5 days on $1300!?! Did we do it? - a July 2011 TR - update 2/15: Link to new PTR!

[ksl5f123]

thanks for the details on the Yes program! sounds like a lot of fun!
add me to the list of those curious to see how the budget breaks down. Love the bbb photosession!

You are welcome! It was great and I highly recommend it.

The budget gets tough...

 

[ksl5f123]

When we left off, we were on the ground in Liberty Square eating ice cream in the rain waiting for the afternoon parade to start.

Here it comes!

Minnie

and Mickey!

You can see in this one that there are some dark clouds mixed with the blue sky. It was just a quick rain.

Snow White

The Queen of Hearts looks like she is levitating.

Peter Pan and Alice

Suzy or Perla?? – I am bad I can never remember which is which.

Ariel blew DD5 a kiss

Tiana

After the parade ended we turned around and headed straight into Fantasyland. This was a brilliant plan because most people seemed to be following the parade into Frontierland or working their way against the crowd toward the hub.

We flew over London with Peter Pan using our fastpasses and then headed over toward the carousel. For some reason, it had a line! The carousel never has a line. Some of my favorite pictures of the girls when they have done BBB is on the carousel....but....We were hot. We were tired. It was almost 4 PM and we had a 5 PM ADR at Chef Mickey. We skipped the carousel and headed for the exit. I thought we might make a quick stop for pictures with Mickey and Minnie or the Princesses in the Exposition Hall, but the waits were listed at over an hour each! Apparently, the Magic Kingdom gets really busy in the late afternoon. So, we just headed out to the monorail.

Coming up, our first really embarassing moment

 

[teekathepony]

Great parade pics, hope the upcoming embarrasing moment isn't too bad!!

 

[lbuzz52]

wow, an hour- that's nuts! can't wait to hear the embarrassing story. i promise i'll laugh with you...

 

[gatormommy07]

Your kiddos are cute!!! I don't think it looks like a night gown, it looks like a cozy dress!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Great parade pics, hope the upcoming embarrasing moment isn't too bad!!

Thanks. I know the pics were a little blurry, but they were taken by a 7 year old (and extracted from videos).

 

[ksl5f123]

wow, an hour- that's nuts! can't wait to hear the embarrassing story. i promise i'll laugh with you...

I know! The DIS had been saying that the waits never got above 30 minutes so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal trying to catch them on our way out - not that day!

 

[ksl5f123]

Your kiddos are cute!!! I don't think it looks like a night gown, it looks like a cozy dress!!

Thank you!! I think they are cute too. I appreciate the reassurance about the dress.

 

[ksl5f123]

When we last left off, we were leaving the MK on the monorail headed to Chef Mickey's. Despite the rather large number of people in the Magic Kingdom, the monorail was pretty empty and we were about the only people to get off at the Contemporary.

If you followed my PTR, you know that I have issues with vertigo. Usually, it isn't a big deal, but escalators trigger it for me BIG time! All those moving vertical lines get wavy and with them “moving” I am incapable of finding the horizontal lines that separate each step.

We all know that Chef Mickey's is downstairs from the monorail. Walking off of the monorail, I knew there had to be an elevator, but initially I didn't see it. So, we headed for the escalator. Luckily, it was one of the narrow escalators where I can put one hand on each handrail and kind of hold myself up until the steps separate and I can see them. DD7 got on first and was going down. Then DD5 stepped on and lost her balance. I caught her just in time to keep her from falling headfirst down the escalator!

I yelped and DD7 turned around to see what was going on. She started climbing up the escalator at a pace that allowed her to stay right in the middle. I tried to stand DD5 back on a step, but my inability to see the steps means we missed again and she again almost went tumbling down the escalator. Finally, I said forget it. We will take the elevator. But, DD7 was scared to be downstairs waiting on us so she climbed back up the escalator to meet us at the top. She made it to the top, but couldn't go fast enough to step off the escalator back onto the platform. I had to reach our and grab her and pull her up – not an easy task! She is getting big. We must have been quite the sight. DD7 running up the escalator, me trying to reach down it to grab her, DD5 still shaken from nearly falling down the thing.

Now that we were all back together, I took a deep breath and realized that we were only about 10 feet away from the elevator. We started walking toward it which was met with loud yelling from the CM on the platform. “You are going the wrong way!!!” he yelled. I looked around really confused. We were headed straight for the elevator. “You have to exit,” he said. “The monorail can't leave until you move!!!” Oh no. Throughout this whole ordeal, the monorail had been waiting on us!!!! If I could have sunk through the floor at that moment I would have.

Finally, I stuttered, “We...um...we...need to get to the elevator.” He angrily pointed to a gate right behind me and said again, “You have to exit.” I tried to apologize and leave quickly. How long did this all take? From my perspective, it felt like an hour. However, when we got downstairs and I was able to sit down and calm down it had only been 10 minutes since we left the MK.

I knew there would be bumps in the road taking the girls by myself. If DH had been with us, he would have picked up DD5 and everything would have been fine. But I couldn't do that. And so there you have it – my most embarrassing moment of the trip – holding up a monorail and being yelled at by a CM.

 

[ksl5f123]

Once we finally made it downstairs, we stopped in the restroom so I could calm down from our ordeal. Then we wandered through the shops for a little while. This was Monday, July 11 and my DS2's birthday was that Friday so we were looking for something for him. I got really close to buying a monorail playset, but in the end decided he was probably still too young.

Chef Mickey's opened at 5 PM and people were lined up at least 20 families deep waiting to check in. I couldn't remember if our ADR was for 5:05 or 5:20 so we just hung back a little until that whole first wave had checked in. Then we were able to walk right up to the check in desk.

We went ahead and had our pictures made with the Mickey statue, because I didn't remember the price of the picture package. Once I learned what it was, we didn't buy it. Then we sat down to wait for our buzzer to go off. We were probably sitting for only about 5 minutes when we were seated. While we were waiting, DD7 was channeling her inner teenager and giving me the whole “Mom, really, a character meal!?! Do I have to have my picture with Mickey? Why do we have to eat here?” speech. I was slightly irritated with her. After all, BBB was supposed to be DD5's special thing and this was supposed to be DD7's special thing. Ugh!

We had a pretty nice table in the middle level near the kitchen doors. Our server took our drink orders and said that we had about 5 minutes until Mickey would be out. We headed down to the buffet and were able to get a few pieces of broccoli before she came down and said, “Mickey is coming!” So we returned to our seats with just some broccoli.

Doesn't DD7 look like she is being tortured? Yeah..it was just an act. She had a great time and loved seeing the characters.

Goofy was just behind Mickey, so we waited for him.

Now it was time for some food! DD5 had some Mickey ravioli, broccoli, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and cornbread.

DD7 had some Mickey ravioli, Mickey mac & cheese, and some peas.

I had some of the turkey from the carving station (VERY good), salmon (not as good as Crystal Palace), broccoli (needed to be seasoned), mashed potatoes (they were fine), and a piece of cornbread (awesome!).

Now, if you followed my PTR, you will know that I chose this ADR because DD7 LOVES Mickey ravioli. There are very few places where you can get them (Chef Mickey's, Kona, and Akershus are the ones I know about) and this is the only place where they are unlimited. In the ultimate irony, DD7 decided that she didn't like the Mickey ravioli at Chef Mickey's! When we went back for seconds, she only got the Mickey mac and cheese. On the other hand, DD5 got more Mickey ravioli. I can never predict what my kids will like in any given trip.

After getting some food, we met some more characters

did some napkin waving

and met a few more characters.

We took our time eating which means that we got to see this guy a second time.

Overall, our experience here was that the food was better than I expected. I could have eaten just the turkey and cornbread and been very happy. The kids loved the sundae bar and had great interaction with the characters. Our receipt indicates that we checked out at 6:22 PM so we spent just over an hour at our table. At no time did I feel rushed either by our server or by the characters. Was the price too high? Of course, but we knew that going in.

Up next, checking into Windsor Hills

 

[teekathepony]

Sounds like a great time at CM!

 

[pinkxray]

What an awful experience on the escalator.

I am so glad DD7 changed her turn once the characters came around especially since it was supposed to be her special meal.

I read your nightgown post before and never commented. I think DD5 looks very cute. I could tell it was a nightgown right away but then again Caitlin has so many similar nightgowns. I think it looked fine and I am sure it was much more comfortable than a princess dress. I saw that the Disneystore is now selling nightgowns that can double as a costume. I wanted to get the Rapunzel one for Caitlin but it is gone.

 

[sherylcin]

I knew there would be bumps in the road taking the girls by myself. If DH had been with us, he would have picked up DD5 and everything would have been fine. But I couldn't do that. And so there you have it – my most embarrassing moment of the trip – holding up a monorail and being yelled at by a CM.

Oh my!! That escalator story had my stomach in a knot there for a second! Glad it had a happy ending! (Probably stems from my own "escapade" when my son was 9 or 10 and got his shoelace caught between the steps. Let's just say I had a freak out moment!) However, I don't think there is EVER an excuse for a CM to react angrily to a guest! How rude!! How about a polite "Can I help you?" Just sayin................

Glad to hear you enjoyed Chef Mickey's. I've read some not so great comments about it lately (mostly the food) and hope it's recovering its culinary reputation! I will say that I always feel a little tense when we eat there because I'm a slow eater and trying to take pictures with the characters and get food, eat and talk all at the same time really taxes my brain!!

I can never predict what my kids will like

Let's just leave it at that! (As every other mother/grandmother will agree!)

 

[TinksThree]

Trying to catch up. What an experience with the escalator! I always seem to do something that embarreses me. I usually have a problem letting it go, holding my head in shame when in actuality, no one else has thought anything about it again!

We did Chef Mickey's for breakfast and dinner. Dinner wins hands down! Funny how DD7 is channeling the teen angst! Madison did the same thing just as early!

 

[ksl5f123]

Sounds like a great time at CM!

It was really good. The food was better than I anticipated and the characters were not as rushed as I expected. Overall, a very nice meal.

 

[ksl5f123]

What an awful experience on the escalator.

I am so glad DD7 changed her turn once the characters came around especially since it was supposed to be her special meal.

I read your nightgown post before and never commented. I think DD5 looks very cute. I could tell it was a nightgown right away but then again Caitlin has so many similar nightgowns. I think it looked fine and I am sure it was much more comfortable than a princess dress. I saw that the Disneystore is now selling nightgowns that can double as a costume. I wanted to get the Rapunzel one for Caitlin but it is gone.

I HATE escalators and that day didn't really serve to improve my opinion.

I am so happy that DD7 was just "blowing smoke" about the characters. I was having to bite my tongue to keep it from lashing out at her while we were waiting.

I had noticed the new nightgowns at the Disneystore, so I guess Disney doesn't mind if my kid walks around in jammies. They seem to sell out of all the Rapunzel stuff so fast. You would think they would figure out that she is really popular right now and order more.

 

[ksl5f123]

Oh my!! That escalator story had my stomach in a knot there for a second! Glad it had a happy ending! (Probably stems from my own "escapade" when my son was 9 or 10 and got his shoelace caught between the steps. Let's just say I had a freak out moment!) However, I don't think there is EVER an excuse for a CM to react angrily to a guest! How rude!! How about a polite "Can I help you?" Just sayin................

Glad to hear you enjoyed Chef Mickey's. I've read some not so great comments about it lately (mostly the food) and hope it's recovering its culinary reputation! I will say that I always feel a little tense when we eat there because I'm a slow eater and trying to take pictures with the characters and get food, eat and talk all at the same time really taxes my brain!!

I shudder thinking about your DS with a shoelace caught in an escalator. I hear they sometime eat Crocs too.

I had read a lot of bad reviews of Chef Mickey's too. Now, I will say that we are not foodies. I like my food kind of plain - grilled chicken, potatoes and steamed veggies are my idea of a perfect meal. If you are looking for caviar and pate you will be disappointed. If you are looking for simple food done reasonable well (it is a buffet afterall), then CM does fine.

 

[ksl5f123]

Trying to catch up. What an experience with the escalator! I always seem to do something that embarreses me. I usually have a problem letting it go, holding my head in shame when in actuality, no one else has thought anything about it again!

We did Chef Mickey's for breakfast and dinner. Dinner wins hands down! Funny how DD7 is channeling the teen angst! Madison did the same thing just as early!

Oh yeah! I am so bad about holding on to stuff and feeling guilty when nobody else even noticed. On this trip, I had to get over it quickly because I didn't want it affecting the girls or our meal.

I'm glad you can look back on the (way too early) teen angst and laugh. Maybe when my DD is an awesome teen like Madison I will feel that way too. Right now, I am still wondering what happened to the little girl.

 

[ksl5f123]

After our supper at Chef Mickey's, we took the monorail back to the Transportation and Ticket Center. As we got off, I realized I had no idea where the car was parked. I was in such a panic that morning trying to get to our YES class on time, that I didn't bother to look at what row we were in – or even what lot!

I did the only thing I could do, I asked the girls (in the most positive tone I could manage), “Who remembers where we parked?” “We parked on the other side of that bridge”, DD7 replied. I was skeptical. Wouldn't I have remembered going under a road? But, I had to trust her because I had no idea. We walked under the bridge and there was the car only about 100 feet away. Good job, DD7!!

This time, Googlemaps didn't fail me and we had an easy drive over to Windsor Hills. We checked in with the guard at the gate, got our pass for the week, and made our way to our condo. We were able to park right in front of the stairwell and make our way up the stairs to our 2nd floor condo. It was the 2nd door on the right from the stairwell. The key to the unit was in a little lockbox outside the door that we had been given a code to open. It opened easily and we removed the key and opened the door. However, the box did not close nearly as easily. I spent about 5 minutes fiddling while the girls explored the condo before I just gave up and brought the pieces inside.

I have never rented a condo in Florida before and I was quite nervous about it. What if I was being scammed and there really wasn't a condo? What if it didn't look anything like the pictures on the internet? What if I opened the door and hordes of roaches scurried everywhere? Yeah, I have a vivid imagination and a personality that worries about everything.

So, what did our condo look like?
The kitchen

The dining area

The living room

The girls' bathroom – I didn't take a picture of my bathroom, but it was basic (and not Disney themed)

My room

The girls' room

The closet in the girls room

As you can see, there were some toys in here that the girls enjoyed very much while I was unpacking. That was a nice surprise. There were also some games that would have been appreciated had we been stuck in the condo due to some bad weather. You can also see a stroller in this closet. If you read my PTR, you will remember that this was a HUGE issue for me – to stroller or not to stroller. In the end, we didn't bring one, but had we really needed it we could have used this one.

After we looked around and made sure everything was acceptable, it was time to unload the car. I will have to say that I was dreading this, but the girls really pitched in and helped bring stuff upstairs. I started with the main suitcase while the girls brought up their backpacks. Then I started bringing up the food while the girls got the swim bags. At this point, I was getting pretty hot and very tired. It was about 7:30 PM, but still about 90 degrees outside. We had been going since 6 AM. So, I told the girls I needed a break and suggested we walk around the building a little. This was timely because we discovered there was an elevator (didn't know there was one) about 30 feet down the hallway. I was thrilled because I still had the biggest box of food to carry upstairs. We used the elevator to finish our unloading.

By the time we finished getting settled, it was time for bed. The girls watched TV in their room for a little while (a huge treat) but were still asleep at a reasonable hour. I was happy to get a shower, call DH to chat, and get to bed.

So, how did the finances work out this day?
Park tickets (YES program – 5 day standard non-hopper tickets) - $468.73
parking - $14
BBB - $53.20
Columbia Harbour House - $14.25
Sleepy Hollow - $7.86
Chef Mickey's - $100.17 – somehow, in my original budget plan I had estimated this meal at $78 including tip, so I was shocked when it was $85 before the tip! I think that seasonal pricing got me – either that or I used an out of date number from allears. It was $40 for my meal and $20 for each of the girls plus tax.
Windsor Hills condo (4 nights) - $350

Total spent this day = $1008.21
Money remaining = $189.31 Yeah, I know. It's not looking good for the budget, but this was our most expensive day BY FAR!

 

[pinkxray]

Wow, that was an expensive day! It was probably tough to stay on budget after that.

Your condo looks great. I am really starting to question if staying onsite will be for us in the future. I really liked the 2 bedroom unit we had offsite in 2010 and the cost was a fraction of Disney rates.