Tricks, Treats, Toddler, Food & Wine. An October 2011 Pre-Trip Report.

[khertz]

Mmmmm DH & I can't WAIT to try one of those Butterfinger cupcakes!! He loves Butterfinger, and I just love cupcakes.

I bet Will is going to love CRT...I'm sure he'll get a LOT of attention from the princesses! Definitely a great age to do it.

 

[Parla]

Your day makes me wish I was there right now! I don't like Butterfingers at all but can't wait to see what else Starring Rolls has.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I love the countdown!! (sorry, getting caught up!!) I love your new D and B I'm debating on if I want to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the AP Summer Sizzle sale at WOD tomorrow at 6:30am. I read that it gets pretty crazy. I'm hoping by Dec I'm statused seasonal so that I can get the CM 50% discount but I'm still thinking about it!!

I really need to try that darn cupcake! I should just go some afternoon for that and leave lol.

 

[Minnie_Mom]

Wow... I had a lot of catching up to do, but I think I am all caught up! Looks like you guys have been busy! We used to go to the Smokey Mountains almost every year when I was growing up! I love to go in the Fall when the temps are slightly cooler and you can enjoy going on hikes. There are several worthwhile trails in the area. Since you mentioned pancake houses, I have to give a recommendation. If you ever find yourself back in the Smokey Mountains, you have to try Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg. They have the best pancakes I have ever eaten. You have to get there early because the line for a table can get really long, but it is so worth it!

we do have an awesome show in Dallas (Addison) that is ranked one of the top 5 in the country- KaBoom Town, but it is a mad house to drive even within 10 miles. People are parked everywhere possible to watch.

We were at the KaBoom Town show. My little brother lives ~2 hours from Dallas so we were in town visting him. It was a good show, but you are right, it is NO Disney Firework show!

So the CARS tour was a bust.

That stinks! It looks like it had lots of potential!

And finally in actual related trip news- we made our countdown calendar! it is just a simple posterboard that i drew calendars onto and added some stickers and old pics from past trips. Each day, William adds a sticker to it. He seemed to love this last year. WE are at 102 days today, so i figured now was a good time to start the countdown- near 100 days.

Your calendar is adorable! I have got to get started on one for my kiddos! I love your idea of adding stickers to the calendar and the pictures you added make it so much more personal!

 

[TinyDancer]

Love your plans for your first day!

My DS will be 7 on our next trip.. and he is secretly very excited about eating with the princesses too He is in that "ooh girls are gross" stage, but give put a Princess in front of him and he goes googly eyed..

 

[exwdwcm]

Mmmmm DH & I can't WAIT to try one of those Butterfinger cupcakes!! He loves Butterfinger, and I just love cupcakes.

I bet Will is going to love CRT...I'm sure he'll get a LOT of attention from the princesses! Definitely a great age to do it.

that cupcake is pure heaven! I think he will love CRT too. being in the actual castle (he does love the castle playset even!), and seeing Cinderella, he is going to just die! this is the first trip where he actually knows almost all of the characters. While he's been twice now, he was too little to know who was who. Now he has favorites, has seen a lot of the movies etc. He does have a little knights outfit I might even have him wear that he wore to a local renaissance fare (hand me down from a friend- little brown tunic, boot covers, sword and silver armor hat.

Your day makes me wish I was there right now! I don't like Butterfingers at all but can't wait to see what else Starring Rolls has.

I know, it will be hard to decide when you see what all they have!

I love the countdown!! (sorry, getting caught up!!) I love your new D and B I'm debating on if I want to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the AP Summer Sizzle sale at WOD tomorrow at 6:30am. I read that it gets pretty crazy. I'm hoping by Dec I'm statused seasonal so that I can get the CM 50% discount but I'm still thinking about it!!

I really need to try that darn cupcake! I should just go some afternoon for that and leave lol.

i so wish i was there for that. Did you end up going to the sale? anything good? Hope your flight makes it out eventually today- have a great visit at home! Can you tell I follow your every move on FB?

Wow... I had a lot of catching up to do, but I think I am all caught up! Looks like you guys have been busy! We used to go to the Smokey Mountains almost every year when I was growing up! I love to go in the Fall when the temps are slightly cooler and you can enjoy going on hikes. There are several worthwhile trails in the area. Since you mentioned pancake houses, I have to give a recommendation. If you ever find yourself back in the Smokey Mountains, you have to try Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg. They have the best pancakes I have ever eaten. You have to get there early because the line for a table can get really long, but it is so worth it!


We were at the KaBoom Town show. My little brother lives ~2 hours from Dallas so we were in town visting him. It was a good show, but you are right, it is NO Disney Firework show!


That stinks! It looks like it had lots of potential!



Your calendar is adorable! I have got to get started on one for my kiddos! I love your idea of adding stickers to the calendar and the pictures you added make it so much more personal!

I had read about the Pancake Pantry but we just never made it over. I actually had it on my list but we never made it. boo! i imagine the mtns are just that much more fun and beautiful in the cooler temps or with leaves changing! So cool you saw Kaboom town. yep, everything is a let down now- parades, fireworks, cupcakes. nothing is as good as disney. I mean, really, a whipped icing cupcake at a birthday party- no thank you! where is my dang butterfinger cupcake!???? Thanks on the calendar, Will loves adding stickers each day!

Love your plans for your first day!

My DS will be 7 on our next trip.. and he is secretly very excited about eating with the princesses too He is in that "ooh girls are gross" stage, but give put a Princess in front of him and he goes googly eyed..

so sweet that he is still excited! he is in that 'pretend they are gross, but secretly love them' stage. so cute!

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16TH

This is our second full day! The plan is to wake up about 7:30am, eat breakfast in the room, which usually means yogurt, cereal, granola bar. We will take the nice quiet walk over to the MK and hopefully arrive by at least 8:45am for the 9am opening time. I LOVE the walk from BLT, so convenient and worth every penny for our DVC there. Even thought BLT is not our style (we aren’t modern type taste), we just LOVE the convenience and the monorail access. So worth it.

So we will open the MK. Maybe catch the opening show, we will see.



I’ll send DH off to get a FP probably for Peter Pan while I take Will on Dumbo. We will tackle as much of Fantasyland as we can by 9:45am, which means probably only Dumbo and maybe Snow White and Pooh. We love the new queue at Pooh!

[FONT=&quot]Then off to Crystal Palace for our 10am breakfast with Pooh and friends. We love this breakfast and it is a tradition each trip. I can’t even remember the last trip where we did NOT do this breakfast. I love the selection and we all love Pooh.
[/FONT]

We like either doing breakfast early before park opening or later, after 10am, so that we have a little time to collect fastpasses and ride a few rides. We value those early hours when the park is less crowded! I might even send DH off to get fastpasses for something else while I check in for breakfast- maybe Splash, Buzz or Space.

After breakfast, it will probably be about 11am. We will hit up a few more rides and then maybe do a little shopping or grab a dole whip. We will probably take a break about 2pm and head back to the hotel for a nap or swim….or both. William still takes a 2 hour nap each day at his “school” (day care/montessorri). We don’t make him take one on the weekends, but you can really tell a difference in his behavior when he has had a nap and is overtired. So the daily break, even if not a full on nap, is a MUST, for all of our sanity!

tired much? He is potty trained this year at least! We only put a diaper on him last trip while he napped or overnight. He was fine during the days. But we didn't want to risk having him wet the bed and be stuck washing the sheets ourselves each day (DVC, not daily cleaning).

We will try and head back out the door by 4 or 4:30pm. Tonight, Epcot is on the agenda. Not sure if we will drive or take the monorail. We found the monorail isn’t as easy as we thought, since you have to exit and board the Epcot line at the TTC, sort of a hike at the station to the right platform. So we will play it by ear. Plus we usually had a long wait once the park closed for the monorail too. We might just drive.



This is our second favorite park, close really behind MK. We have 8pm ressies for Via Napoli, a favorite of ours from last year. We just fell in love with the pizza, so I had to do it again this year. Remember, all of our meals are out of pocket, but we can use our Tables in Wonderland card.

Since we will arrive around 4:30pm, we will see if we can grab a FP for TT or Soarin. I am guessing maybe only TT will be lucky enough to have any left, but we can try. I missed Mission Space last year, so I want to do it this time. Will isn’t tall enough for this one (he is 42” now) and Alan doesn’t care for anything spinny-spinny. So I might do it myself while they play in the fountain or something else. We might check out the Land boat ride, Journey into Imagination, Innoventions or Spaceship Earth.

Since it is a weekend night during Food and Wine, we plan to avoid the World Showcase this night. I actually prefer touring that area during the day anyhow when I can really see all the great details. Our plan this trip is to only do the WS area during the day and hit it right when it opens at 11am (on two separate mornings), so we can get our WS fix and F&W snacks!

So we will just stick to Future World as far as rides and touring go this night. We will only venture to WS for dinner.

We will just accomplish what we can. We know we will get Soarin FPs another morning we are here, so doing Soarin or TT isn’t a must this night. If we can manage TT, that would be great, since we would enjoy doing it more than once this trip. Will rode it last year (just barely made the height!) and loved it. We do plan to visit Epcot two more mornings and one more evening, so we still have a day and a half worth of touring here to tackle everything. We usually try and plan 2 full days at Epcot and 2 full days at MK, but split them up with a morning here, evening there etc.

At 7:30pm, we will make sure we are heading back to Via Napoli for dinner. With 8pm ADRs, I don’t anticipate we will be done until 9 or 9:30pm. Illuminations is at 9:30pm. We don’t have to see it this night, so we will play it by ear on crowds and how we feel. We caught it last December with a fabulous view from La Hacienda. So it isn’t an absolute must this trip, but I do love it!

For dinner, I’ll probably order:
Arancini - fried saffron risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu $10.00
Pepperoni - pepperoni, tomato, mozzarella

We will probably skip dessert, remember we are paying out of pocket. I am only getting dessert at places where I know it is something I really want. Nothing is a must for me here on the dessert menu.

Hopefully we can be back in the room by 10:30pm or so and asleep by 11 (at least Will!) so we can get ready for tomorrow’s activities!

 

[khertz]

I'm excited to try Via Napoli this trip! I'm not even really a pepperoni fan, but that pizza looks delicious. We are going to give it a try on our resort day for dinner, since we are going to have the APs and can just pop into a park for dinner if we want. I figure we might as well make the most of it since we'll only have them for 1 year!

Looks like a good plan for the day! We are doing the same thing, avoiding WS on the weekend evening we are hitting Epcot. Saving WS for an evening during the week and hoping for the best.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I did make it home, thanks haha. I didn't go to the sale with the hopes I'll be a cm again by late fall so well see! I'll have to try the new italy restaurant since I haven't been there yet!!! I love my tiw card too!

 

[exwdwcm]

I'm excited to try Via Napoli this trip! I'm not even really a pepperoni fan, but that pizza looks delicious. We are going to give it a try on our resort day for dinner, since we are going to have the APs and can just pop into a park for dinner if we want. I figure we might as well make the most of it since we'll only have them for 1 year!

Looks like a good plan for the day! We are doing the same thing, avoiding WS on the weekend evening we are hitting Epcot. Saving WS for an evening during the week and hoping for the best.

i swear there was a sausage on the menu last year, but I don't see it this year. We actually ordered the sausage, but they were out. yep, let's hope that the weekdays won't be as bad!

I did make it home, thanks haha. I didn't go to the sale with the hopes I'll be a cm again by late fall so well see! I'll have to try the new italy restaurant since I haven't been there yet!!! I love my tiw card too!

glad you made it home, hope you have a great visit! i bet your parents miss you so much! Yes, you have to try VN, plus some um, nice eye candy in there.

 

[exwdwcm]

Happy Wednesday all!

two updates in two days? What is wrong with me, you might be asking. Well,

• biggest project/event at work of the year wrapped up last week PLUS
• Boss and most execs on vacation this week

equals slow work week and time to catch up!

So just wanted to share a few quick pics and a video of our FLASH MOB from my big User Conference from work. I was in Vegas for 6 nights at the ARIA Resort & Casino for this annual event. I work for a company that develops property mgmt software, which is used by apartment complex, HOAs, property management companies etc. We had over 1000 customers come out for a few days of educational sessions, training and fun. I help promote this event (email campaigns, web site development, press releases etc.) all year long as part of my job. I even worked with a developer to build us an app for the conference this year. Anyhow- it is a LOT of work each year and the month or so before is always crazy busy, long hours, working through lunch, you know how it goes. So I returned last Wednesday from the event, which was a big success.

Now it is quiet around here as everyone is on vacation or just finally taking a breath and catching up on all the other projects that fell to the wayside this last month.

As part of our conference, we had a big party night which featured a 70s theme and 70s band. Everyone dressed up and our staff (about 200 there) planned a flash mob to a Bee Gees tune. It was a lot of fun. So we weren't all that coordinated, but it was a huge hit with our customers. You can see me in pink/black at about :53 seconds in or so on the left side (in black boots).

70s FLASH MOB VIDEO CLICK HERE!

and a few pics!

most of the marketing dept!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[Minnie_Mom]

Sounds like a really fun 2nd day! I can't wait to see the new queue for Winnie!

We have never tried Via Napoli, but I think my brother and his girlfriend are going to be eating there on our Oct trip!

 

[exwdwcm]

joining in

Thanks for joining in! pass the popcorn!

Sounds like a really fun 2nd day! I can't wait to see the new queue for Winnie!

We have never tried Via Napoli, but I think my brother and his girlfriend are going to be eating there on our Oct trip!

The new queue is just so cute! You'll love it. I can't wait to see the new HM queue too!

Via Napoli was so good. We really loved it. In fact, i was torn between the pizza and pasta, everything looked so good.

 

[mousescrapper]

doing some catching up...

UPDATE-

So i finally got some more goodies for Will's surprise basket when we arrive. Only I realized once I got our my green disney tub of junk, that I have way too much!

isn't that always true...after reading your post made me think I better take inventory of my goods and seperate out Oct./ Jan./ and Dis gifts into sep boxes...now i'll have 3

toy story cup, toy story stackable bowls (figured will be good for snacks), and not for his basket, but still thought it was fun to get for now in the bath- a small world boat!

I LOVE this little boat that is so sweet! great find

also got a pop up laundry basket, lime green of course.


also got some cute lime green small bags to stick in first aid supplies or anything else for our backpack.

isn't it so funny how we buy stuff in lime green all the time

[FONT=&quot]DAY ONE REDUX! Travel day changes:
Friday, October 14
12:15 flight departs DFW
3:15pm- flight arrives Atlanta
5pm- flight departs Atlanta
6pm- flight arrives Orlando
7pm- arrive at BLT by rental car
7:30pm- walk to MK to activate AP
8pm- to Contempo Cafe or Capt Cooks for QS dinner
10pm- hopefully in bed!

looks like a good arrival day and you have contigency plans in there too which is always good...

After a nice break, I want to be up by 4pm and getting ready and out the door to the MK by at least 4:30pm. We can walk right over and I LOVE being able to do this- it is one reason we bought DVC at BLT!

I am in complete agreement w/ you there...as much as I'd like to stay at other resorts...I keep coming back to BLT


I think it is awesome you are going to CRT w/ Will...make for some very cute pictures and I hear you on the exit ramp for the EP monorail...

 

[exwdwcm]

doing some catching up...
isn't it so funny how we buy stuff in lime green all the time

looks like a good arrival day and you have contigency plans in there too which is always good...
I am in complete agreement w/ you there...as much as I'd like to stay at other resorts...I keep coming back to BLT


I think it is awesome you are going to CRT w/ Will...make for some very cute pictures and I hear you on the exit ramp for the EP monorail...

lol- i love that you have 3 boxes now!

i am excited about getting back to BLT. Not so excited about having a studio since we had a 1 bedroom last time, which I LOVED. The w/d and kitchen was so nice to have. I just couldn't see spending almost twice as many points for a 1 bedroom when it is just the 3 of us and we aren't in the room that much other than to sleep! I can't wait to stay in a one or 2 bedroom in the future again though.

i think i am going to make one of those cute invites for CRT for him- an invitation from Cinderella herself!

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE

Well we are at 54 days now until our October trip! Woo hoo!

Still on the to-do list:

• Buy MNSSHP tickets (Oct 18)
• Organize his present from Mickey
  
• Finalize gardengrocer order
• Rent the car (probably look this week)
• Finalize my agenda and print my notecards
• Create invitation for Will from CRT
• Mark out my Food and Wine plan on the little pamphlet I got in the mail!
  

That's really it. I have all our clothes bought and all the gifts for William. I got our new suitcase, which I am loving so far.

Speaking of, our new suitcase gets its first use on Wednesday. I leave for my workshop on Wednesday in San Diego and DH and William are joining me! We can't wait. While it is only a little 4 day get away, it is much needed after the craziness at work for our conference. I know, we just had our mountain vacation in early June, but I am ready for another break. While I love my family dearly, a week in the mountains with 12 family members can be overwhelming. Looking forward to just our little family unit having some alone time.

Will can't wait to go to cal-eee-forn-ya!

So our plans are:
Wednesday, August 24

• 11am flight to San Diego for me, taxi to hotel- Westin
• 12pm- arrive- lunch and then meeting with hotel staff
• 7pm- dinner with my team and guest speakers
• 8pm- William and Alan depart DFW
• 9pm- They arrive, rent car (Thrifty) and meet me at hotel, night night!
  

Thursday, August 25

• 8am-5pm- workshop for me- i am hosting/coordinating, not speaking
• William and Alan will probably head to Legoland for the day without me
• 6pm- dinner somewhere- haven't figured out where yet! Maybe the harbor area? Gaslamp? Need to research this. I am done with my work responsibilities as of 5pm on this day!

Friday, August 26

• 8am- breakfast in hotel or on the way to the zoo, check out of Westin
• 9am- San Diego zoo opens, spend day there, do bus tour
• 3pm- depart zoo, drive to Anaheim, 90 minutes with no traffic, hoping to beat some of the traffic!
• 5pm- hoping to arrive at least by 5:30 or so at the latest. check in Disneyland hotel, hit up DTD or swim (or both)
  
• 7pm- dinner at Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland hotel
• bedtime (or late night swim or DTD, depending on how tired we are!)

Saturday, August 27

• 6am- up and quick snack/breakfast in room
  
• 7am- Disneyland park opens for magic morning
• 11:30am- lunch ADR at Blue Bayou
• 1pm- break/nap in the room or swim
• 3:30pm- back to the park
• 12am- park closes, not sure we will stay that late though!
  

Sunday, August 28

• 9am- up (after sleeping in a little)
• 10:00am- grab breakfast at Whitewater Snacks at Grand Californian hotel- explore hotel a bit
• 11am- be on the road back to SD at least by now
• 1pm- arrive SD, hit the beach, might try Coronado Island to explore and play a bit
• 3-3:30pm- head back to airport
  
• 5:30pm- flight back home
• 10:15pm- arrive home (ugh- so late!)

So that's our fabulous but quick visit to SoCal! Even though it's only one day at Disneyland, we are super excited about it. I have purchased our tickets already for it. But everything else is flexible depending on how we feel (zoo etc.). We might find something else we prefer to do instead, like the harbor etc. and then head to Anaheim earlier in the day on Friday. We will see.

With 2 busy days at work ahead of me, I am already all packed. The new suitcase is great and I managed to pack all of our clothes in it. I plan to take the large suitcase and check it, since my company covers the checked bag fee. I'll take a small carry on bag with my book/snacks and then my 40th anniversary D&B letter carrier purse. Plus the stroller. I know, why am I taking the stroller when I am not traveling with Will? Well DH doesn't want to have to carry it. But i really prefer to have it rather than rent one at the zoo and DL. I might still look at the prices and options for renting, but i hate to spend the money, when I can easily just bring ours. I might still change my mind.

DH will fly out with Will later that night and take our disney backpack and let Will carry his own backpack, which actually has the pop up handle and wheels. Plus the booster car seat for the rental car. I figure handling a toddler, 2 bags and the car seat is enough for his first time traveling alone with Will. We are all flying American.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Have a great mini trip!! What a nice way to spend your time before the big WDW trip! I am jealous that you are going to DL! Have a blast, can't wait to see pics

 

[Parla]

I see you said you need to finalize your garden grocer order. When do you usually place the order? I plan on ordering but haven't even started an order let alone finalized one. I'm afraid they'll change their available items so I haven't looked to seriously at their site yet.

 

[khertz]

That sounds like a fun little trip!! Besides Disneyland, I've always wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo. And I'm sure Will is going to just Legoland! It seems like a little boy's paradise!!