Hi Katie,
You have picked one of the most unique character dining experiences at Disney World! I love
Garden Grill Restaurant because the restaurant is not very large so you often get to spend more time interacting with Chip and Dale along with whatever friends they bring along for the day. The restaurant also rotates around with different views of
Living with the Land while you dine. The food served here is actually grown in the EPCOT gardens so it is super fun to go downstairs and ride the attraction after your meal to see where all the food you just ate was grown!
If you are staying offsite and driving to EPCOT, you will need to park in the EPCOT parking lot. You can only park at a Disney Resort hotel if you are a guest of that hotel or if you have a dining reservation at that hotel. Even if you have a dining reservation the expectation is that you will only park at the resort hotel for the length of that dining experience. The EPCOT
parking lot will typically open at least 45 minutes to an hour before the
theme park's official open time. For the date you provided, it looks like Early Theme Park Entry for resort guests is at 8:30 AM so you should be able to park by 8:00 AM as you mentioned, and head into the theme park for your reservation.
Keep in mind that since you do not have an
Early Theme Park Entry, you will need to find the line marked for early dining reservations. You will typically see someone holding up a sign who will check reservation times and allow you to enter the theme park with enough time to make it to your dining reservation. If you do not see this line when you arrive, check with the cast member who is managing the Early Theme Park Entry line and they will point you in the right direction.
Happy Planning,
Jenna