ADRs at Sci-Fi and ADR Party Sizes

We were hoping to go to the Sci-Fi for dinner, and, unfortunately, it didn’t even occur to me until I read @TheGraceysButler’s recent post that we might want to get an ADR. The last time we were there, we were able to get in relatively quickly – after about a 15-minute wait. (Of course, it was early February and after dark.) But, alas, no ADRs were available on the day we’ll be there. So I have two questions about ADRs for the Liners:

1. Is an ADR necessary for Sci-Fi or can one generally walk up and get a table without a very long wait? (The crowd level that day for DHS is noted as a 9.)

Our other option was the 50’s Drive-In. They did have an ADR available but only for 2 people. A friend of ours who lives in Florida is planning to spend the day with us, so there would be 3 in our party.

2. Are the restaurants pretty strict with the number of people on the reservation or if we showed up with one extra person, would they likely accommodate us?

In this day and age of magic bands and pre-planning I’d say walk up’s are nearly evaporating out of existence except on very low crowd days, though in those cases you could probably grab a same day adr.

I’ve seen lots of varied answers about showing up with an extra. Some say they’ve been turned away some have gotten in. because tables are always for even numbers of people it’s often difficult going from 2 to or 4 to 5 because it means going to a bigger table, versus going from 3 to 4 likely wouldn’t matter because you’d be at a 4 person table already.

I’d say keep looking for the reservations, especially the day before and morning of.

Thanks for the advice, @Outer1.

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I was just there a few weeks ago and was told that only people with reservations get to sit in the cars at Sci Fi. Walk ups must sit at picnic tables (and there were NOT many of them). That may be only for busy days, but that’s what we were told. So, I would suggest that you try to get reservations.

I agree that your best bet is likely to keep watching for an ADR (either by checking frequently or using ADR Sniper). When we were in the World last month, we heard CMs at Via Napoli and BOG say that walk-ups were no longer being taken at all (although at Sanaa, we were able to walk up - I think the restrictions on walk-ups are more stringent in the parks).

And I know the ADR for 2 was at Prime Time, but a change in party size from 2 to 3 would matter at Sci-Fi. Two adults can sit side by side in one of the cars, but having a third person would probably mean you’d need an extra row (which might mean you would have to wait longer to be seated).