Chunkymonkey and Chubbyhubby Stuff Themselves Silly! THE END..on to the next TR!

[YukiPhnx]

Wow, what a great spot for Illuminations! I've never heard of this one!

 

[Cat0727]

Beautiful pictures of Illuminations! (can you believe I still haven't seen it yet? )

 

[chunkymonkey]

Wow, what a great spot for Illuminations! I've never heard of this one!

Yeah it was something we stumbled upon on our last trip. I'll definitely check it out again this time and see if it's one of those hidden gems or if just a one-time lucky thing. I didn't even know they let anyone back there! We seriously were so close to the fireworks I thought it would be unsafe, but I guess not

Beautiful pictures of Illuminations! (can you believe I still haven't seen it yet? )

Thank you! You have got to check out Illuminations the next time!! It's my favorite fireworks shows. I know everyone loves Wishes, but I just think Illuminations is more fun!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It was a nice long weekend for me and the extra day off was a much needed break!

So we’re almost at the 30 day mark, and of course I cannot stay away from altering our park touring plans yet AGAIN. I came across a site called Easy WDW.

It’s basically a blog that is offering free advice on the best parks to visit on which day. I guess it’s like a poor man’s RideMax since it’s free, and it also doen’t give specific touring plans, more just a recommendation of which parks to visit during your week there. I checked out their calendar for March 2011. So with that said, I realized I would be visiting some of the parks on their busiest days of the week and so I had to reshuffle some of our ADRs. In the process I had to give up Le Cellier lunch and Tusker House breakfast. Instead, I got ADRs at 2 other places I have longed to try, Garden Grill and Yak and Yeti. Both of them I have not been to yet. I will miss the cheddar cheese soup at Le Cellier, but since my sisters have not tried it yet, I guess it’s only me who will be missing it

So here’s our modified schedule in a nutshell:

Saturday, arrive Orlando, dinner at Coral Reef
Sunday, morning at DHS, lunch at Sci Fi, afternoon at DHS, dinner at ‘Ohana, MK EMH
Monday Epcot all day – dinner at Garden Grill then EMH at DHS
Tuesday AK all day, lunch at Yak and Yeti, evening Fantasmic! at DHS (still seeing whether or not we can get the Fantastmic! Dinner package for this but as of now, there is no availability)
Wednesday MK – most of the day, with dinner at Akershus in Epcot then watch Illuminations
Thursday – OPEN (AK or Epcot are recommended)

It basically recommends to stay clear of most EMH at the parks, which I guess is ironic since you pay more for the privilege of EMH. I understand how it could get more crowded during those days though, especially for people without park hoppers. So I tried to go to a different park on those days, but then go back just for the evening EMH, mainly because I’d like to take advantage of them at least once!

I am also thinking of switching my Sunday plans to MK for the day and then evening at Fantasmic!. That would mean I would have to switch up my ADRs again! (yikes)
It was recommended that the EMH at MK would cause the crowds at Fantasmic to be lower. I am wondering if I should do that then.

What do you guys think of my plans? Anything that I should add/change?

 

[Wonders10]

You all are arriving the same day as my mom and I, except we are leaving on Wednesdays. I paid for a ridemax subscription, have looked at Touringplans free site, and also visited the site you mentioned plus another one called "myfirstvisit". Every one of them seems to contradict the other in some way, shape or form and I have also been driving myself crazy picking the best parks for the days I'm there. And we will not have hoppers. For us, we have:

Saturday - check in, if we do a park, it will be AK
Sunday - Epcot
Monday - DHS
Tuesday - MK

That is mostly based on TouringPlans with some help from RideMax. They are not all the "bad" days, some are considered neutral and some are the "best". I've also seen that the crowd numbers have gone from 8's to 10's!!! So I'm just going in expecting the worst. Although, the fact that you were able to change your ADRs seems to be in our favor. So who knows what it will really be like. Maybe we will see you around POFQ!

 

[chunkymonkey]

You all are arriving the same day as my mom and I, except we are leaving on Wednesdays. I paid for a ridemax subscription, have looked at Touringplans free site, and also visited the site you mentioned plus another one called "myfirstvisit". Every one of them seems to contradict the other in some way, shape or form and I have also been driving myself crazy picking the best parks for the days I'm there. And we will not have hoppers. For us, we have:

Saturday - check in, if we do a park, it will be AK
Sunday - Epcot
Monday - DHS
Tuesday - MK

That is mostly based on TouringPlans with some help from RideMax. They are not all the "bad" days, some are considered neutral and some are the "best". I've also seen that the crowd numbers have gone from 8's to 10's!!! So I'm just going in expecting the worst. Although, the fact that you were able to change your ADRs seems to be in our favor. So who knows what it will really be like. Maybe we will see you around POFQ!

Thanks for your plans! I did visit touringplans.com as well, and yes, some of the information does seem contradictory to all the other sites as well. Do you think Ridemax is worth it? I keep thinking that I have winged it so many other times...i've been going to WDW for years and have not once bought a single ride plan or touring guide and I have managed to have a great time despite the crowds. But then part of me thinks, well, what have you been missing!?!? Maybe I would love the Ridemax plans!

I just don't really feel like changing our plans too much now. ADRs are getting harder and harder to get, and I want to make sure we mix up our days well and have a good variety of food for each meal, i.e. not eating at Yak & Yeti and 'Ohana on the same day, because the asian-inspired menus are too similar. If I change my Sunday plan, then that's probably what would end up happening and I am reluctant to do that. Especially since I want to keep both of them as part of our itinerary!

 

[annmarieda]

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It was a nice long weekend for me and the extra day off was a much needed break!

So we’re almost at the 30 day mark, and of course I cannot stay away from altering our park touring plans yet AGAIN. I came across a site called Easy WDW.

It’s basically a blog that is offering free advice on the best parks to visit on which day. I guess it’s like a poor man’s RideMax since it’s free, and it also doen’t give specific touring plans, more just a recommendation of which parks to visit during your week there. I checked out their calendar for March 2011. So with that said, I realized I would be visiting some of the parks on their busiest days of the week and so I had to reshuffle some of our ADRs. In the process I had to give up Le Cellier lunch and Tusker House breakfast. Instead, I got ADRs at 2 other places I have longed to try, Garden Grill and Yak and Yeti. Both of them I have not been to yet. I will miss the cheddar cheese soup at Le Cellier, but since my sisters have not tried it yet, I guess it’s only me who will be missing it

So here’s our modified schedule in a nutshell:

Saturday, arrive Orlando, dinner at Coral Reef
Sunday, morning at DHS, lunch at Sci Fi, afternoon at DHS, dinner at ‘Ohana, MK EMH
Monday Epcot all day – dinner at Garden Grill then EMH at DHS
Tuesday AK all day, lunch at Yak and Yeti, evening Fantasmic! at DHS (still seeing whether or not we can get the Fantastmic! Dinner package for this but as of now, there is no availability)
Wednesday MK – most of the day, with dinner at Akershus in Epcot then watch Illuminations
Thursday – OPEN (AK or Epcot are recommended)

It basically recommends to stay clear of most EMH at the parks, which I guess is ironic since you pay more for the privilege of EMH. I understand how it could get more crowded during those days though, especially for people without park hoppers. So I tried to go to a different park on those days, but then go back just for the evening EMH, mainly because I’d like to take advantage of them at least once!

I am also thinking of switching my Sunday plans to MK for the day and then evening at Fantasmic!. That would mean I would have to switch up my ADRs again! (yikes)
It was recommended that the EMH at MK would cause the crowds at Fantasmic to be lower. I am wondering if I should do that then.

What do you guys think of my plans? Anything that I should add/change?

I think the idea of staying away from parks with EMH is for those who are staying off site. They can't take advantage of it and since resort guests are sure to increase the crowds cause they can.... it makes sense then if you don't stay on property to pick a different park than where "everyone" else is going.

Sad you have to miss Le Cellier... but I think your other picks will be wonderful!!!

 

[Wonders10]

Thanks for your plans! I did visit touringplans.com as well, and yes, some of the information does seem contradictory to all the other sites as well. Do you think Ridemax is worth it? I keep thinking that I have winged it so many other times...i've been going to WDW for years and have not once bought a single ride plan or touring guide and I have managed to have a great time despite the crowds. But then part of me thinks, well, what have you been missing!?!? Maybe I would love the Ridemax plans!

I just don't really feel like changing our plans too much now. ADRs are getting harder and harder to get, and I want to make sure we mix up our days well and have a good variety of food for each meal, i.e. not eating at Yak & Yeti and 'Ohana on the same day, because the asian-inspired menus are too similar. If I change my Sunday plan, then that's probably what would end up happening and I am reluctant to do that. Especially since I want to keep both of them as part of our itinerary!

Other than going by online guides to help me choose what day I will visit a park, I have never bought any touring plan membership, until RM. Honestly, I'm not overly impressed like some people. I may make some half day itineraries just to have them and see if they work, but we, too, always make up our plan as we go, hitting the more popular rides first, etc. I'm not one to have to see every ride, so maybe RM isn't for me. I'm sure what you have will be fine and you girls will have a great time!

 

[mikera329]

I was stuck home today, sick with the flu, and read your TR from begining to end! Loved it! Great info, amazing pics!! You are really good at this My fam is heading to The World in Aug and you have reassured me with ADR's and given me great tips for touring. Thanks so much! PS...I absolutely LOVE your hair! So pretty...enjoy your March Girls Trip

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

I don't know about you, but deciding what days to go to parks, park hop or not to park hop, use EMH or not... is making me want to tear my hair out. There just seem to be 1000's of ways to tour and everyone has their own ideas. I have 5 different plans set out for what to do each day, and I can't decide what is the best way to go. I love love love planning for this trip, but I seem to have hit a wall, and I am in the mood to tear up all my plans and just wing it.

I am glad that you seem to have it all set now though

 

[chunkymonkey]

Woohoo!! We're down to 30 days now!!In 30 days I'll be on a plane to WDW!

I think the idea of staying away from parks with EMH is for those who are staying off site. They can't take advantage of it and since resort guests are sure to increase the crowds cause they can.... it makes sense then if you don't stay on property to pick a different park than where "everyone" else is going.

Sad you have to miss Le Cellier... but I think your other picks will be wonderful!!!

I think you are probably right! That makes sense. I think we'll end up doing the evening EMH because I am not sure if we can all get ready in time for morning EMH...4 girls sharing 1 bathroom...sigh

Other than going by online guides to help me choose what day I will visit a park, I have never bought any touring plan membership, until RM. Honestly, I'm not overly impressed like some people. I may make some half day itineraries just to have them and see if they work, but we, too, always make up our plan as we go, hitting the more popular rides first, etc. I'm not one to have to see every ride, so maybe RM isn't for me. I'm sure what you have will be fine and you girls will have a great time!

That's good to know. I know some people have really great experiences with Ridemax, like AnnMarieda. It's sometimes so hard to figure out what to do in advance, that sometimes I will just end up winging it...

I'll be interested to know how your experiences are with RM and without!

I was stuck home today, sick with the flu, and read your TR from begining to end! Loved it! Great info, amazing pics!! You are really good at this My fam is heading to The World in Aug and you have reassured me with ADR's and given me great tips for touring. Thanks so much! PS...I absolutely LOVE your hair! So pretty...enjoy your March Girls Trip

Thanks!! I hope you feel better! Having the flu sucks but at least you have the DIS to keep you entertained. I'm glad to be of some help! I've gotten so much invaluable information from the DIS. Stuff I didn't even know before even though I've been to the parks a LOT.
Aw thanks, I have a crazy love/hate relationship with my hair. I struggled for 30 years to finally get a style that was relatively easy to maintain and yet one that I liked. I had a digital perm in my hair during our Sept. trip. It's mostly grown out now, so probably in my next TR my hair won't look so nice. It's crazy thin and frizzy naturally...

I don't know about you, but deciding what days to go to parks, park hop or not to park hop, use EMH or not... is making me want to tear my hair out. There just seem to be 1000's of ways to tour and everyone has their own ideas. I have 5 different plans set out for what to do each day, and I can't decide what is the best way to go. I love love love planning for this trip, but I seem to have hit a wall, and I am in the mood to tear up all my plans and just wing it.

I am glad that you seem to have it all set now though

OMG yes I am totally going nuts with this planning. I thought I was all set but I ended up changing stuff because I wanted to make sure we avoided some of the crowds. And yes, EMH and park hopping only adds to the complexity. And of course I want to be able to watch every nightime show, and eat at a bunch of places... Because of this I had to swap ADRs around and I wasn't able to get new ones for the places I wanted. I have to now check back every day to see if an ADR frees up! I really want Tusker house breakfast for 3/29, but so far, no avail! Hope you get settled with your planning. I know it's driving me nuts. I'm still deciding on when to watch Fantasmic! on 3/27 or 3/29. A bunch of people, including our travel agent from Dreams Unlimited, told me to watch it on 3/27 because MK EMH would take away some of the crowds, but that means rearranging my 'Ohana ADRs...and then shifting my schedule yet again.

 

[onescgirl]

Happy Birthday!!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Happy Birthday!!!!

Thank you so much Amy!!! I had a fabulous day!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Hi! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I sure did because…it was my 35th birthday on Sunday!

I started celebrating with a brunch on Saturday with my DH. We went to a new restaurant called Ditch Plains on the upper west side. It’s very good, and the space is really bright and airy. The best part was they gave us complimentary French Toast since it was their grand opening. Now I don’t normally like French toast, but theirs was just sooo good. It’s made with a thick hunk of country bread and they soak it overnight in a concoction of vanilla cream, sugar and brandy before coating it with sugar and caramelizing it on a griddle. At the end of the meal they even give you homemade salt water taffy too. Here are some Facebook pictures of our yummy brunch...

Deviled eggs with fried oysters – unusual pairing but delicious!

My lobster roll with sweet potato chips

DH’s fried fish tacos

And our yummy French toast!! It tasted like crème brulee bread…yum.

Then later that afternoon, we saw Just Go With It. It was actually better than I thought it would be I was pleasantly surprised.

We ended Saturday with a family dinner of all you can eat sushi! I love sushi!!! Here’s just a fraction of what we ate. I have a large family!

On Sunday, my REAL birthday, I gathered at our favorite BBQ place, Dinosaur Barbeque, for a humongous feast with my friends and family! There were about 20 of us in total. Wings, shrimp, ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, mac n cheese, corn, and potatos. OMG we had platters and platters of food. I don’t want to see bbq again for a while. LOL. The best part was the red velvet birthday cake! I love red velvet cake! Even our wedding cake was red velvet. This cake is from a famous NYC bakery called Magnolia. They make amazing cupcakes, banana pudding, icebox cake, cookies, and other desserts. Definitely worth a stop if you like old fashioned sweets.

Here’s me with my cake!

My friend got me a bunch of new cameras! I LOOOOVE them! I’ve always wanted the Fuji Instax Mini the Diana Mini cameras and she got me both. Love them!

The Diana Mini is a film camera so I have to finish my roll of film before I can develop them. If you don’ t know about the Diana Mini, you can google it. It has to do with Lomography which is a particular style of toy cameras. The most famous are the Holgas, which I also own.

Here are some pics taken with my Instax Mini. It’s just like a Polaroid! My sister got these Disney Princesses film too so my friend’s kids had a blast looking at those pictures! Here’s a few pics taken during my BBQ B-day Lunch!

The instax is a great camera to have for parties. Everyone can take a little souvenir home and they also are great for guestbooks during weddings or bridal/baby showers. The camera is inexpensive but beware as the film can cost A LOT. I buy in bulk from ebay to save a good chunk.

On my Birthday evening, we were so full we couldn’t eat any dinner, so we just watched the Oscars and I had some leftover birthday cake. Nothing surprising about the Oscars, but I really only watch for the fashion.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Happy Birthday

I am glad that you had a fun birthday and you got presents that you really enjoyed.

 

[Wonders10]

Happy Birthday, a day late! I missed the memo apparently Looks like you had a great birthday weekend! The place you went for brunch sounds really yummy! I love "different" restaurants like that, not so chainy - hard to find that around here.

Red-velvet cake! Yum! I've heard of magnolia bakery from all my gossip magazines - I believe Katie Holmes used to stop there a lot I've made the Sprinkles red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting from Williams-Sonoma and its pretty good!

I can't believe our trip is coming up so soon! (I say "our" only because we are arriving the same day!). It can't come soon enough for me! Looking forward to more of your TR and any pre-trip planning! Are you planning on doing a trip report for your sister trip?

 

[Tracy161]

Happy belated Birthday!!! Sounds like you had an awesome weekend!!!

 

[KatGarcia]

Happy Late Bday! I have heard great things about Dinosaur BBQ, I must check them out eventually!

 

[Cat0727]

Happy belated birthday! Sounds like you had a fun birthday weekend. Oooh Magnolia, I've had my birthday cake from them once, it was so good. I've never tried their red velvet though. how is it?

 

[RachelNinja]

Even though I haven't been keeping up to date with your TR, it's exciting for me now because I can read a bunch in succession!

Ooo, I love the souvenirs that you got! The Vinylmation notebook is a cute way to get a TON of Vinylmation images in one souvenir! I like the Pook-a-Looz notebook because it's like having all of them in one souvenir! Not that I bought it, haha.

YAY, we're in your trip month since it's now March! How exciting. I really wish I could go at any time and not have to deal with going during school breaks.

Just some info about Le Cellier ... it's going to be a Signature Dining restaurant when you go, I believe. That means it'll be 2 credits for each of you. Our server told us that they're changing the entire menu and that the only 2 things that are staying are the cheese soup and the filet (and even the filet will have changes).

Love Chunkysis's homemade cards! I make greeting cards too. I always have, but I recently bought a Cricut machine, so that is my new hobby on top of everything Disney-related!

What an awesome victory dance! I wanted to try the video game thing too, but we actually didn't spend much time in Innoventions this trip. I was a little disappointed in that, but there's always next year!

Curious to know what you thought about the spicy tuna rolls! How do they compare to "real" spicy tuna rolls at sushi places?

Happy belated birthday!!! Looks like you had a ton of yummy food! Have you ever taken sushi pics with your big camera? I'm curious to know what shots you've gotten! Howard and I love going to have sushi even though we've cut back a LOT over the past 6 months or so.