Help me Fit in Yachtsman, CP and Illuminations. While avoiding 5pm Showing

[BrittyRo]

So I originally had the day planned out easily.
8:40 GG CP
vs
12pm Spice Roads CPP
5:00pm CP
6:30 Yachtsman
9:30 Illuminations

Now I'm second guessing this 5:00pm CP because I would prefer it to be dark when we go. So I've been trying to move around plans but I'm having a difficulty time fitting it all in and I need help!

If I move the Yachtsman to 6pm will I make the 8:15pm CP (and not have a TERRIBLE seat)?

 

[jaysmom4285]

I assume you'd be doing Yachtsman without a CP dinner package. If you go there at 6 and don't linger excessively long, I don't think you'd have a problem getting to the 8:15 CP. But seating there is another issue if you don't have the package. You don't say what day of the week you're doing this or who the narrator is. If it's a weekend and/or the narrator is someone wildly popular, like Neil Patrick Harris or Whoopi Goldberg, you'll stand little to no chance of getting in standby without having stood in that line for a couple hours. If it's a weeknight with a narrator you've never heard of, your chances of getting in standby are pretty good without standing in line. This is how we have always done CP, as recently as last December, as I don't want to pay the inflated prices for an already expensive meal. We go on a weeknight with a lesser known narrator and wait outside the back of the theater by the ropes at the top of the aisles. After the CP people and the standby people are let in, there's almost always room for more, and the back of the theater is opened for those standing there. There really are no bad seats, IMHO, for this show, since you're just looking at the choirs and orchestra, and it's more listening to the music than what you see on stage.

 

[sharonabe]

If I move the Yachtsman to 6pm will I make the 8:15pm CP (and not have a TERRIBLE seat)?

Why not make the Yachtsman a little earlier? Even 5:30 would give you plenty of cushion to get back into EP and into the CP pkg line (assuming your keeping one of your package ressies, but with the 8:15 show). You will need to be in that line no later than 7:45, and 7:30 would probably be better. If Yachtsman is running or late or you want to linger a bit over dinner, 6:00 could be pushing it. At the very least, I would be checking my watch through the entire dinner and not enjoying it. You WANT to enjoy this meal and not feel rushed.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I assume you'd be doing Yachtsman without a CP dinner package. If you go there at 6 and don't linger excessively long, I don't think you'd have a problem getting to the 8:15 CP. But seating there is another issue if you don't have the package. You don't say what day of the week you're doing this or who the narrator is. If it's a weekend and/or the narrator is someone wildly popular, like Neil Patrick Harris or Whoopi Goldberg, you'll stand little to no chance of getting in standby without having stood in that line for a couple hours. If it's a weeknight with a narrator you've never heard of, your chances of getting in standby are pretty good without standing in line. This is how we have always done CP, as recently as last December, as I don't want to pay the inflated prices for an already expensive meal. We go on a weeknight with a lesser known narrator and wait outside the back of the theater by the ropes at the top of the aisles. After the CP people and the standby people are let in, there's almost always room for more, and the back of the theater is opened for those standing there. There really are no bad seats, IMHO, for this show, since you're just looking at the choirs and orchestra, and it's more listening to the music than what you see on stage.

This has not been my experience. Last year when I was there every show was "full" They did not let anyone in from the back as every bench was full every time I saw it. You might get lucky, but.. you might just be watching from the fountain (which is what I did )

 

[BrittyRo]

We are doing a package for either lunch or Breakfast. So we are "guaranteed a seat". I'm just trying to figure out if we are going to get a bad seat stuck behind a tree if we show up just in time at 8:10. If we order appetizers and entree if we'll have enough time with a 6pm (that's already pushing it on the early front. I can't see making it earlier than 6). How quick is the walk from Yachtsman to America Pavilion Theatre



If I do a 6:45 CP would I make a 7:30pm Yachtsman reservation and would from there be able to make a 9:30 Illuminations???

 

[jaysmom4285]

You're only guaranteed a seat if you show up early enough . They'll start letting the package people in a half hour, maybe more, before the show. When the majority of that line has gone in, they'll open up the standby line. If there's still room after that line goes in, they'll open it up to anyone standing around the back. So if you get there at 8:10, the place could be totally full. It isn't as if they save X number of seats for X number of CP dining package participants. It's still sort of first come, first served. Not sure how long it takes to walk there - I"m going to guess 15-10 minutes at a decent pace.

 

[sharonabe]

If I do a 6:45 CP would I make a 7:30pm Yachtsman reservation and would from there be able to make a 9:30 Illuminations???

The show is 45 minutes, so this won't work either. The only way it's going to work is to make the Yachtsman earlier or go on another night.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I would just stick to your orig time table. It will make you crazy otherwise trying to make it perfect. It never is. Go and enjoy the experience

 

[BrittyRo]

Sigh. All this could be easily fixed if Yachtsman was part of the Candlelight package LOL (in my dreams yeah right)

 

[Nancyg56]

We are doing a package for either lunch or Breakfast. So we are "guaranteed a seat". I'm just trying to figure out if we are going to get a bad seat stuck behind a tree if we show up just in time at 8:10. If we order appetizers and entree if we'll have enough time with a 6pm (that's already pushing it on the early front. I can't see making it earlier than 6). How quick is the walk from Yachtsman to America Pavilion Theatre



If I do a 6:45 CP would I make a 7:30pm Yachtsman reservation and would from there be able to make a 9:30 Illuminations???

You are NOT guaranteed a seat. You MUST be in line before the SB folks are let in, so depending on the narrator you will need to be in line at least 30 to 45 minutes ahead of time. I would stop trying to tweak this experience and keep what I have in place. When you cut things so close, you are trusting that the restaurant is in on your plans and will not run late to seat you, will have food and the bill delivered on you timeframe, and that evey star is aligned with you as well.

Whe I plan CP, that is my focus for that evening. No matter where we decide to eat, and the time, that's all we fit in. I'm pretty good at judging how much we can manage, but I also know that if we try to put too much into any given block of time, nothing is fun.