Dining with Illuminations View?

[sherry_car]

We have a trip to Disney World scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 5. We would like to dine 1 night (preferably Tues., Sept. 29 - my birthday!) at Epcot and watch the Illuminations show from the restaurant. I have read this is possible, but have not gotten a clear idea of which restaurants have a good view of the show. Can anyone tell me which have a view? Which of those has the best food? At what time should we plan to dine? At that time of year, which nights will Illuminations be showing?

Thanks for the help!

Sherry

 

[KatMark]

We have a trip to Disney World scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 5. We would like to dine 1 night (preferably Tues., Sept. 29 - my birthday!) at Epcot and watch the Illuminations show from the restaurant. I have read this is possible, but have not gotten a clear idea of which restaurants have a good view of the show. Can anyone tell me which have a view? Which of those has the best food? At what time should we plan to dine? At that time of year, which nights will Illuminations be showing?

Thanks for the help!


Sherry

Rose & Crown has outside seating. HOWEVER, you cannot request outdoor seating when you make your ADR. You can ask at the podium, but when they take you to your seat and if it is not outside, you CANNOT ask that you wait for a seat outside...they will tell you to dine somewhere else.

Also, be aware that you are there during the Food & Wine Festival so Epcot will tend to be a little bit more crowded.

 

[madalex]

To answer your last question first, Illuminations occurs every night at 9 pm (except Fridays, for which the time was recently changed to 8 pm). Illuminations can be seen from the Rose & Crown pub (there is a special viewing area there). Others will chime in on best time to eat and how this works.

That being said, there are many, many great places around the WS lagoon from which to view Illuminations. Basically, any place where your view is not blocked by a tree or a structure is as good as any place else. Because there are so many good places, it is not necessary to stake out a spot an hour before the show, as is often the case with many Disney parades and fireworks shows. There will be plenty of good spots still available as little as 15 - 20 minutes before the show. Thus, exerting time and effort to get a reservation at just the right time and worrying about getting a table in just the right place seems like unnecessary effort to me. Go to Epcot, enjoy a nice dinner, go find a place a little before the show time and then sit back and enjoy the show.

 

[crisi]

Rose and Crown has patio seating. It is only about 30% of the restaurant and they will not let you wait for it or request it (functionally EVERYONE would, so its sort of useless). If you end up inside, they will allow you to stand on the patio to watch (which does make it a little crowded out there, both for the outside diners and the regular guests, some people don't like it).

There are a few tables in other restaurants where you might get some blocked view of Illuminations - Japan (but not the Teppan place, the other one) and France (but I can't remember if its Chef's or Bistro).

The Mexican counter service place is right on the water, but camping out there for Illuminations takes a while, and you will almost certainly be joined as the show starts with people who want to stand pretty much on top of you for a good view.

My preference is to have a nice dinner and wrap that up an hour or so before Illuminations starts. There are plenty of good spots to watch Illuminations from where you are certain of as good a view than any place you might get while dining. For one, Rose and Crown serves British food, and there is a reason the British are not known for their food. And the Mexican place is, IMO, really horrible (the margaritas are fine).

Illuminations has been running nightly at 9:00 for years (but who knows what they will be doing in this economy six months from now). You want to make your reservations for around 7:30.

 

[RMulieri]

None of the restaurants in WS has a really good view except Rose and Crown. Which others have told you you can't guarantee.Most of the other places are not directly on the water and any view from them is going to be thru a window,people outside, and trees on the waterfront

 

[sherry_car]

Rose and Crown has patio seating. It is only about 30% of the restaurant and they will not let you wait for it or request it (functionally EVERYONE would, so its sort of useless). If you end up inside, they will allow you to stand on the patio to watch (which does make it a little crowded out there, both for the outside diners and the regular guests, some people don't like it).

There are a few tables in other restaurants where you might get some blocked view of Illuminations - Japan (but not the Teppan place, the other one) and France (but I can't remember if its Chef's or Bistro).

The Mexican counter service place is right on the water, but camping out there for Illuminations takes a while, and you will almost certainly be joined as the show starts with people who want to stand pretty much on top of you for a good view.

My preference is to have a nice dinner and wrap that up an hour or so before Illuminations starts. There are plenty of good spots to watch Illuminations from where you are certain of as good a view than any place you might get while dining. For one, Rose and Crown serves British food, and there is a reason the British are not known for their food. And the Mexican place is, IMO, really horrible (the margaritas are fine).

Illuminations has been running nightly at 9:00 for years (but who knows what they will be doing in this economy six months from now). You want to make your reservations for around 7:30.

OK, that doesn't sound so great. I'm not a fan of British food, and living in Houston we get GREAT Mexican anytime we want it. Sounds like we will take the general advice and eat where we want, then find a spot to view the show. Thanks for all the great, and fast, responses!

Sherry

 

[mef78]

OK, that doesn't sound so great. I'm not a fan of British food, and living in Houston we get GREAT Mexican anytime we want it. Sounds like we will take the general advice and eat where we want, then find a spot to view the show. Thanks for all the great, and fast, responses!

Sherry

Or you could book an Illuminations cruise...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I beg to differ with you guys.

We ate at Rose & Crown on our last trip in Nov/Dec 2008 (which I have not gotten to in my reviews yet!). It was our first time and we were on the DDDDP. We had an ADR at I think 7pm ish. We arrived on time for our ADR and I did ask at the podium if we could have a patio seat and told them we were willing to wait. We did wait...about an hour...on the curb outside the pub people watching and hanging out. At about 8pm ish, we were indeed escorted to THE best seat in the house (or outside of it as the case may be) on the patio on the closed (at least it started out closed! ) end of the patio. We had the most perfect view. We even watched a heron dive and catch a fish and then eat it while we were eating...the kids loved that. And we did not have any problems with people from inside the restaurant coming out to watch...what we had problems with were people who did eat there opening that formerly closed gate and squishing in around us...one even sat his beer down between my kids and then left his glass there when he left and another had the nerve to pull out one of our extra chairs and sit at our table!!!!! I was fuming! I should have given her my bill for the tip!

So, while it cannot be guaranteed, it can be granted upon request...it would depend on crowds though. It was an awesome place to watch from! And we were very pleasantly surprised with how good the food was too!

 

[KatMark]

I beg to differ with you guys.

We ate at Rose & Crown on our last trip in Nov/Dec 2008 (which I have not gotten to in my reviews yet!). It was our first time and we were on the DDDDP. We had an ADR at I think 7pm ish. We arrived on time for our ADR and I did ask at the podium if we could have a patio seat and told them we were willing to wait. We did wait...about an hour...on the curb outside the pub people watching and hanging out. At about 8pm ish, we were indeed escorted to THE best seat in the house (or outside of it as the case may be) on the patio on the closed (at least it started out closed! ) end of the patio. We had the most perfect view. We even watched a heron dive and catch a fish and then eat it while we were eating...the kids loved that. And we did not have any problems with people from inside the restaurant coming out to watch...what we had problems with were people who did eat there opening that formerly closed gate and squishing in around us...one even sat his beer down between my kids and then left his glass there when he left and another had the nerve to pull out one of our extra chairs and sit at our table!!!!! I was fuming! I should have given her my bill for the tip!

So, while it cannot be guaranteed, it can be granted upon request...it would depend on crowds though. It was an awesome place to watch from! And we were very pleasantly surprised with how good the food was too!

You got very lucky then. 99.5 percent of the time you will be told that you take the table given or to eat elsewhere.

I would have given the person who at at your table a bill for the tip as well. How rude? I mean, at least ask first!

 

[sherry_car]

Or you could book an Illuminations cruise...

I would LOVE to book the cruise, but noone else thinks it is worth the money

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Dining with Illuminations view(s):
. . . Rose & Crown patio
. . . Cantina San Angel
. . . Tokyo Dining
. . . Bistro de Paris, limited quantity of window tables
. . . Liberty Inn, view of higher fireworks
. . . Yakatori House, view of higher fireworks
. . . Morocco Coffee and Pastries, view of higher fireworks