Epcot's Le Cellier May Become Signature

[momeja]

Found this description of the zebra dome on the Animal Kingdom Lodge site ~ bite-sized dessert made with espresso, kahlua, chocolate, and sponge cake. Sounds yummy except for the espresso

YUM!!!!!

Agreed...yum!!!

It sounds like tiramisu...but with an African spin on it.

It's beyond yum. It's almost a *SNAP*. The hard thing is saving room for it after all the other good food at Boma.

[Amy]

I just read that Le Cellier won't be a signature restaurant until March of 2011 ~ so that is plenty of time for some folks to get their eating in while it is still a good deal on the Disney Dining plan!

[nicklesm17]

wahooo! after checking online reservations twice a day (seemingly forever), this morning i finally got an opening. after all our trips to wdw, i'll be trying this place for the very 1st time for a halloween dinner. i wonder if they offer anything different on halloween? anyway, the point is that if you really want to eat here and it doesn't look like there's any chance of getting a reservation, don't give up hope. i thought for sure i'd be trying a walk up on this one, and now? well, what a great way to start my friday.... i say again, waaahoooo!!!!

[Amy]

wahooo! after checking online reservations twice a day (seemingly forever), this morning i finally got an opening. after all our trips to wdw, i'll be trying this place for the very 1st time for a halloween dinner. i wonder if they offer anything different on halloween? anyway, the point is that if you really want to eat here and it doesn't look like there's any chance of getting a reservation, don't give up hope. i thought for sure i'd be trying a walk up on this one, and now? well, what a great way to start my friday.... i say again, waaahoooo!!!!

Congrats!! It pays to be persistent

[wewantsdaredhead]

wahooo! after checking online reservations twice a day (seemingly forever), this morning i finally got an opening. after all our trips to wdw, i'll be trying this place for the very 1st time for a halloween dinner. i wonder if they offer anything different on halloween? anyway, the point is that if you really want to eat here and it doesn't look like there's any chance of getting a reservation, don't give up hope. i thought for sure i'd be trying a walk up on this one, and now? well, what a great way to start my friday.... i say again, waaahoooo!!!!

Congrats!! It pays to be persistent

I've been doing the same thing--no success yet...
nicklesm17: Do you think the online ressie system makes it easier to accomplish this?
I know I do--a few clicks and i'm done...

[Len90]

wahooo! after checking online reservations twice a day (seemingly forever), this morning i finally got an opening. after all our trips to wdw, i'll be trying this place for the very 1st time for a halloween dinner. i wonder if they offer anything different on halloween? anyway, the point is that if you really want to eat here and it doesn't look like there's any chance of getting a reservation, don't give up hope. i thought for sure i'd be trying a walk up on this one, and now? well, what a great way to start my friday.... i say again, waaahoooo!!!!

I am really glad to hear that you finally got in. I was really pulling for you to get a time slot there!

[nicklesm17]

thanks everyone, the only tip i can offer is that i did notice with each of the last 3 reservations i finally got (closing out all my dining desires), i got them first thing in the morning. perhaps they release new slots sometime overnight? as far as grabbing someone's cancellation, these can happen at anytime. i know this because after i nailed a better time slot for a particular dining reservation. i immediately cancelled my old one. just for fun i re-requested that time and day right after making the cancellation, and sure enough, my cancelled time slot was now being offered. so, i'd suggest checking in the mornings for sure, and as we were doing, checking periodically throughout the day for that hopeful cancellation. good luck!

[Amy]

thanks everyone, the only tip i can offer is that i did notice with each of the last 3 reservations i finally got (closing out all my dining desires), i got them first thing in the morning. perhaps they release new slots sometime overnight? as far as grabbing someone's cancellation, these can happen at anytime. i know this because after i nailed a better time slot for a particular dining reservation. i immediately cancelled my old one. just for fun i re-requested that time and day right after making the cancellation, and sure enough, my cancelled time slot was now being offered. so, i'd suggest checking in the mornings for sure, and as we were doing, checking periodically throughout the day for that hopeful cancellation. good luck!

Smart thinking! So what are the three lucky dining establishments? Are they all new to you this time or have you been to any of them before?

[nicklesm17]

le cellier is the only new one. we start every trip at the garden grill (epcot) for dinner. we were unhappy w/ the time, 4:10pm, that we initially got. so we kept trying, and eventually nailed a 5:30. even though we'll arrive at pofq in the early afternoon, i'd rather not have to rush over there for a dinner reservation. we have a 1 & 3 year old. last year our first photo's at epcot were of them being brought through the gates... sound asleep. this year that bonus hour plus should allow for extra arrival nap time in the room. we'll keep our fingers crossed. the other was chef mickey's at the contemporary. this will be the 3 year old's 3rd trip to wdw, the 1 year old's 2nd. neither have ever been to chef mickey's. we have done it a couple time over the years (before the kids). the 3 year old (paden) was all jazzed up about doing this after i described it to him. unfortunately we couldn't get a res. earlier than 10:50am (too late for b-fast in my opinion). one morning disney released a block of 9:10 am reservations (everyday for the whole week), perfect! paden and cullen's 1st morning they wake up in wdw (the morning after our garden grill arrival reservation) will be spent w/ chef mickey!

[Amy]

That sounds like you worked everything out perfectly. Your children should have a blast at Chef Mickey's ~ what a great way to start the first full day of your vacation

[nicklesm17]

we used to shoot from the hip alot. little to no scheduling. moods, the weather, and bus lines many times determined where we would go each morning and afternoon. the 1st year they offered the free dining package forced us to start structuring a little more. honestly, i did not like free dining when we 1st did it. the free took away my freedom of spontaneity. now i had to be here at a certain time (15 minute window is all they allowed you). worse yet, i felt obligated to eat even when i didn't want to... can't go home w/ unused credits. now i have grown to have this become my favorite deal they offer. because i had to use these credits up, it forced me to try places i never would have thought to, and some of these places, like boma dinner or tuskerhouse b-fast have become staples for every trip. now with the difficulty (that everyone knows about) of getting dining reservations, it allows for very few "impulsive" days. for some i can see how this would be an unattractive way to spend your holiday. for me this had made my last trip much smoother. most people think we're nuts for bringing such small children to wdw. without well thought out scheduling they would be right. that 1st trip w/ paden was not one of our favorites. don't believe 'em when they tell you "they're too young to remember". from that oct. to the next oct. he was pushing to go back everytime he saw the magic kingdom show up on disney channel or the beginning of a disney movie. what you have to do is figure a way to eliminate the blow-outs at the parks. as new parents it took us a little bit to figure this one out. the biggest part of the solution was intelligent scheduling. we used what we learned w/ paden on the next trip. now, with 2 kids, not one blow out, no dirty looks, or the "i'm glad it's your kid not mine" smiles from anyone. yes it has worked out perfectly, and really, for me the planning can be as exciting as the trip.

[Amy]

When my niece was younger, my sister-in-law made sure she still got her regular naps and also made time for the pool each day. It made a world of difference in the vacation for all of them.

[nicklesm17]

you just revealed the key ingredients in that schedule! sometimes the kids resist that much needed nap before the afternoon/evening park of choice. the pool finishes 'em off everytime. we also used it as a motivator to behave. dangling the "knock it off or no pool when we get back to the resort" threat (before bedtime) never failed.

[Sleepy90]

We landed a booking for Valentines Day. WHOO HOO

[nicklesm17]

congrats! if you should change your mind, or get mad at your other half, you could probably sell a slot like that on ebay. just don't sell it 'til a couple weeks before. that way you'll get a good price from somebody who's in trouble and needs an ace in the hole to get out of that trouble.