Disney done differently, (BOG dining updates pages 202 and 203)

In our back pack we always keep a few of those Lego figures, or something to build. If I'm feeling particularly strong, I'll bring a DK Ultimate Star Wars Sticker book, but those get heavy carrying them around and I don't trust leaving it in the stroller, (would hate for it to walk away).

While one of us goes in line, the other sits at the table with Anakin. Sometimes he prefers to play alone, other times he will want someone to play with him. He really enjoys being helpful and getting the napkins, straws, and ketchup.

His favorite eating places:

Pinochio Haus - you can watch the Small World attraction and wave to people if you sit at a window seat.

Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe - He loves sitting and watching Sunny Eclipse and has been known to break out in dance.

The Mara at AKL - he loves looking at the animals after eating, and watching the tv while eating. Usually no toys required here as long as he is near the tv.

The Riverside Mill at POR - he loves watching the giant water wheel spin. Also enjoys the kiddie area of the food court that has a coloring table and tv. At certain times of day a cm will come and read a story to the children.

Everything Pop - there is a section off to the left that is usually quieter than the rest of the food court, but this section isn't always opened.

He only likes the All Star Movie's food court because of the grilled cheese sandwich. But he often has his hands over his ears there when large groups are there.

He does not like eating at Flame Tree BBQ because it's outside where it's hot.

He likes the Comissary because of all the tvs. He doesn't like the Back Lot for some reason and gets very hyperactive in there. We haven't figured out why.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing. We can easily pack some lego figures for Luke to play with. I think it could help in keeping him occupied. However, he tends to have trouble in crowded rooms and CS places are usually very crowded. Last trip, we had a meltdown in Pizza Planet, but he did very well at Pinnochio and Pizzafari. I am wondering if it would be better to upset his schedule and eat at off times when restaurants are less busy or if that would cause more problems. What do you think?
 
Thanks for sharing. We can easily pack some lego figures for Luke to play with. I think it could help in keeping him occupied. However, he tends to have trouble in crowded rooms and CS places are usually very crowded. Last trip, we had a meltdown in Pizza Planet, but he did very well at Pinnochio and Pizzafari. I am wondering if it would be better to upset his schedule and eat at off times when restaurants are less busy or if that would cause more problems. What do you think?

We generally eat lunch when the restaurant opens. Anakin is a huge breakfast eater although he won't touch traditional breakfast foods. For example, when we arrive at MK we sometimes stop at the bakery for a turkey sandwich for him. We generally try to eat lunch at 11am or 2pm, and those times usually work out ok. For supper, it's 5 or 8. Most counter service close an hour before the park closes, except for Columbia Harbour House seems to close earlier.

Anakin has problems at Pizza Planet too, I wonder if it's all the lights blinking and sounds from the video games?

Often they have sections closed when a restaurant first opens. You might be able to find a manager and explain about the noise level and ask if you could have a table in the closed section. The worse they can say is no.
 
Are there special pins your kids collect? Anakin has been trading for the pins of the Toy Story Mania "prizes". He got the last one of that set today at the WOD store. I use to collect sparkly Tink pins. Grumpy collected Chip and Dale. And Goofy collected Stitch and Haunted Mansion.



So glad to hear they have outgrown their seizures!

For us, it was a worry in the beginning. There were so many unknowns. Epilepsy.com has a section called Epilepsy 101, it was very helpful. Also the Florida Epilepsy Foundation has been an invaluable source. Unfortunately, they are not in our county, however since he is under 18 they will help him. His last big seizure was Feb 1. He had some small ones a week ago last Wednesday, making Thursday a rough day being postictal. His balance was a bit off that day and he was tired.

We try not to worry about him. We handle things as they come, and try to live in the now, while being prepared at the same time.

I see in your siggie you are staying at FQ in August. We are staying there in Sept. We've never stayed there before, but have stayed at POR.

Sorry to hear Anakin had a rough day. I hope he snaps out of it as fast as they come.

This will be our second time staying at FQ. You will love it. It is very serene and peaceful there. Not too big either, so that may be a plus for you guys. The pool was nice. But it's also nice to take a nice walk over to Riverside or catch the boat over there. The paths and walkways were very quiet from what I recall. I really enjoyed staying there. I am so, so jealous you guys get to go so often.
 
I would love to hear how the mickey meet n greet works. Luke will probably want to do that.

We did not get to the Mickey Meet and Greet this weekend. Anakin was so sleepy. I tried to wake him up a few times, but he needed more rest. In the meantime, I got a call from friends to meet them at the Golden Corral for lunch then Epcot. So that's what Anakin and I did, while Goofy worked and Grumpy worked on his new fish tank and school work.

This will be our second time staying at FQ. You will love it. It is very serene and peaceful there. Not too big either, so that may be a plus for you guys. The pool was nice. But it's also nice to take a nice walk over to Riverside or catch the boat over there. The paths and walkways were very quiet from what I recall. I really enjoyed staying there. I am so, so jealous you guys get to go so often.

Have you seen pictures of the new refurbished rooms? Looks beautiful! And queen size beds! Though I really hope something opens up at CSR to switch to.

Even when we lived in PA we went often. Every few years we bought an Annual Pass and would space trips 11 months apart, then skip a year. Back then you needed to go 9 days to equal out. We stopped booking packages and did room only AP rates.

It was very hard to move from PA to FL and leave family behind. It was nice when my dad retired and my parents would stay a month or two with us. Now his health is ailing, hopefully he will make it back here to FL. My parents have annual passes too. He had a stroke heading home from our house in June, but he is on the road to recovery!
 

I don't like the post-ictal phases...So sorry to hear about the rough days...glad he gets some help!

I am looking forward to hearing about the meet and greet! :goodvibes

We didn't get to the Mickey meet and greet as explained above. However, we did get to meet and greet a wonderful DISer! We met SmileyCrissy today! What a wonderful person, and she does have a great smile! We met at The Land, rode Test Track, and did the Piggy Bank Adventure.
 
As I mentioned last night, we ended up at Epcot yesterday after eating lunch with friends at Golden Corral.

Everyone I know who has ever eaten at the Golden Corral on 192 and the one in Lake Buena Vista always says the 192 one is better. We ate at the Lake Buena Vista one. It was one of our better experiences there! The most tasty thing was their fried onion. It was similar to a blooming onion. Anakin loves onion rings. So I got him one of those. He could not eat it, because onion rings have to be round and these were not.

Once in Epcot we went to Space Ship Earth.


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We got stuck on Spaceship Earth. Apparently a bird got inside the building and set off motion detectors. Anakin is afraid of the dark, and we were stopped at a very dark section before Rome. The only light was an ultra violet light that made my white shirt glow. I was the only light for Anakin. He was scared. So scared. He slumped down in his seat, and became very rigid, and couldn't chew his gum. We tried to talk to him, but he was unreceptive. I got out his brush and did the Wilbarger Brushing and joint compressions. It relaxed him a little bit. I'm not sure how long we sat there, but it was a while. Once it started back up, he was right up against me, afraid it might stop again.

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Our next stop was soarin'. The standby line was 75 minutes when we arrived. It took us around 30 minutes to get through the fast pass line. No problems here!

Next up, find smileycrissy! It's interesting finding someone who you've never met and never saw a picture of. I called her and thought, it would be easy to find someone with a phone to their ear. Do you have any idea how many people at the soarin' exit waiting area have cell phones to their ears? Several. She said she would be wearing a blue snow white shirt, so I narrowed my search to on cell phone with blue shirts. There was only one! And there she was greeting us with a smile. I introduced her to the rest of our party and we headed off to Living with the Land.

Next stop Test Track. Another attraction that broke down a couple times while we waited. Thankfully we were not stuck on the ride! We were in line waiting to get into room #2. Also in our favor, we were at the very back of that line, so there was nobody crowding in on us!

Anakin had some discomfort waiting. He kept seeking pressure from the railings, and I kept remining him that he could not sit, stand, or hang on the rails. So the next best thing, was squeezing me. We have a rule about the chin to the stomach. He may not dig his chin into me. He may only dig it into my hand where it doesn't hurt me. So there was alot of chin digging, rocking, sitting on the floor, standing back up, pin trading, repeat.

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Once we got up through the preshow and in line for our car, the attraction stopped again. This time it was only for a few minutes. The people in the car asked to stay inside it for another ride, and they were permitted. The people behind us complained. Anakin was perfectly fine with it. In fact, he had a very generous day yesterday.

(He has been really getting into pin trading. We have been just forking over pins left and right for him. He didn't understand that they don't come free. So we had him give us $10 for 17 pins. And he could do what he wanted with them. He gave 2 away to the friends we were with, and traded the rest.)

Once we got in the car, Anakin was so excited and happy. His arms were flapping at times and his legs were stomping. He kept saying I'm just so happy!


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Our last stop was the Great Piggy Band Adventure. For the 2nd time ever, we won! He had never been able to coordinate the games. This time he did a great job on the 1st and 3rd stations. The 2nd station caused him some difficulty.

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My suggestion for parents. Bring a small flash light or glow stick incase you get stuck on a dark ride. Bring calming things as well to pass the time away if a ride gets stuck.


We had a great time! We stopped on the way out for a Mickey Premium Bar and headed home. I guess he will have to eat these earlier in the day. Since he doesn't normally have caffeine, that chocolate kept him awake. He had a very difficult time falling asleep.
 
Hi Tink!!!

I'm joining in!! :)

I loved meeting you guys yesterday. Anakin is so adorable. I love the last shot of him staring at the screen.
 
/
We did not get to the Mickey Meet and Greet this weekend. Anakin was so sleepy. I tried to wake him up a few times, but he needed more rest. In the meantime, I got a call from friends to meet them at the Golden Corral for lunch then Epcot. So that's what Anakin and I did, while Goofy worked and Grumpy worked on his new fish tank and school work.



Have you seen pictures of the new refurbished rooms? Looks beautiful! And queen size beds! Though I really hope something opens up at CSR to switch to.

Even when we lived in PA we went often. Every few years we bought an Annual Pass and would space trips 11 months apart, then skip a year. Back then you needed to go 9 days to equal out. We stopped booking packages and did room only AP rates.

It was very hard to move from PA to FL and leave family behind. It was nice when my dad retired and my parents would stay a month or two with us. Now his health is ailing, hopefully he will make it back here to FL. My parents have annual passes too. He had a stroke heading home from our house in June, but he is on the road to recovery!

I know what you mean about being away from family. My in-laws are in West Virginia and a couple of years ago my parents moved to South Carolina. It is hard. So sorry to hear about your Dad not doing well and having a stroke. I really hope he feels well enough to come back for a visit.

I have seen pics of the new refurbed rooms. Those queen beds will be a god send. I have 2 teenagers and my DS is a tosser and turner. LOL. It's like being attacked if you sleep by him. You should really think about staying at POFQ instead of going to CSR. I know CSR is nice, we stayed there once,
but the quiet and tranquilty and small feel to the resort may be a nice fit for your family. Totally up to you, but I don't think you would be dissapointed with POFQ. Have you seen more pictures of the resort itself? You should take a look and see if that helps you decide.

This will be our 6th time at Disney as a family. We also alternate with taking cruises, I have been on 8 since being married to my DH, including our honeymoon. And once we did just Univ, Sea World and Busch Gardens. We have done Busch Gardens in VA, three times. One year we went to Cedar Point, Ohio for a couple of days. We try to change our vacations with stuff all 4 of us would like to do. Even though, My DD and I would prob like to go to Disney more often, the other 2 may not like to go as often even though they enjoy it. I'm sure if we do ever move down to FL, like my DH is pushing after he retires, then we will def. get to go more often. He can retire anywhere from now until about 4 more years, the most. Wish us luck that it will be sooner and we could be closer to the Mouse!!!
 
I know what you mean about being away from family. My in-laws are in West Virginia and a couple of years ago my parents moved to South Carolina. It is hard. So sorry to hear about your Dad not doing well and having a stroke. I really hope he feels well enough to come back for a visit.

Sorry to hear. I think it's harder on the grandkids. The doctors have cleared him to travel, but the stroke has left him very impulsive. Not sure how he would handle TSA. He has a aneurysm clamp and would have to be physically searched. I can't imagine he would take lightly to the way they do pat downs now.

I have seen pics of the new refurbed rooms. Those queen beds will be a god send. I have 2 teenagers and my DS is a tosser and turner. LOL. It's like being attacked if you sleep by him. You should really think about staying at POFQ instead of going to CSR. I know CSR is nice, we stayed there once,
but the quiet and tranquilty and small feel to the resort may be a nice fit for your family. Totally up to you, but I don't think you would be dissapointed with POFQ. Have you seen more pictures of the resort itself? You should take a look and see if that helps you decide.

The queen size, refurbished rooms are what brought us back to CSR in the first place, last month. So we are thrilled with the refurb rooms at FQ! We've stayed at POR a bunch of times. I'm sure we will take a ride, boat, or walk over there to catch Bob Jackson's show. Have you ever seen Yeehaw Bob? It's a cute show, just don't show up late, or they will have fun at your expense.

This will be our 6th time at Disney as a family. We also alternate with taking cruises, I have been on 8 since being married to my DH, including our honeymoon. And once we did just Univ, Sea World and Busch Gardens. We have done Busch Gardens in VA, three times. One year we went to Cedar Point, Ohio for a couple of days. We try to change our vacations with stuff all 4 of us would like to do. Even though, My DD and I would prob like to go to Disney more often, the other 2 may not like to go as often even though they enjoy it. I'm sure if we do ever move down to FL, like my DH is pushing after he retires, then we will def. get to go more often. He can retire anywhere from now until about 4 more years, the most. Wish us luck that it will be sooner and we could be closer to the Mouse!!!

It's nice to go to different places on vacation. For a while we were going on Disney cruises every so many years, and we head to PA and Ohio to visit family. We use to go to Wildwood, NJ once a year, but we haven't been there in about 6 years. Anakin was a year old. We stayed at the Marlane Motel the last time, but for years we stayed at the Mid Town Motel that is now owned by Morey's Pier and called the Blue Palm.

I see a theme to yours and my vacations, lol, theme parks. In Ohio to visit my in-laws, it use to be Geuaga Lake or Cedar Point. In PA, it's Hershey Park.

Here we have annual passes to all the theme parks. I am quickly beginning to like Universal. Surprisingly, their restrooms and customer service have been better than Disney's. We've gone twice with our AP, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Busch Gardens and Sea Worlds customer service doesn't begin to compare to either, but we enjoy our time there. I really like their all you can eat counter service dining plans. They give 10% off for passholders. We normally don't spend more than a few hours at an amuzement park, but when we are there for 2 meals or more, we do the meal plan. They have Disney more than beat in this area!

Where and what is the Great Piggy Band Adventure? I don't remember that one.

This is at Innoventions, the Innoventions closest to the Land. I can't ever remember if that's east or west? At the other Innoventions there is a create your own coaster that is great fun!
 
Hi Tink, How exciting you got to meet Crissy and that Anakin was aksing about her! :goodvibes I was hoping for a picture of the TWO of you together, she is such a cuite and I am sure you are as well! :flower3:

Praying for your Dad and for him to make a complete recovery, I know it is hard being so far away! Hugs to you dear friend!!
:hug::grouphug::grouphug::hug:
 
Hi Tink, How exciting you got to meet Crissy and that Anakin was aksing about her! :goodvibes I was hoping for a picture of the TWO of you together, she is such a cuite and I am sure you are as well! :flower3:

Praying for your Dad and for him to make a complete recovery, I know it is hard being so far away! Hugs to you dear friend!!
:hug::grouphug::grouphug::hug:

The only picture of she and I is the TT picture. I didn't check that out yet, but if it's ok with Crissy I will pm you and her the link to it.
 
Rainy day on tap today. I was hoping to get to MK this morning and check out the Mickey Meet and Greet. The weather says the rain will stop later this afternoon. Right now there is thunder and lightening, so will definately wait this out before heading to MK. Anakin is excited to pin trade. I think we will have to make a detour from the TTC and head for a dole whip at the Poly before we hit the monorail. I hope things pan out for the day. It's going to be cooler today. High of mid 70's. Dropping down to the low 60's. Should be perfect park temps as soon as the rain stops!
 
Sounds like a great plan. Our last trip, we had two days with lots of rain. Luke has a fear of rain so that did not bode well for us. Thankfully, we were at Epcot for one of these days and were able to stay indoors a great deal. The other day, we just stayed at the resort and thankfully the rain stopped shortly before the P&P Party. Cant wait to hear how the mickey meet n greet goes!
 
The only picture of she and I is the TT picture. I didn't check that out yet, but if it's ok with Crissy I will pm you and her the link to it.

You can send the link to Judy and I. :)

How sweet of him to ask about me. Tink, he really is so adorable. :) I'll keep checking here to see when you are going so we can try to meet up again soon.
 
I am absolutely loving your trip report. I don't like reading them since most that I've read like to pick their trip apart about what went wrong instead of enjoying the magic that is Disney. Your report caught my intrest because of your sons (Anakin :)) disorder concerning epilepsy, seeing as I have a form of it myself. I find your son adorable and you are able to truly enjoy the magic despite it all. Thank you for the happy posts. :goodvibes
 
I am absolutely loving your trip report. I don't like reading them since most that I've read like to pick their trip apart about what went wrong instead of enjoying the magic that is Disney. Your report caught my intrest because of your sons (Anakin :)) disorder concerning epilepsy, seeing as I have a form of it myself. I find your son adorable and you are able to truly enjoy the magic despite it all. Thank you for the happy posts. :goodvibes

:welcome: Thanks! I'm sorry to hear you have a form of Epilepsy. Hoping they find a cure in the near future! I hope your seizures are controlled.

Disney is certainly our escape from it all! As I mentioned before, Anakin says he feels special there instead of different.
 
As you all can see, I reached my limit on photobucket pics. April 10th they should show back up. It's a bummer, really, because I went to the MK yesterday to check out the Micky Meet and Greet! I got some great pics. It was a very awesome experience! There was only a 10 minute wait in the stand-by line!

They do not provide an alternate entrance for those with a GAC, unless the child is a MAW or GKTW. So if standing is an issue, be sure to have a wheel chair or stroller. There is a fast pass line so I'm sure that helps, but they will not allow you in there without a fast pass. I am not sure how they would handle it, it the FPs are all out for the day? The building is air conditioned, so no worries of over heating.

Anakin was completely amuzed by the pictures in the queue. Do not read any further if you do not like spoilers.


SPOILER ALERT


The pictures are interactive. In one of them, Mickey is trying to find an object. He switches around 3 cups and you have to guess which cup contains the object. He keeps switching them around and it's not under any cup. Instead, it's under Mickey's hat. Once he finds the object, the whole screen gets filled with them. My son was laughing so hard! He loved it!
 
Entrance

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This is what a 10 minute wait line looks like. One you get through the door way, there is only about 2 to 3 feet of queue left.


Probably a site we will not see very often. This was late afternoon/early evening.


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Keep an eye on the Hare in the hat. My little guy said he must be eating carrots.

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Wall opposite of the rabbit in the hat

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On the trunk where the rabbit is in the hat

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I would have never seen this dove, if the photopass guy hadn't pointed it out to me.

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Greeted by both Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I sure hope the photopass guy got good pics. I was too busy taking pics of the room, lol.


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Mickey's magic suit

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Mickey's trunk

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