Wait times with ADRs

[Dragonfly_34]

Is there an average wait time before being seated when you arrive at your ADRs? The last time we went with (now) DS14, I remember there being quite a long wait at the Coral Reef. He was old enough to sit patiently and we were eventually seated....I seem to remember it was 30 minutes or so. We are headed back in a little over a month but this time we are traveling with DS2. I've tried to make the reservations early enough that we aren't going to be arriving right at what would be his normal breakfast/lunch/dinner times, which hopefully will avoid any hunger-related meltdowns, but due to availability some of them will be cutting it close. How much of a wait time should I plan on?

Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

We dine early-ish, and arrive at the recommended 15 minutes before our ADR time and usually are seated right around our ADR time, sometimes sooner.

The later into the meal time you eat, the longer you normally have to wait. So 5 PM - no wait, 6 PM - little wait, 7 PM - could be a wait, possibly long as the night goes on.

Places I know are notorious for longer waits seem to be 'Ohana, Coral Reef, Le Cellier at times, maybe Crystal Palace as well.

 

[sjs314]

Most times we had waits of a few minutes to half hour wait after checking in. For our trip in October I have booked first ADR times if possible so to cut down on the wait time. Hope it helps

 

[squirrel]

Most times we had waits of a few minutes to half hour wait after checking in. For our trip in October I have booked first ADR times if possible so to cut down on the wait time. Hope it helps

That's what I do also. It back fired last year as I didn't realize that 1900 Park Fare opened at 4:30pm. So we ended up waiting almost an hour for dinner.

I think that beats the Coral Reef wait we had one year.

 

[Dragonfly_34]

That helps, thanks! Our earliest dinner reservations are 4:40pm at Crystal Palace and 4:45pm at Coral Reef. The other reservations are between 5:30pm and 6pm. We do have a 5:40pm reservation at 1900 Park Fare on July 4th...because it's a holiday I'm expecting there to be a decent wait time so I'll plan on giving DS2 a small snack to hold him over. The only other one I'm "iffy" about is for Cap'n Jack's at Downtown Disney - our reservation is at 6:05pm. Has anyone called ahead to check the wait time?

 

[cluvsdisney]

I would say most of the time we are seated within 15 minutes of checking in even when we are early for our ADRs but more often then not it's less then 15 minutes. The only ridiculously insane wait we ever had was at the Coral Reef - over an hour.

I never thought to call and check wait time since they won't check you in unless the whole party is at the restaurant. I suppose you could get a heads up about whether or not you want to keep the ADR if the wait is too long.