Be Our Guest Lunch for 6 People???

[Anab124]

Hi Everyone!

This is my first post here. My family of 6 (2 adults, 4 kids) is going to Disney for the first time in January. On my list of things to do is Be Our Guest for lunch but as you know, it's hard to get dining reservations for that many people without booking 180 days out. We didn't start thinking about be our guest until about 3 months out. I have reservations for all 6 of us but here's the issue, the first reservation is at 12:50pm, the second for two is at 1:20, third and fourth are at 1:25 and the last is at 1:45. I've talked to some CM's who say this is fine, just show up at 12:50 and they'll let you in and others who say this is too far apart to work. I'll keep looking for spots closer together but do you think the way we have it currently will work or are the timings too far apart?

Thanks!

 

[maxiesmom]

I think being an hour apart is too far. And the problem is, you won't know if you will be seated at the same time until you arrive. What will you do if they can't accommodate you? If you walk away you would still have to pay the no show fee.

Keep checking for a time that works for everyone. You can even go over to Touring Plans . com and sign up for their reservation finder. I had great luck with that!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Every time I've been there for lunch, they're busy telling people left and right to not show up until 5 minutes before their reservation time. I would definitely agree that nearly an hour apart is way too much time gap. I wouldn't plan on a gap of more than 15-20 minutes.

It's a very busy restaurant, which is why they send people away who attempt to check in early.

 

[Anab124]

Thank you for your input. Since I have 5 reservations that are pretty close to the 15-20 minutes you mentioned, I'll keep checking to see if I can snag one close to the time of our trip. Hopefully something opens up before then. You know, it's weird because the CM's give wildly different opinions on this. One CM even told me to book a 12PM reservation even though I told her that was too far away and she told me that if I just showed up with all 6 of us as long as we had reservations they'd let us in. Crazy!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Thank you for your input. Since I have 5 reservations that are pretty close to the 15-20 minutes you mentioned, I'll keep checking to see if I can snag one close to the time of our trip. Hopefully something opens up before then. You know, it's weird because the CM's give wildly different opinions on this. One CM even told me to book a 12PM reservation even though I told her that was too far away and she told me that if I just showed up with all 6 of us as long as we had reservations they'd let us in. Crazy!

DO NOT LISTEN TO CAST MEMBERS ON THE PHONE!
DO NOT LISTEN TO CAST MEMBERS ON THE PHONE!
DO NOT LISTEN TO CAST MEMBERS ON THE PHONE!

Worst source of information pertaining to almost all things Disney ever.

 

[purple figment]

As Disbuckman said, phone castmembers are not reliable. Many are at call centers far from Disney World and many have never even been to the parks. As you discovered, they have wildly divergent opinions or "information." Ultimately,the restaurant's procedures will depend upon the its policies, castmembers working at the restaurant that day, how busy it is when you arrive.

Overall many have posted that they were told to check in no more than 5 minutes before their reservation so your reservations are too far apart.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And trust, if you tell an actual Be Our Guest CM in Fantasyland that a phone CM said it'd be fine... they still won't let you on the bridge an hour early.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Actually because it's lunch and not dinner, therefore counter service, I think you'll be fine!!! I would keep trying for a bit earlier for the last one, but I truly believe all of you will be allowed in togerher...
Here's what I would do...
Show up with everyone at 12:45. Explain to CM your dilemma, very sweetly and with as much graciousness as possible. Tell CM you are willing to wait to be seated. I am almost positive they will accommodate you!
We have run into very similar situation throughout WDW over the years and have always been accommodated!
Quite honestly I believe you'll be fine!
Disney will do almost anything in their power to make a guest happy, and if you are exceedingly polite, all the better!

 

[mom2rtk]

Actually because it's lunch and not dinner, therefore counter service, I think you'll be fine!!! I would keep trying for a bit earlier for the last one, but I truly believe all of you will be allowed in togerher...
Here's what I would do...
Show up with everyone at 12:45. Explain to CM your dilemma, very sweetly and with as much graciousness as possible. Tell CM you are willing to wait to be seated. I am almost positive they will accommodate you!
We have run into very similar situation throughout WDW over the years and have always been accommodated!
Quite honestly I believe you'll be fine!
Disney will do almost anything in their power to make a guest happy, and if you are exceedingly polite, all the better!

I bet they'll be fine too. Although I would not try it at dinner.

 

[Anab124]

Actually because it's lunch and not dinner, therefore counter service, I think you'll be fine!!! I would keep trying for a bit earlier for the last one, but I truly believe all of you will be allowed in togerher...
Here's what I would do...
Show up with everyone at 12:45. Explain to CM your dilemma, very sweetly and with as much graciousness as possible. Tell CM you are willing to wait to be seated. I am almost positive they will accommodate you!
We have run into very similar situation throughout WDW over the years and have always been accommodated!
Quite honestly I believe you'll be fine!
Disney will do almost anything in their power to make a guest happy, and if you are exceedingly polite, all the better!

This is what several of the phone CMs have told me. They said because it is lunch, you seat yourselves so there is no need to have a table that seats 6 set aside for a certain time. Since I'm getting so much conflicting advice though, I'll keep the current reservations as they stand but keep looking for a closer reservation until the day we go. If I can't find one, then we'll try what we can to get accommodated with our current timings and if they can't do it, one of the adults will have to just sit it out. I don't want the kids to miss out on the experience just because we can't get 6 reservations close enough together.

 

[KTR]

What day are you looking for? I have a BOG lunch reservation for 7 I am looking to cancel in January.

 

[Anab124]

What day are you looking for? I have a BOG lunch reservation for 7 I am looking to cancel in January.

January 4th is the day we currently have booked but we will be at MK on the 4th and 5th.

 

[KTR]

Ok, we are going the end of January so I can't help. I will go post that on the cancel thread though, in case it helps someone else. Good luck!

 

[Anab124]

Ok, we are going the end of January so I can't help. I will go post that on the cancel thread though, in case it helps someone else. Good luck!

Thank you for trying!

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I bet they'll be fine too. Although I would not try it at dinner.

Totally agree!

 

[Anab124]

I somehow managed to snag a reservation for 1:10 and canceled the one for 12:50, so now our 6 reservations are only 35 minutes apart.

 

[Nancyg56]

I somehow managed to snag a reservation for 1:10 and canceled the one for 12:50, so now our 6 reservations are only 35 minutes apart.

I think that 35 minutes should be okay.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I think that 35 minutes should be okay.

I am sure you will be fine!!!

 

[maxiesmom]

I am sure you will be fine!!!

I think she will be ok too. But I would also never say anything like I am sure or I can guarantee you will be fine. None of us can say for sure, 100% sure. We all know goofy things can happen.

Not trying to throw you under the bus, but Disney can't guarantee anything so it makes me very uncomfortable when other people do. I just wouldn't want someone to run into the 1% of the time something doesn't work, and then end up unhappy or mad because they were told whatever was a sure bet.

 

[Anab124]

I think she will be ok too. But I would also never say anything like I am sure or I can guarantee you will be fine. None of us can say for sure, 100% sure. We all know goofy things can happen.

Not trying to throw you under the bus, but Disney can't guarantee anything so it makes me very uncomfortable when other people do. I just wouldn't want someone to run into the 1% of the time something doesn't work, and then end up unhappy or mad because they were told whatever was a sure bet.

I know this was a reply to ConnecticutNonna, but I would never blame anything on anyone here if it didn't work out in our favor. We are "guaranteed" connecting rooms at ASM based on our family set-up but we are totally prepared to have one adult sleeping with two kids in different non-connecting rooms if need be. Things happen. I do appreciate all of the replies so far on here though!