Walk out of ADR without fee?

[Spotthecat]

Ok, so we just returned from our disney trip. We had an ADR at the Rainforest Cafe in disney springs. Just as my famil of 5 were being seated in a dark creepy corner of the restaurant, the lights start dimming and the storm starts with the animals. My kids just LOST it, my 7 year old especially. My husband wanted to walk out, but I knew that the storms only come and go every 15-25 minutes at random, so Imade them stick it out. But they were terrified the entire meal. What Ithought would be a cool adventure ends up being a horrible memory for them.

Could I have just walked out, not having ordered or eaten anything? Would I have been charged? They weren't very freiendly about changing our seating location to be closer to the light of the store (and a quick escape outside when the next storm started) so I wasn't going to ask if I was going to get dinged for a "no-show" if Ileft...

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If it was a Disney reservation and you walked out without ordering you might have been charged. But if you had first explained to them why you were leaving and asked them to waive the fee it might be different. Since you didn't want to ask, there wouldn't be any way for you to know until you saw the charge on your card.

 

[sponica]

Ok, so we just returned from our disney trip. We had an ADR at the Rainforest Cafe in disney springs. Just as my famil of 5 were being seated in a dark creepy corner of the restaurant, the lights start dimming and the storm starts with the animals. My kids just LOST it, my 7 year old especially. My husband wanted to walk out, but I knew that the storms only come and go every 15-25 minutes at random, so Imade them stick it out. But they were terrified the entire meal. What Ithought would be a cool adventure ends up being a horrible memory for them.

Could I have just walked out, not having ordered or eaten anything? Would I have been charged? They weren't very freiendly about changing our seating location to be closer to the light of the store (and a quick escape outside when the next storm started) so I wasn't going to ask if I was going to get dinged for a "no-show" if Ileft...

I think if you explained that it wasn't working for your kids it probably wouldn't have been an issue (but YMMV with stuff like that). If you up and left without talking to anyone, then yeah it would have probably been treated a no show.

 

[disneyvoice]

In our experience, WDW is very understanding about the need to cancel an ADR when there is a legitimate reason. The cancelation fee is just to deter people from deciding not to show up at all or from making multiple reservations and blowing them off. When we have had to cancel at the last minute and haven't been able to use the change reservation feature (so for very last minute issues) we have never been charged the fee.

 

[DLgal]

Once you check in for an ADR, if you have to leave before you've eaten anything, you won't be charged the cancellation fee.

My sister's family had to do this last month. They checked in for a dinner ADR and their child threw up while they were waiting to be seated. They simply informed the hostess that they had to leave and were not charged.

 

[DisneyFive]

I've wondered the same thing when the wait time for an ADR has been crazy long. We had this happen a few years ago at Mama Melrose on a rainy day. Since it was rainy outside most of the day, people were spending WAAAAYYYY longer in the nice dry restaurant eating their meals to hopefully "wait out the rain". It pushed ADR's back a good 60 - 90 minutes or more. If I was paying out of pocket I would have liked to just walk away and go to a QS location. However, we were on the dining plan, during the free dining period, so we didn't really have an option of finding another ADR last second. TS locations get PACKED during FD so we basically had to wait it out.

Now we have to go to WDW during "non FD dates" and pay out of pocket. If we had walked up to the counter and essentially said, "sorry we're not waiting that long for our ADR" I wonder if they would waive the fee. I expect they would.

Dan

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Good things Ellen is gone from Epcot. The kids would really have had a time with that I am guessing.

 

[piccolopat]

When in doubt, order a Coke and then leave.

 

[vinotinto]

Would sitting at a different area of the restaurant have made a difference? You can always ask to see if there is a table available at a different area.

 

[Shanti]

Could I have just walked out, not having ordered or eaten anything? Would I have been charged? They weren't very freiendly about changing our seating location to be closer to the light of the store (and a quick escape outside when the next storm started) so I wasn't going to ask if I was going to get dinged for a "no-show" if Ileft...

Now we have to go to WDW during "non FD dates" and pay out of pocket. If we had walked up to the counter and essentially said, "sorry we're not waiting that long for our ADR" I wonder if they would waive the fee. I expect they would.

I would absolutely expect to be able to do that. Once you're checked in, you shouldn't have to pay any fee. That includes if they try to make you wait 30 minutes for an ADR. If I didn't want to stay I would just tell the person I had checked in with at the podium that kind of wait wouldn't work for me, and leave.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

My sister's family had to do this last month. They checked in for a dinner ADR and their child threw up while they were waiting to be seated. They simply informed the hostess that they had to leave and were not charged.

They informed the hostess that they had to leave. The OP wants to know if they could have just left without informing anyone they were doing so. My guess is that if you just walk out without telling anyone you're going and why, it could be different, even if you checked in previously.

 

[starousse]

In our experience, WDW is very understanding about the need to cancel an ADR when there is a legitimate reason. The cancelation fee is just to deter people from deciding not to show up at all or from making multiple reservations and blowing them off. When we have had to cancel at the last minute and haven't been able to use the change reservation feature (so for very last minute issues) we have never been charged the fee.

Agree 100% w this. Over the years, we've had to cancel a few reservations here and there. A couple due to kids being sick another few due to just having a change of plans. Whether it has been cancelling at the hotel front desk or at the restaurant itself, no CM has ever given us an issue whatsoever. Obviously, if you don't call to let them know or don't show at all, you will get charged.

 

[DLgal]

They informed the hostess that they had to leave. The OP wants to know if they could have just left without informing anyone they were doing so. My guess is that if you just walk out without telling anyone you're going and why, it could be different, even if you checked in previously.

But why would anyone just walk out without telling SOMEONE why?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I don't think anyone here can give you a definitive answer on this particular situation. I know once, at FF, they were seating way behind schedule and I simply told them my DS wouldn't be able to wait that long and there was zero issue. A dining CM even helped me secure another ADR as we walked to EP to find something to eat. If I were you, I probably would have taken the kids outside, asked my spouse (if he was there) to explain to a staff member what happened (or vice versa) and go from there. I doubt they would have charged you, but if they had, you could have contacted guest relations to plead your case to get a refund.

 

[North of Mouse]

But why would anyone just walk out without telling SOMEONE why?

OP felt they weren't very friendly about them changing tables, so guess she didn't want any more dealings with them. Actually, changing tables is not so easy when they have a full restaurant - maybe they could have waited longer for an open table their size - don't know.

 

[Haley R]

But why would anyone just walk out without telling SOMEONE why?

I think if you are fed up enough, you might just leave. We tried Tusker House on our last trip for the first time and we won't be back there again. They were way behind schedule and still accepting walk-ups, which makes absolutely no sense to me. We showed up 15 minutes early to check in for our 10:35 ADR. I didn't expect to be seated right then, but we always show up early. At 10:35 I walked up and asked how long they thought the wait would be only for them to tell me they were still seating the 10:25 people. We ended up waiting close to 40 minutes after our reservation which isn't acceptable to me. We easily could have just left without telling anyone and I almost did. I guess it would be different if you were already in the restaurant, but I could see someone's reasoning behind it.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I would tell someone I was leaving especially if I had already been given a table.

It is a nice courtesy to officially release the table back into the system and in rotation so a guest who is waiting can be seated and so that the server gets their table filled again.

Chances are if you explained your situation about the scared kids they would not have charged you the no show fee. But no one can say for sure because it is really up to the restaurant. There’s not an official ruling on the no show fee when people leave restaurants (to my knowledge.) I have seen it discussed a few times on this board.

 

[AngiTN]

Rainforest isn't really a Disney restaurant so what they do isn't really what any of the others would do.

 

[Minnesota!]

Just interjecting - we went to RFC here at the MOA a few weeks ago for a birthday. I commented then that my favorite part was seeing which kids were going to lose their shizz each thunderstorm. It used to be my kids. That storm is LOUD and sudden. I, as an adult, love it. But, man, you can count on at least a handful of meltdowns each time..

 

[GillianP1301]

Once you are checked in, you should be fine. They don't track how long you are in the restaurant and they don't check you out when you leave so they would have no way of knowing how long you were in the restaurant. I would suggest always telling somebody that you are leaving and why (regardless of the reason) as a courtesy and that would also help ensure there would be no charge. If there were a no-show charge, I would dispute it.