Large Parties

[daddytig]

Good afternoon everyone.

Going down to WDW late summer with a party of 8. Not many reservations for dining for 8 left open. How has it been recently in terms of getting a table at some of the more favorite restaurants without a reservation or with limited capacity that's really kind of not possible any longer? Also - is it possible to make two reservations for two tables of 4 around the same time and then ask at the desk if they can try and slide those tables together? I thought I read that if everyone in the group are linked that we wouldn't be able to make two reservations within 2 hours of each other?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

DT

 

[5disneymama]

I can’t speak to any COVID related changes but we least travel with a group of at least 9, usually more. Any ADR that doesn’t allow a party that size, we make 2 or more as close together as possible. On the phone, the CMs are able to make two ADRs in one person’s name. Online, it will not allow that, but it will allow two people, even if they are linked, to each make one.

As far as being seated together (again pre-Covid) most restaurants were able to push tables together. When they aren’t able to, I can’t remember a time we didn’t at least have tables next to one another.

 

[daddytig]

Thank you!

 

[holden]

We just returned from a trip with 8. Here's what we got:

Chef Mickey's
Tiffins (2 tables of 4)
Homecomin
Chefs de France
Liberty Tree Tavern
Shula's
Skipper's Canteen

 

[FCDub]

There are lots of recent threads about this, so you're not alone. If you do a search for "large group" or "larger group" you'll pull some of them up. Here's one: https://www.disboards.com/threads/reservations-for-large-group-need-help.3844358/

 

[CarolynFH]

When wanting to make two ADRs for the same time, set one of the other members of your party as the person managing the first ADR you book. (It will default to your name, but you can change it.) Then it will allow you to book the second, overlapping, ADR with yourself managing it. Then make sure everyone is at the restaurant about 10-15 minutes before the earlier ADR. Check in with the CM, not via MDE, and tell them you're together and would like to sit as close together as possible. They'll try their best to seat you together. Our experience was with a party of 9 the week leading up to Christmas, so not as busy as now (but restaurants had less capacity then too), and we were placed at a single table at Biergarten, Beaches & Cream, Mama Melrose, Homecomin' and Liberty Tree Tavern.

 

[Halle]

Do you both log in under your MDE password?

 

[CarolynFH]

Do you both log in under your MDE password?

I didn't learn of this tip until after booking our large group ADRs, so I haven't done it. However, the person who wrote the first post I saw about it was booking from their own MDE and simply designated their daughter as manager of the first ADR and themselves as managing the second ADR for the same restaurant, date and time. The reason is that when booking, if you designate yourself as the person managing the first ADR, the system won't let you search for or book an ADR at the same restaurant within 2 hours of that first one. Designating someone else as the manager of the first ADR allows you to search for a matching ADR for the remainder of your party. FYI there are multiple reports of people sitting together, having 2 devices logged into separate MDE accounts and booking ADRs from each account. That works too - there's more than one workaround!

 

[OpieDoodle]

If you don't have reservations for 8 I wouldn't count on sitting together. Usually they will already have big parties and its hard to know if you'll even be in the same immediate area of the restaurant. I'd make your reservations separately and keep checking for if you can get a reservation for the whole party.