Arriving Late for an ADR

[horse11]

How long will the allow you to be late to an ADR?

 

[Fantasia79]

Technical, I believe 15 minutes.

 

[OhThePain]

They tell you to arrive 15 minutes prior to your ADR time. It's up to whoever checks you in. Most will give you time after your ADR (could be 5 minutes, could be 15, again it all depends), but they technically don't have to give you a minute after if they don't want to.

 

[purple figment]

There is no official policy so it is up to each restaurant. It will depend upon the restaurant's policy, the CMs, how busy the park/resort/restaurant is at the time you arrive, whether they are on time or running behind schedule. While most of the time there's a grace period of 10-15 minutes, we were at a restaurant that was running so far behind schedule they were turning away walk ups, extra guests not on the reservation, and anyone who arrived after their reservation time.

 

[Dug720]

There is no official policy so it is up to each restaurant. It will depend upon the restaurant's policy, the CMs, how busy the park/resort/restaurant is at the time you arrive, whether they are on time or running behind schedule. While most of the time there's a grace period of 10-15 minutes, we were at a restaurant that was running so far behind schedule they were turning away walk ups, extra guests not on the reservation, and anyone who arrived after their reservation time.

This. Pretty much I would never plan to be late.

 

[patsfan101]

Last time we were at Le Cellier they told us no grace period...it was a busy day at pretty much peak dinner time. We were there early and they would only seat us at our ADR time - no earlier, no later.

 

[Pumbaa_]

They are not the nicest group

 

[gharter]

We always try to arrive at least 5-10 minutes early, but it doesn't always happen. We have arrived up to 10 minutes late on occasion and never been refused yet. But as others have said, there doesn't seem to be a firm policy, so showing up late is a crap shoot and at some point you will lose.

 

[OneinThree]

They are not the nicest group

Well, they are French-Canadian after all, lol.

Signed -A French-Canadian.

 

[maxiesmom]

There is no official grace period. If you are late, one of three things can happen: They can seat you, no big deal. They can seat you with a bit of a wait. Or they can tell you you missed your time, refuse to seat you, and still charge you the no show fee.

Keep in mind too Disney suggests you arrive 10 minutes before your ADR.

 

[Ciandella915]

It just depends on the restaurant. We had a mix-up once with MDE not canceling our original ADR when we re-booked at a later time at Boma (even though we got the cancellation email). We wound up being early for the re-book and went ahead and checked in, and to my surprise they told me we were ten minutes late and that that was the grace period! Of course, Boma seems to always have open ADRs, so they're probably pretty lenient compared to some others.

 

[Crispity]

We were 18 minutes late to Mama Melrose's on our last trip and were turned away - they told me the grace period was 15 minutes (and were pretty nasty about it, frankly). I don't know if 15 minutes is the norm, because we are generally on time or early for our ADRs, so have never experienced this. This time, we were late because it took significantly longer than I thought it would to get through TSMM with FP+ and then walk all the way across the park with a toddler, a kindergartner, and grandparents in tow. My fault - I get that, but I was pretty annoyed. It would be one thing for Disney to turn away late comers if they consistently seated their ADRs within a reasonable amount of time. However, I can't count the number of times that we have waited 30 - 45 minutes past our ADR time to be seated at a Disney restaurant, without so much as an apology.

"Real world" restaurants seem to be able to handle reservations so that customers are seated very close to their reservation time. With all of the data that Disney has on guest habits, they should be able to handle ADRs so that their restaurants generally run on schedule, but this is apparently not a priority. Fine, but why should I be penalized for not accurately predicting ride and walk time, when Disney doesn't bother to accurately predict table turnover?

 

[Ciandella915]

"Real world" restaurants seem to be able to handle reservations so that customers are seated very close to their reservation time. With all of the data that Disney has on guest habits, they should be able to handle ADRs so that their restaurants generally run on schedule, but this is apparently not a priority. Fine, but why should I be penalized for not accurately predicting ride and walk time, when Disney doesn't bother to accurately predict table turnover?

That is an interesting point. We booked an ADR for Ohana at 9:30pm a couple of weeks ago because it was what was open, and we showed up very early, because we had some time to kill and it never hurts in case there’s a no-show since we’re only two people. Even with checking in 40 minutes early we were sat at 9:56pm. Everybody who was waiting looked like they were dead. Someone was literally snoring. I checked at the stand and she very nicely said “I really wish I could tell you how much later it would be, but everyone inside is waiting for the 10pm fireworks probably.” It’s clearly a habitual problem and they should have cut off ADRs at 9:00pm to get people out the door.

 

[maxiesmom]

We were 18 minutes late to Mama Melrose's on our last trip and were turned away - they told me the grace period was 15 minutes (and were pretty nasty about it, frankly). I don't know if 15 minutes is the norm, because we are generally on time or early for our ADRs, so have never experienced this. This time, we were late because it took significantly longer than I thought it would to get through TSMM with FP+ and then walk all the way across the park with a toddler, a kindergartner, and grandparents in tow. My fault - I get that, but I was pretty annoyed. It would be one thing for Disney to turn away late comers if they consistently seated their ADRs within a reasonable amount of time. However, I can't count the number of times that we have waited 30 - 45 minutes past our ADR time to be seated at a Disney restaurant, without so much as an apology.

"Real world" restaurants seem to be able to handle reservations so that customers are seated very close to their reservation time. With all of the data that Disney has on guest habits, they should be able to handle ADRs so that their restaurants generally run on schedule, but this is apparently not a priority. Fine, but why should I be penalized for not accurately predicting ride and walk time, when Disney doesn't bother to accurately predict table turnover?

Disney wants to seat as many people as possible. For one reason, because people clamor for ADRs. For another reason, it makes them money. And they also won't kick guests out after they are seated at their table. How many posts do we see from people asking along the lines of "If I can only get a table 2 1/2 hours before fireworks, how hard is it to stretch out the meal?"

Think of how much worse the system would be if they consistently held tables for guests who were 20 minutes late? If there was no cut off time where you were too late?

 

[novajeanjellybean]

We were there December 15-22 and were late to a few ADRs, some as little as a few minutes and one as late as 35 minutes (Tusker House bfast). We were a group of 13 with 3 strollers and 2 seniors. Getting everyone to the same place proved to be a challenge lol. That being said, we were seated each time and no one even mentioned that we were late.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

ADR Times and Tardiness "411":
1) WDW advises you to be at the ADR 15-minutes early.
2) You are expected to meet your ADR time, just like any other appt.
3) Being on-time is your responsibility, not that of WDW.
4) If late, they *can* cancel the ADR.
5) Under normal conditions, they usually allow up to a 15-minute lateness, but this is kindness, not a Grace Period.
6) If really busy, (eg, Free Dining, Holidays), there might be no Grace Period.
7) If you miss the ADR, you *might* have the ability to wait for a table.
8) For waiting times, there is no estimate, waits of 1-1½ hrs are common.
. . . if the eatery is not too busy, wait times could be minimal
. . . just depends upon the individual day-time-etc
9) They also have the option of canceling and just sending you away.
10) These options are at the discretion of the SEATER on duty at the podium.
11) Plus, it is up the eatery manager to decide if you get charged the $10/person no-show fee.

NOTE:
If it is near the end of the ressie period or the end of park hours, do not expect ANY leniency in being late. You are expected to make your ressie time, with zero excuses.
Cortesy is courtesy. Plan to make your ressie or ADR times. Selfishness does not count.

 

[crostorfer]

Last time we were at Le Cellier they told us no grace period...it was a busy day at pretty much peak dinner time. We were there early and they would only seat us at our ADR time - no earlier, no later.

That's so weird. I've been over an hour late to Le Cellier before, and they sat us right away with smiles on their faces, it was no problem.

In fact, I'm chronically late to almost every reservation, every trip, usually by 15 minutes, but sometimes 30-45. Its never been a problem, they've always sat us.

 

[pangaeanshift]

I was in WDW at the end of October with a group of friends (8 of us total) and had an ADR for Tiffins. We were in line for Nav'i River Journey and the line was moving much slower than we had anticipated. We were all looking at the time as it got closer to our reservation, getting a bit nervous by each passing minute as it was under my name and I was hoping to avoid the No Show fee of $80. We called the restaurant, let them know that we were nearby, just in line for a ride, and about a grace period. They said they'd hold the reservation for 15 minutes but no later. IIRC, we got on the ride about 5 minutes after the ADR start time. As it was under my name, I sat on the edge of the boat, handed off the camera and backpack, and as soon as we docked I jumped and ran. I don't know how late we were (I was out of breath and could only breath out my name for the CM to look up), but we still waited about 15 minutes before we were seated at our table.

I certainly wouldn't bet on the CM's being kind like this all the time. They know there will be groups with no reservations that would love to get in, so they won't be struggling by any means to fill the suddenly empty table. Especially inside a park. Don't make a habit of it, but if unforeseen circumstances occur, a quick call just to say "We're on our way" may at least give you some leeway rather than leaving them to guess as to whether you're coming or not. It's no guarantee though that it will work. It did for us this one time . . . though they may have felt sorry for the out of breath fat man that just booked it across Pandora to get to the food.

 

[Becky_C]

General rule is don’t be late as reservations at popular restaurants are generally a tight turn around.
That being said on my last trip last month we would invariably arrive 15+ mins early to each reservation and we would generally be seated early so they can be flexible if the open tables allow it.
I did also overhear one family arrive at Grand Floridian Cafe at approx 7:15 for a 6:30 reservation like it was no big deal (I’d be losing my mind, I hate being late) and they were seated with very little delay so it depends on the day and restaurant.