Showing up a few minutes late for Dining Reservation?

[Mamiamjo]

What is the window of time allowed to show up late for your dining reservation before it's cancelled? I know that I've seen it somewhere, but cant seem to find out where.

 

[LilyWDW]

There is no guarantee. Depends on too many factors.

 

[supersnoop]

What is the window of time allowed to show up late for your dining reservation before it's cancelled? I know that I've seen it somewhere, but cant seem to find out where.

The stated policy does not allow for any buffer whatsoever. The general consensus seems to be that you’ll be okay at most restaurants as long as you show up within 15 minutes of your ADR. But you could still be turned away and charged the no-show fee.

 

[Nancyg56]

There is no window. I agree that for the most part you will be okay, but that is not a given. Several years ago we had ADR at Tony's, however I forgot my Hoodie at the boat dock. My DH and my DS went back, and we asked teh host if we could be a little late. Yes.....however it was pretty clear they were wicked busy and we WAITED and WAITED a long time. Now this was Tony's. If this had been BOG, 'Ohana, Le Cellier....bet we woudl have been told that we were out of luck.

 

[Shanti]

What is the window of time allowed to show up late for your dining reservation before it's cancelled? I know that I've seen it somewhere, but cant seem to find out where.

I called Dining during a trip when an issue that might have kept us from making the reservation came up, and they told me that anyone showing up within 15 minutes of a reservation would be seated. That has been my experience, as well, as we do a ton of ADRs on every trip and have been late to a handful of them. We've never been turned away, even when showing up to Ohana 20 minutes late.

WDW ADRs don't really hold a table for you, unlike many real world restaurants. Instead, they give you a place at the front of the virtual line to wait for availability. That's why you often have to wait for your table even though you were on time or early for your reservation. So showing up a bit late doesn't cost WDW or the servers any money, as the same proportion of available tables are going to be filled regardless of exactly when you show.

WDW knows what transportation can be like to get around their massive resort, and the scheduling issues FP+ can cause. They also know that they themselves routinely make guests with ADRs wait 10-15 minutes or more to be seated at popular restaurants. It wouldn't look good for them to routinely require guests to wait, but on the flip side to deny entrance to a guest who showed up a few minutes late.

Unlike some of the more militant posters on Dis, WDW doesn't take a punitive stance toward families who might take a bit longer than anticipated to get to their ADR.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Until they do. Militant posters is rather harsh, no?

 

[Wubar]

I called Dining during a trip when an issue that might have kept us from making the reservation came up, and they told me that anyone showing up within 15 minutes of a reservation would be seated. That has been my experience, as well, as we do a ton of ADRs on every trip and have been late to a handful of them. We've never been turned away, even when showing up to Ohana 20 minutes late.

WDW ADRs don't really hold a table for you, unlike many real world restaurants. Instead, they give you a place at the front of the virtual line to wait for availability. That's why you often have to wait for your table even though you were on time or early for your reservation. So showing up a bit late doesn't cost WDW or the servers any money, as the same proportion of available tables are going to be filled regardless of exactly when you show.

WDW knows what transportation can be like to get around their massive resort, and the scheduling issues FP+ can cause. They also know that they themselves routinely make guests with ADRs wait 10-15 minutes or more to be seated at popular restaurants. It wouldn't look good for them to routinely require guests to wait, but on the flip side to deny entrance to a guest who showed up a few minutes late.

Unlike some of the more militant posters on Dis, WDW doesn't take a punitive stance toward families who might take a bit longer than anticipated to get to their ADR.

Yes, but those families that show up late shouldn't complain if they have to wait a bit longer than normal to be seated, since sometimes families who arrive early or on time also have to wait if the restaurant is extra busy. For every family running late because of unanticipated issues, there are probably parties that plan on arriving late (well, this was the only time I could get FP+s for this ride and I couldn't move the FP or the ADR time, or we really wanted to see the entire parade and they won't mind if we show up 20 minutes late because of it)...

 

[bigbabyblues]

There is a current thread on the Disney Dining Plan board titled Teppan Edo dining plan. That poster arrived at 9:10 for an 8:55 ADR and was turned away.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I can see that. It is a communal table dinner show type dining. You can't seat half the party late

Disney tries to be flexible to a point.