Half Hour Late is the New Normal

[allsaintsatx]

we waited 1/2 hour past our reservation to sit for our Whispering Canyon Cafe breakfast, we waited a 1/2 hour for the Minnie Van to show up and there was a 1/2 hour wait for our reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern.

And that was all in one day!

We thought that kind of wait was just at places like Ohana and Kona. Guess not!

And, just in case you were curious, 1: we didn’t get food til 1 hour and 20 minutes past our reservation time at WCC and it was ice cold and the appetizers came out after the meal (manager comped meal, gave us fast passes and manager of hotel gave us a free meal anywhere on property), 2: we just walked down and took the bus and the Minnie Van driver called and told us he arrived as the bus was pulling in to MK!, 3: after 1 & 2 happened, as soon as the CM told us they were 1/2 hour behind at LTT, we decided to cancel and we ordered Village Haus on the mobile app and were served and completely done eating in less than 25 minutes!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I know they're having issues with supply and demand for Minnie Vans. Demand is much higher than ability to serve quickly.

 

[MandyTheMouse]

Ooof sounds like they're over-scheduling some of this stuff!

 

[AngiTN]

They are having supply issues with Minnie Vans. I think they expanded too much, too fast.

But I do have questions, if you don't mind clarifying.

2: we just walked down and took the bus and the Minnie Van driver called and told us he arrived as the bus was pulling in to MK!,

So you just walked off after you requested the ride? Didn't cancel it? Did the app not show you how long it would be before a Van arrived? I wonder why you didn't cancel if you opted not to wait, of if you did, wonder why the driver called
And did the app not show the wait time for a Van or how track the Van as it traveled to you?

 

[Duck143]

Can we show up a half hour late too lol? I want a 3:30 for Mama Melrose and 3pm is the latest we can get. Ideally, I would like to eat closer to 4:30....

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Can we show up a half hour late too lol? I want a 3:30 for Mama Melrose and 3pm is the latest we can get. Ideally, I would like to eat closer to 4:30....

It is accommodating people who are late like that, often deliberately, that starts the ball rolling on everyone else getting seated late even if they arrive on time. Don't pull that.

 

[KenHutch]

As a good Marine should I am always 15 minutes early to every ADR and at the same time when scheduling fastpasses I assume they will be 15 minutes late in seating us and an hour for the meal and at least 15 minutes to convince someone to give me a bill. This is why we went from the deluxe to the standard meal plan. During our last 2 trips we were spending to much time on meals.

 

[AngiTN]

It is accommodating people who are late like that, often deliberately, that starts the ball rolling on everyone else getting seated late even if they arrive on time. Don't pull that.

Exactly. I'm sure PP was posting in jest about doing that intentionally but it is a late party here and a late party there, as the day goes on, that makes them run so late by the end of the night

 

[MooseBucks]

Exactly. I'm sure PP was posting in jest about doing that intentionally but it is a late party here and a late party there, as the day goes on, that makes them run so late by the end of the night

They have hundreds of thousands of data points that they could use to predict guest behavior and know what # of reservations to cap at. It is Disney trying to make more money and fit as many people in as they can even if some folks will have a negative experience.

 

[kniquy]

That makes me worry about our LTT lunch reservation -- we are not close to our FP window, but want to plan our times accordingly and not feel rushed through lunch in order to get to our FP.

Either you just had a really bad streak or is this the norm. I would have to say that of all the reservations that we have had we never waited longer than 10 - maybe 15 minutes. Although we had a later dinner reservation one NYE (9:30pm)- we waited probably 30 minutes and then my 9 year old went up to ask - they seated us right away after he asked -we had the buzzer that never went off- couldn't figure out that one.

 

[kniquy]

Exactly. I'm sure PP was posting in jest about doing that intentionally but it is a late party here and a late party there, as the day goes on, that makes them run so late by the end of the night

Isn't it policy that if you are more than 15 minutes late they don't have to take you --or was i just under the assumption that is the rule. They recommend you show up 10 minutes early so at that point you are already 25 minutes past your time -- they should have to turn them away at that point, but in the effort to keep everyone happy i'm sure they take more late arrivals than they should.

 

[MooseBucks]

That makes me worry about our LTT lunch reservation -- we are not close to our FP window, but want to plan our times accordingly and not feel rushed through lunch in order to get to our FP.

Either you just had a really bad streak or is this the norm. I would have to say that of all the reservations that we have had we never waited longer than 10 - maybe 15 minutes. Although we had a later dinner reservation one NYE (9:30pm)- we waited probably 30 minutes and then my 9 year old went up to ask - they seated us right away after he asked -we had the buzzer that never went off- couldn't figure out that one.

It is the new norm...We had 2 table service reservations on our most recent trip and waited 20-30 minutes to be seated for both.

 

[Hopefully]

we waited 1/2 hour past our reservation to sit for our Whispering Canyon Cafe breakfast, we waited a 1/2 hour for the Minnie Van to show up and there was a 1/2 hour wait for our reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern.

And that was all in one day!

We thought that kind of wait was just at places like Ohana and Kona. Guess not!

And, just in case you were curious, 1: we didn’t get food til 1 hour and 20 minutes past our reservation time at WCC and it was ice cold and the appetizers came out after the meal (manager comped meal, gave us fast passes and manager of hotel gave us a free meal anywhere on property), 2: we just walked down and took the bus and the Minnie Van driver called and told us he arrived as the bus was pulling in to MK!, 3: after 1 & 2 happened, as soon as the CM told us they were 1/2 hour behind at LTT, we decided to cancel and we ordered Village Haus on the mobile app and were served and completely done eating in less than 25 minutes!

IMHO you were more than compensated for the unacceptable WCC experience. Yet you came here to “ complain “. I guess we have different outlooks.

They have hundreds of thousands of data points that they could use to predict guest behavior and know what # of reservations to cap at. It is Disney trying to make more money and fit as many people in as they can even if some folks will have a negative experience.

Really - how do you know that?

It is the new norm...We had 2 table service reservations on our most recent trip and waited 20-30 minutes to be seated for both.

ADRs really aren’t reservations. They are a placeholder in line for the next available table for your size party. A real reservation at 7 holds a table for you at 7. This doesn’t. Using the word “ reservation “ in the title is totally misleading and leads to frustration

 

[MooseBucks]

Really - how do you know that?



ADRs really aren’t reservations. They are a placeholder in line for the next available table for your size party. A real reservation at 7 holds a table for you at 7. This doesn’t. Using the word “ reservation “ in the title is totally misleading and leads to frustration

I know they have thousands of data points because they're using RFID in your magic band to track you.

From Dusney's FAQs:

Each MagicBand contains an HF Radio Frequency device and a transmitter which sends and receives RF signals through a small antenna inside the MagicBand and enables it to be detected at short-range touch points throughout Walt Disney World Resort. MagicBands can also be read by long-range readers located at Walt Disney World Resort used to deliver personalized experiences, as well as provide information that helps us improve the overall experience in our parks.

2ndly they have the system that has your reservation and should be able to see when people have checked in. If they aren't using it to help them determine their capacity I better sell my Disney stock. I'm confident they know with surgical precision the # of people who show up late/cancel on any given day of the year.

 

[AngiTN]

They have hundreds of thousands of data points that they could use to predict guest behavior and know what # of reservations to cap at. It is Disney trying to make more money and fit as many people in as they can even if some folks will have a negative experience.

That may be but has nothing to do with folks being late to an ADR and backing up the schedule

 

[Farro]

We had 9 days of dining 10/25-11/3.

We weren't seated late once. Not at California Grill and not even at Ohana which is notorious for late seating! We had WCC for lunch and seated right away, which I would hope, it was empty in there!

So no, not the norm.

Didn't use Minnie Vans, but Uber and Lyft worked out great!

 

[MooseBucks]

That may be but has nothing to do with folks being late to an ADR and backing up the schedule

How not? If they know the # of people who show up on time and the # of people who are early and late you can figure out the true # of reservations you should make for a given time.

 

[TeresaWen]

It is accommodating people who are late like that, often deliberately, that starts the ball rolling on everyone else getting seated late even if they arrive on time. Don't pull that.

Disney needs to stop accommodating this. If I showed up more than 10 minutes late to a local restaurant it is likely my table will be gone. As long as Disney maintains a passive aggressive approach to guests arriving on time, guests will exploit it.

 

[Shanti]

Isn't it policy that if you are more than 15 minutes late they don't have to take you --or was i just under the assumption that is the rule. They recommend you show up 10 minutes early so at that point you are already 25 minutes past your time -- they should have to turn them away at that point, but in the effort to keep everyone happy i'm sure they take more late arrivals than they should.

It is their policy to accept everyone who arrives 15 minutes late or less. Dining services told me that once when I had an issue with an ADR & tried to call them to change our ressie time. But they will serve people who show up a bit later if they're able. We were 20 minutes late to Ohana & not turned away.

Disney needs to stop accommodating this.

The crowds and transportation issues at WDW are so endemic that it would be unreasonable of them to cut people off for being a bit late, especially when they make customers wait 10-15 minutes for ADRs all the time.

But in regards to the OP's question, 30 minute waits aren't typical. It must be due to high season, because we eat table service an average of twice a day on our trips, have taken many recent trips, and have never once waited 30 full minutes for an ADR.

 

[AngiTN]

How not? If they know the # of people who show up on time and the # of people who are early and late you can figure out the true # of reservations you should make for a given time.

So they can predict the future now? Because in order to predict who is on time and who is late they would have to predict the future. And even Disney can't do that. No matter what their RFID is doing it isn't reading your mind