Interesting discovery RE: adding person to ADR

[HeatherDew]

Earlier this afternoon I coordinated with a fellow DISer to cancel one of the ADRs I had posted on the June Cancelled ADR Thread. The reservation I was cancelling was for a party of 3, but the other DISer had a party of 4. I first tried to modify the ADR to change it from 3 to 4 people, but of course the system searched for a new reservation and there wasn't any availability. Seems silly that the system works this way, since virtually all tables that accommodate 3 people will also accommodate 4 people. And, although there may have been an issue pre-COVID with a maximum limit on total guests in a restaurant (due to fire codes, etc.), now that tables are unused/blocked off for social distancing, it's currently not an issue.

Anyway, I thought it was still worth a try for the DISer to grab my cancelled ADR for 3 and then try calling to add another person; some DISers have also reported arriving for the ADR with an extra person and the restaurant accommodating them, although that is not necessarily guaranteed. Turns out the DISer didn't need to do either of those things. What happened was when they grabbed my cancelled ADR time slot, they were able to book it for 4 people!

I wasn't aware that this could be done, and I wondered if it was just a random glitch (I've experienced many of those with the ADR system lately!). So, I tested it with another ADR that I planned to cancel. Like before, I wasn't able to modify it to add a 4th person. BUT, I was able to cancel the ADR for 3 people and immediately rebook the time slot for 4 people!

I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect that this will only work when going from an odd number of people to an even number of people. So that going from 3 to 4 people or from 5 to 6 people will work, but going from 4 to 5 people for example would not work. The reason being, I would guess, is that an ADR for a party of 3 actually uses a table for 4, and an ADR for a party of 5 uses a table for 6, etc.

Hope this helps someone who may need to add a person to an ADR and hasn't been able to do it another way (although admittedly there may be a slight risk that someone else could snatch an ADR when cancelling and rebooking). At the very least, there may be some reservations on the Cancelled ADR Threads that will work for more people. I have several on the June thread for a party of 3 that will apparently also work for a party of 4!

 

[Rosetah2]

I experienced the same thing for a reservation at Hollywood & Vine that I wanted to change from 4 to 5 people. A few weeks ago, I had called in to make ADRs on my 60th day as my online account wasn't working correctly and the CM accidently made one of my reservations for 4 people instead of 5. A few days later when I realized the mistake, I tried to search for a reservation for 5 people but there was no availability at all. I figured I couldn't use the ADR that was booked for 4 so I just cancelled it. I then immediately searched again for 5 people and the reservation showed up, same exact time, for 5 people. Booked!

 

[HeatherDew]

Wow, I'm surprised it worked going from 4 people to 5 people! Good to know, especially for people who need to add another person to an ADR. Now I'm curious to know whether it would work if you're adding more than one person, like changing from 4 to 6 people...or even to 7 or more? Hmm...maybe this is only working right now because there are so many "extra" tables and chairs due to social distancing. I definitely was not aware of this happening before!