8:10 vs 8:05

[CarrieR]

I'm planning to try the route of eating breakfast at the Crystal Palace and then making rope drop at the MK when I go in May. (I've always wanted to eat there!) My understanding is that it is possible, with a bit of hurry-up, with an 8:05 ADR and 9AM opening. I logged on and was only able to get an 8:10 ADR. My thinking is that since there's no one in front of us, if we arrive and check in a bit early, the seating times shouldn't be that much different.

Am I mistaken, and will they hold the 8:10 folks back a bit? I would say that on this trip, rope drop is more important than the ADR, so if those five minutes are going to make or break I will postpone CP to another trip.

(Hope this is the right forum to post this in... there are so many! )

Thanks!

 

[AquaDame]

I shouldn't think 5 minutes would make much difference; it seems from what other people say that it is more of a guildeline and you just get put in a line to be seated when you check in. I've had an 8:05am ADR before and the restaurant still had plenty of tables left for the first 15 minutes or so - it seemed like everyone was being seated as soon as they arrived. I would just get in there as soon as I could so I would be one of the first seated and ask for the check right away so you do not have to wait on anything and it should be fine!

 

[Nadjalu]

Personally if Rope drop is more important I would schedule a early breakfast like that.

Most likely you can make it, but you will be far back, anything can hold you up and you'll miss it. And really are you going to enjoy paying that money (if not on DDP or wasting a credit if so) to scarf down you food and not enjoy it?
I wouldn't.

No I would choose which is more important and do just that with that time frame.

 

[NMW]

We have done an 8:05 and an 8:10 ADR at Crystal Palace many times. For 2011 we have 8:05 booked. The 8:05 people will get seated earlier, but the restuarant is so large, it's not by much. Everyone checks in and then waits. The servers begin coming out with tickets with families names on them in the order of their ADR times. There are A LOT of servers and it moves pretty quick.

As for being at rope drop, we have always, always made rope drop (and I mean we could touch the rope close). We had enough time to eat, get pictures with characters, be at rope drop in Fantasy Land, and do almost every ride in Fantasy Land before I even started seeing people that did not look like they were at breakfast.

 

[shawnh199]

We had an 8:15 ADR on our last trip and we were the 5th family seated (maybe a minute or two after opening). The thing we did was check in early - there was a small podium near the door. I don't know why, but it didn't seem as though many people checked in right away. Check in and then go take some great photos of the Castle with few people around! They won't call anyone until 8:05am.

We stood in line at the character breakfast line at the front of the park until 7:45-7:50 and then they let everyone in. They didn't check ADR's or anything. So, unless that has changed, you should be able to walk in when they let everyone else in.

My best advice for getting a shot at making rope drop - take care of your check early, especially if you are on the dining plan because it takes so many different back and forths with receipts. If you take care of it pretty early on, you aren't competing with everyone else as they finish up their meals. We learned this the hard way. We were finished, ready to leave having seen all the characters by 8:45am, but it took atleast 15 minutes to take care of the check. We walked out a little after 9am, took photos in front of the castle with a photopass photographer and were on Dumbo with a 10 minute wait. Not too bad, but I would have liked to make RD. Maybe we will in May. We do have an 8:05 ADR this time!!

Have a great trip!!

 

[CarrieR]

Thanks for all of the input.

We won't be on the DDP, we'll either be paying with a cc, Disney gift card or KTTW card, but it will be OOP in any event. I'll be certain to ask for the check right away; I'd read that elsewhere and it makes sense to me.

I'm not terribly worried about the character interaction, although my young cousins (13 & 14) may disagree. Or they may not care lol.

I think we'll hang onto the ADR for now and I will talk to my travelling companions and see what they think. (The reason for rope drop is that I'll only have three days with my cousins at WDW, and I want them to be able to do as much as possible! We need to get a good jump on the early morning crowds. )

 

[3pletprincesses]

with and 8:05 breakfast we missed rope drop by a few minutes but I was eating with triplet 4yo. When we got out of the restaurant, pleople was already walking in.

BTW when we went in October, I was told the restaurant opens at 8am and we were one of the first ones to be seated. that being a matter of 5 minutes won't change much.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I really like the ask for the check early tip.

Also, be aware the characters will not all make it around the restaurant by rope drop. You will be missing at least one character and probably the one the kids like to see. I'm the weak link here. It's me whining "But I want you to get a picture with Eyore."

PS I've always liked the food here. B, L and D.