The Inlaws are coming, the Inlaws are coming. June 2-12-2011 PTR- UPDATED 10/20

[TaylorsLoveDisney]

We got some sad news last night. Eric's aunt passed away. She has been pretty sick since April with various infections and other issues. She's his aunt that loved Florida and Disney. Last time we saw her was for Madelines birthday party the day before she got sick. That was at the end of March.

I'm sure his dad is having a really hard time with it and she was pretty much his mom's best friend... and that's saying a lot since she has so many friends.

Now we have to decide if we should bring Madeline to her funeral. We're leaning towards no but know his parents will be very upset if she doesn't go.

im so sorry for your family's loss ,

the decision about your daughter.. well that is a tough one.
my sister died last year , and we did decide to take my daughter, 7yrs old at the time.,
she was ok about it., mostly sad casue mommy was sad. but it did teach her the value of life.
but madeline is younger ,, i dont thihnk i would have taken her at 3,,but it all depends i suppose.. . you choose whats best for your daughter & hope everyone will respoect your decision as a mother
again.. prayers for your family

 

[chicagoshannon]

im so sorry for your family's loss ,

the decision about your daughter.. well that is a tough one.
my sister died last year , and we did decide to take my daughter, 7yrs old at the time.,
she was ok about it., mostly sad casue mommy was sad. but it did teach her the value of life.
but madeline is younger ,, i dont thihnk i would have taken her at 3,,but it all depends i suppose.. . you choose whats best for your daughter & hope everyone will respoect your decision as a mother
again.. prayers for your family

If it was my sister there would be no question she'd go. This is her Great aunt though. We decided to not take her. Unfortunately that means that I won't be able to go either which is kind of sad but what can ya do. We told Eric's parents last night and they were very surprisingly ok with it. They never cease to surprise me.

 

[chicagoshannon]

OK, lets get on with the fun stuff... FOOD

We don't have free dining and we're staying off site so all of our meals will be OOP. Because of this we won't be making too many ADR's. On previous trips we've eaten breakfast at Tusker House, Crystal Palace, and 1900 Park Faire. My least favorite of these was Park Faire. The characters were great especially the Mad Hatter, but the food was just blah. I think our favorite food wise was Tusker House. I did love the Crystal Palace because we got into the MK before it opened which was great!

For dinner we've eaten at Liberty Tree, Chef Mickey's, and Ohana. Ohana was the hands down favorite! I hated both Liberty tree and Chef Mickey's. I was pregnant for our Liberty tree ADR so that might have affected my opinion a little. We went to Ohana for our 5th anniversary dinner and it was way better then anticipated. I would love to go back.

I have not had a chance to talk with the inlaws about food yet. If I were to ask Eric I know he'd want to eat at Tusker house for breakfast again. I'd love to do Crystal Palace but maybe we should try the castle??? OR maybe Ohana for breakfast.

As for dinner I have no idea. I need some help with that for sure. I have 2 very picky eaters (Madeline and Eric). The restaurant has to have either grilled cheese, mac n cheese, hot dog, ,or pizza on the menu.

I have no idea what days we'll be in what parks except I know we'll be in DHS on Saturday and maybe again the following Friday. I'm sure we'll need to do 2 days at MK and some time at Epcot and AK. We might have to do a split day at Epcot and AK. I was hoping for some downtime at our resort.

Maybe we'll try to eat at Sci Fi at DHS for supper. I was thinking pizza planet for lunch.

MK- I want an early entry breakfast unless we decide to do BBB then we'll try for 8am for that and just eat breakfast later.

I also want to do afternoon tea with MIL, Madeline and I at the GF.

I have no idea how we're going to fit all of this in!

 

[chicagoshannon]

OK gonna throw myself a pity party since no one checked in.

I talked to Eric very briefly last night and as suspected he wants to eat breakfast at Tusker House. I then said maybe we should let Madeline get her hair/makeup done at BBB and he said "I thought you said it was a ripoff". haha

 

[moparop]

Via Napoli(the new Italian place in Epcot) has pizza. I've also heard great things about the Garden Grill for dinner. The character interaction is supposed to be among the best around.

Are you looking for character meals? Sit down?

How old is Madeline again? My friend decided not to do it when they took their at 3 to Disney. By 5 she told her mom she was over the princesses. If it's going to be aone time special thing, I'd make sure you get it in before she grows up too much!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Hey Shannon!
sorry I read your third to last post and did not see your post about the food till now...
anyway, if you remember we do OOP each time we go...so we pretty much stick with CS. We did Tusker House this last trip we enjoyed it! Ashton loved it!! so far I have done TH and CP liked both. I am looking forward to doing CP and CM. I also hope Ohana's w/Stitch and Lilo is still there next time we go.

I like the idea of doing the BBB (hair and makeup) and than dining at the castle (if I had a girl I think that is the one I would want to do--but, you have this year and next. But, next year Duncan will be old enough to really enjoy the characters )

In MK we really like Cosmic Rays for the choices (when you have a few people in the party it makes for a smoother meal)...I really liked the mac n cheese at Pinoc Haaus village; it was really creamy the time we had it. (I alwasy spell that wrong).
Epcot~the sunshine has lots of choices
but you have the countries

I think you have a good choice going sounds like you need to get a few meuns for each place that you are interested in for each park and sit down with the IL's and see what they think, so you can schedule any needed ADR's.

Connie

 

[chicagoshannon]

Madeline will be 4 when we go and Duncan will be almost 11 months.

I think if it was just Eric and I and the kids we'd probably do 1 character breakfast and that's it. I really need to get the IL's take on the food situation. I really miss the old way of doing the meals. I loved when you would just walk into the park that morning and put your name in. You could usually judge what you'd want that day better.

I'm thinking we'll probably bring our lunch into the park a couple of times. We'll see.

Duncan got his shots today and we had a rough afternoon. He seems calmer now finally.

 

[my2disneyboys]

Shannon,
Just wanted to say I am sorry for your loss. I think you guys made a good choice about Madeline.

I was thinking about you today.... we get this daily coupon emailed to us (groupon) and its for dining and stuff.... I wonder if there is one of those in Florida? I bet it could save some good money if you were to eat offsite at all? I think you did last time but not sure what your plans are this time.

 

[Kacimom]

Just wanted to let you know that I am keeping up with your posts! We will be taking my DD4 to Disney for her first time June 6th-June 11th! She will be five by then. We also are staying off property in Windsor Hills! We are all very excited!!! Also considering doing the BBB, do you know how early you can do reservations for it? Also will be doing a few ADR's! Mostly, though meals will be off property like yours! Any info you have is greatly appreciated, since this will basically be my first trip to Disney also, went when I was 5!

 

[chicagoshannon]

Shannon,
Just wanted to say I am sorry for your loss. I think you guys made a good choice about Madeline.

I was thinking about you today.... we get this daily coupon emailed to us (groupon) and its for dining and stuff.... I wonder if there is one of those in Florida? I bet it could save some good money if you were to eat offsite at all? I think you did last time but not sure what your plans are this time.

Thanks. I've never done groupon but might have to subscribe to the florida one to see what they have. I'd LOVE if they had Chevy's or Sweet tomatoes on there.

Just wanted to let you know that I am keeping up with your posts! We will be taking my DD4 to Disney for her first time June 6th-June 11th! She will be five by then. We also are staying off property in Windsor Hills! We are all very excited!!! Also considering doing the BBB, do you know how early you can do reservations for it? Also will be doing a few ADR's! Mostly, though meals will be off property like yours! Any info you have is greatly appreciated, since this will basically be my first trip to Disney also, went when I was 5!

oh maybe we'll run into each other. I'd love to hear about your plans. I believe they start doing BBB at 8am. They also do it at Downtown Disney so you'll want to make sure you get the reservation in the castle. To me doing it at Downtown Disney isn't worth it. If i'm going to pay that kind of money it's castle or nothing.

We stayed at Windsor Hills last May. We really liked how close it was to Disney. I think if you click on the link to my Oct. trip report I may have a link to my May TR from last year. I'll have to check. At Windsor Hills we got a lot of ads at our door for different restaurants. There were some pretty good deals. I think there was one where we got 2 pizza's and 2 pasta dishes for like $20. That lasted us for 3 meals (4 adults and Madeline).

Are you staying in a condo or house? We stayed in a condo and it had a really nice screened in porch too. The pool was nice and Eric liked the slide. Madeline was too little for it and I don't like enclosed slides so i skipped it. I think we used to pool every day we were there.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Ok here is the link to my very first TR (and M's first trip)
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2178922

I think there might be some windsor hills pictures in there.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Lets discuss rides!
I'm really excited for Madeline. She is now just shy of 40 inches without shoes so is at least 40 with them. By the time June rolls around she should be well over 40 inches. That means she'll get to experience a few new rides. The rides she'll be able to go on now include,

Magic Kingdom:
Big thunger mountain railroad
Splash Mountain
Stitch alien encounter (probably skip that though)

EPCOT:
Soarin
Test track

Animal Kingdom:
Kali river rapids
Dinosaur

DHS:
Star tours (it will be new then)
Tower of terror (we'll see about this one)

I think the only things she won't be able to ride are Rock n roller coaster, space mountain, and mission space.

 

[my2disneyboys]

Lets discuss rides!
I'm really excited for Madeline. She is now just shy of 40 inches without shoes so is at least 40 with them. By the time June rolls around she should be well over 40 inches. That means she'll get to experience a few new rides. The rides she'll be able to go on now include,

Magic Kingdom:
Big thunger mountain railroad - Myles loved this one!
Splash Mountain - Myles was really afraid but liked it and then said he probably wont ride it again!
Stitch alien encounter (probably skip that though) - we skip this one.... we saw it a long time ago and don't really love it.

EPCOT:
Soarin - Myles said it was too loud... didnt like it but said he will ride it again.
Test track - Myles LOVES this one!

Animal Kingdom:
Kali river rapids - Myles will not ride this one- he doesnt like getting wet
Dinosaur - Myles is going to try it this time!! Maybe I will too!?

DHS:
Star tours (it will be new then) So lucky!! We cant WAIT to go on this.
Tower of terror (we'll see about this one) -Myles is going to try this one this time for the first time.... I am a little afraid of how he will react....

I think the only things she won't be able to ride are Rock n roller coaster, space mountain, and mission space. - Myles liked Mission Space and Space Mountain and plans on riding both in January and is really sad he is too short for Rock n roller.....

Hey Shannon!
Myles gave his input for Madeline! (in red) Owen is just shy of 40 inches but he also JUST turned 3! He is kind of on the tall side..... so I am not sure if he is tall enough if he should ride some of those rides..... he wants to ride everything!!! I just dont want him to ride something and get totally traumatized and then not go on anything! What do you think!?

 

[shelbys mommy]

Magic Kingdom:
Big thunger mountain railroad-my then 5 year old refused to do any rides that were fast or had a drop after Splash Mountain in 07, but he loved it in June
Splash Mountain-my then 5 yr old by all means HAD to ride this, came off screaming & crying never again would he ever ride that again in 07, this last trip rode it again & loved it, but he is almost 8 now.
Stitch alien encounter (probably skip that though)-we will never do this ride again

EPCOT:
Soarin-my then 5 year old refused to do any rides that were fast or had a drop after Splash Mountain in 07, but he loved it in June
Test track-my then 5 year old refused to do any rides that were fast or had a drop after Splash Mountain in 07, but he loved it in June

Animal Kingdom:
Kali river rapids-my 8 year old has never rode this one yet, but my then 6 year old, now 10 year old loved it
Dinosaur-my then 5 year old refused to do any rides that were fast or had a drop after Splash Mountain in 07, but he loved it in June

DHS:
Star tours (it will be new then)-my then 5 year old refused to do any rides that were fast or had a drop after Splash Mountain in 07, but he loved it in June
Tower of terror (we'll see about this one)-my 8 year old has never rode this one yet, but my then 6 year old, now 10 year old loved it

As you can tell, Splash Mountain severely traumatized the poor child, but in June he was ready to do it all.

 

[chicagoshannon]

After reading your responsed I think I'll keep Madeline off of Splash Mountain and tower or terror. lol

Nicki- maybe keep Owen off of splash and tot. I'm super nervous about M going on those. I have a fear of her falling out of Splash.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm finally here and caught up.

Your condo looks beautiful! How far is it off property?

It is SO much fun bringing the little ones on the "big rides" for the first time, I'm sure she (and you!) are going to LOVE it. I think we might brave Kali River Rapids next trip...I'm just afraid Henry will love it and we'll be stuck getting soaked over and over again.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I'm finally here and caught up.

Your condo looks beautiful! How far is it off property?

It is SO much fun bringing the little ones on the "big rides" for the first time, I'm sure she (and you!) are going to LOVE it. I think we might brave Kali River Rapids next trip...I'm just afraid Henry will love it and we'll be stuck getting soaked over and over again.

yeah probably. At least when you go in march it should be warm. We almost took madeline on Kali in feb but it was so so cold. I would have gotten out of going since I was pregnant but I don't think my parents would have enjoyed getting soaked in that weather.

The condo is right by Sea World. There is an entrance onto I4 right by the condo and it's always pretty empty in that area so no waiting.

Have you taken Henry to Sea world yet?

 

[chicagoshannon]

I wonder if the inlaws will let Eric and I go off for an evening out while we're there. I need to come up with a restaurant for that occassion should it happen.

So where would you go if you could have a romantic evening with just you and your spouse?

We both loved Ohana (and that's probably top of our price range so keep that in mind). Would love some other suggestions.

 

[brookelizabeth]

We haven't done Sea World yet, but would like to in the next few years. I think he'll love it!

I think Kona Cafe, Boma, or something in Epcot could be a very nice dinner 2!

 

[chicagoshannon]

We haven't done Sea World yet, but would like to in the next few years. I think he'll love it!

I think Kona Cafe, Boma, or something in Epcot could be a very nice dinner 2!

I'm a bit nervous to try Boma. Last time Eric had African food he got really sick. His cousin's husband is from South Africa so they cooked us a meal once. Eric was sick for a couple of days. Don't need that in Disney .

Maybe we should try that French restaurant that has Remy.. what's that called again?