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

[TinyDancer]

I ate at Coral Reef last year.. I had Mahi Mahi and it was absolutely delicious! I say give it another try.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

TinyDancer--Was the Mahi Mahi super-sweet?
I think I will have to give it another chance, just to erase the bad memory. But I still don't know what I'll eat.

 

[TinyDancer]

It was sweet.. It had a pineapple sauce on it that I loved!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

BOO TO YOU!! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Here's a picture of me with my three kiddos--all Tiggers! They love to bounce off the walls, so it's appropriate!

We had a lot of fun on Halloween. We went to the Autumn Festival at our church, where the kids got popcorn, cotton candy, did some trick-or-treating, and bounced in bounce houses (Tiggers like to bounce). We came home and grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonald's with Mamie and our friends, whose daughter is one of the girls' best friends. Then all the kids came to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood, where Bebo announced the whole time, "I LOVE Halloween! Happy Halloween, everybody! This is fun!" I think she got it this year. And that's good news, considering our plans for next year .
Okay, so technically it won't be Halloween when we're at Disney. It'll be the middle-end of September. However, after Juju learned about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party from a mailing I got from our Disney Visa, it's been a must-do for our family. We have watched the Boo To You Parade, Villains' Meet and Greet, and HalloWishes on YouTube over and over. Juju has even started to think about costumes. So far, she's got us going as Tigerlily (Juju), Tinker Bell (Bebo), Peter Pan (Bubba), Smee (Brandon), Nana (Mamie), and Wendy (me). We'll see if those designations hold up. Whatever we end up going as, you can be assured that there will be a theme, cause my obsessive little Juju would have it no other way...hmmmm...wonder where she gets that? Anyway, we're planning on going on our arrival day, assuming there's a party that day. Touring Plans seems to think there will be. We're going to drive half a day and into the night on Friday, complete the drive on Saturday morning, have lunch and spend the day hopefully resting up/checking out the resort, and head over about 4 o'clock to the party. Sound like a good plan? To me, next "Halloween" sounds even better than this one!
So, tell me about your Halloween! Got any pictures??
And I just had to throw this one in...little Bubba (and I've been contemplating telling his real name before you think we're all rednecks!) during his photo shoot that I made Brandon do. He's probably going to kill me for this one day, but I couldn't resist!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Ah, your little Tiggers are adorable!!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Ah, your little Tiggers are adorable!!!

Thanks! Tiggers are wonderful things!

 

[TinyDancer]

Love the little Tiggers!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Love the little Tiggers!!

Thanks! They had so much fun!

 

[onescgirl]

Those Tigger's are soooo adorable! And, I love that little pumpkin picture!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Those Tigger's are soooo adorable! And, I love that little pumpkin picture!

Thank you!! I love the pumpkin picture, too, but I'm not so sure he enjoyed having it taken!!

 

[999ghostslover]

Love the Tiggers! How cute. And I love Bubba's fluffy bum.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Love the Tiggers! How cute. And I love Bubba's fluffy bum.

Thanks! It's a Blueberry OS...I seem to have collected lots of that brand for him and don't remember doing it!

 

[999ghostslover]

I'm intrigued.

 

[HoltDisney07]

Jennifer I can't wait to read more! I have already starting planning our next trip, which also happens to be next September. We are going for 10 days this time and are also staying at Pop. Our last trip of 6d/5n at Pop just wasn't enough We will be there from Sept 22 - Oct. 1st. We made the decision to make the 2000 mile round trip drive to Disney next time to save money and have some family time. This was my compromise with my DH who promptly agreed to my demands that we make this a 10 day trip. We also got free dining, but we upgraded to the DXDP . Last time we had the regular dining plan and we still managed to have to pay a lot OOP for snacks, breakfasts and a dinner (because we did CRT), so I have ALOT of ADRs to plan this time.

I have already gotten several good ideas from you so keep up the good work!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Jennifer I can't wait to read more! I have already starting planning our next trip, which also happens to be next September. We are going for 10 days this time and are also staying at Pop. Our last trip of 6d/5n at Pop just wasn't enough We will be there from Sept 22 - Oct. 1st. We made the decision to make the 2000 mile round trip drive to Disney next time to save money and have some family time. This was my compromise with my DH who promptly agreed to my demands that we make this a 10 day trip. We also got free dining, but we upgraded to the DXDP . Last time we had the regular dining plan and we still managed to have to pay a lot OOP for snacks, breakfasts and a dinner (because we did CRT), so I have ALOT of ADRs to plan this time.

I have already gotten several good ideas from you so keep up the good work!

So glad you're reading! I'll have lots more to say as the time gets closer, I assure you! Wow, that's quite a drive! I have to say that I am a fan of long drives, though. My parents and I have driven from GA to CA and back, and everywhere else in-between. It was always so much fun...maybe that's cause when we were driving they'd let me pick any snack I wanted when we'd stop for gas! We considered the DXDP, too, but decided just to have mostly cereal-type things in our room for most breakfasts (except CP...I mean, who could NOT have breakfast at CP!?!) and just upgraded to the regular DP. We could not survive on the QSDP, I know. Well, now that I know we'll be at POP together for a few days, I am super-excited for a DisMeet! And I notice you have three kids in the same general age range as mine, so maybe some pool time together would be fun!

 

[lindsayp]

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!

wow i feel so bad for you! We've been there twice and have loved it. Ask to be seated near the fish tank, we did both times and they seated us right next to it. Also, you can substitute pairings. I had the salmon but i liked whatever the side dish was with the chicken and they switch it for me. their salmon is excellent as is their whitefish.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

wow i feel so bad for you! We've been there twice and have loved it. Ask to be seated near the fish tank, we did both times and they seated us right next to it. Also, you can substitute pairings. I had the salmon but i liked whatever the side dish was with the chicken and they switch it for me. their salmon is excellent as is their whitefish.

That is so good to hear!! I would love salmon, but green beans at the world are not the best. If I had polenta or smashed potatoes I'd be more than happy!
Did you have to wait a lot of extra time to get seated next to the tank? I guess I assumed everyone asked for it, so I didn't even bother last time. I will definitely ask next time.

 

[lindsayp]

That is so good to hear!! I would love salmon, but green beans at the world are not the best. If I had polenta or smashed potatoes I'd be more than happy!
Did you have to wait a lot of extra time to get seated next to the tank? I guess I assumed everyone asked for it, so I didn't even bother last time. I will definitely ask next time.

I think we waited about 15-20 minutes last time but the first time we got it right away. it never hurts to ask!!

 

[pinkxray]

Love the halloween pictures! The kids look so cute. I tried to take some pictures of Caitlin and she refused to make a decent face for 1 picture. I ended up giving up.

I would love to go to Disney for all the Halloween stuff. I have told DH we have to go one time for the Halloween stuff and one time for the xmas stuff. Then, I will calm down with the Disney obsession.

 

[Fantasyland Dad]

I can't wait to be there with you! It's going to be our best Disney trip ever. Thank you for your planning. It means a lot to our family. I'll follow all the planning this time!