A perfect week at the Yacht Club-Apr.26-May 2/09 Lots of pics! THE LAST UPDATE!

[Carol17]

[/B]Hello Everyone! Welcome to my very first trip report! I have read so many amazing, fun trip reports here that I thought I might try writing one myself. So here we go!


All About Us

Well, make that a little about us. I considered not bothering to go into the logistics of who we are, because frankly, we are not easy to explain. Ask anyone who knows us. They will tell you “I have no idea what their deal is!” So, here are the basics, the good, the bad, and to some, the kinda weird that is Us.

Carol: 37 years old. No kids. Never married. Substitute teacher in search of a full time permanent position. Not an easy thing to do around here.

Tony:37 years old. No kids. Really dislikes kids (which leads one to wonder why he likes WDW, probably has the largest population of kids in one place in the whole world…go figure.) Never married. Computer Guy extraordinaire. Happy to be single.

Ok, so you are asking yourself, are they a couple? Short answer:no. Should they be? Probably not. We’ve been down that road. We have known each other for 15 years. We know each other too well to be a “couple”. So in the interest of moving this long winded explanation of what our “deal” is along, let’s just say we are best friends and travelling companions and leave it at that.

Oh ya, and we both hate having our picture taken too. So if you want a trip report filled with pictures of us frolicking throughout Disney World, you ain’t (I know, great word for a teacher to use) gonna find it here! Perhaps I will sneak one or two in…you will just have to wait and see what these two weirdos look like! Try not to get us mixed up with the pictures of Grumpy and Donald (I am a little grumpy in the morning, and well, Tony doesn’t wear any pants either and he tends to ramble on incoherently. (Tony wants me to take that out, he doesn’t want people thinking he actually doesn’t wear pants. I am pretty sure Donald is the only one who Disney will allow to walk around with no pants.)


A little background info

Tony’s parents have a home in Naples Florida. Being typical Canadian “snowbirds”, they spend most of fall and winter in Florida, and head back to Canada in May. They drive down every year, but this year they wanted to have both of their cars down there. So, in January Tony and I drove his mom’s SUV down for her. That gave us the perfect excuse/opportunity to spend a few days at WDW, which just happened to be the week of my birthday as well! We stayed at AKL and had a great time.

So, about a month after returning from Disney, Tony comes to the realization that someone has to drive his mom’s car BACK to Canada. Hmmm..should we…could we…again…three months later? You bet your bippy( what IS a bippy anyway?) we could do WDW twice in three months! Mind you, I did need a little initial convincing. Should we really do this? Is this normal? Awww heck, since when have we been normal! The fact that it was the buy 4 nights get 3 free deal at the time made us decide that we should indeed go for it! Ok, let’s do it.

So, we got straight to work in booking ADR’s and the resort. We had previously thought we would return NEXT Christmas, and decided on The Yacht Club. So, Yacht Club it is! Trying out the different resorts is probably our favourite part of the Disney experience. Our first trip was waaayyyy back in 1994 when Tony and I became friends. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Club.

Our second trip was in 2000. We stayed at The Contemporary Resort.

We took a WDW break in 2005 and decided on a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean.

Ummm, let’s not discuss that trip. Let’s just say it lacked the Disney Magic and leave it at that. After the cruise, I thought my travelling days were over (long story), but I got talked into another WDW visit, this time staying at the beautiful Wilderness Lodge.

You just cannot beat Disney at Christmas.

I have to admit that Christmas is not my favourite time of year. However, being at WDW during Christmas with all of the beautiful decorations and the Disney magic has managed to turn this grumpy, bah-humbug-scrooge into a Christmas lover once again. Whodathunkit?

This leads us to our last two WDW trips of Animal Kingdom in January:

We named these fellas after our cats, Bailey and Marty who also lie around together all day and "chat".

Here are the real Bailey and Marty. See the resemblance?

The view from our Savannah room

Here I am enjoying my morning coffee

and drumroll please……..our first stay at the Yacht Club and my first trip report ever!

I have waffled back and forth with the should I or shouldn’t I do a trip report. Afterall, does anyone care about what two 37 year olds without kids do at WDW? Well, we do the same thing the rest of ya do…just without the screaming, temper tantrums, vomit and crying! Wait, we did do that. Just kidding!

Well, if I haven’t scared you away yet, you may as well stick around. I promise not to be as long winded for the rest of the report. We have lots of food pics, lots of resort pics and many of the same pictures you find on EVERYONE’S trip reports!

Wait. I don’t have a cliffhanger. All the good trip reports have cliffhangers, you know, to keep you readers coming back for more! Let’s see. Will Carol manage to stay healthy on vacation for a change? Will Tony finally realize he is surrounded by kids and run out of Magic Kingdom screaming in horror never to return? Will Tony FINALLY be able to beat Carol in mini golf? Stay tuned to find out.

If that isn’t enough to keep you coming back, I don’t know what is! Well, how about our itinerary? This is a list of what we PLANNED to do (as you read, you will see a few changes to our plans). Hopefully this will give you a better idea of what’s to come and what might be of interest to you.

April 26- Yacht Club
Lunch-Hurricane Hannah’s
Magic Kingdom for extra magic hours
Dinner at Tony’s Town Square-Food pics!
Wishes/Spectromagic Parade

April 27- Counter service breakfast at Marketplace (Beach Club)
Hollywood Studios
Lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café-Food pics!
Boardwalk

April 28- Breakfast- Captain Grill at Yacht Club-food pics
Resort Hopping-Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, Caribbean Beach
lunch at Caribbean Beach-food pics!
Epcot-Illuminations
Fantasia Garden mini golf

April 29- Breakfast-Marketplace
Epcot
Lunch- counter service at Electric Umbrella
Kimpossible Adventure
Dinner-table Service at Coral Reef-food pics!
Jellyrolls

April 30- Breakfast at Captain’s Grill-food pics
Animal Kingdom
Downtown Disney
T-Rex for Dinner

May 1- Backstage Magic Tour Day (7 hours)
Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse-food pics!
Epcot for extra Magic hours

May 2- Breakfast at Marketplace
Check out


So there you have it.

Up next, on our way to Florida!

p.s. Can someone help me come up with a better title for this TR...I can't think of a thing!

 

[Carol17]

Day 1: Hitting the Road
Saturday April 25
The day is finally here! Unlike most trips, I actually feel like I am organized, prepared and ready to go! Our very over stuffed bags are packed, the house is clean and tidy, and I had a hair appointment to go to at 10:30am so my mop can be at its best for Disney! Well, my hair turned out a lot shorter than I expected. Did I tell him he could cut all my hair off? I don’t want bad hair at Disney! Well, I could tell from Tony’s stunned silence that he didn’t like my new shorter ‘do. Oh well. It’ll grow.

We had an airport limo coming to pick us up at 1:30. Ummm, where is the limo? So we waited, and waited. Finally, they called to let us know that the car broke down and that they will be sending another one shortly. Well, it’s ok, our flight doesn’t leave ‘til 4:45, so we have plenty of time. So, a half hour later the car finally arrived. I gave a final hug and kiss to the cats, Bailey and Marty with a reminder for them to be good to the sitter. We have a friend coming to feed and check on them daily while we are away. As you can see, they were very concerned about our being away for a whole week.

Yawn, "Ok bye."

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. The long line at customs was a little slow and tedious, but what can you do. We arrived at our gate and had a grossly overpriced drink and snack. The flight was uneventful and we arrived at Fort Meyers on time at 7:45.

Tony’s dad picked us up at the airport and we made it to their home in Naples in good time. Long story short, we chatted with Tony’s parents for a while then went out and got Wendy’s for a later dinner. We have a big, long day planned tomorrow, so let’s skip to the good stuff! Yacht Club and Magic Kingdom, here we come!



Day 2-The Drive To Disney
Sunday April 26 2009
This morning we were anxious to hit the road! So we had a bagel and a cup of coffee and we were out the door by 9:30. We decided to take a quick pit stop at Bell’s. When packing, I realized I had no shorts! Usually we are in Florida in December/January, so I never needed shorts! I rarely wear shorts at home because frankly, I hate my pale white legs! The darn things just refuse to tan. In my old age I have finally come to terms with the fact my skin just does not like the sun. As a teen I tried very hard to get my skin to do what it just wasn’t going to do. All my friends had beautiful, summer tanned skin, and I hated being so pale. Now I have skin damage and brown spots to show for my stupidity in never wearing sunscreen when I was younger. You can bet I have learned my lesson now. Anyway, I digress. So, me and my white legs went in to Bell’s and bought some shorts. We also made a stop at my favourite store, Eddie Bauer, and boy am I glad I did! T-shirts for $7.99! In Canada the same shirts were $22.00! So, with several new shirts and a few pairs of shorts, and my new too short hairdo, I am ready for Disney!


Now as most of you know, it is pretty exciting to drive to WDW, and you start to see the signs as you get closer...

and closer...

and CLOSER...

then you start to see Hidden Mickey’s in the clouds like this one...

Don’t you see it? Tilt your head a little to the left, now squint a little, and now drink three shots of Jack Daniel’s….there! Now you see it right!? Then of course you get to THE sign...

We finally made it! Here is our new home for the week:

We booked a standard view but like everyone else, hoped we would get an upgrade. There was no line up at check in when we arrived at about 2:00. We had a new young girl who was being trained, so the process was a little slow. Just as we were about to inquire about upgrading our room, a bunch of people came to check in and it was so loud! I couldn’t hear anything the girl was saying. So we just decided to take whatever room we were given. No, no free upgrade for us. Oh well. I just wanted to get out of the noisy lobby and check out our room! So we walked through the lobby...

Up the stairs...

around the corner...

Past the elevators...

turn right down a little hall...

then a little to the left...

To room 2164. We made it! Are you still with us?

Continued in the next post....

 

[Carol17]

TA DA!

Well. Hey, we not only have the balcony, but two windows on the side as well which gives it a more open feel.

Let’s check out the view from the balcony:

Wow. I immediately thought, I have to take a picture of this to post on the “worst room view thread” on the DISboards! LOL! So, we considered going down and asking for a different room. But we thought about it some more. At the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom we had such a LOOOOOOONG walk to our rooms which were about as far away from the lobby as you could get! Here, we don’t have to take the elevators, and we are very close to the lobby, Captain's Grill, the Yachtsman Steakhouse as well as the bus stop and the boat dock out back. At the other resorts it was so tedious to get to our room after a long day at the parks. We were so far away from everything! So, the more we thought about it, the more we liked our location. So, it’s decided. We are staying put!

Here is the rest of the room...

Am I the only one who hates having the tiny bathroom with the sink outside the bathroom if you see what I mean. Ugh. I like a nice large bathroom(probably because I don't have one at home!) with everything IN the bathroom where it should be. I think Contemporary is the only resort with a large bathroom separated from the room by a door. O.k, I just needed to vent. Let's continue on...

After the decision was made to stay in this room, I got straight to work!

As I alluded to in our background information, I have a tendency to get sick on vacation. Case in point:
St. Lucia 1988, sun poisoning(sick as a dog. My first time in the tropical sun!)
Texas 1991-my sister’s wedding-went to the beach and got an extremely bad, painful sunburn the day before her wedding. I cried most of the day from the pain, I could barely move.
Texas 1992- birth of my nephew- finally wised up to avoid the sunburn, but got a bad cold instead. Threw up on the airplane on the way home.
Carribbean Cruise 2005- Food Poisoning or perhaps just a bad combination of food that my stomach just couldn’t tolerate.
Disney 2007- While watching Honey I Shrunk the Audience, I started to feel really nauseous. Had to leave to throw up. Sick the rest of the day and most of the following day. I’m not sure if it was the chicken strips at the Electric Umbrella, or the 3D messed with my equilibrium because I was so dizzy for the rest of the day and couldn’t eat. There is nothing worse that being on a Disney bus full of people and thinking you are going to get sick. So now, I carry a plastic bag with me just in case. How weird is that?!
Disney 2009(January)- That darn Disney bus again. This time, on the way home from Animal Kingdom. At least this time I had a bag with me just in case. Luckily I didn’t have to use it, but was glad to have it nonetheless. I can’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with the train that you sit on sideways. As a kid I was frequently car sick, so perhaps motion sickness is part of my problem.

So, as you can see, I am a sicko. Now I admit, perhaps I get sick because I EXPECT to get sick! I just don’t think I travel well. I think all the strange food along with the heat, all the walking, and the rides mess with my head. So this trip, I tried very hard to take things a little slower. I will not eat as much, I will drink plenty of fluids and I will take a gravol if I start to feel dizzy. In addition, I gave the room a good cleaning with Lysol wipes just in hopes of killing at least a few germs. I will NOT get sick on this trip, I will NOT get sick on this trip.

Do you think I got sick on this trip? Sick around, I mean STICK around to find out.

Up next...Lunch with friends and a late night at the Magic Kingdom!

 

[norybell]

Hi Carol! Keep writing...I love your TR so far!

My mom and I (me = thirtysomething; my mom = older than that) were at the YC that same week, also with no children in tow, and we had a perfect week, too.

Seeing your pictures makes me wish I were back there NOW. Actually, wait, I guess I was wishing that already.

 

[Alice42]

I am enjoying reading your report! I love the Yacht Club and I can't wait to hear more from your trip!

 

[Carol17]

I am enjoying reading your report! I love the Yacht Club and I can't wait to hear more from your trip!

Hi Alice! Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Carol! Keep writing...I love your TR so far!

My mom and I (me = thirtysomething; my mom = older than that) were at the YC that same week, also with no children in tow, and we had a perfect week, too.

Seeing your pictures makes me wish I were back there NOW. Actually, wait, I guess I was wishing that already.

Hi Norybell! Glad you had a great week at the YC as well. The weather was perfection wasn't it!? Thanks for reading my trip report!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Hi there, I'm in!

 

[Carol17]

Hi there, I'm in!

Hi PiperGirl...thanks for coming! I hope to get the next installment up on Monday! Stay tuned!

 

[norybell]

The weather was perfection wasn't it!? Thanks for reading my trip report!

It really, really was. And it's been so up-and-down here (New York) since I got back, it's made returning to reality that much harder. I try to remind myself that the weather's not quite so perfect at WDW all the time, but in my mind, it's still 83 and sunny there, with a pleasant breeze!

 

[MEK]

Awesome trip report. So glad to be one the first to sub to this thread. I love your introductions, including the pictures from each of your previous stays. Can't wait to read more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on for more. I often say trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane while I wait on our next WDW vacation. Thanks for your contribution to my sanity.

 

[Carol17]

Sunday April 26
Day 2 continued Magic Kingdom

After my obsessive compulsive cleaning of the room we began unpacking and fighting over hangers. I like to hang EVERYTHING! O.k., not my socks and undies….but everything else! I don’t like wrinkled t-shirts or pants! So I took more than my share of hangers! I considered calling mousekeeping and asking for more, but I just stole Tony’s hangers instead while he was busy trying to get the computer up and running. He couldn’t seem to get a connection, so being the computer tech that he is, he started doing a little investigating. He pulled out the bedside table to find the router (I think) was unplugged as well as the clock radio. So, crisis averted…we are connected! After playing around with the wireless settings, and perhaps because we were so close to the lobby, we got the internet for free! So it was a nice bonus. However, I think it should be free anyway, so there!

So after getting the hanger and computer situation sorted out, we decided to explore the Yacht and Beach Club area before getting a bite to eat.

Here of course is Stormalong Bay Pool

Looking across the water to the Boardwalk

Like many people, we couldn’t decide if we should stay at the Beach or Yacht Club. The Beach Club sure looks nice!I loved this butterfly topiary at the Beach Club

We walked inside the Beach Club to find the Market Place. I don’t know why exactly, but I just love this hallway in the Beach Club. I think it’s the pretty beach umbrellas!

I would love to show you a picture of the quiet pool at the Yacht Club, but we didn’t take one! How did that happen! I would also love to share a picture of people on one of those Surry Bikes, but I don’t have one of those either. Sheesh, we got off to a slow start with the pictures! I was a little alarmed at how fast people ride those bikes, dodging pedestrians as they fly by ringing the bells. One group of teenage boys came flying around a corner, and I thought, uh oh, this isn’t going to be good! Sure enough, they ran into a bench and had people yelling at them as they continued their path of destruction.


We were getting a little hungry, and dinner at Tony’s Town Square wasn’t until 7:15. So we decided to get a hot dog and fries at Hurricane Hannah’s. They gave us a little buzzer thingy to let us know when our order was ready. We managed to find a table near by and waited a few minutes before our buzzer went off. We munched away on our hot dog and fries, and then realized, we forgot to take a picture! Oh for Pete’s sake! Everyone loves a trip report with food pics! Well, at least we took a picture of our dining companions:

After lunch we walked over to the beach area and looked out over Crescent Lake.

I was hoping there would be hammocks on the beach, but no such luck. Instead the had little swinging benches, so we sat down and put our feet in the sand

Ok, we just put our shoes in the sand. Close enough.

We decided it was time to start getting ready to head over to Magic Kingdom. It was an extra magic hour night, so closing was at 3 am! As you will soon find out, we ARE NOT rope drop people! We’re both “night people” and prefer to enjoy the parks in the evening.
We went back up to the room to grab everything we need for a long evening at Magic Kingdom.

We walked down stairs and out the front door to the bus stop. It was so close and convenient! After a short wait, our bus came and we were on our way!

We had a couple hours before our dinner reservations, so we walked around for a little bit and explored. We decided that we need to try a few new things on this trip! So, our first “new to us” attraction was The Liberty Square Riverboat. Oh no. We didn’t take a picture of the boat? “Tony! Didn’t you take a picture of the boat?”
“Oh, no. I guess not!”
Ugh, boy! Well, for the sake of this trip report, I had to “borrow” this picture from Wikipedia of all places. Here it is:

We did manage to remember to take a few scenery pictures while on the Riverboat

I can't wait to ride Big Thunder Mountain later tonight!

Of course we will do the Haunted Mansion tonight as well

So after the boat, we were starting to get hungry. We decided to meander thought the shops as we head over to Tony’s Town Square for dinner. A friend of Tony’s had been to the restaurant a few weeks prior, and he said it was really nice sitting outside on the patio. So, we considered asking to sit outside. We got to the restaurant at about 6:45, a half hour before our reservation. We had hoped we could get in a little early. The placed was PACKED. I guess we won't ask to sit on the patio.We will take what we can get!There were people sitting on the floor and it was difficult to walk anywhere. It was also very loud and incredibly hard to hear your name being called when your table was ready. I wonder why they don’t have those buzzer things like they had a Hurricane Hannah’s…a small counter service area? So, we stood around for about half an hour before finally getting a seat in the waiting area.

We were called in about a 20 minutes after our reservation time and boy were we hungry!
It was a nice looking restaurant, but it was very loud! We had a table for 2 squeezed between two large tables for 8. I sat down on the bench seat against the wall, and suddenly felt like a 4 year old again! The table was so high (or I should say the seat was so low!) I could practically put my chin on the table! It was just too loud that we didn’t bother to talk much, and Tony could hardly see me peering over the table anyway (ok slight exaggeration I admit it). We waited for about 10 minutes before meeting our server. Having already looked up the menu online before coming, we already knew what we wanted for dinner. We were preparing ourselves for a long wait for dinner, so we took our time eating the bread. Tony had a coke and I had iced tea. Bleech! I forgot that iced tea comes without sugar. I dumped a few packets in and it was drinkable. I think I will stick to lemonade from now on.

Next thing you know, our meal came out! Already? It must have been less than 10 minutes since our order was taken! How did they do that so fast?

Tony ordered the chicken parmigiana

I had the spaghetti and meatballs

Although the food was very hot, Tony felt the chicken was overcooked, so he didn’t enjoy his meal very much. I liked mine. The spaghetti was cooked perfectly and the sauce was good. I didn’t like the meatballs much though, and they were too big.

We both had the ice cream bomb for dessert.

Up Next…Wishes, Spectromagic and love at first sight.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Ooooh food pictures! Love 'em.

 

[Carol17]

Ooooh food pictures! Love 'em.

Hi Mickeystoontown,thanks for stopping in! We have lots of food pics coming up, so stick around!

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I'm in!

You did seem to get those entrees very fast, perhaps they were pre-made .

I'm so glad you don't prefer big meatballs. I am the same way and everyone I know calls me crazy like they're automatically better the larger they are, so it's good to know I am not alone.

Are we going to see any pictures of this "Tony" as I am assuming that lady in front of the YC entry from Crescent Lake is you Carol.

Looking forward to more!

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Oh yes...
those kitties are so cute!!!
They remind me of some of my neighbors cats Scarlett and Mr. Kitty. Scarlett looks a lot like the tabby and Mr. Kitty like the other. Who is Bailey and who is Marty?

 

[Carol17]

I'm in!

You did seem to get those entrees very fast, perhaps they were pre-made .

I'm so glad you don't prefer big meatballs. I am the same way and everyone I know calls me crazy like they're automatically better the larger they are, so it's good to know I am not alone.

Are we going to see any pictures of this "Tony" as I am assuming that lady in front of the YC entry from Crescent Lake is you Carol.

Looking forward to more!

Hi lacrosse_lady, glad you stopped in! Yes, I prefer small meatballs! LOL! You are so right! All this meatball talk reminds me of the Alec Baldwin sketch on Saturday Night Live, but we won't go there!

Well, as I mentioned, we both hate getting our picture taken. However, I know when you read a trip report you want to know what everyone looks like! So, I did put a couple pics in of me. As for Tony, I may try to sneak one in,so keep looking.

Bailey is the big black/white cat, and Marty is my little long haired,floppy cat. He is always doing sumersaults and rolling around upside down meowing!

 

[norybell]

Great update! I feel the need to look real closely at any and all pictures you have of Stormalong Bay, in case I'm in any of them!

I've never ridden the riverboat at MK, either, and I totally want to take it next time! It looks so peaceful. Was it crowded?

And hmmm...I was vaguely thinking about Tony's for my October trip, despite the "eh" food reviews it gets, just because I remember loving the atmosphere when I was little. But if it's that busy and noisy, I don't know, I'll probably skip it! Thanks for the warning!

 

[MEK]

Love yesterdays installment and I really love how well your pictures mesh with your TR. And from one cat owner to another - I forgot to mention that your cats are pretty cute, too! I love those brown tabbies!

 

[Carol17]

Love yesterdays installment and I really love how well your pictures mesh with your TR. And from one cat owner to another - I forgot to mention that your cats are pretty cute, too! I love those brown tabbies!

Thanks Mek!

Great update! I feel the need to look real closely at any and all pictures you have of Stormalong Bay, in case I'm in any of them!

I've never ridden the riverboat at MK, either, and I totally want to take it next time! It looks so peaceful. Was it crowded?

And hmmm...I was vaguely thinking about Tony's for my October trip, despite the "eh" food reviews it gets, just because I remember loving the atmosphere when I was little. But if it's that busy and noisy, I don't know, I'll probably skip it! Thanks for the warning!

No, the riverboat wasn't crowded at all. Mind you, that was probably around 5 o'clock, so perhaps many people were heading out for dinner or leaving after a long day at the park. As for Tony's, yes, it is a nice atmosphere there! I'm not sure if it's always that busy there or we just "lucked out"!

I hope to get another update up later tonight. Thanks again for sticking around to read my TR!