Wait a minute, I'm 40, when did this happen? Nicki & Todd LIVE reviews! Completed!

[MickeyNicki]

Hello fellow Diser's and Disette's! Welcome to yet another Nicki and Todd LIVE dining review! As you can see from my title, this is my 40th birthday, the big 4-0, the official middle age - age and what better place to celebrate this day then with my hubby in WDW!

It does ease the "aging" pain knowing we are also going for the F&W Festival, some Halloween flavor and of course...FOOD!

If you have read our reviews before, welcome back! If you have not let me introduce ourselves



You have my wonderful husband, my Disney enabler, loves to eat just about everything and the older he gets the more adventurous he gets (food wise ha ha). Works very hard so therefore he likes to rest on vacation, loves his afternoon naps (hey, it gives me time to update the Dis and that's ok with me). Enjoys wines, some beers, and mixed cocktails are a must! Has been known to say "I'm not feeling it" as we are on our way to a dining reservation and has scary luck getting walk ins to just about every and any place he wants (yeah its infuriating ). And one more thing…he is a snacker like you cannot believe! Has been know to be a huge cranky pants if he goes too long between meals lol!

And then you have me, love everything about WDW, especially the planning! I am not a picky eater although there are a few things I have not tried yet that I hope to (think lamb and sushi) and I love mixed drinks of any kind, wine I can take it or leave it and I do not like beer. October is my hands down favorite time to go, I am a Fall baby and love anything apple, cinnamon, cranberry, pumpkin, walnut..you know, Fall Flavors! I am very much a go with the flow girl so if DH decides throw a wrench into my plans I just shrug and follow

So join us won't you? I promise lots of fun, laughs and of course, FOOD!

[MickeyNicki]

Don't need a calendar to remind me how old I am
So Nic, where we gonna crash?
Please dont kill me on this trip
To reserve or not to reserve that is the question
Getting in touch with your inner Queen?
Texas de Brazil
Boma Part 1
Boma Part 2
DTD AMC Fork & Screen
Goofy's Candy Shop
Citricos
Kona Breakfast
MK snacks - Big Top and Adventureland
Sassagoula Floatworks Lunch
Maya Grill
Epcot F&W Part 1
Rose & Crown Dinner
Sassagoula Floatworks Breakfast
Sunshine Seasons Bakery
F&W Part 2
Tutto Gusto
Contempo Cafe Cupcakes, Peco Bills and Tomorrowland snacks
Boma Breakfast, yes again!
Sassagoula Floatworks Lunch
Tutto Italia Dinner
Hops & Barley, Karmel Kuche, Sunshine Seasons
Main Street Bakery, Sleepy Hollow and Contempo Cafe
Babycakes in DTD
Bongo's for Lunch
Teppen Edo Dinner
Epcot drinks and snacks
Yacht Club room pictures
Sassagoula Floatworks Breakfast
F&W again!, Kringla Bakery and Lotus Blossom Cafe
Tutto Gusto Part 2
Grapefruit beer and what is really for dinner?
Le Cellier Dinner
Pumpkin Funnel Cake in Epcot
Sunshine Seasons Breakfast
Peco Bills Lunch and Main Street Bakery snack
Boardwalk Inn Bakery
Nine Dragons Dinner
Beach Club Marketplace
Fairfax Fries Breakfast and Starring Rolls Treats
Sci Fi Dine In Lunch
Hollywood Studios Treats and Bakery Goods
Beer @ Food and Wine, Tutto Italia Dinner and Karamelle Kuche treat
Beach Club Marketplace Breakfast
Via Napoli Lunch

[KatMark]

I'm here...back to read.

I had the hardest time logging in from my phone and I wasn't at my desk and was afraid I wouldn't be first.

This is ONE dining review I am secretly very interested in.

[MickeyNicki]

Ok so my title gives it away, yes I am turning 40, no I do not look nor do I feel like it but when someone is constantly reminding you that you are basically middle age...well....you start to feel all of those 40 years!

My wonderful husband may seem like a quiet, nice man and he is dont get me wrong, but the man has a sinister side! See, the "kid" is 7 months and 5 days younger than me and he never misses an opportunity to tell me so. Let me explain.

When we had to sign up for something or fill out paperwork for anything and they have the age categories to circle, you know the ones….19-25, 26-34 35-49 etc he rubs it in that he is usually in the category younger than mine. When someone says I look younger than I really am he is quick to point out that he is still younger than me. You get the picture right?

So the reason for my explaining this to you is this. About 9 months ago I found an app on my Iphone for a Disney Countdown Ticker. I plugged my dates in and every day it will alert me to how many days I have left until the big day. I made the mistake of showing this to my husband. He loved it! Asked me to put it on his phone even! I was about to pick his screen photo for him but he said he would do it himself.

A couple of days later his phone beeped while we was in the shower. I thought it was a text, I thought it was a voice mail or whatever…I thought wrong.

On the screen was a picture of me (yeah I know, how sweet, he used a photo of me instead of the Castle or the Monorail). I noticed the date was off, it showed one more day longer than it was until we left for WDW. I was going to fix it for him but then I noticed the caption at the top of the photo. Where mine says "XX many days left until our F&W celebration his read…wait for it...

XX MANY DAYS LEFT UNTIL MY WIFE IS OVER THE HILL

Yup, he thinks he is soooo funny! I stormed into the bathroom and shoved the phone up to the shower glass door, trying not to laugh because I thought it was a bit hilarious and tried to be serious "What is the meaning of this!"

Todd: I figured with your old age you might need a reminder of how old you really are

Me: As if I could forget…every Friday you leave me a note on my purse that reads "Good morning, just XX many weeks until you are 40, have a great day. Love, Todd"

Cue the hysterical laughter coming from the shower.....

Yup, he sure does leave me those notes, every single freaking week….and no, I haven't hurt him yet. But I wonder, if he is doing all this for my 40th, what the heck is he going to do when I turn 50???

[KatMark]

Originally Posted by MickeyNicki

Ok so my title gives it away, yes I am turning 40, no I do not look nor do I feel like it but when someone is constantly reminding you that you are basically middle age...well....you start to feel all of those 40 years!

My wonderful husband may seem like a quiet, nice man and he is dont get me wrong, but the man has a sinister side! See, the "kid" is 7 months and 5 days younger than me and he never misses an opportunity to tell me so. Let me explain.

When we had to sign up for something or fill out paperwork for anything and they have the age categories to circle, you know the ones&.19-25, 26-34 35-49 etc he rubs it in that he is usually in the category younger than mine. When someone says I look younger than I really am he is quick to point out that he is still younger than me. You get the picture right?

So the reason for my explaining this to you is this. About 9 months ago I found an app on my Iphone for a Disney Countdown Ticker. I plugged my dates in and every day it will alert me to how many days I have left until the big day. I made the mistake of showing this to my husband. He loved it! Asked me to put it on his phone even! I was about to pick his screen photo for him but he said he would do it himself.

A couple of days later his phone beeped while we was in the shower. I thought it was a text, I thought it was a voice mail or whatever&I thought wrong.

On the screen was a picture of me (yeah I know, how sweet, he used a photo of me instead of the Castle or the Monorail). I noticed the date was off, it showed one more day longer than it was until we left for WDW. I was going to fix it for him but then I noticed the caption at the top of the photo. Where mine says "XX many days left until our F&W celebration his read&wait for it...

XX MANY DAYS LEFT UNTIL MY WIFE IS OVER THE HILL

Yup, he thinks he is soooo funny! I stormed into the bathroom and shoved the phone up to the shower glass door, trying not to laugh because I thought it was a bit hilarious and tried to be serious "What is the meaning of this!"

Todd: I figured with your old age you might need a reminder of how old you really are

Me: As if I could forget&every Friday you leave me a note on my purse that reads "Good morning, just XX many weeks until you are 40, have a great day. Love, Todd"

Cue the hysterical laughter coming from the shower.....

Yup, he sure does leave me those notes, every single freaking week&.and no, I haven't hurt him yet. But I wonder, if he is doing all this for my 40th, what the heck is he going to do when I turn 50???

I don't mean to laugh because you are my "little and YOUNGER sis", but knowing Todd the way I do and us having talked about this while we were together last month, just made me laugh all over again. Gotta love my Toddleduck.

And just look at that twinkle in his eye...mischievious he is:

[scojos]

hey hun, im 40 next year so not far behind you!!
we are celebrating dh s 40th next year with a trip to wdw, and love the food so im glad to be here early on!! looking forward to a BOG review if your up for it??
have fun and hope u get loads of pixie dust for your birthday

[jabead]

I am sooo in! And I even got a front row seat this time, which I will be firmly planted in for the duration of your Live Report.

Can't wait for the latest installment of the Nicki & Todd Disney dining adventures to begin!

[MickeyNicki]

Now we move on to our home for 10 nights at WDW, the fun part!

Back in late January I started bugging him about the resort, what can I say...I get very excited when planning a trip

Todd: Why are you asking me where we should stay when it is 9 months away? (As if we dont go through this every year!)

Me: I told you I would give you until after the holidays and you get through your end of fiscal year junk before I started planning our F&W trip and Buddy....that time is now!

Todd: Ok fine, its a miracle you where able to hold out this long. Lets put on the DVD

The DVD the boy is referring to is the WDW one I order ever year. He loves to watch the resort part over and over again....like he hasnt stayed at every single resort except for GF and BLT! Like he hasnt dined in their restaurants, had a drink in their bar or just visited them for one reason or another over the last 20 year we have been going to WDW! But to humor him I pop in the DVD

So he hems and he haws and he watches and he comments and then he shocks me by saying that he missed POFQ a lot and felt it was more relaxing than BWI and he would really like to go back there again..again color me shocked!

Me: You do realize that we will not be able to fall out of bed and land in Epcot right? It is F&W you know, we will spend a lot of time there. We may have to take the bus!

Todd: Who are you kidding, you will be too impatient for that and we will wind up driving. Besides, we get in on Thurs night so no Epcot. We avoid Epcot on Fridays and Saturdays so its not that big a deal.

One point Todd

Me: But there is no bakery for eclairs right downstairs!

Todd: Do not like the eclairs there and I really miss a food court. Dont you miss eating a big plate of soft, yummy, WDW scrambled eggs? Cant get that at the Epcot resorts

Again, another point Todd. While we loved our stay at the BWI we admit we missed a food court (especially those scrambled eggs ! ), the quiet pool and bar of the POFQ and just the quaintness of the resort.

Todd: But hey, its your birthday, do whatever you want to do. I am just thinking of you and how you like to drive to our dining at other resorts and how you cannot stand buses because you get nauseated and its easier to drive our own car without dealing with valet....blah blah blah

Ah, the Italian guilt my mother taught him to use against me...its a conspiracy I tell ya!

So I started my planning with the resorts. I found out the rates were raised considerably compared to last year and the discounts that were coming out for Winter/Spring were not nearly as large as they were the year before. Instead of pestering him with the details I went ahead and booked a POFQ king bed room with our AAA discount, 20% off. Not a bad price and I still had plenty of time to change resorts if there were to be some great AP discounts.

The great thing is knowing you booked the resort you love and we do love POFQ so if we have to stay put for 10 nights we would both be very happy. The other great thing is its better to book a resort that you are happy with and happy with the price, hope for a different resort if the price becomes right instead of booking a resort you know is way too much money and then not getting a discount and worse yet, no lesser priced resorts are available so you are kinda stuck.

Now last year I was able to get the BWI at 40% off in the middle of July. This summer the discounts were not released until the last week in Aug! Oh man was it a nail biting summer at my house. In the back of my head I knew we would not get a room in the Epcot area because I was checking availability all summer and they were all booked until Oct 25th...lots of conventions.

And so the rates were released and I didn't find out until 10:30 am that day! NOTHING available for 10 nights in any resort except the values. I could not get any room or any kind (except values) prior to Oct 25th. If I wanted the YC or BWI it would have to be for 3 nights only. The discount for the POFQ was just 5% so I kept my AAA rate instead.

I get on the phone, change my POFQ to 7 nights, book the YC for 3 nights (because we did BWI last year) and despite not liking a split stay I felt pretty happy with everything, even call DH to tell him the good news. He seems happy with what I wound up with...or so I thought. I even went as far as to move all our dining around to accommodate the later part of our stay, you know, eat around the resort. Surprisingly, it was very easy, lots of dining availability!

Later that night, over dinner, he says

Todd: I've been thinking

Drop my fork and just look at him like??

Me: If you think I am going to call back and switch the YC back to the BWI you are nuts

Todd: No, why would you think that? Geez, you always think I am messing with you. I promise I will not ask for the BWI, can I tell you know what I was thinking?

Me: Phew, ok, man you really freaked me out for a sec. Sure, go ahead, tell me what you thinking

Todd: Why not cancel the YC for the Poly?

Oh for heavens sake!

Me: (Slowly pick up my spoon, fighting myself not to whack him with it) Cant be done, nope sorry.

Todd: Why not, you said the price wasn't that much more? (My mistake, telling him about the other resorts that were open)

Me: Because I already moved our dining reservations around to accommodate our new location that's why! Do you have any idea how hard that was to do at this late stage? (If you cannot tell already I was going for a theatrical, feel bad for me approach)

Todd: (Totally used to me making a big deal about everything lol, decides to ignore it) Oh that's no big deal, you can do it again, you like planning our trip

I can never tell if he is serious or just sarcastic! Hey bub, who's birthday trip is this anyways? So I pulled out all the punches...I decided to hit below the belt.

Me: But if we stay at the Poly then our last day will not be Epcot and you will not be able to eat at Via Napoli pizza before we leave for home

Todd: YC it is!

Always hit them where it hurts, the stomach!

[MickeyNicki]

Originally Posted by KatMark

I'm here...back to read.

I had the hardest time logging in from my phone and I wasn't at my desk and was afraid I wouldn't be first.

This is ONE dining review I am secretly very interested in.

And you still managed to be #1

Originally Posted by KatMark

I don't mean to laugh because you are my "little and YOUNGER sis", but knowing Todd the way I do and us having talked about this while we were together last month, just made me laugh all over again. Gotta love my Toddleduck.

And just look at that twinkle in his eye...mischievious he is:

Exactly! Love the picture but my bun is acting all funky from the rain...looks like a ducks tail

Originally Posted by scojos

hey hun, im 40 next year so not far behind you!!
we are celebrating dh s 40th next year with a trip to wdw, and love the food so im glad to be here early on!! looking forward to a BOG review if your up for it??
have fun and hope u get loads of pixie dust for your birthday

Thank you and enjoy your last thirty something birthday, 40 comes around so fast

You know if BOG happens to open early we are sooo going to go there! Hopefully Gaston's will be open because I am eyeing that pork shank

Originally Posted by jabead

I am sooo in! And I even got a front row seat this time, which I will be firmly planted in for the duration of your Live Report.

Can't wait for the latest installment of the Nicki & Todd Disney dining adventures to begin!

Hi Barb! So happy to have you here and feel free to take any pictures for your thread, love that you are doing it for all of us and the index is so cool!

[H20DogsNDisney]

Yahoo another Dining report . I have been waiting for you trip report have a great trip. I will be their in a week Enjoy your Birthday. I to will be going to disney for my Birthday May you Have a happy day.

[gatrbait]

I was waiting for you to post a PTR!!!
Can't wait to meet up with you guys Thurs.
Safe travels and I can't wait to read more!
M

[chocovrdmicears]

So happy to be one of the firsts to your party!



Don't you worry your pretty little self about joining the 40 club! Sweetie that shipped sailed for me 3 years ago and I promise, it is all good!


Very much looking forward to the details, specifics, yummies and laughs ahead!

[jecskc]

I am soooo in for this one !!! I just love your dining reviews !!

[TigerKat]

WooHoo!!! I made the first page.

Looking forward to seeing y'all real soon, birthday girl!!!!

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Yay! I've been looking forward to this for so long - hope you have a great trip!