Keith,
Thanks for asking your question to planDisney!
The
California Grill is my all-time favorite restaurant at Walt Disney World. My wife and I dined there days after getting engaged, and it was the first "fancy dinner" my two girls ever experienced, anywhere. I find that the food is superb, the service is exceptional, and the views are hard to beat. We are hoping to secure a table for our next trip, as our now-teenaged daughters want to share that memory and build new ones.
You refer to the commonly shared tip that if you dine at the California Grill, you are allowed that same evening to return to watch the
Magic Kingdom fireworks show from their outdoor rooftop deck. This rooftop perch is one of the best places to watch the show from outside the parks. I called Disney, because while I would have said that of course, yes you can go before your reservation to watch the show, I did not want to promise something without being certain.
The team at Disney said that while they typically will have no issue with allowing guests to watch the fireworks show from the California Grill patio before their dining reservation that evening, the decision to allow, or not allow someone is based on the manager's discretion. As you can imagine, if everyone who had a dining reservation that evening arrived for the experience, they may have issues with the capacity allowances of the space.
I know this is not the definitive answer you had hoped for, or that I would like to have delivered. But now you know the situation, as Disney sees it. On an unofficial note, based on your dates of travel I would guess that you should be safe in securing that viewing. But again, nothing is guaranteed. If you do get declined, there is a publicly available viewing area from the 4th floor of
Disney's Contemporary Resort that you could reach quickly, and still get a good view of the show, if not the one you had hoped for.
Please do feel free to
write me back directly if you have any follow-up questions.
Have a Magical Vacation!
Doug