Time to start planning in earnest!

[zummerzet66]

My countdown has now dropped below a year, so I feel ready to start proper planning (been having tentative thoughts, but it's time to put a proper plan in place!)

 

[natalielongstaff]

Oh i remember that feeling enjoy your planning

 

[jen_uk]

Happy planning, its half the fun!

 

[~Piglet~]

My countdown has now dropped below a year, so I feel ready to start proper planning

You're cutting it fine

Enjoy your planning

We've only got 270 days to go now!

 

[cannp123165]

Enjoy your planning!

 

[Tinks1984]

Great feeling isn't it? Enjoy your planning!

 

[Goofysmate]

Happy Planning​

 

[scojos]

im in, i leave in just over a year (4th) so i too need to start that planning, cutting it fine? with all you great knowledgable people im sure you could knock a holiday up in 2 days
have started reading the restaurant reviews, as we have free ddp, does that count as planning?
tracy

 

[mollies_mum]

I'm sooo jealous, I can't start my one year dance for another 2 1/2 months...

I've already decided on some of my dining.....

 

[scojos]

I've already decided on some of my dining.....

oh, do share, we are going to do -
boma
CP
CM
CdF
LC
V and A
50s PTC
CG (didnt get there last year cause of TS Faye)

others are open to negotiation with family, where are you going?

 

[mollies_mum]

Our definites are:
Lilo and Stitch character breakfast
Donald Duck character breakfast at AK
Crystal Palace


This is the first time we've had DDP and it's free so I thought that the character breakfasts with DD would be a good deal. We would also like to do a dinner show but not sure which one yet.

We are also going to do T-Rex probably at least twice *** DD is Dino mad eventhough we can't use DDP here

We are staying at CSR for the first time so we'll try out the restaurants there as well.

I have to admit scojos that I have no idea what your abbreviations mean, I'm guessing that CM is Cafe Mickeys and CP is Crystal Palace, sorry....

 

[KAC2005]

Happy planning! I have already started to plan for next year and its not even booked yet!!

 

[scojos]

oh, do share, we are going to do -
boma
CP
CM
CdF
LC
V and A
50s PTC
CG (didnt get there last year cause of TS Faye)

others are open to negotiation with family, where are you going?

sorry spend too much time on the restaurant boards
cp= crystal palace (mk with pooh and friends, v good
cm= chef mickeys
cdf chef de france in epcot
lc - lecellier epcot again, in canada
v and a victoria and alberts, its THE fine dinign experience at wdw, not on ddp, at the grand floridian, this will be my 4th attempt to get dh to spend £400 on dinner and childcare
cg = california grill, thats the restaurant on top of the contempary, a 2table service restaurant, but i want to see wished from there, missed out last year...
50s prime time cafe is at HS - again one we have tried and failed to do several times.

id also suggest you check out the whispering canyon cafe at wilderness lodge as its a hoot!!

try looking at the rewiews on the restaurant boards, they re fun and informative!!
hope that helps
tracy

ps bfast with stitch is great, tusker house bfast at AK not so good, too many people, we had to wait to get mickey to our table, we had finished 40 mins before he came, too much time wasting for me,
hth x

 

[mollies_mum]

Thanks Tracy for explaining those to me, I'm still such a newbie

I'm still definitely going to do the Donald character breakfast mainly because Donald is one of DD's faves and we both LOVE AK...if I regret it I'll post and let you know

It's all so exciting, it's only our 2nd trip, didn't think we could afford to go at all but I got a promotion at work so I booked it asap....I justified it to myself by getting the Free DDP! This has made me more determined to try out some of the restaurants instead of just grabbing burgers... plus I LOVE FOOD haha

Thanks again, I'm off to the restaurant thread before I give myself a headache from all this planning

 

[scojos]

he free ddp is great we had it last year and have it again next year -
my only advice would be avoid the liberty tree tavern at all costs, it was soooo bad we got our money back (Well our credits)
be prepared for the meals to be slow, especially character meals, 90 mins to 2 hours was our average time, we did both the tusker house and cp and stitch bfast and enjoyed them all, but did them on days were we had not gone to "commando" the parks - other tip would be to get on ee, then get a fp for d=safari before the tusker house bfast, book a lateish one so you can "skip" lunch and make the most of your AK day.
donald was also at chef mickeys, we love him too....
a few recommendations for the counter service (CS) meals would inc sunshine seasons, and peco bills, they had lovely non burger options - and dont forget to try beaches and cream for a kitchen sink, cause they are amazing...
let me know how your planning goes
tracy

 

[scojos]

thats a s kitchen sink from beaches and cream

thats chef mickeys...

thats the best friends bfast (Stitch and co.)
thought you might enjoy seeing those..
tracy
x

 

[mollies_mum]

Thanks Tracy, what great pictures

Your gorgeous kids look like they had a great time!

90 mins to 2 hours for a character breakfast Definitely not for a 'commando' day (that really made me laugh-only because it is sooo true!)

After looking at the restaurant threads, which are great by the way, I really like the look of the sci fi cafe (I think that is what it is called) and the 50s prime time cafe both in HS. Giong to try them both I think

Thanks again for the great pics

 

[scojos]

you re welcome!
my kids did have a great holiday thanks to major over planning by mom
middle ds is autistic, so we have to know what where when and why at all times....
the sci fi dinner is ok, food is a bit crummy, burgers etc. cars are cool, and its v dark - so nice to get out of the sun at lunchtime.
HS has very poor food choices, but you might want to consider the fantasmic package if its a first trip, the priority seating is worth its weight in gold, however to my knowledge this is not inc on DDP!
character meals are long, which is why an evening option is better, CM is good fun, and a nice way to end a day, or get an early start - how long are you going for? i suggest you look at how many days you want to spend in each park, plan your ts meals around that (remember most of the best choices are in epcot, but you can hop (we did MK then hopped for dinner then back for wishes, the 20 min monorail trip was lovely and something we had never done before - dinner at corral reef and back to mk...
just remember, knowledge is power