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12-03-2007, 07:11 PM
We're back at OKW. We arrived Friday after a good flight and good trip using DME from the airport. We arrived at OKW about 1:30pm fully expecting the need to wait until 4:00 for our villa.
We were told that "our" room wasn't yet clean, but they did have an available room in Building 47 which we gladly accepted. The room is on the 2nd floor and was clean and in great shape. We even have 2 decorative pillows on the bed ... ??
Our OwnersLocker was waiting for us again - it's always good to see our "stuff" ! :) We had 3 bottles of wine purchased at F&W in the locker and it was great to be reunited with those items. I don't think they'll last until our next trip. ;)
We also had groceries delivered by GardenGrocer. They were left at the Bell Stand and we got everything in a timely fashion.
We took the boat to SSR after getting settled and requested a replacement DVC membership card. They gave us each a paper card which is good for 3 months and said we'd need to call MS to request a "real" card. They said they had problems with the prior company and have just recently found another to produce the cards. Since MS was closed Friday afternoon I had to call on Saturday and had a 20 minute hold, but the new cards should take 3-4 weeks to arrive. We had a late lunch at the Turf Club while at SSR. The meal was nice - nothing special, but nice.
We had a quiet day on Saturday and had a great meal at Narcoossee's that evening to celebrate our 37th Anniversary. Narcoossee's is one of our favorite restaurants here at WDW. We also have a meal planned at CA Grille for our last eveing this week.
We went to AK on Sunday morning specifically to go to "Finding Nemo- The Musical" - a great show if you haven't seen it. We've now been to the show about 20 times since it opened and never get tired of it. Had lunch at "Yak and Yeti" - a great addition to AK. It is very well themed with a nice menu. It is not part of DDE, but they do offer a 10% AP discount.
Sunday evening we went over to Epcot specifically to go to CP. We did not have the dinner package, so we arrived over an hour early for the 6:45pm show and were well within the roped off queue area. They really dragged their feet clearing out the 5:00 audience and then began seating the reserved dinner guests late. They did begin the show at 6:45, but still had not started seating the standby guests. At 6:55 we were still about 50 guests from the gate and they closed off seating so we did not get a seat. While in the queue a CM came thru with a handheld counter asking each party how many they had in their group. At no time was there any indication that those in the queue would not get a seat. The full queue stretched down past Germany, but they went completely thru the roped off area counting those in line. We have always been able to get into the program in the past from even further back than this year. It appears they have really upped the reserved seating and many standby guests will be disappointed. We will try again on another evening, but the experience left a big disappointment.
Today we went resort hopping. We went to WL/VWL first. I took quite a few photos and will post some later this week. Both look great with wonderful Christmas decor. There was a CM in the Iron Spike room searching for some missing decorative pillows. She indicated that a guest must have "borrowed" them - and was on the phone reporting the missing decor. The WL tree was as stunning as ever. We took the boat over to CR.
While the decorations are not nearly as memorable at CR, the new shop in the concourse looks great and I took a number of new photos of the construction. They are beginning the 4th floor now. I will also get some more from the observation deck when we have our dinner at CA Grille before coming home.
We went over to MK from the CR and really enjoyed the great decorations there. Had lunch at Columbia Harbour House and just walked thru the park to enjoy the decor. We went back to our villa afterwards and found that we had no towels in our room. We were supposed to have a full clean today and they did take all of our towels (even remaining unused towels and dish towels), did NOT change the bed linens or make the bed, did NOT leave any fresh towels or soaps but did take the gratuity left on the key shelf near the front door.
When DW called Housekeeping a supervisor called her back to explain that they are replacing all of the towels now and one person was supposed to remove the old towels and someone else was to bring in the new towels and linens. Within about 15 minutes someone arrived with the new towels (MUCH more plush than the old ones and higher thread count linens), changed the bed sheets, vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom - but still did not leave any soaps or dish towel - so another phone call was necessary. Soaps and dishtowels were in a plastic bag hanging outside the door when we returned at 7:15 tonite.
Next we headed over to MGM - the name of the park will officially change to Disney's Hollywood Studios on January 7, 2008. I wonder how long it will take for the new name to become part of the vernacular (and how long to make the change on buses and printed materials). We went to the 5:00pm show of the Harlem Gospel Choir - a lively inspirational program with lots of seasonal carols. It's a 30 minute show.
After the gospel group we rode TGMR since it was still slightly daylight before heading over to the Osborne Lights. As usual, they are a wonderful display and felt a little bigger than last year. In the "Small World" category, as we walked down the street we passed JimC and DW-Nancy and Jim's mother. We ran into them in September in a hallway at AKV and at HH last May - also by chance. It was good to have a few minutes to talk with them again.
I plan to spend the day attending the DVC Annual Meetings tomorrow beginning at 10:00am and again at 2:00pm. I will post a report of the events tomorrow afternoon on the DVC Operations Board. I hope to be able to ask about the banking changes and when OKW members can expect to receive the paperwork required to decline the extension.
We have a few other plans this week, so my time on the boards will be limited, but I will check in when I can.
We were told that "our" room wasn't yet clean, but they did have an available room in Building 47 which we gladly accepted. The room is on the 2nd floor and was clean and in great shape. We even have 2 decorative pillows on the bed ... ??
Our OwnersLocker was waiting for us again - it's always good to see our "stuff" ! :) We had 3 bottles of wine purchased at F&W in the locker and it was great to be reunited with those items. I don't think they'll last until our next trip. ;)
We also had groceries delivered by GardenGrocer. They were left at the Bell Stand and we got everything in a timely fashion.
We took the boat to SSR after getting settled and requested a replacement DVC membership card. They gave us each a paper card which is good for 3 months and said we'd need to call MS to request a "real" card. They said they had problems with the prior company and have just recently found another to produce the cards. Since MS was closed Friday afternoon I had to call on Saturday and had a 20 minute hold, but the new cards should take 3-4 weeks to arrive. We had a late lunch at the Turf Club while at SSR. The meal was nice - nothing special, but nice.
We had a quiet day on Saturday and had a great meal at Narcoossee's that evening to celebrate our 37th Anniversary. Narcoossee's is one of our favorite restaurants here at WDW. We also have a meal planned at CA Grille for our last eveing this week.
We went to AK on Sunday morning specifically to go to "Finding Nemo- The Musical" - a great show if you haven't seen it. We've now been to the show about 20 times since it opened and never get tired of it. Had lunch at "Yak and Yeti" - a great addition to AK. It is very well themed with a nice menu. It is not part of DDE, but they do offer a 10% AP discount.
Sunday evening we went over to Epcot specifically to go to CP. We did not have the dinner package, so we arrived over an hour early for the 6:45pm show and were well within the roped off queue area. They really dragged their feet clearing out the 5:00 audience and then began seating the reserved dinner guests late. They did begin the show at 6:45, but still had not started seating the standby guests. At 6:55 we were still about 50 guests from the gate and they closed off seating so we did not get a seat. While in the queue a CM came thru with a handheld counter asking each party how many they had in their group. At no time was there any indication that those in the queue would not get a seat. The full queue stretched down past Germany, but they went completely thru the roped off area counting those in line. We have always been able to get into the program in the past from even further back than this year. It appears they have really upped the reserved seating and many standby guests will be disappointed. We will try again on another evening, but the experience left a big disappointment.
Today we went resort hopping. We went to WL/VWL first. I took quite a few photos and will post some later this week. Both look great with wonderful Christmas decor. There was a CM in the Iron Spike room searching for some missing decorative pillows. She indicated that a guest must have "borrowed" them - and was on the phone reporting the missing decor. The WL tree was as stunning as ever. We took the boat over to CR.
While the decorations are not nearly as memorable at CR, the new shop in the concourse looks great and I took a number of new photos of the construction. They are beginning the 4th floor now. I will also get some more from the observation deck when we have our dinner at CA Grille before coming home.
We went over to MK from the CR and really enjoyed the great decorations there. Had lunch at Columbia Harbour House and just walked thru the park to enjoy the decor. We went back to our villa afterwards and found that we had no towels in our room. We were supposed to have a full clean today and they did take all of our towels (even remaining unused towels and dish towels), did NOT change the bed linens or make the bed, did NOT leave any fresh towels or soaps but did take the gratuity left on the key shelf near the front door.
When DW called Housekeeping a supervisor called her back to explain that they are replacing all of the towels now and one person was supposed to remove the old towels and someone else was to bring in the new towels and linens. Within about 15 minutes someone arrived with the new towels (MUCH more plush than the old ones and higher thread count linens), changed the bed sheets, vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom - but still did not leave any soaps or dish towel - so another phone call was necessary. Soaps and dishtowels were in a plastic bag hanging outside the door when we returned at 7:15 tonite.
Next we headed over to MGM - the name of the park will officially change to Disney's Hollywood Studios on January 7, 2008. I wonder how long it will take for the new name to become part of the vernacular (and how long to make the change on buses and printed materials). We went to the 5:00pm show of the Harlem Gospel Choir - a lively inspirational program with lots of seasonal carols. It's a 30 minute show.
After the gospel group we rode TGMR since it was still slightly daylight before heading over to the Osborne Lights. As usual, they are a wonderful display and felt a little bigger than last year. In the "Small World" category, as we walked down the street we passed JimC and DW-Nancy and Jim's mother. We ran into them in September in a hallway at AKV and at HH last May - also by chance. It was good to have a few minutes to talk with them again.
I plan to spend the day attending the DVC Annual Meetings tomorrow beginning at 10:00am and again at 2:00pm. I will post a report of the events tomorrow afternoon on the DVC Operations Board. I hope to be able to ask about the banking changes and when OKW members can expect to receive the paperwork required to decline the extension.
We have a few other plans this week, so my time on the boards will be limited, but I will check in when I can.