How early before ADR do you "check in"?

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

I am just wondering becuase dh and I are going for FD in September and I apparently had it all wrong for my trip earlier this month. Are you suppose to wait until your ADR time to check in? I thought when I made my ADRs they said to check in 15 to 20 minutes before your ADR? I may be making the 20 minute part up but I am sure they said 15.

Well for me trip a couple weeks ago I was told by several cms that I was early for my check in but they checked me in anyway (most of these were only about 10 to 15 minutes before my ADR time) At Le Cellier I checked in about a half an hour early since we were there and didn't really have much time to go do anything else andthe cm gave me the option of checking and just waiting, knowing that we may not be seated until after our ADR time, or coming back so I just checked in and we got seated about 10 to 15 minutes later. At Sci Fi I went to check in 20 minutes before our ADR and was told by the cm that I could not check in until 10 minutes before so I had to go wait outside for 10 minutes than come back in to check in? The killer for that was after I waited my 10 minutes and went back up there was a new cm there who was giving the lady in front of me the same option I was given at Le Cellier. I really wish they would just pick something and stick with it for all of their TS locations and all of their cms.

 

[disnut8]

I am always early for any appointment. Always. Drives my husband crazy. I have been known to give my relatives an earlier time for dinner (especially my sister-in-law) because they will show up at the exact time (if I'm lucky) or a half hour after the time. So keep that in mind.

I always check in for a dining reservation 15 minutes ahead of time. I've never been told I'm early. I have had to wait until one member of the party showed up until I could check in (hence the giving out an earlier time to relatives).

The Cast Members could very well be being cautious with early check-ins. Some people can get upset that they are not seated immediately when they check-in. that they have to wait even though they have a "reservation". I have seen heads of families who get quite angry when they are there and their kids aren't used to waiting even five minutes to be seated and things go downhill from there.

I have noticed that I am now being told not the fifteen or twenty minutes I had been told in the past but "at least five minutes before your scheduled time".

For LeCellier, the half hour was early and the probably thought you would want to be seated within fifteen minutes and they weren't going to be able to do that. At Sci-Fi, I don't think they have buzzers there (at least not last time I was there). So, having a large crowd of people checking in early and waiting around in the lobby is difficult for them to manage (plus people straining to hear their names called out). And, you don't know when that lady in front of you the second time had her reservation.

What you are doing is fine. Keep doing it. It's better to be early than getting there too late and your table was given away (fifteen minutes after your seating is the typical time for the restaurant to wait for you to show up).

 

[LilGMom]

We usually check in 15-20 minutes early, sometimes earlier if we happen to be near the restaurant. I don't see any problem with people checking in early and wish more people would do that as opposed to people checking in late.

 

[B-Ride]

I would say it depends on what you have planned after.

If we are hoping to catch a show like Fantasmic or Spectromagic after our dinner then we arrive 15-20 minutes early hoping that we will be seated by the time of our ADR. If we have no plans afterwards then we show up 5 minutes early.

Remember, ADRs at WDW are not like reservations. It is only a guarantee to be seated before walk up guests or guests with a later time. If people don't leave freeing up a table you can expect to wait. No one likes to be rushed through their meal so Disney cannot force a table to appear.

 

[Aimeedyan]

The CM usually says that so you don't go bonkers and start yelling at them when you haven't been seated immediately after checking in. Since their reservation system is odd, and people are told they will get the next table for their party size, people expect to actually get the NEXT table for their party size even if they check in 45 minutes early.

So they are just pointing out that technically, you don't get the next table until closer to your time. Don't worry about it if you already understood that, they are just trying to save themselves from becoming the target of another theme park visitor blow up.

I typically aim to check in 10-15 minutes prior. Rarely am I seated any earlier by getting there any earlier so there isn't much point checking in much more earlier than that, except if I run out of things to do in the area.