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

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm drooling over your food pics and restaurant choices. I think I'm going to have to try to save up for at least on TS meal OOP.

Keep in mind when looking for food for Savannah that most places are very accomodating about letting kids who are Disney adults order a main course from the kids menu while still getting a dessert and drink from the regular menu.

Oh, you'll come up with a way to do at LEAST one TS, I'm sure of it!

Oh, that's good to know b/c I think she'll want mac-n-cheese many times, but doesn't want kid drinks & icky cookies or whatever instead of a "real" dessert. It would be great, since she's old enough, if she actually ate from the adult menu, but I doubt she will most of the time.

 

[-Hope-]

Kya ate lots of things from the kids menu because she either didn't like the adult options or the portions were too big. No one ever gave us a problem about her getting the adult dessert and drink with it and some places even had standard meal options that they always gave to kids on the adult DP (like at SS she got two chicken legs instead of the one for kids or 1/2 chicken adults which obviously doesn't apply to Savannah but you get the idea).

 

[Tea4Alice]

Welcome!!! I'm glad you decided to join in the madness! That's great to hear, were you in the mansions or AB? Was the trundle really tiny? I've seen pictures and it looks small, but I don't think my daughter will care, it's Disney after all!

We were in the mansions, with 3 adults and a 2yr old (she slept in a play yard). I felt the beds were kinda small, but I heard they are getting queens size beds it will be more roomy. I read on one of the threads here that a child had to be kinda small to be sleep comfortable.

 

[-Hope-]

I'm looking over menus and saw that Sci-fi has gluten free beer. You definately need to tell Mike about that!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Wow, I didn't even know gluten free beer was possible! I wonder if they have it elsewhere (I'm doubting they will want to pay those TS prices, but maybe)

I'm in worry mode this morning, I'm thinking they may not offer FD to the public this year after reading someone saying they were surveyed last year about whether Disney should only offer FD ahead of time for the whole year (instead of how they have done it in the past) and that's what it looks like they are doing! I'm unsure that they will release it to the public again for this year.

I've run the numbers and with my 34% pin we can stay onsite still with homeschool tickets and it will only be about 200$ MORE, but will omit half of our TS meals. $200 more for less TS meals? Doesn't sound so great to me.

 

[carissanboys]

TS:
Rainforest Cafe *Not a fan of the food here. Very overpriced IMO.
Boma (Savannah & I went here on our first trip and loved it, the guys haven't ever been) *Love Boma for breakfast!
Park Fare (not for the food, but the characters!...and chef TJ is there now so I will hopefully get a vegan meal!)
Tusker House *I've done the breakfast, which has delicious food.
Crystal Palace (for dinner, we've only done breakfast there)
Kouzinna (breakfast)
Raglan Road *Love the food here! We've eaten there twice.
Biergarten

CS:
POR food court? *They have a great make your own pasta place. You pick the type of pasta you want, the sauce, and the toppings. It's really good. My husband and I ate there about 3 times on our trip I think.
Earl of Sandwich *Yummy!
Wolfgang puck express *Double yummy!
Sunshine seasons *Very good food choices.
Sunset Blvd CS (we'll have different needs so will get stuff at different places at DHS)
Marrakesh (for me at least) and Food & Wine
Sassagoula Floatworks (POFQ)
Columbia Harbor House *Good food. One of the only CS at MK that I really like. Not sure what they have for vegan/vegetarian dishes though.

 

[-Hope-]

I've been reading a lot about those surveys and everyone is saying not to take them too seriously. They're testing the waters but I don't think big changes will be made just yet. Disney has made an amazing recovery in this economy and it has a lot to do with the special offers they've extended to the public- they'd be crazy to stop that now. FD will come, at least for September, I'm 90% sure of it.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh I know most of the stuff they are asking right NOW is just testing the waters, what I'm concerned about is that last year someone took one and it asked if they should just offer FD once for the following year and not any other time and then they offered for 2011 at the end of 2010, so I'm just nervous that this is what they are doing!

I will be sure to mention when I book that I will be canceling and staying offsite if they don't offer FD!

 

[-Hope-]

But the survey thread I read had people saying that they'd been asking some questions for years with nothing changing as a result. So don't panic just yet!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm looking offsite again. Sigh...

this thread has me thinking it might be best...

 

[-Hope-]

I still wouldn't give up hope. When I was waiting (and waiting) for them to release FD last year lots of CMs were reporting that it wouldn't be released. They generally don't know more than the general public unless they're pretty high up. I woud be looking at places and have something in mind but don't count out FD yet!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Oh Karen, you sound so down today. I wish I would have booked 2 rooms and just given you one of them. Listen to Hope and don't lose the faith.....The last time Victoria and I went by ourselves we stayed at a Best Western with free buses to WDW. I think it will all work out ok no matter where you stay....you'll have a great time. Victoria has even asked to go back to BW, but I think Peter would be disappointed.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Thanks ladies!

I was feeling pretty down this morning, wondering how we were going to pull this trip off, I mean, we don't even have a vehicle to GET there right now...

but I went and ran and boy did I run! I ran a whole 5K (3.1 miles) and I feel SO much better!!! If I can run that far, then I can do anything!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Yay!! Karen feels better! Those endorphins kick right in after exercise, don't they?

I just can't wait until my laptop gets fixed up with the internet again....these last few days have been torture!! Oh, my desktop at home has internet, but I hate sitting at the desktop in the back room. I like being in the living room with the laptop. I'm here at work today, but can only go online during breaks and yesterday I was home sick with monkey girl.

 

[Tea4Alice]

So the shoes are working out great!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Thanks Ann!

So the shoes are working out great!

YES! They sure are!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ok, I've decided I need a pros/cons list or something, so I decided I'll just do it on the fly right here and now! Shew! Look at me being all spontaneous!

Here's the situmacation...onsite or offsite:

ONSITE PROS:
-FREE DINING (lets just assume this is going to happen. If it doesn't, it will make the offsite choice for me, I think!) No worries about running out of money for food, everything is already covered, lots of TS meals, that the guys like...sounds wonderful!
-BOAT TO DTD. Yep, it's top on my list and one of the reasons I want to stay at POR. Is it worth being a pro for choosing onsite? Not sure?
-RESORT FEEL. Refillable mugs, no cleaning dishes or making beds (although I won't do this offsite either! LOL) walking the pretty pathways to go to the foodcourt, swimming and going in the hot tub (although these are things we get offsite as well, privately)
-BUS FOR KIDS. The boys can come back to the room easily if they get tired of touring and we don't have to stop what we are doing to drive them back. This could be solved offsite if Dylan would get his freaking license, but I'm not holding my breath, he seems totally uninterested. (he'll be 17 in July!)
-PAY PAYMENTS. Ok, I admit it, I suck at saving and it would be easier to pay Disney rather than save up for homeschool tickets, save up for the house, save up for food, etc.

ONSITE CONS:
-SPACE. Cramming the 5 of us, two being teenage boys, into a room with one bathroom does not sound like fun. We probably won't be in the room much, but this also means no privacy the whole week for Rey and I either.
-DINING. Even though I *think* that DDP will be more relaxing, I think I may gain a ton of weight. It's more difficult for me to eat onsite and the thought of not being able to make my own salads at least once a day, sounds not so fun to me. I can buy a salad, but I put tahini, lemon juice, and a bunch of other stuff on my salads that I can't find onsite.
-NOT AS RELAXING. Sure, I'll relax out by the pool, I'll HAVE to when I wake up at 5am and everyone else is sleeping. This is what I did our first time onsite, I would creep out of the room and sit by the pool and write in my journal. Rey, however, may not spend much time at the pool relaxing. He hates public pools and I'm not sure he'll come to the pool at all???
-COST. Even with free dining, I can still save money staying offsite. We will have a few less TS meals and have to pay for parking, but still saving about 100-200$

OFFSITE PROS:
-SPACE! more space, separate bedrooms, kitchen, pool, game room.
MANY bathrooms. Need I say more?
-LAUNDRY. This comes in handy!
-RELAXING. Sitting by the pool, enjoying a drink (that didn't cost 10$!!!) is so nice.
-PRIVATE. This just seems more *vacation-y* to me. Private pool AND hot tub at the places I'm looking at, lovely view on the lanai...

OFFSITE CONS:
-IT'S OFFSITE. LOL
-DRIVING. Driving to the parks is actually just as fast, but as I said above, if I have to leave a park mid-day every day to take Dylan back to the house, then this causes a problem and wastes way to much time for my taste.
-FOOD/LESS TS. This is my biggest concern. I don't want to have to worry about the budget. We are on one, a tight one, and I'm concerned that I'll worry the whole time if we have enough money to last the trip and cover the TS meals, etc. We'll have to cut 3 of our TS meals, I think, but we'll still keep the favorites and they fit in the budget pretty well and still we come out ahead. BUT, Rey has a way of just throwing caution to the wind and I can't predict if he'll go hogwild and spend too much money on snacks or whatever and then I'm worried we'll run out!!!


Ok, so that's my list, I think. I am going to hit submit and look over it and see if my solution stands out to me or not. At this point I'm totally torn! Oh and EMH really has no bearing on us, I avoid EMH mornings and we only had one evening we were considering EMH PM hours....

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ok, THAT did not help at all.

 

[-Hope-]

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Gee, you are helpful! Tell me what to do!!!! (you should cherish that, how often do you hear me utter those words???)