From the Sea to the World - Holiday Edition - Completed

A Tale of Two Busses – Part 2

So, I left off with complaining about the van. However, the van finally did what it was supposed to. It delivered us to Saratoga Springs Resort.

There we checked in. They asked us if we wanted a room that fit my requests (I had requested to be in the Congress Park area as that is closest to Downtown Disney) or if we wanted a room that was ready now. We preferred not to wait for something. So we ended up in The Paddock. I had researched Saratoga Springs beforehand and knew that nearly every area has some advantages and some disadvantages. And this room at the great advantages that we could drop our luggage before we headed out to the parks.


I think this was me pushing M into something as I was getting a bot crotchety. It turned out great as I thought our location was fine and convenient for pretty much anything ... except a frigid walk to the Turf Club, but don't want to spoil anything!

We had to wait for a little while until one of the bellmen could drive us over to our room. But that was fine with me. I was on WDW property, no longer in a small van. The lobby area of Saratoga Springs was quite pretty and we did not have a long wait at all. We were loaded onto one of those golf cart thingies (I was so excited as this was my first time ever on one of these) as well as our luggage. And then we were off to The Paddock. Our bellman was very efficient to bring all our stuff up to our room.

I have stayed at SSR in the past and found it nice and relaxing. But it wasn't my first, second, or third choice for a holiday visit originally. The Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges and Grand Flo would have ranked higher. But M showed me a holiday trip report with photos (I believe it was on the DIS)) and that really swayed me.

And then my first duty was of course to document the room:

Bed:

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Real (!) table with two comfy chairs:

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(I am really not happy with that trend of adding those fold away tables under the TV to studios to make them sleep 5 people…)

TV:

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(much larger than at Vero Beach!)

Sofabed:

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This is one of those sofabeds that are actually not very comfortable to sit on as one slides off them very easily.

Terribly uncomfortable to the point of being near unusable as a sofa. Decent comfort as a bed.

View back into the room:

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kitchenette:

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sink:

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and bathroom:

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All in all I liked the room. The décor is not my favourite amongst the WDW resorts. But I think recent updates and getting rid of the very busy comforters has improved the look quite a bit. We really liked that there is a very large entrance area and that therefore the hallway and its noise was quite far away from where we were sleeping. I still did not like the concept that has not really interior hallways. Somehow to me this gives off a vibe of cheap housing estates, not luxury resort.

The resort has gotten a soft goods replacement since I last stayed there in 2006, but I think very little was done. Flat screen TV was added. Comforter disappeared from the bed with that useless 'themed' swath of cloth at the bottom. Some Disney themed pillows on the sofa (Fox and the Hound, I think, which is a film pretty much no one recalls that was released in 1981).

The characters on the pillows were horses - the theme of the resort is a town that is famous for horse racing.

The room was not in the best shape. There were a few minor issues that we told the front desk on a subsequent visit. Someone came and took care of them halfheartedly. The one major thing was that the socket for the lamp is directly behind the sofabed and it was damaged from people pushing the sofabed all the way into the wall. You really don’t want damaged electrical plugs in a hotel room! We noticed it because the lamp did not work.

Typically half-hearted WDW service. Fix one thing, sorta attempt another and ignore another.

Once we had dumped our bags, I was ready to go. But Michael was not, he needed to have a phone call with his family. I kind of got grumpy about that, but once I realized what my issue was and told him that I was soooo hungry and needed some food (@franandaj was right with her comment on the previous update when she was shocked that we skipped breakfast), he came up with the perfect solution: I should go back to the lobby building and get some food while he talked to his family. Perfect!

We were both grumpy. I was glad I came up with that solution because M and I really don't fight and I felt one coming on. We barely even argue. Really (I don't know why some people find this surprising that we have such a healthy relationship, but they do. I think they've bought into that New Agey BS about getting anger and aggression out being a good thing. I would agree, but not with the people most important to you. I have no issue showing anger to others whatsoever!

So, I went on my own little tour of the resort. I found the walk to the lobby building not too far at all. But I would not want to have to go there in the rain!

I walked along the lake towards this bridge which I then would cross:

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I really liked the views here:

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I walked through the main pool area:

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Unfortunately we never made it there for a swim!

I picked up a very delicious muffin and gave Michael some of it once I was back at the room. He was ready to head out, so we went to the bus stop.

I don't recall what kind it was. Just that it surprised me with how good it was.

Something like apple and bran?

We did not wait long until a bus for Epcot pulled up. With us there was only one other family waiting with a little girl who has a birthday button. When the bus came, it was totally empty. The busdriver, Jimmy from Brooklyn, New York, stopped and got out and made a huge deal about it being the little girl’s birthday. At some point Michael announced that I was celebrating my birthday on that trip as well. So, Jimmy proceeded to make a birthday button for me as well. And then we were allowed to board the bus! We had to make some additional stops where we collected more people and everyone boarding was being told that this was a special bus celebrating birthdays. There was also a couple celebrating their anniversary. And on our way to Epcot we ended up singing Happy Birthday for the little girl, Happy Anniversary to the couple and the rest of the bus also sang Happy Birthday to me. The whole thing really slowed down the bus journey. But it was so much fun and in such a nice spirit! No one was rushing from point A to point B, CM Jimmy was full of happiness and loved spreading it on his bus.

The couple was celebrating their 50th Anniversary, Ironically, my parents had just done likewise a month earlier. Originally, my brother and I had planned -- and put money aside -- to send them to Rome on First Class tickets, put them up in a nice suite for 3-4 nights and then send them back to the USA on a TA cruise -- no, no DCL here. But then my Dad was diagnosed with a serious illness and the trip couldn't happen. We wound up placing them on the MSC Divina cruise that M mentioned a few chapters back. They had a great time just before everything went to hell. But it was not the anniversary trip we had planned or they deserved.

So, one bad non-bus and one happy bus make the Tale of the Two Busses. They were like night and day!

We finally arrived at Epcot a little after 12:30.

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Our first FP+ of the day (Mission Space) had already expired by then. But we were not too concerned. However, we were in the right place to make use of our Spaceship Earth FP+. Once we had travelled through the future we decided to try to stop at Guest Services.

I sorta made fun of M. I am very mixed on Mission Space. I love the feeling of the ride, but hate that ultimately it is just a simulator and with the same experience every time. I probably ride it once every 3-4 visits now as it just isn't a big deal for me. But I was still feeling under the weather and, oh, did I mention that the ground at EPCOT had suddenly become as stable as a Kardashian and felt like it was moving and swaying. I didn't feel it would be a good time to ride, not knowing how bad my 'sea legs' were. We never did ride on that trip. And I didn't ride it on my visit sans M last month either.

Oh yes, we were definitely feeling like we were still on a ship in heavy seas!!

And what is one to get for FP+ at Epcot? You get a FP+ for Soarin and then you have a bundle of attractions for which you never had to get a FP in the past and just pick something. Mission Space sounded good enough to me. But I can see how having a cold is not when you want to go on it.

When I had picked up the muffin, I was not able to pay with my Magic Band as it did not recognize my PIN code. So we needed that to reset (the rest of the Magic Band things worked without problem for the whole trip though). But the lines at guest services were crazy, so we gave up on that for the moment. But looking at a park map we saw that there was a My Magic Plus center in Innoventions, so we thought we try it there. Luckily there was no line there and some really friendly CMs helped us. They said that they should have had us set a PIN at check in at the hotel. Unfortunately they had some trouble with their system and had to go through different channels until they found one that worked. But then we were set!

This might be a good point to admit that I was prepared to hate the Magic Band, but ended up liking it quite a bit. I was expecting it to be uncomfortable. And at first it was. But then I was courageous enough to try to take off the grey outer part and make it child size. At first I was afraid that it would be too small, but since I had two Magic Bands (One for my expired AP that I never used as they sent it to me after my last trip with that AP and one for this trip), I thought I take the risk. With that it fit my wrists so much better! And it was surprisingly comfortable and easy to use. The only place where I did not like it was at the door of the room. One had to hold the arm at a very strange angle to line up the Mickey heads. It was also inconvenient for the self service gate to drive into the resort. Michael was never able to make his band to work there, so I always took mine off so that he could hold it out.

I have no issues with the bands beyond the fact that Disney invested close to two billion dollars on the whole MM+/Next Gen program and I feel the funds should have gone to building new attractions and improving the parks. Disney touts MM+ as a game-changer in the theme park business when they're simply using tech that has been around for years.

Once we had taken care of the Magic Band issues, our next FP+ was open: Soarin. After Soarin I needed a restroom stop and we went to the nice hidden ones behind Journey into Imagination. Those always seem to be very empty and therefore very clean. I was intrigued that this appears to be a bathroom for three legged women:

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I used it regardless.

At some point in that time in Futureworld we also visited the Starbucks in what used to the Fountainview Cafe. I thought it was very nice. It was also totally empty and we had our coffees very quickly. We sat at an outside table with a view of the fountain and talked about our plans for the week. And suddenly Michael was starting to talk about how much he was in a Christmas mood and that he felt that we needed to soak up as much Christmas as possible while there. I guess all the Christmas stuff helped him to think less about how sick his father was. And then he started to bring up the Christmas Party at the MK and how nice the Christmas events on the cruise had been... It did not take much to convince me that our previous decision to not go to the party was stupid. And it actually worked out quite well. The ticket I had was a 5 day park hopper, but we wanted to go to the parks for 6 days. So, I would have needed to upgrade the ticket anyway. Instead of getting an additional day, I just got the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party ticket that allowed me to enter the MK after 4pm on the day of the party. So, once that was decided, I of course new which days were party days and that the one on Tuesday was the last party of the season that offered a discount for DVC members. So, I got out my phone and used the My Disney Experience App to buy tow tickets for us. Very convenient!

We then slowly started making our way to our late lunch reservation in the World Showcase:

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It was a beautiful day, sunny, not hot and we just enjoyed wandering about and admired the decorations.

It turned out to be the warmest and pretty much nicest weather day of the trip, especially if you're from Germany. The high temp that day was over 80.

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I really liked it that different buildings in the countries had different decorations. You can see it with the Cantina and La Hacienda in Mexico as well as here with the two different houses in Norway.

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On the lawn next to Germany they had a tiny Christmas market where they were selling very cute hand made glass Christmas ornaments:

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There was also the stage for the Germany storyteller, Helga. All the countries have storytellers for the Christmas season who talk about different traditions in their respective countries.

Helga seemed liked a woman who likes to drink. No surprise there.

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Germany was also our destination for lunch.

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I was amused by the food offerings in the shops there:

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All pretty authentic in my opinion. I was intrigued by the “German Pretzel Mix” as it is from a company known for cake mixes, but I have never seen a pretzel mix here in Germany.

I also had to take a picture of the Playmobil display as this is a local company:

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These prints were quite lovely:

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It seems to be a series with all the different pavilions in Epcot. We saw similar ones in other countries as well.

Up Next: Continuing the Cruise Pattern: Dinner and Show
 
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I had researched Saratoga Springs beforehand and knew that nearly every area has some advantages and some disadvantages.

I may have to pick your brain on Saratoga Springs in the not so distant future.

The décor is not my favourite amongst the WDW resorts.

I was thinking that the decor does not really do it for me, but then again, I am not too keen on the decor at the Grand Californian either and I love that hotel

I was expecting it to be uncomfortable.

I think it is very similar to the Fitbit.

I am glad that they managed to get your issue sorted out.

After Soarin I needed a restroom stop and we went to the nice hidden ones behind Journey into Imagination.

Oh, I did not know about that one. I have to remember this for October.

It did not take much to convince me that our previous decision to not go to the party was stupid. And it actually worked out quite well. The ticket I had was a 5 day park hopper, but we wanted to go to the parks for 6 days. So, I would have needed to upgrade the ticket anyway. Instead of getting an additional day, I just got the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party ticket that allowed me to enter the MK after 4pm on the day of the party.

That sounds like a win win situation. I love the parties and it looks like your decision to go to the party actually saved you money.

I really liked it that different buildings in the countries had different decorations. You can see it with the Cantina and La Hacienda in Mexico as well as here with the two different houses in Norway.

I think Christmas time is really magical at the World Showcase.

On the law next to Germany they had a tiny Christmas market where they were selling very cute hand made glass Christmas ornaments:

Did you come across the pickle ornaments?

Corinna
 
I was on WDW property, no longer in a small van.

That's going from the outhouse to the penthouse!

The Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodges and Grand Flo would have ranked higher.

You know I agree with the first two.:thumbsup2

(I am really not happy with that trend of adding those fold away tables under the TV to studios to make them sleep 5 people…)

As someone who bemoans the lack of options for families of 5 (or 6), I don't mind so much!

I should go back to the lobby building and get some food while he talked to his family. Perfect!

Seems like a reasonable compromise.

We were both grumpy. I was glad I came up with that solution because M and I really don't fight and I felt one coming on. We barely even argue. Really (I don't know why some people find this surprising that we have such a healthy relationship, but they do. I think they've bought into that New Agey BS about getting anger and aggression out being a good thing. I would agree, but not with the people most important to you.

I agree. I can count on one hand the number of times Julie and I have raised our voices at each other in 16+ years of marriage. My feeling is that I think she's an amazing woman and we're on the same side, therefore she deserves my respect at all times and we should be able to work just about anything out together.:thumbsup2

But I was still feeling under the weather and, oh, did I mention that the ground at EPCOT had suddenly become as stable as a Kardashian and felt like it was moving and swaying. I didn't feel it would be a good time to ride, not knowing how bad my 'sea legs' were.

"stable as a Kardashian" :rotfl2::rotfl2:

Yeah, Mission: Space is probably not a good treatment for motion sickness.

This might be a good point to admit that I was prepared to hate the Magic Band, but ended up liking it quite a bit.

Great! I still have yet to experience them, for better or worse.

I have no issues with the bands beyond the fact that Disney invested close to two billion dollars on the whole MM+/Next Gen program and I feel the funds should have gone to building new attractions and improving the parks. Disney touts MM+ as a game-changer in the theme park business when they're simply using tech that has been around for years.

If they spent that much, I'm sure it was worth it to them for some reason. My guess is we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. I remember reading a Wired article speculating they're trying to eventually get rid of lines altogether.

I was intrigued that this appears to be a bathroom for three legged women:

Wow! Where do you hide that third leg? Is it just used for kicking certain people in the behind?:rolleyes1

So, I got out my phone and used the My Disney Experience App to buy tow tickets for us. Very convenient!

For $2 billion, it had better be!:rotfl:

I really liked it that different buildings in the countries had different decorations.

I'd love to see WDW at Christmas time someday.

On the lawn next to Germany they had a tiny Christmas market where they were selling very cute hand made glass Christmas ornaments:

I got one of these for Julie when I was at DTD a couple of weeks ago!

Helga seemed liked a woman who likes to drink. No surprise there.

:lmao::rotfl2::rotfl:

I also had to take a picture of the Playmobil display as this is a local company:

I had several Playmobil sets as a kid!

It seems to be a series with all the different pavilions in Epcot. We saw similar ones in other countries as well.

I haven't seen these before, but I like them! Suddenly my interior decorating budget needs to increase.
 
I've enjoyed your previous trip reports...and I really do like the fact that you have added the "she said, he said" into this one.
I don't often comment on trip reports, but I like this one!
 


I have been reading you TR and I usually don't comment but we were in Disney in March 2014 and took my 5yr old grandson, we were celebrating his birthday and we rode with Jimmy and he had everyone sing. My grandson was a little embarrassed, be we loved it. He was one of the CM's we put a comment card in for. Great report
 
Yes, not having a car and relying on your feet or public transport makes you collect your steps... If I would bike more, I would have less steps, but even then I usually am able to get at least 8000. Last Saturday I ended up with 27.000. I was wiped then!!!

I average around 6-8000 steps per day. The most I have ever done is 21,000+ and that was the day we moved. I thought I was never going to feel normal again after that.

And I think I am just too curious about new places to not go out and explore if my ship stops there.

I would certainly get off the ship. There are just some places that I would rather not stay overnight, so I'm happy to have the ship to come back to. Nassau on the other hand, I will stay on the ship.

Interesting that you enjoyed Grand Cayman. Michael and I are thinking about a Western Caribbean cruise as we want to go back to Cozumel to do that Secret River excursion that we were too chicken to do before. The only thing I know about Grand Cayman is that is a center for dubious offshore banking...

Grand Cayman is known for interesting scuba diving. Some day we are going to get certified. There also seemed to be some nice restaurants, and beautiful resorts for relaxing. We don't have any dubious offshore banking to do, though.

The characters on the pillows were horses - the theme of the resort is a town that is famous for horse racing.

I think the one on the left is Phillippe from Beauty and the Beast and the one on the right is Maximus from Tangled.

I kind of got grumpy about that, but once I realized what my issue was and told him that I was soooo hungry and needed some food (@franandaj was right with her comment on the previous update when she was shocked that we skipped breakfast), he came up with the perfect solution: I should go back to the lobby building and get some food while he talked to his family. Perfect!

That's why I always get something to eat. I have a big cranky problem with on an empty stomach. I'm glad you two worked it out.

So, I got out my phone and used the My Disney Experience App to buy tow tickets for us. Very convenient!

That worked out very well for the two of you.

I'm glad that you got your MB issues sorted out. I thought they were kind of cool too. But I was so glad to hear that Mary Niven said that MBs would not be coming to Disneyland as they don't suit the demographics.

I'll be interested to hear your take on the Biergarten and if you think it's at all authentic. We really enjoyed it when we ate there.
 
I may have to pick your brain on Saratoga Springs in the not so distant future.

I am happy to help with any questions!! :thumbsup2

I was thinking that the decor does not really do it for me, but then again, I am not too keen on the decor at the Grand Californian either and I love that hotel

It really has some great advantages - and being close to Downtown Disney (or Disney Springs, not sure when the new name comes into effect) is definitely one.

The thread that Michael mentioned, which got him interested in SSR is this one: The Beauty of Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa

Lots of wonderful pictures!

I think it is very similar to the Fitbit.

Ah, I have the fitbit one which I carry in my pocket or on my bra. I would not want anything around my arm! That is why I was against the Magic Band as well (besides all other kind of issues I have with it...)

I am glad that they managed to get your issue sorted out.

It seemed that they were quite happy that it was something so simple. I have read quite a few horror stories here on the DIS about people having all kind of troubles.

Oh, I did not know about that one. I have to remember this for October.

It is a bit out of the way, but really nice! Michael once ran into Tony Baxter there. But I am afraid that he is not permanently based there.

That sounds like a win win situation. I love the parties and it looks like your decision to go to the party actually saved you money.

It saved me money if you apply fuzzy Disney math! Let's say, I saved some money on the party ticket by not upgrading my pass, but instead using the party ticket for that day. :goodvibes

I think Christmas time is really magical at the World Showcase.

It absolutely is! This was my overall favorite season at Epcot. It even beat the Flower and Garden Festival. And since I now have two seasons that I love, there is no reason to ever return for Food and Wine!

Did you come across the pickle ornaments?

You mean the tree of lies??? :rotfl2:

It seems that no one here in Germany knows anything about a tradition of hiding pickles on the Christmas tree... However, my family even used to have a Christmas pickle. But it was from a shop that was mainly built for American tourists (we lived in a town that had a crystal factory and a factory outlet that was very popular with Americans and they opened a Christmas shop there as well, all the signs were in English). My sister and I found it there and thought it was so funny that we got one for my father as a Christmas present. It was destroyed in the great Christmas Tree Destruction (the day my father managed to knock over the Christmas tree just when we were done decorating).
 


That's going from the outhouse to the penthouse!

Exactly!

You know I agree with the first two.:thumbsup2

Yes! But since we booked rather "short notice" for DVC standards and the first week of December is the most popular week of the year for DVC, we were happy to have gotten a studio for one week at all!

Next trip will be at the WL for sure!! I finally own points there, they need to be used! :banana: (ok, bananas are maybe not that fitting with the WL theme, but they show my excitement for staying at the WL!)

As someone who bemoans the lack of options for families of 5 (or 6), I don't mind so much!

I can see your point. It just seems so odd that they add a fifth bed to the studios, but not the one-bedrooms. :confused3

Seems like a reasonable compromise.

:thumbsup2

I agree. I can count on one hand the number of times Julie and I have raised our voices at each other in 16+ years of marriage. My feeling is that I think she's an amazing woman and we're on the same side, therefore she deserves my respect at all times and we should be able to work just about anything out together.:thumbsup2

That is a great attitude. I think the most important thing is to be able to communicate and not just eat up your unhappiness about something until it becomes a huge issue.

Yeah, Mission: Space is probably not a good treatment for motion sickness.

I think @glennbo123 has the fitting smily for that...

Great! I still have yet to experience them, for better or worse.

If you don't run into technical problems, my guess is you will like them. They are convenient.

If they spent that much, I'm sure it was worth it to them for some reason. My guess is we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. I remember reading a Wired article speculating they're trying to eventually get rid of lines altogether.

Well, they never intended to spend as much. They ran into a lot of costs that were not supposed to happen. They were also much behind the schedule that they had originally announced (I think by a year), so that is always an indicator of cost overruns...

Also, part of the cost was really just systems upgrades that were long long overdue. A lot of WDW still ran on computers from 1971! (Actually, a lot of attractions still do).

My two biggest gripes with FP+ is that it has made the lines longer for quite a few attractions. Attractions that did not use to have FP in the past like Spaceship Earth, Pirates (I think we ended up waiting 30 minutes for it on a rather empty December day - we only got in line because it was cold and rainy outside and the line is warm and dry). The other is the data mining aspect of it. The way Disney sold the project internally was that it would increase guest spending by 10% because they would be able to target people better. That is an aspect that does not really do me as the customer any good.

Wow! Where do you hide that third leg? Is it just used for kicking certain people in the behind?:rolleyes1

No, I just dared to enter the bathroom as a normal two legged woman (and managed to come out without gaining an additional leg).

For $2 billion, it had better be!:rotfl:

Oh, there will be a story about how the whole system did not work as you would expect it for $2 billion!

I'd love to see WDW at Christmas time someday.

You should! It is great! :santa:


Yes, you guys just make fun about us German women... Be careful, otherwise this side will come out: :furious:

I had several Playmobil sets as a kid!

:thumbsup2 They are made about 5 miles form where I live!

I haven't seen these before, but I like them! Suddenly my interior decorating budget needs to increase.

They would be really neat as a collection! Hmmm, might be something for my dining room...
 
You mean the tree of lies??? :rotfl2:

It seems that no one here in Germany knows anything about a tradition of hiding pickles on the Christmas tree... However, my family even used to have a Christmas pickle. But it was from a shop that was mainly built for American tourists (we lived in a town that had a crystal factory and a factory outlet that was very popular with Americans and they opened a Christmas shop there as well, all the signs were in English). My sister and I found it there and thought it was so funny that we got one for my father as a Christmas present. It was destroyed in the great Christmas Tree Destruction (the day my father managed to knock over the Christmas tree just when we were done decorating).

The tree of lies!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
 
the closet closest

That almost made my eyes hurt!

the closet door had left a sizeable dent in the metal stateroom door

Oopsies! But I'm sure this sort of stuff happens pretty frequently on the ships- don't feel badly, it was inadvertent!

But it's also poor design

That's exactly the first thing I thought, too!

Our drawings came to life in all kinds of different animated scenes with Disney characters.

I think that's kinda cool! Cheesy, but sorta cool; and I liked the souvenir you came away with in the placemat. :)

Luckily I found our stateroom host and the suitcase was not yet gone, just waiting to be taken to the holding area. So, I could retrieve it and get out those shorts.

Huzzah!! That was a close call!!

we were thrown off the ship

It's faster for them, than making you walk the plank.

so very quickly I was back in the real world and not happy at all.

UGH! Best to just stay in the bubble!

we will also take a look at the fall 2016 schedule that should be released at the end of May

Hmmm....

I am quite confident that there will be a M&M cruise happening in the second half of 2016

Maybe, JUST MAYBE we'll be able to see you!!!!!party:
 
And with that, I'm all caught up. So glad you and Michael came up with a solution to avoid having an early blowout, which would have set the Park Portion up for a rotten start.

I've not had any experience with the Magic Bands yet, so am anxious to see how they work out for us. Glad you found that the child's setting was working for you. It's annoying to have something like that not be comfortable and make you grouchy the entire time.

Good call to do the Party. I'll be anxious to see those photos. :)

I do hope Michael's Dad doesn't worsen during your trip. But I also feel like it was a wise decision to not expose him to his germs at that point. An already compromised immune system doesn't need more.

I always wonder how many noodles they actually sell in the Pavilion? Seriously, would someone spend 10 times on pasta and fill their suitcase space with it??
 
I've enjoyed your previous trip reports...and I really do like the fact that you have added the "she said, he said" into this one.
I don't often comment on trip reports, but I like this one!

Thanks for making the effort to post! It is always great to hear that people enjoy the trip reports!!
 
I have been reading you TR and I usually don't comment but we were in Disney in March 2014 and took my 5yr old grandson, we were celebrating his birthday and we rode with Jimmy and he had everyone sing. My grandson was a little embarrassed, be we loved it. He was one of the CM's we put a comment card in for. Great report

How wonderful that you had fun with Jimmy as well! He is a wonderful CM!

Thanks posting and adding your story!
 
I average around 6-8000 steps per day. The most I have ever done is 21,000+ and that was the day we moved. I thought I was never going to feel normal again after that.

I can totally see that! I just looked it up and that one week at WDW I am going to write about we really did not do any crazy touring and the days are all over 20.000! One day was even 25.000. This was really getting at me. I remember that I was starting to feel very tired from all the walking. And we were not even in the parks for full days! I know that you have foot issues and I can totally see why you are using a scooter for the parks!

I would certainly get off the ship. There are just some places that I would rather not stay overnight, so I'm happy to have the ship to come back to. Nassau on the other hand, I will stay on the ship.

I see what you mean! If I ended up in Nassau, I would certainly get off the ship just to have been there! I think I would be tempted to do the water park at Atlantis even if it is really expensive, but I love water parks and that one seems totally cool!

Grand Cayman is known for interesting scuba diving. Some day we are going to get certified. There also seemed to be some nice restaurants, and beautiful resorts for relaxing.

Sounds great to me! I would love to get certified, but I have asthma and therefore that is out of the question. But I love snorkeling and I have read that Grand Cayman is a great place for that. Just need to convince Michael that that would be a great excursion...

I am currently reading a trip report where someone went on a food tour in Grand Cayman (and Cozumel) and that looked really good. So, I can see your point about nice restaurants.

We don't have any dubious offshore banking to do, though.

I never suspected that you were involved in dubious offshore banking!!!!! :eek: (and if you were, you certainly should not admit to it on a public discussion forum!! ;):rotfl2:

I think the one on the left is Phillippe from Beauty and the Beast and the one on the right is Maximus from Tangled.

Yes, this is was Michael emailed me today after he read the update:

Michael said:
I also sorta screwed up. The fabric on the bed had the Fox and the Hound characters. The horses are as your friend said from B&B and Tangled, I think.

To be fair, he adds his comments when he can't see the pictures. I am pretty sure if he had seen them, he would not have claimed that the horses are from The Fox and the Hound.

That's why I always get something to eat. I have a big cranky problem with on an empty stomach. I'm glad you two worked it out.

Oh, me too! Michael can go for ages and ages without eating and it does not affect his mood. Well, maybe a little bit. But when I am hungry, I resemble this smilie: :furious:

That worked out very well for the two of you.

:thumbsup2

I'm glad that you got your MB issues sorted out. I thought they were kind of cool too. But I was so glad to hear that Mary Niven said that MBs would not be coming to Disneyland as they don't suit the demographics.

I am pretty sure that they are still trying to figure out what to do. Originally it seems that the same system was to be rolled out to all the other parks as well. But they had so many problems that it seems that they are now rethinking what to do. For example I have heard a lot of comments that people think that the new turnstiles at WDW would never work at DL as too many people would just walk into the park without paying.

The interesting thing is that the official line is that "certain elements" of My Magic + will make it to the other Disney parks as well. But that can simply mean that they will do the switch to tickets with RFID chips...

I'll be interested to hear your take on the Biergarten and if you think it's at all authentic. We really enjoyed it when we ate there.

Coming up! But if you want to read more about it, there is a very extensive review in my 2013 trip report: From the Sea to the World - Completed!
 
The tree of lies!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

This is actually from a DIS Unplugged podcast where they were talking about the tree with the pickles and the story that every German family hides a pickle on the Christmas tree (they were having fun with the whole hiding the pickle thing as well... ;)) and that actually nearly nobody in Germany has ever heard of that tradition. Pete Werner than started calling it that. I found it quite fitting! :rotfl2:
 
That almost made my eyes hurt!

I should have said the closest nearest --- But then I have the best excuse for bad language choices!

Oopsies! But I'm sure this sort of stuff happens pretty frequently on the ships- don't feel badly, it was inadvertent!

It was just a shame because the stateroom was so pristine still!

I think that's kinda cool! Cheesy, but sorta cool; and I liked the souvenir you came away with in the placemat. :)

I can understand why some people like it. I just don't. The placemat was fun to keep!

Huzzah!! That was a close call!!

I have heard horror stories of people having to walk off the ship in their pajamas without any shoes because they packed everything after they had gotten ready for bed! :scared1:

It's faster for them, than making you walk the plank.

And they are still hoping for repeat customers. Those whom they made walk the plank are certainly less likely to return! ::yes::

UGH! Best to just stay in the bubble!

It was a very unpleasant return to the real world for Michael

Maybe, JUST MAYBE we'll be able to see you!!!!!party:

Unfortunately none of the possibilities would bring us to Florida in October...
 
And with that, I'm all caught up. So glad you and Michael came up with a solution to avoid having an early blowout, which would have set the Park Portion up for a rotten start.

Yes, he is really good at understanding me and working out a solution for my problems, sometimes even before I really understood what was bothering me exactly...

I've not had any experience with the Magic Bands yet, so am anxious to see how they work out for us. Glad you found that the child's setting was working for you. It's annoying to have something like that not be comfortable and make you grouchy the entire time.

I can only recommend to use the child size if you have smaller wrists (and I think your wrists must be way smaller than mine!!). The problem is, that once you have resized it (you take off the grey outer area), you cannot make it larger again. That is why I was hesitant at first.

Good call to do the Party. I'll be anxious to see those photos. :)

Oh, oh.... Not a lot of pictures. My camera is not good at taking pictures in the dark... And it was getting dark really early when we were there!

I do hope Michael's Dad doesn't worsen during your trip. But I also feel like it was a wise decision to not expose him to his germs at that point. An already compromised immune system doesn't need more.

Michael's father did not get worse while we were away, there was quite a crises around Christmas, but since then he has been much better.

I always wonder how many noodles they actually sell in the Pavilion? Seriously, would someone spend 10 times on pasta and fill their suitcase space with it??

One type of noodles was actually Spätzle and the other ones were funny shapes. I could see some people getting those as a fun present for grandma? And if you are driving, there is no space issue.
 
In case you haven't noticed:

My ticker says 2 weeks until Sister's Summer Sailing to Scandinavia!! Soon we will find out whether the ship will sink (we very much hope that not!!!)!!

This deserved some dancing bananas:


:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:
 

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