How Early Is Too Early?

[Davyjones]

Hey Gang!

I was just wondering: How early is too early for you to eat dinner at the parks? What's the earliest you will eat dinner?

Also, my wife and I were thinking about eating dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh. Does anyone have any dining experiences here, good or bad? Thanks everybody!

[HoosierDisneyFan]

We have not been to Restaurant Marrakesh so sorry no help there...

Our family has a light breakfast in our room each morning and get to the parks righ when they open. We eat lunch between 11 & 11:30 at the parks to aviod the crowds. Then we head back to the resort. We head back to the parks in the afternoon and eat dinner around 5:30pm (hoping to avoid the evening rush).

This have worked out very well for us.

[Bethis26fan]

The group we traveled with last trip really wanted to eat at Le Cellier so we ate at 3:30 for dinner. It was the only time we could get in. We just ate a late breakfast then had at snack that evening.

[Jared]

I have been to Restaurant Marrakesh. It's not bad, but my family has no interest in returning. We expected and hoped for exotic and authentic offerings, but the menu consisted of fairly basic Mediterranean food, like bland couscous and kabobs you could easily make at home. If you have this type of food readily available in your hometown, I would skip this one and find something else.

As for the times, I think dinner begins at most restaurants around 5 p.m.

[Strmchsr]

We really enjoyed Marekkesh. Food was pretty good and the atmosphere was a lot of fun.

As for how early is too early...no one but you can make that call. Whatever time you want to eat is fine. For my family, 7:30 is too late to eat, but a lot of folks eat at 9 or 10 pm. It's all up to you. Whenever you can get an ADR at the place you want is when I would suggest.

[Pirate Granny]

I just tried booking a Fantasmic Package and they wanted to give me a dinner at 3:30pm...of course, even though it would've been a lunch menu, I would be paying a dinner cost. I questioned them, and they claimed I would get 'bigger portions'...sorry, I'm not eating dinner at 3:30 not even to get Fantasmic reserved seats...which the last time, we didn't get a seat anyway as all the seats were gone by 30 minutes before the show...

[Scar]

Apparently Jared missed the belly dancer. Who cares about the food.

Actually, I kind of agree about the food. It's very good, but nothing spectacular. I've been twice and would definitely do it again, but only as a walk up.

As far as how early to eat dinner... I sometimes eat pizza or tuna fish or leftovers for breakfast, so I'm probably not qualified to answer that question.

[Davyjones]

Apparently Jared missed the belly dancer. Who cares about the food.

Actually, I kind of agree about the food. It's very good, but nothing spectacular. I've been twice and would definitely do it again, but only as a walk up.

As far as how early to eat dinner... I sometimes eat pizza or tuna fish or leftovers for breakfast, so I'm probably not qualified to answer that question.

I'm with you there, Scar! My wife always wonders how I can eat stuff like pizza and Chinese food for breakfast.

We talked it over and tried to book dinner at The Coral Reef at around 5:00ish, which was shot down immediately. Marrakesh had an opening at 6:00, but we decided to go back to The Coral Reef (Yay!). They had an opening for 4:00, so I booked it. It's about an hour and a half - 2 hours earlier than we normally eat, but oh well. We'll just eat lunch earlier that day. Plus, I might be able to use an earlier dinner time as an excuse to get a later snack at the Boulangerie Patisserie in France!!!

[PittFan]

We ALWAYS try to get our ADR's around 4 pm. The restaurants seem less crowded and generally we get the ADR's we want for the most part. As far as Restaurant Marrakesh goes, I wasn't impressed with the food but I loved the entertainment. LOL

[crltkcagle]

We always get our dinner reservatios between 4:30 and 5:30. That way we beat the dinner rush and when everyone is out eating dinner at 6 and 7 the lines are a little shorter for the rides!

[MarkC]

Agree with last post. We like to eat around 5 or 5:30 (we're hungry anyway). Then we have more time to enjoy the parks while everyone else is eating. Plus it gets us out of the heat while the sun is still higher in the sky and when we are done we enjoy the parks as they transition from daylight to evening. Also, we're most often at Epcot and tend to like the shows at the World Showcase, so we'll sometimes plan around the schedule of our favorite acts.

As for Marrakesh, there is a very distinct smell with that type of food. We walked in there once and one of my sons said it almost made him nautious. Not saying it would bother you but you may want to check it out if you can. I did love the decor of the restaurant though.

[WelshieLover]

I booked Marrakesh because my husband always wanted to try it. We had my college age sons and their girlfriends with us. My sons are really picky. They really liked it. There was very little food left on anyone’s plates. I thought the food was good. The restaurant itself is beautiful and the belly dancer was good. As far as making anyone nauseous, that was not the case. Not everyone is adventuresome in their food tastes. Sometimes it is nice to try something different. Although with the food prices at WDW…

I say look at the menu and give it a try.

[IloveJack]

I've wondered the same thing. We're wanting to go to MVMCP, but not go to a park the same day. So we won't be able to get into MK until 4pm. Is dinner offered that early at CRT or CP? We don't want to use up party time eating.

[QTPie68]

It is never too early to eat if you are hungry (opps...I almost typed "Hungary" ). I can remember eating our lunch the minute Pecos Bill's opened up - 10:05 am!!

[Davyjones]

We always get our dinner reservatios between 4:30 and 5:30. That way we beat the dinner rush and when everyone is out eating dinner at 6 and 7 the lines are a little shorter for the rides!

I NEVER thought about that with the lines and rides! Thanks for that, Kelly!!!

[JerseyDad]

....had dinner in Marekkesh this past New Years Eve. It was good.....meaning that I liked it. My wife wasn't too impressed...but it wasn't as if she hated anything....except the fruit-cup for dessert...which was drenched in orange-blossum water. I loved it...she did not.

...the belly dancer was beautiful...btw.

[LVT]

We try to avoid the main times. Anytime after 3pm. EMH, walking and heat all make me ready for a nice sitting downtime.