2010 Mom's Panel Results along with lists of Round 2 & 3 Participants

[5fromabove]

Hi Kathie

What is your favorite time of year to visit the World?

What is your least favorite time of year and why?

I'm enjoying getting to know you.

 

[magic2go]

Kathie, what ages are your children? What is your favorite show at the parks and favorite attractions? If you've done the water parks, what's your favorite part of those?

Hi! DD is 12.5 and DS is nearly 10. They are growing up so quick! They've been going to WDW since they were 11 months old I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

Shows: The Festival of the Lion King & Lights, Motor, Action
Attractions: Big Thunder, Everest, Kali and Toy Story Mania are some of my top attractions - but I really love the classics too - Pirates & Jungle Cruise. Love them both!

Water Park: Typhoon Lagoon. I love wave pools.

I don't know if you can tell - but we're an active family. We love to be on the go with plenty of action all around us

 

[magic2go]

Hi Kathie

What is your favorite time of year to visit the World?

What is your least favorite time of year and why?

I'm enjoying getting to know you.

LOL, you guys are quick! I don't know if I can keep up!!

October is my absolute favorite time. I LOVE the decorations in the MK and the grave diggers during the party are the BEST. I could watch them every night They are followed closely by the Headless Horseman.

Least favorite? That's a tough one. I don't know that I have one. I was dreading going to the world last August - because of heat and summer crowds. BUT, I was so surprised... we ended up at the parks at night, enjoying the cooler air and the different atmosphere. It was such a wonderful experience that I wouldn't hesitate to go again in the summer.

Ok, no one asked - but I throw it in anyways: My favorite spot to watch Wishes is on Big Thunder. A roller coaster ride with fireworks overhead and the castle all lit up is a really special way to end a night.

PS My phone ringtone is the Boo to You! song right now - and I may keep it even after Halloween is over That's how much I love Halloween at Disney!

 

[DisneySunflower]

My favorite mode of transportation is and will always be the monorail!
!Por favor mantanganse alejado de las puertas!
We too always tried to guess the colors, but now we pretty much know what color goes where. I love to hop on and take a round trip for a nice little rest.

I totally agree! Love the Monorail.

No celebs.

And, I also scheduled my interview.

 

[DisneySunflower]

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Halloween! Thanks for all the kind words about my costume. I am already making plans for next year!

 

[ZannaLand]

Hello All,

I wanted to add something to this thread and I just plain kept forgetting.

You round 3'ers wanted a place to get to know one another and for all of us to get to know you and ask questions of you.

So with that in mind I would love it if one of you:
Amanda from GA, Amanda from Raleigh, Dannee, Kathie, Kaylene, Marc, Sue, or Suzannah will volunteer to start.


Introduce your family, your likes dislikes, jobs or whatever you want to talk about. Then we can all ask you a few questions and you can spend the day answering us. I think there is enough time in the waiting left for everyone to have at least a day!

We can do this in addition to the ? of the day!

Hey everyone, this will be fun!

I think you guys have figured out that I like to type so I'll try my best to be brief, but feel free to ask me anything at all!

I met my husband junior year of high school in Cambridge, Mass when we were both in the drama club's production of Man of La Mancha. After the first show, all the lights were off so everyone was running around hugging each other for our great show. I hugged him thinking he was my friend Aaron and said "Aaron, is that you?" and he said, "No, it's Jerry!" and really, that was the last I talked to him until Senior year! He played guitar and had been coerced into the drama club by our director because he wanted to play the music, but very few boys would act in our musicals, so the director really wanted another boy on board! Senior year he had more of a lead roll and was friends with our mutual friend Aaron. We all sat in the auditorium all night during rehearsals and got to know each other that way. We both made each other laugh and shared a love of music as well. He asked me out on December 19th, 1990 and we've been together ever since.


I've posted in this thread before about my past work experience at Disney and as a travel agent, so I won't repeat that...but after we got married in 1996 (13 years ago last Monday) we had a house built outside Orlando in Ocoee, FL. Soon after that our first son was born in January of 1999. The following Christmas Eve, I discovered I was expecting again. We wanted to move back up to Massachusetts to raise our kids. Well, we did everything wrong and Jerry got a job before we sold the house. He had to move up there to start working while I was dealing with morning sickness and keeping the house super clean for any realtors that would show up - with an almost one-year old doing his best to undo all of that! We sold the house at a loss and it really turned our finances on end trying to live in the much higher cost-of-living MA vs. FL.

We ended up back in FL soon after my daughter was born in 2000, then Jerry lost his job (on his birthday ) and the only position he could find after 3 months of trying was - yep, back in MA! So we lived up there for a bit, buying a fixer-upper in RI after about a year. That house was almost the death of me it was way beyond just 'fixing up'! I lasted until the second blizzard I think with the kids being 4 and almost 3 at the time, until I said "I miss Disney, we NEED to get back to Florida!" Soo...we sold that house and moved our gang back to Orlando. We were in an apartment for a while and it was a very trying time for a lot of different reasons. In March of 2004 my dad passed away suddenly. I was devastated, but it also was the kickstart I needed to work toward doing something with my life. I was 30, and I finally started trying to write, which is what I always wanted to do.

Soon after that Jerry's job transferred him to Tampa. He was living in a suite hotel during the week and coming home on the weekends. The kids missed him so much! (me too!) Finally the position looked permanent so we decided to move out here. We loved the area, it was so beautiful, and still close enough to Disney so we could go every weekend if we wanted. In 2007 we had the house we're living now built and we've been here ever since.

I worked briefly for Starbucks down here, first inside a SuperTarget, and later helped open up a new freestanding Starbucks, which was really exciting. It was shortly after that store opened that we discovered we were going to have our third child. As with my first son, morning sickness was really REALLY bad and I had to leave my job. I've been home again ever since and loving every moment with my new little guy. I do miss being able to help out at the big kids' elementary school, but I still love going to my son's soccer practices and games and daughter's gymnastics classes. This year my son's 5th grade class trip is going to Epcot and I'm DEFINITELY chaperoning THAT event! My daughter is in chorus this year, and there is a chance she'll be singing at Downtown Disney as well, so that'll be fun too.

My littlest guy just had his first birthday and has been walking up a storm. He's absolutely in love with his big brother and sister, and our Chihuahua, Scarlett. Oh, I forgot about my husband's jobs...after Disney he worked for Planet Hollywood for a while, then got into IT work, building company's computer networks. He did that for about 5 years before switching to the programming side of things and that's what he's been up to since we moved back to Florida in 2003. He also writes technical books when he has time, and has written 7 now.

My mom has followed us back and forth for all our moves and lives about 6 miles away from us now. She goes with us to Disney whenever she can and loves it just as much as we do. Most of my major memories of Disney were from living in Ocala when my parents owned a home made ice cream shop named after me and we'd head to Epcot at least one or two Mondays a month when the shop would be closed. Now she enjoys many of those same memories with my children.

As far as favorite Disney picks...

It's SO hard for me to pick a favorite resort...Beach Club was what we first fell in love with and will always feel like 'home' to me, but the lobby and cozy feel of Wilderness Lodge is also wonderful...and Animal Kingdom Lodge can't be beat for its views and restaurants. If you asked my kids though, their favorite is Pop Century, where they'd live if they could!

Favorite restaurant is equally hard...we love Japan's Teppan Edo and that's probably where we've eaten the most meals over the years. Another favorite is Boma, for breakfast or dinner and Sanaa has now been added to our top picks as well. Kona Cafe is another family favorite and we usually go at least every other visit! I could really go on and on...We usually plan our trips AROUND our ADR's

I think I've typed enough and I'll just wait and answer any questions before I make this into a novel!!

 

[IloveAKL]

OK Zanna, what is your favorite thing to order at what table service restaurant? Counter service?
I love the food at WDW too!

Barb

 

[ZannaLand]

OK Zanna, what is your favorite thing to order at what table service restaurant? Counter service?
I love the food at WDW too!

Barb

Hi Barb!

Well, I have to admit to my carnivorous tendencies...I love a good filet, so if it's ever available, I'm usually ordering the Filet Mignon wherever we are! I love love love the shrimp at Teppan Edo too though, they taste better than any other shrimp I've ever had. Another new favorite is the scallops appetizer at Sanaa - those are SO GOOD. We do a lot of buffets also, so I love being able to try a little bit of a bunch of new things too.

Counter service...I really used to love some of the specialty salads they were offering at the Magic Kingdom CS locations a couple of years ago, they had really different things - like Pinocchio's used to have that salad with the grilled chicken and pineapples in it. Sounds weird, but I loved it. I love 'exciting' salads like that lol. They all seem to have changed now though...I do still love the burgers at Backlot Express best of all. Columbia Harbor House is another favorite, I miss the bread bowl clam chowder!! The chowder's still there and great, but I miss the bread bowls!! I haven't been to Yak & Yeti yet and really want to try there.

I'm also a big dessert person (no surprise looking at me! ) and love discovering new dessert favorites. In researching for a blog I was writing I noticed my old favorite from Kona Cafe is not there anymore (Kilauea Torte) so I'll have to find a new one!

 

[DisneyJo]

Just want to send my best wishes and lots of luck to all of the rounder 3ers doing their interviews this week. Remember to relax, be yourself and if at all possible enjoy it. :

 

[Twende]

Good Morning all and thank you Suzannah for being our 'victim' of the day!
Kathie I am sorry you only got a half day so anyone who did not get a question in for Kathie, feel free to ask away too!

Today is Day 9 in the countdown to Reveal day!

Todays general question is:

What are your favorite off day or out of park day activities?




My Suzannah question is if you could have a day for just you and your mother, of course in the parks, what would you plan to do?

 

[ZannaLand]

Good Morning all and thank you Suzannah for being our 'victim' of the day!
Katie I am sorry you only got a half day so anyone who did not get a question in for Katie, feel free to ask away too!

Today is Day 9 in the countdown to Reveal day!

Todays general question is:

What are your favorite off day or out of park day activities?




My Suzannah question is if you could have a day for just you and your mother, of course in the parks, what would you plan to do?

Ooh, good one!! Well IF I could convince her to leave her precious grandbabies behind... I think we'd start the day at Epcot, which is both of our favorite parks (tho it's really hard to pick a fav park!). We'd probably just grab some coffee and a quick breakfast at Sunshine Seasons, then head on to Soarin' and Living With the Land - in fact, if we are going all out, I'd love to do the Behind the Seeds tour with her, I know she'd love that.

Next we'd head over to The Seas and Spaceship Earth and I'd convince her to ride Test Track too (of course there are no lines or wait times in this plan!) before heading over to World Showcase. We'd take our time strolling through the countries, stopping for lunch in Canada, or France, and taking in all the attractions and shows in the countries. We'd head to Norway's Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe for some Rice Cream and more coffee (I get my coffee addiction from her!) and keep shopping around the world. I'd let her choose if she wanted to have dinner at Kouzzina (she still hasn't been but we are set for ADR's on my birthday trip in December) or Japan to watch Illuminations. Then, since we'd be so tired from walking all day (well, I'd be walking, she'd be on her scooter!), we'd decide to just spend the night at Beach club and go relax in our room with a view of Stormalong Bay of course!

...

Our favorite non-parks day thing to do is Downtown Disney of course. I LOVE it there and love walking up from the parking lot to the smells of Basin wafting out toward me! I could spend hours in Basin alone smelling all the scents. Speaking of scents, my absolute favorite store is Days of Christmas. I could LIVE in that store I think. And of course Once Upon a Toy, World of Disney and TrenD too...love TrenD, I think it's a great addition! We always spend a while in the Lego store as well. Of course we love the dining there too - Wolfgang Puck Express, T-Rex, etc!!

We also love both miniature golf locations, they are super fun!! AND, we are known to just resort hop, shopping and dining too!

 

[5fromabove]

Speaking of scents, my absolute favorite store is Days of Christmas. I could LIVE in that store I think.

I'm really enjoying seeing how much I have in common with Kathie and Zanna (so far).

Zanna, I Days of Christmas too. I'm a huge Christmas nut anyway, but combine Christmas AND Disney...and I'm in Heaven .

Todays general question is: What are your favorite off day or out of park day activities?

As far as my answer to this question, I'd have to say that our children love pool days. They especially enjoy Stormalong Bay, but have also enjoyed the pool at AKL, SSR, and ASSp. It's amazing what a day of swimming together and relaxing by the pool can do to rejuvenate us. We generally will schedule a pool day followed by a Downtown Disney night. We love walking around DTD, and just soaking in the sights and smells. DH always gives me some "alone" time for me to browse through Days of Christmas while he takes the kids to World of Disney or Once Upon a Toy. There's something so magical about DTD at night, and when we stay at Saratoga Springs the walk or boat ride over in the evenings is a special treat.

By the way, I'd be happy to be the "person of the day" tomorrow if you'd like

 

[magic2go]

Good Morning all and thank you Suzannah for being our 'victim' of the day!
Katie I am sorry you only got a half day so anyone who did not get a question in for Katie, feel free to ask away too!

Today is Day 9 in the countdown to Reveal day!

Todays general question is:

What are your favorite off day or out of park day activities?

The last few trips we've been able to stay on Club Level, so our favorite day off activity is to sleep in, enjoy breakfast in the lounge, and then enjoy the resort pool and activities. Last trip we were at AKL, so we made it to the story time by the fire pit, the musical parade in the lobby, and the culinary tour of Boma & Jiko. The kids especially loved the restaurant tour. They are both adventurous eaters and love to cook at home, so it was perfect for us.

We also follow our day of rest by Downtown Disney. We love Disney Quest, so an evening there makes us all happy. A perfect ending is eating outside at Raglan Road, watching the hot air balloon. The balloon brings so much energy and fun to that area of Downtown. I can't wait to actually get to ride in it!!

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Todays general question is:

What are your favorite off day or out of park day activities?

Well, we always go with my parents and part way though the week DH goes back to work since has a hard time taking off a whole week. After he leaves.... OUTLET SHOPPING! My Mom and I love to hit all the Disney outlets, shoe outlets, and I always make out awesome at Hartstrings for DD. My poor Dad just drives us around from mall to mall and holds all our bags like a good husband/father/grandfather.

We also love to drive around Celebration and pick out what house we are going to buy when we win Powerball!

Last, we have to go and get our Chick-fil-a and Dairy Queen 'fix'. DQ is closed in the winter where we live (and 30 minutes away) and the closest Chick-fil-a is well over an hour away.

 

[5fromabove]

Just want to send my best wishes and lots of luck to all of the rounder 3ers doing their interviews this week. Remember to relax, be yourself and if at all possible enjoy it. :

Thank you, Jo!

 

[5fromabove]

Hello All,

I wanted to add something to this thread and I just plain kept forgetting.

You round 3'ers wanted a place to get to know one another and for all of us to get to know you and ask questions of you.

So with that in mind I would love it if one of you:
Amanda from GA, Amanda from Raleigh, Dannee, Kathie, Kaylene, Marc, Sue, or Suzannah will volunteer to start.


Introduce your family, your likes dislikes, jobs or whatever you want to talk about. Then we can all ask you a few questions and you can spend the day answering us. I think there is enough time in the waiting left for everyone to have at least a day!

We can do this in addition to the ? of the day!

If you all don't mind, I'll take today. It appears that my DD-7 will be home with a fever, so I should have some time to answer any questions you want to throw at me

Let's see here: Hello, I’m Kaylene and I’m a Disney addict . My husband Steve and I are five times blessed with 3 girls and 2 boys. Our DD-17 is a High School senior this year. She is in AP Art and will graduate with Art Honors. She has a gift for being able to draw any Disney character freehand—she looks at the picture on a DVD case for example, and draws it. Currently she is leaning towards studying Art Therapy in College. DS-13 is in 8th grade, he’s an active soccer playing guy with a gift for math. DS-9 is in 3rd grade and loves sports and being outdoors. DD-7 is a giraffe loving 1st grader and talented little gymnast. DD-5 is in pre-k, loves hippos, Minnie and Pooh…and has quite a vivid imagination. They all share my love for all things Disney, and truly appreciate the wide range of options that WDW has to offer.

Prior to staying home with our children 10 years ago, I was a Front Office Manager in the Hospitality Industry. I’ve worked in Hotels in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, Nevada and in Portland, Oregon. I learned very quickly about the high expectations that people have when it comes to their vacations…and I always enjoyed being able to make things right when something had not met their wishes.

Steve and I met in Lake Tahoe, but he was from New Jersey and I grew up in New Hampshire. I spent my high-school years living in Florida, and frequented WDW more times than I can count (gotta love AP’s) Some of my favorite memories of those days are of New Years Eve’s in the Magic Kingdom…the celebrations were crazy, and we couldn’t even get out of the parks until the wee hours of the mornings (like 3am). Anyway, I had spent summers on Cape Cod as a kid, and when we decided to move our family home to the East Coast…the Cape was perfect choice for us. His parents were still in New Jersey at the time, and mine were in Maine and NH. Cape Cod was right in the middle. Since then, his parents and 1 sister have moved here, and my parents are in Florida much of the year. We love everything about where we live: the small town atmosphere & beaches and having Boston just an hour away (Go Patriots).

I think “stay-at-home-Mom” is an oxy-moron, as I’m never home. I’m a “taxi-driver”--running my involved kids to countless activities, PTO member and serve on school panels. My DH is a self-employed carpenter, and I help keep all of our “books”. I sell on eBay year-round, strictly to pay for my Disney obsession. We joined DVC several years ago so that we can ensure our children (and future grandchildren) a lifetime of Disney memories.

Let’s see here a few of my favorite things:

Favorite Park: As hard as it is to choose, I think I’d have to say Animal Kingdom is my favorite (with Epcot very close behind). I love the laid back feeling we get when we are at AK. The atmosphere is relaxing and by design, it always seems less crowded. I love thrill rides like Everest, but hold a special place in my heart for Kali and the Safari.

Favorite WDW Restaurants: Another toughie, as our trips are planned around our ADR’s. We feel strongly at one table service meal a day is essential for our family. We have a tradition of enjoying breakfast at Crystal Palace on every trip. We try to book it early enough that we have Main Street essentially to ourselves in the mornings. We also eat at Boma for dinner on every trip. It’s DH’s favorite meal, and all of our kids thoroughly enjoy the buffet (and zebra domes). I personally love Le Cellier, their filet mignon and pretzel bread are my favorites

Anything else you want to know??

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me

 

[Shmily1]

Hi! DD is 12.5 and DS is nearly 10. They are growing up so quick! They've been going to WDW since they were 11 months old I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

Shows: The Festival of the Lion King & Lights, Motor, Action
Attractions: Big Thunder, Everest, Kali and Toy Story Mania are some of my top attractions - but I really love the classics too - Pirates & Jungle Cruise. Love them both!

Water Park: Typhoon Lagoon. I love wave pools.

I don't know if you can tell - but we're an active family. We love to be on the go with plenty of action all around us

Thank you for answering! This is so close to what I would have said except that my DS and DD are a little older now! Good luck with your interview this week!

 

[magic2go]

If you all don't mind, I'll take today. It appears that my DD-7 will be home with a fever, so I should have some time to answer any questions you want to throw at me


Anything else you want to know??

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me

HI Kaylene! I have a couple of questions for you!

What's your favorite resort and why?

Have you gotten to spend any "adult-only" time at the world? If so, what is your favorite thing to do/place to see? I'd love to be able to have a date night at Downtown Disney- we tried to get over to the Adventurer's Club before it closed, but it didn't work out Maybe I'll just hold out hope that some of the rumors are true, and the AC will pop up reincarnated in another location!!

 

[ZannaLand]

If you all don't mind, I'll take today. It appears that my DD-7 will be home with a fever, so I should have some time to answer any questions you want to throw at me

Thanks for taking the time to get to know me

Loved learning more about you, Kaylene!! We do have a bit in common, you're right!

...

I wanted to wish all my fellow Finalists the BEST of luck this week on our interviews...and lots of patience to make it till the 10th when we find out! I'll be *trying* to keep my mind off things with my kids' activities this week. Wednesday they go to the dentist for their check-ups (just waiting to hear the "B" word for either of them-Braces!), then my daughter is singing with the school chorus at a local grocery store on Thursday - Christmas carols! Next week my son's soccer practice starts up on the 10th, so that'll be a fun day no matter what the news is (which will hopefully be good!). Deep breaths...

Pixie dust to all!!

Anyone can still ask me any questions they want too...but I guess I probably rambled long enough that there's not much else to ask!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!

(I'm going to miss my bouncing mickey pumpkins...is it too early for Christmas decorations? )

 

[5fromabove]

HI Kaylene! I have a couple of questions for you!

What's your favorite resort and why?

Have you gotten to spend any "adult-only" time at the world? If so, what is your favorite thing to do/place to see? I'd love to be able to have a date night at Downtown Disney- we tried to get over to the Adventurer's Club before it closed, but it didn't work out Maybe I'll just hold out hope that some of the rumors are true, and the AC will pop up reincarnated in another location!!

Hi Kathie!

Hmm...my favorite resort would probably have to be the Yacht and Beach Club. We bought into Saratoga Springs on the theory that as the kids got older they could walk to DTD easily, and it has a golf course for DH We do love it there, as well as the AKL, and WL. However, I the Y&BC for several reasons. First and foremost is Stormalong Bay. We love just spending a day relaxing and enjoying every nook and cranny of that amazing pool. In addition, we really love the location! The ability to walk to Epcot is invaluable, and we also enjoy the relaxing boat ride over to DHS and back. Let alone the fact that the Boardwalk area itself is so much fun to have in walking distance! Top it all off with the theming (a New England coastal town)...and well, I feel right at home

Ah, "adult-only" time now that, is priceless YES, we've managed to fit in "dates" on 3 of our last trips. My Mom was there to watch the kids on two of our October trips (our Anniversary is that month). One year, while staying at the YC, we had a date to the Yachtsman Steakhouse then walked around the Boardwalk area. Our youngest was only 3 months at the time, and still nursing. I didn't want to go very far and missed her the whole time but it was still nice. In '07, we had an amazing date at the California Grill. We had reserved our table to be during the Wishes celebration, and had a window seat. They sprinkled our table in metallic Mickey confetti, and it was SO romantic and wonderful. Actually, I sumbitted a tip about that on the Mickey Moms Club. Here's the link:

http://mickeymomsclubtips.disney.go...&childrenid=&experienceid=2&filters=0|0|0|0|0 (not sure if it will open for you or not)

Last April, we went on a Grand Gathering with 18 other people. The other couple that we went with have 3 children and brought 2 grandmothers, and we had our 5 kids plus my DD-17's bff and my mother (and brother, SIL, etc, etc lol). Anyway, point was, there were enough babysitters to go around. SO, Steve and I met up with the other couple at our room at the Beach Club and we all walked over to Epcot. I Epcot and never seem to be able to enjoy World Showcase and just soak it all in. It was pretty funny, the first hour or so, we just wandered around aimlessly, not sure what to do with ourselves without kids. We kept trying to get on rides, and the lines were too long, etc. Finally, the guys looked at us and said, "hey, lets just enjoy the night in World Showcase". It was wonderful, just the 4 of in exploring the countries, having a few cocktails, sharing laughs, making memories...without kids needing a potty, etc. Don't get me wrong, my kids are my life...and my world revolves around them. However, I believe it's important to put my DH first sometimes too and the few hours alone together, allows us to enjoy the vacation and our children even more

I hope you are able to find some "adult-time" next trip, Kathie