YOU Plan Our Trip

[PrincessSarah314]

That's right YOU control our vacation destiny!

Here is the travel Me31; DBF37, DS12, and my mother. We are all seasoned WDW Vets except my DBF who hasn't gone in about 20 years!

We have decided that we want to stay at POFQ and are using free dining to go the week of August 7. Other than that YOU decide everything!!!

Should we go for 5 days? 6? 7?
Do we want to go to Universal or not?
Where should we dine?

We can't all agree so we have decided to let YOU, the reader, plan our trip for us! Now is the time to show off your WDW and US/IOA savvy and wow us with your knowledge. Live vicariously through our trip report, PICS GALORE INCLUDED along with frequent updates.

My DBF is all for letting my fellow DISers help us figure this out. So, HELP!!!! We are in a state of planning crisis. Rescue us from ourselves. PLEASE?

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I think 5 days is probably more than enough. We do MK, Epcot and DHS. We usually don't do AK but may make a quick stop there this time for 1/2 a day or evening EMH.

BUT I'm wondering if going for a full week might be more fun for the BF? What if he doesn't get to see/do/ride everything he wants in only 5 days?

If we go to US/IOA we are DEFINITELY going to need more than just the 5 days at WDW.

SO....HOW LONG SHOULD WE STAY?

 

[PrincessSarah314]

Don't forget to post your opinions as I really want this to be an interactive TR with lots of input from the readers.

Also, be sure to vote in the polls.

 

[gabzee]

I first want to say have cool it is that you are letting other DISers plan your vacation. Typically, we go for 4 days (spending one day at each park but go commando style).However, since it is your boyfriend's first time in a while, I would go for 7 days. If you go for 7 days, I would spend at most two days at Universal and the remainder of the time at Disney. I would spend 4 days at the 4 parks, 1 day at one of the water parks or DTD or going on a behind the scenes tour, or going in the pool at the hotel, or some combination of any of the above, and 2 days at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Since your son is almost a teenager, he would probably enjoy the rides at Universal too.

Restaurant wise.... At Disney the following are our favorite restaurants:
- Chef Mickey (B)
- 1900 Park (B)
- Sunshine Seasons (L)
- Yak & Yeti (L)
- Mama Melrose (L/D)
- Teppan Edo (D)
- California Grill (D)
- Ohana (D)
- Tutto Italia (D)
- Boma (D)

I am not quite sure what type of food you enjoy but if you could specify what food you like I would be happy to suggest my favorites that you may like as well since as you can see we have many favorite restaurants.

For Universal Studios/ Islands of Adventure:
There restaurant selections are more limited. The following restaurants are the one we enjoy:

- Mythos (Islands of Adventure)- It is an absolute must and was voted the best theme park restaurant. DELICIOUS!!!

Again I can help you more once I know what type of food you enjoy.

If you decide to go to Universal I would get the Express pass in addition to your park admission ticket. It is their version of a fastpass but instead of applying to a few attractions (like at Disney), it applys to the majority of the attractions and saves you a lot of time expecially during the summer. Regarding Harry Potter World, I went there over President Day weekend so I don't know if they did it because it was a holiday or what but for us we had to get a ticket to get into HPW. There was no additional cost. Instead, it was more like a reservation. You went to a certain location and you told the CM how many people were in your party and then they handed you a piece of paper with a specific time of when you can enter HPW (ex: 1-2). Once you were in, you could stay as long as you want but once you left HPW you couldn't re-enter unless they had more times available. However, the day we went they ran out of tickets at 1pm so would get there early. I hoped this information helped so far.

 

[blairbear]

I love that you are doing an interactive PTR!

I said to go for 7 nights, we like to slow down and take our time.

Hubby and I have never been to US/IOA, we are considering going this year to see the Harry Potter stuff so I can't offer any advise for them.

However, eating is something both of us love lol
My suggestions would be:

~Boma - We have had breakfast and dinner at Boma, while we prefer breakfast, dinner was great too!

~ OHana - We have only done breakfast but we loved it and you can't beat the view!

~Le Cellier - Lunch or dinner. This is DH fav resturant. He would eat every meal but breakfast here if I would let him


Those are our must do's but we enjoy Mama Melrose, Crystal Palace, Narcoossee's and Whispering Canyon Cafe as well.

I hope this helps

 

[disneychic2]

I voted for 7 nights. If you're going to make the trip, might as well do it up right. If DBF hasn't been in 20 years, he will be blown away. Give him a chance to experience things like a kid. Gives you a chance to duck over to see HP if that's what you'd like. Personally, I spend all my time at WDW and love every minute of it. With the water parks and DTD and the awesome resort pools etc., there's plenty to do. Also going for 7 days builds in relaxation time to take time out to enjoy some of the shows and just soak in the magical details all around you. It's fun to get one of the WDW Trivia books and have a question of the day or wait and read it on the plane or make some sort of game out of the information. Let your imagination run wild and freshen up the WDW experience for you as well. And DON'T short change him on AK. It's a half day park, I agree, but it's so fun to do the safari first thing and then hit EE. We sometimes do the safari twice and we see a lot of different animals on each trip. Wow! Have fun with your trip. You're already showing your keen sense of adventure by letting disers choose! Hope it's magical!

 

[Mrs. Sojourner]

I voted for 7 too! I agree with PP about 4 days at Disney, 1 rest day, 2 days at US/IOA. I think your DS would have a great time there at his age.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I first want to say have cool it is that you are letting other DISers plan your vacation. Typically, we go for 4 days (spending one day at each park but go commando style).However, since it is your boyfriend's first time in a while, I would go for 7 days. If you go for 7 days, I would spend at most two days at Universal and the remainder of the time at Disney. I would spend 4 days at the 4 parks, 1 day at one of the water parks or DTD or going on a behind the scenes tour, or going in the pool at the hotel, or some combination of any of the above, and 2 days at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Since your son is almost a teenager, he would probably enjoy the rides at Universal too.

Restaurant wise.... At Disney the following are our favorite restaurants:
- Chef Mickey (B)
- 1900 Park (B)
- Sunshine Seasons (L)
- Yak & Yeti (L)
- Mama Melrose (L/D)
- Teppan Edo (D)
- California Grill (D)
- Ohana (D)
- Tutto Italia (D)
- Boma (D)

I am not quite sure what type of food you enjoy but if you could specify what food you like I would be happy to suggest my favorites that you may like as well since as you can see we have many favorite restaurants.

For Universal Studios/ Islands of Adventure:
There restaurant selections are more limited. The following restaurants are the one we enjoy:

- Mythos (Islands of Adventure)- It is an absolute must and was voted the best theme park restaurant. DELICIOUS!!!

Again I can help you more once I know what type of food you enjoy.

If you decide to go to Universal I would get the Express pass in addition to your park admission ticket. It is their version of a fastpass but instead of applying to a few attractions (like at Disney), it applys to the majority of the attractions and saves you a lot of time expecially during the summer. Regarding Harry Potter World, I went there over President Day weekend so I don't know if they did it because it was a holiday or what but for us we had to get a ticket to get into HPW. There was no additional cost. Instead, it was more like a reservation. You went to a certain location and you told the CM how many people were in your party and then they handed you a piece of paper with a specific time of when you can enter HPW (ex: 1-2). Once you were in, you could stay as long as you want but once you left HPW you couldn't re-enter unless they had more times available. However, the day we went they ran out of tickets at 1pm so would get there early. I hoped this information helped so far.

Thanks for all of your input! We are doing the dining plan and everyone likes different types of food so this may be quite a trying task to accomplish.

My DS12 is quite the picky eater. Have you ever met a kid who hates ketchup before???

My DBF likes seafood, but not sushi. His favorite food is mexican. He is an average size guy with a BIG appetitie. Cracks me up how he eats so much but can still remain proportioned!

My mother is the absolute most plain eater I've ever met. She eats salads with no dressing! Yuck.

I'm just an eater. I love food. I don't do seafood or sushi and try to stay away from spicy things but otherwise I'll eat it!

As for trying US/IOA I'm not sure! We specifically wanted to see WWoHP but if it so crowded you basically need a FP to get in I'm not sure I want to go!!!

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I love that you are doing an interactive PTR!

I said to go for 7 nights, we like to slow down and take our time.

Hubby and I have never been to US/IOA, we are considering going this year to see the Harry Potter stuff so I can't offer any advise for them.

However, eating is something both of us love lol
My suggestions would be:

~Boma - We have had breakfast and dinner at Boma, while we prefer breakfast, dinner was great too!

~ OHana - We have only done breakfast but we loved it and you can't beat the view!

~Le Cellier - Lunch or dinner. This is DH fav resturant. He would eat every meal but breakfast here if I would let him


Those are our must do's but we enjoy Mama Melrose, Crystal Palace, Narcoossee's and Whispering Canyon Cafe as well.

I hope this helps

Is Boma good for a picky eater? We've eaten dinneer at O'Hana (loved it!) and Le Cellier (loved that too!)

We've never eaten at Mama Melrose, Narcoossee's or Whispering Canyon. we have eaten at Crystal Palace though and weren't impressed. I know people really love it; but it was just very average IMHO.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I voted for 7 nights. If you're going to make the trip, might as well do it up right. If DBF hasn't been in 20 years, he will be blown away. Give him a chance to experience things like a kid. Gives you a chance to duck over to see HP if that's what you'd like. Personally, I spend all my time at WDW and love every minute of it. With the water parks and DTD and the awesome resort pools etc., there's plenty to do. Also going for 7 days builds in relaxation time to take time out to enjoy some of the shows and just soak in the magical details all around you. It's fun to get one of the WDW Trivia books and have a question of the day or wait and read it on the plane or make some sort of game out of the information. Let your imagination run wild and freshen up the WDW experience for you as well. And DON'T short change him on AK. It's a half day park, I agree, but it's so fun to do the safari first thing and then hit EE. We sometimes do the safari twice and we see a lot of different animals on each trip. Wow! Have fun with your trip. You're already showing your keen sense of adventure by letting disers choose! Hope it's magical!

You are so right on! I didn't mention this before but my DBF is a teacher so he is definitely in touch with his inner child. He has even started buying Disney movies on blu-ray in anticipation of the trip (the last one was Bambi--next will be Pinocchio). We are lame like that. When he took me to see Mars Needs Moms for my birthday we were the only couple in the theater that didn't have a child in tow.

I will strongly consider doing AK this year just for his benefit. Although I do enjoy both the safari and EE and my son really liked KRR.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea about the trivia book! I am a trivia junkie. I pride myself on my ability to beat most people in games like Trivia Pursuit. Nerdy, I know!

 

[PrincessSarah314]

I voted for 7 too! I agree with PP about 4 days at Disney, 1 rest day, 2 days at US/IOA. I think your DS would have a great time there at his age.

Here's the thing about my DS11. He does NOT do rides well. He does ride all the tame ones but absolutely will NOT ride roller coasters or rides with drops. He did ToT once (at DLR) and will not even step foot on BTMR, let alone RR or SM.

I'm not sure he would actually ride much at either US or IOA.

 

[2girlsmom]

Based on your son not being into the thrill rides, I still think 7 days, perhaps without US. We love being able to spend a half day at DTD, and we would have to say that AK is actually a more than 1/2 day park, especially since it is your bf's first trip in forever, I would think he would want to see the shows (Lion King, Bug and Nemo), as well as the Safari and EE, Dinosaur (not my fave, and probably not one your ds will want), etc. We love the Donald's Safari breakfast at Tusker House, it has tons of regular breakfast foods, including donuts, even, but also has a few african inspired dishes, which makes it interesting, and they have that yummy "jungle juice". Other restaurants we like a lot: 1900 PF (we like for breakfast and supper, but honestly it is as much for the character interactions as the food), Chefs de France, Kona, LTT, Ohana, Kouzzina's.

 

[ChiBub]

I voted for 7 nights because I did IOA for the first time in December and it is VERY cool. We (DH and I) thought that the theming, WWoHP in particular, is on par with Disney (and I don't say that lightly-- I was verrry resistant to leaving Disney property). I've been raving about IOA ever since. We did everything we wanted in less than a day, but that was mid-December.

And to your earlier question about Boma-- IMO, Boma is not for picky eaters. DH and I are both fairly picky, meat-and-potatoes lovers, and neither of us enjoyed our meals there. We ended up getting counter-service within a couple of hours because we'd eaten so little.

I can't imagine giving up any control of my trip, but it's an exciting concept!

 

[gabzee]

I truly enjoyed US/IOA when I went. However, after learning that your son is not a fan of thrill rides I would stick to Disney since that is what US/IOA is known for. I would stick with the 7 days. When we go to each park for at least a full day including AK. Since it is the first time your BF is going to Disney in a while, I would spend more time at AK. There are many things to do at Disney. If you decide to just spend your time at Disney I would spend 4/5 days at the park, 1/2 days at the water parks, and 1 day at DTD/ hotel/pool. Regarding the restaurants..... I must stay I have never heard of a kid who does not like ketchup. In fact, for my husband it is like a food group. I would suggest that you eat at Ohana and Le Cellier since you enjoyed it in the past. I know you don't like sushi but Teppan Edo is a restaurant you may like. It is a hibachi restaurant where the chefs cook in front of you. They food is pretty basic. You can choice one protein or a combination of proteins such as chicken, steak, shrimp, scallops, etc. They then give you noodles, veggies, i want to say rice, and maybe even miso soup and salad. We really enjoy it and the entire meal is very entertaining. Boma is very good as well. It does have food with an African twist but has the basic as well including pasta, french fries, chicken tenders, mac and cheese, etc. They have carving stations and hummus as well. We enjoy it.
Mama Melrose and Tutto Italia are good italian restaurants. For lunch, I would try Sunshine Seasons (they have a big selection of food to choose from). I would look over the menus on allears.net to get a better idea of the restaurants.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

Based on your son not being into the thrill rides, I still think 7 days, perhaps without US. We love being able to spend a half day at DTD, and we would have to say that AK is actually a more than 1/2 day park, especially since it is your bf's first trip in forever, I would think he would want to see the shows (Lion King, Bug and Nemo), as well as the Safari and EE, Dinosaur (not my fave, and probably not one your ds will want), etc. We love the Donald's Safari breakfast at Tusker House, it has tons of regular breakfast foods, including donuts, even, but also has a few african inspired dishes, which makes it interesting, and they have that yummy "jungle juice". Other restaurants we like a lot: 1900 PF (we like for breakfast and supper, but honestly it is as much for the character interactions as the food), Chefs de France, Kona, LTT, Ohana, Kouzzina's.

What is jungle juice? Is Tusker House's breakfast a character dining buffet similar to Chef Mickey's?

We've done Teppan Edo; my DS11 loves hibachi places so we will possibly go there again.

 

[2girlsmom]

Yes, Tusker House breakfast is a character one, with pics with Donald and then Goofy, Daisy, Minnie, sometimes Mickey, etc in their safari clothes walking around. Jungle juice is a mixed juice, very similiar to what Ohana serves. I believe it is a blend of orange and mango? Not sure what else, we all love it. I would definitely say that we found the quality better here than at Chef Mickeys, and the selections are more diverse. They have all your regular breakfast items; eggs, sausage & bacon, cinnamon rolls, pastries, large fruit section, oatmeal, etc, and then add things like the beef bobotie such as you would find at Boma. I have one dd that is VERY picky, the other eats most everything, and my husband is in the middle, also picky, but in a different way than my daughter, while I am a more adventurous eater. Tusker House has many options for everyone to enjoy. We are actually trying it for lunch on our May trip, not characters at lunch, but I hear their lunch buffet is also great.

 

[PrincessSarah314]

Yes, Tusker House breakfast is a character one, with pics with Donald and then Goofy, Daisy, Minnie, sometimes Mickey, etc in their safari clothes walking around. Jungle juice is a mixed juice, very similiar to what Ohana serves. I believe it is a blend of orange and mango? Not sure what else, we all love it. I would definitely say that we found the quality better here than at Chef Mickeys, and the selections are more diverse. They have all your regular breakfast items; eggs, sausage & bacon, cinnamon rolls, pastries, large fruit section, oatmeal, etc, and then add things like the beef bobotie such as you would find at Boma. I have one dd that is VERY picky, the other eats most everything, and my husband is in the middle, also picky, but in a different way than my daughter, while I am a more adventurous eater. Tusker House has many options for everyone to enjoy. We are actually trying it for lunch on our May trip, not characters at lunch, but I hear their lunch buffet is also great.

That sounds like it might be a bit more adventurous than we are ready to handle!