Garden Grill and Crystal Palace- Worth stressing over?

Jacie

Disney Obsessed!
Joined
Jun 25, 2011
I still have 48 days to go, but I am constantly calling and checking online for the reservations. I have a Crystal Palace 8:15 on our first day there (So before park opening!) and a Garden Grill dinner later that week, both for 4. MIL and FIL have decided to come as well, and I was able to modify everything so far but those two, and I'm so stressed over it, and I wonder if they are even stress worthy. How neat is it getting into MK before they open? Do you get a good chance to take pictures and muddle around for a minute, or do they shoo you to the restaurant? We can take or leave WTP, so it's more about the breakfast itself and getting in early. (I'm trying to decide if we should do something else that morning...) And Garden Grill, is it really that awesome and yummy? Is that one worth keeping, and perhaps hitting a little early to see if they have room for my extra two?
I'm going to keep looking, but I don't know if I am stressing myself out over things that aren't even worth it, ya know?
 
Oh, isn't it stressful when you finally get the coveted ADR, only to find others want to join you? :upsidedow

First, do NOT let go of those! Just call the dining hotline, explain the situation, and ask them if they'd pretty please add 2 diners on to your reservation. In *many* cases, they can do this (we just did the same thing last week b/c some relatives in the Orlando area want to join us for a few meals). This is the only way to modify an existing reservation - and the best way to keep a hard-to-get reservation in this situation. ;) They are used to this, so give them a call.

In cases where they're not able to add extra diners, they will usually advise that you go ahead with the reservation and show up a little early to ask if you and your extra diners can be accommodated (usually when you only have 1 or 2 extra diners). Again, if this is the case, go early and be prepared to wait just a bit. :)

Second, getting into the park early is kind of neat! We did this when dd had a BBB reservation last year - the park was completely empty and it was so cool to walk right up to Cinderella's castle and get an amazing photo of dd out front with NOBODY else in the background! Nobody shoo'd us anywhere or asked what we were doing. They are pretty used to early visitors scurrying off to dining reservations, so relax and enjoy a few snapshots of each other in an empty park. All you have to do is go to the entrance like you normally would, give them your reservation # (and your admission card!) and you're off. :goodvibes
 
BTW, sounds like we're going to be @ the park around the same time! I, too, will be waiting to see if we can add one more person to our reservation @ 1900 Park Fare (couldn't add it via the dining line). If you see a frazzled mom with three kids running around waiting on an elderly aunt to show up, please be sure to smile and wave. :rotfl:
 
Haha Mare! Thank you for the words of comfort- I needed it! My husband keeps saying, "Oh, don't stress, we have 6 weeks still!" But he doesn't understand how frustrating it is to work on it a few times a day and come up empty!
i was thinking with GG, we'd just show up a bit early and see, and if not, utilize CS that day, and have an extra meal the next day to keep or cancel.
CP worries me though, because I don't think they'll let the 6 of us in the park early for a reservation for 4. I'm hoping if I explain nicely that we just have two for *standby* they might let us in, but I'm weary.
I'm going to call again right now and see what they say. I have 2 reservations I need linked too. I'm hoping they can do that as well (I found reservations for 2 for our Tusker house and just booked it, and need us all together now!)

Haha, I'll keep an eye out for my frustrated doppelganger :P I'm sure between all this, and my Inlaws, I'll be a cool cucumber the whooooole time! :O
 


I didn't read the other replies, but did you check for tables of 2? They may be able to arrange for your table to be near or connected to the table of 2.
 
As far as "being worth it," personally, we really love the CP breakfast. Made to order omelets and the puffed french toast really make a great breakfast (to us). And my kids LOVE the pooh characters, so it's a win-win for us.

Garden Grill we like better than some character meals, but we don't love it. It is a neat experience with the restaurant rotating thru a rain forest, and the food is pretty good, but if you had to give up one of them, I'd choose that one.
 
We have done the before park opening breakfasts 6 or 7 times. They have never asked for my name. We get in the breakfast line and they just let us all in at 8:00. So I don't think you'll have any trouble getting into the park. Then I'd tell them you have the 2 extras at CP. I would guess they will accomodate you.
 


I think CP is worth it but I wouldn't stress too much over it. Are you going at a very busy time? If not, I wouldn't even worry about it. We were there about 2 weeks ago & I was so stressed beforehand about my ADR's because we only booked the trip about 15 days before we went. I felt like I spent every waking moment on the cancellation threads and the Disney dining website. As it turns out I was stressed for nothing. I have an Iphone and when I was there I would periodically check the dining website just to see what was available for that day or the next day. So many places came up, i.e. LeCellier, 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace, and even Ohana's one time. So, if you have access to a smartphone or if you call the dining line when you get there, there is a very good chance you'll have no problem changing your ressies at that time.

Also, I don't think GG is worth it. We went on our 2 previous trips and really didn't like it the last time we went. The food is just not that good, my kids barely ate anything. The setting is neat & the character interaction is good, but we just don't love it there. My kids vetoed it for our most recent trip.
 
CP pre-park opening is definitely worth it, but I also wouldn't stress too hard. We've always had no problem getting in and it's so nice to have some quiet time in MK. I agree that you should be looking for a party of 2 as that's going to be soooooooo much easier to get. Would your MIL and FIL understand if you weren't able to find anything for them? I mean- I know that's not the ideal result, but I think about my parents and they'd probably be OK with missing out knowing that the grandbabies at least got to go and enjoy Pooh and Friends.

We've never been to Garden Grill, so I have no frame of reference on that.
 
they are worth it. Keep trying and trying. I had that problem a few months ago when my mom decided to cancel her trip then decided to rejoin our family trip. Keep trying! worse comes try booking them as a seperate party of 2 for around the same time and ask to all be seated together. that's what I did and all restaurants were able to accommodate us but our reservations were at exactly the same time.
 

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