We had thanksgivibg dinner there in 2004 and had ressies at Chef Mickeys.We had 12 in our party and the only time they had for that size group was not till 8pm. We had a great time with the charaters and it wasnt that overly crowded.
Disney dollars are great I plan giving them to my kids on next trip so they have thier own money to spend and I think they will like that better then regular money since it has the characters on them.