ADR at Tony’s on MNSSHP night – not going to the party, have question

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

Due to a major headache with our airline tickets, we are now leaving Orlando at 8am on the last day of our trip. We like to end our trip at the Magic Kingdom on our last night, so originally were going to do the MNSSHP on our last night. Since we have to leave so early in the morning, we’ve moved our MNSSHP to a date earlier in our trip, but we still want our last view of the park to be the castle after dark.

We have ADRs at Tony’s on our last night at 6:50pm. We are keeping the reservation, as the reservation time is still considered normal park hours and I have been assured by CMs that we will be fine checking in for dining without party tickets. My question is about the way out – will we still be able to enter the Emporium for last minute souvenirs, or should we make sure we buy what we need before we leave? Will we be allowed to take 2 minutes to stand on Main Street and say good-bye to the Magic Kingdom? Or are we going to be ushered directly from restaurant to the front gates?

Let me be clear – we do NOT want to linger for the parade, fireworks, rides or any other aspects of the party. We are not trying to cheat the system or crash the party in any way. If this were a non-party night and we had the last reservation of the night, we’d typically be allowed to take a brief moment on Main Street to “take it all in” as it were, before making out way out the gates. I’m just wondering if we’ll be afforded the same opportunity with the party going on. I really hope so.

 

[TDC Nala]

You won't be allowed to do any shopping after the party starts if you don't have wristbands. Do your shopping before dinner.

If, for whatever reason, you just want to stand in the middle of Main Street for a couple of miinutes, you can do that, but if a cast member happens by and notices you don't have a party wristband they will tell you to head for the exit. The briefer the moment you want to take, the less likely it is that someone will notice you don't have a wristband. If you're asking if you will be escorted straight out from the restaurant, I don't know whether you will or not. You'll still be able to see the castle as you leave, I guess I don't understand exactly how much time you want to take to look at it.

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

Our tradition is generally to get to the head of Main Street (the train station end) and turn back, look down Main Street with its lights all lit up, and take in the last view of Main Street and the castle and just spend a moment (literally a minute or two) and reflect on the trip, take it all in, then turn and walk out.

It may seem silly, but it's how we say goodbye to WDW and close our trips.

 

[bonoriffic]

I asked the same question last year for the same situation but at Liberty Tree. I was prepared to be escorted out of the park, but the reality I experienced was much different.

As you will be finishing up dinner an hour after the party started, cast members probably won't be in "kick everyone out" mode. We stepped out of the restaurant and the crowd for the upcoming parade was very heavy. Nobody said anything as we made our way to the exit. As we tried to cross the bridge to the hub, they actually shut the bridge down as the headless horseman was coming by shortly.

I made it clear we just wanted to get out as we didn't have tickets, the cast member looked us over, said "sit down and enjoy the parade" and that is exactly what we did.

Will you be treated as well? Probably not. But it is very doubtful anyone will say much of anything to you unless you try to go on a ride, purchase something, or draw attention to yourself.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Once 7:00 comes you will not be allowed to enter any store or attraction without a wristband.

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

Awesome info you guys, thank you!

I wasn't sure about the Emporium, as generally Disney is quick to usher you into a gift shop! I suppose it makes sense though, if they have special merchandise just for the parties. We will make sure any shopping that needs to be done in the park is done before dinner.

Sounds like we should have fairly good luck getting our last moment on Main Street before we leave, so I won't freak out and try to change plans. Like I said, we aren't planning to try to participate in anything, we just want our moment.

 

[kvnchapman]

I'd love to know how your exit from Tonys was actually handled? Were you escorted directly and hastily to the exit? We, too, are attending the park on an earlier night in our trip, and planning a MK ADR around 7pm on a different party night. It would be awesome to see the sights or even a glimpse of the parade as we departed...
We're not crashing and actually will be leaving after dinner, but I would love to soak up the atmosphere on our last MK night of the trip!

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

We left Tony’s, and nobody said anything to us. We were not rushed or ushered or hurried on our way. The parade had ended by the time we finished our meal, so we had some time to stop near the train station and look back down Main Street, and get our last long look at the castle. We didn’t attempt to go back further into the park or into any of the shops, I am sure we would have been stopped for a wrist band if we had.

It was a nice, peaceful exit. We took the ferry across the lake and just happened to stumble across the electric water pageant, which we watched for a few minutes from the TTC.

All that stress was for nothing. We were not hurried during our meal, or escorted out of the park. Again though, we weren’t trying to “get away with” anything. We just took our usual few minutes to soak it all in and say good night and goodbye to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[kvnchapman]

I'm so glad that your trip ended on such the high note - what a wonderful ending to a WDW trip! Thanks for haring your experience. What did you think of Tony's? How long did your meal take from being seated until the bill was paid? Was the restaurant still busy,or had it slowed down due to folks not wanting to spend valuable Party time eating?

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

We enjoyed Tony’s. The food was good; it’s not going to give you a really high end fine dining experience or anything, but everything was well cooked, well-seasoned and tasty. The pistachio crème brulee is not to be missed – SOOOOOO good! I think between the 4 of us at the table we tried the pork, the steak, the lamb and the tortelloni – all were very good and everyone was happy with what they ordered.

We had a bit of a wait to get our table, but not too unreasonable. From the time we were seated until our meal finished, I think it was around an hour and a half to 2 hours, but we weren’t in a hurry, and did order apps, entrées, and desert. The restaurant was thinning out considerably. There was a separate menu for those dining “during” the party (ADRs that started AFTER 7 pm) so the party that was seated about 5-10 minutes after us was browsing a different menu than we were, though our orders were only about 5 minutes apart. We were surprised that as many people actually DID make dining reservations during the party, but the restaurant was still nowhere near full. It was nice that it was a little quieter though. We were out in the area at the front of the restaurant that is, and that’s where it seemed like they were seating most new arrivals.

No regrets at all. I think it was a great way to end our regular park day, even though it overlapped with the party.