Is there Gluten in Whiskey? Sept trip: 9 days, 3 boys, 1 urgent care visit NEWx2 11/7

[TanzUnited99]

I'm glad you enjoyed your meal at Mama Melrose - I have not heard many good reviews of this place lately.

Love the funny pic of Ari in front of the Tower of Terror sign

Great pics of Fantasmic! Sadly we never got to watch that show on this trip.

 

[teekathepony]

[...] those people way on the other side of the theater are showing up 15 minutes after us, without dinner package seating...and getting pretty much exactly the same view as us. Good to know!

Yep... same thing happened to us last year. We couldn't figure out what we had actually gotten from this Fantasmic! dinner package!
Love the TOT pic, too funny. And your shots of F! are awesome!

 

[justakrazymom]

Here is my family:



There's me, Gretchen; my husband, Dave; and our three boys: Ari is 10, Milo is 8, and Gus is 5 ½.

The trip, in a nutshell: we stayed at Pop, in two connecting room, for 8 nights (September 16-24). Free dining, upgraded to the plus plan. We were all gluten-free for the first time for this trip, which made things more interesting (more on that when I get to the restaurant reviews. Also, an answer to the question posed in my title).

Just found this one.. I'm on to catching up! We also homeschool and I am gluten free..can't wait to read your report!

 

[justakrazymom]

Chapter 12: Sunday, 9/17 part 2: Sunshine Seasons

We've eaten at Sunshine Seasons several times before, but I think every other time I've taken the kids over to find seats while Dave ordered. I find all the different stations a little bit intimidating. But I faced my fears and waded in!

This is another place where I knew there were things we could eat on the regular menu, so I didn't ask for a manager. Somehow I never realized you could get a pork chop at Sunshine Seasons! I don't know if it's fairly new, or if I just always overlooked it before. But, at any rate, I was excited to try something different from the rotisserie chicken. The kids both got chicken drumsticks and mashed potatoes. Gus picked carrot sticks as his other side, and Milo picked apple sauce. I didn't realize until a later visit that the gluten-free desserts are sitting in one of the displays; I assumed a manager would need to bring them out, so I just didn't get any (the kids meals aren't supposed to come with dessert anyway, but I think you can sub dessert for one of the sides). The CM at the register really didn't want to let me leave without getting everything I was entitled to, though, so I finally grabbed a bag of chips for the kids to snack on later to make him happy. One thing about Sunshine Seasons that made the kids a little sad was that Power Ade was a drink option for the grown-up meals, but not the kid meals.

Disclaimer: my gluten-free app actually doesn't list the mashed potatoes as gluten-free at Sunshine Seasons. But I had read elsewhere that they are, so I went ahead and got them. IME, mashed potatoes are nearly always gluten free, though I'm sure there are places that manage to get gluten into them somehow.

We all really enjoyed this meal. The pork chop was a nice change from chicken...it was a little dry (it's supposed to come with barbecue sauce, but I didn't get that) and kind of awkward to cut with a plastic knife, but I still really liked it. It was also huge!

Next up: More Epcot! And the (not so) exciting conclusion to Ari's urgent care saga

I wish i had known about a gluten free app.. oh well.. for the most part i always alerted the CM's because of cross contamination. I am very sensitive to any gluten.. I even need my own butter etc when we had rolls at a sit down meal.

 

[justakrazymom]

Ok all caught up! Great report..adorable kids!

 

[kokotg]

I know it isn't everyone's favorite but I love Fantasmic! I use to think it was even better than Illuminations (but now Illuminations holds sentimental value as the first thing DBF and I ever did at WDW together). Whenever I need a little dose of pixie dust I watch this video. If Fantasmic's involved, I can cry at the drop of a hat!

There is a very (well, to Dave) sad story about Illuminations coming up later in my TR.

The kids came running when I clicked on the video. I thought they were feeling all nostalgic for our trip, but then Ari said, "we should have skipped the dinner package and just watched this Youtube video instead." Uh, I thought he liked it. "It was too bright, and loud, and crowded," he said. Oh well. I liked it.

I'm glad you enjoyed your meal at Mama Melrose - I have not heard many good reviews of this place lately.

Love the funny pic of Ari in front of the Tower of Terror sign

Great pics of Fantasmic! Sadly we never got to watch that show on this trip.

It took us six years to get around to watching it, so don't feel too bad!

Yep... same thing happened to us last year. We couldn't figure out what we had actually gotten from this Fantasmic! dinner package!
Love the TOT pic, too funny. And your shots of F! are awesome!

Yeah, I guess maybe if it had been a really crowded time of year it would have been worthwhile...but I don't think it even wound up filling up all the way the night we were there. Oh well--we had to eat somewhere anyway!

Just found this one.. I'm on to catching up! We also homeschool and I am gluten free..can't wait to read your report!

I wish i had known about a gluten free app.. oh well.. for the most part i always alerted the CM's because of cross contamination. I am very sensitive to any gluten.. I even need my own butter etc when we had rolls at a sit down meal.

Ok all caught up! Great report..adorable kids!

and thanks!

We have a lot in common . The app is called Gluten Free Passport. It cost $2.99...really, it's not the greatest thing ever--it just takes all the information Disney will e-mail you about gluten-free diets and puts them on an app...but it was kind of handy to have it on my phone and not have to carry it around. It'd be great if they'd add some things to it like letting people post dining reviews maybe. It was pretty good for the parks restaurants, but for the resort ones there wasn't always much information at all.

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 27: Intermission

I've realized that I'm just a bit more than halfway through the trip now (which means I'm on track for....54 chapters! For nine days? How did that happen?)....so I thought I'd throw in this interlude with a few only tangentially related to Disney thoughts.

1. We went to Six Flags last weekend. We had season passes this year, because we wanted to stop at the SF in New Jersey when we drove up to Massachusetts over the summer, and they're good at all the locations. We'd only been to the Atlanta one one other time, late in the spring. So this is going to come as a shock to all of you, but....Six Flags is NOT AS GOOD as Disney World! The lines! The lines were terrible! We got there just a few minutes after opening, but by the time they'd been open an hour there were significant lines for just about every ride in the park. We were there five hours, and we split up some because of height restrictions and whatnot; Dave and Milo rode all of four rides in those five hours, while Ari, Gus, and I rode a whopping six. It really doesn't seem right that “shorter lines” should be an advantage Disney has over Six Flags.

And, I talked about this in one of my responses here already, but...Dave lost his hat from Animal Kingdom! It flew off while he was riding the Dahlonega, which is sort of hilarious because I think it's top speed is about 12 miles per hour. Okay, that's not Six Flags' fault, but, still, I think it's a sign we shouldn't buy season passes again anytime soon.

Also? We're getting too old for bumpy wooden roller coasters. Sad, but true. And Ari was born too old, it seems. He HATES jerky roller coasters. Gus thinks they're awesome. Milo thinks they're fine. And that's my children, summed up in three sentences.

2. We're going to Dollywood for Gus' birthday in December! It's a year of theme parks for us! I'm excited about this. I've never been, but I hear very good things. And I love Dolly! We're probably going to buy season passes (that are good for December and then all of next year) there, too, because it's the best deal if you want to go for more than one day (we're doing a long weekend). I have a feeling we'll decide that we'd rather drive nearly 4 hours and pay for a hotel to go to Dollywood than go back to Six Flags again. They're supposed to be good about food allergies and gluten intolerance, but I think “good” is a relative term. In Dollywood's case, it looks like it means there are two different restaurants we can eat at, each with two or three choices (like grilled chicken and mashed potatoes or pork chops and mashed potatoes). I guess we're pretty spoiled by Disney!

I'm worried that it will seem like it didn't really happen if I don't write a trip report about it, though

3. And, finally....we found the same chicken tenders that they sell at Disney at a store near us! They aren't as good if you don't have your own deep fryer handy, though.

 

[shan23877]

Love the updates! We wanted to see both American Idol and Fantasmic this trip , but missed both. I don't hear about too many people who actually do AI, but we really wanted to--especially DD4--she walked around saying "This is American Idol" all afternoon

I LOVE Dolly! Hooray for you trip! Did you know that the tapping noise at the beginning 9 to 5 is Dolly's finger nails, and was her idea? That woman's a genius I tell you!

(I can almost see my DH's eyes rolling as I type this )

 

[fromscratchmom]

I love Dolly too!

 

[3inthefamily]

Really enjoying your trip report...I have been GF for about a month now and we are headed down to WDW next month and I am looking forward to trying out some of your suggestions.

2 summers ago my family and I took a road trip from here in CT down and around parts of KY, TN, VA, etc. We went to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood and had such a blast! There is so much kooky, kitschy stuff going on down there. It poured when we went to Dollywood so we didn't enjoy it that much, but they were so wonderful that they gave us our $ back! We ended up going to Dolly's Dixie Stampede that night and had such a blast...and they were very accommodating for my vegetarian husband...and the meal seemed pretty GF friendly.. roasted chicken, potato, corn, etc. Totally recommend. It's like the Hillbilly Vegas down there! Enjoy!!!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

1. I hate Six Flags. It's just so dirty. And not Disney. Are other Six Flags locations like this, or is it just Atlanta?

2. Jealous of the Dollywood trip! I wanted to do Dollywood/Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge last spring and nobody in my family would get on board. Losers. Are you planning to go the The Dixie Stampede? I honestly don't remember much about it (or if they work with GF diets), but I know even as a kid I loved it and thought it was wonderfully hokey and amusing.

3. Where did you find those chicken tenders?

 

[nadira36]

In TGMR, we always have gotten the gangster as the guy who hijacks our vehicle...word is sometimes it's the gangster and sometimes it's a cowboy in the next scene instead. Maybe the cowboy used to be more common? It seems like these days I only hear about people getting the gangster

That's what I was thinking - I'm not sure if we've ever had the gangster - we always have a cowboy! lol Come to think of it we've seen the gangster on other cars - but we get the cowboy. Heh.

I can hardly wait until the girls are tall enough (and brave enough) for ToT and RnRC Ryan's not a huge fan of big rides but he'll ride them if I insist. So it'll be fun when the girls can ride them with me. This year Ella will be on BTM and SM for the first time (I have little girls still).

 

[TanzUnited99]

I think I am yet to read a good review of Six Flags - if I'm honest I didn't even know it existed until I came on these boards.

Yay on going to Dollywood! Of course we want to hear all the details!

I'm glad you found the same chicken tenders that they sell at Disney to relive some of the magic

 

[kokotg]

Love the updates! We wanted to see both American Idol and Fantasmic this trip , but missed both. I don't hear about too many people who actually do AI, but we really wanted to--especially DD4--she walked around saying "This is American Idol" all afternoon

I LOVE Dolly! Hooray for you trip! Did you know that the tapping noise at the beginning 9 to 5 is Dolly's finger nails, and was her idea? That woman's a genius I tell you!

(I can almost see my DH's eyes rolling as I type this )

It does seem like you don't hear about people watching AI very much...maybe it's not Disney enough? We all really enjoy it, though--I was worried the kids would get bored the first time we saw it, but they were really into it.

Dolly is a genius! I've got to pull out my greatest hits CD and get the kids indoctrinated before our trip

I love Dolly too!

Maybe she'll be there when we go, even! If she is, I'll say hello for you

Really enjoying your trip report...I have been GF for about a month now and we are headed down to WDW next month and I am looking forward to trying out some of your suggestions.

2 summers ago my family and I took a road trip from here in CT down and around parts of KY, TN, VA, etc. We went to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood and had such a blast! There is so much kooky, kitschy stuff going on down there. It poured when we went to Dollywood so we didn't enjoy it that much, but they were so wonderful that they gave us our $ back! We ended up going to Dolly's Dixie Stampede that night and had such a blast...and they were very accommodating for my vegetarian husband...and the meal seemed pretty GF friendly.. roasted chicken, potato, corn, etc. Totally recommend. It's like the Hillbilly Vegas down there! Enjoy!!!!

Thanks for reading! and thanks for the Pigeon Forge review...I was looking at Dixie Stampede and trying to decide if we should do it...sounds like fun!

1. I hate Six Flags. It's just so dirty. And not Disney. Are other Six Flags locations like this, or is it just Atlanta?

2. Jealous of the Dollywood trip! I wanted to do Dollywood/Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge last spring and nobody in my family would get on board. Losers. Are you planning to go the The Dixie Stampede? I honestly don't remember much about it (or if they work with GF diets), but I know even as a kid I loved it and thought it was wonderfully hokey and amusing.

3. Where did you find those chicken tenders?

I went to the Six Flags in MA a LONG time ago, and I don't remember much about it. It was kind of a weird day when we went to the NJ one....we went the week before school got out up there, so it was just us and a few big school groups...as long as we stayed out of their way, it was like we had the park to ourselves for the first few hours. So we enjoyed it more than we expected. They have a really incredible roller coaster there called El Toro, and it was almost worth it just to ride that. But it was still Six Flags.

Aw...I hope you get to do your Pigeon Forge trip sometime! We haven't decided yet about Dixie Stampede...I might let birthday Gus decide. I think we're probably going to do Magiquest and Dollywood...not sure what else yet!

The chicken fingers are at Natural Foods Warehouse (I got them at the Crabapple one)...there are two different kinds; the ones that say tenderloins are the ones I'm pretty sure are exactly what Disney has.

That's what I was thinking - I'm not sure if we've ever had the gangster - we always have a cowboy! lol Come to think of it we've seen the gangster on other cars - but we get the cowboy. Heh.

I can hardly wait until the girls are tall enough (and brave enough) for ToT and RnRC Ryan's not a huge fan of big rides but he'll ride them if I insist. So it'll be fun when the girls can ride them with me. This year Ella will be on BTM and SM for the first time (I have little girls still).

I'm going to keep going on that ride every year until I see that cowboy!

It's so fun that first year when kids are tall enough for rides!

I think I am yet to read a good review of Six Flags - if I'm honest I didn't even know it existed until I came on these boards.

Yay on going to Dollywood! Of course we want to hear all the details!

I'm glad you found the same chicken tenders that they sell at Disney to relive some of the magic

Yes, I'm not surprised that news of Six Flags hasn't spread much internationally --it's definitely not something you'd travel far to visit! For people who are just into big thrill rides, it's fine....I LOVED going to ours in middle/high school. But I think I've done enough visits this summer to hold me over for quite awhile!

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 28: Tuesday wrap-up/new things

Lots of new things for today!

First off, since this was our super long day and the midpoint of the trip, seems like a good time to talk about a new thing for the trip: no stroller anywhere in the picture for Gus. We actually didn't have a stroller for him last year, either, but we were traveling with friends, and he occasionally hitched a ride on theirs. And last year we really WISHED he'd let us rent him a stroller, since he clearly needed one a lot of the time. But even the year he was three, it was a fight to get him to ride in a stroller for part of our Disneyland trip. So this year I didn't even bring it up. Nine days, no stroller.

How did he do?

Amazing! He NEVER complained about being tired. There was ONE time we wished we had a stroller for him, and it was when we left the Halloween party at midnight on Friday. Yay Gus!

Tuesday's new things:
1. Fantasmic!
2. New Star Tours
3. Gus' first Rock n' Roller Coaster ride
4. Mama Melrose
5. Pizza Planet
6. American Idol finale
7. Lights, Motors, Action

And now I'm off to work on a real update w/ Magic Kingdom and Crystal Palace action! Hope to get it up tonight!

 

[kimmer1850]

And, I just finished reading all 12 pages. I love the way you write! Your family looks so very happy (and beautiful.) Bet you'll have your hands full when the boys are old enough to date.
I can"t believe how invested I've become in reading the next 27 chapters! DH is laughing at me because I'm so into it.
As for the cowboy in TGMR we've actually asked to wait for his car. We did it last March when it was really slow and spent some time chatting with the CM at the turnstile. Did you know that TGMR is the only ride (as far as the CM knew) that doesn't have it's own pin?
Thanks! And, keep writing!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

No strollers...it will be FOREVER before that happens for us! Julia's still wimpy at age 5.

Yay for so many new things!

 

[justakrazymom]

No strollers...it will be FOREVER before that happens for us! Julia's still wimpy at age 5.

Yay for so many new things!

We had one for Taejan this trip and I am praying we don't have one next time.. he just has NO stamina though... if we do it will be renting..cus he's too big now!

 

[kokotg]

And, I just finished reading all 12 pages. I love the way you write! Your family looks so very happy (and beautiful.) Bet you'll have your hands full when the boys are old enough to date.
I can"t believe how invested I've become in reading the next 27 chapters! DH is laughing at me because I'm so into it.
As for the cowboy in TGMR we've actually asked to wait for his car. We did it last March when it was really slow and spent some time chatting with the CM at the turnstile. Did you know that TGMR is the only ride (as far as the CM knew) that doesn't have it's own pin?
Thanks! And, keep writing!

Aww, thank you so much! I'm having a lot of fun writing it

I don't even want to think about when they start dating...between that and the grocery bills, I doubt I'll survive

That's a good idea--asking to wait for the cowboy. I'll bet I can convince the kids to do that next year! Did it take long? That makes me kinda sad about the pin...poor Movie Ride

No strollers...it will be FOREVER before that happens for us! Julia's still wimpy at age 5.

Yay for so many new things!

For Gus, it was all about wanting to keep up with his big brothers. When Ari was 5, we rented a stroller for Milo and Gus, and Ari spent the whole time trying to sneak into it (Gus was in a carrier a lot of the time, so Ari wound up riding plenty).

We had one for Taejan this trip and I am praying we don't have one next time.. he just has NO stamina though... if we do it will be renting..cus he's too big now!

I really almost wanted him to ask for a stroller, because I knew he'd be tired...it's SO much walking for little kids (and big kids. And grown-ups), especially when you go in summer! He's too stubborn to admit when he's tired, though

 

[kokotg]

Chapter 29: Wednesday 9/21: Magic Kingdom

When Ari got sick and we had to cancel our Tusker House reservation Saturday night, it somehow set off a very complicated chain of events that involved approximately 472 changes to our dining reservations for the rest of the week. All because we found ourselves needing to make one more reservation to use up all our credits.

I couldn't have recreated the sequence of events while we were on the trip, so I certainly can't do it now....to sum up, the important thing to know for now is that we had grabbed a last minute 9:20 breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace for Wednesday morning.

The night before, feeling like a superhero after tackling Hollywood Studios open to close, I'd suggested a plan whereby we all run to Dumbo first thing and ride it before running back over to the Crystal Palace. In the light of day, however, this plan sounded...tiring.

We took the bus:

Looks like we took the scenic route again

...and made it in time for rope drop. We were relieved to see they're still doing opening ceremonies somewhere anyway:

Ooh! A picture with me in it! Looks like it was sunny again.

I have to say, they do their best to make up for the lack of opening ceremonies at the other parks here. These guys are INTO it!

We had some dining reservations to cancel, and we'd found canceling them over the phone to be kind of a hassle (and canceling them using my iphone and the dining reservation website frustratingly impossible), so we stopped by Guest Services to do it there.

Note the outfit. Dave's sister and BIL picked it up--for Ari originally--when they went to Hawaii. We had an 'Ohana reservation that night, and I do like a thematically appropriate outfit!

Best part about not rushing to Dumbo? Plenty of time for castle pictures!

I don't know why they put that stupid crane there; don't they know it messes up our pictures?!

And then we went to Crystal Palace...so I'll put that in the next post!