To Infinity And Beyond or Bust...a June 2013 PTR

[Kitkat6595]

So, I just discovered how to reply to multiple people at once - whoops! Sorry about that.

I had a pleasant surprise the other night that changes one of my day plans a little. I had toyed with the idea of eating at the Contemporary for dinner the night we are staying late at MK. I knew we could get back to the park a little later since we are staying so late (again...Wishes starts at 10pm!? ack!). The only reservation I could get was 7pm at The Wave. Eh. Late dinner and not really what I was going for. Something made me look again a few nights ago, and low and behold, a 5pm ADR at Chef Mickey's was open!!!!!!!

I did a lot of research on character meals, but always just breakfast. Never dinner. So, I don't know much about the dinner. Anyone been there? I made the reservation, but I'll admit, I'm still trying to decide if we need two meals. We're going to Tusker House for breakfast on our first day.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Alysa]

Chef Mickeys has sort of become a family tradition when we go with my sis and her family. The food is "meh" for dinner but the character interaction is fantastic and kids love it. The kids go for the characters but they love the dessert bar as well. We are going to try breakfast this year instead. The other characters that you'll meet here are Minnie and Chip and Dale, the one you won't meet compared to the Tusker House is Daisy.

 

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Thanks for the link to the Facebook page. I joined! We'll be there from the 6-14th. Looking forward to your trip.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Good Monday Morning!

I say go for Chef Mickeys.

The boys will love it. It gets bad reviews but it has good reviews also. We went for dinner in 2008, it has been a while. It was good, I just wish it had more meat selections. I think at the time it was prime rib and I can't remember the other meat offer. I do not like prime rib and I didn't like the other selection either. That was our only complaint about Chef Mickeys at the time. I am sure it has changed since then.

Our kids loved it!

 

[Kitkat6595]

Thank, ladies! I'm trying to decide if we need two character meals with basically the same characters, except they are dressed different. I have some time, but still trying to figure it out.

Made a stop at The Disney Store yesterday. Dangerous place, isn't it? I decided that while we may not be matching, I'd like a "theme" of the day with our shirts that sort of coordinate with the park we are going to that day. Hubby just smiled and shook his head, but he'll do it.

First set of shirts are Mickey Mouse for the MK, of course. I picked these up for us:

For Me

For hubby - it says, "The best part of being a grownup is not having to act like one"

And for the boys

They were also having their "buy one plush, get one free" sale, so I picked up a mini plush for each of them when we get to Disney:

I bought the last two Perry plushes in our store. I heard someone asking for them just as I was walking out. I was happy for my boys, but I always hate to hear someone can't find what they are looking for.

Because my boys are so excited about the Perry adventure at Epcot and love the show, I was planning on getting them Perry shirts to wear on Epcot day. However, Disney does not sell size 2/3 Perry shirts, at least in the store. grrrr. Now I'm on the hunt for one somewhere else! Maybe I can have one made?

We have Toy Story shirts to wear on Hollywood Studios day (although, I will admit I would love a Jessie shirt...it is my name, after all...). I need a cute idea for Animal Kingdom day and another MK day. Fun fun!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

We love perry! DD & DH wear a Disney Shirts to the parks. DD loves it.


Disney Store is dangerous, we are going to make a trip to get shirts for our trip. We just haven't got around to it yet.

great update!

 

[wiigirl]

Love those Perry dolls!

 

[archdandy]

I'm joining in! Your boys are so cute! If your looking for something else to do on your day off you could always do bowling at DTD. I don't know how much your family likes bowling but it could be a fun option.

 

[lsenquiz]

I'm trying to decide if we need two character meals with basically the same characters, except they are dressed different. I have some time, but still trying to figure it out.

I had this same dilemma for this trip and finally decided the answer was no for us.

For hubby - it says, "The best part of being a grownup is not having to act like one"

Love this!

 

[Kitkat6595]

We love perry! DD & DH wear a Disney Shirts to the parks. DD loves it.


Disney Store is dangerous, we are going to make a trip to get shirts for our trip. We just haven't got around to it yet.

great update!

It IS dangerous. They just had their little playsets on sale and I picked up a Toy Story one for Sam's birthday next month and the Phineas & Ferb set for Caleb's birthday in May. $9 for one of those was a good deal!

Love those Perry dolls!

I thought they were so cute!

I'm joining in! Your boys are so cute! If your looking for something else to do on your day off you could always do bowling at DTD. I don't know how much your family likes bowling but it could be a fun option.

Oh bowling would be fun! Thanks for the tip.

I had this same dilemma for this trip and finally decided the answer was no for us.

I am leaning in this direction but haven't cancelled either yet. Ho hum...I'll figure it out.

 

[Kitkat6595]

Well, not much Disney planning happened over the last few days. We had a weekend trip to Indianapolis planned with family, so that took up a few days. Great trip and I recommend the Children's Museum there if you haven't seen it! We have several great Children's Museums in the Chicago area that we have been too frequently, but it was nice to see a different one. They had a Hot Wheels exhibit that my boys ADORED. A room filled with cars and ramps? You better believe that room was filled with young boys.

Anyway, I made a big purchase today. OUR AIRFARE!!!!!!!!

I have been agonizing over airfare for months now. The pricing is really wonky. I've seen prices on the same flight change three times in one day. I had a "magic number" in my head of $1200. If I could get four tickets from Chicago to Orlando, nonstop and we weren't flying out at 3 insane o'clock, I would be happy. I did my nightly check last night and decided to look again this morning. Prices had dropped almost $100 a ticket! Since last night! So, lesson learned - tickets are cheaper in the morning. So, now we officially have our tickets and I can finalize our itinerary.

We arrive in Orlando on June 1st at 12:30pm. So happy we have half a day to get our rental, go grocery shopping, get situated at the condo and have a lowkey dinner somewhere. Maybe we'll check out DTD that night? Now that I know when we are arriving, I can look at this more seriously.

And we leave for home on June 8th at 11:30. I'm happy this means we will get back home before dinner and we'll have all day Sunday to recover before the real world attacks.

SOOOO glad this is done!!! Now to focus on getting a good deal on a rental and deciding where to buy those Disney tickets. Where do you buy your Disney tickets? At the parks? Online? At a Disney Store?

 

[lsenquiz]

Congratulations on the big purchase I usually get my tickets through AAA(but I think that is only available in Georgia???) I have also purchased from Maple Leaf Tickets. I have a subscription to the Ultimate Disney World Savings Guide so I get a discount(though it is not much) through that.

 

[Kitkat6595]

Thanks! I just received my Mousesavers newsletter, and he stated that prices may go up earlier this year, so I should get on buying those park tickets sooner rather than later.

Public Service Announcement - the Disney Store is having their "friends" sale. 25% off everything. And they are also having free shipping on all orders over $75. I took that to be a challenge.

I think we are set on t-shirts, at least all I'll do for now. I didn't have ANY disney shirts, and my husband only has marvel shirts, so I picked up a couple for each of us. And the boys needed toy story shirts for our Hollywood Studios day (considering Toy Story Mania is all my oldest talks about and my youngest cannot wait to meet Buzz and Woody...). Let's see if I can find what I picked up today.

First, for me, I needed a super hero shirt, given that I'm surrounded by boys who love them.

With the discount, this was just a little over $5!

And I loved the bright pink shirt to go along with Bashful. So appropriate:

Hubby decided he doesn't like ringer tees, so I am returning the last mickey shirt and going with this one:

And then I got him this one, because it's awesome. And my children adore the angry bird games.

The boys will be wearing this on HS day:

And with the discount, these were only $7.50!!

And then, thanks to a tip from a fellow DISer, I picked up the autograph books. With the sale, they were only $5.96 each. I saw they were almost $14 in the parks, so I'm quite happy with that.

Besides my shopping, I am also still obsessed with ADRs. I don't want a lot, because my youngest is not exactly fond of long meals. So, besides Via Napoli (which I am very excited about), the only other reservations we are making are for character meals. We are definitely starting our trip with breakfast at Tuskar House, but I am throwing around the idea of a second. I had booked Chef Mickey's for dinner on our first of two days at MK, but I am leaning away from that. I really don't think we need two character meals with the pretty much the same characters, just dressed differently. I did come across a breakfast ADR for Crystal Palace at 8:35am on our last day in the parks. That will also be our second day at MK. I thought it would be nice to start our vacation with a meal at AK and end with one at MK. I wish it was earlier, so I will continue to monitor (who am I kidding...stalk...) the reservation website for an earlier time. Not quite as worried since this is our second day there, but we'll see.

Do people like breakfast at CP? I just love the Pooh characters and would love to see them. Any input you have would be great!

 

[lsenquiz]

We like the character breakfasts best for a few reasons, 1) it is the safest meal for my pickey eaters, 2) We can get into the parks early, 3) the character interactions. I am a big character hunter so I am going to find time to see as many characters as possible. By doing this in a meal before the park opens I save valuable park time that would have been spent in line for that character. I probably would not schedule a character breakfast after park opening unless I thought I would be waiting more than an hour to see the characters in the parks.

 

[archdandy]

I've eaten at CP a couple of times and I loved the breakfast buffet. The food was good and the characters were really great. Try and get an ADR before the park opens if you can and you can get some great shots of the castle without anybody else around!

 

[Kitkat6595]

We like the character breakfasts best for a few reasons, 1) it is the safest meal for my pickey eaters, 2) We can get into the parks early, 3) the character interactions. I am a big character hunter so I am going to find time to see as many characters as possible. By doing this in a meal before the park opens I save valuable park time that would have been spent in line for that character. I probably would not schedule a character breakfast after park opening unless I thought I would be waiting more than an hour to see the characters in the parks.

Thank you for the tips! I'm still throwing around the idea of CP at 8:25...I dunno. I'll probably change my mind a million times.

I've eaten at CP a couple of times and I loved the breakfast buffet. The food was good and the characters were really great. Try and get an ADR before the park opens if you can and you can get some great shots of the castle without anybody else around!

Thank you! The thought of an empty Main St. would be really cool. If I could find an ADR for slightly earlier, I might be sold. It IS our second day in MK, so maybe if we are done a little after park opening, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

 

[lsenquiz]

Thank you for the tips! I'm still throwing around the idea of CP at 8:25...I dunno. I'll probably change my mind a million times.

If the reservation is for a day when MK opens at 9am then I would totally do it. Get to the park at 8am and take some time to grab some awesome pictures of the Castle before you head over to CP.

CP is one of my favorite character meals!

 

[Kitkat6595]

Happy Friday! Well, I did change my mind on the ADR. Shocked? A fellow DISer posted to the June facebook group about someone canceling their BOG reservation for 5:45 on June 7th - what happens to be our second day in MK and our last day of vacation. I was so grateful to her, because I was able to coordinate with the man canceling his reservation and snatched it up as soon as it appeared back on the website!!!! So, I canceled my morning breakfast at CP and now I am so excited for dinner at BOG. My kids don't really care for Beauty & the Beast, but I have such fond memories of this movie since it came out when I was growing up. I have read a lot of reviews and see the food is only so-so, but I am going for the atmosphere.

We also decided to have a late breakfast on our "off" day at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort. I am drooling over these macadamia pineapple pancakes and the kona coffee already...

We made the reservation for 10:45, so a late breakfast. We plan on laying low that morning at the condo and then head over to the Polynesian to explore and have our breakfast. I'd like to hit the Art of Animation resort at some point this day as well, so my boys can see the Cars. We'll figure it out.

 

[lsenquiz]

Congratulations on the BOG reservation! We are going to do lunch there one day on our September trip.

 

[Kitkat6595]

Hey everyone! Not much planning going on over year, although it will be time to start planning our days out soon. Just trying to get past March as I have my youngest's third birthday party (Toy Story themed, of course) and then a spring party at my oldest's class since I'm the room mom. Fun stuff, but taking away from Disney planning.

Next on my radar is the car rental and the stroller rental. Not that exciting, but has to get done!

We spent the morning at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center near us this morning since it was "Star Wars weekend". We got there nice and early to beat the crowds, only we beat all of the star wars characters. My boys didn't seem to mind and they had fun. At one point, we were on one of the rides, which is a lot like Dumbo. When I told my boys that the ride (which they just said over and over how much they loved) was a lot like Dumbo, they flipped out and were so excited. Oh we can't wait for our trip!!!