Not my first trip, but my first trip report

[Bonniec]

I couldn't decide if I should write a trip report or just post photos. I took so many! I'm not much of a writer but I figure I'll start up a trip report so I can have everything in one place. I took my good camera but half the time I was too lazy to bring it so I took a lot of cell phone pics. Please forgive the quality of those! Also, I didn't get as many food shots as I wanted to. Now that I'm back home, I wanna go back and take the pics again, lol. I'm kind of mad I got lazy.


We are a family of 5 and only live an hour and a half away from Disney. So I'm lucky to be able to go often. However, we decided to take a full week off and go visit which we've never done before. We stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek in a 4 bedroom presidential which was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Also, we ate at TS restaurants for the first time ever. Usually I just bring snacks. It was wonderful finally getting to try these places. We got a Tables in Wonderland card and will definately be using it more.

I don't have pictures of every where we ate, but we decided on....

Sanaa
O'Hana (dinner)
Boma (dinner)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
Wishes Dessert Party
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Garden Grill (no pics)
Grand Floridian Tea
O'Hana (breakfast)
Hollywood and Vine (added on for breakfast)
and Sci-Fi Dinner

I have to say, I don't know how those of you on the dining plan do it. For the most part, we ate at one restaurant a day and we were fooded out!

We were also going to celebrate my son's 6th birthday. Usually we do very little for the kid's birthdays. I have twin 18 year olds born on New Years, so with 3 birthdays in January, we are usually broke. But we went completely over the top on all 3 birthdays this year. I created my own version of the Disney florist thing they do so I will have a ton of pics from that. (Picures start on post #8 down below) We also took him to the barber shop which was cool.




So anyway, pics to follow shortly since I have most uploaded already. We headed out from Melbourne, FL in our car on Friday the 20th. DH even put a Darth Vader voice on his GPS to surprise me. It still cracks me up!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Hi .. looking forward to your report !!

I grew up in Palm Bay. I live in MA now but really want to move back. I miss the beach SO much. One of the best beach areas I've ever had the pleasure to visit. The fact that I once lived there seems like a distant dream now.

I envy you !!

 

[Bonniec]

Hi .. looking forward to your report !!

I grew up in Palm Bay. I live in MA now but really want to move back. I miss the beach SO much. One of the best beach areas I've ever had the pleasure to visit. The fact that I once lived there seems like a distant dream now.

I envy you !!

We actually moved to Idaho for 8 years and then just moved back last March. I missed the beach too much as well!

 

[Bonniec]

We arrived at Wyndham Bonnet Creek at 10am. I didn't think they would let us check in that early and we were gonna spend the day at Downtown Disney. But luckily they did! We got a 4 bedroom presidential and it was a suprise birthday trip for my son. He was completely excited to see the place.

I'll post a few pics here, but most are in the Bonnet Creek photo thread starting on post #98.

This is where we stayed...

 

[Bonniec]

After checking into Bonnet Creek, we headed over to AKL for our 2:00 ADR at Sanaa. I was super excited as this was our first TS restaurant.

We were greeted and told it would be about 5 minutes...

We sat over by the window and watched the animals. I grabbed a shot of my daughter, and then they called us back.

Our host kept talking about Ostriches which we thought was fate since that's my daughter's favorite animal. She spent the whole lunch looking for the Ostrich, lol. I took a pic of her and the host because of it. He was super nice.

We had the app trio with the lamp kefta's which were delicous, the cauliflower which no one liked (and I love cauliflower), and the potato and pea samoas which were just ok. I probably wouldn't get an app next time.

Mason (my youngest) got tomato soup which was very good.

We ordered the bread service which was excellent. This is hands down the best naan bread I have ever had! I can't remember which sauces we got. They were recommended by the waitress and I hated them, lol. One was a wierd pickle garlic sauce. Nasty!

Dh and I each ordered the slow, cooked in gravy meal. I got the basmati rice, green curry shrimp, and short ribs. It wasn't the best meal I ever had but I did enjoy it. It was nice and light.

My daughter got the tandoori chicken and this was definately the star of the meal. It didn't look like a normal tandoori chicken, but it was delicous! Plus it had more naan bread under it. I plan to go back and get this for myself next time! I really recommend it.

My older son, Sam, is not adventurous. In fact, he orders a burger everywhere we go....so no suprise that he ordered a burger here. And this is what they delivered!

Personally, I think it looks awesome. And BTW, he DID like it!

Mason got the kid's mac n cheese. He loved the macaroni but his green beans were cold so he didn't touch those.

For dessert, they brought him a birthday ice cream which he loved!

The boys weren't hungry but my daughter (Sara) and I split a dessert trio.
I'm not a chai person so did not like the chai cream but she adored it. I also don't like mango but I fell in love with that mango sorbet. It was wonderful! The dark chocolate cake thing was okay...kinda dry but still tasted good.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and unpacked. We took a long walk around the place (which was HUGE) and then watched fireworks from the balcony.

 

[Bonniec]

The next 2 days were just spent at the parks, nothing too exciting happened but we all had a great time. We ate at O'Hanas for dinner.

O'Hana's was great. But not to the extent I usually read about on here. Don't get me wrong, the food was very good. I'm just not sure I'd go out of my way to go back unless I was staying there. It was also an insane amount of food. I wish I could go back and get just the meal or just the apps. We all felt like we had wasted too much food. I didn't get many pictures because I was lazy and only brought my cell phone.

Anyway, it's certainly worth doing at least once but I'm not sure if we'll go out of our way to go back. Also, only my daughter liked the bread pudding. None of us like bread pudding anyway so it was no surprise. Or maybe I just was too full. I think likely I had built my hopes up too much on these boards, lol.

The staff was awesome, AND we were seated right on time.

I did get a picture of my first ever "Glowtini". It was good, but very strong (I'm a light weight)

And Mason got the glow punch...

Also, they gave Mason the most ginormous bowl of ice cream and THREE cupcakes!

Here's a quick cell phone video of the little parade they do. You can see the restaurant pretty good.

We finished at 8:00 right as the fireworks started. We couldn't see so we ran out on the beach and watched. It was pretty neat. The Polynesian is gorgeous! Video of fireworks


Surprisingly my while my DH thought O'Hanas was "okay", he loved Boma. I would have thought the other way around. Like an idiot, I didn't get pics. It was very good though...too good. I over-ate and felt sick after.

I did get a son of DH's birthday cupcake (I pretty much added a celebration to all ADRs)

I don't know that I would make Boma a must-do because of cost, but we certainly enjoyed it.



The 3rd day was my son's 6th birthday and a very big day! I went completely over the top, crazy and made a surprise to him from the "characters" like the Disney florist does. We also had his first character meal at CHef Mickey's scheduled (he has been asking to go there forever) as well as the dessert wishes party. I'll post pics from all that tomorrow as I have tons.

 

[dara00]

looking forward to seeing the pictures!

 

[Bonniec]

So after my son went to bed that night, we decorated the hotel. Like I said, I rarely spend much on the kid's birthdays. But this year my twins turned 18 and this was our first real family vacation so I went completely over the top. No judging! lol Maybe this will give some ideas to anyone wanting to do the same sort of thing.

We bought a disposable helium tank from Walmart for $20. The Mickey balloons I bought off Amazon and they were awesome.

Mickey gave him a monorail set...

Leading out of his bedroom

I got the bowls at Target over Christmas

Treats from Goofy's Candy Co. I kept all this in the fridge and wouldn't let him go near the fridge so he never saw any of it prior!

This was so yummy! caramel, chocolate, and white chocolate over an apple

The cake was from Boardwalk Bakery. Chocolate ganache over chocolate cake. Very moist and yummy!

more coming...

 

[Bonniec]

We got the Edible Arrangement Mickey which was pricey but super cute. The fruit was delicous and we devoured it.

I added on a number 6...

Mickey pineapples!!

Okay here is where my DH told me I had completely lost my mind. I printed off a black shaped Tinkerbell, cut it out, and taped it in the lamp shade for her shadow. I sprinkled gold glitter for pixie dust. DH just shook is head at me and sighed but I think it looked awesome! What do men know anyway?

The only problem is I should have realised my son is 6 and not 3. He immediately looked inside the lamp shade and said. "Oh I see!" Oh well. I tried!

Donald left feathers...

Pluto left a dog bowl ($1 from target and I took a sharpie to it)

I won't tell you what DH said at this point. At least he puts up with my fun!

My son really enjoyed everything of course. We didn't eat most of our snacks until we came back from the trip but everything was great. We are really liking all his toys. I wasn't too sure about spending that much on the monorail. DH told me to quit being cheap and just buy it, so I did. Now I am glad I did. It's pretty awesome!

He got some other odds and ends. Tinkerbell gave him a gift card, Stitch gave him a huge stuffed Stitch. Buzz Lightyear gave him PJs. I chose to use his favorite characters instead of the main 5.


Wearing his birthday shirt from Donald Duck...

The shirt design I found here on the Dis. I modified it a bit and added Stitch since that is his favorite.



An another note, because I forgot to post it last night...

This is a welcome letter he found in his room. A design from the boards as well...

Also, everyday that we went out, I snuck in the kids bedrooms (all 3) and left some form of a Disney treat with a cut out photo I had printed. The designs also came from the boards here. Each night was a different character like Goofy, Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. When we would come in for the night, the kids found these on their beds. They really enjoyed running in to see if someone new had left them a treat.

My twin 18 year olds really loved this too. As an after thought...I wish I would have done it for mommy and daddy too. It was kind of a pain leaving this without them seeing it, but it was fun.

I can't remember who designed all of this stuff. But a big thank you to whoever you are. Everything came out wonderful! (Anyone wanting to do this can search trough the design sections)


After everything was opened, we headed off to Chef Mickey's for a 10:30 ADR and our first character meal!

 

[dara00]

my son would love the monorail set. maybe one day!

 

[minerva78]

I'm following along too! I follow the Bonnet Creek thread so I'v been so excited to see all of your pics and read about your trip. Can't wait to hear about some more of your dinners - you went a few places we are considering as well. We'll probably still do O'hana, because it still sounds like fun, but I won't expect to be blown away - good to have normal expectations.

And can I say, you deserve the mom of the year award! Wow, wow, wow, everything you did in your room and for your kids was absolutely amazing! I know they must have enjoyed it so much. It definitely does give me some ideas about ways to add some magic into the vacation, but I'd never be to accomplish all of that. You are awesome!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Awesome pics !

Bonnet Creek is beautiful. You did such a great job on the birthday decorations ! You're so creative. . The Tinkerbell in the lampshade was an awesome idea !

 

[Bonniec]

O'Hanas was definately good and I was not disappointed with it at all. I just think it gets blown out of proportion a bit. I really enjpyed walking around that resort. It's so beautiful! I am super jealous of those that can afford to stay there.

And thanks about the party. Like I said, I normally wouldn't do all that. But all 3 had birthdays this month, this was our first real vacation, and my twins are leaving for college this year. So everything is about to change. I just wanted everything to be really great...and it was.

 

[jecskc]

Stopping by to say hello and follow along !! I loved all of your birthday stuff. I think it is important to go overboard at least once in their life to make it extra special.

 

[Bonniec]

Okay so we got to Chef Mickey's and were seated quickly. I was a little nervous about eating here. I had heard so many bad reviews and heard later breakfasts are really dirty and messy and that the place is loud and obnoxious. But Mason had always wanted to eat here so we tried it.

First I was SO excited to finally be insude the contemporary. I have been riding the monorail through it since I was a little girl. So I was completely in awe!

Mason got a cute little placemat for his birthday and we got to keep it.

Yet again I forgot to take pics of the food and just used my cell phone. I did get a Mickey Waffle pic. Those are SOOOO freaking good! I've seen some thing on Amazon you can buy and make those at home and now I am wondering if it works. Those Mickey waffles were much better than a regular waffle!

I really enjoyed Chef Mickeys! Everything was clean, the food was wonderful, the waitress was great. I also didn't think the place was too loud. We were in the back by a window and it was a late breakfast so maybe that's why. But it was much better than I expected.

The characters were all very cool. None of them spent very long at the tabe except Pluto who was very funny. But Mason is shy and never knows how to act around them so really, I guess there isn't much to make them stay. I need tips on how to intereact with non-speaking characters!

Next up was a trip to the barber to get Mason a color gel and pixie dust sprinkle for the day. I chose this because I knew he wouldn't wear a hat....

 

[Bonniec]

So as we walked along to MK from the Contemporary, my daughter was complaining about her hair. So I thought I'd see if they could squeeze her in for a hair color too. They could...but then my older son and hubby started whining and I was all since they are NOT the types to do something like that. So I had to ask the woman if they could get them in too, which she could but then she looked at me and asked if I was really going to be the only one NOT doing it. So yeah....all 5 of us got gelled and pixie dusted.

Let me tell you...if you want attention, this is the way to go about it! We felt like a walking parade the rest of the day. Everyone kept staring at us. CMs called us the glitter family. One CM asked us if a fairy sneezed on us.

It's $7.50 not including tip to do this and if they have time, they will take walk ups. But I would make reservations if your heart is set on it. This is a great way to get your child attention!

First up was Mason. It hurt him when she combed in the green gel he picked. He has a tender head like me. I waiting for him to cry but he manned up and didn't make a peep. His facial expressions were priceless though!

He got a Mickey on the back...

Next was Sara. She and Sam had a big discussion over colors. Sam convinced her to do pink (she's not a pink girl), so she told Sam if she got pink, then HE had too....

This pic cracks me up...

I got the same in purple. Everytime Sara and I went to the bathroom after this, women would ask us where we had our hair done. It was pretty cool!

Somehow, she convinced Sam to do pink. She says she used her twin powers on him....

Manly!

So as we cracked up at Sam getting pink hair, the barber asked if Sam wanted a picture on the back like dad and Mason had (dad got a blue Mickey). We ASSUMED it was a pink Mickey until I glanced over and saw this....

I don't think any of us have ever laughed so hard. We were all crying! Maybe this is why we got so much attention, I don't know. We spent the rest of the day calling him a pretty, pretty princess! He was mortified when "hot girls would look at him and laugh"

LMAO

My favorite pic of the whole week...

The only downside of it all...okay, well 2 downsides. The stuff takes hours to dry. We had to wipe up several chairs after Mason bumped his head on it. Also, this stuff does NOT was out easily. It took several shampoos to get it all out. But still, I would totally do this again!

We also saw Push the talking garbage can, I grabbed a quick video.


That night, we had the Wishes Dessert Party....

 

[blessedby3]

subbing....I saw your link on the BC thread (we are looking to stay there this fall) and wanted to join in on your trip report I love the birthday things you did....so special!

 

[southbound]

Thanks for sharing, Bonnie! Love the prank the guy pulled on your son with the flowers in his hair! It was hilarious! I didn't even know you could do this.

I was debating Chef Mickey's cause of all the bad reviews, but I know my daughter would love it, so might go just for the characters. The Mickey waffles do look pretty good.

You did a fantastic job for the birthday celebrations... your kids must have loved it.

Looking forward to seeing/reading more.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Me too!

 

[Bonniec]

We took a little break back at the hotel and I took a shot of Mason and his air walker balloon...

Then we headed back to MK for the Dessert Wishes Party. Again, we really lucked out. I had heard that they seat the smaller tables up front. I knew being a party of 5 would likely mean we were in the back and would have to stand by the rail to watch the fireworks. But we lucked out and got a table right up front!

It was wonderful being able to watch the fireworks while sitting at a table with no one bumping into us. It really was a magical ending to a perfect day.

I didn't get many pics because I didn't want to be flashing everyone.

My daughter has a love for pineapple!

Most of the desserts were pretty good. Nothing glorious or anything, but they certainly did the job. The tarts were kinda bleh. The fillings were nice but the crusts were dry. All of the mousse-like desserts were good. My favorites were the creme brulets and the chocolate covered strawberries.

Watching the fireworks...

This one kind of shows you what the view is like. You are a bit off to the side.

Dh's sparkly hair

Video of some of the preshow

Video of the start of Wishes

We stayed at MK until closing time that night. I grabbed a shot of them playing with that roller ball fountain thingy.