Don't Put Your Hand on Mickey's Hat-A Family Vacation--NEW TRIP REPORT 5/24/14

[jash08]

I agree that BOG is simply gorgeous inside! So glad you enjoyed your dinner there.

How does one get up and leave CoP in the middle of the show? I didn't even think that was possible.

We really did enjoy it. It was nice to sit and visit for a bit.

I know, right? I was pretty sure you were in there unless there was an emergency and they break you out!

 

[jash08]

Hello all! First take a look at the bottom of the post......



























I have a new ticker!!!!!!!! We are going back for the same time frame. Only difference? Right now we are planning on flying!!!! Keep your fingers crossed that air fares stay affordable (under $600) and they approve Jeremy's vacation time. As soon as his is approved, I will put in mine. Now that we have put that bit of good news out there, let's move on to the last meal.



We had a 7:00 am reservation at Chef Mickey's. Dad and Jackie decided when they changed their trip that they would come and eat with us. At 7:00 am, we had no problem changing the reservation!

We drove there quickly and efficiently and were soon waiting outside the restaurant.







Sleepy Ashley.




Here they come!


And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, how this trip report got it's name!!!!!! We checked in and were soon taken over for our picture. They had a photographer and a lady to hold bags and such. We line up and Jackie rests her hand on the top of the statue. I mean, it is right there at chest level. The lady holding the bags jumps forward and says, "Don't put your hand on Mickey's hat." And when I say jumps forward, I mean jumps and speaks loudly. Really lady? It is like 7:02 am and we are adults, chill out. I guess she figured out she had way over reacted from the looks we were giving her because she soon says, "Oils from your hands can discolor the white." What I wanted to say was, "Yeah, and you are Disney. I am sure this has a repaint schedule." Soon we were taken to our table, Jackie and I talking about "the incident" all the way to our table. We all got lots of food, talked a lot, and took pictures. Here is "the photo."





And now for the character photos.























And my friends, that was the end of the meal. We sat and chatted, but we needed to go back to the hotel and check out and get on the road. We were driving all the way home. We said goodbye and headed out to our car and back to POFQ.

I will be back next week to finish our trip and write some final thoughts. I might even talk about our upcoming trip!

 

[MEK]

First of all, congrats on booking your upcoming trip. That's awesome!

Second - WTH was wrong with that lady holding the bags? Seriously? She needs a new job. People touch stuff all over WDW and she freaks over that? Makes no sense whatsoever.

I really enjoyed reading about your trip and I look forward to your final thoughts!

Great character pictures! Everyone looks like they are having a blast!

 

[teekathepony]

What a wonderful BOG dinner! Looks delish, I can't wait for my own meal there!
Hooray for your new ticker! Can't wait to hear the details!
Bag-holder lady has two jobs, hold bags and keep Mickey's hat clean. She's taking one of them WAY too seriously! Or is the hat imported rare silk that disintegrates with washing?
Other than that, looks like a great last meal!

 

[jash08]

First of all, congrats on booking your upcoming trip. That's awesome!

Second - WTH was wrong with that lady holding the bags? Seriously? She needs a new job. People touch stuff all over WDW and she freaks over that? Makes no sense whatsoever.

I really enjoyed reading about your trip and I look forward to your final thoughts!

Great character pictures! Everyone looks like they are having a blast!

I know, right? I was like seriously lady, it is a hard material that can be cleaned easily. Oh well, as you can see, we got over it quickly!

What a wonderful BOG dinner! Looks delish, I can't wait for my own meal there!
Hooray for your new ticker! Can't wait to hear the details!
Bag-holder lady has two jobs, hold bags and keep Mickey's hat clean. She's taking one of them WAY too seriously! Or is the hat imported rare silk that disintegrates with washing?
Other than that, looks like a great last meal!

We had a great time at BOG. It is definitely worth checking out.

She absolutely was taking it way to seriously. I think I stood there for about 10 seconds just staring kind of whit a WTH look.

 

[jash08]

Well, not really as I am sure I will be coming back to do some trip planning. I will start a PTR and let everyone know so you can join in that fun too!!!!!


So as I left off, we were heading back to POFQ to load up the car and check out. You don't think I could leave without more pictures, do you?














We were soon at POFQ and loaded up. We went to check out and got a last minute Disney magic with the greeter at POFQ. He is great! We headed out to the car and made our way to the Hess station by DTD and filled up. We pulled off of Disney property around 9:45 am.


I took the following last two pictures of our trip.




I wonder what the best kept secret is?





I didn't get a sign on the way in, but I was darned sure I was going to get one on the way out!


That is the end of my pictures. We drove straight through to home in one day. The drive was fine other than a little detour in Atlanta. It was a Saturday afternoon so our Garmin was like bing, lots of traffic ahead, want a detour? And we said of course. Detour was through a not so nice area of town right past the state pen. Next time, we will deal with traffic!

We pulled into our driveway at 10:45 pm. With the time change, that was right at 14 hours. We lugged all of our stuff inside and dropped it in the living room. I may or may not have fallen in bed fully clothed.

My dad and Jackie got 2 more photopass pics while they were there.




He loves the hat folks! Actually, he HATES the hat, but I am still sharing the picture.




But at least the wand is gone as he HATED that too!


So what did I think about this trip? We had an amazing time. The only thing I would change would be to spend some more time with my parents, but hey, I will take what I can get. Jeremy and I were so relaxed by the time we got home. I don't think you ever realize just how high strung you can get at home and how much you really NEED a vacation. In closing, I will give some thoughts on different aspects of our trip.

Driving- Really not too bad. It is a long way to drive, but with airfare being around $1300 then, it was the only way we were getting to WDW. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Am I glad we are flying this time? You bet your bottom dollar I am.

Cabot Lodge in Lake City- Probably won't stay there again. It was an ok place but between the door key problems and the massive rash the next day, I will steer clear. I have no idea if the rash came from there, but taking no chances. I will also be sure to pack Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream from now on.

POFQ- OMG, we loved it! It was right up our alley. More grown up, more laid back, no bus issues, it was at capacity for part of our stay and you would never know it. We loved the small size of this resort. We could easily walk to any part of it in under 5 minutes.

Dining Plan- We have now used the dining plan the last 3 times. For us, we love it. For us it is not so much a money saver, which it is as we turn counter service desserts into snacks or breakfast and we have table service meals that we would never schedule otherwise, but it is the simplicity of everything being paid for already and just handing over our card instead of digging out cash. This is especially true at counter service locations. We love it!

First week of February- Obviously it was great as we are going back again at the same time. The weather is perfect! Not a lot of rain and not too hot. Make sure you bring a coat though as it is chilly in the morning and at night.


I just want to say a heartfelt thank you too all who have read along with me. It was truly an honor to share our trip with you and I look forward to sharing our planning and next trip with you. I will also be joining in on all of your adventures. So now I will leave you with see ya real soon!

Ashley and Jeremy

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Wonderful trip report!

And that is a scary part of Atlanta to be unfamiliar with. Yikes!

 

[wiigirl]

Love all the pics!

 

[teekathepony]

Wonderful trip report of a wonderful trip! Thank you so much for sharing. Great wrap up, glad your drive home was relatively painless!
Let me know when you start a new ptr!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jash08]

Wonderful trip report!

And that is a scary part of Atlanta to be unfamiliar with. Yikes!

Thank you! It was definitely an eye opening experience.

 

[jash08]

Love all the pics!

Thank you! We love to take pictures.

 

[jash08]

Wonderful trip report of a wonderful trip! Thank you so much for sharing. Great wrap up, glad your drive home was relatively painless!
Let me know when you start a new ptr!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

So glad you enjoyed it! I will definitely let you know when I start the PTR.

 

[MEK]

All caught up on your final thoughts.

I really enjoyed your TR. I am so glad you had such a great time and are planning for the same time of year. I have never been in February. One of my bucket list things is to stay at Disney every month of the year. I have a few more months to go.

So happy for you that you will be flying instead of driving. That is a long drive, but I'm glad you didn't think it was that awful. I have had my Garmin take me into a horrible section of DC, so I know its not always the best route by a long shot.

Glad you liked POFQ. It really is a wonderful resort. Are you staying there again in FEbruary (you probably already said it, but I'm too lazy to go back and read. )

Thanks again for a great TR!

 

[jash08]

All caught up on your final thoughts.

I really enjoyed your TR. I am so glad you had such a great time and are planning for the same time of year. I have never been in February. One of my bucket list things is to stay at Disney every month of the year. I have a few more months to go.

So happy for you that you will be flying instead of driving. That is a long drive, but I'm glad you didn't think it was that awful. I have had my Garmin take me into a horrible section of DC, so I know its not always the best route by a long shot.

Glad you liked POFQ. It really is a wonderful resort. Are you staying there again in FEbruary (you probably already said it, but I'm too lazy to go back and read. )

Thanks again for a great TR!

I am so glad you enjoyed it! We love going in February. For us, it is the perfect time. Not too warm, not too busy, usually some kind of discount and it is an easy time for Jeremy to get time off from work. It is a lot easier for me to get time off, so his schedule really dictates when we go.

The plan is to absolutely stay at POFQ again. The only problem I can see is if they do free dining and exclude POFQ as it is in the current promotion. There is a room rate discount now also and POFQ is included on that, but it is a bigger discount for the free dining. It all depends on how cheap I can get airfare. If they offer the same discounts and we go with free dining and POFQ is still excluded, we will probably do POR. Definitely a moderate. I can't wait to hear about your June trip! I will also make sure to let you know when I start a PTR.

 

[jash08]

Hey everyone!

Jeremy and I have had a small change in plans!!!!!!

Since we decided to fly this time, we decided to switch to Pop since we are spending more on airfare. I will really miss POFQ, but I enjoy the Pop too and I REALLY enjoy 1 hour 45 minutes in a plane versus 14+ hours in a car !


We called and made our hotel reservations today and bought our tickets. We have already made reservations for two meals. Since we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary, we will be eating breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. We ate here during our honeymoon. We will also be eating breakfast at Whispering Canyon on the day we leave.


Keep checking back for more updates!

 

[DelftBlue]

Thanks for sharing. LOVED all the photos!

 

[MEK]

Hey everyone!

Jeremy and I have had a small change in plans!!!!!!

Since we decided to fly this time, we decided to switch to Pop since we are spending more on airfare. I will really miss POFQ, but I enjoy the Pop too and I REALLY enjoy 1 hour 45 minutes in a plane versus 14+ hours in a car !


We called and made our hotel reservations today and bought our tickets. We have already made reservations for two meals. Since we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary, we will be eating breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. We ate here during our honeymoon. We will also be eating breakfast at Whispering Canyon on the day we leave.


Keep checking back for more updates!

Yay! for flying! Sounds like your plans are firming up nicely.

 

[jash08]

Thanks for sharing. LOVED all the photos!

You are very welcome! I think they all turned out well.

Yay! for flying! Sounds like your plans are firming up nicely.

It is! I was so happy to see the airfare on sale. You know I snapped it up quick!

 

[jash08]

So they announced a discount for Disney Visa card holders today for when we are going. It is the same stay, play, and dine discount as last year. You basically get park tickets and the dining plan for the children's price. We basically just added the quick service dining plan for two people for 9 nights for an extra $240!!!!!

Needless to say I am very excited! I also added our flight info so all our plans and reservations are set! We are going to do three sit down meals out of pocket. Now all that is left to do is plan our days so we can start deciding what parks we are going to and when!

 

[MEK]

So they announced a discount for Disney Visa card holders today for when we are going. It is the same stay, play, and dine discount as last year. You basically get park tickets and the dining plan for the children's price. We basically just added the quick service dining plan for two people for 9 nights for an extra $240!!!!!

Needless to say I am very excited! I also added our flight info so all our plans and reservations are set! We are going to do three sit down meals out of pocket. Now all that is left to do is plan our days so we can start deciding what parks we are going to and when!

There is nothing better than a perfectly timed discount! So glad that worked out for you. What a wonderful price. I did the QS dining plan summer of 2012 and I actually liked it. There are a ton of great QS restaurants to choose from and I had fun figuring out where to eat.

Very happy for you! Let the menu perusing begin!