Will we make our reservation?

[Dr Gunnie]

My family of four is heading to the magic kingdom on Jan 1st. I did my restaurant reservations at 180 days and got a 1:15 lunch at The Plaza Resturant. At 60 days I grabbed my fastpasses, but wasn't able to get A&E for two of our four until "the glitch" this past week. While two of the four are meeting A&E 12:50 - 1:50, the other two will be at a fastpass in Tomorrowland from 12:10 - 1:10.

Any chance we can get in at A&E right at the beginning of our time and still make it to our 1:15 reservation? How long of a wait is it at A&E with the fastpass? Will they seat you at a restaurant if only two of the four people are present?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[KimBean]

I put this into Touring Plans. The 4 of you can go in at 12:50. It says the wait will be 31 minutes, 10 minutes for interaction, 6 minute walk. That puts you at Plaza at 1:37....

I didn't think the FP line for A&E has been that long but maybe it is the Jan 1st thing? Very busy crowd level. A 9 coming off 10's.

I'm not sure if 2 of you can go over to check in... Pretty sure everytime I have been they make your whole party be there. Being 20 minutes late you can lose your ADR... If you can't move Plaza I would just ditch it. It's nice but FP for A&E is better.

Adding.... Don't get rid of anything now though... Lately about 2-3 weeks ahead of time they are releasing more A&E FP's. You might be able to get that a little earlier. If you need to you can always cancel the ADR later.

 

[siskaren]

I put this into Touring Plans. The 4 of you can go in at 12:50. It says the wait will be 31 minutes, 10 minutes for interaction, 6 minute walk. That puts you at Plaza at 1:37....

From what I've been reading here, people have had very short waits for A&E with FP. I'd say then that if you get in line right at 12:50, you shouldn't have any problem making a 1:15 ADR at the Plaza.

 

[Dr Gunnie]

Thanks for the info - worst case scenario we miss our lunch reservations. Maybe if we show up a little early we can get in A&E before the 12:50 start time. I wonder how long they hold the lunch reservations?

This is the first I've heard of Touring Plans - might have to join!

 

[KimBean]

From what I've been reading here, people have had very short waits for A&E with FP. I'd say then that if you get in line right at 12:50, you shouldn't have any problem making a 1:15 ADR at the Plaza.

Yeah... Exactly my point. I have not heard of that long of FP waits. But, wasn't sure if that was because of it being a 9.

 

[KimBean]

Ok. So I just did a test. Changed the date to January 28th. Easywdw has this at a crowd level 1. It came up 29 minute wait with a FP.

So, my conclusion is that TP is overestimating the wait time for a FP at A&E. Maybe get some real life stats from people who were just there?

I'll be going in 18 days and have a FP for A&E at 1:20pm. So I'll make a note how long it takes.

 

[bucky1023]

Thanks for the info - worst case scenario we miss our lunch reservations. Maybe if we show up a little early we can get in A&E before the 12:50 start time. I wonder how long they hold the lunch reservations?

This is the first I've heard of Touring Plans - might have to join!

Just remember that if no one in your party shows up for you ADR at The Plaza you will be charged $10 for each person on the reservation.

I don't know how late you can show up and still be seated... it might depend on how busy the park/restaurant is that day

 

[Sugardimples]

I would cancel The Plaza and take the pressure off. Grab hot dogs at Casey's and not worry about the timing of A&E.

 

[maxiesmom]

Thanks for the info - worst case scenario we miss our lunch reservations. Maybe if we show up a little early we can get in A&E before the 12:50 start time. I wonder how long they hold the lunch reservations?

This is the first I've heard of Touring Plans - might have to join!

They may let you in 5 minutes early, but it is not a sure thing.

There is also no set time for which they hold your ADR. Typically they hold them for 15 minutes, but again, it is not a sure thing. If they don' t seat you because you are late they will still charge you the no show fee.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Jump in line for A&E at 12:50pm. You should be out of there by 1:10pm and head across to the Plaza. As long as you're there within 20-30 minutes of your reservation time, it's fairly certain you will get seated.

My family of four is heading to the magic kingdom on Jan 1st. I did my restaurant reservations at 180 days and got a 1:15 lunch at The Plaza Resturant. At 60 days I grabbed my fastpasses, but wasn't able to get A&E for two of our four until "the glitch" this past week. While two of the four are meeting A&E 12:50 - 1:50, the other two will be at a fastpass in Tomorrowland from 12:10 - 1:10.

Any chance we can get in at A&E right at the beginning of our time and still make it to our 1:15 reservation? How long of a wait is it at A&E with the fastpass? Will they seat you at a restaurant if only two of the four people are present?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[letsgoreds]

Go to A&E at 12:40, explain that you have overlapping FP+ and an ADR at 1:15. The CM should let you in on the early side of 12:50, which should give you enough time to get over to Plaza. If you are 10-20 minutes late, you should be fine. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[maxiesmom]

Go to A&E at 12:40, explain that you have overlapping FP+ and an ADR at 1:15. The CM should let you in on the early side of 12:50, which should give you enough time to get over to Plaza. If you are 10-20 minutes late, you should be fine. I wouldn't sweat it.

Saying they should be fine in no way guarantees they will be fine. Depending on how busy the restaurant is, they may not grant any grace period at all. Totally up to the restaurant on the day of.

The poster will probably be fine, but if they are not it will cost them $10 a person. Only they know if they are willing to risk it or not. But they are taking a risk, no doubt about it.

 

[Dr Gunnie]

Like I said, worst case scenario we miss the reservation and I'm out $40. After everything we are paying for this trip, $40 is the least of my worries... that's about 1% of what this whole trip is costing me!

I haven't seen anything about yet, but will they seat a party before everyone has arrived? If not, I'm hoping that it will at least buy us a few more minutes. My 4 year old loves grilled cheese (who doesn't?), and The Plaza is one of the few places that serves grilled cheese.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[maxiesmom]

Like I said, worst case scenario we miss the reservation and I'm out $40. After everything we are paying for this trip, $40 is the least of my worries... that's about 1% of what this whole trip is costing me!

I haven't seen anything about yet, but will they seat a party before everyone has arrived? If not, I'm hoping that it will at least buy us a few more minutes. My 4 year old loves grilled cheese (who doesn't?), and The Plaza is one of the few places that serves grilled cheese.

Thanks for all your help!

Unfortunately no. Your whole party must be there in order to check in and be seated. They will ask you when you go to check in if everyone is there or not.

 

[nkereina]

When you scan your MB, the system is programmed for the CMs screen to turn "green" for 5 minutes early, and also stay green for up to 15 minutes after your actual window. In my own experience, I have scanned my band and been let in 5 minutes early every single time I tried this last week I was there. All the CM looks for is that green, I'm not even sure they realize you're there 5 minutes before your window opened. Because it's cut and dry with the green vs red, I doubt they would let you in any earlier than 12:45.