Calling all January 2011 POP'pers!!!

[carebee21]

Can I join in the fun??? Just booked our package from Jan 21- Feb 2 staying at Pop!!! Upgraded the quick service dining plan to the regular dining plan. This will be our first time staying at Pop and our second trip to Disneyworld. Now I need to get busy making dining reservations!!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

we are celebrating my daughters 10th birthday, she just doesnt know anything about the trip yet

That's going to be one WONDERful surprise!!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

We usually "celebrate" something at a few meals. One for each daughter's birthday (Jul & Oct) and then one for our anniversary (Feb). But there is honestly nothing actually happening while we are there in Jan. Thank goodness no one ever acts like they really care if it really is on that day or not! We have fun pretending!! So looks like we will celebrate our almost 11yr anniversary, a 10 1/2 yrs birthday and a 5 1/4 yrs birthday this time ;-)

I know a lot of people that celebrate like that at Disney! Go for it!!! In 2008 I was on a Disney Cruise on my actual birthday and it was awesome!!

Your family sounds kinda like mine! We will be celebrating a 9 year anniversary with my DD 8.5! Funny huh?

 

[alaskanmommy]

We went this past January around the MLK weekend and enjoyed the crowds and weather so much we decided to make this our annual family vacation!

Last year the really cold weather was the week before our trip, but it was very pleasant while we were there. The crowds were great. We arrived last on the Wed before MLK day, checked into the hotel and headed to Magic Kingdom. At 4PM we walked onto just about every ride (5-10 minute wait max). I think we rode Goofy's Barnstormer (DD's fav!) 5 times in a row with no line! The crowds picked up on Saturday/Sunday, but still very manageable.

This will be our first time during January/February and we are very excited. I am hoping for low crowds and more manageable weather, although with free dining it might be busier than normal?!?

This is our first trip to POP, but I think I am going to request a room in the 50's. It looks close to the parking lot (we will have our car) and has the Bowling Pin pool. I am not sure it will be warm enough for swimming. It definitely wasn't warm enough last January. During our Feb. 2008 trip it was a little warmer, but still wasn't "pool weather" for us. Also, we spend very little time at our resort so it is hard to find time to swim. We tend to be gone from 8AM-9PM. We have come to realize that we really don't utilize the resort ammenties. We have stayed at a DVC villa (SSR), a Deluxe (GF), a Mod (CSR) and this will be our first trip to a Value. I think given our preference to spend our times in the parks, the value of POP will work very well for us!

I hope you all enjoy your January trips!

This is our first POP trip as well. We have tried to stay here in the past and got better discounts at other resorts but I am standing firm this time. We really want to experience POP this year!!

My DD8 will be very disappointed if it's not pool weather and I think she will probably swim anyway, I mean we are from Alaska!!

We have stayed at several moderates, off property(no more), and our last trip, a value. We are like you guys we sleep, shower and do laundry at our resort and that's about it. Last year we stayed at ASMu and loved it. The theming and activities are really fun for the kids, the food courts are great, the buses were good. We actually will probably do value from now on. The extra $$ for just isn't worth it. I would have to say the downside of the values that I read most about is the double beds. It doesn't bother us because we are so pooped that we sleep like babies!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

Can I join in the fun??? Just booked our package from Jan 21- Feb 2 staying at Pop!!! Upgraded the quick service dining plan to the regular dining plan. This will be our first time staying at Pop and our second trip to Disneyworld. Now I need to get busy making dining reservations!!!

Welcome carebee21!!! Woot woot!!!

We are almost there at the exact same times!! Have you been during this time of year before?? I am thinking of adding a few more days at the beginning of our trip, room only, because we are getting to Orlando early to do US, IOA (WWOHP), and SW.

Have your stayed at POP before? Are you requesting a specific building or decade?? We haven't decided what to do about that yet or if we should just roll the dice.

Good luck with your ADR's! We were able to get some awesome ones!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

So my family and I are quite the foodies and have a lot of fun eating at the world! (you can find me on the DIS many a time on the restaurant boards)I thought it might be fun to see where everybody is dining.

Here's our ADR's:

Le Cellier
Ohana Character Breakfast (our favorite character breakfast)
Teppan Edo
California Grill*
Yachtsman Steakhouse*
Coral Reef
Sci-Fi Diner*
Yak and Yeti*
Chefs de France
1900 Park Fare Character Breakfast*
Kona Cafe*

I put a * on the places that are new to us.

Good luck with everyone's ADR's and I'd love to hear where you guys are eating in January!!!

 

[IUHoosiers]

alaskanmommy...your ADRs look great!

Our ADRs look like this....

California Grill (birthday dinner)
'Ohana (dinner)
Les Chefs de France (lunch)
Le Cellier (dinner)
50's Primetime (lunch)
Raglan Road (dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)

With the exception of 'Ohana, these are all new to us. We have done CP for dinner, but not for breakfast. I'm really looking foward to this one!

I am thinking of dropping Raglan Road and trying Cookes of Dublin or Wolfgang Puck Express instead (to use CS credits). Has anyone tried either of these? What did you think?

I would also love to try Kona, but can't seem to work it into this trip! Is it too early to start planning for 2012????

I am also planning to book the Garden View Tea Room one afternoon. We have done the Princess tea, but are considering doing the afternoon tea to include my DH.

 

[alaskanmommy]

alaskanmommy...your ADRs look great!

Thanks, we're very excited!!

Our ADRs look like this....

California Grill (birthday dinner)
'Ohana (dinner)
Les Chefs de France (lunch)
Le Cellier (dinner)
50's Primetime (lunch)
Raglan Road (dinner)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)

Nice ADR's! We wanted to do Ohana this trip but couldn't get it in. I thought the men would like this one a lot, mmmmmmmmmm meat. Les Chefs and Le Cellier are great. Crystal Palace is a great character experience with decent food. We've never done 50's this trip it was a toss up between 50's and Sci-Fi and everyone voted Sci-Fi. I'd be happy with your ADR's!!

With the exception of 'Ohana, these are all new to us. We have done CP for dinner, but not for breakfast. I'm really looking foward to this one!

I am thinking of dropping Raglan Road and trying Cookes of Dublin or Wolfgang Puck Express instead (to use CS credits). Has anyone tried either of these? What did you think?

We went to Raglan Road last November, on Thanksgiving and had a really fun time. Good food, good irish band! It was a really fun experience, but maybe not for everyone. We have done either Cookes or WPR but those CS are both on our list for this trip!!

I would also love to try Kona, but can't seem to work it into this trip! Is it too early to start planning for 2012????

Ha ha! I've heard many good things about Kona! I squeezed it in on our last day and I have a reservation for breakfast and dinner right now but need to decide which one to cancel!

I am also planning to book the Garden View Tea Room one afternoon. We have done the Princess tea, but are considering doing the afternoon tea to include my DH.

We've never done the tea but it looks fun, the one at the Gf right? Come on January!!!

 

[cntrygal]

MY ADR's were done before the trip was booked, this trip is all about eating, the birthday girl is all about food, and weddings, the food part i will induldge her in, the wedding she has to wait for, although she has already picked out her groom, she just has to convince him , the fun of being 9.

We have upgraded from QSDP to the DxDP

So our plans include:

at AK
Tusker House* for Breakfast
Yak and Yeti* for lunch (did the countre service one last time)

At MGM or Hollywood studios

Lunches at Brown Derby* and Sci Fi
Dinner at 50's Prime Time

At MK

Lunches at Liberty Tree Tavern and Tony's*
we did do dinner at LTT on a past trip when it was a character meal


At EPCOT

Breakfast Akershus
Lunches at Chefs de France* , Akershus* (have done breakfast before)
Dinner Le Cellier* and Garden Grill*


DTD

Wolfegang Puck cafe* for dinner (had dinner at the express on past trip)

At resorts

Breakfasts Kona* (have done dinner), Captians Grill*, Grand Floridian Cafe*, Chef Mickeys*



Dinners Artist Point*, Narcosse's*, Kona, Yatchman's Steakhouse*

We also have a reservation for tea one afternoon.

one with * are new to us

At some point on this trip, we may find time for some rides. The goal of this trip is to find Daisy Duck, it is her favorite character and we havent been able to get her autograph yet, that is why the tusker house breakfast is scheduled in the begining of the trip, in case for some reason she is not there that day we have the rest of the trip to find her.

No all I have to do is wait till Christmas morning, that is when I am telling her.

 

[carebee21]

Welcome carebee21!!! Woot woot!!!

We are almost there at the exact same times!! Have you been during this time of year before?? I am thinking of adding a few more days at the beginning of our trip, room only, because we are getting to Orlando early to do US, IOA (WWOHP), and SW.

Have your stayed at POP before? Are you requesting a specific building or decade?? We haven't decided what to do about that yet or if we should just roll the dice.

Good luck with your ADR's! We were able to get some awesome ones!!

We went in Jan/Feb 2009 and the weather and crowds were nice. This is our first time at Pop, last time we stayed at POR but I just can't justify spending the extra $$$ to upgrade when for us, the only thing we care about at a moderate is a spa by the pool. I'll just make do with soaking in the bathtub We're doing US & IOA for the first time this trip.

We haven't requested a room, but after showing DS pics, he wants to stay in the 60's building so I think I'm going to put in a request for that

How long are you staying for? Maybe we'll see you around the hotel or by the pool. The pool could be freezing cold but my DS will still get in. He doesn't care. But the pool is supposed to be heated so hopefully it's somewhat warm. You have some of the same reservations as us as well!
1900 Park Fare Breakfast
Sci-Fi Dinner
Ohana Breakfast
Tusker House Donald Safari Breakfast
Cape May Dinner
Le Cellier Dinner
Hoop De Doo Review
Crystal Palace Dinner
Kona Cafe Dinner
Yak & Yeti Dinner

And we still have 2 more dining credits to use...I think I'm going to need 2 seats for the flight back home after all the eating I'm going to do

 

[Louise O]

I also made our ADR's before booking our vacation package. Since we got the QS free, we chose to upgrade to the regular DDP. Here is what we have planned:

Arrive Tues 11th
Dinner @ Whipering Canyon*

Weds 12th
Lunch @ Chefs de France*

Thur 13th
Early Dinner Fantasmic Pkg @ Mama Melrose*

Fri 14th
Lunch @ Akershus*

Sat 15th
Dinner @ O'Hana

Sun 16th
Dinner @ Crystal Palace

Mon 17th
QS Lunch @ Wolfgang Express*

The starred ones are new to us. I would like to try a few other new ones, but my family absolutely loves both O'Hana & Crystal Palace so we decided we couldn't go to DW without going to them. Guess that just means we have to go back next year to try more new ones!!

 

[carebee21]

I also made our ADR's before booking our vacation package. Since we got the QS free, we chose to upgrade to the regular DDP. Here is what we have planned:

Arrive Tues 11th
Dinner @ Whipering Canyon*

Weds 12th
Lunch @ Chefs de France*

Thur 13th
Early Dinner Fantasmic Pkg @ Mama Melrose*

Fri 14th
Lunch @ Akershus*

Sat 15th
Dinner @ O'Hana

Sun 16th
Dinner @ Crystal Palace

Mon 17th
QS Lunch @ Wolfgang Express*

The starred ones are new to us. I would like to try a few other new ones, but my family absolutely loves both O'Hana & Crystal Palace so we decided we couldn't go to DW without going to them. Guess that just means we have to go back next year to try more new ones!!

Can you book the fantasmic package using the dining plan, or are you paying OOP for that?

 

[Louise O]

The wonderfully nice lady when I called for my ADR's told me DDP covers the Fantasmic Package, so I hope she was right! We have never done it, but I have read on here of lots that have and they say it is the only way to go if you have kids that hate waiting in lines. With my DD4, we definitely qualify for that!! So we are going to try it. Last week, they still had some of these reservations available too, but everyone says they go quick! You have to call to make the ADR, but I really think it is going to be worth it. I would much rather be able to show up only 30mins before the show to be seated, instead of 1+hrs.

 

[alaskanmommy]

MY ADR's were done before the trip was booked, this trip is all about eating, the birthday girl is all about food, and weddings, the food part i will induldge her in, the wedding she has to wait for, although she has already picked out her groom, she just has to convince him , the fun of being 9.

We love the parks, the rides, the resorts, etc but we also really love the food!! Like you ADR's were made before we booked!

We have upgraded from QSDP to the DxDP

So our plans include:

at AK
Tusker House* for Breakfast
Yak and Yeti* for lunch (did the countre service one last time)

At MGM or Hollywood studios

Lunches at Brown Derby* and Sci Fi
Dinner at 50's Prime Time

At MK

Lunches at Liberty Tree Tavern and Tony's*
we did do dinner at LTT on a past trip when it was a character meal


At EPCOT

Breakfast Akershus
Lunches at Chefs de France* , Akershus* (have done breakfast before)
Dinner Le Cellier* and Garden Grill*


DTD

Wolfegang Puck cafe* for dinner (had dinner at the express on past trip)

At resorts

Breakfasts Kona* (have done dinner), Captians Grill*, Grand Floridian Cafe*, Chef Mickeys*



Dinners Artist Point*, Narcosse's*, Kona, Yatchman's Steakhouse*

We also have a reservation for tea one afternoon.

one with * are new to us

At some point on this trip, we may find time for some rides. The goal of this trip is to find Daisy Duck, it is her favorite character and we havent been able to get her autograph yet, that is why the tusker house breakfast is scheduled in the begining of the trip, in case for some reason she is not there that day we have the rest of the trip to find her.

No all I have to do is wait till Christmas morning, that is when I am telling her.

Great ADR's! Wow, I thought WE were eating around the world!! Let's see we really like Chefs and Le Cellier. Narcossee's is nice. Chef Mickeys is fun. I'd like to try some of your other ones: Artists Pointe, Tusker House, and the GF Cafe.

What a wonderful Christmas present!!

 

[alaskanmommy]

We went in Jan/Feb 2009 and the weather and crowds were nice. This is our first time at Pop, last time we stayed at POR but I just can't justify spending the extra $$$ to upgrade when for us, the only thing we care about at a moderate is a spa by the pool. I'll just make do with soaking in the bathtub We're doing US & IOA for the first time this trip.

We are also doing US and IOA (and SW) for the first time this trip! When are you going there before or after WDW? We have 4 days pre-WDW.

We haven't requested a room, but after showing DS pics, he wants to stay in the 60's building so I think I'm going to put in a request for that

The 60's would be cool. I'm not sure what to request.....

How long are you staying for? Maybe we'll see you around the hotel or by the pool. The pool could be freezing cold but my DS will still get in. He doesn't care. But the pool is supposed to be heated so hopefully it's somewhat warm.
My DD will still swim as well!! I'm hoping for the weather to be in the 70's

You have some of the same reservations as us as well!
1900 Park Fare Breakfast
Sci-Fi Dinner
Ohana Breakfast
Tusker House Donald Safari Breakfast
Cape May Dinner
Le Cellier Dinner
Hoop De Doo Review
Crystal Palace Dinner
Kona Cafe Dinner
Yak & Yeti Dinner

And we still have 2 more dining credits to use...I think I'm going to need 2 seats for the flight back home after all the eating I'm going to do

We have a lot of the same ADR's!! You have great taste!! I was thinking of Hoop De Doo but we decided against it, maybe next trip!! I have to find one more place to use a TS credit too, let me know what you decide to use yours on! I'm thinking Whispering Canyon or Sanaa or, ever been there???

 

[alaskanmommy]

I also made our ADR's before booking our vacation package. Since we got the QS free, we chose to upgrade to the regular DDP. Here is what we have planned:

Arrive Tues 11th
Dinner @ Whipering Canyon*I'm debating adding this one.

Weds 12th
Lunch @ Chefs de France* We love this place.....

Thur 13th
Early Dinner Fantasmic Pkg @ Mama Melrose* Would like to try this one some day it just didn't make the cut this year.

Fri 14th
Lunch @ Akershus* Debated this one but ended up with 1900 Park Fare instead.....

Sat 15th
Dinner @ O'HanaThis was initially on our list but Chefs won out....

Sun 16th
Dinner @ Crystal Palace We really like the characted interaction here!!

Mon 17th
QS Lunch @ Wolfgang Express*This is definitely on our QS list at least once!

The starred ones are new to us. I would like to try a few other new ones, but my family absolutely loves both O'Hana & Crystal Palace so we decided we couldn't go to DW without going to them. Guess that just means we have to go back next year to try more new ones!!

Nice ADR's! We upgraded from QS as well. Isn't it hard to try to fit in new restaurants while still trying to go to your faves?? Oh man, what torture having to go again next year!

 

[alaskanmommy]

My DS and I were talking yesterday and since we are getting to Orlando 4 days before our package starts (doing US, IOA and SW) we decided just to stay at POP the whole time instead of booking off property.

Soooooooooooo...................no we will be at POP from 1/19-1/21 room only (25% discount) and then added two more days to our FD package starting on 1/21!! Which means two more days of dining credits!! Oy! I better start working out now!!!

 

[carebee21]

My DS and I were talking yesterday and since we are getting to Orlando 4 days before our package starts (doing US, IOA and SW) we decided just to stay at POP the whole time instead of booking off property.

Soooooooooooo...................no we will be at POP from 1/19-1/21 room only (25% discount) and then added two more days to our FD package starting on 1/21!! Which means two more days of dining credits!! Oy! I better start working out now!!!

I booked another meal for breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe, which now leaves me one more TS credit. It sounds fun and loud, which will be perfect for my DS. We're going to Universal and IOA 01/25 and 01/27. We had also thought of staying off property and doing Universal before or after Disney, but I hate having to move hotels so we just decided on staying at Disney the whole time. Plus by doing Universal in the middle of the trip it'll break up our Disney days so Dh (who isn't all that fond of disney doesn't get Disney park overload.) Have fun planning the rest of your dining credits

 

[alaskanmommy]

I booked another meal for breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe, which now leaves me one more TS credit. It sounds fun and loud, which will be perfect for my DS. We're going to Universal and IOA 01/25 and 01/27. We had also thought of staying off property and doing Universal before or after Disney, but I hate having to move hotels so we just decided on staying at Disney the whole time. Plus by doing Universal in the middle of the trip it'll break up our Disney days so Dh (who isn't all that fond of disney doesn't get Disney park overload.) Have fun planning the rest of your dining credits

I think we are going to book Whispering Canyon dinner..........

You're family sounds just like mine! (except you have a boy ) My DH doesn't really like Disney either. He goes along with DD8 and I's love of Disney! Bless that man!!

Happy planning!!

We are taking one day off of WDW, 1/28.

 

[cntrygal]

Wispering Canyon is a lot of fun, we did it on our last trip. We did alot of the all you can eat places last time, having been traveling with a 17 yr old boy, all they do is eat. Wilderness lodge is beautiful. and am looking forward to the Artist Point, someday I am going to stay there, just as soon as I convince myself to spend that much money per night for a hotel room, when we are at the parks for rope drop and there until after fireworks, and basically only crash there.

You will have fun there......make sure you ask for a large drink for someone at your table.