Our plans so far...

[bcbmom]

looking for advice/suggestions etc to our vacation schedule. This vacation is a long time coming because dh was ill and had to have a transplant. We are soooo very excited that we are finally able to make it happen. I can hardly stop thinking about this trip and it's not until September, lol.
Anyways we have a wonderful travel agent but just wanting to make sure we are not missing out on something. So far we have...
Sat - Arrival/dinner at Port Orleans Riverside
Sun - Magic Kingdom/ Whispering Canyon Cafe
Mon - Animal Kingdom/Boma
Tues - Epcot/Chef de France
Wed - Water Park or Downtown Disney/Wolfgang Puck
Thurs - Disney Hollywood Studios/Mama Melrose
Fri - Magic Kingdom/Character Breakfast Lilo & Stitch
Sat - Departure ...But thinking maybe we should add one more day!

Our children will be 13, 12 & 8.
Thanks so much for any suggestions!!

 

[KatMark]

looking for advice/suggestions etc to our vacation schedule. This vacation is a long time coming because dh was ill and had to have a transplant. We are soooo very excited that we are finally able to make it happen. I can hardly stop thinking about this trip and it's not until September, lol.
Anyways we have a wonderful travel agent but just wanting to make sure we are not missing out on something. So far we have...
Sat - Arrival/dinner at Port Orleans Riverside
Sun - Magic Kingdom/ Whispering Canyon Cafe
Mon - Animal Kingdom/Boma
Tues - Epcot/Chef de France
Wed - Water Park or Downtown Disney/Wolfgang Puck
Thurs - Disney Hollywood Studios/Mama Melrose
Fri - Magic Kingdom/Character Breakfast Lilo & Stitch
Sat - Departure ...But thinking maybe we should add one more day!

Our children will be 13, 12 & 8.
Thanks so much for any suggestions!!

First, congratulations on your husband recuperating and your family being able to take this trip. We are sure you will have a wonderful time. Your dining reservations sound terrific (we have not done Whispering Canyon Cafe or Boma...but are trying them this year; we've not done Chef de France--DH does not like french food; we did Wolfgan Puck years ago and enjoyed; DH and I love Mama Melrose. We have not been at Ohana's at Poly since it was Minnie's Menehue Character Breakfast because we are not fans of Stitch, but we hear it is very good.
First suggestion: do not eat at Boatwright's at POR. We ate there last year and it was terrible and I have read many reviews that it has gone down hill for dinner (although the breakfasts are supposed to be out of this world).
Second, do you have park hopper passes? If not, I would either skip the water parks or if you can afford it, add another day. I think you will find that you will need more than one day at either Epcot or MK.

Again, congratulations on your hubby's recovery and have a magical time.

 

[Merryweather]

Are you doing Boma for breakfast or dinner?

 

[MJMcBride]

My 2 faves are Boma and the San Angel Inn, but you have some good choices there. Have fun

 

[bcbmom]

Are you doing Boma for breakfast or dinner?

we are going to Boma for dinner...would you change that?

Also the only one we are wondering about is the Chef de France...Has anyone been?

Thanks Again!

 

[MagiKitty]

COngrats on the successful transplant! We're a family with a transplant too, what a wonderful gift!

I would personally look into another day, if possible. I at first priced a 7 day trip for two, value resort. Adding another day (of eating) only added $80 to the total. Now we have a full 7 days of parks! Big EPCOT fans here, so that's where our extra day will go!

 

[Merryweather]

we are going to Boma for dinner...would you change that?

Also the only one we are wondering about is the Chef de France...Has anyone been?

Thanks Again!

Would I change from dinner to breakfast at Boma? Absolutely not! Breakfast is wonderful there but it's similar to most while dinner has all the really neat stuff for the adventurous but simple dishes for the not-so-adventurous. If you are a coffee drinker be sure and splurge on a pressed pot of Kenyan AA.

We've only done Chefs for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed. We usually do Bistro for dinner.

Oh PS When do you arrive? I just noticed you have an ADR at Boatwrong's er I mean Boatwright's for dinner? I'd investigate an alternative. Breakfast there is great but we've never done dinner because nobody we know has had anything close to a stellar experience there.

 

[bcbmom]

Would I change from dinner to breakfast at Boma? Absolutely not! Breakfast is wonderful there but it's similar to most while dinner has all the really neat stuff for the adventurous but simple dishes for the not-so-adventurous. If you are a coffee drinker be sure and splurge on a pressed pot of Kenyan AA.

We've only done Chefs for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed. We usually do Bistro for dinner.

Oh PS When do you arrive? I just noticed you have an ADR at Boatwrong's er I mean Boatwright's for dinner? I'd investigate an alternative. Breakfast there is great but we've never done dinner because nobody we know has had anything close to a stellar experience there.

We arrive on Sep 20th. If we drive (still undecided) we probably won't be there until later in the day...would you just cancel and use a cs credit?
And thank you so much for the information. I am so new to this and just really want to have a wonderful vacation.

 

[bcbmom]

COngrats on the successful transplant! We're a family with a transplant too, what a wonderful gift!

I would personally look into another day, if possible. I at first priced a 7 day trip for two, value resort. Adding another day (of eating) only added $80 to the total. Now we have a full 7 days of parks! Big EPCOT fans here, so that's where our extra day will go!

Thank you so much, it is a wonderful gift...as you obviously know. Most days are back to normal now but when he's sick or when we are ordering all of the medications it seems to bring it all back everytime. It's wonderful that all has went well but we still live with that what if and I find that hard somedays. We had a very few rough years and honestly my husband laughs but I already can't sleep because of this trip and I get tears at just the thought of finally being able to bring our children. We missed those young magical years but luckily with Disney it's always magical.

And I agree about the extra day. If we don't book we will waste a day at a park and we already have the 7 day pass. It's just the extra 400 that I was leary about with all the other exspenses but If theres a will theres a way...is that the saying, lol.
Thanks so much for your message.

 

[bcbmom]

First, congratulations on your husband recuperating and your family being able to take this trip. We are sure you will have a wonderful time. Your dining reservations sound terrific (we have not done Whispering Canyon Cafe or Boma...but are trying them this year; we've not done Chef de France--DH does not like french food; we did Wolfgan Puck years ago and enjoyed; DH and I love Mama Melrose. We have not been at Ohana's at Poly since it was Minnie's Menehue Character Breakfast because we are not fans of Stitch, but we hear it is very good.
First suggestion: do not eat at Boatwright's at POR. We ate there last year and it was terrible and I have read many reviews that it has gone down hill for dinner (although the breakfasts are supposed to be out of this world).
Second, do you have park hopper passes? If not, I would either skip the water parks or if you can afford it, add another day. I think you will find that you will need more than one day at either Epcot or MK.

Again, congratulations on your hubby's recovery and have a magical time.

Thank you so much for your message. I think we will cancel the Boatwright reservations and am just wondering if we can just use a cs credit that night? We aren't sure how late we'll get in and with having no experience thought we'd better stay at the resort. I'm also not sure about the Chef de France with the children but i'm hoping someone has been and can let me know.
I am going to add the extra day on to the trip so that would give us a day or two that the children can decide where to go back to. Would you try and stay at the resort one day or just go, go & go, lol? Thanks again!

 

[gatorfreud]

Congrats on your trip! You will have a blast!

We ate at Boatwrights' for breakfast and it was good. Don't know about dinner though. Not sure what time you get in, but you can always boat to DTD and have dinner there. If you're on the DDP, we ate at Wolfgang Puck's (not the CS, the TS) and it was good!

We went Chefs de France in November... we thought the food was pretty good (but we have an EXCELLENT french restaurant around the corner from us here in SF, so we may be spolied!). We really love the biergarten and also Tutto Italia was great! I think you can take kids pretty much anywhere in WDW. My husband and I went to the dinner at Chefs without the kids... there were other kids there, but hey, if they're not mine and I'm not dealing with them, I don't care!

And you can use your dining credits whenever you want... so if you use a CS for the 1st night, then maybe get a breakfast/dinner TS in the same day to match it up. Or do a Boatwright's breakfast on a morning you think you may not head to the parks super early. They have yummy smoothies (that counted as a "drink" on the DDP when we were there last time).


Enjoy your trip and take it easy!

 

[Merryweather]

We arrive on Sep 20th. If we drive (still undecided) we probably won't be there until later in the day...would you just cancel and use a cs credit?
And thank you so much for the information. I am so new to this and just really want to have a wonderful vacation.

Yes, I'd cancel the Boatwright's ADR and opt for the counter service.

You'll be fine with Chefs de France. If it were Bistro (upstairs) it might be a different story.

Oh, and try to get over to PO French Quarter, Riverside's sister resort, for some fresh beignets. You can walk or take the boat over. The walk from food court to food court is probably 15 minutes?

Happy planning!

 

[MagiKitty]

We have the same issue..we arrive late afternoon and what to do? We decided to do CS at DTD--we love Earl of Sandwich, but I'm interested in trying Cookes of Dublin also. We have ressies the next day for a big breakfast at Cape May.

So our first day is just a sampling of Disney at DTD. Some food, a little shopping, and I'm looking forward to a snack at Goofy's. Early back to the hotel, maybe some pool? Early to bed then all ready for our first full day at the parks!

Glad to hear that you've opted for the extra day. We take some time "warming up" for vacation, so an easy first night is the way to go for us.

OT: my Dad will be celebrating his kidney's 6th birthday this June. (my sister was the donor) It was rough at first, getting used to meds and dosages and post-transplant followups. It does get easier. We enrolled in a automatic med delivery service, so meds are just part of our lives and mailbox now. People are amazed how good he looks now. Its his second chance at life. We're making the most of it! But I still can't drive by the dialysis center without getting a bit teary eyed. It was really rough before the transplant and I'm just so glad that we got through it. Enjoy your trip and big hugs from someone who knows how precious it is for you all.

 

[bcbmom]

We have the same issue..we arrive late afternoon and what to do? We decided to do CS at DTD--we love Earl of Sandwich, but I'm interested in trying Cookes of Dublin also. We have ressies the next day for a big breakfast at Cape May.

So our first day is just a sampling of Disney at DTD. Some food, a little shopping, and I'm looking forward to a snack at Goofy's. Early back to the hotel, maybe some pool? Early to bed then all ready for our first full day at the parks!

Glad to hear that you've opted for the extra day. We take some time "warming up" for vacation, so an easy first night is the way to go for us.

OT: my Dad will be celebrating his kidney's 6th birthday this June. (my sister was the donor) It was rough at first, getting used to meds and dosages and post-transplant followups. It does get easier. We enrolled in a automatic med delivery service, so meds are just part of our lives and mailbox now. People are amazed how good he looks now. Its his second chance at life. We're making the most of it! But I still can't drive by the dialysis center without getting a bit teary eyed. It was really rough before the transplant and I'm just so glad that we got through it. Enjoy your trip and big hugs from someone who knows how precious it is for you all.

Thank you so much for your message. My husband's transplant was also a kidney donated by his Father. He was only in his twenty's when we found out he had kidney disease. We had three young children and it was quite the shock to a life we thought was on the right track. We also feel the same say about the dialysis center. My husband dreads the day he is back on dialysis again. We just pray his new kidney lasts a very long time.

Thank you also for the ideas, they are very helpful. I hope you also have a wonderful vacation.