADR. Some restaurants will even turn you away and tell you to come back 15 minutes before.

 

[pooch]

Hi!

OK, first trip to WDW for one week coming up in Sept 2010 .

I heard from a friend that visits WDW often that your schedule ADR is merely a "suggested time to arrive" and not an acutal reservation. She suggested that if we had a dinner reservation for 6 pm, we should show up at 5 pm, just to be seated at 6pm? This seems very strange. Do you really have to wait an hour for your table???

Thanks!

your friend isn't as knowlegeable as she (he) thinks!! As stated before 15 min is plenty of time.

 

[Faldred]

My limited experience also shows that the earlier into a service period (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) your ADR is for, the more likely that they're running "on time" for you to be seated. We had something like 17 sit-down meals on DxDP, and the longest wait for a table we had was 15 minutes after check-in, with the average being closer to about 5 minutes.

 

[Cafeen]

However, the friend was correct on one account. They are not "reservations" in the sense that most reservations are.

If you have a 6pm reservation, this does not mean that your table will be ready at 6pm. It's merely a time slot when they expect you to check in to be put on "the list". Think of it as call (or click) REALLY FAR AHEAD seating and you're on the right track .

 

[Cafeen]

However, the friend was correct on one account. They are not "reservations" in the sense that most reservations are.

If you have a 6pm reservation, this does not mean that your table will be ready at 6pm. It's merely a time slot when they expect you to check in to be put on "the list". Think of it as call (or click) REALLY FAR AHEAD seating and you're on the right track .

 

[Hmom03]

An hour early seems a little excessive. Fifteen minutes ahead of time worked well for us last week.

 

[ncc1701]

We normally showed up about 15 to 20 minutes before and got seated within a five minutes.The one exception was Chef de France at lunch were we waitied until our appointed time of 12:15.
We did arrive 30 minutes early for a CP breakfast but this was due to
the MK bus pulling in just as we got to the POFQ bus stop then any planning on our part.
We were lucky and also got seated there in less than 10 minutes

 

[B-Ride]

Definitely 10-15 minutes in advance tops.

My one recommendation is not to plan your reservations too close to an evening show. For example, don't think that a 7:30 reservation at an Epcot restaurant will get you out in time for Illuminations. It is just too hard to predict when you will be seated and how long your meal will take.

The last thing you want is to be getting flustered when you have to wait and then rushing through your meal.