~*~The OFFICIAL 2014 Dates Thread - Come Join Us!~*~

[SAT887]

I have and honestly I didn't find it bad at all. We were even staying at a value where lots of runners were. The only thing I noticed was the food court and pool were more crowded.

What about the roadways?

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Can I come eat with you guys? DH is allergic to shellfish and my kids act like eating a steak is some sort of horrible punishment. I'm banished to the world of chicken.

Sure. We love meeting new people. We love mussels, crab, shrimp, steak, pork, steak and so much more. Just don't talk tofu or vegetarian. My DH will hear none of that!

HOw are you saving some money? Are you not doing the dining plan or just not the deluxe? I keep crunching numbers and I think we are going to do TIW for the whole trip without a dining plan. I think it might help to save us a little since DS will have just turned 3 and is not a big eater so other than character meals, he can share with us or DD.
.

We love to eat at more table service places than counter services. So if we get regular dining plan, we don't get to eat all the places we want to. If we get the Deluxe plan, it is so much food and so much money (approx.$4000 over 9 nights for 4 Disney adults in July). So, we figured if we eat at all those restaurants get 2 apps to share, 1 entrée each, a non-alcoholic bev each, and 2 desserts to share plus tip we would still be only about $300 more than regular dining plan while still getting almost double the TS as the plan.
Did that make any sense??? Our expected expense for all our meals combined including tips is $2500. That includes all I said above and 2 of those restaurants are signatures and only 3 counter services. To us, we won't eat more than 2 meals a day in that heat, so it works. We also budgeted $200 for snacks during our stay. Even if they are $5/snack that is 40, which is way more than we need. We always bring our own water bottles so we don't spend money on that or we ask for free cups of ice at CS locations.
Hope that helps.

 

[Valgoof]

Feb hours haven't been released yet. I've been refreshing that page at least once an hour since yesterday like I think that's going to make it happen sooner.

I've also turned into an OCD email checker for the 0.000001% chance there's a code in there.

Glad I am not alone.

 

[auprincess]

What about the roadways?

I don't know - I'm sorry! I am not an observant passenger, my husband teases me about it all the time. But they do start really early, so I wouldn't think the roads wild be too bad after mid morning.


Okay - can anyone tell me about CSR? I know it is very spread out, but we will have our own vehicle. We are debating between either of the POs and CSR. My reasoning behind CSR is that it his would be the only time we could stay there in a standard room (youngest will only be 2). The pool and dig site look like a lot of fun. The quick service set up turns me off a bit, but honestly we don't do much eating at our resorts, maybe a couple breakfasts, usually to go. We can always stay at POR in the future since they fit 5.

 

[joanzie72]

I like easywdw.com he has good crowd calendars. I'm not a huge follower of them, but I can't say I don't look. Some people swear by touringplans.com.... However, I do prefer Josh from easywdw methods, breakdowns and humor.... I don't think I have seen the feb calendar posted yet though....

That is the one! Thanks.

Feb hours haven't been released yet. I've been refreshing that page at least once an hour since yesterday like I think that's going to make it happen sooner.

I've also turned into an OCD email checker for the 0.000001% chance there's a code in there.

Yeah I will be there soon. The one thing that will defer me is I am going to my IL come Friday for about a week and their internet is dial up

 

[GraceMonica]

Just got the go ahead from my boyfriend to start planning a trip for January! Eeek! Ive been away from the dis since March so now I get to catch up on what's been happening in the World for the past few months! This is exciting!!!

 

[ShhhQ]

So we have come up with our dining choices for next year. For those of you that don’t know me, we are all about good food and good restaurants. We LOVE our Disney Dining. We have done the dining plan in the past and the Deluxe Dining plan twice. This time we are saving some money without the plan while still eating at the places we want to eat. DS loves his shrimp but can get down with a good steak, DD loves mussels but will be a carnivore for a NY strip steak. DH is ALL carnivore! I will try many different proteins. We all love good sides, appetizers and desserts. We just have a hard time, in the hot summer months, eating all of them at every meal. Here is what we have decided for next year…
DTD day
L- Raglan Road (loved it last year and must have more)
D- Maya Grill (little known gem at Coronado Springs we love. Tex-Mex type food, Yum!)
AK day
L- Yak & Yeti (love this place and kids want to go back again, ok, done)
D- Cape May Clam Bake (yes, we can get down with a seafood buffet, haven’t been in a while)
Arrival day
D- Ohana (love this place! Must do every trip, great food and atmosphere)
DHS day
L- 50’s Prime time Café (my favorite for the kitch and good comfort food, yum)
D- Counter Service in the park some where
1st Epcot day
L- Rose and Crown (haven’t been since Disneymoon ’94, kids want to try so here we go)
D-Teppan Edu (Must do on every trip for the last 3 or 4 trips, super yum!)
2nd Epcot day (no kids just DH and myself)
L- La Hacienda (did this last trip but were so full couldn’t appreciate it so trying again this trip)
D-Yachtsman Steakhouse (2nd time for us, steaks that melt in our mouths, yes sign me up!!!!)
1st MK day
L-Cosmic Ray’s (staple CS for us, we enjoy this place. Only missed it once in all our trips)
D- Be our Guest (It’s new and we figure we should try it out)
2nd MK day
B-Chef Mickey’s (been for dinner recently but not Breakfast and kids want to do B there, so okay)
D-Citricos (never been but menu looked good and we wanted to try another signature this trip)
Departure day
B- Landscapes of Flavors (good food, nice to do before leaving)
So this is what we have. What do you think? Let me know. I would like to hear what you think and if you have any questions about any places I have been, I would be happy to answer them as best I can. Ok, so let me know what you think!

Raglan Road... never been
Maya Grill ... went back in 2007, was ok
Yak & Yeti ... Great Sit-Down restaurant... not so good CS
Cape May Clam Bake ... MY FAVORITE.... love Crab legs!!
Ohana .... Never been, really should next trip.
50’s Prime time Café ... didn't care for this one....
Rose and Crown .. never been
Teppan Edu ... also never been
La Hacienda ... another never been
Yachtsman Steakhouse ... never been but would like to
Cosmic Ray’ ... good choice for cs
Be our Guest ... SOOO wanna try this one
Chef Mickey’s ... nice character interaction, standard food... never been for breakfast though
Citricos ... never tried this one either
Landscapes of Flavors ... Never heard of this one, what is it??? where is it?

 

[hsmamainva]

Landscape of Flavor is the food court at AOA resort.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Landscapes of Flavors ... Never heard of this one, what is it??? where is it?

This is the CS at the newest resort Art of Animation. They have a nice selection of international flavors. Not just your standard burger joint. Check out their menus online. It's good. My favorite thing is the surf and surf burger. Crab cake topped with fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and a sauce. So good!

 

[mamabear0222]

All this ADR talk makes me wonder if we're missing out. Lol
I don't think about food on vacation. In fact that's why we rented a place so we can cook at home vs staying at a hotel eating out all the time. I struggle with a few days eating out...I can't imagine 14!

The only ADR I will make I'm pretty sure is Chef Mickeys for the kids 5th birthday.

Sent from my Samsung S3 using DISBoards

 

[rharper1496]

I don't know - I'm sorry! I am not an observant passenger, my husband teases me about it all the time. But they do start really early, so I wouldn't think the roads wild be too bad after mid morning.


Okay - can anyone tell me about CSR? I know it is very spread out, but we will have our own vehicle. We are debating between either of the POs and CSR. My reasoning behind CSR is that it his would be the only time we could stay there in a standard room (youngest will only be 2). The pool and dig site look like a lot of fun. The quick service set up turns me off a bit, but honestly we don't do much eating at our resorts, maybe a couple breakfasts, usually to go. We can always stay at POR in the future since they fit 5.

CSR has those doors that block off the bathroom counter area from the rest of the room right? Those would probably be nice when you're trying to get up and moving first thing in the morning but don't want to wake the kids yet.

 

[rharper1496]

Glad I am not alone.

LOL, not just you.

In other news.....still not up yet.

 

[momjeeps]

Well good news/bad news. Bad news first. Remove me from the WDW October list. DH talked to ILs today. They've decided they aren't up for the travel cross country to WDW. Good news, they want to do DLR again instead. AND they prefer to do it earlier than their actual Anniversary and do it in the summer which means I don't have to break the rule I set after our nov 2012 trip of no missing school for trips. we were really wanting to see Cars Land too. My brother worked on RSR and we are dying to ride and maybe even get a behind the scenes tour. Now I get to restart the pre planning stage. Looks like I'm getting on the DLR wagon just in time. I should be able to start booking hotels and such within the next couple of weeks.

 

[mickeyplanner]

I haven't finished my ADRs yet... I'm so undecided.... Does MK get insanely busy? Maybe we will do HS that day and try FF for dinner..... Then we can wander on over to Epcot that evening and walk around the world showcase..... Do you think Epcot would be crowded at night?

Epcot seemed OK other than Friday night. So if you do HS on a Saturday or Sunday and then head over to Epcot you should be fine.

We love to eat at more table service places than counter services. So if we get regular dining plan, we don't get to eat all the places we want to. If we get the Deluxe plan, it is so much food and so much money (approx.$4000 over 9 nights for 4 Disney adults in July). So, we figured if we eat at all those restaurants get 2 apps to share, 1 entrée each, a non-alcoholic bev each, and 2 desserts to share plus tip we would still be only about $300 more than regular dining plan while still getting almost double the TS as the plan.
Did that make any sense??? Our expected expense for all our meals combined including tips is $2500. That includes all I said above and 2 of those restaurants are signatures and only 3 counter services. To us, we won't eat more than 2 meals a day in that heat, so it works. We also budgeted $200 for snacks during our stay. Even if they are $5/snack that is 40, which is way more than we need. We always bring our own water bottles so we don't spend money on that or we ask for free cups of ice at CS locations.
Hope that helps.

Have you looked into getting a Tables of Wonderland card to save 20% of dining? That is what we are going to do instead of the dining plan this year.

What about the roadways?

There are a lot of detours set up but traffic does move. The buses even take different routes because of the marathon.

 

[BearcatsFan]

I guess I should have included we'll be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary and my 29th birthday! Well be there 9/13-9/21 my birthday is 9/7 and anny is 9/27 so we will celebrate both!!

I will add those on to the list for you!

 

[BearcatsFan]

I agree with this.... You are awesome Bearcats! You must go to WDW!



Where offsite?

Thanks! You all must stop this now ... I'm getting a big ego!

Where offsite ... I've got it narrowed down to a few places, but nothing is set in stone yet. Heck, now my husband is talking about Spring, 2015 instead so we can see F&G Festival (he knows how badly I've been wanting to go), who knows what's going on at this point in time! The plans seem to change daily, but as long as I get back to WDW at some point in time, all is good!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Just stopping by to say we are officially booked for our dates, May 22 - 26, 2014 at POR. It will be the end to our Disney Cruise. My son can't wait to do SWW. Of course I can't wait to see him roll out of bed early enough to get to HS.

So glad you are booked - looks like you got the dates you were wanting, also!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Finally we have dates and hotel picked. My parents are coming down for part of our trip .

Please move me to December We will be at POR December 14-27. My parents are joining us on the 23rd for Christmas. (Notice the hotel change I WIN I WIN I WIN)

Originally when I spoke to the school there was absolutely no way to pull the high school kids for vacation. After being persistant that they are my kids and I should be able to, I spoke to a guidance counselor who we have a good relationship with and explained it to him....and YES I can pull them for a week. My college age son though I do not want to pull. So we are leaving the day after his final class.

Now I just need to be patient for the packages for December to open up.

I'll get you moved from August to December! for spending Christmas at WDW!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Just got the go ahead from my boyfriend to start planning a trip for January! Eeek! Ive been away from the dis since March so now I get to catch up on what's been happening in the World for the past few months! This is exciting!!!

to our group! What will your dates be in January and where are you planning to stay so I can get you added to the list?

Look forward to getting to know you, so jump in and start chatting!

 

[BearcatsFan]

Well good news/bad news. Bad news first. Remove me from the WDW October list. DH talked to ILs today. They've decided they aren't up for the travel cross country to WDW. Good news, they want to do DLR again instead. AND they prefer to do it earlier than their actual Anniversary and do it in the summer which means I don't have to break the rule I set after our nov 2012 trip of no missing school for trips. we were really wanting to see Cars Land too. My brother worked on RSR and we are dying to ride and maybe even get a behind the scenes tour. Now I get to restart the pre planning stage. Looks like I'm getting on the DLR wagon just in time. I should be able to start booking hotels and such within the next couple of weeks.

I can take you off the October list, momjeeps, no problem, but don't go anywhere! Feel free to stick around, keep chatting, and let us know how your plans for DL are coming along!