Hollyjolly,
In response to your questions about having trouble being seated with a PS, I have copied my posting regarding this problem on our recent attempt at eating at CG this October.
"First the good - California Grill has a beautiful view of Magic Kingdom and their staff is very friendly.
Now, the bad - I wish I had a review of the food for everyone, as I had heard such good things about their menu and was looking forward to this meal; however, my family arrived for our 7:10pm PS at 7:00, and at 8:45pm, we still had not been seated.
We watched Wishes from the observation deck (nice show, but I bet it is better watching it head on down main street) After waiting for 1 hr and 45 minutes for a table and spending most of that time speaking with the staff, we decided to head back to AKL and Mara's for dinner.
Although we were disappointed that we didn't get to eat there, we could see that it was no fault of the staff. The entire time we were there, as more and more parties arrived for their Priority Seatings, we didn't see one party leave their already occupied tables. There were groups, who had finished their meals when we first arrived, who were still at their tables when we left...their perrogative, but I would think that this poses a problem for the CG staff on many nights when Wishes is being shown.
When we decided to leave, the staff told us that they could see if there was anything they could do to get us a table, but our kids (4 and 1) had already behaved really well for almost 2 hours, and we didn't want to push our luck
I don't think that I will make PS for Cal. Grill for our next trip, or if I do, it will be for a much earlier time.
Highlight of the night: We were able to sit in the front of the monorail on the way back to Magic Kingdom - very cool for my DS(4)!!!"