9/17 through 9/23 - PP and HoJo - and two mini-trip reports (now with photopass pix)

[bumbershoot]

The 23rd. I never really planned to go to the parks that day, but once we missed the 17th entirely, and once every other day was not as packed with rides etc as I expected, I felt the need.

The main reason was Monsters, Inc. When DS fell asleep the night before, it meant he missed that ride. So I felt a strong need to make that up to him.

Well, since we were going in anyway, and since DCA opened later, we might as well get all packed and then go over to DL first, right?

So that's what we did.

We headed to Tomorrowland, to TRY to find Buzz for an autograph. We had one more page open in the book. Alas, we couldn't find him. My notes for this day are on another page, and my head cold is preventing me from tipping my head down to look through the backpack, so I'll just have to wing it.

Ok I think I have it.

Robert and Eamon went on Astro Orbiter, while I tried, for the first time ever, Star Tours! I loved loved loved it! It had all the fun of a coaster, but without the hideous fear that a beam has fallen in the dark and will take off your head. I only wished I could have gone more often, and that I had "found" it earlier in the week. The line is great, though there was no actual "line", so I zoomed past it all. Terrific ride.

While I was in there, the guys went on Buzz as well. Then the adults swapped, and I went on Buzz again while DH did S.T. (he's been on it before, but reported it was BETTER than he remembered!). I had a bunch of stuff in my hand...backpack on a shoulder, pirate hat, knight sword, autograph book (in case of a Buzz sighting)...I just couldn't turn the car in Buzz. About halfway through, I see DS's little hand snake up to the controller, and he steered us around and around perfectly.

After that, the guys went on Autopia while I went to the restroom and continued to look for Buzz. I finally gave up on that.

Next stop? To go back to Woody's Round-Up and actually see the Woody's Adventures show.

DS decorated yet another mini-pumpkin, loved the show, it was a good time for all. He didn't want to wait in line to see Jessie, so we left.

We were getting cranky again, and DH was feeling stunned at the amount of items on my list. Uh oh!

So I fed the boys a veggie burger to share among the three of us (OK well the adults shared the burger and the Boy ate the fries) at the Hungry Bear.

Went on Pooh one last time, had a lovely time. Then saw that Pooh was giving signatures, so we got in line and were successful! Yay.

The one ick moment, similar to the near finger-break days before, was that I was wearing Crocs (more comfortable than most shoes on me, but still painful, as are ALL shoes for my hobbit feet) and DS suddenly tried to JET out of my sight. I went running after him, slammed my foot down, and felt my whole foot just smoosh down. OUCH.

But this has happened before, so I walked it off.

Ending DL with some perfect moments (other than the foot), we zipped over to DCA after a First Aid stop for another ice pack.

Have I mentioned how intensely crowded it was at DL on Sunday the 23rd? We hated that.

DCA was a bit lighter, but not ALL that much, compared to how it had been before Sunday.

We went straight to Monster's Inc, the three of us went on it once, and the guys did it a second time while I sat out, putting ice on my foot.

Walked to HoJo's, got in the car, drove away.

And that, unless I remember more things later, is our trip report!

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

Loved your trip report! The pictures are great, your DS is adorable, thanks for sharing! I am a bit concerned, however, about PP...how long would you say the walk is? You say the walk from HoJo's is so much quicker....how much of a difference is there approximately? We are at PP concierge in November on the AP rate, $169, I'm hoping it will be worth it to us. We are a family of 5, kids 7, 10, and 14 who are big eaters for the type of breakfast foods that concierge serves, so I'm hoping that will add value to us even if the walk is a bit farther.

 

[bumbershoot]

Things I learned.

Don't start the trip by visiting my crazy family. Well, actually, just don't STAY with them.

Ask one of my half-sibs to come with us, so we could have a couple hours of them watching DS (for money) and DH and I could get out on our own a bit. We haven't felt the need for that quite yet (though the DVC presentation was nice!), but as he gets older I can see it.

If we're not going to swim, don't stay at a hotel with a pool! But the better idea is...swim.

Get a place with continental breakfast, OR have some disney dollars or giftcards DEDICATED for food.

Plan the food better! This trip I discovered that most of the food there just doesn't do all that much for me. The veggie gumbo is my fave. Plan for that, don't experiment with my own food.

Don't order kid's mac and cheese at Blue Bayou. Feed DS beforehand, then just get him dessert and call it good.

Do NOT end the trip by visiting my family in any way!

I continue to be OK with my use of EE strategy along with being VERY flexible. Because we tend to go off season and during the week, we CAN be flexible, so don't feel guilty about it. It's not like Hydroguy is watching over our every move!

Don't buy a trendy hat. Buy a simple, straightforward, baseball cap. Or buy the pink, rhinestoned, cowgirl hat and be happy with it.

See fireworks from IASW.

Buy more balloons inside balloons! $7 is spendy, but to me they bring more joy than that $7, and it's sad to see them start to deflate.

The BabyTrend stroller we bought at the last minute (one half-brother works at Toys R Us and we went in to find something else, and came out with a stroller) was GREAT! We are NOT stroller people, we only bought a jogger once DS was two and I couldn't take power walks with him on my back in the Ergo anymore, but this was a really good stroller for Disney.

I need more time in DCA. We really liked it, but barely cracked the surface of it. It's not a halfday park, it's not a one day park. I could easily spend 3 solid days in there, looking, exploring, riding... We're definitely fans of it. Even though we barely rode ANYTHING in it, outside of bug' land.

Bring shoes along with extra clothes, if you have a water-loving little kid at DCA. And bring a TOWEL.

Expect to get the NASTIEST looks from other parents, the ones actually feeling the need to control their kids at the water play area, the ones who didn't plan ahead, and are telling their children "if you get wet, you'll be wet ALL DAY!" Ooh we got some nasty looks, and not because DS was going wild. But just because he was DRENCHED, and we were laughing and loving his fun. Bad influences, you know.

I can't wait for DS to be tall enough for Star Tours!

Buzz is a nice ride, though you'll have the songs in your head ALL DAY LONG. It's worse than IASW in that respect, though I actually don't MIND either one.

I hope DS isn't into autographs when we go in the future. He's met most of them, got their sigs, I hope he's done. Doubt it, but I can hope.

We really don't need to stay onsite.

Oh yeah, I just remembered something else we did on the last day. We had beignets at Ralph Brennans. So, what we learned from that was (well, what I learned, since I know the difference and the guys don't yet) do NOT get beignets outside of the actual New Orleans. They were sooooo not worth it. And more expensive than I remember them being at Cafe du Monde.

Don't look at the creepy moving heads at the ESPN Zone. Bleah.



OK, I'm too sick to write any further. Dang this cold is a NASTY one. I had DH come home from work today, to work from home and help take care of DS, after I realized I could barely move my arms at one point. I'm better now from that point, but I'm still really sick and weak, and DS is a day or two "behind" me in the cold, and needs more help than I can give.

In fact I think a fever is coming on right now (yay! fevers are good! body is working!), and I need to get this laptop battery off of my knee, b/c it's just heating me up even more.

 

[bumbershoot]

Loved your trip report! The pictures are great, your DS is adorable, thanks for sharing! I am a bit concerned, however, about PP...how long would you say the walk is? You say the walk from HoJo's is so much quicker....how much of a difference is there approximately? We are at PP concierge in November on the AP rate, $169, I'm hoping it will be worth it to us. We are a family of 5, kids 7, 10, and 14 who are big eaters for the type of breakfast foods that concierge serves, so I'm hoping that will add value to us even if the walk is a bit farther.

The kids should handle it just fine.

My biggest problem with the walk is that it's so curvy, and it goes by all the DTD shops. You've probably already worked out how you deal with the kid wanting things, but we're still in the early stages of that, and haven't yet figured out what works best with DS. He would buy something from every store, every time we went past, if he could, and those questions get annoying.

I also don't like curvy walks. I want straight forward walks with no real choices. And that's not what the walk to PPH gives you. You can walk next to Rainforest Cafe, or away from it. You can cross to that side or the other. And so on. That's just a weird *thing* with me, but it did really bug me, so it made it into my report.

I don't know how often the concierge lounge offers food, but if you have to go back, say, three times a day, that's going to be quite a bit of walking. Perhaps you could send a runner. But for three kids of that age, and heavy eaters to boot, I bet that will give you quite a bit of value for that price! DH and I are working to lose weight, had *just* completed a cleansing fast (so we physically could NOT eat all that much), and our one DS was just so overwhelmed he couldn't eat much...so 169 for AP concierge vs the 62.10 at HoJo wouldn't have been worth it. Let alone for whatever we paid for the four days at PPH with our Costco travel package (and it was NOT concierge).

But with those ages, and hoping you have happier feet than I do on a normal basis, I'm sure you'll be fine with the walk.


OMG I'm heating up more and more with this sickness, gotta go lie down or drink something or do something OTHER than sit with a laptop on my knees!

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

I'm planning on using the concierge lounge for breakfast and take a couple bottles of water for the day, and then if we happen to be back to swim or something, we will stop in, but I won't give up park time to go back for the 'free' food since it's mostly just snacks. It closes early, 8:00 I think, or maybe earlier, so I'm sure it will be closed when we come in for the night because with kids our kids ages, we are staying out longer than 8:00.

Thanks for the info on the walk, I remember the days with a young child and how frustrating and overwhelming it can be for them when they see so many things they want. Mine were about 4 before they really got the concept that they couldn't have it all, they know that on a vacation they can pick one thing at the end of the trip. Now they are all older and have their own money so they can spend that however they wish, but we still buy them just one thing at the end of the trip or maybe two if I want to get them a shirt or sweatshirt or something, then they get that and something they picked out.

Get some rest, I hope you feel better soon! Very often I get sick when we get back from vacations, it's like you push and push your body and your resistance is low and it finally decides to tell you enough is enough!

 

[bumbershoot]

I feel better now than I did. Took a warm bath, because I was aching, and it helped quite a bit.

The guys are out shopping, which perhaps is a mistake since they are both a bit sick, but we really did need food, and it's nearly impossible for DH to get out of here without DS.

Aha, they are back. DS never took a nap, b/c he's stuffed up, and he's whining right now. Sounds like the trip was a good one, but this whining is ruining their fun store time.


So anyway...definitely stock up on waters! We had PLANS to have tons of water, and some days we did, but other days we just sort of forgot and those were very likely our crankiest days.

The best thing about buying souvenirs on this trip is that those are things to BRING on the next trip!

Ugh, no one feels good here and the talk in the kitchen isn't happy-talk, so I'll stop checking in right now.

 

[silence]

I loved reading your TR!

Just wanted to say....we were in the parks the same time as you...and 3 of us came home with the nasty cold bug as well! I'm still coughing up a lung, DH finally is feeling better and my DD is just about over her cough.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh wow, that's, well, I guess it isn't *cool*, b/c it's a nasty bug, but it's good to know that we're not alone. No, that didn't come out right, either.

DH had to work over the weekend, no getting out of it (except on Sat when he worked from home to help my sick self with DS), so he's busy infecting everyone up in Bellevue, WA with the bug.

 

[jakoky]

You know, we were there pretty much the same dates-the 15th-25th.....we are a family of 5 who travelled with another family of 5...two of the people in the other family first got sick with a cold, then my son got hit with it...he suffered all day and we went for dinner that night and he ordered a "carafe" of OJ all to himself and the next day woke up and his cold was gone to never come back...the next day though he was burning with fever, i wish i had a thermometer, but using my mom instincts, i think he was over 104...next morning was fine and back to DL for a full day, BUT the other 3 in the rest of the other family came down with the wicked cold, and the both my daughters caught it...so 7/10 came home with it..me and my dh never caught it and my son "cured" his with OJ...it is definately a yucky one, my youngest is still coughing and my oldest is so congested and we have been home 6 days...i am glad you had an awesome trip, i know we did...it was a blast
sharon

 

[bumbershoot]

Maybe we should start a thread, to see how many people are getting sick after a recent visit!

However, part of our CA trip was for my high school reunion, and a friend I re-connected with told me that all of our group is now sick with a nasty cold. We were all at the reunion 9/15 and also on the 16th...so that's one long-incubating cold, if my HS classmates have the same thing!

But since it seems it came "from" CA, now we're up in WA, one of the friends is in NYC, jakoky I think I noted you're in BC...it's moving around!

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm going through our receipts, trying to figure out a better budget for the future. And in doing so I'm looking at all the food we paid a ton for, but didn't really enjoy! I've really got to pare it down to the excellent food, for future trips.

But for now I'll describe this as a mini-report on food.

But no pictures, unless you want a close up of Andersen's split pea soup that we had on the way down 101. And I'm not sure anyone wants to see that picture. I know I don't, and I took it, of my own soup, which I enjoyed!


Right now at this exact moment in time I can't find my receipt for our first Disney meal, at Rainforest Cafe. But I know that DH and I shared the nacho appetizers, without the meat. They were enormous and very VERY good.

DS had the cheese pizza, and he ate it ALL. Then he had some ice cream.

Money well spent, however much it was. Only problem was that I *thought* we'd be going back for breakfast, so I didn't use our Safari club $10 coupon, and that is now sitting in my wallet, waiting for me to use it at the local RFC, plan a spontaneous trip, or expire in November. Hmm, I wonder which option I'm hoping for!!!

I also found out tonight (well, I think I was told it before, either here or on the Sunshinerewards forums, but I forgot until today) that the DTD RFC offers an AP discount. We weren't AP holders at that point, but it's good to know for the future!


I just got distracted, figuring out what we remembered to get the discount on, where we forgot to, and then what discounts we could have gotten if one of us had the Premium AP. Too much math right there!

Hmm, looking at the cost of the premium, looking at what our savings could have been this trip, and thinking about other trips we plan for this year-of-AP...it could have come close to breaking even, for ONE of us to have it. Could have parked at Mickey 'n Friends on that last day, too. Harumph. Oh well! Not worth it at this point to upgrade!


OK so back to food....

 

[bumbershoot]

Rancho del Zocalo.

DS had the bean burrito kid's meal with a small water, and he enjoyed it. Loved the straw; it changed colors when it got cold. DH and I shared the Soft Tacos Monterrey (fajita veggies option), and I know that I was satisfied with my portion, but I think DH had a differing opinion for his own stomach.

DH says: That was good. More rice and beans would have been nice but it was very flavorful. As for the portion, I thought it was good. Especially if we did not share it would have been more than plenty.

The three of us shared the Tres Leches cake, and it was "eh". I wished I had the chocolate cake instead.

DH says It was good but I do not think it was worth the money.

I really liked the location, and the main reason we went to Rancho on this trip is b/c I was thwarted in going on our last trip. I just wanted to be in that restaurant!!! And I look forward to going in the future.

The one odd thing, and this was only b/c my expectation was wrong, is that I was really bothered it wasn't a sit-down-take-your-order place. I can't call it a buffet, but it was like being in college, and I wasn't expecting that.

Since we sat in the shade, and that was right next to where BTMRR goes by, DH says: Fun to see the ride and it had a good amount of shade.



Later we had an iced coffee at Compass books. They were out of espresso, but had NO sign until you got right up to the register. Grr. It was OK. Just OK. DH has no memory of it, and no opinion (even though we shared).


That night, PCH Grill. DS had the Pluto's Pizza, or whatever it's called. They give the kids a cute paper "toque" to wear, b/c they are the chefs creating the pizza. DS just had a cheese pizza, and he got one cup of sauce and two cups of cheese. Since he's never really made a pizza before, he started with the cheese. Since I HAVE made pizzas (oh boy have I made pizzas) before, I did jump in to help after awhile, so his pizza would be, you know, edible. (though I DO wonder if the actual chefs really do cook what is given to them by the kids, but that's not possible to tell, really, with a cheese pizza) Then you give them the "palette" back, they cook it, and the kid eats. DS loved that pizza, and ate it ALL.

DH and I shared the cheese fries and salad. We were plain old hungry, and I don't remember taking the time to actually taste much. Though I remember liking the salad dressing (ranch), and liking it to a certain extent. It wasn't funky, as some ranch dressings are.

DH says I liked the cheese fries and salad. However I wish the used less of a sauce and more just melted cheese. I did like a lot the make your own pizza concept for E, however wished they allowed you to make a veggie instead of just pepperoni or cheese.

We were VERY tired that night, and the pictures I took of us reflect that. We just wanted to eat and go up to bed.


Burr-bank at DCA. We had a Steamin', or Steamer? Chocolate? Sundae, that we shared. And a cone. And a croissant. Separate purchases, for some reason.

OK so writing this just confirmed something annoying for me. Here's the description of what we ordered: Steam'n Chocolate - Two scoops of vanilla ice cream atop a warm chocolate cake, topped with hot fudge, whipped cream, chopped walnuts and a cherry, served in a waffle cup.

We got no "chocolate cake", or brownie, which is what was described there. And I tried to mention that to DH, but he vaguely said "oh no, that was the other one". But we ordered that one BECAUSE of the brownie/cake...but, it was a stressful moment. We were totally indulging DS at that point, b/c he had just had huge amounts of fun at the water area, then was pushed down in a collision with a big kid, became instantly freezing and his hands/knees hurt, then I didn't have a proper towel OR dry shoes. He wouldn't stop whining or crying, and we just wanted to make the kid happy.

Which didn't work, because he just wanted a cone (but the cost from cone to sundae is relatively minimal and we thought we did the right thing in upgrading his order...we were wrong). So DH and I shared, and we got DS a cone. Which he liked. While still eating the sundae. Gluttonous little kid.

The croissant, well, I have no clue why that was ordered. BUT it was the only part of the purchase allowed for an AP discount; they said that ice cream purchases in that area do NOT count, and indeed they didn't. I guess DS wanted something more filling than ice cream, and the croissant worked for him.

I remember being disappointed by the sundae, and I think that was b/c of the lack of brownie/cake.

DH says I loved the sundae except I thought there was supposed to be a brownie included. It was gooey and nice.

His sudden remembering that a brownie should have been included is a 180 from his attitude at the time. Harumph. Eh, he's sick the poor guy. I'll give him a pass on it.

We have no opinion on the cone or the croissant, b/c we were not allowed to have any. Oh boy was that little boy indulged for that hour...truly treated like the "only child" that he is at this point.

 

[bumbershoot]

Blue Bayou. 11:30 reservations, waterside table. Patting self on back, "nice work, Molly!"

First off, the location. I have a feeling that our table was a bit of a blocked view, b/c I vaguely recall some sort of pole, and a bit of a curve behind my chair, so I think another table might have had more of a "view". Then again, it's just a view of dark water and a dark scene, watching boats full of people go by. Not saying it's not super-cool to be in there, it IS. But I can't imagine complaining about the relative lack of "view" when one is at one of those tables.

I have an issue with dark rooms; since I had Lasik done in '01, I have problems with my vision if I'm in the dark looking out at light, or in a light room looking into darkness. Just doesn't work. So it was interesting being in that room, coming from such a bright day. But I did adjust, which was very good (and not totally expected) and I could read the menu, see the server, find my way to the restrooms, etc.

DH and I split the Portobello dish. Now, I've read some people being weirded out by the $4 split plate fee. I've seen people on the WDW board getting outright freaked out by the possibility of it happening. But I don't see the problem. They don't just plunk down the plate and charge you for the extra fork. Rather, you each get a full sized side-salad (sounds funny, but I mean you don't each get half of the side salad) with your chosen dressing, and each of you gets a nicely dressed plate of what you ordered. It's just cut in half and thrown on a plate. It was stacked on the couscous, drizzled with balsamic, etc.

I felt it was a TON of food. DH wishes he had a bit more, and he was surprised at how full I got. He says I liked the Portabello mushroom, just would have liked bigger portions. of both the mushroom and the cous cous (which waa a little dry although very savory).

I felt there was just TOO MUCH vinegar on the plate and/or in the dish. Honestly, you do not need to drench it in balsamic. Perhaps I should have been more careful while scooping up the couscous, perhaps I ate too much of the plate decoration. (please see my vision issues!) But still, bleah, too much. The salad was nummy, though they didn't QUITE get all the sausage away from my salad plate, and I had to do a hopefully-discreet *geck get this out of my mouth* move.

I had iced tea, as did my brother. I liked it.

My brother had the Monte Christo, and he totally ignored the white asparagus side dish (but ate and enjoyed the potatoes). I would have snagged the asparagus (I love veggies while he doesn't, and we have a long history of my eating my little brother's veggies, LOL) if I weren't so stinkin' full. My brother is a trim marathon-runner (last year he did the Marine Corps marathon in DC) and can EAT when he wants to. And he could only eat half of that sandwich. He informed us that he did make sure to eat the meat from inside the half he couldn't eat, but the rest of the fried bread just didn't make it into his belly.

DS had the opportunity to eat the mac and cheese we ordered for him, but was either too distracted by the surroundings to eat, or thought it disgusting. Since I later tried a noodle, I'm going with the second option, b/c it was, indeed, disgusting. DH reminds me that DS hadn't even TRIED the mac and cheese, therefore could not have known it was nasty (and DH doesn't agree with that assessment to begin with), but I think that DS could just tell that it wasn't worth his taste buds, and he probably figured that we'd indulge him later. Little stinker. So correct, but still. He could at least pretend he's not onto us and how often we justify foods by saying "eh, it's vacation!"

We had no dessert.

I did use the AP discount here, and that was a good move, because when you have an AP and you spend $30, you get special pins. Because the bill was for more than twice that (silly me, deciding to treat my brother, who I'm sure is STILL hearing about that from his wife who is a highly, almost obscenely, compensated lawyer and who refuses to let ANYONE else pay for meals), I got two pins. Cute little Stitch at PCH Grill, carrying a pizza. Excellent, since we had indeed had pizza (albeit a kid's pizza) at that restaurant already.


Bengal BBQ. Mickey-shaped pretzel with cheese. Or rather, cheez. Bleah. Bright orange, plastic-y stuff that DS barely touched. Possibly the same cheez substance that was from the Blue Bayou kitchens.

You might have guessed that we use white cheddar whenever possible. I see no need to have extra dyes to turn respectable white cheese into orange-colored stuff. We don't use Kraft (scary company, modifying foods genetically all around us), we do buy organic whenever possible. We eat boxed mac and cheese, but it's organic and white cheddar, not orange. DS seemed to enjoy the pretzel itself, but ultimately he was mainly tired, and when he fell asleep, it fell out of his hand and onto the ground. Quite traumatic (since he woke up when that happened).

PPH Lobby Bar for an iced mocha and an iced latte. I don't remember much about my latte, except that it was my first iced latte in ages. DH says I liked it. He also says yes I did when I asked him just now if he liked his mocha. So there ya go.


Blue Ribbon Bakery that night. Two chocolate chip cookies, one oatmeal cookie, a kid's peanut butter and jelly meal. I liked my oatmeal cookie, and was quite proud of myself for not going for the chocolate. Once again DH replies Yes I did when asked if he liked his chocolate chip cookie. Yeah, I guess so is the reply when questioned about if he liked the milk he snagged from the kid's meal (DS doesn't *drink* straight cow's milk).

I'm so incredibly OVER the Uncrustable thing, I could just heave them all into the Rivers of America. They are at both of the zoos we belong to as well, and I think that even DS is annoyed by them. They sure do not compare, taste or nutrition-wise, to the organic peanut butter and organic jam sammies I make on organic nuts and seeds bread (all Safeway O Organics brand, and all very very very good, even that suspicious-sounding bread!). The only time I have tasted one that was even halfway to being "good" was a frozen one, when the zoo forgot to thaw enough one day.

But it allowed DS to get a little bit of "real" food in, along with his cookie, on that long day of self-imposed near-fasting he did.

 

[bumbershoot]

Daisy's Diner. Cheese Pizza with a tangy vegetable salad $6.99

Let me first point out that the "tangy vegetable salad" was basically the result of someone upturning a bottle of marinated/pickled vegetables into a tiny cup, putting a lid on it, and calling it done. NOT really something that is going to appeal to the masses of children in this country. I would have liked it, as would DH, as children, b/c I was a weird child who ate and enjoyed most everything, and DH was raised by a Korean mother and therefore pickled vegetables were a part of almost every meal.

For DS, however, unless being given to him by DH's mother, there was no way he was going to touch them.

Please also note that most places at DL, things like this pizza are accompanied by "baby carrots, a fun straw, and choice of milk, juice or small bottled water." For less money. But not in ToonTown, no sirree.

However, DS had just had a meltdown on Donald's boat, and just before disciplining him, I realized that none of us had fed ourselves that day, so I declared it time for Emergency Pizza (pizza only b/c toontown really doesn't have anything else vegetarian, and I know that there was this cheese pizza over there, from my previous search of menus online). I think DS enjoyed it, and I think DH and I both snagged bites (while eating the tangy "salad" and granola bars we brought from the outside world). But I would try really really hard to NOT buy that pizza again, b/c of the relatively LOW value of it, since it didn't come with a fun straw, LOL.


Later that night I ran away by myself, and had dinner at Royal Street Veranda. The splendid Vegetarian Gumbo. Yum-o, as the obnoxious Rachel Ray would say. Come to think of it, I quoted her when I wrote "sammie", too. Yikes! I don't like her much (though I do enjoy making her "baseball" themed mac and cheese with cut up (veggie) hot dogs) and dislike most of her vocal mannerisms (and hand mannerisms too), so why on earth am I writing them out? I don't know. Anyway.

I love the veg. gumbo. Delicious. It was spicier than I remembered it from last year, but that's OK, I don't mind a bit of spice. Thoroughly enjoyable. It's the only thing I eat okra in, yum. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the TASTE of okra. But the FEEL of okra isn't a pleasant one, and it's a pain to prepare. So I have it in the veg. gumbo at DL once a year or so, and I'm happy.

DH is still jealous that I got the gumbo and he didn't, but he's napping right now so you don't get a pretty blue quote about it from him.


When the men joined me later, they shared a chocolate chip cookie and fries from Hungry Bear. The fries smelled suspicious to me, and I did not have them. When I say suspicious, I mean suspiciously like McDonald's fries, which are sold very close to the Hungry Bear in that cart. We don't eat McDs fries, b/c they are prepared with beef and therefore not kind to cows (even if you get over how unkind the company is in general to cows, one wants one's french fries, which are even fried in veggie oil, to be cow-friendly, and theirs are not. similar to Pizza Hut's pizza sauce, but I'm digressing wildly!) (I do have to say a big THANK YOU to the Hindu groups who found all this out about the Pizza Hut and McDonald's fries, so thank you!). And I'm sensitive to the smell of suspicious fries. I'm likely totally wrong about the fries, it was probably just a long day of cooking and the frying oil was probably just exhausted.

Since DH is asleep, we get no quotes. But he did eat them and he seemed to enjoy them. I also know that he later kicked himself for nickel-and-dime'ing himself out of his own breadbowl of gumbo, though he did get to eat quite a bit of the bread that I did not eat.


Now we come to the MOST disappointing meal of our trip, though it was not all bad. Pizza Oom Mow Mow. Sigh. That's 22.84 I'll never get back.

Slice of cheese pizza, the marinara pasta, a side caesar salad, and a kid's pizza meal.

The pasta was actually QUITE good. I can recommend that. So we'll take 8.49 plus tax off of that total above, b/c we don't want that back.

The cheese pizza was cold, dry, and crumbly. How can a pizza be crumbly? Don't know. Am a bit scared about it. We ate it b/c we were hungry, but we didn't have happy faces while doing so. The kid's pizza, OMG, what a rip off. TINY. Dry. Crumbly. Tiny. Applesauce with pizza? Weird. DS doesn't like applesauce, never has. I think DH ate it. We'll have to hear about that later. And we didn't get the fun straw that should have come with the meal.

Salad. Bleah. I can deal with the concept of anchovy paste in most caesar dressings, I really can. I'm not a perfect vegetarian when it comes to fishies, I admit that. But I don't want to think I opened a can of anchovies and just ate them (as I admit I used to do in my omnivorous days), and that's how I felt after the salad. That shouldn't happen with a salad dressing... It was also depressingly small, for 3.29. DH was more disappointed by that than I was, so consider that his pretty blue quote.

If we had had dessert and therefore had spent $30, we could have gotten another Stitch pin. Maybe that would have made it worth it; maybe the dessert would have been good. But we thought we were going to get good, satisfying, food and would not need dessert. We were wrong. Oops.


Later, DS fell asleep in the stroller, and DH and I snagged a late-night, on-the-way-to-HoJo's snack of hot cocoa and a blueberry muffin from, well, the receipt SAYS it's Burr-bank, but it's the bakery in that same dining car building. The muffin was OK, the cocoa was quite good. We also got a Nemo cupcake for DS, which he didn't eat until the morning, and he seemed to enjoy it, but became very hungry quite quickly afterwards, so I'm thinking there was no FOOD value to it, just yumminess and an extreme CUTE-factor.


Our last day there, we went to the Hungry Bear for a veggie burger and fries that we all split. The burger was OK, and the fries were better than they smelled on the 21st. So that was good.

Our last Resort-based food was at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen quick snack area, where we got an order of 6 beignets and french bread with butter. The bread was nice. The beignets, IMO, were not. And I desperately missed a cafe au lait. I must get back to New Orleans. DH has never been to New Orleans, neither has DS, and they both enjoyed the heck out of those beignets.

 

[bumbershoot]

I wanted to add something. There was really NO reason for me to expect a good meal at POMM. I read NO good reviews of the place. But I forgot all those bad reviews when walking in, b/c it was a thoroughly pleasant-looking place, and I couldn't imagine that the food would be so bad. So please, trust the majority of the reviews of this place...please.

***********
Two offsite meals.

RFC which I think I've already mentioned.

And Mimi's the night after the cocoa and muffin. Got a grilled cheese sandwich for DS, with a side of mashed potatoes, and an order of spinach dip and a BIG side order of more mashed potatoes, because I was having a huge hankering for them. Obviously we did not get them with gravy. And we're NOT going to ask if they use any sort of naughty broth in them, b/c IMO anyone who uses chicken, etc, broth in something as simple and basic as mashed potatoes should be smacked with a kitchen utensil. Potatoes, mashed. With perhaps some butter. And salt. And pepper. And if you REALLY insist, half and half. Whatever. But do NOT sneak in meat, whatever you do. That means all of you. Restaurants, friends, Dis'ers, everyone. Just stop with the broth in mashed potatoes.

OK so the potatoes were delish. DS liked his grilled cheese, though he ate it cold the next morning, I think. DH ate the cold potatoes, b/c DS refused them and I had eaten most of our order of them the night before. The spinach dip...well, like most warm dips like that, the colder they get, the nastier they get. So...it was good at first. But they gave us a TON, and a ton of extra breads and chips. Just too much, actually. And I ate quickly, b/c I knew I would start regretting it as it got colder, so I stuffed myself.

I think in the future we would just GO to Mimi's, but DS was asleep and it was late, so DH walked over and back (we were staying at HoJo's by that time), and, well, we'd just eat there in the future.

 

[BecBennett]

I loved reading your trip report! It was lots of fun.

So roughly how much per day did you end up spending on food? My BF and I are going in March and while there's only two of us, he is a big eater too, so I figured what you spent on food should easily cover what we will spend...? Does that sound right?

 

[bumbershoot]

Glad you enjoyed it!

I was wondering if I should put prices. For some reason there's a level of embarrassment about that, ya know?

Later on, once DS is safely in bed (not in my lap or around my lap), I'll do the addition. I know we spent more than expected, and quite alot of that was b/c of Blue Bayou.

I just know that after looking at that total, I'm going to have to add up the souvenir totals...

 

[BecBennett]

lol, yeah I was thinking of buying Disney dollars or gift cards and telling myself that I'm not allowed to spend any more on souvenirs then what I budgeted for with the DD or cards.

I know that will go out the window once I'm there though

 

[bumbershoot]

So silly to be embarrassed about prices. I mean, we all have access to online menus through allears and such, so anyone can figure it out on their own...why not just put it out there and save everyone some work, right?



OK, I realized why. Because my accounting is ALMOST useless. Here's what I don't have info on...


I realized earlier that our Dole Whip and Dole Float (bleah) receipts disappeared, so I don't know the total on those and they aren't included. There's also at least one water purchase that's not included.

And we brought down snacks like granola bars, we refilled and refrigerated water overnight and brought those into the parks, and had one trip to Von's (grocery store) for things like bananas and organic cookies and organic juice (and, um, a 6 pack 'o beer for yours truly)...things like that.

Oh, just in case you like cake AND are planning a trip to Von's (or a delivery from them), toss $3 their way and snag a massive slice of Colossal Cake. Took us two days (well, OK, after-dinner dessert and then pre-park "breakfast", so two mealtimes) to finish it between the THREE of us. And that's doing better than in my new-baby, nursing-an-infant exclusively, days, where I was having a slice of that by myself EVERY SINGLE DAY...

On the night where you only see snacks at the park, we did eat that night, but it was at Subway when we went to the mall to snag swimtrunks...again, no receipt, but...big sandwiches for Robert and me, and a kid's sandwich meal for DS.

AND we had an included character breakfast, from Costco Travel, at Lilo and Stitch, so that's yet another meal that isn't included in the reckoning.


With all that said...


These include tax. I won't include tips b/c that will change depending on service!

Rainforest Cafe dinner. $23.13

subtotal 23.13
**************
Rancho del Zocalo lunch. $28.39

Compass Books for coffee. $3.50

PCH Grill dinner. $19.79

subtotal 51.68
**************
Burr-bank ice cream. $6.24
Burr-bank ice cream. $3.65
Bakers Field Bakery croissant. $2.51

subtotal 12.40
**************
Blue Bayou lunch, 3 adults and a child. $68.22

Bengal BBQ. $3.54

PPH Lobby Bar for coffees. $8.49

Blue Ribbon Bakery. $13.75

subtotal 94.00
**************
ToonTown. $6.78

Royal Street Veranda. $9.36

Hungry Bear. $8.11

subtotal 24.25
**************
Pizza Oom Mow Mow. $22.84

BakersField Bakery. $8.60

Mimi's dinner. $18.12

subtotal 49.56
**************
Hungry Bear. $7.36

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. $8.58

subtotal 15.94




total 270.96

(plus everything I mentioned before the list including tips for the tippable meals)
(also note that a few of those include a 10% discount b/c of the AP, so even THAT isn't accurate!)

This is of almost no use at all, LOL.
**************

If you divide that by 7 days (17th through 23rd), you get 38.71 per day, but the Rainforest day was at the very end, and there had been meals on the way to DL. The last day, there were meals after we left. So I'm not sure you can divide it by 7. But I don't know WHAT to divide it by.

Useless, truly. I'm sorry for wasting your time.

 

[bumbershoot]

More thoughts.

I was going to get tons of disney giftcards (and I did have many, from sunshinerewards, but the bulk of those went to upgrade to our APs) ahead of time, but then things got in the way, and the budget for the trip was pushed into the paycheck we got right before we got there, rather than the paycheck from the full month before. Same budget, but we couldn't get the giftcards ahead of time, and that kind of messed us up a little bit. Oops.

I'm almost thinking that getting the three day dining thing would have worked for this trip, if only to pre-pay a bunch of our food, and get another character meal! We would have wanted one, but just didn't send the money that way...and having vouchers could have helped. Please note that I'm talking about a 3 day dining "plan" for a 6.5 day trip...


A few days ago I went through the receipts that I have, and I figured out how much we could have saved if we had upgraded to our Deluxe APs the moment we got there (or before, b/c you can use AP discount at Rainforest, which is something I didn't account for!) and used them every single time. So without Rainforest Cafe, we *could have* saved $20.89.

If one of us had upgraded to a Premium, with the 15% on food and the 10% on merchandise, we could have had a savings of $53.90.

Since we upgraded to APs because we have one trip almost planned, with another at least one hoped for, inside of our AP year, it really made sense. The discounts are a bonus. But I realized that if one of us had gone to Premium, that would have given us parking if we needed it (we don't plan on driving there again, but it would have been convenient the last day AND we could have met my brother pre-parking and covered his parking, AND when we visit for the rest of our AP year it will likely be driving from San Diego with my brother and parking...so the parking of the Premium could have been used!), and then of course the percentages off for the rest of the AP year. Could have worked out, if we had one of us upgrade at that time. But now the prices went up, so it would be even more from the Deluxe, and I don't think it's really worth it...

Interesting to think about, though!