A Not so Grim(m) Fairy Tale Updated 8/19!

[LowesChevy]

Hello fellow Diser’s! This is the first time I have written an extensive pre trip report, however I have completed a number of trip reports and dining reviews from previous visits to WDW. Basically I love writing and sharing my experiences with others and since planning the vacation is half of the fun-you are all invited to join along for this part of the trip beginning September 28th till October 8th!

Tomorrow I will be double digit dancing, heck I may be tap dancing my way to work tomorrow morning. One this is for sure-I need a vacation! Luckily a little breather from work is right around the corner as the whole family heads west to Colorado at the end of June. Not exactly what I had in mind when my brother wanted to vacation with us this year. However I am excited to spend time with my nephew even if to locale is not my cup of tea. My brother has been to WDW of course many times with us and he and his wife came along one time, but it is not really a major vacation destination for them(Try to imagine that .) They enjoy visiting national parks and other natural places of beauty. Like I said not my bag, but I realize not everyone is as big a fan of WDW that we all are.

To get the ball rolling meet the cast: 3 adults who have been to WDW over 30 times. Since I have no life of my own I travel with my parents Debbie (the picky eater/habitual napper) & Steve (beer connoisseur) both 55 & myself (master WDW planner/food junkie/footy lover) 29. We have organized trips with parties of 4-10 over the years and stayed in several of WDW deluxe resorts including: Bay Lake Tower, Beach Club, Contemporary Resort, Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Polynesian Resort, Saratoga Springs & the Yacht Club. For the last few years it has just been the 3 of us, until we can brainwash my brother and sister in law into bringing my nephew Nick next year of course!

For double digit dancing tomorrow, I will give you some in depth coverage of my ADR selections, stay tuned. You will not be disappointed!

Cheers,

Grimmy

 

[LowesChevy]

Day late...sorry folks!

Planning for ADRs
Making adrs was a little difficult this year, however the online system proved to be a winner for the second straight year. My adr date was April 2, but that was the morning we were scheduled to fly out of Cleveland en route to Phoenix. We had to wake up early anyhow-got up at 5:30 AM, popped on the mini laptop and by the time I was done grooming, I pulled up my bookmarks at 6:00 AM and began to make my reservations. It worked out really well and with my phone at my side, I could see the emailed confirmations being sent.

We had a series of major disappointments last year-feel free to check out my dining reviews below, but long story short Yachtsman Steakhouse was a disaster last year and we will not be returning to Narcoossee’s after two visits with crappy service. We had wonderful food and service last year from the Rose & Crown and Tutto Italia. Both were new experiences and they both earned nods on the list this year. I loved Alfredo’s and was sad to see it go, but I thought Tutto was a great replacement. I still wonder if they plan to change over Tutto as originally planned years ago or if they decided just to keep it as it is now.

New places we are trying this are the Liberty Tree Tavern & Raglan Road for lunch and Via Napoli for dinner. We tried lunch at Le Cellier years ago and now we will dine there for dinner this trip also. I am very excited for Via Napoli, the reviews sound good and there is nothing like the taste of brick oven pizza-one of my all time favorites. And, no I am not worried about eating at the communal table by the way. Although with a party of three I am sure there will be plenty of single tables available. I opted to try Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch, since we do not care for buffets or character experiences (CP & CRT), also because Tony’s Town Square is awful and we are dining at the Plaza another day. Les Chefs De France is back in the mix after a year off to try Narcoosse’s in 2010.
So here is the run down for our adrs this trip

Thursday: Arrival day Dinner: Citricos
Friday Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner: Chefs De France
Saturday Dinner: Jiko
Sunday Lunch: Mama Melrose Dinner: Teppan Edo
Monday Lunch: The Plaza Dinner: Rose & Crown
Tuesday Lunch: Raglan Road Dinner: Tutto Italia
Wednesday Dinner: Yachtsman Steakhouse
Thursday Lunch: 50s Prime Time Dinner: Via Napoli
Friday Dinner: Le Cellier

Sat: Home

More to come of course, including day to day tentative schedule

Cheers,

Grimmy

 

[JessicaKnits]

Your ADRs sound great. We also had a disaster at Yachtsman. It started with our tag team servers, worsened with a horrific ribeye steak, and was completely unsalvagable after vomit from a sick child was left on the floor under towels the rest of our stay. My dear fiance loves a good piece of steak, and my meal was actually quite enjoyable, so we will see if they can make our cut this year!

 

[LowesChevy]

Your ADRs sound great. We also had a disaster at Yachtsman. It started with our tag team servers, worsened with a horrific ribeye steak, and was completely unsalvagable after vomit from a sick child was left on the floor under towels the rest of our stay. My dear fiance loves a good piece of steak, and my meal was actually quite enjoyable, so we will see if they can make our cut this year!

Thank you. Yes, the YSH was under new management last year and it was very evident. I actually emailed WDW and received a call back about the experience, so I am hoping things are back to normal there. It would really be a shame if it is less than stellar again this year.

 

[LowesChevy]

Well, its been quite a while since I have posted an update. Been a little hectic lately and certainly in need of a vacation!

Today marks 50 days to go!

We bought our airline tickets a few weeks ago and locked in a pretty good price. We prefer to fly out of Cleveland because it is non stop. Having been down the road before with one stop trips-it can just really eat into your vacation if you hit a delay or lose a bag. Granted your luggage could still get lost with a non stop flight it hasn't happened yet.

Erie is only 1 hour and a half away, but we normally drive up the evening before and go to a mall and have dinner. The Sheraton is right at the airport so we park the car in the ramp in the evening so we can hop on the hotel shuttle to the terminal the next morning. This way there is no worrying about I-90 getting shut down or 480 being mulled with traffic that morning. I am going to my happy place-I do not need that stress!

On Thursday, Continental has two direct flights out of CLE a day-one at 9:30 ish and the other at 11:35 AM ish. We opted for the later flight, not that huge of a difference in timing since we do not visit the parks on arrival day. The early flight is suspiciously full looking, but I suppose many people want to miximize their time though.

Our arrival time put us in around 1:30 PM or so. After that it is off to get the rental car and luggage and hit the road. Last year we opted to drive down International Drive to find a place to eat for lunch and we found Miller's Ale House, which turned out to be a great choice. Not sure yet, but we may go there again this year. After lunch it will be time to head the Polynesian

Till next time...Cheers

Grimmy

 

[LowesChevy]

Guess who made their final payment this weekend!! Such a relief

 

[LowesChevy]

40 days out today!

Just overlooking our day to day schedule, making sure there is some pool time for both the Polynesian and BLT. I do not even think we went to either pool last year!

We are arriving Thursday the 29th and plan to check in, get settled in the room and make a trip to the grocery store for some supplies. Then its off to dinner at Citricos.

Friday I have scheduled for the MK-lunch at LTT, pool time then dinner at Le Chefs in Epcot

Sat: Epcot at rope drop-lunch around the world and then dinner at Jiko

Sun: Rope drop at DHS, lunch at Mama Melrose, dinner back at Teppan Edo

Mon: We move from the Polynesian to BLT, so planned morning at MK-lunch at the Plaza. Enjoy the pool a bit in the afternoon and Rose & Crown dinner

Tue: Rope drop at Animal Kingdom-half day here-then to DTD shopping and lunch at Raglan Road, dinner at Tutto Italia

Wed: Pretty open, planned Epcot, but we seem to end up there every night anyhow-no lunch planned, dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. Perhaps some pool time or mini golf

Thu: rope dropper at DHS, lunch at 50s Prime Time, Epcot and Via Napoli for dinner later on

Fri: Last day-MK rope drop, see where the day takes us, dinner at Epcot in Le Cellier

Saturday-home-so sad

Till next time...cheers

Grimmy

 

[LowesChevy]

It's getting closer...only 5 days to go! This is when it gets difficult to be at work. We are generally slow this time of year, so time does not fly as fast as I would prefer!

I have set up a dedicated Twitter account to tweet during my stay. Sign up for fun and information as we go about our trip @wdwerika-the link is also below.

This weekend will be prime time for laying out clothes and other items to pack. Our weather looks to be mild so still need shorts around here with temps in the 60s. the weather in Orlando is look awfully nice .

Be on the lookout for my dining reviews and trip reviews. I will get rolling on those as soon as we arrive home. That's all for now, time to panic next week

Cheers,

Erika

 

[LowesChevy]

Bags are packed..online check in complete

This afternoon we will be loading the car and heading to CLE

The plan is to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and head over to the hotel, then try to sleep .

Don't forget to follow my Twitter account...I wil be Tweeting very often so you can vacation vicariously with me

See you all real soon for those dining and resort reviews

Cheers,

Erika

 

[bkandreu]

Le Cellier is great! Did you like it a lot when you went for lunch? I've only ever had dinner there. You ADRs sound great! Will you be writing a TR?