The Quest For 15K & 18 FP+ ~ A Marathon Weekend 2016 PTR - TR Link, Page 18

[rteetz]

Just found you were doing a PTR so I figured I'd join in the fun!

 

[SarahDisney]

Just found you were doing a PTR so I figured I'd join in the fun!

I'm glad to have you here! Hopefully reading about my planning will make you even more excited about the races! (Although I'm sure you're already very excited!)

 

[Disneychix]

Such a nice long trip! It's great to be able to settle into your room and you'll have plenty of time after the races to recover and do the parks.

 

[SarahDisney]

Such a nice long trip! It's great to be able to settle into your room and you'll have plenty of time after the races to recover and do the parks.

Yep, we're really excited about the long trip!
We'll be doing parks after each race (we only have 5 park days), but we also have a lot of relaxation time, which will be awesome. I'm definitely excited!

 

[SarahDisney]

Food, Glorious Food … An ADR “Wishlist”​

While sitting in Central Park, waiting on line for free tickets to The Tempest (Sam Waterston was amazing, the rest of the play bored me), Beth and I made our ADR wishlist.

Before I get into the ADR wishlist, I want to explain to my new readers (and my not-so-new readers who may have forgotten) a little bit about us, food, and Disney. Beth and I are strictly Kosher-observant. This plays into our meals at Disney because we won’t eat anything that is not cooked in a kosher-supervised kitchen. There is no kosher-supervised kitchen at Disney. However, they do bring in frozen Kosher meals from an outside vendor, which can be safely reheated in the Disney kitchens, as long as they are double-wrapped the whole time (they arrive at our table double wrapped – we’ve had chefs bring us scissors to open the packaging).
There is are several Quick Service locations (1 at each park, 2 at Epcot, and a few hotels) that have Kosher meals available “on demand.” Disney can also provide kosher food for most Table Service meals with 24-48 hour notice (depending on which fine print you’re reading). For both QS and TS meals there are a limited number of options to choose from, and we have to make our selections when we request the kosher meal. We try not to do too many ADRs because we don’t want to have the same food over and over again (and we actually prefer the QS food sometimes), so while we may make a number of ADRs before we make our final decisions, we plan to only keep 1 or 2. I had originally wanted to book an ADR for every day, with the intention of deciding closer to the trip which ones we wanted to keep, but our schedule didn’t work out that way, and we ended up with just 3 ADRs over the course of the trip (although some (or all) of these may be cancelled … we were actually talking about maybe doing no ADRs, but we’ll see).

So here’s what I’m trying to get: (I know I haven’t posted my daily plans yet, but all of the ADRs we’re looking for are park ADRs, so you’ll figure out what park we’re at each of those days).
(Princess pictures are ours; other pictures taken from Disney)

Thursday Lunch (around 2ish): 50’s Prime Time Café

I think this is the ADR most likely to be cancelled. With the early morning wakeup for the 5K, I wanted a mid-day break, but I think in the end we’re going to decide that we’d rather have the extra park time. Plus, after a 3:30 AM wakeup call, the shtick might be too much for me.

Sunday Dinner (around 7ish): Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (with Coral Reef as an alternative … but I’ll get to that in a bit).

(because I don't have a good Belle picture, and this is the outfit Ariel wears at Akershus ... I think)

Monday Breakfast (pre-park): Cinderella’s Royal Table

We’ve got both Akershus and CRT on the list, and we don’t really need to do both on one trip.

So, dear readers, here is where I ask for opinions: CRT or Akershus? Which have you done? Did you like it? Which, in your opinion, is more worth the money (because we’re likely paying OOP)?

Remember that we’re asking about atmosphere and service only – we’re eating pretty much the same food wherever we go (although breakfast is different food than dinner, that’s not a huge issue).
(Also … they’re both prix-fixe, right? For some reason I thought at least one of them was a buffet …)

If we decide to go with CRT, we’ll do Coral Reef dinner at Epcot (because we’ve been wanting to try that one for a while). If we go with Akershus … Monday breakfast will be cereal at the hotel (not that this should influence any decisions … as I said earlier, we may end up cancelling all the ADRs, so whether we have two or three right now is not a big deal).

Also, as you can see, no Be Our Guest. We love BOG and I definitely want to go back on future trips, but just not this one. The only meal that’s an option for us is dinner (which makes no sense to me … but it seems they won’t provide kosher for the other meals), and we miss our dinners at Cosmic Ray’s. So we’re passing on BOG this year, and I’m hoping I can return there on a future trip!

 

[huggybuff]

Hi Sarah, I'm following along! Congrats on your POP! booking.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Your ADRs look great. I'm guessing since you know Disney's Kosher options this is not an issue, but make sure to "test drive" what you eat before the race to make sure it won't upset your stomach. Might I suggest adding a post-10K celebratory meal somewhere? (If my admittedly very limited knowledge of Judaism serves me right, Shabbos doesn't start until sundown Friday so you could still go out on Friday afternoon)

 

[afwdwfan]

Well, we liked CRT when we went. I guess if you're looking at it from strictly an atmosphere standpoint, it is hard to beat eating in the castle.

But... you'd also be paying signature dining prices for what is essentially a non-signature meal. So I'd probably have a hard time doing that. I think Akershus might be a better option for you (but this is coming from someone who has never had a meal there.)

My understanding is that Akershus has a partial buffet. Like maybe pastries and things like that for breakfast - soups and salads maybe at the other meals. Then the main course is served to you at the table. It isn't a full buffet though.

 

[stacy~**]

Between CRT and Akershus I would probably say go with (pre-open) CRT. We didn't love our experience at CRT (felt rushed and really only 1 princess felt magical) but I don't regret having had the experience of dining inside the castle. Plus you getting the added bonus of pre-open MK. I don't think Akershus is much cheaper (do the Kosher meals cost the same as the standard meals or is there another price structure?) and I'd say not nearly the same atmosphere. And princess can have really good and really bad days anywhere.

I don't know if I can even think about ADRs for this trip even though I can book them starting in a few days. I'm still trying to get our trip in July organized. Haha!

 

[natebenma]

Caught up!

I mentioned your FP+ tally on your last trip and your quest for the upcoming trip to my husband- he was impressed!

Your Random Disney Facts were cool!

Sounds like you are doing a great job with your training. Andy and I celebrated National Running Day with the same regimen.

Congrats on booking. I am contractually obligated (not really) to stay at the Beach Club, but honestly, I have more interest in the values like POP and AoA than I do about staying at any of the moderates. Love the over-the-top theming.

Thanks for sharing your obstacles for dining at Disney. I didn't know, and it certainly brings pre-planning to a whole new level.

I'm gonna vote for CRT. A pre-opening breakfast is so on my bucket list! Eating at the castle would be pretty cool.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi Sarah, I'm following along! Congrats on your POP! booking.

I'm glad you're here and following along!

Your ADRs look great. I'm guessing since you know Disney's Kosher options this is not an issue, but make sure to "test drive" what you eat before the race to make sure it won't upset your stomach. Might I suggest adding a post-10K celebratory meal somewhere? (If my admittedly very limited knowledge of Judaism serves me right, Shabbos doesn't start until sundown Friday so you could still go out on Friday afternoon)

Good point about eating before the race - so far we've only had problems with the breakfast food (and that was once and may have been compounded by other issues), but it's definitely something to consider, because I don't want something that might upset my stomach so close to the race.
We're actually heading to Animal Kingdom after the 10K, and since we have to be back in the room and showered/changed by sundown (you were right about that being when Shabbos starts), we figured we'd delay the celebratory meal ... we'll celebrate with the princesses, whenever we see them.

Well, we liked CRT when we went. I guess if you're looking at it from strictly an atmosphere standpoint, it is hard to beat eating in the castle.

Definitely a good point - I love that castle, and it must be amazing to eat in there!

But... you'd also be paying signature dining prices for what is essentially a non-signature meal. So I'd probably have a hard time doing that. I think Akershus might be a better option for you (but this is coming from someone who has never had a meal there.)

Apparently little known fact (and by that I mean I just discovered this last week) ... Akershus is not significantly cheaper than CRT. If you factor inax and tip (which is included at CRT), Akershus comes out to only a little cheaper, maybe even more if you're a big tipper.

My understanding is that Akershus has a partial buffet. Like maybe pastries and things like that for breakfast - soups and salads maybe at the other meals. Then the main course is served to you at the table. It isn't a full buffet though.

So it's like a pastry or appetizer buffet and then regular entree? I guess that makes sense, and it would seem to fit with what I've seen.

Between CRT and Akershus I would probably say go with (pre-open) CRT. We didn't love our experience at CRT (felt rushed and really only 1 princess felt magical) but I don't regret having had the experience of dining inside the castle. Plus you getting the added bonus of pre-open MK. I don't think Akershus is much cheaper (do the Kosher meals cost the same as the standard meals or is there another price structure?) and I'd say not nearly the same atmosphere. And princess can have really good and really bad days anywhere.

Eating inside the castle is definitely an exciting idea, and I really like the idea of pre-open at MK ... except for that whole early in the morning thing (I will probably get my money's worth in coffee at that breakfast).
In terms of the kosher meal pricing - for buffets or anything with a set price, it's the same. For a la carte, you get charged for the kosher food, which is generally fairly similar to the prices for the non-kosher food.

I don't know if I can even think about ADRs for this trip even though I can book them starting in a few days. I'm still trying to get our trip in July organized. Haha!

I'm pretty impressed that we were able to sit down and figure this out, but I really wanted to do it because it's the first time we've booked more than 180 days in advanced. It's so hard to get everything organized ... and when you have another trip coming up first, it's really hard to think about the farther away trip.

I mentioned your FP+ tally on your last trip and your quest for the upcoming trip to my husband- he was impressed!

I don't blame him, we were pretty impressed too!

Your Random Disney Facts were cool!

Thanks! I thought it would be a nice change from the standard "favorite park, ride, etc" introductions.

Sounds like you are doing a great job with your training. Andy and I celebrated National Running Day with the same regimen.

Thanks! For most of my life I spent National Running Day sitting around on my butt, so I had to make up for it this year.

Congrats on booking. I am contractually obligated (not really) to stay at the Beach Club, but honestly, I have more interest in the values like POP and AoA than I do about staying at any of the moderates. Love the over-the-top theming.

I would love to stay at Beach Club one day ... but that 1 day is all we can afford on our unemployed & college student salaries
As much as I would love to stay at a Deluxe one day (the moderates also don't interest me much), I love the values because I really love the over-the-top theming.

Thanks for sharing your obstacles for dining at Disney. I didn't know, and it certainly brings pre-planning to a whole new level.

It definitely affects planning, but ... I'm used to it. I've been dealing with kosher my whole life, and Disney is actually better about it than a lot of other places.

I'm gonna vote for CRT. A pre-opening breakfast is so on my bucket list! Eating at the castle would be pretty cool.

Thanks for the vote! I definitely want to do a pre-opening breakfast one day, and this might just be the year!

 

[KathyM2]

I don't know how I missed you starting this PTR!! How exciting that your trip is booked!! You have some tough decisions on the ADR's. Although...it's kind of funny - when you think of just booking places for the atmosphere and service...and take out the food...some options might change...there are places where the food isn't stellar but the atmosphere is that might actually be good bets for you....hmmm tough call. I loved BOG for sure for the atmosphere. I'm hoping that Sci-Fi will be good for that too...But you have some great ideas as well. I haven't tried 50's.

 

[SarahDisney]

I don't know how I missed you starting this PTR!!

No worries, it'll be going on for the next 6 months or so, so you haven't really missed much ...

Although...it's kind of funny - when you think of just booking places for the atmosphere and service...and take out the food...some options might change...there are places where the food isn't stellar but the atmosphere is that might actually be good bets for you....hmmm tough call.

It's definitely a different approach to picking ADRs. When people say they like the atmosphere but the food was terrible so they won't go back ... that's exactly where we want to go.

I loved BOG for sure for the atmosphere.

Totally agree! We also had really good service at BOG both times we went. I definitely want to go back eventually ... we're just taking a break from it this trip.

I'm hoping that Sci-Fi will be good for that too

If you guys do end up going to Sci-Fi, you'll have to tell me all about the atmosphere! It's somewhere I want to go eventually, but we're going to try 50's Prime Time first (we want to do both, but alas, only one day at HS).

 

[Elevationist]

If we decide to go with CRT, we’ll do Coral Reef dinner at Epcot (because we’ve been wanting to try that one for a while).

There's your answer, I think!

 

[kathleen27]

Hi Sarah, just started reading your pre-tr. Sounds like a nice long trip!

I think we’ll just play it by ear and see how the day goes. We’ve been enough times that we know what we have to do every trip and what we can live without … and I think we can find a way to do all of the essentials (and plenty of the “extras”) without really planning too much.

Great way to plan, especially when you been before & know you will go again!

She can recite “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” backwards … in unison with Mary Poppins. It’s very impressive.

That is really impressive!

I reached my 5 miles on National Running Day

Yay!! Congrats on reaching 5 miles!!!

CRT or Akershus?

They are both really nice inside. Its been a while since I've done either (2011 & 2008). The one time we did CRT we were seated near the entrance, so no real view, it was still really amazing to be in the castle. All the details were impressive. I love being in the park before opening!!! You can stop for photos in front of the castle! The race mornings will be really early though, are you normally a morning person? If not it might be a bit much, or it could put you in the routing of early morning, early bedtime. Character experience always varies but we actually had a better character experience at Akershus. I'd like to go back to both, but haven't been back to either - yet - due to price & my kids being picky. And yes, as someone said, Akershus has a small appetizer/cheese type buffet, main course ordered off the menu.

 

[SarahDisney]

There's your answer, I think!

Well, yes and no. We're not entirely sold on doing ADRs this trip (I know, sounds crazy, but we're really more QS people mostly), and we may only end up doing one ... and I'm not sure that I wouldn't rather save Coral Reef for a trip when we know we're going to do it. But thanks for the input.

Hi Sarah, just started reading your pre-tr. Sounds like a nice long trip!

Great way to plan, especially when you been before & know you will go again!

Thanks! Sometimes I fall into the trap of overplanning and then I get annoyed when things go off-plan ... we know we can get a lot done without a concrete plan, so we're just going to go and be spontaneous!

That is really impressive!

Yes it is! I still haven't mastered backwards at all ... I can do it maybe one out of 10 times.

Yay!! Congrats on reaching 5 miles!!!

Thanks! It was definitely a huge accomplishment for me.

They are both really nice inside. Its been a while since I've done either (2011 & 2008). The one time we did CRT we were seated near the entrance, so no real view, it was still really amazing to be in the castle. All the details were impressive. I love being in the park before opening!!! You can stop for photos in front of the castle! The race mornings will be really early though, are you normally a morning person? If not it might be a bit much, or it could put you in the routing of early morning, early bedtime. Character experience always varies but we actually had a better character experience at Akershus. I'd like to go back to both, but haven't been back to either - yet - due to price & my kids being picky. And yes, as someone said, Akershus has a small appetizer/cheese type buffet, main course ordered off the menu.

Thanks for the advice! We're definitely excited about the idea of being inside the castle and being at MK pre-opening, but we also really want the characters, so if characters are better at Akershus, we may do that (but as you said ... character experience always varies, so even if some people have a better experience at Akershus, it doesn't mean we will).
Our last race is Friday, so we're planning to sleep in Saturday and Sunday, which we hope means we'll be okay Monday morning (which is the potential CRT morning). It's something we definitely have to be conscious of, though, because we're not really morning people - in November we had 3 early mornings (out of the 4 days of our trip), and by the last morning we were dead, so we'll definitely take the early wakeup into account when making our final decision. Thankfully, they have Starbucks in the park, so if I fall asleep, I can be temporarily revived.

 

[KatMark]

I've only done lunch at Akershus, but doing breakfast there on our departure day home (a week from Saturday). We've never eaten at CRT, but are eating there in October. So I guess I'm not much help. I can tell you that I am in the minority and was NOT a fan of 50's Prime Time.

 

[KathyM2]

I think if you can get a ADR at either CRT or Akershus you will be happy lol...they are both tough ones!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I've only done lunch at Akershus, but doing breakfast there on our departure day home (a week from Saturday). We've never eaten at CRT, but are eating there in October. So I guess I'm not much help.

You can come back here once you get back from Disney (have an awesome trip!) and again in October to tell me what you think!

I can tell you that I am in the minority and was NOT a fan of 50's Prime Time.

I'm honestly not sure if I will like 50's Prime Time ... but I'm willing to try it. Maybe. We'll see.

I think if you can get a ADR at either CRT or Akershus you will be happy lol...they are both tough ones!!!

And that's why I will be on the computer at 5:50 Thursday morning and start refreshing every few minutes. I want those ADRs!!

 

[KathyM2]

And that's why I will be on the computer at 5:50 Thursday morning and start refreshing every few minutes. I want those ADRs!!

I will be crossing my fingers for you that you get them!!