Ralph Brennan's for Thursday pianos or Sunday Brunch?

[sweethannah]

I can finally make some rezzies for my trip this Sept hurray!!!

The first place I want to make a reservation for is Ralph Brennan's but I'm not sure if I should make it for Thursday ( dueling pianos ) or Sunday for Brunch + live jazz.

Both days would be dedicated park days for us.

Thursday will be our first day at the Parks and the hours should be something like 8a/10a - 8pm. On this day we would probably go the whole day at the Park without a break so an early dinner/late lunch around 4ish would be ideal to give us time to eat and then use our last remaining FP before the park closes.

Sunday the Parks will be open earlier and stay open later so my plan of attack for Sunday was to start the day early then have brunch at Ralph's before heading back to our hotel for a nap and a swim. This would give us our evening free to perhaps another sit down dinner option or CS depending on how I plan our days. Also with a bigger meal in the middle of the day we could possibly snack ( bacon wrapped asparagus ) during the later part of the evening instead of a full dinner.

What do you guys think? 6 of 1 - 1/2 dozen of the other?

 

[NVDisMom]

The Dueling Pianos were the highlight of our May trip! I believe they do not start until 9ish, though. So that may be too late for you guys.

We had a mixed group of teens/adults, three families, and had an absolute blast singing and playing along with the two very talented gentleman that night. I can't say enough positive things about the night. I'm sure the rest of the place thought we were nuts.. Karaoke is always a hit with this particular group and this just took it to the live arena. Seriously, no one else knew the words to all of the Queen songs except us crazy peeps!

 

[jkh1978]

We tried to go to Jellyrolls at WDW but it was always sold out by the time we got there.

I didn't know that they did this at the jazz kitchen. How crowded does it get? Is there a cover charge or minimum? What are the hours?

 

[NVDisMom]

We tried to go to Jellyrolls at WDW but it was always sold out by the time we got there.

I didn't know that they did this at the jazz kitchen. How crowded does it get? Is there a cover charge or minimum? What are the hours?

Check their website for details. No cover and I don't recall a minimum. We spent more than enough. Lol. We made ressies ahead of time, so no problem getting in, but it was packed in no time!

 

[BayGirl22]

Is the Dueling Pianos PG-13/R rated or appropriate for younger kids? I love those kind of things, and we're planning to have dinner at Ralph Brennan's earlier that night. Wondering if we can hang out for part of the Pianos show or if I should plan to get the kids out of there.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Personally, I think the dueling pianos at the Jazz Kitchen have more adult oriented themes to some of their songs. I wouldn't take my young kids to watch them.

 

[NVDisMom]

Is the Dueling Pianos PG-13/R rated or appropriate for younger kids? I love those kind of things, and we're planning to have dinner at Ralph Brennan's earlier that night. Wondering if we can hang out for part of the Pianos show or if I should plan to get the kids out of there.

Our girls ranged in age from 10 to 15. The music certainly wasn't Disney, but I hear worse on the radio. I think small kids would get bored that late, but any inappropriate themes in the music would likely go over their heads.

 

[figment_jii]

I would pick based on the menu! I love the Sunday Brunch with the live jazz music. Being that it's a brunch, things are much more low-key than the Dueling Piano. I've been there once with the pianos and it seemed like they were meant to be the focus, whereas the jazz music is...I hate to say background music, because it's more than that...but it was there to be listened to, but not necessarily be focused on. It's hard to describe...

 

[DisneytheKid]

That sounds awesome!

The Dueling Pianos were the highlight of our May trip! I believe they do not start until 9ish, though. So that may be too late for you guys.

We had a mixed group of teens/adults, three families, and had an absolute blast singing and playing along with the two very talented gentleman that night. I can't say enough positive things about the night. I'm sure the rest of the place thought we were nuts.. Karaoke is always a hit with this particular group and this just took it to the live arena. Seriously, no one else knew the words to all of the Queen songs except us crazy peeps!

 

[BayGirl22]

Our girls ranged in age from 10 to 15. The music certainly wasn't Disney, but I hear worse on the radio. I think small kids would get bored that late, but any inappropriate themes in the music would likely go over their heads.

Thanks, that's kind of what I was wondering. Mine are younger 3 and a baby. The baby will probably be asleep in the carrier by then, but the 3 year old is likely to still be up at 9pm on a vacation night if we take our time at dinner. He likes watching live music so I think he'd enjoy catching a bit of it. Adult jokes or innuendos will be way over his head, as long as its not outright profanity or graphic songs. (Most of the shows I've been to degrade to that later in the night, but don't start out that way, but they aren't at Disney either.)

 

[I❤MICKEY]

Where is Ralph Brennan's? DTD? Do you make your reservations directly with the restaurant or through Disney Dining? How far in advance can you make reservations?

Dueling pianos sound like a lot of fun.

 

[sweethannah]

Oh my! Thank you everyone for your responses! You guys are so insightful

My DH and I have hashed it out and we think that Sunday for Brunch will work best for us.

If we plan to go all day on Thursday at DL I think that we'd be too pooped to to enjoy the Dueling Pianos and for some reason I thought they ran from 4-9pm not started at 9pm which might be too late for our DD8 after a long full day in the Parks. Rather than go tired with a tired kid we'll go on Sunday, before we even go to the Parks and get stuffed on a big Brunch. We were going to make Sunday a bit more of a relaxing day with the intention of hitting the Parks in the evening so we can take our time over Brunch and start our day off right.

Plus I think DD will LOVE the kids buffet.

So the new plan is to do Cafe Orleans on Thursday for a dinner in the Park and Sunday brunch at Ralph Brennan's. If anything maybe I'll make a reservation for after 8pm, for just my DH and I if Grandma doesn't mind a little babysitting

Mickey - Ralph Brennan's is in DTD and yes you would make reservations through Disney dining.