Cali Grill Questions... Help please!

[celina14]

Hi everyone! We leave for our trip in 10 days!! I'm trying to finalize dining plans and as of right now we have an ADR here at 5pm on our MVMCP night. It will be myself, DH and our DD (2). We really just want to get some sushi, dinner for DD and dessert (and maybe some wine)! So my first question is, would it be frowned upon to not get entrees and just apps/dessert? Also, is it a terrible idea to take a 2 year old here? She's generally well behaved in public and it's early enough that she shouldn't be cranky and tired. Also, is the meal going to take a super long time if we aren't doing several courses? I just don't want to cut into our party time.

I'm really debating whether or not to keep this one but we are big sushi fans and I think I would regret it if we didn't make it here during the trip because the sushi looks and sounds amazing! I was hoping that since the ADR is at opening that it would work out and we wouldn't tie up a table too long.

Thanks for any advice!!

 

[Tigger's ally]

By all means go!

You can order anything you want as long as you are not on the dining plan.

Sushi isn't my thing, but they have a great reputation there for that.

Your daughter will love the view. Be sure to take her out on the deck for a great view of MK.

 

[pooh2001]

My DH & DD are major sushi fans - yes Cali Grill has wonderful fresh sushi.
For your DD age 2 - ask the chef for something she may like - like plain pasta or chicken.

You will be able to retuen for the fireworks on the roof. They evn pipe the music in. If it is a cool night - bring a sweater or jacket. There can be a cool breeze on the roof.
You do not hear the bang of the fireworks, just the music.

We went to Cali Grill for our 27th anniversary - our DD was 18.

Enjoy!

 

[TDC Nala]

would it be frowned upon to not get entrees and just apps/dessert?

No. I never order entrees there. I order flatbread and sushi. They shouldn't have a problem with that as I spend as much as I would on an entree. Plus wine.

Also, is it a terrible idea to take a 2 year old here?

No, so long as she is well behaved.

 

[rwdavis2]

Your DD will be fine. We took kids 4 & 7 for a 2 hour dinner and had a great time and the servers were attentive to the kids which they liked. No problems at all. The fireworks in the middle of dinner helped.

 

[Eastern]

We usually order flatbreads and sushi also. We don't usually get dessert anywhere.

 

[celina14]

Thanks so much everyone. This had eased my anxiety about eating here with a little one!

 

[kathie859]

Frankly, my only concern is the amount of time eating at the CG takes. We're been twice and both times the service was nice--we were in no rush--but it WAS slow. I'm not sure eating there the night of MVMCP is the best use of your time.

 

[thisisnotmyface]

We don't usually get dessert anywhere.

But dessert is awesome!

 

[Eastern]

But dessert is awesome!

We can never fit it in! Even my adult kids decline. We are wimps.

 

[celina14]

Frankly, my only concern is the amount of time eating at the CG takes. We're been twice and both times the service was nice--we were in no rush--but it WAS slow. I'm not sure eating there the night of MVMCP is the best use of your time.

Ok, I was concerned about this. But do you think it would really be that long for sushi and dessert?? We have 2 hours between the ADR and start of the party.

 

[pooh2001]

ditto on great desserts
Our dinner took 1 1/2 hours to eat - so we had no problem eating dessert.

There is also a children's menu

 

[kathie859]

Ok, I was concerned about this. But do you think it would really be that long for sushi and dessert?? We have 2 hours between the ADR and start of the party.

Actually, you can enter the party earlier than the published start time. I'm thinking it's 4 p.m. I'd allow at least and hour and a half for dinner service.

 

[Aunt Stepody]

My DH and DS's love sushi. They have a place at the Poly that you can get it pretty fast. They loved it there.

I wouldn't go to the Cali if it was going to interfere with my Christmas Party though. Just my opinion.

 

[celina14]

Actually, you can enter the party earlier than the published start time. I'm thinking it's 4 p.m. I'd allow at least and hour and a half for dinner service.

Quick question about this. Is there any benefit to getting in early to the party other than being in the park at 4? We already have park hopper tickets and will probably be in MK that morning too. I don't want to miss out on any of the party so if things start early I may have to reconsider. But I was under the impression that you can get admitted early but nothing party specific starts until 7.

Thanks!

 

[sarah4770]

Nothing special starts before 4pm. Some people just do not use up a park admission for a party day and plan other activities during the daytime.

 

[celina14]

Nothing special starts before 4pm. Some people just do not use up a park admission for a party day and plan other activities during the daytime.

Ok thanks, that's what I thought. I see how it would benefit someone who didn't use park admission that day but we already plan to so that's not a concern for us.

So for those who have dined here before, is it really going to take 2 hours for our meal for just sushi, a kids meal and maybe dessert?

 

[rwdavis2]

Ok thanks, that's what I thought. I see how it would benefit someone who didn't use park admission that day but we already plan to so that's not a concern for us.

So for those who have dined here before, is it really going to take 2 hours for our meal for just sushi, a kids meal and maybe dessert?

You should be OK. We've done a full dinner in 2 hours. You might take an hour and you can always mention to your server that you want to get out of there by some specific time. But sushi/dessert might not take an hour.

 

[ses1230]

Quick question about this. Is there any benefit to getting in early to the party other than being in the park at 4? We already have park hopper tickets and will probably be in MK that morning too. I don't want to miss out on any of the party so if things start early I may have to reconsider. But I was under the impression that you can get admitted early but nothing party specific starts until 7.

Thanks!

No party activities btwn 4 and 7, but people do start lining up for the party-only photo ops around 5:30-6.

 

[shortnsassy730]

We like to enter at 4 for rides and lines for photo ops. The lines for rare characters such as Seven Dwarfs get very very long. We were in line last year at 5:45 and there were about 20 people already ahead of us. If photo ops aren't on your priority list and you are already going to be at MK riding earlier in the day then I highly recommend CG. But, we generally do flat bread and sushi and your are still looking at about an hour and a half.