April 2016 PTR: Today, laundry. Tomorrow, Disney!

[JustCor]

Hi everybody! It's been a while since I've been doing anything Disney related, and work has been beating me up, so it's time to plan a trip to Disney! I renewed my annual pass in October, but haven't managed to do any trips since then. That's far too long. Now, I don't have a plan at the moment, but with a little luck and some desire to make this PTR into actual trip planning, I'm pushing forward to make something happen.

Ok, really quick: the Who, What, Where, When and Why

Who:

Me. Taurus, long walks on the beach, fountain pens and farting. Why was my face breaking out so badly in that picture? Puberty part two, I guess.
What: Birthday getaway
Where: Walt Disney World
When: End of April. Maybe.
Why: Birthday fun

I've put in a time off request for April 24th - May 2nd. That should give me plenty of time to plan something out to fill a few days. The 23rd is my birthday, and last year I did a one night stay at AKL before heading to Universal to meet up with friends. I enjoyed doing birthday stuff quite a bit. Maybe I can turn this into a yearly thing!

So, I'm in a pre-planning kinda phase. I've got a lot of things to figure out. Where do I want to stay? What are my "must do" things to ride and places to eat? How long is this going to last? Those are kind of a big deal. I'm waiting to see if any discounts come along between now and then, so nothing is set in stone as of yet.

Since this is a birthday trip, I've got some things on my pre-planning wish list.
Resorts: Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club, POFQ
Grand Floridian is the long shot. It's pricey. I know it's my birthday and maybe I could splurge a little, but that's a fair amount of splurging. Still, I went there to eat at the Grand Floridian Cafe and really loved the decor and atmosphere. It was fantastic. I can only imagine that it's fantastic to stay in as well. Still, price. Ouch. Contemporary is another place that I've just kind of briefly had exposure to, through food, naturally. There's something appealing about it. I've read a couple of things about how it's not as Disney as the other resorts, but to be honest, that kind of appeals to me. The proximity to MK is also very appealing. Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk are very nice and being right at Epcot puts me central to the parks that I'll be visiting most. I think my preference would be BW, YC, and then BC, but availability may be more appealing. Finally, POFQ is my "safety" pick. I stayed at POR and really enjoyed it and walked around POFQ and really liked it. If I were a betting man, I'd say POFQ (or POR I suppose) are probably the most likely to happen. Still, a birthday boy can dream, can't he? After my stay at ASMo, and a later stay at ASMu I'm very, very reluctant to stay at any Value.

Food: Something Signature
There will, of course be much more to this trip than signature eats. In fact, the Signature thing will only be one meal. Still, I haven't done that before, so I'd like to give a Signature a shot. I haven't the faintest idea of which, but I have plenty of research and menu browsing to do in this bit of time. There are a few restaurants that are new since the last time I went. In addition to a Signature, I think I would like to go back to Cape May Cafe. I had a really good meal there that I would love to experience again. I've got no idea which other restaurants will fill in the gaps, but I'll figure it out, I'm sure.

Rides: More of the same.
Haunted Mansion. Tower of Terror. All of the Mountains. It wouldn't break my heart to miss some of these, but I'd love to do some of my favorites.

The other stuff: Pictures!
My new annual pass comes with free memory maker, or whatever they want to call it. I've considered purchasing it one or two times on previous trips, but I couldn't justify the cost. Having it built into the pass makes it a must do now.

So, I think that's my start. Suggestions, recommendations, any words of wisdom are always welcome!

Until soon...

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Yay for birthday trips!

I have stayed at approximately 0% of those resorts so I'm clearly qualified to add my opinion . I think the GF and Contemporary would be great splurges but you'd probably have a better time at one of the Epcot ones as there's more to do for adults/night time and plus you can walk to two of the parks.

I'm toying with the idea of adding a signature to my next trip too - but it's more to be able to say I've been to one rather than any real desire as I do a lot of fine dining outside of Disney (although the WDW website classifies CRT as fine/signature dining so maybe I've already been?). The ones I hear consistently the best reviews for are Narcoossee's and Jiko if that helps at all.

Can't wait to hear what you think of MM - I'm seriously considering adding it to my trip but $169 OOP is a lot of money.

 

[JustCor]

Yay for birthday trips!

I have stayed at approximately 0% of those resorts so I'm clearly qualified to add my opinion . I think the GF and Contemporary would be great splurges but you'd probably have a better time at one of the Epcot ones as there's more to do for adults/night time and plus you can walk to two of the parks.

I got a really amazing deal on Poly last year which put it in just about the same price as a moderate. Grand Floridian was on the deal list for a bit more, but it would have meant cutting my trip down by a day and possibly trimming out some food choices. Food > Room. I agree with you on the Epcot resorts. On my last trip, I settled into a nice rhythm of starting out taking a bus out to DHS at the beginning of the day then taking the boat to Epcot, and eventually hopping on the Mono to MK. Cutting out a lot of the buses also cut out a surprising amount of frustration. A stay at an Epcot resort (or Contemporary) would cut my bus needs down to Disney Springs and AK. That's almost worth a small premium in itself! Still, as nice as it would be to stay at any of those, the truth is that, of all of my stays, I've enjoyed POR the most. I would not be heartbroken if I had to stay there again.

I'm toying with the idea of adding a signature to my next trip too - but it's more to be able to say I've been to one rather than any real desire as I do a lot of fine dining outside of Disney (although the WDW website classifies CRT as fine/signature dining so maybe I've already been?). The ones I hear consistently the best reviews for are Narcoossee's and Jiko if that helps at all.

More than a little bit of the desire to eat at a signature is just the notion of eating at a signature. The hope would be that the quality of food would be higher, of course, as well as the dining experience in general. But that only goes so far. Since it's a fairly easy drive up to WDW for me, I have my car and the ability to leave the Disney bubble and get a massive selection of (better) food. I just always seem to hesitate on leaving Disney grounds because it feels like cheating on my vacation a little bit. Having said that, I'd probably happily break that self-imposed rule and skip out on the signature to go to Texas de Brazil or Fogo de Chao instead. I LOVE those two places, and Orlando is the nearest place for Fogo. In fact, I think I may have made my first solid plan!

Can't wait to hear what you think of MM - I'm seriously considering adding it to my trip but $169 OOP is a lot of money.

I'm looking forward to it! The cost has always been the hang up for me, but at the same time, I've looked longingly after the fact at some of the ride pictures or the meet and greet stuff and wished that I had just ponied up the money. There have been some great unplanned shots taken at character meets (Hah! I typed meats first, guess where my brain is at?) that have been fantastic and much better than the "stand and look awkward" stuff, for both the characters and myself. I think knowing that I had spent the money would also motivate me to get more pictures. The one thing I'm really bad about is not getting more pictures. I might start the day off kind of strong, but it filters to the back of my head quickly. MM would definitely be an incentive to get more photos to get full value out of the trip.

Thank you for following along! I've been admiring your PTR and TRs and it inspired me to start planning a trip again!

 

[JustCor]

The seeds, they are a'sproutin

Will you look at that! A plan, of sorts, begins to come together thanks to replying to a post. Inspiration comes in all forms. I need to do Fogo de Chao for at least one meal.

"But Corey, what is Fogo de Chao?" you ask.

Oh, you know, just an endless supply of amazing meat on swords brought to your table and sliced right on to your plate until you're so stuffed they have to get a forklift to haul your bloated body out of the place. Or, meat heaven. Or meat paradise. Or meat nirvana. Meat. It's 3:30 in the morning as I type this (insomnia) and if one happened to be open at this very moment within an hours drive, I would be running to my car. So, basically I'm saying that Fogo is a meal while I'm visiting WDW.

Yay!

I'm still on hold for my vacation approval, but it's normal for them to get to that. We've been slammed at work, so approving vacations isn't at the top of their list of things to do immediately. I'm not overly concerned about them turning down my request, as I'm the only person requesting time off in April so far, and first come, first served. Still an approval would get me going into a more active planning mode. I think next week I'll end up poking around to see if there are any deals for the resorts taking place during my planned trip. Last year's Labor Day deals got me into Poly at a fantastic price. Something similar for the end of April, though unlikely, would be perfect.

I think that'll do for a quick mini update. I'm still in a very slight holding pattern, but things are starting to come together!

 

[JustCor]

This is the part where things start to happen

My time off request has been approved. I don't think there was ever really any doubt, but until I didn't want to rush into any planning before things became more official. That official time is now! Things are kind of falling into place for this trip and working out in some really nice ways. Paying for a Disney trip is always one of those things that I don't enjoy. I do have some advantages working in my favor, though. Since I live in Florida, I get to skip the ridiculous expense and frustration of flying and drive. Gas is relatively cheap these days, too, so a tank of gas at just shy of $30 will get me there and back with gas to spare. Also, I've got a fresh Annual Pass just itching to get some use. The only real expense on my end is where I sleep and what I eat. I've been socking away a few dollars here and there towards this trip, but I've had a recent windfall of overtime at work. While I may not enjoy doing some of the longer hours (17 hours this past Friday, yay?) The very nice financial bump in my paycheck goes a long way towards making this trip much closer to a certainty.

One one of these days I'm going to be moderately smart about it and stay in one of the many hotels in the Orlando area that are considerably cheaper and (quite honestly) nicer than the Disney resorts. Jeez, my room at Floridays Resort for my previous Universal trip was nicer, larger, better furnished, and much cheaper than my room at Animal Kingdom Lodge during that same week. Super massive jaccuzzi tub? Awesome. Washer and dryer? Awesome and awesome. Super comfortable bed with a butt load of pillows? Butt loads of awesome. But, it's not on Disney property, and there's something to be said about the convenience and all encompassing nature of staying on property, and there's quite a bit of value in that for me. And, as much as I know other people love the Value resorts, I can't stand them. I'm a fancy man who needs nothing less than a nice Moderate. Since this is a birthday trip, this fancy birthday boy also kind of wants a Deluxe. So, I'll be spending way more money than necessary on a bed, and I'm aware of that, and I think I'm generally ok with that. Maybe. We'll see.

Right now I'm running some stuff by a few friends. How things work out on their end will end up determining what kind of trip this turns into. If they're able to free up the time, this will turn into another Disney/Universal deal, with a little better planning on the Universal end than last year, and a much longer birthday Disney stay than just the one day. At this moment in time, as I window shop for ideas, I'm leaning towards a solo getaway to just...get away.

There's still much planning to be done and some important decisions to be made. Hopefully they'll be happening sooner than later.

 

[JustCor]

Planning for three

My planning for this trip has been a constant state of spinning my wheels and waiting for commitments from other people. I've gotten the thumbs up from my friends who plan on doing part of this trip, I just haven't gotten any firm dates from them. As it stands, I have tentative planning to do. The three of us will be hitting Universal again this year, though for how long remains the big question. I've done a few quick hotel searches to see what we're looking like in terms of costs and I think that Floridays will end up being where we stay again. We were all impressed with our three bedroom suite last year, with very well appointed rooms, a nice overall setup, and a clean area. The drive to Universal was slightly longer than hoped, but it was very manageable. One friend has his heart set on staying on property in one of the higher end hotels to get the express pass perk, but the price and not so ideal sleeping arrangements have my other friend and me not overly keen on throwing down over double the money for less than half of the space. My days of cramming multiple people into one bed and a chair are long past, especially on a vacation. Give me my own bed, a place to relax, and some extra spending cash that's not being wasted on cramped quarters any day. Once I get an idea of what our length of stay will be (I'm betting a Friday/Saturday/Sunday deal), I can nail down the details and get it squared away. The sooner, the better.

For my Disney portion, I'm just stuck being lazy about the whole deal. I'm also trying to figure out my own length of stay, but some of it depends on when the Universal portion happens. I've been hoping for some sort of magical discounts to be released for annual passholders around that time, but it looks like that's probably not going to happen. It's starting to look like a stay at either POR or CBR. I stayed at both around this time last year and had two completely different experiences. POR was beautiful. It was peaceful, clean, and very nicely laid out. It still ranks near the top of Disney resorts I've stayed at. CBR, on the other hand, was a bad time. My room was fine. It was clean and looked to be somewhat recently renovated. It was so very loud, though. The walls seemed to be paper thin. I had a large group of young, drunk idiot kids staying next to me, having security try to quiet them down at 11pm+ only temporarily stopped the tremendous noise. Needless to say, I was exhausted the next day from very little sleep. I switched over to POR that day (planned in advance, and having nothing to do with my neighbors) and spent a good amount of that day zombied out. In all fairness, there was a bunch of groups staying at CBR for various reasons, and I've read plenty of other trip reports from people who have stayed at CBR and loved it. Because of that, and a fair amount of savings between the two, I'm considering giving CBR another go. We'll see. I'm still kind of stuck on my plans waiting on friends to firm up some dates. That will have to come soon. Time is a-waistin'.

So that's it for my little update. It's been a lot of false starts and waiting, but, at the very least, part of this trip has picked up a little steam. This is becoming a thing!

 

[Corrine 1973]

First of all, happy early birthday. I love the idea of being able to take a yearly trip on or around your birthday. What a great way to celebrate. I hope you and your friends can cement your plans soon and get to some serious planning. Fogo sounds amazing. I know want to go but unlike you I do not have a car while in Florida. Though it might be a consideration for my next trip if it is cheaper than buying 4 plane tickets from Chicago.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[JustCor]

First of all, happy early birthday. I love the idea of being able to take a yearly trip on or around your birthday. What a great way to celebrate. I hope you and your friends can cement your plans soon and get to some serious planning. Fogo sounds amazing. I know want to go but unlike you I do not have a car while in Florida. Though it might be a consideration for my next trip if it is cheaper than buying 4 plane tickets from Chicago.

Can't wait to read more.

Hi! I had a great time last year, and I think it might have been the first birthday I've celebrated in a long time, so that was fun too. My friends that are going also have birthdays within two or three weeks of mine, so this is kind of an unofficial birthday bash kinda thing. After seeing the costs of flights, I don't know if I could do a decent sized trip without shelling out a fair amount of cash. It's kind of nice that gas prices are fairly reasonable, and hopefully stay that way. It gives me more funds to put towards having fun! I do have one friend nailed down on days, so progress has been made. Just gotta get the other friend to get on it as well so we can get the hotel booked while prices are reasonable. One battle at a time, though.

 

[JustCor]

We've got ourselves a thing, and it's a thing of beauty

Something actually happened today! After nailing down some dates for everyone, there's finally a firm plan for something in place. While I wish it was for the Disney portion of the trip, I'm just happy to have anything finally getting set in stone. For the Universal weekend, we will be staying at the Westgate Palace Resort, conveniently less than a mile from Universal Studios and staying in the deluxe two bedroom suites.

Fancy.

The original plan was for the three bedroom suite at Floridays, but things didn't quite work out. Two of the days were booked up, so it ended up being a no-go. While the extra room would have been nice, we still have three beds and a sofa bed. Since I'm doing the legwork and booking all the fun, I get the master bedroom. That's the perks of being in control.

With the days all set, reservations have been made for Fogo de Chao as well. The Universal portion of this trip is all but finished now. One part down, another part to go.

The Disney portion of this trip isn't planning out as easily. I still have no idea where I'm going to stay, nor really when I'm going to actually go. I have an end date now, which helps, but now I need to plan out when to begin. After waiting this long for some kind of specials to appear, I think I may do a call to a travel agent and see if they're rocking any specials. It would be really nice to stay at a deluxe for a decent rate, or maybe get some kind of perk, but it's not looking so great at the moment. The Disney part is just kind of floating in the breeze. I'm coming to a point where I may just break with the usual plans and stay off property for this trip. I quite enjoy the simplicity of staying on Disney grounds and getting the benefits that come with it, but the current prices make such a plan a little more pricey than I'm comfortable with, especially since I booked what appears to be a well appointed two bedroom suite off grounds for about as much as I would pay for a cheaper moderate resort. That kind of thing weighs heavily on me. The convenience is a real draw though. I like to be able to just park my car for the duration of the trip and not have to worry about hunting down parking or finding my car at the end of the day, or just being able to shoot back to the resort in the middle of the day for a little nap and a refresher. If something doesn't pop soon, I'll start looking at off-site options and trying to find something relatively close for considerably cheaper. Maybe I'll even spring for a really nice room somewhere else. Who knows.

But, for now at least, the Universal part is all but done. There are some small things here and there to take care of, but they're incidental stuff that'll easily fall in to place.

Further updates to hopefully follow soon!

 

[ariane37]

Joining! I celebrated my 40th (yikes!) in Disney a few years ago and it was great-actually the same year WDW turned 40 The Westgate Resort looks nice! Have you looked at AP rates for the Disney resorts for your dates? You may be able to get a decent rate on a deluxe or at least a mod, and stay on property rather than off

 

[JustCor]

Joining! I celebrated my 40th (yikes!) in Disney a few years ago and it was great-actually the same year WDW turned 40 The Westgate Resort looks nice! Have you looked at AP rates for the Disney resorts for your dates? You may be able to get a decent rate on a deluxe or at least a mod, and stay on property rather than off

Hi and welcome! I have looked at the AP rates and they aren't that great. They were much better last year, but I don't remember if the better rates came out in March or not. I think they did. The rates will probably determine the length of my Disney stay. If they stay high, I may have to knock a day off at the beginning of the trip. Thankfully there's (maybe) some time to wait it out a bit, though April is fast approaching. Fingers crossed!

 

[JustCor]

Everything I do, I do it for food

My Disney planning for this trip has been far from productive. I'm starting to wonder if there's something going on during the week I plan on going, as there are a number of hotels that are flat out booked. That's got me more than a little concerned. I was hoping to avoid massive crowds, but I may have fallen into some kind of week of something or other. No matter, I will attempt to solider on. I've made some minor plans for the Universal portion of things. With the meat and potatoes in place, we've been looking at the little stuff. I think our group has decided to avoid most of the big park foods. We're close enough to a ton of different restaurants that we can branch out into good food for considerably less money. We've decided on finding a decent sports bar type place to get a few beers and food after a day at the park and relax for the evening. It's starting to look like The Yard House will be our destination of choice. The reviews are good, the selection of food hits all the right spots, and we'll take some happy hour specials where we can get them. I have a personal mission, of sorts, that will probably take place before we all gather at the hotel to start the adventure. There's a Del Taco not very far from the hotel. The last time I had Del Taco was about 20 years ago when I lived in California, and I have semi-fondish memories of the food. I do not expect good things, mind you, but I do want to fill the nostalgia hole a little. This may sound odd when talking about a cheapo taco joint, but I seem to recall really liking their burgers. I don't know if I'm mentally mixing things up in my head or they actually, indeed had burgers. I intend to find out.

Back to some actual Disney planning. Without the hotel, I'm kind of stuck. I haven't figured out the length of my stay yet, partly because I'm stuck on what is actually available and for how long. I haven't had the opportunity to contact a travel agent yet, though I'm not sure there will be anything that really stands out. My pipe dream of staying at GF for a ridiculously low rate is... a pipe dream at best. As I continue to look at every option for the time off that I have available, I'm starting to feel like it'll probably be two or three nights at somewhere in or around Disney, something in the neighborhood of a Tuesday through Friday stay. Figuring that I'm probably good for at least Wednesday and Thursday, I've been looking at dinner options. On my last big trip, I really enjoyed Cape May Cafe, and would like to eat there again. I ate tremendously well while there and have looked forward to planning a dinner there again. It's looking like getting in should be fairly easy at the time I usually like to stuff myself to near explosion. I've looked at a few other places and have found a few dishes that look tempting, though nothing has really hit a must do moment in my head. 50's Prime Time Cafe has quite a few dishes I think I'd like, but the whole schtick thing turns me off completely. I use my meals as a means of decompressing and being as moderately peaceful as possible, given the massive amounts of people. I don't think I could handle my decompress time being interrupted by a running gag of a floor show that I have to have some part in. Is there a "Leave me the hell alone" section that avoids all of that mess?

My frustrating lack of progress coupled with my abundance of too much work is currently making me grumpy. More planning to come later.

 

[JustCor]

Everything is food and nothing hurt

Ok, I don't have a hotel room yet. There are some things still in the works and I think (finger's crossed) that I'll have something reserved by the end of the week, come hell or high water. So, with that in mind, I think that that I've put off doing things for long enough.

What do you say we food things up for a bit? I've settled on three ADRs for now. They may end up changing over the course of the remaining weeks, as they tend to do, but I like what I see at the moment. Let's dive right in.

Yak and Yeti - This is a lunch ADR, and the one most likely to be changed. I've had this one planned on previous trips and have always managed to change it for various reasons. There's a few meals on the menu that I'm interested, chief among them being the Kobe Beef Burger. I love a good burger, and I keep reading that this is a good one. A burger at noon seems like a good way to take a break. Finished off with the Fried Wonton dessert, and things are looking very tasty and very tempting. Still, the draw back to this is that it's in Animal Kingdom. As much as I do enjoy AK, it's fallen off a bit due to construction and just limited attractions. If I change it, it would be because of other plans falling into place at another park. For now, Yak and Yeti is golden.

Cape May Cafe - A true gem of a previous trip, I've been looking forward to going back again. The food was delicious, and I ate a considerable amount of it. An early dinner at Cape May will give me plenty of time to get a good walk in to burn off the fifty metric tons of food that I plan on consuming. I have a pretty good feeling that this ADR will hold up. If anything, I may move the day around, but I think this is a solid choice.

il Mulino - I've read very good things about il Mulino. The reviews are good and there's a lot of options on the menu that I would love to try. The prices aren't horrible either. It seems like a good way to start my trip, so I've picked up an ADR for an early dinner on my (possible) first day at Disney.

I think that's a decent start. I may add one or two more meals to the mix, depending on my total length of stay that I end up with. Coming sooner or later, a selection of fast passes and some random planning for other potential things. With nearly all of the Disney resorts booked up solid for some reason, I have a feeling that things are going to be a bit crowded. With that in mind, I'm toying with a few ideas that aren't necessarily ride related. Maybe this will be a good trip to try some resort hopping.

So, we're getting somewhere. Things are finally falling into place. Just need to overcome that teeny tiny issue of not having a place to stay, but I've got ideas.

 

[ariane37]

Of your 3 ADR choices we've only eaten at Yak & Yeti, for lunch. We liked it! None of us had the burger but I was just reading a dining report where someone had it and it looked really good. We DID have the wonton dessert though, and it was great!

We actually had a dinner ADR for Cape May last November but ended up cancelling. One day we'll get there...........good luck finding a room!

 

[JustCor]

Of your 3 ADR choices we've only eaten at Yak & Yeti, for lunch. We liked it! None of us had the burger but I was just reading a dining report where someone had it and it looked really good. We DID have the wonton dessert though, and it was great!

We actually had a dinner ADR for Cape May last November but ended up cancelling. One day we'll get there...........good luck finding a room!

I've read nothing but raves about the fried wontons. I don't think I've even seen a bad picture of them! Even if the burger is a let down, I think dessert can save the day. I really enjoyed Cape May when I had it. The selection may not be as great as some of the other buffets, but the food was really good, especially the desserts. I think I ate half a cow's worth of beef, a small lakeful of shrimp, and easily two diabetic coma's worth of desserts.

 

[JustCor]

Everything hurts and nothing is food

I've gotten just about zero planned or accomplished this week. There was a minor wrench thrown into the mix when I spend the past few days painfully sick. The last thing on my mind has been food or rides. I'm slowly recovering, but even though thought of some food and rides makes my stomach turn. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure I'm going to live because I'm starting to think of crazy food plans and ideas for this trip.

Many years ago when I was a young, awkward pubescent teenager with a fantastic metabolism (good times), I would get a full pizza for myself for my birthday and put a serious hurting on it. Now, I think the same thing would put a serious hurting on me. But, sometimes the old traditions need to come back. I've been working on something that will potentially get me to Disney on my actual birthday, rather than a few days after. If it comes through, I'm strongly considering getting an ADR at Via Napoli and attempting to eat a whole pizza on my birthday. Is it my best idea ever? Of course it is! Is it my worst idea ever? Of course it is!

I've stayed away from actually booking any additional ADRs this week because I was getting these crazy thoughts in my head like "I'm never eating another bite of food every again for the rest of my life forever and ever" or "the only thing I'm having at Disney is water, water, pepto bismol, and water". Those aren't very conducive to great planning. I'd wager that I would have ended up canceling any ADR that showed up on my screen to reduce the chance of vomiting. Maybe this weekend I'll take a peek at some more planning. Until then, I've got a vintage 2016 bottle of Publix brand water, a choice selection of sparkling Schwepps Ginger Ale, and a scintillating side of Bismol di Pepto to wash it all down. I hope I can find the proper monocle and matching tuxedo to enjoy this five star Zagat rated treat.

 

[JustCor]

I have no updates because of reasons

For some reason, this trip has been the hardest to plan of any trip I've done. Things keep popping up and sabotaging things. I still don't have a hotel for the Disney portion of this trip. I'm not sure what's going on the week of my trip but it's sucking up all of the hotels. I've got something of a plan that I think is working out, but I'm not sure yet. We'll see.

I've put together a mental checklist of food places that I would like to try while I'm at Disney, and since it appears that I'll be staying off-site, my food choices have started to expand to the surrounding areas. Thanks to another thread that I stumbled upon, I'm now obsessed with going to Teak Neighborhood Grill for dinner one of the nights. My favorite meal, without a doubt, is a good burger. I could eat burgers almost every day and not get tired of them, so when I read a thread where a bunch of people recommend the same place for burgers, I pay close attention. So when I see this...

and this...

and all of this...

... I tend to pay close attention. I mean, really close attention. A quick look at the impressive burger menu has me clutching my heart in artery clogging joy. I'm sold. If my friends don't want to go for the Universal leg of this trip, I'll happily do a solo run and enjoy it myself.

So that's my latest update that isn't actually a great update. I'm still spinning my wheels with a lot less time left than expected and my fingers crossed that I find a solution to this hotel thing soon.

 

[JustCor]

Progress! A whole carousel of it!

Just to do a quick update: I have a (vacation) home, finally! So, after a little bit of wheeling and dealing and poking and prodding, I have a place to stay for my Disney trip:

The Sheraton Vistana Resort! The reviews look good, the location is close enough, and I got a good rate. Now, I also know when this trip will start! I'll be making this my home from Sunday, April 24th - Friday, April 29th. It's a day after my birthday, but I can deal with that. Since that's taken care of, I have a bit more planning to do to fill in the spaces. That will definitely be coming within the next few days as I figure out how I want to spend the time.

This finally feels like it's happening.

 

[JustCor]

A whole new world

Being outside of the Disney bubble for this trip has changed how I've been planning this trip. Normally, I'd check into a Disney resort, leave the car parked for the duration of the trip, and rely on Disney transport to accomplish things. That would mean that all of my activities and meals would take place in one of the parks or resorts. So the answer to the question of "Where do I want to eat?" would be limited. For some reason, staying in a non-Disney resort has altered my immediate go to selections. While I'll be hitting up a few spots for lunch or dinner during that time while I'm at the parks, the idea of eating somewhere that is, well, cheaper and probably better quality, is becoming much more enticing. This is slowly morphing away from being exclusively a "Disney Vacation", and becoming more of an "Orlando vacation". Not that the primary focus won't remain on Disney, but maybe a trip to something not Disney related is in order. Perhaps a bit of exploring, or roaming around. Who knows.

Still, this is a Disney PTR, so on to Disney related planning. I've picked up a few Fast Pass selections so far. I like that the new selection process allows for me to select one fast pass, rather than all three at once. It feels a little more flexible and in tune with how I tend to do things at the parks. DHS is a perfect example. I may only wish to go on Tower of Terror, and maybe not burn a fast pass on Rock N Rollercoaster when I can hop on the single rider line. Sure, I'd like to go on TSMM, but maybe I don't plan on being in the park at 7:00pm when there are slots available for that ride. I do kind of wish that the would allow me to make the three fast pass selections at three different parks, or even two parks. That way, I can get my ToT fix before heading over to Epcot or MK for other stuff. So, I've made a few selections, with Tower of Terror, Rock N Rollercoaster, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain among the selections spread out over thew few days I'll be there. It's kind of strange: I've been on 7DMT before and wasn't super impressed with it, nor did I feel a huge need to ride it again, but because all of the fast pass selections seem to be snapped up already, I feel complete disappointment that I'm not able to select this ride for one of my fast passes.

Dinner plans are currently still holding up, with Il Mulino, Cape May Cafe, and Yak and Yeti still looking like good choices. I've got some space to fill in still, but I've been cruising Google maps and looking at the restaurants in the area that might be in the mix. More updates to follow at some point.

T-minus 14 days until vacation begins. It can't come soon enough!

 

[JustCor]

Service, the quick way

I'm doing some planning that may not lend too well to actual planning. There are a few quick service options that I'm looking forward to trying out, so no ADRs to be had this time around. This could, though, be the food that I'm looking forward to the most. Let's take a tasty look at the options:

1. Golden Oak Outpost - can I just relay how disappointed I am that I didn't learn about this place until way way later in my Disney travels? How could I not know about a place that serves waffle fries topped with stuff that I love? I've been to WDW twice since learning of Golden Oak and still haven't eaten there. They have been closed each of the times I've tried to eat there. I'll have to figure out their hours and try to hit them up when they're open.

2. Friar's Nook - I have been here, and many, many times. It's one of those places that I NEED to go to on every trip. Why?

Pot Roast Mac and Cheese, I love you so! Seriously. It's so delicious. I run into the same problem when I go to MK. I always wonder if I'm just remembering it tasting better than it actually is. But then I eat it and I know it's the good stuff. The really, really good stuff. I could easily eat this once a day, if not twice. I actually have eaten this more than once a day on a trip or two. I can't wait!

3. Refreshment Port - It's easy to pass by the Refreshment Port while heading into the World Showcase. It's almost unassuming and is right before all of the good food. The thing is, though, that they have an absolutely delicious Croissant Donut.

Sweet, fluffy, and beautifully layered, I ended up getting four in the span of two days. If they offered them by the dozen, I'd hoard them in my room and stuff my face in the wee hours of the night. So delicious.

4. L'Artisan des Glaces - I had a delicious Ice Cream Martini from this wonderful little ice cream shop in France. Some of you may be shocked and appalled to hear this, but the alcohol might have detracted somewhat from the flavor of the ice cream. Alcohol ruining things? Impossible. Or not. I'll have to have a virgin Ice Cream Martini this time.

So, those are the quick service places I'm hoping to hit up on this trip. I need to add to my collection of delicious pictures, and of course, devour tasty treats in the process.