***Updated 10/02/08!!!*** Disney Dazed--Pre-Trip Report May 17-27, 2008

I know you are from Chicago and just checking in to make sure you and your family are alright! :hug:



I guess you heard about our earthquake! Everyone here is okay, in fact there aren't even any reported injuries in the whole area!:thumbsup2

We actually all slept through the whole thing. I woke up for some reason at around 4:45 AM and I heard on the news that was about the time of the quake!:rotfl:

Thanks for your concern, though!:goodvibes



 





It's Mini-Report time! :thumbsup2 We had Opening Day for my son's Little League today. Well at the line-up for the parade, I ran into 3 different people that made me think about our trip! First, a child in his Mickey ears went by.:) Then a coach drinking coffee from his Fort Wilderness mug. :goodvibes Finally, a woman wearing a Disney World hat! :idea: Which made think: why not do a mini-report about the opening day?!?

I'm actually going out of town until tomorrow night and won't have my computer with me :headache: so I will post as soon as I get back...In the meantime, PLAY BALL!:cheer2:






 
I don't think they have any cars on the market that are able to drive across the pond yet!:lmao:

I've only flown to Florida back once, and that is the one and only time I've flown anywhere! Flying is not for me!:scared1: I'm a big chicken! I can't imagine being on a plane for 8 hours!!!!:headache:

haha well when they do invent one I'll be first inline!
I don't mind the flying, it's not too bad... there's movies and stuff so I guess it's ok, it's just the excitement that kills me, 8 hours goes soooo slowly when you just want to get there!

Your hotel choice sounds awesome, always wanted to stay at POP, it looks amazing! Glad you got a room in the 60's, I've read many reports saying that the trek to other decades was unbareable!! :rotfl:
 
Your hotel choice sounds awesome, always wanted to stay at POP, it looks amazing! Glad you got a room in the 60's, I've read many reports saying that the trek to other decades was unbareable!! :rotfl:



We learned from experience! :goodvibes That walk through the parking lot was TOO MUCH! We are followers of the "Dumbo or Die" plan,:laughing: meaning we are at the parks ALL DAY, EMH included!:eek: In the heat of August, my little feet can't take it! I'm only 5'2" and my feet are tiny! :lmao: I'm not used to all that walking!

 



Ok, I'm back with the mini-report I promised! Sorry it took so long!

Today we woke up early on a Saturday (yuck!) so that my son could participate in our town's Little League Opening Day Ceremony. He's 8 and plays for the Red (too bad not the White) Sox. At least I can just yell, Go Sox! I'm used to that! :thumbsup2

[SIZE=+2]The Newest Red Sox[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=+2]Our Logo[/SIZE]
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The parade started at 9 AM, and after a quick breakfast we were out of the house by 8:30. We drove to the park, and walked to where the kids were lining up. On the walk over we saw a mother pushing a boy who was about a year old in a stroller.:cutie: He was wearing the baseball hat with Mickey ears on it! :goodvibes

We found his team, and met up with the other kids and parents. His coach was having coffee from his Fort Wilderness mug! :goodvibes How funny! Everywhere I turn, I see reminders of Disney World! I love it! We chatted about our trip next month a bit, and then it was time for the boys to line up. I kissed my son goodbye and ran off to find a prime picture taking spot! ;)

I found a good spot at the end of the parade route. The lady next to me had on a pink baseball cap with glitter that said Walt Disney World. It was really cute, and I love pink, so I will have to look for it in the shops when I am there! I should have asked where she got it and when, but I wasn't thinking too clearly after only one cup of coffee.:lmao:

It took a while for the kids to make their way to the end of the route, but eventually they got there! Patrick threw candy at me, which made him pretty happy. Hey, what kid wouldn't want to throw stuff at their mom at least once?!? :rotfl2: Oh, and I didn't get any pictures of my son's team because they practically flew past me! When I asked him why they were going so fast, he said the team mom, who walked with them, kept telling them to hurry up! They were running, and all the other kids were walking soooo slow. It was really funny!:rotfl:

[SIZE=+2]Parade Pictures[/SIZE]


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After the parade they had a ceremony with the Boy Scouts leading the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. The Little League awarded several college scholarships to past players. We left at that point because he had a game later and we wanted to get home and eat some lunch first, but we stayed for the whole ceremony last year. They dedicated "Miracle Field" which is a wheelchair accessible baseball field.:thumbsup2

[SIZE=+2]Opening Ceremony[/SIZE]

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After lunch we headed out to his game. I was the scorekeeper (always volunteering, me and my big mouth) :scared1: and we played against the Angels, which was Patrick's team last year. He struck out the first time at bat, and got hit really hard with a pitch the 2nd time, but at least he got to score! We wound up winning the game 13-6.:cheer2:

GO SOX!:woohoo:

[SIZE=+2]Goofing for the Camera[/SIZE]

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Next up: ADR's




 
Hey! Firstly I love the pic of your son "goofin" around for the camera! He seems like a blast!
Second, What do you have to do in your family to earn your ears? Sounds interestling! Maybe I can start that with DS.
Third, how can they get away with making a kid play for the RED socks in Chicago?? THat's like having a NYer play for the Red socks!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! :)
 
Your son is adorable ! Love the pictures !
 
It's MAY 1st. Which means you get to go on your WDW vacation this month! Lucky!!!! :)
 
Hey! Firstly I love the pic of your son "goofin" around for the camera! He seems like a blast!
Second, What do you have to do in your family to earn your ears? Sounds interestling! Maybe I can start that with DS.
Third, how can they get away with making a kid play for the RED socks in Chicago?? THat's like having a NYer play for the Red socks!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! :)

My son is a definite character! He is NOT happy about being on the Red Sox!:lmao:

In my family, the rule is you have to get to MK and ride ALL DAY before you can get your ears. It gives the kids something to look forward to while touring the park AND it goes a long way in the souvneir shops..."I'm not buying that 'cuz we're going to be buying your ears tonight before the parade!" :goodvibes Of course, you can make anything you want the "requirement" to earning your ears. Perhaps riding Dumbo, or meeting Mickey in Toontown etc. I like the MK method because it's more magical to buy them in that park than say Downtown Disney. My sister lived in Florida for awhile (her MIL still does) and NO WAY were they sending the kids their ears before they earned them!
 


I'm back and I'm hungry! Which got me thinking about my ADR's!

Monday May 19th
Lunch in Japan
Teppan Edo

We haven't eaten here before, but my son has gotten to be quite the Benihana fan, and I was told that they cook on the table here too! My mother doesn't think she'll eat anything they have on the menu though.:lmao: I'm hoping it's good. If you've eaten here, please let me know how it is!

Tuesday May 20th
Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

We've eaten breakfast here every year for the fast past few years. My mother LOVES it, but I believe that's just because she can eat as much bacon as she wants!:rotfl: I'm not much of a breakfast person, but I will try to get by. Also, they have the dessert bar with all kinds of sweet snacks that we usually snag a few of (look out gummi bears!) and put in baggies to snack on while walking around the park. :lmao: I love character dining, and this is one of the BEST character meals I have been to so far. :cloud9:

Wednesday May 21st
Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe

We have eaten here twice in the past and enjoyed it both times. My son gets a kick out of hearing the servers tell me to eat all my veggies :laughing: and keep my elbows off the table. I like the glow-in-the dark ice cubes I get in my cocktails! My mother likes the theme and the pot roast! :woohoo:

Thursday May 22nd
Dinner in France
Chefs de France

I LOVE THIS PLACE!! :love: Yes, I'm biased because I love almost anything French! I took French for years in High School and even student-taught French I. I also placed 4th in a statewide French-Speaking Competition and in the top 20 nationwide! Not bad for an irish girl! :rotfl:

The food is great, the ambience is wonderful, the service excellent. What more needs to be said? My son could care less either way, and my mother said the salad was rabbit food :lmao: but I like it.:cloud9:

Friday May 23rd
Last Day at Disney
Dinner at Crystal Palace

Okay, we have never eaten here before, and aren't too thrilled with the idea of it. :scared1: I really wanted to eat in Magic Kingdom though, and we have already eaten at Tony's and Libery Tree Tavern. Since there aren't many full-service restaurants that appeal to us, we thought we would try it. I'm hoping the food is good, and the characters entertaining. My son really enjoyed the characters at Liberty Tree Tavern goofing around with the guests.

I have read a lot of good things about Crystal Palace, and I hope they are all right! If you have been here, let me know if it is good, or if you think maybe I should try somewhere else.



So that's our plan so far! :goodvibes Now that I'm hungry, I'm going to go find something to snack on. :lmao:













 



I have read a lot of good things about Crystal Palace, and I hope they are all right! If you have been here, let me know if it is good, or if you think maybe I should try somewhere else.



Hi Sarah! I haven't gotten to Magic Kingdom in my trip report yet. But the food at Crystal Palace is decent. You shouldn't leave hungry. I ate a lot of prime rib which was pretty tasty. I probably ate about 3 plates worth of food. Not bad considering I'm under 5'. I did eat a lot of mac n cheese from the kids section though. They have some pretty good fish and a lot of different little salads and stuff. We were too full to eat dessert.

The character interaction is pretty good. They have it organized so that they go a certain order, which is nice because then you can look and see if they're almost at your spot to decide if you should wait or get food. Our waiter was also keeping an eye out so that he could get pictures of us. I don't want to hack your thread by posting pictures up, but I am sure I'll get to Magic Kingdom in my TR before you leave. =) Tigger was pretty goofy. Winnie the Pooh was okay. I found Piglet to be very friendly. And Eeyore, I guess he was acting his part. He was kind of anti social. He took pictures and then immediately left.

Crystal Palace is kind of your typical buffet type food so if you go in knowing that then you probably won't be disappointed - unless you hate buffets. DH and I like buffets because we can pick and choose what we want and get more of something if we like it. The only thing my DH and I wished they had was fried chicken. We were craving for fried chicken and didn't get to have any during our trip!
 
Hi Sarah! I haven't gotten to Magic Kingdom in my trip report yet. But the food at Crystal Palace is decent. You shouldn't leave hungry. I ate a lot of prime rib which was pretty tasty. I probably ate about 3 plates worth of food. Not bad considering I'm under 5'. I did eat a lot of mac n cheese from the kids section though. They have some pretty good fish and a lot of different little salads and stuff. We were too full to eat dessert.

The character interaction is pretty good. They have it organized so that they go a certain order, which is nice because then you can look and see if they're almost at your spot to decide if you should wait or get food. Our waiter was also keeping an eye out so that he could get pictures of us. I don't want to hack your thread by posting pictures up, but I am sure I'll get to Magic Kingdom in my TR before you leave. =) Tigger was pretty goofy. Winnie the Pooh was okay. I found Piglet to be very friendly. And Eeyore, I guess he was acting his part. He was kind of anti social. He took pictures and then immediately left.

Crystal Palace is kind of your typical buffet type food so if you go in knowing that then you probably won't be disappointed - unless you hate buffets. DH and I like buffets because we can pick and choose what we want and get more of something if we like it. The only thing my DH and I wished they had was fried chicken. We were craving for fried chicken and didn't get to have any during our trip!



Thanks for the information!:goodvibes Sounds like we won't be impressed with either the food or the characters, but I'm okay with that as long as we won't be disappointed with them either !!:rotfl:







 
We're doing opposite meals. I'm doing CM dinner and CP breakfast. But I'll be looking forward to hearing about your meals. I always have time to change my ADRs around!;)

I'm impressed with your son eating at Chefs de France. I hope my DS won't be a picky eater. Dh will have no patience for that.

ps Sometimes I dream in French! I only took 4 years of french but in my dreams I speak fluently. So weird! Maybe you could translate??:thumbsup2
 
We've never had dinner at CP but we love breakfasty and try to do it every time. Your other ADR's sound great too.
 
We're doing opposite meals. I'm doing CM dinner and CP breakfast. But I'll be looking forward to hearing about your meals. I always have time to change my ADRs around!;)

I'm impressed with your son eating at Chefs de France. I hope my DS won't be a picky eater. Dh will have no patience for that.

ps Sometimes I dream in French! I only took 4 years of french but in my dreams I speak fluently. So weird! Maybe you could translate??:thumbsup2


My son has eaten in Chefs de France several times. The first time he was around 4 or 5 and he behaved fine. He is a bit of a picky eater, but remember even Chefs de France serves mac 'n cheese. Okay, it's not exactly mac n cheese, but it's pasta with white cheese! :lmao:

Chef Mickey's definitely offers better food at breakfast. We had dinner there 2 years ago and definitely enjoy the breakfast spread better. Since we've never eaten at CP we didn't know which we'd like better, but thought we'd try diner.

I've never dreamed in French! That is too funny!
 
Pre-Trip Shopping


I've been shopping! I went shopping the past two days and spent nearly my whole paycheck! :rotfl:

I went to Target last night and bought some things we needed for our trip. We purchased lots of odds and ends for the roadtrip down to Florida like Hefty Sacks To-Go (for use as trash bags in the car), Neo To Go (because we are an accident prone family :lmao: ), Shout Wipes (sloppy and accident prone, what a combination), a first-aid kit, new swim trunks for my son, TONS of scrapbook items, some toiletries and some new makeup. I also bought a new purse (perfect size for my planning book)!:cloud9:

My new purse

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My new book

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I also made Tip Envelopes for Mousekeeping. Thanks to the DISigns board for the designs! :thanks: I'm not artistic or creative, and could not have done these without their help! :)

Our Mousekeeping Tip Envelopes

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I have some more pictures of the dining tip envelopes, and tips for the bartenders, (also from the DISigns Board :thanks:), but I will post those later with some other info and pics that I have!:goodvibes










 
We've never had dinner at CP but we love breakfasty and try to do it every time. Your other ADR's sound great too.


I hope the dinner is as good as the breakfast then! :) We are looking forward to eating at all of the TS places we have picked out! I've also picked out a few snacks we might want to try, maybe I will post those later tonight in order to get some feedback on our possibilities.:confused3


 












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