Need ADR Help for Party Size of 4 vs. 5

[WDW Princess 71]

Posted this in the Restaurants forum but didn't get many responses, so I'm hoping to get more here. We are a family of 5 going to Disney during Spring Break, a very busy time when dining reservations are a must. Problem this year is, one member of our party isn't sure if she is coming or not, and probably won't know until the last few weeks before we go. So I'm in a dilemma, do I make the reservations for a party of 4 or a party of 5? Is it better to make them for 4 and then show up at the restaurant with 5 people and hope we can get accomodated, or better to make it for 5 and show up with only 4 people? Which one would cause the least problems? I'm worried because 4 vs. 5 is a difference in the physical table size...it wouldn't be a big deal going from 3 to 4, for example, but 4 to 5 is a totally different table size. Has anyone had experience with this? I was even thinking of booking 2 sets of reservations, one for 4 people and one for 5, but I've heard that is frowned upon and I would hate to take a reservation time from someone else who wants it. I would really appreciate advice from anyone who's been in this situation before, and let me know what you did. Thanks in advance!

 

[seashoreCM]

Better to make the reservation for the larger number (5 here).

It is much easier to give the restaurant the choice of moving you to a smaller table or leaving you where you are if only 4 of you show up.

It is much harder to find a larger table if you reserved for 4 and all 5 showed up.

 

[Debi]

I agree with seashoreCM; to play it safe, I'd book your ADR's for 5. Then, when you check in at the podium, let the CM know that one person couldn't attend.

 

[schmass]

I would probably make them for 5, just to be safe.

However, I had a similar situation during my last trip. I had made all my ADRs at the 180 day mark for 4 people. A month before the trip, my sister decided to join us. I called Disney Dining every day for the month before we left, trying to get the ressies changed, and only had luck at one restaurant. (This was during Free Dining in September). We decided to show up to the restaurants, explain that we had one more, and hope for the best.

At every restaurant that we had to tell them we had and extra person, there was no problem and we were seated within 5 minutes (Cali Grill, Le Cellier, Boma, etc.) For some reason, the one ressie that we did get changed to 5 people was the one that we waited about 40 minutes for.

So either way, I wouldn't worry too much about it!