Dining Adventures with Character, March 8-14

[DisneyMomx7]

Great reviews!

I couldn't believe when I saw your husband's name was Skip. My brother, who I adored, (he passed away at 45 from cancer) was named Skip too!

 

[kimgof]

Your photopass pictures are adorable!!! I am thinking of doing that this trip. How was your experience using photopass? Great reviews too

 

[jenseib]

YUM that chocolate Buckle looks so good!!!!

Your daughter with Prince Charming is so cute LOL. She looks like she had a blast at 1900 PF. That Cinderella is gorgeous!

It was awesome. I should see if I can find the recipe, but it would probably be too complicated for me. LOL!

I have to say, your pictures are great! What camera do you have? We never seem to pick a good one and we need one desperately.

also, your comment below at Park Fare

"...so Claire took a seat and I tried to get a picture of her. Not much luck of getting a nice one. She was fidgety and kept putting her wand in her face"

I have to disagree! The one where she is looking off to the side with the wand on her face is so precious, it is a real nice candid one.

I am so happy to see pics and a review of the 1900 Park Fare, we are going down 8/23, and I plan on booking dinner there one night. We went there in 2005 when they had Cindy, FGM, Prince and Susie and Perla and the girls had a great time. We enjoyed the food as well, but I was a little nervous about having the 'mean sisters and stepmom', however I have read that they are actually funny, so we will do this one.

CRT was good for dinner, but we enjoyed breakfast more, all the princesses were there, even Snow White who you hardly see!

Enjoying your reviews...

I used 2 cameras. One is a Rebel XTi which I just recently broke so I have decide if I want to upgrade or pay $250 to get it fixed! Makes me sick to think about it.

I would love to see Snow White at a meal. I was hoping she would be at Akershus, but she wasn't. I'll eventually get to that review.

Great reviews!

I couldn't believe when I saw your husband's name was Skip. My brother, who I adored, (he passed away at 45 from cancer) was named Skip too!

Sorry to hear about your brother. My DH's real name actually isn't Skip. But he started walking at 8 months and it looked like Skipping, so thats what they started calling him and it stuck. Not too many people call him by his real name. It was weird when we got maried because I actually married Dean and not Skip. LOL! He said it sounded funny with me saying that name. It felt weird too.

Your photopass pictures are adorable!!! I am thinking of doing that this trip. How was your experience using photopass? Great reviews too

Thank you...and everyone else...
I love the photopass. I am never in many pictures, so it's a good way for me to hop in a few. Plus they have some neat shots that I can't do. I did a share this year. I was the leader. It came to just over $20 a person, so it became much more affordable that way. I love pictures, so I have a hard time saying no to any with my family in them. LOL!

I'll try to write some tomorrow. But we have a birthday party in the afternoon, and I have to get a gift in the AM for it, so it might not be till late till I get anything up.
Plus I need to work on my trip report too.

 

[Busymom85]

Great reviews and pictures. Look forward to reading the rest. Your daughter is adorable.

 

[jenseib]

Great reviews and pictures. Look forward to reading the rest. Your daughter is adorable.

Thank you much!

 

[KarBear]

Jenseib:
Did you pre-buy the photo pass and were you able to print the photos out yourself or at a local retail store?
Can't wait for more reviews!

 

[jenseib]

Jenseib:
Did you pre-buy the photo pass and were you able to print the photos out yourself or at a local retail store?
Can't wait for more reviews!

Yes I pre bought it. I also did a share. I usually order my prints online, and have never had a probelm with it. Some people have said some reatilers will question it, but you do get a release form. Yes I can print them myself as well, but my printer eats up so much ink when I do and it's not high quality either.

 

[jenseib]

Day 3

Tuesday, March 10


Tuesday morning I decided to get some breakfast before we headed out anywhere and share it with Claire. She was still sleeping when I went to get it, but woke up shortly after I came back…much too early!

I got the pancakes and sausage. This really comes with bacon, but Claire isn’t a super big bacon fan, and I’ll only eat it if it is really, really crispy, which this was not. So I asked for sausage instead and they gave me two patties to replace it. Good deal!

I also got an apple juice box to take along to the parks and a V8 juice.

The meal was $9.88. I used 1 CS credit.

After Skip got up, he went and got a Western Omelet. I never saw it, so no pictures.
I asked him what he got for drinks, and he said he just filled his mug with coffee! UGH! I told him he was allowed 2 drinks with breakfast, and he said, why? He didn’t need them with his mug. LOL! I told him he could’ve just got them and then we would have extra to bring along to the parks.
This is our third trip using the plan and he still doesn’t “get it”. IDIOT! LOL!
He said the girl at the cash register kept telling him he could get a drink, and he told her no.
According to Allears the omelet was $6.69 plus tax. One (wasted, LOL) CS credit.

We went to Hollywood Stuidos on this day.

DH and I split up for a bit so he could ride Rock N Rollercoaster and Claire and I went to see characters.

He said after RNRC he got a Mickey bar.
Those are $2.75 plus tax. Used one snack credit.

After we met back up, I handed off Claire to him and I went to RNRC. I too got a Mickey bar after I was done, and while waiting for them.
$2.75 plus tax. 1 snack credit.

 

[shruley]

Sorry but I can't help laughing every time your DH "doesn't get it!" LOL. Wonderful report and pictures!

 

[jenseib]

Sorry but I can't help laughing every time your DH "doesn't get it!" LOL. Wonderful report and pictures!

I know. He would drive me mad. he is Mr Cheap most of the time, thn to waste credits was so bad! LOL!

 

[meanmom121]

OOOHHHH! This is an awesome review. And so helpful for me becasue I am planning a lot of character meals. hope my DD9 and my DS11 aren't to old to enjoy them; but it is their first trip and I wanted them to get a good experience. Your daughter looks like she is so comfortable talking to all the characters. How fun for her. This is our first time on the DDP - I so don't want to be like your husband - How do I learn all the in's and outs? Is there a remedial course somewhere? I can't wait for the rest of your review!

 

[shruley]

Remedial DDP lesson #1, when a nice CM tells you you can get a free drink with that...take it!

 

[jenseib]

OOOHHHH! This is an awesome review. And so helpful for me becasue I am planning a lot of character meals. hope my DD9 and my DS11 aren't to old to enjoy them; but it is their first trip and I wanted them to get a good experience. Your daughter looks like she is so comfortable talking to all the characters. How fun for her. This is our first time on the DDP - I so don't want to be like your husband - How do I learn all the in's and outs? Is there a remedial course somewhere? I can't wait for the rest of your review!

I did alot of reading on here to learn how to use it. when in doubt just ask and they are very helpful.
I'm sure your kids will enjoy the character meals. I do. LOL! There are alot of adult only tables that come to see them too.

Remedial DDP lesson #1, when a nice CM tells you you can get a free drink with that...take it!

EAXACTLY!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Remedial DDP lesson #1, when a nice CM tells you you can get a free drink with that...take it!

Absolutely!

 

[jenseib]

After the block party, Claire HAD to have a hotdog. So we asked where we could find one and were directed to the Backlot Express.

Skip and Claire sat down at a table and I went and ordered. It seemed to take forever and there was hardly anyone there.

I ordered a hotdog, fries, a cheesecake and a sprite for her.

The hotdog was huge (all beef) and she ate most of it. I think DH ended up finishing it up.

She really liked the fries and we kept stealing them and would get yelled at. LOL!

She ate about half of the cheesecake and I, of course, helped finish it up. It was good.

The meal came to $13.39. We used 1 CS credit.

Dinner was at Hoop Dee Doo Review at 7:15.


We make our way up to the front of HS after we hit a few more things and we lost Skip. I thought he stopped for a smoke, but I was wrong. Claire and I stopped in a shop to buy her something, and I assumed Skip was just going to meet by it.
I was oh so wrong. LOL!

Now for some background before I go on….

While we were at Disney we were getting torrential rains at home. Our farm can flood somewhat and our basement floods easily too if it’s not watched. So Skip was in constant contact with his brother about the rains. His brother panics about everything. It’s super annoying. It’s like he wants Skip to drop everything and come back home every time we go away.
So Skip was slightly stressed with all this rain at home and his brother updating him constantly about what is flooding, etc. Also one of the guys who said he would be checking our basement for us, just disappeared, and wouldn’t answer his phone. My dad was checking it also, but if it started flooding, he would still need to get Skip’s brother to hook up the extra pump to pump the water outside.

Another thing was DH’s hip was hurting him bad. He gets this on and off, and they think it’s a pinched nerve. So he was going slow because of that. He was mad at me constantly for walking too fast. But any other day of the year, he is always walking SUPER fast. I even tease him that he must’ve grown up in an Arabic country because I have to walk so many paces behind him. LOL!

So back to the report….

When we found him he was mad as heck at me. He said he wanted to stop and take a break, and I just kept zooming on ahead. I told him that I thought he was smoking, but there was no reasoning with him and that started his moody pouting bit.
We exited the park and found that Fort Wildernesses bus was way down the line at the end. UGH! So I push Claire along and DH hobbles along behind us. At that point I was ticked at him then too, so I just left him in the dust and went to the bus. He arrived several minutes after us.
The bus stopped at Wilderness Lodge first and then to Fort Wilderness. It was kind of a long ride. Once we got to Fort Wilderness we had to wait for another bus to come and take us back into the campground to Pioneer Hall. It took awhile for the bus to come, and then it was quite the long haul back there. I didn’t think it was explained well which stops were which. Only if you were staying on property would you really know for sure where to get off. We did get it figured out and got off at the right stop and went to check in.

 

[jenseib]

We had to make a quick potty stop for Claire first and then went to the long check in line.
We evidently walked passed a small vendor selling stuff and Claire had a mini melt down. She wanted some stupid light up Mickey sword. I told her not now, but maybe later or another day. She was being a brat. Skip walked up to us and asked what was going on, and I told him and he was disgusted that she wasn’t happy with the toys she just bought. He was super grumpy about the money being spent, which I’m not sure why, since most of it was bought with gift cards or Claire’s spending money.
He walked away, and I was happy, because who wants TWO babies next to them. LOL!

We got checked in finally. I asked where we were to be seated and she told me first floor. OK! I didn’t care actually where we sat, but I wanted to know ahead of time.
I found DH, sitting and pouting, and left Claire with him while I took a little walk.

On my walk around Fort Wilderness (right near Pioneer Hall) I found this armadillo digging. I don’t know a lot about armadillo’s so I wasn’t sure how close I could get. But this guy never looked up at me. He just kept going about his business. I didn’t want to use a flash though and scare him and have him attacking me. LOL!

I went back to show DH the picture, and found them at the playground. He seemed in better spirits and Claire was too.

And this was near the playground

While she was playing, Skip disappeared and came back with the sword. That made on little girl very happy with her daddy. Yes she has him wrapped around her finger.

It was then time to go in. We got seated in the back on the first floor. No seats are really bad here, so that was no big deal. We started in on the salad and cornbread that is on your table when you arrive.

They took our drink orders…..beer for DH and me…LOL.
Then a manager comes over and tells us we’ve been seated at the wrong table and we were actually supposed to be upstairs. Now this is no big deal, BUT I know he was lying because I asked prior where our table was and was told first floor. I then see him go talk to another family and they said they didn’t mind going upstairs, and he said, “no since you added an extra person, that table upstairs only seats 3, so we have to put you down here.” So basically he needs a 4 table and we were 3 at a 4 table. No big deal to move, but I wish he didn’t lie about it. Just tell us they made a mistake, or one family added a person and needed the table.

Claire is confused by all this moving. LOL! But we do fine and move upstairs and a whole new table is set up for the other family and we get to start in on a whole new fresh bucket of salad and cornbread. LOL!

 

[jenseib]

First off, I didn’t “review” the salad and corn bread. I love this salad. This year it had a little less dressing on it which was disappointing to me because I am one who needs a lot of dressing. But still VERY good! I just made sure to keep mixing it to get it evenly spread out. The corn bread was good too, but I think it seemed a little dryer this year. Last years was perfect! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it did seem a little dry.

These new seats actually might’ve been better than the original. Claire was against the railing and had a clear shot out to the stage. We were also right smack in the center. The down side was she had a wobbly chair, and I envisioned her flying over the side. So we got another chair for her and all was fine. She barely ate anything. She used to love salad. In fact last year she ate almost a whole bucket herself. But this year only picked at the cornbread till the show started.
And then she became engrossed!

The show started and it is so enjoyable. It’s hard not to have a good time here.

After a bit they take a break and the food arrives.

Fried chicken

BBQ ribs

Mashed Potatoes

Cowboy Beans

I loved the chicken. The ribs were good. Neither are award winning, but still tasty. I love the mash potatoes, but I am a huge mashed potato fan and will any kind. I even love instant. LOL!

I can not stand the cowboy beans YUCK! Last year we had them here and at Whispering Canyon Café, and I thought they were gross then. I did take a small bite this year to see if they were any better, and NOPE they are still extremely nasty. DH will eat anything, and he even says they are pretty gross, BUT he did eat some. I can’t believe that many people would like these enough to keep them on the menu, but evidently some do?

More show pictures up next

 

[mickeystoontown]

We had the exact same seat as you guys were given the second time you were seated. We thought the view was fantastic. I am afraid of heights though and I hated seeing my son right next to the edge of the railing. He loved it though.

 

[msce2]

Enjoying reading about your trip!

Claire is such a cutie pie! I was laughing about your adventures with DH. I envision that's somewhat how our trip is going to go. DH is an accountant so every penny is watched. DD has him wrapped around her finger also. I always ask him what I have to do to get everything I want, and he tells me to just be as cute as she is.

 

[jenseib]

We had the exact same seat as you guys were given the second time you were seated. We thought the view was fantastic. I am afraid of heights though and I hated seeing my son right next to the edge of the railing. He loved it though.

It was a good spot. Dh wasn;t so worried about her plummeting to her death, but I insisted we trade out the chairs. LOL!

Enjoying reading about your trip!

Claire is such a cutie pie! I was laughing about your adventures with DH. I envision that's somewhat how our trip is going to go. DH is an accountant so every penny is watched. DD has him wrapped around her finger also. I always ask him what I have to do to get everything I want, and he tells me to just be as cute as she is.

I know, I need to learn some cuteness too. LOL!