I’m wondering if there are some dining experts out there. We are traveling with another family and managing our dining reservations separately (for the most part). Two parties of 4. Any trick to getting a last minute reservation? If we want them to join us last minute, is it possible to add them to our party, if they can’t get a reservation ?
I know I’ve made a res for 2 and then our son joined us at last min. We just showed up w/ 3 and they didn’t bat an eye, but showing up w/ 4 extra is different. Parties of 8 have a mandatory gratuity charge too.
From what I’ve heard, due to max capacities and distancing policies you’d have a hard time getting reservations for eight even at 60 days, so I think the odds of them being able to accommodate a party of eight instead of four at the last minute are slim.
When you do the mobile check-in you can add up to one extra person per reservation, so if you only booked for 4 you could get seated with only 5.
Thank you for the replies. Part of the difficulty is not knowing how the day will play out. Some may run out of steam and want to head back to hotel. What if I make two dining reservations for 2, one at hotel, one at park, will I be able to add 2 last minute and cancel the other based on how day plays out? I can then have other family do the same
This is interesting—so if I make a reservation for 4 and we show up with 5, it’s no problem? Because finding a table for 6 (if we have a party of 5 ) is not easy. and ensuring we get a 4 top and a 2 top at the same time requires 2 MDE accounts.
I think this is because the restaurants are operating at very low capacity it is possible to add one chair to a table.
However I wouldn’t rely on it always being possible. At some point they may well not be able to accommodate extra guests.
1 Like
Not all restaurants even accept parties larger than 6 right now. When we had 7 in August, only a handful of places allowed us to book an ADR. I am not talking about availability…just what was even possible. One we found was Homecomin’. They have tables which accommodated larger parties. A vast majority do not.
1 Like
@pbateman I didn’t take a screenshot myself, but this article from DFB shows the process for Mobile Check-In https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2020/06/22/heres-a-first-look-at-mobile-dine-check-in-at-disney-world/. On our screens for the “Party Mix” it gave a banner saying we could add up to one extra person, but we were also an odd numbered group (three and five). I’m not sure I would rely on that system every time, but it might be something to consider as a backup plan.