Mickey's Hand is in my Pocket II! & DH's P.O.V: pg 19-7/20 On Our Way Home....

[312.Duck]

Originally Posted by TyRy
After parking a million miles away even though the half of the front lot was completely empty we finally make it to the Poly about 15 minutes after our ADR time. Thankfully they would still seat us.

OH MY LORD!
My knee was still hurting bad this early in the trip.
And let me tell you: There is nothing like hoofing it out in pain,
and watching the tram pass you by, folks sitting in comfort, enjoying the ride!

..."D'oh!"​

​

'twas bad enuff my back was really sore to begin with, but to hurt my knee running up the stairs to catch the cab on the way to Disney was just plain torturous!~

By Day 03 I purchased one of those cheap knee braces...

and I was virtually healed by Day 04... <whew!>

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Originally Posted by TyRy
We waited probably about ten minutes for our pager to go off and then we were shown to our table in the main dining room.

In the absence of the Contemporary's Outer Rim Lounge...

...the Ohana bar (no pics )may be becoming my 2nd favorite bar at DisneyWorld, 1st being the Territory Lounge @ Wilderness Lodge,

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click to enlarge​

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...no question (great drinks, best atmosphere).

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Originally Posted by TyRy
While we weren’t sitting at the windows, we were the next row in and had a great view of the MK and the Castle. Which we have no pictures of!!!

​

THIS is why I love OHANA so much. You can get a perfect view of the MK and the gorgeous Polynesian spread. I remember yearning to go here back in 2000 while walking the grounds,
looking up at the smoke-tinted forward-angled windows (like those of an air traffic control tower),

​

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...seeing folks enjoying their food, looking out at the resort.

I pictured it to be serene, boy was I wrong (and happily so!).​

LOOK AT THAT FLAME!!! (Yum!!!)​

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Originally Posted by TyRy
Chris was our server and I cannot recommend him enough. If you are headed to O’Hana soon, be sure to ask for him..he was probably the best waiter we had during the trip. Here’s a pic with him in the background:

He was good, but not that great. TyRy just had a crush on him LOL!


Originally Posted by TyRy
DH orders a beer, and I order something else I had been looking forward to – a Lapu Lapu.

Yes! Finally a half way decent beer at Disney! (can't remember the ones at that Boardwalk brewery, though (too long ago, need to return ))...

Thirsty just lookin' at it...

​

BUT...that Lapu Lapu was unreal. Next time I'm making a point of sitting at that bar, slamming a Lapu Lapu down long before dinner. Aww, heck. WHo needs dinner?!

Gotta love that Lapu Lapu light! ...

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Originally Posted by TyRy
Since we were in the main dining room, we got to see the Coconut Races and some of the other fun things that were happening.

Adorable!~ This was one time I wouldn't mind having a younger child at Disney. Fun!!!
Check out the video of the Race!

Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play !

 

[312.Duck]

Dessert...can someone explain why, in the restaurant we had arguably our best time in, with decent food and good dessert, we would look so darn mad eating it up?? LOL!

...me stuffing Bananas Foster down my throat...but seriously, I loved it!

mAD mARK

And something must've interrupted TyRy,
cuz all of a sudden she looks up and gives a mean stare out the window...
(VIDEO BELOW- CLICK TO PLAY)

mAD tyRy ................(clearer on the home vid)

She probably heard something and was ready to defend the Castle~

 

[312.Duck]

Just wanted to throw in an Ohana video,

showing the grille flaming away...​

"Yum!"​

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

Since we were in the main dining room, we got to see the Coconut Races and some of the other fun things that were happening.

Great video of the race. DD8 always does the one at Whispering Canyon Cafe.. " The Pony Trot!" We are headed to the Lua on our trip in December..first time to eat at the POLY

 

[TyRy]

Today dawned really early and I was out the door around 7:30am to go and check-in at AKV. I used one of the quick exits DH detailed as we parked in the lot right by the bus stop the night before. That was a really quick way to the car. Anyway, I don’t know why I still have in my head that the earlier I check in the better chance I have at getting what I’ve requested. So I pull up with a great feeling of anticipation, I valeted the car (LOVE THAT!) and ran inside. The first thing to hit me was that awesome wood burning smell, which if I now smell anywhere else instantly reminds me of the AKV . And for some reason, it just seems to be so relaxing once you walk in. Well, at least most of the time, I was on a mission and that mission was to get checked in so I could get back to BWV and enjoy our last couple of hours there There was only one other person in line, so I got through pretty quickly. Our room was not ready (big shock!) so it was back to BWV. For some reason, the lot I had just left was suddenly blocked off and I could not get back into it, oh well, off to the Valet I go

DH was still asleep, so I finished packing and waited for him to get up. Once he did and we were ready to go, we grabbed everything and walked to get the car from the valet. Figured that would be quicker than waiting for Bell Services on a Sunday morning. Since the Chicago Bears were not playing until later tonight our original plan today was to go to the outlet mall, but since we had already done that and were not going to go down that path again , we headed to DTD instead since we had not been there yet. It was the morning after the last night for Pleasure Island, so it was kinda sad to walk through part of it (they had a big part blocked off) and remember how much fun it used to be. We had not been back after they opened it to everyone to walk through…it just lost part of its fun for us. But it was still sad

Since we had not had breakfast and had no plans until dinner we decided to see if we could get into Raglan Road. I walked up and asked if they could seat us (wasn’t even noon yet) and they said no problem. We were seated right away and the restaurant was pretty much empty and seemed to stay that way throughout our lunch.

I haven’t seen a ton of pics of the inside, so here are a few:

DH started off with a beer flight and I had just a pop.

I did try the beers, one I liked and one tasted like burnt wood, which DH just happened to get a pic of me tasting:

DH ordered the Keen Eye for the Shepherds Pie

and I had the Fada Burger minus the cheese.

DH thought his Shepherds Pie was on the small side, but my burger was huge and delicious. I ended up giving him part of it. For dessert DH ordered Gert’s Bread and Butter Pudding. I only had a taste which was yummy, but I think DH enjoyed it.

After that it was off to the Candy and Christmas store to spend my rewards card which was burning a hole in my pocket. I picked up a couple of small things at the Candy store and then hit the Christmas Store. A store I can spend hours in and would be willing to sell DH off for just so I could buy more Christmas things. See – we are Christmas crazy at our house. DH will probably say that I am the crazy one, which I freely admit to being, but he does help. Afterall – he has to decorate the whole outside while I take care of the inside. And just so you know who you are dealing with, here’s a pic of our house at Christmas time:

You understand now right

So my arms are full of things to purchase (I could not find anywhere one of those little baskets!) when DIL’s call to say they are arriving and where should they meet us? Ummm, we had to call them back because we had not called the AKV to see if our room was ready yet...

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow you do like your Christmas lights Over here it's only really been the last few years that people have decorated the outside of houses

 

[TyRy]

Wow you do like your Christmas lights Over here it's only really been the last few years that people have decorated the outside of houses

Yep - and now once we convert all to LED's we'll be able to string even more togther...there are a few bare spaces that need covering

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

You need to go to DHS during Osbourne lights! Your house reminded me of them!

 

[TyRy]

You need to go to DHS during Osbourne lights! Your house reminded me of them!

I've ALWAYS wanted to go during that time of year - I've actually seen them during the day up, but not on. We came close on our 2004 trip as the last day or two we saw some of the holiday decorations. Unfortunately it was cold and now DH has declared we are not going during that time of year cause it's too cold One of these days I'm going to have to just grab a friend an go without him!

 

[TyRy]

Since the DIL's are now very close we call and check and our room is ready, #5430. So DH decides we can come back later in the week to buy things (again, famous last words ) so he makes me put it all down so we can go meet up with them at AKV. As soon as we get to the car, I make DH pop the trunk so I can get out my teeny tiny binder for this trip. I wanted to cross-reference our room number with notes I had about all the AKV rooms and was happy that it had really nothing bad to say about it.

The car ride back to AKV consisted of me having to call AGAIN to get the room number because all of the sudden I thought I had rememered it wrong - I even got the same CM and he laughed at me as was DH Once we arrived we had perfect timing and just as we were pulling up and emptying the luggage, they appeared walking across the driveway. I know the binder didn't have anything bad to say about the rooms BUT – I was still anxious, so while the guys got the luggage DMIL and I took off for the room.

Well – have I mentioned I have no sense of direction? Once I lose Lake Michigan I have absolutely no way of knowing any direction. So I promptly took DMIL off in the opposite direction of the pool (which is what view we had) and we walked all the way down the first hallway on the left. After a while we figured out we were nowhere near where we were supposed to be, so we went back the other way. We eventually found the room, but just barely beat the guys to it. Oopsie.

It’s exactly like we expected and I’m really, really happy with it. Got all my requests – non-handicapped, Zebra Trail. I was trying to avoid looking at the restaurant roofs by requesting Zebra Trail and it worked

Here are the pictures of the villa..
Studio #5430

And the one bedroom part - Room #5432

It was awesome! We hung out at the resort for a bit as we had plans for MNSSHP that night, and DIL’s were going off on their own. The plan was to come back and catch the end of the Bears game with DFIL, but that was the extent of the plans together for that night. I, of course, was planning to spend as much time at MNSSHP as I could

 

[DisneyJo]

Lovely villa, looks as though there was tons of room and how funny you got lost

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

Wow, gorgeous Villa! We just attended an event in upstate NY where we got convinced to add-on 100 pts at AKV(Kidani) We are going to tour the mock-ups at SSR in 18 DAYS!! Yeah! By the way, you were there for 9 days? at what point did you switch over to AKV? Keep the info coming!

 

[TyRy]

Lovely villa, looks as though there was tons of room and how funny you got lost

Since there was only four of us, it was a TON of room. We have one reserved for next year, again for just four of us, but lots of friends coming and staying other places as well, so we'll have plenty of room to hang out.

Wow, gorgeous Villa! We just attended an event in upstate NY where we got convinced to add-on 100 pts at AKV(Kidani) We are going to tour the mock-ups at SSR in 18 DAYS!! Yeah! By the way, you were there for 9 days? at what point did you switch over to AKV? Keep the info coming!

YEAH - Welcome Home neighbor (now I have the Mister Rogers song in my head ) We were at BWV for two nights and AKV for eight. It was awesome. We did the two nights at BWV first and then switched to AKV...it was so relaxing, but then again...I didn't have a choice after our first night....but that's coming up

 

[TyRy]

We are going to tour the mock-ups at SSR in 18 DAYS!!

YEAH - have so much fun!

 

[312.Duck]

...got some catchin' up to do!

 

[312.Duck]

HEY! Before I continue with MY version of the events starting DAY 03,
let me post my daily cliff notes which I was jotting down before bed nightly to help jog my memory (cleaned up a bit):

Day 02 SAT- slept like ____ on wrong side of bed, back & knee killing me...
get up, start stretching, she goes to bakery, comes back, I stretch more, 
walk around....Dolphin...Swan...Yacht CLub, Beach Club...
went to Epcot instead of Capn Jacks, Kefta, pasta, beef thing, soup at France, 
slushie, waddle around past Mexico, long line at Korea for beer, bac to mehico, 
drink lg iced tea, feel like pukinig, go on Duck ride, feel better...
walk back to BW to get ready for dinner at Ohana...
loving free DVC valet service, long walk from car to tram for stupid ride 
to ohoana which we could have walked...get in there, get great seat, 
pineapple, Widmer, Hawaiian fun, great dessert...tram to spectro and wishes...
t forgets our Disney brick location...tried to get water, gave the hell up...
squished in with bad back to wishes...photopasses...
went on rides cuz everyone left...big timber...space...carpet rides, dumbo...
pirates (splashed fixed)...tree closed...home... loving free DVC valet service

Translation:
¤ I ate so much a lunch I thought I was going to lose it, but the new Donald Duck ride soothed my tummy.
¤ We could have walked to Ohana in a about 1/3 of the time it took to wait for a monorail <LOL>.
¤ We tried to locate our Disney commemorative Brick without our location information -- in the DARK.
¤ Pirates of the Carribean, for the FIRST TIME since I've ever started going to DisneyWorld got the splashes from the ships' cannons' to a respectable height (they used to splash high enough to get you wet at Disneyland, but have always been little "bloops" at the World).
¤ And...the Swiss Family Robinson Tree, always my favorite (since the Tiki Room was changed ) was closed...

<phew!~>

 

[312.Duck]

Today dawned really early and I was out the door around 7:30am to go and check-in at AKV.
.
DH was still asleep, so I finished ...

OHHH YESSS!!! Now that's what vacation's all about.
Sleeping in late, and having a crazy Dizzer go and get your room details taken care of for you!

=-=
I wonder if Tiggerbell does this while her sisters/daughters sleep in?
=-=

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Originally Posted by TyRy

I used one of the quick exits DH detailed as we parked in the lot right by the bus stop the night before. That was a really quick way to the car.
Yep...the green path, below,
for those of you in the far wing at the Boardwalk...
Let's review (or not):
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Green path ...leading to the front... next to our room...
led to the front driveway, on the hotel side of the bridge
which separates the parking lot from the grounds.
When using valet, simply turn <left> and walk up to
the entrance...and I adore this walk.
BTW, The Boardwalk entrance is my favorite of all Disney Resorts...

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Originally Posted by TyRy

Since we had not had breakfast and had no plans until dinner we decided to see if we could get into Raglan Road.
DH started off with a beer flight and I had just a pop. << FYI: "pop" is MidWest for "soda"

Yeah...I was slightly disapppointed with the "flight."
This being Ragland Road (beautiful inside), the big Irish joint at Disney,
I was hoping for a li'l something different than the same ol' stuff we have at
every south side Irish tagern in Chicago: Guiness, Smithwickes, Harps, etc...
I mean, I like them all, and the presentation was gorgeous as expected, but...
as with just about everything else consumable at Disney these days, it was a slight letdown.
I guess they assume most come from areas where these things are less standard?


Originally Posted by TyRy

DH ordered the Keen Eye for the Shepherds Pie
Wow...I really hate to sound like a complainer, but here goes:
THIS:

is NOT Shepherds Pie as I know it!
LOL...it looks like someone stuck a Campbell's soup can into a real bowl of Pie,
dumped everything around it, and gave you what was inside the can.
At any local joint around here you get a full bowl...for about $6-8.
Granted this is Disney. I expect to pay more. But not for so much less.
I'll pay $14 for Shepherds Pie (yikes), but I should at least be getting a tummy-full of something that resembles what I'm used to eating at a pub. No?


Originally Posted by TyRy

and I had the Fada Burger minus the cheese.
Now THIS was good! Burger was big, juicy, tasty.
And her fries were about as unique as I've ever seen. Looked like big fingers!

Who killed the salt shaker?
_____________________YUM! _____________________




Originally Posted by TyRy

For dessert DH ordered Gert’s Bread and Butter Pudding. I only had a taste which was yummy, but I think DH enjoyed it.
OH MAN...This was recommend by our waiter at Ohana, and he was Spot On!
Best dessert I've had at Disney...better than the Bananas Foster at Ohana. <licks lips>

vanilla and butterscotch sauces! wooooo...wee!



_________________________
...More to come!

 

[312.Duck]

Since the DIL's are now very close we call and check and our room is ready, #5430.
So DH decides we can come back later in the week to buy things (again, famous last words ) so he makes me put it all down so we can go meet up with them at AKV.

LOLOL...hey, that's like avoiding shopping when you're hungry,
or posting on a message board when you're drunk!
Get some ideas, then come back when you have your head, so to speak.

I made her put this back:

As far as the "famous last words," well... We did come back, but she was sicker 'n a dog at at that time.
...that story's upcoming.

Plus, we were in the middle of switching hotels and meeting my parents. It's enough of a task just getting the luggage up and getting situated, much less bringing home a bunch of souveniers.

My parents drove all the way down, and met us at the exact time they said they would; Florida trips are second nature to them.
My Maternal Grandparents (DGP's?) lived in AZ, and we used to go to DisneyLAND when I was a kid,
but FLA has long been a much more convenient drive for anyone East of the Mississippi, and they're no stranger to it.

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Originally Posted by TyRy

Well – have I mentioned I have no sense of direction?
...so we went back the other way. We eventually found the room, but just barely beat the guys to it. Oopsie.
Well, there's also the fact that I became quite attached to AKL much more quickly than TyRy on our first visit here, and got to know the layout quite well, quickly. I really, REALLY love this place.

Originally Posted by TyRy

It’s exactly like we expected and I’m really, really happy with it.
OH MAN, are we ever!
---
I'm really surprised how good this is.
Granted, these villas are 2 feet shorter- door to window -as they're using existing hotel rooms,
so you lose one bathroom and the separate shower in the Master.
Also, the laundry is in a hallway which divides the Master bedroom from the Master bath so everyone can access it.
BUT...I have to admit it's nice being close to Mara for a quick soda, snack, Mickey Waffle...
I think any DVC would benefit from some counter service, even though the idea is that you don't necessarily need it. At Boardwalk Villas you have, well, the Boardwalk.
But I can't see trekking all the way from Kidani to Jambo just to use Mara once it's finished,
lest they add a people mover or golf cart service!
---

Originally Posted by TyRy

Studio #5430
My parents adored their studio...

...though the only one who looks happy about it is the chick on TV, <LOL>

The studios have a queen bed instead of a king, but they were fine with that.
The mini-frig, coffee service, etc. was more than enough for them.
All the accommodations there are great, with every couch and chair serving as a pull-out bed.
The parents even had their own balcony, separate from ours:

Our balcony (spanned the length from BR to Lv Rm) _______________ Their separate li'l balcony.

When we first arrived, we found this crazy lady sitting out on our balcony;
had to have her removed by management -

Quote:
Originally Posted by TyRy

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NEVER MIND THE MAN IN THE MIRROR! ​

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Interesting TECH NOTE for those using Internet access at the villas for the first time:
It appears some network outlets are still mapped to the old room numbers, and you may run into trouble when using them.
e.g.
Although our "suite" was number "5432", the bedroom/bathroom half was in ex-hotel room # 5434.
So... when trying to access our Free Internet (another fantastic DVC perk) from our bedroom, I ran into trouble validating my room card #.
Tech support gave me a 7 day code (found out it was a 7 day code after...7 days, of course!) to bypass the system.
The tech agreed the "mapping" of the outlets to the old room numbers was likely the reason for this glitch.
My parents in the attached studio (5430) had no issues other than surprise and disbelief that I wasn't being charged $10/day for Internet... very cool.

¶​

Here's a li'l video panning around our bedroom.
You can see how the Master bath is separated so those (kids?) in the main room can use it
even if we're still sleeping (considering they lack that extra bathroom in the Jambo villas).
Nice pan over toward the pool, as well.

Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play ! Click to Play !







______________________
...More to come!

 

[TyRy]

So DH and I get ready for the MNSSHP and head over to the MK. We hop on the monorail so we can get a good look at the construction at the CR and BLT.

The first order of business today is to find our brick! I have the map showing where it should be, and a CM even saw us looking and tried to help. He and DH were both trying to follow numbers, but I tried to tell them it wasn’t in any numerical order

One of us eventually found it and I was soooooo excited.

It’s right in front of one of the trees off to the right of security. So excited about having it…it was well worth the cost…which we will not discuss since DH is reading this and has no idea how much I paid for it (one of the perks of having separate checking accounts!)

So we try and enter using our MNSSHP tickets and the machine won’t take mine. It keeps spitting it out. Finally after the fifth try or so a CM comes over and says you have to enter over there (pointing to a different bank) Hmmm – I don’t remember this from the past few times..don’t know if it was a new thing, or if in all our other party entering we’ve always hit the correct bank?

We finally get in and I, of course, make DH stop to do a couple of Photopass pics:

I really do love the way they decorate the entrance

By now we are running late for dinner again (at this point I can tell we’ll just be late for everything this trip!) so we hurry over to LTT. This was one of DH’s picks for this trip. I’m not expecting much since I’ve heard horrible things about dinner lately. But we arrive about five minutes late and the place is JAMMED. We get our pager and settle in for what we think will be a long wait. Only about five minutes later the pager goes off and we are seated at a nice window seat.

Our waiter comes by and explains it’s family style and if we need more to just ask. He then says the characters will also be coming around to us. At this point DH declares he does NOT want any pics with charaters…he’ll take them of me. Well – no one told the characters this, so he ended up with every one of them, but he seemed to really like Minnie

And then If you look closely he gets more and more into the character interaction as time went on! LOL

And he even got Minnie a second time!

I had a good time with them and was happy to see Chip and Dale and Pluto….Chip and Dale were the first characters I ever took a picture with on my very first trip in 1995. And I don’t think I’d ever had a picture with Pluto!

We had just pop to drink (of course at the MK) and I really wanted one of those souviner mugs that it came in

I think I shocked DH by not getting at least one, but I didn’t want to carry it around with me for the rest of the night.

Dinner came during the time the characters were coming and going and I was pleasantly surprised. First the rolls and salad – which had some of the best dressing I’ve ever had…I could not get enough of the salad!

Then came dinner – it was much better than I expected. The steak was fabulous! The ham was good as well (although I scrapped off the pineapple sauce) and the turkey was ok. The stuffing was good (even if it was just Stouffers) and is hidden under the meats.

DH laughed cause I really wanted to try the stuffing and didn’t see it when everything was on the table so I asked the waiter (DH says I jumped on him about the stuffing) where it was. That’s when he explained it was underneath.

We also had the veggies and Mac and cheese

I think Jiko has spoiled me for Mac and Cheese as this was definitely just your standard M&C and nothing special about it.

And finally the mashed potatoes and gravy

Dessert came and was not too bad, but surprisingly we were really full!

I expected to walk out of there still hungry and was already making contingency plans for food in my head. Did not need to as I was super stuffed! Now I just had hopes that there would once again be no lines for the rides...

 

[DisneyJo]

312 Duck I so agree the shepherds pie at RR is far to small, there is no way you'd get a tiny portion like that in Ireland

Ty I just love the character photos and the way your DH gets more involved, so funny