"Reach for the sky!" We're finally getting there in JAN 2012!!!TR LINK PG 69!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Thanks Ladies! I'm really enjoying the Durango, having AC is SO nice! I had forgotten!

I'm looking forward to the trip in Jan, but I'm also trying not to throw myself into it like I have my other trips. I really want to just enjoy the here and now more, focus on enjoying my family and friends this summer and having fun HERE!

That being said, I have worked up a tentative plan for the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. trip, with best park days, but I'm having trouble figuring out meals for some reason? Last time I had so many places, I couldn't choose, but I seem to be getting pickier? For example, I love Boma, but for 6 of us, with tip and tax, it will be around $280. For one meal?!?!? It's not THAT good. Has anyone been to Sanaa? I was thinking that might be an option for a dinner ADR.

Here's what I know for sure:
Crystal Palace breakfast
Ohana breakfast
Rainforest Cafe (DTD)
House of Blues (DTD)
Tusker House ??? (even my favorite Tusker House is on the chopping block!)

Since there's no F&W in Jan, now I'm unsure where we should eat at Epcot. I guess one of our days we could eat around the world, we have another full day there though.

So, where are your favorite places to eat at WDW? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[mousescrapper]

So, where are your favorite places to eat at WDW? Inquiring minds want to know!

Some of my/our fav places to eat are:

Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace
Kona -Poly
Tutto Italia (but is $$$)
1900 PF

we've had great experiences at these places too: Sci Fi, Tony's and O'Hana

places we'd love to try:
Teppan Edo
Cape May
Tusker House
Raglan Road

 

[Pixiedust530]

Sorry to say I am no help in the dining department. I relied completely on the DIS and recommendations from friends when making our plans. Of course, since we are on the DDP I didn't have to factor in cost. I have heard so so so many wonderful things about Tusker House breakfast though so I would try to work that in if I could!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Julie, did you like the food at Park Fare, or just the atmosphere/characters? That's another one I've considered, but it's also really expensive!

I've never done Tusker House for breakfast, I've actually got them down for lunch. I've been there twice (both times I went to WDW) and LOVED it! It's also fairly cheap compared to some of the other buffets (Boma).

I'm really unsure about where to eat on our MK days and our Epcot days. I know we'll do Columbia Harbor House and probably Sunshine Seasons for CS meals, but I feel like I'm missing some TS meals. We can do one a day and still come out saving money staying offsite, so that's the plan.

How about Garden Grill? Can they cater to vegetarians? Anyone know? Savannah does not eat meat, and I'm mostly vegan and at my worst, vegetarian, so I don't want to pay a ton for a family style meal where we can only eat two things on the table???

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Karen, I loved Park Fare!!! It is also buffet style, but I thought the food choices were plentiful --- all good and HOT!!! The atmosphere was awesome as well. We are going back this time around.

 

[mousescrapper]

Julie, did you like the food at Park Fare, or just the atmosphere/characters? That's another one I've considered, but it's also really expensive!

I have eaten there 3 times now...twice at dinner and once for breakfast...the characters are different for each. at night you get Cindy and her Prince and the wicked Stepmother and the Step sisters...they are a hoot and just loved them on both occassions...the 2nd of which was just a group of adults. They also now serve a special ice cream dessert to the table (plus other options at the buffet). My last dinner there I unfortunately had an upset stomach coming in and couldn't eat, but I know my friends I was dinning w/ (all DISERS) all enjoyed their meals...

The breakfast is your normal fare, not as extensive as Chef mickey's but still equally hot and fresh. In the morning you get Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Alice and the mad hatter...which again were all amazing...

I have never felt rushed w/ the characters at these and the servers are always so nice and accomadating.


I'd probably rate it high on experience vs the food...but I think the food is good too

 

[-Hope-]

I thought the food at PF was okay, but Robbie and the kids were pretty disappointed with it. I don't think Robbie even went back for seconds. Overall we felt it was worth it for the experience but that's mainly because dinner with Cinderella was a top priority for Kya.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I thought the food at PF was okay, but Robbie and the kids were pretty disappointed with it. I don't think Robbie even went back for seconds. Overall we felt it was worth it for the experience but that's mainly because dinner with Cinderella was a top priority for Kya.

The problem is that it's another $280 meal for us and if I'm going to spend that much, the food better be amazing! AND, I really love the food at Boma, so if I'm going to spend that much, I think I would spend it at Boma instead of PF.

I've got character meals covered, at least two, which I think is enough as the kids are older. I want to try Kona, but I don't think the kids will like it that much AND we're already going to Ohana for breakfast, so I thought I would save Kona for Hope & my trip in 2013.

Where else?!?!?

 

[exwdwcm]

My faves are:

Crystal Palace breakfast
Ohana dinner (trying breakfast this trip too though!)
Earle (great inexpensive for CS!)
Via Napoli (LOVE that pizza!)

I also love the selection at Sunshine Seasons for CS at Epcot. We do enjoy Le Cellier of course too and I also really like Chefs De France. I love getting a ham/cheese croissant and chocolate mousse at the bakery in france CS too. I used to love the nachos at the CS in mexico too, but I know the menu has changed and it's been a few years since I had that.

We used to love LTT at MK when it was a character meal, but we haven't been back since they took away the characters. Of course we also love the old standby Cosmic Ray's at MK. I am excited to see if the new Pirata y Perico (they named it something new though now) by Pirates is open when we go for some CS mexican!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ok, I'm back on board, let's plan this trip!

I swear my house has it out to get me though. I was poised with a chunk of money, ready to go into the Disney fund, and my washer broke. Apparently everything has decided to kind of break around me, but I think that if I am careful with savings, we can do this.

I made up a new savings chart, this one is weekly. It has the amount I need to save weekly (kind of a scary amount!) BUT, I make big chunks of money many times, so I can add more than my weekly amount sometimes to help cover weeks where I might not have that much to save. It's a mickey-head-chart, of course, but I didn't take a picture. Sorry, I'm lazy!

Hoping that they have Homeschool Days at the end of January like they have the past few years, if we can't get the discounted tickets, we might end up at the beach or something...cause I'm going SOMEWHERE, even if I can't go to WDW.

As for meals, I'm on the fence right now. I'm thinking of not doing Tusker House lunch because we've already been there and I want to go to different places. That means we would do picnic in the park (one of the only things that offers some vegetarian options at AK...which is bizarre to me, but a whole other rant. LOL) and then that night going to Sanaa for dinner!

I also think we'll do Via Napoli one of our Epcot nights and then the other just eat-around-the-world and wing it. I know, right? ME? WINGING IT?!?!?! It's shocking.

So these are the places (TS & CS) that I have so far for the trip:
Rainforest Cafe (we have gift cards, so this meal will be FREE! WOOT!)
Crystal Palace breakfast
Columbia Harbor House
Sunshine Seasons
Via Napoli
Picnic in the park
Sanaa
Sunset Blvd CS (there's a couple places we will have to go at DHS to accommodate us all for lunch that day)
House of Blues
Kouzinna breakfast
eat-around-WS
Ohana breakfast
Contempo Cafe (maybe?)

Looks like a LOT of breakfasts to me, which are cheaper, but they don't really fill me up, so I'm not sure if it will be such a good thing to have so many?

Ok, that's my ramble for this morning, I need to head out to petsit and make some money for that savings!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

There's my Disney buddy!!!!! I'm proud of your determination!!!!

 

[MARsMama]

I know what you mean about something breaking when you are trying to save money, our washer went on us too
We are trying a lot of different restaurants this time around, but are sticking with a few of our favorites. I think they've already been mentioned though....BOMA breakfast, Tusker House lunch, and Crystal Palace breakfast. We use the DDP, so I'm not sure of the value.

 

[msmith1026]

When we booked our trip, I took part of my allowance each time I got paid and stuck it in an envelope. I just counted it the other day and am SHOCKED by how much i have tucked away--and by how much I might have when we go. I actually gave the envelop to my mom the other day b/c I don't want to be tempted to dip into it.

We are also eating at Crystal Palace, and the Rainforest Cafe. I saw on the Rainforest Cafe website that they have 99c kids meals with the purchase of an adult meal, i've already printed out the coupon sheet and tucked it in my folder.

 

[exwdwcm]

Hi Karen- love the new plans and like you, i want to try and eat at new places too- but it is so hard in giving up the old favorites! the savings plan sounds good and i know you will get there!

 

[DrMomof3]

Karen,
You are such an amazing and strong woman! I'm so proud of you!!!

We don't do a lot of TS for breakfast, mostly because my family doesn't eat pork (except me!) and I always feel like it's a bit of a waste of $$$ since the meat is what is expensive.

Many of my favorite TS meals are at the resorts, and we usually save those for dinner. For lunch TS I like Via Napoli at Epcot (and Biergarten is a fav for my family). We like Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch - it's not outrageously expensive and you can get sandwiches or salads or burgers which are all good. I've read bad things about dinner there but we eat there often and like it. At DHS my kids like Hollywood and Vine for lunch. I'd be happy to try someplace new but I can't convince my kids. And we usually eat at Rainforest at AK. I read all the bad reviews but it works for us. I usually get a huge salad and the kids menu is huge.

We tried 1900 PF and didn't love it. The step-sisters were fun and Prince Charming was great with the kids but I didn't think the food was anything special. We liked Akhershus much better. Then again, we had a mediocre experience at Crystal Palace for lunch and everyone else raves about it so what do we know???

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Thanks everyone for the support and comments! I'm on track with my savings AND Rey and I have decided to take a short weekend ALL.TO.OURSELVES during the dates in October that we would have been going to WDW! We have not gotten a trip anywhere alone since...well, ever! We didn't even have a honeymoon, just stayed at a hotel for 1 night. So I'm SUPER excited! We're headed to STL, which is the nearest city to us and we're just going to stay in a hotel for 3 nights and eat/shop on the Loop & Central West End.

I guess I need to get on the ball with choosing my ADRs! I have to start making them on the 31st!

Amanda, we really LOVED Biergarten and would go again if we weren't trying to find new/different places to eat this time! Rey wants to eat at Chefs of France and also Via Napoli, so I'll be making ADRs for those. I think we will try picnic in the park at AK, but I'm unsure if they will be doing that in Jan, so I may make an ADR for Tusker House lunch just in case. If we can afford it, I think we are going to try Sanaa as well!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

So get THIS! I went to double check what day is 180 for us and I had it wrong! I was one day off b/c I had calculated from the day we left the house to drive down there and not the day we arrived at WDW! Check it out...our 180 mark is on my son Dallas' bday. AND, our 100 days, when I have planned to pull out our chain that never got finished, is on Savannah's bday!

Isn't that CRAZY?!?!? It's meant to be, right?!?

 

[-Hope-]

So get THIS! I went to double check what day is 180 for us and I had it wrong! I was one day off b/c I had calculated from the day we left the house to drive down there and not the day we arrived at WDW! Check it out...our 180 mark is on my son Dallas' bday. AND, our 100 days, when I have planned to pull out our chain that never got finished, is on Savannah's bday!

Isn't that CRAZY?!?!? It's meant to be, right?!?

That's such a cool and fun coincidence.

Plus, I'm super excited for your October trip with Rey!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hello DIS friends! (or just myself b/c no one really reads this anymore!) It's ok, I talk to myself a lot, so it's nothing new!

I haven't had much to update because we're just enjoying a busy summer and other than trying to save, I haven't had much to plan! Dallas, my middle ds, turned 16 yesterday, so we've had a weekend of family fun. Rey has to leave back out tomorrow. Here's Dallas, he actually let me take a picture of him, which is shocking!

In any case, as you read previously, his birthday was our 180 days for the Jan/Feb 2012 trip, so I got to start making ADRs yesterday! I actually forgot, but I'm an early riser, so when I finally logged in to get our ADR, it was just 6:30 anyway. I got RFC for dinner, our first night. It's a Saturday night and I NEVER can get Friday or Saturday night ADRs for RFC usually, so the fact that I got the time I wanted seems like a good sign for crowds!

This morning I forgot yet again and logged in at 6am-ish and got our Crystal Palace breakfast ADR for 8:05am on Sunday, our first park day! Also got the time I wanted, so it seems that I've picked good dates!

As you see, I'm not really as on-the-ball with making my ADRs and I think that's b/c I'm still pretty cautious about getting excited because I'm worried this will be yet another postponed trip. So, this time I've decided to just go with the flow. The kids know that we may or may not go at the end of Jan. and I'm just leaving it at that. No counting down or talking about WHEN we go, like it's a definite. I KNOW we will get there, I'm saving money now and know it's possible, it's just not certain if I'll have enough by the end of Jan 2012, but I KNOW that in 2012 we will eventually have enough to go. If I have to wait until fall or 2012 then so be it, but for now I'm planning on the end of Jan!

Tomorrow I'm making a lunch ADR at Epcot, where do you think it will be???

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Of course we are still reading! I actually got caught up on a few PTRs yesterday at work but by the time I got home, my darling son was on the computer and not willing to give it up So now I'm at work again on my computer AKA my phone We need a new computer desperately because ours only holds a charge a few hours at a time, so I understand what you mean about everything in your house breaking around you and needing to pull from the Disney fund to replace it. I really hope that you all make it to Disney in January, but it is good to hear that it will be sometime next year Also, it's pretty cool that you and Rey are going to STL for a weekend getaway! That will be a nice anniversary trip!

It sounds like you've lucked out with your ADRs so far January is a wonderful time for light crowds. RFC should be fun and you know how I feel about CP before park opening! So my guess for your EPCOT ADR tomorrow is Via Napoli. I've never been, but it looks fantastic!