Toy Story 3

 
(Photo from Pixar)

This weekend I got to see Toy Story 3. I was a little bit nervous as to how this was going to pan out storyline wise being a sequel and all. You know how most sequels go. Wrong. This was just as good as the first two movies. It was engaging and funny as ever. 

Andy is all grown up and ready for college. The toys are eager for him to play with them again but with no such luck. They end up on an adventure to Sunnyside Daycare which shows them the ups and downs of a new generation to play with. There are new characters that are introduced: Lots o’ Huggin’ Bear, Ken and Big Baby. Pixar did a great job in making all the characters seem real and how toys can be played with in using your imagination not with electronics. It was nice to see that. Many children of this generation do not have the luxury of making their own fun since most of the toys do all the work for them leaving nothing to the imagination.

 

I will admit at the end I cried and was moved by the heartfelt exchange that takes place. No spoilers here you will have to see it yourself and let me know if it moves you as well.

Le Cellier Becoming a Signature Restaurant?

I’ve been hearing rumors the past few weeks about an immense revamp to one of the most popular restaurants in Walt Disney World. Le Cellier which is in the Canada pavilion at EPCOT is thought to be switching to Signature status for the Disney Dining Plan as early as September 2010. You will have to use two table service credits instead of one in order to use the dining plan here. I also hear that there will changes to the menu and more tables that will be taken out. 

I am on the fence about this new development. Everyone knows that getting a reservation to this restaurant is an event in itself. You call the reservation center 180 days in advance with fingers crossed that you can get one of the coveted slots. Now you need to use two of your table service credits just to dine there. I don’t know. The food quality has significantly gone downhill since this whole dining plan has started. Not to mention the service. Now I know some people will agree with me about that, but some of you won’t. 

I am hoping if this rumor is true that Disney will have to make the food a superior quality like the other Signature restaurants on property (Cali Grill, Narcoossee’s, Jiko’s). If that is the case than I will be okay with the price increase. I am guessing that this will mean that it will be easier to get a reservation since most people will not want to use two credits for this restaurant. 

I do have one concern. My dear friend and I have booked reservations for Le Cellier for our upcoming fall vacations. I wonder if Disney is going to allow people who have booked prior to the upcoming announcement to still use credits as a 1 table service. I will have to keep everyone posted if this will be.

(Apparently this rumor began with employees that work at Le Cellier)

Monsters, Inc 2 is coming!!!

 
(photo from Pixar)


I am so excited to announce what I just read! Monsters, Inc 2 is coming out November 16th, 2012. The original director Pete Docter will be on this project once again. I love this movie so much and can't wait to see  it. Boo was my favorite character. I wonder if they are going to bring her back as an older kid. Interesting.

Disney's Give a Day Get a Day

 



Well guys I have been out of the cyber loop for a while and need to get back on track with this blog of mine. This year Disney's new celebration is all about volunteering. They are giving out 1 million tickets to the Disney parks when you sign up and complete a day of volunteer service with a participating organization. It's March and all the tickets have already been taken up. I was one of the lucky indivduals who signed up early and was able to volunteer and receive a ticket.


We signed up to volunteer through the Hands on Network and it was easy to navigate through the site to read through the list of volunteer opportunities. We picked Heifer International which is a non profit charity that helps end world hunger and poverty throughout the world. Our part in volunteering was to make posters to show what the charity represents and all the information to educate people to what they do. Here is a picture of one of our posters...

The volunteering experience was fun and educational . It felt good to be able to contribute to helping others in some way. I think this campaign Disney did this year was a meaningful one and it motivated people to want to volunteer when maybe someone normally wouldn't. 

There are other options for volunteers who may have purchased tickets or hold an annual pass. They can chose from the following options.

• Disney's FASTPASS® Special Exchange Cards for certain attractions for you and up to 5 additional members of your party.
• A Special Ear Hat figurine with unique trading pins
• Donate your free ticket to one of the select non-profit organizations designated by Disney Parks:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern California
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida
  • Dreams Take Flight Canada
  
  
  
  Hope you enjoyed reading about my GAD experience. If you want to share about your GAD experience please feel to leave your comments. :)
  
  

Booked My Ressies!!!

Friday the 3rd I set my alarm for 5:45AM so I can be ready to make my ADR's with Disney Dining first thing in the morning. The online reservation system does have a great advantage over the phone reservation system. The booking window time begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time online while if you call the reservation line you will need to wait until 7:00 a.m. It makes it easier to try to get the more sought after reservations if you try to book online first.

I was up and ready to start making my reservations on Saturday morning. I decided to give the online reservation system a try. I put in my reservation and phone number and it recognized it right away. I started to run through my list of restaurants that I wanted to dine during my trip. It was very easy to use. Click on the restaurant. Select a date and time. Add it to your cart. Another cool feature is if the restaurant that you want doesn't have the time you need they either offer you a different time or a completely different restaurant that will have the time you are seeking. I was nervous the whole time that I would lose my information or that if I didn't finish in a certain amount of time that I would lose my reservation slot. Thankfully I finished up and clicked the check out button and it worked. They sent me a confirmation e-mail with all my reservations listed with confirmation numbers, dates and times.

I was able to get everything that I wanted, but not always the times the I wanted. LeCellier being the killer of them all. I heard that they were booked the entire weekend that I was going to be there. I was able to get an early dinner on our last day. I wanted to dine there on our first day. Here is what I ended up with...

Cape May
Coral Reef
Boma
Kona Cafe
California Grill
Le Cellier

Booking the dining reservations to me is the most anxietic part of the planning of a trip. I feel like everything is going to be falling apart if I don't get to eat at the places that I want. Dining is one of the important parts of our trip. I usually have to switch around what parks for the day in order to accommodate our dining reservation. I am so relived that this is over. Only 80 days to go!

Advance Dining Reservations otherwise known as ADR's

My husband and I are total foodies. We enjoy food and wine to an ultimate level. One of my favorite parts of visiting WDW is the food. We do try to go to our faves as well as try new restaurants. I am so happy that we get to experience the Food & Wine festival again. For those of you who don't know what the that is... Disney has a festival in Epcot's World Showcase that has kiosks throughout with different foods and wine from different countries. It ranges from $2-$4 a sample. It is worth it due to the fact that you can try diverse foods from other cultures. They also have wine events and wine dinner pairings. We usually go to the Party for the Senses event while we are there. It's a grand event with delicious food and fabulous wine. We get dressed up and it's always a great experience.

Our window to make ADR's is coming up and WDW has implemented a new system for online reservations through their website. I have heard pros and cons about it. I am just curious when I hear people always saying that they got everything that they wanted when they go online but not when they call the dining line. I hope that there isn't a glitch and that there isn't a bunch of overbooking. You never know when new software is being tried out of the first time. I have such anxiety about this process because you used to be able to call in 180 days in advance to make reservations. Now they are only 90 days in advance and you can book up to 10 days of your trip. Not to mention free dining is still in full swing. The only drawbacks I have with free dining is when people want to get the most of out it and book table services every night of their stay. Most of the time because they are not paying for it they end up not showing up for their reservation (and not calling to cancel) so that leaves other people who ARE paying for their food left without any openings.

Here is what I am hoping for...

LeCellier: We eat there on every one of our trips and my husband loves it. It is one of the most sought after reservations. I never understand it. I do like this restaurant but it's not like it's 5 stars or anything. I like that it's conveniently located in the World Showcase so we don't have to leave the park to go eat in the middle of the day.

California Grill: (never been) I have read great reviews of this restaurant and the wine list looks
phenomenal.


Coral Reef: (never been) The atmosphere looks like your in a underwater reef. I have never eaten here but I hope the food is as good as the decor. I have heard mixed reviews about this restaurant.

Kona's

Boma

Les Chefs de France : for lunch

I have Cape May as an alternate if we can't get into some of our other choices.

Buon Appetito!

I'm Going to Disney World!

The greatest saying! I decided that it was time to create a separate blog to talk about all things Disney. As many of you know, I could talk about it for hours and hours and never tire. It's a passion of mine and I enjoy everything Disney. Every since I took my first trip to Disney at 3 years old I was in love. I couldn't believe that a place filled with such magic could really exist. Not many people will understand that and yes, I do get the repetitive "Your going there again, really?" all the time.

I am hoping in this blog to bring up new updates as well as my reviews and trip reports of Walt Disney World. Our next trip is in the fall of this year. We are staying at the Contemporary for the first time and I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about it. Being on the monorail line is going to be so convenient and fun. Ta ta for now and see ya real soon. ;)