Can I add someone to my ADR last minute??

[MommyJack]

OK here's the story: we're leaving Saturday for a week at Disney. I'm obsessive, so all our ADR's were booked 6 months ago. My sister lives in FL (about an hour from Orlando) and when I told her we were going to Disney, she said she wants to come for a day to see us. We did this last time we went, but I wasn't so up on the ADR's then. So, should I call and try to add her to my ADR, or just show up with one extra person? Right now, I'm not even sure what day she wants to come, so I'll probably be making changes a day or two before the ADR.

I should mention our ADR's are for 5 (3 adults, 2 children). We aren't booked anyplace real special; it's likely to be Teppan Edo or 50's Prime Time. We are on the DDP, but I understand I will have to pay OOP for her.

 

[Pakey]

If you are going from 5 people to 6, it shouldn't be too difficult as you will most likely be seated at a 6-top table anyway.

If you are going from 4 people to 5, you are now having to change table size and it might be more difficult. There's no way of knowing until you arrive at the restaurant and ask.

We tried it once and were denied, on a weekend night at Whispering Canyon. It was a crowded time. If the restaurant is not crowded, I'm sure they will try to accommodate you.

 

[dunbarfamily]

Once I had to change all my ADRs from a 5 top to 6 top and it wasn't a big deal. I think one of the times ended up changing by about 15 minutes.

I've also had to change my ADRs from a party of 6 down to a party of five after our daughter was born without a heartbeat. (I made the ADRs while she was alive.) Not a big deal to do that either.

Just call and check. I'm sure you'll be able to make it work. Good luck!!

 

[SarahKate]

Well, I thought that this wouldn't be a problem myself! We were there early May and my cousin was going to drive from Gainesville to hang out w/ us. We had a lunch ADR at LeCellier. So I called (it was a couple weeks in advance), thinking it would be NO prob to put her on the reservation because we'd be changing from 3 to 4 people. NOPE. They would not let me add her because they were completely, 100% booked. She said it was due to the fire code and they couldn't have one additional person in there!She also said we were welcome to come that day and there's always the chance of someone not showing up - we just cancelled our ADR and booked someplace else, just to be safe. Turns out my cousin got sick and couldn't come anyway!

 

[Nadjalu]

Sorry to say but don't get your hopes up. With Free Dining in affect it very well NOT be possible to add her last minute or even now.

As PP mentioned fire codes have to be inforced, so don't go just thinking it will be easy as mentioned. You can easily get turned away. It is wonderful that a couple of the posters didn't have issue....but that is NOT the norm. If a restaurant is full it is more likely the extra person WILL be turned away.

 

[JimmyV]

Sorry to say but don't get your hopes up. With Free Dining in affect it very well NOT be possible to add her last minute or even now.

As PP mentioned fire codes have to be inforced, so don't go just thinking it will be easy as mentioned. You can easily get turned away. It is wonderful that a couple of the posters didn't have issue....but that is NOT the norm. If a restaurant is full it is more likely the extra person WILL be turned away.

Sorry, but I don't agree. The math is against you. If they have an ADR for 5 people, they will be seated at a six-top. Adding an extra person to that table would increase neither the seating capacity of that table nor the restaurant. There are no fire codes that disallow a restaurant to fill every permitted table. The codes prevent the addition of extra tables, or extra chairs at tables that cannot accomodate them. But putting 6 people at a table already designed and approved to hold 6 people is not going to generate a violation. Trying to bump up from 4 to 5 could indeed be more difficult. However, if one of the 4 is in a high chair, the restaurant probably would not mid seating 5 people at a four-top as long as the high chair did not impede traffic.

 

[KungFoomF]

I believe the time will be a factor as well. Say the restaurant opens at 11:30 and your ADR is at 11:45. If you arrive 20-30 minutes early and explain your situation you should have a good chance of getting seated because the restaurant is not going to be full for a while, as the ADR's are filled.

 

[dawgbone]

Sorry, but I don't agree. The math is against you. If they have an ADR for 5 people, they will be seated at a six-top. Adding an extra person to that table would increase neither the seating capacity of that table nor the restaurant. There are no fire codes that disallow a restaurant to fill every permitted table. The codes prevent the addition of extra tables, or extra chairs at tables that cannot accomodate them. But putting 6 people at a table already designed and approved to hold 6 people is not going to generate a violation. Trying to bump up from 4 to 5 could indeed be more difficult. However, if one of the 4 is in a high chair, the restaurant probably would not mid seating 5 people at a four-top as long as the high chair did not impede traffic.

That's assuming they've set up their seating to match their firecode capacity, which isn't necessarily the case.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

I have a similar situation. We have a party of 7 booked for Boma Monday night and a friend from Orlando might join us. I was hoping that this would be ok last minute since we most likely will be seated at a table for 8 anyway. Any input???

 

[JimmyV]

That's assuming they've set up their seating to match their firecode capacity, which isn't necessarily the case.

One can always wish away a problem (or solution) by assuming the unusual. But I doubt that the resolution to this issue lies with fire code compliance. I don't think we should assume that Disney is out of compliance. Imagine the scene at the hostess podium. "I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, but we cannot accomodate you, as we are already in violation of the fire code and we do not wish to make the situation any worse."

 

[JimmyV]

I have a similar situation. We have a party of 7 booked for Boma Monday night and a friend from Orlando might join us. I was hoping that this would be ok last minute since we most likely will be seated at a table for 8 anyway. Any input???

On this one, you had better call. The math gets fuzzy with parties of 7. With ADRs, they usually (always?) ask how many children there will be. If you have any children in your group and they know that ahead of time, they might try to squeeze your 7 into a six-top. Adding another adult to that table will probably not work. However, if they have you set up at a table for 8, you should have no problem. But this one requires a heads up, because if they have to adjust tables to make the group fit, it could take a long time for the necessary number of tables to open up so that they can configure them for you.

 

[Pakey]

I have a similar situation. We have a party of 7 booked for Boma Monday night and a friend from Orlando might join us. I was hoping that this would be ok last minute since we most likely will be seated at a table for 8 anyway. Any input???

There are way more reports of success on here with this configuration than there are reports of failure.

The way Boma tables are set up, I would think you are going to be fine.

 

[OzFan]

As it was explained to me by several different people, it isn't the table size. It is the capacity of the resturant. We had to change our Sept. trip to Dec due to our daughter having a baby. I booked all of my ADR's 180 days out for my Sept. trip. When we rebooked for Dec.(party of 3) we were well out of the 180 day mark. I did manage to get all of the ones I wanted within a decent time. We decided just a couple of weeks ago to take the baby with us. She will only be 4 months old. I was told even though she wasn't eating, and she wouldn't even sit at a chair, she still had to be added.

Needless to say, I had to redo EVERYTHING. I couldn't get Chef Mickey's, and our Ohana is at 9:45pm. The table size doesn't matter. If they are booked, then they are booked. It goes by the number of people not the size of the table. I'm pretty bummed out right now, but everyday I keep trying.

The bright side is that we are taking our first granddaughter to Dsiney for her first time.

 

[dawgbone]

One can always wish away a problem (or solution) by assuming the unusual. But I doubt that the resolution to this issue lies with fire code compliance. I don't think we should assume that Disney is out of compliance. Imagine the scene at the hostess podium. "I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, but we cannot accomodate you, as we are already in violation of the fire code and we do not wish to make the situation any worse."

I think you missed the point. It's not unusual for available seating in restaurants & clubs to be greater or less than fire code capacity.

Fire code capacity is determined by the building (including things like number of exits, size, whether you need to go up or down stairs to use an exit, etc...).

It's not so much that "I'm sorry Mrs. Smith, but we cannot accomodate you, as we are already in violation of the fire code and we do not wish to make the situation any worse.", but instead more along the lines of there's 4 empty tables but we are already at capacity so we can't sit anymore people legally.

 

[JimmyV]

...there's 4 empty tables but we are already at capacity so we can't sit anymore people legally.

A restaurant that knows what it is doing (and that operates at full capacity almost every day like Disney's do) does not have this problem. Fire Code limits=number of seats. Disney restaurants do not have bar overflow considerations that other restaurants must account for.

 

[JimmyV]

As it was explained to me by several different people, it isn't the table size. It is the capacity of the resturant. We had to change our Sept. trip to Dec due to our daughter having a baby. I booked all of my ADR's 180 days out for my Sept. trip. When we rebooked for Dec.(party of 3) we were well out of the 180 day mark. I did manage to get all of the ones I wanted within a decent time. We decided just a couple of weeks ago to take the baby with us. She will only be 4 months old. I was told even though she wasn't eating, and she wouldn't even sit at a chair, she still had to be added.

Needless to say, I had to redo EVERYTHING. I couldn't get Chef Mickey's, and our Ohana is at 9:45pm. The table size doesn't matter. If they are booked, then they are booked. It goes by the number of people not the size of the table. I'm pretty bummed out right now, but everyday I keep trying.

The bright side is that we are taking our first granddaughter to Dsiney for her first time.

I think this is a classic of example of the old adage that it is better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. The folks who answer the phones are given a party line that they must adhere to, no exceptions. The boots on the ground live by a different code. Hard to imagine that a party of three that all of a sudden became a party of three plus an infant would not have been accomodated by the pixie dust wielding fairies at the restaurant. They gain nothing by turning you away. You were considerate for asking ahead of time, but maybe the lesson here is to just show up and take your chances with a polite smile and a nice tip.

 

[dawgbone]

A restaurant that knows what it is doing (and that operates at full capacity almost every day like Disney's do) does not have this problem. Fire Code limits=number of seats. Disney restaurants do not have bar overflow considerations that other restaurants must account for.

Disney, like most restaurants they know that they have to cater to different party sizes coming in and out of the restaurant at various times.

Having extra tables simply allows for better organization of party seating, especially in environments where seating is fixed (i.e. you can't slide tables and chairs over).

Here's an example.

You have fixed seating and you have a party of 7 waiting (who want to sit together). Your tables either sit 4 or 8 people. If you have exactly the number of available seats as you do people allowed under your firecode, In order to sit this party of 7 you need a table of 8 to clear up.

Meanwhile, 5 parties of 4 from various tables spread throughout your restaurant are leaving. You can't fit this group of 7 at any of those tables. Now if you have extra seating, you can sit that table of 7 as soon as 2 of those other tables leave, regardless of where they are sitting.

It's not inefficient to have extra seating. You are not losing money by doing this. You'd be restricted to the same 200 people whether you have seating for 200 or whether you have seating for 220. The extra 20 allows you to be more efficient at getting people seated.

 

[JimmyV]

Trust me. I understand your point. But there is a big difference between practice and theory. On any given Friday night at fireworks time, there are NO empty tables at the California Grill. A few empty seats? sure. There will be parties of 3 at tables for 4 and parties of 5 at tables for 6. But 4 entirely empty tables? Never. Ever. I have never met a restaurant manager that would turn away the income of three diners and kick them to the curb because they wanted to add a fourth person to their table. Economics and good business sense dictate otherwise. My last word on the topic. I promise.