Jan 2010 Disney Trip Report: Post II

Tuesday 1/26/2010

Boardwalk in the morning

United Kingdom before World Showcase opens

Tangerine Cafe in Morocco

We slept in this morning, man that bed was comfortable! We got ready, and I put the towels in the washing machine to have clean towels for Wednesday. (One of the many perks of a 1-bedroom villa, washing machine and dryer!) We made it to EPCOT about 10:30AM. First decision of the day was what to eat as both of us were kind of hungry. First we thought UK Fish and Chips, but that wasn’t sounding great, so I began to think, and recommended the Moroccan Counter Service, Tangerine Café.

Several years prior we had tried Restaurant Marrekesh (The table service option in Morocco) and to make a long story short, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. So we had been cautious ever since. Well I am glad we tried Tangerine Cafe (the counter service in Morocco), it was excellent! I had the Shawarma Platter with Lamb and Chicken, Jeff had the Chicken Wrap. Both of us gave this two thumbs up. Definitely better then its neighboring Marrekesh. Plus Tangerine Cafe provides excellent quality for a great price, both on the DDP and not.
Mission: Space

A little live entertainment in Future World at EPCOT, the Jaminators.

Yes those are trash cans they are playing! They were great!

After eating we decided to head back to Future World, instead of walking though we took the friendship boat across the lake. We headed straight for Soarin' to grab a fast pass, but by the time we arrived (about Noon) fast passes we out to about 3PM or so, and as we had a Narcoosee’s reservation at 5:30PM we thought about just not worrying about riding Soarin’ that day. However, just as we were deciding what to do we had another sprinkling of pixie dust, a lady ran up and asked us if we wanted her two fast passes for Soarin' for that time, right then as they had a dining reservation to make. Something very similar had happened to us the year before and we couldn’t believe our luck! We went right on, waited about five minutes, and enjoyed Soarin' with a very quick wait (especially since stand by was about an hour at this time). Our next stop after Soarin’ was for a fast pass for Test Track, for about 2PM or so.

After acquiring a fast pass we pretty much lounged around Future World for the next hour or so. Jeff took some photos over by Mission Space while I checked out the landing moon. We are both interested in space flight and are both devastated by what is basically the moth balling of NASA by our president.

Almost as annoying as the real thing! Almost.

Nemo and friends on the Finding Nemo Ride at the Living Seas.

We next headed to the Living Seas, rode the clam mobiles, and spent a few minutes there admiring the various salt water creatures. We didn’t stay as long as we usually do though and left fairly quickly for our fast pass on Test Track.

Test Track, navigating one of the high speed turns.

Yep, that's the real speed.

Test Track by the time we reached it had about a 40-50 minute stand by wait, and the Fast Pass didn’t seem to help out as much as it usually does, it actually was about a 15-20 minute wait, which wasn’t too bad. Test Track was fun like usual, but we are still depressed that Disney hasn’t seen fit to fix some of the broken parts (such as the head on crash car) for the last several years.

Spaceship Earth's focus is on the history of communication. Here we have a Pharoah dictating to a scribe, using the world's first piece of paper. (papyrus)

Moving a little further in history, Guttenheim invents the movable type printing press.

Moving forward even further, a Telegraph operator.

Our last stop in EPCOT before heading out towards the Grand Floridian and Narcoosee's, was Spaceship Earth. What was so unusual is that while this was our second time in EPCOT this trip, it was our first time at the front of the park! As we were staying at an EPCOT resort, instead of entering at the front of the park like usual, we were entering at the International Gateway in World Showcase, which is actually in the back of the park. Spaceship Earth was good as usual (I love the people mover rides at EPCOT), and we sent an e-mail home to us with our cut out faces.

Our chariot (monorail) arrives.

It was about 3:30 or so, so after exiting Spaceship Earth and stopping briefly at the Art of Disney store we headed for the main exit and the monorail. The monorail took a few minutes to arrive, and we soon switched at TTC and headed for the Grand Floridian. We took a bit of time looking around the shops, and while doing so I spotted a pin on a Cast Member’s lanyard of a marching band Mickey. Now I had been in marching band for six years in High School/College so it was a perfect fit. I ran down to the sundries shop, picked out an inexpensive pin to trade, and two bottles of soda for Jeff and I. I ran back up to where the Cast Member was stationed and made the trade.

Remember how I had bought some soda for Jeff and I to drink before our ADR? Well this simple stop became the catalyst for the great Coke incident. After all this WAS our anniversary. So you are wondering what happened? We were relaxing on a sofa in the lobby, listening to the live band when Jeff, spilled, accidentally the remaining portion of his Coke all over his leg! (It wasn’t the whole bottle but still), Yeah, nice. To late to head back to our hotel, not enough time to let it fully dry out. Jeff headed to the bathroom to see what he could do to dry off the leg. Obviously there wasn’t much he could do there, so once he re-entered the world, we decided to head outside and take a walk hoping that would dry off his pant leg.

We headed outside, and it was a bit chilly but not bad yet. So we headed towards the Wedding Pavilion (where we were married eight years prior!) and then to the Polynesian. The beach was deserted, so we found a swing, and relaxed a bit. It was a beautiful, yet chilly evening.

Soon 5:15 rolled around and we figured we should wander back over to the Grand Floridian. I timed the walk as we would be making the same walk on Saturday morning when we would be staying at Polynesian, and walking to our ADR at 1900 Park Fare.

But tonight was our anniversary dinner at Narcoosee’s and when I made the ADR at 90 days I was unsure about the decision as Jeff is not a big seafood fan. However, I had read nothing but good reviews so we decided to give it a try. We arrived at the restaurant at about 5:30, waited a few minutes as the place was just opening. We were seated by a window looking out at the Magic Kingdom, which would have been the best seat in the house if we had been around for fireworks.

To start off, Jeff, being a very atypical Jeff decided to try to find a good wine. This is unusual for us as we are more beer and chips type people. Our waiter (I am guessing also a sommelier) recommended a white, semi-dry Fess Parker, $37 a bottle, I went with a mixed drink, which I don’t recall the name, except for the fact that it had sweet and sour mixture and coconut, which are both things that I enjoy. Both choices were quite good, and I tried a bit of Jeff’s wine, finding it not bitter at all, which is a problem I have with most wines.

Even though we were on the basic DDP we went next with an appetizer, the artisan cheeses (this was actually more for Jeff as he really enjoys cheese), one was a brie-like cheese, one more swiss-like and one a blue cheese. All were very good.

For our main course I still hadn’t decided, our waiter recommended mahi mahi, which I have never cared for (probably the ONLY fish I have never cared for) and then the scallops, which happen to be the only other seafood besides mahi mahi I don’t care for either! I instead went with my first intuition, the Surf and Turf, lobster tail and steak filet, I was a little worried about the reviews I had heard, but it turned out wonderful! I ate every little inch of the lobster tail, it may have been previously frozen but I certainly couldn’t tell. The filet mignon was good, and the Choron Sauce was excellent. I would give the steak four stars, about equal to what I gave Le Cellier last year. The only reason it is not five is because as good as the filet was it is still not as good as Hereford House here in Kansas City. The potatoes were just ok, nothing terribly special, but Jeff did seem to like them quite a bit.

Last was dessert, and this was a surprise upset for me, I was really looking forward to the Valhora Chocolate tart, it wasn’t on the menu. Instead both of us got our chocolate fix with a chocolate mouse, which while good (when is chocolate NOT good?) it wasn’t a warm chocolate cake with melted center. Oh well.

Overall I would have to say our experience at Narcoosee’s was good, our waiter was definitely satisfactory, he checked back with us often. Also once we received the check we noticed he had included our appetizer (the cheese sampler) as part of our dining plan, even though appetizers are no longer included in the basic Dining Plan. I don’t know if this was a mistake, or a little Disney magic, but I won’t question it!

The only negative I have about Narcoosee’s is the cost. As I mentioned earlier I found the quality of the food not that much better the Le Cellier, a 1-credit meal on the DDP. I understand the lobster brought my entrée up in price obviously, but Jeff just had the filet, and his was almost double the cost for the same thing in EPCOT. Overall I think the quality is good, but the price still seems to high for the quality delivered. A good deal on the DDP, otherwise I wouldn’t probably be back.

Illuminations (fireworks) view from our room!

When we left the restaurant it was about 7:30PM, and since we were about as far from our hotel without a car as we had ever been on Disney property we had to make the decision on how to get back to Boardwalk without a car. We had two choices, go back the way we came through EPCOT, or catch a bus from Magic Kingdom. As the chilly evening had turned to straight out cold (for me that is), we decided on the bus. We took the monorail from GF to Magic Kingdom, I really wanted to beat the fireworks crowds and we arrived at the bus stop at about 7:50. This was our longest wait for a bus from MK, about 10-15 minutes, still not bad. The first stop was Boardwalk and we got back to our room right about 8:30 or so. I turned on the TV, and watched for a bit, and then not long after, the fireworks started for Illuminations. We were able to see all the high fireworks, and surprisingly the top of the inferno barge. Overall it was a pretty nice view, seeing fireworks from our couch and all. It was a great end to the evening.

Wednesday 1/27/2010

Before the trip I had made very minimal plans, Wednesday was probably the ONLY day we had any specific plans on what park to visit, and that was based on our dining reservation at SCI-FI Diner (at MGM) for Noon. We got up pretty early that morning around 8:30 or so, and I got up first, got ready and then headed down to Boardwalk Bakery for a morning snack to tie us over. I picked up a chocolate chip muffin and a cinnamon roll for Jeff. Both were excellent. Boardwalk Bakery overall is pretty small and can be very cramped, but the quality is definitely worth it. It was a great use of a snack credit. Before leaving I again made the bed (I make the bed in our DVC unit every morning). We then headed out for MGM, and decided to walk as the boat stops at Swan/Dolphin/Beach Club and EPCOT before getting to MGM. It was a nice walk, and our room location probably helped make the walk quicker then it would usually be. It took about 15 minutes or so to get to MGM, and as we arrived, probably about 10:30, the entrance was backed up a bit. It took a couple of minutes to actually enter the park, I grabbed a schedule, and we headed to Midway Mania for a fast pass. Even though it was about 11AM our fast pass wasn't until 2:30 or so, that was for off season, on a “best day” park from the unofficial guide. The rides popularity still surprises me.

Just monkeying around at Pixar Place at MGM Studios. (Barrel of Monkey's 200X their normal size)

One of the green army guys. These guys were a hoot!

Lexar, the Pixar Lamp. If you don't know who this guy is.... welll.... go watch a Pixar movie.

Work it.

After grabbing our fast pass we lingered a bit near the attraction to see Lexar, the Pixar lamp. Very cute mini-show. I think some people had no idea what was going on though! Next, we headed over the Streets of America to catch one of our favorite park live entertainment shows, Mulch Sweat and Shears. Jeff is a big 80’s rocker and well, I just like the music! It still amazes me that Disney can come up with such simple, but unique live entertainment options, that if you really think about I aren’t that expensive to put on! I mean trash cans? Marching band uniforms? A truck with landscaping materials attached to the back? Really, any park could afford to pull it off, but only Disney seems to realize the final product and pull it off.

Mulch, Sweat and Shears!

Extreme close up!

This guest is REALLY getting into the action!

From Streets of America we headed over to the shops by the exit for the Backlot Tour (which we had tried the previous year and were quite depressed to see the level to which it had dropped to), I went directly the plush for the Pixar films. The previous year I had become enamored with Wall-E and after seeing the Wall-E and Eve plush practically everywhere at Walt Disney World, I still decided not to purchase either. Bad idea, this year, when I actually wanted to buy one, I couldn't find them anywhere! The clerk pointed me to the AFI shop, and we headed there and first checked out the exhibits. Amazing unlike the Backlot Tour the AFI exhibits are kept relatively updated. I also found a selection of Wall-E plush. It was about $9.95 so I figured I would think about it and maybe come back later.

It was now about 11:30 so we had time for about one more attraction, I of course choose one of my favorites, Muppet Vision 3D, I was a child during the tail end of the Muppet’s shows, so Muppet Vision for me is pretty much a can’t miss attraction. It never grows old. However, it could maybe use some updating to modern 3D. We checked out the shop briefly and then headed for Sci-Fi Diner.

The interior of Sci-Fi Diner

Hmmm.... I wonder who these people are.

Sci-Fi seems to be like an every five years restaurant for us. Last time we ate here was only a year or two after our wedding in Jan 2002, and as both of us like old science fiction movies, it sounded like fun. Plus I had been wanting to go back for awhile. Overall, it probably will take another 5-6 years to get back to Sci-Fi again. It is fun, the atmosphere simply can’t be beat, (love the campy sci-fi previews and pop corn & snacks heading to the snack bar!) but the food is average at best.

For our entrée’s I had the Shrimp Pasta, Jeff played it safe with the Angus Chuck burger. Overall as I mentioned the food was pretty average, though the Shrimp Pasta was actually quite good, lots of shrimp and it had good flavor with the olives and spinach. The only flaw that I had with it… was that I couldn’t really see it. Literally, I had to fumble around with the fork and had no idea really what was on the fork until it hit my mouth.

For dessert I had the hot fudge sundae, Jeff had the peanut butter fudge cake. I had thought about the peanut butter cake, but the ice cream really called out to me and I am glad I chose what I did. The peanut butter cake was almost hard as a rock, and I kind of felt bad for Jeff. The hot fudge sundae, which Jeff helped me finish was GREAT. That hot fudge sundae was the best thing there at Sci-Fi, plenty of hot fudge, and for me that is the defining aspect of a good hot fudge sundae.

Service again was fairly average, no long waits between refills, but nothing that made our waitress stand out. It was pretty busy so I imagine that had something to do with it. Last, they were taking walk ins but I am glad I had an ADR as walk ins were being seated at the round picnic tables at back, and they had LONG waits.

After leaving Sci-Fi we headed for the coffee shop/book store that is attached to Sci-Fi, it is one of my favorite shops, and we found an Imagineeers Guide DVD to Magic Kingdom. Of course we had to have THAT. Plus the 20% AP discount that we had discovered earlier that week came in quite handy!

A mock up of Walt Disney's office how it looked back in the day.

A model of the Sleeping Beauty Castle (aka the Putt Putt Castle) at Disneyland in California.

A model of one of the two TWA rockets. One was at Disneyland (and I believe still is) the other is still at the top of the TWA building in Kansas City.

This was new this year, its a model of the gangster scene as part of the Great Movie Ride.

After leaving the store we were left with the decision on what to do? We were walking by One Man’s Dream, and since this is another tradition for us, we headed there. I was thrilled to see some updates, adding designs and models from the design of MGM Studios, as the park was quietly celebrating its 20^th anniversary. (I had no idea until then). The movie was unchanged but definitely good, full of lots of warm and fuzzy moments. I personally will never forget the one man who started it all.

About that time our Fast Pass time was up so we headed to Midway Mania, with our Fast Pass the wait was less the five minutes. Midway Mania was simply fun, but one thing that got me thinking later was that Midway Mania seems relatively simple for Disney standards. We really haven’t seen a new Pirates of Carribbean or Haunted Mansion style ride (super headliner) since the the 90’s, Eisner Era. I guess I should further clarify, a super headliner that continues to operate LIKE a super headliner. Everest doesn’t count, as you will soon read.

The Great Movie Ride!

The Great Movie Ride is a collection of animated scenes (through use of animatronics) of various movies through the years. Here we have a scene from Mary Poppins.

The Wicked Witch of the West.

First we saw the model, now the real thing. The underworld in the Great Movie Ride.

Anyway, off my soap box. So after Midway Mania, we again had the decision, What to do? Jeff was wanting The Great Movie Ride, so that’s were we went, even though I think Great Movie Ride should be the next candidate for a major ride rehab. It’s a great classic ride and always fun. We spent quite a bit of time afterward checking out the handprints after the ride. I have never done that before believe it or not.

Disney's re-creation of the Chinese Mann's Theater. Here is is the entrance to the Great Movie Ride.

Last attraction we decided for the day was The Animation Tour, like the Backlot tour we hadn’t taken this tour for about 4-5 years, so it was about time. I remember when the tour had a real artist talking to you about the tradition and process of Animation. Of course that ended almost 10 years ago, Now we have Mushu, and still a live host. It was pretty cute, and served its purpose I guess. Plus I did find it interesting that they actually added live artists back to the walkway out of the theater. I am not sure if they are just actors, or real animators working on real projects, but I guess it adds a bit of “realism” even though I thought all Florida animation was moved out years ago too?

Usually we would walk past the character meet and greet area, but Mickey was there, and it seems both of us had a boost in “dealing with characters” moral, Before it just seemed wrong I guess for two adults to get their photo with a character. Now I really wanted that picture with Mickey, after all he is my favorite character (that and Mulan) So we got in line, and I got my photo!

We ran into these Streetmosphere actors performing an informal comic skit. The basic premise is a group of street workers on break, and one brings Meow Mix and tries to hawk it off as Trail mix.

By this time it was getting towards late afternoon/evening, maybe about 4:30 or so, so we headed back down Hollywood Blvd. We stopped for a bit to watch one of the street skits (I think that's were they moved the folks from Adventure's Club), they were absolutly hilarious! Plus I got picked on, which almost never happens to me. At that point we decided to head towards the exit, we checked out a few of the shops, and of course stopped at Sid’s at front, that’s home to all the autographs, movie memorabilia etc.



Before we headed out I was surprised Jeff hadn’t wanted to ride Tower of Terror, supposedly one of his favorite rides. That’s the thing though, we would be back, if not this year, next year. Great thing about DVC #235.

So we headed back to Boardwalk, arrived back probably about 5:30 or 6, and watched the Imagineers DVD we had purchased. Since it was Wednesday night and I had only used the tub once, plus I had been inundated this trip with blisters, I decided to take a bath. I used the Mr. Bubble I had brought with me, and let me tell you nothing feels better. That spa tub was worth the thousands of dollars we had spent on DVC all by itself.

About 7PM or so we headed downstairs to check out a few of the shops, I had become obsessed with finding a nice Disney hoodie this trip. My old Disney jacket from 8 years ago was starting to wear out and the zipper wasn’t working the greatest. We started in the Dundy’s Sundries, inside of the Boardwalk lobby, it closed at 9PM and I knew it had the DVC merchandise. I tried on the DVC fleece, and it didn’t look so great. However if you remember the comment about pin trading, this is where the spark turned into a flame. The cast members pulled out their panel of pins available for trading, and there were two that we liked. Usually if we find one or two on an entire trip to trade, that’s normal, we buy a $6 pin and trade. Well after yesterday and now today we figured why not buy a 7 pack of (cheap) pins and trade for them? Wouldn’t that be fun? Yeah it was. I ended up with the Mickey ghost I had been coveting and the DDP hidden mickey pin.

At about 7:30 PM we figure we would head to EPCOT this time for Illuminations, which is my favorite fireworks at Disney. We left close to 8PM, and walked towards the Italy pavilion looking for a spot, as it was about 8:20 or so by the time we arrived. We also had a counter service to blow, even though neither of us were terribly hungry. (I figured we probably would be later on though and didn’t want to be starving in the middle of the night). We thought about the China pavilion, but I thought we didn’t have enough time, so instead we looked around a few of the shops while waiting on fireworks. About 8:45 we went out to scope out a spot. Amazingly that night the Italy isola was not being used that night for a private party, and since we consider that the best view of Illuminations, we considered ourselves lucky and found a spot on the railing there and waited out a few minutes for Illuminations to begin. It was a great show as always, I especially love the raining white fireworks at the very end, never fails to amaze me!

After Illuminations and exiting EPCOT I thought it would be a great idea to head to Beach Club Marketplace. Everyone seemed to mention that it was a good choice for Counter service in the Boardwalk area (actually one of the ONLY CS options). As you will soon read the experience was far from exemplirary. In fact for us the only redeeming quality of the Beach Club Resort seems to have is Beachs and Cream, as otherwise we seem to have really bad luck with the Yacht/Beach Club restaurants.

However, I wanted clam chowder, and as I wasn’t too hungry (plus it was already Wednesday night) I no problem “wasting” a CS credit on a $4 cup of soup, soda and fruit tart. Overall it was pretty good, but I have had much better clam chowder before. So I don’t think it was worth the drama. I thought Jeff might get a sandwich, but next thing I knew he had sat down looking quite upset, and with nothing to show for it. I asked what had happened. Jeff not liking the type of bread on the sandwich asked if it could be changed, now I knew the sandwiches were pre-made, I think he did too, but it really does never hurt to ask right? Wrong. They guy behind the counter from what Jeff told me was quite rude about it. Jeff, had what I like to call a “Six Flags” moment, very unusual for Disney (not so unusual for Beach/Yacht Club though). So he sat there while I finished my soup, we looked around in the shop for a bit, and then headed for the Boardwalk to try to find something for Jeff.

We stopped by Boardwalk Bakery, and Jeff picked out a turkey/swiss sandwich, with a bag of chips. We ended up splitting it back in our room, and it was quite good, especially the bread, which seemed very fresh. (even though it was also pre-made). In the end I think what we should have done was just both stop there instead of even going anywhere near Beach Club, the food, honestly was better overall, and the customer service was what I expected from Disney.

While at the Boardwalk Bakery we had also picked up 2 croissants for breakfast the next morning and headed to the room. I threw some laundry in while we finished off the special features on the Last Samurai DVD we had started at the beginning of the stay. Jeff took a bath afterward, while I read a bit, and we went to bed pretty late that evening.

Jan 2010 Disney Trip Report: Post I

Well I am back… the after Disney trip blues have set in majorly so what is a better relief then to relive the memories. Back when I was planning this trip I went through so many, many questions. I can quite frankly be the most indecisive person in the world. I kid you not I went through so many flip flops and changes in dining, resorts, flights, car rentals, etc then I care to even share. Yes I need a support group…

Every year, except one, Jeff and I have traveled to Disney World for our anniversary; this would be our third trip using our DVC membership. I won’t bore you with the details on planning the trip; suffice it to say that can all be read about in my pre-trip report.

In the end several decisions were made literally just one to two weeks before we left. Seven months previous I had booked us five nights at a 1 bedroom at the Boardwalk Villas, and a few months later two nights at the Polynesian. However, just two weeks before we left I booked us our first night at Pop Century, finally decided on the Dining Plan for our stay at BWV, and booked the Backstage Magic Tour (here after referred to as the $200 tour!). Talk about some last minute planning. By the way, during that time I also changed our airline flight, for the THIRD time. Was it all worth the money? Did we have a good time? You will just have to continue reading to find out.

Saturday 1/23/2010

Our nine day trip started at 7PM Friday night, that’s when work ended for me at dear old AT&T, and I was free! Nothing feels better then knowing you have nine wonderful days in front of you. Earlier that week (yes the SAME week) I had traded with a co-worker to have Saturday off instead of having to schedule day of vacation for Saturday, which relieved a lot of stress. Uniquely enough for us our flight that Saturday was not in the wee hours of the morning, or Friday at night, but was a leisurely 3:05PM flight. It allowed us to sleep in, relax and slowly pack our bags in a much more orderly fashion then usually occurs.

Once we arrived at KCI airport we did our usual bag stop and swap (we park in the garage, run the bags upstairs, and while I guard the bags Jeff takes the car to the economy lot). Suffice it to say I have not seen the economy lot now for several years. We had decided this year to pay the $10 for Southwest Early Bird, and ended up with A23 and A24. I am still not overly thrilled with having to pay $10 for something that used to be free… but oh well its better then paying $50 for bags. The flight itself was smooth, and normal for Southwest, on time. It certainly wasn’t uneventful as I had a seat partner that was quite honestly the most talkative gentleman I have ever meet, a very nice guy who seemed to have traveled everywhere around the world.

We had no problems retrieving our luggage (the wait was a bit though), and Alamo again was a great experience. No waiting in the long line! We went to the kiosk, declined the insurance and we were on our way. I felt pretty good about snagging that $105 rate for 9 days too, no I am not gloating. Okay, maybe I am. :P

We picked up our blue Hyundai compact, no remote locks or cruise control, but it had Sirius! It was basic and it worked. As exiting the garage I remember commenting about the spiral exit ramps, similar to our walking ramps at Truman Sports complex, ah the warm fuzzies of arriving in Orlando!

So you are wondering why we took a picture of a luggage box? We just thought it was funny that someone had to buy new luggage to possibly haul home all their souvenir purchases :) Thank goodness I have not had to do so... yet

*A photo of the five story Rubik's Cube. Don't leave home without it.

Soon afterward we pulled into Pop Century and approached what would be the first test of this trip, the dreaded yet hopefully optimistic test of the online check in system. In August, we had stayed for free dining, and had opted out of online check in, only to once again not receive the requested king bed room. The cast member had mentioned that with online check in we would have had much better odds. So I tried it. Did it work? Does Mickey have two ears? It did. We checked in quickly (no wait), got our requested king bed room, in the 70’s building (building 10). A sprinkling of pixie dust! Little did I know that more was coming!

We checked out our room, got settled and decided how to finish out the evening as by this time it was only about 8:30PM. As we had to both pick up Jeff's AP and upgrade my two day ticket we figured Downtown Disney would be a great place to start out. Since we were close to the bus stop, and figured Downtown Disney parking would be horrendous at this time of night we decided to use the bus. The bus was there the second we stepped in line. Our luck with Disney Transportation from last year was holding on strong!

A couple photos from Downtown Disney. One of the broomstick's from Fantasia.

Waterfall at Rain Forest Cafe.

Fulton's Crab House

We did a little shopping, but as our main goal was ticketing we headed the Guest Relations soon after arriving. After waiting a few minutes we stepped up to the cast member of all cast members, Sean. Rarely have I had such a good experience. First we picked up Jeff’s AP, without a problem. Our next point was the upgrade my 2 day ticket to something more useful.

Flashback to August again, Jeff and I had booked the free dining promotion and were both given 1 day tickets, that weren’t used that trip. One of those 1 day tickets we upgraded to a 2-day ticket to get the $75 gift card (another story in itself). So, we had a 1 day ticket and a 2 day ticket. I had researched online and pretty much came to the realization that both tickets couldn’t be used for 1 (multi-day) ticket. That’s were pixie dust #1 comes in, Sean set it up so that both tickets could be used towards one 8 day hopper, with the difference being only about $67. (saving us basically $80) So we asked the question, how much would an AP upgrade be? Turned out only about $100 more (with our DVC discount). Not bad, so the big question? With a 12 month expiration could we make the AP work for both this trip and next January?

Sean, who must have been feeling like the Blue Fairy at this point, Instead of setting the expiration for 12 months out, he set up the expiration for the same date as Jeff’s, mid-February. Sure only 2-3 week’s difference, but that sealed it. I have never had that experience with Disney before, and I don’t expect to experience it again, but wow.

Okay maybe I should expand on how big a deal this is for us. Had the expiration been the NORMAL expiration we would have been in a quandry next year. The AP would expire on the 1st or 2nd day of our trip most likely in 2011, requiring that I would have to buy another $300+ ticket. THAT's the big deal. Sean saved us basically $400 in a 10 minute period. See why I love the guy?

So on that high, we headed back to the bus, and guess what bus was pulling up right as we hit the bus stop? I was waiting for the other shoe to fall, truly. Yep the Pop bus, we headed back to our room for a good nights sleep before a bright and early morning!

Sunday 1/24/2010

Sunday, Sunday Sunday! What a glorious day. It truly was a beautiful morning. Today was Busch Gardens day, but also check in day for Boardwalk (BWV). We woke up early, about 7:30AM, and were headed for BWV about 8:30 or so. Yes I had set up online check in for BWV too, but I wasn’t testing my luck!

When we arrived there was no line once again, and once again my requests were meet, at this point I didn’t quite realize how well though. Fourth floor, not handicap accessible. So after picking up all our necessities, we headed back out to our car for our trip to Busch Gardens in Tampa.

This trip was unique in that we visited both Busch Gardens and Animal Kingdom within a few days of each other. It is relatively obvious that Animal Kingdom is attempting to be a copy of Busch Gardens. I might love Disney but that’s a fact. In some ways Busch is better in my opinion. The theming while not as emmersive as Disney is done well, the animal exhibits are great, and the roller coasters are amazing. Disney has a few aspects that are better, but personally, for an animal park, I prefer Busch.

A lion topiary at the entrance to Busch Gardens Africa

So we began our journey to Busch, stopped at McDonalds for a quick breakfast, and ended up arriving probably about 10AM or so. Jeff had an old Gold Pass, but I had to purchase a ticket, and again thanks to the dis boards, I used my Southwest Rapid Rewards for a 20% discount. Our first stop was at the coasters. One of my favorites, Scorpion was our first stop, as a rare survivor for the 1970’s Schwartzkopf influx of coasters in the country; it still is a fun little ride. Smooth (for when it was built), and no shoulder restraints! YEAH! We then hit Kumba and SheiKra, skipping Montu this trip. All three coasters were complete walk ons, and we rode both Kumba and SheiKra in the front row!

One of the steam trains at Busch Gardens. All four engines were built by Crown Metal Products

I was depressed that the sky bucket ride was down due to weather (it was rather windy) this trip, but instead we opted for a ride on the train. Like Disney, Busch runs true steam engines, and like Disney they have a total of four. However, they are not true originals, and are certainly not as well maintained as Disney’s. (In fact I think Worlds of Fun, our home park, maintains its steam engine better) In fact, even MUSEUM pieces are not as well maintained as Disney’s! Jeff then spent a good hour talking with the engineers, which is a tradition of his as he is an engineer of our steam train here in Kansas City.

A tiger topiary in the Jungala Section.

A white tiger in the Jungala exhibit

I thought this was sweet. It reminds me of my cat back home. Only much larger.

We headed back to the car to pick up Jeff’s camera before heading back in for some good-natured meandering. One of my favorite experiences of the trip was the animal wax mold machine. Several, several years ago Jeff had seen a similar wax mold machine at Sea world (this was about 20 years ago), but hadn’t seen anything like them again. We had heard Busch had added this experience and after discovered several wax mold machines decided to try to the tiger machine in Jungala. Amazingly the wax tiger made it home all in one piece!

Anyone up for lunch?

This golden eagle is tearing into his lunch with gusto.

We also spent quite a bit of time with many of the Animal exhibits in the Nairobi section, and the new Jungala section. The new Jungala section replaced the old Congo, and I really liked the new Tiger enclosure, and was surprised that Busch had a white tiger, which if I am correct, are pretty rare! We didn't make it around to the Edge of Africa (home to the African big cats), and was a bit disappointed, but after hoofing it around the park, we were absolutely exhausted.

We were also extremely hungry having subsisted on that early McDonalds visit for many many hours. Soon before leaving we headed for Zambia Smokehouse. We had eaten here when we visited about three years prior, right after SheiKra had opened and remembered it being excellent. It was still quite good this time around, but not as good as either of us remembers.

It was closing in on 5PM by this time, and as both of us were tired, and had received our room ready text message several hours before, we headed for the park exit. It was a beautiful evening, as it had been a beautiful day, as we rode the tram back to our car and headed back to Orlando…

On the way back we got to catch our Bay Lake RV park sign once more (we had recently bought into the Bay Lake Tower DVC resort at Disney and thought the name similarity was funny). We stopped at a rest stop quickly and before we knew it the Mickey electric pole came into sight. This was our first time staying at an EPCOT resort so we weren’t exactly sure where to head, so we followed the signs, which worked perfectly.

Once we arrived, and discovered the self parking lot, we parked (had a great space!) and walked towards the villas wing to find our room. Now I had studied the layout of BWV before we had left and felt pretty comfortable with where everything was. Problem being nothing is EVER like it looks like on a map. The “F” shaped building wasn’t “F” shaped at all, but had hallways upon hallways that seemed the meander all over the place. At this point I was starting to feel like those horror stories about never ending hallways was coming true. I had never gotten lost in a hotel before… well obviously there is a first time for everything.

We finally found a stairwell up to our room (it turned out later on we found one two doors down from us!) and found our room 4119, it was our first 1-bedroom villa so the excitement was mounting. Well it turned out our room was huge! Well huge compared to where we had stayed before. Pictures don’t do it justice, and it appears so much smaller in photos. Looking out from our balcony we appeared to have what would be a great view of illuminations, and the room was clean and completely renovated. Overall we had picked BWV for the low points (Standard view rooms are some of the lowest point values), and I personally had wanted to stay at Boardwalk for some time. Jeff was less then amused with the theming though, he just is not a pastel, floral kind of guy (who is?) but by the end of our stay both of us ended up greatly enjoying the space and location!

I figured I should share a couple of pictures of our villa. Here is the living room portion.

The Kitchen

After having our luggage delivered, and cleaning the whirlpool tub (with dish washing detergent) we made our plans. In actuality before the trip I figured we would relax this evening at the resort. That was also before we decided on both of us having an Annual Pass. Now going to a park for an hour or so didn’t seem like such a bad idea! So instead of heading to EPCOT or MGM we decided to visit what is almost always our first park of the trip, Magic Kingdom.

So first we have to figure out how to GET to the bus stop. I took a look at the map on the villa door, which ended up being much more helpful the then map provided by the Boardwalk and found the stairwell I had missed just two doors down. Aha! It was a quick jaunt to the bus stop (LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!) and what bus pulls up right when we get there? The Magic Kingdom Bus. If you are keeping score this is the THIRD time in a row the bus pulled up right as we arrived at the stop.

I forgot to mention that on our first night the bus driver to Downtown Disney had announced us to the whole bus that we were celebrating our anniversary; throughout the trip we had pretty good luck with the buses and their drivers. This time the driver really knew his stuff and took the curves in the big old bus like a true professional. We stopped at Swan and Dolphin before finally arriving at Magic Kingdom.

Not heading the advice on TouringPlans.com we had decided on visiting the park that was not only NOT recommended, but visiting it on a day that had a crowd calendar of 8! Was it packed? That is an understatement. Luckily, we hit the park right during Wishes so the lines at first weren’t too bad. We decided to check out Space Mountain to see for ourselves if the rehab made the ride any better. It posted a 20 minute wait, but was pretty much a walk on. Overall I have always liked Space Mountain, but after riding Disneyland’s I had so much hope for the rehab at Disney World. After reading the reviews, my hopes were dashed. The Queue lines received some updates, and the ride itself is MARGINALLY better (a little darker and maybe a little smoother), but overall a let down compared to the California version. As we exited Space Mountain the park had just closed and late magic hours just had begun so we headed next to TTA. Not to start a trend but I was SO disappointed with the spiel. I love this ride for its simplicity and the “Now approaching Mickey’s Star Traders” or “paging Mr. Morrow, Mr Tom Morrow” they need to change it back. Now. Yeah I know it won’t happen, but still.

From aboard the TTA we did make more the one realization (besides the bad spiel) that the park was insanely crowded. So we flirted with just leaving at that point. Instead of leaving I had an excellent idea (like usual) how about using a snack credit on the Dining Plan (remember that?!) to try… a DOLE WHIP! The illusive Dole Whip, like the illusive School Bread had been on my list of things to try for years. I love pineapple. Jeff actually needed some cajoling. To use the Dining Plan.

Did you even remember at this point that we even HAD the Dining Plan? Exactly! I was hesitant to add it, and was wondering at this point why Jeff was resistant to USE it! Who knows? The dole whip was good though, twisted Pineapple and vanilla ice cream. Jeff had a Root Beer float that he thought was quite good too. So after finishing off the last bits of our snack we decided to forgo the crowds and head for home.

We headed for the bus stop and had about an eight minute wait, not to bad, and our first stop was the Boardwalk! YEAH! After a quick walk to our room (by this time we thought we had everything figured out) Jeff decided to try out the spa tub, and I followed soon after him (not together get that thought out of your head), it was wonderfully, luxurious, as we only have a basic tub back home. Ahhh… I can remember it now.

After being soothed and bathed, we headed to bed. On quite possibly the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in, and had a good night rest.

Monday 1/25/2010

Originally Monday was going to be our first foray to the Magic Kingdom. Even though we had visited the night before we decided that was the plan for today too. We slept in until about 9AM and weren’t even out the door until close to 10AM. Jeff and I decided a few years ago that our vacations will be VACATIONS. After all we have now been to Disney over a dozen times. Today we decided to drive to Magic Kingdom, and even at about 10:30 the parking lot was dead, we literally had no need to take the tram to the TTC, but did anyway (it was there), and went directly for the monorail. The monorail ended up being overally crowded the entire week as it appeared the ferry was down the whole time. Not a problem, we were soon at the Magic Kingdom.

Casey's Corner

Me in front of Casey's Corner

As you probably have guessed I really love Magic Kingdom, I love reading the plaque above the two tunnels “Here you leave beyond the real world and enter a world of fantasy… etc” Love it. We walked down Main Street, and we had already decided our first stop would be for some food, we were both quite hungry and it was time to put to REAL use that ignored Dining Plan. Our first stop was Casey’s Corner. We had first tried this last year, and Jeff loved it, and I enjoyed it enough. I had heard about the change in the buns, but overall there wasn’t much difference? I again had the corn dog nuggets which were good as usual. I still get a kick out of the toppings bar too! Who knew that sauerkraut and onions could be included in a toppings bar?

Anywho… after leaving Busch before riding the train “one more time” and with the train being down by the time we arrived at MK last night our first ride of the day was already assumed, the WDW railroad. I still can’t get over how clean those trains are! I worked at the Worlds of Fun railroad as conductor this last summer and people are so messy, gum, wrappers, LEAVES LEAVES and MORE LEAVES. Yuck. Not a speck of dust on the Disney trains though; the brass is shinned, not even a bit of flecked paint. I still can’t get over their quality.

A photo from the Winnie the Pooh Ride.

This may seem very strange, but its again part of the Winnie the Pooh Ride. This section if from the dream sequence.

Another photo from Winnie the Pooh.

We ended up riding the train around almost two full circuits and finally exited at Frontierland station. We stopped at Big Thunder and grabbed a Fast Pass, and then headed towards Fantasyland and Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Jeff and I are not big Toontown fans, but we had to grab a few photos before Toontown is bulldozed out of existence. Our next stop was back to Fantasyland, we caught the tail end of a Saxophone roaming jazz band (probably from the Princess and the Frog movie), and decided on Winnie the Pooh as we hadn’t rode that for a few years. It was cute, but I was really looking out for Mr. Toad and didn’t see him! (there's supposed to be hidden in The Pooh ride as a tribute to Mr. Toad’s wild ride). We then headed to the Pooh playground near by for a shot of the 20,000 leagues under the sea tribute, and headed back out to head for Liberty Square. Only we didn’t make it there for a while. A smallish marching band, ala Music Man came out and we had to stop and watch. They were quite talented, and very entertaining!

Finally we headed for a visit with 999 happy haunts at Haunted Mansion, that is one ride that never gets old. We also ended up hitting Big Thunder, Pirates of the Caribbean and finally Jungle Cruise rounded out the rest of the visit. A lot of people have commented how Jungle Cruise now has a “set” script, and commented how that would negatively affect the ride. Having been a conductor on the train here at our park in Kansas City (worlds of fun) and having what was a “set” script, and then changing it, without any comments from the staff, I can attest that the jungle cruise skippers do basically the same thing. They hit the major points (It’s the backside of water!) but still embellish. It was a great time as always.

Big Thunder Mountain!

You might want to document this moment in time. Not only did Jeff take his camera ("precious") with him on a roller coaster, but also took photos on the ride!


The Bride from Haunted Mansion.

Madame Leota from Haunted Mansion.

These folks really got the "point" on the Jungle Cruise!

Some head hunters from Jungle Cruise.

This photo says it all!

It was closing in on about 4PM at this time so we decided to head out. This is what I love about both DVC and long 9 days vacations, we only spent 4-5 hours in a park at one time. We headed the monorail, and took the express monorail back to TTC, and back to our car. As we drove back to BWV we stopped at the Hess station for some soda, chips and snacks and then found our amazing BWV parking space. First row, first space! The car stayed there for the next few days.

We headed back up the room to relax, I read a little bit and then decided to watch one of th DVD’s I had brought with us, The Last Samurai. Since we were in a re-modeled room, with a brand new flat screen TV we found out that they probably never fully hooked the DVD player up the TV so it took us about 30 minutes to figure that out (actually it took Jeff 30 minutes or so to figure out I didn’t help to much!), I watched about the first hour and then we decided to head out early for our 8:05PM at Akershus.

Details in the hallway carpet. I love the mickey on the roller coaster!

We ended up getting a little lost trying to find the lobby (who knew the lobby was on the 2^nd floor? Maybe that big button on the elevator that says LOBBY should have helped us there). We stopped at main shop at the Boardwalk and Jeff finally found the watch he had been looking for, that he had seen the previous year. It was closing in on 7 or so he decided to think about it while we visited EPCOT.

The Boardwalk at night, shot from near the EPCOT entrance.

On entering from the International Gateway the first stop was the France Pavilion.

Another one of France.

And now for something completely different! The Morocco Pavilion.

This was our first walk to EPCOT and I found it much quicker then I expected. We stopped in a few pavilions to shop and look around before heading to Norway. We decided to check into our ADR (Advance Dining Reservation) since there was a pretty significant check in line. Once we had checked in, we waited just a few minutes before we were called.

Now I was a little anxious at the point, as this was our first ever character meal. I felt it would feel odd to be two adults, without kids at what I had always thought was a “kids” thing. Truth is it was a little weird at first, but I enjoyed it. It is our quest to eat around the world at EPCOT, and the last two we had left were China and Norway. I always love trying the ethnic foods, and I was more then a little worried that because of the characters the food would be “dumbed down”. It might have been a little but it was still quite good.

We first started with the cold buffet, I love seafood, Jeff loves cheese, a match made in heaven. The cold salads (tomato, shrimp, etc) were quite good, as was the cheese and cold salmon and cod. There are very few seafood options I don’t like so I was happy.

Jeff really liked all the cheese options especially the caramel goat cheese. It was a bit of an unusual flavor but very good.

For our entrée’s I had the mustard glazed salmon, Jeff had the beef tips. The Glazed salmon ranked as a 5 out of 5 for me, I loved salmon, and the mustard glaze added a unique but wonderful flavor. Jeff enjoyed his beef tips, and I tried them, the taste seemed somewhat similar to a stew, but had a great flavoring to it.

Last was dessert, our favorite part of the meal, they had changed the trio of desserts obviously a few months ago, as I believe it used to include school bread (still on my list of things to try!) instead we had rice pudding, apple crisp and chocolate mouse. The apple crisp was excellent (though I never paired apples with Norway), the rice pudding had a unique texture and took some time to get used to, but was still good. The chocolate moose, was well… chocolate, can’t ever go wrong there.

Ariel (Little Mermaid)

Snow White (she seemed a little odd...)

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Cinderella

While working on our entrees the princesses all came through, they all seemed to stay in character, and while I was really hoping Mulan would be there tonight, (she is one of my favorite characters) we ended up with Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty). Lucky enough we had a few cast members around who were able to take our photos. It was a unique experience and I am glad we tried it.

Would we return? I would rank the restaurant as a 4 out of 5 overall, but the overall cost $37.95 per person makes it daunting to pay out of pocket. Plus with EPCOT having so many different and unique dining options, we may make it back but it might be awhile. I still wish that they would offer either one of the meals without characters to make the meal less cost prohibitive. In this case we had the Dining Plan, and that made Akershus actually a great value.

While finishing up with the characters and moving to dessert, Illuminations went off, so as we left, the park was already closed. It was rather surreal moving through a empty World Showcase, as we headed for the Intl Gateway and then the Boardwalk. On the way back Jeff also had decided to purchase his watch, as there were only two left. Afteward's we headed back to our room, relaxed a bit, and went to bed.

Pre-Trip Report III

So here we are, 11 days out! WHOO!!! Freedom sweet freedom is less then 2 weeks away! Since my last post there have been lots of changes, and lots of weather. It all started Christmas eve when “THE storm” hit, and it kept goiiinnngg. Just like the energizer battery bunny. Snow, then more snow, then more snow, then EVEN more snow! ACK. To top it off it was COLD! For over two weeks non-stop. I can’t wait to see a place with no snow. Its supposed to be in the 70’s down in Florida when we are there.

So does Florida sound nice? You better believe it!

Now as far as changes. Lots of them. First, AT&T announced their plans to change our schedule to 8-5 Monday through Friday. Sounds good? No working Saturdays? Easier to take a night class? Somehow I think that AT&T is not just being nice. I hope they are but not drinking their wine.

When the schedule changed though it meant that IF I keep my job (hopefully), that I will not have to use as much vacation, you know for Saturdays off. So I made the decision to fly out earlier on Saturday, get out of the stop in Milwaukee finally, and booked us on the 12PM outbound, non stop to Orlando. Since then that has changed to the 3:15 PM flight. My gosh I have changed my flight THREE times! Whats wrong with me?

The flight price did go up $115 one way to Florida (that seems so high), but our rental car has gone down, its now at $106 with tax for 9 days. Pretty good I think. I don’t expect any lower. I was doing the happy dance a few days ago when that went down!

I also went through with the plans to book a value resort for Saturday night, we are staying there for $59 a night before tax, Disney will move our bags for us, and its less expensive then the Tampa hotels.

I haven’t booked any tours for our trip, I am hoping to finally rent a water mouse (sea racyer) at the Polynesian, I think we will play that one by ear. Kind of like my plans for Typhoon Lagoon.

Last but certainly not least is the college class condendrum. On our last program I had enrolled in the online version of Intermediate Algebra. Well last night (Monday) I went online and looked at the syllabus, course work, etc. Uhhh.. I guess I forgot a lot more then I thought I did! So back to the drawing board, not what I was wanting to do AT ALL. However this morning I dropped Immediate Algebra, and enrolled in Beginning Algebra, Monday and Wednesday 6:30-7:45 at Maple Woods. I have to thank AT&T and their schedule change for making this even possible. To be honest… it probably was for the best that what transpired, happened the way it did. If I had stayed enrolled in Beginning Algebra the way I was originally scheduled I would have had to change anyway (it was originally 8-9AM in the morning). It looks a little simple from the book at first but I think that will get me back into doing the harder math that I have’t done in 13 years!

Disney Pre-Trip Report Post II

It was not to be. You guessed it, no online classes. That night I spent hours considering different options, moving the trip to the 1st of January, moving to a Wednesday – Tuesday trip (so that I would only miss one class), etc. Finally I went to bed at 1AM that morning with a massive headache. My husband tells me I worry to much, and I have to agree. I called the next morning to Member Services and they did have Fri/Sat available for the BWV standard view, I didn’t take it, and I am glad I didn’t. A few days later, after some serious research I decided to take a different class. Intermediate Algebra. After researching the nursing program a bit more I found out about a test I would have to take that involved a lot of advance math. I had been having a few problems in Chemistry this semester with very basic algebra, it had been 16 years since I had taken it… disaster averted. November 2nd came for enrollment, I was enrolled in Algebra. I hope I do as good this time as I did way back in 1996!

After one disaster was averted I was back to full planning mode. I had made dining reservations on October 26th (using the original plan of attack), right now we have still not decided on the Dining Plan or not… It seems by the math I am working that it is still a pretty good deal, the jury is still out though as the Boardwalk area is not heavy in counter service options. Oh the horror of having to decide on what to eat!

I am sure I will re-organize numbers until I am blue in the face. A few weeks later, after the “college class fiasco” I received $200 on my AT&T rewards card, figuring it was a great time to book plane tickets that’s exactly what I did. Flying down Saturday Night, Jan 23rd, and flying back Sunday Jan 31st, outbound we stop in Wisconsin, coming back is NS, I am waiting on the NS on Jan 23rd to open up for a decent price we shall see.

So where are we now? Free plane flights, pre-paid hotel room (I love DVC!), AP rates for the last two nights, wow its over 2 months out and I almost completely planned out! How did I ever change from a by the seat of my pants to an over obsessive uber planner?

Here we are now, barely a month out, much has changed, much has not. Still flying out on that Wisconsin flight, I can’t believe the prices have not gone down one bit! NS is now $169 ONE WAY on Southwest if we didn’t want to fly into Milwaukee. I hate Milwaukee, especially in JANUARY. Yikes. That much hasn’t changed.

I have enrolled in my College Algebra online course, that starts Jan 11th, joy. I hated Algebra the first time, I don’t imagine much has changed… :P

I have since my last report also rented our car, it started at $180 right now I have it down to $146, which is a pretty good drop, but again no where near last years $96! Oh well it is one more day, so I figured it would be a little more.

The biggest change, I am SO EXCITED about! Jeff has asked me what I wanted to Christmas, and I had no idea. Then FINALLY queue the Hallelujah Chorus the regular AP rates came out! So how is that related to my xmas present from Jeff? Actually they are pretty linked. Here’s the deal. AP rates come out end of November, the CBR room had gone down in price from $119 to $107, but I also noticed something else. Polynesian was lower then it has been in a decade, $200 a night. Yeah living the caviar lifestyle on a beer budget. I know I know. Disney trips are my one and only splurge though, I don’t spend hundreds (or thousands) on clothing every year, don’t live in a big massive house, and taco bell is my usual dine out option. (after all where else can you get a decent meal under $3? Okay decent is debatable). We had stayed at Polynesian years before, one night in 2003, and it was beyond beautiful, plus it was on the monorail line, gotta love that. Did I mention I loved the theme? South seas… in Florida.

So I discussed the options with Jeff, he was intrigued, but agreed to stay with the more rational (affordable) option at CBR. The little wheels in Jeff’s head though had begun to spin and I was in the dark, like usual. So about two weeks ago he comes out with door #3. What if we upgraded to Polynesian and that was my Christmas present? I loved that idea! Christmas is only three days from now and I still love the idea! So early Saturday December the 12th morning, as I was waking up to go to work (yuck), he tells me to book the Polynesian. I was on a high, but with a high, also comes a low, and I had the aweful thought that Poly wouldn’t be available, after all it was $200 a night, but for Poly that is a great rate.

So I called Disney… I asked if Polynesian was available for Jan 29-31st. First they offered me Magic Kingdom view… not likely to have that kind of money anytime soon! So I asked cautiously if Garden View (the cheapest Poly view) was available. Someone must really like me, because it was available. I was giddy, I was super excited, yes I was happy, like an 8 year old at 3AM on Christmas morning, seeing the pile of presents under the tree happy. I called Jeff, who was already on his way to work, and told him the news.

Jeff never gets excited he says that’s my family nitch, I get excited enough for both of us. I guess that’s true. Next I had to decide what area of the resort to request. After much searching, reading unofficial sites (love those), I decided on Tokealau, 3rd floor as some say it has partial views of the Lagoon and Magic Kingdom. Keeping my fingers crossed. Oh well, I am happy we are going, I am happy with where we are staying, I am just happy in general.

I skipped an important part in this trip report. See early December Jeff and I (as part of the American Coaster Enthusiasts) host Coaster Christmas, a regional event at Silver Dollar City. This year, despise the cold, and just being five short months after the national Coaster Con had been in town we had a decent turn out, 41 people. A good friend of ours Matt was also in attendance (well we haven’t seen Matt for awhile because he now has a girl friend), and that significant other was part of my little addendum here. See they were going down to Orlando too, and they were arriving on Jan 29th, 2 days before we were scheduled to leave L

We discussed the possibility of meeting up Saturday night for dinner, well shortly thereafter dinner turned to breakfast, and we all decided on 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. It will be my first character meal, I am excited about that too. Turns out Jeff is too. Who knew? That should be fun, and guess what, Grand Floridian is not only walkable distance from the Polynesian, but its also only one monorail stop OVER from Polynesian. It just so happened to work out peeerrffecctlly. *evil laugh*

So here we are 33 days out, (yes I count), I have a rental car, which I am now not even sure I need, we still have no hotel room for Saturday night, but hotels for every other night, dining reservations, and I have just spent the unholy amount that I will not even mention to renew Jeff’s Annual Pass, hey its for 15 months now, it’s a good deal right? ($366 BTW) I am just getting a regular park hopper ticket when we get down there.

So between now and Jan 23rd I am left with a few decisions to make. First I still have to decide on the Dining Plan or not.. I am thinking not as the counter service options at Boardwalk are not exactly overflowing. I also still have to book a hotel night for Saturday and I am looking at probably a value resort at Disney. Why? When we are going to Tampa and Busch Gardens on Sunday? Easy Tampa hotels are $100 a night, Disney is $54 a night. Why does this matter when I am paying $200 a night for Polynesian? Because deep down…. Way deep down I am always looking for the best deal. I also have to get a decision out of Jeff on whether to do any of the tours or not… probably not we have so much else scheduled, but we will see.