How "worth-it" is a restaurant reservation for watching Illuminations?

Asnell

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 30, 2013
Messages
332
Is it with spending the extra time, do you think, to do TS someplace that has a good view of Illuminations, vs. sitting/standing around to watch the show? (Considering Tokyo Dining) I'm thinking of the time commitments involved...if 7-9pm is usually a time when lines at the attractions are shorter, is it better to use the time for that than a long dinner?

Or do you have to line up a long time in advance to see Illuminations anyway, negating the time-savings of a QS dinner?
 
I don't think it's worth it. If you want front row in a specific spot, you'll want to set up shop 45-60 minutes before. I would grab something to much on and find a spot to stake out and eat while you wait.
 
I would not bother doing this.

Not least is the issue of your actual seat in the restaurant. Trust me, they know you want the window seat in Tokyo Dining. They also know you want the patio tables at Rose & Crown. They are wise to you. When you get there, they're 99 percent likely to seat you at a table without a view (as most tables do not have one). Also, if your reservation is more than 1 hour before the show, they will incessantly remind you (certainly Rose & Crown does) that you are to eat and leave, and not linger.

We had an ADR at Rose & Crown at 4pm last trip. They put us outside on the patio, but reminded us probably 20 times during the 1 hour (yes, we were only there for ONE HOUR) we were there that we had a time limit on the table and we could not stay. (Honestly who would camp a table for 5 full hours waiting for the 9pm fireworks? I have better things to do in 5 hours at EPCOT, but clearly it's a problem, or they would not be harassing people at 4pm.) The hostess who seated us, the table server, and random people filling water glasses reminded us constantly that our table had a time limit. Frankly the experience was annoying and offensive enough that we decided not to return to R&C, and if we ever change our minds about eating there, we will insist on an inside table so we can eat our meal without being bugged about leaving before we've even ordered our food.

If you do get lucky enough to have a seat with a view, prepare for half the restaurant to crowd your table so they can see, too. (Yep, that's happened to us too, complete with somebody's kid coughing into my food.)

Recommend you just find a nice spot to watch about 8:30 or so - there are many good spots around the lagoon. They drag the barges out there and start prepping their fireworks midafternoon so you have plenty of time to decide where you want to watch from and gauge the view before returning there later!
 
My suggestion: Grow to 6'7" like me and then everywhere is a good Illuminations view. :rotfl:

I really enjoyed the R&C story. That's really sad that they are that annoying about it. But I also don't understand camping a patio table for 5 hours when you could just get a bench 5 hours early and no one would try to harass you.
 

I don't find it worth it to get a reservation just to see the fireworks, but if you want to eat anyway, you could try it. We had a 7:30 for Rose and Crown several years ago. While we didn't get an inside table, we were finishing up dinner and went down on the viewing area to watch Illuminations. While it was nice, it wasn't worth it just for the fireworks view. We had never eaten at R&C and wanted to eat there anyway. We have eaten at Tokyo dining before and the food is good. Our reservation was not late enough to watch Illuminations. I think we ate around 6:00. No one told us we had to leave at a certain time while we were dining there. Then again, we didn't have a table that would have worked for viewing Illuminations anyway.
 
Find a spot to watch about 8:15 or so. Then send some one to grab something to eat. We like fish and chips and something from the French bakery. Pay attention to the wind direction too. The smoke can be bad if you watch from downwind.
 

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