Is it STILL too early to start a Pre-Trip Report? Updated 2/26

[ddstratton]

I got some time to kill. I'm on board for what is probably the longest PTR I've ever seen !!!!!!

Welcome, Welcome! Yup. It'll be a long one. I am working on an update, too, so you'll have a little something to kill some time with.

 

[ddstratton]

471 days to go!

I think today’s post will be a little photo montage of our first trip to Disney… Enjoy!!

Our first-ever glimpse of the Disney World gates.

Our first view of Magic Kingdom.

And our first view of Cinderella Castle. We had to stop for a mintue here. Mom was so happy to be seeing Cinderella Castle, she was crying.

At Whispering Canyon Café. I was a wee bit thirsty. (See the regular-size glass in the background??)

Pictures like this make me realize just how much DD has grown in the last 2 1/2 years. She’s now taller than Mom and almost as tall as I am! She’ll be taller than me soon…

DD was just not real sure about the characters at first…

DD and DH having an intense conversation…

and then getting doused (this is at the kiddie pool at the Caribbean Beach Resort)

Now for some audience participation… What is your favorite Disney World restaurant, and why? I’m trying to start planning what restaurants we’ll want to visit, and would love some input on your favorites. Thanks!!!

 

[Native NYer]

Joining in!
It's never too early to start a tr.

 

[Rozz]

I love the flashbacks to your first Disney trip!
Don't keep us waiting any longer than you have to before letting us in on which resort you pick. My kids love CBR. My husband likes Wilderness Lodge better. I would like to become accustom to one of the Deluxe resorts but that is not to be!

 

[ddstratton]

Joining in!
It's never too early to start a tr.

Welcome!!

I love the flashbacks to your first Disney trip!
Don't keep us waiting any longer than you have to before letting us in on which resort you pick. My kids love CBR. My husband likes Wilderness Lodge better. I would like to become accustom to one of the Deluxe resorts but that is not to be!

Thanks! I love looking at pictures from our previous trips.

I'll be discussing resorts in my next update.

 

[ddstratton]

469 days to go!

I’m still interested in anyone’s ideas/thoughts on restaurants. Any and all, really. Counter Service, Table Service, Signatures, Dinner Shows, whatever. Tell me about your favorite place, best meal, best service, ANYTHING!!! I don’t think we’ve ever had a “bad” meal at Disney. The worst I can think of was at the Liberty Inn, at EPCOT.

I had ordered the hot roast beef and cheddar sandwich. What wasn’t mentioned was there there was TOMATO on this sandwich. Seriously? A slice of tomato on a hot sandwich?? I DESPISE tomato slices on my sandwiches. If I had known it comes with, I would have asked for it without. Wasn’t mentioned in the description, however. Ick. Ruined the sandwich for me.

I had mentioned that I would discuss resorts in this installment. I have not yet decided (for sure) which resort we’ll be staying at! On our first trip, we stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort.

In Barbados

Building 13

In room 1307

We loved this resort! It was just beautiful. To us, it seemed like a vacation within a vacation. Not only did we get a Disney vacation, but we got a beach/tropical vacation too!

On our second trip, we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter.

In Building 1

In room 1227

We loved this resort as well. It was much smaller than Caribbean Beach, and the boat to DownTown Disney was wonderful.

So for this year??? I have two current front-runners. We may stay at Caribbean Beach again, but in a Pirate-themed room. Or we may stay at Coronado Springs, requesting a room in the Cabanas section.

We know that we like the Caribbean Beach resort, and staying in the pirate rooms would be cool. I’ve seen others’ pictures and trip reports of Coronado Springs, and it really looks lovely. Thoughts, anyone?

I’ve also considered Pop Century, as it looks like a fun resort. We actually stopped there once and had lunch in the food court. It’s not really a front-runner, though. Unless, of course, someone might convince me that it’s super-wonderful? Any thoughts?

So there we have it. My current ideas for a resort. At the moment, I think I’m leaning more toward Coronado Springs since it’s a resort we haven’t done before.

 

[hannahmakesfour]

Those look like some good choices, we stayed at Caribbean Beach the last time we went in Sep/Oct 2009. It had a great tropical feel, however like I think you mentioned, that resort is HUGE! Being it was our first time going to WDW as a family we were very excited to get to the parks, so the multiple bus stops and wide layout didn't work well in our favor. I would love to see one of those pirate rooms though! We had a Nemo one during our stay.

Our next trip, which is quickly coming up this September, (only two months to go!!!) we have upgraded to a deluxe and are staying at Wilderness Lodge. My husband and I both liked the close proximity to the Magic Kingdom and are going to try to avoid the buses this time as much as possible.

My husband's dad and stepmom also visited WDW around the same time in '09 and stayed at PORS and LOVED it, I've heard it's more spread out the POFQ but nothing like CB. I hope this this input was helpful, I'll be looking foreword to more updates and seeing what you decide!

 

[Verstehen]

Joining in! I want to be right there with you when you choose a resort

 

[StephaniexMarie]

*Whoops, I made a double post and don't know how to delete. Sorry!*

 

[StephaniexMarie]

I love all of your pictures! Especially of CBR.

I don't think you will go wrong with whatever resort you choose. Pop is amazing especially if you want to spend some money on other things. A bonus about mods are that they have hot tubs. We were considering CSR for this August but when we wanted to book they only had King bedrooms which were very expensive so it didn't make sense to do that. We switched to POR and then to POP just because I missed it so much.

As for your other question, I'd say my favorite place to dine in WDW is the Crystal Palace! Winnie the Pooh is my favorite character and the buffet is great. I went and asked my mom to get another opinion and she said Crystal Palace as well! She also added Via Napoli. I totally forgot about that one, but it's delish!

A counter service I like is Columbia Harbor House. The seating upstairs is really peaceful and if you get a window seat, you have a great view of Liberty Square and the Haunted Mansion. Plus, the bathrooms are always clean.

 

[ddstratton]

Those look like some good choices, we stayed at Caribbean Beach the last time we went in Sep/Oct 2009. It had a great tropical feel, however like I think you mentioned, that resort is HUGE! Being it was our first time going to WDW as a family we were very excited to get to the parks, so the multiple bus stops and wide layout didn't work well in our favor. I would love to see one of those pirate rooms though! We had a Nemo one during our stay.

Our next trip, which is quickly coming up this September, (only two months to go!!!) we have upgraded to a deluxe and are staying at Wilderness Lodge. My husband and I both liked the close proximity to the Magic Kingdom and are going to try to avoid the buses this time as much as possible.

My husband's dad and stepmom also visited WDW around the same time in '09 and stayed at PORS and LOVED it, I've heard it's more spread out the POFQ but nothing like CB. I hope this this input was helpful, I'll be looking foreword to more updates and seeing what you decide!

It is really hard to make a decision!!! Each resort has something going for it.

Joining in! I want to be right there with you when you choose a resort

Welcome!!

I love all of your pictures! Especially of CBR.

I don't think you will go wrong with whatever resort you choose. Pop is amazing especially if you want to spend some money on other things. A bonus about mods are that they have hot tubs. We were considering CSR for this August but when we wanted to book they only had King bedrooms which were very expensive so it didn't make sense to do that. We switched to POR and then to POP just because I missed it so much.

As for your other question, I'd say my favorite place to dine in WDW is the Crystal Palace! Winnie the Pooh is my favorite character and the buffet is great. I went and asked my mom to get another opinion and she said Crystal Palace as well! She also added Via Napoli. I totally forgot about that one, but it's delish!

A counter service I like is Columbia Harbor House. The seating upstairs is really peaceful and if you get a window seat, you have a great view of Liberty Square and the Haunted Mansion. Plus, the bathrooms are always clean.

Thanks! I am still poring over Trip Reports, reading people's opinions on their resorts...

Crystal Palace breakfast is one of our favorites! We love getting an early ADR here. Via Napoli -- we've never tried it. It wasn't open yet on our last trip. And Columbia Harbor House we've tried on our first trip. We sat upstairs, and it is peaceful with a good view. I'm looking forward to this one again.

 

[Rozz]

We've never stayed at Coronado Springs. CBR is a favorite of ours but I think I'd choose CS just because we haven't tried it yet which is your situation also. That's my vote!

Now for restaurants, I agree with StephaniexMarie. CHH is a great counter service restaurant. The kids and DH like Cosmic Rays too. I'm just okay with it. On our favorites list: Tusker House, Teppan Edo, Prime Time (except for me), and Plaza Restaurant. The kids liked the Brown Derby-I'd have never guessed!

 

[ddstratton]

We've never stayed at Coronado Springs. CBR is a favorite of ours but I think I'd choose CS just because we haven't tried it yet which is your situation also. That's my vote!

Now for restaurants, I agree with StephaniexMarie. CHH is a great counter service restaurant. The kids and DH like Cosmic Rays too. I'm just okay with it. On our favorites list: Tusker House, Teppan Edo, Prime Time (except for me), and Plaza Restaurant. The kids liked the Brown Derby-I'd have never guessed!

We loved CBR also. Coronado Springs is a front-runner at the moment... The queen-sized beds are a plus, too.

We had lunch at Columbia Harbour House during our October 2008 trip. Upstairs was a nice place to eat -- quieter and nice views. I think I might like to try Teppan Edo... So many choices!!!

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Thanks! I am still poring over Trip Reports, reading people's opinions on their resorts...

Crystal Palace breakfast is one of our favorites! We love getting an early ADR here. Via Napoli -- we've never tried it. It wasn't open yet on our last trip. And Columbia Harbor House we've tried on our first trip. We sat upstairs, and it is peaceful with a good view. I'm looking forward to this one again.

You have plenty of time to pick a resort! We were thinking about our trip for next July (2 weeks to get the most use out of our then soon to be expired APs ) and were planning on staying at CBR again, but yesterday I was watching The Princess and the Frog so I really want to stay at POFQ!

We never went to the Crystal Palace for breakfast, but everyone on here raves about it! We usually do lunch because it's similar to the food at dinner, but cheaper. Since we have free dining this summer, we're doing dinner for the first time. Maybe I'll make reservations for breakfast for our November trip or save it for next July. You should definitely make ressies for Via Napoli. IMO, their pizza is to die for! And their rice balls..ahhh!

 

[ZFamily5]

I'm in! I am debating whether it's too early to start a PTR for June 2013! I think I may need to wait a bit... As for eating, we loved Rose and Crown this past trip! Can't wait to hear all about your plans!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Getting caught up with all my subscribe threads. I've thought about booking a stay at Coronado Springs too but I just don't think I'd like the way the food court works. I don't like the fact that you can't find your own table and refill your own drinks. Plus, if you aren't on the dining plan, you are expected to leave a tip. Lots of folks also report that the castmembers working the food court stations are ruder than rude which just wouldn't work for me. The resort does look beautiful though!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Get a cabin at Ft Wilderness!!!

 

[ddstratton]

You have plenty of time to pick a resort! We were thinking about our trip for next July (2 weeks to get the most use out of our then soon to be expired APs ) and were planning on staying at CBR again, but yesterday I was watching The Princess and the Frog so I really want to stay at POFQ!

We never went to the Crystal Palace for breakfast, but everyone on here raves about it! We usually do lunch because it's similar to the food at dinner, but cheaper. Since we have free dining this summer, we're doing dinner for the first time. Maybe I'll make reservations for breakfast for our November trip or save it for next July. You should definitely make ressies for Via Napoli. IMO, their pizza is to die for! And their rice balls..ahhh!

There are just so many choices for resorts! They all have something going for them...

We love Crystal Palace for breakfast, before the park opens.

I'm in! I am debating whether it's too early to start a PTR for June 2013! I think I may need to wait a bit... As for eating, we loved Rose and Crown this past trip! Can't wait to hear all about your plans!

It's never too early!! We haven't tried Rose and Crown yet, but it is on my "wanna" list.

Getting caught up with all my subscribe threads. I've thought about booking a stay at Coronado Springs too but I just don't think I'd like the way the food court works. I don't like the fact that you can't find your own table and refill your own drinks. Plus, if you aren't on the dining plan, you are expected to leave a tip. Lots of folks also report that the castmembers working the food court stations are ruder than rude which just wouldn't work for me. The resort does look beautiful though!

Hmm.. I've heard such opinions about the Pepper Market. Not sure how often we'd end up eating there... I'm just so undecided about where to stay at this point. Too many good choices!

Get a cabin at Ft Wilderness!!!

This has been considered!!! It's on my short list, actually.

 

[ddstratton]

451 days to go!

Still trying to decide where to stay! Coronado Springs is still my front-runner. Also considering Caribbean Beach – pirate room, Pop Century – 2 rooms, the new Art of Animation – family suite, and the Fort Wilderness cabins. So many choices!!!

A few of my favorite trip photos:

Mom – when she first found out she was going on a Disney trip with us.

One of my favorite pictures. Mom hugging a palm tree.

DD looks so little here! Waiting for characters at Crystal Palace.

OK – part of this trip will be at Universal Studios. Likely for two nights/three days. I would like to stay at a Universal Resort hotel, to take advantage of the early entry and front-of-the-line perks. Any suggestions on which hotel? At the moment, I’m leaning toward the Hard Rock Hotel.

 

[mickeystoontown]

The pictures of your mother crack me up. They are so cute....surprise and tree hugging.

I have no clue on what to suggest as far as Universal resorts. I hope you get some suggestions because we are thinking about going over to Universal if I can get a good deal.