10/24/2009 Bash On the Boat (I'm with B.O.B.) - Thread #18

[Walt & Di]

Day One:
Today was Epcot day. We started our day with a trip to the Norwegian Pavilion. Castle Akershus to be exact to have breakfast with the Princesses. Upon entering Leah and Stuart got their picture taken with Belle. Then we were shown our table. Breakfast started and we noted Mulan making her rounds from table to table. The breakfast was about 50% buffet style and 50% served. Buffet consisted of rolls, biscuits, Danishes and croissants. In addition to the breads was a lush layout of various fruits as well as salmon and cheeses. On the table was a potato/cheese mixture yummy scrambled eggs accompanied by bacon and sausage. We all ate ourselves silly! Mulan finally came by the table and she was very interactive with the kids. This was already starting out to be one of the best character breakfasts that I had ever done (I’ve NEVER been happy with a character breakfast at Disneyland). Since it took a while for Mulan to get to us and it appeared that we were nearing the end of our meal, I started to worry. We should have had at least 4 Princesses stop by the table. Only 1 so far! Then suddenly in quick succession, Aurora, Jasmine and Snow White came by and we finished the breakfast feeling that we both got a yummy meal and a fun time. I’ve got some great video of the encounters that I will probably put on you tube.

We spent much of the day in the Future world segment of Epcot, seeing many of the things that we missed on the first trip. The temperature here in Florida this time of year starts out fairly chilly in the morning, warming up nicely in the afternoon (we had to shed all of our coats by 11 a.m.) and cooling off quite a bit once the sun goes down. Here’s a run-down of the wait times of the park right now (for those of my friends online who are interested):
At 9:48am we hit Test Track with a 20 minute stated wait and boarded in just 14 minutes.
Mission Space at 10:28am had a 5 minute wait for both orange and green sections and we didn’t wait nearly that long. However, after we got off the ride the orange section wait time had increased to 20 minutes.
Spaceship Earth at 10:56 am quoted a 30 minute wait time and we were on in 11 minutes.
The Seas with Nemo and friends at 11:39 quoted a 15 minute wait time and we waited 13 minutes.
Living with the Land at 12:44am stated 5 minutes wait and we were onboard in much less time.
Soarin’ at 1:52pm quoted a 60 minute wait and we only waited 34 minutes.
And the last ride of the day was Maelstrom at 3:50 with at 30 minute quoted wait time and we were sailing in 13 minutes.

We also took advantage of the new Kim Possible secret agent adventure in Norway. We were given a cell phone with secret instructions to travel about the land Helping Kim Possible solve a mystery. The Phones were a lot of fun with all of their interactivity and the elements of the surroundings synchronized with the activity of the phone made for a really fun time. My kids LOVED this activity. (7 and 4 years) .

When it was time to call it a day we were all ready to go back to the resort. We had a light meal at the Riverside Mill and then strolled over to the playground on Ol’ Man Island. The kids had a great time while Laura and I enjoyed s’mores by the campfire. We finally got into our room at 7pm exhausted. Well, off to bed to start a new adventure in the Morning!

Sounds like your family had a great day. I have never heard of The Kim Possible mystery. That is one thing the grandkids and I haven't done. Well keep up the great trip report. Di

 

[Walt & Di]

Day 3:
Rest Day! We slept in today. Then got up to eat at Boatwright’s which is the Table Service dining establishment. They are closing this for breakfast later this month, so I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. I have to say, I’m not sure why they are closing for breakfast. From what I saw the restaurant was empty with only a few families dining. Yet when we asked for a table we were made to wait! Lack of employees? Not from where I stood. Were we one of the few families looking to dine there? Nope. Quite a few checked in behind us and continued to do so once we were seated. I have to say that the closure must have some other reason than the economy. After breakfast we planned to go to Downtown Disney where I spent a small fortune on souvenirs. Our pin collection grew nicely though. Laura and I went to a DVC presentation. Unfortunately, It took about two hours of our time and really dented my plans for the day. But we got a lot more information on the vacation club and we think that should we invest in it we will have our eyes wide open. I tell you, they sure make it inviting to buy now rather than later. I almost jumped at it, but I really want to buy when I have money in hand rather than borrowing it. Enough about that, after DVC we ate at Earl of Sandwich which had very yummy sandwiches. And boarded a boat for a ride back to our resort.

We passed the tree houses that are being rebuilt. They look almost completed. We were told that they will be DVC properties when completed. We got our swimsuits and headed back to swim at Port Orleans: French Quarter. Here’s my appraisal of the PO:FQ Pool was great, the kids loved the slide. The property is beautiful much nicer than I expected. The food court was small and I didn’t prefer many of the choices. Although they had a better pizza selection than Riverside which only offers cheese and pepperoni. The employees at the food court were sluggish and did not exude a very Disneyesque atmosphere. The gift shop was also small and uninspired. We decided to walk back to Riverside rather than taking the boat and it was a great walk and beautiful in the moonlight. I wish that I could bottle the essence of that walk and take it home to share with everyone. But nothing I could do would really relate how nice it was. Pictures would be drab, video would be boring, and my pitiful words would be less than adequate. Suffice to say it was one of those moments that needs to be experienced and savored for it is gone too fast.

Another great two days Steve. I learned about Earl of Sandwich while at DTD. We loved it. Really enjoyed my three cheese sandwich. I think that is what it was called. Now we have one in San Antonio. I don't think it will ever do the business the one does in DTD. Di

 

[Walt & Di]

kali river rapids.
one year, robin, cassie and i rode it 11 times straight. it wasnt crowded so they just let us stay on. robin and cassie kept getting soaked, but i somehow managed to stay mostly dry. robin even made me change seats a few times, but we still spun and they got soaked and i didnt.
she kept saying "we're riding this thing till you get wet!!!!"
good times

The last time grandkids and I were at Animal Kingdom (June, 2008) they rode Kali River Rapids continously for probably an hour. They also kept riding Everest. At least 5 times. I rode Everest the first time but I needed to get off since I felt alittle queezy. (sp) They had a blast and were soaken wet from the Rapids. Diane

 

[Walt & Di]

Good night. We had a bad hail/rain storm tonite. Alittle spooky. Kids and dog were afraid Kristen my daughter said. Erika my daughter in Dallas said she was under a tornado warning. wow weird weather all of sudden. I wish it rained more for our poor grass. Walt and I took Asiah out for ribs tonite. That is what she picked for her supper treat. She had a great time. The entire time she kept on saying it was scrumptous.(sp) It was a real barbecue place so there was no plates. We ate on paper. She got a charge out of this. Napkins were paper towels rolls on the table. She never eats bread and she ate two pieces. She said the bread was squishy not like her mom's bread. She was so cute. She was lots of fun to listen to her tell us all kinds of stories about school. Elijah went with mom to school for Mom and son dinner. Well it is 1130 and I am pooped. I better get to bed. Diane

 

[Karen Mouse]

Alrighty, you all heard it. This mother is going to smuggle wine into the school.

It wouldnt be the first time .... and we always have a bar at school functions.

Yes, after the dreadful snow storms, we now have really bad floods.

Karen..it's not as cold as you think, unless you head towards the ice flows. It was very beautiful though.

Still cant convince me Heather

Have a long hot soak Karen. Have a better day tomorrow.

Thanks Heather - I do feel better today

I think we could skip France though.

I dont blame you - its full of French people

Karen, I can assure you that it looks exactly as it sounds.

I'm going to have to start pffting people - it sounds quite therapeutic

 

[Karen Mouse]

They are hurting I believe. They extended the "7 for 4" offer now through Aug 15. I bet the "free dining" comes in after that.

I suspect huge discounts on rooms for October.

I also think that there will be a lot of upgrades for this group. If they can't fill the ship in Winter, they sure aint going to fill it in October. I bet most of the inside cabins will get windows and the windows get a balcony. Us in the SPH rooms won't get anything.

These are tough times.

Strange you should mention that - one of my jobs on my list for today is to price up a cat 12 instead of our SPH. If its loads cheaper we may swap.

I'm shocked. I just put in for Cat 6 and our cruise is only GTY.

WOW!

Didn't know our cruise was that popular.

Its because we're on it

 

[Karen Mouse]

Uh!

Just looked up our cruise prices

no cat 12's left,

cat 11 is $3047.74

We're only paying $2551.74 for our SPH - I'm staying put!

I didnt think it would have gone up that much!

 

[goofyfreak]

Day 3:
Rest Day! We slept in today. Then got up to eat at Boatwright’s which is the Table Service dining establishment. They are closing this for breakfast later this month, so I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. I have to say, I’m not sure why they are closing for breakfast. From what I saw the restaurant was empty with only a few families dining. Yet when we asked for a table we were made to wait! Lack of employees? Not from where I stood. Were we one of the few families looking to dine there? Nope. Quite a few checked in behind us and continued to do so once we were seated. I have to say that the closure must have some other reason than the economy. After breakfast we planned to go to Downtown Disney where I spent a small fortune on souvenirs. Our pin collection grew nicely though. Laura and I went to a DVC presentation. Unfortunately, It took about two hours of our time and really dented my plans for the day. But we got a lot more information on the vacation club and we think that should we invest in it we will have our eyes wide open. I tell you, they sure make it inviting to buy now rather than later. I almost jumped at it, but I really want to buy when I have money in hand rather than borrowing it. Enough about that, after DVC we ate at Earl of Sandwich which had very yummy sandwiches. And boarded a boat for a ride back to our resort.

We passed the tree houses that are being rebuilt. They look almost completed. We were told that they will be DVC properties when completed. We got our swimsuits and headed back to swim at Port Orleans: French Quarter. Here’s my appraisal of the PO:FQ Pool was great, the kids loved the slide. The property is beautiful much nicer than I expected. The food court was small and I didn’t prefer many of the choices. Although they had a better pizza selection than Riverside which only offers cheese and pepperoni. The employees at the food court were sluggish and did not exude a very Disneyesque atmosphere. The gift shop was also small and uninspired. We decided to walk back to Riverside rather than taking the boat and it was a great walk and beautiful in the moonlight. I wish that I could bottle the essence of that walk and take it home to share with everyone. But nothing I could do would really relate how nice it was. Pictures would be drab, video would be boring, and my pitiful words would be less than adequate. Suffice to say it was one of those moments that needs to be experienced and savored for it is gone too fast.

Steve, great report. I can't wait to hear more. Sounds like a grand time.

 

[Verandah Man]

Just popping in to say Good Morning, running late, will have to catch up later, bye for now..........

 

[goofyfreak]

Good morning all.

 

[JLDSMD]

Uh!

Just looked up our cruise prices

no cat 12's left,

cat 11 is $3047.74

We're only paying $2551.74 for our SPH - I'm staying put!

I didnt think it would have gone up that much!

Karen,

You priced it wrong. You took the price from the first page of the reservation. You need to go in a couple pages and remove the Transfers ($207 for the 3 of you) and the insurance ($277). The net before the 10% discount you got for rebooking onboard would be $2,563.74.

Now in looking at an email I had from our Dreams rep, the discount about is about $230 for the rooms you and I have, so if you even figure $200, the total for the Cat 11 should price out around $2,375. Only about a $175 savings, but you'll be giving up the window.

I'd keep the window, but if you give it up, I know there are several people on this board that are interested in your room.

 

[JLDSMD]

Quiet morning/overnight on the thread.

Guess I'll do some work now. I'll check back before I leave the house.

 

[Karen Mouse]

Karen,

You priced it wrong. You took the price from the first page of the reservation. You need to go in a couple pages and remove the Transfers ($207 for the 3 of you) and the insurance ($277). The net before the 10% discount you got for rebooking onboard would be $2,563.74.

Now in looking at an email I had from our Dreams rep, the discount about is about $230 for the rooms you and I have, so if you even figure $200, the total for the Cat 11 should price out around $2,375. Only about a $175 savings, but you'll be giving up the window.

I'd keep the window, but if you give it up, I know there are several people on this board that are interested in your room.

Thanks Jeff - I guessed I was doing something wrong.. theres no way I'd sacrifice my free window for $175

 

[cntkg1]

This one is for Heather. I could do this as a "where in the world" but I don't think anyone would get it. OK, we'll give it a try, where is this located and what is it made from?:

I was going to guess Jelly Belly's too but I have no idea where it is.

They're still in the cities as well. Just have to dial 900 first.

How do you know?

We had a party line when I grew up. We would pick up the phone and someone else would be talking. Also we had to listen for the different rings. I guess I'm showing my age. Di

I forgot all about the special ring Di. I remember that too now.

Good night. We had a bad hail/rain storm tonite. Alittle spooky. Kids and dog were afraid Kristen my daughter said. Erika my daughter in Dallas said she was under a tornado warning. wow weird weather all of sudden. I wish it rained more for our poor grass. Walt and I took Asiah out for ribs tonite. That is what she picked for her supper treat. She had a great time. The entire time she kept on saying it was scrumptous.(sp) It was a real barbecue place so there was no plates. We ate on paper. She got a charge out of this. Napkins were paper towels rolls on the table. She never eats bread and she ate two pieces. She said the bread was squishy not like her mom's bread. She was so cute. She was lots of fun to listen to her tell us all kinds of stories about school. Elijah went with mom to school for Mom and son dinner. Well it is 1130 and I am pooped. I better get to bed. Diane

I just love listening to kids talk. They are amazing!

I'm going to have to start pffting people - it sounds quite therapeutic

There's nothing like a good Pfffft, to make you feel better.

 

[Verandah Man]

Oh Karen--your double was on the treadmill next to me again this morning......I almost said "G'day Mate" to her as she was getting on her treadmill.........

 

[Verandah Man]

Still running way behind schedule, I guess I will catch up on the thread at lunchtime, or after work...........

 

[Verandah Man]

Running Late FO

 

[cntkg1]

If you were marooned on a deserted island, what ONE item (not person) would you wish you had taken along? (Note: You would be rescued after 2 weeks no matter what you chose to take along).


No serious answers allowed and no picking apart my question!!

My answer: Chocolate.



(Side Note: This is my theme for this year's family Christmas party, so good answers will be appreciated)

 

[cntkg1]

Who's the biggest thread killer?

Answer: Moi

 

[JLDSMD]

Thanks Jeff - I guessed I was doing something wrong.. theres no way I'd sacrifice my free window for $175

That's what I thought. It is totally worth it. Plus, being close to the kids club will be good (on those late nights when the boys don't want to leave until after 11:00 ).