A Birthday Trip without a Birthday - 2/16: Conclusion and Bonus Birthday Tea - Page 11 - The DIS Discussion Forums

mom3sonstt · 04-07-2011, 02:59 PM

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Originally Posted by Flossbolna

Oh, thanks for the info! Will check it out!

Ok, I had to look it up what a hi efficiency washer is: It is a normal German washing machine!!!

I always hated those things that I encountered in my English university dorm and in hotels in the US!! This is the type of washing machine I grew up with and am comfortable with. So this is very good news to me!! But I understand that it might cause a problem if it takes hours to wash things... Mine here at home (a Siemens model, but it does not look like Space Ship Earth.

) has several programms, but the shortest normal one takes about 50 minutes, I have a 15 minutes programm, but it does not really do something for me... Now I am thinking that I should have asked Brook about a picture of the washer...

I was used to our old "tub fills with water, swishes around, and drains in about 15-20 minutes". So when we watched this washer squirt just a little bit of water in at a time, and the timer said 45 minutes, then it would add more minutes, well, we just weren't used to it. In fact we thought something was broken about it.

. Now we have one here at home.

eandesmom · 04-07-2011, 04:30 PM

Fun update, love the pictures. I'd love to visit there someday but know I'd have a really hard time getting Jeff to agree to go to Disney, while in Paris. It'll be hard enough to get him to Paris as it is. Pretty hotel!

vamassey1 · 04-07-2011, 07:47 PM

Wow it's so pretty! I would love to see this in person someday, but I would have to win the lottery.

Thanks so much for sharing and explaining it too.

Captain_Oblivious · 04-08-2011, 01:32 PM

DLP Pictures!! I've been waitng for these!

Like the others, I think the concept of entering under the hotel is pretty cool. I've never been as big of a fan of the overly formal, stuffy hotels, but this feels like it fits in this location. Thanks for posting, and I can't wait for more!

Flossbolna · 04-09-2011, 09:01 AM

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Originally Posted by Kleese

Loved your pictures and can't wait to see more. I really liked the Mickey clock it's adorable and the Disneyland hotel seems very pink but very regal and fine. Very dreamy

Have you ever had tea there?

It is very pretty, isn't it... They don't do a high tea there (at least I never heard about it), but they used to have the most beautiful open lounge/bar area with windows looking out over Main Street. We actually had plans to stop there for a break. But now this area has been swallowed by one of the restaurants - which are incredibly pricey.

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Originally Posted by lovealldisney

Oh and don't forget a trip to Wisconsin.

I have heard that they have good cheese there - and some pretty friendly people.

Flossbolna · 04-09-2011, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom3sonstt

I was used to our old "tub fills with water, swishes around, and drains in about 15-20 minutes". So when we watched this washer squirt just a little bit of water in at a time, and the timer said 45 minutes, then it would add more minutes, well, we just weren't used to it. In fact we thought something was broken about it.

. Now we have one here at home.

I can understand how confusing it must be! I was really afraid of using the tub style washer when I first saw them because I thought the thing in the middle would for sure damage all my clothes.

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Originally Posted by eandesmom

Fun update, love the pictures. I'd love to visit there someday but know I'd have a really hard time getting Jeff to agree to go to Disney, while in Paris. It'll be hard enough to get him to Paris as it is. Pretty hotel!

I do understand, I mentioned it in another reply already. Paris is a whole destination in itself and I think if you don't come to Europe on a regular basis, it makes more sense to see the "truly" European stuff and not cut your time for Paris short to spend it at DLP....

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Originally Posted by vamassey1

Wow it's so pretty! I would love to see this in person someday, but I would have to win the lottery.

Thanks so much for sharing and explaining it too.

Thanks! Winning in the lottery would be great for many things, wouldn't it??

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

DLP Pictures!! I've been waitng for these!

Like the others, I think the concept of entering under the hotel is pretty cool. I've never been as big of a fan of the overly formal, stuffy hotels, but this feels like it fits in this location. Thanks for posting, and I can't wait for more!

I think the hotl works very well as an overture to Main Street (which you will see next!) because it is all the same Victorian architecture.

podsnel · 04-09-2011, 09:42 AM

It really does look so pretty- I will get there one day, but I have no idea when!

Thanks for doing such a great job explaining the layout to us!!

englishrose47 · 04-09-2011, 10:41 AM

Hi Magdalene !!Just poppin' in to say Hello!! The weather here today is Springlike !!Oh wait a minute it is Spring

Judy and Kyle are out cleaning up the back yard which is a HUGE Task after winter and 2

DOGS!!

I have to work today (does that sound familiar)

Flossbolna · 04-09-2011, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by podsnel

It really does look so pretty- I will get there one day, but I have no idea when!

Thanks for doing such a great job explaining the layout to us!!

I am glad you enjoyed it!!

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Originally Posted by englishrose47

Hi Magdalene !!Just poppin' in to say Hello!! The weather here today is Springlike !!Oh wait a minute it is Spring

Judy and Kyle are out cleaning up the back yard which is a HUGE Task after winter and 2

DOGS!!

I have to work today (does that sound familiar)

Hi Rosie!! Weather here has been spectacular, we even had summer temperatures. And days and days of sunshine.

I am glad that you got some of that as well.

Flossbolna · 04-09-2011, 12:09 PM

We are going to arrive at Walt Disney World in 6 months and two days. Anyone familiar with the planning of trips to WDW will know immediately which milestone we will reach very soon: ADR day!! We will be able to make dining reservations 180 days in advance for the first 10 days of our trip on April 14th!

So I guess it is time to talk about restaurants. Katharina and I started out with a list of restaurants where we would like to eat at. We had about 25 restaurants on that first list. That would mean nearly 2.5 table service meals par day. We did not want to spend the money and time on so much dining. So when I was in Berlin in March we sat down and started to eliminate restaurants from that list.

There are two motivations behind which restaurants we chose (besides appeal of food and atmosphere): We want to have experiences which are truly American or at least special to WDW – something which we can't get at home and there isn't much Berlin does not offer! And also, we looked at the menus to find out how good this place would be for Katharina since she has multiple food intolerances (mainly cow's milk, tomato and raw onion). We had mixed experiences with how the restaurants handled that on the last trip, some were wonderful, other were rather uninspired, so we tried to pick places that had dishes on the menu which Katharina most likely would be able to and like to eat.

We had quite a few “must dos” which did not give us that much room to add other places. These were:

“Must eat at restaurants” for both of us:
Flying Fish
California Grill
Kona Cafe

“Must eat at restaurants” for Katharina:
50's Prime Time Cafe
Teppan Edo
Jiko
'Ohana

"Must eat at restaurants” for Magdalene:
Hollywood Brown Derby

On the “would like to eat at restaurants” list were a lot more, but since we already had so many must dos between the two of us, we really tried to limit them and did rank them in the following order:
Olivia's
Cape May Café (Breakfast)
Artist Point
La Hacienda
Liberty Tree Tavern (Lunch)
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Only the first three found a place on our ADR schedule.

We used the park hours and predicted crowd levels from touringplans.com to try to come up with a park schedule around which we then built our dining plans. And as an end result, these are the ADRs which I will try to get during my lunch break at 12 pm my time (i.e. 6 am EST) on the online system:

Wednesday, October 12:

Jiko Dinner
This was the most important must eat at place for Katharina. They treated her so wonderful on our last trip, they even had a special menu for dairy free meals. I love Jiko as well and am happy to eat there. Jiko was also the last dinner on our previous trip, so it will be nice to start at the place where we ended our trip last time. We want an early dinner for two reasons: Due to jet lag we still will be a bit on European time which is 6 hours ahead. And also do we have some plans for the evening after dinner.

Thursday, October 13:

Kona Cafe Breakfast
I think this is a great restaurant and would love to have either lunch or dinner there as well, but not enough time. The plan for the first morning of our trip is do MK morning EMH and then take the boat to the Poly for a late breakfast. If we miss breakfast, we might just do an early lunch. It will also give Katharina the opportunity to visit the Poly for the first time.

California Grill Dinner
After having done the fireworks dinner at CG last trip, we wanted to do the sunset dinner this time. Sunset is at 7pm, so we should experience it towards the end of our meal and enjoy the bright dining room during daylight. I rather prefer CG when it is light outside. CG opens at 5:30 pm, but the bar opens already at 5pm. So we might check in early and enjoy a drink before dinner.

Friday, October 14:

50's Prime Time Cafe Lunch
This will be new for Katharina. I did not have good luck with servers here in the past, I felt that being a foreigner they did not play it up at all. But I am looking forward to a peanut butter and jelly milk shake very much!!

Saturday, October 15:

Artist Point Dinner
Even though we felt that the restaurant had a bit of a strange flair on our last trip because it was so empty, we still really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere which reflects a truly American experience – so much that some readers of the TR commented that it does not appeal to them because it is so familiar. So just the right place for us!

Sunday, October 16:

no ADRs!

Monday, October 17:

Olivia's Cafe
We are planning to either have breakfast or lunch there on this day. I will most likely not make an ADR yet, I am pretty sure that this is a place which is in no danger of becoming unavailable very soon. This would be a new restaurant for both of us. I know that it is rather off the beaten path, but the Key West theme is something American. And the menu sounds really interesting, especially for lunch! It would also let me have a look at another DVC resort which I have never visited so far.

Teppan Edo Dinner
I have eaten there once before, Katharina hasn't. It is one of the few places which offer something which we can get at home as well, but I think it is a wonderful experience at WDW. And it is also a place which is really good for Katharina's food issues: everything is dairy free!

Tuesday, October 18:

no ADRS!

Wednesday, October 19

Hollywood Brown Derby
Another place that is new for both of us. When we debated about lunch or dinner, Katharina thought that lunch would fit the theme better: Wasn't that the era of large corporate lunches? I am really excited because it is a place that I wanted to try for quite some time and never was able to fit it in.

Thursday, October 20

'Ohana Dinner
I was there on my birthday in 2004 and never managed to return after that. It is also new for Katharina. This is another place which should be good for her dietary restrictions: she does not have any problems with meat. But I think she will need to learn how to devein those shrimps before we visit. This will be a tough ADR to get. I checked for the dates which just opened for booking and times were really limited. We want to go out to the Poly beach after dinner to watch the Halloween Party fireworks over the MK afterwards, so our timing is quite important (factoring in quite some wait time as well, which seems to be usual at 'Ohana).

Friday, October 21

Flying Fish Dinner
Ok, I won't be able to make this ADR on April 14 since this is outside our 180+10 days window. We loved the Flying Fish last time, it was our overall favourite meal. So it would have been a definite regardless of where we were staying. But since we are staying at the Boardwalk it became even more important. This will be the last dinner of our trip. I love to end the trip with a dinner at the resort I am staying at and this is just perfect. I hope we will be able to take our time enjoying the meal and then possibly end with a drink in the Bellevue Lounge.

Saturday, October 22 (departure day)

Cape May Cafe Breakfast
Another tradition for me is a breakfast ADR on the day I leave WDW. We thought about Crystal Palace, but then really liked the look of Cape May and that we can walk to the Beach Club from the Boardwalk is an added bonus! Katharina also fell in love with the characters wearing bathing suits which she saw on Brook's TR! Brook really was the inspiration for this decision for both of us, it will be a new experience for us.

So, this is 11 ADRs for 11 nights, 5 restaurants are signature restaurants, 4 restaurants (all of them signatures) are repeat visits from our last trip, so 7 restaurants will be new for Katharina, while for me only 3 will be new restaurants. We will have 6 dinners, 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and Olivia's which is still undecided. I think this is a pretty good mix!

mom3sonstt · 04-09-2011, 12:51 PM

Your ADRs look interesting. I've only eaten at 3 of them....well 4, but we ate at cape may for supper, not breakfast so I didn't count it. We love prime time and have gone there several times, kona we tried for breakfast for the first time last trip, we used to eat at olivia's at least once a trip when we stayed at old key west all the time.

You have eaten at jiko before....does it have like a bar area that you can just get an appetizer or something?

All7OfUs · 04-09-2011, 12:54 PM

WHOA! Mega-update is right!! I won't comment on every one of them, but here are the ones that I do have something that struck me on:

Jiko- is a lovely,lovely place! I love how you will start here, as it seems to say, "let's pick up where we left off last time." Cool how that worked out!

Kona- I"ve heard great things about the lunch and dinner menus too, so if you don't get a breakfast timeslot, you should be good at a later time as well for something yummy! I am excited for Katharina getting to see the Poly for the first time!!

I had never even considered Olivia's!! I intentionally also made a bunch of ADR's specifically for the purpose of seeing new resorts that I otherwise would never get to. There are still MANY on that list!

HBD- Yes, I think there were many business lunches going on in that era, but more often those kinds of establishments, I think, were used as afterhours enterainment kinds of places. The rich and famous would go there to dine and dance, and there would often be a band playing for that. I still think that would be an AMAZING addition to HBD (a band playing 40s big band style) later at night where you could go for an after park hours drink.

FF- that is definitely one that I consistently see super reviews on. At the time of planning our trip, it wasn't on my list, but certainly is now!! A MUST do for next time, and i can't wait to see your review on this one!

I think you have a super- well thought out mix of places- both repeats and new, dinners, lunches and breakfasts. Great line up, Ladies!

Flossbolna · 04-09-2011, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom3sonstt

Your ADRs look interesting. I've only eaten at 3 of them....well 4, but we ate at cape may for supper, not breakfast so I didn't count it. We love prime time and have gone there several times, kona we tried for breakfast for the first time last trip, we used to eat at olivia's at least once a trip when we stayed at old key west all the time.

You have eaten at jiko before....does it have like a bar area that you can just get an appetizer or something?

Olivia's looks really nice! I am excited about this. It was actually Katharina's suggestion and after I had looked at the menu, I was all for it. It reminds me of quite a few local casual restaurants that I have been at when travelling to other parts of the US. I love to ask at the hotel reception for advise on where to eat and try to avoid chains. It does not have to be something special, I rather would go to a place where the locals love to go for a meal with the family.

Jiko has a bar where you can order food and there is also a counter at the open kitchen area where they prepare the appetizers where you can sit. But I really think it is ok to go for a solo meal at any of the WDW restaurants. And if you are just ordering an appetizer that is fine as well. I know that other DISers do that! In this picture http://allears.net/acc/akl_jiko8.jpg you can see the counter where you can sit and watch the chefs while you eat. I think that would be a fun experience!

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