Yes you need to book CP ADRs as soon as they are released. I think last year many dates were still available later that morning but if you have a popular narrator they can go in minutes.
I actually enjoyed Shiki-Sai and felt the experience was pretty authentic compared to my recent trip to Japan. But I didn’t have sushi when I was there, and agree $100/pp is ridiculous! Takumi Tei was wonderful but totally priced me out when moving to prix fixe.
Also a bicoastal pass holder— in prior years the answer to Q1 (unlike DLR) is no— but I do expect them to change it at some point just so they can charge more for some restaurants. I would also say that most of the theater is ”good enough” viewing— unlike the seating at Fantasmic DL where it’s not great the sides and can be dicey further back.
Different ballgame than out west. Le Cellier folks have the same chances as day of Regal-Eagle folks. Where you sit is pretty much determined by when you decide to line up in the package line. As you enter the theater you will pick from what is available (the area under the awning was roped off for VIPs my night but it was NPH and he's super popular- still, you will not be all the way up front, there will be rows of people in front of you). On the bright side it's stadium bench seating, not the concrete floor.
My kids don’t have the patience to sit still and wait for the show to start for long, historically we’ve shown up less than 10m before the show and the seats aren’t amazing, we’re typically all the way to the left (facing the stage), but you can still see 90% of the stage or more. We go for the music and the story more than the visuals so it works out OK for us…but if you really want to watch the show then I think you should get there a bit earlier.
Your reservation at the time of booking will tell you which show you'll see.
To clarify - do you typically have the Dining package tickets when you do this or are you standby? We only care about the story and music, too.
I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer, good question— that’s showing up less than 10-15m before performance WITH a dining reservation. I do not think we would have gotten in at all without a dining voucher.
It's printed on your voucher that you receive at your meal, something like 15-30 mins. That said, I saw people wander in at starting time from the dining package side after they'd shutdown standby so I don't think they give away all the dining section to standby after that point.
Yes, there will be a clickable list of the dining locations for the package on the candlelight processional dining package page when it opens.
