El Tovar Dinner Time
 

My family and I will be visiting the Grand Canyon for the first time in late May '16. I have dinner reservations at El Tovar for 7:30pm, about the same time as sunset. Would it be best to change our dinner time to better enjoy the sunsets outside? Would you suggest an earlier time 5:30pm or a later time 8:00pm? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

What time do you usually eat dinner? If you come from the east coast you would probably want the earlier time.

The windows in the dining room do look out on the canyon in any case.

I had exactly that same decision to make in October, our celebratory dinner after 5 days backpacking north-to-south rim.

I went for a half-hour after sunset and the three of us were happy with that decision. We had a fantastic meal! Enjoy.

... I was typing as emalloy posted and that is a good point. But if you go for the earlier time try to be done so you can be outside for sunset, a shame to miss if it's a good one.

Thank you! I didn't even think about the time difference since we will be coming from the East Coast. I will move our reservation to an earlier time, around 5:30 pm. We are very excited about this trip. Thanks again for your quick replies!

I think that's a good decision - I would take an earlier or later reservation -- absolutely anything but right at sunset! Sunrise and Sunset are the best times to be right on the rim looking out at the canyon and I wouldn't want to be at breakfast or dinner. We also came from the east coast and did find ourselves eating earlier than most tourists. Then we could get back out there for sunset. Sometimes we kind of skipped lunch and ended up eating an extremely early dinner - almost a very late lunch. On those days we would usually stock up on some snacks to enjoy in our room after sunset.

db6040-Yes, that is what we will do, eat early and then get a good spot to watch the sunset. I'm sure it is going to take us a few days to get acclimated to the time change (eating, sleeping, etc). Having lots of snacks on hand will probably be a good idea. Thanks for you help.

Emalloy is correct (again). Unlike the North Rim lodge restaurant, there is no direct view of the canyon from your dinner table.

Suggest separating the two events. Eat then view
And there is a sunrise also.... View then eat.

Another factor are people at a specific location waiting for that event. Will you be in front or waaaaaay back?

Read this site for view locations
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisi...sunset.pdf.pdf

Vaga

PS. Careful on the dinner wine. People do fall off the cliffs quite often.

I will suggest moving your dinner time to 5 PM, which is when the restaurant opens for dinner. It will likely take a good 1 1/2 hours top get seated, served, and eat. And you want to be at the rim an hour before sunset. The best viewing -- of the canyon, not the sky -- is during the hour before sunset. That is when you get the awesome colors and shadows on the canyon walls. Once the sun has actually set, the canyon walls are just shades of gray. You probably won't get a good "sky sunset" unless it is cloudy.

Of our visits to the grand canyon and other sunset destinations we have witnessed a no fail tourist acting like lemmings phenomena. They rush and fight over parking to catch sunset at their overlook of choice. They elbow their way for the best viewing vantage - and - as soon as the sun dips below the horizon - they rush back to their cars start them up, engines revving and speed off, leaving the real show behind in a nice peaceful hush. They missed half the show, often the best of the show, and never knew it.

I stayed at El Tovar many years ago and the best show was reported to be the sunrise, rather than sunset. I'm sure it varies by season and, therefore, angle of the light, but despite not being a morning person, got up and enjoyed the sunrise very much and had the show almost to myself (off-season). If you don't mind getting up early it would save having to juggle things and think about anything but your lovely dinner.

There is no view of the canyon from the dining room at El Tovar. Good to switch your reservation to earlier. Although the service is slow, so I would allow enough time.

RVvagabond gave you and excellent link for sunset and sunrise viewing. My two cents:

Avoid Hopi Point at sunset and likewise avoid Mather Point for sunrise. Both are just way too crowded.

I really like Yaki Point. You can't drive your car to the point, so you have to either take the shuttle or park along the main road and walk the 1/2 to 3/4 miles to the point. For sunrise, I have never seen more than 4 or 5 other people.