Le Cellier before Illuminations

[Baloo76]

We have ADRs for Le Cellier on Fri Jan 11 at 4:30 and 7:10. We would prefer to eat dinner at 7:10 but are afraid we won't get out in time to get a good spot for illuminations @ 9, and I don't want to spend the whole meal looking at my watch. However, I'm not too keen on eating dinner at 4:30.
Do you think we'll be safe if we do the 7:10 and show up at 6:50? Sometimes I wonder if there is even a good Illuminations spot to show up early for in the first place (unlike parades).

Thanks for your advice!

 

[figment_jii]

We have ADRs for Le Cellier on Fri Jan 11 at 4:30 and 7:10. We would prefer to eat dinner at 7:10 but are afraid we won't get out in time to get a good spot for illuminations @ 9, and I don't want to spend the whole meal looking at my watch. However, I'm not too keen on eating dinner at 4:30.
Do you think we'll be safe if we do the 7:10 and show up at 6:50? Sometimes I wonder if there is even a good Illuminations spot to show up early for in the first place (unlike parades).

Thanks for your advice!

If you don't want to worry, I would go with the earlier ADR or keep trying for one at a better time. I've found that LC seating can be erratic; I've had to wait more than 45 minutes past my ADR and I've been seated as soon as I arrived another time. Generally, I've had to wait until a little past my ADR time to be seated.

That being said, you'll probably be okay. Le Cellier takes about 90 minutes for dinner, so you should be finished around 8:45 pm. You can speed things up a little by ordering all courses at once and asking for the bill as soon as the last course arrives. Luckily there are a lot of good places to watch IllumiNations from all around World Showcase and, except during the really busy time during the year, you can pretty much find a spot up to when the show starts.