The Double-and-a-half Trippie ** COMPLETED **

[my3disneygirls]

NOPE ! I love reading about others' plans... especially when they pick my favorites places

I may get flamed for this, but you might want to call & just say you're a table for 6 and not 5 at CRT. Add one kid under 3, so you won't have to pay extra for the phantom 6th person. The only way I could get a table at Chef Mickey's was by saying we were a party of 3. There's probably less than 5 tables for 2 in the entire restaurant so it's like pulling teeth to get an ADR for 2 there - not fair, we like Mickey too.

You're gonna be eating at a lot of TS places. The DDE would definitely be a good investment !

Well I'm glad you didn't mind my long post. I was tempted to delete part of it, but after I spent the time typing it, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

All I could think was how can I add another person to CRT to get breakfast. I felt like a heal even considering it. When the CM specifically said the small amount of tables of five I knew what she was driving at. Should I ditch hubby or my oldest daughter so we can get a 4 top? Disney is making a ton on CRT, no one goes for the food. For that price we could get lobster and fillet at home. If not for my six year old I wouldn't even bother.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Should we take Granny ??!

This is my Granny. She's going to be 83 in February.
This pic was taken in Fort Lauderdale this past April. She thought it was hilarious to pose in front of the Senior Center.
We brought her with us for the first time, because she had heard so much about the place and wanted to see it too.
The first 3 days were great - we did all the touristy stuff, Jungle Queen, the Glades, malls... On the 4th morning, she wasn't feeling too well. We ended up having to ask our motel to recommend a doctor. Bill was around $400 for us with the prescription - and as Frenchies with "free" health care we are NOT used to that.
She got herself sick by drinking Eau de Melisse - sorry I have NO idea how to translate that - it's a kind of syrupy plant medecine that's supposed to help with an upset stomach. Think brown Pepto that tastes like grass. I think she downed half a bottle just on the plane. She got better just in time for us to leave, of course.

We've been toying with the idea of asking her to come with us in December.
She would love the resorts, love the Holiday decorations, love the Candlelight Processional... of course that means we'd have to modify all our reservations and may not be able to get everything we wanted. The hardest ones to get would be the Candlelight and Cali Grill, but I don't mind letting Grumpy & her go by themselves and I'd grab something at a CS instead.


Grumpy is worried because she may get sick again. I say that she has no medical condition at this point (and she goes to see her Dr regularly for check ups so if something was wrong, we'd know.) She's never had surgery in her life. Her heart is in great shape and she's VERY active - she's on vacation right now with her 85 year old cousin in the South of France. Today, they both decided out of the blue to go to Italy and shop !!!

This is why I think she'd enjoy herself :

- We're going to be in 2 Deluxes and 1 Mod
- We actually plan very little park time - I wouldn't even think of bringing her if we were going to do parks all day for a week.
- It's the most beautiful time of the year at WDW.
- She loves restaurants.
- If she does not come with us, she will spend Christmas alone and I personally think that sucks.
- The weather is good at this time of year. My grandmother could never tolerate the July heat in Orlando.

Reasons why Grumpy thinks she shouldn't come :

- She likes it better when it's just the 2 of us.
- Granny may get sick again.

Grumpy also said that some of her habits annoy her a lot. For example she's very tidy - she will get on our nerves by constantly cleaning up and making us pick up our stuff. To that I responded that since we'll be 3 adults in a room, and the Disney rooms aren't that big, we'll have no choice but to pick up after ourselves anyway.

I agree that just the 2 of us is nicer - but who knows how long we have left with Granny ?? My mom & I have been taking trips by ourselves for years. We'll most likely do it again this summer... and I'm sure we can find some time to ourselves even with Granny there. She's not going to do the evening EMH with us that's for sure.

But I'm worried about her being sick. I'm worried that she might hate it. What if the trip is ruined, for one reason or another ? We both worked hard to be able to afford the trip and plan a great itinerary.
I've read so many TRs from people who brought their family members along thinking they'd fall in love with Disney too, only to have them turn their entire trip into a nightmare.

So I'm asking you guys... what should we do ????????????

First of all you are pulling our leg. There is no way Granny is 82. She looks like she is in her fifties. I hope to God I look half as good as she does if I make it to 82.

It is up to you two, but I vote foe bringing Granny. It is nice for you to be alone, but you will have that when she is gone. Just looking at her I see a sense of adventure and whimsy about her. That is just my two cents.

 

[SeptemberGirl]

Wow, so much here!

Love your plans so far. Getting close! Soon you'll be in my neck of the woods!

French food - bwahahahaha! That CM just wasn't thinking.

CM's - with both of you on this. I have had great ones and bad ones.

On Granny - bring her! It sounds like the perfect trip for her to be on.

my3disneygirls, I did CRT in September. I think the lunch/dinner is better than breakfast, personally. Yes, it's a lot but for kids it's just magical. Keep the lunch ressie if you can and just do rope drop that day to get into MK early - or do Crystal Place!

 

[Hedy]

I vote take Granny.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Wow, so much here!
my3disneygirls, I did CRT in September. I think the lunch/dinner is better than breakfast, personally. Yes, it's a lot but for kids it's just magical. Keep the lunch ressie if you can and just do rope drop that day to get into MK early - or do Crystal Place!

Thank you fellow Jersey Girl for your imput. The big thing is I wanted to get to MK early since this is my first time OP. So I'm thinking early CP later in the week. That way we can get some good pics without the crowds.

What do you like on the lunch/dinner menu? I was upset at first about not having breakfast, but I still have BBB followed by CRT and that was the most important thing for me to have for the kids.

 

[marivaid]

We travel light !

(All the purple stuff is mine.. Grumpy only has the pink bag and white/brown suitcase. I think the luggage guys at POP are gonna make fun of us again!)



We are leaving in a couple hours. This is how we've worked things out.. tonight my father will drive me to our Paris apartment with the luggage. We'll leave the luggage at Granny's, who lives a couple blocks away. She's just coming back from her trip so tonight I'll ask her if she wants to come with us in December! Thanks everyone for your input. I really hope she says yes. Oh and yep, she's 82. Doesn't look it, and certainely doesn't act it, but then again do you think Grumpy looks/acts like a soon-to-be 59 year old ? It's a family thing.

As usual I waited until the last minute to pack... see the hampers behind our luggage ? I just finished laundry this morning. It was wild !!!! Never seen so many dirty t-shirts in my life.. and still waiting for 2 to dry.

Grumpy did all her packing Sunday, since she's been in Paris since Monday so she won't be coming back home before we leave. I just printed all of our itineraries, flight info, hotel reservations... hope I didn't forget anything. My bags are all so full I can't even bring our Passporter

(to be honest, I brought it the last time and didn't have time to open it once)

On Saturday Grumpy & I went to get our hair done. I wanted to keep my butt-length hair and darken it to a deep brown... came out with highlights and hair that barely goes past my shoulders. How did this happen ??? It doesn't look bad, but that's definitely not what I had in mind.

Still got quite a few things to do here. Like, find something to wear for today, tomorrow and "travel day"... I've packed everything
We also have to stop by the bank, post office to mail the last 2 of my eBay sales, and pick up a package with a top and an MP3 player for Grumpy. She decided Sunday that she didn't want to be a gypsy anymore - she wants to be a witch like me, but with red accents instead of pink & purple.

Frankly I have no idea what we'll look like. We'll be dressed in black, with fake colored hair strands, and a LOT of accessories like flowers and things like that. Do witches wear flowers ??? Is there such a thing as a fairy witch ??
We really need to find a witch hat or a broom stick.

I want to get Grumpy to come & get our hair pixie dusted at the Barber Shop.. so far she's resisting. She's still afraid it'll be like BBB with princesses everywhere.

Well, better get back to hunting for clothes!

In FIVE DAYS we'll be in DISNEY!!!

 

[SeptemberGirl]

I'm so excited for you! Remember to tell us how JBJ is! And give us updates, if you can! And enjoy my home state for one night!

 

[marivaid]

Hey guys, if anybody is still reading this... we're back Well, Grumpy's back home and I'm livin the good life on the gulf coast !

I'm going to get started on a TR and dining report soon, that is as soon as I figure out how to take the pics from my phone & put them on the computer...

Hope everyone is doing great !!

SeptemberGirl,the concert was amazing and the new Prudential center is WOW!!

 

[Hedy]

Welcome home! (Bienvenue?)

 

[dismom9761]

Welcome home!

Looking forward to hearing all about it!

 

[SeptemberGirl]

I've totally been waiting for your report!

I'm so glad the concert was awesome! Don't forget to write about that, too!

 

[marivaid]

I forgot to post an update about Granny. We had dinner at her place the night before we left for the US and it didn't go as well as I'd planned. Just before we were going to ask her if she wanted to come with us in December she started to complain about Fort Lauderdale. How the beach and the FL coast in general is not pretty (what??????????) and she can't understand why we keep going back there and back to Orlando all the time. Earlier that evening she told us about her trip to the South of France (Menton) and how fabulous it was. How they sat on benches at the beach and took walks and ate every night at the same little restaurant and that she loved it.

At one point I got up, grabbed my jacket and started to leave. She was just making me MAD. We don't make comments on where and how she choses to spend her vacations. She's been going to the same place for 30+ years !! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black...

She actually told my mom that we should go to Menton instead of Orlando. To this Grumpy replied that she'll do that when she's 75, thank you very much, and that her vacations need to include a little more than sitting on a bench.

We dropped the subject for a while, but finally I told her that if she wanted to come to Orlando with us in December I'd be more than happy to have her. That we were going to very nice resorts, that we didn't plan a lot of park time. I also told her that it would be crowded, that there would be a lot of kids, a lot of noise, and a lot of queuing. Wasn't trying to scare her off or anything, I just wanted to give her a complete picture.

She still hasn't made up her mind. When Grumpy came back home a couple days ago she called Granny, and she said, you know, I think maybe I'd like to come. But still no definate answer. The trip is barely 6 weeks away, if she doesn't make up her mind soon it's going to be nearly impossible for us to get any decent reservation.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Can't wait for your report. Post the link for us when you get it started.

 

[marivaid]

I've been sitting in front of my computer for hours pretty much wanting to wipe off all of our December itinerary and start again from scratch.

$317/night for the BC seems so extravagant. So, we could walk from Epcot to the resort. Sure, that's nice. But a $200/night difference could pay for a whole lot of cabs. And the 2 days we'll be at BC we'll be in Epcot all day long. I couldn't care less about Stormalong Bay, and Grumpy is crazy about the computer pool at POP so why bother?!

Only 2 nights at WL doesn't seem enough. I mean, 4 nights wasn't enough for us at AKL.

I don't like our ADRs so much anymore. Need to fit Boma in there, but it's so far from everything that it'd mean giving up on a park that night. 1900 Park Fare, what was I thinking??? We're not "talking character" people at all.

Of course it's past midnight so the Disney website is not working. Last thing I looked, I could get POP for Dec 23-26, but not for our last night. Where could we go ? I'm thinking maybe CSR. Gotta ask Grumpy whenever the site comes back up.

We could do
20-23 WL
23-26 POP
26-27 CSR

Hopefully it would cost a little less than what we had planned, but I'm not sure just how much. If it ends up costing the same then it's not worth it.

Oh, Granny finally made up her mind and she's not coming.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Perhaps I can suggest POR. It is a very pretty resort, I just love the winding paths and all of the landscaping. The restaurant on the property; Boatwrights, is very good for breakfast and dinner.

 

[CPer'sMom]

Just read your dining reviews and am now waiting patiently for your trip report! Yours are always so much fun to read
We leave for our last-minute trip to CBR on Saturday!

 

[marivaid]

We leave for our last-minute trip to CBR on Saturday!

Wow, that is great ! How long are you staying ?

I've been trying to start the TR, but as usual can't come up with a title
You know, the title is everything!

Grumpy called earlier and I asked her about changing resorts or ADRs. She told me she didn't want to even hear any of what I had to say. NO MORE changes!

 

[CPer'sMom]

Wow, that is great ! How long are you staying ?

We're staying through Thanksgiving Day. My daughter decided she *had* to go down and work for a couple of days (she's a seasonal CM) so of course I jumped on that!! Any excuse for a few more Disney days

Grumpy called earlier and I asked her about changing resorts or ADRs. She told me she didn't want to even hear any of what I had to say. NO MORE changes!

Once you get to writing your trip report you'll forget about making any changes to your Christmas trip! Just think, you'll be back again really soon

 

[marivaid]

New York, Here We Come...

I'm going to try & go over that part fast, since it's not actually DISNEY but it was part of our trip though.

We left for New York on October 26th... at 6am. I'm soooooo not a 6am person. Unless that's bedtime.
Grumpy's cell phone started singing Cotton Eyed Joe at 4.30. I got up, threw the phone on my mom's bed aiming for the head... she chose that stupid song. There was a grunt coming from under the blankets, so I figured that A/I aimed right and B/She was awake too.

We got ready, tried to look as human as possible, then walked to my grandmother's apartment to get our luggage. We didn't want to wake her up, so I took my shoes off before coming in, got the luggage, and was very proud of myself for not making any noise at all... until I tripped over my giant sneakers and fell to the floor with a huge THUD.

Grumpy, always helpful, was doubled over holding her stomach and hyperventilating.

I crawled out of the apartment, Grumpy closed the door and we finally left with all of our stuff.

Our cab was already there, waiting accross the street. The driver saw us with all of our luggage, and did not move an inch. So we dragged all of our stuff to the car, opened the trunk and did our best to fit everything in there.

Nice start, I thought. Good thing french cabbies don't expect a tip.

Anyway,he got us to the airport. I've never seen Charles De Gaulle this empty (the airport, not the guy). They hadn't even opened the check-in line yet.

So we waited. For once, we had time to get some breakfast.
2 teas and 1 croissant, 8.5 euros (about $12).
And they say food at Disney's overpriced ???

While waiting, Grumpy & I discussed what we would do that night. For a joke I said, there's a Bon Jovi concert tonight. I bet we could still get some of the cheap tickets. When Grumpy said "Oh, that'd be fun! Let's go for it"... my jaw fell to the floor. We thought, when we get to the hotel we'll check online & see what we can get.

Our flight was uneventful, which is the way it's supposed to be. We landed early, but immigration/customs took forever so we actually didn't leave the airport until 2pm.. our flight had landed at 11.30.

By the time we got to our hotel it was past 3pm, and we were both fading fast. Our hotel in NY was the Wolcott, on 31st street. Great location, but the service isn't Disney-quality, by far. We had to drag our luggage ourselves from the cab to the front desk again.

The hotel was nice though, especially the lobby. Kind of a vintagey art-deco style, with high ceilings.

We checked in, got to our room on the 8th floor, dragged our luggage in, threw ourselves on our beds and let out a big sigh of relief.

"We're not going to that concert tonight,are we?"

"Not a chance."

Next thing I knew, it was dark out, and I could hear some TAP TAP noise. It was raining like crazy outside... and it was 9PM !!!!!!!

I shook Grumpy back to life. We were both starving, so we got dressed and decided to walk to the Empire State Building. There's a restaurant there that Grumpy loves, called Heartland Brewery. They have about a zillion kinds of beers.

On the way I stopped to look at the wait time for the Empire State. 15mns.. WOW!! Oh wait.. the sign also says Visibility : ZERO.

At the restaurant, Grumpy got raspberry cider and a burger. I got ginger ale and a turkey burger. The food was edible, but that's about it. At that point we were both so hungry we couldn't have cared less.

(If you look closely you can see a bunch of bottles on the wall).

It was still pouring outside when we left the restaurant, and visibility was still zero for the Empire State, so we just walked back to the hotel and watched TV, made plans for the next day...

... and Grumpy snored the night away

 

[whogirl'smom]

Hi, new reader here! I couldn't sleep tonight and found your TR--where has this been? I've really enjoyed your saga so far! Now I have to try to go back to sleep (4 a.m. here), but I'll be looking for more updates!