Is it December Yet?? Cancelled with a Heavy Heart!

[DizNee Luver]

Wonderful news!! I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like for you & Mike...I could barely breath reading and waiting for updates.

Let's just say, we're glad it's behind us & we can look forward to a fun summer & our awesome WDW trip in December!!!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Looks like your Monsters Inc movie night was a huge success!!

I got so many neat ideas from that forum here on the Dis.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Looks like your Monsters Inc movie night was a huge success!!

I got so many neat ideas from that forum here on the Dis.

Thank you so much for the link to that thread. The kids are still talking about it today & asking when the next one is!!!

 

[tofubeast]

What a great movie night!! I love love love the Monster drawing dice game. Will have to steal this idea in a year or two!!

Can I have some of the sundae??

 

[newtexan]

very creative movie night!

how awesome all 4 kids were at the table for egg dying

 

[DizNee Luver]

What a great movie night!! I love love love the Monster drawing dice game. Will have to steal this idea in a year or two!!

Can I have some of the sundae??

The drawing part was my favorite thing. I loved watching the kids come up with their own ideas of how their monster should look!!

The sundae was a little "too much"......but watching their faces when I brought out all the stuff was fun!!! (and worth over indulging.....lol)

very creative movie night!

how awesome all 4 kids were at the table for egg dying

It was great to see both twins sitting at the table & paying attention. They don't tend to do that!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well I've been going over & over (and over again) our days and meals. We all have places we want to go and try. To us, the meals are part of the experience.....so planning around meals isn't out of the ordinary. The difference this trip is trying to squeeze it all in but being realistic about it. Our package includes the standard/regular plan of one snack, one quick/counter service meal & one table service. Problem is.......we want mostly table service....like twice as many as allowed on our plan. So I finally had a chance to sit down and run the numbers. I estimated the cost of each meal and then used the "plan" for the 9 most expensive meals and then added up the remaining ones. It would be cheaper for us to upgrade to the Deluxe Dining plan. It's just weird for us to do more than 2 meals while on vacation. We tend to do a big breakfast and then dinner. Another thing we liked about the upgrade is getting an appetizer. I guess it used to be that way on the other plans too but now it's dessert. Some of the desserts we can get to go and use as snacks later on.

So for those of you that have done the Deluxe Dining Plan.....do you feel like you're eating all the time?? I think I have a good balance, keeping close to what we normally do.....we will add in a lunch here and there & we have a couple meals that will use 2 credits.

The sad part in all of this is we're paying for a meal plan for a child that doesn't eat orally......upgrading to the Deluxe might make it hard to use up her credits.

I just want to make sure this trip is extra special....as I don't see a return trip in the near future. We're getting money from a couple things that aren't normally there......so we want to see, do and taste as much as we can!!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

I've read on a lot of reports that the DDP is really hard to use up unless you are a huge foodie. And a lot of people say it just feels like they spend the whole trip eating. It's just so much food!

But if it's going to be cheaper to do what you have planned to get the DDP, why not? Even if you don't use it up, at least you didn't pay as much, right?

That sucks though that you'd have to pay for one for a child who doesn't eat much. Too bad there wasn't something Disney could do about that. Credit it you one DDP or something, or part of one at least.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I've read on a lot of reports that the DDP is really hard to use up unless you are a huge foodie. And a lot of people say it just feels like they spend the whole trip eating. It's just so much food!

But if it's going to be cheaper to do what you have planned to get the DDP, why not? Even if you don't use it up, at least you didn't pay as much, right?

That sucks though that you'd have to pay for one for a child who doesn't eat much. Too bad there wasn't something Disney could do about that. Credit it you one DDP or something, or part of one at least.

Mike & the boys are good eaters....so they'll probably do ok.....just not so sure about me & the kids. Of course their meals are smaller & they do like to eat more often. In fact on our DL trips, they always freak out because we missed lunch!!!

I just like the idea of having it all pre-paid so I don't have to worry about stuff like that. I guess I do need to look at having money for tax & tip for a lot of them.....didn't figure that in to the package price. Hmmmmm, I also added meals for Michayla in my figures......so I might need to go back & re-do this. If I take out her meals.......it might be cheaper. Heavy sigh.......think I'll just let this sit for a few days and give it more thought.

I got a hold of WDW early on and inquired about this......EVERY person in a package MUST have the same things. So if everyone has the dining plan......so does she. Kind sad there aren't exceptions to that rule. Seems like a good racket for Disney to charge hundreds of dollars for a child who can't eat real food.......but nothing we can do about that.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

We always do the DxDDP. I really like appetizers more than dessert so it is kind of a no brainer for us. For the most part we eat an early lunch and a later 2 credit signature dinner. Plus we try to spread the credits over to an extra day. We rarely actually have 3 meals. We don't always eat every course, mostly we skip desserts here & there or share one. I have never been one to worry about "maximizing" our value.

What about having TS breakfast (or early lunch) and dinner and then using some credits for QS during the day? The boys would probably like that. Especially eating around EPCOT.

Or maybe you & Mike could have a special 2 credit dinner alone while the boys watch the kids? Cali Grille is wonderful!

Or the dinner shows ... Hoop De Doo or the Luau? They are two credits. And the Castle is 2 credits.

I wouldn't worry as much about using every last credit. If you will ultimately "save" money upgrading to Deluxe, then do it. Enjoy what you can but don't force anything. I have heard that you can trade a meal credit for a few (I think 3?) snacks. Maybe you can bring treats home to prolong the magic?

Edited to add that tax is included with the plan, but yes you do need to have money for tips. I usually get gift cards that we use just for that purpose.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We always do the DxDDP. I really like appetizers more than dessert so it is kind of a no brainer for us. For the most part we eat an early lunch and a later 2 credit signature dinner. Plus we try to spread the credits over to an extra day. We rarely actually have 3 meals. We don't always eat every course, mostly we skip desserts here & there or share one. I have never been one to worry about "maximizing" our value.

What about having TS breakfast (or early lunch) and dinner and then using some credits for QS during the day? The boys would probably like that. Especially eating around EPCOT.

Or maybe you & Mike could have a special 2 credit dinner alone while the boys watch the kids? Cali Grille is wonderful!

Or the dinner shows ... Hoop De Doo or the Luau? They are two credits. And the Castle is 2 credits.

I wouldn't worry as much about using every last credit. If you will ultimately "save" money upgrading to Deluxe, then do it. Enjoy what you can but don't force anything. I have heard that you can trade a meal credit for a few (I think 3?) snacks. Maybe you can bring treats home to prolong the magic?

Edited to add that tax is included with the plan, but yes you do need to have money for tips. I usually get gift cards that we use just for that purpose.

Vicki, I didn't get notification that you had responded....otherwise I would have replied back much quicker!!

I thought you had done the Deluxe Plan.....it just makes sense for us since we want to try a lot of the TS places. We're looking at a couple of the 2 CR meals if we can get them but knowing it's all paid for is the plus side for us!!

Thank you for letting me know about the tax being included....that's good to know!! I know some of the character meals include tax & tip.....but we'll be prepared to cover tips!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We decided to throw together a quick Disney Theme Night again.....kinda planned it while we were driving to Salem yesterday. The kids seemed to really enjoy spending an evening doing things together & watching a movie that we decided to give it another try. This will show you that it doesn't have to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time to plan. The kids enjoyed this one as much as they did the first night where I spent more money & time putting it together.

CHICKEN LITTLE, Disney Theme Night!!

I used the tablet of paper I had to make up our agenda & I hung it up while the kids were outside playing. When they came in they saw we were doing another Disney night & were excited!!! So here's the agenda:

We started with our dinner: "Chicken Little" BBQ (I know....kinda wrong to be eating chicken, but hubby & I thought it was comical), "Runt's" Mini Red Potatoes, and "Loosey Goosey" Salad (again, inappropriate as we thought of the joke about salad shooter). We were stretching it to theme the dinner and the kids didn't care anyways.....lol

The whole family (with Derek hiding behind Ty) enjoying dinner.

Shy loved the BBQ chicken!

Anthony loving dinner!

Addy loving her dinner!

The Guest of Honor: Chicken Little!!

Our first activity was "Foxy Loxy's" Studio of Art: Drawing our own alien....what ever we thought an alien would look like. (the reason we went with Foxy Loxy...even though she doesn't do art or acting....she tended to be good at everything....so that's why we named the activities for her)

Michayla joined us for the drawing time!! Here's her with Addy:

Shyann and Anthony:

Michayla and Addy still working on their aliens:

Shyann and Anthony working on their aliens:

Our finished drawings!! Top is Addy's, Bottom is mine:

Top is Michaylas, Bottom is Mike's:

Top is Anthony's, Bottom is Shyann's:

Now time for the movie!!

 

[Teki]

So glad im all caught up! I so cant wait to read your TR yours are always the best and since Jared and I might be going to WDW for our honeymoon Im excited to get to read it! Im so excited that you are getting to go I hope you have the most magical of times!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Continuing on.....after the movie.....its was past time for the twins bedtime, so we got Shy her special dessert. She's allergic to things like wheat & eggs....so no cupcakes for her....so I got a Rice Krispy bar & put the lavender colored frosting on it & that was her special dessert.

While Shy enjoyed her dessert, Michayla got her tube feed & off to bed. She was very tired as she doesn't nap.

Our dessert....."Abby Mallard's" Cupcakes. Abby wears lavender, so I changed the color of the frosting & cake to fit into the theme.

But, not so fast kids.....you have to do one more "Foxy Loxy" activity to get those cupcakes!! Time for some acting!!

Let's see your best "Fish out of Water". Here's Addy's attempt:

And Anthony's mild attempt(he was embarrassed & didn't get into this activity but had fun watching us do it):

After all 4 of us did it, we moved on to "Turkey Lurkey". Addy really got into doing these:

Anthony......not so much so!

Here's Mike......

Here's mine......ummmmm, really wasnt' sure I would post this here or on FB. But, this is what an actress who really gets into the part looks like when doing their best turkey imitation..........

Now that the room was cracking up......it was time to do one more imitation.......Buck Cluck! Everyone do your best chicken!!

Shy wanted in on this one & joined us to do her best chicken!!

Great job everyone!!! Time for your reward....."Abby Mallard" cupcakes!!!

Another successful Disney theme night!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

So glad im all caught up! I so cant wait to read your TR yours are always the best and since Jared and I might be going to WDW for our honeymoon Im excited to get to read it! Im so excited that you are getting to go I hope you have the most magical of times!

Hi Sid!!

I'm so glad you found me over here!!! We're really excited about this trip.....but if a few "boys" don't change their attitude's quickly.....it could just be Mike & I and the 4 littles!!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Vicki, I didn't get notification that you had responded....otherwise I would have replied back much quicker!!

I thought you had done the Deluxe Plan.....it just makes sense for us since we want to try a lot of the TS places. We're looking at a couple of the 2 CR meals if we can get them but knowing it's all paid for is the plus side for us!!

Thank you for letting me know about the tax being included....that's good to know!! I know some of the character meals include tax & tip.....but we'll be prepared to cover tips!!!

No worries on responding!

I admit we are not huge QS fans. The hassle of getting our food, finding a table ... yuck! We would rather sit in the A/C and be waited on! (Remember we go in August!). And I don't feel doing a TS takes that much more time when you factor in waiting in line, etc. I do like the EPCOT QS places so we always take a day to "eat around the World". But for the most part, we prefer TS. But again, we don't worry about maximizing our credits and if we leave a few on the table, so be it. Although I admit that that hasn't happened. Andrew can always eat!

Once again, love your theme night! Chicken Little isn't one of my favs but any Disney movie is A-OK with me! Really looking forward to your next one!

 

[Trentmom]

Yay for another fun Disney movie night

I love chicken little, such a cute movie

Great pictures, especially one with your impressions

The cupcakes looked super yummy

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I havent been on much the last few days b/c the boards have been so wacky, but you mentioned something about DxDP. We are doing DxDP for our trip in Dec b/c we really like TS mostly too. Last time we were at HS we had the hardest time finding a seat at ABC Commisary...we didnt want to have to deal with that during the crowded Dec month. I have always heard DxDP is a lot of food, so if you can throw in some 2 TS meals/shows, it will help. Plus all the snacks...but I know lots of people use those up on departure day to take home stuff. We are doing the regular DP for Oct.

How fun that you did another movie/dinner night. Looks like you guys had a great time!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

No worries on responding!

I admit we are not huge QS fans. The hassle of getting our food, finding a table ... yuck! We would rather sit in the A/C and be waited on! (Remember we go in August!). And I don't feel doing a TS takes that much more time when you factor in waiting in line, etc. I do like the EPCOT QS places so we always take a day to "eat around the World". But for the most part, we prefer TS. But again, we don't worry about maximizing our credits and if we leave a few on the table, so be it. Although I admit that that hasn't happened. Andrew can always eat!

Once again, love your theme night! Chicken Little isn't one of my favs but any Disney movie is A-OK with me! Really looking forward to your next one!

With the twins, knowing we have a place to sit down as a family is definitely a factor in going to TS vs QS. We can't manage strollers or holding hands & carrying trays of food & manuevering through crowds of people. Thanks but no thanks!

Chicken Little isn't even a movie I've sat and watched from start to finish....but thinking on the fly yesterday.....that's the best we could come up with for chicken dinner we knew we were eating that night.......lol But now I can say I've watched it all and even know some character names too!

Yay for another fun Disney movie night

I love chicken little, such a cute movie

Great pictures, especially one with your impressions

The cupcakes looked super yummy

There were moments I enjoyed, where other moments I found myself wandering (in my brain....I actually watched the whole thing)......I think I found myself thinking about the show Scrubs, since Zach Braff voices Chicken Little.

Fun doing the imitations and the cupcakes were delicious.....a new flavor: Pink Lemonade!! Basically just tasted like lemon but good base to turn to a lavender color!!

I havent been on much the last few days b/c the boards have been so wacky, but you mentioned something about DxDP. We are doing DxDP for our trip in Dec b/c we really like TS mostly too. Last time we were at HS we had the hardest time finding a seat at ABC Commisary...we didnt want to have to deal with that during the crowded Dec month. I have always heard DxDP is a lot of food, so if you can throw in some 2 TS meals/shows, it will help. Plus all the snacks...but I know lots of people use those up on departure day to take home stuff. We are doing the regular DP for Oct.

How fun that you did another movie/dinner night. Looks like you guys had a great time!!

They moved the boards to new servers.....the whole things was done last night.....with that message. Hopefully it will work better now. I've found the pages loading quite nicely today!!!

I think the way I have it laid out, it will work out ok. We might now get all of Michayla's credits used since she doesn't eat....but they will take them for all the character meals & the candlelight processional meal.

Loving this theme nights!!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Looks like it was another fun theme night Laurie! The food looked so yummy and it looks like the kids had lots of fun! Loved the photos of the chicken dancing!