"How soon is too soon for planning?" "Right about now" May 2014 PTR **03/24**

[MarieLightning]

So, I've been going back and forth about starting this PTR - my wife is telling me I should wait until I've completed my current TR (from November 2012 ) before doing a PTR for May 2014, but I just can't help it - I'M TOO EXCITED!

That's right

WE'RE GOING BACK!



To be fair, I could also make a PTR about a teensy tiny trip we have planned in September, but there's really hardly anything to plan for that one - only park timed planned is MNSSHP. This is basically the only reason we're going - because we want to do the Halloween Party, but we don't have the budget for a long trip with the other one we're planning and moving out and all that good stuff. The rest of our short 3 day stay we'll spend at DTD and resort hopping!

But this is not what this PTR is about. No siree - that's peanuts. In May, we're going big! (Sort of?)

And that's because there will be not two of us, nor four of us like last time, but...



You counted right - ten of us! (Off topic, I'm so excited I finally found an excuse to use those bouncy guys!)

I've already got my countdown ready to go! Even though we don't actually know for sure which dates we'll be going because I can't book my vacation time for 2014 until December at work

We're crossing toes and fingers for the second week of May though, which should work for our college friends and our European friends for whom it's hard to get summer time off!

So basically, yes, we're at a pretty tentative step of planning. In the sense that nothing is or will be booked for another few months. Not in the sense that I don't already have it all planned out in my head

So keep up with me if you'd like! It's gonna be a long ride, hopefully without too many bumps!

Up next, what brought this crazy idea on ​

 

[MarieLightning]

How this all came to be
(AKA Marie talks too much so feel free to skip this part)

So, how did we actually get to the point of deciding on such a trip? (FYI, when I say we, I refer to myself and my wife Amber )

It took many steps, believe you me

Of course, as soon as we came back from Disney in November, we *knew* we wanted to go back. Sadly, we also knew we couldn't be some of those lucky people who get to get every year - at least, not yet, nor for another while. But we figured there's nothing wrong with every other year!

We soon enough established 2014, somewhere in the late Winter or early Spring season. We did *not* want to go during the Summer - I can't stand the heat over here, so I don't even want to imagine how much I'd melt away and whine in Florida during July (not that May will be that much better on the heat level from what I've been hearing but oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do!) And then, if all goes well, Amber will be starting college during the Fall of 2014, so that nixed off any idea that goes further than August.

At my job, I can't actually get time off at all during January or early February. It's a black out zone - apparently people like booking their trips a lot during those months so all hands are needed on deck But then, the closer you get to March, the worst the crowd level gets, and as we were spoiled with November, we didn't want to go during too high a season - aka, anywhere near Spring break.

That left us with a pretty small window - between late April and early May. At least we can't complain about being overwhelmed with options

So the original plan soon evolved into wanting to go in April, as that seems to have become our favorite vacation month in the past couple of years, so why not one more year of it! At that time we also talked about it some with my aunt and uncle, as my aunt definitely wants to go back as well!

The plans evolved and changed as time went on. Now, the next part is gonna seem random, but I promise, it has a point. See, a few months back, we were also planning our 'wedding', or well, if you prefer, our vows renewal. We got married very simply, the two of us with my parents as witnesses, partly to get started on the immigration process (which is loooong and being apart because neither country lets you stay in it for more than 6 months is no fun when you're married). However, we knew we wanted a bigger ceremony, where we could have our friends and families and so on.

We set up a budget for it, which I established how to save for it within the course of one and a half year - doable, though a bit of a strain on saving for anything else. We had many arguments over it, because we don't have the same views when it comes to money, having grown up in two very different type of environment, which gave us very different views on how to handle spendings.

At some point, we tried to combine the two things - I mean, if we would be going back to Disney anyway, why not have a Disney wedding?! Unfortunately, even by reducing our guest list by more than half to accommodate one of the smaller packages, it would still have been way over budget (because in either case, we would be paying for a lot of people's travelling and stays since some of them are poor college kids and some of them... well, let's not get into that XD)

With the Disney wedding idea down the drain, we went back to our regular wedding plans. And that's when it hit us - the most amount of money we would be able to spend on our wedding wouldn't be enough to give us the wedding we wanted. So why spend so much money on one day that wouldn't live up to our expectations?

Why, instead, not use that money on a whole week of us and our closest, dearest friends at the happiest place in the world?

Now, this may seem a bit insane. And some of our friends *have* pointed that out. "Why not use that money just on yourself?" "Why not use that money to get your life started?" Which, to be fair, the latter is a very valid claim. We could do that. We could split that money and use it for three or four trips, just the two of us. We could put it aside, use it for more reasonable and grown up things.

Maybe we just don't want to admit that we are grown ups and will have to face those kind of responsibilities much too soon XD But this is just really important to us. In a way, these people we are bringing along were the people we were having the wedding for. And even though there won't be a big ceremony or anything like that, we'll still treat this trip as a big Disney celebration - so it just makes sense and feels right that they would be along for the ride!

So this is the (ridiculously long, I apologize XD) story of how the idea of this trip came to be!

If you're still with me, you deserve a treat!

And now, I think it's time to move on to the list of those amazing people in our lives who are so awesome that we decided to bring them to Disney World!

Coming up next, the cast members!​

 

[MeeskaMomma]

Subscribing. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[amberg93]

Silly wifey. You should finish the regular TR first but oh well

 

[MarieLightning]

Subscribing. Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks, I hope you'll enjoy it

From what I can see of your countdowns, looks like we're headed down very close to the same time, too!

Silly wifey. You should finish the regular TR first but oh well

I can do both at the same time! I'm good at multitasking

And your countdown is still wrong. Makes it look like we're not even going together

 

[MeeskaMomma]

I thinks so! We haven't settled on a date entirely yet, but really liked the first week of may this year, I hoping it will be great next year too!

 

[MarieLightning]

I thinks so! We haven't settled on a date entirely yet, but really liked the first week of may this year, I hoping it will be great next year too!

We probably would have actually picked the first week of May versus the second! But one of our friends who's coming along goes to College in Tennessee, and she doesn't get out until that week, so that would have been too early. I'm sure you'll have a great time if you go then, it seems to be good for crowd level and not too bad weather-wise!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

That is what we were thinking. I can't wait until the prices come out so e can really plan. I will be stalking your thread for tips

 

[MarieLightning]

That is what we were thinking. I can't wait until the prices come out so e can really plan. I will be stalking your thread for tips

I know what you mean! I've been trying to plan based on the pricing from this year but it's just much easier with the actual rates XD

And I hope I'll be able to give some good tips!

 

[MarieLightning]

Introduction time!

I mean, it's all great and stuff to be reading up on logistics and plans and so on, but let's not forget what makes it awesome - the people involved!



(We're a bouncy group if you haven't noticed yet)

This is me! My name is Marie (okay if you want the truth it's Marie-Christiane, because my parents decided hyphenated names were the way to go. I won't even get started on my brother's name) and I live in Quebec, Canada. I'm French Canadian, but I've gotten good enough at English that my wife mostly feels sad over the fact that I (generally) no longer have an accent I'm 24 years old, though I will have turned 25 by the time we go back! I work for a travel wholesaler, which works great for me because travelling is my passion - I'm a cruise specialist, but if they opened up a Disney dedicated department I'd be all over that!

Next up is my beautiful wife, Amber She's from Michigan, and for the time being she still lives there as we're still in the process of the whole immigration stuffles, which as I've mentioned before, takes a while. She visits me a lot too, so it's not horrible. She's 20 right now, though she will also age before our Disney visit Right now she works seasonally at an amusement park while waiting for her Canadian residency. Once that comes through, she'll study to be an elementary school teacher! She's my best friend, my Disney partner in crime and the best thing that's happened to me

This is Cassandra, though we call her Eli (sounds random but it isn't). She lives in New Jersey and she's one of our best friends! She's pretty much crazy, which makes her awesome, and though we don't get to see her nearly as much as we would hope, any amount of time we get to spend with her is always great! We're totally cool with taking her to Disney because we know someday she'll be rich so she'll take us places Okay okay, that's not why we're taking her, but she's super talented at pretty much anything artistic and when she's a celebrity we'll be able to tell people we knew her before she was famous!

Next up is Merranda! She's from Michigan, and she is Amber's childhood friend, so she's known her for much longer than I have. They actually went to elementary school together, and kept in touch after Amber moved away. I've only gotten to hang out with Merranda a couple of times, but it's always really great to spend time with her! She seems quiet at first but she's definitely got an edge of slight craziness as well, and she's up for anything fun, so I know she'll be a blast to be in Disney with! Besides, I feel we share a special bond as we once went to an amusement park together and did the RipCord, so near death experiences will bring you closer to people (I *may* be exaggerating)

Then we've got Traci and Andy! Traci is Amber's best friend, ever since 7th grade. I actually didn't get to meet her until December of 2011, before which we only knew each other through the internet. Back then, we didn't really hit it off that well, but as soon as we actually got to be in the same room and talked and such, we got along really well! That just goes to say that you can form incredible friendships online, and other people you really just have to be face to face with them to get to know them for who they are. She's a great girl and a great friend, and we'll have a blast with her at Disney!

Andy, I don't know very well as I've only been around him a few times for very short amounts of time. He's a cool kid though and his and Traci's relationship is really sweet! Amber is actually trying to convince him to propose to Traci at Disney World Who knows if it'll work! I guess we'll only know the answer to that when we get to that point

This is Veronica, and her boyfriend Jeremy! Veronica is another of Amber's best friends, and they've known each other for a few years but mostly got closer during their senior year of high school. I don't really know what to say about her, because I've spent very little time with Veronica - less than two days total, really. She can be pretty quiet, and not the type of person to start conversations with strangers easily - and since that's basically the same as me, we don't talk much She's really nice though, from what I do know of her, and she means a lot to Amber. She's also one of those people who can do pretty much anything and everything XD

Now Jeremy, I don't know at all. He's actually the one person of the group whom we are not paying for, as originally he was not included in the trip. Aside from us, he's the only one who has been to Disney, so when Veronica told him that we were taking her to Disney, he asked us if he could join because he really wanted to be there with her the first time she saw it all (which come on, is pretty cute XD). Since he was willing to pay for his part, we had no issue with it! Actually, his joining the group makes it a bit better by putting us at an even number, and it also lowers the cost of what we have to pay for because of the new room arrangements! But more on that later.

Finally, these two gentlemen are Rodolfo (on the left) and Rui (right). We call Rodolfo Rai though, because he doesn't like his name, and he would definitely not be happy with me for introducing him as such Rai actually lives in Europe! He was born in Portugal but he recently moved to Spain for work. We've never actually met him face to face, but he truly is one of our best friends. He can be blatantly honest and infuriating, but you just have to take him how he is. He was one of the first ones we told about our relationship. He's admittedly the one who's the least Disney oriented of the group, but I have no doubt he'll still love it as he loves theme parks, and is really excited about all the rides! He and Rui will probably also extend their trip a little and drop by Universal before our Disney trip as he is a Harry Potter fanatic, and he figured he might as well make the most of it while coming to this side of the ocean!

Rui is Rai's fiance, and we actually don't really know him at all. That might sound weird to say, since we are still paying for his Disney trip, but considering how expensive their flight will be (flights are the one thing we are not covering XD), we didn't want to put even more of a monetary strain on them and make it a poisoned gift XD I'm actually pretty intrigued about meeting him. He really, reeeaaaally loves Disney, and he's super excited about getting to go. Apparently he loves parades a lot, so he'll want to see those for sure. The tricky thing here is - he doesn't speak English So that's bound to make for an interesting meeting!



But now, where will all these lovely people stay?? That's for another time!
(Probably tomorrow)​

 

[happybelle]

Joining in.

 

[MeeskaMomma]

That looks like fun bunch!

 

[MarieLightning]

Joining in.

Yaaay! Hope you'll enjoy!

That looks like fun bunch!

They really are! It's gonna be interesting cause some of them don't know each other XD But we will make it a point to tell everyone that there is no obligation to always stick together, so hopefully that'll help!

 

[MarieLightning]

Enough about the who - let's tackle the where!
(Or, why we're making boys sleep in a girl's room)

Now, where oh where could we be planning on making aaall these people sleep?

Keep in mind, we're by no means rich or anything XD I make a pretty basic salary at my job, and Amber currently only works summer time, so savings go up little by precious little. Now, if I had the money to put everyone in a 3 Bedroom Grand Villa at the Boardwalk, boy would I!

But, I haven't even taken the time to consider it or look at the pricing because I would probably just go

No, we had to keep to the values. And that's fine by me! I mean, my dream is to someday stay at every single Disney hotel, from the All Stars to the Grand Floridian, even if just for one night! (Save the campgrounds at Fort Wilderness because I would never be able to drag Amber there XD)

Now, here's a little insight onto my job. I get discounts on places. I mean, that's the point of having a crappy salary - not having to pay a lot when you go on vacation To be fair, Disney *is* what it is even with a discount! But it helps. Basically, any product that my company sells, I can pay cost on. That means what my company pays to the supplier is what I pay to my company - they don't make any money off of me on that product, whether it's a hotel, flight or a cruise.

For hotels, I'm allowed TWO rooms with that type of discount, but I have to be traveling of course (I can't just give that discount to other people, I have to be there). And then however many people those TWO rooms can accommodate is however many I can get the discount for.

Now, there's ten of us. And where oh where can we possibly fit ten people in only TWO rooms at a value resort?

Hmmm....

....

....

I'VE GOT IT!

The Art of Animation!

I've been wanting to stay at that resort ever since I saw the first pictures of it. Can you say awesome looking?!

And here's the deal. Because of the fact that I can only get maximum discount on two rooms, it's less expensive for us to book one standard room and one family suite at AoA than to do, for example, two quads and one double at Pop Century or any of the All Stars. I swear - I calculated it (to be honest, even if it had come up a bit cheaper the other way around I probably wouldn't have cared )

And since Amber loooooves Cars, that's where we'll be staying!

Now, here's where the whole 'Jeremy joining us brings the cost down' deal.

Originally, it was only the nine of us. Not everybody in that group can be mixed up though, and not everybody knows each other. Traci knows Merranda from going to camp with her and Amber, and she knows Veronica from school. Eli, Rai and Rui stand a bit on their own - they are familiar with the rest of the group, but not close.

So we established that we would put Traci, Andy, Veronica and Merranda in a Little Mermaid room (Veronica and Merranda are okay with sharing a bed XD) and then Amber and I, Rai, Rui and Eli would take the Cars Family Suite!

When Jeremy asked if he could join us, we of course had to change some of those plans. That part was simple enough - we took Merranda out of the Little Mermaid room, and now Jeremy will stay with Veronica, Traci and Andy.

Merranda and Eli are sort of acquainted, and Merranda has a very easy temperament so we're not worried about that. They're both fine with sharing, and we figure they can take the sofa bed and Rai and Rui can do the table bed (I don't care what people say, it looks smaller than a regular size bed to me!)

Now, adding a sixth person to a Family Suite that already had five people in it is a very minimal addition, so that cost definitely doesn't break our budget. But now, on top of it, we only have to pay for three quarters of the Little Mermaid room because Jeremy is paying for his own part! Double yay!

Of course, we don't know yet *how much* it's all gonna cost. I've tried to calculate some based on this year's pricing, but it doesn't always work perfectly. I have a specific number in mind that will hopefully not stray too far from reality!


And now, what to feed this lovely group of people?
I'll give you a hint - it's food​

 

[OrangeJuice]

Hello Fellow French Canadian!

I'm joining in. Sounds like a great group of people to travel with. My wife and I are also planning a trip in May 2014 (and Oct 2013 it's an addiction) so we'll be planning along with your guys.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

That is awesome! We just got back from staying in the cars section (I am still working on my TR). We loved it! That is where we will be returning in May 2014!

I have a few pics of AoA on my TR now, but I have a whole bunch more to to post. You guys are going to love it!

 

[MarieLightning]

Hello Fellow French Canadian!

I'm joining in. Sounds like a great group of people to travel with. My wife and I are also planning a trip in May 2014 (and Oct 2013 it's an addiction) so we'll be planning along with your guys.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Bonjour! (Is it normal that when I type that word, in my head I hear it spoken with an English accent? XD)

I'm glad to see there's so many people already planning for May 2014! Makes me feel less obsessive I've read your own PTR, looks like you're in for a great October trip as well! It definitely opened my eyes to the wonder of renting DVC points, too!

That is awesome! We just got back from staying in the cars section (I am still working on my TR). We loved it! That is where we will be returning in May 2014!

I have a few pics of AoA on my TR now, but I have a whole bunch more to to post. You guys are going to love it!

I knooow we're so excited! I honestly think the Cars section is the nicest of all the Family Suites (though, I have to admit I have a soft spot for the sunset walk-in shower in the Lion King section XD). I love how convenient everything seems to be too, because even though two of the sleeping areas are in the same "room", they're still not right next to each other either.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for your pics! Though as it is I feel like I've researched it so much already that it's like I've already stayed there

 

[MarieLightning]

The confession of an eager planner: Food's not next

So, I lied.

It wasn't on purpose, I promise. I really wanted to share with you all (or few, which is okay too!) what our hopes and dreams of Disney food are.

And I started out the post, and realized - it makes a lot more sense if I give a better insight on what exactly we are planning.

But fear not! Food will come, and it will be delicious!

Now, it goes without saying that plans change constantly, especially when you're planning over a year in advance. Usually, I'm pretty good at sticking to the plan though, because I'm stubborn and I get attached easily (yes, even to a plan. Please don't call a doctor on me)

Our original plan was to do a 7 nighter like last time - Sunday to Sunday. If all goes well with our hoped for dates, from May 11th to May 18th (Because we like being unoriginal apparently and chose dates that are exactly the same days as our last trip, save the month)

The one thing we regret most about our last trip was not spending enough time at Hollywood Studios. We had planned two full days at Magic Kingdom, plus the half of the first day we got there, and one day at Animal Kingdom felt like it would be more than enough (which it mostly was). Then we had three days left and no park hopper, so we were faced with the horrendous decision of picking which of Epcot or Hollywood Studios to spend two days at.

Epcot won over because it seemed impossible to even think of doing it all in one day (for further proof, we didn't do everything in two days, *and* we went while Test Track was in refurb). So that forced upon us the decision of doing only one day at Hollywood Studios

No worries though! Because we are going back, and we can switch it around this time! Or well, not entirely.

We figured this time around, we would stick to two full days at Magic Kingdom, but instead of going there the first day, we would do Epcot! That way, even with using two full days for MK, two full days for DHS and one day for AK, that would leave us with a little over a day and a half at Epcot! Problem solved!

And then I started thinking

And thinking

Aaand thinking

And the more I thought, the more I disliked this plan. Of course, in writing it's pretty cool, and even in theory it works out well enough considering what we did last and our future trip park needs

But that's the thing

It's not just about our park needs - there's eight other people too!

And I'm not even talking in a sense of "omg we need to do everything together and never separate and DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME". For the most part, we want to see them experience it all! They're all (for the most part) our best friends, whom we're used to spending extended periods of time with (again, for the most part XD) so we're not too worried about that

And if it goes horribly, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people to tell us "I told you so"

Point is, how could I, as a proud Disney veteran (coughyeahrightcough), bring seven newcomers, in good conscience, to EPCOT on their FIRST PARK DAY EVER?!

I mean, Epcot is AWESOME. I love Epcot. It's got Soarin'. It's got home away from home (chocolate mooooose, anyone, eh?). It's got a ride with Ellen Degeneres from the 90s. IT'S GOT AMERICAN DREAMS (or Cinnamon and sugar pretzels, Amber would say - Epcot's her favorite park btw)

But... does it really beat the Magic Kingdom? Can *anything* beat going to Disney for the VERY FIRST TIME, and walking through the gates, and hearing the music by Main Street USA, and feeling the anticipation build up as you turn the corner and then there's like your CHILDHOOD RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL

(I really don't know what's going on with me and caps today, I would like to apologize for that. Moving on)

But can we really afford to sacrifice that extra half day in Epcot? Can we let go of our two days plan at Hollywood Studios? Can be bypass Animal Kingdom like some do? (THE TRAVESTY)

To that I say, NO WAY JOSE (I'm puny if nothing else)

So what's the logical approach?​

Me: So, love... I just calculated something
Amber: Hmm?
Me: Did you know it only cost like, 10 bucks more to add an extra park day to your tickets when you're at the point of already having a 7 days ticket?
Amber: Is that so?
Me: It is, actually. And did you know it's also a very slim difference to add an extra night to a Little Mermaid room?
Amber: What about the Family Suite?
Me: Thatonemaybeabitmore BUT THEN WE CAN START OUR FIRST DAY WITH MAGIC KINGDOM AND DO TWO FULL DAYS AT BOTH EPCOT *AND* HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS CAN WE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?
Amber: Do what you want sweetie
Me: YAAAAAAY ​

Okay, this before Amber blows my cover, this was all adlibed, I emailed her about it from work. But I'm sure that's mostly what the conversation would have gone like otherwise!

ANYWAY

Point is

We're doing eight nights instead of seven!




So, I've already mentioned most of our park plans, but because they were mixed up with rambles and insanity, here they are a little bit clearer

Our hoped for dates are now from May 10th to May 18th

I will try to get May 9th off as well. If that works as planned too, Amber and I will be flying out of Montreal on the Friday, and spend an extra night in Orlando, probably at an airport hotel (Marriott discounts ftw). The reasoning behind that is that the flight we can take from Montreal to Orlando in the morning gets in around 12, whereas everybody else (whether they are flying from Michigan or New Jersey), will arrive around 10 in the morning. And we want to be there to greet everyone

The only other exceptions here are Rai and Rui, as they will be flying from, most likely, Madrid. However, since they are planning on also doing Universal, they might do that before Disney. If not, I'll recommend they also come in a day before and spend the night with Amber and I, because any flight coming in from Europe will arrive later in the evening, and we don't want that!

Once everybody else arrives on the 10th, we will be doing our check-in at AoA We'll have lunch at the resort, and then head off to the Magic Kingdom!

After that, it's a bit more fuzzy as park hours aren't near being out yet for 2014, but the basics are the following

After that first day, we will be spending two full days at the Magic Kingdom, two full days at Epcot, two full days at Hollywood Studios and one day at Animal Kingdom. Like when we went last, we will also pair up our AK day with an evening at Downtown Disney.

We will try not to go too commando this time around, but there's no way of making sure of that until we get there. Hopefully, we will try and take advantage of the resort pool this time around. No waterpark days, though - adding that option to our park tickets is not counted in the budget, and would mess with our carefully planned park days anyway


Now that that's settled

For real​

​

Coming up next - It's Food Time!​

​

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm sorry I've kinda left this hanging. The past month has been... well, all sorts of things.

Amber has been diagnosed with cancer. And things got really, really close to her not making it.

Thankfully, she's better now. It's still a long road to go, and there's plenty of frustrations and hard times every day, but she'll make it through and that's what matters.

I've been off of work since May 31st - and my awesome job is giving me as much time as I need. It does mean no paycheck, but right now that's the least of my worries.

Since she's been awake though, we've established one thing together. She still wants to do this trip - and while she was in her drug induced coma, I promised her we would. It will be even more of a celebration this time around, too. We're hoping to be able to do it around the same time we were planning on doing it, but it might be trickier for the money to come around. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

In the meantime, I've been instructed to resume with this PTR, so without further ado


How to feed ten grown adults at WDW

Fooood! I love Disney food! It's so magical!

Whenever my wife and I dream of winning the lottery and staying in a villa, she brings up this silly idea about cooking some of our food. BLAH! I say to that (Okay, maybe I can agree on cooking breakfast, but THAT'S IT)

I'm sure bringing lunch food and eating out of the parks and all that good stuff must save big bucks. And maybe if we start going more often, we'll get into that mindset.

But probably not.

For me, food is part of the Disney experience, and so ADRs and even quick service at the parks is a must!

Now, we don't have all of our quick service restaurants established yet, because let's face it, we don't always stick to that - namely on our last trip, Cosmic Ray's became Casey's Corner and Sunshine Seasons became Katsura Grill and Pizza Planet became ABC Commissary (which was due to bad planning and ridiculously early closing times ), anyway, you get the point

We still have a list of must try for QS (aka my wife will probably kill me if we don't eat at Flame Tree BBQ this time around )

For the most part, it should be easy to find something to accommodate everybody. Aside from Amber and I being picky eaters, most of our group is pretty good with food. The only people who have special requirements with food are Veronica, who's a vegetarian, and Eli, who doesn't eat pork because it makes her sick.

Even then, when we told Veronica we would go over our restaurants options with her first of all to make sure she would have something she likes to eat there, she seemed very taken aback (and dare I say touched? XD Amber is the one who talked to her so I'm basing this on her interpretation) that we had thought about her. When asked what she would have done if we'd brought her to a place that only served meat, she responded with "I would have stolen all of your bread and hoped you didn't notice"

But since we are nicer than that, and in spite of the fact that Disney has excellent bread, we are hoping all our TS restaurants will at least have one thing she likes and wants to eat. Hopefully menus won't change too much in the meantime either! (Like CRT pulling the fried chicken off the menu before I went and then PUTTING IT BACK ON AFTER WE LEFT. REALLY?!)

Now, since we were originally planning on doing seven nights, we budgeted for the corresponding meals. And since we do not have a bottomless budget, we are asking our friends to cover the two extra meals that are being added from this decision. If they make it two QS meals though, shouldn't be too bad - in view of that, I'd probably tell them to budget somewhere around 20-25$ or so, so pretty doable

Mainly all our TS meals are decided on (unless something changes by then), and we have a pretty good idea of which QS we want to try

So here's the list!


Art of Animation Meal

Landscape of Flavors

This is gonna be pretty basic. Since we're gonna arrive at the resort around lunch time on the first day, we decided to eat at Landscape of Flavors! We will be covering this meal, as we have decided to make it a pizza meal! LoF has large pizzas for a pretty good price, so hopefully two of those and maybe a few servings of fries should be enough for the group! If anyone has pictures/insight on the size of those large pizzas, that'd also be great ^^



Magic Kingdom Meals

Liberty Tree Tavern

We went through a few options over which Magic Kingdom meals to do, and this is the park where were have the least restaurants picked for, but I'm actually really happy about this decision! We're gonna be doing lunch there, because Amber can't justify doing an 'all-you-can-eat' type of meal when it comes to cost versus what most of us will eat. Plus, I've heard it's not that good at vegetarian offerings for the dinner meal and a lot of people are just told to make a meal from side veggies and the salad, so that was a no go. The lunch menu has better options though, and it's less expensive, so that's a win-win!

Peco Bill's

Taco Salad! Need I say more? I'm pretty excited about this one, really. It was on my list last time, but I had more restaurants to go to than we had meals to eat, so it didn't make the cut just because of the time and place whenever we were ready to eat. Hopefully this time around we'll stick to it! I'm fairly sure Amber will make me since she's also looking forward to this one

Two undermined QS meals

We will have to have two more QS meals at the Magic Kingdom, but they are yet to be determined. Mostly because of the fact that there is no other restaurant that's really jumping out at us so we may not plan those in advance, aside from giving Veronica some options. We were originally gonna try for Be Our Guest, but since they're changed the menu, there's nothing on it that Amber would eat, and to be honest I'm not too fond of their selection either. It does make me sad because I really want to see the restaurant, but I don't see a point in worrying about getting in when the food options don't appeal to us



Epcot Meals

Teppan Edo

I loooove Teppan Edo! This was one of my favorite meals from our last trip, and one of the two repeats we are doing this time around. I just really love the experience, and I think the food is delicious! The grilled sesame seeds on the Udon noodles? Yum! Last time we went, we sat with pretty much a group of kids, so this time around should be pretty different in terms of the experience XD I hope everyone will enjoy it, too!

Via Napoli

Not gonna lie, the main reason why I want to go to this one is the zeppoles. I want to try those so badly! Italian should be a pretty safe bet for everyone, too, so I'm fairly sure there won't be too much debate over this one. It's also a great option for food splitting. From what I saw of the pizza sizes, we might even just split an individual between Amber and I - it looks very close to the size of what regular frozen pizzas are, and I usually don't eat half of those! Amber does, but then she doesn't have dessert So all in all, this seems like a good and very affordable option in our case!

Liberty Inn

'Murica! This one mostly comes from the fact that Amber wants a chili cheese dog XD Besides, as I've mentioned before, we're picky eaters, so unfortunately some more exotic or adventurous picks are not for us quite as much. We also don't have too many burger and chicken nuggets meals planned, so where better to get one of those than in America?

La Cantina de San Angel

Last time we went, Amber wanted to eat at a restaurant in Mexico. However, I wasn't really seeing any options that appealed to me, so we bypassed it. This time around, we're just gonna go for it! I figured if I tell them to hold half the toppings on the nachos, I should make myself a decent enough meal XD It'll be similar to Peco Bill's, but as long as it's not two days in a row, I'm fine with repeats



Hollywood Studios Meals

50s Prime Time Cafe

This restaurant was established *before* we even knew when we would be going back. As it is, I really would have loved to go to 50s Prime Time Cafe last time we were there, and Amber too - but with only one DHS day and wanting to do the Fantasmic package, we had to let it go. Not this time around, though! For one thing, I want my fried chicken! And we're really looking forward to the atmosphere, too - which we don't plan on warning our friends about, because we're evil like that As it is, I really hope someone gets put in the corner - but then again, might end up being me for not eating my veggies!

Sci-Fi Dine In Theater

Again, atmosphere won out on that one. We will most likely have to split up here if we want one of those car tables, which we do, but I doubt that'll be too much of a problem! We're gonna be doing this one at lunch time, but since the offerings are for the most part so similar to what some of the QS restaurants have, I don't think that should be throwing us off too badly. We also plan on just sharing a few appetizers, so that'll bring the cost down to a pretty decent amount, even though the prices here aren't too bad in the first place.

Pizza Planet

We missed out on this one last time (because it closes earlier than I would have expected ) so we want to try it out this time! I know it's just pizza and it'll probably be the same as the pizza we had at Pizzafari in AK last time, but I don't care. Besides, we liked that pizza, so nothing wrong with getting another one! And I'm looking forward to see the inside of the place, too. Besides, there doesn't seem to be that many quick service restaurants in DHS that have an inside sitting space, and I just don't like eating outside. I don't know, it's just a thing. Mix of bright sun and too hot to enjoy my meal I guess

One undetermined QS meal

We're still not quite sure which other quick service restaurant we'll eat at in DHS. We don't want to do ABC Commissary again - neither of us were that impressed with the food, or the service for that matter. To be fair, we headed there around the same time as Pizza Planet closed and the guy directed everybody toward that way as an alternative, but still. Besides, we're doing our best not to do too many repeats because we just want to try different things! There are a few options worth looking into - I might just get a turkey leg cause I really want to try one of those! We'll probably look over a few options and see what happens when we get there on this one.



Animal Kingdom Meal

Flame Tree BBQ

So, this one was decided about the same time we sat down at Pizzafari last time around and Amber mourned Flame Tree BBQ. This time around, we are not gonna miss that one - she wants her chicken! We might actually just get the ribs and chicken platter and share an onion ring, so again, money saver here! Of course, this will be a tougher one for Veronica, but we'll make sure to go over other options with her. We just can't skip this one again - it smells so delicious when you walk by it! And the food looks really nommy, so we're looking forward to giving it a try!



Downtown Disney Meal

Planet Hollywood

This is our only other repeat meal, and it comes greatly from the fact that we both really enjoyed the atmosphere there last time. For some people this is not necessarily the most obvious choice, as there are several of those restaurants across the US and so it's not really Disney specific. Most of our friends will however never get to a place where they'll get to experience it, and it was one of Amber's favorite meals, just because of how great the evening was, so she was really adamant about getting her friends over there and partying it up with them. Besides, the food is delicious!



Polynesian Meal

'Ohana

This one is our last, but certainly not least pick! I really wanted to try a resort restaurant this time around, because we never really get to take the time to explore other resorts, and I figured this would be a good way to do it. We wanted to do a Deluxe Resort on the evening of a Magic Kingdom day, so this one was just a more obvious pick. We didn't want to go *too* expensive, so anything signature restaurant was out. We also weren't really in the mood for a character meal, so that ruled out 1900 Park Fare and Chef Mickey's - plus, Amber isn't a fan of buffet in general, and though I guess a family style meal is similar to that, she was more open to this one. I'm really looking forward to trying out the food there! We're planning on doing an early dinner there, probably more around the time that it opens up for dinner, so that we don't have to deal with too much of a wait time.



Overall, I think we have some pretty decent options going on! And then of course, there will be the endless amounts of pretzels, American Dreams, Mickey bars and so on! We budgeted probably way too many snacks for what's good for us, but oh well. Gotta enjoy it while you're there!

So that's it with the food. We've still got a long way to go - vacation is still not booked, and I won't be able to save money for this for a little while seeing as I won't be working for a while, but hopefully we'll get there the way we wanted to!​

 

[MeeskaMomma]

I am so sorry to hear of Amber's cancer. That is a rough road. I am glad you guys are still planning your trip. What a thing to look forward too!