Loosen your belt buckle-We're doing Deluxe Dining!Our 12/10 PTR!Update 12/18 TR Start

[Tinker_Tam]

Question for you. We have extended family that lives in Bradenton. We are still trying to decide if we want to go visit. They would NEVER come to Disney to see us. What I am wondering is...is it an easy drive?

 

[eecteacher82]

Question for you. We have extended family that lives in Bradenton. We are still trying to decide if we want to go visit. They would NEVER come to Disney to see us. What I am wondering is...is it an easy drive?

It is a very easy drive. It is pretty much I-4 to I-75 and then there are 3 Bradenton exits. It should take between 1.5-2 hours depending on where in Bradenton you are going and the time of day. I just can't believe they wouldn't come to visit you at Disney!!!! If you want more details feel free to PM me and I can help you out more!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

It is a very easy drive. It is pretty much I-4 to I-75 and then there are 3 Bradenton exits. It should take between 1.5-2 hours depending on where in Bradenton you are going and the time of day. I just can't believe they wouldn't come to visit you at Disney!!!! If you want more details feel free to PM me and I can help you out more!

Thanks! Not a 100% sure we are going to go see them. They are DH's Family. We have even offered to pay for them to join us at the park for a day. I hate to miss even a day of Disney. We have no idea when we can make it back. Their idea is if we drove that far (we are from central PA) we can take a day and drive over to them. What is wrong with that picture??? DH is actually getting ticked off at the situation enough that he is thinking about skipping the Bradenton trip. He thinks we have gone out of our way to include them and they are being stinkers. They can give a little too. Not to mention that financially they are MUCH better off then we are so money is not an issue for them. So it really isn't even a money issue. Just being nasty!

 

[eecteacher82]

Thanks! Not a 100% sure we are going to go see them. They are DH's Family. We have even offered to pay for them to join us at the park for a day. I hate to miss even a day of Disney. We have no idea when we can make it back. Their idea is if we drove that far (we are from central PA) we can take a day and drive over to them. What is wrong with that picture??? DH is actually getting ticked off at the situation enough that he is thinking about skipping the Bradenton trip. He thinks we have gone out of our way to include them and they are being stinkers. They can give a little too. Not to mention that financially they are MUCH better off then we are so money is not an issue for them. So it really isn't even a money issue. Just being nasty!

Well then I say don't waste a Disney day!!! Seriously though, if they wanted to see you that bad, they would drive up (especially if you are offering to pay for them)! Enjoy your time at Disney and let them stay home if that is what they want!

 

[ashleykinkade]

I'm joining in!!! Your DD is just so cute!!!! Can't wait to see her pics from her first BBB.
We are staying @ CBR 12/2 - 12/7
We went last September and did the deluxe dining plan. We really thought it was worth it and we NEEDED those breaks from the miserable heat
Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Joining in!

Love your schedule! Sounds like you guys are going to have an amazing time.

 

[eecteacher82]

I'm joining in!!! Your DD is just so cute!!!! Can't wait to see her pics from her first BBB.
We are staying @ CBR 12/2 - 12/7
We went last September and did the deluxe dining plan. We really thought it was worth it and we NEEDED those breaks from the miserable heat
Can't wait to hear more!

Glad you're joining in! Thanks for the compliment, we think she is pretty cute as well! Woo hoo, more people who will be there around the same time as us! I think as we get closer to our trip I might try and get a little DIS meet together. I have never done it, but would love to meet up with some people who share my love of Disney! Thanks for your opinion of the DxDDP! I am really thinking we will like it. The only people who I have heard that don't like it are those who don't go to WDW all that often and they said it took away too much touring time. Have you been to any of the "new to us" restaurants?

Joining in!

Love your schedule! Sounds like you guys are going to have an amazing time.

Glad you're here, the more the merrier! I'm hopping over to your PTR as soon as I am done here!

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Lets party!!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I'm in! Your daughter is adorable, and your trip looks like a blast! Out of curiosity, where in Wisconsin are you from? I went to school near Milwaukee and my family owns a small cabin in the northwestern woods (relatively near Eau Claire).

 

[ashleykinkade]

Glad you're joining in! Thanks for the compliment, we think she is pretty cute as well! Woo hoo, more people who will be there around the same time as us! I think as we get closer to our trip I might try and get a little DIS meet together. I have never done it, but would love to meet up with some people who share my love of Disney! Thanks for your opinion of the DxDDP! I am really thinking we will like it. The only people who I have heard that don't like it are those who don't go to WDW all that often and they said it took away too much touring time. Have you been to any of the "new to us" restaurants?

Let me know if you do plan on doing a DIS meet. I would love to be there!
The only "new to you" restaurant that we've been to is Hollywood & Vine. We had lunch there. Our DD loved it!! The characters were great and spent a good amount of time at our table although it did take them a LONG time to get to us
The food was just okay. But really we were there for the good character opportunity and DD had such a good time that the just okay food really didn't matter.

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Subbing in! We're going the same time as you (Dec 4th - 11th)! I've been there once before, but for only 2 days and that was 8 years ago...I've wanted to go back ever since, now finally we are Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I'm really excited we will be there to experience Disney during that time of the year. OK...now to go back and read up on your plans so far!

 

[eecteacher82]

I'm in! Your daughter is adorable, and your trip looks like a blast! Out of curiosity, where in Wisconsin are you from? I went to school near Milwaukee and my family owns a small cabin in the northwestern woods (relatively near Eau Claire).

We lived in Milwaukee (West Allis to be exact). My whole family still lives up there, so we try to visit when we can). My dad's ex wife's family (confusing I know), had a cabin and land up in Tigertown (sp??) and we did some pretty good roaming of the state when we would visit our dad for the summer and he played in softball tournaments all over. My mom's family owns a cabin up aroun Turtle Lake.

Let me know if you do plan on doing a DIS meet. I would love to be there!
The only "new to you" restaurant that we've been to is Hollywood & Vine. We had lunch there. Our DD loved it!! The characters were great and spent a good amount of time at our table although it did take them a LONG time to get to us
The food was just okay. But really we were there for the good character opportunity and DD had such a good time that the just okay food really didn't matter.

Thanks for the H&V info! I was thinking along the same lines: great characters and so-so food. I have heard now that they have Handy Manny there now as well, which is nice b/c Olivia really has no idea who Jojo is! Glad at least one person is on for a meet! I will definitely do one!

 

[DisneyEveryJuly]

Subbing in! As a newbie to DISboards from Wisconsin who is trying to convince her hubby that they need to upgrade to Deluxe Dining this time around I am hoping to draw some inspiration from you!!!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

We lived in Milwaukee (West Allis to be exact). My whole family still lives up there, so we try to visit when we can). My dad's ex wife's family (confusing I know), had a cabin and land up in Tigertown (sp??) and we did some pretty good roaming of the state when we would visit our dad for the summer and he played in softball tournaments all over. My mom's family owns a cabin up aroun Turtle Lake.

I went to school in Waukesha Our cabin is in Sheldon, if you have any idea where that is.

 

[moparop]

Another Decemeber PTR'er coming over to say hi!!! Our departure day is your arrival day for us but for you!

Your plans look great complete with the BBB experience for your daughter. I cannot wait to take my youngest there. I have littlerally been planning this since the day I found out she was a girl!

Of your new places, the only one we have tried is LeCellier. We enjoyed the meal a lot, but I was not blown away. We went on our first DDP trip and have no plans to go back again.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[eecteacher82]

Subbing in! As a newbie to DISboards from Wisconsin who is trying to convince her hubby that they need to upgrade to Deluxe Dining this time around I am hoping to draw some inspiration from you!!!

Let me start by saying Yeah, another person from Wisconsin! Even though we live in Florida, I still consider myself to a Wisconsonite! I would love to move back there someday....I just have to convince my hubby of that!
Let me see if I can come up with at least a few good reasons to upgrade to Deluxe dining to win your hubby over:
1. If you go in any of the hot months (which down here is pretty much anything but December and January), the extra time inside with the air conditioning is heavenly!
2. It makes it much easier enjoy some of the signature dining restaurants without going broke doing it!
3. For us, the mugs you get with the deluxe save us tons of money! We fill them in the morning when we get up, again before we hop on a park bus, when we come back for an afternoon break, and when we get back to the hotel for the night. Granted we are big soda/tea drinkers, but it really saves us tons of money!
4. For us, we book our next vacation very early (for this December trip, we booked in February), so it really is pretty easy to pay towards or vacay when my hubby gets paid each week and easily have it paid off at the 45 day mark. Even though deluxe dining is a chunk of change, it doesn't seem so back when you pay in little bits each week.
5. Since I am an OCD planner, I printed out the menus from each restaurant we are eating at and had hubby and myself pick out what we thought we might want to eat and added it up (as well as adding in the 2 snacks per day and mug), and roughly figured that out of pocket we would spend about $500 for myself and $530 for my hubby. The dining plan is costing us $360 a person for our trip! Even if we don't get exactly what we picked already, it is still a HUGE savings!

That should be a good start for you! Let me know if you want more convincing!

Another Decemeber PTR'er coming over to say hi!!! Our departure day is your arrival day for us but for you!

Your plans look great complete with the BBB experience for your daughter. I cannot wait to take my youngest there. I have littlerally been planning this since the day I found out she was a girl!

Of your new places, the only one we have tried is LeCellier. We enjoyed the meal a lot, but I was not blown away. We went on our first DDP trip and have no plans to go back again.

Can't wait to read more!

aboard! BBB is definitely one of the things I am most excited about!!!! Olivia and I have been watching youtube videos of other little girls at the BBB and she always gets a huge smile on her face and asks when she can go to Cinderella's castle and be a princess!

Thanks for the LeCellier feedback. I have to admit, I don't eat red meat at all! I am honestly going because of the great things I have heard about the cheddar cheese soup and pretzel bread!!! My DH is excited though, he definitely loves his red meat!

 

[eecteacher82]

I thought I would throw in a couple of videos of Olivia. She just (within the past 4 months) has gotten tall enough to ride Goofy's Barnstormer!! I am a roller coaster lover (DH, not so much) and have been waiting for her to hit that magical 35 inches. She finally hit it and was able to ride on our March trip! The first video is her first ride. She didn't seem to sure while she was on,but after we got off she wanted to ride again!


The next one was taken at the end of May when it was just Olivia, my mom and I. Olivia rode with her Gumma (who if you notice seems to have a death grip on Olivia). This time she....well, see for yourself!

 

[moparop]

What cute videos! I was not convinced she liked until the very end!!

 

[eecteacher82]

What cute videos! I was not convinced she liked until the very end!!

Exactly, when she said she wanted to go again!

 

[ashleykinkade]

Those videos are too cute!! My husband does NOT do rollercoasters. We rode Barnstormer last year with our DD thinking it would be just another kiddie ride. I was pleasently surprised that it was a decent rollercoaster for kids. My husband was not as happy But it turned out to be Alyssa's favorite ride. We rode it 6 times in a row and she MADE daddy ride with her