Arrival night dinner reservation

[shana398]

we arrive at the airport at 3:00 and are staying at CBR. WENHAVE A 7:30 reservation for Biergarten. Do you think we will make it? Should I just cancel it and see if we can get in without one? Otherwise we can eat at our resort! thanks!

 

[Pfau]

I think it's very possible that you would make it IF all of the stars align and nothing goes wrong with your flights. If anything is delayed, you will be stressed and possibly miss the reservation. We are travelling in late January so are preparing for the possibility of a weather-related flight delay ... so we plan on just chilling at the resort or DTD on the night of arrival.

 

[craigkerstiens]

If your flight arrives on time you should be perfectly fine to make it, if your flight arrives delayed it could start being tight. From the time you land you're still about an hour to the resort. The bus ride from CBR should be a pretty quick one to EPCOT, so at that point you could possibly make it to the parks by 5:00, though I wouldn't be on making it there that fast.

 

[Vernie822]

We recently did the same thing.

Our flight landed at 2:22. We were checked into Coronado Springs by 4 PM. We had rented a car, but I think most say that you should budget 1-2 hours from your landing time to get to the resort.

So if your flight lands at 3, you'd hope to be to your room by 5, if all the stars align.

We were at CSR by 4. We unpacked a little, freshened up, and left around 5:15. We definitely had plenty of time to get to MK and then to the Polynesian for our 6:40 ADR. So essentially we had just over 4 hours between our plane landing and our ADR.

I'm sure my experience is not the same as others, but I would hope that 4 hours should be plenty of time.

We packed our 'first night' clothes and stuff to freshen up in our carryons just in case we had problems with luggage getting there.

 

[cinnamon1908]

I think that is plenty of time unless you have a flight delay. And if you run a little late you can always call them.

 

[Disnut4925]

The only problem is if your flight is late and you miss the reservation you'll get charged the penalty fee - unless they accept that as a reason to miss an ADR? Does anyone know if they do?

 

[purple figment]

Our rule of thumb is 3 hours from arrival at MCO to walking in the gate of a theme park. We would allow another hour for a dining reservation. As long as there is no travel delay your plan would work. However, only keep the Biergarten res if you are willing to pay the $10 per person no show penalty if you are delayed and miss your reservation.

 

[Hopefully]

I think that is plenty of time unless you have a flight delay. And if you run a little late you can always call them.

What good does calling them do?

The only problem is if your flight is late and you miss the reservation you'll get charged the penalty fee - unless they accept that as a reason to miss an ADR? Does anyone know if they do?

This (travel delay) is exactly one of the reasons they are reported to not accept as a reason to excuse the $10/person fee for.

 

[nanhol]

The only problem is if your flight is late and you miss the reservation you'll get charged the penalty fee - unless they accept that as a reason to miss an ADR? Does anyone know if they do?

Travel delays are not an "excused" reason for missing reservations. You should be prepared to pay the cancellation fee if you miss the dinner due to travel delays. Having the direct line to the restaurant will help if you are running a few minutes behind--you can call & let them know, & they'll do their best to try to accommodate you--but there is on guarantee that they will fit you in when you arrive late.

I have heard that Disney restaurants only charge the cancellation fee if you are a no-show. If you show up late to your reservation time they will do their best to sit you (no guarantees), but will not charge you the no-show fee. I don't have first-hand knowledge of this, though.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Bottom line, if you experience delays, are you prepared to lose the $10 pp?

It's a hard decisin isn't it?

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Bottom line, if you experience delays, are you prepared to lose the $10 pp?

It's a hard decisin isn't it?

Personally, we would.

 

[shana398]

Is a walk-up possible at all? I'm thinking maybe if we just cancel the reservation and then try to get a walk-up. It is a tough decision!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Is a walk-up possible at all? I'm thinking maybe if we just cancel the reservation and then try to get a walk-up. It is a tough decision!

It's possible but there is no guarantee. If your heart is set on it, you might end up disappointed

 

[hcox31]

If you know you aren't going to make an ADR on your arrival day, and call to cancel it, do you get charged the pp fee? Or is the fee only for no show?

 

[anniebean]

I have heard that Disney restaurants only charge the cancellation fee if you are a no-show. If you show up late to your reservation time they will do their best to sit you (no guarantees), but will not charge you the no-show fee. I don't have first-hand knowledge of this, though.

This was true in my case. The monorail was down to the GF so everyone had to rely on either bus/boat. We were 30-45 minutes late to Citricos, but they seated us almost immediately, and we were not charged a late fee.

 

[RedSox68]

We tried this one year -- our flight was supposed to arrive at 4:00 p.m. from Philadelphia. We got held up because all the power in the towers went out. Sat on the runway for an hour idling, finally got in line to take off. As we neared Florida, pilot announced we had to land in Tampa to refuel -- finally got to Orlando after 8 p.m. Our reservation for the buffet at Beach Club was at 8 p.m. -- so obviously we didn't make it. But that was before they started charging a no show fee.

 

[purple figment]

Travel delays are not an "excused" reason for missing reservations. You should be prepared to pay the cancellation fee if you miss the dinner due to travel delays. Having the direct line to the restaurant will help if you are running a few minutes behind--you can call & let them know, & they'll do their best to try to accommodate you--but there is on guarantee that they will fit you in when you arrive late.

Most of the Disney restaurants don't have a direct line to call. You will have to call the dining reservation line and they don't have any authority over the restaurants' policies regarding late arrivals, no shows or cancellation fees.

I have heard that Disney restaurants only charge the cancellation fee if you are a no-show. If you show up late to your reservation time they will do their best to sit you (no guarantees), but will not charge you the no-show fee. I don't have first-hand knowledge of this, though.

Whether you'll be charged the no show fee is up to the discretion of each restaurant.

If you know you aren't going to make an ADR on your arrival day, and call to cancel it, do you get charged the pp fee? Or is the fee only for no show?

You will not be charged if you cancel before the deadline which in most cases is 11:59 PM the previous night. For some things such as the Wishes Dessert Party, CRT, etc there is a different (earlier) deadline so check your confirmations. If you cancel on the day of the reservation the restaurant can charge the per person no show fee because you cancelled after the specified deadline.

 

[OasterP]

From my experience I would only do it if you are ok with the fact that you MIGHT have to pay the cancellation fee. I've only been to Disney once as an adult, but I've found they try to help in any way they can. Though I didn't have this particular issue.

The reason I wouldn't count on making it though is you never ever know what will happen will travel. We had dinner reservations for T. Rex (not through Disney though so no cancellation issues) the night of our arrival. The reservations were for 6:15, and our flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 10:25 a.m. This was a direct flight from PA, so really - should have been fine. However, thanks to a very lengthy delay we arrived in Orlando around 3:30 p.m. We did make our reservation but if we had made it earlier or our flight was a later one (and had the same issues) we wouldn't have.

 

[purple figment]

Is a walk-up possible at all? I'm thinking maybe if we just cancel the reservation and then try to get a walk-up. It is a tough decision!

No one can say for certain if the restaurant will be accepting walk ups. It depends on when you are going, how busy or crowded the park and restaurant will be, what time you arrive at the restaurant, the size of your party.

We've been able to check online and make dinner reservations after arriving at the airport or after checking in at the resort.

 

[DaisyNY]

Check online when you arrive or call Disney Dining direct from your room...they can let you know what's available when you arrive and you won't risk cancellation fees.