Biscuit's Grand Adventure | An epic tale three decades in the making!

[Kimberly815]

Eating should not be this difficult. Only at The World will you plan out your meals weeks, months, or dare I say it, years in advance.

Only at Disneyworld!! Whenever I first mention this fact to my DH or other travel companions they think I am insane. However, when they are sitting for just a few minutes waiting to get their table and watch numerous families get turned away at the podium, the tune changes!

Here’s how our ADR’s, I mean Dining Reservations shaped up.

Day 1 – Friday June 19 - Chef Mickey’s - Dinner
Day 2 – Saturday June 10 – Mamma Melrose - Dinner
Day 3 – Sunday June 11 – O’Hanna - Dinner
Day 4 – Monday June 12 – Le Cellier – Lunch
Day 5 – Tuesday June 23 – Whispering Canyon – Dinner
Day 6 – Wednesday June 24 – Akershus – Breakfast
Day 7 – Thursday June 25 – Open
Day 8 – Friday June 26 – Crystal Palace – Lunch

These look like very nice selections! I have been to most of them and really enjoyed them. The Whispering Canyon is a lot of fun! Don't worry too much about other people's reviews. We have been to plenty of places that have bad reviews and really enjoyed our meals!

The only planned snack I have is the Cheese Stuffed Pretzel at DHS.

Oh, what I would give for a Cheese Stuffed Pretzel right now. Wait! And a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar! (ETA: Please note that I am about 6 months pregnant- I hope that makes that combination sound a little less crazy, or at least a little more understandable!)

 

[PrincessV]

Eating should not be this difficult.

Ain't that the truth?!

Lots of good choices there GB!

The only planned snack I have is the Cheese Stuffed Pretzel at DHS.

Might I make a snack suggestion? Pay a little visit to the Main St. Bakery. I highly recommend the cinnamon roll, but everything else there is yummy, too!

 

[Disneymom3304]

On our last trip we all discovered the greatness that is a Dole Whip! To top it off they DO count as a snack credit, oh happy day! Enjoy!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I think you made a good decision to go to Whispering Canyon. We went there for our date night. Eric LOVED it! It was on trip day 10 so in a few days you'll be able to read about it on my TR.

I'll be looking forward to your Ohana review when you get back. We're planning on that for our anniversary dinner.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed WC - I look forward to hearing about in your TR! I'll def give you the O'hanna low-down.

Only at Disneyworld!! Whenever I first mention this fact to my DH or other travel companions they think I am insane. However, when they are sitting for just a few minutes waiting to get their table and watch numerous families get turned away at the podium, the tune changes!

I'm fairly certain they'll understand once we are there.

These look like very nice selections! I have been to most of them and really enjoyed them. The Whispering Canyon is a lot of fun! Don't worry too much about other people's reviews. We have been to plenty of places that have bad reviews and really enjoyed our meals!

Thanks - we're looking forward to all them!

Oh, what I would give for a Cheese Stuffed Pretzel right now. Wait! And a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar! (ETA: Please note that I am about 6 months pregnant- I hope that makes that combination sound a little less crazy, or at least a little more understandable!)

It's all good.

Ain't that the truth?!

Lots of good choices there GB!


Might I make a snack suggestion? Pay a little visit to the Main St. Bakery. I highly recommend the cinnamon roll, but everything else there is yummy, too!

Thanks for the suggestion PV. I'll have to keep that one in mind.

On our last trip we all discovered the greatness that is a Dole Whip! To top it off they DO count as a snack credit, oh happy day! Enjoy!

YEAH!!!! (Only because we have no dancing pineapple.)

 

[brookelizabeth]

Wait a second! No Pinnochio's?! What would a GB trip be without PVH???!



Really, all your choices do look really great. We really enjoyed WCC, and the character interaction at Chef Mickey's was just awesome. We also enjoyed LeCellier...though, we too were first timers, nothing to compare it to, and so we were NOT let down by any means.

Ohana I had to waddle out of. There is a horrible picture of me sitting after that meal and you can literally see how bloated my stomach was from the sheer amount of food I took in. It's delish.

I am happy to see inklings of The Plan. Just remember, while it's good and OK to have The Plan, The Plan must also sometimes be disregarded and even thrown out the window from time to time. But, I think you well know that.

Your trip is getting SO close. Are you packing yet? Is anyone in the house starting to loose sleep yet due to Disney dreams?

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Wait a second! No Pinnochio's?! What would a GB trip be without PVH???!

Oh, I'm pretty sure we'll AT LEAST stop in for a drink!

Really, all your choices do look really great. We really enjoyed WCC, and the character interaction at Chef Mickey's was just awesome. We also enjoyed LeCellier...though, we too were first timers, nothing to compare it to, and so we were NOT let down by any means.

Good to know!

Ohana I had to waddle out of. There is a horrible picture of me sitting after that meal and you can literally see how bloated my stomach was from the sheer amount of food I took in. It's delish.

I am SO looking forward to that meal.

I am happy to see inklings of The Plan. Just remember, while it's good and OK to have The Plan, The Plan must also sometimes be disregarded and even thrown out the window from time to time. But, I think you well know that.

I think I did pretty well in not micro-managing every second of the trip.

Your trip is getting SO close. Are you packing yet? Is anyone in the house starting to loose sleep yet due to Disney dreams?

Not yet, but I imagine that will change once school is out.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Episode 42 - The Plan 3.0

Previously on Biscuit's Grand Adventure, Dining decision were made and changed, made and changed, and made again. For those of you keeping score, the final travel plans have shaped up thusly:

Thursday: The Biscuit clan (Myself, First Lady Biscuit, Tahli and Hailee) will drive with my parents (a.k.a. Nana and Papa) and nephew (Preston) to Houston to spend the night at a motel near the airport.

Friday: The Biscuits 7 will leave terra firma at approx 6:20 AM and arrive in Orlando around 9:35 AM. After heading to the POP, we will either have a nap, then head to MK OR head to MK then return for a nap before finishing out the day at MK. Im counting on the later as I doubt our rooms will be ready at 11:00. My Aunt Jana, (the heroine of trip 6) will join us at some point Friday afternoon and stay with my parents until either Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Tuesday: My parents and nephew will head out at noon to catch their 3:05 PM flight.

Friday: We remaining Biscuits will leave the resort around 5:30PM for our 8:30PM Flight.

Moving on to the meat and taters, I humbly present you The Plan 3.0 Having learned from past mistakes, my approach to planning this trip was quite different. Rather than planning out actual park touring schemes, I've kept it a bit more general.

As you've heard me mention many times, I have a soft spot for Spreadsheets when it comes to The Plan. This particular incarnation is comprised of 1 file, containing 8 worksheets. They are: Flight & Resort | Master Touring Plan | Dining Reservations | EMH Evening | EMH Morning | Attractions AK | Attractions EP | Attractions DHS | Attractions MK.

I'll go through each with you and share screenshots where appropriate.

Worksheet 1: Flight and Resort. As one might expect this worksheet contains our flight #'s times, and confirmation numbers at the top. Under that is our resort confirmations.


Worksheet 2: Master Touring Plan. This is my one stop shop for our daily touring decisions. Things are pretty well set, but there is ONE thing that might change. My parents want to see Fantasmic. The DIS Boards lists Fantasmic as being scheduled for June 22. The link on AllEars.net lists it as being scheduled for June 21. I went with the DIS, but if we arrive and discover this is not correct, I'll adjust. However, we DO have an ADR for 'Ohana that night and this is our only night for MK evening EMH so well have to play it by ear.




Worksheet 3 contains all of our dining reservation numbers.

Worksheets 4 & 5 contain lists of all of the attractions and restaurants open during AM and PM EMH. I'll have them handy in my notebook and a copy in my park pack. (They are easily found online so I won't waste bandwidth by posting them here.)

Worksheets 6-9. When we decided to make this trip, I decided I WAS NOT going to be that parent who forces his kids on every attraction possible just because HE wants to ride it. To that end, Worksheets 6-9 list out the attractions for each park and rank each in one of three categories: Must Do, May Do, and Parents Strong Cautioned. These are ranked according to the types of rides I feel my kids will enjoy and can handle. (Based largely on our WDW Training Run and TRs from other parents.) BTW - those in red are not one we FOR SURE won't do, but we will definitely proceed with caution and see how the girls react on other attractions first.

WS 6: Animal Kingdom




WS 7: Epcot


WS 8: DHS


WS 9: MK





Thus concludes The Plan 3.0. Will it all happen like I foresee? I doubt it. But that's the great thing about 8 days. It brings a flexibility that I have not had before. That about does it. There is a little over two weeks left until departure day so I'm preparing for a happy dance even as we speak.

Since I've mentioned it several times now, I guess I should finally shed some lights on our WDW Training Run. So:


Coming up on Episode 43: The Training Run...Fiesta my Biscuit!

 

[jordanyosh]

WOW......

I think u put the rest of us to shame.



Oh Great Biscuit.....Oh Great Biscuit....

 

[Normangirls]

You should move Mealstrom to "Must Do." Did you know it's a Fastpass?

 

[chicagoshannon]

I was just going to ask about your training run. Glad it's coming up!

So are you still going to go on the "red" rides? I'd hate for you to miss Everest. It's our new favorite ride!

 

[whogirl'smom]

I don't feel so bad about my past "secretive" OCD lists now! Two trips ago I remember having those lists (although handwritten) of what we had to do and what we wanted to do if time, my touringplans, where to hop when and even had printed off the menus to EVERY counter service place in Disney. Of course all that is now embedded in my brain from so much time on the Dis! I love a good spreadsheet!

Jordan, maybe we could adapt the above spreadsheet to include different bars and also bathroom ratings. Speaking of bathrooms, did you know that the wdw today podcast did a show on bathrooms last week????? They totally stole your idea!

 

[jordanyosh]

I don't feel so bad about my past "secretive" OCD lists now! Two trips ago I remember having those lists (although handwritten) of what we had to do and what we wanted to do if time, my touringplans, where to hop when and even had printed off the menus to EVERY counter service place in Disney. Of course all that is now embedded in my brain from so much time on the Dis! I love a good spreadsheet!

Jordan, maybe we could adapt the above spreadsheet to include different bars and also bathroom ratings. Speaking of bathrooms, did you know that the wdw today podcast did a show on bathrooms last week????? They totally stole your idea!

Who doesn't love a good spreadsheet!

Don't be kidding about adding bars and restrooms...I just might do it....

Whhaaaa.....is there a time stamp on my TR...I thought of it before they did!!!!! They didn't even ask for my opinion. Meh, I don't even think i was the first one....There's someone somewhere on the DIS who had a whole photo report solely on WDW restrooms......who has that much time?

 

[GreatBiscuit]

WOW......

I think u put the rest of us to shame.



Oh Great Biscuit.....Oh Great Biscuit....

LOL. Give me 12 years, and I can do a pretty fancy spreadsheet!

You should move Mealstrom to "Must Do." Did you know it's a Fastpass?

You don't say? I think maybe I can hit it up after a visit to the Canadian Outpost. You know, maybe I should put it on the must do list. Nothing would drag Zzub out of retirement faster.

I was just going to ask about your training run. Glad it's coming up!

So are you still going to go on the "red" rides? I'd hate for you to miss Everest. It's our new favorite ride!

I HOPE to. It will depend in large part on how the kids are doing those first four days as my only chance will be while Nana and Papa are there.

I don't feel so bad about my past "secretive" OCD lists now! Two trips ago I remember having those lists (although handwritten) of what we had to do and what we wanted to do if time, my touringplans, where to hop when and even had printed off the menus to EVERY counter service place in Disney. Of course all that is now embedded in my brain from so much time on the Dis! I love a good spreadsheet!

Closet planners of the world unite! I haven't printed out the menus yet...although I did bookmark them on my Blackberry.

Jordan, maybe we could adapt the above spreadsheet to include different bars and also bathroom ratings. Speaking of bathrooms, did you know that the wdw today podcast did a show on bathrooms last week????? They totally stole your idea!

Now THAT would be a handy spreadhseet to have.

Who doesn't love a good spreadsheet!

Don't be kidding about adding bars and restrooms...I just might do it....

Whhaaaa.....is there a time stamp on my TR...I thought of it before they did!!!!! They didn't even ask for my opinion. Meh, I don't even think i was the first one....There's someone somewhere on the DIS who had a whole photo report solely on WDW restrooms......who has that much time?

If you do, sign me up as a subscriber! You perked my curiosity now on the restrom TR. Have to see if that one's still in the archives!

 

[Vexorg]

Wow, that looks like the most comprehensive, all-encompassing and destined to be tossed out the window the minute you pass under the big Disney World sign plan I've ever seen.

 

[jordanyosh]

Great One-I'll try to track it down for you. It was actually in a blog..with the link posted in a TR...

 

[All7OfUs]

Been out of action for a spell, trying to get a conference organized for about 40 people- in another language, in a foreign country

But had a minute to take a quick peek at our last couple of installments- and they LOOK GOOD! I'd second the Maelstrom "give it a go" comment, though. It's a really fun ride!

Love your dining choices too. I've eaten at most, and have wanted to try WC for a while. It'll be fun to hear how that goes.

I'll try to catch up more next week

 

[mrp4352]

Hallo!!

Couple of comments on The Plan 3.0 (which is wonderful, by the way - I may have to stea--- um, BORROW, your format!)...

We found with my neices (2, 3 and 5) that the Great Movie Ride and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience were fine when they rode on their parents' laps, so my brother and SIL could talk them through it. Also, with HISTA, it helped keep them from one of the more startling effects.

For pirates, when the middle one got nervous, we started looking for animals - there are more animals than you can shake a stick at in that ride! Chickens, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, parrots, goats, pigs and more - and they're in every scene after the pirate ship battle.

I would suggest moving Gran Fiesta Tour to a must-do. it's fun, always has a quick line and it has Jose! Universe of Energy can go either way - it's a really good break in the heat of the day - 45 minutes sitting down in the dark with air conditioning - it puts my mom and my neices to sleep right away!

Oh, you're going to have such a good trip no matter what you end up doing!!!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Toy Story Mania @ DHS???

Wouldn't want "The Plan 3.0" to have any bugs.

 

[jcc0621]

I am in awe

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Wow, that looks like the most comprehensive, all-encompassing and destined to be tossed out the window the minute you pass under the big Disney World sign plan I've ever seen.

That is a disctinct possibility.

Great One-I'll try to track it down for you. It was actually in a blog..with the link posted in a TR...

Awesome!

Been out of action for a spell, trying to get a conference organized for about 40 people- in another language, in a foreign country

But had a minute to take a quick peek at our last couple of installments- and they LOOK GOOD! I'd second the Maelstrom "give it a go" comment, though. It's a really fun ride!

Love your dining choices too. I've eaten at most, and have wanted to try WC for a while. It'll be fun to hear how that goes.

I'll try to catch up more next week

Good luck with your conference! I may wind up moving Maelstrom...we'll see!

Hallo!!

Couple of comments on The Plan 3.0 (which is wonderful, by the way - I may have to stea--- um, BORROW, your format!)... !!!

Borrow away my friend!

We found with my neices (2, 3 and 5) that the Great Movie Ride and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience were fine when they rode on their parents' laps, so my brother and SIL could talk them through it. Also, with HISTA, it helped keep them from one of the more startling effects.

For pirates, when the middle one got nervous, we started looking for animals - there are more animals than you can shake a stick at in that ride! Chickens, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, parrots, goats, pigs and more - and they're in every scene after the pirate ship battle.

Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely utilize them. I've also enlisted another suggestion from the Dis boards, but that's a story that has to wait until the episode on my park pack.

I would suggest moving Gran Fiesta Tour to a must-do. it's fun, always has a quick line and it has Jose! Universe of Energy can go either way - it's a really good break in the heat of the day - 45 minutes sitting down in the dark with air conditioning - it puts my mom and my neices to sleep right away!

Oh, you're going to have such a good trip no matter what you end up doing!!!

Gran Fiesta is one we will likely hit up. Not sure about U of E...depends on how the day is shaping up.

Toy Story Mania @ DHS???

Wouldn't want "The Plan 3.0" to have any bugs.

DOH! Thanks for pointing that out! I don't think I'd have to worry about making it a priority though! OH and BTW! Glad to have you along for the ride!

I am in awe

Thanks! like I told Jordan, it only took 12 years to figure out.