Disney Planning 2015

Jim and I are back in the saddle of planning a Disney trip, which is always a very nice place to be.  We once again used the Magic Your Way package and booked Pop Century.  Even though we had a problem with Pop during our last visit (I'd written a review called "Mop Century" on the forum, as our floor was flooded by the door and window our entire stay, for which Disney offered to reimburse us in part and we were very glad for it), we figured the chances were low that we'd encounter the same problem, and besides, we didn't spend much time in the room.

We decided to go in October for what we've begun calling The Disney Trifecta: Dapper Day, Epcot's Food & Wine Festival, and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.  On my 2012 visit with my dad, we made it to the Food & Wine Festival and the Halloween party, but I wasn't yet aware of Dapper Day, an unofficial-to-the-parks meet-up of people who celebrate style by dressing in vintage or otherwise fancy outfits!  Some take it even further by "dapper bounding," which is a dapper take on Disneybounding!

Now that it's under 180 days until we arrive, I've been able to start making dining reservations.  However, we were restricted to certain parks each day of our visit last year because of all our dining plans, so this year we are taking it easy on the reservations.  The only one I woke up at 6am for on the 180th day prior to our trip was lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant.  We loved it last time, and since we stayed on property, they issued us a fast-pass for the quick-service lunch reservation.  I thought we'd have the same luck this visit, but after reading other Disney blogs and speaking with the chat people on the Disney website, I found out that they are no longer offering this perk.  Hence making my own reservation!  And we already know we'll be at Magic Kingdom our first full day for Dapper Day, so we'll be all fancy for our castle lunch!

I also recently found out that tickets are now available to purchase for MNSSHP, so I went ahead and got those, too.  The website said they sell out quickly so I recommend doing the same, tout-suite!

We are staying for a full week this time--Friday to Friday (of course we arrive after all the parks are closed our first night, but we will also spend some time in the parks before our flight on the last day), so we're hoping to be a little more relaxed on this trip (besides Jim's concerns of packing 2 different costumes for our events).  I'm hoping to have ample time to mill about Downtown Disney, which we missed out on our last trip.  Jim wants to spend more time pool-side, and we both want to order pizza to our room with those delicious caesar salads we miss so much!  It'll also be nice choosing which park to go to each morning!

I've been revisiting our last trip through Shutterfly--Jim & I haven't begun scrapbooking our last trip (something I'd been very excited over and he wants to help me with), so I spent my sick day and time waiting to visit the doctor by ordering all the prints we need for the scrapbook!  It definitely made me a little cheerier.  I don't know if you're familiar with Kellogg's rewards, but there are certain Kellogg's cereals with codes inside, and some are to enter for a free trip to Disney World!  That's why I started with the codes, but I also collect points towards other rewards, like Shutterfly.  I had 3 rewards I used on my Disney photos purchase today!  One was my birthday coupon for $20 off an order, another was a free reusable tote bag with a photo on it (for Earth Day), and the last was a free set of 2x2" magnets of your photos!  It was an excellent deal, and I saved about $80!  After adding on all my rewards, my prints order went down about $30!

More updates to come as our planning continues!

Tony's Town Square is Perfect for Lady & The Tramp Lovers

Since this was Jim's first Disney trip, I wanted to fit in some extra special things.  He and I love Lady and the Tramp and watched the movie again before our trip.  We planned a dinner at Tony's Town Square at Magic Kingdom for our third night in Disney.

I'd never been there before, and I didn't quite know where it was!  Turns out I'd never even noticed it on all my trips to the Magic Kingdom!  It's right next to the bake shop (I probably never noticed because I'd always rushed there!), before all the little shops on Main Street, to the right as you enter.  (To the left of that building where you can meet Tinkerbell & Mickey.)  

The theme was absolutely everywhere.  Their reservation desk was adorable:

Their menus had Tony on them:

Even the bathrooms were adorable…

And we sat right next to the fountain!

The food was fantastic!!  I had the shrimp scampi (one of my favorite dishes anywhere we go) and Jim had the seasonal ravioli (this season was chicken marsala).  I also had Ariel's Punch (pink lemonade with Sprite, I think) which came in a cute plastic, lidded cup with a green, glowing Ariel clipped to the straw!  I kept it, obviously, and use it now as a flashlight for the interior of my purse :)

They brought us delicious focaccia bread and olive oil.  When our food arrived, all we did was shake our heads and smile after our first forkfuls.  It was beyond words.  

The only thing that made this not a perfect experience was the "celebration" aspect.  I had called over a month prior to our visit to add an anniversary celebration to our dinner.  I asked if they did anything special, and the woman on the phone said yes but she wasn't sure exactly what.  When we sat down, there was a ticket at our table that had "CELEBRATION" in all caps printed on the bottom.  I hadn't told Jim about my plans, and when our check arrived without any special recognition, I was sorely disappointed.  When Jim excused himself to use the men's room, I flagged down our waiter and asked him about it, saying it was supposed to be a surprise, and he said "We don't really do anything special for anniversaries.  A birthday, yes, we would sing and bring you ice cream.  I wished you a happy anniversary when I seated you.  But other than that…  You have to let them know beforehand."  I told him that I did let them know beforehand, and he said, "You need to remind them when you check in.  Maybe next year we can set the table for you with a tablecloth and wine."

Yeah.  Maybe next year.

So I guess if you are planning a celebration, let them know when you arrive.

Other than that, it is a great place to stop in for a delicious meal and great theming!  We didn't get any dessert (we were saving room for a Dole Whip anyway), but I did take a picture of this adorable plate one of the desserts came on (they were on display at the entrance--I wasn't hovering over someone else's table!):

And before we left, we made sure to look for Lady and the Tramp on a date in the back of the restaurant: