**A YEAR in the Making of a Disney Trip-Sept. 2011**9/28 TR Link Added!**

[hollybearsmom]

I read the thread about hosting Disney family nights at home...

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I didn't know the Must-dos were on You Tube? That is awesome. We do a lot of that too. We watch videos of our resort, rent more obscure Disney movies off Netflix. We watched 3 Caballeros because we loved the Mexico pavillion so much and because we are staying at CSR. My kids have never seen the original Winnie the Pooh movie (they have seen a couple of the newer ones) so that is coming next...if we can ever give back Nightmare Before Christmas. We need to bite the bullet and buy that one.

That's a good idea! We've seen all the "normal" movies, so I guess we can start on the obscure one, too. And we've never ridden the Mexico ride, so it's on our list.
And, oh, yes, the Must-Dos are definitely on there! It's in two parts, but they have the whole thing.

I read the thread about hosting Disney family nights at home...

I think we host Disney every-single-second-of-the-days!! Seriously though, my kids love to make a theater in our living room. We move the love seat closer to the screen and they get to have blankets and popcorn and as much juice as a preschooler can handle. They don't always sit for the whole time, but they try!

 

[hollybearsmom]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1707141
here's the link for that thread, decorations-snacks-crafts-it's all there and super cool

 

[pinkxray]

I am so jealous you get your family to do all this Disney related stuff. If I asked my family to watch youtube videos of attractions or ride throughs I think I'd be laughed right out of the house. I try to sneak a Disney movie in for movie night and that is a struggle. DH and DD are super close and DD will pretty much allows choose what DH picks

We did get to watch Ratatouille last night. That's only b/c I put it on to watch and DD just wandered in. DH joined in later. I am trying to convince DH to agree to see Tangled but I'm going to guess that will be a girls only movie trip.

We went to Lowe's today and they had tons of Disney x-mas decorations. DD and I were talking about which ones to buy and DH's eyes just kind of rolled back and he let out a huge sigh. Seriously, who doesn't like Disney xmas decorations?

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1707141
here's the link for that thread, decorations-snacks-crafts-it's all there and super cool

THANKS!!!!

I am so jealous you get your family to do all this Disney related stuff. If I asked my family to watch youtube videos of attractions or ride throughs I think I'd be laughed right out of the house. I try to sneak a Disney movie in for movie night and that is a struggle. DH and DD are super close and DD will pretty much allows choose what DH picks

We did get to watch Ratatouille last night. That's only b/c I put it on to watch and DD just wandered in. DH joined in later. I am trying to convince DH to agree to see Tangled but I'm going to guess that will be a girls only movie trip.

We went to Lowe's today and they had tons of Disney x-mas decorations. DD and I were talking about which ones to buy and DH's eyes just kind of rolled back and he let out a huge sigh. Seriously, who doesn't like Disney xmas decorations?

Well, I'm jealous of you because your DD will watch SW and likes things at Universal!! I think it'll be years before we get to do US because our girls are not interested in anything but princesses and the fab 5.
I want to go see Tangled, but since my youngest is still nursing (and on no particular schedule), I probably won't get to...which leaves Brandon to take the girls or us to wait til it comes out on DVD...care to guess which one will happen??
Oh, man! You should not have told me about Lowe's!! I was just telling DH that we needed Disney Christmas decorations. My goal is to have an entire tree with just Disney stuff, plus other decorations inside and out! And Lowe's is only 5 minutes away...

I think it was Erin (999ghostslover) that has a Disney tree, am I right? Or am I mistaken?

 

[pinkxray]

I wish DD was into the Fab 5 and princesses. She was obsessed with Mickey Mouse clubhouse when she was 2 and had a brief princess phase but she has always been more into boy stuff. Transformers, Lilo and Stitch, and now Star Wars. And like her dad she loves superheroes (they are watching some marvel cartoon right now) and Universal. Sometimes I don't think she would notice if we even went to a Disney park.

I think pretty much 95% of my ornaments are Disney characters. There might be a Rudolph or Spongebob mixed in there somewhere. I keep seeing people post pictures of cute ones but I can't fit anymore on my tree. Time for a bigger tree?

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I too need ideas to keep the magic going. With just the two us, I keep the magic going by bugging DH not stop about what I want to do next trip!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I too need ideas to keep the magic going. With just the two us, I keep the magic going by bugging DH not stop about what I want to do next trip!

HAHA! That's one way to do it!!

 

[2princesses2princes]

I try to keep the magic going by talking and planning. Talking about our last trip there, and occasionally I pull out the scrapbook I made of our trip or the albums from our first trip that I never made into a scrapbook, or at least not yet. We look at Disney stuff online. I try not to overdo it, I am actually backing off for a while about it, I want it to be exciting on Christmas when the kids find out it's a definite go and the month they are going, I am afraid if I keep talking too much it wont be as exciting to them. Dh is kind of being stubborn, he's afraid it's not going to happen and somethings going to fall through so he isn't into the magic right now, so I am busting my tail to get this paid off so I can have him back on my side with uncontrollable ridiculous obsessions again.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I try to keep the magic going by talking and planning. Talking about our last trip there, and occasionally I pull out the scrapbook I made of our trip or the albums from our first trip that I never made into a scrapbook, or at least not yet. We look at Disney stuff online. I try not to overdo it, I am actually backing off for a while about it, I want it to be exciting on Christmas when the kids find out it's a definite go and the month they are going, I am afraid if I keep talking too much it wont be as exciting to them. Dh is kind of being stubborn, he's afraid it's not going to happen and somethings going to fall through so he isn't into the magic right now, so I am busting my tail to get this paid off so I can have him back on my side with uncontrollable ridiculous obsessions again.

I completely understand that! Sometimes I think I should back off, too, but my kids won't let me!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

My heart is broken. Perhaps I shouldn't spend so much time obsessing over tiny details. Perhaps I should not have visions of the perfect trip in my head. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

Growing up, I'd seen the Coral Reef restaurant on several sitcoms on tv. I always thought it would be neat to go there. So when I planned our first trip in Sept. 2009, I immediately made an ADR for Coral Reef. There was no other choice! I looked forward to it for months. We had an ADR for an early dinner and I was pumped! Unfortunately, by the time dinner rolled around that day, we were exhausted. I had not anticipated how large Epcot was, how much walking we'd be doing, the girls skipping naps, or the intense heat of the day.

Our experience went something like this...
Juju was cranky. I'm having some "motherly words" with her in this shot.

Bebo wouldn't sit still. Note that she is blurry in this picture even though she's coloring...that's cause she was bouncing WHILE coloring!

Those are our only photos of the restaurant.
We ate our food while everyone bounced off the walls and said snippy things to their elders. Well, this was the highlight of the evening (especially since we didn't get seated near the fish, which was a huge disappoinment). As I've said before, I'm the only adult seafood eater in the bunch. I had blackened catfish with pepperjack grits. YUMM-O! DH and DMIL had steak, and the girls shared the kids fish. We all loved it. When we ordered desserts (Chocolate Waves all around!), things began to calm down and we thought all was well.
And that's when we found out why Bebo was moving so much. Brandon said he was going to take her to change her diaper while we waited on dessert. After about ten minutes of them not coming back, I went to check on them. Not in the restroom. Not in the waiting area. I went outside, where I found Brandon near our stroller, surrounded by the contents of our entire diaper bag.
Without going into too much detail, let me just say that Bebo must have had a really upset tummy, and she now needed her entire outfit changed! She was mostly naked, Brandon was panicking (as usual) and throwing things around, and Bebo was crying! I told Brandon (calmly, I might add) where her clothes and diapers were, and I took her off, still nearly naked, into an alcove to nurse her so she'd calm down. Finally she was calm, dressed, fed, and just about asleep. Our desserts were shoveled into our mouths in under a minute and we rushed to take the girls back to the resort for bed early.

So, did you notice the one bright spot in that story? My catfish and pepperjack grits!! When I was planning the trip back for May 2010, I wanted to fit in Coral Reef again so I could eat this dish again, but we were so traumatized the last time that we did not make an ADR for that trip. After all, I was hugely pregnant and did not feel like chasing people over dinner. With baby #3 safely born, I went back to the menu on Allears just to read a description of that lovely dish and planned on dreaming about it. Imagine my shock when I noticed it was GONE!! No longer on the menu!! Could this be!?!
I mourned it for a while, then decided that I would have to find something else on the menu that I liked. I decided on lobster ravioli. For a couple of months now, I have been imagining that lobster ravioli, looking at pictures of it, and reading reviews of it. I actually started to get excited about it.
Then last night, almost by accident, I stumbled on the updated menu for Coral Reef...do you see where this is going?
IT'S NOT ON THE MENU ANYMORE! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?! And to top it off, there's nothing on the menu appealing to me. I do not go to a seafood restaurant to eat chicken or steak or mushroom phylloeek. I go for seafood. The fish they are offering are not paired with any decent sides, in my opinion. I am bummed.

Once again, I think Coral Reef is out to get me. Now I'm in a dilemma. I really think the kids would love the atmosphere even more now, especially if we got close to the tank, and I had planned a lunch ADR here in my head to avoid exhaustion meltdowns. Should we keep it for the atmosphere? I mean, everyone but me would not be affected by this change. I guess I'm just a little miffed at Coral Reef for not thinking of me...haha!

 

[pinkxray]

I'm going to guess you were a big Full House fan? After seeing Coral Reef on that show I always wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I am the only person who will eat seafood. DH is allergic to shellfish and doesn't like fish. I would feel bad taking him somewhere with only 1 choice that he would eat.

The fish tank does look cool though. It is also a bummer that they don't have the divers any more.

After your last time there maybe you are better off not returning for awhile.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I'm going to guess you were a big Full House fan? After seeing Coral Reef on that show I always wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I am the only person who will eat seafood. DH is allergic to shellfish and doesn't like fish. I would feel bad taking him somewhere with only 1 choice that he would eat.

The fish tank does look cool though. It is also a bummer that they don't have the divers any more.

After your last time there maybe you are better off not returning for awhile.

Definitely a bummer about your husband...but if you want to go there, there are now SEVERAL non-fish/non-seafood options. In fact, that's most of the menu. Good for him, bad for me!!
You may be right about not returning, but I just don't know where we should go instead?? I mean, if I got to choose, it'd be hands-down Le Cellier, but I highly doubt my kids (who will be 1, 3, and 5 then) will be on board!

 

[999ghostslover]

I'm so sorry! That is terrible news. We have a restaurant here that serves catfish with smoked gouda cheese grits. Unreal!!
The one bad thing about Disney is that they do take away things from time to time but they have a way of adding something new and better at other places.
Have you thought about Cape May Cafe? The podcast did a review of it and PEte loved it and he does not eat seafood. He could not believe how much there was. And he is picky and opinionated about Disney food. If you ate there you could go into Epcot or leave Epcot through the back entrance. That is what we plan to do.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I'm so sorry! That is terrible news. We have a restaurant here that serves catfish with smoked gouda cheese grits. Unreal!!
The one bad thing about Disney is that they do take away things from time to time but they have a way of adding something new and better at other places.
Have you thought about Cape May Cafe? The podcast did a review of it and PEte loved it and he does not eat seafood. He could not believe how much there was. And he is picky and opinionated about Disney food. If you ate there you could go into Epcot or leave Epcot through the back entrance. That is what we plan to do.

That might be a good option! We went there last year for dinner and really liked it. But do they have lunch there? I was hoping to have something for lunch so we could save Akershus for dinner, but that plan looks like it might not work!

 

[999ghostslover]

no lunch. But I think Akershus has lunch, right? It is too tough to decide. I keep going back and forth. I'm almost hoping that at least one of our ADR choices won't work out so that I can go with a backup plan that allows other stuff to work. It is too much!

 

[TinyDancer]

Marking this so I can read later. We are going in September as well.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Marking this so I can read later. We are going in September as well.

Awesome! Glad to have you reading! Stay tuned for some interesting trip details soon...my brain's wheels are turning!

 

[TinyDancer]

We have a TON in common, I believe. Our last trip was in April, I was 17 weeks pregnant, and we're planning for September 18-25!!
I am about to start a PTR also. It's never too early LOL!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

We have a TON in common, I believe. Our last trip was in April, I was 17 weeks pregnant, and we're planning for September 18-25!!
I am about to start a PTR also. It's never too early LOL!

I completely agree! YAY! Maybe we'll be able to have a dismeet! I've never had one before, and all of our little ones will be close in age!! Start that PTR so I can read!