Calling all January 2011 POP'pers!!!

[Louise O]

Yeah! We have 4 months until we go!!! Can't wait!

 

[alaskanmommy]

we are going to be there from the 21st to the 25th

DDs 3rd birthday is febuary 1st so this is for her birthday and it is our first trip to disney as a family DH and i have been as kids but I am super excited!

danielephant! Family trips to Disney are the best!! I hope you guys have a Magical time!!

We will be going in January to celebrate my Birthday. We are going Jan. 22-29. This is the first time we will be there in January and the first time I will get to celebrate my Birthday while there.

I, too, booked my ADR's before booking the trip.

This is what we have booked.....

Jan 23-Crystal Palace-Breakfast
Jan 24-Whispering Canyon Cafe-Lunch
Jan 25-Le Cellier-Dinner
Jan 26-Crystal Palace-Breakfast
Liberty Tree Tavern-Dinner
Jan 27-50's Prime Time Cafe-Lunch
Jan 28-Crystal Palace-Breakfast

Yes, I LOVE Crystal Palace. LOL. My mom told me I could book whatever I wanted since it's my Birthday trip.

As far as quick service places, I will definately be going to Earl of Sandwich a few times. YUMMO!

WELCOME to the party jesemeca!!! Have an awesome time on your birthday trip!!! They are special. Last time we went it was my B-day trip and it was a blast!! We've never been in January either but I'm excited to try this time of year. My fam and I will be there during your stay!! That's a lot of CP!!

We'd like to join in all the fun. We are staying at POP for the first time 1/9/11-1/16/11 with Free Dining!!! Thank you WDW for the Free Dining.

We're POPalicious!!!

WELCOME Disney Ron!!!!!
Thank Mickey for free dining!! Woot woot!! We are first time Poppers as well! I've heard great things for years so we're excited! Have booked POP in the past but have been offered better deals at other resorts so we have switched.......not this time!

Big welcome to Disney Ron, jesemeca, and danielephant!! To use Disney Ron's adjective...........we're POPalicious!! woot woot!

 

[alaskanmommy]

Oops......

 

[alaskanmommy]

We LOVE January! The weather can definitely vary, but for the most part there is little rain, moderate/cool temps and very manageable crowds. Great time to go! Last year we were there the week after the snow and freezing temps. We wore jeans, tshirts/light long sleeve, sweater/jacket (in the AM and evenings). You can expect lows around 50 and highs in the 70s. Last year we had some lows in 40s (maybe high 30s) at the beginning of the trip...but it warmed up a little each day. The pool at CSR was not heated so needless to say there was NO swimming for us!

Thanks for the info IUHoosiers! We're a little nervous but mostly excited about going in January! I've been hearing that it's one of the most quiet times of the year! I am hoping for more 70 degree weather than the cooler temps.....like last year!

 

[alaskanmommy]

Here are a few of the counter service that I have thought about doing. I know on the 14th we will get food from all the different countries and on the 17th we are going to DD to eat at Wolfgang Puck before we drive back to SC. Most of these we have not tried before, so any input or better ideas would be appreciated.

12th - Need dinner at AK
?Yak & Yeti CS?
Never been to Y & Y counter service. The other CS in AK leave a lot to be desired, we've done Flame Tree and Pizzafari and they are just ok. This year we have ressies at Yak and Yeti table service, sounds good.
13th - Need late brkfst/early lunch at MK
?Plaza Restaurant?
Plaza Restaurant is TS. If you are doing table service in MK I would go for Crystal Palace. It's a character buffett with Pooh characters, pretty fun. For CS, Columbia Harbor House is good and we LOVE the Main Street Bakery they have pastries, hot breakfsast stuff and sandwiches. Casey's Corner is a classic with hot dogs and mini corn dogs that my fam loves.

14th - Dinner at Epcot
Get food from all the different countries
It's fun getting little bites from the different countries. We really like The Boulangeria Patisserie in France, you can actually get a ham and cheese croissant there as a snack credit but they also have yummy pastries/desserts as well as sandwiches and quiche. The Norway bakery is yummy as well. We had a good meal at the Yakitori house in Japan too. I agree with IUHoosier: Yorkshire Fish, Sunshine Seasons and Sommerfest are great choices.

15th - Need lunch at HS
?Sci Fi Dine-In? or ?Fairfax Fare? For this I would go TS and do Sci-Fi or 50's Prime Time

16th - Need lunch at MK
?Lunching Pad? See above for MK suggestions.

17th - Lunch at DD
Wolfgang Puck QS

Wolfgang Puck QS is a good choice! Another one of our faves we like to do is Earl of Sandwich, we try to do that one a few times each trip!!

 

[Louise O]

Thank you everyone for all the help and suggestions. I'm glad I posted these because obviously I had not done enough research on my ideas!! Here is my updated plan. I think I will keep them like this so we have a few options for each day, since sometimes kids can be picky or undecided.

12th - Need dinner at AK
Yak & Yeti CS OR Flame Tree BBQ

13th - Need late brkfst/early lunch at MK
Main Street Bakery OR Columbia Harbour House

14th - Dinner at Epcot
Get food from all the different countries

15th - Need lunch at HS
Fairfax Fare

16th - Need lunch at MK
Pecos Bills OR Cosmic Ray's

17th - Lunch at DD
Wolfgang Puck QS OR Earl of Sandwich

 

[Disney Ron]

WELCOME Disney Ron!!!!!
Thank Mickey for free dining!! Woot woot!! We are first time Poppers as well! I've heard great things for years so we're excited! Have booked POP in the past but have been offered better deals at other resorts so we have switched.......not this time!

Big welcome to Disney Ron, jesemeca, and danielephant!! To use Disney Ron's adjective...........we're POPalicious!! woot woot![/QUOTE]

alaskanmommy, thanks for the welcome. Like yourself we have been booked at POP in the past but was able to stay at other resorts because of good deals, but this trip is a late add on so we're going to keep it as cheap as possible.

And always remember we're POPalicious!!!

 

[steventari]

We will be at POP from 1/7 to 1/18. Going to Universal, IOA and SW the first 3 days - then Disney the remaining days. My husband and I went to DisneyWorld in 1997 to celebrate my cancer being in remission for 5 years - we haven't been back since. In January we will be bringing our kids - ages 8 & 11. I am way more excited than the rest of my family and am obsessively reading and planning everything. Love these boards!

 

[dmoore718]

4 months out until our first stay at POP!!!! Can't wait..especially since the next time our baby will be 3 so no more values for us..I will savor every minute this trip!!! Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

We will be at POP from 1/7 to 1/18. Going to Universal, IOA and SW the first 3 days - then Disney the remaining days. My husband and I went to DisneyWorld in 1997 to celebrate my cancer being in remission for 5 years - we haven't been back since. In January we will be bringing our kids - ages 8 & 11. I am way more excited than the rest of my family and am obsessively reading and planning everything. Love these boards!

steventari!! Welcome and congrats on your first post ever!!!! Congrats on beating cancer! What a fun family vacation for kids your ages. One suggestion: on your first day at Magic Kingdom go to City Hall at guest relations and get your children each a 1st Visit button...........magical!!

By the way, we are also doing US, IOA and SW the first three days of our trip! Great minds............

Well, you found the right site for obsessive Disney planning! There are quite a few of us on this thread that are very knowledgeable about WDW, and Disneyland so don't be shy if you have any questions/concerns!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

4 months out until our first stay at POP!!!! Can't wait..especially since the next time our baby will be 3 so no more values for us..I will savor every minute this trip!!! Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi dmoore718 and welcome to the POP madness!!!

If you post your dates I wiill add you to the roster on the first post of the thread!! Welcome and congrats on your trip!! Woot woot

 

[carebee21]

So for those that are going to Universal, are you just buying your tickets off of the Universal website online? Or can you buy tickets discounted anywhere? This is our first time going so I'm not really sure where to get the best deal. We're going for two days and I figured we'd spend one day in each park, so we wouldn't need the parkhopper tickets...

 

[alaskanmommy]

So for those that are going to Universal, are you just buying your tickets off of the Universal website online? Or can you buy tickets discounted anywhere? This is our first time going so I'm not really sure where to get the best deal. We're going for two days and I figured we'd spend one day in each park, so we wouldn't need the parkhopper tickets...

I'm not sure what we're doing for Universal tickets yet. I think we too are going to just do the one park per day idea and save some $$, especially because we're doing Sea World too. This will be our first US, IOA and SW so I'm a total newbie when it comes to these parks. Although I have been learning on the Sea World / Universal threads on these boards.

I'm hoping for some type of discount for either to come out.

Costco, either online or in-store, sometimes has discounts for Sea World and Universal Studios but right now they only have discounted tickets for US Hollywood. Below are a few other good places to check.....

This is a reputable ticket seller: http://www.undercovertourist.com/united-states/florida/orlando/attractions/tickets.html

If you sign up for the monthly newsletter you can get a link that gives you a special discount for Universal tickets and they also have info on discounts: http://www.mousesavers.com/universalorlando.html

Cross your fingers that we can get some discounted tix!!

 

[carebee21]

I'm not sure what we're doing for Universal tickets yet. I think we too are going to just do the one park per day idea and save some $$, especially because we're doing Sea World too. This will be our first US, IOA and SW so I'm a total newbie when it comes to these parks. Although I have been learning on the Sea World / Universal threads on these boards.

I'm hoping for some type of discount for either to come out.

Costco, either online or in-store, sometimes has discounts for Sea World and Universal Studios but right now they only have discounted tickets for US Hollywood. Below are a few other good places to check.....

This is a reputable ticket seller: http://www.undercovertourist.com/united-states/florida/orlando/attractions/tickets.html

If you sign up for the monthly newsletter you can get a link that gives you a special discount for Universal tickets and they also have info on discounts: http://www.mousesavers.com/universalorlando.html

Cross your fingers that we can get some discounted tix!!

Thanks so much! I don't know about Orlando SeaWorld but the one closest to us in San Diego frequently has ticket specials, so hopefully you can find a good deal in Orlando too! We're doing gatorland, in addition to Universal and Disney. My son is really into reptiles so while I'm not looking forward to it in the slightest, it's all he's been talking about for the past few days.

 

[brewhome]

Hello, you POP-tastic DIS'ers! My family (me, DH, DS1 age 10, and DS2 age 8) will be at POP from 1/11 - 1/18! This is our first stay at POP, so I'm very excited. We're not telling the boys about the trip until Christmas morning, and I can hardly stand the anticipation!! I read the boards after they go to sleep so they don't catch me. The surprise will be totally worth it though. Every time they see a Disney commercial they say how much they want to go back, and I keep telling them it's going to be at least two years until we can (we were just there in February '10). Won't they be SHOCKED!!

We booked the free dining deal and upgraded to the regular dining plan. We found that it was really nice to take a break from the running around and have a nice sit-down meal. Here are our reservations:

Dinner at Tony's Town Square
Breakfast at Tusker House - this is our only repeat TS meal from our last trip because it is SO FREAKING GOOD!!
Lunch at Sci-Fi
Dinner at Le Cellier
Dinner at Yak & Yeti
Dinner at Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club
Lunch at Crystal Palace

I definitely want to hit Flame Tree BBQ again, and then we'll try some different CS places than we did last time. Nothing we had before was bad, but we do like to try new things. I really want to try WPE - we didn't make it to DTD last trip, so we'll go there the day we do the Tusker House breakfast, and AK closes at 5.

I cannot wait to go! Sounds like a fun crew of people will be at POP!!

 

[lov2b@disney]

Count us in!!! We will be there 1/5-10. Cant wait!

 

[alaskanmommy]

Hello, you POP-tastic DIS'ers! My family (me, DH, DS1 age 10, and DS2 age 8) will be at POP from 1/11 - 1/18! This is our first stay at POP, so I'm very excited. We're not telling the boys about the trip until Christmas morning, and I can hardly stand the anticipation!! I read the boards after they go to sleep so they don't catch me. The surprise will be totally worth it though. Every time they see a Disney commercial they say how much they want to go back, and I keep telling them it's going to be at least two years until we can (we were just there in February '10). Won't they be SHOCKED!!

I cannot wait to go! Sounds like a fun crew of people will be at POP!!

WELCOME brewhome!! What an awesome surprise for your children!! I could never hold it in that long! It's our first POP stay as well and we are very excited.

Count us in!!! We will be there 1/5-10. Cant wait!

WELCOME lov2b@disney!! I like your user name!! Here's to the next few months speeding by.....


A big POPalicious to our new additions!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

Okay, so after hearing the reviews of the two new EPCOT restaurants: Via Napoli and La Hacienda I've had to make some changes to my ADR's!

I cancelled our Chefs de France ADR's (been there done that) and instead we are going to eat dinner at La Hacienda during Illuminations which should be cool because the new restaurant is right on the World Showcase Lagoon.

Also cancelled our last night ADR's which were Kona Cafe and now we are going to do Via Napoli! This looks good as well.

We had one dining credit to use so I also added Wolfgang Puck Cafe to the beginning of our trip.

The new version of our ADR's look like this now:

Wolfgang Puck Café*
Le Cellier
Ohana Character Breakfast (our favorite character breakfast)
Teppan Edo
California Grill*
Yachtsman Steakhouse*
Coral Reef
Sci-Fi Diner*
Yak and Yeti*
La Hacienda de San Angel*
1900 Park Fare Character Breakfast*
Via Napoli*

* denotes new dining experiences for us.

If anyone is interested and would be willing to post their ADR dates/times I could make a spreadsheet of everyone's ADR's and we could easily tell what POP'pers would be at the same dining locations!?! It might be fun to keep track of that........

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!

 

[carebee21]

Saturday 01/22 1900 Park Fare Breakfast 10:00 am
Kona Cafe 5:05 pm

Sunday 01/23 Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package 3:10pm (Although I'm trying to change this to later...)

Monday 01/24 Ohana Breakfast 10:15 am

Weds. 01/26 Tusker House Breakfast 9:05 am
Hoop De Doo Review 7:15 pm

Friday 01/28 Le Cellier 4:10 pm

Saturday 01/29 Whispering Canyon 9:30am (We might change this to dinner...We're still figuring out what we're doing this day)

Sunday 01/30 Crystal Palace 5:55 pm

Monday 01/31 Cape May Dinner 5:30pm

Tuesday 02/01 Yak & Yeti 4:45 pm

Weds 02/02 Kona Cafe 9:30 am
Ohana 5:25 pm


These are our reservations for now. I'm just trying to change a couple of things but this is pretty much our plans, as of right now

 

[IUHoosiers]

These are our scheduled ADRs... as of now!

Tues, Jan 11
California Grill @ 7:35PM (birthday dinner!)

Wed, Jan 12
Crystal Palace @ 8:10AM

'Ohana @ 6:45PM

Thurs, Jan 13
Les Chefs de France @ 12:20PM

Le Cellier @ 6:15PM

Fri, Jan 14
50's Prime Time @ 12:30PM

Raglan Road @ 7:30PM

Sat, Jan 15
'Ohana @ 7:50AM

Garden View Tea Room @ 2:00PM

Sun, Jan 16
Tusker House @ 8:10AM

Changes I'm considering....
Canceling dinner or breakfast at 'Ohana for Kona
Canceling 'Ohana or Crystal Palace breakfast for Captain Cook's (CS)
Canceling Raglan Road for Cooke's of Dublin (CS)
Canceling Tusker House


We have more ADRs than we have TS credits, so will be paying for some OOP. I love having the dining plan, but also try not to be tied to it.