Sharing the Disney Magic with Family & Friends-DL Diamond Anniversary-DCA F&W Fest Kiosks & The End!

[franandaj]

Oh my gosh! I can't believe I forgot these in the post on the previous page! I've edited the post to include these two items now, but for those of you who already read and posted, I put them here so you won't miss them!

For side dishes I have Potato Salad



But the thing that I am probably most looking forward to is the Macaroni & Cheese! If you haven't had Costco's Mac and Cheese, give it a try, it's so tasty and creamy!

 

[KathyM2]

That mac and cheese looks delish!!! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[ACDSNY]

Love the sketches for the cake and the dinner sounds great. Leave it to CA to be the starting point for tri-tips and of course Costco is a girls best friend for parties.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ooh! Mac and Cheese. Love it!

 

[DnA2010]

So much to comment on but so glad things have turned around a bit. I'm really glad Fran didn't need ankle surgery, I'm in the boot, 7 weeks post op from my second, just starting a little bit of weight bearing, it's tough for sure. Tough as its my right, so no driving for me it's hard to accept help and support sometimes when all you want is your independace, I sure know that.

Love all the party details, you guys are going to have a blast, and yay for a December trip!

 

[franandaj]

I think you need a big hug, Alison!! Seems like life really is giving you a hard time at the moment (again...)!

Yeah, it seems to do that periodically. Thanks!

So sorry that you are not getting anywhere with the December trip at the moment. I have to say that I really liked our stay at SSR this December. But I can also see why it could be a bit more inconvenient for people relying on scooters to get around.

I'm hoping that Sunday I will have all day to explore and book things. Fran seems to like to have me work with Darcy and get things done, but since it's a holiday, it will just be the two of us and while she is sleeping perhaps I can book a trip!

I am so happy to hear that David's was able to rent out the bulk of your points!! At least you won't suffer from that aspect.

Yes, I was thrilled to get their email that someone wanted to use points in early May, that was perfect! And because they used up enough, I was willing to let the rest go to a good cause, just so that they were used up!

I was really happy to get that email. I put aside my plans just to make sure I could do the reservation. Not that I had big plans, I was going to pick up stuff at the pharmacy and get my cleaning lady. Instead I was just late to get the cleaning lady and got the prescriptions while she cleaned.

Oh, the food sounds delicious!! I read about the tri tip on your previous trip report and thought that it sounded really delicious! I am at the moment reading my new guide book for California and already came across a couple of restaurants where it says in the description that they were offering tri tip. I think I would really like it. I am not a fan of prime rib as it has too much fat for my liking, but this looks like a leaner cut of meat!

With the TriTip the fat is all on the top of the meat (or the bottom depending on how you look at it). The fat cooks out during the cooking process and usually seasons the meat, so that what you get on your plate is usually a very lean piece of meat. It is also very flavorful

And that cake tasting!! They all looked delicious! But I think I would have gone with lemon if it was halfway decent. Citrus desserts are just the best in my opinion!!

I'll give you all a hint, the lemon cake was my second choice!

Good to hear surgery is not needed.

Yeah, we were really happy to hear that.

Bell bottoms might be fun. LOL.

You’re welcome for the reminder.

I just don't like bell bottoms, I guess bad 70s memories, and yes I thank you for the reminder!

Nice view from the villa.

The plans sound fantastic. I think we will try Steakhousee 55 when we go.

You should request Chefs Table if you are there on a Th, Fri or Sat.

The guest list looks like a fun bunch of people to share a weekend with. Cannot wait to read all about it.

Glad you rented all the points.

They will be a lot of fun and yes, I am SO glad we rented the points!

Good to hear she was good going to practice.

The food sounds so good. The cake flavors also and I would have chosen mudslide. Cute cake design.

She had fun at band practice and another spoiler, we didn't pick mudslide, it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be.

So is Mickey going to be a sculpted cake, or like a modeling chocolate figure on top of another cake?

figures the post about the cake made you come out of lurkdom! It will be a sculpted cake. Mickey will have a dowel inside him and they will give us a "manual" about cutting. I'm curious how they will make the sax work, but they came up with this....

Oh my goodness, the cake tasting sounds amazing!!!! Right now I'd go with strawberry but I really like all types of cakes. Except mint.

And again, we thought strawberry might be a little strange even though we liked it. There are only a few flavors left now!

Hooray for David's!!!!!!

Yes, Hooray for David's! If I can't have vacation, at least I can have money!

I was so thrilled to get that email!

That's wonderful Fran was able to get out and enjoy band

I think she really had a good time. And it gave her something to feel she accomplished.

I hope you can book your December trip soon. I was surprised how much I liked SSR and being right next to DTD. I mean really liked it! January was my second time and I appreciated it much more than the first.

We really liked our first trip at SSR, I'm just not sure what we want to do for this trip other than see the holiday decorations. Maybe SSR will be perfect, and we'll just stay there. I have some ideas for this trip and I just need time at the computer to work it out. I think Sunday will be the day. We don't have family or friends, and don't attend church so Easter will be the perfect time to do stuff, once we give Fran a shower.

That Friday I'll be driving seven hours to the wedding. I will be thinking of you guys!

Yikes, I'm not sure how far that gets you on the East Coast. Here it would get you way past my parents house! Almost to the Northernmost part of California!

Enjoy hearing all the good news....

...and now I hope I someday get invited to a tri-tip BBQ at a DVC resort!

Hey if our trips ever coincide, I will gladly invite your family to a Tri_tip BBQ! I love sharing the joy! I'm just not sure how often I'm going to bring a Tri Tip. That depends on good weather, and grilling. Prime Ribs are much easier to cook since they are indoor meats. But I ill accept the challenge! Hopefully I have a long life and my contracts go for a while, so I have a long time to try and grill Tri Tip at all the resorts!

 

[Pinkocto]

I didn't know Costco had that delicious looking mac/cheese!!!

Hopefully you can book something on Sunday

7 hours will take me up into New York, in the Adirondacks. The venue is on a lake, it should be a fun wedding. I'm just sad it coincided with your party. You guys are going to have a blast!

 

[Flossbolna]

You know, I just thought that if you want to explore the Christmas decorations at the resorts, SSR might be the perfect place for you! You could just scooter (is that a word? would drive be correct here?) to the DTD bus stop and get a direct bus to a resort. I will have some beautiful fall/winter pictures of SSR coming up in my trip report. Michael commented on how much ch he liked the landscaping there as it was showing seasons. Being from Florida he loves seasonal changes in nature as he does not get them that much. For you Southern Californians that could be similar I would think.

 

[franandaj]

I didn't know Costco had that delicious looking mac/cheese!!!

It is sooooooo good! I'm sure it's full of calories! I hope I hit my 1st goal weight before the party so that I won't feel bad about going overboard for the weekend!

Hopefully you can book something on Sunday

I have the cruise picked out. I should just book that and do the rest when I can.

7 hours will take me up into New York, in the Adirondacks. The venue is on a lake, it should be a fun wedding. I'm just sad it coincided with your party. You guys are going to have a blast!

Hmmmm, that doesn't seem like very far on a map, but it sounds lovely. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

You know, I just thought that if you want to explore the Christmas decorations at the resorts, SSR might be the perfect place for you! You could just scooter (is that a word? would drive be correct here?) to the DTD bus stop and get a direct bus to a resort.

That is a good point, it would make it easy to visit whichever resort we wanted to get to. We would use the verb "scoot".

I will have some beautiful fall/winter pictures of SSR coming up in my trip report. Michael commented on how much ch he liked the landscaping there as it was showing seasons. Being from Florida he loves seasonal changes in nature as he does not get them that much. For you Southern Californians that could be similar I would think.

Looking forward to seeing these. I used to joke that our seasons were Heat, Wind and Flood when I lived in the San Fernando Valley. But with the drought we don't even get flood. In Long Beach we don't get wind either.

 

[eandesmom]

The main star of the evening will be the grilled Tri Trip. A couple years back I found out a very interesting fact about this cut of meat. Most people on the East Coast and some in the Midwest have never heard to this cut of meat, so I did a little research. It turns out that this is a California Specialty, specifically from Santa Maria, a somewhat rural area North of Santa Barbara known previously for ranching.

It seems that up until the 1950s this part of the cow was ground up for hamburger just like some of the other less desirable parts. But a special style of meat became popular called the “Santa Maria steak”. It was given a dry rub and grilled over oak, in a rotissierie, or cooked in a smoker. Here in California we often have this cut for Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day Barbeques. I hadn’t realized until we were planning our Gamers DISmeet in WDW that it was a regional favorite, as when I told folks what I was bringing to the potluck, they were like

I LOVE Tri Tip! Despite being a west coaster, I had never heard of it until I went to a friends wedding. He was from Santa Maria and she from Visalia, tri tip was all they could talk about, it was basically a requirement that it was the star of the dinner. It is a bit similar to flank I think (and nearby each other on the cow). Both are semi difficult to cook in the sense that if not done right, and cut right, they can be easily overcooked or horribly tough. But done right...YUM!!!!!

All of the salads look good. I may fall under that healthy remark but sorry, put out tri tip, mac and cheese and potato salad and the poor quinoa is likely to get ignored. LOL!

The one thing that I plan to prepare from scratch for this will be the famous Strawberry soup ala 1900 Park Fare. I’ve made this before and it will be very easy to make the day before when I’m at home. I’m going to make a triple recipe of this. It should be really good!

I am very much looking forward to this!

But the thing that I am probably most looking forward to is the Macaroni & Cheese! If you haven't had Costco's Mac and Cheese, give it a try, it's so tasty and creamy!

YUM!

Dulce de Leche
Lemon
Chocolate Raspberry
Mudslide
Strawberry Shortcake
Yellow

Ok we know musdlide is out, and lemon was second....I am going with Strawberry Shortcake. It just seems so californa and really suits the menu.

LOVE the designs!!!

Bell services may bring it all up but you'll have an army with you to help unload

 

[kid-at-heart]

I'm not sure who you have renamed Beth.

Opps, Margaret, not Beth.

I am not a deadhead but I have seen about thirty shows, only because I dated a deadhead for six years and a lot of our "dates" involved following the dead...

I will message you via Facebook when we are closer to our trip. The conference is not until late April 2016 so I have plenty of time for planning.

 

[dgbg100106]

Alison, that is great news about the points and about Fran being able to go to Band!

I think I told you before that Duff made my wedding cake and grooms cake. I got a different flavor for each layer! Hint Hint.

Everything you have planned so far looks and sounds amazing.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Great news that Fran was able to score a bit of independance and drive to band. I agree it is a thin line between getting a bit of happy and setting yourself back! Well done for renting out points

Your menu looks great! Costco is wonderful I agree. They do a brilliant lasagne here too like the mac n cheese. That always pleases the crowd. Oh my goodness I love the cake ideas. How lovely ace of cakes place opened up just in time

 

[franandaj]

I LOVE Tri Tip! Despite being a west coaster, I had never heard of it until I went to a friends wedding. He was from Santa Maria and she from Visalia, tri tip was all they could talk about, it was basically a requirement that it was the star of the dinner. It is a bit similar to flank I think (and nearby each other on the cow). Both are semi difficult to cook in the sense that if not done right, and cut right, they can be easily overcooked or horribly tough. But done right...YUM!!!!!

I never cooked it until about eight years ago when we had a brief friendship with one of our longtime friend's family. It was weird because we became friends following his death. But they taught me how to cook it properly. I only knew how to sear things on the grill, now I can slow cook as well.

All of the salads look good. I may fall under that healthy remark but sorry, put out tri tip, mac and cheese and potato salad and the poor quinoa is likely to get ignored. LOL!

Uh, oh, you were one of my prime candidates but my mom was the #1 person I thought of. I also have some vegan friends who are coming. They have decided to eat meat for the weekend though, so they may be like you and gloss over it.

I am very much looking forward to this!

I hope it's not too sweet!

YUM!

I haven't had mac and cheese for two months, now and it will be three by the time it gets here!

Ok we know musdlide is out, and lemon was second....I am going with Strawberry Shortcake. It just seems so californa and really suits the menu.

LOVE the designs!!!

I think it was Pam that I told no strawberry. It was good, just seemed odd.

Bell services may bring it all up but you'll have an army with you to help unload

I already have a word doc with detailed instructions for each dish and what I want done with it when we get there.

Opps, Margaret, not Beth.

I am not a deadhead but I have seen about thirty shows, only because I dated a deadhead for six years and a lot of our "dates" involved following the dead...

I sort of thought that was who you meant. Yeah I wasn't a dead head either but fell into a group that had some and decided to go with it for a while.

I will message you via Facebook when we are closer to our trip. The conference is not until late April 2016 so I have plenty of time for planning.

OK, I'll try and think of things between now and then.

Alison, that is great news about the points and about Fran being able to go to Band!

Yes both were really uplifting last week.

I think I told you before that Duff made my wedding cake and grooms cake. I got a different flavor for each layer! Hint Hint.

Everything you have planned so far looks and sounds amazing.

I thought about two flavors but decided against it in the end. It seemed strange to have Mickey one flavor and the saxophone a different one.

Great news that Fran was able to score a bit of independance and drive to band. I agree it is a thin line between getting a bit of happy and setting yourself back!

Exactly!

Well done for renting out points

I was rather pleased with the outcome.

Your menu looks great! Costco is wonderful I agree. They do a brilliant lasagne here too like the mac n cheese. That always pleases the crowd.

Never seen lasagne at ours, that sounds good too!

Oh my goodness I love the cake ideas. How lovely ace of cakes place opened up just in time

Yeah, I contacted some bakeries closer to home and none of them would do a copyrighted image. These people evidently do it all the time and had recently received praise from Disney via Twitter on a Frozen cake that they did.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

That is fabulous that Ace of Cakes will do the Copyrighted image. I simply cannot wait to see the end product and what flavour you select. That is a sign of a good bakery getting praise from Disney!

Where will the cake be on the birthday girl day or is it to be a surprise? In the Grand Villa is there a large table where you can spread all the glorious food? Sparkers on the cake too? I want to imagine it all there. But I might just have to wait....

 

[afwdwfan]

We ended up getting about three grand for the points so I was satisfied with that. Now all the points have been used and they won't go to waste.

I'm glad you were able to resolve that and put it behind you.

Besides we are so close to being through the toughest part of this, I wouldn't want to see her suffer a setback.

Absolutely not! I'm glad that she can get out, but I think your 2 spotter rule for her own good is probably a good thing.

Going to band was great therapy. It really raised her spirits to see people, play her instrument and get a little bit of that "normal" feeling back. On the other hand it has really wiped her out and she has slept through most of the last two days. I suppose that's a good thing. It keeps her off her feet and gives her body more time to heal.

I like it! Get her tired so it keeps her out of trouble.

The first thing is the proteins. Who doesn’t love a Costco Chicken? I plan on getting about four of these and reheating them in the villa’s oven.

I don't know... I've never had a Costco chicken.

Most people on the East Coast and some in the Midwest have never heard to this cut of meat, so I did a little research. It turns out that this is a California Specialty, specifically from Santa Maria, a somewhat rural area North of Santa Barbara known previously for ranching.

Ok, I've heard of tri tip. However, I didn't know it was a California delicacy. Any beef that we've ever had custom butchered has had it ground up.

I’m going to leave it as a surprise as to which flavor I chose, but after the consult, these are the sketches they sent me for my cakes. We are getting a sheet cake, to eat first and this is the basic idea.

Those look like some awesome cakes! And that whole spread just looks pretty incredible! I realize you're leaning heavily on Costco, but it still looks like quite the undertaking for your birthday!

 

[jedijill]

Sorry, late again but I'm here! I CANNOT wait for your birthday party!!! I've been looking forward to it for a year now and especially now with all the drama in my life. I'm so happy Fran was able to get out to the car and drive to band! What a relief it must have been for her to get out of the house and get back a bit to normal.

The food looks amazing! I never buy that stuff at Costco since I live alone. I can't wait to try it! OMG! You are getting an Ace of Cakes cake?!!?!?!?!?!?!? And I get to eat it!?!?!?!?!??

I'm so excited about seeing you guys, meeting Jenny, and seeing Cynthia for longer than 5 minutes. The rest of your friends and family look like a blast too!

I don't know if you are interested but I have an awesome baked bean recipe that can be made ahead and baked later.

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

And @PrincessInOz its not too late to book a flight! There's plenty of room for you!

Jill in CO

 

[PrincessInOz]

And @PrincessInOz its not too late to book a flight! There's plenty of room for you!

Jill in CO

Believe me. I'm sorely tempted.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

figures the post about the cake made you come out of lurkdom! It will be a sculpted cake. Mickey will have a dowel inside him and they will give us a "manual" about cutting. I'm curious how they will make the sax work, but they came up with this....

The sax might be rice krispie treat or modeling chocolate. I don't think cake would hold up well enough, but I'm sure they've got it sorted

And hey, I've been reading, it's just been insane for me the last few days