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

[All7OfUs]

As I know you're still "celebrating" Valentine's Day rolleyes1), I won't expect an answer tonight, but I gotta ask:

How were the caramels?

 

[Happydog]

Oh the cake dilemma! Yes I see this is a problem... cost/mediocre cake ... timing and where to have it/store it, etc... I have to tell you I saw two different cakes sitting outside of rooms on room service trays 1/2 eaten... what a waste! AND for extra cost... BUT if the quality isn't so hot, I would get the smallest cake you could for your group size ... though I like the grand gathering celebration to kick off your trip... get some champagne. No one will notice it if the cake is alright not fantastic!

Your GAD experience seems great. My kids would have FLIPPED OUT about the train displays!

 

[eandesmom]

what did I miss?

Mostly our Give a day, day update with pics and the "to cake or not to cake" I think. Not a whole lot lol. We dabbled with moving dates as I really want to get the cost of the first part of the trip (HRH) down. Welcome back!

I think the idea of a cake is fabulous!
But I love cake!
Although you do know that you will be stuffed after eating at Ohana and the bread pudding is to die for!

I love bread pudding but think it will appeal to about half the group. Being stuffed is a valid point though!

Hmmnn.

I still can't believe we did it, so it is rather like a dream for me too!
IT was a great opportunity, and those APs made it worth it - I doubt we would have considered it otherwise.

Now THIS is MY DREAM, I must say, this is the event I have been wanting to see! No question! Not sure when that will ever happen though -- so I will wishfully think with you

Someday, I have hopes for someday! I'll never be able to escape to WDW to run away from a blizzard though, that is so incredibly cool!

Hawaii maybe.

As I know you're still "celebrating" Valentine's Day rolleyes1), I won't expect an answer tonight, but I gotta ask:

How were the caramels?

A big hit! And he had impressive self restraint on how many he ate.

Oh the cake dilemma! Yes I see this is a problem... cost/mediocre cake ... timing and where to have it/store it, etc... I have to tell you I saw two different cakes sitting outside of rooms on room service trays 1/2 eaten... what a waste! AND for extra cost... BUT if the quality isn't so hot, I would get the smallest cake you could for your group size ... though I like the grand gathering celebration to kick off your trip... get some champagne. No one will notice it if the cake is alright not fantastic!

Your GAD experience seems great. My kids would have FLIPPED OUT about the train displays!

I could go smaller but then it's either chocolate or vanilla and my worry is that the taste will be even worse on those lol. It's not a huge jump in price to go a little bigger and have a lot more filling and frosting choices. Bubbly would be fun. Jeff is not a bubbly fan though, and I doubt Doug is either. I just can't figure out the timing of doing it "right".

Maybe I will wait on flight times and see as really, it will depend on Paul and Sandies arrival time to see if at the room even made sense. If we aren't connecting though (and I won't know until check in) that will be a little wierd to try to do the cake.

 

[glennbo123]

Cynthia, I just saw this post on the DVC boards and there's a section where she talks about some cakes she ordered....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2397062

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia, I just saw this post on the DVC boards and there's a section where she talks about some cakes she ordered....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2397062

Thanks! That pretty much sums up a lot of the experiences, and why I won't spend more than the $55. Nice to hear she liked the cake and filling though, most people seem to not care for the frosting. I never eat the frosting anyway so don't care so much about that if the cake and filling is decent.

Interesting post about THV. The reasons they didn't like it at the end seem to be very similar to what some folks don't like about the cabins. I know we will love it there someday!

 

[Native NYer]

I'm in the same boat with the cake debate. Mediocre cake is not fun.
We've ordered a couple of cakes and they were pretty good. Not the best I've had, but pretty good.

I would have a cake delivered to one of the rooms. Then, you don't have to worry about transportation issues. And I love your nautical theme idea.

I've been considering ordering a Mad Hatter cake. Since the HM is a family favorite, I want to see if they can do a HM theme. With two nephews, pink frosting and flowers will NOT go over well

 

[eandesmom]

I'm in the same boat with the cake debate. Mediocre cake is not fun.
We've ordered a couple of cakes and they were pretty good. Not the best I've had, but pretty good.

I would have a cake delivered to one of the rooms. Then, you don't have to worry about transportation issues. And I love your nautical theme idea.

I've been considering ordering a Mad Hatter cake. Since the HM is a family favorite, I want to see if they can do a HM theme. With two nephews, pink frosting and flowers will NOT go over well

No, probably not. I"m afraid the nautical theme will cost more though...hmmn. What to do?

Not like I don't have plenty of time to obsess about it. If I knew we had connecting rooms and what time people would arrive then I could plan but that will have to wait. Quite a while!

I have seem some cute, and some not so cute, HM themed cakes.

 

[eandesmom]

One ticker gone! Well I guess it’ll be gone as of tomorrow? Right now it says CONGRATULATIONS! I like that.

Kind of sad though, I like those pictures!

And kind of weird! We are officially at 180 days which seems really far away, and yet on the other hand, not far at all.

ADR’s.

Yes, they have been made!

I was not willing to get up at 3am although I have to admit, I was restless going to sleep, not wanting to oversleep (something I’ve been thinking about all week which I know is silly, it IS 180 days out!). I woke up at 3am and did consider getting up. That would have woken up Mr. Supersonic hearing though and I wasn’t willing to go there. So at 7:10 PST I got online.

At 7:33 I finished with round 1 of my reservations. It says they only hold them in the cart for 20 minutes so I was paranoid I’d lose my cart!
I went right back in and finished up at 7:59. I did have to cancel 2 things as I’d checked the wrong date on one and the wrong # of people on another. I then took some time to get it all into my spreadsheet, re-look at things, go back online for one more reservation and then called to book the Tea at the Grand Floridian and the Grand Gathering Breakfast.

This required some changes, emails and additional phone calls, additional decisions and package changes!

I just finished.

It is 11:37!

I really didn’t expect it to take this long!

I did make an executive decision, a surprise decision not on the original list at all. Actually several of them. I figure I’m allowed!

Here’s what I wanted

8/15

7:30pm @ Ohana​

8/16

8:30pm @ Tusker House​

8/17

10 am GG Breakfast @ Tony’s.​

7:00 pm @ Tutto Italia​

8/18

8:30 pm @ Kouzzina
​

8/19

7:00 pm @ Teppan Edo​

8/20

7:30 pm@ Big River Grille. (was planning on two ressies, one for 7 and one for 9 if we don’t do “date night”)​

8:15 pm @ Blue Zoo (for 2, date night!)
​

8/21

2:00 pm Garden View Tea Lounge at the Grand Floridian for 3.​

7:30 pm @ Sanaa
​

And here is what I got!

180 days out and only two of the reservations are for the exact times I wanted. Most however were darn close but I did have a couple of things happen that threw my plans off.

8/15
7:20 pm @Ohana

8/16
10:20 am @ Captain’s Grille.
I added this but it’s likely we will cancel. I would love another sit down breakfast but it just kind of depends on how things shake out. I really like the menu here. It would be OOP.

7:20 pm @ Tusker House.
It is EMH night and when I’ve modeled earlier dates it looked like they served up until 8:45 or so but this was the latest I could get. When I called for our tea reservation I had them check and they said only until 7:30. I’m going to keep trying to move this later so we get more time at EMH.

8/17
GG Breakfast @ Tony’s.
I was not able to book this. They said my TA had to do it since she did the booking so tossed it back to her.

2:10 pm Garden View Tea Lounge at the Grand Floridian for 3.

Originally slotted for Saturday the 21st but had to move it, you’ll see why!

7:20 pm @ Tutto Italia


8/18
8:15 pm @ Kouzzina

8/19
6:50 pm @ Teppan Edo.
This is a little earlier than I’d like, or more accurately earlier than we like to eat in general. I could have gotten 7:10. Last year we had a 7:20, were seated late and missed Illuminations so I figured earlier was better. Tutto is for 7:20 and we could miss Illuminations that night so I figured I’d better have one that hedged our bets and I also figured Tutto should b e a faster dining experience than Teppan.

8/20
Okay this night threw me for a loop! BRG does NOT take ressies. Somehow I didn’t realize that. It makes sense in retrospect then that we were able to get in as a walk up as a party of 12 (at 2 separate tables) as walk ups in the middle of food and wine back in 2004. Of course we did have an hour wait. So right now we have far more ressies than we need as this night is a bit up in the air. If Jeff and I do a date night, it will be this night. As it stands, here is what we have.

Ressies for 2
(date night dinner).
Most were based on an assumption of going to the 6pm Cirque show. Not sure if we will really do that but better to plan around now.

Blue Zoo @8:15 OR
Narcoosees @ 8:25 OR
Cali Grill @ 8:55 OR
Yachtsman @7:50
​

I’m fairly sure I will cancel Narcoosees and Cali Grill (don’t like the Cali time at all!). I didn’t realize Cali Grill is requiring CC to reserve, that was a bit of a surprise but given that was the best available 180 days out, I took it and Jeff has a few months to decide what he wants to do that night. I added the Yachtsman in case all we want to do is split for dinner (i.e. no Cirque) and the rest of the gang goes to Captain’s Grille. A huge part of me wants to cancel both the Cali Grill and Narcoosses but I’m afraid I’ll regret that and change my mind. It does give Jeff 4 things to choose from though!

Ressies for 7
(assumes Jeff and I go on a date!) so this would be for Sandie, Paul, Doug and all 4 kids.

Captain’s Grille @7:40 OR
Coral Reef @7:25.
​

Ressies for 9
(assumes we do not go on a date or if we do, it’s not to dinner, it’s after dinner)

Captain’s Grille @ 6:50
​

I was really at a bit of a loss as to what to do here. Coral Reef and Captain’s Grille came in 8th and 9th on our “ranking list” and so I booked both accordingly. I only booked Captain’s Grille for all 9 of us as I’d rather eat there than Coral Reef lol. I am planning to do a photo shoot before dinner anyway so it’d work out well to go straight to dinner from it. If we do that, as it’s an early dinner ressie, it would allow for a couple of things after dinner that would be good options.

1. Watch Illuminations from our beach
2. Do the Illuminations boat cruise (though timing might be tight and if memory serves it was really pricey). I COULD also do the cake on the boat cruise though we’d have to eat it fast to avoid it melting. However if we’ve done OOP dinners before, it could work really well!
3. Let the kids watch the beach movie. Online it says movie times are at 7:30 but the signs at the BC/YC say 9 (which makes more sense from a darkness perspective). Jeff and I could still head to Blue Zoo or elsewhere for a nightcap or whatever.
4. Jeff and I hit the 9pm Cirque show. Timing is awfully tight for that though.
​

However it presents us with a bit of a problem. My plan had been to use our TS credits towards the GG breakfast and have BRG be OOP as most will order a sandwich or burger from there anyway, average cost $11 or so. With it being free dining (for those who got it as a bounceback already and possibly the rest of the world) I didn’t feel comfortable without a ressie and making Sandie and Paul attempt a walk up as a party of 7! These are both pricier than that (obviously) so I need to figure out what makes sense for the OOP meal. I’m going to have to go back and look at the menu’s and the whole concept of having Eric as an “adult” or not on the plan. I know I could buy him a kids meal and save his credits but not sure if I do that at just the buffets (which would be a good way to do it! and give 3-4 credits towards this night) if I’ll get looked at funny. He will be 9 though….

Another option would be to just pay for one meal each night OOP depending on who orders the cheapest thing or something like that. I’m not sure if that would be a billing mess, if we’d need to tell them when we place the order or what. They could try walking up at Big River and seeing what’s available. A final option is that they eat at Hurricane Hannahs or WPE(or wherever!) with a CS credit. We do like our sit down dinners though but if it’s a date night…?

My guess is we will keep Blue Zoo, Yachstman and 3 of the group ressies (Coral Reef for 7, Captain’s Grill for 7&9) until we get there to allow us flexibility. Which does seem like hoarding a lot but this night just throws me!

8/21

9:00 am Grand Gathering Breakfast at Tony’s.

I’d wanted this on the 17th which is an EMH morning at MK. However they only offered it on the 18th and the 21st and only at 9am so I had to move it. 9am with the teens makes me nervous but it's ONE day, hopefully we can get them up on time. I don't know if you reservation is exactly when the park opens if they will let you in early, anyone know?

8:25 pm @ Sanaa .

Later than I’d wanted but is fine. This is an open night for us anyway so I’m not sure 7:30 versus 8:25 really matters at all, MK is open until 2am and by then we should have seen both wishes and Illuminations at least once. However it ended up working out perfect since we will have a big breakfast, it will be a later lunch (if lunch at all, might be just snacks) and so the later dinner reservation is better. I think.

To book the Grand Gathering breakfast I had to add the dining plan now (or pay in full now, no thanks) so we have officially added the DDP to our package.

I did go through the menu’s and crunch the numbers and at worst, we will break even on the plan. At best we will probably save around $200. This is with listing Eric as an adult. If he, or anyone else for that matter does get one or 2 kids meals OOP (or an appetizer for dinner or the kids split an entrée) then we will come out further ahead. I just want to give him the flexibility of the adult plan as the kids menu’s are pretty lame. We do have 2 dinner buffets but 5 nights of the same 5 things to choose from is no fun.

I have no reservations planned for our last day, it keeps it as flexible as possible. I had toyed with breakfast for this day but given that the GG bfast is the day before it no longer made sense to me and also given that we won't know our flight times for several months, I really have no idea what we have available time wise anyways and the last day is "use up credit' day in my book!

In summary we have 9 total sit down meals booked and 7 credits to use.
We will either need to cancel 1-2 or pay OOP for 1-2. Thoughts, advice?

I also have a number of double bookings on one night (the 20th) which I know isn’t terribly cool but I really am not sure what to do here and I know Jeff will not want to talk about it/decide until we get a LOT closer. If Sandie comes out at the end of the month (which she says she is but we have no info) then I will go through it with her I guess.

Next. To rock hard? Or not.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

So many choices and things to take into consideration.

It doesn't surprise me it took you that long to get it all done at all.

 

[Normangirls]

They'll let you in for your breakfast before the park opens, no problem.

I've been surprised that they don't even ask for any details (ADR number, reservation time, etc.) to let you in early. At least they never have from me, even though I am all eager with that info, ready to dazzle them with my preparedness. So they remain un-dazzled.

 

[Native NYer]

Oh you have a lot of decisions to make Planning what you want to eat, especially for a large group, 6 months in advance is challenging.

Your dining choice are great! I had no idea the GG breakfast needed to be booked by the TA. And I would have added the dining plan too! That's what we do with CRT. We HATE to pay for it now, especially since anything can come up and it may have to be canceled.

Hopefully, free dining will be offered after March 27th and you can switch over to that.

 

[glennbo123]

Congrats and Happy ADR Day!

What is Blue Zoo?

 

[KathyRN137]

You have been a busy bee! No wonder it took you until 11:37!

Congratulations!


Kathy

 

[carissanboys]

How exciting for ADR day!! And very cool that you got most of what you wanted.

But,

hold - the - phone.

You can make ADRs online now????

Clearly, I have been away from the Dis for a while and not planning a trip! I must get more info on this.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Wow, that's a pretty complicated set up. I'm glad you determined the dining plan will be a good deal for you - I imagine that GG breakfast would have been pretty pricey!

You didn't by chance happen to ask if the dining plan was refundable, did you? Oh, wait, you said you did this all online.

 

[DisMomAmy]

All things considered, you did a great job!! It's hard to plan for a party of 9 - there are so many variables and you won't necessarily all eat together (like date night). I still have several back-up ADRs, which I will cancel as it gets closer and we have a better sense of what we are going to be doing.

 

[MaryAz]

SO many yummy places-so little time LOL You have some great picks. Hope it all works out the way you want it to.

 

[Charleston Princess]

ADR Day is always so much fun albeit a little stressful!!!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

You did great! It amazes me that dining is the most stressful part of WDW vaaction . I feel reall bad for the newbies who show up at the parks and have no clue. Especially the ones on free dining. I love your choices and that you have some options. I'm sure you crew will love them all. BTW - you can call the Big River Grille directly and do a "Priority Seating" reservation. It's not a "reservation" per se, but works like the old Disey reservations in that they will bump you to the front of the line when you check in.

Phone: 407-560-0253

 

[All7OfUs]

1) I wouldn't worry about having double ressies for a time. With the system set up the way it is, you have to do it this way until you know more about your itinerary, and to get everyone in your party's input.

2) I think it's always a good thing to have OPTIONS!!!! I think you'll end up paying OOP for at least a couple of those meals. Just a gut feeling.

3) GOOD move to put Eric on the plan as an adult. Gag me! Nuggets, burgers and pizza for 5 meals?? No way!

4) What is with these guys of ours not being able to make a decision?? It's A or B- pick one.

5) I for one am really looking forward to Sanaa! Wasn't that at the top of our list (or nearly so?)?

6) The one where you want a later time to maximize your EMH time--- keep trying, I think you'll find something come up!

Ok, back to re-read again, and soak some more up.