Chances of adding 1 or 2 to an ADR OR

[aripantaloon]

mixing and matching who sits where with 2 tables (DxDP and no plan).

We (our family of 5) have a trip planned for May 4-12 and I made our ADR's (15 of them) yesterday at the 180 day mark. My DH wants his extended family to come along. So far, the only maybes are FIL and single SIL. DH talked to FIL about it again last night and stressed that he has to make a decision soon because of the dining reservations. He's going to talk to SIL today. It may be a month or so before they decide anything.

If it's just them and not another SIL and her kids, I wouldn't want to leave 1 or both of them high and dry for meals. What are the chances of adding another person or 2 to our ADR's (all or some of them) in about a month or 2? We have popular places on our list including CP, Kona, and CM for breakfast, CRT, Sci Fi, Akershus, and LTT for lunch, and 1900 Park Fair, Cali Grill, Flying Fish, Narcoossee, Cape May Clam Bake, Yak and Yeti, Prime Time, and Le Cellier for dinner.

In the alternative, if there are 2 of them, they could try and book their own table at the same time we are there and hope that we are near each other. Would we be able to mix and match who sits with whom at the smaller table so that everyone gets a chance to eat with PopPop if we can't have 1 table? We are on the DxDP and they may or may not choose to get that. So there might be 1 person at the small table on a DxDP and one who is not as well as 1 or 2 people at the big table not on a plan. Can we do this?

I don't know why this has to be so complicated. Either they want to come or not.

 

[TDC Nala]

There's no way to know that. You will either need to change the ADRs to reflect the new party size, make a new reservation for the extra people, or ask when you arrive if you can add more people to your party. There is a chance that the extra persons will be turned away, so keep in mind what you plan to do if that happens. It sounds as if you may want to add a large number of persons (more than 3? more than 5?) to your party, so remember that they may be turned away or that you may have to wait longer for a larger table.

You can mix and match any guests with or without DDP at any table, but be sure you tell the server who is using DDP to pay and who isn't.

 

[summermac]

We might be in the same boat as you OP. My sister still isn't sure if she's coming or not. I made ADRs today without taking her into consideration. Not sure if it's better to plan for her coming and take her off or the way I did it today.

 

[TDC Nala]

You should make the reservations to include the person(s) you are not sure about. It is much easier to remove people from a reservation than it may be to add them later. However, you may NOT want to include them if you have booked a restaurant with a no-show fee.

 

[summermac]

If one person doesn't show up, we'd get charged the $10 you think? We'll know well in advance of our trip if she's coming. I think. Maybe. LOL!

 

[TDC Nala]

We don't really know for sure, but someone on the credit card guarantees thread did call and ask Disney Dining, and was told that the fee would be assessed for any party member who didn't show up. Whether or not that is the way it will actually work, we don't know, because I don't really trust the dining line to give accurate information about anything outside actually making a restaurant reservation. There's also conflicting information about whether or not a guest can be removed from a reservation without cancelling and rebooking that reservation. I know you most likely have to cancel and rebook to ADD guests to a reservation.

 

[aripantaloon]

If I were adding anyone to our reservation, it would be a max of 2 extra people. If my SIL with the kids comes, then she and any others would just be responsible for making their own ADR's. If it were just my FIL and my single SIL, I wouldn't want to exclude them from all of our meals since they would be coming for our kids.

I'm going to ask my DH tonight, but maybe I'll just make a new set of ADR's including one or both of them to be on the safe side. The majority of ours are CC guarantees, but I would cancel the ADR's as soon as I knew for sure they weren't coming.

One factor as to whether my single SIL would come is whether her piece of $^#%^% boyfriend finally proposes to her by December. They have been dating for 5 or so years, live together now, and are between 30 and 35, so she wants to give him the ultimatum, but we'll see. If he does propose, she most likely would not come with us.