Logistical Question...Getting to your ADR

[mrsaruba96]

Hello,
I have made some ADRs....and Ihave a question about logisitics. How do you *make* sure that you are at the restaurant at the right time? Has anyone had any problems? How does it interfere with your day.....
Do you just make sure that you are near the restaurant within an hour before the res? How far in advance of your reservation should you be at the restaurant?

Thanks!

Kim

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Depending on the time of year and how crowded it is, I usually allow about an hour travel time so we are not late. That usually gives us plenty of time...

35 to 45 mins is PROBABLY enough time...but...by allowing an hour, you are sure you make it.

As far as how this fits into the day...I decide b4 I make the ADRs and look to see what the EMH hours so...so we know whick park we want to do each day....so I know the most convenient way to organize the ADRs to cut down travel time

 

[Nadjalu]

I disagree with PP, WDW recommends that if you are using WDW transportation to allow 90 mins from point A to point B (restaurant).
Is this over kill....a bit, but not by much.
Unless you know the entire property well (all of WDW) then it is not recommended to "push" it.
We always give ourselves 60-90 mins to arrive at our adr. This will allow late buses (can take upto 20 mins to arrive to pick you up), the ride there, the walk to where ever the restaurant is and finding it. Again if you aren't familar with where things are at it can take 15 mins to find it.

So let's say you are at POP and you want to go to WL for a dinner at WCC, it could take up to 20 mins to get a bus, 20 min ride there, walk to the boat dock (5 mins ), wait for a boat to arrive (10-15 mins) ride the boat to WL 10-15 mins, walk to restaurant (5 mins).
If you add all the time up you will see that it is between 70-75 mins.
Now if you haven't been this way before you have to allow 15 mins of "finding" time and there you are...very close to 90 mins.

If you are a dis veteran and know exactly how long it takes from point A to point B, then you can push it....we don't, I like to be a bit early. No way am I missing out on my ressie because I am late.

 

[LisaxMarie]

At least an hour to be safe..Even during the busiest time of the year leaving an hour before on the dot has never failed us.

 

[familyS]

It depends on the time of year/crowds.
During February break it took 2 hours to get from DTD to Biergarten in EP (we took the boat to POFQ and bus to EP). We were late for our ADR, but still seated .

 

[TDC Nala]

If you are taking Disney transportation from resort to resort, you should give yourself at least an hour transportation time.

If you are taking Disney transportation from park to resort, you should give yourself at least 30-45 minutes transportation time, depending on what type of transportation and how close the restaurant is to the park.

If you are traveling between anywhere and Downtown Disney (except Saratoga Springs and maybe Old Key West) give it at least an hour to an hour and a half.

You do not have to be AT the restaurant an hour ahead of your ADR, about 10-15 minutes ahead should be fine. If you're more than 15 minutes late, they may put you back in the walkup queue.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Depends on where I am, I allow myself an hour going to one of the resorts from the parks, with the exception of being in World Showcase and going to the Boardwalk or Beach Club. More time if I'm going from my resort to a different resort.

 

[purple figment]

Disney recommends 60-90 minutes if you are using their transportation (bus, boat, monorail), but it all depends on where you are going, will you have to make any transfers, what time are you traveling.

If you have to make a transfer, you'll have to allow added wait time. Likewise, if you're leaving a park right at closing, so will a lot of other people so that will increase your wait time. Likewise, if you're there during a busy time (e.g. Thanksgiving Day or between Christmas and New Years), there'll be longer lines.

Usually an hour is plenty of time. Disney recommends that you check in at the restaurant 15 minutes before your reservation time and they give you 10-15 minutes after the ADR so that's a 30 minute window all together.

I'd rather get to the restaurant early and not have to keep looking at my watch, wondering if I'll make it on time. Every restaurant is in a park or resort so when I'm early, I can use the extra time to look around and then check in 15 minutes before my ADR.

 

[walkdmc]

If I'm traveling between parks to make an ADR, I leave the park I'm in 1 hour before the ADR, if I'm relying on WDW buses. (Even then, I've been late to ADRs but never had a problem being seated).

Try as we may to be on time, we've been late to ADRs. Anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes late. We never had a problem with our party of 6 being seated together and we were always seated within about 10 minutes of arrival, even late. I was talking to another visitor on a bus, voicing my concern over the bus' many stops as I was trying to make DHS for dinner. She told me the restaurants hold the reservations for 1 hour after your reservation time. That seemed like a long time but again, I've been late, no problems.

 

[pixarmom]

We almost always make ADRs at or near a park we already plan to be in that day. So that reduces the need to think about travel time.

On one occasion, we have a 5:35pm ADR at Cali Grill, and we'll be coming from BC (plan to take an afternoon swim break.) We plan to leave BC at 4pm to allow 90 minutes. Just want to be relaxed on our way there. If we arrive at CR early, we'll just look around and shop! But if we did this for every ADR, we'd spend a lot of time in transit - that's why we always schedule in/near the park we plan to be in. If the park hours change, or we have a change in park plans due to weather, we usually change our ADRs to match.

 

[rdominy]

What if we are driving our own car instead of relying on disneys transportation? We have all breakfast adrs in the parks between 8:00 and 8:10 on days the parks open at 9:00. We are staying at pop. What time should we leave then?
Thanks.

 

[Dimples1973ca]

I am a bit worried about making the ADRs on time. I have a 715 am for a Chef Mickey's Breakfast and we are staying at POFQ. What time do the buses start? I tried to make most of our ADRs at or around 530. So if we spend the morning in a park, head back to the room for nap/swim and leave the hotel around 330-400 to get to the dinner location. What is the best way to keep track of the directions to your ADRs?

Thanks

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Don't forget if you were going from resort to resort using WDW transportation it depends from where your starting at and where your ADR is going to be. For example if you were staying at the Contemporary and had an ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe you can take the Resort Monorail from the Contemporary to the Grand Floridian, which only takes about 15 - 20 minutes.

 

[walkdmc]

Driving a car is a whole different ball of wax. We had 8:10 Kona reservations and were staying at Bay Lake. We left our room 25 minutes before our reservation and arrived about 10 minutes early. The longest part of the transit was actually getting everyone into the car!

Driving around WDW is unbelievably easy and IMO, completely stress free. I decided we'd drive everywhere after waiting about 25 minutes for a DHS bus at the CR. Then, we had additional stops (forget where, but certain someone here has them memorized). All in all, it took us about 45 minutes to get from CR to DHS on a bus. It takes about 15-20 minutes driving in a car to get from CR to DHS turnstiles, depending on where you park.

The parking toll booths need to see your room key/your paper parking permit which should be in your front window, on the dash. After the first time going through the toll booth and being so worried about showing our key card to the attendant we realized the paper permit was enough and they waved us on. You don't even have to put your window down. Then once you park (for free if staying onsite), you just find a tram but remember where you park!!! The trams run constantly so you won't be waiting more than 5 minutes for a tram. However, if you get to the park near opening, you'll probably be close enough to walk to the turnstile.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Driving around WDW is unbelievably easy and IMO, completely stress free. I decided we'd drive everywhere after waiting about 25 minutes for a DHS bus at the CR. Then, we had additional stops (forget where, but certain someone here has them memorized). All in all, it took us about 45 minutes to get from CR to DHS on a bus. It takes about 15-20 minutes driving in a car to get from CR to DHS turnstiles, depending on where you park.

In the mornings it shares with the Polynesian or Wilderness Lodge and in the afternoons/evenings it shares with the Polynesian and Grand Floridian.

 

[walkdmc]

LOL, see. Thanks CR!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

LOL, see. Thanks CR!

You're welcome.

 

[mrsaruba96]

Thanks to all for the advice.
I have made most reservations in the same park that we are spending the day in. So how much time will that help shave off ball park? 30 minutes?

Kim

 

[jess20k]

I like to get there about at least 15 minutes early. But, that is the type of person I am in life..I always have to be early..lol. Anyway, I just try to plan my days at the parks and my adr's so that they could be the most convenient as possible. If not, I do make sure I leave plenty of time due to the transportation for where I need to go. We do not rent a car, so we need to depend on Disney transportation.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

if our ressie is at a resort thats far away from the park were in, we leave an hr in advance to get there. i know it sounds extreme but i'd rather be there early than late. if its in a park we usually show up 15 minutes prior.

the only issue we ever had was going to trails end at ft wilderness. we left in plenty of time from whatever park we were in, but had no idea that the site had internal buses! eek! so we got off the park one and tried to figure out where we needed to go, so we went to the registration desk and found out we had to go back to where we got off and wait for another bus. so one showed up within i'd say ten minutes, but then there were multiple stops before t.e. restaurant. once we got there we had to walk a little ways with the kids and then park the stroller. all this probably made us ten minutes late but they were very understanding in the matter. i think it may have helped that the restaurant was very quiet that evening too.