Princess_Michelle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2007
- Messages
- 780
Well, I have finally finished planning out our Grand Gatherings trip from October 6-15th!! It is a lifetime goal of mine to stay at ALL WDW Hotels and eat at ALL WDW restaurants; I am happy to report that this stay (at All Star Movies) will be the last Value resort I have to stay in 
I have ADR's at the following restaurants:
- Akershus Princess Breakfast (done before)
- Le Cellier
- Liberty Tree Tavern
- Donald's Restaurantosaurus (done before)
- Ohana
- Mama Melrose's (done before)
- Ohana Best Friends B-fast (done before)
- Les Chefs de France (anxious about this one)
- 1900 Park Fare Dinner
- AK Rainforest Cafe
- Cinderella's Royal Table (Lunch)
I am traveling with my husband, 3 yr. old son, Mom, sister, niece, 2 aunts, cousin and her beau, and grandfather.....we don't have any room for the Grand Gathering experiences this year; but last year we did the Peter Pan Fireowrks cruise...it was OK.
I am SO excited that I can hardly contain myself!!
Last year was the first time that we went with kids, our 2 yr. old and a 3 yr. old niece. I learned a lot from this.......here are my notes
1. It doesn't matter how well behaved a child normally is; when they are worn out and in the heat they will behave accordingly.
2. Children don't like to wake up at 6:00 a.m. to make an 8:30 a.m. breakfast reservation (especially when they were up until 11 p.m.); even if it means they get to see Mickey Mouse.
3. The Parks that have EMH that day are ALWAYS the most crowded and have the longest bus lines; both of which can be bothersome when you are with toddlers.
So, based on my notes from last year....I think that I have planned things pretty well this year....
1. We are not going during the Free Dining Promotion. This was accidental, we are going at the only time that everyone can go. Anyways, we all felt that the parks were unusually crowded for Fall last year, and that free dining was a major contributor.
2. I have only scheduled character breakfasts every other day and no earlier than 9:30 a.m. So that we don't have to get up so early. I also planned all of our dinners to be really early, like around 5:00 p.m.
3. We are staying away from parks on their EMH days. Hopefully, this will mean smaller bus lines and smaller crowds. Then we can get everything done and still be back to the hotel in time to let the kids relax by swimming and playing on the playground; AND getting to bed at a decent hour.
I think that this year our trip will be vastly more enjoyable than last year!! I guess we will see I'm so excited that I found this forum...I'm already planning to take pictures of all my food to post on the dining review threads!
I have ADR's at the following restaurants:
- Akershus Princess Breakfast (done before)
- Le Cellier
- Liberty Tree Tavern
- Donald's Restaurantosaurus (done before)
- Ohana
- Mama Melrose's (done before)
- Ohana Best Friends B-fast (done before)
- Les Chefs de France (anxious about this one)
- 1900 Park Fare Dinner
- AK Rainforest Cafe
- Cinderella's Royal Table (Lunch)
I am traveling with my husband, 3 yr. old son, Mom, sister, niece, 2 aunts, cousin and her beau, and grandfather.....we don't have any room for the Grand Gathering experiences this year; but last year we did the Peter Pan Fireowrks cruise...it was OK.
I am SO excited that I can hardly contain myself!!
Last year was the first time that we went with kids, our 2 yr. old and a 3 yr. old niece. I learned a lot from this.......here are my notes
1. It doesn't matter how well behaved a child normally is; when they are worn out and in the heat they will behave accordingly.
2. Children don't like to wake up at 6:00 a.m. to make an 8:30 a.m. breakfast reservation (especially when they were up until 11 p.m.); even if it means they get to see Mickey Mouse.
3. The Parks that have EMH that day are ALWAYS the most crowded and have the longest bus lines; both of which can be bothersome when you are with toddlers.
So, based on my notes from last year....I think that I have planned things pretty well this year....
1. We are not going during the Free Dining Promotion. This was accidental, we are going at the only time that everyone can go. Anyways, we all felt that the parks were unusually crowded for Fall last year, and that free dining was a major contributor.
2. I have only scheduled character breakfasts every other day and no earlier than 9:30 a.m. So that we don't have to get up so early. I also planned all of our dinners to be really early, like around 5:00 p.m.
3. We are staying away from parks on their EMH days. Hopefully, this will mean smaller bus lines and smaller crowds. Then we can get everything done and still be back to the hotel in time to let the kids relax by swimming and playing on the playground; AND getting to bed at a decent hour.
I think that this year our trip will be vastly more enjoyable than last year!! I guess we will see
I'm so excited that I found this forum...I'm already planning to take pictures of all my food to post on the dining review threads!
