Yes, we did this last year. I found out through research that a good time to get your ressie is 7:20. It took me calling everyday for a month, but we got it. I checked in around 7:00, told them we would like a seat by the water. The girl politely told me that you get what you get when you check in. She then said hold on one second. She went and checked with the server, returned and said If I checked in in 10 minutes I might be in luck. I waited 10 minutes, checked in and she escorted us to the corner table against the wall. Perfect view. Plenty of time to sit and eat a relaxing meal. We also told the server we'd be staying through Illuminations which she said was fine, she did recommend that we order Apps first then after they were done order the meal, so we wouldn;t be sitting there not eating and getting dirty looks from people who want our table. We did and had a great time. However, it was a bit breezy that night do we had some smokiness and some "fallout" from the show. We didn't care though.
