Bringing Mom to WDW for MY bday, Sept '09! Day 4 Part 1..AK and Tusker House 12/30!

[jenny105]

Aw! Cute!!

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Awww too cute!!!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

So I figured I should probably be trying to figure out ADRs and Parks, etc for my trip. My ADR window isnt until June 28th.. but I'm getting antsy!

Tell me what you guys think...they're VERY tentative and depend on a few things... I'll be making dinner ADRs for 4 people for every day b/c my bf will be joining us for a few days here and there and also my friends from FL will be in the Disney area and they'll probably join us too. Most breakfasts will be at POFQs CS.

Sept 26th (Sat): arrive... possibly MK for a little bit after we settle in. Maybe do GF Tea instead? If bf is with us I doubt he'll want to do the tea...we'll see. Or I'll tell him to meet us after the tea. Maybe Plaza for dinner if we go to MK.
Sept 27th (Sun): My Birthday! MK for the day definitely.. I think. I don't want to eat at MK for dinner though because I'm just NOT a fan of any of the table restaurants in the MK to actually have a bday dinner there. Dinner most likely at Tutto. Although EMH are at the MK that night but I'd still have to drop my mom off back at the hotel since it's late for her. Possibly have breakfast at Crystal Palace? Kona (for the french press coffee!)? Chef Mickeys? or just eat at POFQ in the morning.
Sept 28th (Mon): Epcot for F&W and fun. We'll stay at Epcot all day so we'll wander and nibble all day. Dinner maybe at Chefs or Teppan Edo. Also, if Kouzina is open at the Boardwalk, that's a possibility too.
Sept 29th (Tues): MGM day. Either a late lunch at Brown Derby or dinner at Mamas. My mom will only like the coconut shrimp at BD and it's only available at lunch. I wonder if I'd be able to call and ask to have that for her for dinner? We're actually trying to avoid the Fantasmic crowd so if Fantasmic is this day then we'll move around plans a bit.
Sept 30th (Wed): Epcot again for more F&W yummy fun. Dinner would be at wherever we didn't get an ADR the first two days at Epcot!
Oct 1st (Thurs): AK day. Yak & Yeti dinner if we can have an ADR around 5pm. If not then we'll head to maybe Kona or the Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner...or back to Epcot? lol
Oct 2nd (Fri): MK all day. Our last full day always has to be at the MK so we'll be back here. Dinner at Tonys!
Oct 3rd (Sat): our last day.. if we didn't do tea at the GF the first day...we'll prob do it today. Then head back to the MK or Epcot and relax and wander.

 

[dawnbu40]

So I figured I should probably be trying to figure out ADRs and Parks, etc for my trip. My ADR window isnt until June 28th.. but I'm getting antsy!

Tell me what you guys think...they're VERY tentative and depend on a few things... I'll be making dinner ADRs for 4 people for every day b/c my bf will be joining us for a few days here and there and also my friends from FL will be in the Disney area and they'll probably join us too. Most breakfasts will be at POFQs CS.

Sept 26th (Sat): arrive... possibly MK for a little bit after we settle in. Maybe do GF Tea instead? If bf is with us I doubt he'll want to do the tea...we'll see. Or I'll tell him to meet us after the tea. Maybe Plaza for dinner if we go to MK.
Sept 27th (Sun): My Birthday! MK for the day definitely.. I think. I don't want to eat at MK for dinner though because I'm just NOT a fan of any of the table restaurants in the MK to actually have a bday dinner there. Dinner most likely at Tutto. Although EMH are at the MK that night but I'd still have to drop my mom off back at the hotel since it's late for her. Possibly have breakfast at Crystal Palace? Kona (for the french press coffee!)? Chef Mickeys? or just eat at POFQ in the morning.
Sept 28th (Mon): Epcot for F&W and fun. We'll stay at Epcot all day so we'll wander and nibble all day. Dinner maybe at Chefs or Teppan Edo. Also, if Kouzina is open at the Boardwalk, that's a possibility too.
Sept 29th (Tues): MGM day. Either a late lunch at Brown Derby or dinner at Mamas. My mom will only like the coconut shrimp at BD and it's only available at lunch. I wonder if I'd be able to call and ask to have that for her for dinner? We're actually trying to avoid the Fantasmic crowd so if Fantasmic is this day then we'll move around plans a bit.
Sept 30th (Wed): Epcot again for more F&W yummy fun. Dinner would be at wherever we didn't get an ADR the first two days at Epcot!
Oct 1st (Thurs): AK day. Yak & Yeti dinner if we can have an ADR around 5pm. If not then we'll head to maybe Kona or the Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner...or back to Epcot? lol
Oct 2nd (Fri): MK all day. Our last full day always has to be at the MK so we'll be back here. Dinner at Tonys!
Oct 3rd (Sat): our last day.. if we didn't do tea at the GF the first day...we'll prob do it today. Then head back to the MK or Epcot and relax and wander.

Sounds like a great week! We plan to be eating our way around the Food Fest on the 28th and 30th too!

 

[jenny105]

Your plans look great! Maybe I'll bump into you at one of the F&WF carts!

 

[KatGarcia]

Sounds like some great choices! I say do Crystal Palace for your bday breakfast, you can got an early ADR and be in the MK almost alone first thing on your bday!

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

That sounds like a good plan, Jen!

I can never forget your birthday because it is a week before mine! LOL!!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Sounds like a great week! We plan to be eating our way around the Food Fest on the 28th and 30th too!

I'll keep an eye out for you guys!

Your plans look great! Maybe I'll bump into you at one of the F&WF carts!

I'll definitely be there more often than not! It's one of the main reasons that I wanted to go this week!

Sounds like some great choices! I say do Crystal Palace for your bday breakfast, you can got an early ADR and be in the MK almost alone first thing on your bday!

Thanks Kat! Ohh...I totally didnt even think of getting into the park early as a perk! Definitely leaning towards that then

That sounds like a good plan, Jen!

I can never forget your birthday because it is a week before mine! LOL!!

I can never forget your bday either! Yours is the 4th...Lisa's is the 3rd, it's a fabulous week for bdays

 

[disneygirlinnj]

OK mini update...I just looked at the Travel Agent link that people are posting for Sept hours and it looks like Fantasmic is of COURSE on the 29th...the day we were scheduled to go to MGM. I hear Fantasmic days at the park now are pretty crowded so we wanted to avoid it. Guess I'll be swapping it with possibly our AK day, which doesn't mess up anything, I dont think!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Grrrr....new update to make my brain explode!!

OK so I'm thinking about the whole spending too much money when we're down there. And I've also been reading a bunch of trip reports where people have upgraded to the Deluxe Dining.

So my dilemma.. I'm thinking about getting rid of the 40% off pin code and reserving the Free Dining Package for my mom and I but paying the additional money for the Deluxe Dining. Our big thing for not doing the normal free dining was that we like appetizers and would have to pay for those OOP anyways. But now for an additional $30 or $40 each a person, we get a bunch more things.

We'd also be able to have breakfast at TS restaurants instead of running to the CS in POFQ. Grr... I know I complained the Free Dining was way too much food... but now that we have total options for the Deluxe (including appetizers)... we can always politely decline dessert or share one, etc.

Here's my price breakdown..

Original Plan Using 40% off hotel Pin
POFQ with discount: $718.23
Annual Pass for me: $499.49
8 Day Pass for mom: $299.27
Tables In Wonderland: $75.00
Total: $ 1591.99

Plus I have to buy food in above... average $100 a day-ish..probably less
so add $700-$800 to the total of that.. around $2292-$2392

New Tentative Plan with Deluxe Dining
Deluxe Package at POFQ with 2 8 Day Passes: $2222.32
Upgrade my pass to Annual Pass: $200.22
Total: $2422.54

The new tentative plan is slightly more but then we might also be able to do some dining shows, relax more at TS (I dont want to push my mom too much because of her health and the damn HEAT that is in florida in Sept!).

Am I totally crazy for thinking of changing my reservation?

 

[MyMuse]

Go for it!

Using your high estimate, it is a difference of $30.54. If you really like the idea of being able to relax a bit more, it will de-stress your vaca AND you got a ton of more value - all for $31 more.

Yeah, I would go for it.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Go for it!

Using your high estimate, it is a difference of $30.54. If you really like the idea of being able to relax a bit more, it will de-stress your vaca AND you got a ton of more value - all for $31 more.

Yeah, I would go for it.

Thanks! I've been mulling it over during lunch and I think I will bump up to deluxe. Now I have THAT many more ADRs to make! The only one I think I'd have to pay OOP is the Grand Floridian Tea since that's not covered under any DP.

Time to start browsing those menus again!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Just calculated roughly how much 2 'random' days would be in terms of food just to see how much I'd be spending OOP... the most expensive dinner and the least expensive dinner (roughly). Had done this calculation before but wanted to do it again for my sanity....still definitely leaning towards the Deluxe Plan upgrade! I just have to ask mom tonight but I'm pretty sure I'll call tomorrow.. why is this so nerve wracking?!

Dinner at Mamas with 1app, 2 entrees, 1 desert, 2 nonalc drinks: $54
Lunch CS: $20-ish
Breakfast CS: $16-ish
Snacks: $10
Total: $100... if used Tables in Wonderland on dinner... $90 (not including gratuity)

Dinner at Tutto (same amount of food as above): $83
Snacks: $10
Breakfast: $16
Lunch: $20
Total: $128... if used TiW on dinner.. $113 (not including gratuity)

sorry..don't mind my babble

 

[MyMuse]

Ok, the one hiccup would be making the ADRs, but, you never know online dining might actually be working!! After ADRs will be stress-free!

For comparison sake, I looked up my March trip and I spent $78.28 (incl tip)on 2 dinners at Mama Melrose (F! package), which was 2 apps, 2 entrees, 1 dessert and coffee. I don't know where I had an alcoholic drink or a regular drink.

I do the same thing; I have to work it all out before I can make a decision. I'm doing the same now for my Vegas trip for my hotel. I'm probably going to book it tonight. I think.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Ok, the one hiccup would be making the ADRs, but, you never know online dining might actually be working!! After ADRs will be stress-free!

For comparison sake, I looked up my March trip and I spent $78.28 (incl tip)on 2 dinners at Mama Melrose (F! package), which was 2 apps, 2 entrees, 1 dessert and coffee. I don't know where I had an alcoholic drink or a regular drink.

I do the same thing; I have to work it all out before I can make a decision. I'm doing the same now for my Vegas trip for my hotel. I'm probably going to book it tonight. I think.

Oh awesome thanks for the comparison for Mama! So I was probably even being lenient when I said Mama would be around $54. I wasn't including tip though since that's not included on the dining plan. Although I'm also NOT including tax, which IS included on the dining plan!

Haha, glad I'm not the only one that keeps on crunching numbers over...and over...and over Vegas is awesome, we went a few times over the years! You're going to enjoy it no matter what your interests are!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Wow food overload!

I've scoured allears and listed every restaurant and CS that my mom would eat something at. Do you know how hard that was to do? haha! Sadly she might be living off of veggie burgers and pizza at CS, with possibly a tuna salad sandwhich thrown in for fun.

TS is a a little better..barely pasta with shrimp, pasta, veggie burgers, shrimp, and that's about it. I thought your palate is supposed to expand with age!

I really want to do a signature meal now that we'll upgrade to deluxe and the only one I think she'd enjoy is Citricos. But that's only if they make one of the appetizers as an entree for her. She MIGHT like the tandoori shrimp at Sanaa but I have a feeling she might get turned off by everything else. Same with Jiko... there's one shrimp dish on the menu but we'd have to ask them to omit the curry sauce from the shrimp curry... is that even possible?!

I'm trying to hash out an ADR plan now so I should post it maybe tomorrow. I was also going to crazily attempt MAYBE a dinner at CRT but I heard that the characters arent the same as the breakfast? Really?

 

[disneygirlinnj]

So I think I've decided on a very tentative plan for ADRs now that we're most likely going to Deluxe Dining. I have a reservation on hold, but didn't confirm and put the deposit down yet. This is a LOT of food and a LOT of ADRs but we'll take our time and relax. Plus any ADR can be dropped the night before or that morning if we decide it's too much and we'll do CS. Here's what I was thinking we're gonna do..

Sept 26th (Sat): arrive... MAYBEEE MK for a few hours
Lunch: GF Tea (It's not on the dining plan but I really want to do this and I think mom would enjoy)
Dinner: Citricos

*If bf comes up that Saturday, we'll figure something out. I dont know if he'll want to spend the money on Citricos but I also think he'll understand that this is my mom and I's vacation so maybe he'll join or just bum around the hotel/park

Sept 27th (Sun): My Birthday! MK for the day definitely.. I think. I originally said i wanted my bday dinner at Tutto but we'll be there enough the rest of the week. I guess I can deal with a semi-good dinner instead EMH are at the MK that night so I'd still have to drop my mom off back at the hotel since it's late for her.
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
Lunch: Tonys ~ late lunch
Dinner: Plaza? maybe head over Kona?

Sept 28th (Mon): Epcot for F&W and fun. We'll stay at Epcot all day so we'll wander and nibble all day. Hopefully we'll have room for snacks!
Breakfast: Wave or POFQ
Lunch: Tutto
Dinner: Teppan Edo

Sept 29th (Tues): AK day.
Breakfast: Tusker House
Lunch: Pizzafari or other CS
Dinner: Yak and Yeti
* Carriage Ride at POR later on after dinner?

Sept 30th (Wed): Epcot again for more F&W yummy fun.
Breakfast: POFQ
Lunch: Chefs
Dinner: Tutto

Oct 1st (Thurs): MGM day. We're actually trying to avoid the Fantasmic crowd so if Fantasmic is this day then we'll move around plans a bit.
Breakfast: POFQ
Lunch:BrownDerby/SciFi/Mama
Dinner: Mama if not at lunch or head to Epcot for F&W?

Oct 2nd (Fri): MK all day. Our last full day always has to be at the MK so we'll be back here.
Breakfast: Kona or Wave
Lunch: Plaza
Dinner: Tonys

Oct 3rd (Sat): our last day.. if we didn't do tea at the GF the first day...we'll prob do it today. Then head back to the MK or Epcot and relax and wander.
Breakfast: GFC/Wave
Lunch: F&W?


Any suggestions?

 

[KatGarcia]

Thats just a ton and a half of food! I do not think I could eat that much while at Disney!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Thats just a ton and a half of food! I do not think I could eat that much while at Disney!

Haha, it IS a ton of food if we ate 3 full courses for each meal. I'm sure we won't. If my bf and friends come then they are completely sharing the appetizers and desserts with us. if they don't eat with us then we'll share with other tables if we can (I just read your f&w trip again and saw people did that for you in Boma!)! My mom is a very picky and SMALL eater so we're trying to beef her up a little bit. I'm thinking we'll probably have one app, 2 entrees, and maybe 1 dessert between the 2 of us. Except at Citricos.. I wanna try it all!

 

[Colleen27]

Sept 27th (Sun): My Birthday! MK for the day definitely.. I think. I originally said i wanted my bday dinner at Tutto but we'll be there enough the rest of the week. I guess I can deal with a semi-good dinner instead EMH are at the MK that night so I'd still have to drop my mom off back at the hotel since it's late for her.
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
Lunch: Tonys ~ late lunch
Dinner: Plaza? maybe head over Kona?

Kona is a fabulous place for a nice dinner. Not quiet exactly, because it is open to the Poly lobby and right next to Ohana, but such a wonderful break from the crowds and heat! It is literally steps from the monorail, so it is super-easy to get there from MK and you get lots of A/C in the process.