Chef Mickeys ADR question?

[Antigua08]

Ok so l'm about a week away from my 180 day mark, so trying to finalise where/when l want to book. I'm probably going to have many questions on this but the first is with my Chef Mickeys reservation.

We plan to spend our first full day at TL (we are a party of 9 with 3 kids), and have decided on Chef Mickeys for dinner as our first meal. Thought this would be a good way to see my DD reaction to the characters. She loves her food so we figure is she doesn't like the characters, the food will hopefully be enough to distract her!

If TL closes at 5, would we have enough time to get to say a 6 o'clock ADR?

Want to try to keep our dinner times to fit with the kids normal routine which is normally around 5:30 - 6:30 latetst, so happy to leave the park early if needed. We are driving (staying offsite), but have no idea how much time to allow to get from TL to Chef Mickeys. And can we just park at the hotel, or will there be further parking charges?

 

[MHSweb79]

Are you going to have a car or are you relying on the Disney bus system?

It might be possible with a car, since it's probably only a 10 minute drive to the Contemporary from the water park. Waiting for a bus and making other stops could take over 45 minutes. Hopefully you'll be dressed in regular clothes when you leave the park.

Chef Mickey's gets crazy crowded and you'll want to be there at least 15 minutes before your ADR.


Edited to add: OK, just saw your parking question. I'm not sure if it costs $$ to park at the water parks. But the parking at the resorts is free anyway so it doesn't matter. If ever you do pay for parking in one Disney lot, keep your receipt and you won't have to pay at a second lot that day. This is important if you plan on park hopping - no need to keep paying for parking!

 

[Antigua08]

Yep we would all be dressed and ready to leave the park at closing, so from your reply sounds like we would have plenty of time to make our reservation.

Thank you for the advice, that's our first day sorted now on to the next 13!