Team Renfroe - Pre-Trip Report for May 15-22, 2009 **Final Chapter**

[IlovemythreeC's]

Hey ~ so glad to see that your wonderful family is going back in May!

I think your plans look great. We are actually big fans of the values, we have stayed at Movies eight times and Pop once. I know a lot of people do not like them, but we have never been dispappointed at all. We also have never had any transport problems.

Your new dining plans look GREAT. I noticed that you are adding two of our faves the Crystal Palace (it is a tradition that we eat there first) and we also LOVE dinner at 'Ohana.

We are so happy ya'll are back

 

[LuccaDrake]

Your pics of those sticky wings is what got me to change my ADR! I will definitely be getting that for an appetizer and I'm not even a "wing" person!

I can't wait for the beach update, I'm sure it was great!

~Beka~

 

[alan_renfroe]

Wooohoooo it's "Team Renfroe Take 2" , Hi Alan wow you've been busy since your return from the world , so glad your working on your next trip . Nice car
On your question re: meals, Chef Mickey seem's to becoming one of our family traditions, we've only ever done breakfast and always enjoyed it, apart from my dad last year mixing Pluto & Goofy up My DD's thought this was highly amusing . Earl of Sandwich is great, especially before or after a shopping marathon at DTD
Hope you and your family are all well & look forward to reading more of your PTR.

Hi Karen! Great to see you here!

Yep, we've kept pretty busy since our trip to WDW back in May. I am such a nerd that I have already started counting down the time until our next trip! As of today, our next trip is 42 weeks away!

I think Chef Mickey's for breakfast just looks like a blast! I think we would all enjoy doing that. Also, it is my understanding that the Earl of Sandwich is considered to be a Counter Service meal on the dining plan? If so, and if we go with the basic dining plan instead of deluxe dining, we will definitely check that out. (I LOVE deli sandwiches.)

Thanks for your kind comments! All is well with the Renfroes! I will be posting a mini-report on our beach trip, just for fun.

Hey ~ so glad to see that your wonderful family is going back in May!

I think your plans look great. We are actually big fans of the values, we have stayed at Movies eight times and Pop once. I know a lot of people do not like them, but we have never been dispappointed at all. We also have never had any transport problems.

Your new dining plans look GREAT. I noticed that you are adding two of our faves the Crystal Palace (it is a tradition that we eat there first) and we also LOVE dinner at 'Ohana.

We are so happy ya'll are back

Hey! We can hardly wait to go back! I'm glad to read that you enjoy the values. We just got back from our trip to the beach and we have a leak in our pool liner at home. We are going to need to replace the pool liner, which is going to be around $3,000. That may seriously affect our budget for our May trip. It remains to be seen.

We ate at 'Ohana for breakfast on our May trip and loved it. I think I would love dinner at 'Ohana. We tried to get ADRs, but were unable. I definitely want to have dinner at 'Ohana on this next trip.

Your pics of those sticky wings is what got me to change my ADR! I will definitely be getting that for an appetizer and I'm not even a "wing" person!

I can't wait for the beach update, I'm sure it was great!

~Beka~

Hey Beka! All I can say about those pics of the sticky wings is this: pictures don't lie!! They were absolutely delicious. The savory sweetness of the teriyaki flavoring was only enhanced by the tartness of the oriental mustard drizzle on top. I wish I had a big plate of them RIGHT NOW!

 

[alan_renfroe]

The next few posts are off-topic, but I wanted to share some photos of our trip this past week to Florida's Gulf Coast. I promise to get back on topic after this mini-trip report from the beach!!

 

[englishrose47]

Hi Alan! I'm thinking about a solo trip now probably Feb or March or maybe May! Such decisions!! The group trip is now going to be Sept. Another family is joining us and we compromised on the month as it is value season and thus cheaper but HOT!!DD would not budge on Pop and I was HAPPY!!My solo trip will be to Pop. I need some Dis input and votes on which Month between Feb, March or May!!

 

[Camster0307]

Hey - welcome back to the Renfroes! Can't wait to see your beach pix!

I'll have to wait until tomorrow to catch up with your posts; the Hannah Montana concert movie is premiering tonite (OMG - 15 minutes!) and certain people in my house are very excited! (ok - I'll admit, I am too! We really enjoyed the concert when we went in Dec.) Anyway, signing off for the night!

 

[alan_renfroe]

On Sunday, July 20th, we left Jacksonville, Alabama to drive to Panama City Beach, Florida. My parents rented a condo for the week and invited my family and my sister's family to join them. We had already made plans to join DW's family in Destin, Florida on Tuesday, July 22nd, so we decided to spend Sunday - Tuesday with my family in Panama City Beach, and Tuesday - Friday with DW's family in Destin. (Panama City Beach and Destin are only about 45 minutes apart.)

We have a tradition of taking pictures before leaving for any trip. Here are our obligatory photos:

We left home around 10:30am and arrived in Panama City Beach around 5pm. The condo my parents rented was at the Tidewater Beach Resort. This was our view from the 25th floor balcony.

Here is the view from the front door:

Our kids were thrilled to get to spend some time with their cousins! My sister has a DS18, DS17, and DD10. Here are some photos of the kids:

Next installment: dinner at The Boatyard

 

[alan_renfroe]

I've been going to Panama City Beach regularly since I was a kid. Since DW and I have been married, we've gone to Panama City Beach at least once a year every year except 2001 and 2007. So....we KNOW Panama City Beach! We have our favorite restaurants, and one of them is definitely The Boatyard. The chef that owns the restaurant is from Key West, FL. He used to own a restaurant in Key West and made frequent trips to North Florida to get oysters from the Appalachacola (sp?) area. Anyway, he loved the area and decided to open a restaurant in North Florida that served food influenced by the Keys. It is AWESOME!

Our kids enjoyed their kids meals - popcorn shrimp and fries served in a Boatyard frisbee.

I ordered the same thing I ALWAYS get at this restaurant: Cilantro-rubbed Mahi Mahi with black beans, yellow rice, and fried plantains. Aahhh..

DW ordered the Key Lime & Garlic Shrimp. It was terrific!

One of my favorite dishes at this restaurant was not on the menu this year...the mango coleslaw. I really missed it! Also, the service was incredibly slow this time. Our server apologized to us and actually admitted that she had spent a lot of time talking to guests at another table. I'm usually a really good tipper, but I only left 10%...which is REALLY low for us.

Overall, we were very pleased to have the wonderful food at The Boatyard we've become accustomed to. The service, however, was really lackluster. DW and I ordered a beer, but we finished our meal and the beers were still not out...so we cancelled them. I think if we had a different server, everything would have been wonderful. Oh well - it didn't stop us from having a wonderful meal and a great first night in Florida!

When we got back to the condo, it was about 9pm. We put on swimsuits and went down to the pool. It was a huge pool and we had a lot of fun. For me, it was nice to spend some time with my nephews and niece. Overall, we had a very nice first day!

Next installment - Monday, July 21st in PCB.

 

[alan_renfroe]

On Monday morning, I was the first one in the condo to wake up. I was up for the day around 6:30am, so I decided to drive to Thomas' donuts to pick up breakfast for the entire family! If you have never been to Panama City Beach, you have NO IDEA what a great treat this is! Thomas' donuts are the absolute best I've ever had anywhere I've ever been. It is a hole-in-the-wall spot across the street from the beach that has been in business since the 1950s.

I took some pictures along the way:

The donuts were a big hit! After breakfast, we all hit the beach:

DS found this crab!

Next installment - fun at the pool, and dinner at Boon Docks.

 

[Michelle_and_Aaron]

Your trip looks fabulous so far! I can't wait to read more.
Oh, and only a few weeks more until we both can reserve for next year! Are you ready? I am not.

 

[englishrose47]

Hi Alan I loved the beach pix! The donuts from Thomas' could they be fried donuts covered in regular sugar. As a kid I remember in Gt Yarmouth they had this donut store that served the fried sugarry donuts and they were still warm .OMG they were delish! It was a beach town too !! I can't find where you posted when you were going in 2009! I amagain leaning towards May . Feb was a little cool and March is looking to busy I checked the crowd blog and most of May looks good !!Little warm for this Northern girl but I think Sept will be warmer !

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

Hi Alan,

Wonderful pics, you should write for a travel magazine!! And as always, you DO have a beatiful family.

In a previous post you asked if the Earl of Sandwich was a CS restaurant. Well, at least for the 2008 Dining plan it was. The following are the (official) Disney PDFs about the 2008 Dining Plan:

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...agespecific/eng/nontheme/tickets/08Dining.pdf

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...cific/eng/nontheme/tickets/08DeluxeDining.pdf


Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Luis

 

[Camster0307]

Great vacation pix, Alan! I love 'beachy" resorts!

And that Boatyard looked divine! Quite frankly, I wouldn't care about the food - I saw that location and would have been there every night! I'm a Jersey shore girl myself; just give me a restaurant with a deck overlooking the water and I'm a happy girl!

As for your upcoming Disney trip, re: the DDP, I've read a rumour that they'll be making changes again for 2009 - think they're considering including the tip again and who knows what else. Don't know when they announce it though; would imagine it would have to be sometime in early fall.

 

[stepdisney]

Alan,

I am trying very hard to change Hollywood & Vine to Mama Melrose but because we have the Fantasmic dinner thing on a night that DHS has extra magic hours, we are not willing to give up early entrance. Everything at MM is booked so we may be stuck with HW & V. I read your review and am afraid to eat there now. Was there anything you liked about the food? I'm really thinking that it may be worth it to eat somewhere else and just stand in line for the show.

Oh, and the mahi- mahi with the fried plantain had me drooling.....(as did the word donut )

 

[Camster0307]

I am trying very hard to change Hollywood & Vine to Mama Melrose but because we have the Fantasmic dinner thing on a night that DHS has extra magic hours, we are not willing to give up early entrance. Everything at MM is booked so we may be stuck with HW & V. I read your review and am afraid to eat there now. Was there anything you liked about the food? I'm really thinking that it may be worth it to eat somewhere else and just stand in line for the show.

May I suggest something? If it's PM EMH at the Studios, that means they'll have two showings of Fantasmic. Typically, the second show is not as crowded as the first. My DD and I were just there at the end of June for PM EMH and it was packed! We got in line for the second show of Fantasmic about a 1/2 hour before the show started and it did look crowded; but once, they dropped the ropes and we entered the stadium, we were able to score seats in the third row, front and center.

If you're really afraid to try H&V (and, quite honestly, I agree w/Alan's review - YUCK!), I wouldn't waste the money. Eat where you really want to and go to the second show of Fantasmic - you'll get good seats.

 

[Bibbidi]

Hi Bibbidi! We are loving the new Honda also. I have always wanted to own a Honda...they have a great reputation for building vehicles that last.

I really like the looks of the menu at Spoodles, but lots of people on these boards have negative things to say....so it is hard to tell. I'm seriously thinking we will give the breakfast a try. Some friends of ours ate there for breakfast on their trip in May and they really liked it.

I think the value resorts will be a different experience. If we were staying at a deluxe, I would probably spend more time at the resort and less in the parks. (That sounds ideal for an adults-only trip.) However, I think for our family at this point the value resort should be fine. I'm like you...I like to be spoiled! And I don't mind paying for luxury. You'll have to let us know how your experience was....by the way, which value will you be staying at?

We will be staying at ASMu. I know those rooms are all rehabbed, and I don't really think my kids would like Pop as much as they'll like wandering through the AllStars. All the reviews I've read on ASMu are great, so I think for a value we should be all set. We leave in a little under 4 weeks, so I'll post with my thoughts when we return. If we weren't going budget this trip we'd be back at the CR which was absolutely fantastic last year--would have been even if we didn't get upgraded.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Hi Alan! I don't know how I missed the start of this PTR but I am here and all caught up. Looks like you had a great trip.

We are staying at Pop in just over a month so I will let you know how we like it. We haven't stayed on property before and we are doing a split stay. Pop for 4 nights and Wilderness Lodge for 3 nights. No way could we afford a Deluxe for the entire stay so we decided to try the split stay.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of the 2009 packages and also the dining plan changes.

 

[Figment's Friend]

Hey, Alan! I'm enjoying reading your beach adventures! That balcony has a great view, must have been lovely waking up to that everyday. Okay, but the Mahi-Mahi had my mouth drooling for some! And Fried Plantains! Looks so delicious You mean they serve great food at places OTHER than Disney World? I don't get this at all Can't wait to hear more!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Your trip looks fabulous so far! I can't wait to read more.
Oh, and only a few weeks more until we both can reserve for next year! Are you ready? I am not.

I'm really excited to learn about the new changes for 2009, such as rates, dining plan options, etc. I'm wondering how the economy in the US will affect the prices at Disney? I am hoping there will not be rate increases.

Hi Alan I loved the beach pix! The donuts from Thomas' could they be fried donuts covered in regular sugar. As a kid I remember in Gt Yarmouth they had this donut store that served the fried sugarry donuts and they were still warm .OMG they were delish! It was a beach town too !! I can't find where you posted when you were going in 2009! I amagain leaning towards May . Feb was a little cool and March is looking to busy I checked the crowd blog and most of May looks good !!Little warm for this Northern girl but I think Sept will be warmer !

Thanks! I am a beach person, for sure!

The donuts from Thomas' are fried, but they are glazed rather than sugar covered. They have regular glazed donuts and a wide variety of donuts with fillings such as Key Lime, Raspberry, Peaches, Blueberry, etc. Thomas' is a tradition for our family....definitely a guilty pleasure!

The plan for our trip as of right now is probably going to be May 16-22, 2009. The rates increase to peak season on May 23rd. We LOVED being there in May this year. It was hot with afternoon showers, but we never had long waits for anything. I subscribe to a thread called "These are the Mays of our lives," and one of the sayings on that thread is "once you're a May-er, you'll always be a May-er." True!

Hi Alan,

Wonderful pics, you should write for a travel magazine!! And as always, you DO have a beatiful family.

In a previous post you asked if the Earl of Sandwich was a CS restaurant. Well, at least for the 2008 Dining plan it was. The following are the (official) Disney PDFs about the 2008 Dining Plan:

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...agespecific/eng/nontheme/tickets/08Dining.pdf

http://adisneyworld.disney.go.com/m...cific/eng/nontheme/tickets/08DeluxeDining.pdf


Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Luis

Hi Luis! Thanks for the compliment! I think being a writer for a travel magazine would be the ultimate job! I'm a Travel Channel junkie and I always think to myself, "I could totally do that!"

Thanks for the links. It will be interesting to see what kinds of changes occur for the dining plans in '09.

Great vacation pix, Alan! I love 'beachy" resorts!

And that Boatyard looked divine! Quite frankly, I wouldn't care about the food - I saw that location and would have been there every night! I'm a Jersey shore girl myself; just give me a restaurant with a deck overlooking the water and I'm a happy girl!

As for your upcoming Disney trip, re: the DDP, I've read a rumour that they'll be making changes again for 2009 - think they're considering including the tip again and who knows what else. Don't know when they announce it though; would imagine it would have to be sometime in early fall.

Thanks, Cammie! I absolutely LOVE the beach. I hope to figure out a way to live there someday.

The Boatyard is great! You would love it, because it is open air seating. I don't know if you can tell from the picture I posted, but the bar area and seating around it are outdoors. Just being in that atmosphere makes me happy!

On the rumours concerning the dining plan, I sort of figured there might be changes for '09. We LOVED the deluxe dining plan and would like to do it again. However, I DO wish they would have a level between the basic dining and deluxe dining. A package that would include maybe 1CS and 2TS per day, with the TS credits allowing you to choose either an appetizer OR a dessert, but not both. That would be perfect for us. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Alan,

I am trying very hard to change Hollywood & Vine to Mama Melrose but because we have the Fantasmic dinner thing on a night that DHS has extra magic hours, we are not willing to give up early entrance. Everything at MM is booked so we may be stuck with HW & V. I read your review and am afraid to eat there now. Was there anything you liked about the food? I'm really thinking that it may be worth it to eat somewhere else and just stand in line for the show.

Oh, and the mahi- mahi with the fried plantain had me drooling.....(as did the word donut )

May I suggest something? If it's PM EMH at the Studios, that means they'll have two showings of Fantasmic. Typically, the second show is not as crowded as the first. My DD and I were just there at the end of June for PM EMH and it was packed! We got in line for the second show of Fantasmic about a 1/2 hour before the show started and it did look crowded; but once, they dropped the ropes and we entered the stadium, we were able to score seats in the third row, front and center.

If you're really afraid to try H&V (and, quite honestly, I agree w/Alan's review - YUCK!), I wouldn't waste the money. Eat where you really want to and go to the second show of Fantasmic - you'll get good seats.

I TOTALLY agree with Cammie's assessment of the situation. If it is a PM EMH, just go to the second show! I don't think the dinner seats are really any better than any other seats...and if you go to the second show it will not be crowded at all! That way, you can dine wherever you'd like.

However, if you're pretty firm about staying with the dinner package, would Brown Derby be an option? Could you get an ADR there? If not, let me see what I can tell you that would be positive about H & V. They had a carving station that was decent. If I recall correctly, they had a ham and a prime rib. The prime rib was decent. (I'm really trying to find something positive! It is very difficult though - I just cannot recommend eating at H & V! I would never eat there again. It even smelled funny.)

We will be staying at ASMu. I know those rooms are all rehabbed, and I don't really think my kids would like Pop as much as they'll like wandering through the AllStars. All the reviews I've read on ASMu are great, so I think for a value we should be all set. We leave in a little under 4 weeks, so I'll post with my thoughts when we return. If we weren't going budget this trip we'd be back at the CR which was absolutely fantastic last year--would have been even if we didn't get upgraded.

Can't wait to hear about your stay at ASMu! I hope you have an awesome trip. Let us know what you think!

Hi Alan! I don't know how I missed the start of this PTR but I am here and all caught up. Looks like you had a great trip.

We are staying at Pop in just over a month so I will let you know how we like it. We haven't stayed on property before and we are doing a split stay. Pop for 4 nights and Wilderness Lodge for 3 nights. No way could we afford a Deluxe for the entire stay so we decided to try the split stay.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of the 2009 packages and also the dining plan changes.

Hey Lady Lallie! Welcome aboard! Glad you found us!

I will be interested in hearing about your split stay. I would love to stay at WL, but cannot afford it this coming year. I think we are pretty much leaning towards the Pop at this point. Let us know what you think!

Hey, Alan! I'm enjoying reading your beach adventures! That balcony has a great view, must have been lovely waking up to that everyday. Okay, but the Mahi-Mahi had my mouth drooling for some! And Fried Plantains! Looks so delicious You mean they serve great food at places OTHER than Disney World? I don't get this at all Can't wait to hear more!

Hi Figment's Friend! Yep, that Mahi-Mahi with the fried plantains was so good, you would have thought we were at Disney!!! More food pics on the way.