Cali Grill "?"

[CoolDisneyCat]

A few trips ago we ate at California Grill for the first and only time. We really enjoyed the food, but the atmosphere stank simply because of all the darn people! DD23 and I both get claustrophic in large crowds, and in the 45 minutes to an hour that we waited for our table, we were stuck in the shoulder-to-shoulder packed out lounge waiting area. It was awful!

I know that now no one without a PS is allowed up to the 15th floor. Has that really helped to reduce the crowds up there? We're thinking about going back during our trip in a few weeks, and Wishes is every night, so going on a non-Wishes night isn't an option. Has the newish policy of keeping the lights on and not piping in the music helped reduce the number of people who camp out up there to see Wishes? If it's still a zoo we really aren't interested in going; it practically ruined the whole experience for us; but if it's calmed down some we'd like to go back!

Thanks!

 

[GoodFairies]

I think the best way to avoid this problem is to get a PS for the earliest seating, which I think is either 5 or 5:30 pm.

 

[Chuck S]

I think the best way to avoid this problem is to get a PS for the earliest seating, which I think is either 5 or 5:30 pm.

That's what I did for June. After all, we're going for the food, not the fireworks. We should be finished with our meal and outta there before the crowd hits.

 

[Forever42]

That's what I did for June. After all, we're going for the food, not the fireworks. We should be finished with our meal and outta there before the crowd hits.

We did this in March, and it was quiet and peaceful, and we had a pleasant conversation with our server.

When we went last July, it was a few weeks after the new check-in procedure was implemented, and it was a madhouse. We'd had a long day, the lounge area was shoulder-to-shoulder. When we finally got a seat in the lounge, the server who was supposed to be taking care of our table kept giving us dirty looks until an hour later (yes, an hour) management finally came over to tell her to take our table. She then refused. But then our buzzer went off..

 

[dejavu]

We were there in December and really noticed that the congestion was gone- i think the implementation of the PS only system really helped.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

When we finally got a seat in the lounge, the server who was supposed to be taking care of our table kept giving us dirty looks until an hour later (yes, an hour) management finally came over to tell her to take our table. She then refused. But then our buzzer went off..

Yeah, when we were there we finally got a table in the lounge, but the server never came to take our order. There were empty glasses on the table and no one came by to bus it. Maybe the server thought they were our drinks. If so s/he had a pretty short memory about what his customers looked like, and he wasn't very attentive about keeping drinks full!

Thanks for the replies.

 

[lillygator]

We were there in December and March of this year, both with 7 or later PS times and never had a problem....

 

[lillygator]

We were there in December and March of this year, both with 7 or later PS times and never had a problem....

our upcoming trip in May is the first time we won't be dining there.....not for any reason inparticular but because we want to give other dining venues a try....hope we are not disappointed.