California Grill Question

[Marquis de Disney]

Hi all,

Myself, my wife, and my 18 month old daughter have an ADR for the California Grill in early December. I'm curious as to what is the average dining stay there. I've heard that it could be up to 3 hours. While my daughter is well behaved in restaurants, I don't want to over do it with her. Thanks.

 

[Uno Mas]

I don't think you need to worry about it being quite that long. It's really as long as you prefer it to be. We usually linger as long as possible because we enjoy it so much - and because we want to see the MK Fireworks from there. I suspect a lot of people stretch out the meal for that reason. And the CMs are wonderful - they will cater to all of your needs. We've definitely done the meal in far less than three hours when our kids were younger. Probably an hour and a half on our first visit.

 

[kangaand2roos]

A few years ago, we went on a big family trip and our last TS meal of the week was California Grill. There were 10 of us and 4 were 3 or under. We had eaten at very kid oriented meals, including character meals, all week and this was one for the grown ups. It was BY FAR the most kid friendly meal of the trip! Our waitress was OUTSTANDING, one of the best I have had anywhere.

There was white paper over the table and the kids were given crayons and could just color on the table. Our server brought Goldfish crackers which kept the kids happy. We scheduled our meal during Wishes and the kids thought it was awesome (albeit cold as it was mid December)to go outside and watch the fireworks!

The food was great and the kids loved the "sushi" dessert. The all adults in the party all wondered why we hadn't eaten dinner there every night!

I had put off eating there for several years for the same reasons you are expressing and I needen't have feared!

Stacey

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I think it depends on what time your ADR is. Both times we have eaten there, our ADR time has always been early (5:30pm or so). We tend to get seated immediately since the restaurant isn't at capacity yet. Our meals last about 1 hour to 1 hour & 15 minutes for 3 courses.

HTH!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We did a 5:30 seating, we were out by 7:30 for just the two of us. We were not rushed at all and believe it or not the 2 hours seemed to fly by...we must have been lost in the view and the amazing food.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

We had a 6:05 and we were done by 8:00. Love Cali Grill. Have a great time.

 

[catne]

when we ate there, we did have the earliest seating (5:30) We did not have appetizers, just the entree & dessert. Took close to 90 minutes, even with only two courses. The waiter was not inattentive, they just really paced at leisurely speed, I think as part of the "signature" experience.

If you don't want it paced that way, I suggest you tell the server right when you're seated that you'd prefer a quicker pace.

 

[madalex]

I ate there two weeks ago with a friend. We had a 6:00 ADR, but arrived early (about 5:45) and were seated immediately. We had drinks, apps, dinner and dessert and were done by 7:30.

 

[blanq]

The answer to your question is dependant on a number of things: how many courses you will be having, how busy the restaurant is and the time of your ADR. My DH, DS (age 16) and I went to CG this past January and our meal took 2 1/2 hours. I think we were seated a bit past 5:30 and were done right around 8:00. We each had wine (well, the 16 year old didn't), an appetizer, an entree and dessert. It was a birthday celebration and our servers paced our meal well so we were not rushed.