Who has done Dining with an Imagineer?? Worth the cost??

[Anal Annie]

Super torn about what to do. I missed getting the Dining with an Imagineer booked on our summer trip - all gone by the time I called and my 180 day window opened today for our Sept. trip and it's still available. I know I have to grab it quick if we want it - but I need to be sure because you have to pay up front. But this is a really short trip for us (only 4 nights and our first day doesn't start until evening) and the day we would do this event is also a Friday and likely we'll do MNSSHP that night....so we'd completely miss EP that day...the whole point of the trip is for F&W. They haven't released MNSSPH dates yet but in looking at the MK park hours it closes at 6:00 on Thursday (odd time 'eh?) and then at the usual 7:00 party time on Fri. Do we think the Thurs. could also be an extra MNSSHP (even tho the time is odd) or do we think it's closing for a special event? They don't take TIW for Dining with an Imagineer and I don't know if we can get DVC or AP disc. for it or not but I'm guessing NOT?? The cost is up to $89.46 per person. And then if we do MNSSHP that makes for one pricey day between the two things (Probably $175 pp for the day). We don't usually splurge like this...That is really not our MO.

Thoughts?? We were newbies last year for MNSSHP and foolishly wasted like 3 hours in line to meet Jack & Sally - we know better for NEXT time and we would like to go again. We have a lot of things we'd like to do differently on that. But the imagineer lunch is something we've always wanted to do too....but the other downside is our DS won't be with us. He would like it too. Uggg. How long does the experience last? Is it worth the $90??

 

[CMNJ]

My husband and I did the imagineer dinner at citrico's last May and it was around 3 hrs. He previously had done the lunch twice with his dad-I think his lunches were 2-2.5 hrs. It all depends on the imagineer and the group I think (some have a lot more questions than others and some imagineers are more talkative than others). It seemed like our group had no where else to be so they were lingering and asking lots of questions. We had one of the higher up project managers working on AK expansion who had also worked on new fantasyland and (if i recall correctly) the opening team for Hong Kong Disneyland. It was really a neat experience.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We had an Immagineer who worked on the new Dumbo ride and the interactive queue. Loved the experience. It was a few years ago!

 

[disneynutz]

It all depends on who the Imagineer is. Some are better at being a entertaining presenter than others.

Bill

 

[DisneyHumbug]

Did the lunch 2 years ago....DS (who is an animator), DDIL (in advertising) and DSIL (a business owner) loved it and kept the conversation amusing....DDs and I enjoyed it too, just not as much. The rest of the group was quiet which allowed my family to get all their questions answered. And of course, lunch at the Brown Derby - we try to eat there every trip. I would do it again (after the grandkids are old enough)

 

[bobbiwoz]

Have you considered lunch with an Animal Specialist at Saana? I've done it 3 times over many years. I've learned a lot about the animals at the Lodge and the park, and I've expanded my food tastes!

 

[rocketriter]

We did Dining with an Imagineer a few years ago, with a kid in middle school and another in high school: lunch with the Disney parks' corporate librarian at the Brown Derby. The meal, of course, was delicious with maybe 5 families participating. The Imagineer turned out to be a lively young man with lots of stories about the company and the parks, many of which we had never heard before. (No, he was not allowed to give hints about upcoming films or attractions.) The meal lasted over 2 hours. We and our kids were fascinated the entire time. At the end the Imagineer autographed a decorative glass plate for each attendee, but frankly, we thought the event would have been worth the cost even without the dressy souvenir.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We also got the decorative glass plate!

 

[Meriweather]

We've done lunch with an Imagineer 5 times now....love it! Will do it again once a year if we can.
We have been happy with all the imagineers, some are more interesting than others, but all have been good.

We got the plates every time. They line the top of my bookshelves.

 

[Anal Annie]

Well, I just went back to look for it and it is all booked up and gone now. Waiting a day cost the slots. I am going to be sure to look again right at our 180 days for our January trip next year when DS will be with us. We kinda hated to do it without him anyway (although it would have saved us $90 if it was just the 2 of us).

 

[Shellyred8]

DH and I did this a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. The only somewhat annoying thing is if you get someone in the group that monopolizes the conversation and the Imagineer doesn't do a good job with making sure that everyone has a chance to talk or ask questions.

It's one of those things that I would recommend at least once. Also, keep checking. When we did it, I was watching for a couple of months and nothing was available. Then about 2 weeks before the trip a couple of spots opened up.

 

[CarolynFH]

We've done it twice over the years and enjoyed both times - although it really is different with each Imagineer. Our first was with Theron Skees, who had just returned from DL Paris and was getting ready to move to Hong Kong (this was in February 2008) and told us all about his life journey and how he ended up being an Imagineer, which is one of my major interests. The second was with someone who was in Marketing, I think, and just wasn't quite as engaging as Theron (I can't remember the person's name or even what year that was!). But the experience was worthwhile, and I hope we can do another one in the future.

Edited to correct year of our first.

 

[schoen]

We absolutely loved this experience! I will try to book it on future trips.

 

[Hunclemarco]

We're looking forward to going Sept 25 this year