The Love Family Land & Sea Vacation Deluxe Style aka #17 days@Disney #landons5thbirthdayextravaganza

[PrincessTiannaLove]

Hello fellow Dis people! This is my **Welcome** & my introduction! First review ever, so please be patient & kind! I am not a very computer literate person, aside from googling, reading & using email! But I have read reviews, stalked reviews & used all of your reviews/tips for my planning, for this trip & our first trip, so I feel like it is time to repay the favor!

We are the Love family, from beautiful Denver, Colorado. We are Casey, Tianna (Me!), Madyson (7) & Landon (the BIRTHDAY BOY, who is 5!). We are your average, regular family, who fell in love with Disney when we took Mads (note all my nicknames along the way) when she was 2 & to Disneyland. Landon was a whopping 2months old, and we (watch the head-shake) left dear son at HOME! Well, while we couldn't believe the Disney Magic seen through our little girls eyes & had a wonderful time, we always felt regret that we didn't bring Landon that very first time, and swore we would someday make it up to him. Hopefully, 10 days at the World & a 7 night cruise, will be sufficient & he will forgive us someday.
We have a tradition where we take our kids to WDW for their BIG 5, and bc we were wet behind the ears, we only did a 3 night cruise & 4 nights at YC, for Madyson's. Of course, we didn't nearly everything done, we LOVED the cruise, and decided, that just under 3 weeks was going to be the answer. I have tried to add another day here, or an extra night there, but Casey (joy killer) said no. So, 17 nights is our lucky number.

We are arriving Sept. 16th (READ 8 SLEEPS!) & staying at the Wilderness Lodge. YC was home last time, but we felt drawn to WL last time & decided to see what the difference was. We are on Free Dining, upgraded to Deluxe (whoop whoop).
We are BIG foodies. Not super contentious or anything, but we love to eat. Most people think 3 TS are too much, but we enjoy the break, the talking & say it with me, the FOOD! Really, probably our biggest vice is how much we eat out at home. So, to us it just makes sense & that is how we will enjoy our vacation to the fullest.
After 10 nights at WL, we will head to Pt. Canaveral, and board the Fantasy, for 7nights on the Eastern Caribbean.
I hope to keep detailed info, crazy amounts of pictures & depending on time, a few live updates!
So, follow along, keep me sane for the next 8 nights, and most of all enjoy! Thank you!

 

[PrincessTiannaLove]

Our Dining Plan
Most are pretty concrete, a few are wiggly!


Wednesday Arrival Day!
-Earl of Sandwich
-Ghirardelli
-California Grill (VERY up in the air, possible switch to Boathouse)

Thursday
-Tusker House
-Flame Tree
-Yachtsman Steakhouse

Friday
-Kona
-BOG Lunch
-Ohana
-MNSSHP

Saturday
-Trails End
-Hoop De Doo

Sunday
-Boma
-Yak & Yeti
-Artist Point

Monday
-Beaches N Cream
-Mama Melrose Fantasmic Pkg

Tuesday
-Hollywood & Vine
-Sci Fi
-50's Primetime

Wednesday
-BOG Breakfast
-Columbia Harbor House
-Cape May Cafe

Thursday
-Akershus
-Via Napoli
-Whispering Canyon Cafe

Friday
-Crystal Palace
-The Plaza
-BOG Dinner

Saturday
-Whispering Canyon Cafe

THEN OFF TO OUR FANTASY!

 

[Vernie822]

Following along! Thanks for sharing with us.. it looks like you have some AWESOME meals planned! We were there the 13-20th last year and the crowd level was so, so, so awesome. I hope you have the same luck we did, we did not wait too long for a lot of things.

I agree with you about the sit down dining. I have never done more than 2 in a day, but we really like it. My fiance told me he wants at least one every day to get out of the heat and relax. Plus we love trying new foods. You have an awesome line up!

 

[vettegirl]

Sounds delicious! You guys are going to be full

 

[Mom2Minnie]

Following along! This sounds like my dream vacation!

 

[Klinger13]

Looking forward to your reviews!

 

[Mrsd]

Following along also. We are doing a cruise next spring on the Dream with our grown kids and grandkids. I'm looking forward to hearing your plans and how everything turns out.

 

[auntfrannie]

You have some good choices on your list!

 

[jesswindsor]

Can't wait!!!

 

[xxCaraBearaxx]

Following!

 

[twinkybel81]

Looks like a great line up! Have a wonderful trip! Overall, we enjoy doing 3 meals a day also, with most of them being TS. I just need to learn that I don't have to eat every last bite to get my money's worth.

 

[starousse]

Following and can't wait to hear about this trip. Last year we did land and sea and did the Dream. We're planning on doing the Fantasy next December. Definitely swap out California Grill for the Boathouse. We just got back and our Cali Grill dinner was the worst all week. The Boathouse was our favorite meal of the week.

 

[PrincessTiannaLove]

We are back, tired, a few extra pounds here & there & we survived our first ever Hurricane, no less on the ocean on a Disney boat! Bare with me as I try to type, upload, and not make a hundred mistakes per post! I am also happy to answer any questions, so ask away! Thanks again for following & HERE WE GO!

 

[PrincessTiannaLove]

DAY 1: Leaving Denver for 17 days at Disney! ​

Up, bright & early at 3:30am to get to our 6:30am flight. We live about 25 minutes away from our airport, and everyone woke up pretty happy & chipper, even for the ungodly hour. We checked in curbside (8 bags, over pack? Us? NEVER!) and get through security. Breakfast? Einsteins & Dunkin'. Neither were good, but tolerably until we get to Disney!

Now, a quick note, we changed our ressies a few times, after I posted our list. I actually made a pretty big, but silly mistake. I thought our Beaches N Cream ressie was good to go. Turns out, I may have booked it for July, not Sept. And this was one of the ONLY ones that I could not, no matter what, get a time that would work with our schedule. So, we ended up grabbing a late lunch one on arrival day. Husband was happy. It was the first place we ate at for our last trip & we love traditions!

We land, get on ME & finally, finally after like 14 long months of planning, we arrived at.....the Wilderness Lodge. It is a beautiful resort. First impressions, it was grand, smelled AMAZING, and really seemed like home. We checked in, room wasn't ready, so we decided to explore. And after our very, ahem, icky breakfast, we actually were hungry. So Roaring Forks, the CS at WL, seemed like a good idea. A "little" something to get us to Beaches N Cream. Now, I have done my homework. I know what the rules are of DP, I know the tricks, the best way to get the most out of it. My family?? Nah! My husband doesn't care any which way to maximize the plan. He does, however, care that he doesn't have to worry at all about paying, what's included or what isn't. He just wants what he wants, & we are good. So, all my planning goes wooooo.......out the window! We just used 4, get that 4, CS meals? Why?? Because, it is all paid for so who cares?? Dang it.....! Any who.... We go to the counter & get our orders.

DS got

Kids Meal Chicken Nuggets, with Apple Sauce & Grapes & a chocolate milk.
He ate them. He had some applesauce. Didn't open the milk, we took it back to the room.

DD got

Cheese Pizza Kids Meal, carrots, grapes & chocolate milk. This was a flat bread pizza. And it wasn't good. At all. She had maybe 2 bites of it. It looked ok, but she wouldn't touch it.

DH had

Roast Beef & Blue Sandwich with potato chips, and I think I picked a Magic Bar for his dessert. Casey loved this. I had a small bite, not a big blue cheese fan, and it was good. Again, he liked it & would have eaten it again, had we had a chance.

And I had....

the Turkey Ranch Wrap
with a side of

homemade potato chips.

This was in the refrigerator, a pre made wrap, and it was yummy. It had tons of fillings, tomatos, cheddar cheese, bacon, ranch & I'm sure turkey! I knew we were eating dinner in about 3 hours, so I only ate half, but I really like it to. It still counts as a meal, so I got a side of chips, and a brownie. Now, this is where I did the whole screw up, what am I doing, what in the world, with my family & the CM at the register. I know I want to sub our drinks. BUT do I? No. I was overwhelmed, I was in chaos & I just was done. So, we did the rookie dance all the way to the table. But oh well! I remember our total was $35 & change. Ugh, my heart just stopped for a second.
I didn't get pictures of the desserts, but let me say. The brownie, with no frosting, very blah. Dry, and kind of hard, not in a good way. And the Magic Bar? Mmmmm yum. I am not a fan of coconut, so I was hesitant to try it, but glad we did. It is SUPER sweet. Like, we each had a bite of this good size bar & we were good. But it was so worth it!
We should have traded out one of the kids sides for a better dessert, but again, by the time I figured out what was happening, I didn't want to fight it. So meal #1 down! 4 total credits used & $35.78 would have been the total.

 

[Vernie822]

Yay, you are back! Glad to hear you had a great trip. Can't wait to read all about it.

Your sandwiches look pretty good. I am such a Type A planner and my fiance was just like your husband when we used the dining plan. Not a care in the world. Made my heart stop every time, LOL.

I just loved Beaches and Cream! Can't wait for some yummy food pics.