*~Trading Snow & Slush For Pixie Dust~* Jan PTR - 1/17 - Photo Challenge Complete!

[Colleen27]

Great shot of the kids.

I have to laugh, your favorite ride is what I used for my least favorite I do agree with you and love the theme but it's just the ride itself that I'm not a fan of - lol!!!

I didn't expect to like it when I first rode. We don't live far from Cedar Point and I find the Demon Drop rather tame/boring so I didn't have high hopes for a similar drop-oriented ride, but Disney really did it right. The theme and storytelling make all the difference, and I always tell people that even if they don't want to ride it is worth going through the queue if someone in their party is riding and then taking the chicken exit, because the hotel itself is so very impressive.

 

[Colleen27]

Day 11 - A picture of the thing you wish you could change about the parks.

See all those people? I had a hard time coming up with something for this one, but really this is the one thing that I'd change if I could - the crowds!

 

[Colleen27]

We're at 39 days on the trip countdown but only 3 on the countdown the kids are more worried about these days - number of school days until Christmas break. I'm looking forward to having them home. It seems like 3 kids should be more work than 1, but Boo demands so much less of my time and attention when she has her big brother and sister to play with that it is really the exact opposite.

But since right now Boo is sleeping in, I'm working on fine tuning the plans for our new dates.

Jan 24: Our flight leaves Detroit at 7:45pm, arriving in Orlando at 10:30. Obviously we're not doing anything on check-in day, but this flight lets us leave immediately after Tuesday's play practice and lets us have a full day on Wednesday for Epcot. Plus it was about $55pp cheaper than the morning flight on Wed, so even with adding a night we come out ahead. I love "Disney math"!

Jan 25: We'll wake up whenever since we arrived so late. The plan for the day is Epcot. We'll start with FutureWorld, fitting in as much as we have time for and collecting a few FastPasses for later in the day. The Seas pavilion is high priority because of the earlier closing time. Lunch is at Le Cellier at 2:55, and from there we'll venture into World Showcase for some characters and live entertainment. I don't want this to be a late night, so Illuminations will wait for our second Epcot evening.

Jan 26: Studios. Rope drop of course, and straight to TSM. The Ridley Pearson presentation has been moved up to 10:30am so that will eat up part of the morning for the girls and I, but I'm hoping we can do TSM and Phineas & Ferb before that since those are the only real crowd-magnets in the park. Before we head off to the presentation we'll hand off our tickets to the boys so they can grab FPs for ToT and/or RnR before we meet back up at noon. We'll spend the afternoon on shows and lower demand attractions, and of course using up FPs. Dinner is at 50s Prime Time at 5:25 and the park closes at 7 so the boys & Pocahontas might head over to Disney Quest, unless it is warm enough for an evening swim.

Jan 27: Free morning, hopefully warm enough for Blizzard Beach but otherwise DTD/DQ. Dinner is at Teppan Edo, followed by evening EMH at Epcot until midnight. We'll focus mainly on the World Showcase along with finishing up anything we didn't fit in on our full Epcot day, and of course we'll catch Illuminations.

Jan 28: Animal Kingdom. I'm not worried about an early start because I picked this day for the longer evening hours (until 7). I really want to ride Everest in the dark! Festival of the Lion King is the day's must-do, along with Everest and the safari. I'm not quite happy with my plans for the evening, though. Right now I have dinner at Chef Mickey's but I'm stalking the web site looking for Kona to open up. I'm not a big fan of the new cancellation penalties, and apparently I'm not the only one because there are multiple openings at Chef Mickey & Ohana but nothing at Kona for any of the 3 nights I'm trying to find it! If I can't get Kona I'll probably just leave it as is because I know the kids like CM.

Jan 29: A really long day. I'd like to be at MK for rope drop because the opening show is one of my "first time" things to see/do this trip. And of course it is evening EMH, so we'll be there until midnight! To break up the day a bit we have lunch at Tony's and dinner OOP at California Grill, though I'm toying with the idea of checking to see if the Wishes dessert party is available instead of Cali Grill. That's something we've never done because on the DxDDP we don't have room for it, not from a scheduling perspective and not from an appetite perspective.

Jan 30: Another free morning. Pocahontas has her class at Epcot at 8:30 and Ken will be going with her. Most likely the rest of us will hang out around the resort until they get back, and then depending on the weather maybe fit in a couple-few hours at BB or DQ if the kids want to. I haven't made ADRs for this day at all, and I'm not sure I will. Depending on how we decide to spend the day we might have something at DTD (Stitch loves sushi so Wolfgang Puck Cafe would be good), or we hit one of the Boardwalk area resort restaurants because the plan for the evening is Studios EMH for the dance party and a couple more go-rounds on Star Tours.

Jan 31: Last park day always has to be Magic Kingdom, and I'm sure we'll have some things we didn't get to on the first day or want to revisit. Lunch is at Crystal Palace, dinner at Ohana after the park closes.

Feb 1: Our flight home isn't until 6:15 but we'll probably just spend the day at the resort, though DM & I might head over to DTD for a little last minute shopping, especially if we have counter service or snack credits left to burn.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Sounds like an awesome week!

 

[Colleen27]

After so many trips with the DxDDP I feel like a total newbie when it comes to picking out counter service meals. The last time I had a counter service meal at Animal Kingdom it was Tusker House! So I've been looking over the menus and putting together some ideas for places we might like to try.

Yak & Yeti's counter service looks like the clear winner at Animal Kingdom. The kids enjoy Chinese food, and the portions are large enough that Boo will be able to share with me or Pocahontas rather than needing to order a lousy kids' choice for her.

At Studios, it seems like Starring Rolls is the best choice. We've gotten snacks there but never a real meal. The kids all like sushi, even of the packaged/grocery store variety, DH & DB never turn down a good cold-cut sandwich, and the desserts are spectacular. Studio Catering doesn't look like a terrible choice either, but the cupcakes put Starring Rolls at the top of my list.

Magic Kingdom really doesn't have a lot that interests me, but that's the only park where we likely won't have any counter service meals so it doesn't much matter. It is weird because the TS locations here aren't the best, but the way it worked out our MK days are the two days with 2 TS meals - lunch in-park and dinner at a monorail resort.

Epcot of course has the best choices, too many to try them all. We'll probably do a bit of grazing to try things in a few different countries. I'd like to try Tangerine Cafe because I've seen so many good reviews of their shawarma platters. The new Katsura Grill looks really good too. DB will probably want something a little tamer, maybe Yorkshire fish & chips or Via Napoli's take-out window.

The counter service I'm most determined to try is at Downtown Disney - Wolfgang Puck Express. Somehow we've never gotten there in all our trips and it sure looks good, so I would like to make a point of trying it this time.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

After so many trips with the DxDDP I feel like a total newbie when it comes to picking out counter service meals. The last time I had a counter service meal at Animal Kingdom it was Tusker House! So I've been looking over the menus and putting together some ideas for places we might like to try.

Yak & Yeti's counter service looks like the clear winner at Animal Kingdom. The kids enjoy Chinese food, and the portions are large enough that Boo will be able to share with me or Pocahontas rather than needing to order a lousy kids' choice for her.

At Studios, it seems like Starring Rolls is the best choice. We've gotten snacks there but never a real meal. The kids all like sushi, even of the packaged/grocery store variety, DH & DB never turn down a good cold-cut sandwich, and the desserts are spectacular. Studio Catering doesn't look like a terrible choice either, but the cupcakes put Starring Rolls at the top of my list.

Magic Kingdom really doesn't have a lot that interests me, but that's the only park where we likely won't have any counter service meals so it doesn't much matter. It is weird because the TS locations here aren't the best, but the way it worked out our MK days are the two days with 2 TS meals - lunch in-park and dinner at a monorail resort.

Epcot of course has the best choices, too many to try them all. We'll probably do a bit of grazing to try things in a few different countries. I'd like to try Tangerine Cafe because I've seen so many good reviews of their shawarma platters. The new Katsura Grill looks really good too. DB will probably want something a little tamer, maybe Yorkshire fish & chips or Via Napoli's take-out window.

The counter service I'm most determined to try is at Downtown Disney - Wolfgang Puck Express. Somehow we've never gotten there in all our trips and it sure looks good, so I would like to make a point of trying it this time.

WPE....Yummmy!!

 

[Colleen27]

Day 12 - A picture of your favorite Disney food item.

No contest, California Grill's Spicy Kazan sushi roll. The perfect mix of spicy and sweet, so very fresh... Just heaven on a plate.

 

[OziJo]

Speaking of the fireplace... It is a nice backdrop for our Christmas card photo, even if the kids didn't want to cooperate.

Beautiful!

Day 10 - A picture of your favorite ride or attraction.

It is hard to pick just one favorite but this one embodies everything that Disney does right - they took a familiar ride and made it something really incredible, both in terms of the ride technology with the random drop sequence and in the way the immersive, meticulously detailed theme is carried throughout. And it doesn't hurt that Twilight Zone is one of my favorite TV shows of all time.

My goal this time is to do this ride. I chickened out (didn't even do the hotel part) last time

Day 11 - A picture of the thing you wish you could change about the parks.

See all those people? I had a hard time coming up with something for this one, but really this is the one thing that I'd change if I could - the crowds!

That's why January sounds good!

After so many trips with the DxDDP I feel like a total newbie when it comes to picking out counter service meals. The last time I had a counter service meal at Animal Kingdom it was Tusker House! So I've been looking over the menus and putting together some ideas for places we might like to try.

I've been doing the same thing. I've taken note of your suggestions

 

[Colleen27]

My goal this time is to do this ride. I chickened out (didn't even do the hotel part) last time

It really is worth the walk through even if you end up chickening out of the ride itself, but the ride is great! I hope you do try it.

That's why January sounds good!

That picture was actually taken in January, right at rope drop on the Saturday of the MLK holiday weekend. The crowds really weren't that bad either, busier than during the week but still just moderate; the bottleneck of rope drop just happened to be the thickest crowd picture I've managed to get in all our trips.

The one time I've been in a really crowded park (on the last day of our Dec '09 trip) it didn't cross my mind to take pics, I was too busy just trying to keep track of the kids and not run anyone over with Boo's stroller!

 

[Colleen27]

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite "home" resort.

Favorites are always tricky for me, and this one most of all because resort choice is so subjective based on the specifics of each trip. But if I had to choose just one favorite with no regard to cost, pool hours, weather, or any of the other variables that tend to come up when we think about returning it would have to be the Beach Club.

 

[Coconuts]

At AK, we love both Pizzafari and Flame Tree. Flame Tree's food is better and plentiful, but finding a table and dealing with the birds outside are a hassle. Pizzafari has standard pizza fare but seating is plentiful and a rest from the weather. I don't think you can go wrong with CS in AK.

We were just there last month and tried the CS in DHS in the back of the park, sandwiched between Honey I shrunk the Kids playground and Stunt Show exit. I don't remember the name but we would gladly eat there again. They had really good sandwiches which weren't your typical CS fare.

I know we just got back, but while I'm reading through your plans, I am longing to plan another trip!

 

[Colleen27]

At AK, we love both Pizzafari and Flame Tree. Flame Tree's food is better and plentiful, but finding a table and dealing with the birds outside are a hassle. Pizzafari has standard pizza fare but seating is plentiful and a rest from the weather. I don't think you can go wrong with CS in AK.

We were just there last month and tried the CS in DHS in the back of the park, sandwiched between Honey I shrunk the Kids playground and Stunt Show exit. I don't remember the name but we would gladly eat there again. They had really good sandwiches which weren't your typical CS fare.

I know we just got back, but while I'm reading through your plans, I am longing to plan another trip!

Flame Tree didn't make my list just because of the birds. On our first family trip Pocahontas was 4 and they terrified her! They were really aggressive and I'd rather not deal with them again.

The Studios CS you're describing is Studio Catering, my second choice for that park. The selection does look good and there's lots of seating which is always nice since we tend to eat at pretty normal/busy times.

I have that problem with always wanting to plan the next trip too. I think I've found the solution, though... Always be in the process of planning a trip! I've already got the beginnings of our October adults-only trip in mind and I'm sure I'll start really planning it as soon as I finish the trip report from this one!

 

[Colleen27]

Day 14 - A picture of your favorite nighttime activity on Disney property.

Disney has some great nighttime shows but nothing compares to fireworks over the castle.

 

[blessedmom4]

LOVED the Christmas Pic of the children!

 

[Colleen27]

Forgive the delay, things are just a little busy right now getting ready for the holidays. I hope everyone is having a wonderful season so far with much happiness to come over the next few days!

Day 15 - A picture of what you do when it rains in the parks.

We just keep going, and enjoy the fact that everyone else runs for cover. We've had very little in the way of real rain on our trips and most of what we did encounter were those warm afternoon rains on our summer/early fall trips, so we just kept on our way. We don't melt.

 

[jenseib]

I love the Christmas picture of the kids....the girls dresses are so pretty. It's one thing that makes me wish my girls were closer in age...the matching clothes. Mine are 12 1/2 years apart...so no matching outfits for them. My sisters two are about 4 1/2 years apart and she does it all the time...I think it's so cute.

 

[Colleen27]

I love the Christmas picture of the kids....the girls dresses are so pretty. It's one thing that makes me wish my girls were closer in age...the matching clothes. Mine are 12 1/2 years apart...so no matching outfits for them. My sisters two are about 4 1/2 years apart and she does it all the time...I think it's so cute.

Mine are 7 years apart and they like to match, but finding clothes in that range of sizes isn't always easy. I usually make their dresses for just that reason, but that pair was just so cute and 70% off when I saw them that I figured I'd save myself the time for a change.

 

[Colleen27]

Day 16 - A picture of your favorite place to shop.

Without a doubt Mitsukoshi in the Japan pavilion. I have a fascination with Japanese culture, particularly pop culture, and that place feeds it in a big way.

 

[Colleen27]

Merry Christmas!!

And for one month until Disney!!

 

[jenseib]

Merry Christmas!!!!