Disney Date Night

[jwrentzel]

After years of doing the family/kids thing for our whole trip, I'll be getting to do something I never thought possible, having a Disney date night with my wife. The in laws are coming with us this year and are insisting that my wife and I go out one night on our trip. I'm thinking about checking off 2 of my Disney bucket list items that night and do Trader Sam's followed by California Grill for fireworks. My question is, how are the lines to get into Trader Sam's? We will be there the last week in August on a Tuesday so I would assume lines wouldn't be that bad. If we get to Trader Sam's around 5 will that give us enough time to get in, not feel rushed, and be able to make to California Grill for a 7:30 or 8ish reservation? It will be out AK day so we'll probably be out of the park around 3:30ish and not be able to make to TS much earlier than 5.

 

[scrump]

After years of doing the family/kids thing for our whole trip, I'll be getting to do something I never thought possible, having a Disney date night with my wife. The in laws are coming with us this year and are insisting that my wife and I go out one night on our trip. I'm thinking about checking off 2 of my Disney bucket list items that night and do Trader Sam's followed by California Grill for fireworks. My question is, how are the lines to get into Trader Sam's? We will be there the last week in August on a Tuesday so I would assume lines wouldn't be that bad. If we get to Trader Sam's around 5 will that give us enough time to get in, not feel rushed, and be able to make to California Grill for a 7:30 or 8ish reservation? It will be out AK day so we'll probably be out of the park around 3:30ish and not be able to make to TS much earlier than 5.

I can't answer your question, but just wanted to say that "Disney Date Night" are three words that make me super happy and I hope to be able to write a similar post as yours one day!!

I hope you get the information you need and enjoy!!!!

 

[armerida]

If we get to Trader Sam's around 5 will that give us enough time to get in, not feel rushed, and be able to make to California Grill for a 7:30 or 8ish reservation? It will be out AK day so we'll probably be out of the park around 3:30ish and not be able to make to TS much earlier than 5.

It's hard to say...Sometimes, we get there and there's no wait at all. A few weeks ago, we went around 9:00 after CG dinner and there was an hour + wait. You could always elect to sit outside on the Tiki Terrace (same menu) if the wait is prohibitive...

 

[DisneyWishes14]

After years of doing the family/kids thing for our whole trip, I'll be getting to do something I never thought possible, having a Disney date night with my wife. The in laws are coming with us this year and are insisting that my wife and I go out one night on our trip. I'm thinking about checking off 2 of my Disney bucket list items that night and do Trader Sam's followed by California Grill for fireworks. My question is, how are the lines to get into Trader Sam's? We will be there the last week in August on a Tuesday so I would assume lines wouldn't be that bad. If we get to Trader Sam's around 5 will that give us enough time to get in, not feel rushed, and be able to make to California Grill for a 7:30 or 8ish reservation? It will be out AK day so we'll probably be out of the park around 3:30ish and not be able to make to TS much earlier than 5.

I think getting to Trader Sam's at 5:00 pm and doing an 8:00 pm reservation at Cali Grill allows you sufficient time to do both. Even if you had a 90 minute wait to get into Trader Sam's (which I do not think would happen), that gives you 45 minutes to an hour to be in the lounge and still make it to Cali Grill on time. You may end up with a ton of time to kill, however. It's just very hard to judge what your actual wait time will be to get into Trader Sam's. If you are ok with waiting around or walking around exploring Poly (and even GF which is just monorail stop or walk away), that's the time frame I would go with.

 

[drwadadli]

After years of doing the family/kids thing for our whole trip, I'll be getting to do something I never thought possible, having a Disney date night with my wife. The in laws are coming with us this year and are insisting that my wife and I go out one night on our trip. I'm thinking about checking off 2 of my Disney bucket list items that night and do Trader Sam's followed by California Grill for fireworks. My question is, how are the lines to get into Trader Sam's? We will be there the last week in August on a Tuesday so I would assume lines wouldn't be that bad. If we get to Trader Sam's around 5 will that give us enough time to get in, not feel rushed, and be able to make to California Grill for a 7:30 or 8ish reservation? It will be out AK day so we'll probably be out of the park around 3:30ish and not be able to make to TS much earlier than 5.

I think @DisneyWishes14 covered your questions pretty well.

But just to give you another thought......
We love date night at Disney and on one trip, we did something similar to you (trying new things and doing a lounge prior to dinner). I am only mentioning this since you will be at AK already. We did drinks at Nomad's Lounge and then went to dinner at Tiffins. This way we got to do AK at night which was also a first for us as we typically thought of AK as a half-day park. It was GREAT seeing AK at night with Pandora all lit up and the Tree of Life along with all the sounds of the animals at night.
Again....just a thought

 

[armerida]

Love Nomad Lounge! You can make a whole meal of their delicious small plates...One of my fav things to do is lounge on their couches and people watch...

 

[gharter]

We always did those and loved them.
Trade Sams is very busy at opening. You need to have your name on the list 30-45 minutes before opening and then show up about 5 minutes before they open. They will send you a text, but also call the people who are there in line before you get back.
We have had luck about 8:30 or 9 with a short wait.
Followed by California Grill is a great night.
We also enjoy Victoria Falls followed by Jiko at Animal Kingdon Lodge or Nomad lounge followed by TIffins at Animal Kingdom.

 

[Ben E N]

I'm so excited for you. My wife and I got equally as lucky as a chance to celebrate our 10 year anniversary and did what you are doing, but in reverse. We loved enjoying the sunset at California Grill, and then viewed the fireworks from the Trader Sam's outdoor patio. We then completed the date with a drink at the Grand Floridian grill.
Just wanted to throw out that doing things this way was very relaxing and enjoyable.