Changing ADR's- esp. group size

[Mysttree]

Hello again All,
I am trying to make some of the ADR's for our Grand Gathering in Jan. The problem is that I want to give people plenty of flexibility. They can join the group for dinner- or not.
That being said- if I make ADR's for a group of say 12, and then only 8 want to do it, What should I do? I know it's harder to add people to an existing ADR, but should I call & change the ADR on the day of or just show up with less people than planned?
I don't want to inconvenience anyone, and I recognize that if we aren't going at all OF Course we will cancel ahead of time. But since ADR's aren't true reservations I'm unsure of the etiquette.
TIA,

[TheRustyScupper]

I think the etiquette is to not make ADR's for more than you need.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

I would ask the CM when you make or are considering a change to your reservation. Recently DH and I had to cancel our Oct trip but DD and BF still went. We had some dinners together and some apart. When I explained to the CM on the phone what I was doing she was very helpful. For the reservations we had to together all were changed except one. The Rose & Crown if I had let go of that reservation DD would have lost it all together. Call the dinning reservations number and tell them your situation the CM's are very helpful. :mickey:

[irish1967]

I honestly think that you can't have it both ways - if you are going to make ADRs then people should commit to being there (maybe you could have some days with ADRs and other days without so your group can still have flexible days.)

For our Grand Gatherings, we expect people to commit up front as to which meals they will be joining the group and which meals they will be on their own for.

We send an e-mail out about 2 weeks before the window for ADRs opens. We give the restaurant list and ask people to confirm they will join us or that they plan to make other arrangements for that particular meal.

Then we make ADRs accordingly.

Since we go almost yearly for just a few days, everyone is aware that we should only make ADRs for the number that actually plan to attend - not for the number that "might" join in.

That being said, the one time that something came up (my brother didn't feel well so he and his wife weren't going to join us - we stopped by the podium and changed the size of the party from 12 to 10 for that meal.)

Have a great trip!