How late can you be for ADR's?

[Marthasor]

Hi! I'm just wondering how flexible the restaurants are with ADR times? We have a few early breakfast reservations and I'm wondering if we will be turned away if we are 15 minutes late? Thanks for sharing any experiences!

 

[Windsor Princesses]

We were there just this past May and late for our reservations at 1900 Park Fare about 25 mins. When we checked in I gave them our original time and they said nothing, we explained that we had a bus related issue (we didn't know buses didn't run back to the hotels in the morning when they drop peole off at parks, we had planned to go to HWS then hop a bus to GF), she said that was fine and gave us a buzzer. We probably waited another 15 mins then got our pictures taken and were seated.

 

[Marthasor]

We were there just this past May and late for our reservations at 1900 Park Fare about 25 mins. When we checked in I gave them our original time and they said nothing, we explained that we had a bus related issue (we didn't know buses didn't run back to the hotels in the morning when they drop peole off at parks, we had planned to go to HWS then hop a bus to GF), she said that was fine and gave us a buzzer. We probably waited another 15 mins then got our pictures taken and were seated.

That's nice!!! Good to know about the buses, too! I don't think we will be more than 15 minutes late if late at all. We are staying at BCR and have reservations at Cape May and H&V so we aren't far. My DS3 wakes up so early at home, but I don't know if he'll sleep later at WDW. I'd like to hope so, but I also don't want to miss breakfast!!!

 

[HappyontheLake]

Officially they will hold your reservation for 15 to 20 minutes ... but give yourself plenty of time to get there, allowing for one missed bus and at busy times a full bus having to pass you up. Also allow for the time it takes to walk to the restaurant through a crowd once you get there (or bypass a parade if necessary, LOL)

 

[Marthasor]

Officially they will hold your reservation for 15 to 20 minutes ... but give yourself plenty of time to get there, allowing for one missed bus and at busy times a full bus having to pass you up. Also allow for the time it takes to walk to the restaurant through a crowd once you get there (or bypass a parade if necessary, LOL)

That's great to know! We definitely won't be later than that! Thanks!

 

[Nadjalu]

Supposidly they "can" hold your table for 15mins, but they don't have to. Popular restaurants won't. It was our experience with Ohana, part of our group tried to check in and they wouldn't let us until the whole party was there. The manager actually told us that if the others didn't arrive before adr time we would be called a no show and wouldn't be seated.
They arrived 1 min earlier and we were still canceled. DH had to really fight with the manager to get us seated and then we had horrible service. Took over 2 hours for that meal.

We learned...be there or be willing to lose it.

 

[cruisingkat]

When I made my ADR's by phone, they told me to check in no later than 15 minutes before my reservation time.

 

[danceintherain]

The rule is 15-20 minutes, but it will vary by restaurant. I imagine if they have a large volume of walk-ups, they would be likely to seat someone who has already been waiting.

The ADR system doesn't work like regular reservations. You receive the "next available" table for your party size after you check in. If you don't check in around your ADR time, then you risk too many others, who have ADR times after yours, checking in. They will then be entitled to the next available table. It would make sense for walk ups to be filtered in between people who have ADRs, so if you miss your ADR and the next group with your party size has not checked in yet, they would put a walk up at your table. That's just how I see it working.

In short, if you want to keep your ADR, get there on time. If your son sleeps in during the first few days of your trip, then call and attempt to change the ADRs to later in the day.

In general, the first few ADRs of the day have the most flexibility, so even if you miss your ADR, they would be more likely to be able to accommodate you into a later time, but there's no guarantee that this will happen.

 

[epcot.girl]

We were there just this past May and late for our reservations at 1900 Park Fare about 25 mins. When we checked in I gave them our original time and they said nothing, we explained that we had a bus related issue (we didn't know buses didn't run back to the hotels in the morning when they drop peole off at parks, we had planned to go to HWS then hop a bus to GF), she said that was fine and gave us a buzzer. We probably waited another 15 mins then got our pictures taken and were seated.

It's possible that if you'd got the bus to MK instead the bus driver would have asked you if you were having breakfast before opening and dropped you off right at GF - at least, that's what has always happened with us when trying to get to the Poly for breakfast at Kona from CSR.

 

[River Country]

Yeah not sure where everyone is getting this 15-20 minute thing. I showed up 15 minutes late to a lunch at LTT and they told me i had to wait and would be treated as a walk in.

 

[bitohoney]

Hi! I'm just wondering how flexible the restaurants are with ADR times? We have a few early breakfast reservations and I'm wondering if we will be turned away if we are 15 minutes late? Thanks for sharing any experiences!

One year I was very sick (IBD ) and had to walk really slow and we were always 13-15 minutes late to most of our ADRs and we were never turned away.
I'm sure it depends on how busy they are and what time of year it is too.

 

[heatherandnick]

We were late to a couple early-morning breakfast ADRs...1900 PF and Ohana. And I mean LATE. It was due to transporation issues, but in all honesty i guess we didn't allow enough time. We weren't turned away from either place, but this could have been because our ADRs were so early...like 7:30ish if I remember correctly.