Sarilas' O-fficial Pre-Trip Report (a.k.a. Vacation, Take TWO!) - Jan. 30-Feb. 8, '09

[Sarilas]

You know, I don't know if I've ever come out of lurkdom on here or if this is the first time, but after seeing all that food.... and candy... and the Wishes pumpkin.....

I just have to say....

WOW!!!

Well HI! And

It's been so much fun keeping the anticipation up leading to January the next few months should be JUST as interesting!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Lara, that is such an amazing party idea!! I wish I lived closer!

 

[Sarilas]

Lara, that is such an amazing party idea!! I wish I lived closer!

Me too, LL! We could hold DIS meets every weekend!

 

[MegansMom]

LOVE THE PUMPKIN!!!!!

LOVE THE FOOD!!!!!

LOVE THE BIRTHDAY PARTY STUFF!!!!!

I bow to your SuperCoolAMAZINGMomness!!!! I am not worthy!!!!

Where do you find all the great Disney recipes btw? I have some that they have given me from various restaurants---but is there an online recipe index???

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I am not worthy!!!!

Party Time!
Excellent!

Sorry.
I was really feelin' the Wayne's World vibe in here.

 

[Sarilas]

Party Time!
Excellent!

Sorry.
I was really feelin' the Wayne's World vibe in here.

I do heart Wayne's World. That pretty much surmises my teenagedom.

LOVE THE PUMPKIN!!!!!

LOVE THE FOOD!!!!!

LOVE THE BIRTHDAY PARTY STUFF!!!!!

I bow to your SuperCoolAMAZINGMomness!!!! I am not worthy!!!!

Where do you find all the great Disney recipes btw? I have some that they have given me from various restaurants---but is there an online recipe index???

I got the recipes from various places around the 'net and imported them into MasterCook, but here are a couple of the best sites for Disney Recipes around! (some of them need to be cross referenced though, as items are obviously missing or are from an older recipe version, etc.)

Allears.net Recipes

Intercot.com Recipes

DisneyRecipes.com

All great for putting together the dinner and a movie night menus!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I got the recipes from various places around the 'net

Honey. If you EVER come across the recipe for the 'quattro formaggi potatoes' from Citricos...I'll...I...I have no idea what I'll do for you but it will be superfantastical!

 

[Sarilas]

Honey. If you EVER come across the recipe for the 'quattro formaggi potatoes' from Citricos...I'll...I...I have no idea what I'll do for you but it will be superfantastical!

I don't even know what those are but the name alone sounds superfantastical!

 

[MegansMom]

I want to find the recipe for the risotto served at Turf Club---it comes as a side with a main entree---I will have to look up which one----one word, DELISH!!!!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

I don't even know what those are but the name alone sounds superfantastical!

Quattro formaggi = 4 cheese potatoes. I've had some before but never like these.

 

[Sarilas]

I want to find the recipe for the risotto served at Turf Club---it comes as a side with a main entree---I will have to look up which one----one word, DELISH!!!!

I love a good risotto... had some for dinner last night actually!

Quattro formaggi = 4 cheese potatoes. I've had some before but never like these.

YUM.

 

[Sarilas]

Current ADR's... and some dilemmas!

So I mentioned that we'd made some major changes to our ADR list.... and I WASN'T KIDDING!

We've decided (whether this sticks or not, who knows) to stay with the regular DDP, for a few reasons. The first is that there are some counter service places I really want to try, and the second is that the tips alone are going to be a pretty penny. We're a party of 6 with the automatic 18% gratuity (no matter what level of service we get), and with 5 meals, drinks, etc. being ordered, even though it's paid for by the DDP, the gratuity on all those things could be the equivalent of a QS meal somewhere else. I'm a cheapskate and that'll drive me NUTS to do this more than a few times during the week!

So yeah, we'll let the kids explore and find QS places they want to try as well. (Let's face it, they'll fill up on every junk food under the sun most of the afternoon anyway.)

Also, I present to you... Our new itinerary!

I decided to sign up for Tour Guide Mike after hearing such good things about line avoidance, etc... and I'm ALL ABOUT avoiding the hordes.

And naturally my original itinerary (based on EMH's and the DinseyWorld.com site) had us hitting all the worst parks each day! So some frantic time was spent reorganizing our schedule, and we decided that we really don't need Park Hoppers. We're going to be leaving each park mid-day anyway for naps, etc., so it's natural we'd want to pick up where we left off in that park later in the afternoon, not run to another park we haven't been to yet. Conquer one park at a time! That's when I reorganized our ADR schedule and we decided to stick with the DDP as well!

I made an overview list for park hours/dining for each day we're there, which I'll send to my cellphone for a portable reference! I'm also working on a daily version of this with our ADR numbers, times guide, etc. for each day...

Now, here's where some audience participation would be appreciated...

Boma. I hear great things and I'm sure 99% of our crew would love it, but my poor husband seriously cannot eat spicy food. Or potatoes. It's a digestive thing but he can't do it. So much of what I read/see seems to be curry/spiced/potato at Boma that I'm thinking I need to find an alternate dinner choice for that night! And we'll be in Epcot that day... there are so many choices at World Showcase... if you could pick your ONE table service meal of choice, where would it be?!

Cali Grill. LOVE this place, want to try it... BUT... the plan has been to get a sitter from one of Disney's recommended places for Stasia and Lexi, then take Kyle and Tatiana for dinner here. As we get closer to January though I'm just crazy hesitant about someone I don't know being in my hotel room, babysitting my PRECIOUS BABIES. It's driving me batty and I'm considering...

Cancelling.

It's our first trip to WDW and letting a stranger watch my girls in an unfamiliar location is so far outside my comfort zone it's not even funny.

We'll be at MK the day of our Cali Grill dinner. IF I did the unthinkable and cancelled that, in favor of someplace I would take the whole clan, where would YOU suggest (that's not already on our list)? I love hearing your opinions, especially since all (most?) of you have actually BEEN to these place before! I value what you have to say!

I thought about doing dinner on our Epcot night in the Japan pavillion, to make up for loss of sushi my DH and son would miss out on... but I'm still out an MK or close resort dining option...

Hey, two ADR's to stress over is much better than the 27 or so I've had up until now!

 

[MRYPPNS]

OK here's my suggestions:

Cali Grill......I wouldn't be able to enjoy my dinner with the 2 little ones with a babysitting in my room. I would however bring them to one of the kids clubs in on of the deluxe resorts....do you know what I'm talking about? I've never used myself but I read reports of kids not wanting to leave it was so much fun. That being said....I would cancel the ADR for Cali....use the credits for CRT and get counter service for dinner that night in MK....but if you really want a TS for that night I would suggest either 'Ohana's or Kona Cafe and the Poly.

Boma......JMO but I think getting from Epcot to AKL for Boma would be a hassle. When we went to Boma for dinner we went straight from AK to AKL...so it was a quick trip there. I would suggest replacing Boma with Teppan Edo in Epcot. I personally like it and I think it would be fun for your kids.

 

[trixiequilts]

I would suggest replacing Boma with Teppan Edo in Epcot. I personally like it and I think it would be fun for your kids.

Heidi-from the menu the food sounds really bland at Teppan Edo. Is it better than it sounds?

 

[Charleston Princess]

My vote would be for Teppan Edo -- it was so much fun for us on our last night at Disney.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Heidi-from the menu the food sounds really bland at Teppan Edo. Is it better than it sounds?

It's more about sitting at the grill and watching the chef. I'm sure the food is taster at Toyko Dinning but it wouldn't be as fun.

 

[MegansMom]

Boma--I didn't personally find the food at Boma spicy at all. VERY GOOD, but don't remember it being spicy. AND there is plenty that they make without potatoes.

HAVING SAID THAT, I do somewhat agree with Heidi that it just might be a long trek over there---we also did it from AKL. I don't know, others might say the transport won't be bad. I do remember Jackie saying how much she enjoyed Teppan Edo---haven't done that, but it might be good and then you wouldn't have to journey.

I would also give up Cali Grill---I don't know if I would be comfortable leaving my baby either. I highly recommend both Kona and Ohanas at Poly, and also the Grand Floridian Cafe is REALLY good at GF as well!!!

 

[TarzansKat]

I would give up Cali Grill as well. Much as it pains me to say that, since I do love the food there!

However, the mom in me knows I would be stressing too, and you probably just won't enjoy yourself, you know?

I would tend to go with some of the other posters, and perhaps try Kona or Ohana's instead of CG or Boma, if you're nixing that, too. Looking at your schedule, you're eating at every monorail resort but the Polynesian, so why not get to see that, too?

 

[Lady Lallie]

Calm your worries. LL is here with your solution!

Just fly me down and I will watch the two little ones. Hehehe.

What about Coral Reef instead of Boma? I have a feeling your little ones would get a kick out of the aquarium.

 

[Sarilas]

OK here's my suggestions:

Cali Grill......I wouldn't be able to enjoy my dinner with the 2 little ones with a babysitting in my room.

Boma......JMO but I think getting from Epcot to AKL for Boma would be a hassle.

I think you just pretty much summed everything up in those two statements.

My vote would be for Teppan Edo -- it was so much fun for us on our last night at Disney.

It's more about sitting at the grill and watching the chef. I'm sure the food is taster at Toyko Dinning but it wouldn't be as fun.

HAVING SAID THAT, I do somewhat agree with Heidi that it just might be a long trek over there---we also did it from AKL. I don't know, others might say the transport won't be bad. I do remember Jackie saying how much she enjoyed Teppan Edo---haven't done that, but it might be good and then you wouldn't have to journey.

I would also give up Cali Grill---I don't know if I would be comfortable leaving my baby either. I highly recommend both Kona and Ohanas at Poly, and also the Grand Floridian Cafe is REALLY good at GF as well!!!

With four kids (including two in strollers) to schlepp around, getting from point A to point B is definitely something on my radar!

Kona or 'Ohana might be really fun on our MK night... Hhhmmm..

I would give up Cali Grill as well. Much as it pains me to say that, since I do love the food there!

However, the mom in me knows I would be stressing too, and you probably just won't enjoy yourself, you know?

I would tend to go with some of the other posters, and perhaps try Kona or Ohana's instead of CG or Boma, if you're nixing that, too. Looking at your schedule, you're eating at every monorail resort but the Polynesian, so why not get to see that, too?

I really DO want to see the Poly... actually I want to be SLEEPING in the poly, but...

Calm your worries. LL is here with your solution!

Just fly me down and I will watch the two little ones. Hehehe.

DONE!

Heidi-from the menu the food sounds really bland at Teppan Edo. Is it better than it sounds?

Alright this is a LOT of food for thought! I'm definitely going to cancel Boma, but I don't know what to replace it with yet. We have a restaurant like Coral Reef here in Nashville so it's not THAT unusual of a thing for them to experience- we're definitely more interested in the World Showcase aspect of things. I just don't know which TS place there is the one we want to sit down for, as opposed to just tasting via counter service, snacks, etc. My family is pretty into Japanese food, but Kyle and DH both love sushi where as Tatiana, Stasia and I are more into the hibachi style... We go out to eat fairly often at a place here locally with a teppanyaki grill, so again that's something we could almost do anytime... I'll have to do some restaurant research. Ugh.