question about adding a person to a dining reservation

[bnba2]

here is the deal, My MIL decided at the last minute to join us at WDW on July 5th. We made our dinner reservations a LONG time ago. Once we found out she was coming along (we are happy about it...the more the merrier) we changed all but one of the reservations from 4 to 5 people, quite a task at such short notice but we got all the same reservations with only a 10-15 minute time difference(we got lucky) to reflect that she would be with us. The restaurant, Boma, our first night was unable to "add" her to our party.

a few questions:

1: Should she come with us and we play stupid like hey... we changed all of our reservations this one included...why did'nt you get that memo?

2: should we ask if they can change our reservation once we arrive at the resort/or restaurant?

3: would we be total snarks for leaving her to the food court the first night to fend for herself?

4: I just thought of this...we show up and tell them that my son, who is 3, would be perfectly content sitting on a lap if seating us is really a problem

anyone have this experience before or any suggestions?

thanks,

bnba2

 

[Snow_White]

This might not be "PC", but I would just show up with her and say "we changed everything, not sure what happened". I'm sure they'll seat you.

 

[las3888]

This might not be "PC", but I would just show up with her and say "we changed everything, not sure what happened". I'm sure they'll seat you.

I have heard this approach works. I think you'll be okay. You're lucky you got all your other ressies updated!

 

[bnba2]

This might not be "PC", but I would just show up with her and say "we changed everything, not sure what happened". I'm sure they'll seat you.

That is kinda the way I am leaning right now...

It is easier to beg pardon then ask permission

And yes we did get lucky, especially since we are travelling with our son. It really limits our felxibility on dining times. Only a couple more weeks to go!

bnba2

 

[Pumbaa_]

I would be torn too. The good doobie in me would go to the podium when I arrived to see if they could accomodate the group. If they say no, what then? Ditch MIL?

Have you thought about if they say no, ditch MIL AND the kids and have a romantic date night? Then you could enjoy the lovely restaurant and the kids and grandma could have fun too.

Just a thought (When you get back, tell us how it went, k?)

 

[bnba2]

I would be torn too. The good doobie in me would go to the podium when I arrived to see if they could accomodate the group. If they say no, what then? Ditch MIL?

Have you thought about if they say no, ditch MIL AND the kids and have a romantic date night? Then you could enjoy the lovely restaurant and the kids and grandma could have fun too.

Just a thought (When you get back, tell us how it went, k?)

That is a GREAT idea but the snag in that is my brother-in-law is the 4th person and MIL makes 5 I should see if I can make a reservation for the 3 of them (son, MIL and BIL) LOL...or another reservation for just 2 somewhere else...lol..I WISH! but really MIL's decision to come is a blessing as she is very willing to hit the hay early to babysit and let BIL, wife and I go out in the evenings so I can't complain nor do I feel it appropriate to ditch them on the first night : maybe the third or fourth night, but not the first.

I agree that the angel on one shoulder is battling with the devil on the other over this...lol...I think the devil may win out...anyone ever try slipping the host a $20 and see what happens? lol...works wonders some places...no impact others

bnba2

 

[Liliyana]

We had a res for 2 at Ohana during free dining. That night, we arrived with two friends for a total of 4 people, and they had no problem whatsoever seating them with us.

 

[SharonLowe]

If it was me, I wouldn't lie; I would first try to see if they can change it when you arrive at WDW. If that doesn't work, arrive at the podium really early and ask whether they can accomodate you. They probably can especially if you offer to sit at a 4 person table or to split the group into a party of 2 and a party of 3 and aren't going at a peak dining time. The problem with going from 4 to 5 is that there are far fewer tables that accomodate groups larger than 4. Going from 2 to 4 isn't usually hard because they mostly seat groups of 2 people at tables for 4. If I was a larger group who had an ADR, I would be pretty ticked if I had to wait longer because someone took "my" table.