WDW Tips

Our next upcoming trip is what I lovingly refer to as the “Grizwald” Family Vacation. This is the 1st family vacation my family and I have taken as adults. The attendees are as follows:

Me(33)- Disney Veteran of 30+ trips. I am the master planner for this vacation

Jim (35) (DH)- Disney Veteran of 20+ trips.

Dad(54)-15+ trips to world but last was in 2002; Sometimes referred to as Jed Clampitt

Mom(54)-same as dad; we will be celebrating her 55th birthday while there

Chris(Brother)(27)-10+trips to WDW, Only one of us who has been to any overseas parks (Tokoyo Disneyland) Currently stationed in Hawaii; will be deployed to Iraq again this fall for the 4th time

Crystal (Sister in Law)(28)-2nd trip ever to the world

Patsy(Grandma)(75)-3rd trip

Possible Attendee: Cousin Melissa(26)-never been to Disney;currently live in NC. Undecided if she will be joining us

Background:
My immediate family has not all been together since 2004. My brother is currently in the Marine Corps and has been stationed in NC and HI. In 2005, both my parents and my husband and I lost our homes in Katrina, 3 days after my brother was deployed to Iraq. While both me and my brother have been home since then, neither of us have been back to MS at the same time. Late last year my parents sold their property to a casino developer and were able to purchase a new home and basically be financially secure into their retirement years. My parents are taking both their kids and spouses as well as my dad’s mom on an all expense paid trip. We will be celebrating my mother’s 55th birthday while at Disney and well as enjoying being together before my brother is once again deployed. Also last August we lost my grandfather while my brother was in Iraq and was unable to come home for the funeral. This is the first time he will be seeing my grandmother since then. This is also my grandmother’s 1st trip without my grandpa.

Accommodations:
We are currently booked at Old Key West in a 2-bedroom villa. This is the same place we stayed in 2002 when we took my grandparents on their first Disney vacation. I would have liked to be at a different DVC resort but this was the only thing available when we made the reservation and also when AP rates were released. We will be there for 7 nights. I also tried to get a bounce back rate while at the Poly in Feb, but again nothing else was available. I have also inquired into a Grand Villa but have had any success with price and/or availability

Travel:
Obviously since my Brother and SIL live in Hawaii they will be flying. They are actually flying in 2 days before everyone else and will be staying at All Star Sports for their first night on property.
My husband and I will be flying in but not arriving until 11:30pm the first night
My mom, dad, and grandmother will be driving from MS and arriving approx 3:30pm the first day

All flying travelers will be using Magical Express.

Advanced Dining Reservations:
April 4th
Whispering Canyon-Lunch
Chef Mickeys-Dinner

April 5th
Yak and Yeti-lunch

April 6th (Mom’s Birthday)
Hoop Dee Doo 9pm Show

Apirl 7th
LeCellier Dinner

April 8th
No ADR’s

April 9th
Ohauna Dinner

April 10th
check out day No ADRs

Other info
Our park plans will basically follow the ADR’s. We are not planning any water parks. There will probably be a few night for us to go to Pleasure Island and the marketplace. I have an EPCOT fireworks cruise booked on the Breathless on the 5th. At the time it was booked we did not think that my grandma was going to want to go to the parks with us so the 6 person limit on the Breathless was not an issue. We are still not sure how we are going to handle this but I am not wanting to cancel it. Maybe we will draw straws..who knows. I am hoping maybe there will be a cancellation with a pontoon boat and then the problem will be solved. We are also wanting to have a photo session at the Grand Floridian seeing as all of us have not been together in such a long time. I will book that over the next 2 days.

Well that’s the plan so far. I’ll keep you updated on any changes.

It was announced this week that one of our favorite resturants at EPCOT will be closing Aug 31, 2007. From Mouseplanet.com

“L’Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante will be the first of the original table service restaurants in Epcot’s World Showcase to disappear from the park. The restaurant will close at the end of its current contract on August 31, to be replaced by “a new Italian restaurant concept.”

I am so sad over this. Apparently this was a Disney choice not Alfredo’s. Alfredo’s was always one of mine and Jim’s favorite places to eat at EPCOT. We had a wonderful dinner last year for Jim’s birthday there. If you are going before August I highly suggest you check it out.

Jim and I ate here one night this past trip. I know that I commented on it in the dining post, but I wanted to expand on it a little more.

We did not have plans to eat here. We were shopping at DTD (Downtown Disney) and called WDW DINE that same day to get at reservation. We knew we were going to be going to the Adventure’s Club that evening so eating Downtown seemed like a good choice. We had a 7:30pm reservation and was seated immediatly. We had a good table near the stage. Our waitress was very attentive as was the manager. He came over to our table 2 or 3 times during our meal to make sure everything as ok.

Jim had a Boddinger’s draft and I had a very berry cosmo. If you have ever had a Sydney’s cosmo at Outback Steakhouse that is exactly what this drink tastes like. As far as starters I had the “Drunk Chicken” and we can’t remember what Jim had. For dinner Jim had the “It’s not bleeding chowder”which he enjoyed. It wasn’t quite what he expected and next time he said he is going to try the salmon. I was going to have the sirloin, but our waitress said that I could have steak anywhere and I should branch out. She brought me out a taste of the “Keen Eye for Shepard’s pie” for me to try and I ended up ordering it. Dessert consisted of the bread pudding and Bates Banger Badnoffi Beauty. The bread pudding was the better of the two but both were very good.

About half way through our dinner they had an Irish band which played. The music ranged from traditional Irish music to U2. They were quite entertaining.

Throughout the entire resturant there are signed pictures of famous Irish people. There are several signed pictures of the members of U2 and even an large oil painting of Bono. After dinner we were shopping in the gift shop and the associate told us the one of the owners is a cousin of Bono and the other owner invented Lazer Tag.

We really enjoyed our meal and will return

We were able to take advantage of the free Disney Dining Package on our most recent trip (Sept 3-10). In our early years of traveling to Disney, this would have been way more food than we have eaten on our own, plus it would have taken up precious park time. However, now we enjoy our dining experiences just as much as the park experience. Even at the $39/per person per day cost that the dining plan normally runs, this is a good value for us. It includes 1 counter service meal (entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink), 1 table service meal (1 appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink), and 1 snack option each day. Here is a run down of where we used our meals

Day 1 Arrival Day

Chef Mickey’s Contemporary Resort

Normal cost $26.99/per adult

VERY LOUD, but great atmosphere especially for the 2 1/2 year old. Food was good, but not really $27 worth

Day 2 Animal Kingdom/EPCOT

Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ- approx $25 for 2 adults
this is probably one of the best counter service meals in the resort. We eat here during each trip

Dinner L’Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante - Italy

My husband’s birthday dinner

Appetizer was the Antipasto All’Italiana and the Calamari

Dinner was Trittico di Pasta and the Alfredo Dinner ran about $200 for 4 adults and approx $90 of that was 2 bottles of wine.

Day 3 Disney Studios/Magic Kingdom

We had breakfast at Hollywood and Vine for the JoJo/Little Einstein’s breakfast.  This was part of the Magical Beginnings program and is a fairly new character meal.  Jim and I had never eaten here.  It was great for the 2 1/2 year old, but for a couple of DINKS (Dual Income, No Kids) we were clueless.  Again the cost is worth it ($26.99/per person) if there is a small child involved.

We did not have lunch plans finalized so we decided to take a bus to Saratoga Springs and walk to Downtown Disney Marketplace for lunch.  We ate at Earl of Sandwich. It was good, but since it is not owned by Disney the choices were a sandwich, drink, and dessert.  You could sub the dessert for chips or it is $1 extra to add chips with your sandwich.  The food was good and quick. The cost was approx $25 for 2 adults

Dinner was at the Magic Kingdom. We would have liked to eat at the Pirate and the Parrot in Adventureland, however it is usually not open when we are at the MK (it is opened seasonally) we chose to eat at Pecos Bill.  We were actually the last people to be served before they closed. We arrived right before 8pm and the closed shortly after we ordered.  My brother-in-law ended up with 4 hamburgers because they were getting rid of all the food. We have eaten here several times, and no time has it been great. It is just your run of the mill theme park counter service. Dinner was approx $30 for 2 adults

Day 4 Magic Kingdom

We had some pastries at the Main Street Bakery which were huge and very filling. It was approx $12 for 2 pastries and 2 cokes.

Lunch was at the Crystal Palace. This is also another location which we had never eaten.  I am not a huge Winnie the Pooh fan and have never really had a reason to eat here.  The cost was the usual character meal ($26.99/per person) and the food was very good.  It was not super busy in the restaurant and we saw all of the characters several times.

Dinner was just stadium food at the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater.  We had hot dogs, a pretzel, and popcorn. The cost was about $15.

Day 5-Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island

The other members of our group was leaving this day and did not have park passes so we made the choice to eat at downtown Disney once again (they had one more counter service left on their package). We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express.  The food was excellent.  They only problem was there were certain items on the limited menu which were not available on the Disney dining plan. The cost for these items was $1 more, but yet you could order a desert which was $2 more than the others.

Dinner we ate at Raglan Road.  This was a spur of the moment choice.  We didn’t have dining reservations until that afternoon. I had read some not so favorable reviews, but we found it really good. Our service was great, the food was good, and there was a live band which started shortly after we sat down.  This is one place which has been added to the “must eat at” on our next trip.  On a side note we could tell that they had had some problems with service in the restaurant. The manager must have made 3 or 4 stops to make sure everything was ok.  Also because they are not owned by Disney, they only allow $27.50 per person for the dining plan. This does not affect what you can order but it does affect the servers since their tip is included into that price.  We had ordered several alcoholic beverages so we tried to add additional tip to that bill.

Day 6 Animal Kingdom/EPCOT

Jim and I just sat here for 5 minutes trying to remember where we at for lunch that day.  Obviously it was not very memorable.  We ate the new Sunshine Food Terrace at the Land.  The cost was approx $25 and forgetful.

Dinner was one of the most anticipated meals of the week.  Jim had always wanted to eat at the Coral Reef, however I do not eat seafood and we just couldn’t justify spending the money to eat there.  We had an 8:20pm reservation and did not end up sitting until almost 9:30pm. We had a great seat next to the glass; however we had children coming up to our table throughout the entire meal to look at the fish.  There was very little seafood on the menu and it was not near as enjoyable as we had expected to be.  I suppose this is one of the side effects of the free dining plan. We will not return to eat here. Cost for 2 adults was approx $100

Day 7 Disney Studios/EPCOT

We had 2 extra counter service meals so we ended up eating breakfast at Old Port Royal.  I had the chocolate chip pancakes and Jim had the French toast.  One of the most frustrating things about the food court was that there are no bottled cokes sold in this area.  You have to go to the Calypso Trading post for bottled drinks other than water.  Also they do not have regular cups for fountain drinks out.  They only have the refillable ones, making you think that is all they offer.  This is not the case you can ask for a 1 meal use cup. Cost of breakfast was $20

For lunch we ate the ESPN Club at the Boardwalk.  This was not included on the meal plan (didn’t want to use the last one here) we drank our sorrows away while watching the Rebs lose. Cost of meal was $65

Dinner was at  Le Cellier.  We had a slight wait since we arrived right at our reservation time.  This is one of the restaurants we eat at every trip.  Dinner was excellent as usual and the cost was approx $100 for 2 adults

Day 8 Magic Kingdom/Airport

Again breakfast at the food court approx $15

Lunch at Columbia Harbor House. This was the 2nd time I had eaten here.  The first was during the Keys to the Kingdom tour in March 2006.  The food was good but they really tried to make it too fancy.  Jim ordered fish and chips and was surprised that it was real fish. Cost was approx $25

Final Thoughts

Overall we were very satisfied with the dining plan and will participate in it again whether it is free or not.  We ate at several locations which were new and very good and a few which we will skip going forward.  One of our biggest opportunities while dining at the worth would be eating at more resort restaurants.