Do you think i can do this at Cali Grill?

[LSUfan4444]

I made reservations for my parents the night we arrive to WDW at 6:30 pm.

If i went by the restaurant earlier that day could i pre order and pre pay for them?

Has anyone ever tried this?

 

[Disneyadore]

If it was me I would ask if they could charge the meal to my room. It seems strange to pre order for adults let alone if the would like an adult drink.
Give them your room card and let them enjoy the meal .
If you share a room than the solutions is even more simple just charge it to the room.

 

[LSUfan4444]

If it was me I would ask if they could charge the meal to my room. It seems strange to pre order for adults let alone if the would like an adult drink.
Give them your room card and let them enjoy the meal .
If you share a room than the solutions is even more simple just charge it to the room.

Strange to order for adults? You never order for your wife or have your husband order for you?

I am already pre purchasing their wine, so the alcohol isn't an issue and we arent staying in the same room, but i wasnt aware i could purchase an entire meal simly by giving them my room key and have them charge it to my room.?.?

You sure about that? They are not using ddp for this meal.

 

[mrsxsparrow]

Why don't you just get them a gift card in the amount you think their meal would be?

 

[LSUfan4444]

Why don't you just get them a gift card in the amount you think their meal would be?

Because thats (gc's) alot less personal. I buy restaurant gc's as x-mas bonuses for my employees, it's just not the same.

I'd give them my credit card before i did that.

I'll call the grill later today and ask, but thought i'd try my luck here first.

 

[Disneyadore]

Strange to order for adults? You never order for your wife or have your husband order for you?

I am already pre purchasing their wine, so the alcohol isn't an issue and we arent staying in the same room, but i wasnt aware i could purchase an entire meal simly by giving them my room key and have them charge it to my room.?.?

You sure about that? They are not using ddp for this meal.

If you put them on the room key yes they need nothing else to pay. That is the pixie dust of the room key
I'm sorry but pre ordering for my parents would be very strange to me. There not little children I can order around and tell them tho eat this or that.
O and of course I ordered for my husband because his English is not so good but that is after he decided what he would like.
Ask if they could be seated with Gary the waiter. He is a little gem in serving people.

 

[LSUfan4444]

If you put them on the room key yes they need nothing else to pay. That is the pixie dust of the room key
I'm sorry but pre ordering for my parents would be very strange to me. There not little children I can order around and tell them tho eat this or that.
O and of course I ordered for my husband because his English is not so good but that is after he decided what he would like.
Ask if they could be seated with Gary the waiter. He is a little gem in serving people.

Ordering for someone has nothing to do with telling someone what to eat.

Maybe its a polite southern thing where it isnt considered insulting at all, but rather quite the opposite. My wife will order for both of us all the time and i will do the same for her, but again, this is how we were raised.

Try it some time, your husband may like it.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well-it does appear that not many people have tried this.

If you do call CG, let us know what their response was.

 

[Disneyadore]

Ordering for someone has nothing to do with telling someone what to eat.

Maybe its a polite southern thing where it isnt considered insulting at all, but rather quite the opposite. My wife will order for both of us all the time and i will do the same for her, but again, this is how we were raised.

Try it some time, your husband may like it.

Than I did misunderstand you but how will you know what the end bill will be?
I just thought it would be strange to pay the bill upfront while there are so many choices on the menu.
I only can think this would work if you payed all the most expensive things upfront. But again the room key would solve all this problems.

Our ten year old niece used it to buy things and order alone at a QS restaurant.
Like Uncleromelus said tell us how this works out.

 

[GailT]

if CG wil do it, just do it, nthing wrong with that, i do things I am sure different then othes do, just the way we were all raised growing up. Hope everything works out perfect for you

 

[LSUfan4444]

Well-it does appear that not many people have tried this.

If you do call CG, let us know what their response was.

I called and left them a message, but they mention it may take 2 days to get back with me. Ill update as soon as i hear.

Than I did misunderstand you but how will you know what the end bill will be?

Because i will go to the restaurant the day of their reservation (a few hours before). I will look at the menu that night, order their courses, their wine and two non alcoholic beverages. I will then pay the bill, leaving a 25% gratuity in cash for the server who takes care of them.

If someone did that for you, you would take it as someone was telling you what to eat?

 

[TDC Nala]

I wouldn't want anyone else to order for me. Maybe the wine, but not the food. I do let my friend pick wines as he knows lots more about them than I do. I couldn't imagine leaving it up to him to pick my entree though.

But everyone's different. I'm sure you know what they like.

 

[Disneyadore]

I called and left them a message, but they mention it may take 2 days to get back with me. Ill update as soon as i hear.



Because i will go to the restaurant the day of their reservation (a few hours before). I will look at the menu that night, order their courses, their wine and two non alcoholic beverages. I will then pay the bill, leaving a 25% gratuity in cash for the server who takes care of them.

If someone did that for you, you would take it as someone was telling you what to eat?

Sorry yes that would bother me very much. I don't know what I would like to eat when I'm looking at the menu. Maybe I like fish today or maybe a steak.
As for the dessert I even tried one,didn't like it and ordered another and of course paid for both.
Again sorry but I would never force my parents to eat what I choose for them let alone decide my children what I would like to eat. (They will get there chance to order me around when I'm suffering from dementia but not sooner)

But like TDC Nala said you will know best what your parent will eat.

 

[crashbb]

I called and left them a message, but they mention it may take 2 days to get back with me. Ill update as soon as i hear.



Because i will go to the restaurant the day of their reservation (a few hours before). I will look at the menu that night, order their courses, their wine and two non alcoholic beverages. I will then pay the bill, leaving a 25% gratuity in cash for the server who takes care of them.

If someone did that for you, you would take it as someone was telling you what to eat?

You ARE telling them what to eat. You are choosing their courses which is telling them what to eat. Heck, I don't even want to choose during the afternoon what I myself will eat that evening - you never know if I'll feel like something else.

My partner (family member/friend/whatever), suggesting a meal while we are at the restaurant and ordering is totally different. I'd still find it weird if they arbitrarily decided my entire order though, unless we were eating at some sort of ethnic restaurant where I was not familiar with the food and they were (for example, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. I've never eaten Ethiopian food, so my friend ordered the entire meal).

Don't you need to sign when you use your room though? Can someone not on the room charge to that room? That seems strange to me. Perhaps though, you could pre-authorise the use of your room key if you speak the restaurant ahead of time.

 

[Nadjalu]

From all the other threads concerning "paying for someone's dinner at..." the consenses is that it can't be done.

I would highly doubt if CG or any other restaurant is going to let you come in a few hours before someone else, order their entire meal and pay for it.
How is the restaurant to know everyone concerning this matter will "stick to the plan"? They don't, yes I have heard of people ordering others meals and I think it is the dark ages personally...but my opinion really doesn't matter.
What is between you and your family is just that.

But why would the restaurant want or accept the responsibility of you doing this?

I can see it now (from the restaurant's point of view)

You come in order everything and pay, then your parents come in and sit down. Whose job is it to come over and say "so and so has ordered this for you....
At that point your parents could very well look at the server and get upset, mad, think he/she is telling what they can and can't have.
What a terrible scenario.

No I don't think any restaurant will take that on....but let us know if they do.

 

[LSUfan4444]

From all the other threads concerning "paying for someone's dinner at..." the consenses is that it can't be done.

I would highly doubt if CG or any other restaurant is going to let you come in a few hours before someone else, order their entire meal and pay for it.

I have already done this twice at two separate wdw restaurants (V&A and Tuto Italia) so im not really sure why this seems so impossible.

Each time the order was kept (down to the temperature of the meat) and given to the server when they checked in for their reservation.

And although i completely disagree, i understand how some people wouldn't want someone else ordering their meal. Some people dine for different reasons and look for different things. Its a difference in culture, and i would never attempt to do this in a professional setting or for someone for whom i KNOW wouldnt appreciate and enjoy the experience.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Don't you need to sign when you use your room though? Can someone not on the room charge to that room? That seems strange to me. Perhaps though, you could pre-authorise the use of your room key if you speak the restaurant ahead of time.

Thats what i thought. I thought the person had to be present whos name was on the room key and that an ID might even be required for a bill that high.

If it came down to that anyway, i would probably just give my parents my credit card or see if i can leave it with the mgr.

I don't think i'd pursue the room key idea.

 

[EeyoreEma]

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I think it's a very sweet idea to do that for your parents. I would love it if someone who knew me well enough to know my tastes would pick out a menu that they knew I would like and order it for me. It's not really any different than inviting someone over to your house and preparing a meal for them that you know they'll enjoy.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[Disneyadore]

Thats what i thought. I thought the person had to be present whos name was on the room key and that an ID might even be required for a bill that high.

No that is not necessary. We were five and all room keys were tied to my CC.
My sister and I split up a few times and she could hand over the room key and sent the bill to our room. As said my ten year old niece could use it whiteout a problem.

As long as you don't spend more than the amount the card is good for (1500 $$) there is no problem and the bill at a restaurant will be not that high,we could even pay V&A with it.
If you need more than that amount you can go to concierge and they will help you.

 

[crashbb]

No that is not necessary. We were five and all room keys were tied to my CC.
My sister and I split up a few times and she could hand over the room key and sent the bill to our room. As said my ten year old niece could use it whiteout a problem.

As long as you don't spend more than the amount the card is good for (1500 $$) there is no problem and the bill at a restaurant will be not that high,we could even pay V&A with it.
If you need more than that amount you can go to concierge and they will help you.

But were you all in the same room? That would make sense, since all room keys are tied to the same credit card. So, everyone was using their own key (thus they would have id linked to that key).

I think that the OP and her parents are in different rooms. So, her parents don't have a key linked to her credit card.