Illuminations

[tikkipoo]

I had read that you see Illuminations really well from Crown and Rose's patio. Has anyone been able to request this and actually happen. Can you request a patio seat when you call to make PS?

 

[Crazy Hakim]

I had read that you see Illuminations really well from Crown and Rose's patio. Has anyone been able to request this and actually happen. Can you request a patio seat when you call to make PS?

WDW-DINE is not able to guarentee any sort of table request. There is no way on the CRS that they can "see" which specific tables are available at the time of booking (other than a table size). The best plan would be to arrive early, tell the podium staff that you have a PS and that you would like to request a patio table so you can view IllumiNations. Then patiently wait.
Also be advised, that even if you don't get a patio table, you can have your meal delivered before or after IllumiNations and you will be able to step outside and watch it at 9pm.

 

[kandmwedding]

We had a patio seat in January 2004. Illuminations began at 9 and we had a PS for 8. We arrived at 7:45 and requested a patio table and said we were willing to wait as long as necessary. We ended up getting a seat at about 8:45. The host told us he was shocked that a group decided to leave their table that late, and that we were very lucky. Normally they wouldn't have us wait around for an hour (they'd just say there wasn't one available) but we were on our honeymoon (mouse ears and all) so I think that made a difference. For what it's worth, I don't think this is the best spot to view Illuminations. From that angle you see a lot of fire and not a whole lot of the globe or the watershow. It's nice to be able to eat and watch the show, but I really don't think the view is all it's cracked up to be. I'd personally much rather snag a bench in China, grab some counter service and sit there to watch the show.

 

[tikkipoo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll do just that. I plan on doing that for our arrival day/night. Thought it'd be a great way to kick off our vacation.

 

[MNSusan]

We watched IllumiNations from the patio at Rose & Crown about ten days ago. It was during the cold snap and NO ONE was outside. We ordered hot tea at the bar and just sat at a patio table. We thought the view was GREAT, even better than when we were able to view it from the VIP area (a particularly nice CM was working the rope line and let us in).

Good luck.