The November 2015 Open Pre and Live Trip Reports

[G719]

My son Jordan and I believe that that picture was taken in the Main Street Train Station.

Winner!

 

[bama_ed]

Great pictures, G719.

Isn't HDDR a blast?

Bama Ed

 

[ruthies12]

G719 thanks so much for the report and the great pictures!!

3 more days.....

 

[G719]

Great pictures, G719.

Isn't HDDR a blast?

Bama Ed

Yes! We loved it. Especially the strawberry shortcake.

G719 thanks so much for the report and the great pictures!!

3 more days.....

Have a blast! Can't wait to hear about your trip.

 

[garneska]

Yesterday we went to Epcot for lunch. We rode spaceship earth and then attempted our FP for Soarin. One bay was down, FP wait was 45 min and standby was 190 min. We left. We did get on Soarin once and to be honest it looked bad, it needs that refurb.

Last night DH cooked at the rig, yes we occasionally do that. Then took Mal out for her rock star walk.

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

Today we are working. Will cook here again tonight. The weather is beautiful, the air a little crisp. Will work outside after my last meeting. They also put a pole up right off to the left of our site. Am guessing it is for the wireless. I am actually worried if they get rid of the routers, it may make working from disney a challenge. We will be doing that again in Jan.

 

[garneska]

Finished with work. Enjoying time outside. It is beautiful out right now. Cooking chicken on the grill.

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

 

[garneska]

Because DH thought there should be a pic of me and the dogs. Thinking we may go to Publix so we can hang out for dinner one more night. Tomorrow we have ressies already so we can cook on our last night.

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

 

[bama_ed]

Looking good, Kris. For someone who is "working", the reclining-feet-up enjoying-the-outdoors look makes us all jealous. I worked from home today (which I rarely do) but I am in my little basement office with no windows.

LOL at Yeti whose cord is wrapped around the tree yet again.

Thanks for the updates and pictures. Hope you and Bert have a safe ride home and have a great Thanksgiving.

Bama Ed

 

[mishy]

Beautiful dogs

 

[G719]

Now for the dining reviews. We had free dining and worked the plan to get the most mileage out of it. We've done trips with and without the plan and I would not pay for the plan. We can spend less on food and still eat where and what we want. However getting the food for free would save us more than a room discount. For the plan we had 3 adults and 1 child. For our QS meals we usually bought 3 meals and shared. We were able to swap dessert for any side that was listed as a snack. At the contemporary QS, the CM told us that my youngest didn't have to stick to a kids meal. This is a hot topic debate sometimes on the dis. In the end most of our QS credits were probably used for adult meals even though 7 of them were technically child credits but Disney doesn't break them up so I was not going to keep track either. We did end up with one QS on the last day and used it for 3 snacks to take on the plane. I probably wouldn't buy everyone a mug for staying at the fort. We didn't use them a lot.

Let's start with QS.
Flame tree bbq- ordered 2 chicken meals and swapped dessert for fries, used a snack credit for a large pop to share with dh. Food was good. DD has the mandarin orange lemonade and said it was good.
Meadows snack bar- used 4 credits for lunch. Food here is your usual food court choices like pizza and hot dogs. We ate here right after arrival because we were waiting around for the cabin to be ready.
QS at typhoon lagoon- used 3 credits. Again your usual QS food. Pretty sure we all ate chicken nuggets.
Trails to go- got 2 white meat chicken meals for the 4 of us to share. Got apple slices instead of the drinks and used our mugs. And you can NOT get strawberry shortcake as dessert on the plan. The food is above average for QS.
Be Our Guest breakfast- used 4 credits. Food was good but a little different than our party is used to. But we did get on the mine train and to see A&E since our breakfast was preopening.
Fish shop in Epcot- we used 4 credits to get everyone fish and chips. We were hungry because we just had cereal before morning EMH. There is no kids menu here. I loved the cake here. Sponge cake with jam and whipped cream. They also offer fruit for dessert which is 3 clementines. We got those for 2 of our meals. I would rate this above average for QS.
Wilderness lodge QS for dinner- typical food court. We got flat breads and they were good. Used 2 credits and paid OOP for 2 kids meals.
Contemporary resort QS- fun place to eat with the monorail overhead. We had a spicy chicken sandwich that was good. We took our mugs with us as you can use them at any resort QS. Used 3 credits.
Be our guest lunch- split the 3 sandwiches and 3 grey stuff cupcakes. We enjoyed the food but we had to wonder a bit to get a table. And I wanted to pay for a 4th drink but the cm said just get what drinks you need, it's self serve and you can get refills. (Again don't tell the dis police as I've seen this topic debated on here also)
Sunshine seasons- got 2 Mickey rice Krispy treats and a bag of chips for 1 credit.

TS meals
Via Napoli- one of our favorites. We have eaten here every trip. Kids love the spaghetti and parents get the pizza. I love the dessert that is like a donut hole with chocolate sauce. I forgot what to call them.
Whispering canyon cafe- Everyone enjoyed this one. We had the steak, chicken, and pork chop. We had milkshakes for dessert. DH had the pork chop for breakfast the next day too as we took the leftovers home.
Tusker house breakfast- another traditional favorite of ours. The food is typical breakfast with the addition of the carved ham and some other African inspired dishes. And the characters are fun.
The plaza- just average food but the cheesecake was excellent. Probably wouldn't do this one again. It was just ok.
Hoop Dee doo- loved it. Food was awesome, strawberry shortcake was so good, and the show is fun. We would definitely go again.
Garden grill breakfast- this was a last minute add on after the kids said they wanted to eat there again. We had dinner there 3 years ago. Breakfast was the only meal that worked. The sticky bun in the skillet was so good, the eggs were the best we'd had at Disney, and our server Paul was awesome. He provided the best service of the whole week. My kids are huge fans of biscuits and sausage gravy and it was a hit here. The characters are here and we love the farmer Mickey. I would do this breakfast again.
Trails End- We did breakfast here. It was good but I always think Disney eggs are kind of runny. I'm not a fan of that. Oldest daughter said 4-H camp has better sticky buns and I have to agree with her. They are hard to beat.

Most of our snack credits went to ice cream bars and popcorn.

 

[Nan P]

Great info in your Dining Review post. Gave me some good ideas even though we dine OOP. Never did Garden Grill for breakfast but we do enjoy dinner there. Better see if I can land a ressie for breakfast for our December trip to try it out. Thanks for posting those reviews.

 

[MotherRunner]

You can get free dining with the campsites?

 

[bama_ed]

You can get free dining with the campsites?

No. G719 must have been at a resort hotel or cabin in order to get FD. Since campsites can hold up to 10 people, FD is not available (hasn't been in the past so likely will not be in the future). However, the cabins are usually included in FD offers. So maybe they were in a cabin?

Bama Ed

 

[G719]

Yes we were in a cabin.

 

[garneska]

Today we worked again. Finally able to walk dogs at lunch when meetings were over at 1:30. Spent the afternoon outside with them. Yeti was in rare form barking at everything, had to put the bark collar on.

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

Had dinner at Capa the steakhouse at the four seasons. The view was great. Food excellent. I would say on par with Bull and Bear. Definitely pricey.

Tomorrow we work part of the day and then start packing up. It seems lots of people have overcrowded sites with multiple cars and a golf cart. I am amazed how many people let their car just hang off a little. A rig will take that out.

 

[PaHunter]

It seems lots of people have overcrowded sites with multiple cars and a golf cart. I am amazed how many people let their car just hang off a little. A rig will take that out.

That has been an ever increasing problem, not only at Disney but here at State Parks also.

 

[ruthies12]

OMG OMG OMG! I can't believe it's finally here! In less than 24 hours we will be on the road. I have to work today unfortunately (or try to at least) while DH gets the camper pulled out and hooks the jeep up to tow. Just a few last minute items to pack then we will be going to bed super early tonight so we can pull out at 4 am tomorrow morning. If all goes well and we don't hit any bad traffic we should be pulling into the fort around 6 pm tomorrow night!

 

[jbrostek]

Loving the trip reports, making me yearn for my time to be there. But that will come soon enough! Thank you all for sharing!

 

[tiggerdad]

Poor Yeti, broke out the "Bark Collar". Maybe he was just barking at people because they had too many cars on their sites...
Seriously, the girls are really enjoying the dogs. Especially the one with Mallory and that pink flamingo sneaking up on her.

Ruthies12...you're fixing to be "in the barrel" as Ed would say. So far the November thread has been rolling out the reports well. Really enjoying this so far guys.

 

[JETS70]

OMG OMG OMG! I can't believe it's finally here! In less than 24 hours we will be on the road. I have to work today unfortunately (or try to at least) while DH gets the camper pulled out and hooks the jeep up to tow. Just a few last minute items to pack then we will be going to bed super early tonight so we can pull out at 4 am tomorrow morning. If all goes well and we don't hit any bad traffic we should be pulling into the fort around 6 pm tomorrow night!

ruthies12......don't you just love the anticipation!!!! Travel safe and have a great time and remember.....we love the pictures!!