A Gloriously Gluttonous Grand Gathering -- October 2015 *Complete

[Marnm02]

Your plans look amazing! I'm so impressed by all the coordinating it must have taken...I'm planning the whole thing for just my DD and I and that's about all I can handle lol

Thanks! It's lots of work, but I enjoy it. I only wish I didn't have a pesky job taking up so much of my time that I could be Disney planning!

It sounds delicious!!! This is my first time to Food and Wine!! I can't wait, arriving October 4.....

I've been during Food and Wine many times, but I've never actually eaten at a Food and Wine booth. Crazy, I know. I have always been too full with other food. This year I made a point to actually schedule Food and Wine time as a meal. Maybe I'll see you there, we will be there at the same time as you! Watch for the group of 14 creeping around the parks like a big amoeba!

 

[Marnm02]

SHINY NEW SPREADSHEET

Voila!

 

[Marnm02]

SHINIER NEWER SPREADSHEET

Soooo...I found another pre-park Be Our Guest breakfast ADR for the morning of day 8, and I made the executive decision to replace our Kona Cafe ADR with it. That's right...we now have TWO Be Our Guest breakfasts. As far as food goes, I'd much rather try Kona. The menu is a lot more appealing, and the Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancake has been on my to-try list for such a long time. But I decided to do the replacement for a few reasons: 1. I want to be in the park early. 2. Kona Cafe would have been a meal we'd have to pay for OOP, and our budget is tightening. We have plenty of QS credits to cover BOG without having to pay. 3. This will be late in the trip, we'll be tired, and the thought of battling the after breakfast crowd on the monorail and rope drop just isn't appealing to me. In other words...I WANT TO GET IN EARLY. lol

It appears the Pineapple pancake will elude me once again. I guess that just means I'll need to go back again next year...

Spready Spreadsheet...

Tell me I made the right choice!!

 

[KathyM2]

Love it!! If you can snag a pre-park opening ADR at BOG then...you just can't pass that up!!! Way to go!!

 

[Marnm02]

Love it!! If you can snag a pre-park opening ADR at BOG then...you just can't pass that up!!! Way to go!!

I knew you'd understand!!

 

[Marnm02]

VACATION ATTIRE

Maddie has a princess dress for every day of the trip (more on those later) but I usually don't dress myself up too much. Maybe when I was younger I would've tried out Disney-bounding, or doing the Halloween Party costume thing, but at my age I'm too busy worrying about dressing my kiddo to pay much attention to what I'm going to wear. I usually just pack a bunch of sundresses, shorts and tanks that are comfortable.

Then, leave it to my Facebook newsfeed to show me a GB Packers and Disney themed tank! I had to have it! So, here's my first ever Disney attire purchase that's just for me

I plan on wearing this on our Day 4 -- which is a Packer game day! The question is...will it be appropriate for the Perfectly Princess Tea Party? We have that the morning of the game day, and won't be back to the room to change at all the rest of the day and night. Would I look completely tacky if I wore it to the party, or should I plan on stashing it in my purse and changing once the party is done? Same question about Narcoossee's, which we have an ADR for right after the game. In Green Bay, Packer attire is always OK no matter how classy an establishment you're dining in (and we have absolutely nothing in the whole city on the same level as the Grand Floridian), but I have a feeling things may be different in Florida

 

[ember303]

We are going in October for my sons wish trip, and you had me hooked at PARTY ROOM!!!!!!!

DAY 1

Who wants to see the Trip Tic??

I've already discussed our arrival plans, so I won't repeat all that info.

It is worth knowing, however, that while we're up in the air Mom and Alvin will have already arrived in one of their lovely vehicles. There are two contenders for their vehicle of choice to make the drive across country the short way. Also, my parents name their vehicles. And they give them really original and creative names too!

Meet Vanny!

OK, OK, that's not really Vanny. It'd be cool if it was though! And Vanny actually is big and blue!

and...the other option...

Meet Priusy (I told you they have creative names!)

Now, if they drive down in Vanny, our little Team Southwest Airlines group will probably hop off the Magical Express, check in at POFQ (with no expectation of getting in a room that early), and then hop right in Vanny with Mom and Alvin to head to Costco for supplies. If Priusy ends up being the chosen vehicle, we'll probably only send a representative or two

I'm sure those who aren't going on the Costco expedition will get some lunch at the POFQ food court (and probably meet up with Don and Lisa as they will be arriving shortly after Team Southwest Airlines.) The Costco people will probably grab something when they get back too, if they aren't all filled up on samples.

Hopefully by then we'll be able to get into our rooms so all the Costco goodies can be unloaded.

What would we possibly want to buy at Costco when we have Free Dining??

Yep, lots of liquor! This was Mom, Alvin, Aunt Lisa, and Uncle Don's room last year. It became known as The Party Room. We need a Party Room this year too!

Once everyone is all unpacked, settled in, and the party room as been established, we'll take the boat over to:

Then it'll be time to shop! I'm also hoping for a stop at Dockside Margaritas! A Sugar Cane Mojito sounds pretty wonderful!

Around 6:30 we'll head to

For our dinner ADR. I hope it's as wonderful as everyone says. We will all be first timers here!

Also, Uncle Kerry and Aunt Caryanne will be arriving at some point, but I'm not sure when, or if they'll make it to Raglan Road.

We will likely head back to POFQ shortly after dinner. My plans for the night may include a little swim or hot tub, possibly the outdoor movie depending on what's playing, and a little Party Room time. Then it'll be an earlyish night, as we have our earliest morning of the trip the next day!

 

[Marnm02]

We are going in October for my sons wish trip, and you had me hooked at PARTY ROOM!!!!!!!

The party room is lots of fun! Every Disney trip should have one! I'm excited to follow along about Jackson's wish trip. I hope you have the most magical time!

 

[MagicNight]

SHINIER NEWER SPREADSHEET

I love spreadsheets. It makes it so much easier to see how the trip all lays out. Yours is very shinny!

 

[KathyM2]

I love your shirt! But I'd check the website and see if Narcoosee's has a dress code...I wouldn't worry too much about the tea party though...that's just my two cents...

 

[Marnm02]

I love spreadsheets. It makes it so much easier to see how the trip all lays out. Yours is very shinny!

Thank you! I'm pretty proud of it

I love your shirt! But I'd check the website and see if Narcoosee's has a dress code...I wouldn't worry too much about the tea party though...that's just my two cents...

I did see that Narcoossee's has a "no t-shirt rule." But it's all good, I'll wear some khaki shorts and keep a backup shirt in my purse. No way am I going back and rearranging all my plans to avoid the fancy places on game day!

 

[Marnm02]

IT JUST GOT REAL

Look what arrived today! This means our trip is right around the corner!

There seem to be many more discounts in this bad boy than there was last year. We were expecting 15% off the Children's Activity Center (YAY kid-free Narcoossee's dinner!) and free Disney Quest admission (BOO! Oh, wait, my DH loves it even though it's by far my least favorite thing in all of WDW). But this year our book also included a savings card good for a whole bunch of discounts all over Downtown Disney. Our wallets will be happy that we won't have much time to hang out there this trip, because otherwise I'd definitely be convincing myself to make use of these dealios

Speaking of dealios...

$10.58 on the Target clearance rack, and now Maddie has some all purpose princess shoes to wear with her dresses!

We are in the home stretch! I'm allowing myself to officially start packing Wednesday! And by packing, I mean drag the suitcases up from the basement and leave them open in the bedrooms so we can spend the next month tossing stuff into them as we come across items that may be useful on the trip. That's how we roll with packing.

 

[Lidian]

Hooray for Mickey Mail! Mine won't be here for awhile since it goes to my TA's home office first.

Great find on the Princess shoes!

I'm antsy to start the packing! I just hate that I don't have a good spot to put the suitcases while I slowly pack them.

 

[Marnm02]

Hooray for Mickey Mail! Mine won't be here for awhile since it goes to my TA's home office first.

Great find on the Princess shoes!

I'm antsy to start the packing! I just hate that I don't have a good spot to put the suitcases while I slowly pack them.

Finding a place to keep the suitcases really bugs me too!

 

[Marnm02]

PLANNING PARTY!

Our countdown to WDW has officially dipped into the teens! To celebrate, we had a planning party at Mom's house with most of our group. Mom, Alvin, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Don, Ellie, my in-laws, DH, Maddie, and myself attended, and Uncle Kerry made an appearance via phone.

We discussed our spreadsheet, watched the planning DVD, and made homemade Dole Whips!

Here's Mom...and yes, we drizzled some of that coconut rum over the Dole Whips. So yummy!

Also, Magic Bands are here and decorated:

It's getting so close now!

 

[Lidian]

So will you be smuggling in coconut rum to MK?

 

[Marnm02]

So will you be smuggling in coconut rum to MK?

I don't know if I'm brave enough to risk that, but I will definitely be enjoying Coconut Rum Dole Whips at AK and Epcot! They are sooo yummy!!!

 

[Lidian]

I don't know if I'm brave enough to risk that, but I will definitely be enjoying Coconut Rum Dole Whips at AK and Epcot! They are sooo yummy!!!

Oh, I didn't even think about those! I recall hearing about them at EP, but didn't know about AK! You'll have to sample them and let me know how they are!

 

[Marnm02]

Oh, I didn't even think about those! I recall hearing about them at EP, but didn't know about AK! You'll have to sample them and let me know how they are!

I had one at AK last year. It was amazing! Definitely on my repeat list for this year. I highly recommend it if you get a chance. DH had one with the dark rum and that was a bit strong for my taste, but he seemed to like it.

 

[Marnm02]

SINGLE DIGIT DANCE

We made it to single digits! Finally at that point at work where I schedule stuff for next week and get to say, "I'll actually be out of the office at that time, but (insert co-worker's name) will be able to help you."

The last few days are going to drag though, because we have everything done. We even are almost done packing. So, we just stare at the clock... lol.

Our pet sitter is coming to learn the routine and get the key in a couple days, so I'm sure I'll be starting to stress over that soon, and it will keep me occupied for a bit. Gotta clean the house so she isn't grossed out by us, buy supplies, etc. She is Maddie's Daisy troop leader, and you should have seen Maddie's mouth drop when I told her she'll be coming to our house every day to take care of the pets while we're gone!

I guess I should also try to get us some salon visits so we look nice in our vacation photos...maybe I still have more to do than I thought!