The ABCs of a New 'Ohana Adventure-G is for: Greetings From Teppan, Good-Byes, and Good News!!! - COMPLETED 1/7

Cool! I can't remember our evening plans off the top of my head but I will let you know how long after the seminar we plan to be there :goodvibes

I can throw it out there that everyone who will be there, Doc, Jenny, Billie, Kari, and you, (did I miss anyone, or now know about anyone?) meet up at the IG (seems to be the EPIC-est place to meet up- unless it's pouring, LOL!) around 3:30 or 4:00 depending on when you are done with your pairing. We have dinner at Teppan at 7:20 and I'm not sure what my kids will be wanting to do from 4:00 til then.
 
Yes this is Karilynn-- I pop up here and there as Malia78 on other trip reports, most recently some EPIC adventures. And I will be crashing the party in Liesa's room 14-17 Sept and joining some early morning park blitzes and gluttonous escapades around the world .


Technically I stagger off my red eye bright and early Sept 13 to spend one night at Old Key West-

I wish we could have found a red eye to get us there a day "early".

need to lull Liesa into a sense of calm before I burst on the scene 😁

LOL! With 3 adult kids in the room, the scene will not really qualify as calm.

After a smashing Halloween party on the 17th, I will discretely make my way over to Universal Studios for a couple days before returning to WDW once more for a week (21-28 Sept) of Disney with my parents and almost 7 yr old niece.

Sounds super fun!! Lots of fun in store for you!
 
I'm only done with page 2, but I had to quote this one! Wow - I guess the first one of your TRs I read *was* sorta your more recent comeback. I definitely wasn't around for your first TR. :) I'm honored to make your list!

:goodvibes
Since we've only done 2 trips, I can't really have an "always" restaurnt. I don't think we repeated any of our meals? I also don't think anyplace was bad enough to be a one-and-done. Since we go so rarely, we do tend to try out new places. I do have a running list for whenever we do get around to planning a return trip.

It's easy to not have any repeats no matter how many trips you've been on. There are SO many wonderful places to eat there! And I think you're in the right place to get some good reccommendations too. ;)

Resorts are a similar issue. On-site, we've only done CBR - largely because I wanted the faux beach for the kids at the time. Then we did off-site. I'd probably want to try someplace different, but it will depend a ton on the type of trip it ends up being.

Well, then I am even more excited you are here... ;) As you'll see in my next update. And I totally get that! I choose where I stay totally for the dynamic of the trip (and funds in the bank account).
 
ROL does NOT knock my socks off at all. I get it simply for the value at Tiffins. When you consider it gets you a non-alcoholic drink, appetizer, entree and dessert and compare that to what each of those would cost individually and the ROL tickets are (for me) throwaway.
Well that is a good deal then. There aren't many places with a deal like that although I think Mama's does one for Fantasmic!?
 


Definitely,,,will see how things look on the schedule 😁 Maybe I will cross paths with you at Epcot too if you meet with Liesa
I'm hoping a 4:00 at the IG works for everyone. Steve and Ariane have a pairing at 2:30, Doc needs to come from work, and we have dinner at 7:20. I'll FB Billie and see if that works for her. @Jenny Sanders
 
So, it was an odd breakfast experience. The restaurant was pretty much empty but the host sat my DH and at a small two top right next to a large party . If that was all that was available- totally fine with that but there were maybe 5 tables being used at the time. We asked the host if we could move to another table - he acted like this was a ridiculous request and got on his little earpiece to call up to the stand to say we were demanding a different table - was that ok ? I wasn’t asking for a table on the other side of the empty place just a few feet away ! Needless to say that set the tone for the meal .

That is 100% not okay. At all. I'm sorry that happened because, it's just not okay to get snippy for a very normal request. Who'd want to eat close enough to another party like that? 🤷‍♂️
The eggs tasted fake and the rest was fine just not great . DH tolerates WDW for me and I booked this instead of Cape May so he wouldn’t have to deal with characters. Next time , he will just have to deal with them !

Ew, I'm not a fan of eggs much, but if they taste fake, even more ew! I have heard if you tell the podium you are NOT interested at all in the characters, they will pass your table by.

On to the resort question , I love the EPCOT area resorts the most. The YC slightly edges out the BC for my favorite. I don’t have any tips / tricks for staying there. Sorry . I have been staying at moderates more recently and POFQ is my favorite of those.

And those are 2 of the deluxe I've not stayed at (Contemp doesn't interest me, but will to say I have someday.) Hopefully, very soon. :)

As for Mods... YES!!! I actually LOVE the FQ AND POR, and soon, I'll have one more mod knocked off the list... that's my next update.
 
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Ooh, that's good to know! I've heard the steak is very good. We're going there for the first time this trip, and now I'm even more excited to give it a try!

The steak WAS very good!
I almost put French Quarter on my list, too! So hard to choose! But still, that is an interesting trend. It's definitely my favourite mod, and I would agree that it matches or surpasses some deluxe resorts.

::yes::
I believe this!

I didn't find the dinner offerings particularly spicy either, really. But possibly more outside the comfort zone if your palate is used to eating mostly American fare? I thought some of the selections were just maybe further from what I typically eat at home than a lot of the breakfast selections tended to be.
Maybe in flavors, yes, but not spicy? Sanaa definitelly has some kick in some of the dishes, especially the dips for the bread service, but not at Boma.
 


Well that is a good deal then. There aren't many places with a deal like that although I think Mama's does one for Fantasmic!?
I feel it is. Food is fantastic. Service has been fantastic (although not as good as that first time with Abby). Considering it's a signature, price is reasonable and the ROL tickets, well...someone gets the benefit....just not me. I went the second time JUST for my wife, but didn't really WANT to go.

I'm hoping a 4:00 at the IG works for everyone. Steve and Ariane have a pairing at 2:30, Doc needs to come from work, and we have dinner at 7:20. I'll FB Billie and see if that works for her. @Jenny Sanders
It will be tough...with travel, parking and security, I'll have to take off work early that day, but I make it work.
 
We have only seen it once. We gave our tickets away too like @docsoliday1 but it is the better value to do the package.

I can see me doing just that!
Well it was our first trip (2011) and I didn't know better lol. It was a non-park day and dd really wanted to see the characters. If it were today we would have walked out.

LOL!! The things we do for these kids!

We had a good time at Prime Time but the last time we ate there was in 2016. We had a good waitress who was just enough engaged but not so over the top to make my dh uncomfortable. I was worried about that too and it worked out great.
Well, I did contact my oldest and she said keep Prime, so hopefully they will get into the spirit of if and not make it awkward.
 
Favorite resort no longer exists, in a manner of speaking. The Villas at Disney Institute - now remodeled into Saratoga Springs.
Favorite existing resort would have to be OKW (when I can mentally afford it) and surprisingly, I was downright pleased with our room at AllStar Music.
Not much of a secret tip, but we had a room way down back in Broadway 7, and it was about 50 steps to the car. That was also the last time we were gifted with any towel critters.
OH!! Very interesting! I didn't even know that's what it was before! I learn something new all the time here!

The All-Stars are definitely on my list. I'm not sure I'll ever get to OKW unless I rent points either, but you never know. I've had a few Mickey towels, but no animals in a long time. :( So sad to have seen that go. It was such a treat and special touch.
 
I feel it is. Food is fantastic. Service has been fantastic (although not as good as that first time with Abby). Considering it's a signature, price is reasonable and the ROL tickets, well...someone gets the benefit....just not me. I went the second time JUST for my wife, but didn't really WANT to go.

Yeah, I think my kids will want to see it, so I may HAVE to go as well this time. Not sure...
It will be tough...with travel, parking and security, I'll have to take off work early that day, but I make it work.
I'll PM you, but am running late getting out the door!! EEK!
 
The steak WAS very good!
Maybe that's what I did wrong! I got Italian food at an Italian restaurant instead of the steak! :laughing:

Maybe in flavors, yes, but not spicy? Sanaa definitelly has some kick in some of the dishes, especially the dips for the bread service, but not at Boma.
Thinking back, you're right. We did the wine pairing at Sanaa. Right after, they were doing the tour, so we hopped in and the breads had 1 sauce I was willing to try...all the others were spicy. Right after that, we had the Boma tour with free zebra domes and then we had our actual meal at Boma. There were a couple things at Boma I tried I thought were spicy, but maybe not as many as I thought.
 
You've mentioned that twice now. And either I'm having a brain fart or I'm stupid.
What's the IG at Epcot? My brain is stuck on "International Garden".

I believe this is International Gateway. i.e. the entrance to EPCOT by the Beach Club and other EPCOT resorts. So you were halfway correct!
 
Joining in! I've loved reading your reports. I'm going to be on property September 18th-24th, so maybe we'll have some overlap and can meet up :-)
 
I almost never comment on Trip Reports (though I read A LOT), but your intro was so welcoming that I feel like joining in!

Our every time restaurant is Tusker House for breakfast. I love the food, the atmosphere, the characters. Our one and done was Akershus. It was my SIL's choice -- she has Scandinavian ancestry and loves that kind of thing. The food was OK, not great. But the princesses were the least fun and engaging character interactions we have ever had. My daughter was 7 on that trip, and just on the cusp of realizing that these were actors but wanting to play along with the magic a little longer. When she commented "that was the worst Ariel ever" I was so sad!

I have stayed at Poly, POR, POFQ, and WL (next up, BCV), and despite the obvious convenience of the MK resort locations, I think I give a slight edge to POFQ. Part of it probably comes from the overall experience of those particular trips (vs. an assessment of the resort as a whole). I like the "village" feel of the moderates, and POFQ is so small and intimate that it feels special. We had the best room that trip -- 2nd floor corner room overlooking the river (even though we didn't book waterview). My daughter was just the right age for the pool there. It was overall a great stay. I would go again, but family keeps overriding.

I like your writing style and am really looking forward to following your TR!
 
Maybe that's what I did wrong! I got Italian food at an Italian restaurant instead of the steak! :laughing:
I've heard that the steak at Mama's is excellent too... at least I think that's what I remember @chunkymonkey ordering. I was referring to the steak at the Boathouse. :)

Thinking back, you're right. We did the wine pairing at Sanaa. Right after, they were doing the tour, so we hopped in and the breads had 1 sauce I was willing to try...all the others were spicy. Right after that, we had the Boma tour with free zebra domes and then we had our actual meal at Boma. There were a couple things at Boma I tried I thought were spicy, but maybe not as many as I thought.
Ohh, I didn't know Sanaa had a wine pairing thing! Was that part of a tour? Or...? Was this all part of a single event or? I"m curious now!
 
You've mentioned that twice now. And either I'm having a brain fart or I'm stupid.
What's the IG at Epcot? My brain is stuck on "International Garden".
You have no idea how long it took me to find this gem, but this is where I"m thinking!

What are your dates?

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