I know GG seats people in the order they arrive - so you can arrive a little early and get seated early. I was wondering if people knew how it worked for breakfast at Trattoria al Forno? If we show up 15-20mins early, will we be standing around waiting or is there a chance of being seated early?
We had a mid-morning breakfast at Trattoria, around 1010. We arrived 30 minutes early. We waited until about 10 minutes after our ADR time to be seated.
They appeared to have clusters of seating in order to time the meals with the characters.
So, our experience would say no to your question, but others may have different experiences.
To be honest, Garden Grill is the only place I have heard that does the skip the time and go by arrival. I’m curious what would happen if someone who had a 10am ADR got in early somehow and demanded to be seated because “I read online that you seat in order of arrival and not time!” I suspect this (probably not officially endorsed) practice would stop.
I would not expect it anywhere else.
My experience is very different from that of @SnowWhiteDoc. I was there in January, and checked in early. The dining room was definitely NOT full that morning, and they seated me 15-20 mins early, IIRC. They did put me in a spot that was early in the character rotation, so that while I wasn’t being met super early in my time there, so as to give me time to get my breakfast ordered and my coffee to arrive, I also wasn’t waiting until the end of their “circulation run” to see the characters, either.
From my experience there I would say it is not predictable. We saw them seating in clusters too, so if you arrive early, right when they seat a cluster you could be in luck. But you never know…
How long should I expect to be there for breakfast? I know it can vary but just wondering what I should be planning for a Thursday morning in early May. Thanks.
My rule of thumb is 90 minutes for a character meal. I like to make sure that I have time to relax and enjoy the food, and that we get to meet all of the characters. I know some people do spend less time than that at character meals, though, especially if they’re ok skipping characters.
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I agree with this, 90 minutes. The characters come out in shifts, so if they come out at the beginning of your meal it could be less, but you can’t count on it.
If you don’t want to meet the characters they have a separate room for meal only (at a reduced cost)