Dining reservations for 4 PM, eating by _______?

[friedela]

Most of our dining reservations are for 4 or 4:15 PM, in your experience what time does one actually eat? I am hoping by the time we get seated and order and wait for food we will be eating at around 5:00 PM, is that a good assumption to make? I know it's impossible to say for sure but just wondering what the typical wait time is and does a 4 PM reservation mean we are sitting down at 4:00 PM or is there still a wait to get our table?

 

[disneyvoice]

How long you wait depends on the restaurant. Places like 'Ohana are notorious for a longer wait but some other places get you in right away. If you have a 4:00 or 4:15 ADR I would highly doubt you won't be eating until 5:00. With the way WDW rushes you through restaurants it is more likely you will be finished and out the door by 5:00! If you are having drinks and appetizers before your meal it would take longer. We always feel like we have to be very purposeful to slow down at most WDW restaurants because of the rushed pace most restaurants set. The nicer, signature restaurants don't have as much of a rushed feel.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

It just depends. With a 4:00 pm reservation, your chances of waiting a long time for your table are rather slim. We were just there from Dec. 16 - 23 and never waited more than 10 minutes for a table (and that was at O'hana and Hollywood Brown Derby). Signatures typically take longer to serve, but other than at AYCTE restaurants where they kind of just plop your food on the table, you can certainly drag out your ordering a bit by ordering drinks and then ordering apps and entrees. If you are seated right at 4 pm, though, you can probably expect apps to hit your table by 4:45 pm at the latest.