Crystal Palace at 9:15am

[RachelEllen]

I just need some feedback if this is a good idea.

We go to Magic Kingdom once a year. My husband is not a big theme park guy, but puts up with it, as I'm at a conference there anyhow and the kids love it. That being said, I put a lot of work into making it as stress free as possible for him. I really, really don't want to start off the day on a bad note.

We originally had reservations for Crystal Palace at 8:30, a half hour before the park opened. I'd read some reviews that indicated extended wait times, but figured if he was getting antsy, we could always leave.

(On a tangent, since we changed our ADR, we had to give a credit card for a guarentee. Does anyone know how that works with an extended wait time. If its more than a half hour's wait, we will most likely bag it, will they really charge you a no-show in that case?)

Anyhow, we had to change the reservation because my mom is joining us as well, and we could only get 9:15, 15 minutes after the park opens.

Dh has put up with character breakfast in the past, as our daughter loves the interaction, but he considers them overpriced and mediocre food. I'm afraid a really stressful time getting to the restaurant, combined with a prolonged wait will push him over the edge. With a reservation 15 minutes after the park opens, is there any way to get into the park early? Will the entrance be a sea of people right before opening? (We've always avoided that time and arrived at the park around 10am) Do people think that being that much later in the ADR line means a real chance of extended wait for breakfast?

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

We had an 8:10 reservation on a day with an 8:00 park opening and were let in at about 7:50 so I think you should be able to enter the park a little before 9:00. Look for a separate line for those with breakfast reservations. With a 9:00 opening there might be a line since they will already have let a lot of people in so you may just have to look for a CM. When we went, we were let in on the left side.

As far as the credit card guarantee goes, another poster on one of the bigger credit card threads, Collen27 I think, said that the CM's at Crystal Palace told them they would be charged the no show fee if they left even though Crystal Palace was way behind on ADR's.

 

[RachelEllen]

We had an 8:10 reservation on a day with an 8:00 park opening and were let in at about 7:50 so I think you should be able to enter the park a little before 9:00. Look for a separate line for those with breakfast reservations. With a 9:00 opening there might be a line since they will already have let a lot of people in so you may just have to look for a CM. When we went, we were let in on the left side.

As far as the credit card guarantee goes, another poster on one of the bigger credit card threads, Collen27 I think, said that the CM's at Crystal Palace told them they would be charged the no show fee if they left even though Crystal Palace was way behind on ADR's.

Thanks for the information. I'd love to see an official policy on the no show policy. I understand the whole 'ADR" vs reservation concept when they were free, but once they start charging, I think they should be held to a higher standard. (Like seated within 20 minutes or so of your ADR, or you can decide to go elsewhere with no penalty) When we are talking a breakfast, $10 is a good percent of the entire meal!

 

[North of Mouse]

Thanks for the information. I'd love to see an official policy on the no show policy. I understand the whole 'ADR" vs reservation concept when they were free, but once they start charging, I think they should be held to a higher standard. (Like seated within 20 minutes or so of your ADR, or you can decide to go elsewhere with no penalty) When we are talking a breakfast, $10 is a good percent of the entire meal!

I think they can and will do what they want (almost like waiting in a Dr's office past your appointment time as much as an hr. sometimes). The cast member making my CP reservation stressed that we must be on time and the $10 fee would be charged if we changed our mind for ANY reason after the "cut off" time to cancel.

 

[mlittig]

If we have to commit to our ADR, then Disney should have to honor that time (within a reasonable range) or not hold us to the credit card deposit