Not ready yet???!!! A February trip report! Update 10/25 Day 9

[jenseib]

Claire got a postcard from her friend "Karin" today!! She was very excited. Thank you so much!

Pixie is adorbable. I love the toy before and after pics. That is so funny.
The flight sounded pretty much uneventful, which is good. I get antsy on a 2 1/2 hour flight. I think I would go crazy longer...but of course if the destination is right, I'm sure I could suck it up!

 

[jenseib]

OOPS double post.

 

[jeminni]

Yay, another Karin and Tom trip report.


Pixie is way too cute, she might just steal the show.

 

[englishrose47]

Checking Karin and waiting for the next update !!!!

 

[annmarieda]

I am so jealous! The food you get on your flights looks so good!! We still get pop/juice/coffee... but even the food that you can purchase is no where near as yummy looking as what you are served.

Your kitty is so adorable!!! Aside from having a ton of kids... I have even more cats. I love kitties!

 

[dizneeat]

Karin,
I am in LOVE with Pixie
She is adorable, she obviously loved her showgirl toy.
You made me laugh out loud with the comment about not many Austrians with a Petsmart card!! That is funny.
I love going to Petsmart.

I was on a busines/personal call to Bad Hofgastein my work and my life have become one it seems!! It looks like a really beautiful town, that and the area near Zell am see.
Thanks you for the Pixie pictures they were great!
Brenda

She is cute, isn't she, Brenda?
And she LOVES those toys! It amazes me every time, how she "holds" her toys!
Tom and I love Petsmart! We came across it during one of our offsite excursions. Now it has become a "must visit" every trip! And yes, I signed up for one of their cards! Makes me laugh inside every time I am asked if I have one and then hand it over!

Awww! I love her! She is adorable!

Thank you! We love her too! She is our little princess!

love the picture of pixie and her toys those are great!

Thank you! She is one really spoiled little princess!

Pixie is just darling. How old is she? How does she do when you are away for a whole month? Elaine PS Thanks for the new update!!!

Thank you! She is our "baby" .
She is going to be 9 sometime around May. She was a stray and we got her from the vet.
You would not believe it from the photos, but when we first took her in she "vanished" at the top of a wardrobe, where we store my mum's old fabrics. We did NOT see her for 6 weeks, the only proof that she was there was that during the night she would eat and use the litterbox.
After 6 weeks she came down and behaved as if she had been around forever!
Ever since she has two loyal servants!

Karin I just saw the picture of Pixie your cat, she is adorable! You will not believe it but she looks just like our Claire! I would add her picture for you, but I still don't know how.

Thank you Teri! I received your photo of Claire and they could be sisters!
I forwarded your mail to Tom and he was just as stunned as I was!

Are your travel plans still the same? I am so hoping that we can meet in the summer!

 

[dizneeat]

Your cat is really cute! Your food looks a lot better then the food I had when I went to Europe.

Thank you!
What airline did you travel on? Not every European airline caters the same way?

Pixie is adorable- I had a cat just like her in college named Gypsy.

I can't get over the fact that you get food on the plane that actually looks edible! Continental (who we fly from NJ) has ridiculous purchased food (in Coach). I wouldn't mind that much, but they never really have much to buy...including on the flight to St Thomas when we go to ST John. You really do have to bring your own food now.

Thank you! Pixie wraps us round her paw - the way she looks at you, we just have to give in!

The food on the way to the US is actually quite good and for a free meal it is VERY good. On the way back it is a different story - they cater in the US and it is different from the "European" food.
Low cost carriers here don't cater either. And the food is ridiculously expensive and unedible!

I am late, missed the fact that you have come and went... here now ready to read!!

Hi Mary!
Glad you made it here! You haven't missed much - as you can see, I haven't even finished day 1 yet - but I hope to be able to update pretty soon!
Real life sometimes REALLY gets in the way!

I want to see more photos of Pixie! She is soooo cute! I love it when kitties play.

We took a few more photos of her today! Tom needs to convert them to an uploadable size and I will post a few more - she was in a good mood and "modelled" for me today!

Karin, I work as a veterinary technician at a small animal hospital in treatment and surgery so I recognize the expression of a blissed out cat! Pixie is a very lucky cat.

Thank you!
We really want her to be happy and she usually looks to be happy, but to hear that she actually looks happy makes my heart really happy!!!!! Thank you!

 

[dizneeat]

Karin,

Great start to your TR. I love the detail and the pictures!

OMG, I want Pixie!!!! We have 4 cats at home and if Joe would let me, I'd have more. I am quite crazy though about house cleaning by running the sweeper daily and such but I wouldn't have it any other way...they are worth it!

Thank you! I try to type my trip report as soon as possible, so I can remember a lot of the little detail!

I remember that you love cats! Yours are so cute too! We could not afford more than one! She is one spoiled kitty! Eats the most expensive food, has the most expensive litter, gets her toys from the US!

Tinkerbell is so adorable!! You can tell that she is very loved and very content to have such a wonderful family

Thank you! We are so happy to have her!

Karin,
A "young" Camembert, I always look at the cheese that they are getting rid of at the grocery, about to expire! That means it is just getting slightly ripe for the European taste buds!

The weather in Frankfurt, looked so gray.

I don't like them when they are "overripe" but this one was REAL young - quite firm to the touch!

It was cold and rainy in Frankfurt, we could not wait to get out of there!

KARIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm here I'm here! I'm so sorry for my absense but I'm back now! I was on spring break last week and all I could think of was how your trip was going! Now to catch myself up with you and everyone else!

Yeah! Yuki is here!
How was your spring break trip? I think you talked about going away on your thread?

We had a wonderful week - ended up with incredible weather and had so much fun!
Lots more to come pretty soon!

I am subbing 3 days late Oh Karin How did I miss this !!!

Yeah, Rosie is here too!
So nice to have you onboard Rosie!

 

[Teri1]

[/Quote]Thank you Teri! I received your photo of Claire and they could be sisters!
I forwarded your mail to Tom and he was just as stunned as I was!

Are your travel plans still the same? I am so hoping that we can meet in the summer! [/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]

Hi Karin, Mick could'nt believe it either how much our cats look alike. Claire is 8 years old and I picked her up off the sidewalk as a tiny kitten at a strip mall in front of a Claire's Boutique jewelry store. It was snowing and she crawled inside my coat.

Our plans are the same we will be at CSR on the 9th of Sept. We will have to schedule time to visit. We won't be getting park tickets, will just be enjoying the resort and WPE at DD.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Teri1, we will be at CBR on that date. We arrive on the 6th & leave on the 12.

 

[Teri1]

Teri1, we will be at CBR on that date. We arrive on the 6th & leave on the 12.

We will all have to plan a Dis Meet. We stayed at CBR for the first time last Oct., it is a beautiful resort and quiet.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Subbing!! Great start...can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Pixie is sooo cute! I love cats, ours died last fall, he was 16. I don't know if we will adopt another.

I love crusty bread, I envy yours.

Thank you! We love our little princess!

We lost our other cat too. Tom was sure we wouldn't get another one, as Garfield had lived with us for 19 years and it was hard to see him die.

Within 2 weeks he couldn't stand to come home to an empty house any more - this is where Pixie entered the scene! She has ruled the house ever since ..........

Pixie is sooo cute and photogenic !!!My attempts at getting pix of our 2 kittens have been futile as they don't stay still long enough !!!They are named Tinkerbelle (Tink) and Silvermist( Misty ) so they are Pixie Fairies too !!!I will really try to get decent pix of them soon , cuz they too are really cute !!!

I see you stayed off site the first night !! This is part of my new plan , which I haven't run by Judy yet !!But I scrunched figures and with the cheaper flight we will actually save money annnnnnndddd her is my plan I am looking at a LIMO to pick us up and take us to the offsite hotel !!The girls will just LOVE that!!!Whattdo you think?????

Thank you, Rosie!
As for taking photos, I can't take a decent photo with my point and shoot either. I use our "big" camera (Nikon D90) for those photos.
We wanted a Disney name for her and she didn't look like a Minnie or Daisy so we went with TinkerBell. But it is a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG name for a little kitty (and she was tiny when we got her), so her name got shortened from TinkerBell to Pixie!

To be honest, checking into an expensive Disney Resort at a Holiday Weekend I feared that we would get stuck in the "last" room they still held. So we decided on staying offsite and near DTD too.
In the summer we will check into OKW right away like last year. More luggage and we have seats up front on the plane, so we should get through security faster.
But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your idea of the limo and the offsite hotel. What hotel are you thinking of? The Clarion was nice, but it is very motel like. I looked at the Best Western Downtown Disney too and was turned off by the prices and the reviews. (Wanted to go for a Disney view room and there were quite a few reviews where people had booked that and never got one!)

Oh, Pixie is sooo cute!!! I am deathly allergic, but I would want to pet her, so please give her pets and kisses from Aunt Chrissy?

Next time a box makes it's way from NC to Austria, it will have some goodies from PetSmart included.

Oh! Speaking of boxes - remember I said please don't ever even consider sending another one when the US begins accepting boxes again? Well, I changed my mind after seeing Nussinis!!!!!

The food on Lufthansa always looks so good! I flew Lufthansa from NY to Frankfurt then on to Rome and back, but we did not have anything that yummy! On one of my trips to London we took Virgin - the way over was terrible - cramped, awful food...but the way back was fabulous! Empty flight and all they did was feed us and it was surprisingly yummy!

Can't wait for the next update!!

Sophia is going to LOVE the psotcard I received from the FAB Five!! Thank you so much!!

Pixie sends Auntie Chrissie a huge "purr".
You are allergic to cats? Wow, that's hard. I cannot imagine not being able to pet those soft furry creatures! I'll do it for you then!

I'll make a note of the Nussini for you, and HOPE that they find a way to send more than a pound in a parcel again - it is such a pain not to be able to send things.
And thanks for thinking of Pixie IF you ever consider sending something!

I am quite happy with the food Lufthansa feeds us on the way TO the US. On the way back it's not really bad, but they cater in the US and they don't seem to have as many regulations as the Europeans have, so the food is mostly not as good. But as long as you travel on Lufthansa they should feed you well on flights that originate there. Did you fly Lufthansa or one of its partners?
I would LOVE to fly Austrian - their food is outstanding - but they only fly to NY or Washington and then you need to use United. I am NOT a huge fan of immigration in Washington and don't like United.
So Lufthansa it is!

More updates are in the works ...... and you and Sophia are very welcome to your card.
Thank you for the photo of Sophia you sent the other day!

Karin, Pixie is SO CUTE that I saved that first picture of her. I love that she's jusg huggin her new toy! So adorable!!! How old is she?

Hooray, you're on your way! Glad you got there early, even with the short delay. Wow, the food looks really good! Mmm, vanilla pudding with REAL vanilla in it. That's fancy.

Wow, the salad was crisp? That sounds so rare for airplane food. You were flying Lufthansa right?

Thank you! We think that she is a pretty cute cat too! And like you I LOVE the photo where she is hugging her toy with her eyes closed.
Oh, and BTW she's 8!!

Food on Lufthansa is mostly very good! And they do a pretty good job on the salad they serve. The serving is just a very tiny one!

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, looks like cute little Pixie is having so much fun! I don't think I've seen a cat hug a toy like that.
Nice meals on the plane. We are always relegated to a sandwich from the airport or timing our meals to eat sit down during layovers. I guess I wouldn't want your airfare though. We Americans demand cheap flights or we're not going!

She just loves those feathery toys! She can play with them for a VERY long time!

I wish there were an alternative to our airfare - it is what "most" decides if we can go to the US or not. I don't mind staying in a value resort, even though I just LOOOOOVE OKW! But there is no way around airfare. And it IS a long flight too!
There are low cost carriers here too, but they only fly across Europe and some even go to the US, but not to Orlando and if I figure in loosing two vacation days by travelling to Orlando and staying somewhere else it comes close to what Lufthansa charges in the first place! So why bother.

Claire got a postcard from her friend "Karin" today!! She was very excited. Thank you so much!

Pixie is adorbable. I love the toy before and after pics. That is so funny.
The flight sounded pretty much uneventful, which is good. I get antsy on a 2 1/2 hour flight. I think I would go crazy longer...but of course if the destination is right, I'm sure I could suck it up!

I am glad she liked it! Is she excited she is going on vacation so soon? Are you? Have you started packing yet?

Thank you for your comment on Pixie! She licks those feathers until they are soaking wet - that is when she "demands/expects" a new toy!

I hear you on the long flight - but if we want to go to the US there is NO way around them. This is why we carry the sleeping aid and take some, so we don't really "feel" how long the flight is!

Yay, another Karin and Tom trip report.


Pixie is way too cute, she might just steal the show.

Hi! Good to have you here, I am so glay you joined!

And you are SO right - it might have been a HUGE mistakes to post Pixie photos, she gets more comments than anything else!

Checking Karin and waiting for the next update !!!!

At least ONE update coming up today. I have one ready to post and if I have enough time there might even be another one today!

I am so jealous! The food you get on your flights looks so good!! We still get pop/juice/coffee... but even the food that you can purchase is no where near as yummy looking as what you are served.

Your kitty is so adorable!!! Aside from having a ton of kids... I have even more cats. I love kitties!

Yes, I think we are pretty lucky with our in-flight food. And it is still free!

Thank you for your sweet comments on Pixie! She's our "only" cat! I don't know how we could afford more than one - she only eats the most expensive small tins of food and then she is really picky! And yes, she gets something else if she doesn't like her food! She is one SPOILED little girl.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin, Mick could'nt believe it either how much our cats look alike. Claire is 8 years old and I picked her up off the sidewalk as a tiny kitten at a strip mall in front of a Claire's Boutique jewelry store. It was snowing and she crawled inside my coat.

Our plans are the same we will be at CSR on the 9th of Sept. We will have to schedule time to visit. We won't be getting park tickets, will just be enjoying the resort and WPE at DD.

Pixie is 8 years old too .......... and she was a stray too! A woman rescued her at the beginning of winter. She was TINY and so frightened when she first got here, and look at her now!

We have a dinner reservation for Kouzzina that day but there is still lots of time to "turn things around". Once I have finished this trip report and I have REALLY started planning we need to work out how and where to meet!

Teri1, we will be at CBR on that date. We arrive on the 6th & leave on the 12.

That calls for a DISmeet!!!!!!!!

We will all have to plan a Dis Meet. We stayed at CBR for the first time last Oct., it is a beautiful resort and quiet.

We have stayed there too, and loved it. Maybe going back there next February - but we'll have to see how things work out first!
DISmeet it is!!!!!!! It's definitely ON!!!!

Subbing!! Great start...can't wait to hear more!!!

Hi! How wonderful that you have found us too!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 1, February 19

Are you sure you have a reservation? - Part 3

It took about 20 minutes to get off the plane and then we were walking towards immigration and we were wondering how long we would have to queue up.
When we finally made it there we were shocked – the room was full of people and the line started way outside the roped off lines. There is no other option than to get in line, so we joined the lines which snaked from one side of the room to the other 6 times.
It took us nearly 90 minutes to get to an officer and then we were real lucky as we had a very friendly and nice female officer taking our photos and fingerprints.
Then it was finally off to find out if our luggage had made it all the way and yippie, it was still on the carousel. Once we had it in hand and had made it through customs we did not have it transported via their luggage system as it took forever to arrive last summer.

We hauled our luggage over to the rental car desk and there were only 5 people ahead of us.
After about 5 minutes wait we were asked to step up to the desk and handed over our pre-paid rental agreement. The agent was very nice and super helpful and we were all set within a few minutes and on the way out to the parking garage to pick a vehicle.
Well, there wasn’t much to pick from, but Tom found a car he liked and we loaded our stuff in the trunk. Tom positioned the GPS and off we went. While we had landed in broad daylight it was dark when we finally left the parking garage.

And it started to sink in that we had really arrived once the first Disney billboards greeted us along the highway. It took about half an hour and we pulled into the parking lot of the Clarion Lake Buena Vista, formerly Quality Inn Lake Buena Vista.
Last year we had a reservation at the Quality Inn and they managed to loose our reservation, so this year we were holding our breath IF we would have a bed to sleep in. I dug out the reservation confirmation which I had made through an online booking agency and had printed out in English, just in case, and in we went. No one ahead of us at the front desk and the young employee was very cheerful and looked at my reservation, then looked at his computer, looked at my reservation and the computer again, asked for a passport and then asked ……. “Are you sure you have a reservation for today?”

Well, look here, it says February 19 on my reservation and if we haven’t leaped in time today IS February 19. No, I didn’t say that, but the sentence was sitting at the tip of my tongue!
He apologized, took the reservation and went to talk to someone in the back, then came back to explain that we “had had” a reservation on January 19 but didn’t turn up!!!
Sorry, but we haven’t even been in the country then! He finally got us a room and we were really relieved all worked out well, but it just confirms for me that IF (oh please) we go back next February I will stay at a Disney Value Resort just to avoid the offsite hassle.

Key in hand we marched back to the car, then drove over to the section where our room was, walked upstairs and had a look at the room.

It was clean and had been renovated, so we started to bring up our luggage. Once everything was stowed in the room we walked back down and drove over to the Hess Gas Station at Downtown Disney to pick up some drinks, Dorito chips, Salsa and Cheese Sauce.

Then we headed over to

Wolfgang Puck’s Express for some sandwiches to start off our vacation in style.

We ordered a Rotisserie Turkey Club Sandwich, avocado, bacon, red onion, plum tomatoes, romaine and remoulade and

a Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwich, with lots of romaine and plum tomatoes.

Once back in our room, Tom went to get some ice and we had a leisurely “picnic” in front of the TV.
By the time we were finished it was close to midnight and we decided to call it a day and try the Clarion’s beds!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hi Karin,

Nice update. I just love seeing the Disney signs on the highway. From that point on, the anticipation of arriving is killing me!

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

Those sandwiches look yummy

 

[JERSEYGIRLINSI]

Karin hello! I have literally followed all of your dining/trip reports. And was super excited that you had started this new trip report, and I had got in on the very first post versus coming in months later.
We will be back to the World May 30-June 7th, and have just hit a bump in the road. I'm hoping that you will be able to help me out. Our family is Myself, my husband, and our 2 boys (soon to be 4 and 7).
The recent oil hike is going to kill me in price increases for airfare, so we are looking to leave a day earlier. For our dynamic, would you think this hotel would be a good fit? Im very picky whenever it concerns my boys, but the pictures look promising. What's your thought? TIA for any help you may have.
*Tiffany

 

[pinkxray]

I can't believe they had you down for Jan. 19. since you had the confirmation number in hand that stated Feb. 19 At least you were able to get a room. The rooms look pretty decent.

I can't imagine getting off such a long flight only to head into a line for 90 minutes

WPE looks great as usual. I guess that is when all the traveling finally makes it worth it