Peter's Very Merry 10th Birthday PTR - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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For our family, the food is one of the highlights of a Disney vacation. On our last few trips, we have done the deluxe dining plan. It is a lot of food, but we like the flexibility of being able to eat at more than one TS restaurant per day.
However, this year, David and I have Premier Passports (which is a whole other story in itself), so we can get a discounted Tables in Wonderland card. I crunched some numbers and it looks like this will be the more economical option for us. So, for the first time in several years, we will not be on a dining plan.
Because the main purpose of the trip is to celebrate Peter’s birthday, I gave him a lot of input into the dining choices for this trip. On his actual birthday, he wanted Tutto Italia for lunch and Teppan Edo for dinner. Whoa, we’re going to be full! On this vacation, he also wanted to participate in the Grand Gathering breakfast at Tony’s Town Square and has been begging to go to Garden Grill.
Jacob, being much more laid back, didn’t have any specific requests. But he has loved dinosaurs since he was a toddler, so I knew that T-Rex would be a must-do for him.
The grandparents didn’t have any requests. But David certainly did! He decided he’d like Yachtsman Steakhouse for Christmas dinner, he also wanted to return to Yak & Yeti and Hollywood Brown Derby. And we both wanted to try Via Napoli for the first time. We have eaten at Naples, Via Napoli’s sister restaurant in DLR, three times now and absolutely love it.
As for me, I decided it was time to return to California Grill. We ate there on our honeymoon and, despite the fact that everyone else we know loves it, we weren’t blown away. However, we’ve heard so many good reviews recently, and we thought it would be special to watch Wishes from there on Christmas Eve. Also, I’ve always wanted to try the Kitchen Sink at Beaches & Cream, but it never made sense to do it with just 4 of us. Now that there will be 8 or 9 of us, I’ve got my sights set on The Sink! Finally, I wanted to go visit with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana.
We figured that we would be eating breakfast in the villa most days, so I’ve planned mostly lunches and dinners.
Our 180-day window opened on June 22nd. I knew this from the day I reserved the villas, as member services had told me the date. For 6 months, I focused in on the date June 22nd. But as the date approached, I somehow got it in my head that June 22nd fell on a Thursday. On Tuesday, June 21st, around 9:30 p.m., I realized that our window opened the next day (Wednesday). Oh no! I stayed up until midnight making sure that I had all my ducks in a row to log on to the online reservations system at 5:00 a.m. Central time and get those ADRs!
My alarm woke me at 4:30 a.m., and I went to my computer to log in to my account and watch the clock until 5:00. Exactly at 5:00, I started trying to make reservations. I started with our desired ADR at California Grill on Christmas Eve. I provided my resort reservation number and check-in date when prompted to do so. But when I tried to confirm the reservation, it either asked me to log in to my account again or simply said "server error." I tried all different restaurants we wanted on different days and couldn’t make a single ADR online. I was practically in tears!
Just before 6:00 a.m. Central time, I started trying to call Disney Dining. I got through right at 6:00 and spoke with a really great CM, who was very calm and cheery. That did help put me at ease, though I wished she would chat less and hurry up with my ADRs!
Of the restaurants we wanted, Yachtsman was completely unavailable on Christmas Day for dinner, so I ended up booking Hollywood Brown Derby instead. She offered Shula’s as an alternative, but DH refuses to eat there (long story involving the New England Patriots and their almost-perfect season a few years ago). Also, Garden Grill and Via Napoli were not available.
Finally, we wanted Yak & Yeti for lunch on Christmas Day. With a party of 9, I was told we had to call the restaurant directly. I did that, but the woman I spoke with said the 180+10 didn’t apply when you reserve directly with them, so I needed to call again 180 days from the day we wanted to dine.
All in all, we did pretty well considering the size of our group and the time of year.
Up next: Other plans we had to make in advance and our final dining schedule...
LOL at your son for reminding you he's getting older...It seems like the kids just want to keep growing and parents just want them to stop so we can have them forever....
Your restaurant choices sound great! I've always wanted to stay at Disney on Christmas but with a little one who believes in Santa, I didn't want to upset him into thinking Santa couldn't find us! lol
Whoa! You guys are gonna be full! Sounds delish though.
Yes, I'm thinking I might end up just wearing sweatpants on the trip home because all of my jeans will be too tight!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
LOL at your son for reminding you he's getting older...It seems like the kids just want to keep growing and parents just want them to stop so we can have them forever....
Your restaurant choices sound great! I've always wanted to stay at Disney on Christmas but with a little one who believes in Santa, I didn't want to upset him into thinking Santa couldn't find us! lol
I actually struggled quite a bit with how to handle Santa this year. Both of my boys still believe (though Peter is getting more skeptical). We finally decided that Santa would leave his "main" gift for each boy at our villa (they are getting iPods). My ILs are going home on an earlier flight than we are, so they can stuff the stockings when they get back and the kids will never be the wiser! They are considering writing Santa a letter just to let him know where we'll be on Christmas...
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
All this talk of food is making me hungry!! Can't wait to see the final dining schedule!!
The next few days were a bit crazy moving around ADRs, but you'll see that we ended up with some pretty good plans!
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Ooooo, I'm so jealous of your DVC purchase! I've been wanting DVC for years! And Beach Club! We stayed there in 2007 when the in-laws paid, and it was awesome. Great dining choices, too. Sounds like the makings of a great trip.
Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince
Ooooo, I'm so jealous of your DVC purchase! I've been wanting DVC for years! And Beach Club! We stayed there in 2007 when the in-laws paid, and it was awesome. Great dining choices, too. Sounds like the makings of a great trip.
I'm excited! BCV is our home resort, but this will actually be our first time staying there! We've stayed at the BC in a regular hotel room, but we've only ever used our points for the Villas at the Grand Californian.
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and in 6 years he'll be driving. Heaven help me!
Finally, I wanted to go visit with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana.
I got through right at 6:00 and spoke with a really great CM, who was very calm and cheery. That did help put me at ease, though I wished she would chat less and hurry up with my ADRs! 
Also, Garden Grill and Via Napoli were not available.
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