A January 2019 PTR- is this thing on?! Updated 2/15 TR Link!

[Gina Starr]

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first ever PTR! I am what one would call a disboards lurker. I have been here for almost 4 years and read TRs pretty much every day but rarely comment and have never even considered writing my own. I just don’t think I would be entertaining but I’m mostly doing this to entertain myself. So, sorry if I’m boring! Our trip is just three weeks away and I need a distraction! This is the longest time between trips that we have had and we are chomping at the bit!



So, who are “we”? I’m Gina and my travel partner is my DH, Donnie. We are high school sweethearts and have been together for more than half our lives. We are in our early 30s and both work in customer service, at the same place, in the same cubicle. I guess you could say we like each other. Other than one trip each as kids, we went to Disney together for the first time in 2014 with my sisters family (4 nieces and nephews at the time!) We had a good time but we were totally unprepared, stayed offsite, didn’t have fast passes, and only had one dining reservation. When we first went we thought it would be a one time thing but as most of us do, we decided we needed to go back and experience it as a couple. We have been back 1-2 times a year since and I think dh is honestly more obsessed than me! We are annual pass holders for the second year and will definitely go back at the beginning of next year right before it expires and we would really like to try a fall trip for the first time this year. Sooo I guess now is the time for our “favorites” since you don’t know us!



My favorite park: Magic Kingdom
My favorite ride: Haunted Mansion
My favorite character: Rapunzel
My favorite restaurant: 50s Prime Time (might change this trip as we are trying lots of new places!)


His favorite park: Magic Kingdom
His favorite ride: Flight of Passage
His favorite character: Daily Poutine
His favorite restaurant: Ariel



Now that you know us I guess I will start with plans. I honestly don’t know the best way to do this so I think I will start with the basics.

By the way: I will be posting everything from my phone. I have a laptop but it’s super old and I use it like twice a year. I am trying flickr but I’m totally not sure how to use it. (My pictures are on flickr but I can’t get them here!) Did I mention the customer service I do is actually tech support and I shouldn’t be this inept?

 

[Gina Starr]

Onto the basics: the who, how, when, where, why? And maybe some other stuff...

So I introduced ourselves on the last post but I figured since I’ve got the audience (maybe??) I’ll tell you more about us. We met on AOL instant messenger(yes- we are old!) and got married on our 10 year dating anniversary.

(Sorry for the terrible quality- it’s a picture of a picture)

We have a fur child named Pepper who we just dropped a small fortune on getting emergency heart surgery. He was of course worth it but this has changed some of our plans for the current trip and possible future trips. He is healing great and back to being his normal self!



I am very much a homebody and my ultimate weekend is staying home and binge watching something on Netflix. DH likes to get out of the house and do “something” which usually means spending money. We are still pretty old and fuddy-duddy when we do go out. We don’t drink so it’s pretty much movies, arcades, and top golf (if you have one near you, check it out!!)



We live somewhere between the Midwest, northeast, and south. No, that’s not a riddle but I just don’t feel like we belong in any of those categories but 10 miles one way and we are in the “Midwest” and 10 miles another way and we are in the “northeast”. Anyways, we are a 14+ hour drive away and we drive every time. DH is a freak and enjoys long drives. I get car sick so I take some Dramamine and pass out the majority of the drive. He listens to audio books to keep himself company and he loves it.

Our trip starts in three weeks (!!!!) and we are staying at French Quarter which we consider our home away from home. The only other place we have stayed is the Contemporary for one night and we liked it but definitely can not afford a 10 night stay. We love the small grounds at French Quarter and the boat to Disney Springs.

As far the “why” it’s more like why not?! We go every year in January since that’s when we get our vacation time at work and by December of the previous year we have been out of vacation time for a while and just need to get away!! We love Disney in January- I love the Festival of the Arts at Epcot, the low(ish) crowds, and the mild weather.



So now that I thrilled you all with super interesting and exciting information let’s move on to food!

 

[missangelalexis]

Joining in! Glad you decided to start your own report, it's really fun to be able to have a place to plan out your trip and eventually recap it! I look forward to hearing your plans

 

[RollTideinMD]

Following along!!! I love your love story!

 

[sheri18]

Following. We leave in 6 days. 11 of us. Yikes. Hope it goes smoothly..if that is even possible...

 

[Gina Starr]

Joining in! Glad you decided to start your own report, it's really fun to be able to have a place to plan out your trip and eventually recap it! I look forward to hearing your plans

Thanks for following along! From the looks of your PTR I think our countdown is the exact same! And I think I remember seeing you comment on here when our fp day went less than smoothly.
I figured even if no one else read along at least I can use this kind of like a journal.

 

[Gina Starr]

Following along!!! I love your love story!

Awww thanks! I love it too but most people think it’s too “mushy”

 

[Gina Starr]

Following. We leave in 6 days. 11 of us. Yikes. Hope it goes smoothly..if that is even possible...

Thanks for commenting! Good luck on your trip! I planned one for 9 people once and the most stressful part was the dining reservations and fast passes so it should be a breeze now that all the planning is done!

 

[rosegoldmonorail]

following! i love that lantern pic!

 

[Gina Starr]

I have no personal photos for this post so I guess I will throw in some google image searches so this isn’t a huge wall of text.

The thing I’m most excited about this trip is FOOD! Now normally I’m not a big foodie. I have my favorite snacks but food has never been a highlight of past trips. The reason I’m so excited is because it will be my first Disney trip since I’ve been gluten free! Right after our trip last January I discovered I am gluten intolerant (which has led to an 85+ lb weight loss in case you notice a difference in old pictures I post)

Dining out while gluten free is difficult and frustrating to say the least because people just don’t get it. I went to a hibachi restaurant with family recently and literally didn’t order anything. The server asked why and I said I was gluten free. Her response was “oh we can take care of that. We just take all the salt out” To say I was relieved I didn’t order anything is an understatement. I know how wonderful and accommodating Disney is with different food allergies so I’m super pumped! (I never know if I should call what I have an allergy as its not life threatening but serious enough to mess me up for about 3 days)

Here’s the restaurants where we have ADRs and what we are most excited to order! (DH isn’t gluten free so he gets to eat whatever he wants!)

Raglan Road at Disney Springs
4 words- gluten free onion rings! I know they also have gf fried fish so I might have to get that too. DH doesn’t know what he wants here yet but we are excited to try it since we haven’t branched out at DS much other than Earl of Sandwich (which I can sadly no longer enjoy. RIP Holiday Turkey Sandwich)



Sanaa at AKL- Kidani
We haven’t been to AKL yet and it’s the one deluxe we could possibly afford so it’s somewhere we are interested. I know they have gf naan so we will definitely get the bread service and I have heard amazing things about the butter chicken. I think I read AKL has gf zebra domes too! YUM!



50s Prime Time at Hollywood Studios
I know some people have different opinions here but we have enjoyed our meals here. The meatloaf is delicious and they can make it gf! I might have to try a milk shake too.



Hoop Dee-Doo Musical Revue
This is a first for us and I have no idea what to expect as far as food goes! We have tickets to the first show (I love the early bird dinners and don’t understand people who can eat a full meal any time after 7 pm) We got second tier seating because with just two people I have heard first tier seating will get you seated right up against the stage and neither one of us are outgoing enough to enjoy that. We are super excited for this!



1900 Park Fare breakfast at Grand Floridian
DH requested a breakfast buffet and this one sounded like it had fun characters! We are still a little awkward with characters but most of the face characters can pretty much hold a conversation with themselves so we should be okay here. I’m sure I will talk to a chef at most places but I heard they walk you around the buffet to show you what you can eat. I hope the strawberry soup is safe!



Well this got long so I will make a separate post about snacks and non-adr dining!

 

[Gina Starr]

following! i love that lantern pic!

Hi! Thanks for joining! We love the lantern pic too but I don’t love the way they turned out so will have to re-do them this trip!

 

[missangelalexis]

It's awesome that you have so many foods to look forward to! It's great that Disney is so accommodating for food allergies!

 

[SugarRush]

I can assure you I’ve never felt as comfortable eating anywhere as I did at Disney. It’s a little irritating at counter service if it’s busy because it takes ages to get a manager but they take care of you just remember although your other half can eat what he has to watch when it comes to coming into contact with you after he does. Found that out the hard way

 

[Gina Starr]

It's awesome that you have so many foods to look forward to! It's great that Disney is so accommodating for food allergies!

I know! When I think of other vacations my first thought is “but Disney actually cares about my intolerances!”

 

[Gina Starr]

I can assure you I’ve never felt as comfortable eating anywhere as I did at Disney. It’s a little irritating at counter service if it’s busy because it takes ages to get a manager but they take care of you just remember although your other half can eat what he has to watch when it comes to coming into contact with you after he does. Found that out the hard way

Thanks! I see that a lot of places now offer the wheat/gluten allergy listing on the mobile ordering so hopefully that will alleviate some of the wait times at the qs places.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Joining in!

My dd is allergic to peanuts and the chefs are awesome at Disney, they do take you around the buffets and that really helps!

It looks like some good food choices, we have a Sana’a ADR and love AKL!

 

[Gina Starr]

Joining in!

My dd is allergic to peanuts and the chefs are awesome at Disney, they do take you around the buffets and that really helps!

It looks like some good food choices, we have a Sana’a ADR and love AKL!

Thanks for joining in! Oh man, I can’t imagine being allergic to peanuts! Since I’ve been reading food labels more everything says “produced on equipment that may also produce peanuts” At least Disney is so amazing with allergies!

 

[Gina Starr]

Let’s talk about snacks baby! (Sorry that was a really terrible pun) This will be a different kind of trip snack-wise as my favorites (Mickey pretzel and fresh fruit Nutella waffle) are now off limits!

Sassagoula Floatworks at Port Orleans French Quarter

Would it be a stay at FQ without beignets? They don’t advertise it on the menu but they do offer gf beignets so that is a must! I’m sad they got rid of gelato because I loved the beignet gelato sundae. Oh well, I will just have to suffer through with plain old ice cream.



Disney Springs

DH will definitely get at least one round of poutine at The Daily Poutine. I kind of wanna try Polite Pig but a lot of the DS restaurants aren’t owned by Disney so finding out what is gf has been more difficult. And of course there’s Erin McKennas which is an all gluten free bakery. I plan on going the day we arrive to get stuff for breakfast for the week. I know the stuff won’t last long so maybe we will make several trips there.



Satu’li Canteen at Animal Kingdom

I hate to keep bringing up what I can’t eat anymore but just like at home my whole way of eating has changed. So it will be goodbye cheeseburger pods and hello chicken bowl. Satu’li is DH’s favorite qs restaurant and the bowls are his fave so I’m sure we will go here a few times.



Nomad Lounge at Animal Kingdom

We have never stopped in here before but when I saw the churros are gf it went on my list. Some non gf people even say they are better than the normal churros so yay!



Woodys Lunchbox at Hollywood Studios

All the sandwiches here sound delicious! The s’mores sandwich is first on my list so we will have to make sure to go during breakfast hours. Several gf blogs have given some not so good reviews mostly about the service. That was when Toy Story Land first opened though so hopefully they have ironed things out. For lunch the potato barrels (aka tater tots) sound good.



International Festival of the Arts at Epcot

This will of course be my first Epcot festival since going gluten free and I’m not super impressed with the offerings. I used to be a very picky eater and not very adventurous but that has changed so I’m sure I’ll try some things I normally wouldn’t. Last year we liked the Deconstructed Dish booth so I’m sure dh will try either the Deconstructed BLT with Crispy Pork Belly, Tomato Jam and Soft Poached Egg or the Deconstructed Reuben with Shredded Corned Beef, Thousand Island Dressing, Pickled Red Cabbage and a Rye Curl

Pan-Seared Scallop with Chorizo, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and a Parmesan Crisp (GF) at The Artists Table sounds good but maybe a little spicy for my bland taste buds. (I sometimes think bbq is spicy!) Last year at The Painters Palate we got Gallery Bites: A Trio of Hors d’Oeuvres:
Chilled Shrimp with Cucumber Cream Cheese on a Crostino
Traditional Deviled Egg with Candied Bacon
Crispy Truffled Risotto Ball with Truffle Aïoli (V)
And it was yummy so DH will probably get that.
At Pop Eats! they have Sous Vide Poulet Rouge Chicken Roulade with Apples and Sage served with Warm Brie Fondue, Blueberry and Beet Gel and garnished with Apple and Beet Chips (GF) which sounds different but not too out there. And I’m sure there’s other stuff we will see along the way.




Egg Roll Stand at Magic Kingdom

Does this place have an official name? I couldn’t find one! DH is very excited to the try these. I think they currently have buffalo chicken rolls but he is crossing his fingers for the cheeseburger egg rolls too.



Be Our Guest at Magic Kingdom

I literally just added this yesterday after watching a YouTube video. It’s at noon on arrival day so hopefully we can make it! We love the atmosphere and even though it’s basic I really like the turkey sandwich. And the French fries are always yummy too.




Andddddd if all else fails almost every qs restaurant has gf chicken tenders.

 

[missangelalexis]

Your list of foods to have sounds great!

 

[Gina Starr]

Your list of foods to have sounds great!

Thanks! I’m excited!