Ooh-de-lally! A dining heavy October '13 Trip Report *update 2/23-We're Going Back!*

[TheMaxRebo]

Awww Phil, such great photos of you all in the Grand Ceremonial House. What a lovely family you are.

Isn't it always the way? You plan and plan to a big reveal... and someone has to go to the bathroom. Seen it a million times.

Thank you! .... or at least we can fake it in pictures

Oh and you are so right - heard the same thing happened the first time Woodrow Wilson met Winston Churchill

I need to remember NOT to reading dining posts when I'm hungry! Probably a good thing (for me) that the dessert pics haven't been posted yet. Haha. Everything looks so good.

Yeah - same goes for when you are planning out your ADRs - or you wind up with 4 a day

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 1 - Part 2: Fun at the Polynesian including dinner at Kona Cafe (2 of 2)​

Friday October 11th

Ok, I have kept you in suspense for long enough ....

for dessert our waitress kindly brought over two orders of

'Ohana Bread Pudding: served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce

This is just sooooooo good. Happy we only got two orders to share, otherwise they would have had to roll us out of there.


We also got a Kona Kone:

This was very fun to get/look at but compared to everything else we had eaten was just ok - nothing too special.


After dinner we went down to the beach to play for a bit and then watch the fireworks.

First we caught the Electrical Water Pageant:

... and the kids played in the sand a bit:

Then HalloWishes started. If you haven't viewed any form of Wishes from the Poly beach I highly recommend it and that recommendation goes double for HalloWishes as you can really get a sense for how wide spread the fireworks are for that show - during the finale they look like they are stretching from the Grand Floridian over to the Contemporary.

At this point we hadn't figured out best setting on camera for fireworks pictures but here are a couple from Judi's phone as well as a short video we took with the camera. It is a bit quiet but you can hear the music from the show that is piped in on the beach.

*******

Link to HalloWishes video on Youtube

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Everyone loved it:

I love starting our vacation out this way as you get into the Disney World mode/spirit without worrying about travel delays, etc. and using up a park day or rushing to a park that first day. I know other people just love going to a park right away be we have found this works best for our family.

After this we went back to the resort to go to bed. We had been up since 3:15 that morning to drive from PA to Washington DC for the flight and had to be up early the next morning for a very royal breakfast.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Phil! Ok, so now I know that Disney has not black listed Belle but I am curious to hear your story.... you are going to let us know right?

Ohhhhh that glorious 'Ohana bread pudding!!!! It doesn't look like enough to share in my opinion. Ha ha, they say it is served with "bananas", in my experience there are one or two little slices of banana floating on the top, definitely not enough for me alone having to share!

I watched your Hallowishes video and it looks awesome. I had to look for the finale because you teased us with a description but it appeared to be absent for the video segment. Hmmmm... another teaser perhaps and I'm just impatient?

Definitely having kids and traveling far affect your first day plans. I would think it is nice to have that buffer day to get settled and not rush off to a crowded park.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I really want to see the Electrical Water Pageant. I've caught glimpses of it, but never really seen the whole thing. It's just such a traditional Disney thing.

Good call on the fireworks Phil. I have plans to watch Holiday Wishes from the Poly Beach (if the DVC construction allows), so a similar experience.

 

[disfanforlife]

Just found your report. Its great! We will be in Disney in 13 days. I am spending much of my free time reading trip reports. I just can't get enough!

 

[IheartDDuck]

The only reason I get impressed by the faux-norail is because it takes me to my happy place in the end! And then I hate it on the return trip, because it takes me away from my happy place!

Oooohhhh, aaaaahhhh. Had to respond to your AP purchase.

Oooohhhh, aaaaahhhh. (Table's in Wonderland). Haha.

I'm actually glad that you ate at Pollo Campero, because I've wanted to try it, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Listen, even if you did eat at T-Rex right after eating at Pollo Campero, I wouldn't have judged. It's Disney. Stranger things have happened.

Olivia's wardrobe selection for the trip is top notch! I wish mine could look like that...but something tells me that I would get funny looks....

Dinner looks great! We had an impromptu dinner at Kona this last trip and we loved it. I'd only ever eaten breakfast there in the past, but I'm glad we did.

 

[RGirl]

Joining in! There's nothing I like more than a food-filled Disney trip report!

I guess I need to stop here and give you a quick ooooh and ahhhhh!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[RatherBeInAK]

I'm joining in! A dining-heavy TR is my kind of TR. The kind I like to read, that is, not write. My TR is completely devoid of any food pics. DH and DS2.5 would give me really dirty looks if I made them wait to eat so I could take a picture!

Your kids are adorable. I love the princesses with light sabers shirt. Awesome.

 

[heaven2dc]

Fun trip so far! Would love to watch Wishes from the Polynesian beach - so pretty over the water! I was just looking at renting points and planning a vacation for next year and thought the end of October or early November would be fun to see WDW during the Fall. We've gone in the Spring once and then around Christmas time.

The food pics made me anxious to start planning our dining ressies I should make sure next time that I've eaten my dinner first before looking at all the wonderful food pics

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hi Phil! Ok, so now I know that Disney has not black listed Belle but I am curious to hear your story.... you are going to let us know right?

Ohhhhh that glorious 'Ohana bread pudding!!!! It doesn't look like enough to share in my opinion. Ha ha, they say it is served with "bananas", in my experience there are one or two little slices of banana floating on the top, definitely not enough for me alone having to share!

I watched your Hallowishes video and it looks awesome. I had to look for the finale because you teased us with a description but it appeared to be absent for the video segment. Hmmmm... another teaser perhaps and I'm just impatient?

Definitely having kids and traveling far affect your first day plans. I would think it is nice to have that buffer day to get settled and not rush off to a crowded park.

My story for blacklisting Belle (hmm, is that title of the next squeal? Beauty and the Beast IV: Blacklisted Belle) is fairly innocent - I was going over in my mind the princesses that we met and when think of Akershsus (hint re: the next update) I forgot that Belle greeted at the beginning and signed books then, only thought of the other 4 that came to the table.

The piece of bread pudding was a bit bigger than it looks ... and we ordered two, so it was enough for everyone to get some. I agree about the banana's though - it's kinda like throwing a piece of parsley on top of something and saying it comes with a salad

Not really a teaser regarding the end ... my arm was just getting tired of trying to hold the camera steady.

Especially since we were using the military salute tickets and only had 4 park days to use up, it definitely for us made sense to not go for part of a day that first day - but even still, easing into things and kinda prolonging the excitement is fun for us rather than overdosing the first day

I really want to see the Electrical Water Pageant. I've caught glimpses of it, but never really seen the whole thing. It's just such a traditional Disney thing.

Good call on the fireworks Phil. I have plans to watch Holiday Wishes from the Poly Beach (if the DVC construction allows), so a similar experience.

The Electrical Water Pageant, to me, is such a random thing in that it hasn't changed (even the sound system sounds old) and is kind of cheesy, yet always gets me when I see it - probably b/c it is one of those "only at Disney" things. Also, I am relatively cheap so any sort of free entertainment I am a big fan of

Just found your report. Its great! We will be in Disney in 13 days. I am spending much of my free time reading trip reports. I just can't get enough!

Welcome! Thanks for the compliment and best of luck for your upcoming trip! Having a trip counter at 13 days is much better than the -13 days I am at

The only reason I get impressed by the faux-norail is because it takes me to my happy place in the end! And then I hate it on the return trip, because it takes me away from my happy place!

Oooohhhh, aaaaahhhh. Had to respond to your AP purchase.

Oooohhhh, aaaaahhhh. (Table's in Wonderland). Haha.

I'm actually glad that you ate at Pollo Campero, because I've wanted to try it, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Listen, even if you did eat at T-Rex right after eating at Pollo Campero, I wouldn't have judged. It's Disney. Stranger things have happened.

Olivia's wardrobe selection for the trip is top notch! I wish mine could look like that...but something tells me that I would get funny looks....

Dinner looks great! We had an impromptu dinner at Kona this last trip and we loved it. I'd only ever eaten breakfast there in the past, but I'm glad we did.

yeah, I think the Fake-orail (or faux-norail as you so entertainly call it) is one of those things that has gotten built up by Disney fans/DISers and is now just part of a trip to Disney and you have to get a picture of it just like you have to of the arch coming on to property or the Lego statues at DTD .... well, unless you are lucky and live close enough to just drive

Glad you and others have appreciated the review of Pollo Compero - definitely one that doesn't get much love (well, or hate - kinda just ignored) on the Disboard. It definitely was pretty satisfying and certainly a good alternative when at DTD.

One of the reasons Olivia got so many dresses was they had them at BJ's for like $16.95 each - so daddy kinda splurged on her. Hey, kinda my job, right?

It was our first time at Kona - actually did a lot of "firsts" this trip which was great. We really enjoyed it and like the different options you get there especially with being able to order from the Sushi bar as well.

Joining in! There's nothing I like more than a food-filled Disney trip report!

I guess I need to stop here and give you a quick ooooh and ahhhhh!

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for joining, and welcome! And thanks for the Oooh and ahhh We just love food in general and eating at Disney especially, but figured we had a lot of fun other pictures/stories thus the dining heavy trip report rather than *just* a dining report

I'm joining in! A dining-heavy TR is my kind of TR. The kind I like to read, that is, not write. My TR is completely devoid of any food pics. DH and DS2.5 would give me really dirty looks if I made them wait to eat so I could take a picture!

Your kids are adorable. I love the princesses with light sabers shirt. Awesome.

Welcome and thanks! yeah, I've got my whole family (and now another family) fairly well trained to take pictures of their food - I think they actually enjoy it too and it makes it seem a bit special. I try to go as quick as I can and not take too long ensuring the light is right or whatever

Thanks! I definitely think I enjoy that shirt more than Olivia did ... well, she liked it but mostly because it was pink

Fun trip so far! Would love to watch Wishes from the Polynesian beach - so pretty over the water! I was just looking at renting points and planning a vacation for next year and thought the end of October or early November would be fun to see WDW during the Fall. We've gone in the Spring once and then around Christmas time.

The food pics made me anxious to start planning our dining ressies I should make sure next time that I've eaten my dinner first before looking at all the wonderful food pics

My kids seem to be big fans of fireworks and I like them too. Plus, as mentioned above, I am cheap so if I can combine a show in with dinner and not have to use up a park ticket day, all the better! It's hard to top the observation deck at the Contemporary as you are just so close to the park, but we really love Wishes from the Poly beach - just fun to sit in/near the sand and watch the castle and the show

The Kona food definitely looks good in pics - probably better than the food in the next update. Best of luck planning your ADRs - good thing is there aren't really *bad* places - just have to figure out what fits best and for us hard part was the balance between new places and old favorites.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 2 - Part 1: EPCOT ... breakfast with Royalty (a.k.a. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall )​

Saturday, October 12th

Well, after that crazy long travel day and dinner yesterday we were up bright and early to get to our first pre-opening breakfast of the trip. Since we had two girls with us that were primed for princesses, we figured why hold off on meeting some - so for that first full day we had scheduled a breakfast with Belle and her friends at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.

The girls were obviously ready and excited:

We kinda underestimated how long it would take to get 10 people ready and out in the morning, plus we needed to activate all the Military Salute tickets (which took a bit longer than we had anticipated), so we were running a bit behind as we walked through the gates into EPCOT. I seem to recall a policy that you only got a 15 minute grace period for ADRs so I took off - pushing Peter and Olivia in our double stroller - to ensure we got there in time. After giving my calves a good workout, I got to the check-in podium with about 2 mins to spare, only to be told they can't check us in until all members of our party were there

This was roughly my reaction:

Fortunately everyone else made it not too much later and we were officially checked in ... to wait around for them to call our name. Which they did about 10-15 minutes later which entitled us to .... wait on a line. Oh well, we were still early in the trip and it wasn't so bad. So we got on line and the girls got their autograph books ready and basically just started to get over-excited

In there defense, it isn't every day that a royal proclamation from the Queen goes out inviting us to a celebration:

(seriously, that has to be the only royal decree posted that includes a phone number)


Finally we were up and each girl got some solo time with Belle - who was lovely and very welcoming

We also got a nice group shot ... unfortunately our best shot is the one where I am trying to get Peter to pay attention, but oh well.

We were seated off to the left, past where you meet Belle, very close to the buffet. It was nice as every other time we have eaten there we have been seated in the small room off on the other side of the restaurant. On the downside, we were at a big long table that was close to the next big long table making it hard for those near the wall (e.g., me) to get in and out. But we sat the girls at the end near the center of the room and that worked out great for meeting the princesses.

We got seated and placed our drink orders (pretty much coffee and OJ for all the adults except Bridget who got tea and Mike who just got OJ) and chocolate milk for the kids. Basically right after that a princess parade started and before they were even settled the two girls were whisked away by Princess Aurora:

Probably not the first person to note this but I bet Disney makes a good amount of money off this whole Princess thing


Anyway, we took turns going up to the cold buffet but rather quickly they also brought out the hot food served family style - it consists of scrambled eggs, cheesy potatoes, bacon, and sausage:

Here is my plate which also includes some of the items from the cold buffet (clockwise from left is: pastries, blueberry muffin, cinnamon raisin bagel, strawberry danish, strawberries, raisins, smoked salmon, eggs, cheesy potatoes, sausage, bacon):

Everything was quite good - there is good variety at the buffet (includes several types of meats and cheeses as well) and the hot food was cooked well. The potatoes especially were very, very good ... like super yummy ... like we ordered another order of them good.


It took a little while for the first princess to get to us, but once they started they all came fairly quick.

First up was Snow White - who has always been my daughters favorite (though, now she says it is a tie between Snow and Ariel) and she was very sweet and gave both girls a big hug.

Next was Aurora (who, but the way, I think benefited the most for the dress/costume re-design) and was lovely as well

Then Cinderella was able to step away from her castle to pay a visit:

Last was Ariel who we always seem to have good interractions with. She is probably the one that tried to engage the boys the most. I fell like she is able to show a personality that is a bit bit more "goofy" than the other princesses which is usually very fun.

All-in-all the princess interactions were nice, but a bit on the quick side. Wasn't like the girls were clamoring for more or anything and definitely got both their books signed and it wasn't rushed or anything - just nothing extra-special.

But hey, we knocked out 5 princess autographs meeting only 3 more to go, so who am I to complain

We used TIW at Akershus and saved $54.78. That brings the total to $122.23. Plus, using the AP we didn't need to pay for parking at EPCOT so that is another $15, and including that the total is: $137.33


Another very lovely time at Akershus. Following breakfast we were off to enjoy Future world a bit before Bob and I had our Food & Wine Festival special event - details of both in next update ... including a meeting with the Big Cheese (eater) himself!

 

[kaetra]

I'm in!

 

[spiritsim]

we are going on our first WDW trip next oct....can't wait. Living vicariously for now you have many of the same ADRs we hope to get. So Ohhhhhhhhh Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and yummmmmmmmy!

 

[RGirl]

Great update! We are big Akershus fans - me for the potatoes, my DD for the princesses.

I think this is the first time I have seen a pic of the redesign of Ariel's dress. Whoa - can't say that I'm a fan....

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[courtneybelle]

Got a little behind, but KONAAAA. I've never actually been for dinner but I adored our breakfast there. I'd love to try the teriyaki steak.

Love the Belle dresses on the girls, she's my favorite princess

We did Akershus years ago. It didn't blow us away but it was a great way to meet a lot of princesses! And now you only have a few to go!

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Phil! Ha ha! A Stanley reaction! Loved it!

Akershus is a favorite of ours. I love the cheesy potatoes and the Mickey waffles. Wait?? Where's the Mickey waffles? Did they hold out on you?

I completely agree with your observation that Disney knows if you have a little girl under 10 dine with princess meet and greets the parents are under obligation to outfit said little girls in all manner of princess-wear. But the good thing is those princess dresses can also double as a Halloween costume!

Aurora didn't seem to have her dazzling princess smile that day. That super tanned Ariel is distracting me! I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new dress either but I'm more annoyed that she doesn't have her seashell swag in her hair anymore!

On a positive note, you knocked out 5 of the 8 princesses!

Did you use TiW at Akershus? You know I'm tracking your savings so you have to hand over the info buddy!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ahhh, there is nothing like a good 'ol Stanley Hudson slow burn.

Hahaha, first line of the trip is always the worst. Too bad it's somewhere you have a reservation.

Hey getting almost all of a party that big in a proper photo pose is a win in my book.

Yeah the whole princess thing... I think Disney does ok.

I guess I'll have to have a chat with Olivia to get her ALL the way over to the Ariel side, lol.

And my Ariel, what a great tan you have!

And you know, Ariel without the hair swag just isn't right. To me it's just looks like a girl going to prom.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Oops, I realized after I posted last night that I forgot to add the running TIW savings - and this was also pointed out to me by Brenda who is trying to make this a top 3 favorite internet game.

And too be fair, I wouldn't be a very good Chuck Woolery if I didn't provide any answers.

I went back and updated the post, but here is the info:

"We used TIW at Akershus and saved $54.78. That brings the total to $122.23. Plus, using the AP we didn't need to pay for parking at EPCOT so that is another $15, and including that the total is: $137.33"

We'll be back in 2 and 2

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm in!

Welcome! Thanks for joining!

we are going on our first WDW trip next oct....can't wait. Living vicariously for now you have many of the same ADRs we hope to get. So Ohhhhhhhhh Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and yummmmmmmmy!

Welcome! October is always the time of year we go - mostly for the Food & Wine Festival but also because the weather tends to be pretty good and the crowds not crazy - though this year they seemed heavier than in the past, but perhaps because it was Columbus Day week

Best of luck in getting your ADR's - if you have any questions about anything I don't cover in details enough, please ask

Great update! We are big Akershus fans - me for the potatoes, my DD for the princesses.

I think this is the first time I have seen a pic of the redesign of Ariel's dress. Whoa - can't say that I'm a fan....

It was our first time their for breakfast and we are big fans of those potatoes. All the food was pretty good I have to say and it is a great way to meet a bunch of princesses and it just seems special to my daughter - plus it is a tad cheaper than doing Cinderella's Royal Table

I am not ethically opposed to the redesigns in general, but some are definitely better than others - Ariel's is definitely not the best ... also, she apparently had been to the tanning bed before breakfast that day and I don't think that helped either

Great update!

Why thank you wiigirl!