Pre-Trip report - Yorkshire stylee!

[TotallyAngelic]

I am really enjoying reading your report - we are not from Yorkshire but from Wales, but we have been to York and Whitby and enjoyed both places immensely. My DH is another Harry Ramsdens fan and HAS to eat lunch there when we go to Cheshire Oaks - I must admit I have pinched a chip on more than one occasion and can highly recommend those! I am more of a spud-u-like girl myself!
You must be getting really excited with only 5 weeks to go - we are today exactly 100 days from our trip to WDW and our very first Disney cruise in October - excitement is far too much of an understatement! Tomorrow we are having a "Double Digit Party" as we hit 99 days, and I think I may embark on a pre-trip report of my own - I think it will heighten the anticipation (not that it needs heightening - if that is a word!)
Look forward to reading more about your plans, preparation and general heightening of excitement as the days tick away!

 

[mamaboogie]

Hi Sarah and everyone!!

Yes, it's less than a month now! Four weeks on Tuesday! 30 days!

It's all very exciting - but kind of nerve wracking! I can't believe how close it is all of a sudden and that we will soon be going on all the rides we're reading about and eating all the food we've been looking at!! It's surreal! I have lists coming out of my ears - suitcases in the loft that I keep chucking things into, then forgetting what's in there!

It's a crazy time - apart from Disney preparations we have also lots of birthdays, family reunions, weddings and the end of term to fit in! Very busy! Dare I say it will be nice to get to WDW for a rest!!!!!?

I know I've talked about it before in bits and pieces, but here is an outline of our schedule:

Tuesday 12th August: Fly from Manchester around 10:30 ish (hopefully with no ten hour delay like last time!!) Get to CBR mid afternoonish (see how precise I am!). ADR at Shutters, hopefully get into parks for a bit in the evening, maybe catching a firework display.
Wednesday 13th: Magic Kingdom day! ADR for lunch at LTT. See how we feel as to how long we stay in park.
Thursday 14th: Animal Kingdom. Early lunch at Tusker House.
Friday 15th: EPCOT with ADR for dinner at Coral Reef.
Saturday 16th: Disney Studios with lunch at Sci-Fi Dine in.
Sunday 17th: Popping out to the Premium Outlet Mall. Hopefully back to DTD for a look at Disney Quest. Any cs suggestions for lunch? ADR for California Grill in evening - OH YES!!!! Am I looking forward to this or what??!!!
Monday 18th: Breakfast at Ohana - gotta love Lilo and Stitch (am possibly more excited about meeting them than the kids!) Then Florida Mall - went last time but didn't have time to get all my shopping done, so hopefully I will get the job done this time! Then back to Disney for dinner at House of Blues - I loved this place last time!!
Tuesday 19th: Seaworld!! (how much do I love that whale?) Including a special 'Dine with Shamu' buffet meal!
Wednesday 20th: Back to the Magic Kingdom. ADR for Whispering Canyon Cafe in the evening.
Thursday 21st: Animal Kingdom. Bit of a lack of food inspiration - back to Tusker House for lunch! Then in the evening, off to see La Nouba! Awesome!
Friday 22nd: Universal studios! With lunch possible at Hard Rock Cafe.
Saturday 23rd: Disney Studios once more. Dinner ADR at....BOMA!
Sunday 24th: A blank day! See what tickles our fancy! ADR for dinner at Artist Point.
Monday 25th: Return to EPCOT with an ADR at Le Cellier for dinner. (Cheese soup please!)
Tuesday 26th: Islands of Adventure. Any food hints here?
Wednesday 27th: Another see what we feel like day, with a final night meal at Narcosses.
Thursday 28th: Time to leave CBR (sob!) with hopefully a few final hours in the parks. (probably MK)
Friday 29th: Land back at Manchester. Tired. Grumpy. And starting to plan how we can get back to the magic.

So, there you have it!

 

[meryll83]

Sunday 17th: Popping out to the Premium Outlet Mall. Hopefully back to DTD for a look at Disney Quest. Any cs suggestions for lunch? ADR for California Grill in evening - OH YES!!!! Am I looking forward to this or what??!!!

Tuesday 26th: Islands of Adventure. Any food hints here?

Haven't tried either ourselves, but Wolfgand Puck's at DTD (think perhaps it's the Express part) is supposed to have really good CS food and at IOA, we walked past Mythos (near Dueling Dragons) and thought their menu looked good and I have had recommendations, however I think this is a table service place, so perhaps you wont want a big meal if you're at the CG later, not really sure about counter service here, there's always Green Eggs and Ham!
Wow that was a long sentence!

 

[Aardvarks]

Orlando Premium Outlet has a nice food court

The Florida Mall has a much better one

We have not found any food that inspired us in Islands of Adventure. The better food is at the Universal Studios

 

[mamaboogie]

Haven't tried either ourselves, but Wolfgand Puck's at DTD (think perhaps it's the Express part) is supposed to have really good CS food and at IOA, we walked past Mythos (near Dueling Dragons) and thought their menu looked good and I have had recommendations, however I think this is a table service place, so perhaps you wont want a big meal if you're at the CG later, not really sure about counter service here, there's always Green Eggs and Ham!
Wow that was a long sentence!

Hey Meryll! 26 days!!......It's funny but I've just been talking to Si about WP express today - we're quite impressed by the range of CS food at DTD. Some really different stuff - Earl of Sandwich, Cookes of Dublin, WP, Ghiradelli's, Goofy's Candy Co.!

We've also heard good stuff about Mythos - we might see how the dollars are holding up at this point (and Si and Kate's stomachs!)

Orlando Premium Outlet has a nice food court

The Florida Mall has a much better one

We have not found any food that inspired us in Islands of Adventure. The better food is at the Universal Studios

aardvarks we went to the food court at Florida Mall in 2006 and were really impressed! As I mentioned before, we didn't have much time to peruse anything that day so we grabbed some food from the hitherto unknown 'Chick a fill a' and it was great!! (I'm easy to please!) This time we might be able to have a better look at the food on offer.

Did I mention 26 days?!

 

[mark&sue]

shari

loving this thread. Hope you all have a great time. not long now.


susan

 

[NatalieMT]

Hey Shari, great thread! Not long to go for you guys at all now, love the itinerary - sure you will have a blast. Look forward to reading more.

 

[mamaboogie]

shari

loving this thread. Hope you all have a great time. not long now.


susan

Thanks Susan! I can't believe how close it is!!! We watched a bit of the Disney Vacation DVD and a bit of the Seaworld one! Just to get us in the mood!

Hey Shari, great thread! Not long to go for you guys at all now, love the itinerary - sure you will have a blast. Look forward to reading more.

Thanks Nat! We are VERY excited! What will we be like at 7 days? Or 1 day?! It seems like every day we are buying some little thing for the trip. I need to get some more spending dollars soon!!

Shari xxx

 

[binkytell]

hey shari, we get to cbr on 25th august so maybe see ya around.
hoping to get martinique to save my weary legs and my hubbies weary
arms after he has to carry dd 6 home. have u been to cbr before?
really hoping and praying that maybe the pool will be open early.

 

[mamaboogie]

binkytell - Look for me at CBR when you get there - I'll be the sulky brit who's grumpy *** she's going home in a couple of days!

We haven't stayed there before but really like the look of the place - laid back vibe! You might be lucky with the pool!!

Have a great time! See you around the pool!

Shari xx

 

[Aardvarks]

Three weeks yesterday.

I have a slight setback which is starting to upset me.

I was cought speeding last night in Lincolnshire on the A1 by a very charming traffic cop in an unmarked black Audi A3. I had been speeding and he was very nice about it, but I have been given a fixed penalty.

I drove into Leeds last night to Weetwood which is my nearest 24 hour manned station to surrender my licence and counterpart.

They said it would be 2-3 weeks to get it back. I am so upset because if it is not back inside 2 weeks and 6 days, I won't be able to hire a car in Sanford and my poor wife is going to have to do the driving. She is not at all happy about this as she only drives local to our home wheras I drive 40,000 miles plus each year and last night I had set off from Croydon and navigated my way right through London and under the Blackwall tunnel. I am so annoyed at getting caught, but when you work away from home all week, all you want to do is to get home for the weekend.

First thing on Monday I am paying the fine by credit card over the phone and I going to beg them to get my licence back to me as fast as they can.

I couldnt sleep last night thinking about it.

I have to slow down

 

[mamaboogie]

Oh no Aardvarks!

What stress for you and your wife! I hope you get your license back in time. It's strange isn't it - this time before you go away is sooo exciting but so worrying at the same time - just hoping that nothing goes wrong to spoil the magical holiday. We keep having anxiety attacks all the time. We even took our youngest to a play park yesterday and all I could think was 'I hope she doesn't break anything!' I'll keep my fingers crossed for the quick return of the license. Aardvarks - sounds like you need a holiday!

I can't believe how close it is now - 17 days!

Last night my hubby let out a yell and then sat staring at his computer screen in a daze, sort of hyperventilating. Concerned I rushed over to see what had put him into shock.

Well. Apparently. OUR TICKETS WERE POSTED YESTERDAY!!! They're officially on the way to us...confirming that we haven't imagined all this - we really HAVE booked tickets to the magic.

Now, all we have to do is receive the tickets - Hubby might faint then!

The kids are off to spend some time with their Dad soon and this will mean that I will enter my grand sorting out phase. All those little bits and pieces that you know you need but haven't got around to getting! Plus, haircut and things like that! Oh and also try to enjoy my summer holiday! I'll be back at work as soon as we get back from WDW so I want to enjoy being at home now!

Oh, we are already making adjustments to our itinerary! I was concerned about going to Tusker House to eat twice - so many food options it seems crazy to go to a place twice! So we're hoping to just have CS in AK that second day and then try to get into Raglan Road after the early showing of La Nouba that evening.

Also, I'm quite fancying taking our eldest for tea at the GF - any recommendations?

Bye guys!
Shari xx

 

[mamaboogie]

The tickets have arrived!!! Err...wel...the bits of paper with vouchers on that will turn magically into tickets have arrived! Oh happy day! We didn't imagine it! We really ARE going! It says so!!!!!

Okay, now to test my technical abilities - eek! We went to a lovely wedding yesterday and had a delicious wedding breakfast, so i thought it might be a good place to practise my food porn photo taking. Lots of cameras out...table at the back..no-one would question me.(Apart from hubby!)

Okay...the first course....ahhhh my young Padawan...you have failed at the first hurdle. The first course was a beautiful looking and tasting parma ham caesar salad. But....I committed that cardinal sin of eating it before taking a picture! I was nervous taking my first pic of food! I took a pic of the aftermath:

By the main course...I had built up my courage...roast beef and all the trimmings...yummy! (If I was from the US I might use the word 'flavorful' a lot...but I'm not and I won't!)

And finally...the dessert...or pudding as we tykes say. Hubby went for the sponge pudding and custard but I plumped for the meringue with strawberries and cream. It was light as a feather and simply delish!

Ahh...I'll have to work on sizing my photos properly! Oh well! And I didn't get too many strange looks!

 

[PudseyChancer]

Young Pooh! All Hail to the Yorkshire folk!
I have to ask - have any Yorkshire folk tried the Yorkshire Fish and Chip shop in Epcot? As I grew up just minutes away from the original Harry Ramsden's in Guiseley I was looking forward to doing a compare and contrast with the Epcot chips in 2006

Another proud member of the Republic of Yorkshire checking in!

With regards to the Harry Ramsden's comparison, back in 'the day', there wouldn't have been any comparison with anybody, HR was the best. Their car park was always packed, there were always coach parties ending their trips with a visit, and the queues must have been the longest outside Disney!

Nowadays it's lost it's charm and the quality isn't so good, I'm now a convert of Bryan's in Headingley, one of the best chippies in the north!

Have never tried the chippie at Epcot, now the thought is planted in my mind, I'll probably try them out, we go on the 27th August!

 

[mamaboogie]

Welcome PudseyChancer!

Disney is going to be swamped with Yorkshire folk this August!

I drove past the original Harry Ramsden's last week. Like you say, back in the day there would have been queues around the block and cars jostling for parking spaces. Not any more. Not a single person in sight. And that little arcade in the carpark seemed to be a burned out shell. It's quite sad that such a treat place from our childhood has lost it's glow.

Funnily enough, a Harry Ramsdens has just opened up on Scarborough seafront! What a strange place to open a chain fish and chip place! There are so many wonderful independent fish and chip shops here and we will continue to patronise them.

That said - I'm still determined to try them in EPCOT! You gotta try Yorkshire chips in America - call it quality control!

Anyhoo - hubby lifted the cases down from the loft - so we can see how much work we have to do! Hubby's case is just about packed! (how did that happen? What is he wearing now?) DD12 is on the way as I've been throwing in new stuff periodically. DD14 has an empty case (except for 2 towels) - I'm letting her decide what to take I'll oversee of course! And my case, has one or two new items of clothes, new underwear etc.....and lots of painkillers, insect repellent, tummy tablets, plasters, toiletries....yup! I have all the exciting stuff in my case!

I forsee lots of this

Shari xx

 

[mamaboogie]

Hey! Just found this pic of us putting the final sticker on the countdown board in 2006:

Well, Simon and the girls, not me. I can't believe how young the kids look! Nowadays, they look like this:

And this:

Bit of a difference! Simon looks the same though, and so do I!

Shari xxx

 

[mamaboogie]

Oooohhhhh!!!!!I'm getting cold sweats! In 5 DAYS we will be in WDW!!!! I can't believe it! This time next week we will be in the AK!

I just can't wait to get there - the past few weeks have been so busy with lots of (non holiday) stuff going on. Who wants to go to WDW for a rest? ME!!

I'm imagining walking around the CBR with calypso music playing and I can't wait. I can't wait to get up and the only decision we have to make is how/where to have fun every day!

Bring it on!!

Okay, better dash into town for those last few things and finish the washing/ironing!

Shari xxx

 

[Cyrano]

Great pre-trippie

 

[mamaboogie]

Great pre-trippie

Thanks Cyrano!

I enjoyed looking at your DLRP photos! We went there in 1998, 2001 and 2003 and had a fab time!

Shari xxx

 

[mamaboogie]

Hey Guys! Guess what?

I'll be WDW tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

No, really, I will! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow!

(As you might guess, we are slightly hysterical!)

Just had a panic as Si couldn't find his bumbag, no he had looked EVERYWHERE and it wasn't there! Not at all!!

(So it really wasn't just hiding under the carry on bag when Shari lifted it up? )

Well, just about to nip into town to get last last minute stuff...after lunch taking the poor doggie to her holiday chalet (ie kennnels!).

Now, we have to get up at stupid oclock tomorrow - 3am!! I can never get to sleep when we have to do this and end up feeling rubbish. So I might just watch some movies downstairs and snooze as it may happen!

If I don't get the chance - I'll see you when I get back!!!!