Food, Wine and Hanson – A November 2015 PTR

[sachiiiii]

Hi, everyone! I'm so excited to start my very first PTR! I'm even more excited to be going back to Disney! And I'm even MOST excited to finally get to see Hanson live for the very first time!

Who Are We?

Who are I? Who am we?



We be Sachi (me) and Brandon (him). That's our Native American friend from Magic Kingdom. Our last trip to WDW was December 25, 2013-January 1, 2014 so that was the only character we had time to get a picture with. We still had to wait in line.

We're married, which is pretty cool. We've been together since high school and now we're old enough to yell at kids to get off our lawn. Just kidding – we don't have a lawn and I take a Liz Lemon approach to kids.


Good thing we don't have kids, because this would be an awkward way to parent.

Here's some random Disney facts about us. Brandon's not around right now so I'm answering on his behalf. I know him pretty well after 10 years, although I'm still not sure what he does for a living.

Favorite Disney Movie
S: Beauty and the Beast, Tangled and Mary Poppins
B: Emperor's New Groove, Hercules and probably Toy Story

Favorite Disney Park
S: Magic Kingdom and Epcot
B: Epcot

Favorite Disney Restaurant
S: Be Our Guest
B: 'Ohana

Favorite Ride
S: All of the Mountains
B: Also all of the Mountains
We also got very familiar with the TTA and Carousel of Progress last trip because they had the shortest lines.

Where Are We Going?

Disney World...


More specifically All Star Movies. On the list of WDW resorts I want to stay at, ASMovies is tied for last with Sports and Music. But we're doing this trip on the “cheap” and Pop Century didn't have any rooms available so, ASMovies it is! We really don't spend much time in the room, so it'll be okay.

When Are We Going to There?

November 9 – November 14, 2015.
This trip was 100% planned around Hanson's Eat to the Beat performances. I've loved Hanson since MMMBop came out when I was 8. I still remember the first time I saw their music video and the obsession began. But I've never seen them perform live. I've been trying to see them at Disney World for YEARS, but college got in the way, then life got in the way and it never worked out.

So there's the basics and a short introduction to us. Next time I'll go into some more detail about our plans, more specifically our DINING plans which are the most important always.

QUESTION: For anyone who has been to an Eat to the Beat performance, what can I expect crowd-wise? Which day is the best to go (first, second or third)? How early should I show up to get a seat (doesn't need to be front row, but I do want to be able to see)? Any other Hanson fans going? If so, see you there!

 

[autoracepr989]

We'll be overlapping some days at ASMo. I'm there 11/10-11/18. I'm planning to see one of the Hanson concerts on 11/12. Maybe I'll see you around the resort in the morning or after park close

 

[sachiiiii]

We'll be overlapping some days at ASMo. I'm there 11/10-11/18. I'm planning to see one of the Hanson concerts on 11/12. Maybe I'll see you around the resort in the morning or after park close

Ah, that's the day I'm planning to see them, too since there's EMH at Epcot that day! Maybe we'll see each other there!

 

[sachiiiii]

Dining

Since this was a "last minute" trip (because 122 days is last minute for Disney) I wasn't expecting to get any of our most wanted dining reservations. I really wanted Be Our Guest and Brandon's only request was 'Ohana. Good. Luck.

To make up for the lack of 'Ohana All You Can Eat Meat, I scheduled a reservation for Whispering Canyon Cafe for the evening we get in. This will be a new dining experience for us. Brandon's excited for the All You Can Eat Platter, and simultaneously dreading and looking forward to the wait staff hijinks. I don't like audience participation and funny waiters, but I feel like we have to participate to get the full experience. I may end up flipping that card over halfway through the dinner.

The second reservation I made is for lunch at Yak & Yeti on our last day in the parks. Neither of us loves Animal Kingdom, so it's definitely a half day park for us. After lunch we're planning on making our way to a different park (probably Magic Kingdom). We've never eaten at Yak & Yeti before, either.

Since it's Food & Wine while we're there and we're spending at least 1.5 days in Epcot I didn't feel like I needed to make too many dining reservations, but I just couldn't let go of Be Our Guest or 'Ohana!

I got really lucky and a couple of days after making the first two dining reservations, I managed to get a lunch reservation for Be Our Guest on the day that we were planning on spending in Magic Kingdom. I can't wait to get that Potato Leek Soup back in my life.

An 'Ohana dinner reservation was the real struggle in my life. I spent a good 2-3 weeks obsessively checking the dining availability for ANY night that we would be there. And then, all of a sudden, there is was. A single available reservation for two people on our last night at Disney. After I put my eyeballs back in their sockets, I snatched that reservation up! I believe it's literally the latest reservation there is (9:40 PM). I was thinking about surprising Brandon with it once we got there, but I can't keep a secret. I told him as soon as he came home from work that day. Last time we went to 'Ohana we happened to be there during Wishes and had a really good view. I think our reservation time coincides with the Christmas Party fireworks, so maaaaaaaaaybe we'll be able to catch the last half? Probably wishful thinking, but I can dream.

I'm so surprised that our dining plans worked out so well! I'm still playing with the idea of cancelling Yak & Yeti since it is the same day as our 'Ohana reservation, but I think the times are far enough apart that it will be alright.

Just 3 months, 2 days left! I'm freaking out!

 

[sachiiiii]

Just 5 days to go! Everything is planned, park tickets and plane tickets have been bought, and now we just wait. 5 days is a long time when Disney is on the other end of it!
We're hoping to take some video while we're there. I know we'll be taking lots of pictures. If anyone wants to follow along on Instagram and (maybe) Periscope, my name is @_sachihana on both.