Please explain ADR for me?

[OrlandoHelp]

I am a little confused with ADR's. If i have an ADR for 10am and I get there 20 minutes early at 9:40am (as requested), What happens to the person who has an ADR at 9:45 and arrives just on time? Do they get the next available table or would I since I was there first? Even though technically, they have an earlier ADR that I do. I am cofused by how ADR's work.

Is it based on who arrives first or the ADR time? I know that if I arrive at 8am for a 9am ADR, I am going to have to wait but if I arrive at the requested time shouldn't I get the next available table? We will be travelling during spring break so I assume it will be busy and we will wait. I am just trying to plan the best time to arrive to avoid a long wait.

Thanks

 

[francie57]

Just because you are at the restaurant 20 min. ahead doesn't mean you will be seated as soon as you check-in. It usually take you time to check-in and then wait and most of the time you will be seated closer to your assigned time. There may be exceptions that you will be seated earlier and there are certain restaurants that always run behind time. We have waited up to 45 min. past our time on occasion.

 

[OrlandoHelp]

Just because you are at the restaurant 20 min. ahead doesn't mean you will be seated as soon as you check-in. It usually take you time to check-in and then wait and most of the time you will be seated closer to your assigned time. There may be exceptions that you will be seated earlier and there are certain restaurants that always run behind time. We have waited up to 45 min. past our time on occasion.

I understand that I may have to wait. I guess I am concerned that I will arrive 20 minutes prior to my ADR but others will not and they will still get thier table before us because the ADR time is prior. I just don't want to add an additional 20 minutes to our wait if it is not necessary. Do most families arrive 20 minutes prior?

I know I am probably overthinking this

 

[francie57]

That depends. I have seen people check in right at their time and they have to wait while the people that checked in before them were seated first. Usually, I think, the names go in in the order that you check in. It may depend on the person checking in the people as to what they do. We have definitely been to restaurants where we were seated before our time. It may come down to how the CM is handling things that day. We always make sure we are there at least 15 min. before. The only places we have had to wait well beyond our time were LeCellier and Ohanas.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

It depends... A few restaurants (Ohana) actually had a small line just to check-in! Who gets seated first depends on who is there and what table size you need and what table size is available. The ADR is not really a reservation (I don't know why they call it one)... it is a reservation for "the next available table" after your ADR time.

If I can, I try to get an ADR for first seating... that is the time the restaurant first opens for breakfast or dinner. Then, I figure there should be no wait. It has worked so far.

 

[Pakey]

If a restuarant is pretty busy, they won't even let you check in 20 minutes early; they will tell you to come back when you have passed the 15 minute prior window. This has happened to us many times.

We try to arrive 10-15 minutes prior to the ADR, no point being there 20 minutes early.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

We were in the 'Ohana check-in line at 5:00 for a 5:25 ADR. We were seated shortly after checking in. At LeCellier we had a 12:30 ADR. Again, we arrived early and had a short wait. However, we were still seated earlier than the ADR. At that time we were a party of four. This year I booked 'Ohana for a party of ten. I had the choice of 5:00 or 5:30 and I picked 5:00. I figured I would be checking in early anyway. Since the ADR requires a large table I thought earlier is better. Also, the earlier ADR should assure the group of not having to be split up and we won't miss any of the entertainment.