Mrs. Darling's June 2010 Accidental PTR: Pirates and Harry Potter 6/30 TR Link posted

[monorail girl]

Hi! Jumping on board for the fun. Read your 1/2 marathon Trip report and decided that my husband and I should run it too So we are registered for Jan 2011. My family went to Ohana's for dinner and we thought it was good. We however love the Ohana Character breakfast. I love the characters there and the food Sometime in the future I would love to go to Universal to Harry Potters land. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. Looking forward to your review on Harry's Park.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Joining in! So jealous about you getting to go to Harry Potter. I was hoping it would be open by the time we are going in a couple weeks when they kept saying spring 2010. We've got WDW reservations for December so we're hoping to go then!

Can't wait for more of your plans.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Thursday (arrival day): Ohana dinner. This seems to be a place people either love or hate. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on it.

We've never done the dinner, but we absolutely LOOOVEEE Ohana breakfast! We're doing the dinner in December and are really looking forward to it.

Friday: 1900 Park Fare Dinner. We had Garden Grill this night for a long time, but we've been there the last 2 trips and I wanted to try something new. Lots of bad food reviews, but everyone loves the step sisters so I figure we'll give it a try. Any opinions?

We did 1900 Park Fare dinner before the step sisters were added in and it was only Prince Charming, Cinderella and the mice. But we still enjoyed it and like you said, everyone seems to love the step sisters!

Saturday: Crystal Palace Lunch. We've been here before, but only for breakfast. So this is kind of like trying something new. Both boys requested it.

Definitely give this one a thumbs up!

Sunday: Ohana Breakfast. Really looking forward to this. Love the pre plated thing so I don't have to haul the boys to the buffet. Plus the boys will love the characters (especially Stitch.)

Like I said earlier, we loved this breakfast and would do it again in a heartbeat. We had awesome character interaction here and the food was all delicious.

Coral Reef Dinner. Another one that gets mixed reviews. I figure the boys will like the setting. Any opinions on this?

I honestly don't remember our food being wonderful, but I remember really liking the atmosphere and sitting right by the tank!

Tuesday: Donald's Safari Breakfast. We've done this one before and enjoyed it. I think the characters are so cute in their Safari outfits. This is the most likely to get dropped, but I love the juice they serve so we shall see.

Great breakfast!

50's Primetime Dinner. This looks like fun. Anyone have thoughts on it?

This was one of my favorite dinners! It's so much fun & the food is yum!

 

[dismagiclover]

Jumping on board! I loved reading your 1/2 Marathon TR. Your family is just too stinking cute! I love all the DL pics and of course the Jack Sparrow one. I will be anxious to read all about WWOHP when you get back!!!

Good to see you over here! And I think my family is stinking cute too. And I must say so is your little Bella I'm sure WWHOHP will provide some great TR stories!

Hello! I found your TR through my SIL FairyGodMotherJen. I see that we have a lot in common with our trips. You have a lovely family. We are getting excited already about our trip. It will be here before we know it!

One big difference between our trips is you're going with 16 people Seriously that sounds like tons of fun!

Hi! Jumping on board for the fun. Read your 1/2 marathon Trip report and decided that my husband and I should run it too So we are registered for Jan 2011. My family went to Ohana's for dinner and we thought it was good. We however love the Ohana Character breakfast. I love the characters there and the food Sometime in the future I would love to go to Universal to Harry Potters land. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. Looking forward to your review on Harry's Park.

Congratulations on registering for next years half! I always tell people they won't regret it (though you may think otherwise during training) I'm excited about Ohana's breakfast. I just love character meals where they bring the food directly to us. Makes it so much more relaxing! And my boys will love Stitch!

Joining in! So jealous about you getting to go to Harry Potter. I was hoping it would be open by the time we are going in a couple weeks when they kept saying spring 2010. We've got WDW reservations for December so we're hoping to go then!

Can't wait for more of your plans.

You're probably better off heading to Harry Potter in December. It will be probably be less crowded and the kinks all worked out. Though I'm pretty excited about it too! They are talking soft openings within a couple of weeks so maybe you'll get lucky and get to see it sooner

We've never done the dinner, but we absolutely LOOOVEEE Ohana breakfast! We're doing the dinner in December and are really looking forward to it.

We did 1900 Park Fare dinner before the step sisters were added in and it was only Prince Charming, Cinderella and the mice. But we still enjoyed it and like you said, everyone seems to love the step sisters!

Definitely give this one a thumbs up!

Like I said earlier, we loved this breakfast and would do it again in a heartbeat. We had awesome character interaction here and the food was all delicious.

I honestly don't remember our food being wonderful, but I remember really liking the atmosphere and sitting right by the tank!

Great breakfast!

This was one of my favorite dinners! It's so much fun & the food is yum!

Thanks for the critiques! I'm going to ask for a seat right by the tank. It will keep my boys occupied. And we really are going for the atmosphere so I'm sure we'll be fine with the food. (Heck we don't mind Garden Grill food and lots of people don't like it.)

 

[dismagiclover]

So I guess it's about time to talk about specific plans for each day. I'll start at the beginning (a very good place to start)

Day 1: Get up at the crack of dawn and drive. Stop to eat and drive some more. Repeat two times. End up in South Georgia where we'll stop and go to bed dreaming of Disney.

Day 2: The real fun begins! I'm hoping we are out of the hotel by 7:30. We'll stop at the Florida border for some free OJ and I hope to be pulling into Old Key West by noon
My plan is to check in and then grab the boat to Downtown Disney for a bite of lunch. Any thoughs on where to eat? We enjoy Earl of Sandwich, but I was thinking of trying Wolfgang Puck Express this time. It gets great reviews and is a great deal on the dining plan as a counter service.
After lunch we may browse the shops for a little while and we'll make sure to stop by Goofy's Candy Company where we will pick up some Make Your Own Treats. Most of the these aren't snack credits on the Dining Plan anymore so we'll probably pay OOP, but it's worth it. These are so fun and yummy! (Last time I got the pretzels. What should I try this time?
After we've had enough of browsing (which I guarantee will happen sooner for the boys than for Wendy) we'll head back to OKW and if we have time go for a swim.
Around 4:30 we'll catch a bus to Magic Kingdom. We will have GAD vouchers we need to use so we'll turn those in for our one day passes. Then the moment I love. We'll take our first walk down Main Street

It won't be a very long walk because we'll have to visit guest services to upgrade the one day passes to Annual Passes! That's right. We will officially be Annual Pass Holders

No plans for rides this afternoon. Maybe we'll pop in and watch some cartoons. (Isn't there someplace on Main Street that shows classic Mickey cartoons? Does anyone know what I'm talking about?) Anyway we can't stay long because we'll have to catch the monorail and head to

Dinner at Ohana's. Another first for us (though not quite as exciting as the AP first)

After what I'm expecting will be a complete stuffing we'll catch the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom where we will catch the bus back to OKW where we will crawl into bed looking forward to tomorrow

So what do y'all think? Do these sound doable? All thoughts, suggestions and comments are welcome

 

[Angies1274]

I think your plans sound great!! MK on the first day and getting to walk down Main Street sounds like the perfect start to your vacation!

We loved Wolfgang Puck Express!! It was one of our favorite CS places. The food is yummy plus they bring the food to you and then keep checking back...so it feels like a TS place.

We've only gotten the dipped pretzel and cookies at Goofy's. While we enjoyed the pretzels we thought the cookies were way too sweet. Then again..maybe the boys overdid it because they tend to add on so much.

I think they show cartoons in the back of the Exposition Hall. I read about them before our first trip and have wanted to check it out but we still haven't made it yet! It sounds fun though.

It sounds like a great day!

 

[Dolce27]

We have reservations at BWV for the week so we will be neighbors When it gets closer maybe we can talk about riding the bus together to the marathon. Definitely won't be running together though! I'm planning on regular walking breaks You will leave me in the dust!

Definitely! We should expect to meet up for the ride. I think that I'm going to sign-up for the race retreat tent again this year. The $100.00 was well spent last year. I sat in a warm tent watching everyone outside freezing their booty’s off via TV screens. I have a feeling that more people will sign up for it this year b/c they’ll be afraid of another severe weather situation. How did you stand it? I was in wave 1 for the full marathon which meant that my step-off time had been 5:40 am. I didn’t walk out to the corrals until 5:15 am. So, I was only outside in that 20-something degree weather for 30 minutes before my start time and I couldn’t feel my feet for the first two miles – they were that cold. And you had to stand in sleet for the half!

For your current plans: Congrats on the AP!!! I think Wolfgang Puck Express is an excellent choice! I ate there for my first time in January and loved the food. Just don’t make the same mistake that I made: you pay for your meal at the counter but they bring it to you at your table, refill your drinks, ect… So, a small tip (I don’t think as much as a full-service restaurant) is expected. After my meal, I went to grab my wallet out of my bag for a couple of dollars to leave on the table… only to realize that I’d just taken it (the wallet) out of my bag and locked it in my safe at the hotel (this was my arrival day). I only had my credit card and MYW card on me. I felt sooooo bad as I snuck out of there w/o being able to leave a tip.

 

[Stefy]

Your plans for your first day sound great and doable

WPE is a good choice for your lunch spot. I have heard really great reviews about this place and am going to try it myself this year. Let us know what you think?

I think you can watch cartoons in Caseys Corner on the "bleachers" and Exposition Hall too (I think).

 

[dismagiclover]

I think your plans sound great!! MK on the first day and getting to walk down Main Street sounds like the perfect start to your vacation!

We loved Wolfgang Puck Express!! It was one of our favorite CS places. The food is yummy plus they bring the food to you and then keep checking back...so it feels like a TS place.

We've only gotten the dipped pretzel and cookies at Goofy's. While we enjoyed the pretzels we thought the cookies were way too sweet. Then again..maybe the boys overdid it because they tend to add on so much.

I think they show cartoons in the back of the Exposition Hall. I read about them before our first trip and have wanted to check it out but we still haven't made it yet! It sounds fun though.

It sounds like a great day!

The more I hear about it the more confident I am that Wolfgang Express it is And I probably will just stick with the pretzels. I love that combo of salty and sweet! I'll check out the info on Exposition Hall.

Definitely! We should expect to meet up for the ride. I think that I'm going to sign-up for the race retreat tent again this year. The $100.00 was well spent last year. I sat in a warm tent watching everyone outside freezing their booty’s off via TV screens. I have a feeling that more people will sign up for it this year b/c they’ll be afraid of another severe weather situation. How did you stand it? I was in wave 1 for the full marathon which meant that my step-off time had been 5:40 am. I didn’t walk out to the corrals until 5:15 am. So, I was only outside in that 20-something degree weather for 30 minutes before my start time and I couldn’t feel my feet for the first two miles – they were that cold. And you had to stand in sleet for the half!

For your current plans: Congrats on the AP!!! I think Wolfgang Puck Express is an excellent choice! I ate there for my first time in January and loved the food. Just don’t make the same mistake that I made: you pay for your meal at the counter but they bring it to you at your table, refill your drinks, ect… So, a small tip (I don’t think as much as a full-service restaurant) is expected. After my meal, I went to grab my wallet out of my bag for a couple of dollars to leave on the table… only to realize that I’d just taken it (the wallet) out of my bag and locked it in my safe at the hotel (this was my arrival day). I only had my credit card and MYW card on me. I felt sooooo bad as I snuck out of there w/o being able to leave a tip.

It was definitely freezing pre race, but we got there a bit later because we could use the monorail and then we waited in the Port a Potty lines for quite a while. It really didn't seem like our wait at the corrals was too long. Plus I had on what seemed like 20 layers Thanks for the tip about bringing cash to Wolfgang for the tip. I don't carry lots of cash so I'll have to remember that.

Your plans for your first day sound great and doable

WPE is a good choice for your lunch spot. I have heard really great reviews about this place and am going to try it myself this year. Let us know what you think?

I think you can watch cartoons in Caseys Corner on the "bleachers" and Exposition Hall too (I think).

I'll try and take good notes and maybe even pictures of the WPE meal. My boys would love to watch cartoons in Casey's Corner. Michael is a big baseball fan. But I'm afraid they would want a hot dog and I definitely don't want them to spoil their Ohana dinner!

 

[Charlefours]

Hello! Great family photo! What a great thing for the grandparents to do! What cruise will Wendy be going on? for taking the three of you to Disney and the five of you to US. I like your timeline! Two pirate cruises--what lucky boys they are going to be! What will you do during the second?

What magical moments during your 2004 trip! The four princesses in one picture--priceless!! And Belle remember Wendy--my heart just melted! Dumbo twice in a row--how unheard of what a great memory for John.

ADRs: I have been reading really good reviews consistently of Ohana's. We are doing 1900 PF--probably the one I am most looking forward to on our list. CR we had a great time and the food was really good for us. DH requested we go there again. Olivia's Cafe--never read anything about it so if you end up eating there I will look forward to your review of it. Wr are looking forward to trying TH for our first time in September. Oh good--I am glad you like the Plaza--I added it to our list last minute, as in the day we made ADRs :rotl:.

We have never been to Goofy's before but we plan to this trip.

for APs I like your plans. We are driving too. Where in Georgia are you planning on stopping?

 

[dismagiclover]

Hello! Great family photo! What a great thing for the grandparents to do! What cruise will Wendy be going on? for taking the three of you to Disney and the five of you to US. I like your timeline! Two pirate cruises--what lucky boys they are going to be! What will you do during the second?

What magical moments during your 2004 trip! The four princesses in one picture--priceless!! And Belle remember Wendy--my heart just melted! Dumbo twice in a row--how unheard of what a great memory for John.

ADRs: I have been reading really good reviews consistently of Ohana's. We are doing 1900 PF--probably the one I am most looking forward to on our list. CR we had a great time and the food was really good for us. DH requested we go there again. Olivia's Cafe--never read anything about it so if you end up eating there I will look forward to your review of it. Wr are looking forward to trying TH for our first time in September. Oh good--I am glad you like the Plaza--I added it to our list last minute, as in the day we made ADRs :rotl:.

We have never been to Goofy's before but we plan to this trip.

for APs I like your plans. We are driving too. Where in Georgia are you planning on stopping?

Glad to have you along! Wendy is going on the 4 day night cruise. I'm pretty sure it includes a day at Nassau, a day at Castaway Cay, and a day at sea. She is super excited. As far as the boys, the Pirate's League isn't a cruise it is a Pirate dress up thing, kind of like a boy's version of the Bippity Bobbity Boutique. It should be fun. During their Wednesday cruise I'm hoping to head over to HS for a few quick rides. That 2004 trip was great. We were only in Disneyland one day, but I was hooked And thanks for the thoughts on the ADRs. I'll report back. I'm hoping we make it a bit past Savannah the first day. I guess we'll see. Thanks for stopping by

 

[DrMomof3]

It won't be a very long walk because we'll have to visit guest services to upgrade the one day passes to Annual Passes! That's right. We will officially be Annual Pass Holders

I've been wondering about APs also. I already bought park tickets for my upcoming trip so I wasn't sure if I could upgrade to APs or if it's even worth it to upgrade.

Amanda

 

[dismagiclover]

I've been wondering about APs also. I already bought park tickets for my upcoming trip so I wasn't sure if I could upgrade to APs or if it's even worth it to upgrade.

Amanda

You can use your tickets to upgrade to AP's. After you've used at least one day of your tickets just take them to guest services and tell them you want to upgrade. They charge you the difference between the gate price for whatever ticket you have and the AP price. Since you're making more than one trip I would definitely do the math to see if it is worth it. It usually is. We are DVC members so we get a discount on AP's that defintely makes it worth it for us.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

My plan is to check in and then grab the boat to Downtown Disney for a bite of lunch. Any thoughs on where to eat? We enjoy Earl of Sandwich, but I was thinking of trying Wolfgang Puck Express this time. It gets great reviews and is a great deal on the dining plan as a counter service.

Oh my gosh... definitely give Wolfgang Puck Express a try! SO DELICIOUS! Seriously, it's like the best deal for a counter service, too. Mmmm, I want some right now!

It won't be a very long walk because we'll have to visit guest services to upgrade the one day passes to Annual Passes! That's right. We will officially be Annual Pass Holders

YAAAAAAAAAAAY for getting APs!!!!

Dinner at Ohana's. Another first for us (though not quite as exciting as the AP first)

Sounds like a great first night dinner!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

I vote for WPE...we haven't been there yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. My SIL and BIL love it. They've done the QSDP before and really enjoyed places like that to keep them from getting an overdose of chicken fingers and burgers.

At Goofy's, I love the pretzels as well. But last year my SIL brought me back a rice krispy treat (they're HUGE) with chocolate and Rese (sp?) cups. MMMMMM! I was bummed, too, that they're not on the dining plan anymore, but I also agree that I'll pay OOP for them, as well!

Your first day plans look great. Like I said, we enjoyed 'Ohana. It sounds like a great idea for your first day - lots of fun. Our kids enjoyed all the things to do there, too.

We actually have stayed at OKW before - not since 2000, but we really enjoyed it. It's got a ton of space. We actually thought of staying there this year, but since we're not DVC members (and there were too many of us to rent points) it became a bit cost prohibitive.

Looking forward to more plans!

 

[Supermom3]

You are brave to drive by yourself, but doing it to get to Disney will be worth it.
We loved WPE, great food. We loved the pizza and the pasta especially. They have good flavored iced tea and creme brulee for dessert.
You can't go wrong with chocolate covered pretzels.
We are also becoming AP holders for the first time this May! I feel like I'm graduating to a whole new level of Disney OCD.

 

[Stefy]

I'll try and take good notes and maybe even pictures of the WPE meal. My boys would love to watch cartoons in Casey's Corner. Michael is a big baseball fan. But I'm afraid they would want a hot dog and I definitely don't want them to spoil their Ohana dinner!

Thats a point, but if they really did want one you could always get one hotdog to share between them. Otherwise Exposition Hall might be a good spot, ooh yes actually you should go there, because they also have photo opportunities there where they have cardboard cut outs of Buzz Lightyears ship and other cool cutouts

 

[dismagiclover]

Oh my gosh... definitely give Wolfgang Puck Express a try! SO DELICIOUS! Seriously, it's like the best deal for a counter service, too. Mmmm, I want some right now!
YAAAAAAAAAAAY for getting APs!!!!
Sounds like a great first night dinner!

Another vote for WPE. I've never heard anyone say anything negative about this place. I hope it lives up to the hype!

I vote for WPE...we haven't been there yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. My SIL and BIL love it. They've done the QSDP before and really enjoyed places like that to keep them from getting an overdose of chicken fingers and burgers.

At Goofy's, I love the pretzels as well. But last year my SIL brought me back a rice krispy treat (they're HUGE) with chocolate and Rese (sp?) cups. MMMMMM! I was bummed, too, that they're not on the dining plan anymore, but I also agree that I'll pay OOP for them, as well!

Your first day plans look great. Like I said, we enjoyed 'Ohana. It sounds like a great idea for your first day - lots of fun. Our kids enjoyed all the things to do there, too.

We actually have stayed at OKW before - not since 2000, but we really enjoyed it. It's got a ton of space. We actually thought of staying there this year, but since we're not DVC members (and there were too many of us to rent points) it became a bit cost prohibitive.

Looking forward to more plans!

Another WPE vote. It's looking anonymous. One of my kids got the rice crispy treat last year but I didn't try it. Maybe I should branch out and get something besides pretzels. I figured we'd do Ohana on the 1st day because we might actually be hungry. (Which I know from past experiences I'm not always hungry later on in the trip) And I mentioned the OKW thing on your PTR

You are brave to drive by yourself, but doing it to get to Disney will be worth it.
We loved WPE, great food. We loved the pizza and the pasta especially. They have good flavored iced tea and creme brulee for dessert.
You can't go wrong with chocolate covered pretzels.
We are also becoming AP holders for the first time this May! I feel like I'm graduating to a whole new level of Disney OCD.

We'll see how the drive goes. Hopefully we'll all be so excited it will be OK. The drive home is always tougher and DH will be there for that one. I think I may try the creme brulee at WPE, though the strawberry topping on yogurt looks yummy as well. Congrats on the AP! It's very exciting, but could end up very costly as well because we'll want to get our money's worth (which always involves spending more money)

Thats a point, but if they really did want one you could always get one hotdog to share between them. Otherwise Exposition Hall might be a good spot, ooh yes actually you should go there, because they also have photo opportunities there where they have cardboard cut outs of Buzz Lightyears ship and other cool cutouts

So I was looking into the Exposition Hall thing and I found a thread announcing it's closing in April. They are going to convert it to the primary meet 'n greet when Toontown closes. So we'll either have to do Casey's or figure something else out. Maybe if I'm lucky there will be some characters out in Town Square for some quick meet 'n greets.

 

[Stefy]

What No thats on my Must Do List for this year.

They are changing so much these days and not for the better on some things DF was telling me last night that they are going to get rid of any resort merchandise and just have the generic Disney products and see what feedback they get from guests about it. I am quite shocked and angry because people stay at the resorts they favour and like to get a souvenir specific to that resort to bring home as a memory.

Some of the resorts have areas where you can watch cartoons. You can also watch a movie on the beach at the Poly and GF too, which sounds like fun

 

[dismagiclover]

Here is the thread about Exposition Hall closure. I guess things always have to change.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2425977&highlight=exposition+hall