What happens if we're late to our 8:10 am ADR at the CP

[jjsdad]

We have one of those early morning ADRs at the crystal palace for 8:10 am so we would be going into the park before the official opening. What would happen if we didn't get there until say 8:15 or even 8:25 due to a bus problem? Would they still let us in the front gates to go back to the restaurant?

 

[shawnh199]

Most places give you 10-15 minutes (atleast we have been 10-15 minutes late to several places) before they give your place away.

Be sure to give yourself enough time to get through baggage check security lines. They tend to start letting breakfast people through the gates (to the far right) around 745-750am. I have never had them check our confirmation numbers at MK.

Check in at the CP podium as soon as your arrive. Then take your pictures in front of the castle. No one is let in the restaurant until 805. Check in early and you might get in early too. We had a 815am ADR last time and we were the 5th family seated.

We always try to be at the bus stop around 7am to make our 8am ressies at MK (or any park for that matter if the reservation is for 8am). We did 6 character breakfasts on our last trip and didn't have a problem with the buses for any of them.

Hope you make it on time. Enjoy your trip!

 

[maxiesmom]

Keep in mind too that Disney recommends you be early to your ADRs. Fifteen to twenty minutes early.

The best advice is to not be late, lol! But stuff happens, even when you think you have every angle covered (been there done that!). Disney will give you a bit of leeway, but it isn't wise to push it if you can help it. I know when we were late to a breakfast adr because the taxi didn't show upwe were told the only reason our reservation was still intact was because the monorail had had issues too. So apparently a lot of people were late that day and they were giving even more breathing room than usual.

 

[mb_uh]

You miss rope drop! If you are late they will still let you in, but by the time you eat you will miss rope which is the best part of an early breakfast.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) First, there is no bus problem, so that is not an issue.
. . . they start running at 6:45am
. . . they run every 20-min or so to the parks for breakfast
2) Since buses are not a problem, plan on being 15-20 min early.

3) If you are late, there are several options, based upon how busy they are
. . . they could give you a courtesy 15-min tardiness
. . . they could cancel the ADR and make you stand-by for a table
. . . they could cancel ADR and send you away if too busy

NOTE: During peak times, they frequently cancel your ADR so they don't get
behind for other guests. It wouldn't be kind to them to delay their ADR to fit
in late guests.

 

[Nadjalu]

How this works is this: If you are less than 15mins late they CAN seat you, but they don't have to. At any time being late they can (and often do) give away your table.
So if you are late to a popular adr or during peak season it is more likely they won't seat you.

Trust me, this I know. 2 years ago we were 20mins EARLY to Ohana, but 1/2 our party was running late. The manager said if they weren't there at ADR time he would cancel us....even though we were there. And at 1min early they arrived and they had already given our table away and it was a HUGE fight to get seated. Not fun and it sure put a damper on the day.

 

[cigar95]

The MK restaurants operate a little differently at opening than other restaurants on property. Basically, they want to get people in and seated and processed through their meal. So when the desk first opens, my experience has been that whether your reservation is for 805, 810, 815, or 820, it doesn't much matter - who's ever in line gets seated more or less in the order they get to the desk.

Now does this extend to 825 and even 830 reservations, I don't know. But the short answer is that during that hectic opening time at CP and CRT, they're a lot less concerned about the precise time on your reservation. Do your best to be there on time, but don't panic if you're a few minutes behind schedule.

 

[canopynut66]

We have one of those early morning ADRs at the crystal palace for 8:10 am so we would be going into the park before the official opening. What would happen if we didn't get there until say 8:15 or even 8:25 due to a bus problem? Would they still let us in the front gates to go back to the restaurant?

You can get into any park for early breakfast they have lines set up just for that. if your late may have to wait as they ask you to arrive early and entire party needs to be there to be seated. Buses leave very early for this exact reason.

 

[maxiesmom]

OP you really should plan on being out at the bus stop, ready to go to MK, by 7 or 7:15 at the latest. If you just miss a bus it could be 20 minutes or so before another one come by. You don't want to be stuck waiting for a bus, with your ADR time getting closer and closer by the second.

Going by the picture in your signature, I'm guessing you are staying at the Yacht Club? The Boardwalk area busses are notorious for being a bit slow to get to the Magic Kingdom, many resorts on the boardwalk can share a bus. If you are still waiting for a bus by 7:30 you are cutting it very close! I'd usually say grab a taxi at that point, but going to MK that will not help, as you would be dropped off at the TTC, adding more time to your travels.

Good luck!

 

[Niki in NJ]

Although they might hold your reservation even if you're late, I would definitely aim to be there early! I always find character breakfasts take a bit more time than a normal TS breakfast. It would be really great to finish up breakfast and be in the park for when MK opens so you get to beat the lines!!

 

[momtoejanda]

We got stuck on the monorail on the way to 1900 Park Fare..A medical emergency or something and they left us on the track for about 1/2 hour. We were still seated no problem.

on the last trip, I did not account for the marathon and the road closures and in the inability to park at the Poly for Ohanas. we were an hour late!!! We were still seated.

I would shoot for early but they do seem to try to accommodate everyone.

 

[vinotinto]

I think it's likely that they'll seat you. We got to Akershus 20-25 minutes past our 8:10 am ADR (we were coming from Poly and the monorail didn't start running until 8:00 am) and we waited 5-10 minutes and were seated.

 

[sjsjbrook]

We were late by 30 minutes for our CP reservation and there was no issue, we were seated very quickly. Our issue though we never had to tell anyone was our son threw up all over himself and we had to turn around and clean him up.

We were 30 minutes late for our Norway breakfast because we were in line to see TinkerBell, again no issue.

The one reservation we made it ontime was Cinderella's.

So don't stess out.