First time in the world oct. 2014

[sweetpeaandevie]

well, I was gonna post pics but the lightning has started and I can barely keep my eyes open.........so it will have to wait for morning

 

[spiritsim]

I am also waiting for Raina to post the van pics I didn't get to see the van all loaded. Just watched him bring the stuff downstairs and tried to stay out of his way and keep an eye on the girls...

 

[Chicago Mo]

i am waiting for these pictures!!!

That sounds like great music! something i could def listen to!!! must look for that.

being Irish bagpipe music is embedded into my blood stream...

 

[spiritsim]

We had a 7:00 PM reservation at Chefs. This place was PACKED and extremely noisy. This was by far the longest wait we had for a table anywhere, including when we made special table requests. Even so, it was only about 25 minutes, and nothing to get upset over. So, was it worth the wait? Lets find out.

Our server was Millie. Oh she was just so cute with the most adorable French accent I have ever heard in my life. I appreciated the fact that while I fumbled over the French that I apparently lost somewhere between high school and today, she didn't laugh or make fun of me in the slightest.

We had a pretty heavy lunch at Via earlier in the day, so I wanted something a little on the lighter side. I resisted my urge to go with the lobster bisque and instead went with the Salade Au Bleu - romaine hearts, blue cheese dressing, bacon, walnuts, croutons $7.25

Yum! Creamy delicious blue cheese, crisp bacon, just really yummy. The only wish I had was that this should have been made with spinach as I am not the biggest fan of romaine. I think spinach would have taken this to a whole different level, but a solid salad, to say the least.

Adam had Soupe a l'oignon Gratinee - the classic onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese $6.50

This must have been good because when we got home ramekins were purchased and a frantic search began for Gruyere cheese at the local supermarket.

For entrees I had Gratin de macaroni - Baked macaroni with cream and gruyere cheese $18.95

Perfectly cooked pasta and a wonderful pungent bite from the cheeses. My only remark is that I think $19 is a bit ridiculous for the portion that was given and I probably would have been slightly annoyed if we weren't on the dining plan.

Adam had Filet de boeuf grille, sauce au poivre noir Gratin Dauphinois et haricots verts - Grilled tenderloin of beef with a black pepper sauce original potato gratin of Savoy and green beans $34.95

This was absolutely delicious, along with the black pepper sauce. In contrast to my dish, this was a huge filet, along with a large helping of green beans and potatoes, and was well worth the sticker price so to speak. The meat was cooked a perfect medium rare. Cannot even tell you how much we both appreciated the fact that these were fresh green beans and not canned. Delicious and wonderfully in season at the time.

Next up was dessert!

I had Crepe a la pomme et cannelle, glace vanille, caramel jus de pommes - Crepes filled with cinnamon, apple, vanilla ice cream and apple caramel sauce $7.25

OH...MY...WORD! This was hands down without a doubt the best dessert I had all trip long. If it would have been socially acceptable I would have licked my plate clean of the caramel sauce, and even though its not, I still considered it. The crepe was fabulous and light, and the apples were actually cooked very well and had a fantastic apple flavor. The whole thing was nicely balanced by the cold ice cream.

Adams dessert sadly is no longer listed on any of the online menus, but it was just a chocolate cake.

I feel I do it a bit of injustice by calling it "just a chocolate cake". Because it was a PERFECT chocolate cake. Moist, rich, creamy frosting, and the sweetness was cut with the ice cream. Yum!

Overall, Chefs was a huge winner for us. It was a perfectly timed meal. Millie, our server, was so wonderful. She was very attentive without being intrusive. I appreciated her a great deal. And the food was fantastic, really no issues to report here.

Total Credits Used: 2
Credits Remaining: 38
Total not including tip: $94.04

Loved the looks of this.........yummy

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

yum!

 

[spiritsim]

Ok where are the van pics.....lol

well we did find these pics in my dad's stuff

Blast from the past my bestfriend from highschool and myself at DL in 1975

and Raina when she was in first grade

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

man, I spent an hour earlier downloading photos and putting up a van pic post only to come back and see that it is not here I was in a huge rush to get to orientation and the girls were not eating their lunch....I was slightly preoccupied. must have forgotten to hit submit

okay, it's coming up.....

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

Before (heading up to Ohio to spend a week with mom)




After (on the way home with all of our "stuff"




and now I have to find someplace to put everything for the next year...

 

[spiritsim]

well that and you have to bring it all to WDW with you.......

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

well that and you have to bring it all to WDW with you.......

hahahaha, yeah. I didn't take a pic of the two huge black tubs that were on the trailer in the back.....we are gonna have to bring the trailer back with us next year for the trip to Florida!!!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

sorry, forgot to flip it

 

[spiritsim]

Maybe you can find a bigger trailer......lol

 

[Chicago Mo]

holy moley.

I HOPE you will be taking pictures of you GIVING all this stuff to the kiddos!!!!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

holy moley.

I HOPE you will be taking pictures of you GIVING all this stuff to the kiddos!!!!

definitely!!! we will probably be photo crazy! I think between the two of us we took about 500 pictures this past weekend!!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

definitely!!! we will probably be photo crazy! I think between the two of us we took about 500 pictures this past weekend!!!

good!!! i wont be disappointed!!!

 

[disneychic2]

Hello! I just spent 1 1/2 hours reading and getting caught up. I kept meaning to get over here and join the fun, but never got it done. I love how enthusiastic you are about your upcoming trip and all the plans you've made! I've never planned a trip that far out myself. Other than to know that when each of my grandchildren turn 5 we are taking them to Disney. We have one planned for April 2014 and will have another one the following year in April or May.

I loved all the pictures you posted. That Disney one from the 70s is priceless. Gotta love the styles back then! You did a great job on the things you made. I especially love the Minnie bag you made. I'm partial to bags. Are you on the Disboutique thread? I don't remember seeing you over there. If not, you should join up. Lots of ideas and encouragement (though I don't think you need encouragement..you're very "get it done" it seems). Maybe you could encourage others. I was wondering how you sized the things you made for the girls? How did you know what size they will be in a year? Speaking as a grandmother who takes measurements twice a year before making anything since they grow so fast!!

Here are a couple of thoughts about some things you posted earlier: First, you don't have to decide if you want an AP now or anytime before you go. You can switch to an AP once you are there. Any time you are there. Dan and I did that a couple of years ago. We had free dining, so didn't want to mess that up. We switched our existing tickets to APs on our second day there and got credit for what we paid for them toward the AP. Does that make sense??

Also, just FYI, there is a BBB in DTD also, if that makes any difference to you.

I lost track of your plans, so you might have changed this, but at one time you had two TS meals planned for one day at HS. TS meals take a lot of time, so that's a lot of park time taken away. Also, don't know if you decided against the Fantasmic dining, but you are so right that the seating leaves a lot to be desired. We've only done it once for that reason. You also have to have an earlier dining time, which would be hard given your lunchtime TS meal.

I would like to suggest for your CS meal at AK the Flame Tree BBQ. That is the one CS meal we ALWAYS have. Absolutely love the food as well as the seating area down close to the water. And for MK we love BOG, which I see you already have planned for one of you CS meals. Another favorite in MK is Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square. Go upstairs after you get your food since it gets overlooked a lot of the time and is a bit quieter.

Don't forget when you're in Epcot to have the girls do the Phineas and Ferb mission. Not sure what they call it. It was the old Kim Possible adventure. They get little "phones" and have places it takes them to and "magical" things happen. It takes them all around Epcot and is a lot of fun for the little ones.

As for stamina in the parks, the 5 year old may have problems. When we took our 5 year old DGD last April, she took a nap every day..and usually doesn't nap at home. She was happy going to the parks in the AM, leaving around 2 and spending the rest of the time at the hotel swimming. She went to bed early every night. And this is a girl who loves to stay up late if she can get away with it. There may be nights where the older DGD will be able to stay up where the younger one won't be able to. The thing about planning with kids is to be very flexible about what you want to see and do, based on how they are holding up. I know you know this, but having never been to WDW before, it's just so hard to imagine the scope and size of it, you know? And all kids are different. The stroller will be a big help! At any rate, you are doing a great job with your planning and I am so happy that you guys are soooo excited. I never went with my parents at all and only took our kids once, so these are precious memories indeed to be making. Enjoy every minute of planning and then of the trip!

So glad the visit went well. I can't imagine not seeing my Grandkids for a year, but I know I am blessed to be only 6 hours away from 4 of the 6. And the 2 who live in Colorado will be visiting us a couple times a year. Do you do Facetime or Skype with Raina and the girls? I love the power of the electronics that allows you to do virtual visits!

Okay, I've written a book, so I'll turn your PTR back over to you. I only live a couple of hours away from Findlay, so we're practically neighbors!! Have a great weekend!

 

[spiritsim]

we don't Skype or facetime. We do call each other a lot and send instant messages or send messeges on our face book page we made just for Disney called Disney crazeyness. I also talk with the girls on the phone and the older one types me messeges when I am talking to her mom. The younger one likes to sleep in and stay up late like her dad. So they may meet us at the parks a few days. The older one is a early riser like Raina and myself. They both were still going when I pooped out at the water park. Climbing the tower for the tube rides did me in, I don't handle stairs very well. So we will have to play it by ear and be flexible. This is why we are doing 12 days so we can get to the stuff we want to see and do. AK day we are going to arrive latter as we are staying up the night before so we don't think we will need lunch at all that day.We can always revisit AK on another day if we missed anything we think is a must do....... Thanks for all the input And yes we are very excited because it's our first time at the world we have only been to DL

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

Hello! I just spent 1 1/2 hours reading and getting caught up. I kept meaning to get over here and join the fun, but never got it done. I love how enthusiastic you are about your upcoming trip and all the plans you've made! I've never planned a trip that far out myself. Other than to know that when each of my grandchildren turn 5 we are taking them to Disney. We have one planned for April 2014 and will have another one the following year in April or May.

I loved all the pictures you posted. That Disney one from the 70s is priceless. Gotta love the styles back then! You did a great job on the things you made. I especially love the Minnie bag you made. I'm partial to bags. Are you on the Disboutique thread? I don't remember seeing you over there. If not, you should join up. Lots of ideas and encouragement (though I don't think you need encouragement..you're very "get it done" it seems). Maybe you could encourage others. I was wondering how you sized the things you made for the girls? How did you know what size they will be in a year? Speaking as a grandmother who takes measurements twice a year before making anything since they grow so fast!!

Here are a couple of thoughts about some things you posted earlier: First, you don't have to decide if you want an AP now or anytime before you go. You can switch to an AP once you are there. Any time you are there. Dan and I did that a couple of years ago. We had free dining, so didn't want to mess that up. We switched our existing tickets to APs on our second day there and got credit for what we paid for them toward the AP. Does that make sense??

Also, just FYI, there is a BBB in DTD also, if that makes any difference to you.

I lost track of your plans, so you might have changed this, but at one time you had two TS meals planned for one day at HS. TS meals take a lot of time, so that's a lot of park time taken away. Also, don't know if you decided against the Fantasmic dining, but you are so right that the seating leaves a lot to be desired. We've only done it once for that reason. You also have to have an earlier dining time, which would be hard given your lunchtime TS meal.

I would like to suggest for your CS meal at AK the Flame Tree BBQ. That is the one CS meal we ALWAYS have. Absolutely love the food as well as the seating area down close to the water. And for MK we love BOG, which I see you already have planned for one of you CS meals. Another favorite in MK is Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square. Go upstairs after you get your food since it gets overlooked a lot of the time and is a bit quieter.

Don't forget when you're in Epcot to have the girls do the Phineas and Ferb mission. Not sure what they call it. It was the old Kim Possible adventure. They get little "phones" and have places it takes them to and "magical" things happen. It takes them all around Epcot and is a lot of fun for the little ones.

As for stamina in the parks, the 5 year old may have problems. When we took our 5 year old DGD last April, she took a nap every day..and usually doesn't nap at home. She was happy going to the parks in the AM, leaving around 2 and spending the rest of the time at the hotel swimming. She went to bed early every night. And this is a girl who loves to stay up late if she can get away with it. There may be nights where the older DGD will be able to stay up where the younger one won't be able to. The thing about planning with kids is to be very flexible about what you want to see and do, based on how they are holding up. I know you know this, but having never been to WDW before, it's just so hard to imagine the scope and size of it, you know? And all kids are different. The stroller will be a big help! At any rate, you are doing a great job with your planning and I am so happy that you guys are soooo excited. I never went with my parents at all and only took our kids once, so these are precious memories indeed to be making. Enjoy every minute of planning and then of the trip!

So glad the visit went well. I can't imagine not seeing my Grandkids for a year, but I know I am blessed to be only 6 hours away from 4 of the 6. And the 2 who live in Colorado will be visiting us a couple times a year. Do you do Facetime or Skype with Raina and the girls? I love the power of the electronics that allows you to do virtual visits!

Okay, I've written a book, so I'll turn your PTR back over to you. I only live a couple of hours away from Findlay, so we're practically neighbors!! Have a great weekend!

glad to see you here!!! I seem to follow you around the boards quite a bit Thanks for all the advice. we have changed several plans especially since we added days. Mom and I sat down and made out a chart of places we would like to eat so it will be all ready in about 200 days when we can make our ADRs!!!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

good!!! i wont be disappointed!!!

Yeah, and you only have to wait 404 more days to see them

 

[spiritsim]

Ok in that pic of the Disney stuff it looks to be in your entry way, not sure but are you sure it's where the girls are not going to get into it how about the back of your closet?