A Mom and Daughter Adventure Through Time and Savannah

[Sam33]

When you turn the A/C off in the car and the smell of the A/C-less vent starts to remind you of Disney World…
When you spend four hours listening to Disney music followed by watching Jungle Book and 101 Dalmatians all in one day…
When you’re at a gourmet pizza place and find yourself missing crappy Disney pizza…

IT’S PROBABLY TIME TO GO BACK TO DISNEY WORLD!

Please allow me to introduce myself;



I’m Sam. I’m 24 and I used to be able to sum up my life in three words: Disney, Beer and Hockey. Unfortunately, I seem to have developed a beer allergy (more specifically, brewer’s yeast). After over a year of trying to figure out why I was always sick, it appears as if my favorite food is the root of the problem
In an attempt to replace the b-word in my self description, I have decided to take up the banjo!
So now I’m Sam; Disney-lover, Banjo player and hockey obsessed. This will be my fourth and probably favorite trip to WDW (they always get better!)



Favorite Disney Movies: 101 Dalmatians, Lady & the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Book
Favorite Park: Depends on the day (for real, though, I can’t choose)
Favorite Ride: Star Tours
Favorite Restaurant: Via Napoli And Tony’s
Favorite Disney Songs: Oo-de-lally, Zip-a-dee-doo-da, and anything from Princess and the Frog

Joining me on this trip is mom extraordinaire, Glenda! She is a long-time Kindergarten teacher turned first grade teacher and she loves Pooh and pomegranate flavored cocktails. This will be her second trip to The World!




Favorite Disney Movies: The Little Mermaid, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Bambi
Favorite Park: Epcot or Animal Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Haunted Mansion and It’s A Small World
Favorite Restaurant: Les Chefs De France
Favorite Disney Songs: Zip-a-dee-doo-da, When You Wish Upon a Star, Part of Your World


This trip should not have existed, to be honest. My DH said we could only do one more trip before kids (he likes to vacation other places?) and my mom said that we should do everything we could on our last trip since we wouldn’t be going back until she had grandkids to take.
So how on earth did this trip come about?
Well, my mom wasn’t banking on absolutely LOVING her first time in Disney World when she made those comments about not going back. About a month after we got back we were sitting in the kitchen and out of NO WHERE she just says to me
-“WE HAVE TO GO BACK!”
Me: “Uhhh, what are you talking about”
-“DISNEY WORLD, WE HAVE TO GO BACK!”
Me: “Well, you know Casey [DH] said I can’t use our money to go on ANOTHER trip without him”
-“I’LL PAY FOR IT!”





WHEN: We decided on April 8th-13th 2014 due to my mom having a random, her-school-only three day weekend and the fact that we did November last time and wanted something different! We’re hoping this week is far enough into April that there won’t be too many spring breaks left, and early enough in April so Easter crowds won’t be too bad!
Although, I doubt the crowds will be as bad as they were on our last trip (Yikes, Veteran's Day is awful, FYI)

It may seem a tad early to start this PTR but I realized that with how fast this summer has been going and the fact that I have two trips and Avs training camp between now and my ADR day (October 10th!) that the serious planning phase on this trip is JUST around the corner!​

 

[Dream426]

Joining in. It is never to early to start a PTR. I started one and my trip isn't until September 2014.

 

[Sam33]

WHERE:
For months now, we've had our sights set on Animal Kingdom Lodge.

(Stolen from Google)
I LOVED it the one time I got to visit (Breakfast at Boma on my first trip) and my mom LOVED the idea of seeing animals outside of your window!

Unfortunately, after the price increases Savannah View prices became basically ridiculous. After talking it through we decided we should go for it. (well, my mom decided, as I mentioned he's payin'!) We wouldn't be back together until I had kids and at that point we'd have youngins to pay for as well and would probably not be able to afford a deluxe.


THEN, when she was looking at stuff on the internet, she stumbled upon pictures of the view from a pool view Animal Kingdom room.
SO that's where we are right now.
Pool view and save ~$50 a night?

Or Savannah View?

If anyone has any opinions on either of these views PLEASE share as we were so torn on the two! Mostly, is the pool view pretty noisy?

​

 

[Sam33]

Joining in. It is never to early to start a PTR. I started one and my trip isn't until September 2014.

Thanks for joining! We went on our honeymoon in September. It was MARVELOUS!
So hot and sticky but there was practically no one there. I remember a 20 minute wait for Soarin at 6PM one night.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

I agree, it's never to early for a PTR! I am booked for November 2014 maybe I should start one, lol. I've never stayed at AKL before but I have read good reviews of the pool view rooms. I would definitely book a pool view room to save some $.

 

[Dream426]

I agree, it's never to early for a PTR! I am booked for November 2014 maybe I should start one, lol. I've never stayed at AKL before but I have read good reviews of the pool view rooms. I would definitely book a pool view room to save some $.

You should start one. You are going right after we are.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Hey Girl! Never ever ever too early to start a PTR!

Advice on which view....we have done both and there was something about the pool view (the pic you posted was to the left of where our room was)that even when we were on our balcony felt like we were part of the action! It wasn't noisy at all, as a matter of fact, if we had the doors closed couldn't hear a thing!

We had lots of spiders on our savannah view balcony and you know how I feel about spiders! LOL

 

[Sam33]

Hey Girl! Never ever ever too early to start a PTR!

Advice on which view....we have done both and there was something about the pool view (the pic you posted was to the left of where our room was)that even when we were on our balcony felt like we were part of the action! It wasn't noisy at all, as a matter of fact, if we had the doors closed couldn't hear a thing!

We had lots of spiders on our savannah view balcony and you know how I feel about spiders! LOL

Hey hey! Looks like we'll both have a PTR going during pretty much the whole hockey season and the Avs and Jets face off 5 (6?) times! We'll have to try and stay friends through that.

The pool view just seems so pretty and lush! The Savannah view looks like you can see the fence the road and savannahs are just not that pretty of a scene to begin with.

I'm so torn! I guess I'm excited to have a balcony at the very least, no matter which view we go with. POR doesn't and when we would go back to the room but didn't want to go to sleep quite yet there wasn't much to do.

 

[Sam33]

DINING


[please excuse any typos, as I mentioned, I'm learning the banjo and I can't feel my fingers right now. THE TINGLE...better than pain, though!]
Between now and my ADR day we're going camping for a week and then Hawaii for two cool1. My job requires a certain amount of work to get done and if I go on vacation I have to condense it and get it done either way. So basically the next two months are gonna be busy and I may not have time to pine away over dining.
Plus, it will probably easily take 2 months for me to iron out stage 1 of my dining plans anyways (stage 2 is changing everything you've already decided, fyi).

The plan was to try a lot of new places but now I realize that is most likely not going to work.
Ya see, I've already eaten at every restaurant in Epcot that I'm interested in and we have a lunch and dinner planned there. I've eaten at Coral Reef, Nine Dragons, Via Napoli, Tutto Italia, Les Chefs De France and Rose and Crown. I'm SUPER boring and hate most ethnic food except Mexican, Italian, and crab cheese wontons. I thought about trying San Angel but we have amazing Mexican in Colorado and I didn't want to be disappointed. Plus, I discovered last year in Sci-Fi that odd/dark eating situations make me anxious.
So already, two of our 5/6 meals are taken up by old favorites.
Via Napoli for lunch (Menu)
Les Chefs De France (Menu)

Additionally, I have one meal for DHS kinda planned. I've eaten at 50's, Sci-Fi, and Mama Melrose but I don't like buffets and we're already doing a different deluxe this trip so no Hollywood and Vine and no Brown Derby.
So there's another repeat

Thinking 50's Prime Time (love the food and I think my mom will like it)
or Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! package
50's Menu
Mama Melrose Menu

So that leaves 2 or 3 slots for new restaurants. You gotta fit your favorites in I guess!
We decided that we FOR SURE want to try Jiko. I figure this would be a nice meal for me to treat my mom to since she is paying for the trip and the menu just looks so interesting! We're also staying there so it's easy! I just wish it opened a little earlier so we had more time to do something after dinner.
Jiko Menu

Another maybe is Beaches and Cream. It looks delicious and the ice cream I've never gone over to the Beach Club area or the Boardwalk so we figured it would make a nice and fun break for our DHS day.
Beaches & Cream Menu

And our last available food spot is a dinner on MK day. Now, Tony's is my favorite but I've eaten there every trip I've been on. The Plaza is alright but I'd rather try something new. And Liberty Tree Tavern's menu doesn't interest me (I hate Thanksgiving food )
Half of me wants to try for Be Our Guest...but I also don't like the menu I don't even know what I'd order there. I'm torn between seeing the awesomeness that is the castle, and actually enjoying my food...

Other candidates are
Artist Point
and The Wave

Artist Point Menu
The Wave Menu

Because I've heard great things and they have proximity to Magic Kingdom. Also that Artist Point menu just makes me drool. From top to bottom it just may be the most appealing looking menu to me. I want to try EVERYTHING. And what's nice, is the most appetizing things on there are all appetizers so I might be able to do it cheaply!



You may be noticing the lack of this


Me and my mom aren't real breakfast people. I love bacon and sausage and hasbrowns and such, but I don't have any appetite until about lunch time. So in Disney World, eating in the morning is strictly for fuel to get us to lunch. We'll probably be doing the exact same thing as our last trip: a banana, a croissant, and a milk or juice.


*Also might add, we won't be doing any dining plan. We will likely share a lot of meals and we don't usually get dessert. We also prefer water or alcohol to a beverage on the dining plan*

​

 

[Dream426]

Great choices. I find picking between all the restaurants to make reservations for at Disney is one of the hardest things each trip. I want to make sure to get my favorites in and I also want to try others.

 

[Sam33]

Great choices. I find picking between all the restaurants to make reservations for at Disney is one of the hardest things each trip. I want to make sure to get my favorites in and I also want to try others.

We also had a major over eating problem last trip from not being able to chose so we booked like, 2 meals a day. Over eating every meal wrecks your stomach. Lol.

 

[glennbo123]

Oh no! You're allergic to beer?! That's like a Grizzly being allergic to salmon. I'm so sorry to hear that Sam!

Have you thought about trying to rent points to stay at AKL more cheaply? Just an idea.

 

[Sam33]

Oh no! You're allergic to beer?! That's like a Grizzly being allergic to salmon. I'm so sorry to hear that Sam!

Have you thought about trying to rent points to stay at AKL more cheaply? Just an idea.

Before we nailed down what exactly was making me sick I thought I would just die if it was beer.
But once you realize something is making you sick every time you drink it, you really stop craving it. It hasn't been near as hard to give up as I thought it would be!


I did consider renting points. But I don't like complications or change or new stuff. Haha.
I'll probably just keep it regular for now but I will DEFINITELY consider it in the future when I have to pay for our trip and budget is more important

 

[Sam33]

So I perused my upcoming schedule and realized that between now, and leaving for Hawaii on September 25, I have 4 days off, all of which are Sundays [BRONCOS!!! WOOO]. We get back from Hawaii with 4 days to spare until ADR day so I sat my mom down the other day and we came up with our plan.

Last year we ate entirely too much and didn't pay any attention to our weak digestive systems, referring to the phrase "We're on vacation!" every time we ate. It made for some not so happy stomachs so this time we'll be eating less grease and cheese and possibly sharing some plates!

Every day is planned out at this point but the order has yet to be determined (park hours, crowd calendars, ya know). Without further ado...our official food plan.

Chefs De France
Arrival day will be an Epcot evening and this is mom's favorite from last trip. I'm a little worried that we only liked it because we had a window seat as the restaurant is fairly loud and crowded. But if all else fails, there will be wine.

Be Our Guest
Our Magic Kingdom-All-Day day will include a quick lunch and an early dinner at Be Our Guest. The menu still doesn't please me but if it remains unchanged I can at least get the steamed mussels and some soup! We will be doing a super early (4PM) reservation here so I'm hoping it isn't too impossible to score.

Dessert Party
Our early Be Our Guest reservation will be to accommodate space in our stomachs for the dessert party. Later on in the trip I have a night in MK with no dinner plans just in case the Dessert party is booked on our Be Our Guest night since that reservation will be impossible to change by the time we can book the Dessert Party

Beaches and Cream
Don't need to make a reservation here but you still sit down so I thought I'd include it here. Thought a good break on our DHS day would be to chill on the Boardwalk and Beach Club areas. And I almost always want ice cream

Jiko
This will be my first signature restaurant at Disney and I'm super excited. The menu looks so interesting and I'm hoping the break in the middle of our trip will keep me from getting worn out

Via Napoli
My favorite Disney Restaurant. Trying it for lunch this time since dinner was so noisy. Hoping an 11:00 ish lunch will avoid the crowds!

Mama Melrose
Mom made it clear to me that her main squeeze this trip was avoiding crowds. So although 50's Prime Time sounds sooooo much more appealing for this meal, we decided on the Fantasmic package!
​

​

 

[Sam33]

Peyton. Manning.

That's all for this update

 

[glennbo123]

Peyton. Manning.

That's all for this update

It's funny that you posted this because I thought of you this morning when I heard the score on the news (I didn't stay up to watch the game, in fact the Broncos were down 7-nothing when I went to bed). I knew you'd be psyched by the game.

 

[Sam33]

It's funny that you posted this because I thought of you this morning when I heard the score on the news (I didn't stay up to watch the game, in fact the Broncos were down 7-nothing when I went to bed). I knew you'd be psyched by the game.

I kinda freak out about sports when there's still a ton of game left. I was SO irritated by the first half. Complained about the defense constantly. I even tweeted "Peyton looks awful" in the first quarter. I was SO PISSED.
And then the second half happened and then I felt really stupid...


It's gonna be a fun year to be a Bronco fan

 

[LB1122]

Joining in for this fun Mother-daughter trip. very very fun.

You right now are just back from Hawaii...very nice. Hope you had a blast.

Good luck with all your ADR plans. Only a few more days.

I may be a Chicago fan, but you can not deny that Peyton Manning is just amazing.

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Sam33]

Alright, we are now 149 days from our trip and reservations have been made, flights booked and the anticipation is setting in!

First things, Hawaii is a pretty awesome place. Maybe someday I can go back without my mother-in-law! But seriously, ugh.

Anyways, reserving food was quite an adventure. For some reason, I was deluded into thinking that 180+10 meant 190 days away. Now, it doesn't make sense and it never did but I could have SWORN that I did 190 on my last trip. I was positive.
So I woke up at 1:45 AM in Hawaii to try and make them at 190 days out and it didn't work and I freaked out. So I tried again the next night. Woke up in the middle of the night and had no luck again. I then decided I was wrong about my memories. Which was slightly trippy because I just thought for sure I did it earlier

So fast forward to 180 days out when I'm back at home. Wake up at 3:45 to make reservations, positive that it will work this time and AGAIN I have issues booking!
Turns out the count-down on my phone was a day off and I was actually 181 days away.
So AGAIN I wake up at 3:45 in the morning in order to make reservations and it finally happened.

While I got everything I wanted at all the right times, I logged on a couple of days ago and found out every reservation I wanted was still available for the right times, including Be Our Guest. So I went through all of this trouble for nothing


So I finally have my list of ADRs!
Arrival Day: 7:30 PM at Chefs de France. Should line up perfectly for getting a spot for Illuminations

Day 1: Early dinner at Be Our Guest. We were going to do the dessert party this night, more on that later

Day 2: 7:30 dinner at Jiko

Day 3: 4:45 dinner at Mama Melrose (F! package)

Day 4: lunch at Via Napoli

Departure day: breakfast at Boma (right? I hate buffets and breakfast but I couldn't resist adding just one more meal at the end. If I have to do a buffet for breakfast it might as well be the best one there is!)



After making dinner reservations, I relaxed a bit knowing that I had until about 2 months out to start worrying about making reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party. Until a couple of days ago when I saw someone on the facebook group post that they were now doing reservations 180 days out!
I about cried. This was the one reservations we REALLY wanted, more than any other, including Be Our Guest. I was over a month late from my 180 day mark to make Dessert Party rservations which run out in a couple of days.
I got online immediately and checked and of course, that Wednesday night I had originally planned was booked. My back-up day was Saturday...I thought for sure that if there was nothing available for Wednesday, Saturday would for sure be sold out. SO I started crying
And lucky for us, I was able to snag reservations for Saturday, our LAST night in the World. And now that I think about it, that sounds a lot better than doing it our second night in the world!

 

[Sam33]

Joining in for this fun Mother-daughter trip. very very fun.

You right now are just back from Hawaii...very nice. Hope you had a blast.

Good luck with all your ADR plans. Only a few more days.

I may be a Chicago fan, but you can not deny that Peyton Manning is just amazing.

Looking forward to hearing more.

Welcome! I'm so late on this response
Hawaii is an amazing place!
And I have a soft spot for Chicago teams, especially the Blackhawks. When you're from Iowa, you either like Minnesota teams or Chicago teams so our whole family is a mix of those two and the Denver teams!
It's been a fun season so far for sure