ADR’s Acquired - Part II
a.k.a. Whew!
We’re back from our trip to the Grand Canyon and Death Valley and it was… rough. Perhaps the toughest vacation we’ve ever had. Our eight day trip included no less than an interstate closure, a backup hotel, a souvenir debacle, an angry driver, additional airport screening after our bag was flagged, crossing paths with a huge (50+ people) literal biker gang (they ignored us but it was unnerving), and almost running out of gas.
If that wasn’t enough, both kids developed a stomach bug (on different days of the trip, thankfully?) so we had to deal with throwing up and yucky laundry. IT. WAS. NOT. FUN.
We had a few good moments including a great 1.5 mile hike on a rocky path and seeing the slot canyons in Page, Arizona. We also had a few good meals (at least G and I did). But overall, it was not our favorite trip.
Fingers crossed that our next trip is better. Please?!
Two good things we learned from the trip is both kids did exceptionally well on the airplane (our flights were one of the easiest parts of the trip) and I confirmed some of our packing and traveling must-haves (our new “diaper bag” and my bag worked very well). I’ll write an update on that later this week.
But…
back to Disney dining!
The day before our crazy trip I secured the remainder of our ADRs.
As expected, the only one to give me trouble was the Topolino’s Terrace breakfast. I knew getting an ADR at the time I wanted would be tough at 60+1, but I wasn’t expecting they would have
nothing within 2.5 hours of when I preferred to eat. We’re visiting Topolino’s on our resort rest day at the Beach Club and I wanted an ADR around 9:00am to maximize swim time. Instead I had to settle for 11:40am - I’m happy there was a reservation (the remaining slots went fast!) but hope I can shift it closer to the morning to give us plenty of pool time.
Our lineup for the last four days includes...
Breakfast/Brunch
- Topolino’s Terrace
- Cape May Cafe
Lunch
Dinner
- La Hacienda de San Angel
- Roundup Rodeo BBQ
- Boma
When I discussed all the ADRs with Grant, I had him choose our Epcot dinner and what to do on our Animal Kingdom day. Grant chose La Hacienda over other options (Le Cellier, Chefs de France, etc.) as he throught M would be most excited about their food (chips and salsa are always a winner). I’m a little sad to miss out on the Cheddar Cheese soup, but I’ve loved both meals I’ve had at La Hacienda and agree it’s the right choice for right now.
As for Animal Kingdom, G thought going to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma made more sense than eating lunch at Tusker House. I didn’t want to eat at both on the same day as the menus are similar. Therefore, we’ll try Sa’tuli Canteen for lunch on our Animal Kingdom day, which I’m very excited to try for the first time. M should also LOVE seeing the animals at AKL (and honestly, I’m pretty excited to visit that resort again myself!).
Minus stalking the Topolino’s Terrace ADRs for a better time, it’s great to have dining in place.
Now that we’re back and I can concentrate on this trip, it’s time to order fun Disney clothes for the kids and decide on our park must-dos and plans. We have just
45 days to go until our trip - huzzah!
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