Carnation Cafe Question..

[mrsw94]

We are headed to DL Oct 10-13. (The 11th is Columbus Day.) We are on a tight budget, but I'm hearing that the Carnation Cafe is a good place to eat with reasonable prices.
So, my question is...do we need reservations? If so, when is the best time to go?
Thanks!

 

[FlameGirl]

Reservations are always a good idea at CC. The best time to go depends on whether you're interested in breakfast, lunch or dinner. We tend to try to avoid the rush dining hours and eat either earlier or later than everyone else tends to.

 

[wdwfan22]

The Carnation Cafe is a pretty small establishment. It is a good idea to have reservations. You would probably get in without, but most likely have a long wait.

There is really no best time to go. Whenever you want. Read the menus at allears.net and pick which meal sounds best to you.

 

[pixiewings71]

Yes, because the CC is very small and I've seen very long waits while we are checking in for our reservations.

 

[DanT]

we were in DL last October during the Utah and Arizona invasion,
and ate at the CC two different times...once for lunch and once for dinner and had no reservations either time...max wait was about 20 minutes.
This is at a time when the park entrance was closed a couple of days because of extremely high numbers of visitors...we sat at a nice shaded table and watched the parade from there.
It is all when you go. Try to eat a little before or a little after the majority of folks eat and you can get in just about anywhere in the parks. Eating at the parks is just like knowing when to go on which rides, and how to use fast passes...if you pay attention and think about what you are doing, the crowds are never a problem...
Only eating establishment we have ever had reservations for is BB.
The rest of the time we just decide what we would like to eat on the fly and find a spot accordingly.

 

[DisSarahK]

It is not a must to have reservations, but definitely helpful--especially if you like to eat at typical meal times and not at "off" times. I think Carnation Cafe definitely is budget friendly (although not "cheap), especially if you order ice water--fountain drinks always are over-priced. The food is excellent and very filling and the ambiance is great! We love eating here and did so twice on our last trip.

 

[Rosanne]

I know a lot of people really like the Carnation Cafe but neither my sister, nor my self, nor either of my two daughters thought our food was that great. We all ordered different things but I can't remember what (It was about six weeks ago). We also left still a bit hungry after eating our meals... and we did eat everything. I have heard great things about the baked potato soup so maybe that would have been better. We don't eat pork though so we didn't get that.

 

[DahliaRW]

I personally think CC is best for breakfast. And when we were eating there last there was a group that wanted breakfast there that was told there wouldn't be a table for at least 45 minutes so they would have to order off of the lunch menu at that point. It never hurts to have reservations!

 

[barefootmomma]

Carnation Cafe is one of our lunch choices pretty frequently. Depending on what you order, it can be very budget friendly when in comparison with other options in the park. I really love their potato soup, it is delicious and very filling. We've never had priority seating, and we've never experienced a wait longer than 15-20 minutes. It is usually significantly less time than that. Of course, having your name in never hurts and if you're planning ahead you might as well go ahead and call for PS.

 

[jemilah]

I will be making breakfast reservatins for our trip. I would rather plan ahead than wait in line. We love breakfast there!

 

[mrsw94]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that our hotel has breakfast, so it will be for lunch or dinner. It's me, dh, dd 8 & ds 2&1/2. Is it possible to see the parade while eating, or is the view blocked?
Thanks!

 

[DahliaRW]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that our hotel has breakfast, so it will be for lunch or dinner. It's me, dh, dd 8 & ds 2&1/2. Is it possible to see the parade while eating, or is the view blocked?
Thanks!

Ours did too. So what we did was get a ressie for the latest breakfast time and had an early "lunch".

 

[curiouslittleoyster]

I would recommend getting reservations just in case. There have been a few times where the line/wait was very long for a table. I like their Croissant eggs Benedict or Apple pancakes for breakfast and their Baked Potato Soup and Chicken Pot Pie for lunch. They serve Minute Maid pomegranate light lemonade there and it is yummy and refreshing.

 

[allieoop]

We're going for our first trip to DL Nov. 2-7. Do you think I should make reservations for CC now? Or will I be safe to wait until we get there and maybe just call the day before we want to go?

 

[FlameGirl]

We're going for our first trip to DL Nov. 2-7. Do you think I should make reservations for CC now? Or will I be safe to wait until we get there and maybe just call the day before we want to go?

As a pp said, it never hurts to make the reservations now. It's free, relatively hassle free...you've got nothing to lose. You can always cancel later if you can't make it.

I am making dinner reservations for every night of our Nov/Dec trip just because I don't want to fight the crowds. It may be overkill, but I'd rather be safe than sorry....or hungry.

 

[allieoop]

Thanks. I didn't want to be overbooked and be on such a schedule like when we've gone to WDW, but since this is our first trip to DL I don't want to miss anything good either. I've read to book WOC and the Fantasmic meals 30 days out. Are there other restaurants you suggest I make reservations for now? It's just me and DD. We're going to celebrate her 16th birthday!

To OP, sorry I hijacked your thread.

 

[FlameGirl]

Thanks. I didn't want to be overbooked and be on such a schedule like when we've gone to WDW, but since this is our first trip to DL I don't want to miss anything good either. I've read to book WOC and the Fantasmic meals 30 days out. Are there other restaurants you suggest I make reservations for now? It's just me and DD. We're going to celebrate her 16th birthday!

To OP, sorry I hijacked your thread.

Well, I may be a little OCD but like I said, I book dinner ressies for every night we are there, if we want to have a table service meal. You can book WOC 60 days out, btw.

We are eating at: RFC, Naples, BB, RBJK, CO, ESPN, HOB, Tortilla Jo's, WCT and AG and I'm booking every one of them.

We found that during our last trip, no matter how hard we tried to eat at times that were not the norm, there was an hour or so wait at the table service restaurants which really limited our options, AND increased our walking times since we wandered from place to place trying to find somehwere that didn't have a long wait. This way, even if we decide not to use the ressie, we are covered. Better safe than sorry.

 

[pixiewings71]

I remember specifically one day we had a reservation at CC, we walked up to check in about 5-10 min. early, there was a line all the way down the fence towards the restrooms there, they were people waiting for someone to not show up for the seating. There were a lot of moans and groans when we walked right in and were seated. There are less then 20 tables, it's a very small place to eat so I always suggest a reservation for CC. The only time we were told a wait time under 20 min. was when DBF and I went alone, no kids, for his bday, it was early Jan and had been rainy earlier in the day, we walked in and said "let's try CC for bfast" and we were seated right away.....but the parks were really empty that day because of the rain.

 

[JustAKid]

we were in DL last October during the Utah and Arizona invasion,
and ate at the CC two different times...once for lunch and once for dinner and had no reservations either time...max wait was about 20 minutes.
This is at a time when the park entrance was closed a couple of days because of extremely high numbers of visitors...we sat at a nice shaded table and watched the parade from there.
It is all when you go. Try to eat a little before or a little after the majority of folks eat and you can get in just about anywhere in the parks. Eating at the parks is just like knowing when to go on which rides, and how to use fast passes...if you pay attention and think about what you are doing, the crowds are never a problem...
Only eating establishment we have ever had reservations for is BB.
The rest of the time we just decide what we would like to eat on the fly and find a spot accordingly.

Watching the parade from a CC sounds like a wonderful idea!! Would you, or anyone who has done this, care to share their experience? How would you rate it on 1-10 scale in comparison to being on the street? Is there a specific table one should wait for to get the best view? TIA!

 

[PHXscuba]

We asked for a lunch table when we arrived first thing morning-of and got a reservation, but it was rainy so they weren't sure they would even be open at lunch. When we returned at noon, they were seating, but only under umbrellas, which knocked capacity down even more, and we needed two tables together for the six of us. It took awhile to get seated and get service.

This was all the Wednesday of the middle week of October last year, same week you'll be there. Crowds are worse over the weekend and thin out more after Columbus Day, so if you are going to try walk-up, I'd do it Tuesday or Wednesday.

Honestly, if it was someplace I thought I wanted to eat, I'd get a reservation. I don't think it's a "hard" place to get a reservation, but it can easily be a very long wait when it's busy.

PHXscuba