Can someone join us after we have started?

[TallyTutter]

In April we are starting our trip with my daughter's 5th grade class at Epcot. They plan to only stay until 6:00 then drive back to Tallahassee. That's just a crime! Anyway, we are going to wave goodbye to the class at Spaceship Earth & have dinner at the Rose & Crown. We have a 7:30 ADR but plan to arrive early and ask for a patio seat - we're willing to wait. Here comes the wrinkle in our plans.

One of my daughter's friends will be staying over night too. She & her Dad will be leaving the first thing the next morning so we invited them to eat dinner with us at the Rose & Crown. I sent them the link to the Rose & Crown's menu and they emailed back and said that they prefer somewhere else, would we mind changing restaurants. Um, yes. BTW, they are not Disney veterans! Here is my reply....

We picked the Rose & Crown because - in our opinion - it has the best view of Illuminations (the fireworks) that start at 9:00. We'll be there until after the end so if y'all want to eat somewhere else there shouldn't be any problem with y'all joining us when your finished. You should be able to use that same link I sent you for the Rose & Crown & just choose a restaurant on the side & check out the menu. Italy is not too far away from the UK pavilion. France is directly on one side of the UK & Canada is on the other. Mexico is a little ways beyond Canada.

Question - will they be allowed to join us after they eat? I'm thinking they could come in for a drink/dessert. We will not be using the dining plan so that shouldn't be a factor. Would we have to increase our party size on the ADR & would they seat us if the entire party isn't there to be seated?

What do y'all think?

 

[apostolic4life]

They probably will require you to make a reservation for 4, and they will not seat you until the entire party is present. It sounds good in theory, but it will not work out as you hope. Matter of fact, since the R&C is so popular for Illuminations you can't guarantee a patio seat with a view of the show.....they may not allow you to wait on a table because it will be difficult to keep track of your group with such large crowds.

JMHO!!!

 

[inloveindisney]

Yep, definitely wouldnt' expect them to be able to join you. With the crowds and the difficulty of getting those prime seats, it just doesn't seem possible.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Two things: they will not be able to join you after the meal; and while you can certainly request patio seating, you will NOT be allowed to offer to wait for it. You will be required to accept the table that is ready for you, or you can choose to go somewhere else.

 

[Allison]

Yes, you would need to add them to the ADR. If they are part of the ADR, you can't be seated until the entire party is there.

Also, there is no guarantee of getting a seat where you can see Illuminations from.

 

[TallyTutter]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think we're just going to say goodbye to them at 7 & head over for our ADR at the Rose & Crown.

In years past we have checked in early & asked for a patio seating, most of the time we were told that there wasn't one available & we said that we would wait. They gave us the beeper thingy & we just wandered around the UK Pavilion. I sure hope it works again this year!