Monorail resort for dinner before Pirate and Pals?

[pinkxray]

I just booked the Pirate and Pals firework voyage for May 24, so we we will need to be at the CR by 8:45. I was hoping to get Chef Mickeys or Ohana but they are both booked. I ended up getting Kona at 6pm for that day. Does anyone any other suggestions or should I just keep Kona. Also if I need to get to CR by 8:45 what is the latest I should make a dinner ADR to make it on time? How much time does it take from the Poly to CR? 6 or 6:30? 1900 park fare is out b/c my daughter doesn't want to see the mean characters. It will be 2 adults and 1 5 year old girl

 

[shawnh199]

We enjoyed the Grand Floridian Cafe as another option for you. Keep trying for Chef Mickey's or Ohana; you might get lucky. We weren't able to get Ohana at first, but got it closer to our trip. Your dinner time will be more tricky though.

I would give yourself atleast 15 minutes, but probably more for the monorail trip. Sometimes you can catch one right away, but we had lengthy waits for the monorail several times (of course when we were in a hurry and needed to get to an ADR) and once it took over 20 minutes for one to get to us. We were late to our ADR but luckily we were seated right away. If for some reason the monorails are not working you can catch a boat to Magic Kindom and walk (I have read it's about a 5 minute walk) or take a boat to CR.

You should be more than OK with your 6pm ressie at Kona. Even if it took you 2 hours to eat, which I'm sure it won't, you'd make it to CR in plenty of time.

Best advice I can give you on getting done at a restaurant: settle your check as early as possible, especially if you are on a dining plan and tell your waiter ahead of time that you need to make it to CR by 8:45. You may want to order your appetizer, entree and dessert at one time to save a little time as well. Anything can help, especially if you get something with a later ADR.

 

[B-Ride]

I just booked the Pirate and Pals firework voyage for May 24, so we we will need to be at the CR by 8:45. I was hoping to get Chef Mickeys or Ohana but they are both booked. I ended up getting Kona at 6pm for that day. Does anyone any other suggestions or should I just keep Kona. Also if I need to get to CR by 8:45 what is the latest I should make a dinner ADR to make it on time? How much time does it take from the Poly to CR? 6 or 6:30? 1900 park fare is out b/c my daughter doesn't want to see the mean characters. It will be 2 adults and 1 5 year old girl

Kona Cafe is an excellent restaurant so I would keep it.

3 stops on the resort monorail would normally take about 15 minutes including the time to catch the monorail but I would allow for 20 to 25 to be safe. Nothing spoils a meal faster than anxiety about getting to something on time.

With a 6:00 ADR I would suspect that you will be at least an hour early if you go straight to the CR after dinner. We have always been seated promptly at Kona and dinner would be 1.5 hours maximum.

Still I would keep the ADR and enjoy a leisurely meal. If you finish early check out the shops at the Poly and walk around the resort. If you are like us you might fall in love with it and end up staying there on your next trip.

Then head over to the CR and check out the shops there as well.

 

[childressva01]

I have 5:00 at Ohana and then need to catch the same cruise at Contemporary at 6:30-6:45 - am I in trouble?

 

[PamelaKay]

I know it is not a monorail resort, but the Whispering Canyon Cafe is yummy and fun at the WL which is a very short boat ride to the Contemporary resort.

 

[mommyoftwinz]

I would keep trying Ohana or on your way to Khona that night stop in and see if you can be seated. The food there was one of the best we had. It's family style, they just keep bringing you dishes and they grill everything there on a big grill in the middle of the room and you can have as much as you'd like. The kids did limbo and enjoyed the lays. It was fun. Also, you mentioned 1900 Park Fare. We had dinner there, that is a buffet, the food was good and since it's buffet I think it's a little bit faster if you need to get somewhere. Also, there really weren't scary characters, only the stepmother, they had Cinderella, Prince Charming and the step sisters who were so much fun. We enjoyed that one too. They each came around at least twice and the desserts were good. The GF cafe was very good too. Have fun.