Disneyworld LoT meet.
 

Prudence and I recently discovered that we would be at WDW at the same time in May. I'll be there May 13-23, and Prudence will be there for some amount of days in that same time frame (sorry, I don't remember exactly). I believe we are both staying at AKL. Two Swankers are certainly enough for a meet, but more are better!

So, anyone want to join us? Star Wars weekends are going on at the same time for any of you geeks out there. Our schedule is pretty strict as to what parks we'll be at which day and we have our ADR's made already, but I'm sure we can make room for a meet at a time that's convenient for everyone.

Come to Florida, Swankers!

I know some locals who wouldn't mind an excuse to eat at Boma... Wish I could join you!

MMMM...Boma....

Darn it... I won't be there until August/September (for 11 nights). Not that I'm hijacking your thread or anything... but perhaps a second meet then...

I wish I could. Sounds fun. But at the moment, our household is on a strict budget. We were making plans to go to WDW in May, but we're not sure if that can happen. Lots up in the air now...
:)

Mmmm....Boma....

Click my heels and go to Boma.

I think we're there May 15-20.

ooh that reminds me - where are your ADRs, tracilicious?

"There's no place like bom...a. There's no place like bom...a."

I could go for some zebra domes, myself.

I think a well-planned-in-advance LoT WDWing would be a good idea.

You know you want to.....After all, WWAMD? (What would Auntie Mame do?)

Ok, a few of these may change (again!), but here is the latest version:

California Grill 5/13 9:30pm
Garden Grill 5/14 11:30
Marrakesh 5/15 6:00 pm
Coral Reef 5/17 12pm
Boma 5/18 7pm
Crystal Palace 5/19 10:25 am
Whispering Canyon 5/20 5:30pm
Restaurantasaurus 5/21 10:30am

I'm fairly certain that Restaurantasaurus will change, as I'm not that thrilled with it and it's the same characters from the Garden Grill, but I'm not sure what I'll change it to. We may not go to California Grill, depending on weather or not we want to keep the Indi up that before an MK day. We may do Downtown Disney instead (that's the day we fly in). We also may do something for breakfast on our flying out day. Where are you guys eating?

We just saved a thousand dollars by deciding to get an AP for the room discount and get the DDE card instead of the dining plan. I'm pretty happy about that. Right now I'm just working on specific itineraries for each day.

Isn't 76 days 21 hours 12 minutes and 36 seconds enough time? :p

Cool!

We have:
Biergarten 5/15 1pm
Liberty Tree Tavern 5/15 6:40
Ohana 5/16 6:30
Brown Derby 5/17 11:30
Hollywood & Vine 5/17 6:30
Boma 5/18 7:30am
Akershus 5/18 6:25 (yes, we're braving princesses)
Boma 5/19 6:50pm

There are some great discounts out right now for AP holders...Come to Disney World...Come to Disney World...

True... I just got a passholder email. Last night I pulled up AKL poolside rooms for 6 nights at a little over $1K.

Looks like Sam is totally gonna be there.

Shhhh I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

The problem is I wanted to do DL first before doing WDW again.

There should be a place for this little piece of info, but I'll be hanged if I know where it is... so it's going here.

Wilderness Lodge Rm. 1608 - The ultimate Disney geek room!



On my recent trip down, we were lucky enough to be placed here. I expected the room to be good, as I'm familiar with the property layout, and walking down the hall I realized we would be facing the MK. But I wasn't prepared for what I'd see when I opened the door. We had the most perfect view through the pine trees of the monorails gliding into the Contemporary resort with the MK sitting just behind that and to the left. We spent a good deal of that rainy afternoon just soaking in the view. My mom said "We waited WAY too long to take you to Disneyland, didn't we?"

Later that night as I was enjoying the lights on the castle, I heard faintly from across the Seven Seas lagoon "Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages...". As I was telling Leo in PM shortly afterwards, I nearly wet myself.

So anybody thinking of joining this little soiree, WL1608 may just be the ticket for you.

Yep, we're paying $170/night before tax for that same room. We were going to do standard view for $149/night and hope for an upgrade, but decided at the last minute that we really didn't want to risk looking at the parking lot. I'm still not so secretly hoping that they'll upgrade us to savannah view, but if not that's ok too. I figure that with seven times as many savannah views as standard/pool, there's at least a chance.

It's hard to find enough time to visit DL and WDW. We hope to make it to DL at least for a few days in December.

We coughed up funds for the savannah view room.

You know you want to join us.

All the cool kids are doing it.

Is that a good month for non-local LoT'ers at DL?

Lol, I dunno. I love December there though. Low crowds, carmel apple cider, pretty decorations, Haunted Mansion Holiday, sigh...

I wish we could have. Alas, an extra $700 for our ten nights just wasn't workable. So where are your ADR's?

Yeah, we're not staying as long, so we could "splurge."

As for the ADRs - direct your attention to post 14 in this thread. :D

Mmm....princesses with fish.... ;)

Heh. How'd I miss that? I'm tempted to do Boma twice too. I may just.

We're doing one breakfast and one dinner at Boma. Our repeats this trip are Boma dinner, Biergarten lunch, Brown Derby lunch, and Liberty Tree Tavern dinner.

Boma - I am so there.

Based on some of the above posts, how important is it to plan ahead and make reservations for some of the good/unique restaurants around WDW? I will definitely be at WDW in mid/late June 2006 for a week, but still have a lot to plan and research, since I've never been there before. Thanks!

Very very very important. If you don't have an ADR, you likely won't be eating at a table service restaurant.

ADR? is that something like an AK47?

I'm going to be there at the start of 'licious family's trip, but leaving EARLY morning when the Seattle contingent arrives. I arrive morning of the 12th, leave on a 6 am flight on Monday (it was cheaper then flying out late on Sunday, and I get a direct flight this way).

I'm going cheap - All Star Sports - and probably won't be making any ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations) - I'm likely going to risk it, IF I decide I want to eat somewhere. (Going at a slower time and by myself, and willing to eat 'off hours' are working in my favor here - I wouldn't recommend it, Daniel, for your trip.)

This AP just burns a hole in your pocket! (I'm working on my October 3-night trip already - want to rent from a DVC owner for Beach Club - the better to be nearer the Food & Wine Fest!)

Guests with firearms get priority seating. Peaceful, law-abiding vacationers will just have to wait.

Yet more changes in our travel plans for the year.

Michael got a promotion of sorts at work, which makes it very inopportune to take a long vacation in May. So we may make a short trip to DL in late April or early May and do WDW in late September, or we may get DL APs and make several trips to DL this year and do WDW in Feb of '07. Leaning towards the latter at the present.

Sad that we're going to miss the WDW meet with Prudence, but happy at the prospect of a DL meet.

Well congrads to Michael (I guess that's sort of congrads, if it was a sort of promotion :D ) I'm bummed I won't get to meet any LOT-ers when I go for Mom's Day weekend. :(

Anyone going to be there in October? Right now I have reservations at Boardwalk Villas for the 22, 23, 24th - and will probably add a Value on to the 20 and 21st....

So I'm having a LoT meet with myself that week?

Is that legal in Florida?

Where's Bunny Travolta?

I'm not in Mickey jail yet. :evil:

I hate to respond to my own post on a thread, but curiosity is getting the better of me. Is no one coming to Florida? No Beverly-chugging meet? (I dare ya.)

Well, I'm trying to work out a commitment to do the WDW 1/2 marathon, but that's not until Jan. '07.

Arriving in FL May 13. Arriving at WDW May 15. BT dares you to a Beverly drink-off.

Thanks to the ADRs we already have our dining (and therefore park) schedule set:

Monday, May 15: EP for lunch, MK for dinner
Tuesday, May 16: MK all day
Wednesday, May 17: DS all day
Thursday, May 18: EP all day
Friday, May 19: AK all day
Saturday, May 20: Whatever we feel like we need to do more of, probably MK and EP, until we have to leave. :(

I arrive on May 12, and leave early early morning on the 15th. Studios - AK/MK - Epcot is my main plan for the three days. (Might do Adventurer's Club on Friday night instead of Epcot Evening EMH, since I have yet to visit that locale!)

Just barely missing the PNW contingent (wet side, to distinguish from the dry side contingent :) )

Bummer! Alas, we must do the family thing before we can go play.

Heh, wet side.

Prudence still is, as far as I know. We'll be there sometime, yet to be determined.

ETA: Ok, I'm somehow responding to a post back on page one. Sorry.

I won't be there. Sorry :(

Will there be a brain in the sink? Or a chick on a stick? If the meet doesn't contain either of these necessary items, you can count me out...

OK--I don't mind Beverly so much. But there are things at EPCOT that I prefer, like eating Kaki Gori in the Kaki Gori Garden. And the Mexico Boat Ride.

We LOVE the Kaki Gori, and the Mexico Boat Ride. I like the song! I know that that the cool kids diss it, but I liked it. We did that pavillion last on the next to last day last time, and kind of had to rush through it. I'd like to spend more time there this time.

Mexico Pavillion meet, then?

A definite possibility! I'll have to check our main dining schedule to see what times we're supposed to be eating, but I don't see why not!

I'm off that whole week.

PM me if you want our cell numbers to faciliate meeting and suchlikeness.

Yay! Our trip is almost here! A week from now at this time (counts on fingers) 2:30 - so we'll probably be wrapping up at Epcot and dropping by AKL to see if our room is ready before heading out to dinner at MK.

Now it's less than a week!

Yay! Kaki gori! There's always room for kaki gori.

I was just mentioning the kaki gori (again) this morning. Why is it that I like honeydew-flavored things but not so much the actual melon?

My obligations are ticking off - oral argument done, two finals done, R&T edit sent off this morning. Only the copyright take-home to finish, and I did the first (of 3) questions last night. And then I get to go pretend I'm a kid with no responsibilities!

I so wish I could go to this meet. Unfortunately, I have a wedding to attend in Sept in LA. Bummer. I have to save my money for that...

FYI, the Kaki Gori stand is cash only. (Just in case it matters.)

GC, you have to come sometime!

I totally wanted to see you guys. :)

I had planned to make a WDW this year. But my best friend is getting married in Palo Alto, CA in Sept. I can't miss that. She's already mad at us because Ralphie can't go, he's going to on a scientific cruise. He's in the doghouse.

Well, some of us will still be in FL next year . . .

And hey, if you're in CA, you'd better set up at meet at Disneyland!

Totally. I'm saving up for the trip as we 'speak'. :)

Her name isn't Mary, is it?

Boma is a nice restaurant but Ohana is also a very good one .

Yes, those are both terrific. It's worth noting that at Ohana, only carnivores need apply. It's skewer after skewer of grilled meats. Boma has something for everyone. It's just exotic enough to be exciting and new yet familiar enough that no one will feel like they've strayed from their comfort zone.

No... :D

Just checking. I also know someone who is getting married in Palo Alto in September. :) She's getting married at Memorial Church at Stanford. I so wish I could go. I'm sure it will be a beautiful ceremony.

Back to WDW... I am just about 100% sure I will be at WDW for marathon weekend. I intend to do the half with Team in Training.

BT will be happy. If he could eat nothing but meat morning, noon, and night I think he'd be happy. Thus, Ohana should make him verrrrrry happy.

Sniff! We'd be getting there tomorrow if our plans hadn't changed. :( Le sigh. Must keep thinking about Tokyo!

One can always call ahead and speak with a chef.

The Ohana menu has nothing I could eat, but I'm fairly certain they have some sort of vegetarian/vegan offering for poor souls like me who seem to be constantly surrounded by carnivores. That doesn't mean it would be worth the cost, necessarily, just that they probably have something.

Eh, on second thought, it's probably grilled portobello mushrooms. :rolleyes:

We're heading to the airport! Yay!

Have a GREAT time!

Okay, so the point of going in May was to NOT have it be 95 degrees. I will have to speak with the weather department on that one.

It was a fun yet exhausting trip. More later, somewhere, but I will try to put some highlights here -

*My grandparents are still keeping on keeping on, which is good.
*Rainy day at the Magic Kingdom meant no lines.
*Rainy day at the Magic Kingdom meant getting SOAKED on Splash Mountain even before the first dip (from the axuiliary spray pumped out when a log splashes down) didn't really matter.
*Expedition Everest was SO AMAZING! I can not adequately describe how cool of a ride that was. It was totally Disney. It was totally amazing. It was a great mix of slight thrill with the family-friendly style coaster and the anamatronic was amazing. If you haven't made the trek (ha) out to see it yet, do so immediately. Do not pass go; do not collect $200.

And, of course, getting to spend the afternoon with Matterhorn Fan, a tres swanky individual. That was an extra bonus. Candy shopping around the world! And she contributed to my jewelry deliquency by encouraging me to try on the Mikimoto necklace, which of course meant I had to buy it. (If only I had a spare $5500 instead of a spare $250!)

So, I'm pooped. Jet-lagged. And in the post-vacation funk. And deciding where to stay next time. :evil:

Oh - and before I forget - when we were eating at Liberty Tree Tavern there was this couple straight out of a Dokken concert audience. They looked like a perfectly lovely couple who were having an excellent time, getting photos with the characters and what not, but we couldn't help a few glances because their appearance, from head to toe, was SO stuck in time that we wondered if they were doing a costume event of some kind.

I mention this mostly because in my head I was imagining Ally doing a commentary, which was absolutely hysterical.

Oh honey, that wasn't your imagination. That was Ally doing a commentary. She's good like that.

For who knows what reason, they turned that spray up to ridiculous some time last year - that was the ONLY place we got really wet our last couple of rides.
If you wanna try something crazy, try seating 3 across for all 4 rows of a log -

photo courtesy themeparkreview.com

Glad to hear you had a good time - the weather was a tiny bit cooler right before you got there, if that helps any (but was way too hot right before that!)

EE is great. Was Mission:Space doing the non-moving version when you were there, and did you get a chance to try that version?

So spill on where all you guys ate!

I think M:S lite was debuting the non-moving version on our last day, but we would never be caught doing the weenie version, so it didn't really matter.

So, um, we ate at Biergarten and Liberty Tree the first day, both good. Well, Biergarten was as yummy as last time, and Liberty Tree seemed slightly less good in the meat department. Everything else was as good, but the meat seemed really dry and the beef was not of particularly good quality. Biergarten is just yumyumyum. It's the food that is most comfortable to me. Everything I try is tasty. I blame genetics.

Second day we did lunch at the Sonny Eclipse place, which was average. BT liked the toppings bar - all the grilled onions and mushrooms he could pile onto his plate. It was raining, so people were camped out at their tables for long periods of time. I had no idea Floridians were water soluble! Dinner was at Ohana, which was also average. Actually, I liked the starters and appetizers and dessert (yummy bananas foster sauce!) but the meats were blah. And since the skewers are allegedly the focus, I'm not sure I'd go back. The entertainer walked around chatting with folks and we learned that he almost opened a restaurant up here in Oak Harbor or somesuch place. Staff seemed friendly, but it was so slammed it was hard to get attention. We were also checking out the Poly for our next visit, since I think we're about AKLed out now.

Third day was Brown Derby for lunch - excellent as usual. Sadly, I had the exact same thing as last time: cocount shrimp appetizer, cobb salad, and orange chocolate "impression" for dessert. So predictable I am! The little bit of pinot noir (I think) reduction on the dessert was so amazingly tasty. I could have just had a bowl of that with a spoon. Dinner was at Hollywood & Vine. Not bad, but nothing stellar. AND, I don't consider a 45 minute wait with reservations acceptible. ESPECIALLY if one is doing the Fantasmic package. Fortunately, I built in plenty of extra time just in case. However, it shouldn't have been necessary. 20 minutes when it's slammed is okay. 45 minutes, to me, indicates a serious lack of planning. We did get drinks with blinky ice cubes, which was mildly amusing. Still, food wasn't bad, (corn spoon bread stuff was particularly tasty), but there was was nothing worth the hassle.

Fourth Day was lunchy bits at whatever the China pavillion quick service place is (yum) and the Moroccan cafe (SUPER yum!) The cafe is a much better deal than the sit-down restaurant in that pavillion. The lamb wrap sandwich was quite a deal for the price, I think. Couscous was yummy, too. For dinner we braved the princesses at Akershus, which was worth it, I think. Venison stew for me, cod for him. Both excellent meals, I must say. The desserts were also great. And we got photos with Mulan, which was a score. (Also: Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel-with-legs, and Belle not-in-ballgown.) I would actually do this again. Incidentally, the wait for the slammed princess meal was significantly less than the wait for H&V. And would have been even less had we elected to forgo the "official" Ariel photo. Oh yeah -we did breakfast at Boma that day, too. Way yum! Lots of stuff and tasty juice! I hate breakfasts where they give you teensy glasses of juice with no free refills. Here, juice (with refills) was included. There was some hot sauce stuff Ryan loved.

Day five was lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. I'd do this again. I think I liked it better than Tusker House. None of it is super novel food, but it was tasty. The ribs were smoked and not dripping in sauce, so they were actually possible to eat and look presentable afterwards. Seasoned fries were unreasonably tasty; I recommed them particularly. Dinner was at Boma. Service always seems to be slow here at dinner, although the food was super tasty. I have a list of four items for which I MUST get recipes: chicken corn chowder (a soup I LOVE anyhow, and this was the best I'd ever had), cassava cake, chocolate crunch mousse, and a fruit salad.

Last day was lunchy bits split between UK fish and chips (don't ask me - I'm not a fish and chips fan anyhow) and Yakitori house, which was a mixed bag. We got a combo plate and the terriyaki chicken, tempura bit, and sticky rice were good, as was the ginger cake. The beef bits were very fatty and rather tasteless. Most fun was watching the couple next to us pick off all the little pickled ginger bits off the rice. How evil! Pickled ginger! And a chocolate crepe from the cart outside France. Yum..... We were going to grab a snack at Norway's bakery, but there was a ginormous line, out the door, in the sun, not moving. So no tasty pastries for us. :( Something for next time, I guess.

I have had a queasy tummy this past week, which put a damper on dining a bit. But through will power I perservered in order to bring you these peerless comments.

Oh, I did warn you that I'd heard mixed reviews of the Yakitori House, didn't I?

I'm curious about the slow service at Boma--I've never noticed that, but since it's buffet, maybe my service expectations have been pretty low? I have noticed that if you want a plate cleared or a soda refilled, all you have to do is leave the table for a few minutes. (So maybe you just didn't eat enough?) ;)

Links: Chicken Corn Chowder
Chocolate Mousse Crunch
Cassava Cake
Watermelon Rind Salad (Is that the fruit salad you wanted?)

Yeah, you warned us. But we were there, hungry, had a counter service meal to use up, and were curious. Alas!

We had a lot of trouble at Boma getting things like....water. Water refills didn't ever materialize, I don't think. And no one ever cleared our plates, which on a small table was becoming a problem.

And why didn't I know that there were recipes online?! YAY! Although we were looking for the African Fruit Salad we had. But allears has the creamed corn spoon bread recipe from H&V, which is making me happy.

Do you mean the one with the avacado? Kindof like this?

I don't think it had avacado in it, but it was the least of my recipe requests anyhow. Eventually I'll get out of my post-vacation funk and actually test some of these recipes.

I encourage you to have a look at the recipe for Banana Bread Pudding. It's not "Banana Bread" Pudding, it's Banana "Bread Pudding."

If you wanna call croissants bread.

It's not often that recipes are good reading.

I made a version very much like that for a brunch last year. It got wiped out.

But instead of fooling with the cooking and tempering involved with the vanilla sauce, I just bought some vanilla bean ice cream, let it melt and served that as the sauce.