5 days on $1300!?! Did we do it? - a July 2011 TR - update 2/15: Link to new PTR!

[ksl5f123]

When we last left off, we were just arriving back at DHS after a break.

I forgot to include these earlier, but also in the morning, the girls wanted to know what was inside the giant sorcerer Mickey hat. I told them it was a souvenir shop and they didn't believe me. So, we had to go and see.

Alright, back to the afternoon. We had a 3:20 ADR at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic! package. However, it seemed too early to head to our ADR, so we went to the Animation academy. We were going to do the drawing class and we were let into the waiting area, but after several minutes we realized that we were waiting for the 3 PM class. That was not going to work. So I apologized to the CM that works that area for messing up her count and we headed off for Mama Melrose.

Surprisingly, we found it without too much trouble. We checked in and found a seat to wait – and wait we did – for 30 minutes! I know that Disney restaurants are busy, but that seemed like a very long wait given the odd dining time. The long wait also meant that DD5 fell asleep on my lap in the waiting area. After an early morning, some excitement in the park, and swimming in the afternoon, she was beat! At least she got a pretty long nap while we waited.

When our buzzer finally went off, I carried a sleeping DD5 to our table. We were seated in the very back of the restaurant, so by the time we reached our table she was awake.

The placemats that you see in front of the girls were really entertaining with lots of good activities for while we were waiting.

Since we were using the Fantasmic! package, drinks were included for everyone and I got and appetizer and dessert. DD7 had the grilled fish with green beans, fruit salad, and a Sprite, DD5 had the cheese pizza with sliced apples an ice cream sundae and a lemonade, and I had the Caesar salad, chicken parmesan, and chocolate gelato with a Diet Coke.

DD7 was disappointed with everything she ordered. She ate the fish, but the green beans were too crunchy and the fruit salad was mostly melon.

DD5 enjoyed her pizza and shared her apples with DD7.

The girls favorite part of the meal was the Mickey shaped plates

My Caesar salad was fine although once again over-dressed (a pet peeve of mine).

The chicken parmesan was quite good and I enjoyed it but shared the slightly overcooked pasta with DD7 (who didn't mind).

The “chocolate gelato” was terrible! I tried it before I gave it to DD7 who didn't order a dessert. She thought it was OK and ate it all, but as someone who LOVES gelato, I am pretty sure that was just soft serve ice cream. It even had that crystalline texture that ice cream gets if it thaws and re-freezes – YUCK!

Once again, I underestimated the cost of this meal. I had predicted $63.87. I guess I did pretty well if I didn't consider the tip. Our pre-tip cost was $62.81. However, after the tip it was $73.42 – about $10 over my predicted budget. We were paying our bill at 4:40 PM so it was a pretty long meal!

Would I go to Mama Melrose again? Probably. The food was OK and I am pretty picky about my chicken parmesan. If it hadn't been for the “gelato”, I would have said the food was good. The service was fine, although a little slow. The ambiance of the restaurant is nice, but nothing remarkable. Once again, the price was high, but that was because of the Fantasmic! Package. If we were just ordering OOP, we wouldn't have gotten that much food.

 

[TinksThree]

I have heard many opinions on Mama Melrose. The chicken parmesan looked good but I always ask for my salad dressing on the side since I do not like my salad over dressed either! It can really ruin a salad! If I ever try this restaurant i think it will be solely for the Fantasmic package.

Oh, and the hat pictures were adorable!!

 

[ksl5f123]

I have heard many opinions on Mama Melrose. The chicken parmesan looked good but I always ask for my salad dressing on the side since I do not like my salad over dressed either! It can really ruin a salad! If I ever try this restaurant i think it will be solely for the Fantasmic package.

Oh, and the hat pictures were adorable!!

The problem with Caesar salads is that they are often "pre-tossed" so they can't bring it to you with the dressing on the side. However, I have learned one trick that works in some places - to order a garden salad with Caesar dressing.

We had never done "hat pictures" before and the girls really had fun with them!

 

[ksl5f123]

Our next goal was the 5:30 Beauty and the Beast show. We took our time walking over and getting some seats. The theater was already about ½ full when we arrived at 5:10. We played with the camera while we were waiting. All of the pictures here are courtesy of DD5 – remember that when they look blurry or have other people's heads in the middle.

This one gives a nice idea of where we were sitting – on the right side, on the aisle, about ½ way up.

This was our first time seeing Beauty and the Beast and we enjoyed it very much. DD5 has been taking dance lessons for 2 years and she loved watching all of the dancers. I just loved the beautiful costumes.

Next we headed back to the animation studio. We made it in time for the 6:30 drawing class. We had about a 10 minute wait in the holding area. While we were sitting there, we were looking at all of the characters that were out and thinking about who we might want to meet. The girls had gotten Lilo and Stitch on our drive down and watched it for the first time ever. Lilo was meeting in the Animation academy and the girls were excited to meet her for the first time.

Also, while we were sitting there, the sky opened up with a torrential downpour. Oh no! All of this planning and extra expense so we could see Fantasmic! for the first time and now it is not only raining, but storming. I asked the CM working the waiting area when they would decide if the show would be canceled and she said 8:50 PM (i.e. 10 minutes before it would start). Now I have to make a decision – head to the theater at 8:20 and hope for the best or call it a good try and leave. Ugh! Oh, well. I still had some time to think about it. Now, it was our turn to draw.

Let's see if you can guess who we drew:

Probably not from DD7's drawing:

Maybe from DD5's attempt:

Hopefully, you can tell from mine!

I have to say, I LOVE these classes. Yes, it bothers the girls every time that they don't have erasers and we always end up with a couple of tears before we get over it, but I have ZERO artistic talent and I always feel like I come out having done a pretty decent drawing.

After finishing our drawings, we went back into the main room where all the characters were and wouldn't you know, they were ALL gone! OK, next plan. We don our ponchos and head out to use our TSMM fastpasses.

We make a dash for TSMM, jumping over puddles, and are surprised when we arrive that the standby wait (in the rain) is still 2 hours! Good thing for fastpasses. We hurry through the queue (glad we had seen everything in the morning) and are quickly on the ride. In case you didn't know (which I didn't) you aren't allowed to ride TSMM while wearing a poncho. I should have thought about that – nobody wants to sit on a wet seat! So, we quickly slipped them off and into our bag and we were off!

After TSMM, we came out to find this in the sky

Maybe it is a good omen for seeing Fantasmic! that night.

It is now 7:30 PM. We take a couple of pictures

and walk through a couple of shops.

Up next, will we finally see Fantasmic! or will we be rained out?

 

[sjs314]

Great TR. Scarey moment there on the escalater, I had a similar thing happen with one of my DS once and I hate escalaters now. Your condo is really nice, first time I have ever seen one at Windsor Hills, I have to make sure DH does not see what it cost to stay there or I will lose staying at CR in March
Can not wait to read more, I am wishing I booked Mama Melrose instead of HBD for our F! pkg, thinking I might see if I can change it.

 

[pinkxray]

I have found MM to be pretty disappointing our last two trips. We always did it for Fantasmic but we have had 30 minute waits, horrible service and just okay food. We're over it.

I hope Fantamic is still on. I would hate to pay for the package and not be able to use it

We have yet to do the drawing class. One of these days. I wasn't aware there was no eraser. That stinks

 

[TinksThree]

We really wanted to see Beauty and the Beast....okay correction: Madison and I really wanted to see Beauty and the Beast....on our trip but this one keeps alluding us. As does Animation Studios...ah, maybe one day! Good job on the drawing! I would probably need erasers too so maybe you can sneak one in?!

 

[ksl5f123]

Great TR. Scarey moment there on the escalater, I had a similar thing happen with one of my DS once and I hate escalaters now. Your condo is really nice, first time I have ever seen one at Windsor Hills, I have to make sure DH does not see what it cost to stay there or I will lose staying at CR in March
Can not wait to read more, I am wishing I booked Mama Melrose instead of HBD for our F! pkg, thinking I might see if I can change it.

Thank you and WELCOME!

I have never really liked escalators. That experience just took my dislike to whole new levels.

We have never rented a condo before this trip and I had no idea if I was going to like it or not. I was so happy that it turned out to be a great experience - although I wouldn't trade a stay at CR for it!

Mama Melrose wasn't bad (except for the "gelato"). I haven't eaten at HBD, but I would eat at MM again if we were doing F!

 

[ksl5f123]

I have found MM to be pretty disappointing our last two trips. We always did it for Fantasmic but we have had 30 minute waits, horrible service and just okay food. We're over it.

I hope Fantamic is still on. I would hate to pay for the package and not be able to use it

We have yet to do the drawing class. One of these days. I wasn't aware there was no eraser. That stinks

I thought our wait at MM was ridiculous. I see no reason to be 30 minutes behind seating ADRs at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

I was SO worried about getting to see F! If it wasn't for Fantasmic! there is no way I would have spent that much money on a meal either. We could easily have had sandwiches and cupcakes from Starring Rolls.

The drawing class is so awesome! It is my favorite thing at DHS. The pencils are real sketching pencils like an actual artist would use, so, yeah, no erasers. It doesn't bother me - the animator leading the class tells you when to use light pressure and when to go darker - but it drives the kids crazy.

 

[ksl5f123]

We really wanted to see Beauty and the Beast....okay correction: Madison and I really wanted to see Beauty and the Beast....on our trip but this one keeps alluding us. As does Animation Studios...ah, maybe one day! Good job on the drawing! I would probably need erasers too so maybe you can sneak one in?!

This was our first time seeing BatB. We ran out of time in June 2010 and it wasn't working in March, so we were thrilled to finally get to go. DD5 was just talking the other day about how much she liked that show. She loved all of the costumes and the dancing.

You have to try the Animation Studio. It is so much fun!! You could try to sneak in an eraser, but honestly they go too fast for you to use it. By the time you erased one line that was wrong, they would have drawn 4 more lines.

 

[ksl5f123]

At about 8:05 we decide to just give it a go and head into the Fantasmic! Theater. We are just about to walk in when DD5 says she needs to use the restroom. This was one of those moments where I wondered where my head was. What kind of mother takes her 2 children into a theater where they will have to sit for over an hour with out stopping in the restroom first? : Apparently, the kind of mother I am – a forgetful one.

We make our pit stop and head in to take our seats. We choose to sit about 10 rows from the front. There are still a lot of seats in the reserved section. However, in the rest of the theater, the only available seats are in the last 5 or so rows. It is nearly full! Here is the crowd shot at 8:10:

BTW, yes, all of the people with matching shirts in the middle are South American tour groups (some Brazilian, some Columbian). I know they get a bad rap on the DIS, but they made waiting fun by constantly starting the wave and generally having a good time.

Here is our view of the stage.

If you look closely, you can see raindrops hitting the water. It rained off and on the whole time we were waiting – often with some really impressive lightning off in the distance.

Here we are waiting:

You can see a pretty dark sky behind DD5:

You can also see in this picture what swimming does to princess hair. It is quite "fuzzy".

While we are waiting, there would be an announcement every 5 minutes or so letting us know that “Due to inclement weather the show may be postponed or canceled.” I was happy that I had talked to that CM in the Animation academy and knew that a decision wouldn't be made until 8:50. In between rain showers, we pulled out some snacks that I had in my bag and we enjoyed those. I was surprised that DD7 lasted this long.

Finally at 8:50 the announcement came: “The show will begin in 10 minutes”!!! Woohoo! We were so happy that we hadn't sat in the rain for an hour in vain.

The show began right on schedule. I tried to take a couple of pictures, but everything moves so fast, they all came out horribly blurry. There were parts of it that the girls found a little scary (especially Jafar as a giant snake), but we had watched it on YouTube in advance so they knew it would be OK in the end.

When it was over, the girls declared it the best show ever and couldn't wait to call DH and tell him how much he NEEDED to see this show. They LOVED it! I was happy that they enjoyed it and it made all of the worry and sitting in the rain worth it. We were in no hurry to leave, so we let lots of people pass us as we skipped our way to the exit, jumping over more puddles, and recounting our favorite parts.

By 10:30, we were back in our condo and off to bed. It was a pretty late night and we had planned to rope drop the Magic Kingdom the next day. Would we make it?

Money spent: $14 for parking, $3 for milk, and $73.42 at Mama Melrose or $90.42 for the day.
Money remaining: $98.89

This is when I realized that we were not going to make our budget if we kept our ADRs at Liberty Tree Tavern and Rose & Crown. After the girls got off to bed, I called to cancel them.

 

[Mombits]

Great TR so far. What a bummer that you had to cancel your ADR's to stay on budget but hey, you were still at Disney!

I do have a question about the YES program. On their webpage it says that most of the classes have a minimum of 10 participants. But it was just your two girls plus others, was that a problem for you? How did that work out? I'd ideally like to take some girl scouts but we only have 5 girls. It probably won't happen anyway but it's something I have thought about.

 

[sjs314]

There was quite a large crowd for F! the evening you went, I hope it is not so busy when we go............. We have never seen the show but DH so hates crowds oh well we will at least have dinner and then decide, it is at 7 pm when we are going, at least we should be back to our room at a decent hour.

Sorry you had to cancel the LTT and R&C ADRs to stay on budget.

 

[ksl5f123]

Great TR so far. What a bummer that you had to cancel your ADR's to stay on budget but hey, you were still at Disney!

I do have a question about the YES program. On their webpage it says that most of the classes have a minimum of 10 participants. But it was just your two girls plus others, was that a problem for you? How did that work out? I'd ideally like to take some girl scouts but we only have 5 girls. It probably won't happen anyway but it's something I have thought about.

I was excited about those ADRs because my DH is a vegetarian and neither place has anything that appeals to him. So, this was my chance to get to try them.

There are two types of YES programs: one where you register a group of 10 or more and another called Individual Enrollment intended for a parent and child (or children). The group classes can be scheduled at almost any time, but there are only a few months out of the year where there are individual enrollment classes. There is a great thread about them on the DIS for Families board.

BTW, WELCOME!!

 

[sherylcin]

Just catching up here. Love the report from your DHS day. We've never done rope drop but I've read lots of reports about the mad dash to TSM. It sounds like your strategy worked really well for you that day! I also love the Animation Academy although I have to say your drawing looks way better than any I've ever done! Hooray for seeing BATB. We love that show. It's like a mini-Broadway musical.

I agree with you about MM. We ate there for the same reason: Fantasmic package! Would go again but not overly thrilled. I will say though that we love the Fantasmic show and in January decided we'd try just showing up without the package. Bad idea!! The crowd is so "smushed" (for lack of a better word) getting into the theater that it's a little scary trying to hold onto young children's hands and not lose them. We will definitely do the package again next time to avoid the cattle drive.

Aren't condos great! Yours looks very nice and the extra room is wonderful!We actually rented a house in Windsor Hills in 2008 and absolutely loved it! You're right about the drive to WDW too. I believe we made it every day just as quickly as on Disney transportation.

So sad you had to cancel those ADR's but good job sticking to your budget! I probably would have said oh, I'm on vacation and I'm going! (Not so good for the budget). I have a goal of under $2000 for the trip with my daughter and granddaughter next February so I'm going to have to be careful. Already got the YES tickets and great rate at Pop. Now just waiting on some good airfares to show up!

Can't wait for your next chapter.

 

[pinkxray]

Thank goodness Fantasmic was still playing. It would have been so annoying to pay the ridiculous amount they charge for the package and not be able to see it.
Glad the girls loved it.Now your DH has to see it.

Bummer that you had to cancel your adrs. If I ever get to do a mother/daughter trip I would want to book all the places I know DH would hate too.

 

[ksl5f123]

There was quite a large crowd for F! the evening you went, I hope it is not so busy when we go............. We have never seen the show but DH so hates crowds oh well we will at least have dinner and then decide, it is at 7 pm when we are going, at least we should be back to our room at a decent hour.

Sorry you had to cancel the LTT and R&C ADRs to stay on budget.

Since we had never seen Fantasmic! before, I really didn't know what to expect. I was quite surprised that the theater was pretty much full - in the rain - an hour before show time. Especially, since this was during the period this summer when they were doing 2 Fantasmic! shows a day every day of the week.

Thanks, it was a tough decision to cancel the ADRs, but it adds to the reasons to go back.

 

[TinksThree]

However, in the rest of the theater, the only available seats are in the last 5 or so rows. It is nearly full! Here is the crowd shot at 8:10:

This is why I have not been to Fantasmic! before...I need to do the package. Everytime the line is cut off because there are so many people!
When it was over, the girls declared it the best show ever and couldn't wait to call DH and tell him how much he NEEDED to see this show. They LOVED it! I was happy that they enjoyed it and it made all of the worry and sitting in the rain worth it. We were in no hurry to leave, so we let lots of people pass us as we skipped our way to the exit, jumping over more puddles, and recounting our favorite parts.

This is awesome! I loved this part! Don't you love it when everything works out int he end and they have wonderful memories to carry with them!?

This is when I realized that we were not going to make our budget if we kept our ADRs at Liberty Tree Tavern and Rose & Crown. After the girls got off to bed, I called to cancel them.

Sorry about having to cancel the ADRs but I bet you still managed to find something awesome and fun to replace them! Can't wait to hear!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Just catching up here. Love the report from your DHS day. We've never done rope drop but I've read lots of reports about the mad dash to TSM. It sounds like your strategy worked really well for you that day! I also love the Animation Academy although I have to say your drawing looks way better than any I've ever done! Hooray for seeing BATB. We love that show. It's like a mini-Broadway musical.

I agree with you about MM. We ate there for the same reason: Fantasmic package! Would go again but not overly thrilled. I will say though that we love the Fantasmic show and in January decided we'd try just showing up without the package. Bad idea!! The crowd is so "smushed" (for lack of a better word) getting into the theater that it's a little scary trying to hold onto young children's hands and not lose them. We will definitely do the package again next time to avoid the cattle drive.

Aren't condos great! Yours looks very nice and the extra room is wonderful!We actually rented a house in Windsor Hills in 2008 and absolutely loved it! You're right about the drive to WDW too. I believe we made it every day just as quickly as on Disney transportation.

So sad you had to cancel those ADR's but good job sticking to your budget! I probably would have said oh, I'm on vacation and I'm going! (Not so good for the budget). I have a goal of under $2000 for the trip with my daughter and granddaughter next February so I'm going to have to be careful. Already got the YES tickets and great rate at Pop. Now just waiting on some good airfares to show up!

Can't wait for your next chapter.

I was so pleased with our effort at TSMM. *I* knew what I wanted to do. I just wasn't sure I could do it with two kids in tow (without getting them stepped on or knocked down).

Thanks for the compliment on my Dopey. I thought he came out really cute.

Wow! Your story about trying to see F! in January sounds really stressful. I would have thought the same thing - how bad could it be in January. Yikes!

I would consider renting a house at Windsor Hills in the future. We usually go to WDW with DH, DS3, and my in-laws for a total of 7 people. I would love to stay somewhere with at least 3 bedrooms.

I had to fight back the "I'm on vacation" temptation with the ADRs. But, part of the deal for this trip was me proving to DH that we could do Disney on a reasonable budget - and I would hate to be proven wrong.

 

[ksl5f123]

Thank goodness Fantasmic was still playing. It would have been so annoying to pay the ridiculous amount they charge for the package and not be able to see it.
Glad the girls loved it.Now your DH has to see it.

Bummer that you had to cancel your adrs. If I ever get to do a mother/daughter trip I would want to book all the places I know DH would hate too.

The girls were pretty much indifferent about Fantasmic! when we watched it on YouTube. I was so worried that they wouldn't like it "in person" either and I would have wasted so much time and money (and sat in the rain). I was thrilled and relieved that they liked it. It will certainly be on our itinerary in the future.

My DH and I have pretty different tastes in food. I am your classic midwestern girl who could live on grilled chicken, potatoes, and steamed veggies. DH would prefer to live on pasta and Indian food. We compromise a lot with pasta (because I do like that), but it would have been nice to go to these places that he doesn't want to try.