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

[lovethattink]

Went back for lunch at one of our favorites! Can you guess which one? Yep...Coral Reef! It was a great dining experience! We have sat on every level, but never sat in a booth. I asked for our favorite server. She was working lower level this time!! And we got seated in a booth!!

Let me tell you!! Those booths are the best for viewing the tank!!! I was bummed that people would be in the way. Well, they weren't really in the way, but they were in the pictures. The view of the tank was amazing!! Where I sat, I could see two viewing areas of the tank, in full panoramic view!!! When we sat right at the window, the view was actually limited compared to what we were seeing!

Giant Gruper

Giant Gruper and shark

Sting ray

View of tank without people

View of other tank

Shark with people seated at window

Up next, the food! May I create my own meal?

 

[lovethattink]

We are stuck in a rut. We usually order the same thing. Since I loved the shrimp so much on the appetizer for two, I decided to create my own meal. I ordered the breaded shrimp and jimica slaw appetizer as my entree, and mashed potatoes as a side. The appetizer was $11.99 and the side of mashed potatoes was $4.99.

Breaded Shrimp with jimica slaw appetizer

Side of mashed potatoes

Anakin got his usual grilled chicken, fries, broccoli (which he won't eat, but I will), soup (which he won't eat, but we will!), and a build-your-own sundae.

Corn soup (It was amazing!!)

Entree

 

[lovethattink]

Goofy got his usual, Mahi Mahi.

Goofy and I were too full to order dessert. Anakin got his sundae. It comes out with a scoop of icecream and 3 tiny containers, one of sprinkles, one of M&Ms, and one of chocolate syrup.

This is Anakin and our favorite Coral Reef server!!

 

[mommy2mrb]

Coral Reef is a fav of our too, we've always sat next to the tank though! looks like you had a great viewing spot and food looks yummy!
how nice you have a special server, must make for a great experience!
we had that grouper by us our whole dinner, the big guy moved twice our whole dinner

 

[lovethattink]

Coral Reef is a fav of our too, we've always sat next to the tank though! looks like you had a great viewing spot and food looks yummy!
how nice you have a special server, must make for a great experience!
we had that grouper by us our whole dinner, the big guy moved twice our whole dinner

He just is not too appetizing, huh? He came at the very end of our meal and lingered.

Anakin insisted the one sting ray remembered him.

She has been our server 4 different times. Twice by chance and twice by request. (Leah from Ohio is another one.) It's like eating on a cruise ship. She knows our preferences. She has us so spoiled!

We were happy so find out that she isn't moving in July as planned! We had chosen Coral Reef to say goodbye to her.

 

[kayrosek]

Hi Tink,
I've seen you alot on Judy's thread and always meant to head over here but finally did today. I'm about eight pages in and loving it so far. I can so relate to alot of Anakin's issues. My son Jonnie has an ASD, ADHD, SPD and a whole bunch of LD's basically we have lot's of alphabet soup over here.

 

[lovethattink]

Hi Tink,
I've seen you alot on Judy's thread and always meant to head over here but finally did today. I'm about eight pages in and loving it so far. I can so relate to alot of Anakin's issues. My son Jonnie has an ASD, ADHD, SPD and a whole bunch of LD's basically we have lot's of alphabet soup over here.

Glad you stopped by! Our kid's with special needs sure make life interesting! Rarely a dull moment! Do you homeschool as well?

Our 2 week road trip has really messed with Anakin's memory. He forgot how to add. Lost the numbers 10 and 12. And forgot how to write in the boundaries. It's coming back quickly, thank goodness. Just goes to show me I need to be more attentive to the reinforcement and repitition. I need to be more consistent with his learning.

Does your Jonnie have seizures?

 

[KatMark]

This is Anakin and our favorite Coral Reef server!!

Great photo of Anakin and the CR server. We've not been there in over 12 years; it looks really good.

 

[kayrosek]

Glad you stopped by! Our kid's with special needs sure make life interesting! Rarely a dull moment! Do you homeschool as well?

Our 2 week road trip has really messed with Anakin's memory. He forgot how to add. Lost the numbers 10 and 12. And forgot how to write in the boundaries. It's coming back quickly, thank goodness. Just goes to show me I need to be more attentive to the reinforcement and repitition. I need to be more consistent with his learning.

Does your Jonnie have seizures?

I'm really glad I found you. Yep specail needs kiddos can keep you on your feet for sure. Jonnie has the most documented needs of the children in our family but for the past 3 or 4 years we've dealt with alot of unexplained health problems with our DD12. I do homeschool but right now only two of my three children are homeschooled. We started out homeschooling Jonnie because the district we were in wanted to place Jonnie in a special ed class with eight students to a teacher and no aids. Because of the student to teacher ratio they taught at the level of the most severely disabled child and Jonnie being more advanced woulden't have had any challenges or room to grow in that class. At the time my two dd's went to public school. After two years of that we moved into a district known for it's work with Autistic spectrum and Learning disabled children and enrolled all three in school. That worked okay for a year halfway through the next year Jennas (DD12's) health got much worse and her absences skyrocketed so we started homeschooling her. That was also the year Tessa our now 14 yr old started falling behind a great deal. She has tested borderline in a few learning disability categories and between that and her desire to be liked she fell way far behind. Basically she was too embarassed to ask for help for fear the cute guy or popular cheerleaders would hear and make fun of her. Now we homeschool her as well because thier aren't any popular cheerleaders or cute teenage guys in my living room. So right now Jonnie attends public school but that will only last as long as it works for him. He'll be out and in my home classroom the moment it stops working. Jonnie does not have seizures although he does have absence episodes that usually last longer that a typical petit mal seizure. He has been tested for seizure activity and they haven't found any so his episodes have been termed "sensory shutdown episodes" and it has been left at that. We have alot of problem with Jonnie retaining stuff even with repetition. I'd love to figure out a way to get past that.

 

[lovethattink]

Great photo of Anakin and the CR server. We've not been there in over 12 years; it looks really good.

Thanks! We had years between visits to Coral Reef like that. Our first experience with Coral Reef was the year the Boardwalk fist opened. They really did not have their act together at the Boardwalk in those early days. We were placed in a room only to be called a couple hours later that they needed to move us and put us in another room. They asked what they could do to help us, and said they were sending bellman to help carry our belongings. I suggested being comped a night, but the manager said he couldn't do that. The bellman whispered in my ear to ask for dinner at the Coral Reef. So that's what I said, and the manager agreed, he said appetizer, entree, and dessert, no alcohol.

Our bill at the Coral Reef was more than the room cost for the night. We had paid $185 for a studio room. Our bill, and none of us got alcohol, was well over $200, for 3 adults (my mom's first Disney trip) and 1 child.

We hadn't been back between that time (it was the 25th anniversay celebration that year, I remember pics of us with the pink castle) and went back to eat there last summer. It's quickly become a favorite!

 

[lovethattink]

I'm really glad I found you. Yep specail needs kiddos can keep you on your feet for sure. Jonnie has the most documented needs of the children in our family but for the past 3 or 4 years we've dealt with alot of unexplained health problems with our DD12. I do homeschool but right now only two of my three children are homeschooled. We started out homeschooling Jonnie because the district we were in wanted to place Jonnie in a special ed class with eight students to a teacher and no aids. Because of the student to teacher ratio they taught at the level of the most severely disabled child and Jonnie being more advanced woulden't have had any challenges or room to grow in that class. At the time my two dd's went to public school. After two years of that we moved into a district known for it's work with Autistic spectrum and Learning disabled children and enrolled all three in school. That worked okay for a year halfway through the next year Jennas (DD12's) health got much worse and her absences skyrocketed so we started homeschooling her. That was also the year Tessa our now 14 yr old started falling behind a great deal. She has tested borderline in a few learning disability categories and between that and her desire to be liked she fell way far behind. Basically she was too embarassed to ask for help for fear the cute guy or popular cheerleaders would hear and make fun of her. Now we homeschool her as well because thier aren't any popular cheerleaders or cute teenage guys in my living room. So right now Jonnie attends public school but that will only last as long as it works for him. He'll be out and in my home classroom the moment it stops working. Jonnie does not have seizures although he does have absence episodes that usually last longer that a typical petit mal seizure. He has been tested for seizure activity and they haven't found any so his episodes have been termed "sensory shutdown episodes" and it has been left at that. We have alot of problem with Jonnie retaining stuff even with repetition. I'd love to figure out a way to get past that.

I'm really glad you found me too! Sounds like our kids have alot in common.

We are using Abeka's DVD school for Anakin. We started 1st grade at the end of May. I am now doing half days with him. Grumpy was with us when we started back up. He pulled me aside and asked what will happen with his brother is older. How will he work or go to college if he forgets so much? I told him we'll tackle those things as we get to them. Right now we need to get through 1st grade, one day at a time.

 

[blessedmom4]

Krystal and Michelle, I am happy you BOTH found each other...I have "been there done that" with David as you both know...hang in there, it DOES get better...although I don't think the memory stuff will ever be what it should be, sigh...we STILL struggle with that!

 

[blessedmom4]

 

[lovethattink]

Krystal and Michelle, I am happy you BOTH found each other...I have "been there done that" with David as you both know...hang in there, it DOES get better...although I don't think the memory stuff will ever be what it should be, sigh...we STILL struggle with that!

Thanks. You have been so helpful! While I wish your son never had to experience what he has, I am glad that you have been able to help me with his experiences!!

Krystal, it's nice not to go it alone and have others who truely understand.

Thanks for the 4th wishes! I hope you had a wonderful day too! Glad you shared your good news!

 

[lovethattink]

We need some pixie dust, prayers and some good thoughts!! Anakin's order for occupational therapy has expired. The neuro won't write for a new order until he sees a re-evaluation, which makes perfect sense. I stopped by the neuro last Thursday to put things in motion. His assistant forgot. The hospital forgot to send the re-evaluation. And his appointment is tomorrow morning. We really don't want to have to pay OOP, but that may be the case for tomorrow. I left a message on the hospital's anwering machine. No response from there either....GRRRR!

 

[KatMark]

We need some pixie dust, prayers and some good thoughts!! Anakin's order for occupational therapy has expired. The neuro won't write for a new order until he sees a re-evaluation, which makes perfect sense. I stopped by the neuro last Thursday to put things in motion. His assistant forgot. The hospital forgot to send the re-evaluation. And his appointment is tomorrow morning. We really don't want to have to pay OOP, but that may be the case for tomorrow. I left a message on the hospital's anwering machine. No response from there either....GRRRR!

Sending lots of

Why can't people return phone calls and get their acts in gear.

 

[mommy2mrb]

that sucks! hope they can get the paperwork figured out soon

 

[lovethattink]

Sending lots of

Why can't people return phone calls and get their acts in gear.

that sucks! hope they can get the paperwork figured out soon

There is a reason why things aren't going as I would like them to go. It's summer time and people are on vacation. Found out the billing/insurance person is on vacation until next Tuesday. And the Neuro is on vacation until Monday.

I was able to talk to Anakin's therapist. She said we should be ok, because she finished the re-evaluation last week and sent it to her people to be mailed to me and the neuro. We are going to skip the appointment tomorrow and it won't count against him. Once the neuro and the billing/insurance person from the hospital are back from vacation, the ball will start rolling. Hopefully we will all receive the evaluation in the mail before then, and hopefully insurance will allow us to extend his therapy another 3 months, and we will be in business! And hopefully he will meet all his goals in the next 3 months!! There's alot of hope there, huh?!

Thanks for the encouragement!! I think I need a dole whip, lol!

 

[kayrosek]

Pixie dust and prayers here. Hope it all gets worked out soon.

 

[lovethattink]

Pixie dust and prayers here. Hope it all gets worked out soon.

Thanks! Hopefully by next Thursday's appointment!

We took full advantage of having the afternoon free today! After Anakin's swimming lesson, we headed to Epcot!