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From: Alpha on 21 Jul 2010 17:34 We have the confirmation, we have the Magical Express tags, we're all paid up, and everyone is getting totally excited for WDW! Here's the itinerary: Day 1: arrive; dinner at The Wave We're going to enjoy hanging out at and exploring WL. We booked a standard room, and I don't think even a crummy view would bother us much; still, I'm kind of hoping the kids' bright shiny faces will persuade the front desk CM not to give us the dumpster view. :-) We booked The Wave for dinner; it will be a first for all of us. Day 2: MK; dinner at Tony's Town Square We're kicking off the vacation with MK this time. We thought maybe, just maybe, we'd get to see MSEP this year, but so far it's looking like there won't be any night parade on our MK day, MSEP or not. On the upside, it looks like it will be Wishes, not the Summer Nightastic fireworks. I watched the latter on YouTube, and I don't think I like it as well as Wishes. While we've really enjoyed the dinner buffet at Crystal Palace, DH said he'd like to go with something different. So, I booked Tony's Town Square. I haven't been there in years, since back when they still had the Monte Cristo on the menu. I don't think DH has ever eaten there, and I'm certain the kids haven't. Day 3: Blizzard Beach; dinner at Trail's End Last year we went to TL; this year, it will be BB. I think we'll end up doing Teamboat Springs many times. Our older son was 7 when we went to BB two years ago; he kind of struggled with the Ski Patrol Training Camp, but was too old for the little tots area. This year, I think he's going to get a whole lot more enjoyment out of BB. We'll see about our younger son; he's now definitely too big for the tot area, but I bet he'll be the one struggling with the Ski Patrol area. We booked dinner at Trail's End so we could take a look at Ft. Wilderness. None of us have ever been there at all, so the whole thing will be a first for all of us. Day 4: AK, lunch at Tusker House; then hop to DHS Kilimanjaro Safaris is a huge favorite of my younger son, so we're going to start the day with that, hit a few other favorites, then have lunch at Tusker House. I think DH and I last ate there in 1999. It will be a first for the kids, and a first for us in its incarnation as a sit-down restaurant. We aren't sure how we're going to play DHS; I think Star Tours will figure in the mix, as well as MuppetVision. Our older son might want to see Indy again. DH and I want to see Fantasmic, but we aren't sure how much of heaven and earth it's necessary to move in order to see it. Does it require an hour wait in line in order to get a seat? We're going to need to figure that out. We figure we can get something from Starring Rolls and have dinner while waiting in line. The kids have never seen Fantasmic, and we haven't seen it since maybe 1998. Day 5: day at the hotel; dinner at Chef Mickey's Having booked WL, we definitely wanted a day just to enjoy the hotel. Plus, I think it will do all of us some good to have a down day. We didn't book Chef Mickey's last year, but we all ended up feeling like we missed it. Day 6: Epcot; dinner at Les Chefs Our last park of the vacation! We booked Les Chefs, which will be a first for all of us. Day 7: leave (waah) The big challenge this year will be balancing the competing ideas of what constitutes a good time for a 9yo vs. a 7yo. Our older son is ready and eager for Space, Splash, BTMR, TT, and Soarin'; our younger son has already made it very clear that he doesn't intend to do any of that. (And he's even been on Soarin' several times!) Surprisingly, he wants to do HM, but our older son is wary. So we can see that there will be more splitting up and more "child switching" this year than in the past. Another challenge will be keeping the older son's stomach happy. We're on the dining plan, and as a 9yo, he will still have to order from kids menus, where portions are small -- but this kid is going to be TALL, and this year his body has started commanding him to eat. He's already well into adult shoe sizes, fer cryin' out loud! We booked a few buffets, but for the menu sit-downs, we'll probably share our meals with him as necessary. For counter service, we might share again or maybe will just pay for a meal for him and use his child credit for breakfasts. Nobody goes hungry on the dining plan, so DH and I will just have to make sure that we order something our older son wouldn't mind sharing. So those are the plans! Comments and advice welcomed. :-) -- Alpha
From: Patty Winter on 21 Jul 2010 17:45 In article <Xns9DBCB2CEACCE7notrealverizonnet(a)188.40.43.230>, Alpha <notreal(a)verizon.net> wrote: > >We aren't sure how we're going to play DHS; I think Star Tours will >figure in the mix, as well as MuppetVision. Our older son might want to >see Indy again. DH and I want to see Fantasmic, but we aren't sure how >much of heaven and earth it's necessary to move in order to see it. I hope you plan to include Toy Story Mania! (I was going to type "Midway Mania," but in checking the WDW website to make sure that it was at DHS, I discovered that they don't use that name in Florida.) Patty
From: Alpha on 21 Jul 2010 17:55 Patty says: > I hope you plan to include Toy Story Mania! If we can, we will -- but I'm not optimistic about it. :-( FPs might well be gone by the time we get there, so we'll have to see how prohibitive the standby wait will be. I think this is one of the times Lines will be pretty helpful. :-) -- Alpha
From: Peppermint Patty on 21 Jul 2010 20:18 > So those are the plans! Comments and advice welcomed. :-) > > -- Alpha Sounds great to me! I love your dining choices. Tusker House is one of my breakfast though I have only had breakfast here. Perhaps during dinner, you or DH could sneak out and get FPs for everyone for the safari. It's not that far to run to the FP machines if they're still open. Trail's End is another good spot. There is lots of down home-type cookin' so you shouldn't be disappointed there. At some point, you should do the HDD Review with the boys. They will get a real kick out of it. I hope you get to see Fantasmic. It's my favorite nighttime show. Your plans sounds great. Not too ambitious so you don't have to go commando. When do you leave?
From: Ginny Favers on 21 Jul 2010 20:46
On 7/21/2010 5:34 PM, Alpha wrote: > We have the confirmation, we have the Magical Express tags, we're all > paid up, and everyone is getting totally excited for WDW! Here's the > itinerary: > > Day 1: arrive; dinner at The Wave > We're going to enjoy hanging out at and exploring WL. We booked a > standard room, and I don't think even a crummy view would bother us > much; still, I'm kind of hoping the kids' bright shiny faces will > persuade the front desk CM not to give us the dumpster view. :-) We > booked The Wave for dinner; it will be a first for all of us. > > Day 2: MK; dinner at Tony's Town Square > We're kicking off the vacation with MK this time. We thought maybe, > just maybe, we'd get to see MSEP this year, but so far it's looking like > there won't be any night parade on our MK day, MSEP or not. On the > upside, it looks like it will be Wishes, not the Summer Nightastic > fireworks. I watched the latter on YouTube, and I don't think I like it > as well as Wishes. > > While we've really enjoyed the dinner buffet at Crystal Palace, DH said > he'd like to go with something different. So, I booked Tony's Town > Square. I haven't been there in years, since back when they still had > the Monte Cristo on the menu. I don't think DH has ever eaten there, > and I'm certain the kids haven't. > > Day 3: Blizzard Beach; dinner at Trail's End > Last year we went to TL; this year, it will be BB. I think we'll end up > doing Teamboat Springs many times. Our older son was 7 when we went to > BB two years ago; he kind of struggled with the Ski Patrol Training > Camp, but was too old for the little tots area. This year, I think he's > going to get a whole lot more enjoyment out of BB. We'll see about our > younger son; he's now definitely too big for the tot area, but I bet > he'll be the one struggling with the Ski Patrol area. > > We booked dinner at Trail's End so we could take a look at Ft. > Wilderness. None of us have ever been there at all, so the whole thing > will be a first for all of us. > > Day 4: AK, lunch at Tusker House; then hop to DHS > Kilimanjaro Safaris is a huge favorite of my younger son, so we're going > to start the day with that, hit a few other favorites, then have lunch > at Tusker House. I think DH and I last ate there in 1999. It will be a > first for the kids, and a first for us in its incarnation as a sit-down > restaurant. > > We aren't sure how we're going to play DHS; I think Star Tours will > figure in the mix, as well as MuppetVision. Our older son might want to > see Indy again. DH and I want to see Fantasmic, but we aren't sure how > much of heaven and earth it's necessary to move in order to see it. > Does it require an hour wait in line in order to get a seat? We're > going to need to figure that out. We figure we can get something from > Starring Rolls and have dinner while waiting in line. The kids have > never seen Fantasmic, and we haven't seen it since maybe 1998. > > Day 5: day at the hotel; dinner at Chef Mickey's > Having booked WL, we definitely wanted a day just to enjoy the hotel. > Plus, I think it will do all of us some good to have a down day. We > didn't book Chef Mickey's last year, but we all ended up feeling like we > missed it. > > Day 6: Epcot; dinner at Les Chefs > Our last park of the vacation! We booked Les Chefs, which will be a > first for all of us. > > Day 7: leave (waah) > > > The big challenge this year will be balancing the competing ideas of > what constitutes a good time for a 9yo vs. a 7yo. Our older son is > ready and eager for Space, Splash, BTMR, TT, and Soarin'; our younger > son has already made it very clear that he doesn't intend to do any of > that. (And he's even been on Soarin' several times!) Surprisingly, he > wants to do HM, but our older son is wary. So we can see that there > will be more splitting up and more "child switching" this year than in > the past. > > Another challenge will be keeping the older son's stomach happy. We're > on the dining plan, and as a 9yo, he will still have to order from kids > menus, where portions are small -- but this kid is going to be TALL, and > this year his body has started commanding him to eat. He's already well > into adult shoe sizes, fer cryin' out loud! We booked a few buffets, > but for the menu sit-downs, we'll probably share our meals with him as > necessary. For counter service, we might share again or maybe will just > pay for a meal for him and use his child credit for breakfasts. Nobody > goes hungry on the dining plan, so DH and I will just have to make sure > that we order something our older son wouldn't mind sharing. > > So those are the plans! Comments and advice welcomed. :-) > > -- Alpha > My only comment is your plans are sooo close to exactly what I'd pick, I think we should tour together sometime! My only advice is stay for 10 days instead of 7. ;-) ~Amanda |