Grace period for ADR?

[maxiesmom]

I have been late to ADR's more times than I can count. I have never had a problem. Usually it just takes a few extra minutes to get our table together. I've never been charged the fee, but do always make sure to take a picture of the receipt and us at the restaurant just in case.

That is great that you have been seated, but if you are late that much you probably should work on being on time. There are no guarantees a guest will be seated if they are late.

 

[Happy_2_B]

There is a difference between being late for an ADR while on property due to circumstances that have come up for whatever reason- and 'preplanning' to be late for an ADR. Why not just change the ADR? We have been there 27 times, and have been late occasionally. Most times it works out, sometimes it didn't. Glad all these other folks have had luck getting accommodated- but Disney is under no obligation to do so, and your mileage may vary.

 

[Nancyg56]

There is a difference between being late for an ADR while on property due to circumstances that have come up for whatever reason- and 'preplanning' to be late for an ADR. Why not just change the ADR? We have been there 27 times, and have been late occasionally. Most times it works out, sometimes it didn't. Glad all these other folks have had luck getting accommodated- but Disney is under no obligation to do so, and your mileage may vary.

I agree When folks have a schedule that includes arriving 15 to20 minutes late to an ADR, they have deliberately set up others to run behind. They may not look it this way, but Disney CM's move Heaven and Earth to keep guests happy, so they will often "make it turn out alright". Once you start this ball rolling, it just keeps sliding. I understand unforeseen circumstances, but I will never understand setting this up to begin with.

 

[Chi_Kel]

That is great that you have been seated, but if you are late that much you probably should work on being on time. There are no guarantees a guest will be seated if they are late.

That is a great idea. One that I had not thought of! Thank you for your insights.

As Nancy has stated, there is no guarantees that you will be seated. It is a gamble. However I have experienced a 100% success rate.

 

[Nancyg56]

That is a great idea. One that I had not thought of! Thank you for your insights.

As Nancy has stated, there is no guarantees that you will be seated. It is a gamble. However I have experienced a 100% success rate.

We have been told that Disney is cracking down on guests who had unexpected friends or family arrive and they are not as quick to intervene to help. I can only guess that if it is convenient, Disney will just try to seat a late arrival, but I have heard here that it is not a given any longer. I think that if someone deliberately schedules themselves so tight that they know upfront they are going to be late for an ADR, they really are risking their ADR.

 

[Pkltm]

We were late for a couple reservations last week. One, at BOG, I thought the reservation was for 5:40 but it was actually 5:20. I just so happen to check my phone while we were on The People Mover and realized my mistake. We hightailed it to BOG and was about 20 mins late. They checked us in, no questions asked. We got stuck on the monorail from MK to the TTC and then again on our way to Epcot. We were again 20 mins late to Coral Reef. She said that there were running 15 mins behind schedule and that we would be seated as soon as our table was ready. I was sweating bullets both times and was happy that we were seated.

We were at BOG for Breakfast in October, they family checking in front of us was 20 minutes late and they got turned away and were told they would most likely be charged. Sometime people are lucky sometimes not.

 

[DSLRuser]

My advice is to show up early, or cancel outright. You have a 4:30 appointment, be on time.

Would you show up 20 minutes late for a job interview?

Being 20 minutes late creates more work for the host and can negatively impact those who did show up on time for their ADR.

 

[maxiesmom]

That is a great idea. One that I had not thought of! Thank you for your insights.

As Nancy has stated, there is no guarantees that you will be seated. It is a gamble. However I have experienced a 100% success rate.

Being chronically late is never a good idea, and I can't help but wonder why someone would continue to be that way. Especially someplace that has the ability to punish guests for being late by charging them a fee AND not seating them.

 

[Hibiscus]

Arriving early at BOG, for example, won't do you much good, since they won't even check you in until you're within five minutes of your ADR.

This afternoon, we got stuck on the Haunted Mansion (as in... ride not moving... not that I was complaining!) - we got to BOG about 15 minutes late. Nobody cared. They didn't even mention it.

 

[Nancyg56]

Arriving early at BOG, for example, won't do you much good, since they won't even check you in until you're within five minutes of your ADR.

This afternoon, we got stuck on the Haunted Mansion (as in... ride not moving... not that I was complaining!) - we got to BOG about 15 minutes late. Nobody cared. They didn't even mention it.

I imagine that the conversation might have been different if this was dinner and you are late, but with no reasonable explanation other than you wanted to do what you wanted to do and decided you would push the envelope because so many people told you it is not a big deal

 

[Hibiscus]

I imagine that the conversation might have been different if this was dinner and you are late, but with no reasonable explanation other than you wanted to do what you wanted to do and decided you would push the envelope because so many people told you it is not a big deal

They didn't even mention that we were late, so no explanation was necessary. It might have been different during dinner, but for lunch, it just wasn't a big deal.

 

[Nancyg56]

They didn't even mention that we were late, so no explanation was necessary. It might have been different during dinner, but for lunch, it just wasn't a big deal.

That was my point. I think that the restaurant is so large they could manage the late arrival, but dinner at sing popular restaurant might be a challenge. Shoot! Even Tony's made sure I knew I was lucky they decided to seat us! Lol! I give up on the smilies! They just won't post from my phone! Lol!

 

[DisneyRobin]

I called Disney Dining yesterday and asked this exact question! I asked what their official policy on being late was and what the grace period was.

They said that they have a 20 minute grace period.

After that, they'll still seat you but you may have to wait a while as you'll lose your place and others who have later reservation times may be seated before you.

 

[maxiesmom]

I called Disney Dining yesterday and asked this exact question! I asked what their official policy on being late was and what the grace period was.

They said that they have a 20 minute grace period.

After that, they'll still seat you but you may have to wait a while as you'll lose your place and others who have later reservation times may be seated before you.

Unfortunately while they may quote 20 minutes as official policy, what they actually do at the restaurant may vary.

 

[Tozzie]

I called Disney Dining yesterday and asked this exact question! I asked what their official policy on being late was and what the grace period was.

They said that they have a 20 minute grace period.

After that, they'll still seat you but you may have to wait a while as you'll lose your place and others who have later reservation times may be seated before you.

Yes because Disney call center cast members are notoriously spot on right

 

[cjsquared]

We were at BOG for Breakfast in October, they family checking in front of us was 20 minutes late and they got turned away and were told they would most likely be charged. Sometime people are lucky sometimes not.

I honestly expected to be turned around. I beat myself up the whole 20 mins and kept apologizing to my family because I just knew that we missed it. I'm glad that they were able to seat us. It was the best meal of the trip!

 

[jmkjr72]

Sounds like you know you can't make your adr so change it or change your plans before your adr

Every time people show up late for things it creates a snowball effect and pushes everyone that was behind them farther behind

 

[Shanti]

I've been 15 minutes late to an ADR with no issue. They know the challenges of a WDW family vacation and want to accomodate you if possible. If you're pretty sure 15 minutes is the max you'd be late, I wouldn't sweat that at all. Arriving 10 minutes early is NOT factored into that, unlike what a previous poster said. 15 minutes from your scheduled ADR time will be okay. I know that from experience & from asking a cast member.