How the Other Half Lives ~ Updated 10/22: I Forgot Something!

[jc040404]

You know, one of the big differences is that you pretty much have to rent a car for DL, which adds quite a bit of expense. Also, there are no value resorts on property, so you either have to pay for super-deluxe or stay off-site. Since we'd need to be off-site, there are no "deals" to be had, really, compared to WDW. No free dining at DL. The other factor is that Dug's brother (the reason we'd considered going to CA) is working two jobs and has very little time actually free for visiting with us. We still haven't decided for sure what we're doing (there were some other travel possibilities also), but WDW is looking fairly likely. Strangely enough, it's actually the cheapest possibility...and people think a WDW trip is pricey...ha! Sorry, rambling...

You just make WDW sound better and better! Keep us updated! I can't wait to read the next TR.

 

[Dugette]

I've noticed this too! Every time I try to plan a trip anywhere else I just think... "man, I could go to Disney for a week for less than this 5 day trip to _____" Hence, why we now have a Disney trip planned for Jan!
And people tell me all the time, "It's so expensive...we just can't afford it" Drives me nuts! They don't WANT to even try!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this! The week-long trip we are considering will only run us just over $1k total for everything (tickets, resort, food, transportation). Of course, we'll be using frequent flyer miles and redeeming Disney Visa points, but those things apply to DL too. We also considered going to NYC or Washington DC, but either of those will run significantly more than $1k too.

I can see how people think WDW is so expensive, if they don't look too hard. When I plugged in our dates, but chose the Beach Club as the resort (not available b/c of Food & Wine), I got some CRAZY expensive options. $5k++ Yikes! Looks much better w/Pop selected! (And taking off the waterpark and more option that it seems to default to!)

You just make WDW sound better and better! Keep us updated! I can't wait to read the next TR.

It seems crazy to me that going to WDW is cheaper than going to DL. Seems like it can't be right, but I've done the math a whole bunch of times and can't get a California trip to come out to any less than about $1800 (still free air and using our $300 Disney reward dollars and sleeping on BIL's futon on the non-Disney nights). Car rental is an added cost, hotel costs more, and dining's not free.

 

[Dugette]

Time for a brief flashback. Our Photopass CD contained some stock photos of MVMCP, so I just wanted to share some of the prettiest pics:

Now back to your regularly scheduled trip report!

 

[Dugette]

Weather for this day: High-48 degrees and Low-28 degrees. Brrrrrrr…….. At least it didn’t rain or snow, though.

We were up early this morning, as we had a prized before-park-opening ADR at Crystal Palace. Our ADR was at 8:15am, so we wanted to arrive at the MK by 8am for a chance to take some pictures on an empty Main Street. However, it was one of those mornings that didn’t lend itself to getting somewhere on time. First, we just didn’t quite get going fast enough. Then, there were monorail problems. Once they put an additional train on the track, though, we were able to squeeze on it. We had to pause before getting to the MK station, but we made it to the gates and hurried inside the MK. (By the way, at the gates, we just needed to tell them that we had an ADR for Crystal Palace. They didn’t check anything, which was suprising, given that we were getting into the park almost an hour early).

It was about 8:05am or 8:10am by then, so we had to rush a bit more than we would have liked. Main Street wasn’t completely empty, but pretty close. Dug took a bunch of photos on our way down Main Street:

We also went to several of the Photopass photographers and one even had us do a “magic shot”:

Pretty close to being on time for our ADR, we approached our destination:

Up next: Fun with characters at the Crystal Palace. And a lot of food! And how does Piglet feel about the bacon they serve there?!

 

[AprilRenee]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this! The week-long trip we are considering will only run us just over $1k total for everything (tickets, resort, food, transportation). Of course, we'll be using frequent flyer miles and redeeming Disney Visa points, but those things apply to DL too.

WOW!!! That's impressive! Ours is going to be just over $2000 (but that includes 2 days at Universal). I usually plan on $800 for each of us for a basic Disney Trip (as long as we get a discount of some sort). This is going to be our last trip pre-kids so we're splurging a bit (going to Universal, upgrading to the regular dining plan, etc). But our honeymoon in NYC cost us about $3500-$4000 for the 5 days! At the time I thought I got good prices for hotel etc. However, I've gotten much better at searching for deals since then!

 

[jc040404]

I just stared at that picture way too long.. Why is the clock on the wrong side of the street?? Oh yeah.. You're facing the other way! I guess I take this pic from the other side a lot.

Too bad that things weren't quite going as planned, but you still got some great empty Main Street pics! Love your magic shot!

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

Love your empty Main Street pics, those are always my favorite to take too!

So exciting about your next trip! Where will you be staying this time?

 

[Dugette]

WOW!!! That's impressive! Ours is going to be just over $2000 (but that includes 2 days at Universal). I usually plan on $800 for each of us for a basic Disney Trip (as long as we get a discount of some sort). This is going to be our last trip pre-kids so we're splurging a bit (going to Universal, upgrading to the regular dining plan, etc). But our honeymoon in NYC cost us about $3500-$4000 for the 5 days! At the time I thought I got good prices for hotel etc. However, I've gotten much better at searching for deals since then!

$2k's not too bad, especially with Universal included. Wow on the NYC honeymoon - but I think it's pretty easy to spend that much on a trip there, from what I've seen! We did add an extra day to our possible-WDW-trip, so now it's closer to $1200, but still not too bad ($1490 minus $300 in Disney Rewards Credits from our Disney Visas). Free airfare, free dining, free transportation. Where else can you just pay for a (relatively inexpensive) hotel and tickets and have pretty much everything else for your vacation included?

I just stared at that picture way too long.. Why is the clock on the wrong side of the street?? Oh yeah.. You're facing the other way! I guess I take this pic from the other side a lot.

Too bad that things weren't quite going as planned, but you still got some great empty Main Street pics! Love your magic shot!

Ha ha! It is confusing, since all the pics are facing the castle and then it switches to that one! I guess it was about 8:15am by then (ADR time). So, we probably weren't TOO late to CP. The empty Main Street was neat. Even though it was so cold!

Love your empty Main Street pics, those are always my favorite to take too!

So exciting about your next trip! Where will you be staying this time?

Yes, Main Street empty was cool...glad we got that chance. Even if we were a little late to our ADR...

As for the next not-yet-definite trip, we have good ol' Pop Century booked!

 

[Dugette]

After our jaunt down the peaceful morning Main Street, we arrived at The Crystal Palace. We put in our names and waited outside. The view from there:

We were seated soon. I believe we were told that it would be a good time to go get our food, as there was a break between characters. So, we both headed up to the buffet and started filling our plates. Turns out we did miss at least Tigger. Of course, it did take us awhile, as we were getting quite a bit of food (to avoid getting up again). I was in charge of ferrying plates back to the table, while Dug was in charge of obtaining omelettes.

Just as we both returned to the table with the last of our food, Pooh showed up! Dug joked about how awesome honey is with Pooh. Here are the pics:

Okay, are you ready to see ridiculous amounts of food? We did not finish everything, but there were just so many things we knew we needed to try:

As we were taking those food pictures, Pooh started a birthday parade. A couple more random pics:

We got a little bit of eating done when Piglet made his way over to us. I have to say, I totally stole this next idea off of someone’s TR here on the DIS. I told Dug that he should tell Piglet how good the bacon was, just to get a reaction! So, Piglet comes up and Dug says, “I’m feeling kinda guilty cause I just had some delicious bacon…” Here’s the reaction:

Poor, sad, shocked Piglet! And here’s the cute pictures:

Next up was Eeyore. Dug commiserated with him on just how rough the morning had been:

After that, we had to wait a bit for Tigger to make his way around again. We enjoyed our food and did not need to go up for seconds…way too much! Dug said he thought that the peaches in the cobbler thing were fairly spicy, but he was a big fan of the creamy top on it. I found the hot chocolate quite enjoyable on this chilly morning.

While we were waiting on Tigger, the park opened up for the day. We had a great view of the crowds streaming in and it was fun to see where everyone went. Surprising to see how many people headed into Adventureland first.

We saw Tigger getting closer:

He finally arrived at our table:

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture, but Dug and Tigger shared a nice bounce together. It was very cute!

With that, it was time to head into the park. Our super-nice waitress actually brought out to-go hot chocolates for us, which was awesome! One last pic on the way out:

Up next: Meeting old friends in the Hub! And Via Napoli! And more! Oh, and someone maxes out the score on Buzz!

 

[AprilRenee]

Great update! I'm really enjoying your TR (actually, I've enjoyed all of them)

 

[lmillercrew]

That food look delicious! That's the one thing about buffets. There is SO much to choose from and so little room in my stomach.

 

[pink5683]

Love the update!

We are finally headed for our Poly CL trip at the end of this week! I am so excited!

 

[IheartDDuck]

On telling Piglet about eating some delicious bacon.

All of that food looks delish.

 

[jc040404]

Yay for to-go hot chocolate! Loved the bacon talk with Piglet! Crazy that most people headed to Adventureland first, too. I wouldn't have guessed that one!

Can't wait to see who gets those perfect 9's on Buzz!!

 

[Dugette]

Great update! I'm really enjoying your TR (actually, I've enjoyed all of them)

Thank you! I actually came across your TR a couple weeks ago and have been lurking there and I'm really enjoying it!

That food look delicious! That's the one thing about buffets. There is SO much to choose from and so little room in my stomach.

Totally agree! And we had to at least sample some of nearly everything!

Love the update!

We are finally headed for our Poly CL trip at the end of this week! I am so excited!

I am so jealous! Very excited for you, though! We were just talking tonight about how much we love the Poly and want to go back someday!

On telling Piglet about eating some delicious bacon.

All of that food looks delish.

Yeah, that bacon bit with Piglet was too fun not to steal the idea! I bet Piglet hears it all the time, but still fun! And the food was pretty good!

Yay for to-go hot chocolate! Loved the bacon talk with Piglet! Crazy that most people headed to Adventureland first, too. I wouldn't have guessed that one!

Can't wait to see who gets those perfect 9's on Buzz!!

The waitress was so nice to bring out those to-go hot chocolates! Loved that. As for Buzz, you may be surprised about who gets them!

 

[Dugette]

Our nice, warm to-go hot chocolates in hand, we headed out into the Magic Kingdom. We had been in touch with Donald and planned to meet up with his family that morning. However, when we touched base, they weren’t in the MK yet, so we had some time to kill. We wandered into Adventureland and saw Aladdin and Jasmine riding the carpets.

We decided to ride Pirates first. I was worried that I would have to dump my hot chocolate before getting on the ride, so I downed it quickly in line. However, turns out Dug was able to enjoy his on the ship, as nobody said a word. Oh, well.

After the ride, we headed back towards the Magic Carpets. We had wanted to go to the Tiki Room, but it wasn’t open yet for the day. So, we jumped on the carpets to burn some time. We noticed that Aladdin and Jasmine were now doing a meet and greet. When we got off the carpets, the Tiki Room was open, so we headed into the first show of the day. The show seemed different than the previous time we’d seen it (way back in September 2009, I think), but we probably just didn’t remember some things. Strangely enough, Dug’s notes from this trip say that he misses the old version of the Tiki Room and finds the new act kind-of annoying. How cool that, if we go on this possible-October-2011-trip that we can see the classic Tiki Room again!

At some point, we passed this sign, which I found hilarious:

Do you see the wait time for the treehouse?! There was nobody there! Cute.

From there, we headed into Frontierland. We saw Donald (the character, not the friend) out doing a meet and greet. We skipped that and headed to the Haunted Mansion:

Out in the pet cemetery, we finally spotted Mr. Toad, hiding way in the back:

We got a call then from Donald saying they were headed into the park. His plan was to use two of their tickets to get Space Mountain Fast Passes and the other two to get Peter Pan Fast Passes. He said that he really wished he could take his older son (we’ll call him “Dewey”) on both sides of Space Mountain. I suggested that we could use our APs to grab two Peter Pan FPs for them on our way over, so that they could use all four of their tickets to get Space FPs, so they could ride both sides. Deal!

While they did their Space Mountain Fast Pass run, we made our Peter Pan Fast Pass run for them. Then, we all met up in the Hub: Donald, Daisy, Dewey, and Huey (well, and Louie, but he wasn’t born yet!) The boys were happy to see us. Dewey was 6 and Huey was 4 at the time of the trip. We don’t see them real often, but they know us. I actually used to see Dewey all the time when he was a baby, though. I worked part-time as an assistant for Donald when he was starting his business from his home office and sometimes Daisy had to help him with business things too, so I ended up being the one to watch Dewey at times. I spent a lot of time holding the little guy back then. Dug decided that Dewey must have muscle memory of that, because I ended up holding him quite a bit during this trip! (It was very sweet).

I got some pictures with the (goofy) little guys. First, with Dewey:

Then with both:

At this point, Dug realized that we were running late and would need to change our Via Napoli ADR to a little later time. He checked the mobile dining app, but there were no later times available. He called Disney Dining, but was told that there were no later times. He felt bad that he was missing out on fun with the kids while he was over on a bench with his iPhone trying to take care of this. He really just wanted to call the podium of Via Napoli, but could not find a number for it. The rest of us had been hanging around in front of the castle, just chatting, but decided we should all go hop on Buzz Lightyear. As we headed over to Tomorrowland, Dug decided to call the Poly Concierge (why not use the free perks, right?) They transferred him to an operator who did not have the number for the podium and said that she couldn’t help. Dug was getting pretty frustrated by now , as we were all heading into Buzz and he had to skip it to resolve the ADR issue. Finally, he had the idea to have the operator call the Tutto Italia front desk and have them transfer him to Via Napoli’s front desk. It took her forever to do so, but once she did, it only took a minute to get to Via Napoli’s front desk and literally thirty seconds for Via Napoli to push our ADR back to 1 p.m. Dug’s comment: “This is why WDW should make all podium numbers available: what should have taken 30 seconds took a half hour, and Dug missed out on fun time with friends and kids that will never come back”.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were on Buzz. Dewey rode with me and I let him steer. I also tried to point out the high-value targets to him. Just as we were entering the room with the volcano, the ride paused. Donald was in the car just ahead of us. I told him that the volcano was a high-value target, so he started shooting at it while we were paused. I tried to, but I was just outside of the range I needed to be in to get it. So, Donald’s score just went up and up and up…and he maxed it out right there at 999,999!!!

Finally, the ride resumed. I ended up with 461k and Dewey got 54k. I think Huey got something like 1200 (just like I did in the old days before I knew the secret targets)! So, in our entire Year of Disney, I never managed to max out Buzz. Dug did (also on a ride breakdown) and Donald did, but not me. Guess I’ll have to go back and do that…

Once we exited the ride, we met back up with Dug, who had finally managed to push back our ADR. Donald’s family needed to meet up with their extended family, as they all had an ADR at the Crystal Palace now. We walked over there with them. I should point out that it was not the usual walking for me. Instead, I had two little boys hanging off of me most of the way. Quite literally. They somehow decided it would be fun to hang from my arms. I swear one sleeve of that jacket I was wearing will always be a little too long, due to this! I believe I also carried Dewey for a bit. Nothing like carrying a 6-year-old through the MK! I’m not sure if it was the “muscle memory” thing or if he was just tired of walking! (No strollers for them). We met up with their family outside and said hello. The boys did a lot of horsing around. Then it was time for them to head in and us to head to Epcot. We split up, planning to try to get together later in the trip.

We headed out of the MK and took the monorail to the TTC. Transferred to the Epcot monorail and were soon strolling into Epcot. Check out the ornament with the whole world on it:

We also got a nice pic:

Upon arrival, I made a run over to Test Track to grab some Fast Passes for later. Then we caught a boat, sitting outside in the back. Since we’d pushed back our ADR, we still had a little bit of time before lunch. We decided to go see the Monkey King storyteller in China. (We wanted to see as many as possible of the holiday storytellers at Epcot). If you have any doubts about how cold it was, check out the covered plants:

On the way to China, we grabbed gluhwein (mulled wine) in Germany. Dug had good memories of this from when he traveled in Germany around Christmas about ten years ago:

Dug enjoyed his drink as we approached China:

We had no clue where this storyteller would be. We sat on the benches along the main square, just inside the gate. Nothing happening. I decided to wander around and see if I could find a stage. I walked back through the shopping area, which was interesting, as I’d never seen it before. No luck finding a stage, though. I went back and hung out with Dug. Some other people were milling around now too. Finally, we saw the Monkey King making his way across the pavilion…and out of the pavilion. We followed. Turns out the stage was set up out on the main path, by the lake. Dug sat on the ground and we enjoyed the little show:

Once the show wrapped up, it was time for our ADR. We actually were still pretty full from breakfast, but made our way over to Italy. Last time (the only other time) we’d been to Via Napoli, they seated us at the big group table in the middle of the restaurant. This time, we wanted to try something different and asked for an individual table (I do think they seat a lot of couples at the big table if you don’t ask).

Dug ordered an Italian Margarita and I got a Bellini:

Mine was okay, but not the best Bellini ever. Dug really enjoyed his, though! Here’s the view from our table:

For an appetizer, we ordered the Fritto de Verdura - crisp fried vegetables, marinara piccante:

These were quite tasty and we really enjoyed them. For our main course, we split an individual size pizza, the Quattro Formaggi - mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, provolone:

We loved the pizza—just delicious! Both times we’ve been to Via Napoli, by the way, we have split an individual size pizza and an appetizer (and dessert) and we have found that to be plenty of food. In case anyone is wondering.

So, speaking of dessert, on our previous visit to Via Napoli (August 2010), we couldn’t decide on desserts and got two of them, the Coppa Brutti (chocolate gelato with cookies and cherries) and the Zeppole di Ricotta (Ricotta cheese fritters, served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce). They were both delicious. I preferred the first and Dug preferred the latter. However, since Dug was pretty full and I really wanted those cherries again, we just got the Coppa Brutti (which, strangely enough, I no longer see on the menu on allears.net!) Dug just had a few bites and also had a cappuccino:

I enjoyed the dessert, but it wasn't quite as good as the first time I'd had it. I don't think there were as many yummy cherries in it this time. Oh, well, still good. And that concludes another delicious meal at Via Napoli!

Up next: Some more holiday storytellers!

 

[AprilRenee]

Thank you! I actually came across your TR a couple weeks ago and have been lurking there and I'm really enjoying it!

Glad you have you aboard!


Sounds like you guys had a fun morning! How fun to see a favorite little one and get to do rides with them at Disney World! I would LOVE to spend some time with my favorite little one (a little girl I babysat from 6months old til a year) at Disney World.

What is this mobile dining app that Dug has? I have an iphone as well and this upcoming trip will be our first time with ADRs. That app might be handy to have. Your troubles make me wonder if I want to find the podium phone #s for each of our ADRs and have it on my phone just in case.

Oh and that Swiss Family Robinson wait time pic made me and DH laugh and laugh!!!

 

[Dugette]

Glad you have you aboard!

Thanks, I'll have to swing over to your TR and say hi...

Sounds like you guys had a fun morning! How fun to see a favorite little one and get to do rides with them at Disney World! I would LOVE to spend some time with my favorite little one (a little girl I babysat from 6months old til a year) at Disney World.

It was a neat experience! And don't worry, there will be some cute kid stories coming too...

What is this mobile dining app that Dug has? I have an iphone as well and this upcoming trip will be our first time with ADRs. That app might be handy to have. Your troubles make me wonder if I want to find the podium phone #s for each of our ADRs and have it on my phone just in case.

He said that it's just a WDW Dining app. Has the menus and all on it. If it's not too tricky, it might not hurt to bring the podium numbers. Dug just said that he recommends it.

Oh and that Swiss Family Robinson wait time pic made me and DH laugh and laugh!!!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found it funny! We were standing there laughing at it!

 

[jc040404]

Great update! I learn so much from your TRs! Mr Toad is up there, too? I've even looked just about everytime we ride HM and never noticed that one!

Lucky Donald with that Buzz score! This is the one ride I spend wishing it would stop.. in the right spot, of course! Too bad that you never got it.. Next time, right?

What a headache with changing your ADR time! That was nuts. The food looked great though!

The monkey king looks pretty nifty, too. That was one we missed.

 

[AprilRenee]

He said that it's just a WDW Dining app. Has the menus and all on it. If it's not too tricky, it might not hurt to bring the podium numbers. Dug just said that he recommends it.

Hmm...If you get a chance can you ask him the exact name of the app? I keep searching and I just CANNOT find one that lets you find available ADRs within the app. Or did I just misunderstand that and he just uses the app to call the dining reservations number? Sorry!!!
I swear I'm usually more tech-y than this!!