Presenting - Pumpkin Planning Project.........A PTR Production!!!

I know you weren't asking me :lmao: but just thought I'd put my 2 cents worth in!

We had lunch at BB on our trip to Anaheim. We booked for the 11:30am seating to try and improve our chances of getting waterside seating. We checked in as soon as we were allowed (I think it was 11:20am) and asked for waterside seating, and were promptly led straight to the middle table right next to the water :cloud9: The other waterside tables filled up quickly - like in the next 5 minutes.

DH was a bit put off by the people in the boats gawking at us as we were eating, but after a while he got used to it and enjoyed the atmosphere.

TBH I don't even remember what we had to eat (I think maybe ribs???), and it wasn't that great. It was the atmosphere that was awesome! And while we were in there the ride broke down lol! So we were quite entertained watching the boats pile up and cast members running around behind the scenes.

Having said that, we shared something rich and chocolately for dessert and it was yum!
 
I know you weren't asking me :lmao: but just thought I'd put my 2 cents worth in!

We had lunch at BB on our trip to Anaheim. We booked for the 11:30am seating to try and improve our chances of getting waterside seating. We checked in as soon as we were allowed (I think it was 11:20am) and asked for waterside seating, and were promptly led straight to the middle table right next to the water :cloud9: The other waterside tables filled up quickly - like in the next 5 minutes.

DH was a bit put off by the people in the boats gawking at us as we were eating, but after a while he got used to it and enjoyed the atmosphere.

TBH I don't even remember what we had to eat (I think maybe ribs???), and it wasn't that great. It was the atmosphere that was awesome! And while we were in there the ride broke down lol! So we were quite entertained watching the boats pile up and cast members running around behind the scenes.

Having said that, we shared something rich and chocolately for dessert and it was yum!

Oooooh, I do love a good 2 cents worth:rotfl:

Thanks for letting me know about your experience! I must say I have read mixed reviews about the food, but like you say, it's all about the atmospherepirate: And I do love hearing about others and the experiences they have had!

And really, is there anything better than being waterside inside Pirates at the happiest place on earth AND having something rich and chocloatey to boot!!! Sounds like heaven to me and I know the DD is just dying to do it!

We have been on Pirates once when it stopped working! We were right near the end of the ride and the boats just kept on piling up! We got bumped so may times it was like dodgem boats in the end!!!!:lmao:

So I will make sure we get there before our reserved time for a good chance of getting a waterside table........thanks for the tip!:thumbsup2
And I honestly hadn't thought about doing lunch, but this may also be an option! You can't really tell what time of day it is once you are in there, so lunch could be a better choice!

Thank goodness for AP dining discounts.......it is pretty pricey, but for a one off thing, I don't really mind!

I may just skip the main and head straight for the dessert:banana:
 
So I will make sure we get there before our reserved time for a good chance of getting a waterside table........thanks for the tip!:thumbsup2
And I honestly hadn't thought about doing lunch, but this may also be an option! You can't really tell what time of day it is once you are in there, so lunch could be a better choice!

We did lunch on the advice of a fellow DISer, but I'm afraid I've completely forgotten exactly who it was :confused3

Anyway, it was all to improve our chances of getting the waterside seating. Being as it was the very first seating of the day, we could make sure we were actually among the first inside the restaurant, so no chance of having to wait for someone to finish their meal or anything to get our table. Apparently even if you book for the earliest dinner seating, there could still be people left over from lunch hogging the prime positions. I wouldn't know if this is true or not since we didn't do dinner, but lunch certainly worked well for us.

And you're right - it makes no difference whether you go for lunch or dinner in terms of atmosphere. Though it was a little odd going back outside into bright sunshine after lunch... :rotfl:
 


Hi Sue ... I have just had to look up the Blue Bayou menu to refresh my memory! :laughing:
I had the beef short ribs and from memory it was the pick of the lot. The chicken dish was so-so, the crab cakes were quite nice and the jambalaya was ok if you enjoy that sort of a dish. The salad/gumbo were filling, relatively tasty but nothing special. We did not have room for dessert. Overall we felt the restaurant was worth it for the ambience, however the food is probably only average in quality ... sort of reminds me of food you would get at your average middle-of-the-road wedding reception centre!:rotfl: Nobody tried the Monte Christo, but that is probably not our style of food. We went there for lunch after an early entry morning. We arrived at 11.30 and requested a water side table for our party of 7, even though we had been told that it was unlikely that they would accommodate a party of that size by the water... but they did - a little bit of Disney magic :wizard:
It was lovely to take a break in the middle of the day and enjoy the ambience and I would definitely do it again, even though the food was (in my opinion :rolleyes1) only just above average. :hippie:
 
Definitely joining in! So excited for September and October! As far as I'm concerned this summer can just hurry up and get on outta here! :lmao:

So nice for you that they have emails! I can imagine getting up at 4am to make reservations would be pretty tough. Cute idea about the Pocahontas shirt. I was Pocahontas for Halloween last year and very last minute turned DF into John Smith. He had a blue uniform button up shirt from his school and jeans with boots. He looked pretty handsome to me! :groom:
 
Popping in to read up on your PTR and see how your plans are coming along. Now I know about the double up on annual passes that you mentioned over on my PTR. So glad you were refunded for one set of APs. Those Disney folks are awesome! Everytime I speak with one on the phone I always feel like I just received a little bit of magic. pixiedust:

Thought I would throw in my experiences with your selection of dining choices. My to-do list for November looks an awful lot like yours!

Cheesecake Factory - like you we will be heading their way for our first time. Their menu has so many options that I am pretty sure it is going to be a big hit. Seems to me like you can't go wrong when there is cheesecake to be had for dessert!

Rainforest Cafe - is always a must do on our list because it is DD's favorite. Can't beat the atmosphere, although it can be really noisy. The food is kinda hit or miss but for the most part is fairly average. The one in WDW simply blows DTD's away in regard to quality of the food. We have found that the salmon is pretty good. And, for dessert you have got to try the Sparkling Volcano. I am not a chocolate lover but even I can't resist this one!

Mimi's - one of my very favorites! I LOVE their quiche! Not so sure my boys would agree since their entrees seemed to be much smaller on our last trip. I am going to be sure to give them another try and just assume that it was an off day.

iHop - haven't tried the one in Anaheim but assuming they are like most other locations I would guess they have some pretty tasty items, especially for breakfast.

Denney's - has always been a favorite when we stayed at Anaheim Desert Inn since it was right next door. They have good burgers and I always enjoy their sampler platter. Just so you know, if anyone in your group is ever sick you can get chicken noodle soup that works wonders. :thumbsup2

PF Chang's - I really enjoyed the food but the rest of my family is not all that crazy about Asian food. Probably will replace it this trip with a steakhouse or something along that line. Boys gotta have their "meat and taters"! :laughing:

And then best for last.... Blue Bayou - my family's all time favorite. Our trip would not be complete without at least one meal there. (well, it was closed one year and we somehow managed although I am not quite sure how) We usually dine there for lunch but in 2010 we did Plaza in for lunch and BB for Thanksgiving dinner. We have always been told that it took a long time to get a waterside table but we have always been fortunate and been seated pretty fast. It is a beautiful place to dine and the atmosphere is hard to beat. I have tried the surf and turf and it was very good. I usually have the Monte Cristo but honestly I prefer the one at Cafe Orleans which only has cheese and not the ham. Be warned. They are very rich so it may be something you want to share. My very favorite dessert at the whole park is the Creme Brulee served here.

We have eaten at a lot of places over the last 11 years so if you think of any other questions about anywhere else don't hesitate to ask. I am sure you and your DD are going to have a blast! Love the mother daughter day idea!
 


Well, what a better way to spend a cold, wet, miserable Sunday afternoon than being on the Disboards!!!! Seriously, I would be lost without it! Oh, and I am snuggled underneath my gorgeous polar fleece blankie with the Disneyland castle embroidered at the bottom:cloud9:

My friends all think sometimes I am mad and you will often hear me quote that old saying of "love me, love my dog" but in my case it's "love me, love my Disney":rotfl:

So, I have been doing some research into a couple of things in particular this week!

One - tickets to Magic Mornings. As we have annual passes, we don't have the option to take advantage of an early day in the parks. I stumbled across a thread here though to add our names for some tickets if they become available. So, I have added our request and hope that some kind soul will let us have the opportunity to do this.......just once! It appears that some people, for whatever reason, have tickets spare so give them to folk like us that can use them. Fingers crossed on that one for a bit of Disney magic:wizard:

Two - I also would love to attend Mickey's Toon Town Morning Madness. I have seen lots of people attend this on various trip reports and was under the impression the only way to get tickets to this was to purchase a vacation package through AAA in the USA...................or so I thought!

Upon some research, I have found out some information as to how to actually purchase a little booklet, sometimes referred to as "Magical Extras Booklet", by visiting the Walt Disney Travel Co in Downtown Disney.
Apparently, the booklets are available to purchase for $10.00 and include the following-

*A voucher for a collectible pin and lanyard - we did see loads of people collecting these from the pin store in Adventureland last time we were there and had no idea what they were......until now!!!

*Preferred Seating to Aladdin, Muppet Vision 3D, It's Tough To Be A Bug and the Anamation Academy - we absolutely loved Aladdin and the Muppet's last trip so these will be most welcome! We also tried our hand at drawing Tigger at the Animation Academy so will love to do this again, maybe we might get Minnie:cloud9:
* A voucher for free transportation to South Coast Plaza - we did get out to this shopping centre last trip too, but not sure if we would go again. I will probably just pass this voucher on to someone who could use it to save them a bit of money:thumbsup2
* And of course, entry for Mickey's Toon Town Morning Madness which I would just love to do, especially for the pics I could take to add to the TR on our return:rolleyes:

I am not saying that I will definietly be able to get one, but it can't hurt to ask........right:thumbsup2

I have also been making a list of the things I will be definiety buying to add to the room ( yes folks, we *ahem* have a Disney memorabila room in our house:scared1: ) and of course some personal items too:goodvibes

My big purchase this trip will be a one of a kind Minnie Mouse watch that includes the original artist's work. I wanted to get one last time but at $500.00 I thought this was a bit much just to spend on me.
However, I have sacrificed my every day coffee and have been saving up that money for 6 months. Well, at $4.00 per day, this worked out at $20.00 per week......................I actually already have enough to get my dream purchase!!!!!:yay:
The hardest part will be choosing which one I want. When I enquired last trip, the cast member brought out a book for me to look through which has pictures of all the original art work. You then pick which one you want and they replicate the picture on the watch and you get the original art work too. I will wear it proudly........

On another note......

I have downloaded a fantastic little ap on my iPhone called - Disneyland Dining. It was just 99 cents to buy and let me tell you, I absolutely love it!!!

It has every restaurant in both parks plus Downtown Disney, plus all the carts, and has every menu item listed including prices. It tells you whether it is quick service, table service etc and you can even add things to your favourites list! It also has a food finder where you type in what you are feeling like at the time ( for example funnel cake!!! ) and it will show you everywhere that particular item is available.
I have found myself looking at it every day in anticipation...........I really do love it:love:

Just 143 sleeps to go!!!
 
Sorry to be so late reading - lots going on here.

I'm glad the Drama with the passes turned out well. That would be a hard one to wait out.

When we ate at BB, the menu was different, but I have had the Mone Cristo somewhere in the park, and loved it! I'm glad you're eating there - loved the atmosphere, and it is something to experience at least once.

Yay for 142 days! :banana:
 
Really enjoying your trip report MinnieSue :)
I've already started my trip planning folder for next year (I love planning!!!!) AND there's a whole section filled with your christmas trip report and halloween pre trip report :) Really loving the opinions on dining. On our trip in April i found I was so excited that I just wanted to go go go all the time. It wasn't until the last few days that I learned to stop and smell the roses. There's so much that I wanted to do that completlety slipped my mind in all of the mayhem. And eating at the BB was one of them. Im making it a top priority on the to do list for my trip during Halloween next year!!! :rotfl:
 
Hi Sue ... I have just had to look up the Blue Bayou menu to refresh my memory! :laughing:
I had the beef short ribs and from memory it was the pick of the lot. The chicken dish was so-so, the crab cakes were quite nice and the jambalaya was ok if you enjoy that sort of a dish. The salad/gumbo were filling, relatively tasty but nothing special. We did not have room for dessert. Overall we felt the restaurant was worth it for the ambience, however the food is probably only average in quality ... sort of reminds me of food you would get at your average middle-of-the-road wedding reception centre!:rotfl: Nobody tried the Monte Christo, but that is probably not our style of food. We went there for lunch after an early entry morning. We arrived at 11.30 and requested a water side table for our party of 7, even though we had been told that it was unlikely that they would accommodate a party of that size by the water... but they did - a little bit of Disney magic :wizard:
It was lovely to take a break in the middle of the day and enjoy the ambience and I would definitely do it again, even though the food was (in my opinion :rolleyes1) only just above average. :hippie:

Very happy to hear you enjoyed the whole Bayou experience! We just cannot wait to go. I am thinking now about booking for lunch as this seems to be a good suggestion! Hoping I can save room for dessert!!!
Definitely Disney magic for getting you all in for waterside seats:cheer2:

And as you say, we are not going for the food!!!pirate:
 
Definitely joining in! So excited for September and October! As far as I'm concerned this summer can just hurry up and get on outta here! :lmao:

So nice for you that they have emails! I can imagine getting up at 4am to make reservations would be pretty tough. Cute idea about the Pocahontas shirt. I was Pocahontas for Halloween last year and very last minute turned DF into John Smith. He had a blue uniform button up shirt from his school and jeans with boots. He looked pretty handsome to me! :groom:

Hi and I am excited for September and October too! I had a bit of a giggle to myself when you mentioned that summer should just hurry out of here.........................would you please send some of that over here to Australia please???!!! We are freezing as we have just started our winter. Quite, quite chilly with 0 degree temperatures overnight where I am!!:scared1:

And yes, so good I can now email the reservations although I think I would be happy to get up at any time to book Disney stuff ( although maybe not at the moment as it is toooo cold!!!:rotfl: )

You will have to give me some tips on the Pocahontas costume! So cool you went dressed up together, very sweet:hug:
 
Sorry to be so late reading - lots going on here.

I'm glad the Drama with the passes turned out well. That would be a hard one to wait out.

When we ate at BB, the menu was different, but I have had the Mone Cristo somewhere in the park, and loved it! I'm glad you're eating there - loved the atmosphere, and it is something to experience at least once.

Yay for 142 days! :banana:

Hi and I hope all is well with you and life has got a bit better for you:hug:

I really can't wait to eat at the Blue Bayou and I am sure it will be one of the highlights of the trip!

And I have been dying to try the Monte Christo too so really looking forward to that!!!

Loving that our countdown is getting lower and lower!!!
 
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to a brand new and exciting episode!!!! Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our..........oh right, that's that other show:lmao:

I again find myself snuggled under my blanket with the weather outside nothing short of downright miserable:sad2: It's cold, wet and definitely inside weather!

So........

I have been checking all the new pics that are popping up with sneak peaks of Cars Land. Oh my word, it just looks so wonderful and the attention to detail is an absolute credit to Disney and the Imagineers. I have been very good though ( although tempted! ) and I have not watched the ride through for Radiator Springs Racers as I really want it to be a surprise. DD also says she will refrain from looking!!! Wow, that sure is some kind of will power:thumbsup2

I have been looking into travel insurance over the last week and got a great deal with Travel Insurance Direct that was half the price of the travel agencies quote:woohoo:
After all, any money saved will be going into the spending money fund and you can never have too much of that;)

We have also decided that we will be visiting Knotts berry farm again to give it a second chance. We have only been once and that day was not a memorable one I am afraid! It was hot, there were loads of people as they were having a charity day and we were just not impressed. However, the DD and I are roller coaster junkies and as we will be on our own this trip, we can ride to our hearts content. So, we will give it another go!

Our closest friends have just come back from a one month trip in the USA. I was so excited as they brought me home some current Disneyland and DCA maps and a you beaut Minnie pin from the Angels stadium. I have poured over the maps and I really cannot believe we will be back soon:cool1:

They were really sad that they missed Cars Land by just a whisker and are all kinds of jealous that we will get to see it in all it's glory! They took a load of pics for us though which we were very excited about. The map for DCA has Beuna Vista street listed as "coming soon", but no sign of Cars Land at all.

I have just ordered my 2013 copy of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland from The Book Depository. For those of you that are book lovers and you have not checked them out yet, do yourself a favour as they have the best service, cheap prices ( very cheap actually ) AND free posatge to anywhere in the world. I have been buying the guide book since 2008 ( when we were supposed to go with the DD for her first trip but I got too sick and was banned from flying:mad: ) but we certaily made up for it later! The other book I always purchase is Birnbaums guide which is actually the official guide book licensed by Disney.
They are both great to have and I have learnt many a good tip that I have put to good use. The unofficial guide also has touring plans in the book and DD and I are going to try one out this year so it should be fun to see how it works! I also learnt about Touring Plans through them and have joined myself up to their website - . Awesome for predicting crowd levels and they have all sorts of other Disney info!
http://touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/touring-plans

My friend also brought me back some new magnets to go on my fridge and one of which was for the new Transformers ride at Universal! They absolutely loved this and from what I have read so far, so does everyone else. Definitely looking forward to this one:thumbsup2

I have just about finalised the "actual" itineray including meals so should have it to post next week for you all to have look over and make suggestions and/or let me know what you think!

So, so excited.........just 134 sleeps to go!

Please feel free to say hi ( especially if you are living in lurkdom:laughing:) It's always nice to know I am not just writing this for myself!

Take care everyone:flower3:
 
OH i am soooo lurking! YAY on new maps and treats from Disney! The trip is getting closer, and now price watching for another possible girls only trip!

I am still on here daily, so addicted, reading TRs and such. Have a great day hopefully it warms up a bit, it has rained all weekend here, and my DS has a golf tournament today, looks like it maybe rained out. boooo
 
Subscribing!

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to a brand new and exciting episode!!!! Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our..........oh right, that's that other show:lmao:

I again find myself snuggled under my blanket with the weather outside nothing short of downright miserable:sad2: It's cold, wet and definitely inside weather!

So........

I have been checking all the new pics that are popping up with sneak peaks of Cars Land. Oh my word, it just looks so wonderful and the attention to detail is an absolute credit to Disney and the Imagineers. I have been very good though ( although tempted! ) and I have not watched the ride through for Radiator Springs Racers as I really want it to be a surprise. DD also says she will refrain from looking!!! Wow, that sure is some kind of will power:thumbsup2

I have been looking into travel insurance over the last week and got a great deal with Travel Insurance Direct that was half the price of the travel agencies quote:woohoo:
After all, any money saved will be going into the spending money fund and you can never have too much of that;)

We have also decided that we will be visiting Knotts berry farm again to give it a second chance. We have only been once and that day was not a memorable one I am afraid! It was hot, there were loads of people as they were having a charity day and we were just not impressed. However, the DD and I are roller coaster junkies and as we will be on our own this trip, we can ride to our hearts content. So, we will give it another go!

Our closest friends have just come back from a one month trip in the USA. I was so excited as they brought me home some current Disneyland and DCA maps and a you beaut Minnie pin from the Angels stadium. I have poured over the maps and I really cannot believe we will be back soon:cool1:

They were really sad that they missed Cars Land by just a whisker and are all kinds of jealous that we will get to see it in all it's glory! They took a load of pics for us though which we were very excited about. The map for DCA has Beuna Vista street listed as "coming soon", but no sign of Cars Land at all.

I have just ordered my 2013 copy of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland from The Book Depository. For those of you that are book lovers and you have not checked them out yet, do yourself a favour as they have the best service, cheap prices ( very cheap actually ) AND free posatge to anywhere in the world. I have been buying the guide book since 2008 ( when we were supposed to go with the DD for her first trip but I got too sick and was banned from flying:mad: ) but we certaily made up for it later! The other book I always purchase is Birnbaums guide which is actually the official guide book licensed by Disney.
They are both great to have and I have learnt many a good tip that I have put to good use. The unofficial guide also has touring plans in the book and DD and I are going to try one out this year so it should be fun to see how it works! I also learnt about Touring Plans through them and have joined myself up to their website - . Awesome for predicting crowd levels and they have all sorts of other Disney info!
http://touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/touring-plans

My friend also brought me back some new magnets to go on my fridge and one of which was for the new Transformers ride at Universal! They absolutely loved this and from what I have read so far, so does everyone else. Definitely looking forward to this one:thumbsup2

I have just about finalised the "actual" itineray including meals so should have it to post next week for you all to have look over and make suggestions and/or let me know what you think!

So, so excited.........just 134 sleeps to go!

Please feel free to say hi ( especially if you are living in lurkdom:laughing:) It's always nice to know I am not just writing this for myself!

Take care everyone:flower3:
 
Now you know things are big when they hit our little regional local evening news broadcast here in New South Wales, Australia..................:happytv:

"In overseas news, Disneyland unveil it's multi million dollar new attraction based on the Pixar movie Cars"...............

Oh my word..............................how exciting is that!!!!:cool1:
 
Another oh my word moment...............Glow with Show......

So, we all know about World of Color, right? Well, it has just been made better than I could have ever imagined.......................

You are now able to purchase light up ears that are totally synced to the entire show..........................it is simply one of the best things I have seen to enhance what is already Disney magic.................

The debate is on as to how much they will be. The DD and I have just said we will go every night just to use the ears!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr18V3grRYs

Wow........no really.......WOW.............:wizard::wizard::wizard:

I want to go right now.............
 

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