Leaving if wait too long?

[Jessirip]

I know "ADR" does not equal "Reservation" and waits are common, but seeing some posts about waiting a half hour or longer after an ADR time has me wondering if you can say thanks anyway and leave without the no show charge?

 

[4fordisneyworld]

We have never done this at WDW, as we try and make our reservations at the off times and still expect a small wait. However, on our last trip to DL we showed up about 30 min early for our reservation and asked if we could be accommodated. They said they would seat us as soon as possible. Sounded good to me until several walk ups (at least 8 families, some with the same size as ours of 3) were sat before us with no reservation. I was prepared to wait, as we did show up early, but then when we had waited another 30 min past our original time ( so an hour of waiting at this point) I finally talked to a manager and explained what had happened. He told me they would seat us next but that is would still be another 20 min. I politely declined and asked him to remove the cancellation fee. He did take care of it for us, but I would not make reservations expecting this to happen. We only book the restaurants that really matter to us, book in the off times of the day, and also make sure we don't have any fastpasses that would conflict if we would be late due to having to wait.

 

[Micca]

This is a good question. If you show up and decide to leave, do you count as a no-show? I mean technically you showed up. I'd be interested in what some of the Disney dining experts have to say on the subject.

 

[Cinderella94]

This wasn't your question, but I just wanted to say that I wouldn't call waits 30 min or more past your ADR time "common." While it's true that ADR does not mean "reservation" in the true sense of the word, we still never wait more than 10-15 minutes, and even that is unusual. And we go during 4th of July week and have at least 1 ADR per day.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

This wasn't your question, but I just wanted to say that I wouldn't call waits 30 min or more past your ADR time "common." While it's true that ADR does not mean "reservation" in the true sense of the word, we still never wait more than 10-15 minutes, and even that is unusual. And we go during 4th of July week and have at least 1 ADR per day.

I agree with this. We've been to WDW over 40 times in the last 10 years and only twice did we wait (or were told we would have to wait) for 30 minutes or more. Once was at Mama Melrose and we stuck it out (this was probably 3 or 4 years ago) and once was at Flying Fish (before the refurb, so, again, years ago). My DS was really hungry when we checked in at FF and they told us they were behind. I let them know I didn't think we could stay and they did not charge us a fee. I think the decision would be on a restaurant-to-restaurant basis, but I just don't think waiting that long is even the norm. Even at busy times (Christmas week, week before Christmas, Spring Break, etc.) we never routinely encountered waits like that.

 

[Jessirip]

Thanks for your input and experience. I think the only one of our ADR's we wouldn't wait it out (if over half an hour) would be an O'hana breakfast. I read on another thread reports of waiting up to an hour past ADR times and it has me worried. We have a 9:25 ADR and plan to check in about 9:00, and wish to make a 12:55-1:55 FP for FOP.

 

[sponica]

Thanks for your input and experience. I think the only one of our ADR's we wouldn't wait it out (if over half an hour) would be an O'hana breakfast. I read on another thread reports of waiting up to an hour past ADR times and it has me worried. We have a 9:25 ADR and plan to check in about 9:00, and wish to make a 12:55-1:55 FP for FOP.

I think with Ohana the bulk of their longer waits are with the dinner (at least when I've asked people about their experiences, they say that the long waits are more common with dinner).

 

[crabbygal902]

I would assume you could leave without a no-show charge as long as you talked to someone who had the power to waive the fee and they agreed to it. I also assume that most managers would accommodate this request (or get you seated quickly!) without an argument, they really don't want a bad review going to guest relations.

Of course, you could run into the wrong person on the wrong day.

 

[Texans_loyal]

The first time we went to BOG they had us wait an hour. I Just walked away, it was ridiculous. Since I had checked in, I didn't get charged a no show fee.

 

[Abby Hill]

We had uncommon long waits past the ADR time twice, both times they waived the penalty for "no show". Once at Mama Melrose they were delayed an hour and a half, so we didn't wait.

The other time was at Le Cellier when the wait time was 45 minutes past ADR time, which we did wait for.

 

[carlandellie31]

We walked away from Sci-Fi once after waiting 45 minutes. We told them we were leaving and they totally understood. There was no charge.

 

[maltdizzy]

Pretty sure once you've check-in and are in the system, the no-show fee no longer applies. Just tell them you are leaving and why. I think we waited around 30-40 minutes for what will probably be our last trip to Ohana.

 

[Eastern]

I've had a long wait only a couple of times in years and years of visits. Most times it is right away or within 10 minutes. I think they do a pretty good job. If the wait was >30 minutes I would probably ask to cancel the ADR.

 

[jacknsally19]

I've only waited exceeding long twice.... both were almost an hour. In one case, it was at CRT. And it was actually kind of nice because my DD ended up spending time with Cinderella for like 1/2 hour. The manager also gave us three FP+ per person for the next day because he felt so bad.

The other time - it was at 1900 Park Fare. I really regret that I didn't leave or call Guest Services and complain. The reason we waited is that we had family coming in from a neighboring town and I had pre-purchased a birthday cake for DH and DD. The experience left such a bad taste in my mouth that I will never go back to that particular restaurant. I think I would have been less annoyed if a manager had come to apologize. Oh well.

If it happens to me again, I would have no problem going to speak to a manager about it and being compensated accordingly. Whether that means taking away the no-show charge or an extra FP would really depend on the situation.

 

[Ladyfish77]

I should have walked away from 50's Prime Time. We were there for a lunch and waited 65 minutes for a table. Our first time or we probably would have walked. Then our server was not good. Really don't want to ever go back, and so many people love this place.

 

[Lucys dad]

With an ADR I would be walking away after a 30 minute wait, that would be my limit. Thankfully its never happened and I always book ADR’s

Would never even consider waiting over 30 mins and would be speaking to the manager as well

 

[gharter]

We have had longer waits at Sci-fi (often 20 minutes +) and California Grill if its near time for fireworks.

 

[GillianP1301]

It would be pretty nervy of them to charge a no show fee if you showed up and decided to leave after at 30+ minute wait, which is unacceptable in my opinion. I find it highly unlikely they would charge it. I would check back at the desk and let them know that you are choosing to leave and not wait any longer, as opposed to just leaving without saying anything.

For what it's worth, we have very rarely waited over 20 minutes for an ADR and in most cases it's under 10 minutes and we do a ton of TS meals . I can recall maybe 2 or 3 times in close to 100 ADRs over our last 5 trips where the wait was close to 30 minutes. Two of those times were Sci-Fi (both peak lunch time) and the other was Ohana (mid morning breakfast). If I reach the 15 minute point, then I politely ask for status at the check-in podium. I go back every 5 minutes after that. The only time I came close to walking was Sci-Fi when it was 30 minutes past and after checking in I was going to leave in 5 more minutes and they called us before it got to that.

 

[Keels]

For an in-park restaurant, my limit is 15 minutes before I bounce. I usually only do TS at Epcot and there are just too many other places that I can walk-in to that have their stuff together than to waste a minute waiting for a table. I've never had to wait more than a couple of minutes at Tiffins, and I have a Landry's Card, so that makes it even easier to get in to Yak & Yeti. I've never really had a lengthy wait at Brown Derby either, though we've started option to go to the Lounge right when it opens for lunch instead of the actual restaurant.

California Grill is really the only exception to my personal waiting rule, now that I think about it. I always book my reservations 90 or so minutes BEFORE fireworks ... I think the longest I've waited for a table is 30 minutes, but they also let people with reservations wait in the lounge ahead of people on the waiting list for the lounge. We usually go up and get started on cocktails or a bottle of wine and take in the vibe. I'm there for a long, coursed out dinner and fireworks, so the wait doesn't bother me, especially since now I usually request the same server because I love him.

 

[rg35]

We must be really lucky. 5 years in a row to WDW and the only time we ever had to wait a while was 2014 at Liberty Tree Tavern (we were a party of 16 split across two tables, and in that case we were only really held up by an inconsiderate party who sat bullshitting for quite some time after their check was brought to them). For all our other ADRs we've always been seated quite promptly after checking in. The majority of the time we are a party of 5, but for the 2014 trip we had several meals with the large group.