The Trip That's Happening a Year Early - A Marathon Weekend 2017 PTR Update:12/22 - Day Seven Plans

[fallonkendra]

Yep, we're skipping marathon weekend next year. I'm a little sad, but hopefully we'll get to do a different race weekend, and I want to go back for marathon weekend at some point in the future.
A lot of people walk the 5Ks, so if you do end up walking, you'll be in good company. The walkers are a lot of fun

That's too bad, I was hoping I'd actually get a chance to meet you this time around! Right now our plan is to go back for marathon weekend again in 2018 - Luke has his goal set on his first ever full marathon. Perhaps you'll be at that one

 

[fallonkendra]

All of the Food! Part One.

So Luke and I have been talking about which restaurants we want to try this time around, which ones we want to go back to and which ones we feel we can skip on this trip. We're 99.9% sure we will not be buying the dining plan for this trip - although we enjoyed it and definitely got our money's worth on our WDW trip earlier this year. I'm sure we will go onto the dining plan again at some point in the future, but I really want to do more table service than quick service on our 2017 trip, so the DDP just wouldn't make sense.

Most would call me a picky eater. High-end signature restaurants really don't interest me - I don't eat seafood, and I have a huge dislike for a lot of vegetables and cheeses. I'm also fussy with meat - I only eat chicken, turkey, pork and beef. Red meat must be cooked to well done (or shoe leather as my best friend likes to call it). Luke likes to refer to my favourite meals as ones that are golden brown - I like bad food. Luke isn't fussy at all, except for steering clear of shellfish due to a minor allergy. I'll probably break up our list into a bunch of different posts over the next few months, until our ADR window opens and we can actually book reservation times.

1) Via Napoli - I know I'm about to shock some people, but I'm really not a huge pizza fan...I have to be in a certain mood to want it (at those times, it's the most amazing thing in the world). That said, we have a restaurant here in Edmonton called Famoso, which is Neapolitan style pizza - just like Via Napoli. I actually love this place! We read an article about the best pizza in Disney, and this was consistently #1. As soon as we found out it was the style of pizza we like, we knew it had to be on our list! More than likely, we will order a pepperoni pizza to share.

2) T-Rex - Yes, yes, I've heard the food is just mediocre. But it's a menu made just for me! There are so many things served here that I will eat, plus we love the look of the interior. Giant dinosaurs watching you eat? Sounds fantastic to me! I can see Luke ordering the Mega-Mes-o-Bones (ribs) and I'll probably order from the appetizer section - nachos? T-rex-a-dillas? So many things sound great!

 

[SarahDisney]

How can you not like pizza???
And I'm with you on red meat - I want it cooked totally well done (except that I actually get my burgers medium ... but all other red meat must be well done). I once had a steak at an event that bled and I refused to eat it. And this was the only meat I was being served (there were vegetables, though, so I didn't starve).

Restaurant choices sound good so far! I've heard a lot of good things about Via Napoli. And T-Rex looks like so much fun. Even if you don't like the food, I think it's worth it just to see the inside!

 

[fallonkendra]

How can you not like pizza???
And I'm with you on red meat - I want it cooked totally well done (except that I actually get my burgers medium ... but all other red meat must be well done). I once had a steak at an event that bled and I refused to eat it. And this was the only meat I was being served (there were vegetables, though, so I didn't starve).

Restaurant choices sound good so far! I've heard a lot of good things about Via Napoli. And T-Rex looks like so much fun. Even if you don't like the food, I think it's worth it just to see the inside!

I like pizza, I just don't love it. I'm from the Maritimes, and we have these things called garlic fingers - it's just pizza dough, covered in garlic butter, mozzarella cheese and bacon bits, and then baked. It's a staple when you order pizza, and I always preferred to just eat those growing up. I just discovered that Dominos pizza sells them in Alberta, so here's a picture of my garlic fingers I had last week. So greasy and delicious!

​

Choosing how a burger is cooked is very American. In Canada, ground beef is always cooked well done. At buffets and such with carving stations of roast beef, I always ask for a piece of meat from the outside, where it's more well done. I'm very picky haha.

I can see myself loving the food at T-Rex, I don't exactly have a high-class palate. If a restaurant has chicken fingers on their menu, I'm pretty much set!

 

[ariane37]

OK I'm here That's pretty exciting running your first marathon! I don't run..........ever, so I don't see a marathon in my future lol.
Now I'm not quite with you on the whole pizza thing, since I could eat it every day, but I forgive you And I'm sure you guys will enjoy Via Napoli, the pizza is great and that comes from a New Yorker who is surrounded by great pizza!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Very excited for you guys!! Your trip sounds amazing so far!

1) Via Napoli - I know I'm about to shock some people, but I'm really not a huge pizza fan...I have to be in a certain mood to want it (at those times, it's the most amazing thing in the world). That said, we have a restaurant here in Edmonton called Famoso, which is Neapolitan style pizza - just like Via Napoli. I actually love this place! We read an article about the best pizza in Disney, and this was consistently #1. As soon as we found out it was the style of pizza we like, we knew it had to be on our list! More than likely, we will order a pepperoni pizza to share.

2) T-Rex - Yes, yes, I've heard the food is just mediocre. But it's a menu made just for me! There are so many things served here that I will eat, plus we love the look of the interior. Giant dinosaurs watching you eat? Sounds fantastic to me! I can see Luke ordering the Mega-Mes-o-Bones (ribs) and I'll probably order from the appetizer section - nachos? T-rex-a-dillas? So many things sound great!

My boyfriend and I just ate at these two restaurants last week! Via Napoli was AMAZING! Best pizza we have ever had. Ahh I'd love a slice right now. We split the pepperoni pizza too!

T-Rex was so much fun! Our burgers were great and we split the chocolate extinction for dessert!

 

[fallonkendra]

OK I'm here

Good to see you here! Thanks for reading!

That's pretty exciting running your first marathon! I don't run..........ever, so I don't see a marathon in my future lol.

Don't worry, I'm not the crazy one aiming to run a marathon, that's Luke. He convinced me to sign up for the 5km on this trip, and he'll be doing the half marathon. His aim is to be ready for a full marathon for January 2018

Now I'm not quite with you on the whole pizza thing, since I could eat it every day, but I forgive you And I'm sure you guys will enjoy Via Napoli, the pizza is great and that comes from a New Yorker who is surrounded by great pizza!

My parents went through a stage when I was younger where they didn't eat any processed meat, so there was never pepperoni in the house - meaning homemade pizza never had it on it. Then, I spent almost 5 years on a strict gluten-free diet - if you've ever had gluten free anything, a lot of it is pretty bad...Once I was diagnosed with Crohn's and was told I could go back to eating gluten, I ate pizza like 3-4 times per week for over a month, so I think I made myself sick of it. Now I have to be craving it to actually enjoy it. I'm still looking forward to eating at Via Napoli though!!

 

[fallonkendra]

Very excited for you guys!! Your trip sounds amazing so far!



My boyfriend and I just ate at these two restaurants last week! Via Napoli was AMAZING! Best pizza we have ever had. Ahh I'd love a slice right now. We split the pepperoni pizza too!

T-Rex was so much fun! Our burgers were great and we split the chocolate extinction for dessert!

Those pictures make me even more excited to try these two restaurants! I showed Luke your picture of the chocolate extinction dessert, and his eyes lit up and he said "ooooo! What IS that?" - so there's a good chance I'll be able to convince him to split that with me

 

[Sarahh1027]

Those pictures make me even more excited to try these two restaurants! I showed Luke your picture of the chocolate extinction dessert, and his eyes lit up and he said "ooooo! What IS that?" - so there's a good chance I'll be able to convince him to split that with me

It's so much fun! "Chocolate fudge cake, ice cream, whipped topping, fudge and caramel sauce, Butterfinger® crumbs" is how it's described on Disney's website. It's truly THAT good! We only ate half of it though!

 

[adudeinblue]

My significant other and I were going over some restaurants. I looked into T-Rex because of your post and she screamed and fell in love with it. It's definitely going on our list too!

Are you guys looking into a character meet and greet? We can't figure out which one we want to go to. But definitely at least one

 

[fallonkendra]

It's so much fun! "Chocolate fudge cake, ice cream, whipped topping, fudge and caramel sauce, Butterfinger® crumbs" is how it's described on Disney's website. It's truly THAT good! We only ate half of it though!

I thought the picture looked good, but that description - oh man. That sounds like heaven.

My significant other and I were going over some restaurants. I looked into T-Rex because of your post and she screamed and fell in love with it. It's definitely going on our list too!

Are you guys looking into a character meet and greet? We can't figure out which one we want to go to. But definitely at least one

We actually did three character meals on our 2016 trip - Tusker House, Crystal Palace and Garden Grill. They are a little expensive, but so worth it!

 

[fallonkendra]

Accommodations Part Two

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've done an actual update on our trip! So much has happened with our planning since then...

We have our hotel booked for the first 5 nights of our stay! It wasn't one of my first choices, but the more I read about it the more excited I get to stay there! We're staying at...

OLD KEY WEST!

It looks so beautiful in all of the pictures I've seen, and it sounds like the perfect place for us to spend the first half of our vacation! This was actually Luke's #1 choice, he thought the name "sounded cool". So our trip will consist of 5 nights at Old Key West, followed by 4 nights at Saratoga Springs. Both of these locations offer boat transportation to Disney Springs, which is something I'm really looking forward to. Renting DVC points turned out to be well worth it, I was more than happy with the final cost per night that I ended up paying!

Only 214 more days to go!

 

[fallonkendra]

Everyone at my work now knows about my love for Disney (every time I hand in a vacation request it's met with - "Let me guess, going to Disney again?!"). An upper-level manager actually came to me a few weeks ago, telling me he would like to take his family to the World. He figures it will be the only chance they have to go, as his oldest is graduating high school in a few weeks. He asked me for a few tips on how to begin planning - and how many days will be needed. I told him I'd type something up for him...it turned out to be 15 pages typed (single spaced!) I know you other Disney addicts will understand, and would have done the same! He just laughed when I handed it to him, and thanked me for my novel... Him and his wife were going to sit down this weekend and look at my notes, and begin deciding on where they'd like to eat, what they'd like to do, etc, and then I get to help out with booking ADR's, etc. It's been so much fun helping someone else plan their first ever WDW trip

 

[Upup4fun]

Accommodations!

As I mentioned above, I submitted a request to rent DVC points for our trip. I didn't mind staying at All Star Music on our January 2016 trip, but I really wanted to experience something nicer this go around. My first choice was Boardwalk - that place is beautiful! But, of course by the time we decided to actually make this trip happen we were already within the 11 month window and that is a very sought after location, so there was zero availability. I decided then we should do a split stay, so we could see two different DVC resorts! Based on the flights we've already booked, we will be in Orlando for 9 days, so it just made sense to split our stay into 5 nights at one location, and 4 nights at another. We're still waiting to hear back on our 5 night stay, but the last 4 nights of our vacation are already booked and paid for - we're staying in a Deluxe Studio at Saratoga Springs!

Look at how pretty it is! (and yes, these are from a google image search, I did not take these myself)

[GALLERY=]Untitled by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]Untitled by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

I love the idea of being so close to Disney Springs from there! We know we want to make up for needing to cancel our 1900 Park Fare reservations on our last trip, so it will be super handy to just walk to Disney Springs and catch a bus straight to the Grand Floridian, without needing to transfer buses at one of the parks. I might also use that as an excuse to get to the Polynesian to try Tonga Toast or some drinks at Trader Sam's...

You MUST have Tonga Toast! Make a morning of it, then take the boat to MK. Great choice on your resort!

 

[SarahDisney]

Old Key West is one of those places that isn't at the top of my list, but looks really nice and serene and is probably a great place to stay. Hopefully you guys will enjoy!

Also ... I love being known as a Disney expert. It's so much fun to share that Disney knowledge with the people around you!

 

[ariane37]

We stayed at OKW the first time we stayed on property, back in 2007. I don't remember what building we were in but we loved our room, LOVED Olivia's restaurant, had a bus stop right outside our building and had very good bus service. I think it's a good choice!
Isn't the price of renting points nice? That's pretty much what we always do when staying deluxe

 

[fallonkendra]

You MUST have Tonga Toast! Make a morning of it, then take the boat to MK. Great choice on your resort!

We decided to put Capt. Cook's on our dining wishlist - you can get Tonga Toast for only $6.99 compared to $13.99 at Kona Cafe I'm not a big breakfast person, but this sounds right up my alley and it's on my must-try list!

Old Key West is one of those places that isn't at the top of my list, but looks really nice and serene and is probably a great place to stay. Hopefully you guys will enjoy!

Also ... I love being known as a Disney expert. It's so much fun to share that Disney knowledge with the people around you!

Old Key West was nowhere near the top of my list either, but I'm getting excited now! I think it'll be nice to enjoy a quieter resort, especially since we actually plan on spending time at our hotel this time!

I love talking Disney with anyone who will listen!

We stayed at OKW the first time we stayed on property, back in 2007. I don't remember what building we were in but we loved our room, LOVED Olivia's restaurant, had a bus stop right outside our building and had very good bus service. I think it's a good choice!
Isn't the price of renting points nice? That's pretty much what we always do when staying deluxe

OKW was so cheap to rent points for (same for Saratoga Springs)! Even with the exchange rate to Canadian, I was more than willing to pay the price for what we're getting!

I keep hearing great things about Olivia's, that it's a really underrated restaurant that most people overlook. We've worked it into our plans to go there twice

 

[fallonkendra]

All of the Food! Part Two!

3) Tusker House - we went here on our January 2016 trip, and Luke loved it! It was the day I was really sick, but I still really enjoyed it as well. Our aim is to make our reservation time a little bit earlier for our 2017 trip and hopefully be able to eat from both the breakfast and lunch buffets! I'm not big on breakfast food for the most part (eggs really bother my stomach), but Luke loves it, so I think this would be a great way to satisfy both of us This is a buffet so I don't even need to agonize over the menu trying to decide what to order! What would be the best time to try for a reservation to be able to do this?

4) Earl of Sandwich - Luke requested this as a must-try on our next trip. We're pretty sure it's going to be our lunch after he finishes his half marathon - he told me "I love a good sandwich!" so I want to make sure he gets to eat one of his favourite foods after a grueling run. Also - the prices are so cheap! He'll probably end up ordering 2 different ones, while one will be enough for me. Our trip is still months away, but right now I'm thinking I want the Holiday turkey sandwich for myself (with no cranberry sauce, gross).

5) Wolfgang Puck Express - We're actually planning on way more Disney Springs time on this trip, especially since both of our resorts offer boat transportation there! I wanted to eat here on our last trip, but we ended up meeting my cousin at Morimoto Asia instead, so I'm determined to fit this in on this trip! Right now, I'm leaning towards the BBQ chicken pizza, as long as I can order it with no onions. The other option calling my name is the half rotisserie chicken with garlic butter, rosemary and mashed potatoes... I guess it will depend on my mood that day...

6) Capt. Cook's - I really want to see the Polynesian, and I also really want to try Tonga Toast. We decided on Capt. Cook's over Kona Cafe due to the price - Tonga Toast is $6.99 here, but $13.99 at Kona. From what I can tell, the only difference is that it's served with a strawberry compote at Kona Cafe, but not at Capt. Cook's.

 

[carolnog]

Following along! I've been reading your previous TR and loving it!
The trip sounds exciting, 5k and all, and your family is lovely

 

[adudeinblue]

I have to admit, I was skeptical about the cranberry sauce too, but it really did tie the sandwich together. It made it really sweet and tangy. I get it whenever we randomly stumble across Earl of Sandwiches during our travels.

We haven't booked our resort yet, we are still debating where we want to stay, but how do you plan which days you want to visit the parks? My girlfriend and I know the dates we will be visiting, but we are struggling which ADR to make for which dates because we don't know which park to be in which day.