Sci Fi reservation

[tinkerbelletreasure]

Tuesday was my ADR day and we are a party of 3. I got a reservation for Sci Fi but it’s not until 8 pm and we really wanted something around the 6pm hour. I’ve been checking back and just now for the heck of it, I changed the party number to 2 instead of 3 and 2 times during 6pm were available. I know in a lot of restaurants if you add or drop a person on your reservation it doesn’t make a big difference, but with the car in sci-Fi, I wondered if it would be a bigger issue if I made the reservation for 2 and 3 showed up. Last time we were a party of 5 and had a whole car to ourselves, but I don’t know if they normally put smaller groups together in one car.

 

[siren0119]

Tuesday was my ADR day and we are a party of 3. I got a reservation for Sci Fi but it’s not until 8 pm and we really wanted something around the 6pm hour. I’ve been checking back and just now for the heck of it, I changed the party number to 2 instead of 3 and 2 times during 6pm were available. I know in a lot of restaurants if you add or drop a person on your reservation it doesn’t make a big difference, but with the car in sci-Fi, I wondered if it would be a bigger issue if I made the reservation for 2 and 3 showed up. Last time we were a party of 5 and had a whole car to ourselves, but I don’t know if they normally put smaller groups together in one car.

It's never a good idea to show up with more people than your reservation is for. I don't know for certain how they handle parties of 2 vs larger, but if they plan their seatings with 2 in mind and you show up with 3, you are likely to end up waiting a long while for them to accommodate you (especially if it's a busy time). the last few times we were there I don't recall seeing any parties of 2 sitting inside a car designed for 4 people, so I'm not sure how they handle that (hopefully someone who's dined as a 2 can chime in!)

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I didn’t book it. Just looked to see if it was available. I know there’s plenty of time to find a better reservation time. And I touring plans reservation finder looking. It would just be nice to have the time we want now and not having to continue checking. DBF is thinking we should just look at a different option for dinner. And if that’s the way we decide to go, I don’t wanna wait to long to start looking for a different reservation

 

[siren0119]

I didn’t book it. Just looked to see if it was available. I know there’s plenty of time to find a better reservation time. And I touring plans reservation finder looking. It would just be nice to have the time we want now and not having to continue checking. DBF is thinking we should just look at a different option for dinner. And if that’s the way we decide to go, I don’t wanna wait to long to start looking for a different reservation

You can always keep your 8pm reservation and then find something to book for the 6pm time slot (there's enough time between the two that MDE will allow you to hold both reservations). Then if something opens up at Sci Fi in the 6pm time frame, you can just cancel the backup.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I'm at 180 days and couldn't get anything at Sci-Fi. I wonder if something is going on with the system for this restaurant.

 

[Moliphino]

I would try looking at ADRs for 4 instead. Sometimes it's easier to find them for even numbers and it's much better to show up with fewer people rather than too many.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I'm at 180 days and couldn't get anything at Sci-Fi. I wonder if something is going on with the system for this restaurant.

Last time I was there was during Spring Break and I managed to get a reservation the week of. I’m suprised it’s being booked up this far out at a time that shouldn’t be as busy.

 

[etoiles]

I’ve found it to be the hardest reservation to get to be honest. Couldn’t get it the past two trips. Luckily I got one reservation this time but trying to get it at a better time proves impossible.

 

[LilyWDW]

I agree with trying for 4 as well. They won't charge for the single "no show" and often even numbers have better luck then odd numbers in the system.

 

[catfan98]

It is giving me aggravation, too. I booked our dining Monday for our late May/early June trip and I wanted a 5pm dinner and ended up with a 3:45 "lunch" for now. I am on the lookout for a 5-6pm slot and I will probably find one eventually as we don't go until June. We are a party of 4 so that is what I searched for and the 3:45 time was all I could get. Later that day someone in one of my FB groups told me to look for 2 parties of 2 as they had had that problem before when they were trying to book a restaurant they wanted. So, I went under my husband's profile and searched for a party of 2 for 5pm and it was available along, with 4:45 and 5:15, so I booked it. I then went under my daughter's profile and searched again for a party of 2 for 5pm....and what....there was another one for 5pm! Why would it show availability for 2 party of 2s for 5pm and not a party of 4? I did the same thing again today - checked for parties of 2 under their profiles, booked one, and searched for the other, and yep...still available that way, but still no party of 4 available for 5pm. If I can get the 2 party of 2 reservations for 5pm, and tell them when we check in that we would like to sit together, even if we have to wait a bit, would they do that? I don't want to tie up reservations unnecessarily, though, and others miss out. Hmmm....

 

[SteveH]

At 180 we couldn't get our days, then this week I had 3 different days that opened up at 65 days. Go figure.

 

[CarolynFH]

@tinkerbelletreasure, The “cars” at Sci-Fi seat guests in rows of two people (or three small kids), so I agree that if you don’t find a reservation for three you should look for one for four people. I’ve read of the “extra” person being turned away when parties show up with one more than the number booked, but showing up with one less than the number booked won’t cause a problem at all (you won’t be charged for a no-show).

@catfan98, most of the cars have three rows of 2-person seats, although a few have four rows. DH and I are usually seated as “hitchhikers” in the third seat, behind a party of four. So the ADR computer is probably putting your two parties of two in separate cars. However, the CMs when you check in and ask to be seated together will make every effort to do that.

 

[catfan98]

@catfan98, most of the cars have three rows of 2-person seats, although a few have four rows. DH and I are usually seated as “hitchhikers” in the third seat, behind a party of four. So the ADR computer is probably putting your two parties of two in separate cars. However, the CMs when you check in and ask to be seated together will make every effort to do that.

We’ve ate there and for some reason I didn’t even think about that! Duh, lol. I think I’ll just keep my 4 person res and hopefully something will pop up later Thanks!

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

I had good luck with TP reservation finder. That’s how I got it during Spring break. But I also got alerts in the middle of the night and would like to avoid that if possible this time

 

[agavegirl1]

Surprisingly, this was one of my more difficult ADRs to get at a time that worked for me. I ended up with a late (8:25 PM) reservation that sort of worked if we had a snack earlier. I used TP reservation finder just to get it and kept it because I was done tweaking everything at that point.

 

[KMarston]

We’re a party of 3 and after weeks of trying for a 12 pm slot I had to search for a party of four which was available. I had no issues modifying it to a party of three .

 

[Debbie Jean]

@catfan98, most of the cars have three rows of 2-person seats, although a few have four rows. DH and I are usually seated as “hitchhikers” in the third seat, behind a party of four. So the ADR computer is probably putting your two parties of two in separate cars. However, the CMs when you check in and ask to be seated together will make every effort to do that.
[/QUOTE]

This.

With years of experience, I can verify that parties of 1 or 2 will be seated in the back row as "hitchhikers" with larger parties. Two parties of 2 will be seated in separate cars.

If you show up with 3 you will either have one person turned away, be split up or basically come in as a walk-in and have to wait. Wait times are frequently very long and you could find they will not even take standbys at all.

Keep trying for the party of 3... with persistence you will likely be able to score it!

 

[disneyseniors]

We’re a party of 3 and after weeks of trying for a 12 pm slot I had to search for a party of four which was available. I had no issues modifying it to a party of three .

I am having the same problem with 3! If you put 4 on the reservation, how do you add a fictional person to your reservation?

 

[gharter]

Dropping people from the ADR is not a problem.
Showing up with more than the reserved number can be a big problem. Some restaurants can manage that, many will not and will only seat what the ADR was reserved for.

Adding a fictional 4th person should not be a problem. You don't have to list the people going to the restaurant.

 

[TarotFox]

Nothing's for certain... in October my husband and I ate alone and were in the front.