What time for dinner in Crystal Palace?

[Littlelily]

Just wondering what people think would be a good time to book Crystal Palace for 2 adults and a 5 and 3 year old, for an evening arriving in the park about 5.30. Hopefully getting the kids to last until fireworks at 9.15. Have never seen happily ever after and first time going to Disney with the offspring. No idea where we want to view the fireworks from.

(Staying on-site and MK has EMH till 11 that night. Will also have 3 fast passes available for the evening. Hope to use one for Peter Pan and not sure what else.)

 

[Calee]

What time do you usually eat at home? I would go by that as opposed to anything else. Also the earlier you go in the seating, the more likely it will be running on time and you will see all the characters in a timely fashion. So for me, I would probably do the meal first, then FP, then fireworks. Although you probably wont actually have time for 3 FP if you do that. So maybe 1 FP for the 5-6 hour. Do 1 attraction at 530. Then eat at say 550. Then make another FP for 645-745 and one from 750-850.

 

[SG131]

Absolutely no later than 7, though I’d probably go with 6:30ish. I tried to cut it a bit too close once, but because it was raining people were dragging out their meal a little longer and it took at least 30 min for us to get seated. Then we had to have the manager stalk down two of the characters that hadn’t gotten to us yet in order to get out in time. We stepped out a couple min before HEA and didn’t get a very good spot but at least we made it.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I think your dinner time will be dictated by your FP+ times. That's usually what happens with our meal reservations. If you know your kids get hangry around a certain time, I'd be sure to keep them snacked up if your dinner time is not the norm. I get that way so I snack my way around disney to avoid being evil to my husband and kids. LOL but on a serious note, packing in a CP dinner timed with fireworks and FP+ and other rides/attractions, I'd just pick an ADR based on FP+ times. Also be sure to leave 90 min for your meal since it can take that long with time to be seated and seeing the characters.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Just wondering what people think would be a good time to book Crystal Palace for 2 adults and a 5 and 3 year old, for an evening arriving in the park about 5.30. Hopefully getting the kids to last until fireworks at 9.15. Have never seen happily ever after and first time going to Disney with the offspring. No idea where we want to view the fireworks from.

(Staying on-site and MK has EMH till 11 that night. Will also have 3 fast passes available for the evening. Hope to use one for Peter Pan and not sure what else.)

Always make your character meal reservations at least 2.5 hours before a major fireworks or parade. That gives you a 30 minute safety cushion, and about an hour and 15 minutes to eat (plenty of time) and 45 minutes left before the fireworks. Character meals are special too. You don't want to be rushed. Between Christmas and New years for those reading add some time to that. For those reading thinking of making reservations outside the park allow for your travel time as well.