Teppan Edo & Balcony

[BashfulBeki]

We are planning to have dinner at Teppan Edo and I thought that someone mentioned that if you time it right, you can finish dinner and go out onto the balcony for Illuminations. Is this correct? Is the balcony for only Tokyo Dining or both Japanese restaurants or for anyone who wants to climb up there? If we can stroll out there for Illuminations after dinner, how long does dinner typically take with the chef's show cooking?

Thanks for any quick help. My ADR time is tomorrow. :blush:

Beki

[HiHoKermitTheFrogHere]

We just did this on March 28 (and we have done it before then, too). The balcony is for anyone, but most non-insiders don't know about the balcony, so it is generally pretty wide open. We had a 7:00 reservation at Teppan Edo and had plenty of time to get out to the balcony to watch Illuminations. Even with stops in the washroom for the kids after dinner, we were out on the balcony by about 8:40 for a 9:00 Illuminations. And we didn't rush through dinner -- we ate normally. It was perfect. And the balcony is a fun place to watch the show.

[DizNee143]

wow..i didnt know about this balcony..thats awesome!! :thumbsup:

[HiHoKermitTheFrogHere]

In the interest of full disclosure, the balcony at the Japan pavilion is not a perfect place to watch the show, but it certainly is very good. My caveat is based on the following two points:

(1) The view can be slightly blocked by some trees on the lagoon (but only slightly, and there are many views around the World Showcase that are imperfect for this same reason, anyway -- the counterpoint is that Illuminations is spread out wide enough such that even if you cannot see every single firework or water jet, you will see almost everything); and

(2) You do not feel quite as immersed in the music as if you watch the show from the pathway around World Showcase. The spreakers are mostly (or maybe entirely) along the pathway, and therefore the balcony is set back a bit from the speaker locations. This is not to say that you cannot hear the music -- you absolutely can, and it is plenty loud from the balcony. The difference is only marginal -- it's really only a difference between feeling entirely immersed in the music on the pathway and being able to hear it loud and clear on the balcony.

I just wanted to make sure you understood my thoughts on the very minor drawbacks of watching Illuminations from the balcony. With those small caveats, it really is a great place to watch the show.