Originally Posted By t1lersm0m Yes, if you are staying at Pop Century, dining at California Grill, and relying solely on Disney transport. We lined up for the MK bus at Pop at 6:30 PM. I didn't realize it was a MNSSHP night, so the line was quite long, and we had to wait for the second bus. Our dinner ressie was for either 7:20 or 7:40...the time escapes me now. We bussed it over to MK, and hopped the monorail to the Contemporary. We made our way to what I believe was the second floor for check in, and then someone escorted us to the 15th floor so we could wait for our table. We went out on the roof for beautiful views of the MK, the other MK resorts, and what I believe was Kissimmee. Our table was ready about ten to twenty minutes after we got up there. Unfortunately, we shared our waiter with a table next to us of about 10-15 people, plus a few other tables, and we were sorely neglected. It was not his fault, and I was not upset with him, but with the situation. It took about 30 minutes for a manager to come and ask to take our drink order, at which point I asked if he would mind taking our food order as well. He didn't mind.... I had a sushi appetizer, although I can't recall the name of it. I had the salmon as my entree, and the raspberries, chocolate and raspberries for dessert. The food was delicious, although my salmon was a little undercooked. I didn't complain about it though since I just finished eating sushi for an appetizer. LOL Before dessert we went out onto the roof to watch Hallowishes, and I was upset because they didn't pipe the music to go with the fireworks onto the roof. I had hoped they would, because the two times I saw Wishes from 'Ohana they played the music in the restaurant and on the beach at the Poly. When we were done with the fireworks, our desserts were waiting on the table. We ate, paid the bill (with our room key for the dining plan) and were back at Pop Century around 11 PM. I loved the food at the California Grill, I just wish they hadn't worked our server to the bone. He was very pleasant, and as I said I didn't blame him. Anyway, I just wanted to comment that we only used Disney transport this time as this was our first time flying to WDW, and since they have Magical Express (and this was a budget trip) we didn't rent a car. I don't think I would ever make the mistake of not having a rental car again.
Originally Posted By Boardwalkbum A story like yours t11ersmOm is the EXACT reason why (excepting my first year back in 2000) I ALWAYS rent a car. Resort to resort travel can be a real nightmare to begin with, and when you throw in an unexpected circumstance like MNSSHP...well....Bad luck about your servers table load although I'm gald you enjoyed the food. Personally I would have been makin' some noise some time before 30 minutes. That's an abhorent amount of time to wait before recieving any attention , especially in what is (what many consider to be) WDW's premier fine dining establishment.
Originally Posted By Coachbagfanatic1 Wow T1, sorry to hear about your experience but I am glad that you made the best of the night. We don't rent a car when we go to Disney so we do rely on Disney Transportation only to go from park to park. Hotel to hotel we get a taxi. I find it to be much quicker and I don't think the fare is all that high. But that's just us as we don't want to wait too long for a bus to get to dinner.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 T-Mom, you should write (e-mail) to the manager at the Cali Grill. She is excellent and at the very least the manager who did come over should have offered you an appetizer or bottle of wine for the delay...nothing should ruin that experience at a truly first rate restaurant.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 The Grill recently underwent a change of chefs, but that should in no way lead to you sitting for 30 minutes without someone coming by. Frankly, at a restaurant of that caliber, that should never, ever happen. And you certainly should have had at least an entree comped for your inconvenience. As to the transport ... well, welcome to the wonderful 'convenient' world of WDW transportation. I didn't have a car with me last month, but basically the trip was just a getaway to eat for free. I'm heading back this weekend and I'll be driving, even though I love the 22 minute flight and the Magical Express service. I just don't like being held captive of the Mouse and having to rely on buses to get around.
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m We honestly didn't let the delay ruin our experience. The food was delicious, and well worth the wait. I started the thread more to point out how long it takes to get around if you are relying solely on Disney transportation. The first night we ate at Boma, and I didn't feel like doing the bus switch back to Pop after dinner so we hopped in a taxi. I think the fare was only about $11. But honestly, if we fly down again we will rent a car. There is no way I will be without a car again. Especially since we ate mostly at the WDW hotels. We ate at the Grand Floridian Cafe, 'Ohana, Boma, Kona Cafe, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, California Grill, and Le Cellier. In the beginning of the week it was hard to get walk up ressies. I had originally planned on going to certain parks on certain days, and I planned our meals around that to avoid spending so much time traveling, however you know how vacations go.....our plans changed basically every day. The only three nights our plans didn't change were the night we went to MNSSHP, the night MK had EMH and the night Epcot had EMH.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<<I ALWAYS rent a car.>>> Amen brother! <<<I would have been makin' some noise some time before 30 minutes>>> With 6 kids my personal wait time is a max of 10 minutes... at which time we are ready to order drinks, apetizers, and meal and say bring it all out as it gets off the grill, we dont care what order it comes out in. <<<I just don't like being held captive of the Mouse and having to rely on buses to get around.>>> I couldn't agree more. The Disney transportation is unforgiving for parents with who are outnumbered by their kids. I don't EXPECT them to accomadate me and my brood so I take that upon myself gladly.
Originally Posted By sun-n-fun Usually we drive so we have a car. On the rare occasion we fly, a rental is a must. Besides there are place off site that we like to shop and eat at. I'm glad you still enjoyed the dinner. Vacations are for fun and relazation nd it looks like to still did that, in spite of the length.
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden We always rent a car too as we tend to go from resort to resort for dinner. My BIL just got back last week and the first thing I asked him was "How did he like the CG?" Unfortunately he never made it. Their ADR was for 7pm and his wife and MIL didn't get seated until about 8:30. He had bailed by then. He ended up taking his son back to their hotel for room service.
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m ^Wow, that's worse than my experience. I would have bailed at that point also. I understand ADR's aren't actual reservations, but come one, an hour and a half?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Especially since we ate mostly at the WDW hotels. We ate at the Grand Floridian Cafe, 'Ohana, Boma, Kona Cafe, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, California Grill, and Le Cellier.>> Sounds like a lot of good eating to me. I'm heading to the Cal Grill next week and out of four nights I can go, they were all booked for two of them and the other two nights they only had a 9:50 p.m. seating, which I took as I like to dine late. But I'll have my car, so Disney transport won't be a hassle.
Originally Posted By Labuda Wow, sorry you had such issues with the Disney transport, Leigh! I don wonder, though, why you didn't walk to the contemp from the bus stop- just not up to the walk that late in the day after being at parks for most of the day? Anyhow, I'm VERY glad that at leat you were pleased with the food. How did Tyler like whatever he chose?
Originally Posted By Chelledun We are eating at the Cali next week too, but I am thinking we won't have such a hassle as we are only going from the Poly to the Contemporary. I HOPE we won't at least!
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m Labuda, Tyler had the kid's steak I believe. Do they have a kid's filet on the menu? I can't remember for sure now. LOL Yeah, I found it on allearsnet.com, here it is: Grilled Petite Filet - with Yukon gold potatoes and blue lake beans $11.00 <<Sounds like a lot of good eating to me. I'm heading to the Cal Grill next week and out of four nights I can go, they were all booked for two of them and the other two nights they only had a 9:50 p.m. seating, which I took as I like to dine late.>> Yes, as I said either here or in another thread, I was very happy with all of our meals except 'Ohana. I only booked an ADR there because Dave loved it when we went in 2004 and he couldn't stop talking about eating there again. But he was also very disappointed in the meal. Not sure if I meantioned this, but we originally had ADR's for Artiste Point. I tried calling Disney Dining around noon the day we ate there, and there was nothing ealier than 9:30 or 9:50 available. I then called around 4 Pm, and they had a cancelation, so we totally lucked out. I'm so happy that I called the second time. <<I don wonder, though, why you didn't walk to the contemp from the bus stop->> I'm trying to think if that was the day I asked Dave if we could walk over, and he told me no. But I do remember meantioning to him one of the days that the Contemporary was a short walk, but he didn't want to walk. That must have been the day, because it's the only day we ate at the Contemporary. We weren't in the parks that day, we took Monday off from the parks, and Tuesday we went to Typhoon Lagoon.
Originally Posted By elene We ate at CA Grill last week and it took over 2 hours from when we sat down until we left (I'm not including the transportation time). I ordered dessert as soon as the main course arrived so we wouldn't be there even longer. It was about 45-50 minutes until we got appetizers. Our waiter was awesome though.
