showing up with 4 instead 3?

[wendylovesdisney]

My hubby MIGHT come on my September trip with me and the kids. All of my ADRs are for 3 instead of 4. Will that be an issue you think if he comes last minute and shows up with us? Are'nt the tables that they will seat us at made for 4 anyway?

Any experiences anyone in this situation?

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I would maybe call and see if there is availability for the ADR's you have made without saying that you are cancelling.. just checking availability for those restaurants. If the 4 is available and he is definitely coming, then change the reservation... Otherwise, I would show up at the podium with 4 and hopefully everything will be ok.

 

[aribelle]

Oh...and a piece of advice....don't call reservations and attempt to change it....the CM there was so befuddled about how to do it, talking about there being no openings and she'd have to cancel my original reservation and couldn't guarantee we'd get it back with the higher number (from 3 to 4), etc....I finally said, never mind, I'll just tell her she can't come and hung up, scared to death we'd lose it all! Then we decided to just go to the podium and tell them we had a 4th person. We did this all week long and never were we turned away. At a couple of places I felt like we were waiting longer than others who had come in after us, but then again I don't know that they didn't have earlier ADRs in the first place. Never had to wait what I considered unusually long though. The one place that they seemed a bit confused about how to do it (but assured me it was fine) was CRT for dinner....but that was because it was prepaid. They did the weirdest thing, instead of just charging my card for one dinner....they REFUNDED me the 3 dinners we'd prepaid and then charged me for 4 dinners. Whatever, it came out to the total I expected so I didn't question it, but it stills seems an odd way to do things, lol.

I think the problem comes when your addition would change the size of table....going from 2 to 3 for instance, or 4 to 5....then the table they alloted for you would no longer work. But, I'm guessing that they'd still find a way to make it work, I think in that case though I'd be prepared for extra waiting, or the real possibility of being turned away, especially at the busier places.

I'm trying to imagine what a table for 3 would look like anyway, lol....a triangle? I saw many tables that were probably meant for 3...they were up against a wall with 3 chairs....but could probably have been moved and another chair found to make it 4 with only a little bit of work.

 

[aaronmckie]

Oh...and a piece of advice....don't call reservations and attempt to change it....the CM there was so befuddled about how to do it, talking about there being no openings and she'd have to cancel my original reservation and couldn't guarantee we'd get it back with the higher number (from 3 to 4), etc....I finally said, never mind, I'll just tell her she can't come and hung up, scared to death we'd lose it all! 1.

I have to disagree on this, as I added a fourth to all my reservations without the need to change my confirmation number. I'm guessing you had a bad CM, but the ones I delt with went out of thier way to make sure I was taken care of (except one, but I ended that conversation quickly).
I wasn't able to get my reservation at Ohana's moved from three to four (the seating is group-style there), so I'm gonna work the phones until we get there, then cross my fingers when we get to the podium
I just didn't want the OP to be scared to call... 90% of the time you'll recieve great service from wdw-dine

 

[Evil Princess]

Oh...and a piece of advice....don't call reservations and attempt to change it....the CM there was so befuddled about how to do it, talking about there being no openings and she'd have to cancel my original reservation and couldn't guarantee we'd get it back with the higher number (from 3 to 4), etc....I finally said, never mind, I'll just tell her she can't come and hung up, scared to death we'd lose it all! Then we decided to just go to the podium and tell them we had a 4th person. We did this all week long and never were we turned away. At a couple of places I felt like we were waiting longer than others who had come in after us, but then again I don't know that they didn't have earlier ADRs in the first place. Never had to wait what I considered unusually long though. The one place that they seemed a bit confused about how to do it (but assured me it was fine) was CRT for dinner....but that was because it was prepaid. They did the weirdest thing, instead of just charging my card for one dinner....they REFUNDED me the 3 dinners we'd prepaid and then charged me for 4 dinners. Whatever, it came out to the total I expected so I didn't question it, but it stills seems an odd way to do things, lol.

I think the problem comes when your addition would change the size of table....going from 2 to 3 for instance, or 4 to 5....then the table they alloted for you would no longer work. But, I'm guessing that they'd still find a way to make it work, I think in that case though I'd be prepared for extra waiting, or the real possibility of being turned away, especially at the busier places.

I'm trying to imagine what a table for 3 would look like anyway, lol....a triangle? I saw many tables that were probably meant for 3...they were up against a wall with 3 chairs....but could probably have been moved and another chair found to make it 4 with only a little bit of work.

It's not that the castmember was befuddled, it's the way that disney reservations system is set up. If you have certain table sizes, to go one up or one down, they won't let you add or take away a person.

The cast member must cancel your reservation, then re-book for the appropriate table size. But if that table size doesn't exist, you're better off keeping your existing reservation. One more person really doesn't affect things at the podium. If you're coming with less and theres no table availability, keep the reservation.

 

[NJGirl]

The only place I know of it possibly being a problem is Ohana. When I went to make my ADRs I was unsure if it would be 2 of us or 3 of us (all adults)dining that evening. The CM on the phone told me it didn't matter bc at Ohana the tables are for 1-3 people. She said if I went down to 2 people, it would be no big deal bc my ADR would still be for the correct size table. She said if I went up to 4, it would be a different story.

Crystal Palace she said was different. The parties of 3 are seated at 2 two tops together...so it was easier in this case to book for 3 and call back to let one two top go if I needed to.

I think it varies from restaurant to restaurant.

 

[PatriciaH]

I wasn't able to get my reservation at Ohana's moved from three to four (the seating is group-style there), so I'm gonna work the phones until we get there, then cross my fingers when we get to the podium

I just wanted to let you know that you sit at regular tables at Ohana-not with other people.

 

[aaronmckie]

I just wanted to let you know that you sit at regular tables at Ohana-not with other people.

Can you tell this will be my first time there?
Thanks for letting me know

 

[Aimeedyan]

I think you'll be fine. In most cases, you are seated at 4 topper with 3 people anyways.

Your best bet is to attempt to cancel and rebook everything to 4 people - showing up with 1 less is better than showing up with 1 more. Don't cancel ANYTHING until you get everything rebooked with an additional person.

The dining system does not allow CMs to just add or subtract people - they have to find you another time for a party of 4 and cancel your party of 3. Don't hate them if they can't do it for you; just means the party of 4s are gone.

If you can't get everything rebooked for 4, I'd show up with 4 and apologize for the last minute addition. We've done that many times and the restaurants have all been very helpful in getting extras in - esp since you're likely at a 4 topper anyways.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

IF your party is booked for an odd number of guest it is easier to show up w/ an additional person than if you are an even number party wanting to add a person if that makes sense. Basically every restaurant you eat at is going to sit you at a table that accomodates 4 since you are a party of 3 that means there is an extra seat. So if you don't want to deal w/ the worry and hassel of possibly loosing the time slots that you already have just don't worry about it.

 

[frannn]

DD15 would prefer to stay with a friend while we go to WDW. I'm ok with this, as I trust the mom and this way DD would not miss any school. If there is an issue & DD can not stay with her friend, we will need to get everything last minute- plane ticket, DXDP, etc. We're currently a party of three, but would be four if we have to add DD. If we have a problem with any ADRs, how bad would it be to let her grab CS and a few rides of her choice in whatever park we will be dining in?

 

[debit34]

It's not that the castmember was befuddled, it's the way that disney reservations system is set up. If you have certain table sizes, to go one up or one down, they won't let you add or take away a person.

The cast member must cancel your reservation, then re-book for the appropriate table size. But if that table size doesn't exist, you're better off keeping your existing reservation. One more person really doesn't affect things at the podium. If you're coming with less and theres no table availability, keep the reservation.

I experienced the same thing...

The only place I know of it possibly being a problem is Ohana. When I went to make my ADRs I was unsure if it would be 2 of us or 3 of us (all adults)dining that evening. The CM on the phone told me it didn't matter bc at Ohana the tables are for 1-3 people. She said if I went down to 2 people, it would be no big deal bc my ADR would still be for the correct size table. She said if I went up to 4, it would be a different story.

Crystal Palace she said was different. The parties of 3 are seated at 2 two tops together...so it was easier in this case to book for 3 and call back to let one two top go if I needed to.

I think it varies from restaurant to restaurant.

I agree, the only place I can think where this might be a problem is Ohana. They definitely have tables set up for only 3...

 

[sherabby]

When I made my reservations a few months back I asked if it would be problem to add a 4th person to our dinner reservations. I was told that it would not be a problem at all since 3 people are seated at a table that can accomodate 4. The only problem I can see is at Sci-Fi because last year they crammed the three of us into one back row of a car. My son was bummed because he wanted the front row seat. cannot win them all though!

 

[LauraAnn630]

You wont have a problem at all. We did this during free dining. We also used our creidts to pay for our extra person, no questions asked!

I was so worried and there wasnt a problem at all.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

You won't have a problem at all with this. We went to the Tusker House during Christmas, no less, and my brother decided he wanted to join us. We went from a party of 4 to a party of 5, no problems.