Food, Fun, and Frivolity: 8 Funtabulous days w/pics! UPDATE 1/20 HELP!!!!

[bangzoom6877]

You have some GREAT restaurants!! You and your hubby will have a terrific date night at Flying Fish! That place was wonderful! And can't wait to hear which place you'll choose for your last night...toughie right there!



You know, for some reason, DH and I had ALWAYS thought that you couldn't get the dining plan?? Which was why we were a little hesitant on getting DVC one day, but this is good news for us!

I was just thinking a few days ago (while watching The Little Couple , love TLC shows!), the woman on there mentioned her lease was up and that she needed to get a new car...From what I hear, isn't it better to own a car, because then it would be payed off and considered 'your' vehicle? Then I got to thinking, but this means a BRAND new car every, what, 4-5 years?? Which would hopefully mean not too much maintenance on the vehicle (as far as engine/alternator/transmission issues with a newer car vs an older car)...

The restaurants I had listed are VERY tentative. That list is likely to change many, many times before next January when I will be actually making our ADRs! And maybe even a little after that, I did some tweaking last year after the ADRs were already made. But we have a good strong base to start with! What we have to figure out is if we plan to go to any restaurants that do not take the dining plan. That would be if we decide to try Bistro de Paris for our date night, or go to one of the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin (they're walking distance from BWV). If that is the case, we will have to go with the AP and TIW card instead.

DVC members have been able to add the QSDP, DDP and DxDDP at least since I have been a member (late 2008). However, things can change at any time and that means that they could technically announce at some point that the dining plans are not available to DVC members staying on points. I don't think that would happen, because Disney makes a lot of money on the dining plans. What DVC members cannot get is the free dining promotion. To qualify for that, a person has to pay rack rate for their room, and buy a park ticket as well.

As far as leasing a car, we had originally looked into buying one and financing. The loan would be for 5 years. We thought about it...after 5 years, a car really can begin to show wear and tear, and then the issue of finding a good mechanic comes in. We lease for 36 months. We pay less per month than we would if we had financed. We get a new car every 3 years. We've been doing this since 2002, and never had a problem with wear and tear or anything. We're on our 4th lease, all Hondas. Started with the Civic, then the Accord when Philip was a baby, then the Odyssey when Jonathan was born, and now the CRV (which is great for the 4-wheel drive in all this snow we have been having in NY!). We love the CRV. We got used to the monthly lease payment when we had the first car, and now it is just part of our monthly budget. Love having a new car every 3 years!!!

Our mayor actually closed the public schools today, so we had a nice day at home with the boys. They thought we were getting about 9 inches of snow but we got close to 20! And a lot of the snow from the blizzard the day after Xmas still has not gone away yet! I don't think I will see my lawn until July!

 

[heathsf]

Well unfortunately here I am, back home after 8 long hours in the airport. First we were delayed, then after 3 hours we were cancelled, then we waited 3 more hours to get our checked luggage back until we discovered that our luggage went on the next flight to Orlando (a flight that was overbooked with 30 people on standby so we couldn't get on it). It was the most miserable/frustrating travel experience I've ever had. Tomorrow we'll rebook for February - during President's Week - so it will be super crowded. I'm so disappointed

 

[franandaj]

Oh my, you know me way too well already!!!

Here goes:
This of course is a VERY tentative schedule, but gives me an idea on how our park days will look, dining-wise. For the above plan, we would have the basic DDP on night 1, deluxe plan nights 2-4, and deluxe plan again nights 6-9. And yes, we would use leftover credits for nights 5 and 10.

We'll see...like I said, I will probably change my mind a thousand times!!

I was just curious how you would balance it out between signatures and regular restaurants, you will need to tweak it a little because you have too many in the 2nd half (I think?)

The train!!! Have you told me about this before or am I making this up in my mind..?? Cuz it's a great idea! Wonder how long it takes??

10 GLORIOUS food plates i'm sure! That would be awesome!!! I'm thinking that whole ordeal took at least 2 1/2 hours, yes??? Food comatose is the way to go...as long as it's GREAT food, not junk food.

And that's what I was thinking about his suit too...as soon as we buy him one, things will come up more often for him to wear it! I'm thinking, V&A's whenever we go back to WDW??? Perhaps, if DH likes the cruise so much and decides to go on it again, Remy again?!?

I'll head over to your PTR right now to find out your secret! P.S. how was dinner last night? Where did you guys go to??

Also, i'm looking up dates now (my mom's going with DH and me cuz she also has the two day PH available through May...and we're thinking either Friday March 18-20 or Friday March 25-27, 2011) We just need to find out which dates will work better with DH's schedule...PLUS my mom got a 40% off PIN last month that I totally forgot about! So we're thinking the GC or maybe PPH since i've NEVER stayed there! Not sure yet..we have to book before Feb 11 I think, so we'll know for sure probably next week!

I don't think I mentioned the train before, I just started thinking about it when my friend took it back to Illinois for Christmas.


I think the Chef's Table was about 3 1/2 hours. One of the things that sort of made me a little nausetious was that when we were on our dessert courses, they had already started back on the apps and mains for the dining room. The smell of the meat cooking was incongruent with eating souffles!

I saw you found out the resorts...I'll PM you on the rest....

As far as leasing a car, we had originally looked into buying one and financing. The loan would be for 5 years. We thought about it...after 5 years, a car really can begin to show wear and tear, and then the issue of finding a good mechanic comes in. We lease for 36 months. We pay less per month than we would if we had financed. We get a new car every 3 years. We've been doing this since 2002, and never had a problem with wear and tear or anything. We're on our 4th lease, all Hondas. Started with the Civic, then the Accord when Philip was a baby, then the Odyssey when Jonathan was born, and now the CRV (which is great for the 4-wheel drive in all this snow we have been having in NY!). We love the CRV. We got used to the monthly lease payment when we had the first car, and now it is just part of our monthly budget. Love having a new car every 3 years!!!

I can see where leasing a car would make more sense in a place where the weather ruins your cars...do they salt the roads there? We have cars from 2003 and 2002 and they are both still fine (although the 2002 is a lemon that Fran's father bought), now that we have our loan money we're going to get a new car! On the other hand, today I drove two of our cars, one is a 1963 Lincoln Continental and the other is a 1970 Cougar!

 

[Leshaface]

The restaurants I had listed are VERY tentative. That list is likely to change many, many times before next January when I will be actually making our ADRs! And maybe even a little after that, I did some tweaking last year after the ADRs were already made. But we have a good strong base to start with! What we have to figure out is if we plan to go to any restaurants that do not take the dining plan. That would be if we decide to try Bistro de Paris for our date night, or go to one of the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin (they're walking distance from BWV). If that is the case, we will have to go with the AP and TIW card instead.

DVC members have been able to add the QSDP, DDP and DxDDP at least since I have been a member (late 2008). However, things can change at any time and that means that they could technically announce at some point that the dining plans are not available to DVC members staying on points. I don't think that would happen, because Disney makes a lot of money on the dining plans. What DVC members cannot get is the free dining promotion. To qualify for that, a person has to pay rack rate for their room, and buy a park ticket as well.

As far as leasing a car, we had originally looked into buying one and financing. The loan would be for 5 years. We thought about it...after 5 years, a car really can begin to show wear and tear, and then the issue of finding a good mechanic comes in. We lease for 36 months. We pay less per month than we would if we had financed. We get a new car every 3 years. We've been doing this since 2002, and never had a problem with wear and tear or anything. We're on our 4th lease, all Hondas. Started with the Civic, then the Accord when Philip was a baby, then the Odyssey when Jonathan was born, and now the CRV (which is great for the 4-wheel drive in all this snow we have been having in NY!). We love the CRV. We got used to the monthly lease payment when we had the first car, and now it is just part of our monthly budget. Love having a new car every 3 years!!!

Our mayor actually closed the public schools today, so we had a nice day at home with the boys. They thought we were getting about 9 inches of snow but we got close to 20! And a lot of the snow from the blizzard the day after Xmas still has not gone away yet! I don't think I will see my lawn until July!

Knowing you, I'm sure they'll change too!! It's fun to play around with your restaurants though! But you do have some great places on there!

We're in the process of looking for a new truck for DH (his is currently stuck in our driveway, just rotting away) so probably by Summertime (hopefully) he'll have something...then I need a new car...right now I have a Toyota Celica, so it's VERY small, and NO ONE can see me in it...especially in this town...Tulare/Visalia is known for having 'larger than life' trucks, and every man wants to have a taller truck then the next person, which makes me look like a beetle when i'm driving next to them! Definitely not a safe car, especially if we're going to have a family one day...

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want an Infiniti or Lexus hatchback, but if we can't hack the payments, I'll be very content with a Chevy Traverse!

Hope you had a great day off yesterday! We're on 'foggy' schedule, where buses run 2 hours late, pretty much every day, because of how bad the fog is here...does it get really foggy back there??

Look at this, it's called Tule Fog, after Tulare I guess!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog

The pics don't look that bad, and i've DEFINITELY seen worse!

Well unfortunately here I am, back home after 8 long hours in the airport. First we were delayed, then after 3 hours we were cancelled, then we waited 3 more hours to get our checked luggage back until we discovered that our luggage went on the next flight to Orlando (a flight that was overbooked with 30 people on standby so we couldn't get on it). It was the most miserable/frustrating travel experience I've ever had. Tomorrow we'll rebook for February - during President's Week - so it will be super crowded. I'm so disappointed

OOOHH NOO!!!! And I was thinking about you yesterday today!!! I'm so sorry that this didn't work out!! How frustrating! Especially after all the planning i'm sure you did! So February, is that the second week?? I didn't know that it got crowded in Feb?? The only times I hear that are crowded are New Years Day, MLK weekend, Marathon weekend, then Spring break?? I thought it was pretty much dead from Feb to March!! So what happens with you flight tickets? Do they get refunded or transferred to a different flight?

I was just curious how you would balance it out between signatures and regular restaurants, you will need to tweak it a little because you have too many in the 2nd half (I think?)



I don't think I mentioned the train before, I just started thinking about it when my friend took it back to Illinois for Christmas.


I think the Chef's Table was about 3 1/2 hours. One of the things that sort of made me a little nausetious was that when we were on our dessert courses, they had already started back on the apps and mains for the dining room. The smell of the meat cooking was incongruent with eating souffles!

I saw you found out the resorts...I'll PM you on the rest....



I can see where leasing a car would make more sense in a place where the weather ruins your cars...do they salt the roads there? We have cars from 2003 and 2002 and they are both still fine (although the 2002 is a lemon that Fran's father bought), now that we have our loan money we're going to get a new car! On the other hand, today I drove two of our cars, one is a 1963 Lincoln Continental and the other is a 1970 Cougar!

Gosh!! 3 1/2 hours! Crazy!! And ya, I would feel a little sick too if I smelt something fishy while I was trying to eat my dessert! Not a good combo!

A '70 cougar!!! (Whistle) Is it all 'souped-up'?? Those can be awesome vehicles! My family goes to a chili cook off/car show in Cambria(central coast; you've probably heard of it, if you went through Paso) every April, and they have some stupendous, beautiful cars! I've seen a few Cougars there that are RIDICULOUS!!

 

[franandaj]

A '70 cougar!!! (Whistle) Is it all 'souped-up'?? Those can be awesome vehicles! My family goes to a chili cook off/car show in Cambria(central coast; you've probably heard of it, if you went through Paso) every April, and they have some stupendous, beautiful cars! I've seen a few Cougars there that are RIDICULOUS!!

We just got it all fixed up. Our mechanic had it for over a year and a half. He completely rebuilt the engine, they made new seats for it, he put in a 10 disc changer but it "looks oldschool". About 8 months ago this car was just a frame, now it looks great and kicks A**!

 

[bangzoom6877]

I was just curious how you would balance it out between signatures and regular restaurants, you will need to tweak it a little because you have too many in the 2nd half (I think?)


I can see where leasing a car would make more sense in a place where the weather ruins your cars...do they salt the roads there? We have cars from 2003 and 2002 and they are both still fine (although the 2002 is a lemon that Fran's father bought), now that we have our loan money we're going to get a new car! On the other hand, today I drove two of our cars, one is a 1963 Lincoln Continental and the other is a 1970 Cougar!

Yes, balancing out regular restaurants and signatures would be tricky...I thought I did it right for the credits we would have, but I may have miscalculated. Like I said, that list is very tentative and will change so many times in the next year and a half! We are also considering other factors, like the fact that without a dining plan at all, we have the flexibility of dining at the Swan & Dolphin, and some more of the DTD restaurants that don't accept the dining plans (but they accept TIW). Plus, there are some places by the Boardwalk to grab snacks that don't take the dining plans. Ahh...decisions, decisions!

Yes, they salt the roads here...well, when they get their butts in gear that is. I don't know how much you guys heard about the blizzard we had on the east coast the day after Xmas, but our mayor did NOT do a good job at all of designating enough sanitation workers to clean up the outer boroughs (Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island). Of course, Manhattan was very nicely cleaned up, because there were tons of tourists there that week and they were getting ready for the big bash in Times Square, where it is mostly tourists that go for New Year's Eve. The mayor lives in Manhattan as well, and his street was the first one to be cleared. On the block right after mine is where the city bus turns onto the avenue. The bus got stuck there while turning at 8am on December 27th...they didn't send someone to tow it away until 5pm on December 28th! Our mayor only sees dollar signs, unfortunately. He also wants to lay off 21,000 teachers, and he wants them to be the ones on top pay, not by seniority. He says we should be laid off based on teacher effectiveness. But with teachers' salaries coming directly out of each school's budget, you tell me what most principals will do with all these budget cuts going on...keep a 30-year veteran teacher making $100,000, or keep a newew teacher making $45,000?

OK, now that my rant is over (for now! )...the weather does take its toll on the cars here. Especially this winter...we have had so much snow already. And we have almost 2 months to go until Spring.

Knowing you, I'm sure they'll change too!! It's fun to play around with your restaurants though! But you do have some great places on there!

We're in the process of looking for a new truck for DH (his is currently stuck in our driveway, just rotting away) so probably by Summertime (hopefully) he'll have something...then I need a new car...right now I have a Toyota Celica, so it's VERY small, and NO ONE can see me in it...especially in this town...Tulare/Visalia is known for having 'larger than life' trucks, and every man wants to have a taller truck then the next person, which makes me look like a beetle when i'm driving next to them! Definitely not a safe car, especially if we're going to have a family one day...

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want an Infiniti or Lexus hatchback, but if we can't hack the payments, I'll be very content with a Chevy Traverse!

Hope you had a great day off yesterday! We're on 'foggy' schedule, where buses run 2 hours late, pretty much every day, because of how bad the fog is here...does it get really foggy back there??

Look at this, it's called Tule Fog, after Tulare I guess!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog

The pics don't look that bad, and i've DEFINITELY seen worse!

We don't get terrible fog here too often. But sometimes it gets pretty bad. In YC, all the highways and roads are well-lit, so when I travel to an area where you have to rely on your brights to drive, I get very nervous. Just because I am not used to it. If it is foggy in such an area, I am a wreck!

The weather here is usually not bad. We typically have 4 seasons, it's just that this winter has been particularly bad for snow and ice. There is just nowhere left to put all this snow, and we're supposed to get more this coming week. It's just not letting up anytime soon. I don't mind normal snowfall, like 3 or 6 inches, but when we get a couple of feet it is quite annoying. Especially when those couple of feet fall on top of ice from last month's storm. I am hoping that the second half of the winter gets better. I'm sick of being stuck in the house so much! Even though when we are super crazy busy every weekend in the Spring and Fall, I miss being home...but I like to be able to choose whether to stay home or go out!

 

[franandaj]

I don't know how much you guys heard about the blizzard we had on the east coast the day after Xmas,

We don't get terrible fog here too often. But sometimes it gets pretty bad. In YC, all the highways and roads are well-lit, so when I travel to an area where you have to rely on your brights to drive, I get very nervous. Just because I am not used to it. If it is foggy in such an area, I am a wreck!

Had I been at home watching my normal news programs, I would have heard about your storms, but we were traveling. Once I got home I found out how bad it was.

Tule fog is like nothing you've ever experienced. It is freaky when it's bad. You have to use your low beams and you can only see about 2 feet in front of you sometimes not even that much. It's been a while since I've been in it. Luckily the Valley has been nice to me when I've traveled through recently.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Had I been at home watching my normal news programs, I would have heard about your storms, but we were traveling. Once I got home I found out how bad it was.

Tule fog is like nothing you've ever experienced. It is freaky when it's bad. You have to use your low beams and you can only see about 2 feet in front of you sometimes not even that much. It's been a while since I've been in it. Luckily the Valley has been nice to me when I've traveled through recently.

It's funny what the media does...all we have ever heard about the weather in California is that in San Diego it is always nice (around 70 degrees), and that there are a lot of earthquakes in California. I have never heard about issues with fog until you guys. It's crazy how the media emphasizes all the stereotypes of a place, but then you find out what people really deal with who live there.

We're supposed to get even more snow late Tuesday and into Wednesday. The high temp for Wed. is supposed to be 36, so we are praying it actually gets up that high, and the snow changes over to rain. There is just nowhere left to put more snow! Oh well...so much for the "January Thaw".

I know my posts have been so negative about the weather here lately. It's just total chaos and madness though. And I feel like we're trapped in the house...cabin fever setting in, for sure. I think I will spend most of my Spring and Summer outside this year! I'm just looking forward to walking outside without having to look out for ice and snow! I keep thinking of our cruise this coming July, and it makes me feel better. But this definitely has not been an easy winter at all!

 

[Leshaface]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2647258

Here is the link to my PTR for our upcoming cruise!!

I hope you all will come on over!!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Great report! Gelato and a book in a hammock at Coronado is one of my favorite ways to spend a day off, so seeing pics of the resort got me all happy!

Sad to hear about your Cape May transportation drama! When I was concierging (is that a word?) I always suggested people just take a taxi there if it was a res before 9am.

Goofy came so quick, that I didn’t even get a chance to take my sweater off!!!

This made me snort coffee out my nose, just so you know. (And yes, I'm combining my comments for your trip and dining reports in one reply. Lazy FTW!)

I love that the Minnie on your shirt looks like she is trying to hug the real Minnie!

Love your photopass pics from the YBC area, I've never seen photographers out there!

Off to check out your cruise PTR!

 

[Leshaface]

Great report! Gelato and a book in a hammock at Coronado is one of my favorite ways to spend a day off, so seeing pics of the resort got me all happy!

Sad to hear about your Cape May transportation drama! When I was concierging (is that a word?) I always suggested people just take a taxi there if it was a res before 9am.

"Goofy came so quick, that I didn’t even get a chance to take my sweater off!!!"

This made me snort coffee out my nose, just so you know. (And yes, I'm combining my comments for your trip and dining reports in one reply. Lazy FTW!)



I love that the Minnie on your shirt looks like she is trying to hug the real Minnie!

Love your photopass pics from the YBC area, I've never seen photographers out there!

Off to check out your cruise PTR!

The bolded...when taken out of context looks SOOOO bad!! I couldn't help but laugh! I just read it to my hubby and he started busting up!!

Ahh, anyway please come on over to my PTR!!!

 

[franandaj]

You have a naughty mind!

I can't wait to meet you in person, we'll probably get along very well!

 

[Leshaface]

You have a naughty mind!

I can't wait to meet you in person, we'll probably get along very well!

Bahaha!! Doesn't that look so bad though!!!??

Also that Cougar, is NICE!!!! Ever think of submitting it in car shows??

 

[sjs314]

Hi Lesha

I am so excited I just tonight found this TR, I have wondered a few times how you and DH were doing after reading your other TR .....9days of Deluxe Dining what were we thinking.

It is late here in Connecticut I would find your TR at bedtime but in any case will begin reading tomorrow

Hopeing all is good

 

[Leshaface]

Hi Lesha

I am so excited I just tonight found this TR, I have wondered a few times how you and DH were doing after reading your other TR .....9days of Deluxe Dining what were we thinking.

It is late here in Connecticut I would find your TR at bedtime but in any case will begin reading tomorrow

Hopeing all is good

Yes Hi!!!

Please come back and let me know how you like the TR!

Also, I'm doing a PTR (seems like I have so many TR's! ) for my first Disney Cruise (and first cruise in general) so I hope you can check that out too!!!

 

[franandaj]

Also that Cougar, is NICE!!!! Ever think of submitting it in car shows??

Since that picture is in front of the garage of our mechanic who just finished it, we haven't given too much thought, but we will definitely do something with it. We're thinking more of letting elected officials ride in it in Pride parades, that and our Lincoln (which is not back for work). I'm sure there will be car shows in the future, first we have to join a car club!