Waiting and Walk-Ups

[OrangeU]

I searched for posts similar to the question I have, I promise. I have a friend who's at WDW right now and he says the "reservations have been terrible". He told me yesterday that his party of 6 waited "over an hour" for an ADR at Crystal Palace. I told him it was likely due to the fact that MK was in "Phase 3" capacity, and that it was probably par for the course this time of year. He was, needless to say, still frustrated and brought up the valid point that they "made these ADR's 6 mos. ago". I agree with him, but also understand why a place has to allow some walk-ups. We never waited more than a few minutes during our trip last October (6-13th). The crowds were obviously smaller than what he's experiencing, but I thought our trip was seamless.

So, DIS'ers: Is it "normal" to have to wait an hour for an ADR (he says this has been the norm this week) during an "8-10 crowd level week"? Where do you guys stand on this? I can see both sides. Personally, I don't think walk-up parties of any size should be seated before an ADR that checked in, on time. That's about as far as I could reasonably ask a restaurant to go, given their need to fill "no shows" and cancellations. I think if you visit during a busy time of year like that, that some waiting is expected. Maybe not an hour, but you get what I'm saying. It'd be nice if you could go to attractions with a pager or text alert, if you're party is going to have to wait after you check in for an ADR.

Very interested to see what you guys say, and sorry if this has been covered ad nauseum.

 

[LilyWDW]

Crystal Palace is almost always running behind. We had to wait 20 minutes once in May during a 4-5 crowd level week. People do not leave their tables until they see all the characters... and sometimes that can take awhile.

Also, CP often does not take walkups.

There is no real way to know for sure what was going on in this instance, but it CAN happen and it has happened in the past.

 

[nugov2]

I think all restaurants should seat a reservation within 10 minutes max. That is the point of a reservation. Anything over that and I would be annoyed. Disney or anywhere else. We were just there and had lots of ADR's and were seated within that window everywhere(including BOG that is supposed to be bad). I don't know what crowd levels were though.

 

[AmyB2006]

Over an hour WITH a reservation? Absolutely not, IMO. That shouldn't happen. They need to fix something if that's what's happening there. I would be complaining if I had a reservation I had made 6 months ago and had to wait an hour or more.

I'm ok with 10 to 20 minutes, but that's about it. It shouldn't matter what the crowd level or phase closing they were in. They should only take a certain number of reservations that they can accommodate in the restaurant. They should not be allowing ANY walkups if they are fully booked. No walkup should get a table before a reservation.

 

[LisaTC]

This is a hard thing to manage because the restaurants are at the mercy of the patrons. Aside from kicking them out, what are you going to do? I can imagine in the heat of the summer, people stick around longer and they should take that into account when allotting whatever time they do to an ADR. We waited 30 minutes one time at R&C during F&W, but it is a much smaller restaurant than CP and not buffet.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I searched for posts similar to the question I have, I promise. I have a friend who's at WDW right now and he says the "reservations have been terrible". He told me yesterday that his party of 6 waited "over an hour" for an ADR at Crystal Palace. I told him it was likely due to the fact that MK was in "Phase 3" capacity, and that it was probably par for the course this time of year. He was, needless to say, still frustrated and brought up the valid point that they "made these ADR's 6 mos. ago". I agree with him, but also understand why a place has to allow some walk-ups. We never waited more than a few minutes during our trip last October (6-13th). The crowds were obviously smaller than what he's experiencing, but I thought our trip was seamless.

So, DIS'ers: Is it "normal" to have to wait an hour for an ADR (he says this has been the norm this week) during an "8-10 crowd level week"? Where do you guys stand on this? I can see both sides. Personally, I don't think walk-up parties of any size should be seated before an ADR that checked in, on time. That's about as far as I could reasonably ask a restaurant to go, given their need to fill "no shows" and cancellations. I think if you visit during a busy time of year like that, that some waiting is expected. Maybe not an hour, but you get what I'm saying. It'd be nice if you could go to attractions with a pager or text alert, if you're party is going to have to wait after you check in for an ADR.

Very interested to see what you guys say, and sorry if this has been covered ad nauseum.

No walkups should be seated before ADR's. With the heat, I wonder if people aren't taking longer to eat just so they can enjoy the air conditioning.

In Epcot in June 2013, my family watched several others being told no walkups were being taken that day so I'd expect that at CP too.

CP is notorious for being slow though. I know the last time my DD and I ate there, we had to wait 30 minutes passed our ADR (in mid-November) and then she really wanted to see Winnie the Pooh who kept bypassing our area. An hour and a half later, I asked our server if there is anything she could do because we were done eating but my DD still hadn't seen Winnie because our section kept getting skipped and didn't want to leave without doing so.
The server talked to the handler and then Winnie finally came over to our section of the restaurant. Sure made me wish I'd said something sooner.
So that could be part of the problem.

I hope your friend has better luck the rest of their trip.

 

[LilyWDW]

I think all restaurants should seat a reservation within 10 minutes max. That is the point of a reservation. Anything over that and I would be annoyed. Disney or anywhere else. We were just there and had lots of ADR's and were seated within that window everywhere(including BOG that is supposed to be bad). I don't know what crowd levels were though.

One thing to remember is that it is NOT a reservation in the traditional sense. It is a priority seating. What that means is that you will get the next table for your party size (after those who had priority seatings ahead of you). There are only so many tables of each size in a restaurant. All you need is for parties at those tables to take their time and those ADRs are now pushed back. Even if the restaurant did not overbook, it is quite "easy" for things to get messed up... and it is even easier somewhere like CP because it is very popular due to the characters.

Does it stink for the family who has to wait? Yep. But unless Disney either kicks people out or takes less reservations then capacity (which would be silly from a business stand point), then these things will happen.

 

[OrangeU]

All good points. He said they've had good experiences aside from this one, after I talked to him again. Like I said, I can see both sides. I'm sure Disney has all sorts of data to draw from, as it relates to number of reservations, capacity and how many walk ups to allow. Maybe MDE can incorporate a "mobile check in" and "table ready" alert and a lot of this idle time would be avoided. I think that's what's frustrating me. That we spend so much time planning and prioritizing, only to have 2.5-3 hours killed for a meal/character experience that should take half that. Thank y'all, and keep it comin'. Lol

 

[grammimouse]

Maybe because of the size of your party ? I'm just saying , larger tables are harder to come by. DH and I waited one time at CP for a half hour , and it was just the two of us

 

[maxiesmom]

One thing to remember is that it is NOT a reservation in the traditional sense. It is a priority seating. What that means is that you will get the next table for your party size (after those who had priority seatings ahead of you). There are only so many tables of each size in a restaurant. All you need is for parties at those tables to take their time and those ADRs are now pushed back. Even if the restaurant did not overbook, it is quite "easy" for things to get messed up... and it is even easier somewhere like CP because it is very popular due to the characters.

Does it stink for the family who has to wait? Yep. But unless Disney either kicks people out or takes less reservations then capacity (which would be silly from a business stand point), then these things will happen.

This exactly. ADRs don't guarantee you will be seated at that exact time. But an hour wait is not typical, and can be chalked up to the parks being crazy busy.