Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[jordanyosh]

Knotts,,,why is the best tasting stuff so bad for you. Greasy goodness....

WOW! Congrats on the view and the freebies...

The view.

The view.

The view.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

No way!

Really?

The big kahuna family?!

Were they trying to guilt you into going to the Disney park?

What a great view. And how cool to be watching the fireworks while in the pool. I've got to make it to DL one of these days. And soon.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

for the BIG KAHUNA FAMILY that is so

The chicken dinner looks yummy, and all the more so when eating it in a DLR room!!! Fireworks from the roof with a beer - the only thing better would be a nice glass of cabernet!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

the only thing i remeber from knotts berry farm was the ride where you went up in the big parachut things and came down, and getting the autographs from the guys at that western stunt show thingy, i still have them in my autograph book.

 

[All7OfUs]

What an amazing day you had!

BUT...

I'm sad you didn't do the sit-down Mrs. Knotts dinner! No rhubarb crisp?!

Shame!

But!!

SCORE on the upgrade. That's my Big Fat Dream!

 

[glennbo123]

What a great day at Knotts!

So we decided to read about it

I love that Evan's standing in front of a sign that says "remain seated". I'm sure the train wasn't in motion at the time, right?

I don’t know what it is about these swing rides but they did not want to get off!

My kids love those too. They ride them at Hershey Park.

Finally she comes back. Holding a bunch of balloons.

And says, your room is ready but we have something for you.

Ok, what?

You are the BIG KAHUNA FAMILY OF THE DAY!

Which means........

• an upgrade to a theme park view
• A photo
• Rice Crispy treats
• Pins
• Leis
• And Turn Down Service!

How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, balloons in hand, we had our celebratory picture taken and headed up in the glass elevator to our room.

That is awesome!!! You planned so many surprises, I'm glad that you got one yourself!

The room rocked.

Okay, so what're you doing crawling around on the floor?

 

[eandesmom]

I think your feet are IN the car in the hulk, but they are OUT of the car on Fire and Ice. I might be wrong, but they are both great rides. There is something different about the two coasters other than the fact the hulk blasts off 0 to 60 mph. Fire & Ice (whatever its real name is) are GRRRRRRRREAT in the front seat. Really fun, but I lost one of my really pretty gold hoops on them many years ago and I still grieve for it (mostly because I can't afford to replace them any more). Learned that lesson.

Well I think Fire and Ice (WHICH ROCKS!) is now the WWOHP Dragon Challenge so it's going to be so exciting to see how they wrapped the theme around that amazing ride. Very very sad about the earring though.

For some reason I thought it was the opposite but I can't recall. I will let you know in August!

WOWSA! My favorite update so far. First of all, boysenberry pie. I could go for a slice of that right now.

I know that feeling when you FINALLY get to the hotel to check in and your legs begin to feel a little wobbly and you think "yeah, yeah, yeah hurry the SAM H$LL up". And then - Wow - the big Kahuna family. I bet you never saw that coming! How super fantastically magical. The room and the view are awesome. The pool likes like a blast. The only thing I really want to know is how awesomely good was that pie?????!!!!!!

Well we were too full to eat it that night so you'll have to wait and see.

No, I never saw the Big Kahuna coming. Of course I was hoping for a view upgrade but the rest of it? No way!

I was stressing out from Jeff's impatience vibes that were reverberating across the lobby while I was trying to check us in.

Knotts,,,why is the best tasting stuff so bad for you. Greasy goodness....

WOW! Congrats on the view and the freebies...

The view.

The view.

The view.

Oh that chicken! Seriously if I lived there, I'd be hitting the marketplace up for takeout on a regular basis. It was relatively reasonable pricing too!

I couldn't get over that view.

 

[eandesmom]

the only thing i remeber from knotts berry farm was the ride where you went up in the big parachut things and came down, and getting the autographs from the guys at that western stunt show thingy, i still have them in my autograph book.

They still have that parachute thingy...didn't appeal to anyone that day though. Fun on the autograph book. No idea if they were signing as the E's are a bit past that but they sure loved the show!

What an amazing day you had!

BUT...

I'm sad you didn't do the sit-down Mrs. Knotts dinner! No rhubarb crisp?!

Shame!

But!!

SCORE on the upgrade. That's my Big Fat Dream!

Now who in their right mind would choose Rhubarb Crisp over the famous Boysenberry Pie! By the folks who invented the term boysenberry of all people!



We were SO not interested in sitting down but it looks great. Of course, back in the day when you and I ate there the restaurant was actually in the park, not the marketplace so it wasn't quite as "authentic" but from our window peeking it looked like they did a decent job of recreating it.

My big fat dream too, just the upgrade part, didn't occur to me that DLR does "family of the day" just like they do at WDW.

SO cool!

What a great day at Knotts!



I love that Evan's standing in front of a sign that says "remain seated". I'm sure the train wasn't in motion at the time, right?

My kids love those too. They ride them at Hershey Park.
That is awesome!!! You planned so many surprises, I'm glad that you got one yourself!

Okay, so what're you doing crawling around on the floor?

Pretty sure the train wasn't moving, but you never know with Evan.

It was nice to get a surprise, I never get them! Despite the OBVIOUS hints of how much I like them.

I wondered if anyone would notice that. Evan must have taken the shot. Who knows what I was doing, probably corralling their bags so I didn't trip, or they didn't trip on the way to the desk to eat their chicken since in their mad rush to get suits on, their bags exploded.

They had noticed the roof waterslide on our first night as we drove out of the parking lot so were VERY anxious to get up there.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I think POP copied the Paradise Pier Goofy, he surfs in CA! Goes with his low rider dontcha know! Actually that would be fun to find out which one came first.

Good question. Looked on Wiki which is sometimes accurate. PP opened three years earlier than POP so if they statue was there at opening, it would be the older of the two.

 

[eandesmom]

Good question. Looked on Wiki which is sometimes accurate. PP opened three years earlier than POP so if they statue was there at opening, it would be the older of the two.

is it pathetic that makes me want to go

MY GOOFY BEATS YOUR GOOFY!

I WIN!​

Evan was very attached to that Goofy, he's looking forward to visiting the Florida version.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

WOW! Sounds like a great night! Mrs. Knotts Fried Chicken and being Big Kahuna Family of the day!!! Couldn't ask for anything better!!! CAN't wait to hear about CA!

 

[eandesmom]

WOW! Sounds like a great night! Mrs. Knotts Fried Chicken and being Big Kahuna Family of the day!!! Couldn't ask for anything better!!! CAN't wait to hear about CA!

No you can't ask for better, can you?

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!

DCA day (finally!) TR/update soon but some FL breaking news will be first.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

is it pathetic that makes me want to go

MY GOOFY BEATS YOUR GOOFY!

I WIN!​

Evan was very attached to that Goofy, he's looking forward to visiting the Florida version.

The Florida Version has a car. And Bubblers. And once served as the backdrop of Jordan drunk story photoshoot.

So I'd say that at least makes it an even score.

 

[eandesmom]

The Florida Version has a car. And Bubblers. And once served as the backdrop of Jordan drunk story photoshoot.

So I'd say that at least makes it an even score.

Oh all right, fine, be that way. But we got to have BREAKFAST with him.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

[eandesmom]

Sandie decided.

So did we.

Holy Cats do I need some touring plan and ADR help now!

The best part of this whole 11th hour shuffle?

I had (respectfully) suggested (strongly) that arriving on the 14th and staying through the 21st would be best for everyone for a variety of reasons.

Got a PANICKED email from Sandie a couple of day’s later.
“OH NO! I’ll miss the Fireworks Cruise and the Garden View Tea if we don’t arrive till the 14th!”
YES!

Assimilation has begun!

She IS paying attention!

Ok. Now to get to brass tacks.

Bottom line is, after talking about it, sleeping on it, thinking about it we had a bit of a reality check.

We (I, the E’s to be specific) were excited to stay at POP for a night. 2 even, in some ways, would be better from a “feeling settled” standpoint.

3? Put Jeff over the edge. Double beds for 3 nights. He couldn’t do it. POP for 3 nights. Loud, bright, crazy, fun but….not the relaxing he was looking for. He couldn’t do it.

Mod. Would have been great. Still double beds, CSR was sold out.

I REALLY REALLY wanted to do AKL, but no availability with our PIN code for pool view. And that extra 10% we have over the public code is kind of key...otherwise at a certain point I could just pay for both rooms at the YC.

There were pool view bunk rooms avail with the public code, they called my name but I had to walk away from their siren song. Must.Use.PIN.Code.

Sigh.

And so it is.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

WILDERNESS LODGE WOODS VIEW for 3 nights before Sandie and Paul arrive and then YC for 5.

Rough I know. With Sandie and Paul now chipping in for part of the HRH stay, it’s about a wash on the $$. I tried to do one bunk bed, one 2 queen room but apparently we can’t do that and have a chance at connecting rooms. Bummer.

I need HELP. And HELP ASAP!

When we first landed on the AKL idea, I made some additional ressies that would have worked well. Were we staying there. WL was our backup plan (and truth be told Jeff and probably the kids first choice but I was pulling rank and overriding if we could have gotten AKL) and while I am SUPER excited to stay there, it really mucks things up reservation wise! I just don’t know what to do, at all, based on what is available. Part of the complication is that we had to rebook the Illuminations cruise and the tea. Both of which, thankfully, we could do.
Here is our original ADR list.

1. Raglan Road (an add on with the extra night)
2. Kouzzina
3. Big River Grill. I nixed that in favor of Captains Grille
4. Ohana
5. Sanaa
6. Teppan Edo
7. Tutto Italia
8. Tusker House
9. Cape May Breakfast (also an add on)

So, 8 nights, 9 ressies, all based on one POP night (Raglan Road) and the rest from YC.

Now it’s a train wreck!

I had beautifully timed the dinner reservation with the Illuminations cruise. Thankfully we can rebook the cruise. And also thankfully, the fireworks times have slid an hour later but…can we make it from a 7:20 reservation at Tutto back to the YC to board a boat that leaves at 9? With 8 people?

Help!

I feel like I’ve turned into this monster, booking reservations like a madwoman and not really knowing what I am doing. I don’t like feeling this scattered. So, here is what I have and I welcome any and ALL suggestions. A couple things of note.

I really didn’t put many monorail/MK restaurants in the original list given where we were staying. CP was on the list and almost made the cut, Wave came in really low on the rankings. I’m personally not excited about CP, too many mixed reviews on the food and the characters are a bit young for my crew. The rest of the MK TS options are kind of meh for dinner, for me. WCC would be ok BUT, to me, that kind of food sounds just wrong in the august heat. But the kids all like that kind of food so I am torn. Again, I didn’t even show it to them. So factor all that in. Sandie is “least thrilled” about Teppan Edo. I’ve also been thinking of adding a breakfast and removing a sit down dinner. We have a bfast on the last day but 8 days of sit down dinners in a row does sound like a lot. We will be dealing with a 3 hour time difference and while we are trying to acclimate quickly, we eat late regardless so some of those times are a bit deliberate.

So here is my list of a bazillion reservations, All those 8/11-8/13 are for 6 people, 8/14 and later are for 8 or 9 people.

Wednesday August 11, 2010 – AK evening EMH till 10
Raglan Road 6:40 Seemed fun to go to DTD if we were at POP but now…?
OR
Tusker House 7:35 Liked this if we were at AKL especially since it is a later EMH than the next one
OR
Chef Mickeys 9:00 CP, Plaza, Tonys have availability, as does the Wave. Have not checked WCC. If we don’t nap, this is out, if we do, could be good.

Thursday, August 12, 2010 – Epcot WS EMH till midnight, F! at 9 Will likely be a Typhoon Lagoon Day
Kouzzina 8:25 Made sense from the YC but from WL?
OR
Mama Melrose 6:50 no F! packages avail. Made this in hopes of hitting F!. After missing out on World of Color, everyone wanted to try and see it, not sure if this makes sense to give other things up, or not
OR
Teppan Edo 8:40

Friday, August 13, 2010- MK Evening EMH till 2am
1900 Park Fare Breakfast 10:30 an add on, would possibly skip a sit down dinner entirely to do this. I’m liking this idea a lot but if we do CM the first night, is it too much character?
OR
Sanaa 7:30
OR
Raglan Road 7:15
OR
Teppan Edo 7:50

Saturday, August 14, 2010 – NO evening EMH, move to the YC
Sanaa 8:15 Not sure I love dealing with eating here first night at the YC but am struggling to find other open nights there and want to eat there!
OR
Kouzzina 8:00 Like the idea of walking to dinner night one st the YC

Sunday, August 15, 2010 – Last night of Nightastic at 10, MK EMH till 1
Ohana 7:20
YAY! This one still works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, August 16, 2010 – AK EMH till 9
Tusker House 7:20
OR
Captain's Grille 8:15
Garden View Tea Lounge 2:20 would have preferred the 18th but that was at 3:20 which is late for us with a sit down dinner.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 – Epcot EMH till midnight
Tutto 7:20 Can we make it back to the YC by 9? That’s the question!
OR
Brown Derby 7:05 Would be OOP since 2 TS, just trying to find places that get us back to the YC by 9 that are reasonably close and appealed to me.
OR
Captain's Grille 8:05 Cutting it too close I think, even though we are right there
OR
Yachtsman 7:30 Would also be OOP as it’s a 2TS. Would be yummy, right there but $$$
Illuminations cruise 9:00 board, sails at 9:30, Illuminations at 10

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – DHS EMH till 10pm
Teppan Edo 8:40
OR
Captain's Grille 8:20

Thursday, August 19, 2010 – check out and move to HRH!
Cape May Breakfast 9:10

HELP! I am officially overwhelmed and at a loss on the best course of action here.

Once we get the dinner nightmare figured out I’m going to be asking for some touring plan help. I don’t think, given the changes and S&P only there 4 full days that my laid back garanimal approach will work as well and need to really plan at least AM and PM park times. I’m thinking there might be some commando touring before they get there so we can not stress about what we don’t see once they do get there.

Oh and by the way? The kids don’t have a clue. They think we are at POP for the 3 nights instead. Well Evan and Eric do, K&T still think we are at POP for just one night. We plan to keep it that way. Deliberately silent. WL was VERY high on everyone want list (except Sandies lol) so they will be stoked. Of course, on the 30th when we pony up I'll have her do one last check on AKL....

then again, maybe not.



Next. A wedding in June

 

[MRYPPNS]

Friday, August 13, 2010- MK Evening EMH till 2am
1900 Park Fare Breakfast 10:30 an add on, would possibly skip a sit down dinner entirely to do this. I’m liking this idea a lot but if we do CM the first night, is it too much character?
OR
Sanaa 7:30
OR
Raglan Road 7:15
OR
Teppan Edo 7:50

I'm a bit too wiped out right now to comment on your other days (we took the kids to a local theme park today) but I'll give this one a go....

I would actually do both 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Teppan Edo for dinner this day. And lunch might be more snacking than a meal. This frees up one night on the dinning plan to go without a TS ADR somewhere in your week.

And I don't think it will be too much characters with CM and 1900PF....fur and face and totally different "entertainment" during dinner.

Stick with Teppan Edo no matter what Sandie says....she'll love it with the kids!

 

[eandesmom]

I'm a bit too wiped out right now to comment on your other days (we took the kids to a local theme park today) but I'll give this one a go....

I would actually do both 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Teppan Edo for dinner this day. And lunch might be more snacking than a meal. This frees up one night on the dinning plan to go without a TS ADR somewhere in your week.

And I don't think it will be too much characters with CM and 1900PF....fur and face and totally different "entertainment" during dinner.

Stick with Teppan Edo no matter what Sandie says....she'll love it with the kids!

I love that, fur and face! Hadn't thought about it that way. CM will be the same characters as Cape May (though different attire) and I do want to keep that, so that's a concern as well. UGH!

What we found last time is one CS, snacks and one TS was more than enough each day. Sandie and Paul aren't here yet on the 13th so if we do this, it's just us for this Teppan ressie. Teppan is a must do for the kids. I like it but would live. We will have 3 TS for the WL days and then 5 for the YC so if we did 2 on the 13th it would mean only one avail for either the 11th or 12th.... so would just need to figure out double CS on a non TS day.

 

[All7OfUs]

I'll highlight in RED what I'd do...

Sandie decided.

So did we.


Help!



I really didn’t put many monorail/MK restaurants in the original list given where we were staying. CP was on the list and almost made the cut, Wave came in really low on the rankings. I’m personally not excited about CP, too many mixed reviews on the food and the characters are a bit young for my crew. The rest of the MK TS options are kind of meh for dinner, for me. WCC would be ok BUT, to me, that kind of food sounds just wrong in the august heat. But the kids all like that kind of food so I am torn. Again, I didn’t even show it to them. So factor all that in. Sandie is “least thrilled” about Teppan Edo. I’ve also been thinking of adding a breakfast and removing a sit down dinner. We have a bfast on the last day but 8 days of sit down dinners in a row does sound like a lot. We will be dealing with a 3 hour time difference and while we are trying to acclimate quickly, we eat late regardless so some of those times are a bit deliberate.

So here is my list of a bazillion reservations, All those 8/11-8/13 are for 6 people, 8/14 and later are for 8 or 9 people.

Wednesday August 11, 2010 – AK evening EMH till 10
Raglan Road 6:40 Seemed fun to go to DTD if we were at POP but now…?

You're going to have to get over there sometime, and sooner seems better than later.

OR
Tusker House 7:35 Liked this if we were at AKL especially since it is a later EMH than the next one
OR
Chef Mickeys 9:00 CP, Plaza, Tonys have availability, as does the Wave. Have not checked WCC. If we don’t nap, this is out, if we do, could be good.

Thursday, August 12, 2010 – Epcot WS EMH till midnight, F! at 9 Will likely be a Typhoon Lagoon Day
Kouzzina 8:25 Made sense from the YC but from WL?
OR
Mama Melrose 6:50 no F! packages avail. Made this in hopes of hitting F!. After missing out on World of Color, everyone wanted to try and see it, not sure if this makes sense to give other things up, or not
OR
Teppan Edo 8:40

Kids pick trumps.


Friday, August 13, 2010- MK Evening EMH till 2am
1900 Park Fare Breakfast 10:30 an add on, would possibly skip a sit down dinner entirely to do this. I’m liking this idea a lot but if we do CM the first night, is it too much character?

OR
Sanaa 7:30
OR
Raglan Road 7:15
OR
Teppan Edo 7:50

Why not both?? You've got A LONG day in MK, you'll need a break!

Saturday, August 14, 2010 – NO evening EMH, move to the YC
Sanaa 8:15 Not sure I love dealing with eating here first night at the YC but am struggling to find other open nights there and want to eat there!
OR
Kouzzina 8:00 Like the idea of walking to dinner night one st the YC

Walking is a good thing from YC, and I know how much you're looking forward to it.

Sunday, August 15, 2010 – Last night of Nightastic at 10, MK EMH till 1
Ohana 7:20
YAY! This one still works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Monday, August 16, 2010 – AK EMH till 9
Tusker House 7:20
OR
Captain's Grille 8:15
Garden View Tea Lounge 2:20 would have preferred the 18th but that was at 3:20 which is late for us with a sit down dinner.


Tuesday, August 17, 2010 – Epcot EMH till midnight
Tutto 7:20 Can we make it back to the YC by 9? That’s the question! NO
OR


Brown Derby 7:05 Would be OOP since 2 TS, just trying to find places that get us back to the YC by 9 that are reasonably close and appealed to me.
This one doesn't have to be expensive. Soup and salad...

OR
Captain's Grille 8:05 Cutting it too close I think, even though we are right there
OR
Yachtsman 7:30 Would also be OOP as it’s a 2TS. Would be yummy, right there but $$$
Illuminations cruise 9:00 board, sails at 9:30, Illuminations at 10

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – DHS EMH till 10pm
Teppan Edo 8:40
OR
Captain's Grille 8:20

Hmmm....

Thursday, August 19, 2010 – check out and move to HRH!
Cape May Breakfast 9:10

Hope that offers some help, probably not much though, cuz i went off of well-cemented opinions.

 

[Flossbolna]

Holy Cats do I need some touring plan and ADR help now!

Ok, this would be the ones that I would keep:

Wednesday August 11, 2010 – AK evening EMH till 10

Tusker House 7:35 Liked this if we were at AKL especially since it is a later EMH than the next one

I think later EMH is better.


Thursday, August 12, 2010 – Epcot WS EMH till midnight, F! at 9 Will likely be a Typhoon Lagoon Day
Teppan Edo 8:40

fits well with Epcot EMH!

Friday, August 13, 2010- MK Evening EMH till 2am[/B]

Sanaa 7:30

Since you want to eat there, I think it works good with the very late MK EMH on that day.

Saturday, August 14, 2010 – NO evening EMH, move to the YC

Kouzzina 8:00 Like the idea of walking to dinner night one st the YC

good relaxing evening!

Sunday, August 15, 2010 – Last night of Nightastic at 10, MK EMH till 1
Ohana 7:20
YAY! This one still works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, August 16, 2010 – AK EMH till 9

Captain's Grille 8:15
Garden View Tea Lounge 2:20 would have preferred the 18th but that was at 3:20 which is late for us with a sit down dinner.

assuming that you don't need a second AK EMH

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 – Epcot EMH till midnight

Brown Derby 7:05 Would be OOP since 2 TS, just trying to find places that get us back to the YC by 9 that are reasonably close and appealed to me.
OR
Yachtsman 7:30 Would also be OOP as it’s a 2TS. Would be yummy, right there but $$$
Illuminations cruise 9:00 board, sails at 9:30, Illuminations at 10

Have you considered that since you are such a large group, that it might be possible to just split some meals? Or at least use only DDP credits for some meals but not for all?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – DHS EMH till 10pm

Captain's Grille 8:20

Thursday, August 19, 2010 – check out and move to HRH!
Cape May Breakfast 9:10

I hope this helps!

 

[MEK]

Oh Drat Cynthia. I am reading this before work and there is NO WAY I can assimilate it now. I'm not completely sure how you ended up at the WL, but I am curious to see what you think about it and if your impression is the same as mine. Note: I have not shared my full impression of the WL in my TR. I plan to do that at the end.

But - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you take the guided tour of the WL when you are there. I don't want to reveal the spoiler to this, because I want to reveal it in my own TR, so I will probably need to pm you. But this is not to be missed. Really worth taking the extra hour before you hit the parks.

As far as your first night - let me tell you that TH is REALLY, REALLY good. Do not hesitate if that ADR works best. You will love the food!

OK - gotta go....will read this in detail later.