My ADRs are a mess

[LAM378]

...and I don't know if I should bother fixing them.

I had to make most of my ADRs over the phone (because MDE is the opposite of awesome). An excellent, patient CM got me the ADRs I needed, but most are booked for 12 adults when actually we're 9 adults, 2 kids, 1 infant. I know they confirm your party size at the podium when you check in at a TS, but is there any reason I should call Disney dining and have them correct this before the trip?

Also, my sister's in-laws are joining us for only part of the trip, but I made all the ADRs for 12 because I didn't know when exactly they were coming. So in a few cases we'll be 8 people, not 12--should I try to call to correct this? I know you can't just add people to an ADR, but I don't know if you can DROP people. I don't want to chance losing the ADRs. I've tried to re-book as 8 people online and nothing is available.

Thanks for any advice. WDW with this many people is a whole different animal, and we're not even there yet!

 

[sjhym333]

I don't think there is any reason you should do anything at this point. When you show up at the podium they will sort it out. I find that sometimes messing with reservations cause more problems then not touching them at all.

 

[NYwdwfan]

For the kids/adults issue its not a big deal - they just need spots at the table and will ask if you need and high chairs/boosters when you get there.

For the too many people you should call for 2 reasons: (1) if it's one where you used a credit card to HS the reservation they will charge you $10/person for the people that don't show up (I know they were never going to and it was their fault it happened but it's still holding a 3 slots unnecessarily) which brings me to (2) they are probably going to push a table of 4 over to make the big table (or separate your party) so you should cancel those spots so someone else can get an ADR.

 

[LAM378]

I was thinking that, @NYwdwfan ... I feel like a brat keeping the reservations for 12 when 4 other people could be using them. I will call and see if WDW can easily drop them, and hopefully I don't lose anything in the process.

I had to use a credit card to hold every ADR but I wasn't even thinking about being charged for less people. I thought that as long as someone showed up, you didn't get charged for no-shows. I showed up with 2 instead of the 3 I'd booked for a few ADRs last August and never got charged but that could have been a fluke!

 

[NYwdwfan]

I was thinking that, @NYwdwfan ... I feel like a brat keeping the reservations for 12 when 4 other people could be using them. I will call and see if WDW can easily drop them, and hopefully I don't lose anything in the process.

I had to use a credit card to hold every ADR but I wasn't even thinking about being charged for less people. I thought that as long as someone showed up, you didn't get charged for no-shows. I showed up with 2 instead of the 3 I'd booked for a few ADRs last August and never got charged but that could have been a fluke!

I thought I remember someone saying their infant got caught in the rain and their wife brought the baby back to the resort and skipped the TS and they were charged $20. I think it was Akershus but I can't remember who that happened to!

I've never had an issue dropping people - my cousin and her husband join us for a few days each trip and we never know which days 180 days out - it's usually more like 90 days out - so I make ADRs for 8 people all week and then as soon as she firms up her dates I drop 2 from the other days. You just need to call - it can't be done online.

 

[NYwdwfan]

I found the post - it was a different situation than I remembered - they tried to move up the reservation since it was raining and when they couldn't they cancelled, expecting to pay $10 a person but we're also charged $10 for an infant:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...walt-disney-world.874609/page-20#post-5780578

I ways think it's easier to work out what you can ahead of time than to try to deal with it day of - I'm sure they could fix it, but why waste time at Disney doing that when it can be done from your living room.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Tell your sister-in-law to get her act together and commit to the Dining Reservations or you're cancelling them. I'd give her a week max and then go ahead. Its harsh, but others could utilise that table for four

 

[tlev]

My friend and her family were no shows for several of the reservations I made for our group in October. I was furious with her. I would have changed the number of our party if I'd had more than 30 minutes notice that they were not coming. Thankfully I was not charged since part of us showed up for the reservations.

 

[wdwtopten]

You're only charged if no one in your party shows up - not if there are less than expected.

I believe this is correct.

 

[LAM378]

Tell your sister-in-law to get her act together and commit to the Dining Reservations or you're cancelling them. I'd give her a week max and then go ahead. Its harsh, but others could utilise that table for four

I...might not have explained this properly. At the 180-day mark, my sister's in-laws didn't know which days they'd be joining us. Now their plans are firm and I would like to drop the party from 12 to 8 on the days they will not be with us. I was asking the forum if this was easy enough to accomplish without losing my ADRs.

Thanks everyone! I will call to change things around.

 

[allidog1]

The official Disney answer is that they will charge for the person on if you have less people then you reserve show up (I called Disney recently to ask about this), however whether they actually go through with charging for 1 no show in a party of 4 is a completely different story.

 

[Allygator]

I just called today to adjust my dining from a party of three to two and it wasn't a big deal. I'm just worried about my dinner shows. I'm going to drop the dining plan and pay out of pocket. I went to pay ahead for the shows and she couldn't rebook my times and told me to just pay when I'm there.

 

[TRONorail12]

You won't get charged as long as somebody is dining in the party. The reason Disney started the whole policy is because so many people were booking reservations and not showing up at all, therefore preventing the people who actually wanted to dine to be able to get an ADR. If you are making a significant change to the party size, like the example used of dropping from 12 to 8, it would be courteous of you to call the dining line and have it switched. Otherwise, you are preventing an entire other family of 4 from booking a reservation during their vacation. If it's a matter of dropping from 4 to 3 people, the restaurant can take care of that upon check-in at the podium. Decreasing sizes is usually very easy to take care of, but if you are trying to increase a party size the day of a reservation, it's not always a guarantee. Disney is good at making magic, but don't go into it expecting it to happen because your're at WDW.

Also, somebody before mentioned about infants. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: INFANTS MUST BE COUNTED IN DINING RESERVATIONS WHETHER THEY ARE EATING OR NOT, REGARDLESS OF IF THEY ARE SITTING ON YOUR LAP OR IN A STROLLER. I don't know what kind of generation we are living in where people act like their infant doesn't exist. They need to be counted for several reasons:

1) FIRE CODE. If there was ever an emergency inside a restaurant, the fire/police department needs to know how many people are inside of the building that need to be evacuated.
2) RESTAURANT CAPACITY. Along with the fire code, each restaurant has capacity restrictions that need to be enforced at all times. If your child is born, it's a person, it counts.
3) TABLE CAPACITY. Tables are designed to only allow so many guests to comfortable dine in that given area. If you have an infant in a stroller, that stroller may not fit next to the table or be inconveniencing the comfort of the guests next to the table if it is taking up too much room, especially with these new double-wide monsters that can be bigger than a 2 top table.
4) SERVER CAPACITY. WDW servers have a UNION CONTRACT that states they are only allowed so many people to their station at a time depending on what kind of dining venue it is. No matter how good a server is, they can only do so much work at one time. EVERY SERVER KNOWS THIS. Even if the infant isn't eating, every guest at the table is the server's responsibility.