All Our ADRs are for 8..Now We are 9 people

[redc]

I made all our ADRs in Feb for our Aug trip for 8 people. My sister just added a 10 year old cousin to her BC room.

Should we show up with the 9 people? What is the protocal? What is your experience/advice please? Thanks, Red

 

[TDC Nala]

Get onto the online system and see if you can find reservations for 9 at around the same times. That is about all you can do. It's kind of late in the game.

You can try showing up with an extra person. If the restaurant is filled to capacity at the time you arrive they will only seat 8 of you. Since the extra person is 10 years old I'd guess either one of the adults would have to volunteer to sit out, or the family would need to skip the restaurant.

This may be rare, but it does happen occasionally. Just be prepared with what you intend to do if your entire party is not seated. By becoming a party of nine you may also be going up a table size, so you may have to wait longer than you had anticipated if they can seat all of you.

 

[Nadjalu]

I agree that you should change the number to the correct party size.
There is no way to know if they will seat the extra person or not.

Popular places is almost a guarantee that someone will have to be left out.
So it is best to do what you can now. It is early enough you should be able to change without too much of an issue.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Change what you can and what you cant show up and explain that a child joined you at the last minute. I had to do this with a Florida relative who decided to visit at the last minute and luckily had no problem.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I dont think you will have a problem if you tell them an extra child joined the group. you might wait a little longer but im pretty sure they wont make one person sit out. But definitely keep trying for ressies if you can, .....if you cant get ressies for 9 ppl, try making 2 seperate ressies around the same time: 4 and 5. Then when you arrive request that the two ressies be placed together. I've seen this done without problems. Try this online and by calling the ressie line.

 

[fitzperry]

I may have a similar issue on our upcoming trip. Has anyone ever tried calling the restaurant directly to try to change the reservation or do you have no choice but to use the reservation system? Also, does anyone know if the reservations phone reps have the ability to add a person to a reservation even if another large table might not be available? In other words, in the op's case, there might not be another table that could accommodate 9 and so the on-line system would show no availability, but maybe their reservation for 8 would already be for a table that could accommodate 1 more. Does that make sense?

 

[TDC Nala]

Occasionally, they will indeed decline to admit the extra person. Doesn't happen that often but it does happen. You do need to be prepared in case it does happen.

Restaurants at WDW (with the exception of some of the third party restaurants at DTD and the Swan/Dolphin) do not take reservations directly. All of that must be done through the WDW reservation system. And the WDW reservation does not reserve specific tables; they are not "reservations" as most of us understand the word. There won't be a table for 9 sitting open waiting for your party. What happens is, when you check in you will wait for the next table to clear that will accommodate your party, so they're booking according to seating capacity of the restaurant. If the reservation system has already booked all seats in the restaurant to the point where the restaurant has reached capacity for fire codes, they will not allow you to add a person. It's rare that any particular Disney restaurant completely reaches that capacity at any given time, but it does happen.

 

[fitzperry]

And the WDW reservation does not reserve specific tables; they are not "reservations" as most of us understand the word. There won't be a table for 9 sitting open waiting for your party. What happens is, when you check in you will wait for the next table to clear that will accommodate your party, so they're booking according to seating capacity of the restaurant.

I realize that a table is not assigned when the reservation is made. What I was trying to say is that, particularly at a busy time, there might not be capacity for another party of nine (so trying to make a new reservation wouldn't work) but depending on the seating arrangements at the particular restaurant, adding one more to a party of eight wouldn't be a big deal since, as you say, it would be unusual for a restaurant to reach the fire code capacity. Maybe the best thing for the op to do is to make a separate reservation for a party of one as close as possible in time to the original reservation and then ask to be seated together when they check in. That is what I may do if we need to add another family member to our reservations.

 

[TDC Nala]

I realize that a table is not assigned when the reservation is made. What I was trying to say is that, particularly at a busy time, there might not be capacity for another party of nine (so trying to make a new reservation wouldn't work) but depending on the seating arrangements at the particular restaurant, adding one more to a party of eight wouldn't be a big deal since, as you say, it would be unusual for a restaurant to reach the fire code capacity. Maybe the best thing for the op to do is to make a separate reservation for a party of one as close as possible in time to the original reservation and then ask to be seated together when they check in. That is what I may do if we need to add another family member to our reservations.

Yes, that might work as well...but then if they can't place the tables together you are in the position of having one party member eating alone. The restaurant definitely will try to work with you unless they absolutely can't due to the fire code capacity regulations.

 

[fitzperry]

Yes, that might work as well...but then if they can't place the tables together you are in the position of having one party member eating alone.

True. Some days I might like that, though In my case, we are looking at adding 2 to the reservations, so it would be less of an issue.