"It's Complicated" October 2019 Link to Disneyland Report

[natebenma]

Tusker House food selections look great and they'd definitely fill my love of spice
Shame the waiter wasn't up to much but I'm glad you enjoyed the food and got some great character pics. Also happy to hear that disney did the decent thing (eventually) and refundeed S' meal It was nice of you and Janet to treat the others

IIRC, you have one or more picky eaters in your family. Have you ever dined at Boma or Tusker House?

Our waiter did have an amazing, low voice. Like he seriously should do voice overs or animated films. Maybe instead of serving food!

We have dined at Tusker House three times, always for breakfast and always with grandchildren. Our third visit was the most fun. It was later in the morning, there were a lot of empty tables, and the characters kept returning over and over again because they had nothing else to do. They made a big fuss over DH and one of our friends. It was so cute.

Did you find the food to be as good as Boma? We ate dinner at Boma in December and the food was great.

I love it when the characters are interactive and attentive. I'm glad you had an experience when it wasn't very busy so you all got some extra love.

Boma is my FAVORITE restaurant at Disney, so I'll say, no, the food was not quite as good. Similar, but not a replacement. At this stage in my life, the characters are not a major draw for me.

I am a fan of Tusker House. I'm glad it was a nice time! Good catch on them charging you incorrectly- glad they fixed it.

I'm glad we ate there. Food was good and S was cute with the characters as always.

I know feel silly that I didn't check the check while we were still there, but Janet and I were trying to be quick and sneaky about paying the bill, so we just shoved the check and my gift card to the waiter before she got back from taking S to the restroom.

I was fairly confident that Disney would make it right when I called. I just didn't want to bother while I was still on the trip. Now I have $25 extra for my upcoming trip to Disneyland!

I wonder how often they do that to people with young kids? I remember it happening a few times when we went before my girls were 3 (They are now 14). We always check the bill over so we caught it before we paid.

Probably a lot!

S is very mature, so I could see being mistaken for an older child, but

1) It was noted on MDE and when ~N made the reservation
2) He could have asked!

I'll probably be more vigilant, at Disney and elsewhere, when paying my bill at restaurants.

What a fun brunch- we did the 10:30 time in both May and December- love sampling all the yummy options. Bummer that you were overcharged, but glad they fixed it! What a nice treat for your friends! <3

A very smart time to book a buffet meal!

The only problem is that there was TOO much yummy stuff to eat. I love international cuisine, so the selections were right up my alley and down to my belly.

I'm glad I caught the mistake and thankful that it was easily resolved.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

IIRC, you have one or more picky eaters in your family. Have you ever dined at Boma or Tusker House?

I haven’t dined at either as you remembered correctly- I live with the fussiest family on the planet! Plus the youngest was freaked out by characters for the longest time and still isn’t fussed in them getting too close to be honest despite the fact that he will officially be a teenager at the end of the month lol. He has promised faithfully to get a photo taken with Mickey when we manage to visit with his nephew

 

[amazingact21]

I love all your farm photos! I wish I could bring my kiddos to your readings and tractor rides.

Who steals a nametag?! How odd....

Glad Tusker House's food was as good as you remembered it, but sorry that the servers weren't on top of their game that day. Kudos to you for following up on the kid's meal charge and getting the money back.

 

[sheri18]

Love your report so far...we fly out of Logan too...never tried Manchester..so expensive to park at Logan...Wells would be a nice area for your son..we go there in the summer for vacation....love DC..your son must love ever minute...the National Cathedral is on my bucket list.

 

[mickeystoontown]

When the boss is away, Lisa catches up on Dee's trip report. Shhhh..... Too much to comment on but just know that I'm caught up and ready for more!

 

[annie170]

I really enjoy Tusker House. We always try to get a reservation for around 11 so we can do exactly what you did. I find the service at most of the buffets to be less than stellar. I'm not sure if there are less servers because it's a buffet or what. We once sat for 50 minutes waiting for our check at Crystal Palace. It almost was becoming comical and turned into a two hour lunch.

That's great that Disney refunded the child's meal. I've seen that happen a few times with my grandkids. You really have to check over the bill.

Our of curiosity, how much do you tip for a buffet? I consider myself a good tipper. I feel for people who work in the service industry and think everyone should at some point in their life. If I get good service, I always tip around 25%. If the service is just okay, 20%. Service has to be bad for me to tip less than 20%. Considering a buffet server is only getting drinks and clearing plates, I think 15% is plenty. My husband thinks I should still tip normally, so it's always a discussion for us.

 

[natebenma]

I haven’t dined at either as you remembered correctly- I live with the fussiest family on the planet! Plus the youngest was freaked out by characters for the longest time and still isn’t fussed in them getting too close to be honest despite the fact that he will officially be a teenager at the end of the month lol. He has promised faithfully to get a photo taken with Mickey when we manage to visit with his nephew

Mark, Ben and I have always been adventurous eaters, and Nate was fussy for a lot of his life, but he has come a long way and now joins us in eating a wide variety of food. He is on his own now in an apartment and it makes me happy that broccoli, asparagus and carrots are at the top of his shopping list.

I am sure you can't wait to have a family pictures with Mickey!

I love all your farm photos! I wish I could bring my kiddos to your readings and tractor rides.

Who steals a nametag?! How odd....

Glad Tusker House's food was as good as you remembered it, but sorry that the servers weren't on top of their game that day. Kudos to you for following up on the kid's meal charge and getting the money back.

Thanks! I am very lucky to work where I do. I love seeing kids interact with all of the animals and activities. I often bring friends to visit the farm to meet the animals and sometimes tour the manor house. I even had a DIS meet there last summer with Mary Ellen (MEK). I would love to introduce your kids to the farm, so if you ever find yourself near Boston, give me a ring!

That was really weird about the nametag. ~N has an unusual last name, but I don't know why that would cause someone to want to take it. But we were relieved that it was just the nametag and not the stroller that was taken this time.

The food at Tusker House was spectacular, the character interaction was fine, so despite the less-than-awesome service and being overcharged (which was corrected), I'm glad we ate there.

Love your report so far...we fly out of Logan too...never tried Manchester..so expensive to park at Logan...Wells would be a nice area for your son..we go there in the summer for vacation....love DC..your son must love ever minute...the National Cathedral is on my bucket list.

Thank you for your kind comment.

Manchester airport is really nice. The security lines aren't very long (although the Dunkin's queue can be). Parking is $10/day. Traffic is not bad to and from, but I always seem to get lost when we are leaving the airport. Always. But I am directionally challenged, so I expect that.

I went to Well's Beach to a relative's cottage a few times in my youth. I remember it being a great beach, lots of flat sand. I have been to two field trips to the refuge where Nate applied for work. I wouldn't mind him getting a job there.

Ben is loving DC. There are so many opportunities for things he can do in his free time. I have only been outside of the National Cathedral. An amazingly beautiful building. Ben shared some pictures from the Veteran's Day concert taken by his roommate @stonehengedisney .

When the boss is away, Lisa catches up on Dee's trip report. Shhhh..... Too much to comment on but just know that I'm caught up and ready for more!

Thank you for reading, my friend!

I really enjoy Tusker House. We always try to get a reservation for around 11 so we can do exactly what you did. I find the service at most of the buffets to be less than stellar. I'm not sure if there are less servers because it's a buffet or what. We once sat for 50 minutes waiting for our check at Crystal Palace. It almost was becoming comical and turned into a two hour lunch.

That's great that Disney refunded the child's meal. I've seen that happen a few times with my grandkids. You really have to check over the bill.

Our of curiosity, how much do you tip for a buffet? I consider myself a good tipper. I feel for people who work in the service industry and think everyone should at some point in their life. If I get good service, I always tip around 25%. If the service is just okay, 20%. Service has to be bad for me to tip less than 20%. Considering a buffet server is only getting drinks and clearing plates, I think 15% is plenty. My husband thinks I should still tip normally, so it's always a discussion for us.

That really is the best way to do a Disney buffet- We like to have a quick breakfast in the morning (for me it was coffee and left over pizza from Via Napoli) and then eat a big meal after spending a couple of hours in the park. It is a bonus since the buffets will have breakfast and lunch items at the switchover times.

I was a former waitress, and I typically tip at least 20%, including buffets, but I think 15% is perfectly fine for buffet servers. They can cover more tables since they are not doing as much as full service waiters/waitresses.

My confusion is about whether and how much to tip the chef at hibachi restaurants like Teppan Edo or Benihana. Do you tip the servers extra and they will share with the chef? Do you tip the chef directly?

 

[annie170]

That's a good question about tipping hibachi chefs. I never thought about that, so I googled it. It appears many hibachi restaurants have a "pool" of tips that is split between servers, chefs and bartenders. I guess that makes sense.

My youngest daughter worked as a server while in college. She had some crazy stories of people not leaving a tip or $5 on a $100 bill. It was all very disheartening to hear.

 

[stonehengedisney]

Ben is loving DC. There are so many opportunities for things he can do in his free time. I have only been outside of the National Cathedral. Ben took some pictures from the Veteran's Day concert. It is beautiful!

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For the record, I believe I took these pictures .

 

[natebenma]

For the record, I believe I took these pictures .

They are great! I appreciate you taking pictures and sharing them with Ben. I especially love the one at the Newseum that I posted a few pages back. He doesn't take or share a lot of pictures, so I'm glad he hangs around with someone who does!

I edited my post to give you photo credit.

 

[natebenma]

That's a good question about tipping hibachi chefs. I never thought about that, so I googled it. It appears many hibachi restaurants have a "pool" of tips that is split between servers, chefs and bartenders. I guess that makes sense.

My youngest daughter worked as a server while in college. She had some crazy stories of people not leaving a tip or $5 on a $100 bill. It was all very disheartening to hear.

Thanks for researching the info about tipping at hibachi style restaurants. That's what I suspected, but I always feel that I should give a tip directly to the chef.

It really is discouraging when a waiter or waitress' compensation is more dependent on the inclinations of the customer than what kind of service they give. Although I do think most people tend to be generous rather than stingy.

 

[Samrsp93]

Hi! Joining in very very late
Do you have any idea what company your friend used for the stroller rental? I am so paranoid about stroller theft and love the tracking feature.

 

[natebenma]

Hi! Joining in very very late
Do you have any idea what company your friend used for the stroller rental? I am so paranoid about stroller theft and love the tracking feature.

So glad you are joining in, there is still plenty of fun left in this trip.

According to the empty name tag holder, the stroller was rented through Kingdom Strollers. Disney had just changed the rules about deliveries to the resort which favors their "official" outside delivery company for strollers, scooters and other vacation necessities. I'm not sure exactly what the rules are but it may be that the deliveries from the approved company (anyone know what that one is?) can be dropped off at Bell Services, but you have to meet the delivery person from other companies. This may not be exactly right, so if anyone know, please feel free to provide the correct info.



The tag says "A Disney Featured Stroller Provider" but I'm not sure that is still the case.

 

[natebenma]

Well, I just can’t wait for this thing!

It was just after 11:30 when we were finished our meal. We had a Fast Pass for the Festival of the Lion King show at 1 pm. We didn’t really have anything else we wanted to do in this land, but it was hot, so we didn’t want to go too far and then have to come back.

I suggested seeing if we could get into the show at noon.

It was pretty crowded, but we got into the standby line. It really didn’t move very quickly, and it was clear they were counting the people in the line to see who they could let in. We did make the cut, it appeared just barely. We were directed to one of the very top rows.

I felt bad because I’m not sure if we made the right call or not. We saw the show and S was absolutely captivated by everything she saw. And it did give us a chance to do a few things before rushing to the Nemo show. But I’m sure our seats would have been better had we used our Fast Passes.

It also wasn’t very long between when we were seated and when the show started.

I didn’t take too many pictures because we were so far back from the stage. During my 2017 girls trip, I was solo at the Lion King show and took a lot of pictures then. The ones I did take on this day alternated between pictures of the show and pictures of S enjoying the show.

This picture demonstrates how far back we were.



We were giraffes.




















As always, I was impressed with the talent of the performers.

We funneled out of the show and made our way to Dinoland via Discovery Island.

Along the way, we ran into these performers and we were treated to a dance party by other guests and by S.
She was so cute dancing to the music! I have chosen not to post pictures of her for privacy reasons, but here are some random, unknown girls having a a great time with the brightly dressed singers and dancers.














When we got to Dinoland, we had some time before we needed to line up for Nemo, so my friends went on Triceratops Spin. I offered to stay back with the stroller and bags, and take pictures while they were on the ride.














Finally, it was time to line up to get in for Finding Nemo. Actually, it was a bit early. We were the first ones to arrive. There was a rope up so they weren’t letting us down the path. The line was in the sun and ~N waited while Janet and I took S into the shade. Once the line was opened, we joined ~N, walked down the path and waited until it was time to be let in.

We had great seats- first row behind the aisle, so we didn’t have anyone blocking our view.

I think this was only my second time seeing this show. It was as spectacular as I remembered.

Once again, it was mesmerizing watching S enjoying the show. I think that was my favorite thing about this part of the trip, even more than the rides and character meets. Seeing how much she enjoyed the performances. Although my boys’ first visit to Disney was when Nate was 6 and Ben was 3, we only had one day at MK and one at EP and we didn’t really focus on shows. This was the first time I got to watch a little one totally enthralled at some of Disney’s incredible productions.

Show was over at 3:15. We had done everything we wanted to at Animal Kingdom, so it was time to leave.

We passed by this on our way out.



Looks hot, doesn’t it?

When we got to the exit, it was time to part ways. ☹

My friends were heading off to Disney Springs. I’m not really into shopping, so at this point I split from my friends. I hoped I would be seeing them a couple more times in the parks later in the trip. We had plans to be at MK in the evening on Saturday and then at EPCOT in the evening on Sunday at the same times they would be there.

Thank you ~N, Janet and especially S, for sharing your trip with me and helping me see Disney from a different point of view.

I hopped onto the bus that would take me to POP, which would be the home for one night for me and Mark when he arrived around 10 that evening.


Next Up: Mark’s Adventures in Travel AKA: “How many modes of transportation did I use today?”

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

My confusion is about whether and how much to tip the chef at hibachi restaurants like Teppan Edo or Benihana. Do you tip the servers extra and they will share with the chef? Do you tip the chef directly?

We used to own a restaurant many moons ago and the tips were split with 20% of total tips going into the kitchen to share between chefs and dishwasher while the other 80% was split between the servers. It was a small restaurant so patrons asked any server they saw for any help they might need so they shared tips evenly. Tips here tend to be 10-15% of total bill and some places charge an obligatory tip for parties of 6 or more.

 

[annie170]

Your pics at Nemo turned out nice. I have never seen the Nemo show at AK. On many of our shorter trips, we have skipped AK altogether. I believe that may be the reason. Also, many of my family members would rather do rides than shows. I think I need to remedy this next trip.

You are so correct about seeing Disney through a child's eyes. I've been lucky enough to be in attendance for each of my three grandkid's first Disney trips. There's nothing like it!

Those little dance parties are so much fun. I had to laugh at your "random unknown" girls photo. About five or six years ago, my daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids showed up in the background of a Diser's trip report! My son-in-law was even on the ride photo from Expedition Everest. We all found this very comical.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a good afternoon at AK!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Once again, it was mesmerizing watching S enjoying the show. I think that was my favorite thing about this part of the trip, even more than the rides and character meets. Seeing how much she enjoyed the performances.

Sometimes I think that the reason adults go through all the trouble of taking young children to WDW is because they enjoy seeing it through children's eyes. And it is nice to remember these moments of wonder and awe rather than the crabby times, although I don't think ~S had too many of those.

I talked DH into seeing Nemo once when it was a very cold January day and he was willing to do anything that would be warm. This is one of those shows that I need to see again but probably without him, since he won't go again.

 

[amazingact21]

I've never seen the Nemo show before but everytime I see pictures of it in people's TRs I always say I need to make it a priority.
Sitting indoors and watching shows was probably the smartest move on a hot day in DAK. Saved yourself an hour or so out in the heat!

It's always a lot of fun watching kids' reactions to the shows. I swear I spend more time watching Landon and Evie watch the nighttime shows than I do actually watching it.

 

[natebenma]

Hey folks! SOOOOOO sorry for not replying to these messages before now.

I have been having so much trouble keeping up so I haven't even peeked at the Trip Report board for fear of getting distracted.

We used to own a restaurant many moons ago and the tips were split with 20% of total tips going into the kitchen to share between chefs and dishwasher while the other 80% was split between the servers. It was a small restaurant so patrons asked any server they saw for any help they might need so they shared tips evenly. Tips here tend to be 10-15% of total bill and some places charge an obligatory tip for parties of 6 or more.

I like that approach to service and tipping. The goal of everyone in a restaurant should be to make the customer experience great, and all hands should be rewarded for that.

Your pics at Nemo turned out nice. I have never seen the Nemo show at AK. On many of our shorter trips, we have skipped AK altogether. I believe that may be the reason. Also, many of my family members would rather do rides than shows. I think I need to remedy this next trip.

You are so correct about seeing Disney through a child's eyes. I've been lucky enough to be in attendance for each of my three grandkid's first Disney trips. There's nothing like it!

Those little dance parties are so much fun. I had to laugh at your "random unknown" girls photo. About five or six years ago, my daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids showed up in the background of a Diser's trip report! My son-in-law was even on the ride photo from Expedition Everest. We all found this very comical.

Thank you for the comments about the pictures. The staging and puppetry for Nemo is so visually incredible. There are a lot of impressive touches.

My boys had one very short trip when they were 3 and 6, so I never had much of the little kid experience at Disney, which is one reason I appreciated this trip so much. And the same with my family-all rides, no shows!

That is funny about the trip report photos. You never know if you will be the unwitting star or extra in one!

Sounds like a good afternoon at AK!

It was! I enjoyed doing a few things that I rarely experience or hadn't ever done at all.

Sometimes I think that the reason adults go through all the trouble of taking young children to WDW is because they enjoy seeing it through children's eyes. And it is nice to remember these moments of wonder and awe rather than the crabby times, although I don't think ~S had too many of those.

I talked DH into seeing Nemo once when it was a very cold January day and he was willing to do anything that would be warm. This is one of those shows that I need to see again but probably without him, since he won't go again.

It was such a treat to share the excitement of a little one on this trip.

Mark does not have Nemo on his priority list either!

I've never seen the Nemo show before but everytime I see pictures of it in people's TRs I always say I need to make it a priority.
Sitting indoors and watching shows was probably the smartest move on a hot day in DAK. Saved yourself an hour or so out in the heat!

It's always a lot of fun watching kids' reactions to the shows. I swear I spend more time watching Landon and Evie watch the nighttime shows than I do actually watching it.

Do the kids watch Finding Nemo and Finding Dory?

It was not one of my boys' favorites although I'm not exactly sure why since they were age 5 and 2 when the movie was released in theaters and probably prime age when the video/CDs came out. We do have all the Happy Meal toys, though!

Watching S. was really my favorite thing to do at the shows!