How long are you allowed for dinner?

[Mail2artist]

We booked our vacation for this December and I'm starting to make ADR's.
We're going to celebrate my son's 9th birthday and thought it would be fun to eat at Rose and Crown (request a patio table) for a late dinner and then watch the show at 9:30.
I was able to get a 8 p.m. ressie. However I'm not sure if we'll be pushed out if there is a later reservation for our table.
I figured 8 was perfect but wonder if I should change it to a later time.
Do they care how long you stay for dinner?

Im sure this is a stupid question but I've only been to WDW once for a short 3 day trip and no TS dining was done, so not sure how it goes.

 

[gonzalj1]

As far as I know there is no limit on the time you are allowed to occupy the table. Although, I've never hung around very long I certainly never felt rushed either.

My only suggestion would be to make sure you continue to buy drinks or an extra dessert.

 

[Mail2artist]

My only suggestion would be to make sure you continue to buy drinks or an extra dessert.

THANKS!! I don't see that being a problem at all.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Sounds very similar to my story last year. I booked at 180 days for our Dec 2010 trip and the best I could get was 7:45pm.

I've been told that Rose & Crown will limit you to 2 hrs if Illuminations is around the time of your ADR.

All that being said- some people balk at the idea of taking up a table at R&C for that long, insisting that dinner shouldn't take much more than an hour. We were seated around 8:10 and were timed almost perfectly for desserts over Illuminations had other things gone properly. We ordered appetizers, entrees, desserts, and special drinks at the beginning and end of the meal...it's the only ethical way we would have been able to take up a table that long.

We had a few things working in our favor- 1) someone suggested arriving 5-10 min late to push back your time just a little 2) R&C usually takes a while to seat you- and it took us about 20 min after our check in time.

Here's where things went wrong...1) they said they couldn't fit us outside (we'd later find out there were PLENTY of tables out there) 2) we were told by MANY people that even if you're seated inside you'll be brought out for the show by your server to a special viewing area - our server even PROMISED to take us out - but that NEVER happened. It was a cold night and much of my family didn't mind being seated inside, but I started to get really worried when I could see the torches were lit...and then BOOM, the show had started. We ran out to the outdoor seating area to see if we could even catch a glimpse and wouldn't you know it - TONS and TONS of empty tables out there. Of course we'd missed half the show at this point.

As ticked off as I still am about all of this...what bugs me more is how empty the place was. I tried EVERY day for 6 months to get a better time and NOTHING! I even tried to book Candlelight Processional to secure a better time and NOTHING! Only 50% of the tables were filled that night (the Pub had a far better crowd than the restaurant), so we were SOOOOOO upset.

Hope you have better luck! Most people have said ours was a fluke experience.

EDIT- they also usually limit your wait time to an hour for a patio table.

 

[flyersfan1129]

We had dinner at Rose and Crown last September, and it took F O R E V E R. Oh my goodness, we were there for well over 2 1/2 hours, with a tired, cranky 8 year old...it was our first day, our flight was changed and we ended up sleeping at a hotel at the airport..long story short, you should be fine.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

All I could get for January is 7:50pm and I am hoping between waiting to be seated and eating we will be able to see Illuminations at 9pm. I think we will arrive a little early and ask for a table on the patio.

 

[buckeev]

If they seat you "close" to on time, you'll be fine...we've never been made to feel rushed to vacate..(except sometimes at Chef Mickey's).
Best of luck!