Just another day in the Happiest Place on Earth! Completed April 24th!!

[suse66]

In TWO (that's right, two) very short weeks we will be heading to our very favourite place! I might just be a little excited about this trip! This is our 4th trip to Disney since our initial trip in 2009 where I had to be dragged along but I quickly learned what a magical place Disney is and would happily go every year if only the $$ allowed it!

So, who are we???

Me (49... very soon to be 50!) and an absolute Disney lover. My favourite park is Epcot and my favourite ride is the Haunted Mansion. I am slightly obsessed with Disney Dooney bags, Disney Pandora and love life in the Disney bubble. When I have to live in the real world, I am a kindergarten teacher and the proud mother of three wonderful teenage boys.

DH (53) Hard working guy who indulges his wife's Disney obsession. He first went to Disney in '73 and has loved it ever since. His favourite park is the Magic Kingdom as he loves the Dapper Dans and the Enchanted Tiki room!

The boys! (#1:15, #2:13 and #3:13) Their favourite park is Epcot followed closely by Hollywood Studios. Their favourite rides are the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster. They eat more food than any other humans on the planet and have never met a hamburger they didn't love. Their palates are expanding a bit as they get older so we will be encouraging then to try a few new things on this trip.

On to the food, aka where are we eating??

Arrival day (March 12th) Lunch at Hurricane Hanna's/Dinner at O'hanas

March 13th: Breakfast in the room/light lunch at Marketplace or Crews Cup/dinner at Sci-Fi.

March 14th: Breakfast at Captain's Grill/snacking at the F&G booths/dinner????

March 15th: On the go breakfast/snacks in MK as we are doing the Marceline to Magic tour/late lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe/ Ice cream for dinner at Beaches and Cream.

March 16th: Breakfast at Boardwalk Bakery/lunch ???/dinner at Narcoosees

March 17th: Breakfast in the room/Lunch at Yak and Yeti/ dinner ???

March 18th: Breakfast and lunch are still undecided as we are hoping this will be a waterpark day. Dinner tonight will be "Eating Around the World", especially enjoying the F&G booths!

Our goal is to have lots of flexibility and down time while still enjoying some great food! We will going OOP as we find that works best for us.

I hope you join us on our adventures!!

 

[vettegirl]

How exciting Susan!! Where are you guys staying this time?

 

[suse66]

We are at the Yacht Club, Lori. So excited...I am literally counting the days. Love the Epcot resort area as I know you do too. We are not doing CL this time but have ordered snacks and bevvies from Garden Grocer. Now if it were BWI, I would be very tempted to do CL, based on your wonderful reviews!

 

[marabusybee]

We'll be there the 12-26. The weeks right before a trip are both exciting and nerve-wracking.

 

[suse66]

We'll be there the 12-26. The weeks right before a trip are both exciting and nerve-wracking.

Lucky you having two weeks! We are so excited, I only wish we could stay longer. I hope you have a magical trip!

 

[kastoney]

I'm totally here!!!!!

 

[DLo]

I am doing the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour on 3/25. Can't wait to hear how you like it.
My ds18 is same about hamburgers as your 3 .

Staying POFQ for the March quick solo trip but staying at YC for my 50th in Oct. love love love Epcot area resorts

 

[suse66]

I'm totally here!!!!!

Happy to have you along. Kari!

 

[suse66]

I am doing the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour on 3/25. Can't wait to hear how you like it.
My ds18 is same about hamburgers as your 3 .

Staying POFQ for the March quick solo trip but staying at YC for my 50th in Oct. love love love Epcot area resorts

Hope you enjoy your solo trip and your extra special birthday celebration trip. I know 50 will be awesome! I'll definitely keep you posted on the Marceline to Magic tour, I've heard really good things about it!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Looking forward to your report!

 

[nco91590]

YAY! Make sure you try the truffle fries at Crews Cup! They are delicious!

 

[Vernie822]

Hi Susan! Can't wait to read all about your trip and traveling with 3 teen boys.. Oh my! My brothers are in their teens and eat everything in sight too. It's crazy!

 

[suse66]

YAY! Make sure you try the truffle fries at Crews Cup! They are delicious!

They are definitely on my radar, along with the yummy looking crab cakes. We can't wait to check out Crew's Cup!

 

[suse66]

Hi Susan! Can't wait to read all about your trip and traveling with 3 teen boys.. Oh my! My brothers are in their teens and eat everything in sight too. It's crazy!

I have sympathy for your poor parents.......if they are anything like us, their grocery bill would just keep going up! I hope the boys try some new things on the trip!

 

[suse66]

Thanks for joining in! I have sympathy for your poor parents.......if they are anything like us, their grocery bill would just keep going up! I hope the boys try some new things on the trip!

 

[suse66]

We leave tomorrow afternoon to drive to Detroit and fly out Saturday morning.......so excited! I was able to snag an earlier ressie for O'hana Saturday night so now we are eating at 5:15 which gives us lots of extra time at Magic Kingdom. We also added in a Disney date night for my Dh and I as we are going to Narcoosees on our own and letting the boys go off to Magic Kingdom for a few hours without us. I am nervous but I know they'll be fine and they are so excited to be trusted. They'll grab dinner at Cosmic Rays or Columbia Harbour House and we'll meet up with them after dinner. A big step for this over-protective mama!

I hope to do a little live reporting as we go...so excited to be sharing our adventures with you all!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Have a great trip - looking forward to your reviews

 

[kastoney]

Hope you have a safe flight. Sounds like a great (but I'm sure scary) plan to let the boys go it alone. Can't wait to hear how it turns out

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Looking forward to your reviews. So excited for you. We are not going until the summer and it seems so far away. We love the EPCOT resorts too. I agree about the BWI CL - we love Anita and Lorenzo. But we also love the YC.

Enjoy!

 

[suse66]

We are back from the most amazing trip ever!!! We loved the Yacht Club and had many, many wonderful meals and lovely service.

After arriving on Saturday just after lunch, we were happy to receive an email indicating that our room was ready. We went up to unpack and get settled in as we wanted to have some time to relax before our 5:10 reservation at O'hana. Originally we had an 8:00 ressie but I was lucky enough to snag an earlier time two days earlier.

Upon arriving at O'hana we checked in and only waited about ten minutes before our buzzer went off. We were led to a table in the back and my heart kind of sunk a bit.....I really wanted a table in the main room but had forgot to mention that at check in. I decided to take a risk and ask our very kind hostess if there was any way we might be able to have a table in the front room. She went off to confer with some of the other staff and not five minutes later we were led to a beautiful table one row back from the window with a perfect view of the castle. I was blown away and so thankful for this lovely piece of pixie dust!

Unfortunately there are no pics of this meal as my husband had taken them on his phone and the phone took an untimely bath in Stormalong Bay.......oh well! I'm sure everyone knows that an O'hana meal is like. . On to the food....... we quickly devoured a loaf of the welcome bread while we debated our drink orders. DH and I chose the Lapu Lapu and the boys went with the Mega Berry smoothies. Our waiter was excellent, he was quick to anticipate any of our needs. Our water and soft drinks were refilled before we even thought to ask. We started with the salad which was fresh, crisp and flavourful with just the right amount of dressing. We asked our waiter if he would pace out the meal a bit slower and he was happy to do that. The chicken wings were plump, juicy and oh so yummy! The boys really enjoyed the potstickers as well. We ended up asking for a second plate of these and devoured those as well. The noodles and stir fried veggies came next and were great. The veggies were crisp and well seasoned. I think I got one bite of the noodles as the boys simply inhaled them! After 5-10 minutes the skewers started coming around. The chicken was first and was excellent.... definitely thigh meat but very juicy and delicious with the sweet and sour sauce. I had about 4 pieces of it as I don't care for steak or shrimp. The steak was up next and was fabulous, a lovely medium rare which the boys and DH prefer. They each had 3-4 pieces. After another ten minutes the shrimp came round and it was a huge hit! Everyone had at least three pieces and really enjoyed it. Our waiter came back with seconds on both the steak and the shrimp which the boys were happy to partake of.

Dessert was up next and while DH and I were in dessert heaven, our waiter was quick to notice that the boys were not tucking in. He offered to bring around ice cream and brownies for them which they really enjoyed. Really, we could not have asked for better service or a more delightful meal for our first day at Disney. We certainly did not need any snacks at MK that night!

OOP cost: $253 including adult beverages
Tip: $50 for awesome service!
Savings vs using DDP: $93.50