15 Days till Sanity

[corpcomp]

OK so yes we have gone crazy for the last year and a half dealing with college visits, essays, applications, acceptances, rejections and absurd weather in the Northeast cancelling Winter breaks / shortening Spring breaks and lengthening school years. Finally down to decision time between Georgia Tech (Honors program) and Villanova.

DW, DS 17 and I have had it. So in 15 days we fly to WDW to our beloved BCV and get to see Circ for the very first time, and a variety of dinners including our first at BOMA and just totally ignore the outside world for a few days to recharge.

Only disappointment is that our beloved Boardwalk Bakery is closed, so have to find another locale for those great desserts and if anyone can point us in the right direction we would appreciate it.

Only thing we will miss is son's fav place - Margaritaville as I just cannot justify getting a car or bus to go over to Universal just for the dinner there. Planet Hollywood will have to do.

Has anyone eaten at the Irish pub in DD called Raglan Road? Would like to try that if its good.

 

[cseca]

How about the new French bakery?

We like RR's food. The shepherd's pie was really good and the bread pudding was to die for.

 

[skylynx]

Just back yesterday from a similar college recovery trip...mine for my DD who is a transferring junior going to Colorado State in the fall (the recovery was needed for an unnecessary battle over the right to in-state tuition, long story, all sorted out now).

For me, Planet Hollywood is so far short of Margaritaville I wouldn't even queue it up as the replacement. We ate at Raglan Road...you can sit outside or inside. Inside has regularly scheduled bar dancers (as in ON the bar) and outside has some live entertainment as well. We ate outside because we didn't have reservations and they were doing walk-ups with just a ten or fifteen minute wait. Had some decent fish and chips, and excellent beer. Prices are what you'd expect. The atmosphere was also better than PH in my opinion, and it's a great place to people watch while you are enjoying your food!

Portobello (Italian type restaurant) just a short walk from Raglan Road has some nice wood-fired pizzas, an appealing menu (compared to PH's overpriced burger, chicken sandwich, etc.) and a warm atmosphere. You get a discount at both with your DVC card, so don't forget to ask for it if you go to either of them! There's also the new kinda trendy Paradiso restaurant with nice outdoor seating but REALLY LOUD music playing whenever we walked by, so we opted out of that one.

Enjoy your trip...I'll be back the same time you are there celebrating my big sister's birthday by treating both my older sisters to an OKW stay (while DH escapes to the air show at Sun n Fun)!

 

[corpcomp]

How about the new French bakery?

We like RR's food. The shepherd's pie was really good and the bread pudding was to die for.

Where is the new French bakery and what does RR stand for - Roy Rogers?

 

[corpcomp]

Just back yesterday from a similar college recovery trip...mine for my DD who is a transferring junior going to Colorado State in the fall (the recovery was needed for an unnecessary battle over the right to in-state tuition, long story, all sorted out now).

For me, Planet Hollywood is so far short of Margaritaville I wouldn't even queue it up as the replacement. We ate at Raglan Road...you can sit outside or inside. Inside has regularly scheduled bar dancers (as in ON the bar) and outside has some live entertainment as well. We ate outside because we didn't have reservations and they were doing walk-ups with just a ten or fifteen minute wait. Had some decent fish and chips, and excellent beer. Prices are what you'd expect. The atmosphere was also better than PH in my opinion, and it's a great place to people watch while you are enjoying your food!

Portobello (Italian type restaurant) just a short walk from Raglan Road has some nice wood-fired pizzas, an appealing menu (compared to PH's overpriced burger, chicken sandwich, etc.) and a warm atmosphere. You get a discount at both with your DVC card, so don't forget to ask for it if you go to either of them! There's also the new kinda trendy Paradiso restaurant with nice outdoor seating but REALLY LOUD music playing whenever we walked by, so we opted out of that one.

Enjoy your trip...I'll be back the same time you are there celebrating my big sister's birthday by treating both my older sisters to an OKW stay (while DH escapes to the air show at Sun n Fun)!

Using the DVC card is a real plus. Thank you. The pizza sound like a good idea one night, a break from the pizza window at Boardwalk.

And sorry re the in state tuition battle. Villanova will be $59K next year and GT is only 40K.

 

[mjc2003]

Where is the new French bakery

http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/index.php/2013/01/photo-gallery-new-french-bakery-at-epcot/

 

[skylynx]

Using the DVC card is a real plus. Thank you. The pizza sound like a good idea one night, a break from the pizza window at Boardwalk.

And sorry re the in state tuition battle. Villanova will be $59K next year and GT is only 40K.

Colorado State University with in-state tuition and fees is about $12K per year (not inc room and board). Out of state is around $28K. And the Rocky Mountains for free!

 

[cseca]

Where is the new French bakery and what does RR stand for - Roy Rogers?

RR - Raglan Road

And they just expanded the bakery in France (EPCOT). It shouldn't be that much farther a walk from BCV compared to BW Bakery.

 

[cvjw]

Using the DVC card is a real plus. Thank you. The pizza sound like a good idea one night, a break from the pizza window at Boardwalk.

And sorry re the in state tuition battle. Villanova will be $59K next year and GT is only 40K.

Too bad you don't live in Georgia. My DS is considering GT next year, and in state tuition/room/board is only around $10,000 per year. We have the Hope Scholarship in Georgia that pays the majority of in-state tuition expenses for qualifying students. He would really like to attend college out of state, but it is really hard to justify that extra expense and give up the Hope.

 

[corpcomp]

Too bad you don't live in Georgia. My DS is considering GT next year, and in state tuition/room/board is only around $10,000 per year. We have the Hope Scholarship in Georgia that pays the majority of in-state tuition expenses for qualifying students. He would really like to attend college out of state, but it is really hard to justify that extra expense and give up the Hope.

Yes my son got a scholarship at UCONN here so the total cost including room & board would be only $18K. But the rule in the high school is that no one goes to the state school. Everyone has to go out of state to a private school for bragging rights. But when he does the abroad program at GT, the great news is that we are only charged in-state tuition (9K) for that year. Just hope he chooses GT instead of Villanova - he is going into engineering and GT has a much stronger reputation and enormous research opportunities.

Plus he can got to Disney for Spring Break

 

[cvjw]

Yes my son got a scholarship at UCONN here so the total cost including room & board would be only $18K. But the rule in the high school is that no one goes to the state school. Everyone has to go out of state to a private school for bragging rights. But when he does the abroad program at GT, the great news is that we are only charged in-state tuition (9K) for that year. Just hope he chooses GT instead of Villanova - he is going into engineering and GT has a much stronger reputation and enormous research opportunities.

Plus he can got to Disney for Spring Break

If he wants to be an engineer, Georgia Tech has a great program. I guess kids here try to stay in state because of Hope. If you have a 3.5 GPA, your tuition is almost free in state. That has made admittance to the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech very competitive. It also makes paying out of state tuition seem that much higher.

And yes, Disneyworld is a mere 7 hour drive. Very doable for spring break, and long weekends!

 

[corpcomp]

If he wants to be an engineer, Georgia Tech has a great program. I guess kids here try to stay in state because of Hope. If you have a 3.5 GPA, your tuition is almost free in state. That has made admittance to the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech very competitive. It also makes paying out of state tuition seem that much higher.

And yes, Disneyworld is a mere 7 hour drive. Very doable for spring break, and long weekends!

He has a 3.7 but they told us we are not eligible for any financial aid. The average act score of early action kids accepted was 32 and the sat was 2150. Very smart group. But again the big shock was being admitted to the honors program. Only 100 freshmen out of 2700 are offered that. That might tip the scales in favor of GT. so at night I will whisper GT Honors and blond cheerleaders in his ear. You know, the important things.