With the (again) delayed opening of Teppanyaki, I can't help but wonder...

[donaldsgal]

... what are they DOING in there? Testing missiles, or what? This is our favorite place, and we missed out for our June reservation, which was no big deal. We aren't going again until March and October of next year, so I don't expect a problem (although who knows at this point ), but I just wonder if anyone knows what they are doing, if they've heard any buzz about the renovation, etc. Is Disney in charge of the renovation (i.e. doing it with their own people), or does an outside company handle it? I'm just surprised, I guess, that Disney would tolerate it taking a while. Again, I'm not mad, just amazed at the ongoing delays in getting this place open and running again, given it's popularity.

 

[jr1229]

I would also like to know. I am going to miss my Sept 25 res.

 

[Amyrlin]

I don't know, this is only repeating something I read somewhere (Maybe on here), so it may be wrong, but, it was siad that something major had gone wriong with thr rennovatiosn and they were having to go back and redo a lot of it.

 

[Allison]

It's hard to tell. It could be any number of things. We have been doing a lot of construction where I work and the number of things that can cause a delay are amazing. Some times you tear into something and find it will be more difficult to fix/rebuild/construct than originally thought. Sometimes you find out materials that are being built to exact specifications just can't be completed as quickly as the original timeline. There are lots of things that can happen and since you often have to do things in a specific order, one delay can push back the entire project.

 

[nowellsl]

What date is it supposed to reopen? I have reservations on Sept. 22! Thanks!

 

[donaldsgal]

What date is it supposed to reopen? I have reservations on Sept. 22! Thanks!

It was set to open 9-15, but per Deb's website (allearsnet.com), it's now for 10-15. Looks like you may need to come up with a back-up plan.

 

[IggyLans]

What date is it supposed to reopen? I have reservations on Sept. 22! Thanks!

Before now Oct 15 reopening, it was supposed reopen on Sept 15. You should call and change your ressies to another restaurant. I was able to get LeCellier, which has been booked for months, and VIP seating to Illuminations to go along with it.

 

[noahynav]

I got coral reef and VIP seating. What/Where is the VIP seating

 

[jr1229]

yeah I got San Angel INN and priority seating for Illuminations. I called 2 days ago and was told it would open 10/15

 

[LWcalif]

Thanks to these boards I called today and got Le Cellier for dinner and VIP seating for Illuminations. We are disappointed to not be dining at Teppanyaki, but I'm really happy with the outcome.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

I got Coral Reef and only VIP seating for Illuminations! For those of you who got LeCellier, how did you pull that one off? That's my number one choice!!

 

[Colleen27]

... what are they DOING in there? Testing missiles, or what? This is our favorite place, and we missed out for our June reservation, which was no big deal. We aren't going again until March and October of next year, so I don't expect a problem (although who knows at this point ), but I just wonder if anyone knows what they are doing, if they've heard any buzz about the renovation, etc. Is Disney in charge of the renovation (i.e. doing it with their own people), or does an outside company handle it? I'm just surprised, I guess, that Disney would tolerate it taking a while. Again, I'm not mad, just amazed at the ongoing delays in getting this place open and running again, given it's popularity.

It seems like a lot of projects are running long or becoming bigger hassles than anticipated at the World lately - the unplanned closure of much of AKL for the AKV construction, the construction of Yak & Yeti that doesn't appear to be on pace for its scheduled opening, the longer than anticipated rehab of Teppanyaki... I do wonder, mainly because DH is a contractor and I do get to wondering about these things, if Disney is having problems with the companies they've chosen for these projects, or if the slow downs are related to labor issues (a common problem here - companies hire unskilled laborers, and then end up taking longer than scheduled because unkilled labor, while cheap, cannot complete tasks as efficiently as experienced workers), or if there are legitimate reasons for the delays.

We won't be there until January, so it'd have to run a lot longer to effect our reservation, but I am curious about the delays.

 

[IggyLans]

I got coral reef and VIP seating. What/Where is the VIP seating

I was told VIP section changes depending on the night it's on, and it's just a section that's roped off. Works for us, we won't have to walk aimlessly looking of a spot, nor we won't have to sit there 2 hrs before the show, saving our spot.

 

[IggyLans]

I got Coral Reef and only VIP seating for Illuminations! For those of you who got LeCellier, how did you pull that one off? That's my number one choice!!

When I called on Saturday, the CM asked me where we would like to eat instead, and I said "Well, let me try LeCellier" (I've been trying unsuccessfully since early April). She kind of chuckled, and said that LeCellier is just as bad as CRT, but she came back and said "Good news". She magically had table of 4 for 5:30pm on that night, and Illuminations. Works for us!

 

[Schucraig]

I got Le Cellier too!

 

[bell.of.the.ball]

Still wondering how all the "hard to get" restaurants are open up for reservations?

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Still wondering how all the "hard to get" restaurants are open up for reservations?

I'm wondering the same thing.....I would love to get LeCellier

 

[disneyfan328]

The reason is that they have had to make reservations open to those of us that had our hearts set on Teppanyaki and the fact the it is out of our control. I don't know if they are adding table, cancelling all the duplicate reservations that we all know are out there or what, but they are squeezing us all in somehow. My personal feelings on this are that it kind of stinks no matter what because even though we may now get into somewhere that is very hard to get it is going to make the wait times for my family that is now being squeezed in as well as the other families that had prior reservations even longer. I am doing my best to try and not get one of these hard to get into places for that reason. My kids get antsy waiting so I would rather not put them or the others waiting for tables through that. I am trying to get something for a day we didn't have a prior reservation and just eat CS when we were supposed to be at Teppanyaki. The only other thing is that this was a fairly small restaurant so maybe it wasn't that hard to get us in elsewhere. Regardless the CM that I spoke to on the special line this morning states that it is probably going to be mid november before it opens. I asked what was going on that caused all this and he said to be honest - They got started with the demo and refurb and starting looking at what they were doing and someone came up with some new ideas that were looked at and decided were better (and bigger) than what they had orignally planned. They have truly decided to go the extra mile and expand this place and the kitchens ect to fit more people and it will be more elaborate ect ect ect. basically its like a home remodel project gone bad. You start with one wall and end up redoing the whole house. In any event at this point I would say maybe if you have Jan 2008 ressies or later you might be ok. The 2 CM that I talked to one of which was a supervisor stated that right now they are not even being given a date of when it will reopen.

 

[Cupmom]

I got Coral Reef with VIP seatingtoo! We had to split our party of 12 in 2.
8 people at 5:00 4 people at 5:30

LeCelliar was open but we would have split up by fours with each ADR 30 minutes apart.... wasn't worth it for us.

 

[pooch]

we were also offered Le Cellier and Coral Reef for our Teppan Edo ressies. We had already scored Le Cellier and didn't want Coral Reef so settled on Rose & Crown with the VIP passes. I was told the area is between the 2 large gift shops as you enter WS from FW, hoping this will allow for a quick exit to EMH after the show!! Does anyone know whether we can bring drinks into the VIP area? Thought a quick stop at the Margarita stand would be nice!!!