Cafe Orleans/Carnation Cafe..ressies needed?

[DisFam95]

Do I really need ressies for lunch at these 2 places for a Sunday? Not sure which we'll do. It's just 2 of us so i don;t need to wait for a huge table. I just hate making so many ressies when i don;t know when we'll want to eat.

We're going Feb 21st.

Thanks!

 

[DanT]

I have been to both at just about every time of the year. Last time was this past October during the big crowds and we waited about 15-20 mins for a table at Carnation Cafe at 1pm...
Never waited more than that at Cafe Orleans either....
We have never had reservations for any eating establishment at DL other than dinner at Blue Bayou.
We usually don't want our time in the parks to be that regimented. If we think the wait is too long somewhere when we decide to eat, then we eat elsewhere. There are enough choices to not make it an issue for us.

 

[pixiewings71]

At this time of year, maybe not. If so ask if you can call in for a seating in an hour, they will be able to tell you whether to wait or to try to call in.

 

[Sherry E]

Carnation Cafe has very limited seating - and I have also been there for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert-only - so you may have to wait a while. The line of people waiting for tables builds quickly because there are just not many tables to accommodate diners (and the tables are all outdoors, by the way). We waited about 45 minutes once to be seated, which, to me, is a huge waste of time. I would rather just pick a time to eat there and make the PS/Reservation (it is now officially called a Reservation, but it still operates like the old Priority Seating deal in that a table is not held for you, but you get priority over the folks without a PS). The minimum amount of time we have waited to be seated without a PS in the past was about 15 minutes, but it was usually longer than that. Carnation Cafe is one of the places I would try to make a reservation for on future DLR trips, especially during the times of year that I go, which are busier. However, as Pixiewings71 said, at this time of year it may not be so bad. Nights are chilly so a lot of folks may not want to sit outside.

 

[aussiegirls]

The only bad experience we had with a CM at Disneyland was with a nasty old woman at Carnation Cafe.

We had a PS but we arrived about 10 minutes after the time I had booked. I apologised to the lady at the desk and she gave me a filthy look and told me that now that I am late I am just going to have to wait and there was no guarantee how long it would be. It was not a particularly busy day, it was a weekday and not in peak season.

So we proceeded to just stand against the wall and wait. Meanwhile other people were arriving without a PS asking if they could have lunch and the old lady would seat them almost immediately. She seated at least half a dozen walk-ins before she decided that she would let us in.

By the time we got in I was not a happy camper. The servers were great though and the potato soup was amaaaaaazing. It's just a shame that our only experience with Carnation Cafe was tarnished by the grumpy old lady (still don't know what her problem was)

xxxx

 

[LavenderPeach]

The only bad experience we had with a CM at Disneyland was with a nasty old woman at Carnation Cafe.

We had a PS but we arrived about 10 minutes after the time I had booked. I apologised to the lady at the desk and she gave me a filthy look and told me that now that I am late I am just going to have to wait and there was no guarantee how long it would be. It was not a particularly busy day, it was a weekday and not in peak season.

So we proceeded to just stand against the wall and wait. Meanwhile other people were arriving without a PS asking if they could have lunch and the old lady would seat them almost immediately. She seated at least half a dozen walk-ins before she decided that she would let us in.

By the time we got in I was not a happy camper. The servers were great though and the potato soup was amaaaaaazing. It's just a shame that our only experience with Carnation Cafe was tarnished by the grumpy old lady (still don't know what her problem was)

xxxx

Oh, that's awful! Sorry you had a bad start to your lunch at CC.

We haven't had anything like that happen but the 2 times we've been to CC the people at the podium looked at us like we were crazy when we said we had PS. They acted like they were doubtful our names would be on their PS list. It happened both times too. Maybe it was the same grumpy lady but since we weren't late we didn't get punished.

OP, we like to make reservations for CC becaue like Sherry mentioned, the seating is limited. Even when it's a slow day it's nice to walk up and be immediately seated instead of having to wait for a table. We've only been to CO once, in early November, and we didn't make ressies. We just went close to 11am when they first open and there were only a few other people at the restaurant at that time.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I think it is a very good idea to make reservations if you can--we always do for both of those restaurants. Even if it is just for two people--it works out much better to have it reserved ahead of time.

Lisa