Hey friends - figuring out some dining logistics for MK. I have a 2:50 ADR for Skipper Canteen. Trying to decide whether or not keep that or to go to Geyser Point instead. I’ve done GP in the past and enjoyed it immensely, but I’m wondering about two things:
A) Does GP provide much relief from the heat?
B) Is it relatively easy to walk up and get a table at GP?
GP is cheaper too, but will Skipper Canteen be worth it to have a specific ADR with full on AC?
I was debating the same for myself and ultimately chose Skipper Canteen for the guaranteed ac and reservation. There have been a lot of reports of long waits and confusing check in processes at GP so I didn’t want to have to count on anything working just right to fit it in. Plus the ac will probably be most refreshing.
We also had the same debate on our MK day but went with Skippers since it cost us less park time.
Good point about the time suck too. Unless you are staying at WL or plan on taking a loooong afternoon break I’d save GP for another time.
We were there on Thursday and I think this has been resolved. There is now a digital waitlist in the MDE app. It wouldn’t take our party of 7, but there was an obvious checkin person when we walked up. They were able to seat us immediately at 3pm on a Thursday.
The outdoors seating was sufficiently comfortable for us as a late-lunch, we’re-done-for-the-day stop, but I’m not sure it would give you enough of a cool down to recharge you to resume a park day.
I’d recommend it for that scenario rather than a return-to-park day.
Details here:
On the other hand, we got a MO from Captain Cook and Kona-to-Go and ate in the AC lobby at Poly. That isn’t quite as time consuming and you get AC. You could probably do the same thing at WL Lodge with GP-to-Go, though.
But if I was staying in MK for the rest of the day, I think I’d get an ADR at Skippers if possible.
That’s good to hear they’ve fixed the issues!
IMHO, it really depends on what you are planning on doing after you are done eating lunch.
If you are going to spend more time in the MK, then I would stay inside and eat at Skipper’s.
If you are having a relaxing afternoon, then go to WL. The ferry ride to the WL is a relaxing enjoyable trip but it will eat up a lot of your time.
GP is my favorite place at sunset, 5-7 pm. Probably too hot during lunch time…
We left MK around noon in Sept on a 90+ degree day to take the boat and eat lunch at GP. We thought it was very comfortable. Food is great and it was a great respite from the hustle amd bustle of the park. We recharged and returned to MK. Didnt think it was too much of a time suck. I would totally do it again !
How does this work? Haven’t been back since Covid to do this.
It’s pretty straight forward in the MDE app.
You have to have location services turned on for the app and when you’re within a certain distance of GP, it will let you add yourself to the waitlist. Then it notifies you when your table is ready.
Awesome! I see it now when looking for mobile order. Did you happen to notice if you could join while still in MK?
No, you do need to get closer than that, but I’m not sure how close. (Since it was showing a 5 min estimated wait, I didn’t re-check until I got off the boat.)
We stayed at WL last week and were fooled a few times by the estimated wait time. It would show a 5 or 10 minute wait, but the wait for the walk-up list was actually 45 minutes!
Good to know!
