Dinner before Illuminations Cruise

[Shannon G]

Looking for opinions on various options being considered...

We will be staying at CSR in July. My niece & her fiance, who live about an hour away, are coming to spend a day with us. We are going to spend the day at Blizzard Beach, then go back to our room to shower & change.

Now for the dinner part... my original plan was to go to DS for the evening & have dinner at Morimoto Asia. But now I am thinking of splurging and surprising everyone with an Illuminations cruise. If we do that, our 6:30 Morimoto ADR won't work, since we need to be at the Yacht Club dock at 7:45.

So now I'm debating a few options:
1. eat at Morimoto earlier. But how early would we need to eat in order to be at YC on time (keeping in mind 5 of us will need to shower & change after we leave BB, before going to dinner)? I don't want it to end up feeling like I overscheduled the day.
2. Eat at our resort - Rix Sports Bar & Grill or Maya Grill?
3. Eat somewhere at Yacht Club / Beach Club / Boardwalk. I'd love it if I could get an ADR at Beaches & Cream, but there's no availability at this point.

Also, if I splurge on the cruise, I'd like to not spend too much on dinner.

Any opinions as to the best approach?

 

[Kaufeegurl]

I would eat where it will be easy to stroll to the dock after dinner. We have an Illuminations cruise booked for September and have an ADR at Flying Fish - one of our favorite restaurants on property. But - pricey. Someone said there is a restaurant similar to B&C at the Swan/Dolphin that is good.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would ditch the Morimoto idea. I think you will really be pressed for time to get back to CSR, shower, change, go to DS, eat and THEN go to YC. The last time we ate at Morimoto, we almost didn't make a movie that was right in DS, so I just wouldn't chance it.

I would do a restaurant at CSR or check the menu at Ale & Compass at YC. The food and atmosphere are lovely and it is not a signature, so the pricing isn't terrible. The YC boat dock is then a very short stroll from the restaurant.

 

[otg]

We did ale and compass before our cruise. It was a lovely night. I highly recommend the cruise.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Pizza at the BW window would be very reasonable.

 

[Shannon G]

Thanks for the suggestions. You have all confirmed my thought that trying to eat at Morimoto would be too much of a hassle and too rushed. I am going to keep trying to get an ADR at Beaches and Cream (we can eat the Kitchen Sink sundae for dinner ). Otherwise I am considering Big River Grille (we have eaten there before and enjoyed it). I like the idea of getting pizza at the Boardwalk, but am concerned that we may want somewhere inside to sit to get out of the heat for a bit while we eat. It looks like Big River takes reservations through Open Table starting 2 months out.

 

[Hopefully]

To answer your question I DO think you are over scheduling your day. I wouldn’t do the cruise

 

[leebee]

We've always had good meals at Big River Grill, and I LOVE that they take reservations on Open Table. I'd definitely book that, and then you can keep looking if you want to consider something else. I'd honestly prefer to eat at the Boardwalk prior to the cruise so that you are THERE than to eat at your resort and still have to do some bus-hopping to get to the cruise dock.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would eat somewhere nearby the cruise. There are great restaurants at the Epcot resorts and not all of them are hard to get a reservation for. Look and see what is available. Yachtsman Steakhouse is great, I haven't been to Ale and Compass but heard good things. Those two would be your closest options, but you'd be fine with any nearby. I think a 5:30/6pm reservation would be good to get you out on time for the cruise.

I think the cruise is a fantastic idea, especially with illuminations ending soon.