California Grill & Wishes

[buziggy]

Hello-

For the past few years, my wife & I have been trying to make reservations at California Grill at the time of the Wishes fireworks. Unfortunately whenever we try to make reservations in advance, nothing is available anywhere close to the time of the fireworks. We just booked a trip for March and checked dining times for all of the nights of our stay, but had no luck.

My question is - is it possible to dine at CG without a reservation? Could we try to go there the evening we want to dine and see if there are any no-shows? Just wondering if that is even worth a shot, and if so, how likely it is that we would actually get in.

Thanks!

Chris

 

[MHSweb79]

I'm going to pass along a hint I read here on these boards, but have never tried myself: instead of asking about an ADR for 2 people, try booking for 3 people. When you show up, just tell them you are only 2 after all.
Apparently there are more tables for 3-4 people than there are for 2. Again, I pass this along on hearsay only. It may help!

 

[brendaziz]

I agree- try for 3. And have u tried 2 hours before fireworks? Even 2 1/2 or 3 would be doable b/c even if u finish, you can go to the bar, hang out in the lounge- and then walk outside if you want when fireworks start.

 

[minniebeth]

We were told that if you eat at California Grill before Wishes and are done, that they will give you some type of voucher to go back up to the observation deck outside of California Grill and you can watch them there at that time. It's another option. I would say it is worth eating at California Grill even without Wishes, it is a really beautiful view up there and the food is wonderful.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We were told that if you eat at California Grill before Wishes and are done, that they will give you some type of voucher to go back up to the observation deck outside of California Grill and you can watch them there at that time. It's another option. I would say it is worth eating at California Grill even without Wishes, it is a really beautiful view up there and the food is wonderful.

You are correct on this, however it wasn't a voucher you got, but you are told by the waiter/waitress to keep your receipt and you will be able to go back up for Wishes. My DH and I did this a couple years ago...we had dinner at 5:30pm, the second table to be sat, and got a window seat...it was beautiful. We (rather I because my seat was facing the MK side) got to watch Splash as the boats went down the drop and other wonderful MK sites. My DH was able to see the "other" parts of the World. After we were done with our meal, we went down stairs and got on the monorail and went over to the Poly where we had a drink at the Tambu Lounge and watched Kaleo (when he was there, we are going to miss him) play/sing and Hula dancers...it was awesome. When it was getting closer to see Wishes, we went back and showed the check-in counter for CG and they let us right up. We were able to get a glass of wine at the bar and go outside to watch Wishes. We enjoyed it so much that we are going to be doing the same thing on our upcoming trip in March (which will happen to be our Anniversary dinner), but this time we will be having our kids with us. I can't wait

 

[PoohIs#1]

Doesn't Cali Grill require a deposit that is forfeited if someone in your party doesn't show up for dinner?

 

[tiggeroo42]

Doesn't Cali Grill require a deposit that is forfeited if someone in your party doesn't show up for dinner?

I believe the deposit is forfeited for cancellations only, but someone correct me if I am wrong. They take your credit card number when you make your ADR.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I believe the deposit is forfeited for cancellations only, but someone correct me if I am wrong. They take your credit card number when you make your ADR.

Yes you are correct. When I called to make ADRs for our trip, they only took our cc number down just incase we didn't show up or we cancelled our ressie under 48 hours of our ADR time. They did not take any deposit off of my cc.

 

[jblrn2b]

You are correct on this, however it wasn't a voucher you got, but you are told by the waiter/waitress to keep your receipt and you will be able to go back up for Wishes. My DH and I did this a couple years ago...we had dinner at 5:30pm, the second table to be sat, and got a window seat...it was beautiful. We (rather I because my seat was facing the MK side) got to watch Splash as the boats went down the drop and other wonderful MK sites. My DH was able to see the "other" parts of the World. After we were done with our meal, we went down stairs and got on the monorail and went over to the Poly where we had a drink at the Tambu Lounge and watched Kaleo (when he was there, we are going to miss him) play/sing and Hula dancers...it was awesome. When it was getting closer to see Wishes, we went back and showed the check-in counter for CG and they let us right up. We were able to get a glass of wine at the bar and go outside to watch Wishes. We enjoyed it so much that we are going to be doing the same thing on our upcoming trip in March (which will happen to be our Anniversary dinner), but this time we will be having our kids with us. I can't wait

Thanks what a good thing to know - that sounds like a fun thing to do. We always have gotten ADRs for CG around 1 1/2 hours prior to Wishes and it has worked out beautifully. I guess I have just been lucky so far.

 

[Tbelle1976]

I would agree to call and ask for an ADR for 3 or 4 people. I called and was able to get a 7:35 p.m. ADR for Cali Grill on a day that Wishes is at 8:00 p.m. with no problem at all! This is probably the meal I'm most excited about other than LeCellier.

 

[snykymom]

Just remember that California Grill is a big restaurant, and not every table has an MK view. We had 7:30 reservations with Wishes at 8, and we were on the other side! We ordered drinks, made up our minds about what we wanted, and told our servers that we'd be back! We didn't actually order until Wishes was over.

 

[Booyakasha]

I really think your chance of just showing up witout a ressie and getting a table are slim to none. Your best option would be to see if they will let you up to the bar/lounge and you can eat there. However, usually before Wishes it is amazingly packed and they won't let you up. After wishes is clears out a bit.

B.

 

[BarbieWannabe]

We had reservations last March (Easter Week) for four at 8:30PM. We were on the ddxdp. Unfortunately (major understatement) my dh and dgs7 came down with the flu and were in bed for most of the week . So it was just my dd and I for dinner. That cut our reservation # in half, and no one said anything. No additional cost was added for no shows. It was very relaxing and beautiful, but not exactly what was planned. It was also delightful having dinner with Chip and Dale at Liberty Tree, being me (granny) and my 39 year old daughter!

 

[MHDTS]

The CG waitstaff are very accomodating when it comes to the fireworks. We were there a couple of weeks ago, and we were seated in the Wine Room on the opposite side of the MK and Wishes. Five minutes before showtime we grabbed our cocktails, ordered our appetizers and out onto the balcony we went. After the fireworks, the waiter appeared with our appetizers and took our main course orders. How perfect is that?

By the way, as an added surprise and treat, we were able to see Illuminations over at EPCOT from our table in the wine room! A great addition to dessert!

 

[vs1023]

We were just there and tried to time it for Wishes, but with a little one I didn't want to make it too late. We had a 5:30 reservation and got a good seat with an MK view. Since the restaurant was empty I think that gave us a chance to have a table right by the window. We were done eating around 7:15pm and wishes was at 8pm, so to kill time we took DD to the arcade in the Contemporary and around 8 went back up showing them our receipt. It was great!