The Drive, the Dream and DVC - A March 2011 Birthday Surprise TR(NEW 11/9 p. 32 END)

[Charleston Princess]

Yeah, Mission Space is one on the "when hel1 freezes over" list. So is Astro Orbiter. Especially after today, when there was a FIRE!!! RnRC is a probably never too. I don't want to go that fast AND upside down. ToT would probably have me with my head over a trash can.

Oh, yeah, I have never ridden Astro Orbiter, either. No way no how!

 

[jenseib]

Bummer, I hate the last day! I wish they could just go on and on!
We rode Dumbo in the dark, so I could see too much over the fence and this Aug. we were only at MK in the dark as well, and I never even looked towards that way. We just didn't have enough time.
I hope you go to DLP. I would love to hear your take on it.

A little shamless plug...I did start my Aug. TR. The link is in my signature.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Bummer, I hate the last day! I wish they could just go on and on!
We rode Dumbo in the dark, so I could see too much over the fence and this Aug. we were only at MK in the dark as well, and I never even looked towards that way. We just didn't have enough time.
I hope you go to DLP. I would love to hear your take on it.

A little shamless plug...I did start my Aug. TR. The link is in my signature.

I shall have to pay you a visit!!


I will have some big news coming up about future travel plans!!! Stay tuned! Of course, that's a shameless tease! I probably won't get to it until Sunday!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I shall have to pay you a visit!!


I will have some big news coming up about future travel plans!!! Stay tuned! Of course, that's a shameless tease! I probably won't get to it until Sunday!

GREAT!!! Leave us all hanging for the entire weekend!!! But hopefully it's that you got some awesome airfare for England!!!!!!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

WE ARE GOING TO EUROPE!!!!!!!

We booked our airline tickets!!!! We decided to do a round trip to London and we'll take the train to Paris toward the beginning of the trip.

We will be leaving MN on 2/29 at 4 p.m. and after a stop in Philadelphia, we will be arriving in London around 9:30 a.m. We didn't get the BEST deal on our tickets, but it's a lot less than we'd been seeing earlier. The non-stops from here were over $1000 each! It's worth a couple hundred bucks a ticket to stop as long as it wasn't the middle of the night!

So now I can get into planning mode!!! I've got to finish this TR first, but hopefully I can tell you all about my plans. I'm not sure if I'll do a full PTR or what yet. My DIS time has been severely compromised lately!
The DIS Unplugged podcast team just went on the ABD London/Paris trip and I have been listening and reading about it so I can see some of the things they enjoyed. We will be staying at Disneyland Paris for a bit and spending about 5 days in Paris.

That's my big news!! If anyone has any suggestions, recommendations or secrets about traveling to Europe, I'd love to hear them! I went to England/Scotland, but that was 15 years ago and by myself. I'm sure there's some things that will be different this time around!!

OH, by the way, the girls do NOT know we've booked it yet!! They know we are hoping to go, but once again, we've been prepping them for the possibility it will be too expensive. DH is plotting a way to tell them as a Christmas surprise. I'm not sure I can handle that! Of course, it would be a shorter time to keep the secret than for our last trip!

I better get back to updating this TR now!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I believe I left off when we were heading back to the Magic Kingdom after our afternoon at the AKL pool.

We decided to drive to the park and we did that sneaky thing you’re not supposed to do really, and parked at BLT. The guard did not blink an eye when we told him we were going to eat there. Sorry. Slap my hand.
Moving on...


So we had to decide if we wanted to walk to MK or hop on a monorail (we had such fun on it that morning, right? HA!) For some unknown stupid reason, we took the monorail. Turned out to be a poor choice. I knew we’d be stopping at the Poly and Grand Floridian, but really, no big deal, right? We had time. Our dinner reservation was for 5:15 at Tony’s, which is right inside the gate. No problem...

(you do see that there will be a problem, don’t you?)

We got to the GF stop and waited. And waited. We found out that a monorail that was ahead of us had gotten stuck so we had to wait. After 20 minutes, they told us we needed to disembark and they brought buses to take us to MK! We did have a little backstage view from the bus - it took a route kind of behind the scenes where you could see the monorail “garage” and stuff like that. 

We finally arrived at MK on the bus and could see the monorail that was stuck was just past the entrance to MK toward BLT. They had fire trucks with ladders etc to get people off!

Lesson: If you are at BLT and going to MK - JUST WALK!!!!
We got to Tony’s a little before 6:00 and explained the situation. They weren’t all that crowded so we only had to wait 5 minutes. We were seated in the little greenhouse-type section. It was bright and airy and I liked the atmosphere in there.

Would we like the food? Well, Sarah took one look at the kids’ menu and decided she did not like anything and would not order dinner. Okay then.

MENU

I ordered Seafood Diavolo. It was “okay”. I like seafood, and spicy food. It didn’t knock my socks off, but it was fine. DH had chicken parm and he said it was good even though he wasn’t all that hungry. Paige had the pizza meal and she didn’t like the apples for dessert, so they brought her a sundae with a candle!! That was nice! Sarah ended up eating bread and a couple bites of DH’s chicken. Then she ate most of DH’s dessert - the Ice Cream Bombe! I had the pistachio creme brulee, and that was pretty good! I really like creme brulee! Our bill was $70 and we used 3 TS credits.
Overall, I would say I liked Tony’s. I probably wouldn’t make a point to rush back there (I liked Tutto Italia way better!), but I won’t blacklist it!! Sarah would have a different opinion.

My seafood diavolo

Bread and dipping oil - aka "Sarah's meal"!

Dave's chicken parm (notice his new T-shirt)

Paige's kid's meal - she was so mad the the apples were supposed to be "dessert"

my dessert

Paige's "real" dessert

What was left of the Ice Cream Bombe by the time I could take a picture

cont.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

After dinner we then used our BTMRR FPs (not going to waste those!!). As we came by Columbia Harbour House, a CM asked if the girls wanted to ring the bell. Paige said no, but Sarah was into it.

We met up with DH’s nephew and family and rode Haunted Mansion together. There was a posted 40 minute wait, but it wasn’t quite that long. We were busy chatting in line, so it wasn’t noticeable. This was before the new queue was done, so I can’t tell you how cool it was (I’m sure many of you have been since then!)
It seemed pretty crowded in the area.

We never did get to do the Jungle Cruise that day!
We headed to Tomorrowland and went to Buzz. It was posted at 30 minutes, but it wasn’t quite that long either. Sarah hit the MAX SCORE - 999,999!! I’m not sure how that happened!!
I tried to get a picture of the score, but it didn't turn out too good.

We took another quick ride on the people mover and found a spot to watch the castle Memories show and Wishes. We were seated along the pathway from the bridge to Tomorrowland down toward the Terrace where they do the dessert party. About 5 minutes before the show, Paige informs me that she has to go to the bathroom!!! Really? You can’t wait? No. So we figured we can’t go toward Main Street, we raced to Tomorrowland and used the bathroom near CoP. We ran back, but there were too many people to get through to go to our spot again. We made it to the Terrace and watched WIshes from there - partially obscured by a palm tree, but ok. Some nice man who was taking pictures/video let Paige go in front of him since he could see right over her. I just squatted/kneeled down beside her. I texted Dave to let him know where we were and we’d come meet him where they were. Uh, maybe. Easier said than done! It was CRAZY!!! People were going every which direction! When we finally met up, DH was ready to leave. Most people were heading to Main Street to exit and you could barely move. I had to chastise someone with a stroller who kept banging into me. I just had nowhere to go! I was actually a bit scared for my kids!
Eventually a CM directed us behind the Plaza to a CM only exit and we walked BEHIND a few shops and came out near the Chapeau and Tony’s. Then we WALKED the path to BLT and to the car. There were still people coming into the park at 10:45. I think it was open until 1, but since we had to leave in the morning, we thought it best not to stay up half the night. Although, I wish we’d stayed about 30 minutes longer just to avoid that chaos!! Another lesson learned: Don’t leave the park right after Wishes!!!

Crowd picture:

Bye Magic Kingdom...

The girls fell asleep in the car on the way back to AKL! We had to wake them up to get them up to the room - gone are the days we can carry them that far! We finally got to bed about 11:30.

I had noticed the beginnings of a scratchy throat that afternoon and hoped it was nothing. But then both DH and I had a bit of an upset stomach that night. I wondered if it was from Tony’s? Or maybe I was sick at the thought of leaving WDW the next day?

We still had one TS credit left since Sarah did not eat at Tony’s. We figured we’d use it for breakfast at Boma the next day.

Guess I need to stop now - I haven't uploaded any pictures to photobucket for the next day and I know I have some somewhere!! I took a lot of pictures around AKL before we left.

 

[jenseib]

YAY!! How awesome to be going to Europe!

I am laughing at Sarah menu....everything is crossed out.

The food looks pretty good. I've never been there, but I have heard good things about it.

I always wait after wishes or parades. I hate that mass exodus of people. I'd rather sit back and do nothing than fight all those people.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Eeeeee!! I'm so excited for you!!! London and Paris will be ahhhhh-mazing. I'm seriously excited for you and a little jealous. I want to go to London and Paris so badly!!

It is NEVER a good idea to leave Magic Kingdom directly after Wishes, even waiting 20 minutes makes a difference. I've learned that the hard way by the way.

I've been to Tony's once and it was decent. I'd like to sit in the greenhouse area though, it does look so very pretty.

 

[Monny2AE]

Hooray for Europe!!!!!

Tony's looks very yummy! I just showed DH the pics and he said we should try it in December. We love Italian!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

YAY!!!! For Europe!!!Tell me alllll the deets!! I wanna go!!!! I have to say we all love Tonys here!! we usually get some chicken parm, lasagna, we have always had great food. If we have any TS credits left over that is the place we usually try to get back into...sorry Sarah couldn't find anything she liked!!!

 

[MEK]

Congratulations on the Europe trip! that is totally awesome!!!! WOW!

So sorry Sarah didn't like Tony's. That chicken parm looks pretty good. I have eaten there three times and the last time was so "eh" that I decided not to go back for awhile.

999,999 on Buzz - right on! I think she must have gotten Zurg!

Fun update. There were some serious crowds that night!

Thanks for the update!

 

[superme80]

Just went thru the entire report today, so glad you had an awesome time. Your girls are adorable. Congratson Europe. So jealous!!!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I am giddy with excitement for you about heading to Europe!!! You are going to have a wonderful time! What a surprise the girls have in store for them!!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Did Sarah cross out everything she wouldn't eat in black crayon?! That is totally something a preteen girl would do. The dramatics. Hilarious.

Yikes on the exiting! Last trip we hung out for ice cream after Wishes and some of the madness died down a little bit thankfully. Who can say no to ice cream anyway?

Congrats on the Europe trip Sheree!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

YAY!! How awesome to be going to Europe!

I am laughing at Sarah menu....everything is crossed out.

The food looks pretty good. I've never been there, but I have heard good things about it.

I always wait after wishes or parades. I hate that mass exodus of people. I'd rather sit back and do nothing than fight all those people.

Thanks! I'm getting pretty excited!
You'd think we'd know better than to leave immediately after the fireworks by now, wouldn't you?

Eeeeee!! I'm so excited for you!!! London and Paris will be ahhhhh-mazing. I'm seriously excited for you and a little jealous. I want to go to London and Paris so badly!!

It is NEVER a good idea to leave Magic Kingdom directly after Wishes, even waiting 20 minutes makes a difference. I've learned that the hard way by the way.

I've been to Tony's once and it was decent. I'd like to sit in the greenhouse area though, it does look so very pretty.

Yeah, I will be happy to share my trip experiences with my DIS friends! They are two beautiful cities!
I hope that the new FL expansion offers some nice new TS dining experiences in MK. I'm not in love with much there - Crystal Palace is about it for me.

Hooray for Europe!!!!!

Tony's looks very yummy! I just showed DH the pics and he said we should try it in December. We love Italian!

You should try it! Three of the four of us in our family love Italian too. Can you guess who doesn't?

YAY!!!! For Europe!!!Tell me alllll the deets!! I wanna go!!!! I have to say we all love Tonys here!! we usually get some chicken parm, lasagna, we have always had great food. If we have any TS credits left over that is the place we usually try to get back into...sorry Sarah couldn't find anything she liked!!!

You called it Shawna!!! Details will be forthcoming. So far there aren't many!

Sarah is the picky one in our family. She has a hard time at restaurants if they don't serve Chicken nuggets/strips/fingers, hot dogs or burgers.

Congratulations on the Europe trip! that is totally awesome!!!! WOW!

So sorry Sarah didn't like Tony's. That chicken parm looks pretty good. I have eaten there three times and the last time was so "eh" that I decided not to go back for awhile.

999,999 on Buzz - right on! I think she must have gotten Zurg!

Fun update. There were some serious crowds that night!

Thanks for the update!

Thanks! DH and I are excited!!
Sarah doesn't like lots of things. We just work around it.
Sarah claimed she got some special target but we had no idea how she did it!

It was pretty dang busy - spring break was in full force!

Just went thru the entire report today, so glad you had an awesome time. Your girls are adorable. Congratson Europe. So jealous!!!!!

Why Thank you!!! You are too kind.

I am giddy with excitement for you about heading to Europe!!! You are going to have a wonderful time! What a surprise the girls have in store for them!!!

YOU'RE giddy? I am nuts! I need to come up with a cool way to tell them. Any tips or ideas?

Did Sarah cross out everything she wouldn't eat in black crayon?! That is totally something a preteen girl would do. The dramatics. Hilarious.
Yes. She typically will do that, and then circle the one she actually wants. No circles on this menu!! We have a lot of drama like that.

Yikes on the exiting! Last trip we hung out for ice cream after Wishes and some of the madness died down a little bit thankfully. Who can say no to ice cream anyway?
Good idea!!
Congrats on the Europe trip Sheree!

Thanks!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I just wanted to jump in and say that I'm joining along for this trippie!

Time to go back and catch up!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I just wanted to jump in and say that I'm joining along for this trippie!

Time to go back and catch up!

It's great to have you along! I hope you enjoy. It was definitely one of my favorite trips to WDW!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow congrats on Europe Sheree!!! That is so awesome!


Holy Cow MK was packed!! That would have been scary trying to navigate with that many people all in the same area.

I have been thinking about trying Tony's next time. I'm sure DS10 will be like Sarah and just eat bread. I hope it wasn't Tony's that was making you feel sick.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I knew I better get over here! You have been a busy lady!

First... EUROPE... I am so so so so so so so so jealous!!!! I have two dream trips that I am determined to do before I die, one is somewhere with clear turquoise water (getting ready to check that one off! ) and the other is Europe! You are killing me! I know you said a while back that you were trying to work it out. I am so glad that you were able to. I know that is going to be one awesome trip. Did I mention that I am REALLY jealous!

Don't you hate it when you think you have allowed enough time to get somewhere in WDW and then the transportation gets backed up. I get all worked up and in a tizzy when that happens. I hate being late!

Your review of Tony's is pretty much like every other one I have read. Good but not great. I really wish they would do more with that place. It really could be a neat TS place with just a little tweaking. I love the Lady and the Tramp theme, and that's about the only place at WDW that you see them.

Those MK crowd pics and your description have me hyperventilating over here! I wasn't even there and I feel like I am smothering in that hoard of humanity! You are so right though. I think it is best to just do some shopping or whatever for 30 minutes and let that crowd blow through before trying to get out.

So sad for the last day.