Ridiculous wait time with ADR -common?

[jonw]

Crystal Palace was bad, but Coral Reef was the worst for us.

 

[LilyWDW]

The reservation guarantees you the next available table *of a size appropriate to your party*.

That's the issue with the current name.. ADR = Advanced Dining Reservations. When people think "reservation" they think it means there is a table waiting for them. Priority seating was a MUCH better name. You will get a table when one opens up for your party size. So, yes, it will happen that sometimes you will have to wait. If there are only 5 tables that seat a party of 6, then you have to wait for those tables to open up and anyone else that had a seating before you to be seated. All it promises is that you will be seated before those who have ADRs after you and before walkups.

They are not going to make people up and leave because they have people waiting. This is especially an issue at character meals as families will wait until they see everyone. So, at CP, if Tigger is slow making his rounds then the people waiting are not going anywhere. They will keep those tables until they get what they are paying for.

You should have mentioned that your mother was diabetic OP. I doubt it would have gotten you seated earlier (can't seat ya if there is no table and it wouldn't be fair to push you ahead of others) but it may have gotten her something to snack on while you waited. Though, honestly, she should have had something with her. Most diabetics I know always carry something in case they can't get a meal ASAP.

 

[kp22090]

When I first read the headline of this post I thought of my experience at Crystal Palace. We had a reservation here July 28th at 5:40. We arrived at 5:30pm and were not called until about 6:20..This was the only location I ate at with ridiclious wait time. Not to mention their waiting area is probably one of the most uncomfortable, being right in the heat. The longest wait time, with an ADR, was maybe 20 minutes at most, and that was also at Coral Reef, where if you read above, other people complain about their wait time.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

We always have this problem at Boma's. We have waited for up to 45 minutes with a ressie. Really not acceptable. Most of the other restaurants have had a much shorter wait time.

 

[dizneyjill]

I think other posters are correct, that it depends on the people eating that day. The person (and I saw this on another post) who says they wanted a leisurely meal and took 2 1/2 hours to do this , is the problem. I understand about character meals, but be considerate.If you waited over your time so will everyone else if you take 2 hours to eat and just hang out. Frankly, I have better things to do. I want to eat and enjoy it, but I came to Disney to experience things I can't do at home. I can go out to eat here at home, but I can't free fall in an elevator here. If I could eat and be out in 45 mins to an hour I would be a happy girl. It's free dining so I say eat a little faster and spread the happiness to the World!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

The longest waits we've had recently for ADR's is Ohana's (35 minutes for 2 of us) and Sci-Fi (50 minutes for 4 of us). Most of the rest of the time it's about 10-20 minutes.

Very rarely we'll do special requests for tables (i.e. Crystal Palace we'll wait longer to eat close to a window or as far away from the center as possible and usually wait about 30-40 minutes for those but it is so worth it to us (we love the atmosphere of CP [the windows, the light airy feeling, the view of the castle and the landscaping] just not the crazy loudness of CP which is almost non-existant when you sit farther away from the buffet area).

 

[carps09]

I've had the same experience at Crystal Palace, and there were only 2 of us eating. We checked in 15 minutes early, and waited 30 minutes for our table. (And that was 2 years ago...so not sure it has anything to do with free dining)

 

[rcraw45425]

Have never dined at CP (thankfully my girls are long past the Pooh phase), but had a 45 minute wait last November at NINE DRAGONS! It was insane, but it was also the last Saturday of F&W as well.

 

[paintnolish]

Thankfully, I seem to be in the minority here. Last June, I had to wait 90 minutes for an ADR one night at CR and then the same at Sci-Fi the next night. I was livid. It messed up our plans, causing us to miss Illuminations one night, then leaving us with no EMH to enjoy the next night (8 pm ADR had us out at 11). Both places told us they were overbooked, they specified "triple booked" at CR. WTH?!? Like I said, it does not apper to be the norm, but if it happens to you, it really stinks!!!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Sorry to hear this happened to you.
We only had one experience like that at Boma's and we left, they asked us to wait and we did, then more than 30+ minutes later, I walked up and explained that we would not be keeping the reservation. In addition, we tried eating at the counter service at AKL and that too was a no go (picky eater) anyhoo, it was a LONG nite and we wound up grabbing some "junk type" food and wrote that off.

Meanwhile, we usually get to our ADR about 15 minutes early. We have not had any other experiences like that.

I hope your future ones are much better experience! have a great trip....

 

[taylor3297]

We just have to remember an ADR is not like a regular reservation. Like the another poster said, it just means you get the next table, not get to eat at the specific time. We had to wait at 50's prime time for over 45 minutes and we think it was due to our party size of 9.

 

[Alec'sPrincess]

I have experienced this issue more than once. On our honeymoon in December, we arrived at Prime Time Cafe 20 minutes early to our ADR and found out that they were backed up and that we would have to wait for 1 hour and 45 minutes for a table!!!!! Even though we had an ADR. We decided not to wait that long, and went in search of something else.

We were so upset, because we had been planning to eat there, and I had made that ADR in June. It was just depressing because we all go through so much trouble to make sure that we make our ADRs and plan ahead of time. I know that they are not really reservations but priority seating, but I feel that 1 hour and 45 minutes was just unaccepatable.

We ate at Le Cellier in May and we had a wait time of about 35 minutes. Wasn't too concerned and it wasn't that bad, but I figured we'd have to wait, since the restaurant was so small anyway.

 

[tinka-belle]

In the past few years we have found consistent long waits at:

HS: Prime Time Cafe, Mama Melrose, sometimes Sci-Fi.
MK: Crystal Palace
AK: Only had CS there (can't pass up the ribs at Flame Tree).
Many on these boards say Tusker House though.
EP: Coral Reef, LeCellier

Resorts: Hit or miss, nothing consistently late, seems to vary by the season and the crowds.

Prime Time, Crystal Palace, and Coral Reef seem to be the longest waits in my experience. Sometimes we get seated in a reasonable amount of time, more often there is a long wait for just a party of 2 or 4 if we're meeting friends.

 

[maxiesmom]

We were at Disney World over the 4th of July, and the only restaurant we had to wait for was the Crystal Palace. And we ate 2 table service meals a day. I think people like to hang out there until they see all of the characters, even if they are done eating. Not that I blame them!

Btw, all of my new ADRs say to show up 20 minutes before you scheduled ADR time. I not sure if that makes a difference on when you get seated or not...

 

[Micca]

I'm sorry to hear about people having to wait an excessive amount of time. I'm afraid after 20-25 minutes I'd be on the phone ordering a pizza to be delivered.

 

[tyandbash]

The longest waits we have had are at Coral Reef, Donald's breakfast and 50's Prime Time. We actually left prime time, after waiting for over an hour and then a same size table came in and were seated before us. My dh had it after that.lol