Why don't we do a little day drinking? - F&W 2015 - Update 12/11 Bonus EPCOT Night!

[Dis_Yoda]

I love your plans for the Nov. 7th. At least you're honest!



CASEY'S FAULT!

Good luck with your booking tomorrow!

I'm always honest! I'm going to enjoy my $189 event and get my money's worth of food & drink! I can nap for a while once I get back to the room anyway and sleep it off before heading to the Wine & Dine Bash. I'll be sober for a little bit until well, I'm not again.

Thanks for the luck! Next post will show how that turned out.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Food & Wine Special Event Booking - Chase Disney Visa Early Booking

Shortly before 7AM, I settled in to call the 407-939-1870 number that was listed in the Chase Email. (1st mistake as I always call the 407-WDW-FEST number) This number got me lost in a sea of prompts until finally the system got as frustrated as I did and finally sent me to 'talk to an agent' I was given an estimated wait time of 60 minutes. I ended up missing my 7:10AM and 7:20AM production meetings on the floor as I didn't leave my desk. I had to attend the 7:30AM plant wide meeting so I reluctantly left my phone 'on' at my desk and hoped that the agent didn't pick up while I was upstairs. Luckily, they didn't!

Eventually they picked up at 8:15AM and I attempted to book the events in the order I had listed but I had to separate the October & November trips in their system.

• Culinary Adventures in Signature Dining - California Grill ($299) Thursday October 8th 6:00PM - Not Available

• Hibachi Experience - Tuesday October 6th ($150) 4:30PM - Not Available

• What’s Cooking With - Amanda Frietag ($129) Friday October 2nd 10:00AM - Not Available

• Parisian Afternoon - ($55) - Saturday October 10th (3rd as back up) - Not Available

• Japanese Craft Beer Tasting ($40) - Wednesday October 7th - Not Available

• What’s Cooking With - Buddy Valastro ($129) Friday November 6th 10:00AM - Not Available

• Culinary Adventures in Signature Dining - Narcoossee’s ($189) Saturday November 7th 12:00PM (Just Dis_Yoda) - Available!!!

When I was able to get the Narcoossee's Event, the agent tried again for California Grill & still struck out. I paid my $199.42 and stated I would try again later as hopefully some more availability would open up as the agent believed not everything was released in the system yet.

I tried again around 8:30AM & struck out.
I tried again around 10:30AM & struck out but was told that the Flying Fish Dinner was available on the 8th instead.

As I was driving to Taco Bell for lunch (see, I don't always eat Fancy ) I called my husband to see what he thought about just not trying again for the California Grill on the 30th and booking Flying Fish as its safe & we know we have enjoyed every dinner we have done there. He agreed - he rather for sure have an event today than try again Thursday especially when its our long trip.

I called Disney yet again around 12:10PM & was able to get

• Culinary Adventures in Signature Dining - Flying Fish ($189) Thursday October 8th 6:00PM - Available!!!​

This ended up saving us around $250 after tax as I had planned on spending $650 for the two of us and now only spent $398.86 for the event! Another positive.

Now just to hope I can get the rest of the events Thursday. ​

 

[huggybuff]

Congrats on your bookings! Behind the scenes at Flying Fish and Narcoossee's will be awesome! Good luck on the 30th as well

 

[Li Li]

Wow, I can't believe how much was unavailable! But yay for saving money!

Good luck with the rest!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Congrats on your bookings! Behind the scenes at Flying Fish and Narcoossee's will be awesome! Good luck on the 30th as well

I know Flying Fish will be great as the other dinners we have done there have been as well! I'm excited to be trying Narcoossee's for the first time this year as they are one of the few Signatures I haven't done a Culinary Adventure or Wine Dinner at yet. I'm sticking to my usual phone number tomorrow and my time is blocked out on my calendar at work so I can focus on getting it done!

Wow, I can't believe how much was unavailable! But yay for saving money!

Good luck with the rest!

The Chase Pre-Sale was such limited availability. Like I could have gotten 1 seat for the California Grill dinner but not two so I wasn't going to risk not being able to get my husband a seat on the 30th. At least the rest opens up tomorrow and I'm hoping I have some better luck!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Food & Wine Festival - Special Event - Booking Day

This morning I rose early to get to work for the official opening day! I knew that the What's Cooking Event was going to be available to book online so I tried at 6:00AM to book both of the events and was successful! That was great as that got two of the 5 events I wanted dealt with before the madness that is the 7:00AM call in!





I went into an empty office around 6:50AM to get my computer set up there (so I could be productive while on hold) and began calling over and over again until 7:00AM. When I first got through the prompts, I wasn't given a hold time and was nervous about that. Eventually I was told it would be a 28 minute wait. It turned out to be only 24 minutes!
​

• Hibachi Experience - Tuesday October 6th ($150) 4:30PM - Available!

• Parisian Afternoon - ($55) - Saturday October 10th - Available!

• Japanese Craft Beer Tasting ($40) - Wednesday October 7th - Available!

I was elated! I guess I shouldn't have jumped the gun with the nervousness about being able to book California Grill but I'm still happy with my Flying Fish choice! In all, I'm $1,662.22 poorer this week from booking these events. Seeing it added together rather than just on my credit bill is but they all should be great events!

I'm also changing my overall plans for October 1st to the 4th as my best friend & her fiancé will be joining us. They will be staying at Port Orleans - French Quarter. She booked the 4 of us a mixology seminar on October 2nd for Zu Vodka w/ David Ortiz. We are still debating on dining options for dinner on the 2nd and 3rd. This will then adjust the rest of the plans we have for the week. At least I know what I'm doing this weekend!
​

 

[dreamseeker9]

Congrats! So exciting. I also had success getting the Parisian breakfast on Sept. 26th and the Flying Fish dinner on Oct. 1st! Can't wait!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Congrats! So exciting. I also had success getting the Parisian breakfast on Sept. 26th and the Flying Fish dinner on Oct. 1st! Can't wait!!!

I'm glad you had success as well! We had a lot of fun last year at the Parisian Breakfast! How can you go wrong with unlimited French pastries & mimosas? (although this year they may not be unlimited but I hope they are for you!) Flying Fish is a great option for a Signature Dinner!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

July Training Updates

Blue is Cardio. Red is Strength.



July Miles Ran: 14.09 miles
Total 2015 Miles Ran: 167.85 miles



This month I can honestly say I'm surprised I actually lost any weight at all, let alone 4 pounds! This month was really busy socially and at work. I had a girl's night out for Magic Mike (aka heavy alcohol consumption), 4th of July on the Beach (alcohol & food), a Hawaiian Cooking Class (tons of food), my birthday (cake, ice cream, steak, alcohol), my friend's birthday on a Pirate Cruise (heavy alcohol consumption), American Society of Quality Professionals Meeting @ a Rum Distillery (alcohol), 5 nights in Texas for a training at work (BBQ, Tacos, Steak & Margaritas), another friend's birthday party (Pizza, Alcohol, Ice Cream Cake) and a lovely seafood dinner with a nice large 32 ounce bucket of booze to close out the month!

Here are some photo highlights of all that fun:

Magic Mike Night

Hanging Out on F4th of July

Sunset on 4th of July

Naples Pier Fireworks - 4th of July

Hawaiian Cooking Class @ Sur La Table

Birthday Present!

Birthday Dinner

Pirate Cruise

Wicked Dolphin Rum Distillery in Cape Coral, FL

Texas Dinner @ The Woodshed by Tim Love

Texas Dinner @ Torchy's Tacos

Texas Dinner @ American Bar and Food

Sweet Tea Popsicle at Steel Town Pops

Wine Tasting @ Cowtown Winery in Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth Stockyards

Friend's 30th Birthday

I did end up having some nice gains this month in my yoga practice. I now can consistently maintain upward dog for every transition during class rather than having to use Cobra some of the times, I can now maintain Running Man, and hold a Shoulder Stand without supporting my back with my hands. If it weren't for my belly fat, I could probably get to Plow as well but it kinda hinders that pose sadly.

I didn't run as much as I originally planned but at least I got some in. My goal for August is to at least for sure run on Mondays & Saturdays and possibly some Wednesday if I can get out of work on time so that I can do a run & yoga. We'll see how that works out though! I hope I can maintain with the weight loss. This month shouldn't be as busy with the unhealthy events all month. I don't have friends with birthdays in August and I have no work travel planned. I do have a wine dinner scheduled @ Roy's on August 21st and my mother & her husband are visiting my husband and I the last weekend of the month.​

 

[franandaj]

Congratulations on getting the events you wanted, and good job saving the money on the Anniversary dinner. I too would rather have an event for sure than wait and risk it.

Sounds like you did pretty well on weight loss for all those different events going on. Looked like you had a lot of fun and some great food throughout the month!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow, you've been busy!! Yay for getting all those events at F&W...so excited for you and I hope you'll share what they were like after!! Also congrats on your training and weight loss...and all that food you had looked so delicious!!!

 

[huggybuff]

You must've kicked your body into high gear to lose 4lbs with all your events this past month! Awesome job!

I can't wait to see all your Food and Wine pics!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Congratulations on getting the events you wanted, and good job saving the money on the Anniversary dinner. I too would rather have an event for sure than wait and risk it.

Sounds like you did pretty well on weight loss for all those different events going on. Looked like you had a lot of fun and some great food throughout the month!

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with my results this year. It was totally less stressful than 2013 when events weren't loading or I didn't get disconnected this time around.

I'm very happy I saw the loss I did! I wonder how much better it would have been if I had behaved myself but when it comes to so many birthdays in a month - might as well enjoy it!

Wow, you've been busy!! Yay for getting all those events at F&W...so excited for you and I hope you'll share what they were like after!! Also congrats on your training and weight loss...and all that food you had looked so delicious!!!

It was too busy! I'm glad this month my social calendar is pretty much empty! The most exciting thing I have going on is the wine dinner on August 21st - otherwise its just normal coming and goings. The food was so delicious this past month! So far I've been behaving this month though (which is what I should do anyway)

You must've kicked your body into high gear to lose 4lbs with all your events this past month! Awesome job!

I can't wait to see all your Food and Wine pics!

Thanks! I needed that bright side as those struggles so much this spring.

Its less than 2 months away now! I should probably stop being lazy and work on making my FP+ selections but we usually are so fluid with our plans that it isn't the biggest deal if we don't have a FP+ for it. We have so much time this time that I know we'll get to see and do whatever it is what we want (even if it means waiting in line for the mine train)

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Trip #1 Changes

We ended up changing up some of our plans for Trip #1. Part of the reason is that my best friend & her fiancé will be hanging out with us from October 2nd to 4th. (They are getting in on October 1st for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party but we won't be up in Disney in time for that & the only thing we aren't doing together is the "What's Cooking") We also changed some because of the events we have planned. FP+ Selections opened up as well. We have a lot of non plans for the 2nd half of the trip. We will fill in either as we get closer or just plan that day of based on what we did or didn't do during the earlier days. We are also considering doing one of the special tours but we aren't decided yet on that.

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015
4:00PM: Leave Work
5:00PM: Drop Dogs Off At Kennel
6:00PM: Finish Packing

Thursday, October 1st, 2015
4:00PM: Leave Work
7:30PM: Arrive at Animal Kingdom Lodge
9:00PM - Dinner @ Jiko

Friday, October 2nd, 2015
9:00AM: EPCOT Opens
9:20AM to 10:20AM - Soarin’
10:00AM - Amanda Freitag What’s Cooking With... (Just DH & I)
12:00PM: F&W Booths
3:40PM to 4:40PM - Mission Space
4:50PM to 5:50PM - Spaceship Earth
6:00PM - Mixology Seminar with Zu Vodka
7:30PM - Dinner @ La Hacienda

Saturday, October 3rd, 2015
9:00AM: Animal Kingdom Opens
9:20AM to 10:20AM - Safari
10:20AM to 11:20AM - Dinosaur
11:20AM to 12:20PM - Expedition Everest
2:00PM: Back to Hotel
5:00PM: Head to DTD
6:30PM: Dinner @ Boathouse

Sunday, October 4th, 2015
9:00AM: Magic Kingdom Opens
9:10AM to 10:10AM - Peter Pan’s Flight
11:05AM to 12:05PM - Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
1:20PM: Lunch @ Tony’s
2:10PM to 3:10PM - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
2:30PM: Back to Hotel & Friends head back to Naples
7:00PM: Dinner @ Morimoto Asia (If this isn't open yet, we'll figure something else out a week before)

Monday, October 5th, 2015
7:35AM - ‘Ohana
9:00AM: Hollywood Studios Opens
9:20AM to 10:20AM: Toy Story Midway Mania!
10:35AM to 10:50AM: For The First Time in Forever: Frozen Sing-Along
11:30AM to 12:30PM: Star Tours - The Adventures Continue
12:15PM - Hollywood Brown Derby
6:15PM: Dinner @ Narcoossee’s

Tuesday, October 6th, 2015
Lazy Day - Sleep In
10:30AM - Bowling @ Splitsville
4:30PM: Hibachi Experience

Wednesday, October 7th, 2015
9:00AM: EPCOT Opens
9:25AM to 10:25AM: Test Track
10:25AM to 11:25AM: Turtle Talk with Crush
1:00PM - Japanese Craft Beer Tasting
1:45PM to 2:45PM: The Seas with Nemo & Friends
6:20PM: Dinner @ Yachtsman

Thursday, October 8th, 2015
Relaxation Day
6:00PM: Culinary Adventures in Signature Dining - Flying Fish

Friday, October 9th, 2015
9:00AM: Magic Kingdom Opens
9:20AM to 10:20AM: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
10:25AM to 11:25AM: Space Mountain
11:25AM to 12:25PM: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
5:50PM - Be Our Guest

Saturday, October 10th, 2015
Open Plan Day
1:30PM: Parisian Afternoon
6:30PM: Sanaa

Sunday, October 11th, 2015
7:30AM: Wake Up & Leave Hotel
10:30AM: Pick Up Puppies
11:30AM: Home​

 

[franandaj]

Plans look good! I'll be excited to hear if Morimoto Asia is open yet, I might need to adjust my ADRs based on what the menu looks like!

 

[KathyM2]

Your plans look amazing!!!

 

[huggybuff]

Have you eaten at Tony's before? I'm sure you're aware of the reviews...wondering if maybe you thought they were overly harsh and it's really not that bad.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Plans look good! I'll be excited to hear if Morimoto Asia is open yet, I might need to adjust my ADRs based on what the menu looks like!

Thanks! It looks like Morimoto is scheduled to open in September based on the job postings online for positions there. Hopefully the ADRs open before then. I'm ok with being an initial test subject for the place

Your plans look amazing!!!

Thank you!

Have you eaten at Tony's before? I'm sure you're aware of the reviews...wondering if maybe you thought they were overly harsh and it's really not that bad.

I have eaten at Tony's before but its been a few years. I actually didn't pick that ADR, my best friend since her favorite LTT is shut down. We aren't even 100% sure if we are going to keep it or not. As I planned some of the other events we're doing, I'm good with doing some things she picks.

 

[huggybuff]

I have eaten at Tony's before but its been a few years. I actually didn't pick that ADR, my best friend since her favorite LTT is shut down. We aren't even 100% sure if we are going to keep it or not. As I planned some of the other events we're doing, I'm good with doing some things she picks.

Gotcha. I wonder when the new Adventureland restaurant will open up at MK. Maybe when LTT reopens since they will share a kitchen? Your plans do look amazing, btw! It's coming up so soon too.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Gotcha. I wonder when the new Adventureland restaurant will open up at MK. Maybe when LTT reopens since they will share a kitchen? Your plans do look amazing, btw! It's coming up so soon too.

I bet it is around the same time LTT reopens. At least it's been officially announced by Disney at the D23 Expo now! I'm so ready for this trip. I'm glad I have one that is less than 7 weeks away now.