California Grill and Wishes

[juliecanada]

I have an ADR for California Grill on a Saturday at 7:45pm to celebrate DH's birthday (no kids ). Wishes that night is at 10:00pm. Do you think we'd still be in the restaurant at that time? Do you need a table by the window to ensure a good view?

 

[goofyintoronto]

A window table would be nice. But if not, then you can easily go out to the deck to watch it.

Your ADR is at 745pm....I think you should be fine for 10pm wishes. Just remember, you might be waiting for your table a few minutes when you arrive. Lets say you finally get seated at 815pm. That gives you under 2 hours before wishes. If you take your time ordering drinks, apps, entree, and desserts, it could be well after 10pm by the time you finish.

This past trip we were seated at 545pm (we had apps, entrees, desserts, drinks), by the time we were done it was 715pm! Thats incredibly quick. So not like Cali Grill. Lol. I think theyre quicker at that hour, but as the night goes on they get busier and a little behind.

As I said, if you leave your table before 10pm, (even if your done around 930pm) get a drink at the bar and go out on the deck to watch wishes. Its such a nice view.

have fun!

 

[Mississippianna]

Went to Cali Grill in December with my best friend for her birthday. We were on a no kids/ Deluxe Dining Plan extravagant vacation, and were there for 3 hours. We ordered wine and apps, then when we started on the apps, we ordered entrees. Take your time, enjoy, and the key is to not order everything all at once. We waited between courses, and it was nice to eat at a relaxed pace and maybe try a different wine with each course. You can easily be there for 2 hours. It's wonderful!

 

[Uncleromulus]

7:45 should be just fine for Wishes at 10.
As goofyintoronto said, if you don't happen to get a window seat, just go out on the deck to see the fireworks.

 

[OhThePain]

You could still be sitting for a 10:00 Wishes if your ADR is at 7:45. If you happen to finish quicker, just grab a drink from the bar and get a spot outside. I actually would rather go outside to watch even with a window view, but that's just me.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I doubt you would be finished your whole meal before 10:00 PM based on what time the ADR is scheduled for. However if for whatever reason that happened you can walk around the Contemporary and go back to the 2nd floor check-in desk with your reciept and you will be let back up to watch Wishes.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We had a 7:55pm at Cali Grill last month (Wishes at 10). I know we checked in a tad early- so maybe closer to your ADR time. It took a while to be seated, but once we were seated- everything went at a nice pace...never rushed, never too slow. Our dessert was served a couple of minutes after magic memories & you ended...i.e. right before Wishes started. We had our children with us and my older daughter hurt her foot, so we didn't want to mess with running outside. We also didn't request a window seat b/c I feared we'd be seated in one of the window sections not facing MK. So, we took our chances. We weren't seated right along the windows, but were one row over from some good MK facing window seats. This was the view from our table...and we didn't have to shift around or anything to see.

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And obviously great at Wishes time as well.

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[juliecanada]

We had a 7:55pm at Cali Grill last month (Wishes at 10). I know we checked in a tad early- so maybe closer to your ADR time. It took a while to be seated, but once we were seated- everything went at a nice pace...never rushed, never too slow. Our dessert was served a couple of minutes after magic memories & you ended...i.e. right before Wishes started. We had our children with us and my older daughter hurt her foot, so we didn't want to mess with running outside. We also didn't request a window seat b/c I feared we'd be seated in one of the window sections not facing MK. So, we took our chances. We weren't seated right along the windows, but were one row over from some good MK facing window seats. This was the view from our table...and we didn't have to shift around or anything to see.

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And obviously great at Wishes time as well.

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Wonderful!

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm going to stop checking the reservation system and just keep our current ADR.