9/24/09 3 Day Wonder - Cruise Meets, and FEs, and Goombays oh my!

[karentan]

hows everyone's weekend going?
we've had a nice day, me and gary went to clacton for the day (its a seaside town about an hours drive from where we live), and took the dog, had a nice day just walking around, cerby had good fun in the sea, it was lovely and hot and sunny, just a nice relaxing day.
gary never learns though, he's all red and burnt! he got sunburnt on castaway cay and always forgets to put sun cream on! so he'll be peeling in a couple of days!!

we went bowling earlier, gary's spent the last 2 weeks bragging that he beat me at bowling last time, but i kicked his butt 3-0 today!! think he's sulking now!!

i got a text from my friend who got married in disney a couple of weeks ago, they got back this morning, and it all went well, they had a great time, i cant wait to see the rest of their photos, i've seen the wedding ones, but they had a shoot at the MK and one at epcot too. cant wait to see those!

 

[karentan]

well i've given up on getting gary to look at menus (i'll get him to help narrow them down) so i've come up with a shortlist of places that i like the look of the menu's:

Magic kingdom
Cinderella’s Royal Table (definately going back here)
Crystal Palace (ate here on our honeymoon, may go back)
Tony’s Town Square

Epcot
Teppan Edo
Coral Reef (eaten here twice now, may book it if we need to make up the numbers of ADRs but ready to try someplace new)
Le Cellier
Tokyo Dining (not sure on the difference between teppan edo and tokyo dining, trying to find out)

Hollywood Studios
50’s prime time (great fun last time!)

Resorts
Chef Mickeys (Contemporary) (want to go back here, this was our wedding meal!)
Big River Grille and Brewing Works (Boardwalk)
Maya Grill (Coronado Springs)
Ohana’s (Polynesian) (ate here last time, again may use it to make the numbers up if needed)
Turf Club (Saratoga Springs)
Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge) (ate here for lunch last year as part of the backstage magic tour)
Captains Grille (Yacht Club)

i'm not sure on what we'll end up with, but thats the kinda short list at the mo, anyone eaten at any of them? what'd you think?

couldnt find anything at AK that i liked the look of, might stick to CS there!
any other restaurants you've been to that you recommend? i'm trying to stick to 1 credit meals (apart from CRT) so we can try lots of new places!

 

[disney honeymooners]

with it being our honeymoon we are def doing Cinderellas Royal Table. I had to get Greg to look at the menus before we decided which ones we would eat at since he is a very picky eater with me i can always find somthing on any menu that i will like.
I liked the coral reef resteraunt when i went last time but we wont be eating there this time greg isnt that big on sea food and he didnt really like the other options for dinner there.
Does anyone know if you have to pay for the fatasmic package when you book it? It wont be a problem if we have to since that gift on our registry has already been paid off but i have heard mixed things(some say that they had to pay ahead of time and others have said that they paid when after they ate dinner)

 

[karentan]

it looks like you guarantee the booking with a CC but pay there:
http://allears.net/din/fantdin1.htm

also worth reading this: it looks like you dont have a seperate entrance anymore:
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=298125

 

[jenny105]

I was thinking of doing the Fantasmic package but I don't know if it's even worth it. I think you have to eat on the early side and I don't really care about the 'reserved seating' that we'd get. Any view from in that place is a good one anyway, you really can't go wrong.

I need to squeeze WCC somewhere on our ADR plan. Those skillets look amazing. I want to go there for breakfast but Joe eats cereal for breakfast and he's good so it may be a waste.

I've never done CRT. Or any character dining really! I heard the atmosphere is really cool at CRT but the food isn't very good.

I can't believe we'll be making our ADRs in a few weeks!!! I remember when your counter was close to 100 Days Lainey!

 

[m_kasch]

Karen,

Have you looked at the menu for Jiko? That was pretty good. I know it's a two credit meal, but it would be worth it if you are staying at AKL. The Maya Grill at Coronado was really good, it was nice inside and not too busy. We have eaten at all of the restaurants on your list, and they are all good. For the Japanese place, the Teppan Edo side is the side with the chefs that cook the meat at your table, and the other side is more Japanese food & sushi. But you can also order Sushi at the Teppan Edo side, it's yummy!!

 

[jenny105]

I may have asked this before but has anyone been to Hoop Dee Doo?

 

[m_kasch]

I am so excited! We went to costco at lunch, and I got my snorkel sets and a rolling cooler!! I love buying things for vacation...

 

[karentan]

yay for the holiday shopping trips!! i'm having to be careful that i dont go over the top with buying stuff for the holiday as i need to make sure i've got enough money to actually pay it off first!! the exchange rate is going up at the mo which is great for us, its about $1.59 dollars to the pound at the mo, nowhere near close to the $2/£ that it was last year, but hoping that it goes up a bit more. i need to pay the 4 nights DVC off first, then the cruise is due in first week of july
i was thinking of jiko, but i'm not really into spicy food, and i've heard that the food is good but well spiced. plus i want to limit the 2 credit meals to CRT!! i'm looking forward to trying loads of new places and going back to some favourites!!
jenny, i'd heard bad things about the food at CRT before we went, but we loved it! we both had the soup for starter (gary LOVED that soup, he ended up stealing the rest of mine), i think we both had the steak for main, lovely and well cooked, and the choccy thing for dessert. i'd ordered the slipper dessert for after the meal too, that was yummy! i'd recommend it, i was a bit dubious before we left as i'd heard so many bad things, but glad we tried it, we love it now! plus gary was over the moon when he got a plastic sword!! plus i think he was a bit shocked when the fairy godmother sat on his knee and told him "i've been a good girl all year santa"
http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr238/karenangelatanpearson/CIMG3587.jpg
the skillets at WCC are good, but the main reason we want to go back (sounds stupid!) is for the cornbread! we dont have it in the UK, and i'd never tried it before then, it was soooo nice. we got some from publix a few days later and that sucked, and i got some packet mix to make at home and that was inedible!! plus i want to go back for the atmosphere, its one of those really fun restaurants, as long as the food is edible thats cool with us, it was really good fun last time, you can really tell that the waitresses enjoy messing with people!!
apparently maya grill gets mixed reviews, and it's at coronado so will be a pain in the butt to get to without a car so think we'll cut that one from the list.
mary, thanks for the heads up on teppan edo/tokyo dining, the menus looked really similar, but we'll definately go for teppan edo, it looks fun!

 

[jenny105]

Vacation shopping trips are the best!!

That's a great picture Karen!

I've heard great things about Boma and Jiko but I'm not sure we're going to try them out. I've read that you can get the soup and zebra domes from Mara and they're less expensive and just as good. I think Jiko would be very expensive for us without the dining plan, which we don't have the last two nights of our trip. I don't want to go there beforehand because I don't want to see AKL til I stay there!

Oh decisions, decisions.

 

[karentan]

i've looked at the menus for boma and jiko and it doesnt really stick out for me, nothing really jumped out for me....
i think i'll just make the ADR decisions myself, garys not too bothered i dont think, he'll eat anything and anywhere, so i'm going to go for places that i like the menus!

 

[jenny105]

That's exactly what I'm doing because Joe is the same way.

 

[karentan]

was long as its not vegetarian, gary'll eat it.........
i thought i might have trouble finding 11 restaurants to make reservations for but i've got the opposite problem, i've got too many

 

[jenny105]

There are so many restaurants in WDW, there was no way you'd have a problem. I keep thinking of places I want to try but maybe next trip. I'm having trouble squeezing in the places I really want to do this trip!

 

[karentan]

i'm surprised at the lack of TS restaurants at AKL though, the only real option is rainforest cafe and yak and yeti, neither of which particularly appeal. we'll just have to stick to CS there!!
havent started thinking about what restaurant and when yet, the only one i'm particularly bothered about getting on a specific date is CRT, i want to try and get that one for the day we're at MNSSHP, we went there before MVMCP last year and it was a nice way to start the evening think my plan for the rest of the ADRs is to let the CM book whatever when its available. think the only one's we'll have any problems booking are CRT, chef mickeys, and le cellier if we choose to go there.
gary's working this saturday, so i'm trying to think of something to do that wont cost too much. will probably not end up doing much and wasting the day, but i really want to go and do something.........

 

[jenny105]

Yak & Yeti is pretty good. Joe and I ate there after it first opened. You have to like that kind of food though; otherwise, you won't find anything on that menu. I think we're going to do the Safari Breakfast at Tusker House as our TS for AK day and then do CS for lunch.

I'm looking forward to trying Le Cellier. It looks yummy!

I couldn't decide between Ohana's and Hoop Dee Doo so we're doing both!

 

[karentan]

we tried ohanas last time, it was nice but we like our steak a little less overcooked than that!! but the dessert there is to die for!!!!!!!!!!! shame we were soooo full and couldnt finish it
i think hoop de hoo could be fun but its not really gary's kinda thing, so we'll give it a pass this time, plus its a 2 credit meal, so it might be a maybe for next time we're paying for food instead of the DDP

 

[jenny105]

We're just going to pay upfront for Hoop Dee Doo because it's going to be during our last two nights so....no DP then! What's great about it is that we can pay ahead of time so it'll already be paid for by the time we go. Gratuities are included too. Seems like a good deal!

 

[m_kasch]

We have never been to any of the dinner shows -- Tim thinks they are long and boring, LOL. He refuses to even see the Nemo show at Animal Kingdom, because he says it was so long and boring (a whole 15 minutes) that you need to bring a sleeping bag!!

I would LOVE to see the Luau. Have any of you done that?

 

[jenny105]

I guess you don't see many shows at Disney then. I like dinner shows, they're fun! Has he ever been to Medeival Times? Does he think that's boring too?

I've never been to the luau at Poly but I've been to the one at Royal Pacific in Universal. It was so cold the night we went, I felt really bad for the people onstage!! They were in grass skirts and bikini tops and we all had hoodies on. It was a lot of fun despite the cold and the food was really good!