DDFL take back the castle 2017 (Updated 10/5/17)
- Thread starter Bethislucy
- Start date
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
Thank you so much. E and I had were laughing our unexpected night at Disney we took A & L and L kept seeing where people made shirts and he was like we need to do that for our next trip (they still don't know we are going in Nov.) lol little does he know we have them.
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
Thank you!
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
I am back time for a little update about a unplanned night at Disney. My family took a week beach trip to Siesta Key June 10-17. My parents, brother, sister in law, nephew, E and L & A joined us. It was a great trip with lots of time spent on the beach.
E & I decided that we would make the 2 hour drive from Siesta Key to Disney Springs with L & A on the way home, spend a few hours, and grab lunch before driving the last 8 hours home. I had wanted to get an ADR at T-Rex because one I have never been and two I thought the kids would enjoy it as well. I had tried for two weeks before the trip to get an ADR with no such luck. So fast forward to June 17 we had the car loaded up and I do mean loaded lol I don’t know how we got it all in and we started the drive to DS. I told E to call the restaurant directly to see if we could get lucky that way. Well she called and they had tons of reservation. We took the 11:30 thinking it would give us plenty of time to eat and get on the road by my goal of 2:00.
We got to DS just a few minutes after 10:00, parked in level 3 of the lime garage, and started down.
L & A are big Disney lovers as well and were excited to get shopping. L had some Disney money left over from his trip a few weeks earlier with the school burning a hole in his pocket so first stop was the Under Armour store. While E was helping L check out A and I started down to D-living where she saw this shirt and said it described our family perfectly.
I couldn’t agree more.
E & L rejoined us and we looked a little more and then hit a few more shops before I asked them if they were hungry and they said yes and we started walking toward T-Rex. We had them pose outside and take a picture and we started to look at the menu and I said to bad we can’t get reservations here to eat and they were all in agreement.
I said do you think E could work some Disney magic and get us in and A was like yes so I told E go see if you can get some Disney magic. So of course, we had our ADR she walked up and checked us in and came back on told them we were in lets go eat. They were trilled and believing EE had the Disney magic.
We stepped in and were seated right away in the ice cave section.
Our serve was there right away explained how things worked and took our drink orders. We selected what we were going to eat and then took turns exploring the restaurant. We all loved it and we had a blast in there and enjoyed our time.
E & I split the
Pork-asaurus Sandwich - smoked pulled pork simmered in BBQ sauce, served on a toasted bun with an onion ring and coleslaw
And the
Bruschetta - tomatoes, herbed cheese and toasted focaccia bread drizzled with a balsamic glaze (the kids enjoyed this as well)
L had the Rocksy's Pasta - Tossed with marinara sauce, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit
L is 13 and he ate this and some of the Bruschetta and he said he was full.
A had Mini Mes-o-bones - St. Louis style pork ribs, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit.
We all loved our food and if I could recommended one thing it would be the bruschetta with that herbed cheese it was amazing.
We opted to skip dessert because I had an idea to take them to get one of their favorite Disney treats later. After doing some texting with E to make sure she was cool with her without them hearing we told them we would shop some more and then let our food settle and get dessert before we head back to South Carolina.
We stepped back outside and Disney springs was really starting to get busy at this point. I took A into the Lego store while L was talking with E about something he wanted to buy A for her birthday that was a week away. Once plans were made they joined us in the store I made a small purchase for my nephew and then we went to Once Upon a Toy bypassing World of Disney to come back too before we headed home. I ran in to Mr. Potato head who is always happy to see me.
Then we went on in to do some looking.
L & I headed back to the star wars section to look around while E & A were looking in the girly stuff. We stopped at the build your own droid section and played a little bit (keep in mind my knowledge of star wars is limited) the girls joined us soon and we were all playing building droids. I let the kids build one to take with them and then we headed out.
We hit a few more stores before it was time for our dessert surprise.
E & I decided that we would make the 2 hour drive from Siesta Key to Disney Springs with L & A on the way home, spend a few hours, and grab lunch before driving the last 8 hours home. I had wanted to get an ADR at T-Rex because one I have never been and two I thought the kids would enjoy it as well. I had tried for two weeks before the trip to get an ADR with no such luck. So fast forward to June 17 we had the car loaded up and I do mean loaded lol I don’t know how we got it all in and we started the drive to DS. I told E to call the restaurant directly to see if we could get lucky that way. Well she called and they had tons of reservation. We took the 11:30 thinking it would give us plenty of time to eat and get on the road by my goal of 2:00.
We got to DS just a few minutes after 10:00, parked in level 3 of the lime garage, and started down.
L & A are big Disney lovers as well and were excited to get shopping. L had some Disney money left over from his trip a few weeks earlier with the school burning a hole in his pocket so first stop was the Under Armour store. While E was helping L check out A and I started down to D-living where she saw this shirt and said it described our family perfectly.
E & L rejoined us and we looked a little more and then hit a few more shops before I asked them if they were hungry and they said yes and we started walking toward T-Rex. We had them pose outside and take a picture and we started to look at the menu and I said to bad we can’t get reservations here to eat and they were all in agreement.
I said do you think E could work some Disney magic and get us in and A was like yes so I told E go see if you can get some Disney magic. So of course, we had our ADR she walked up and checked us in and came back on told them we were in lets go eat. They were trilled and believing EE had the Disney magic.
We stepped in and were seated right away in the ice cave section.
Our serve was there right away explained how things worked and took our drink orders. We selected what we were going to eat and then took turns exploring the restaurant. We all loved it and we had a blast in there and enjoyed our time.
E & I split the
Pork-asaurus Sandwich - smoked pulled pork simmered in BBQ sauce, served on a toasted bun with an onion ring and coleslaw
And the
Bruschetta - tomatoes, herbed cheese and toasted focaccia bread drizzled with a balsamic glaze (the kids enjoyed this as well)
L had the Rocksy's Pasta - Tossed with marinara sauce, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit
A had Mini Mes-o-bones - St. Louis style pork ribs, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit.
We all loved our food and if I could recommended one thing it would be the bruschetta with that herbed cheese it was amazing.
We opted to skip dessert because I had an idea to take them to get one of their favorite Disney treats later. After doing some texting with E to make sure she was cool with her without them hearing we told them we would shop some more and then let our food settle and get dessert before we head back to South Carolina.
We stepped back outside and Disney springs was really starting to get busy at this point. I took A into the Lego store while L was talking with E about something he wanted to buy A for her birthday that was a week away. Once plans were made they joined us in the store I made a small purchase for my nephew and then we went to Once Upon a Toy bypassing World of Disney to come back too before we headed home. I ran in to Mr. Potato head who is always happy to see me.
L & I headed back to the star wars section to look around while E & A were looking in the girly stuff. We stopped at the build your own droid section and played a little bit (keep in mind my knowledge of star wars is limited) the girls joined us soon and we were all playing building droids. I let the kids build one to take with them and then we headed out.
Smilelea
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2017
I just stumbled on to your report and I see we will be there on the exact same dates! We are staying at Sports with free dining.
I also love the shirts. We are doing match B & B shirts as well since one of our big things is eating at BOG (aka Beast's Castle by my 5 yo). I'm just not sure on the designs yet.
It also looks like some of our park days may overlap but we aren't hopping as much. Wednesday we will be at 2 maybe 3 parks total but the rest should be single park days unless some of our ADRS get changed up.
I also love the shirts. We are doing match B & B shirts as well since one of our big things is eating at BOG (aka Beast's Castle by my 5 yo). I'm just not sure on the designs yet.
It also looks like some of our park days may overlap but we aren't hopping as much. Wednesday we will be at 2 maybe 3 parks total but the rest should be single park days unless some of our ADRS get changed up.
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
It was a lot of fun.
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
So LIFE lol it got in the way of all things Disney and work has so much stuff blocked now that I will say it's just got crazy plus photobucket is nuts now. So I will come back and post some pictures of our 1 night at All star movies when I can get on my home computer.
We’ve once again made some changes to our Disney plans. We leave 7 weeks from today. That’s right we are leaving now Thanksgiving morning. We plan to leave kind of early that morning and drive straight to celebration where we are going to stay off site for 2 nights. This is the life part of why we’ve changed up some. I’m honestly running away from home on Thanksgiving. My grandma has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and unless there is a miracle won’t be here then. Thanksgiving has always been a special time with the two us from when I was a teen. I would come help her cook and as the years passed it, became I cooked and she sat in the kitchen with me. So this year I just don’t want to be home. My family will do their thanksgiving the Saturday before which works out for my mom because she works retail.
Thursday Nov 23 (Thanksgiving) We plan to leave at 7:00 am and drive down. We are going to pack a lunch and stop at the Georgia welcome center and eat lunch then finish our drive out we should arrive at the Baymont Inn in celebration between 3 and 4. We will get checked in and get our stuff settled and then take the little back rode over to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we have an ADR at Sanaa at 7:20. Which is a new to us restaurant. I’m looking forward to trying from what little reviews I can find the bread services is a must so I know we will try that. After dinner, we will probably just head back to our hotel for the night.
Friday Nov 24 The plan as of now is to head over to winter summerland when they open and play a round of mini golf I’ve been wanting to do this for years and this is the perfect time to do so. After that we will drive over to Disney springs. We have a lunch ADR at Raglan at 1:00. This is one of our favorites. After lunch we may shop or do some resort hoping and check out the decorations. Then head back to our hotel for our last night there.
Saturday Nov 25 we will drive over to music and get checked in and park the car. We are then going to take a bus down to Disney springs the goal is to be there close to opening so we can upgrade our tickets to AP’s. I’m thinking this will take a little bit of time so after we are all upgrade for our first ever AP’s we are going to get some lunch at the polite pig for another new restaurant for us. After lunch hopefully our room will be ready and we can get all our stuff moved in for the next week. We will also probably hop over to MK and use our brand new AP’s. Later that evening/night the rest of our crew will arrive.
Sunday Nov 26 aka Best Day Ever. This is our 4 parks one day girls day. Me, E Laura & A are going to separate from Mark & L. We will all start out at EMH at DHS but will go our separate ways. The plan is to hit tower of terror and maybe toy story mania and then head over to AK around 10:30 at AK we are will hit a couple of rides then jump to MK around 12:30 with plans to have lunch at Pecos Bill and ride a few rides. We will leave MK around 4:00 and end our day at Epcot with fastpasses on Frozen Ever After for A. The boys may meet back up with us here and end our night with dinner and probably leaving the park before closing.
Monday Nov 27: Is kids day. E & I always take L & A and give Mark and Laura an adult day. We all enjoy it a lot. We are headed back to Epcot as close to rope drop as we can get. We will head over to Frozen because even though L is 13 he loves all things Disney and this is a new ride so he wants to check it out, but they also wanted to ride sorin so we will stand in line for frozen and use our fast pass later in the day for sorin. We will pretty much do what the kids want to do on this day we let them direct our path with a little guidance so we are walking back and forth. We may also let them do the new Chip & Dale’s Christmas Tree Spree.
Tuesday Nov 28 we are going to MK for the morning the kids have requested we all where our DDFL shirts this morning and get a group picture so we will do that. We will spend most of the morning here and use our fast passes. This will also be A’s first ride on HM she’s always been afraid of it this year she’s going to face her fear. Which is great because it’s one of L’s favorites. Around 2:00 or 3:00 we will hop over to DHS and end the night there.
Wednesday Nov 29: Today is an off day for our travel buddies. They are going to rest and have a family day possible Disney Springs and some swimming. E & I are going to sleep in some then we are heading over to Epcot. Can you tell Epcot is a favorite? We will spend most of our time in the world showcase checking out all the Christmas activities. We also have a ADR at Via Napoli at 6:15 after dinner we probably head back to our resort because the kids aren’t too happy that we are not going to be with them that day. We don’t have them spoiled at all. Depending what time the movie is at the resort we may try to get back in time and take them to that.
Thursday Nov 30: We will head back to MK this morning and hit some more of our favorites. This is the day the MK is closing early for the cast member party so my hopes is that it will be less crowded and we can get a lot done. We have a lunch ADR at BOG at 12:50 after lunch we will head over to AK and check out all things Pandora.
Friday Dec 1: this is the last full day for our travel buddies and we are going to start at DHS. We will stay there till we’ve accomplished all the things we want to see then headed over to epcot and ended our night there. We choice to end there because they have much better food selections lol and Epcot at night is just fun.
Saturday Dec 2: Our travel buddies head back home to SC and E & I are heading back to MK to do some of the things we probably won’t get to do with the group. We also have a PPO at BOG. The plan is to spend the whole day at MK but if it’s crazy we may hop somewhere else.
Sunday Dec 3: Check out day. We will already have the car loaded with most of our stuff. We will throw the rest of our stuff in and then go hop a bus to AK. We are going to spend through lunch time at AK then we will had back to music fill up our mugs with something to drink and then start the 8 hour drive back home. We are squeezing in as much Disney as we can lol. We are both off the following Monday so it doesn’t matter if we get home late we can sleep in.
Also this week with our AP’s we plan to make at least 4 additional trips and with the room discount released this week we booked our first mini return trip to All star sports (the last one for us to check out) March 4- 8. So I’m still in the planning process lol. Thanks for reading all this craziness and long delays. I will come back and post some pictures from our one night stay with L & A this past June.
We’ve once again made some changes to our Disney plans. We leave 7 weeks from today. That’s right we are leaving now Thanksgiving morning. We plan to leave kind of early that morning and drive straight to celebration where we are going to stay off site for 2 nights. This is the life part of why we’ve changed up some. I’m honestly running away from home on Thanksgiving. My grandma has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and unless there is a miracle won’t be here then. Thanksgiving has always been a special time with the two us from when I was a teen. I would come help her cook and as the years passed it, became I cooked and she sat in the kitchen with me. So this year I just don’t want to be home. My family will do their thanksgiving the Saturday before which works out for my mom because she works retail.
Thursday Nov 23 (Thanksgiving) We plan to leave at 7:00 am and drive down. We are going to pack a lunch and stop at the Georgia welcome center and eat lunch then finish our drive out we should arrive at the Baymont Inn in celebration between 3 and 4. We will get checked in and get our stuff settled and then take the little back rode over to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we have an ADR at Sanaa at 7:20. Which is a new to us restaurant. I’m looking forward to trying from what little reviews I can find the bread services is a must so I know we will try that. After dinner, we will probably just head back to our hotel for the night.
Friday Nov 24 The plan as of now is to head over to winter summerland when they open and play a round of mini golf I’ve been wanting to do this for years and this is the perfect time to do so. After that we will drive over to Disney springs. We have a lunch ADR at Raglan at 1:00. This is one of our favorites. After lunch we may shop or do some resort hoping and check out the decorations. Then head back to our hotel for our last night there.
Saturday Nov 25 we will drive over to music and get checked in and park the car. We are then going to take a bus down to Disney springs the goal is to be there close to opening so we can upgrade our tickets to AP’s. I’m thinking this will take a little bit of time so after we are all upgrade for our first ever AP’s we are going to get some lunch at the polite pig for another new restaurant for us. After lunch hopefully our room will be ready and we can get all our stuff moved in for the next week. We will also probably hop over to MK and use our brand new AP’s. Later that evening/night the rest of our crew will arrive.
Sunday Nov 26 aka Best Day Ever. This is our 4 parks one day girls day. Me, E Laura & A are going to separate from Mark & L. We will all start out at EMH at DHS but will go our separate ways. The plan is to hit tower of terror and maybe toy story mania and then head over to AK around 10:30 at AK we are will hit a couple of rides then jump to MK around 12:30 with plans to have lunch at Pecos Bill and ride a few rides. We will leave MK around 4:00 and end our day at Epcot with fastpasses on Frozen Ever After for A. The boys may meet back up with us here and end our night with dinner and probably leaving the park before closing.
Monday Nov 27: Is kids day. E & I always take L & A and give Mark and Laura an adult day. We all enjoy it a lot. We are headed back to Epcot as close to rope drop as we can get. We will head over to Frozen because even though L is 13 he loves all things Disney and this is a new ride so he wants to check it out, but they also wanted to ride sorin so we will stand in line for frozen and use our fast pass later in the day for sorin. We will pretty much do what the kids want to do on this day we let them direct our path with a little guidance so we are walking back and forth. We may also let them do the new Chip & Dale’s Christmas Tree Spree.
Tuesday Nov 28 we are going to MK for the morning the kids have requested we all where our DDFL shirts this morning and get a group picture so we will do that. We will spend most of the morning here and use our fast passes. This will also be A’s first ride on HM she’s always been afraid of it this year she’s going to face her fear. Which is great because it’s one of L’s favorites. Around 2:00 or 3:00 we will hop over to DHS and end the night there.
Wednesday Nov 29: Today is an off day for our travel buddies. They are going to rest and have a family day possible Disney Springs and some swimming. E & I are going to sleep in some then we are heading over to Epcot. Can you tell Epcot is a favorite? We will spend most of our time in the world showcase checking out all the Christmas activities. We also have a ADR at Via Napoli at 6:15 after dinner we probably head back to our resort because the kids aren’t too happy that we are not going to be with them that day. We don’t have them spoiled at all. Depending what time the movie is at the resort we may try to get back in time and take them to that.
Thursday Nov 30: We will head back to MK this morning and hit some more of our favorites. This is the day the MK is closing early for the cast member party so my hopes is that it will be less crowded and we can get a lot done. We have a lunch ADR at BOG at 12:50 after lunch we will head over to AK and check out all things Pandora.
Friday Dec 1: this is the last full day for our travel buddies and we are going to start at DHS. We will stay there till we’ve accomplished all the things we want to see then headed over to epcot and ended our night there. We choice to end there because they have much better food selections lol and Epcot at night is just fun.
Saturday Dec 2: Our travel buddies head back home to SC and E & I are heading back to MK to do some of the things we probably won’t get to do with the group. We also have a PPO at BOG. The plan is to spend the whole day at MK but if it’s crazy we may hop somewhere else.
Sunday Dec 3: Check out day. We will already have the car loaded with most of our stuff. We will throw the rest of our stuff in and then go hop a bus to AK. We are going to spend through lunch time at AK then we will had back to music fill up our mugs with something to drink and then start the 8 hour drive back home. We are squeezing in as much Disney as we can lol. We are both off the following Monday so it doesn’t matter if we get home late we can sleep in.
Also this week with our AP’s we plan to make at least 4 additional trips and with the room discount released this week we booked our first mini return trip to All star sports (the last one for us to check out) March 4- 8. So I’m still in the planning process lol. Thanks for reading all this craziness and long delays. I will come back and post some pictures from our one night stay with L & A this past June.
dnllmz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2011
I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Your Thanksgivings with her sounded lovely. It's awesome that you had that with her every year.
This is one of our Epcot days too. The Chip & Dale thing sounds fun. I would like to do it but probably on a different day. This one we might not spend much time in the WS.
We'll be in MK this day too and also hoping we can get a lot done since the park is closing so early. Pandora at night is probably incredible. You guys will enjoy it!
Bethislucy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
It was great! Today is really my first day back from vacation lol
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