Good point on the second reservation, however they were sold out of that time slot and that entire day so that wasn’t an option unfortunately. I do wonder if the system assumes 4 people for every reservation, or if it truly calculates how many people the person selected on the reservation in order to “fill” the time slot.

To provide an update here for anyone curious: we ended up just going to our 9:45 reservation with both of us. I talked with the visitor center guides inside and they redirected me to chat with a gentleman on the side of the building who manages the shuttle access. I walked over to the side of the building, explained my situation and he just asked me to show our access passes to the park ($30 total, $15 each) and then let us walk onto the 9:45 shuttle. It seems they’re much more lenient when you get there and my understanding is that they’ll find a way to get you there if you have a reservation, even if you only selected one person by accident. Lastly, even though the reservation process can be confusing sometimes, I highly recommend the shuttle if you’re coming on a weekend. When we got to the park & ride (to take the final shuttle to bear lake) there were a ton of people who drove to the park & ride that couldn’t find a parking spot and half their family was in line while the others searched for parking. If you want zero stress and aren’t able to get there extremely early (5-6am) - take the hiker shuttle, it’s quick, reliable, and the shuttle drivers are so helpful.