~ A PTR for a CAMPING Trip That Might Never Be ~ *TR Started (link inside)*

[carissanboys]

Awww, I'm sorry he let the cat our of the bag!! But isn't it funny how words like "park hopper" sparks the immediate thought of Disney, even in the kids!

I know!

Kona is really good! We tried it last trip and now we are hooked. We've got ADR's for this trip too.

Tusker house- We ate here when it was still counter service. We got the baked chicken it was really good.

I can't wait to try T-Rex too!!!

We ate at Tusker House when it was CS too and loved the food. This will be for breakfast so hopefully it'll be good.

Now I'm leaning towards 'Ohana again instead of Kona for my birthday. I just want to eat somewhere special, you know?

I just printed out a calendar so I can actually see the days in front of me and I put the parks on there. I think all I need right now is somewhere to eat on our non-park day - so it would need to be at a resort. I'm thinking of maybe WCC. We really enjoyed our visit there on our first trip. I can't really think of anywhere else I really want to go.

 

[dddisrunner]

Carissa, Kona is AWESOME! We love it. They have this macadamia nut butter that is to die for and the bread is phenomonal We ate at Tusker House for breakfast and we LOVED it. It is so awesome getting into the parks before they open...GREAT picture taking opportunities. The earliest ressie there is 8:05am. If you choose to do lunch, they have a new offer out that allows you to have guaranteed seating at the 1:00ish showing of the Finding Nemo show. Lunch is a buffet their also. I don't know about you but my boys are dying to eat at the castle even though they know Cinderella is there. For some reason the castle is something they have built up in there heads to be AWESOME For your last ADR, I personally would pick 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi for lunch. These are the 2 meals that my boys are looking most forward too. Don't know if you have ever been but lunch TS would save some money!

Just saw that you want a resort ADR... How about the Grand Floridian Cafe? It gets AWESOME reviews and a GREAT chance to check it out? OR You could go to Boma!

 

[carissanboys]

Carissa, Kona is AWESOME! We love it. They have this macadamia nut butter that is to die for and the bread is phenomonal We ate at Tusker House for breakfast and we LOVED it. It is so awesome getting into the parks before they open...GREAT picture taking opportunities. The earliest ressie there is 8:05am. If you choose to do lunch, they have a new offer out that allows you to have guaranteed seating at the 1:00ish showing of the Finding Nemo show. Lunch is a buffet their also. I don't know about you but my boys are dying to eat at the castle even though they know Cinderella is there. For some reason the castle is something they have built up in there heads to be AWESOME For your last ADR, I personally would pick 50's Prime Time or Sci-Fi for lunch. These are the 2 meals that my boys are looking most forward too. Don't know if you have ever been but lunch TS would save some money!

Just saw that you want a resort ADR... How about the Grand Floridian Cafe? It gets AWESOME reviews and a GREAT chance to check it out? OR You could go to Boma!

That's cool about the lunch at Tusker House guaranteeing a seating at Finding Nemo, which we haven't seen yet.

We've eaten at both PT and Sci Fi - enjoyed Sci Fi the most, although Sully said he wanted to eat at PT again, which surprised me.

Thanks for your input Diane. I just made my ADRs and am about to post.

 

[k_reile]

Chuck got home from work last night and told me that he had received an official announcement about the deal Disney was offering military on tickets. Then he went on to tell me that his ticket wasn't free and our tickets were only for one day passes.

I looked at him for a minute and thought to myself. Then I said, "I'll believe what I read on the Dis and Mousesavers before I believe what the military says."

He was really concerned that I had "misread" the information. I continued to tell him that I read the info NUMEROUS times and I was sure that I had it right. He said, "Please just check." Does he not know the amount of time and research I put into our trips? Doesn't he realize that I'm never wrong?? I mean - c'mon!

It was time for dinner so we sat and ate and when I was finished I said I was going upstairs to do some "research". He said something about park hoppers and I said, "We're not going to talk about it right now," while at the same time giving him the eye as if to say, "Hello! The children are right here! It's suppose to be a SURPRISE!!"

Sully immediately said, "We're going to Disney!"

Oops.

So now the cat is out of the bag. The boys are very excited and I was able to get some input from them as to what they want to do.

And, of course - I was right about the tickets.

I found your report because it was about camping at the fort which is what I think DH and I will do on our next trip to save money.

I'm confused though as I have not been reading the in between posts. Are you still camping in Nov or is this new trip replacing it??

 

[carissanboys]

I took the plunge and made decisions and called Disney to make our ADRs. At least I feel like I can relax a bit now. And we all know that these are subject to change many times before our trip!

On a side note - I was so busy making ADRs and planning that I forgot what time it was and Connor was a little late to school. Oops!

Arrival day - 28th - We will check in at the resort and head to DTD. I called T-Rex Cafe and made a reservation for priority seating at 5 p.m.

29th - We'll just do CS at DS.

30th - I decided to go with 'Ohana for my birthday dinner.

31st - Whispering Canyon Cafe for our dinner. This is our off day.

1st - CS at Epcot

2nd - We have a 10:20 seating at Tusker House for the Donald and Friends breakfast. We'll eat breakfast in our room and then have this meal as our lunch. This means I won't get to try Yak & Yeti unless we stay late enough for dinner, which could happen since we'll be eating an early lunch.

3rd - We're at Sea World this day so haven't thought about that too much. I need Amy (earthfairies) to chime in here!

4th - Depature day. We'll eat CS at whichever park we end up at.

Up Next - Alaska

 

[carissanboys]

I found your report because it was about camping at the fort which is what I think DH and I will do on our next trip to save money.

I'm confused though as I have not been reading the in between posts. Are you still camping in Nov or is this new trip replacing it??

Hi! I saw your reply to me on Jordan's TR about the women's restrooms at ESPN.

Sorry. It IS a bit confusing! When I started this PTR originally, it was a long shot that we'd actually be making a trip to Disney at all, but I was kinda planning a dream trip to camp at FW in November. Then we just decided it wasn't going to happen period so this report got locked due to inactivity.

You've probably read about the great deals offered to us by Disney, which is why we are now planning this trip. It WILL replace the camping trip in November (which really wasn't going to happen anyway). We thought about camping on THIS trip, but my husband isn't real excited about camping at Disney. Since we got such a great rate on a room, we figured we'd go for it. I'm still kind of bummed about it because I would have liked to camp at FW.

I hope you'll still continue to read! I love to talk about camping. We took the boys on a camping trip this past year that I plan to post about soon. Have you gone camping before?

 

[Goofster57]

My $.02

30th 'Ohana for my birthday dinner

31st - Whispering Canyon Cafe or our dinner.

3rd - We're at Sea World this day- Get a Shamu cookie they are so bad they are good.

 

[carissanboys]

My $.02

30th 'Ohana for my birthday dinner

31st - Whispering Canyon Cafe or our dinner.

3rd - We're at Sea World this day- Get a Shamu cookie they are so bad they are good.

Wow - 4 dancing bananas! You must really like them. I like the restaurants that don't have characters, but offer something more than food, you know? Just makes it more fun. I kind of wanted to try new places on this trip, but you go with what you know and like, right?

Have you been to Sea World in Orlando? I can't remember. Or just the one in SD? What kind of cookie are they? Me love cookies!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I took the plunge and made decisions and called Disney to make our ADRs. At least I feel like I can relax a bit now. And we all know that these are subject to change many times before our trip!

On a side note - I was so busy making ADRs and planning that I forgot what time it was and Connor was a little late to school. Oops!

Arrival day - 28th - We will check in at the resort and head to DTD. I called T-Rex Cafe and made a reservation for priority seating at 5 p.m.

29th - We'll just do CS at DS.

30th - I decided to go with 'Ohana for my birthday dinner.

31st - Whispering Canyon Cafe for our dinner. This is our off day.

1st - CS at Epcot

2nd - We have a 10:20 seating at Tusker House for the Donald and Friends breakfast. We'll eat breakfast in our room and then have this meal as our lunch. This means I won't get to try Yak & Yeti unless we stay late enough for dinner, which could happen since we'll be eating an early lunch.

3rd - We're at Sea World this day so haven't thought about that too much. I need Amy (earthfairies) to chime in here!

4th - Depature day. We'll eat CS at whichever park we end up at.

Yay!! ADRs! WOOOO-HOOOOO!

Ohana for you birthday sounds like a good choice. Their dinner menu looked yummy! We are going to do the breakfast there, but I wanted to do dinner, with characters...I can't have both I guess.

We did the Donald Breakfast at AK when it was Donald's Breakfastosaurus and we LOVED it! Not sure how much it's changed, but I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

All your food posts lately have inspired me and I've been doing a lot of restaurant research for our trip...gonna post on my PTR soon!
I can't make any ADRs (even though I'm only making one!) till January 19th.

 

[k_reile]

Hi! I saw your reply to me on Jordan's TR about the women's restrooms at ESPN.

Sorry. It IS a bit confusing! When I started this PTR originally, it was a long shot that we'd actually be making a trip to Disney at all, but I was kinda planning a dream trip to camp at FW in November. Then we just decided it wasn't going to happen period so this report got locked due to inactivity.

You've probably read about the great deals offered to us by Disney, which is why we are now planning this trip. It WILL replace the camping trip in November (which really wasn't going to happen anyway). We thought about camping on THIS trip, but my husband isn't real excited about camping at Disney. Since we got such a great rate on a room, we figured we'd go for it. I'm still kind of bummed about it because I would have liked to camp at FW.

I hope you'll still continue to read! I love to talk about camping. We took the boys on a camping trip this past year that I plan to post about soon. Have you gone camping before?

Yes, we go to Canada every summer with DH family and they camp in their campers. We do not have one but stay with his parents when we go. If and when we go to Fort Wilderness and we still do not have one then we will borrow his parents huge 5th wheel and their truck since our truck nor van will pull that sucker. It is huge. I swear it is bigger than what my college apt was.
I hoping to camp there to save money and to be able to stay longer. We stayed at the boardwalk for a week in Sept 07 for free dining and I think we can pay about half of what we paid there and stay an extra week...which I am all for and DH will be happy because it will be cheaper.

 

[dismagiclover]

Hi Carissa! I noticed yesterday that you'd resurrected your report and it's full of exciting news! Awesome that you are going so soon and even cooler you are staying on site. I think you made the right call about CRT. Me and DD8 went to dinner last January and we liked it, but I don't think it would be worth the big bucks it would cost for your whole family. Your boys probably wouldn't be too impressed, the food is OK, nothing special. Now if you were guaranteed a window seat it might be worth it, but I think those are all two seaters. We also went to breakfast at Tusker House last time and really liked it. The Jambo juice is to die for. In fact I want to go again when we go back just for the juice! So exciting you're going and what an awesome deal! Keep having a great time planning!

PS Hi Liz.

 

[DisMomAmy]

We are going to try Whispering Canyon in April/May. I can't wait - it looks like it's great food and a lot of fun!

I'm thinking about trying The Donald & Friends breakfast at Tusker House - but I'm not sure - do you know if they have regular breakfast food? It looked sort of exotic - as far as breakfast food go...

We are also doing Chef Mickeys, LeCellier (which I'm nervous about with the kids so we may do it an early lunch when it isn't packed yet), 50's PTC, Crystal Palace (maybe - probably won't do both CP & Tusker House), Mama Melrose for FDP & and we need one more... we may do Shutters at CBR on an early to bed night since we are staying there?? Garden Grill is another possibility... I need to pick kid friendly places to keep the kids interest in TS dining all week. I'll probably try to sprinkle the characters through the week.

Ohana looks too exotic for me - I'm WAYYYYY too picky. I should be on the kids dining plan. But I've only heard good things about it.

 

[Goofster57]

Wow - 4 dancing bananas! You must really like them. I like the restaurants that don't have characters, but offer something more than food, you know? Just makes it more fun. I kind of wanted to try new places on this trip, but you go with what you know and like, right?

Have you been to Sea World in Orlando? I can't remember. Or just the one in SD? What kind of cookie are they? Me love cookies!

I do like Ohana's and Whispering Canyons, I think it has to do with the Family Style Dinning

I'm not a Big Character Dinning person either

We have never been to Sea World in Orlando

I have no idea what the cookies are made out of, maybe like a shortbread

but they are the worse cookie I have ever tasted, but we always end up buying half a dozen to share over the course of our visit.

 

[carissanboys]

All your food posts lately have inspired me and I've been doing a lot of restaurant research for our trip...gonna post on my PTR soon!
I can't make any ADRs (even though I'm only making one!) till January 19th.

Can't wait to read your update. Bet you're counting down the days until the 19th!

I hoping to camp there to save money and to be able to stay longer. We stayed at the boardwalk for a week in Sept 07 for free dining and I think we can pay about half of what we paid there and stay an extra week...which I am all for and DH will be happy because it will be cheaper.

If we had a camper then I would camp for sure! But, if we went, it would be tent camping. Just makes me nervous due to the weather. I'd love to eventually purchase a used pop up to go on trips. You'll definitely save a TON of money camping!

Hi Carissa! I noticed yesterday that you'd resurrected your report and it's full of exciting news! Awesome that you are going so soon and even cooler you are staying on site. I think you made the right call about CRT. Me and DD8 went to dinner last January and we liked it, but I don't think it would be worth the big bucks it would cost for your whole family. Your boys probably wouldn't be too impressed, the food is OK, nothing special. Now if you were guaranteed a window seat it might be worth it, but I think those are all two seaters. We also went to breakfast at Tusker House last time and really liked it. The Jambo juice is to die for. In fact I want to go again when we go back just for the juice! So exciting you're going and what an awesome deal! Keep having a great time planning!

PS Hi Liz.

I'm so glad you stopped by Jenny! And I love the picture in your avatar - so cute. I'm glad to hear you say that about CRT. The boys really have no interest in eating at the castle. I know they use to have non-character meals there in the past (just characters for breakfast according to J's TR) and that would have been nice because the food looks good!

I'm also glad to hear you enjoyed the breakfast at Tusker House. Cool!

We are going to try Whispering Canyon in April/May. I can't wait - it looks like it's great food and a lot of fun!

We had the skillet at WCC and I loved the chicken wings and ribs! Plus, I loved visiting Wilderness Lodge. It'll be nice to go back because that was our first meal at WDW.

I'm thinking about trying The Donald & Friends breakfast at Tusker House - but I'm not sure - do you know if they have regular breakfast food? It looked sort of exotic - as far as breakfast food go...

Well, Chuck and I are not fussy people and we love Boma's breakfast buffet. With that said, the boys ARE picky, but I'm not worried about Tusker House. I am sure there will be some basic food that they'll love. Here's the menu from allears if you haven't seen it:

Assorted Cream Cheeses; Jams; Jellies, and Fruit Chutney; Yogurt Station

Fresh Fruit
Cereals
Milk

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Scrambled Eggs
Oven-roasted Yukon Gold Potato Wedges
Bacon and Sausage Patties
Vegetable Frittata
Ham and Cheese Frittata
Spiced Corned Beef Hash
Cheese Blintzes
Beef Bobtie Quiche
Yam Casserole
Carved Rotisserie Honey-glazed Ham
Oatmeal
Mealie Pap (Porridge)

Warm Cinnamon Rolls
Warm Banana-Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Blueberry, Banana Nut and Apple Muffins
Whole-grain breads
Turnovers
Cheese-filled Danish
Apple Danish
Chocolate and Plain Croissants

I guess it does sound more exotic than other places (which excites me! ). You might want to stick with CP. We ate there for lunch and loved it.

 

[carissanboys]

but they are the worse cookie I have ever tasted, but we always end up buying half a dozen to share over the course of our visit.

You're confusing me!! Do they really taste bad? Are they like a chocolate cake cookie? Soft? Hard? I need to know these things before I buy! Connor would just like the whipped cream served with it.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Maybe exotic isn't the right word for Tusker House - but don't they have pancakes, waffles... you know, the usual breakfast stuff? What's with all the frittatas and blintzes... If it were just about food, I'd stick with CP, but the boys like MM&gang better than Pooh&friends. I'll have to look over on the dining reviews.

 

[carissanboys]

Maybe exotic isn't the right word for Tusker House - but don't they have pancakes, waffles... you know, the usual breakfast stuff? What's with all the frittatas and blintzes... If it were just about food, I'd stick with CP, but the boys like MM&gang better than Pooh&friends. I'll have to look over on the dining reviews.

That is odd. Boma has more "exotic" fare, but their menu lists pancakes and waffles on it. It doesn't say that on the one for Tusker House.

Jenny - can you tell us what they had for food there? Did they have some plain ol' waffles or pancakes??

 

[dismagiclover]

That is odd. Boma has more "exotic" fare, but their menu lists pancakes and waffles on it. It doesn't say that on the one for Tusker House.

Jenny - can you tell us what they had for food there? Did they have some plain ol' waffles or pancakes??

I honestly don't remember if they had pancakes or waffles because all my kids wanted were the donuts and pastries My memory of it is as pretty much like the CP buffet except for that juice! I LOVE THAT JUICE!!!!! (It's the same juice they have at Boma.) There might have been a few exotic choices, but there was plenty of fruit, pastries, eggs, bacon etc. All of that normal breakfast stuff.

 

[irene_dsc]

Sunshine Seasons in The Land serves the packaged sushi that you just grab and go. We had some last trip and it was good.

I'm not all the way caught up yet, but had to comment that I had some of the sushi there, and really wasn't impressed. Otoh, I had some sushi at the Wolfgang Puck place (the TS one, I forget the name) in DTD and that was really, really yummy.

We didn't do any CS meals in WS, so can't really comment - though we did have a couple of snacks. I wasn't that impressed with my crepe au chocolat, tbh.

And, I guess you need to change your title? POR isn't camping!

 

[carissanboys]

I honestly don't remember if they had pancakes or waffles because all my kids wanted were the donuts and pastries My memory of it is as pretty much like the CP buffet except for that juice! I LOVE THAT JUICE!!!!! (It's the same juice they have at Boma.) There might have been a few exotic choices, but there was plenty of fruit, pastries, eggs, bacon etc. All of that normal breakfast stuff.

Thanks for chiming in so quickly Jenny! I figured they'd have the normal basic stuff. Otherwise they wouldn't have too many repeat customers I bet. When you cater to kids, you have to have basic!

You mentioned the juice and I was wondering if it was the same as at Boma! Woohoo! That juice IS awesome!!

I'm not all the way caught up yet, but had to comment that I had some of the sushi there, and really wasn't impressed. Otoh, I had some sushi at the Wolfgang Puck place (the TS one, I forget the name) in DTD and that was really, really yummy.

We didn't do any CS meals in WS, so can't really comment - though we did have a couple of snacks. I wasn't that impressed with my crepe au chocolat, tbh.

And, I guess you need to change your title? POR isn't camping!

Yay - Irene's here! Chuck is use to having the sushi they prepare here at the commissary on base - nothing fancy. Now that I think of it, I wonder if he had some at Sunshine Seasons before. I'll have to ask him.

I had the crepe au chocolat too and wasn't impressed. I had asked for the one with chocolate AND raspberry, but I guess she didn't hear me.

I'm not changing my title! I WILL start a new TR when the time comes instead of continuing here. I'll have a new title for that.