The Great Disney Do-Over—PTR for Aug 2010 - UPDATED 8/2 - Page 7 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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DH did have marks on him from her nails digging into his skin
Oh your poor DD. Brave but scared to death I:m sure.
Good for you that you seemed to enjoy AK. After several hot and steamy trips we during our last trip on a cool weather day the park was awesome for relaxing and enjoying the wonderful sights. I hope your meal went ok.
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As we were let out in front of the Contemporary resort, we had high hopes that a relaxing trip to our dinner ADR would set the stage for a positive meal. With the beautiful surroundings, I suddenly remembered reading how many people do not think California Grill is a restaurant for kids. Uh-oh. How would the kids do at California Grill? Would we be the exception or prove the point that it should be an experienced reserved for the mature?
Again, I agree with the woman who said you were a great storyteller. In each post you leave off with such a cliffhanger...like a tv show . It's great, I love it!!
This last one is like...
Quote:
Originally Posted by benjiboo25
As we were let out in front of the Contemporary resort, we had high hopes that a relaxing trip to our dinner ADR would set the stage for a positive meal. With the beautiful surroundings, I suddenly remembered reading how many people do not think California Grill is a restaurant for kids. Uh-oh.?
Dahn, dahn, dahhhhhhn......
Quote:
Originally Posted by benjiboo25
How would the kids do at California Grill? Would we be the exception or prove the point that it should be an experienced reserved for the mature?
Tune in next time, same mouse channel, same mouse time...on "How the Walt Disney World Turns" LOL
I love this! Great JOB!!!
Again, I agree with the woman who said you were a great storyteller. In each post you leave off with such a cliffhanger...like a tv show . It's great, I love it!!
This last one is like...
Dahn, dahn, dahhhhhhn......
Tune in next time, same mouse channel, same mouse time...on "How the Walt Disney World Turns" LOL
I love this! Great JOB!!!
Thank you for making me LAUGH OUT LOUD and encouraging me to keep writing!
The "cliff hangers" are really more my way to try to remember where I wanted to go next in the part of the report since I cannot seem to finish in one sitting!
Looking forward to hearing about CG. This is one place I'd like to try and have had some hesitations about bringing the kids, despite reassurances from other PPers! So can't wait to hear how it all went!
__________________
15 total family trips with stays at the Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, POFQ, Pop Century, All Star Music, Movies & Sports, and Coronado Springs.
You will love the Beach Club!! The pools are awesome and the bottoms are covered in sand. There are places where you can sit and dig/play in the sand and be in the water, just like being at the beach and they have sand toys there for the kids or you to use. My DS(7) loved the pirate ship waterslide too.
You will love the Beach Club!! The pools are awesome and the bottoms are covered in sand. There are places where you can sit and dig/play in the sand and be in the water, just like being at the beach and they have sand toys there for the kids or you to use. My DS(7) loved the pirate ship waterslide too.
Thanks for the feedback on BC! I am so excited!!!!
I also have been thoroughly enjoying your trip report! Can't wait to continue reading more!! Thanks so much for taking the time to do such an awesome writeup!
__________________
My two awesome grandsons with an all-time favorite!
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(For those who have been waiting for an update—I apologize that it has taken me so long to get back to the trip report. Life has been SUPER-BUSY lately and it is cutting into my Disney Obsession time! J )
To cut short the suspense about my kids’ behavior at California Grill—they were great!
We arrived a bit early for our ADR (gotta love the cab!), and they were running a bit behind. The most stressful part of the dinner was this waiting time when the kids were squirrely and I was feeling anxious about appearing to have unruly children. I had given my three the speech about how kids are expected to act like little grownups at a restaurant like this. I added a bit of exaggeration for effect, (go figure) and told them that some people think kids should not even be allowed in restaurants like this. The oldest two wanted to try and prove them wrong! Although this message was lost on the 2-year old, we did have a more favorable adult: child ratio this evening. Our niece (also 2) stayed back in the room with DBIL (Too late! Too tired!) So DSIL focused on our kids for some quality “auntie time”.
As we drooled over the menu, the kids (our three and the niece (5)/nephew (6) ) were all remarkably engaged with the coloring sheet the server gave them. It was so apparent to all of us, that we started inspecting the paper to see if there was anything particularly alluring about the selection of activities on it. Seemed basic enough to us...coloring, word finds, mixed up words, tic tac toe, etc.…
Then someone pointed out how they were all given one red crayon. We recognized the simplistic genius. The kids did not have to stress over what color to choose. They did not have to fight with the other kids at the table about the “best” colors. They did not drop crayons on the floor, because they only got one and it was in their hands. It did not even occur to the kids that they all had only one crayon and it was all the same color. Brilliant!
DH and I were so torn over what to order, that we decided to order another meal! You may recall that having bailed on a few ADR’s we had extra meal points from our DxDDP. We used another two points to order sushi from the appetizer menu and main course menu. We (obviously) were not able to eat it all, but we wanted the chance to sample some of the items that seemed so wonderful.
We found CG slightly less accommodating to my DD’s food allergy than other TS restaurants. This was the only place where a chef did not come specifically to talk with us. The server said they could make her something special, but she would be charged for the price of a full kid’s meal. Although I understand this is fair to the restaurant, I was surprised because every other TS restaurant said she would not be charged because she was 2, even when they made her a special plate. Luckily we had all those extra meal points!
The sushi options were definitely our favorites—but that may have been biased by the fact that they came out first and we were not at all hungry by the time the “real” food arrived. I had just a bite of mine (I do not even remember what I ordered) and thought it was good, but not amazing. DH ate all of his plate, but we both left there wishing w had ordered more of the sushi items (and saying we would have stuffed it down!). Being from MN, we do not often get the chance to have decent sushi. DSIL first introduced it to us when visiting her in FL a few years back. Seems like the stuff we have sampled at home does not compare to what we have had in FL.
We were not seated directly by a window, but in the center of the restaurant. Wishes was scheduled for 10:00pm this night. We expected our 8:30 ADR would have us done eating in time to view it. Uhhh…no…When Wishes began, we were working on our appetizers. DH and I decided to leave the food to bring the kids out to the balcony for the best view. The other decided to continue eating and watch from the windows.
It was amazing!
It was pretty crowded out on the main patio. DH spotted a stairwell and ushered us down a level to another patio. Although we were no longer on the TOP floor, we still had an amazing view. And better yet—we had a private view! DD (5) was able to dance and sing to the show without us worrying about who she may be annoying. DH and I were able to snuggle with each other and whatever kid wanted to join us while watching it. Incredible!
When we returned to the table after the fireworks, we learned that our exit had delayed the meal further. The server did not want to bring the main courses until of us were done with the appetizers. Our mood was kinda dashed.
I was not sure how my DS would like the food at CG. He tends to be a pretty picky eater, and prefer “basic” kid fare of pizza, burgers and chicken nuggets. The kid’s pizza was pretty fancy. Smoked provolone cheese on a whole wheat pizza dough. After his first bite—he declared it to be the best pizza he had eaten in his entire life! He finished his, and took over his sisters leftovers the next day!
My only real gripe with CG was how long they drew out the meal. I understand that eating at a leisurely pace is part of this type of dining experience. However, with five kids, at 8:30pm, I was hoping they would have speeded it up. When we sat down, we told our server that we have a cab coming at 11:00pm. She said that might work. During the meal, we reminded her of our cab time. We told her when we changed it to 11:30. The cab was calling us at 11:35 wondering where we were. Half of us went to one cab and told the other cab driver that the others were just finishing up the bill. They left at 11:45.
We all got back to our resort well after midnight; the kids were sleeping by 1am. DH and I stayed up to bicker a bit (we were in desperate need of sleep and relaxation, and we were both crabby and irritable and taking it out on the other…). We were planning to be up early the next day to go to DHS. We had 11:00 ADR’s for H&V.
Would we join our GG the next day? Or would we, once again, be anti-GG?
Great chapter! I've been patiently waiting for it. I am glad to hear that CG went well! Sounds like you had a great time, adults and kids! Cant wait to hear about DHS next! I'll be on the look out
15 total family trips with stays at the Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, POFQ, Pop Century, All Star Music, Movies & Sports, and Coronado Springs.
I just found this TR and devoured it. Wonderful. I do hope you get DD5 a GAC this trip. While it works well for all most all issues, including my wheelchair, there are certian things it was absolutly made for, and ASD is up near the top of that list. There are ways to be on major rides and keep crowd meltdown at bay.
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Pixie Dust
. It's great, I love it!! 
Dahn, dahn, dahhhhhhn......
Tune in next time, same mouse channel, same mouse time...on "How the Walt Disney World Turns" 
LOL
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
Robyn
I can't wait to hear about CG! 
So DSIL focused on our kids for some quality “auntie time”. 
than other TS restaurants. This was the only place where a chef did not come specifically to talk with us. The server said they could make her something special, but she would be charged for the price of a full kid’s meal. Although I understand this is fair to the restaurant, I was surprised because every other TS restaurant said she would not be charged because she was 2, even when they made her a special plate. Luckily we had all those extra meal points!
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