Grace period for late arrival for an ADR?

[maxiesmom]

If you miss your seating time you are in effect a no show for your slot. I have read that you can call and they sometimes revoke the fee, but it is not guaranteed.

 

[Nancyg56]

I thought that if you had an ADR and as long as you turned up you wouldn't be charged the $10 penalty fee regardless if you were late and couldn't be accommodated.

"Though Disney does not charge a “Late Fee” if you are running behind, they do charge a “No Show Fee” of $10 for every person in your party if you fail to turn up at all and if you fail to cancel. Arriving late means that you may still be able to enjoy your meal or at least avoid the extra fees."

They can and they do charge. They let you turn a few minutes late but honestly, anything after 10 minutes is not late. It's really late.


OP- I think that teh break between landing and the party and dinner is a good thing. It gives you time to relax and recover from travel, and now if you want, you can enter the MK at 4PM, and schedule a few FP.

 

[andyman8]

I'm not recommending this, but I've shown up three hours late (long story) for an ADR and they seated me. So long as I have had an ADR, I have never been denied a table. That said, I'd obviously advise against showing up late, because you never know what will happen and, of course, it can really throws off the seaters.

The one other thing I'd look out for is the meal times and cutoffs. For example, a few weeks ago, I showed up to my 10:30am CRT ADR at 10:35am (I kid you not) and was told I'd have to come back for lunch service and pay the price difference, so be careful!

 

[StayAwake]

My experience last year was that we called Disney Dining since we couldn't find a direct number for the restaurant and were running late due to luggage being over 5 hours late in being delivered by Magical Express. We weren't sure if we should go in violation of the dress code for the signature restaurant or wait for the luggage. We were told that after 15 minutes they would no longer hold our ADR and after that we would be treated as walk-ups. However as long as we arrived before the restaurant closed for the night, we would not be charged the no-show fee.

So we waited for the luggage which was being brought to our room via golf cart, changed, and then grabbed a taxi, arriving 25 minutes late. We explained to the CM what we had been told and asked if we could be accommodated as walk-ups, apologizing profusely. She was able to accommodate us and it took about 5 minutes for our buzzer to go off and be seated. I did check my credit card and was not charged the $10 PP.

YMMV, but I won't make any reservations for a signature on arrival night again unless our dinner clothes are packed in a carry on. It was a very stressful way to start a holiday.