How early can we arrive for reservations

matt91

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
11
Hi everyone-

how early in advance of a "reservation" can we arrive to be seated?

Example 6pm reservation- can we arrive at 530pm, 5pm, 430pm??

Thanks
 
I'm guessing you can arrive as early as you wish, but you might have to wait for your ADR time, and even beyond. You *might* luck up and get seated early, but I think 30-45 minutes is PLENTY early to show up.

One great thing about Disney ... even if you have to wait, people-watching opportunities abound.
 
I think that depends on the time of the year that you go and the popularity of the place.

A place like Le Cellier which is pretty much booked from beginning to end would be tougher to get into earlier than your resrvation. I think a buffet place maybe the easiest to get in earlier than your resrvation.

We usually show up at least 15 minutes before all our reservations; so, most often we get in the place on time of our resrvation or slightly earlier.

If you want earlier, you can always check a few days beforehand and see if they can do it at whatever place. People are no shows; so, you may get an earlier ressie.
 
You can show up whenever you want, but you still will probably have to wait to your adr time or even beyond it.
 

We have been at least 90 minutes early twice. Each time I politely explained that we were REALLY tired and if at all possible, could they seat us early? At Rose & Crown we were seated within 10 minutes. At the previous Italian restaurant in EPCOT we had to wait at least 30 or 40 minutes but were still seated well before our ADR time.

:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:
 
We've never had much luck getting seated early and I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to when you might get lucky; it will depend on how many bookings the restaurant has.
 
We usually show up anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes prior to our ADR. It all depends on how close we are to the restaurant (we usually eat in the park we are in for that particular day). If we don't have time to visit another attraction before our ADR, we will go ahead and check in. Once, at LeCellier, we showed up 45 minutes prior to our ADR because it was starting to rain. We were seated in 10 minutes. The hostess said some people head out of the parks when it rains and simply don't show up for the ADR. We have also had to wait until our ADR before being seated. We have always been lucky and have been seated within 5 minutes of our ADR time.
 
I've shown up from 30 minutes to two hours before our scheduled seating and have had varying results. It really all depends on who is waiting in front of you. You won't be seated next but you will be placed into the "queue" and be seated when they can without disrupting the normal flow.
 
I believe the official policy is they will check you in 3 hours or less prior to your ADR. (I don't know when they'd seat you.) I've arrived an hour early a couple of times and have been seated promptly. I guess it depends on the restaurant and how busy they are at the time.
 
We have arrived at our reservations early, we have been seated immediately, had to wait 10-15 minutes and been seated 60-90 minutes after we arrived.

All depends on the day!
 





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