Problem making group dining reservation

[amyjo]

Has anyone run across a problem making a reservation for a large group? We're going as a Grand Gathering, and when my dad called to make ADR's for our trip he was referred to Group Dining. The woman he spoke to told him that because we are a group of more than 13 (there are 18 of us alltogether) and we're on the dining plan, we have to eat in the first 30 minutes or last 30 minutes the restaurant is open. Anyone else ever heard this? He's going to try again tomorrow and if he still can't do it we're going to make reservations in three names for 6 people each instead. We don't mind being broken up into separate tables, that's no big deal at all. What a pain. Any ideas? Thanks.

Amy

 

[tjmouse]

Yes, actually I have heard that before. I don't know the reason, other than with Group Dining, they do try to seat you next to eachother. If you don't care, I would do the separate reservations, but make sure you do them at the same time because they might not have 3 tables at the same time for you. Like if you pick 6:00, they might only have 2 tables left and then when you try to make the 3rd, they would be out of room - does that make sense?

 

[kath1210]

We just went with a group of 20, and were told the same thing. It was OK for us, though, because we usually eat only two meals oer day on vacation. We wanted to have late breakfasts or early lunches and then early dinners. It worked out great because we were able to all sit together or right next to each other at all of our ADRs.

It may also depend a little on the particular restaurant. We did get reservations for Ohana at 7:40 p.m. and for Kona Cafe at 7:00 p.m.

Have a great trip!

 

[amyjo]

Yes, actually I have heard that before. I don't know the reason, other than with Group Dining, they do try to seat you next to eachother. If you don't care, I would do the separate reservations, but make sure you do them at the same time because they might not have 3 tables at the same time for you. Like if you pick 6:00, they might only have 2 tables left and then when you try to make the 3rd, they would be out of room - does that make sense?

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thanks!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We were told the same thing when our group of 16 was there last August. We were told that several restaraunts may have to split us up, but we were only split at 3 I think. And, even if you're split up, they put you at tables right next to each other, so it's really not a problem. I don't think I would chance booking everyone separately though, you might not all get in, as the previous poster explained. Eating during the first and last 30 minutes (actually we were told hour) of the restaraunts dining times actually saved us from lots of crowds. We try to avoid the "usual" dining times anyway as they are more crowded, so my guess is that's the reason why they are able to seat large groups more easily at "off" times.