How long will they hold my Chef Mickey's reservation?

[Disneyfriend]

I ask because I scheduled a tour too close to our Chef Mickey's breakfast reservation. The tour will end at 9:45-10, and our Chef Mickey's ADR is at 10:05. Now there is no more availability for either Chef Mickey's or the tour, so I am kind of stuck with these times.

Anybody have any guidance here? We are likely to get there around 10:20 or so . . . will Chef Mickey's still hold our reservation?

And would it help if the other members of our party (ie, our children - we have older teens) got there on time and checked us in? Or will they not seat our party until all members are present?

Thanks in advance!

 

[francie57]

Most places will not seat you until the whole party is there, that way they are not tieing up tables that another party can fill until your party is all there. We were at Prime Time in Aug and a party showed up late. They just added their name to the ADRs waiting and sat them when their name came up. Would think there has to be of leeway since getting held up with mechanical trouble on rides, etc. is out of people's hands.

 

[ms_missy66]

This may be nuts, but I wonder if you called them the minute you got off your tour and said, "I'm 10 minutes away, but on my way!" would they keep it for you. We, almost always, get to our restaurant several minutes early, so if they could seat another family that was there waiting for an ADR around your time the two of you could kind of swap. KWIM?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

...

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Would think there has to be of leeway since getting held up with mechanical trouble on rides, etc. is out of people's hands.

1) Why?
2) Shouldn't you plan to be 15-20 minutes early?
3) You are instructed when you make the ADR.
4) So, it truly is not out of your control.
5) On this, I have to side with the WDW policy.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

This may be nuts, but I wonder if you called them the minute you got off your tour and said, "I'm 10 minutes away, but on my way!" would they keep it for you.

1) In most cases, there is a courtesy hold on ADR's for 15-minutes.
2) If they are busy, the ADR is canceled.
3) Sometimes you can wait for another opening, but no guarantee how long you will wait.
4) And, as mentioned above, everyone must be there to be seated.

NOTE: This sounds gruff, but it would be rude to other diners to hold a table. This backs up the ADR system. So, later in the hour or day, people end up waiting because your table was late. Waiting for everyone to be seated is the same issue. Eateries make money on "turning" tables. If your order is delayed for people not arrived, then you stay at the table longer. So, the eatery makes less money and the servers make less tips. Would YOU want your income reduced due to rudeness of others?

 

[Disneyfriend]

1) In most cases, there is a courtesy hold on ADR's for 15-minutes.
2) If they are busy, the ADR is canceled.
3) Sometimes you can wait for another opening, but no guarantee how long you will wait.
4) And, as mentioned above, everyone must be there to be seated.

NOTE: This sounds gruff, but it would be rude to other diners to hold a table. This backs up the ADR system. So, later in the hour or day, people end up waiting because your table was late. Waiting for everyone to be seated is the same issue. Eateries make money on "turning" tables. If your order is delayed for people not arrived, then you stay at the table longer. So, the eatery makes less money and the servers make less tips. Would YOU want your income reduced due to rudeness of others?

No, not taken as gruff. I'm not trying to be rude or put either the restaurant or other guests out.

I first thought the tour would let out promptly at 9:45, and have since found out that it often goes until 10. Now there are NO more tour slots or Chef Mickey's ADRs. So I'm in a bit of a pickle . . .

 

[shocker]

I was 30 min. late for our CM ADR in Aug. and was seated without comment or question. Good luck.
Besides, I'm sure they'd be fine with it if they found out you were late because you were so busy spening more money at Disney.

 

[Shagley]

I think it depends on the crowd level when you are going. I know people who showed up 20 minutes late to LeCellier and the restaurant refused to seat them because they were too late. I think I would have the rest of your party go ahead without you. They would probably be less likely to turn you away if most of your party was there on time - they might even go ahead and seat the rest of your party since Chef Mickey's is a buffet. It wouldn't be like they would have to wait to order their food until you got there.

 

[Canadian Girl 77]

We were well over an hour late for our reservation in March. DH had a migraine and was vomiting when we woke up that morning. I figured there was no way we'd make it to our ADR. But, he felt better after awhile and we decided to head over to the MK. On a whim I suggested we see if we could still get into Chef Mickey. They were able to get us a table and we only waited a couple of minutes. However, we were there right near the end of the breakfast period.

This is the only time we haven't been early or right on time for an ADR.

 

[fla4fun]

1) Why?
2) Shouldn't you plan to be 15-20 minutes early?
3) You are instructed when you make the ADR.
4) So, it truly is not out of your control.
5) On this, I have to side with the WDW policy.

While in most cases, I would totally agree with this, I have occasionally been held captive by WDW transportation in a way that could have caused a problem if I'd been on my way to an ADR. For example, if you are on a monorail and another one breaks down and you are stuck there while they tow the "dead" monorail off the track - it's not like you can always just hop down out of that monorail and find alternate transportation. So if you're at Poly, get on the monorail to go to CR, and get trapped between GF and MK, you just might be there a while. In all the times I've been stuck, they've never reversed a monorail to let us off - we just had to wait (although I'm assuming they would have that capability, should the need arise).

I usually plan to be about 30 minutes early, at least, knowing that there are generally a few shops I can wander through at my destination while I wait to report in for my ADR. I'm one of those people who is early for everything.

 

[Donnainnj]

I am of the opinion that if they can make you wait after your appointed time, and we all know they do , they can wait for me. Unless the reservation is for a large group, would they really hold a table, or would they just move onto the next party that size, until you showed up?
We are usually on time but the few times we have been a little late it was not an issue. It wasn't your plan to be late. I always wondered it they gave the 15-20 minute early request so that those who don't know how much time it really takes to get around will make it on time.
Donna

 

[Melora]

Last month we were on our way to O'hana for a dinner reservation from Old Key West when our bus decided that it needed to get stuck in traffic at Downtown Disney, change bus drivers at the other DTD stop, have the bus driver strike up a long conversation with someone outside while waiting at the second DTD stop, load 2 people with scooters, stop at a water park, then unload both scooters at the Contemporary.... By the time we were 15 minutes late I was in a state of panic. I called Disney Dining from the bus and they told me that they will hold a table for 20 minutes THEN if you STILL don't make it by then and show up later, they will still do their best to accommodate you.

They did do just that. We were 35 minutes late and they seated the 8 of us (which included one more then we had a ressies for) within 5 minutes.

So try not to stress too much.

But as a Note To Self... don't try to get to a resort through DTD in the late afternoon, early evening. If you are going from your resort to another, take a bus to a park, then transfer to the other resort bus from there. We had this problem once before and I can't believe we forgot how horrible it is at that time of day on the buses through DTD.

Oh and one other trick I use.... every so often we end up at our ADR and a teenager or 2 is running late. When they ask if our whole party is there I always say yes and if they seat us before the other 2 arrive I say "Oh we have 2 in the bathroom". Of course I wouldn't use this if the people were gong to be more then 10 minutes late. Most of the time the older kids arrive before we are seated anyway.

 

[HookdonWDW]

We were there at Christmas time 2 years ago (definitely a busy time in the parks!) and our Behind the Steam Trains tour ran long, making us late for our CM reservations. We arrived at the restaurant, apologized and explained, and they told us not to worry about it, and sat us at the next available table for our party size.

I wouldn't stress, I'd just show up as close to your reservation time as possible, smile and explain the situation.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I usually plan to be about 30 minutes early, at least, knowing that there are generally a few shops I can wander through at my destination while I wait to report in for my ADR. I'm one of those people who is early for everything.

1) I love people who repeatedly strive to be cautiously early.
2) It shows great respect and courtesy for others.
3) Way to go!

 

[roxy83]

My family was "trapped" on the monorail for 45 minutes while they were removing one that had broken down. We had a gorgeous view of the CR which was where our adr's were. When we finally arrived 25 minutes late (we were staying at the Poly) the hostess was wonderful. She said that they know that some people will be late due to the transportation issues and take that into account with the ressies. She had us seated in about 5 minutes.

As for your situation, what time does Chef Mickey's stop serving breakfast? That would be the only situation you may have.