Doesn't everybody have Disney on speed dial? Seriously? Mickeystoontown does! 5/14

[stacy~**]

Is there a penalty for keeping it and not using it (like there is with TS)? If not I say keep it. It will just help those that are waiting out the line get in quicker if you don't show? ....ok...maybe its not that simple.

I am not in the camp of DYING to do it but was able to get the FP reservation on the 24 hour day. We are doing CP for breakfast so I am not certain how hungry we will be but figure we can just get some cupcakes or something so we can look around. Nervous that my youngest will freak when she finds out we went without her (going before the second half of the family arrives).

What would you replace it with...an ADR or just a different QS?

 

[MEK]

Hi Lisa!

I don't think I'm subbed to this yet. I look forward to reading about your trip because I know its pretty much right around the corner!

 

[jenseib]

Do Not Give It Up!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I say keep BOG!! I don't think there's a penalty if you don't go at the last minute is there? If not, then you have nothing to lose. But I think everyone should see it and try it once! I've only seen a bit of the inside during preview in October 2012 and I really want to see the rest and eat there at our New Year's Eve trip.
I bet it won't be too bad to have a couple FP+ and that in one day. Especially if it's busy - it will be a nice spot to relax in AC!

 

[MidnightParade]

As with the majority here I say keep it! I currently have an ADR for dinner(at 4:05pm) but I want to hopefully change it to a lunch FP+ and just walk in and get dessert. The menu doesn't do anything for us but I really want to soak in the atmosphere and get some Grey Stuff (It's delicious!).

But admittedly I'm tempted to just cancel and like you said not have another thing we have get to on time. I would keep it still, even if you just want to get apps or dessert. Also you can cancel it the day before if you really want, but to cancel now it would be impossible to get back.

 

[TinksThree]

I know I'm slightly behind getting over here but Holy Cow Chickadee!! Page 13!!! You're just so popular!!! Now to go back and catch up and see what youo have up your sleeves this go around!!

 

[rndmr2]

I'm here for the PTR! Can't wait to hear all about your plans. I just finished your TR and I figured I would add my reply here since it's been a few days since you finished it and started this one.

Love all the Photopass pics of the family. Glad you made good time on your drive home. So sad for your TR to come to an end but it's goo that your next trip is so close!!

I wish we were going soon, We had tentative plans to go back this year and I really want to but we are afraid to plan anything because Tim's brother is sick and it's pretty serious. He had salivary gland Cancer back in 2009 and it spread to the bone a couple years ago and he had been doing fairly well until recently when it started to advance. Long term prognosis doesn't look good but it could be months. We have all been chipping in to help out (he really can't be left alone) but He has been doing better over the past couple weeks and actually looks pretty good considering everything, now that they finally got his pain under control. It's so sad though, he is only my age- 40 (he will be 41 this week) and has 2 boys 5 and 7, so there won't be any trips out of town for a while yet.

Well, now I will go back and read the PTR updates.

 

[disneymom3588]

I've been reading your 2013 trip report and have loved it. I feel that I know you guys and you seem so familiar to me. I hope that's not to weird. I'm so excited to see that ya'll are going to be in Disney during our trip this year. We arrive on May 24th and our plans are as follow:

24th, ADR for Chef Mickey's and then bowling in Downtown Disney
25th, Hollywood Studios (Star Wars Weekend) ADR 50's Prime Time Café.
26th, Epcot (the same day as ya'll) ADR dinner at Chefs do France.
27th, maybe Epcot again later in the evening (this is our pool day) ADR dinner Whispering Canyons. We Love Epcot.
28th Magic Kingdom, FP+ lunch for BOG! ADR Dinner at Crystal Palace.
29th Magic Kingdom again! Breakfast at 1900 Park Fair. Strawberry Soup! Yum
30th Animal Kingdom. Whew! we have an ADR for O'hana and plan to go back to Downtown Disney that evening.
Then head back to Tennessee on the 31st.

I hope that maybe we will see you guys around and I'll be sure to say Hey! I'm like you, I love Disney and we are DVC owners since 2005.

 

[BridgetR3]

Whew, I finally made it over! Not sure how I missed the post for your PTR!

About switching your first park day to Epcot, I think you will rather that even though it took a little work to switch it. MK will probably be packed!!

As for BOG, KEEP IT!!! We ordered the Coq au vin which is amazing!! It's like a slow cooked pork roast with some veggies on mashed potatoes and green beans. It's now a must-do for our trips!

Also, I was thinking if you wanted to try Sunshine Seasons, they have a station in the middle that serves rotisserie chicken and although the sides are a bit different (some kind of beans and rice I think), you can get GOOD mashed potatoes with it. This way you could try out their super desserts if you are on the meal plan!

O.k. last question for you - could you not use your tickets early (during your 2 extra days)? I may have missed this somewhere but.....just in case you didn't know, if you have say, 8 park days on your tickets, you also have 8 of the water parks and more tickets. Maybe you could do a water park on that first relax day between B&C and Boma?? Not sure it would fit in but it may be an option.


O.k. from now on I promise to keep up so that I don't have to play 20 questions with ya!!!

 

[KatMark]

I would definitely keep BOG!

I like your new plans for Epcot. However, I would have kept Rose & Crown and skipped Coral Reef. Now we like CR well enough, but we much prefer Rose & Crown as far as the food goes.

I'm hoping when they start letting you add "fastpasses" that the tiering will go away. Although I'm not upset about Soarin' and Test Track because I don't like the new TT and don't care if I ride it. In fact, I don't think Mary even booked it for our two days at Epcot.

 

[rndmr2]

Now that I had a chance to catch up on your plans I have to say that I am one of the ones who definitely thought you were going to say you walked in on those Mousekeepers doing something else! Glad it was resolved and you are lucky for 2 extra days.

Your plans look good so far. I have driven there a few times when I lived in Philadelphia (about 15-17 hours) and once from Va (12 hours) but here in NY it would take too long and we just can't take that kind of time out of a trip.

I don't know what to think about the new FP system. Hopefully it will be better by the time I get back there.

I wouldn't give up the BOG lunch FP. I really want to eat there, though. I think if you are unsure or a picky eater, the lunch menu is more appealing than the dinner one is, but I see something on either menu that I would want to try.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I like this...it's makes it sound like the event is called Stacy's Wishes Dessert Party...although if it was I bet everyone would be expecting the "other" Stacy.

While I haven't met Stacy in real life, I've seen her in reel life and she gets on my nerves. I'm betting that I'd rather meet you than her.

Memorial Day is an Epcot day for us too!

The tiered FP+ kills us all. Although honestly if they are going to tier it I feel like it should be more evenly tiered. I get Soarin and Test Track as equals but Malstrom? Its a great time but really not in the same tier as Soarin and TT. Who picks this?

I am thinking the same way as you. Hopefully, the tiered thing goes away soon.

Aaron and I spent one day at Epcot last month and heading to TT first and then using our FP+ for Soarin worked fine. Although I guess it could be a different story if you aren't there at park opening!

That's how we used to do it when there were paper Fastpasses. I'd run to get the FP for Soarin' and then we'd head over to Test Track.

We may end up trying out Electric Umbrella this trip too. I could eat at Tangerine Café for every QS EP meal but my girls aren't so adventurous.

And I just wanted to go on record that I am pretty sure I have no where near 100+ ADR cancellations/changes.

So you're at what.....89 ADR changes?

Ok, so I missed the memorial Day post right before my post, which is funny. So more changes, but I think I'm up to date (as of now! )

But I do think the new plans sound good, and I'm glad everything worked out well for you when you switched it up!

I really hate that tier system. This upcoming trip will be my first time using it and I am NOT looking forward to it. (I booked out FP+ early enough before our last trip that I didn't have the tiers!)
Electric Umbrella is hubby's favourite. He's not adventurous either. We skipped it on the last two trips, so we'll probably end up there this year!

I haven't mentioned the fact that I made a change yesterday. I found an earlier opening at Beaches & Cream which works better with our plans.

The tier system is totally sucky! I hope that they change it up soon.

We aren't very adventurous eaters either and Electric Umbrella works for us all.

Guessing your Disney plans is almost as hard as winning the lottery! I love all the changes though. I did the BOG fast pass lunch too, it was pretty good. It is not a place I would wait in line all day for though.

Nothing wrong with the Electric Umbrella! I always eat there too. Or somewhere in the WS.

Hopefully by the time you get there the new FP+ where you can select more rides after your selections are complete. I am not a fan of the tired system either.

I know! I can't leave well enough alone and always seem to be changing things up.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the tiered system will go away before we arrive. It can be tricky working your plans around it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Have you seen inside the restaurant yet? If not, it's worth a lunch just to see it! I love walking around and taking in each room. If the menu really doesn't appeal to you (the french onion soup and strawberry cream cheese icing cup cake are amazing!), you could just go for dessert instead of a full meal. Your trip is coming up quickly!!!! Have you started packing yet?

No, we haven't been inside the restaurant and that's one of the reasons I booked the FP lunch. The strawberry cream cheese icing cupcakes is one of the desserts that I pre-ordered.

Haven't started "really" packing. Just pulling a few things together.

Hmmmm

For me personally, I loved BOG so much, (atmosphere AND food, despite being unsure about the menu!) that I wouldn't give up a BOG FP for anything in the world...

We didn't wait long in the standby line last November - only 25 minutes (we couldn't get a FP no matter what we tried) so if you're really unsure and you cancel it, you could always wait in line if you decided later that you wanted to do it after all.

So, it's that good huh? Maybe I'll keep it.

I think it would be irritating to have to add yet another thing to have to keep looking at the clock for. I would probably drop it, although it would be an ac break in the afternoon.

Those are our exact thoughts. John's never been a fan of Fastpasses anyway and the thought of having to be anywhere at a certain time (with the exception of dinner ADRs) drives him nuts.

Personally, I would keep it, but I'm dying to eat there. We were at WDW last May and I was unable to get an ADR for dinner there. We were walking by and I pointed it out to my mother in law and told her I was dying to try it (it was past lunch at this point). She went over and managed to get a walk up for dinner. But it caused a lot of drama with my sister in law so I said to just forget it. I regret that now because it will probably be at least 5 years before we make it back to WDW.

We had a dinner ADR there but the menu didn't appeal to us much so I dropped it.

Oh no! Darn sister-in-law!

We scored a FP for BOG lunch on our MK day, too. I think it's worth it since we take a lunch break anyway. Plus, my group is old enough that we all scatter once we hit the park and come together for meals. My question is: we have a FP for BOG for lunch, but it isn't showing up on our ME itinerary. Shouldn't it? I did take a photo of the screen showing our FP just in case. But it makes me nervous that it isn't showing up with the rest of our FPs.

In your situation, I can see why it'd be a nice "meet up" point for the family. I had the same question as you and someone over on Facebook answered the same as it was answered here. I was nervous that I wasn't seeing it on my list.

I have a BOG fast pass for one of our MK days. I'm keeping it for sure. I have it scheduled to our normal lunch time and we are planning to be in Fantasyland anyway that day . I like the fact that they bring the food to your table and I haven't been yet. I have an ADR for dinner one night but I'm still not sure about that one yet.

Our's is close to our "normal" lunch time too. So, did you decide whether or not you were keeping your dinner ADR?

Coming out of lurkdom because we did the BOG fastpass in February. I would keep it and preorder your meals. It was a great timesaver, walked right in, sat down and food was out really quickly! We were really glad we did that.
We also found that juggling Fast pass times and ADR's was a little much at times. I'm a planner but sometimes it was too much planning.

Yay for coming out of the shadows! Welcome and thanks for posting your thoughts.

I preordered our meals when I booked the FP. It's a timesaver huh? Sounds like a plus for the "keeping it" side of the page.

I hope that you'll continue to post.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Is there a penalty for keeping it and not using it (like there is with TS)? If not I say keep it. It will just help those that are waiting out the line get in quicker if you don't show? ....ok...maybe its not that simple.

I am not in the camp of DYING to do it but was able to get the FP reservation on the 24 hour day. We are doing CP for breakfast so I am not certain how hungry we will be but figure we can just get some cupcakes or something so we can look around. Nervous that my youngest will freak when she finds out we went without her (going before the second half of the family arrives).

What would you replace it with...an ADR or just a different QS?

I'm not sure if there's a penalty or not. I wondered if I didn't show and I pre-ordered the meal (and indicated that we were on the dining plan) if we'd lose those counter service credits.

Oh my word! You better make sure that nobody says anything to the youngest or downplay how wonderful it was so she doesn't freak out!

I wouldn't replace it with another ADR if we cancel it. We'd just pop into another counter service eatery.

Hi Lisa!

I don't think I'm subbed to this yet. I look forward to reading about your trip because I know its pretty much right around the corner!

Hey Mary Ellen! Yep, it's right around the corner for both of us.

Do Not Give It Up!!!!!!!!!

Lots of !!!!! there Jen. Be Our Guest lunch must be good.

I say keep BOG!! I don't think there's a penalty if you don't go at the last minute is there? If not, then you have nothing to lose. But I think everyone should see it and try it once! I've only seen a bit of the inside during preview in October 2012 and I really want to see the rest and eat there at our New Year's Eve trip.
I bet it won't be too bad to have a couple FP+ and that in one day. Especially if it's busy - it will be a nice spot to relax in AC!

Thanks for the input! I'm not sure if there's a penalty if we don't show. I pre-ordered our lunches using our dining plan credits so we might lose those if we skip it.

As with the majority here I say keep it! I currently have an ADR for dinner(at 4:05pm) but I want to hopefully change it to a lunch FP+ and just walk in and get dessert. The menu doesn't do anything for us but I really want to soak in the atmosphere and get some Grey Stuff (It's delicious!).

But admittedly I'm tempted to just cancel and like you said not have another thing we have get to on time. I would keep it still, even if you just want to get apps or dessert. Also you can cancel it the day before if you really want, but to cancel now it would be impossible to get back.

Like you, I booked it more for the atmosphere but I don't want to walk away disappointed with our lunch. So far, I've kept it in our itinerary and haven't given it up.

I know I'm slightly behind getting over here but Holy Cow Chickadee!! Page 13!!! You're just so popular!!! Now to go back and catch up and see what youo have up your sleeves this go around!!

Hey there! Saw that you and the school kids were in Universal. Looks like ya'll had a blast.

 

[Marsheliz]

Coming back with replies but I need ya'll's opinion on something.....................so, I have a FP for lunch at Be Our Guest at the Magic Kingdom. There's a possibility that I may give it up.

1) Because I'm just not sure about the menu.

2) Lunch would add yet another "gotta stop and do this" or "hurry up we have to be at" in our schedule and I'm already wondering how I'll like the scheduling of even three FP for the day.

What are your thoughts and opinions?

That is kind of how I feel as well.. I want to try it SO bad but then I just hate having a "gotta stop" just like you said.. HMM that's a tough one!! Especially with us only going for the long weekend!!

Do you have to get an email to book the lunch? If so, if we will be there June 14th, when should I expect to receive one? I am thinking that I read about a month in advance...

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm here for the PTR! Can't wait to hear all about your plans. I just finished your TR and I figured I would add my reply here since it's been a few days since you finished it and started this one.

Welcome!

Love all the Photopass pics of the family. Glad you made good time on your drive home. So sad for your TR to come to an end but it's goo that your next trip is so close!!

Less than a month until we are back!

I wish we were going soon, We had tentative plans to go back this year and I really want to but we are afraid to plan anything because Tim's brother is sick and it's pretty serious. He had salivary gland Cancer back in 2009 and it spread to the bone a couple years ago and he had been doing fairly well until recently when it started to advance. Long term prognosis doesn't look good but it could be months. We have all been chipping in to help out (he really can't be left alone) but He has been doing better over the past couple weeks and actually looks pretty good considering everything, now that they finally got his pain under control. It's so sad though, he is only my age- 40 (he will be 41 this week) and has 2 boys 5 and 7, so there won't be any trips out of town for a while yet.

Well, now I will go back and read the PTR updates.

Oh I am so sorry to hear about Tim's brother! Praying that he continues to be relatively pain free. It's tough when you see anyone suffer but it seems even harder when they are young.

I've been reading your 2013 trip report and have loved it. I feel that I know you guys and you seem so familiar to me. I hope that's not to weird. I'm so excited to see that ya'll are going to be in Disney during our trip this year. We arrive on May 24th and our plans are as follow:

24th, ADR for Chef Mickey's and then bowling in Downtown Disney
25th, Hollywood Studios (Star Wars Weekend) ADR 50's Prime Time Café.
26th, Epcot (the same day as ya'll) ADR dinner at Chefs do France.
27th, maybe Epcot again later in the evening (this is our pool day) ADR dinner Whispering Canyons. We Love Epcot.
28th Magic Kingdom, FP+ lunch for BOG! ADR Dinner at Crystal Palace.
29th Magic Kingdom again! Breakfast at 1900 Park Fair. Strawberry Soup! Yum
30th Animal Kingdom. Whew! we have an ADR for O'hana and plan to go back to Downtown Disney that evening.
Then head back to Tennessee on the 31st.

I hope that maybe we will see you guys around and I'll be sure to say Hey! I'm like you, I love Disney and we are DVC owners since 2005.

Not weird at all! I've made a lot of friends on the Dis and have never met most of them. Still neat to "know them".

I need to go back and look at my plans and see how much we overlap. If you see us, please please say hello!

Whew, I finally made it over! Not sure how I missed the post for your PTR!

Hey and Welcome!

About switching your first park day to Epcot, I think you will rather that even though it took a little work to switch it. MK will probably be packed!!

I don't know why I hadn't realized that our first MK day was Memorial Day.

As for BOG, KEEP IT!!! We ordered the Coq au vin which is amazing!! It's like a slow cooked pork roast with some veggies on mashed potatoes and green beans. It's now a must-do for our trips!

Thanks for your thoughts! The pork roast sounds delicious!

Also, I was thinking if you wanted to try Sunshine Seasons, they have a station in the middle that serves rotisserie chicken and although the sides are a bit different (some kind of beans and rice I think), you can get GOOD mashed potatoes with it. This way you could try out their super desserts if you are on the meal plan!

We've tried Sunshine Seasons a few times and it just wasn't our cup of tea for some reason.

O.k. last question for you - could you not use your tickets early (during your 2 extra days)? I may have missed this somewhere but.....just in case you didn't know, if you have say, 8 park days on your tickets, you also have 8 of the water parks and more tickets. Maybe you could do a water park on that first relax day between B&C and Boma?? Not sure it would fit in but it may be an option.

I had thought about doing that but decided that we would rather just chill that first day. I actually upgraded our tickets to 10 days now so we can enter the parks on our "off" days if we want.

O.k. from now on I promise to keep up so that I don't have to play 20 questions with ya!!!

I would definitely keep BOG!

Sounds like we need to keep it.

I like your new plans for Epcot. However, I would have kept Rose & Crown and skipped Coral Reef. Now we like CR well enough, but we much prefer Rose & Crown as far as the food goes.

We were really disappointed with Rose & Crown the time that we ate there. A little too bland for us. But, that's just us.

I'm hoping when they start letting you add "fastpasses" that the tiering will go away. Although I'm not upset about Soarin' and Test Track because I don't like the new TT and don't care if I ride it. In fact, I don't think Mary even booked it for our two days at Epcot.

Seriously? No Test Track at all?

Now that I had a chance to catch up on your plans I have to say that I am one of the ones who definitely thought you were going to say you walked in on those Mousekeepers doing something else! Glad it was resolved and you are lucky for 2 extra days.

You thought that I was going to say that they were doing the nasty too? I didn't expect to get the free days but I sure wasn't going to turn them down.

Your plans look good so far. I have driven there a few times when I lived in Philadelphia (about 15-17 hours) and once from Va (12 hours) but here in NY it would take too long and we just can't take that kind of time out of a trip.

We don't mind driving but I do wish that it wasn't such a long trip. I'd much rather have the extra day in Disney.

I don't know what to think about the new FP system. Hopefully it will be better by the time I get back there.

I wouldn't give up the BOG lunch FP. I really want to eat there, though. I think if you are unsure or a picky eater, the lunch menu is more appealing than the dinner one is, but I see something on either menu that I would want to try.

We gave up our dinner ADR there when I booked the lunch FP. It sounds like the majority is saying keep it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

That is kind of how I feel as well.. I want to try it SO bad but then I just hate having a "gotta stop" just like you said.. HMM that's a tough one!! Especially with us only going for the long weekend!!

Do you have to get an email to book the lunch? If so, if we will be there June 14th, when should I expect to receive one? I am thinking that I read about a month in advance...

We have at least two more days at the Magic Kingdom so we'll probably get to see and do everything but I just don't want to have to stop at a certain time for lunch. UGH!

I didn't get an email notification that I could book. I saw it on the Dis.

Here's the link you use to see if there's availability: https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thank ya'll so much for the input/opinions on lunch at Be Our Guest. For now, I'm going to keep the FP reservation. John wasn't a fan of the Fastpass system even before the latest rollout so it's been a bit hard to figure out whether or not it's worth the hassle. (even though the FP is supposed to take the "hassle" out of things).

Lacey and Jesse came home for the Easter which also happened to be her birthday. It's been quite some time since she was home for either one of those. They arrived Friday morning around 2:30 a.m. and left this morning. Needless to say, lots of great family time and giggling went on for those four days. She called just a while ago and said that they were almost in Chattanooga and had a couple of hours left before making it back home.

Over the weekend, we also had a new refrigerator delivered, had a scavenger hunt on Easter and, finally, we were able to till the garden. It was a busy weekend and it will be a busy week too. Hunter leaves for Dallas on Friday and will be home Sunday evening. They are going to orchestra festival and doing fun stuff like Six Flags and Medieval Times. He's excited about going and is keeping his fingers crossed that he doesn't have to room "with the guy who sleeps naked like he did last time we went on our orchestra trip".

Back to the Disney trip, I did make one slight change to our ADRs yesterday. STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!!!!!! It wasn't anything drastic. Just a change to our Beaches & Cream lunch ADR which I had been keeping an eye out for. I changed it from 12:10 to 11:40 which I think will work better with our other plans for the day.

We are at the 30 day mark! Woo-hoo! Seems like forever and a day and a half since we were in our happy place.

I'm hopeful that the bossman will leave early today since he had to be "at the office at the crack of dawn" a/k/a 9:00 a.m. He usually strolls in around 9:45/10:00 a.m. on his non-court days so early days make him grumpier than usual. When he leaves, I'll post our next days' plans.

 

[MEK]

Yay for 30 days!

Sounds like you had a great Easter and how wonderful to get to spend that much time with Lacey! :good vibes

I sincerely hope Hunter has a new roommate on this trip. Sheesh!

 

[Marsheliz]

We have at least two more days at the Magic Kingdom so we'll probably get to see and do everything but I just don't want to have to stop at a certain time for lunch. UGH!

I didn't get an email notification that I could book. I saw it on the Dis.

Here's the link you use to see if there's availability: https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/

Someone else sent me that but it won't let me put in my reservation #. I think someone had said you had to wait until about a month beforehand before it will let you book... :/ I totally feel you on the stopping for a certain time for lunch, that's why I am not totally convinced yet.