Hi iloveeeyore! Can't wait to read your report. DH and I will be there the same time as Ya'll. We have ressies at a lot of the same places. You may get our tables at Narcoossee's and Cali grill. We should be finishing up when you are arriving. Hope your trip is fabulous!
Awesome!! I love Eeyore, so of course I also love your rating system. Can't wait to read your reviews!
I'm here, I'm here! And I'm ready and anxiously waiting for your reviews to begin.
I hope you have an awesome trip! Oh, and your dining plans look great, by the way.
Found my way over!
Love your rating system! Not sure I am thank creative. Maybe I will think of something before our trip.
Your trip is so close to ours, I may not allow myself to read your reviews so I don't make any very last minute changes!
Very smart decision to give your $ to Dis for a longer stay than JetBlue! As for ASMu resort, I really like the idea of a food court... I'm a snacker so a food court being anywhere near my room would make me completely happy!
Looking forward to counting your trip down with you!
Late August seems like a more popular time for DISers than early August. Is that because we are more educated about crowds at Disney? We've been to Disney in late August several times and we love it! We can't go late August this year because DD has orientation at her university starting 8/26, and DS plays varsity football, which starts sometime around the 20th.
I'm not generally a fan of food courts, but oddly enough, I'm really looking forward to enjoying one at ASMu! EVERYTHING is better in WDW!
For us going in late August started as a fluke. DS didn't have summer day care that week so it made sense to take vacation then. Of course then free dining became an added bonus. So initially the lower crowds didn't play into it for us but it is sure an added perk.
I am not a food court fan at all but I do think the one at Art of Animation looks amazing. Debating taking a ride over there on Friday instead of eating at Mara. We'll see .... One way or any another, we will definitely be checking out that resort!
How fun! I'm in! We have ADRs booked for many of the same places!
B: Kona Cafe
L: Biergarten
D: Raglan Road
D: Narcoossee's
D: Ohana
D: California Grill
B: Crystal Palace
Can't wait to see the reviews!!
Just curious, instead of splitting meals, could you just pay for the least expensive one OOP? It looks like that might be the Plaza? That is probably what I would do, because we can never agree on a dish that we both want when we go out! LOL
Al and I have been dreaming of staying in the tower, TPV since 1991, and while we really don't want to pay the kind of money to do it for a whole week, we decided to do it for this one night before our package begins. Our plan is to spend the afternoon unwinding from the trip, enjoy the pool and marina for a while, have a fun dinner, and spend LOTS of time on our balcony!
And...since it's right in our lobby...we will partake in our semi-traditional 1st night dinner...CHEF MICKEY'S!
I guess that I will get to answer a question that has always plagued me -- Do the castle lights EVER go out?
Congratulations on a night at the CR with the Theme Park View. We actually did that a couple of years ago, we spent 10 days at the French Quarter and spent our last 2 at CR with a Theme Park View and went to MVMCP. Loved watching Wishes from the balcony and listening to the music piped through the TV.
I'm sure the kids were so suprised.
Congrats on CR!! Can't wait to hear all about it!
Just found your pre-trip report and I'm in
Looking forward to hearing more of your plans.
Now that the final surprise has been let out of the bag to our DKs, a word about Chef Mickey's...
For me, this buffet represents an interesting dining experience, with the emphasis on "experience". The food has been good to very good in quality. But the fact that our family went here on a "first night" early in our Disney trip history is the paramount reason I return for subsequent first nights.
I'm not so sure it would be the same if the first time we were there was not as positive as it was for us. The food was very good, the service was excellent, the DKs loved the characters, we all did the napkin dance, and the monorail whisked by silently overhead. All pieces of an intricate puzzle that fell into place, cementing Chef Mickey's as a virtual must-do for future trips.
There are plenty of other Disney dining locations that would bring us back for the combination of food and service alone (CG, AP, CDF, to name a few). But Chef Mickey's (along with the Hoop Dee Doo Revue) holds a special place for us. Stripped of the characters, location and other uniqueness (where else can I get Mickey mac and cheese at home?), it might just be another meal.
But it never will be. It will always be the first place we celebrated the beginning of our first trip. At home, the dinner table is a place where we all relate the goings on of our days, a place where we reconnect with our family. Chef Mickey's was the family dinner table where we first sat down to celebrate Day 1's magical experiences. Just the mention of the name brings up that first night of memories, and quite a few first-night nights after that; the pictures "in front of the plate" marking the very growth of our DKs, and the journey of our family.
So, while, in the end, mashed potatoes are just mashed potatoes; the ones served at Chef Mickey's are special. They come mixed with memories of mileposts we have enjoyed together, a deliciousness that never fades.
I can't wait to taste them again.
If your family has a "first-night" place, I hope it is not too many days before you get to enjoy it as well!
What an awesome surprise! The Magic Kingdom view from CR is beautiful - watching Wishes from your room is an amazing experience.
Here's a random question (unrelated to dining or resort plans) - are you flying out of Westchester Airport?
I'm just wondering, because your location says Westchester, and that airport is by far the most pleasant airport I've ever flown out of. So much less of a hassle than JFK, Laguardia, or Newark.