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

[disneygirlinnj]

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.

Welcome over here Colleen! I LOVE Kona! We ate there for dinner in 2007 and I'm in love with the teriyaki steak. The lunch I also enjoy but dinner is by far better in my opinion. My mom wasn't thrilled with her meal but I'm sure she'll enjoy it this time around with a little more tweaks. AND it's my bday dinner that night so I think she won't argue too much

 

[KatGarcia]

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!

I def have to say being able to try all the apps and stuff would be fun, at least tasting them. When we did the DDP and there were still apps, entrees and deserts we took home deserts and ate them in the room as a late snack or breakfast.

Being able to pass over some credits to people would be awesome of you, it really was one fo the coolest things to ever happen to us when those people basically paid for our meal!

I am so hungry for Disney food! Yesterday DH asked me the office question fo the day from his job "If you could have 3 last meals what would they be?" All I could think of was Disney food!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

I def have to say being able to try all the apps and stuff would be fun, at least tasting them. When we did the DDP and there were still apps, entrees and deserts we took home deserts and ate them in the room as a late snack or breakfast.

Being able to pass over some credits to people would be awesome of you, it really was one fo the coolest things to ever happen to us when those people basically paid for our meal!

I am so hungry for Disney food! Yesterday DH asked me the office question fo the day from his job "If you could have 3 last meals what would they be?" All I could think of was Disney food!

I'm hoping we can do the same with some of the desserts. And it's always fun to spread a little Disney magic to total strangers. I always love handing out extra fastpasses if we have them. People are so appreciative! I've also heard of people giving out free meals at counter service restaurants using their DP points so I'm sure we'll be doing that at the end of our stay. There's NO way we'll be able to use all 42 of our meals! Although...I wonder if I'd be able to use some with my bf if he eats with us? Hmm.... we'll test it out when we're there.

I've been craving disney food since my last trip too. I can never get enough!

 

[catherines_mama]

Hey!!! Found my way over and got caught up

Kona has a great dinner. Had bday dinner there 3 yrs ago - and food was great. Atmosphere wasn't top notch. I think if I had Deluxe Dining Plan I'd want to do Narcosses (sp?) or Cali Grill for my bday dinner. Jump on the monorail and jump back to MK.

We're doing Ohanas for my bday this year, but you need to really LIKE Ohana's style to eat there. Luckily we love it

Where does your BF live? I'm in Bradenton, JUST north of Sarasota, so he is very close by.

Have you stayed at POFQ before? You will LOVE IT! I can't wait. I'll take lots of pics for you and think of any ?s you want me to figure out for ya.

 

[MyMuse]

A little hijack.....

I went to Mr Cupcakes friday and boy, were those pumpkin ones gooood. Yummy!

I can't believe I never noticed them there. I was looking for them and passed it by! Luckily, I found a place to park and ran in.

It was a treat to myself after visiting the doc and getting bloodwork. I needed not to eat anything for 12 hours and boy, was I hungry! I figured a little sugar was a good thing.

...now back on topic...
I received a gift of a Kali Safari FP while I was there in March. It was so nice! I was on the FP line & talking to this nice couple in front of me. So, I got to go on twice that day.
Though, I just found out the queue line for Kali is pretty cool too.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Hey!!! Found my way over and got caught up
Kona has a great dinner. Had bday dinner there 3 yrs ago - and food was great. Atmosphere wasn't top notch. I think if I had Deluxe Dining Plan I'd want to do Narcosses (sp?) or Cali Grill for my bday dinner. Jump on the monorail and jump back to MK.
We're doing Ohanas for my bday this year, but you need to really LIKE Ohana's style to eat there. Luckily we love it
Where does your BF live? I'm in Bradenton, JUST north of Sarasota, so he is very close by.
Have you stayed at POFQ before? You will LOVE IT! I can't wait. I'll take lots of pics for you and think of any ?s you want me to figure out for ya.

Welcome over here! I loved Kona on my last visit there so hopefully it stays just as fabulous. I'd love to do Cali Grill or Narcoossees (actually I want Jiko!) but mom's very picky taste buds just won't allow it I think. I'd love to do Ohana too but that's even worse in terms of the picky eater!

My bf lives in North Port... so thats just a bit south from you, right? I remember passing signs for Bradenton when I was down there! Very close by to you guys.

And nope...never been to POFQ. I can't wait to see it. Every review I read is great and its just the perfect size for us. No specific questions yet but I can't wait to hear what you think of it this time around!

A little hijack.....

I went to Mr Cupcakes friday and boy, were those pumpkin ones gooood. Yummy!
I can't believe I never noticed them there. I was looking for them and passed it by! Luckily, I found a place to park and ran in.
It was a treat to myself after visiting the doc and getting bloodwork. I needed not to eat anything for 12 hours and boy, was I hungry! I figured a little sugar was a good thing.
...now back on topic...
I received a gift of a Kali Safari FP while I was there in March. It was so nice! I was on the FP line & talking to this nice couple in front of me. So, I got to go on twice that day.
Though, I just found out the queue line for Kali is pretty cool too.

Haha...hijack is well deserved... I've been addicted to these crazy cupcakes! They just opened up at Riverside Square mall (if you go in through Houstons..just walk through the restaurant into the mall and it's right in front of you) and I've been there umm..quite a few times. Their red velvet ones and pb&j ones are QUITE yummy as well. One day I WILL try all 30 flavors!

Awesome about the Kali FP.. I'm definitely planning on spreading some disney pixie dust when we're down there as well. My mom won't go on many of the rides that need FP so I'll try to help people out.

 

[stacikristine]

Your plan sounds great! Oh my goodness that is a LOT of food! It'll be good to relax though!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Your plan sounds great! Oh my goodness that is a LOT of food! It'll be good to relax though!

Thank you! Yeah, I'm getting slightly overloaded with the thought of the amount of food!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Small little update!


Yesterday I called and officially canceled my 40% off reservation and booked the Deluxe Dining! At first when I called to book the new res, I couldn't find the reservation that I had on hold so I just let her go through the whole thing as if it were a new reservation. THEN she told me that OMG POFQ and POR were already booked solid for free dining that week!!!! EEEK! So I quickly tried to find my reservation number for the trip I put on hold and luckily I found it so we were able to book it. I also probably could have asked her to look it up for me. Oh well.

Another tidbit of good news... Online ADRs are now open to the public! The site seems a little hokey and slow but it works! And some people are reporting getting BETTER times on their ADRs than when they called in. I tested out the site and SOME of the restaurants even have menus posted, which is nice. I went through and tried to book Yak and Yeti and there was availability on the day I chose. Didnt actually make the reservation though, was just testing the site out. Hopefully they get more kinks worked out by the 28th! I'll be on the phone AND making online ADRs all at 7am!

 

[jenny105]

I've been using the online ADR system via the TA site. It's been up for about a month already so I've gotten used to it. I haven't hit any glitches so far except that it can go a little slow at times. I like that you can look up a 5 day window and if your restaurant of choice isn't available, it will give you other options similar to the place you chose originally. Good luck getting your ADRs! I make mine next Monday.

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

I just checked out the online reservations, seems like they work out ok except that you have to keep going back for different restaurants. Am I doing it wrong or is that right? I wish it had come out before I was able to make my ADRs. Unfortunately the restaurant I want is all booked up. I was hoping to get an earlier reservation, mines later than I wanted but hey I'll figure something out. Seems like it would be a good idea, no more waiting on hold!!! Oh and by they way, good luck with all of the food!!!

 

[cinderella73]

Im on board ! We will be down same time as you. You doing MNSSHP this year? We havent ever been before but want to give a shot this year.

BTW I love your pic with Cap'n Jack!

Look foward to reading more.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

I just checked out the online reservations, seems like they work out ok except that you have to keep going back for different restaurants. Am I doing it wrong or is that right? I wish it had come out before I was able to make my ADRs. Unfortunately the restaurant I want is all booked up. I was hoping to get an earlier reservation, mines later than I wanted but hey I'll figure something out. Seems like it would be a good idea, no more waiting on hold!!! Oh and by they way, good luck with all of the food!!!

haha, we should get an award for finishing all the food if we do! i think you're doing it right with the online ADRs. I didnt play too much yet but that's what i had been doing to get different restaurants.

Im on board ! We will be down same time as you. You doing MNSSHP this year? We havent ever been before but want to give a shot this year.

BTW I love your pic with Cap'n Jack!

Look foward to reading more.

Hey! Welcome! Ohhh...I honestly didnt even THINK of MNSSHP! Yes...I totally wanted to do it! My mom would never be able to stay awake but when we did the Christmas party, she just went back to the room. Hmmmmmm! lol

 

[Malibelle]

Hi, I just came across your pre trip report. We will be there the same time as you. You plans sound great. We are doing the deluxe Dining too for the first time. I hope its not too much food. You have to go tot he MNSHHP, its the best ever! We love it and the fireworks are amazing! I am considering upgrading to a moderate resort from POP but like you I am trying to watch what we spend. I don't know if its worth it to upgrade.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Hi, I just came across your pre trip report. We will be there the same time as you. You plans sound great. We are doing the deluxe Dining too for the first time. I hope its not too much food. You have to go tot he MNSHHP, its the best ever! We love it and the fireworks are amazing! I am considering upgrading to a moderate resort from POP but like you I am trying to watch what we spend. I don't know if its worth it to upgrade.

Hey! Welcome over! I'll head over to your pre trip report right after this. I'm almost definitely going to do MNSHHP but I need to convince my friends from Florida to join me. Not sure if my bf will be able to b/c he has to go back to Tampa for class at some point in the week. I'll have to try to convince him too!

Have you stayed at Pop before? I really enjoyed it. But I can ask you all that over on your report.haha! on my way!

 

[Malibelle]

ARe you going to dress up for the MNSHHP? I don't but I got tshirts to wear. I still need to order the tickets. I have been selling things on ebay to pay for this extra stuff. NO I haven't been to POP. We are spoiled because we are DVC members so its been a while since we stayed at a value.

 

[LouDisney]

I just found your PTR, and I'm all caught up on your past TRs.
Can't wait to hear more!!

I know you have probably got tons of advice on this, but I have a Tables in Wonderland card, and I love having it. I go down to Disney about 3-4 times a year, but my card paid itself off in one trip. I think you will like having it.

 

[hlrababy]

OK! It's official!

So just got off the phone with Tables in Wonderland. I'm going that route!

I was getting conflicting information on websites but the lady reassured me I get 20% off every participating restaurant, all day, and that includes alcohol. So yeah, I'm paying $75 for it but I'll be using it for 2 people this trip and 5 people for my trip in January. It should pay for itself by the end of this trip. She even emailed me a full listing of every counter service, snack counter, TS place that I would get the discount. and it includes alcohol? Sign me up! (No...I'm not a big drinker but I'm going to meet up with one of my friends that lives in FL and we're going to attempt to carefully Drink Around the World)

Hey, I read your other trips and I am so in for this one!! I love them!!

Oooh, my favorite thing to do at Epcot...drink around the world! I did that for the first time this past November. Yum, that is all I can say!!!

Oh, and here's a pic of me and mommy on our last trip (her first trip in like 12 or 15 years!) in December of '07.

Awww, I love this picture of you and your mom!!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Hey, I read your other trips and I am so in for this one!! I love them!!

Oooh, my favorite thing to do at Epcot...drink around the world! I did that for the first time this past November. Yum, that is all I can say!!!



Awww, I love this picture of you and your mom!!

WELCOME!! and thank you I've been keeping up with your pre-trippie too.. just been slacking actually leaving comments!

 

[jordanyosh]

okay I gotta go back and read now....