The Whole Enchilada - a 2 week CSR trip & food report combo

[momof2disprincesses]

I need to try Via Napoli one day. The meals looked good.
I do not know Christian music but I love Amy grant form her POP days.
She looks good.
That ice cream looks delicious.
Nice family photo.
Lapu lapu are good but so strong. Never had the alcohol free version.

I hope you do try Via Napoli. I love it and have a friend who is from Italy and she says the food is very authentic.

Amy Grant did look great in person! I looked it up and she is 53 year old.

Thanks so much for following along!

 

[KNJWDW]

Hi there! I just found your trip report and am really enjoying it. We are also from WI and enjoy driving to WDW! A lot of our friends think we are nuts, but we look forward to the drive every year. Thanks for sharing your trip with everyone!

Amy

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Hi there! I just found your trip report and am really enjoying it. We are also from WI and enjoy driving to WDW! A lot of our friends think we are nuts, but we look forward to the drive every year. Thanks for sharing your trip with everyone!

Amy

Hi neighbor!

With all the fees and hassle of airline travel anymore, it's enjoyable actually to get in your car and go and then have your own car there.

I'm glad you're following along. Thanks!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Tuesday, Dec. 31 - New Year's Eve

We had a very distinct plan for New Year's Eve. As you know, it's a very busy days at WDW and a plan is needed.

We started out the day by sleeping in again and then we headed to Hollywood Studios around 2pm. We had a 3pm ADR for the Fantasmic! dinner package at 3pm at Mama Melrose.

The park was wall to wall people as we made our way from the entrance to the restaurant. Even the lobby of the restaurant and outside the restaurant was mobbed with people. Once again we saw family after family get turned away at the podium because they didn't have reservations.

We checked in and waited about 20-30 minutes to be seated.

Our server was Megan. Oh my goodness, she was fabulous! Despite the fact that she said she was working something insane like 16+ hours that day, she was in such a good mood and joked around with us. We were playing a Disney parks trivia game that we found on our iphones at the table while waiting for our food and she overheard us and wanted to play. She said we should try to stump her. She was very knowledgeable but we did stump her with a few questions.

Because we were on the Fantasmic! package, we got appetizers for this meal in addition to the normal entree, dessert & drinks.

3 of us got the
Caesar Salad - with crisp romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing and herb croutons $5.99

DH got Vegetarian Minestrone - with ditalini pasta $ 5.99

Of course we also got bread. It came with butter and dipping oil.

For entrees, DD17, DH and I all got
Oven-baked Chicken alla Parmigiana - with marinara sauce topped with melted mozzarella over spaghetti $18.99

This was perfectly cooked and in my opinion, delicious!

DD21 got
Chicken Campanelle - wood-grilled chicken over Campanelle pasta tossed with four-cheese sauce with broccoflower, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and sweet onions $18.99

For dessert, I asked if I could get something I've seen on the disboards a few times and I really wanted to try it. I know it's from the kids menu, but it looked so cute!

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcake - a chocolate cupcake with "spaghetti" frosting and a chocolate "meatball" with a strawberry "marinara sauce" and white chocolate "cheese" $3.49

DD17 got the chocolate cake:

DH got the cheesecake. This was also very good!

After dinner we were very excited to go see the Comedy Warehouse Holiday Special show. They had this last year too and it was hilarious!

I don't know if we got a bad crowd or just an off show, but it wasn't as funny this time around.

After the show, we had fp+ for Tower of Terror. DH and DD21 went on that while DD17 and I went to save our spots for Fantasmic!

They arrived literally just as the show was starting but they made it and found us with no problem at all. The theater was completely packed!

Despite the fact we've been to WDW 33 times, we have only seen this show about 3 times. So it was like seeing something brand new and I remembered why I loved it! Great show!!

These aren't the best quality, but here's a few photos from the show:

After the show, DH and DD21 raced ahead to use the other 2 fp+ we had for Tower of Terror (they made it before the show at the beginning of our time window and at after the show at the end of the time window).

Then everyone except me went on Star Tours, again with fp+. I get a little motion sick in that ride, so I skip it now.

Then we went to see the Osborne Lights! My favorite thing at WDW at Christmastime!

Photos from that coming up next...

 

[momof2disprincesses]

As I said, the Osborne lights are my all-time favorite Christmas activity at WDW. Last year, my family went on rides and I spent about an hour and a half by myself just watching the lights and people.

This year was no exception. They were gorgeous, inspirational and fun!

Despite the fact that the park was pretty crowded, the area by the lights was not so bad (not as bad as last year). Maybe because there was another showing of Fantasmic! going on. It was nice to stroll, listen to the music and see the lights dance.

Here are some of the many photos I took:

I just love this picture of my family! We bought the light up 2014 glasses and took turns wearing them all night. We also thought they'd come in handy as both girls graduate in 2014 and can wear them as they see fit for that purpose!

The goofier version of that photo:

We got some cinnamon almonds to share

And some nachos with cheese and frozen coke

After wandering here for quite awhile, we went to the Little Mermaid Show, the Art of Animation building and store and then noticed they were having quite a loud & fun dance party in the Disney Junior Building.

We meandered in and there was hardly anyone there! They also had a rock concert show going on the stage under the hat. This was obviously intended for little kids, but we all did a little dancing.

I even took a video of DH dancing with the Little Einsteins. Funny video! It was quite the rocking party!

After this, it was getting close to midnight and trying to find a place to watch the midnight fireworks was proving to be quite challenging. That's probably why the Disney Junior party was so empty. Everyone else was outside staking their claim to their fireworks viewing spot.

So we actually decided to leave. However, as we got right by the exit to the park, there were very few people. So we decided to stay and watch from there. This wound up being ideal since we were able to make an easy exit when they ended.

Here are some of our photos from the fireworks and strike of midnight! Welcome 2014!!

Oh and a photo I forgot to post in the previous post. Waiting for Fantasmic to start!

Happy new year to all!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014

We started out the first day of 2014 the way we started out most days on this vacation - we slept in. This was a direct result of fp+. It is the #1 thing I loved about this new system. Normally we are rope drop people, especially during a busy time like Christmas/New Years. We usually wanted to take full advantage of the early morning lighter crowds and the ability to get multiple traditional fast passes.

The new fp+ system enabled us to just choose a few of our favorite attractions and then relax each morning, hit the parks in the afternoon, ride our favs, have a good meal and then come back to the room. It was sort of the pattern for this trip and it did prove to provide much relaxation!!

Today we had an ADR at Planet Hollywood at 1:30pm. We arrived a bit early. Unfortunately it was pouring rain again and we got pretty soaked during our walk from the bus stop to the restaurant.

Today, we paid oop and used the $15 voucher that came with our package. So we literally just got appetizers.

We ordered this: VIP Platter - Our famous Chicken Crunch, Buffalo Wings, Texas Tostados and Spinach dip (Serves Four) $24.99

and this: Zucchini Chips - Zucchini slices lightly battered, deep-fried and served with lemon aioli $8.99

My favorite thing at Planet Hollywood is always the Texas Tostados, although everything that we got was yummy.

We walked around pretty much all of DTD in the rain. We shopped, mostly at the World of Disney. Then we stopped at Wolfgang Puck Express to use up some snack credits (we had tons left!).

We each got a frozen yogurt with cookie pieces. This was just "okay". We always get this at WPE and this time, they were very skimpy on the cookie addition as you can see.

Then we headed over to Goofy's to again use up some more snack credits. As you can imagine, we hit the motherload here!

We got these:

We got a few pastries for tomorrow's breakfast. All were very good!

And last but certainly not least, I was thrilled to see that the make your own rice krispy treats were allowed as snack credits again, so I created this:

We headed back to the room for some R & R.

I took a few more photos of the pool area and arcade:

This is the bar at the pool (which unfortunately was closed almost every time we went down there). This was the ONLY place to refill your soda mugs and it was very inconvenient that almost every time we went to do that, they were closed. I really wish they would have a self-fill station at the pool like they do at Kidani.

The arcade.

Inside the arcade (we had gotten free points to use here with our package).

Ping pong! There was also a sand area and kids playground over here.

Coming up next - dinner at Port Orleans French Quarter

 

[momof2disprincesses]

By this time, it was getting late but we hadn't really had a meal yet today.

So we sat in the room talking over our options and decided to go to our favorite moderate resort - Port Orleans French Quarter and eat at the food court.

DD17 was pretty tired, so she stayed back and we brought her a "to go" meal when we finished. It was kind of nice having some parent alone time with DD21. She is facing college graduation and lots of big things that come with finishing up school, so we had a lovely dinner and chat with her.

Our meals - fried chicken with super yummy cornbread:

Build your own salad with chicken:

Pot roast (this was SO tender):

Burger, fries & cookies & cream shake (this was the "to go" meal - they gave us a cover):

The shake:

Other desserts included:

Overall, a very good meal. Overall, a very good day.

Up next, our last FULL day of the trip - spent at Animal Kingdom!

 

[huggiebear23]

Love the update!!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Love the update!!

Thanks so much! Very soon I'll post more.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Thursday, January 2 - our last full day!

Today we actually awoke a bit on the early side (like 7am) and wanted to spend most of the day at Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed our pastries for breakfast that we had bought the day before at Goofy's.

I kept seeing photos of this cupcake at AK and really wanted to try it, but when we walked by the stand, none of us were hungry, so I just took a picture of it.

We used our fp+'s for Expedition Everest, the safari and Dinosaur.

In between all of that, we saw this huge line at the newly opened fp+ kiosk by EE:

The line was LONG!

They had CM's with ipads, but still the line was so long.

We used quick service credits for lunch at Yak & Yeti (the counter service part).

Sorry about this being blurry. The chicken was HOT and fogged up the camera lens.

Walking past the monkeys...

Then I got lured in to play with this monkey...

Since this was our last day and no one had a Mickey bar yet, we got one!

Being a little goofy...

Then it started to rain...again! For going in December/January, we sure did get more than our fair share of rain. That is something I normally expect in the summer. Oh well, it was better than being in frigid WI!

After our share of rain & fun at AK, we went to our ADR at Rainforest Cafe for our last of our sit down credits. That's up next.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Our last of our 13 sit down credits was used for a late lunch/early dinner at Rainforest Cafe by the exit of AK.

Drinks - smoothies!

Mojo Bones - Slow-roasted, St. Louis style pork spareribs, basted with our Smokin' Mojo BBQ sauce and served with Safari fries and coleslaw $27.99
Half rack $22.99

Blue Mountain Chicken Sandwich - Tender grilled chicken breast, Cajun seasoned and topped with bacon, Swiss cheese, roasted red peppers and leaf lettuce. Served on a toasted bun with spicy Safari sauce and cole slaw $14.99 (I think that's what this is)

BQ Bacon Cheeseburger - burger topped with our Smokin' Mojo BBQ sauce, Cheddar cheese and bacon. Served on a toasted bun with pickles, tomato, lettuce, and a fried onion ring $14.99

Dessert (to get the volcano, you had to use 3 dessert credits). Well worth it!

We used the 4th dessert credit for cheesecake.

When we left, our server told us we had 10 quick service & 5 snacks left still and we were leaving tomorrow at noon.

So because of that and the fact that we ate at Rainforest at like 3pm, we got a late night pizza from Pepper Market (2 QS credits). Half Hawaiian, half pepperoni.

We spent this evening packing up our room. Our lovely 2 week vacation is coming to a close.

Up next - a FULL morning and then a LONG drive home

 

[huggiebear23]

Great update.. What type of cupcake is that? It looks alittle freaky. Lol. I like yak and yeti. We always enjoyed going there. Oh My!! Monkeys!! My Dd 8 is obsessed with monkeys!! I think animal kingdom will be visited 2x at least..

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Great update.. What type of cupcake is that? It looks alittle freaky. Lol. I like yak and yeti. We always enjoyed going there. Oh My!! Monkeys!! My Dd 8 is obsessed with monkeys!! I think animal kingdom will be visited 2x at least..

I'm not really sure what kind of cupcake it is. It looks like chocolate with vanilla icing and then the thing on top I believe is solid white chocolate.

It is actually somewhat rare to see the monkeys out at AK. Most often when we go by there, their either not out or you don't see them. Hope you see them playing when you go. It's fun to watch them "monkeying" around.

 

[huggiebear23]

I'm not really sure what kind of cupcake it is. It looks like chocolate with vanilla icing and then the thing on top I believe is solid white chocolate. It is actually somewhat rare to see the monkeys out at AK. Most often when we go by there, their either not out or you don't see them. Hope you see them playing when you go. It's fun to watch them "monkeying" around. [/QUOTE

I hoping for some good luck when we go.. My daughter always has a lucky streak. So fingers crossed. We call it the luck of the Meghan. Lol

 

[Kitten<3Duck]

I've really enjoyed reading your TR. I love the positive, upbeat attitude you have - you even took all the rain in stride! Thank you for sharing your trip with us!

 

[momof2disprincesses]

Thanks so much to those who are following along.

Our final day - Friday, Jan. 3

We woke up a bit early this morning as we wanted to head over to Hollywood Studios before driving home.

We packed up and loaded the car, which was quite a job considering we had lived in this hotel room for 13 nights.

We still had 8 counter service meals left, so we grabbed an early lunch near RNRC at Rosie's All American cafe and shared 2 of these:

1/3 lb Angus Onion Straw Cheddar Cheeseburger - with coleslaw or fries $9.99

Fairfax Fare - Barbecued Pork Sandwich - with baked beans or coleslaw $9.19

Then we stopped by Starring Rolls and got these, which we ate on the road on the drive home. They were delicious!!

We then went to the Indiana Jones shows because we hadn't seen it in years. It was chilly on this day (in the 40's) so after that was done, we decided to move along.

After HS, we stopped at the Contemporary to use up the last of our quick service and snack credits for supper on the road.

The goodies at Contempo Cafe:

The 5 legged goat cookie!

Hidden Mickey cupcake!

Christmas display at the resort:

Outside:

We didn't buy this, but DH loved it (he loves the monorail!)

Our final Disney picture of the trip:

We then drove out of the parking lot of the Contemporary and started our long 24 hour drive home. It was uneventful and all went well. We arrived home in Appleton, WI around 5pm on Saturday, Jan. 4.

When we got home, it was record breaking low temps (minus 50 windchill) and both girl's schools got called off for Monday & Tuesday. So they're "vacation" got extended even more!

Overall thoughts:

We loved the new fp+ because at a busy time like Christmas, it helped us relax more, sleep in lots and enjoy our favorites.

This was our longest trip ever. That also helped us relax.

I think we as a family are done with the dining plan for awhile. We've done it free like 9 times and having all adults, that is a wonderful value. However, now that both girls are over 18, we'd have to pay extra adult fees for the rooms for each of them moving forward. Plus, we know why we love our DVC. Regular hotel rooms for our family are just too small - especially for 13 nights. It felt like "too much" togetherness at times.

Plus, I really dislike the new policy about having to cancel 24 hours in advance. And in protest, I am going to boycott making any ADRS for our next few trips. We'll just eat off-site or in our DVC rooms or do quick service. I did email my concerns to Disney about it and got a canned response, but this is my personal way of dealing with it.

So, that's my trip report. Thanks again to those who have followed along.

We are all very, very excited for our next Disney trip.

In June, we'll do 1 week at the Beach Club Villas (DVC room), 1 night at Port Canaveral (Country Inn & Suites) and then 7 glorious nights on the Disney Fantasy. This trip is our BIG family celebration extravaganza!

DH and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary while on the cruise. AND we're celebrating both girls graduations - one from college, one from high school.

 

[HeidiGW]

Jodi,
I know I am a late arrival, but I saw a post you made on another message where you posted a link. I have to say that I am usually bored by most trip reports, so I mostly read dining reports. BUT I thoroughly enjoyed your writing style and entire report. You have such a neat family. I loved hearing all about your adventure with your funny hubby and lovely daughters. What I was most impressive is that you lead by example and volunteered not once, but twice! I know GKTW is a worthy organization. while working for Perkins many, many years ago, we did a lot of fund raisers. Honestly, I had never thought of volunteering there with my family until your report. I hope you inspire many others!!!