DISNEY FRIENDS, FOOD AND FUN.. and a huge huge surprise! New update 10/7

[Malibelle]

The cast:
Me-Daniella-36
Phil-39

Resort: Disney Boardwalk 1 bedroom Villa
Dates: Sept 4-11
Dining plan: No dining plan but instead used Table in Wonderland Card
I am not the analyst but my husband is and made a big spreadsheet, he figured what the average cost of a TS, CS and snack cost per day would be for the dining plan. He came up with a TS=$27, CS=$12 and a Snack=$3) The Tables in Wonderland is a 20% off discount and an 18% gratuity is automatically included. Also, we ate different from the dining plan as we ate more appetizers rather than dessert. You will see a breakdown of cost analysis for each place we ate by and which one came out on top :
Total Cost
No Discount Cost
Dining Plan Cost
TIW Cost



TS Dining plans:
Crystal Palace-Breakfast
Captain Grill- Dinner
Cape May cafe-Dinner
Sci Fi- Lunch
Teppan Edo-Dinner
Flying Fish-Dinner
Liberty Tree tavern - Lunch
Ranglan Road-Dinner
Le Cellier- Dinner

CS Dining plans- winging it but ended up with
Pizza Planet
Yak &Yeti
Sunshine Seasons

Extra dinning:
Territory Lounge- WL
La Cava del Tequila- Mexico


Hi everyone! Just a little background. We were married in Disney in 2007 so its a special place for us to vacation. This was a much needed vacation for the two of us. In Feburary we lost our son at 35 weeks so our year was not off to a good start. It is now a new beginning for us, I just recently lost my job in the pharma field but its a good thing as I am now becoming a Disney Vacations Specialist and can work from home plus I started a small business on Etsy doing personalized sandwriting photography that was inspired by the loss of our son Nathan. So I think I will be pretty busy over the winter. I have a lot to tell you and the good stuff didn’t really happen until the end of the trip. It turned out to be one the best vacations ever besides out wedding.

Saturday Sept 4th.

The day finally came! Our flight was at 3pm so we could actually sleep in a bit. We got up, packed last minute items and headed to the airport. We flew Southwest, I love that airline! There was so much room in the seats compared to our last trip when we flew Spirit plus we didn’t have to pay for baggage. We arrived right on time, headed to Magical Express , waited about 20 minutes and got on the bus to the Boardwalk Resort.

Since it was after 3pm we knew our room would be ready. So we had checked in online and went right up to the cast member to get our room key. I had requested a high floor away from the elevators. It was something I ready online. Boy did we get a room away from the elevators but it was perfect! We didn't mind the long walk. It was room 5009 the top floor. It’s the room right above the DVC sample villa on the Boardwalk. The view was spectacular, to the left was the yatch club, the center was the Beach Club and Epcot Spaceship Earth and to the right was the boardwalk, ESPN and Bakery. The boats were busy taking people to Epcot and DHS. We had a 1 bedroom villa this time. I don’t think we can ever go back to a studio, although they are just fine. We were definitely spoiled. We had a huge bed, Jacuzzi, huge closet, separate bathroom, full kitchen, washer and dryer and living room. Flat screen TV in both the bedroom and living room. Our balcony was one big balcony that the bedroom and living room opened out to. The rooms next to ours each had separate small ones, I don’t know why ours was different but I liked it!

Livingroom

Kitchen

Bedroom

Powder room and closet
Powder room with jacuzzi tub

Opps, forgot to take picture of the bathroom but it had a pedistal sink, walk in tile shower and was big!

Disney Magic touch

View from our bedroom

The balcony

View to the left

View straight ahead

View to the right

Cute lamp

I loved how it was decorated, bright and cheery. It had the cutest lamp! The Animal Kingdom Lodge was my favorite but I have to say the Boardwalk is too. Both for different reasons. The boardwalk is so convenient to everything. We hardly road the buses and it was great! You can walk to Epcot and DHS or take the boat to both. There is always something going on at the Boardwalk. It’s close to many restaurants. It was nice to go back to the room to freshen up and not have to leave 1 ½ early to ride buses to get where you needed to be.

Ok on to the rest of the day we took a walk to Epcot. Pictures from our walk

Oh and along to way there was a wedding!

and the Coach!

 

[Malibelle]

day 1 continued:

We had no dining plans since we knew were arriving later in the day so we walked to Epcot and figured we would get something to eat there. So we spent the night in World Showcase going to each country. I actually got to see the china movie, usually we skipped the movies but it was very interesting. I was hungry and Phil mentioned something about Mexico. I have been wanting to eat there and actually had a lunch reservation for later in the week. Well we went inside to find the restaurant was way too busy but the Tequila bar wasn’t. They have some food items but I was leery because Phil is such a picky eater and there are lots of weird sauces and things they put on Mexican food. He said lets try it so we did.

Mexico

La Cava del Tequila

This is a 30 seat Tequila bar area, the bar was very popular and we were seated all the way in the back which was nice. It’s a very cozy cool place. The menu was more of a tapas style menu. The waiter came to take our drink order. I had a frozen strawberry margarita and Phil ordered a XX lager. It funny because he literally said “ I will have the X X beer”

When the waiter left I laughed and said you know they are called Dos Equis. So he brings our drinks right way and takes our order.
Phil ordered the beef Flatuas, I am not sure what it was made with. I couldn’t find a description but they where really good.

I ordered the Tostadas de Tinga: Roasted tomato and chipotle pulled chicken tostadas, with avocado, black refried beans, Valentina sauce, topped with queso fresco and sour cream .

Both were very good and tasty. I liked mine better than his. He wasn’t too happy about the stuff on top of his. I always tell his to ask, I can’t remember to do it all the time for him!
I didn’t mention early that we chose not to do the dining plan this time and I purchase the TIW card to use for most of our meals but this one they did not accept it. So our bill was on the high side for 2 drinks and 2 appetizers. . Oh well. Although it was good we probably won’t do that again because of the price.

Total Cost: $39.41 +$7.59 tip= $47

We walked back to the Boardwalk because we wanted to watch Illuminations from our Balcony. We were still hungry because it wasn’t that much food plus we hadn’t eaten all day. So we grabbed some food on the boardwalk. Phil has a chicken sandwich platter and I had a pulled pork sandwich platter that came with fries and a drink. It cost us a total of $15! We took it back to our room and watch Illuminations from our villa.

It was amazing and so cool, it made me love it even more. You could actually hear the music from a far.

After the Illumination show I look down and there is the carriage again! This time it had a couple dress with two little kids in tuxes. Must have been another wedding or vowel renewal.I didn't even know the carriage went to the BW area, it didn't when I got married but I guess money talks.

We finally unpacked and headed to bed because the next day was an early one. 8:05 Cyrstal Palace Breakfast in the Magic Kingdom..

 

[Malibelle]

A little sad no one wants to read my TR.

 

[Malibelle]

Day 2 comming soon: Magic kingdom before opening, crystal palace, captains grill and jelly rolls with some dis friends!

 

[Malibelle]

Here are few of my favorite shots from the trip with my Nikon SLR camera. It think I took over 100o pictures!

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

Enjoyed seeing your photos. Looks like y'all had a great trip! And the wedding ones are really pretty!

That mexican food looks really good!
I've never even seen La Cava del Tequila. Is it in the same place San Angel is? And Is it a CS or a TS place & what's the price range like? Your photos of the food just make me think we'd love eating there at lunch.

 

[Malibelle]

Enjoyed seeing your photos. Looks like y'all had a great trip! And the wedding ones are really pretty!

That mexican food looks really good!
I've never even seen La Cava del Tequila. Is it in the same place San Angel is? And Is it a CS or a TS place & what's the price range like? Your photos of the food just make me think we'd love eating there at lunch.

Thanks, La Cava del Tequila is inside Mexico on the right. Its very small. The prices were ok, I am pretty sure it doesn't count as a CS or TS. There is a very limited menue its just appetizers. It cost us around $40 and that was with no discounts, they didn't accept the TIW card.

 

[Jeananne]

Thanks! Very fun to read! I am anxiously awaiting Day 2!

 

[Malibelle]

Thanks Jeananne, I just finished day 2. I will be posting part of it soon

 

[Malibelle]

Day 2:

We woke up super early because we had an 8:05 reservation for Crystal Palace. We hopped on a bus and I have to say the bus service at the Boardwalk was very good. We made it to the Magic Kingdom by 7:40am. They were already decorated for the Halloween Party! We were sad they started it a week late and couldn’t attend. Its our favorite thing to do at Disney.

There was a sign saying Reservation so we got in line there, it wasn’t too long at all, right in front of the ticket turnsiles. I think by 5 of 8 they let us in. Its so awesome being in the park before it opens. Main street was empty!

I have witness this twice before, once for our wedding shoot and once for the train tour where we had to be there early. I got some of the best shots of the empty streets. There was one family that got in my way in front of the castle but that’s ok.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...jds3bsmIPbz4E/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=3/rx=720/ry=480/

So we then headed to the Crystal Palace.

There were a few people waiting but not many. We checked in and got our buzzer. About 5 minutes later they called us. We were seated on the right side of the restaurant and the first to be seated as you can tell.

Breakfast was great! I was one of the best buffets IMO besides Boma. Phil really didn’t eat much and I forgot to take food pictures except for one dish.

We met all the characters except tigger, he never made it to our table.

He was almost there but the parade started and we were ready to go.

A reminder on Our Bill Analysis: ( Now my husband has this whole spreadsheet, he figured what the average cost of a TS, CS and snack cost per day. He came up with a TS=$27, CS=$12 and a Snack=$3) The Tables in Wonderland is a 20% off discount and an 18% gratuity is automatically included.

Total Cost of Bill: $43.33
NO Discount: $43.33 + $8 Tip= $51.33
Dining Plan: $54 +8= $62
TIW disount: $35.77 +$8.23 Tip( he rounded our bill to be even= $44.00

We got out of there before 9am so the park was till technically closed.

Continued on post#16

 

[merryg]

Great start of a trip report!!! Your pictures are fantastic!!!

 

[Princesspunkin]

I love youir pictures.We were there the same time as you. We did our site visit and went later that night to take pictures of the fireworks from ADH. I think you can get some great fireworks pictures from the balcony of ADH, that is what we are hoping to do for our wedding. I hate that they put the halloween decorations up so early this year, I did not want them in my wedding pictures but I have to figure out what to do or change our date.

Waiting for more pics.

Dawn

 

[Kristinella]

Exciting! I enjoyed catching up on your TR! Looking forward to more. I didn't know that the carriage would go there too...neat...that is where we are having our reception next year!!!

I know exactly what you mean about people not reading your TR! I have lost of "views" of my PJ but I have been the only one to post the past few posts...so sad!

 

[SaraPons]

See, some of us are reading!

 

[loritemp]

I am joining in!

Oh my gosh, your room location was perfect!!! I want that room!!!

What a perfect start to your trip! I got a drink there in Mexico and it was fabulous, an avacado margatira. Sounds odd but it was great!!! But yeah, pricey!

Can't wait to hear more.

Oh and just wanted to say I am so very sorry about your dear son

 

[Malibelle]

Day 2 Cont.....

We got out of there before 9am so the park was till technically closed.

Here are some pictures of inside the castle, usually its so buy you can get pictures of the beautiful murals

We headed to Fantasyland and actually made it for rope drop.

Phil just hanging out before rope drop

See the sign 0 wait time!

Right before rope drop.

Phil was unsuccessful pulling out the sword

I really wanted to go on Dumbo, as many times as I have been there I have never been on it. Phil refused to go, he things it’s a kiddy ride…ugh. So I didn’t go. We headed over the Peterpan. He will go on that, we were the first riders and escorted by a nice old man who was a castmember.

Continued on Post#18

 

[Malibelle]

Great start of a trip report!!! Your pictures are fantastic!!!

Thanks for checking it out!

I love youir pictures.We were there the same time as you. We did our site visit and went later that night to take pictures of the fireworks from ADH. I think you can get some great fireworks pictures from the balcony of ADH, that is what we are hoping to do for our wedding. I hate that they put the halloween decorations up so early this year, I did not want them in my wedding pictures but I have to figure out what to do or change our date.

Waiting for more pics.

Dawn

Yes, you will see the fireworks from ADH. That is where we got married although we didn't stay for them since we had a dessert party. Its a great place to have a reception. Who is your wedding planner? I wouldn't worry about the halloween decor, its really only in the Magic Kindom on Main street. If ou are having caslte pictures done there is nothing to worry about and I would just tell them youd don't want that in your pictures.

Exciting! I enjoyed catching up on your TR! Looking forward to more. I didn't know that the carriage would go there too...neat...that is where we are having our reception next year!!!

I know exactly what you mean about people not reading your TR! I have lost of "views" of my PJ but I have been the only one to post the past few posts...so sad!

THanks! I will go check out your PJ. Loved AHD for our reception. I didn't know about the carriage, we had the rolls and it did pull up right in front of the ADH for us but thats it. We opted for Chracters at our wedding instead of the carriage. It was one of the best momement of our wedding!

See, some of us are reading!

THank you!

I am joining in!

Oh my gosh, your room location was perfect!!! I want that room!!!

What a perfect start to your trip! I got a drink there in Mexico and it was fabulous, an avacado margatira. Sounds odd but it was great!!! But yeah, pricey!

Can't wait to hear more.

Oh and just wanted to say I am so very sorry about your dear son

Thank you, things are finally turning around, I am making sure we leave 2010 in a good way. I loved the room. I just requested a few weeks before a room away from the elevators and top floor and that is what we got.

 

[Malibelle]

day 2 cont....

Then we hopped on the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Tom Sawyer Island, Pirates of the Carribean, Buzz Lightyear and Astro Orbitor all my 11am. It was crazy, the park was empty. So we basically finished what we wanted to do. So we decided to head back to the room and rest a bit, it was a jam packed morning.

We have a million pictures so I didn’t take too many but its one of our favorite rides.

The area where the new fantasyland is being build

He is a pirate at heart..arggg

Tom Sawyer Island was a lot of fun. Last time I went there I was a kid so I didn’t remember much. There are forts, caves and paths to walk through. If you find the paintbrush you win a prize. We didn’t find any.

You can see how wet we were from Splash Mountain

Just enjoying the view

 

[jojosmom23]

subscribing..enjoying the report and the fabulous pictures

Jenn

 

[Malibelle]

subscribing..enjoying the report and the fabulous pictures

Jenn

Thanks for joining in!