TR - Memorial Weekend Madness - Feeling the Force & Celebrating the 5th - COMPLETE

[Nhebron]

We have an upcoming trip in August. 10 days at the Grand Floridian. We have the magical deal so got 7 day base tickets plus 10 days for $3800. No DDP, so we are paying for food OOP. But we have many ADR's like 'ohana,s, teppen edo, San angel in, sci fi dine, California grille, narcoosees, chef mickeys, be our guest dinner,t Rex and via Napoli. I may make a few more.

10 days at the Grand Floridian sounds AMAZING. You will have to do a trip report. That sounds like a really good deal too. I think we paid around that amount or a little less last year for like 4 nights @ Poly with 5 day park hoppers and free dining. This was in February. My hubby doesn't have the vacation time to take a long trip, so we have never gone longer than a week.

My favorite experience at Grand Floridan is afternoon tea. On our first trip, I went with my mother and on our second trip, I went by myself. After my tea, I just walked around the resort and sat outside to people watch. I would love to have a daughter to take with me. It was just a pleasant experience. I think they have a kiddie tea option if that is an experience that interests you.

I have never been to California Grille but its on my list. We did BOG on valentine's day last year. Food was OK but atmosphere was amazing and they gave me a rose for valentines. I loved Ohana breakfast, both the food and experience. We had dinner there too but I just don't have a strong opinion about it either way. I much prefer Kona over Ohana for dinner. It's a completely different experience though. We liked Via Napoli food (can't go wrong with pizza!) but had a bad experience. I accidentally closed DS' finger in the door of the family bathroom (it was heavy and swung shot). There was lots of blood and tears that ended the meal pretty quickly

 

[Nhebron]

My husband and I love Old Key West our children love Beach Club Villas, but all the resorts are perfect !

I have actually never stayed at the same resort twice, so if we went back to CBR, that would be a first.

Beach club looks awesome...especially the pool! I bet DS would love that.

 

[dvc at last !]

Your son would love the Stormalong Bay area and so would you and your husband !

 

[Ngwira]

10 days at the Grand Floridian sounds AMAZING. You will have to do a trip report. That sounds like a really good deal too. I think we paid around that amount or a little less last year for like 4 nights @ Poly with 5 day park hoppers and free dining. This was in February. My hubby doesn't have the vacation time to take a long trip, so we have never gone longer than a week.

My favorite experience at Grand Floridan is afternoon tea. On our first trip, I went with my mother and on our second trip, I went by myself. After my tea, I just walked around the resort and sat outside to people watch. I would love to have a daughter to take with me. It was just a pleasant experience. I think they have a kiddie tea option if that is an experience that interests you.

I have never been to California Grille but its on my list. We did BOG on valentine's day last year. Food was OK but atmosphere was amazing and they gave me a rose for valentines. I loved Ohana breakfast, both the food and experience. We had dinner there too but I just don't have a strong opinion about it either way. I much prefer Kona over Ohana for dinner. It's a completely different experience though. We liked Via Napoli food (can't go wrong with pizza!) but had a bad experience. I accidentally closed DS' finger in the door of the family bathroom (it was heavy and swung shot). There was lots of blood and tears that ended the meal pretty quickly

Love your tea pic. Yes,we save our vacation each year for our long trip. We love the grand. I kinda did it the wrong way. Our first trip in 2012, we stayed there and now my DH refuses to stay anywhere else..lol I would love to do free dining but it just doesn't make financial sense to do when staying at a deluxe. We do far better with a room discount and paying OOP for food. The same trip with free dining would be around $7k. We won't spend 3 grand on food even with all of our ts plans.

 

[Ngwira]

We are trying ohana dinner. I hope we like it. We have been lucky enough to get bog dinner ressies 3 years in a row. I think it's because our trip is so long so we book towards the end of our stay. We love narcoosees and Cali grille which we did last year. We liked chef mickeys breakfast too. All our other ts ressies are new experiences. We had the deluxe dining plan last year so we tried lots including Cinderella royal table twice.

 

[Nhebron]

We are trying ohana dinner. I hope we like it. We have been lucky enough to get bog dinner ressies 3 years in a row. I think it's because our trip is so long so we book towards the end of our stay. We love narcoosees and Cali grille which we did last year. We liked chef mickeys breakfast too. All our other ts ressies are new experiences. We had the deluxe dining plan last year so we tried lots including Cinderella royal table twice.

Lots of people love it. I am sure it will be great.

 

[Nhebron]

We are trying ohana dinner. I hope we like it. We have been lucky enough to get bog dinner ressies 3 years in a row. I think it's because our trip is so long so we book towards the end of our stay. We love narcoosees and Cali grille which we did last year. We liked chef mickeys breakfast too. All our other ts ressies are new experiences. We had the deluxe dining plan last year so we tried lots including Cinderella royal table twice.

This is my memory from CRT.

DS had no interest in the food or princesses. But when that sword came out....

 

[Ngwira]

This is my memory from CRT.

DS had no interest in the food or princesses. But when that sword came out....

That's a great shot of Snow White. Yeah we decided against it this trip. Especially paying OOP...not worth it imho. Your ds looks so excited!!!

 

[Ngwira]

Ooh have you eaten at jiko? It's also a new experience.

 

[dvc at last !]

Never eaten at Jiko, but Boma is great for the breakfast buffet and the dinner buffet. Love 'Ohana.
There is a favorite in each park, too ! What are your favorites ?
Daughter and I did do the Tea once ( a few years ago ). It was a beautiful experience !
We have DVC so with a full kitchen we have groceries delivered and eat a few meals out.
Breakfast in DVC room and some lunches and some dinners out.

 

[Ngwira]

Magic kingdom for table service we love be our guest dinner. We have tried Cinderella royal table twice. At Epcot we love via Napoli but we are trying teppen edo and San angel this trip. At hollywood studios we have only tried 50's and we're not a fan. We are trying sci fi this trip. At animal kingdom we have tried tusker house and ysk and yeti. We love tusker house.

 

[Nhebron]

That's a great shot of Snow White. Yeah we decided against it this trip. Especially paying OOP...not worth it imho. Your ds looks so excited!!!

I was a little bit worried for Snow White...but she stayed completely in character and was so sweet. I would have been like "watch that sword kid!"

We did pay OOP for CRT on that trip and I agree that it wasn't worth it.

 

[Nhebron]

Ooh have you eaten at jiko? It's also a new experience.

I have never been to Jiko. We love Boma for dinner.

 

[Nhebron]

Never eaten at Jiko, but Boma is great for the breakfast buffet and the dinner buffet. Love 'Ohana.
There is a favorite in each park, too ! What are your favorites ?
Daughter and I did do the Tea once ( a few years ago ). It was a beautiful experience !
We have DVC so with a full kitchen we have groceries delivered and eat a few meals out.
Breakfast in DVC room and some lunches and some dinners out.

I would love to have a full kitchen. We had a kitchen area when we stayed at a 1 bedroom at AKL and also had groceries delivered.

I am trying to think about my favorite park options. I wasn't in love with BOG and haven't tried for that ADR since our first dinner. I hear that lunch is better than dinner. Honestly, we just tend to snack in MK and then eat at a nearby resort. I think my husband's favorite MK food is the popcorn stand nearest the entrance.

Hands down my favorite QS in any of the parks is Flame Tree BBQ. The food is tasty and it is a good value. We have been to Yak & Yeti, but I don't have any strong opinion on it. Tusker House is on my list to try.

In Epcot, we have been to Le Cellier twice (not going back), Via Napoli, and some snacking around WS. I think I enjoyed the booze the most, with Via Napoli a close second.

In HS, we have done Sci-fi, but it was the Galactic breakfast (AWESOME!). I thought the drive-in theming was pretty cool though. We did 50's prime time and H&V (Jedi dinner). I thought the food was alright, nothing I would rush to book an ADR for again.

 

[Nhebron]

So my trip report is pretty much over. After we finished our lunch, we headed towards the exit and on to the airport. I was a bit sad to be saying goodbye to Disney, but also ready to get home. I was tired and we still had a three hour drive home from Atlanta once we landed. Things at the airport were pretty uneventful. We kept DS' stroller through the airport and then gate checked it. This made it easier on us getting through the airport. I did check his booster seat with our luggage.

The flight was on time and we were all boarded and ready to go. The pilot told the flight attendants to secure the cabin for departure, so I thought we were all set. But then we sat and sat and sat at the gate....the plane was not going anywhere. Finally we were told that we were delayed due to weather in Atlanta and that we were waiting for an update. There were multiple announcements like this, with each update stating that we were still waiting for an update with the expected time of next update (not expected departure) being pushed out. I was really starting to get freaked out when they told me that ATL had grounded all flights coming and going. People started exiting the plane. There were a lot of folks concerned about connections, including several families heading to South America. The flight attendant told us that we were free to exit the plane but that we had to take all of our belongs and that they could get the green light to depart at any time. We decided to stay put because our son was calm and comfortable.

I am glad we did because just when we were getting to the point of seriously contemplating getting off the plane (about 2 hrs after sitting at the gate), we were told that we would be taking off soon. We ended up getting stuck for another 30 minutes or so on the runway....but we finally made it to ATL. Our booster seat never showed up at baggage claim but it was a cheap one purchased for the trip, so I just decided to write it off. We finally made it home around 2:30am. We should have gotten home sometime between 10 and 11pm. Both DH and I had to work the next day.


So that's the story of our super quick SWW/5th Birthday celebration. Even though there were some bumps, I think we made some great memories.

I am not quite done with this thread. Like the end of fireworks when you get an explosion of booms ("fireworks go boom, boom"), I plan to end this trip report with a burst of pictures. Just need to get everything uploaded.

 

[Ngwira]

I would love to have a full kitchen. We had a kitchen area when we stayed at a 1 bedroom at AKL and also had groceries delivered.

I am trying to think about my favorite park options. I wasn't in love with BOG and haven't tried for that ADR since our first dinner. I hear that lunch is better than dinner. Honestly, we just tend to snack in MK and then eat at a nearby resort. I think my husband's favorite MK food is the popcorn stand nearest the entrance.

Hands down my favorite QS in any of the parks is Flame Tree BBQ. The food is tasty and it is a good value. We have been to Yak & Yeti, but I don't have any strong opinion on it. Tusker House is on my list to try.

In Epcot, we have been to Le Cellier twice (not going back), Via Napoli, and some snacking around WS. I think I enjoyed the booze the most, with Via Napoli a close second.

In HS, we have done Sci-fi, but it was the Galactic breakfast (AWESOME!). I thought the drive-in theming was pretty cool though. We did 50's prime time and H&V (Jedi dinner). I thought the food was alright, nothing I would rush to book an ADR for again.

We also did lunch at le cellier and hated it!!! Lol

 

[Ngwira]

I have never been to Jiko. We love Boma for dinner.

We may try breakfast at boma this trip.

 

[Ngwira]

So my trip report is pretty much over. After we finished our lunch, we headed towards the exit and on to the airport. I was a bit sad to be saying goodbye to Disney, but also ready to get home. I was tired and we still had a three hour drive home from Atlanta once we landed. Things at the airport were pretty uneventful. We kept DS' stroller through the airport and then gate checked it. This made it easier on us getting through the airport. I did check his booster seat with our luggage.

The flight was on time and we were all boarded and ready to go. The pilot told the flight attendants to secure the cabin for departure, so I thought we were all set. But then we sat and sat and sat at the gate....the plane was not going anywhere. Finally we were told that we were delayed due to weather in Atlanta and that we were waiting for an update. There were multiple announcements like this, with each update stating that we were still waiting for an update with the expected time of next update (not expected departure) being pushed out. I was really starting to get freaked out when they told me that ATL had grounded all flights coming and going. People started exiting the plane. There were a lot of folks concerned about connections, including several families heading to South America. The flight attendant told us that we were free to exit the plane but that we had to take all of our belongs and that they could get the green light to depart at any time. We decided to stay put because our son was calm and comfortable.

I am glad we did because just when we were getting to the point of seriously contemplating getting off the plane (about 2 hrs after sitting at the gate), we were told that we would be taking off soon. We ended up getting stuck for another 30 minutes or so on the runway....but we finally made it to ATL. Our booster seat never showed up at baggage claim but it was a cheap one purchased for the trip, so I just decided to write it off. We finally made it home around 2:30am. We should have gotten home sometime between 10 and 11pm. Both DH and I had to work the next day.


So that's the story of our super quick SWW/5th Birthday celebration. Even though there were some bumps, I think we made some great memories.

I am not quite done with this thread. Like the end of fireworks when you get an explosion of booms ("fireworks go boom, boom"), I plan to end this trip report with a burst of pictures. Just need to get everything uploaded.

Love your tr and can't wait for the pics!!!

 

[Ngwira]

So my trip report is pretty much over. After we finished our lunch, we headed towards the exit and on to the airport. I was a bit sad to be saying goodbye to Disney, but also ready to get home. I was tired and we still had a three hour drive home from Atlanta once we landed. Things at the airport were pretty uneventful. We kept DS' stroller through the airport and then gate checked it. This made it easier on us getting through the airport. I did check his booster seat with our luggage.

The flight was on time and we were all boarded and ready to go. The pilot told the flight attendants to secure the cabin for departure, so I thought we were all set. But then we sat and sat and sat at the gate....the plane was not going anywhere. Finally we were told that we were delayed due to weather in Atlanta and that we were waiting for an update. There were multiple announcements like this, with each update stating that we were still waiting for an update with the expected time of next update (not expected departure) being pushed out. I was really starting to get freaked out when they told me that ATL had grounded all flights coming and going. People started exiting the plane. There were a lot of folks concerned about connections, including several families heading to South America. The flight attendant told us that we were free to exit the plane but that we had to take all of our belongs and that they could get the green light to depart at any time. We decided to stay put because our son was calm and comfortable.

I am glad we did because just when we were getting to the point of seriously contemplating getting off the plane (about 2 hrs after sitting at the gate), we were told that we would be taking off soon. We ended up getting stuck for another 30 minutes or so on the runway....but we finally made it to ATL. Our booster seat never showed up at baggage claim but it was a cheap one purchased for the trip, so I just decided to write it off. We finally made it home around 2:30am. We should have gotten home sometime between 10 and 11pm. Both DH and I had to work the next day.


So that's the story of our super quick SWW/5th Birthday celebration. Even though there were some bumps, I think we made some great memories.

I am not quite done with this thread. Like the end of fireworks when you get an explosion of booms ("fireworks go boom, boom"), I plan to end this trip report with a burst of pictures. Just need to get everything uploaded.

After 2 hours of sitting on Tarmac, I would've exited. You're a better woman than me

 

[dvc at last !]

I also like Flame Tree BBQ. I like Columbia Harbor House take your tray upstairs where it is quiet and watch the people outside
dashing about. Love the Plaza. When we went to 50ies we had a fun time with the CM who served us.
Did you ever grab a fast meal at Capt. Cook's then go out to beach - sit on the beach chairs and watch MK fireworks ?
Also watch MK fireworks at the Top of the World deck. Another enjoyable sight is the Electric Water Pageant from the beach area at Bay Lake or
The Contemporary. Very relaxing. So may places to talk about. You ?