Must-do dining/experiences for mom's first visit?

[wabbott]

Watch this video to help make up your mind about visiting the Disneyland apartment.

100X on the Walt Disney Museum in SF. Many, many "Walt" artifacts there, that tell his personal story. My fav is the original EPCOT sketch on a napkin.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Watch this video to help make up your mind about visiting the Disneyland apartment.

100X on the Walt Disney Museum in SF. Many, many "Walt" artifacts there, that tell his personal story. My fav is the original EPCOT sketch on a napkin.


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Thanks, I have been inside the apartment myself and I know she'd love it. I might just have to spring for it AND the other tour.

Not making it up to SF on this trip, unfortunately. But it's definitely on my list. DH and I didn't get to do it the one time we were in SF and I've regretted it! Maybe next year.

 

[wabbott]

I'm about as much Uncle Scrooge as anyone. I mean I'm a real skinflint. He is my favorite Disney character, and I don't like to spend money that I don't feel like I get a return on.

Of all the tens of thousands of dollars we've spent on visiting Disney, I don't regret spending a dime of it. So DO NOT skimp on this one. The memories you make on this trip will go to your grave with you.

 

[wabbott]

When my mom was little, her family didn't have a TV so she would sometimes walk to a neighbor's house and watch through their window if they had the TV on.

So when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, we had a TV, but it was black & white. Plus, all we had was an antenna (and a pipe wrench to turn it) that could pick up one, maybe two stations, neither of which aired The Wonderful World of Disney. I only got to see the show when we visited relations who lived near Baton Rouge, and who could pick up the ABC/NBC stations.

I can very, very much relate to how your Mom felt.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm about as much Uncle Scrooge as anyone. I mean I'm a real skinflint. He is my favorite Disney character, and I don't like to spend money that I don't feel like I get a return on.

Of all the tens of thousands of dollars we've spent on visiting Disney, I don't regret spending a dime of it. So DO NOT skimp on this one. The memories you make on this trip will go to your grave with you.

You're so right! Not sure when I'd be able to bring her across the country again (she lives in So. FL). Yeah, I won't skimp, I'll make this trip as memorable as possible.

 

[irlandaise]

Hearing the music always makes me super happy, so I'm good with either version. But since the Fantasia/Sorcerer Mickey finale is my favorite part by far, DHS wins for me because that part is better there. It's more epic having Mickey high on the mountain and directing the pyro and lasers, which they also seem to have more of at DHS.

Yeah, but...a little plywood boat vs. the Mark Twain???

(Well, maybe not literally plywood, but it looks like it...)

 

[BriannaRuth]

Is Blue Bayou still very hard to get an ADR for? I've never been myself because it seems to go quickly. I believe our booking window opens Thursday.

If you're just talking about a regular ADR vs one of the Fantasmic packages, it's been my experience that it's not one of the ones that goes in the first 5 minutes, but they go pretty quickly. For instance, looking at ADRs available for BB (not the package) right now for August 5 through August 9, there's still lunch and dinner availability on the 9th, but not on any of the other days. I've had pretty good luck getting cancellations there as well. I was also able to get a Fantasmic BB package from a cancellation for my late July trip.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Yeah, but...a little plywood boat vs. the Mark Twain???

(Well, maybe not literally plywood, but it looks like it...)

I think the small boat at DHS works well given that it's Steamboat Willie Mickey at the helm. Of course, the Mark Twain is more impressive. They're both great versions of the show imo! I just prefer the purpose-built amphitheater and mountain.

 

[BrianL]

I think the small boat at DHS works well given that it's Steamboat Willie Mickey at the helm. Of course, the Mark Twain is more impressive. They're both great versions of the show imo! I just prefer the purpose-built amphitheater and mountain.

Yeah, I love the black and white steamboat with a black and white Mickey at the helm. It's great!

 

[starlite_]

Gonna go against the flow a bit. What places do YOU like going to that you want to share with your mom?

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Does your mom like character dining?

I ask because my mom LOVES a good character meal. She's in her 70s, if that makes any difference. One of my must do's on our first trip to Disneyland a number of years ago was breakfast at Plaza Inn. I've booked it again for an upcoming trip because it was more characters than we've ever experienced at any one meal at WDW and experiences seem to vary on who you get to see. I recently watched someone's dining report where they had 9 characters during their meal. I went back through my old trip pictures and we met 11 characters. Some of the interactions were also a little more unique. Honest John and Pinocchio sat down next to us and pretended to be having a meal. Obviously, experiences will vary, but it could be fun if your mom likes those kinds of meals. Food was decent as well.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Does your mom like character dining?

I ask because my mom LOVES a good character meal. She's in her 70s, if that makes any difference. One of my must do's on our first trip to Disneyland a number of years ago was breakfast at Plaza Inn. I've booked it again for an upcoming trip because it was more characters than we've ever experienced at any one meal at WDW and experiences seem to vary on who you get to see. I recently watched someone's dining report where they had 9 characters during their meal. I went back through my old trip pictures and we met 11 characters. Some of the interactions were also a little more unique. Honest John and Pinocchio sat down next to us and pretended to be having a meal. Obviously, experiences will vary, but it could be fun if your mom likes those kinds of meals. Food was decent as well.

Yes! She loves characters (she especially loves pictures with characters), and I hadn't thought about doing a character meal yet! I was with my DH at the Plaza in December, I had forgotten that you see so many characters there. Defintely going to try to get a late breakfast here--then it can hold us over through lunchtime, lol.

 

[irlandaise]

Yeah, I love the black and white steamboat with a black and white Mickey at the helm. It's great!

How is that different from the Mark Twain, which is also white with black accents and has a B&W Mickey Mouse at the wheel?

 

[BrianL]

How is that different from the Mark Twain, which is also white with black accents and has a B&W Mickey Mouse at the wheel?

It's not, really, but I still like the cartoony looking boat.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

It's not, really, but I still like the cartoony looking boat.

Well, it is different in that it's supposed to be Steamboat Willie. It even has a "W" banner. So it fits the Mickey at the helm.

 

[twodogs]

Is Blue Bayou still very hard to get an ADR for? I've never been myself because it seems to go quickly. I believe our booking window opens Thursday.

If you want to get waterside seating, I think it is safest to get the 11am lunch reservation, which is the first seating of the day. That usually fills the waterside tables, so 11:20am gets the second row, etc. As the day goes on, it gets all mixed up as some people eat faster than others, and then their tables get filled.

On your 60th day exactly, the 11am slot usually books up pretty quickly, and not all tables in a time slot may be offered for the package, so I would plan to be on the site right at 6am PST, and make sure you scroll PAST Blue Bayou in the alphabetical list of restaurants, and choose the Fantasmic Package from the list of restaurants (see screen shot from the app below), and then click View Available Options, and click BB Lunch first show (or whatever you want) off that list. If you just click on Blue Bayou, you are only reserving a table for the meal, not the Fantasmic Package. I would do a test run a few days before to make sure you are familiar with how to book the package at BB versus just a meal at BB.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

If you want to get waterside seating, I think it is safest to get the 11am lunch reservation, which is the first seating of the day. That usually fills the waterside tables, so 11:20am gets the second row, etc. As the day goes on, it gets all mixed up as some people eat faster than others, and then their tables get filled.

On your 60th day exactly, the 11am slot usually books up pretty quickly, and not all tables in a time slot may be offered for the package, so I would plan to be on the site right at 6am PST, and make sure you scroll PAST Blue Bayou in the alphabetical list of restaurants, and choose the Fantasmic Package from the list of restaurants (see screen shot from the app below), and then click View Available Options, and click BB Lunch first show (or whatever you want) off that list. If you just click on Blue Bayou, you are only reserving a table for the meal, not the Fantasmic Package. I would do a test run a few days before to make sure you are familiar with how to book the package at BB versus just a meal at BB.

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Thank you!