Who's Who!
Myself: DW who is a trip planer, tour guide etc!
(This is my 25th trip!)
DH: Who loves Disney and trip planning as much as I do!
DS: 16 yr. old and vows to start his family (when he has one) on Disney yearly vacations! He's been going since he was 5!
Relatives: My mother and father, their 6th trip with us! 70's and in great shape!
Mays Landing, NJ
Sister and Brother-in-law who retired and are Full-timers and are spending the winter in Florida anyway!
Sister and her 6 yr. old daughter. Both went May 1999 with us and whose daugther is the original chicken girl! Pittsburgh, PA
Brother and his 2 daughters, ages 10 and 12. Pittsburgh, PA
Friends:
Couple from our church and their 2 sons, ages 12 and 16. (Who were more thankful to us than my own family!) Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Sunday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve!
Today's Weather is cloudy but going to reach 70 degrees!
Some of us split up and MK and MGM and my family which includes myself and my DH and DS went to catch a bus to the Dolphin. I really wanted to meet SwanDolphin since we have resies there for June and to go explore the place! My DH and DS wanted to go Mini Golfing at Fantasia and play the hard course that Tiger Woods played when he was there. Now my DH and DS are golfers and they played that cousre before and it was frustrating but now they want to tackle it again! By using your AP you got buy one game get one free.
So they got dropped off at the Swan and they walked across the road and I got dropped off at the Dolphin. I went to the Concierge desk since they were not busy and asked for anyone who knew SwanDolphin. Well the guy looked at me like I was nuts and he shook his head. I asked politely if he would call and he really did not want to be bothered but he called someone and then he said no one works here by that name. Even after I explained about the DIS boards he stared at me blankly.....
So, I had to use my second name, Richard. Now Richard had taken care of me over the phone when I originally called to make ressies. So he was on duty and he came out to greet me! All I can say is he is the BEST! He is so polite and kind and he agreed to show me around. He took 1 hour of his time and we looked at a balcony room deluxe what I have reserved and then he took me to the Concierge Room to show me if I upgrade what I would get. He showed me where he worked and then all the restaurants. We talked like old friends and I was very impressed. My only dilemma is whether I should upgrade or not. I really want the balcony and the Conciegre rooms don't have them! Oh well, I have time to decide.
My only regret was that I did not meet THE SwanDolphin but Richard could not have been any more helpful. It is nice to know a friendly face and I make it a habit to meet someone in management at every place I stay so I have a freindly contact. Now let me tell you what I thought.
The Lobby was incredible! The tree was immense and I loved the train. The resaurants looked great. I visited in the mroning so many were closed but I got to look around without anyone being there. Shula's looks like a place I will visit! I don't eat meat but they have a great fish selection! My DH & DS loves steaks so this will be on our list. The rooms were on par with the Beach Clubs room though I must say the BC has a little more room with the day bed in them. I also liked the BC balconys because they seemed bigger but these are not major points just my observations.
My DH & I are staying at the BC on Feb. 8 to the 13th and I will visit the Dolphin again so my DH can see the rooms for himself. I also did not go to see the pool so that is for our next visit. I would like to try to meet SwanDolphin also if anyone knows who he is....
The Dolpphin is hugh and it I wonder how it would feel to walk to the pool and then have to find your way to your room dripping wet...Oh well just little things that I think of.
After I said my goodbyes to Richard and wished him and his family a lovely Christmas and Happy New YEar, I made my way to the boats so I could go to EPCOT. Now I do know that the Boats are slow and if you want to you can walk to EPCOT MUCH faster. So I got off at the Y & BC and walked to EPCOT and the boat was just leaving the Boardwalk. I went into EPCOT and was glad to have the day to myself!
I stopped in France and went to see my favorite movie! I then walked slowly aoound and watched hte people and then went to Japan and who is standing by the watches by my DH & DS. Go figure...I thought I was going to be by myself oh well. We walked over ot the AA and this is my DS very favorite so he and my DH went on it while I went to Germany to meet up with 5 more of our gang to have lunch in the Beirgarten. Now since we have been taking my DS to WDW (he was 5 when we started) he has been in love with EPCOT and the countries. He has learned so much from this place. I don't understand when other people say EPCOT isn't for children. I believe that by exposing my son to all the interesting things there and taking the time to explore, it has helped him in his school work and just in his general knowledge of geographpy etc.
Innoventions is our favorite and he would spend hours in Commincore EAST and WEST. So while he went to see AA I hopped and skipped over to Germany.
My sister and neice were already there and she was listening to the German Santa...Kris Kringle? tell a story. THen she went to the Kidstop to make a mask. My parents arrive shortly after and we went inside to sit and wait for my DH and DS to meet us. Well it was not crowded at all and the srever agredd to seat us since we were all starving, before the others arrived! We sat down and helped ourselves to the buffet. It was GREAT!
This was our first time here and the food was excellent. The Roast was tender so everyone said and there was plent for me to eat since I don't eat meat! The pickled beets and red cabage was wonderful. Also the entertainment was nice! My DS & DH came 10 min. after we were seated and they ate a lot. It was only 12.95 for adults and my D neice did not want to eat so they did not charge her! She ahd eaten a hot dog earlier and she was full! After dinner we split up for a SURPRISE!
Well, this was my gift to my DH and DS. I booked a ressie dor them to do DIVEQUEST! Also the other member of our group, our friend from NJ was going to do it as a gift from his wife! So the 3 guys were going to meet at the front entrance of EPCOT while my father decide to go back to the room to be with my brother who had stayed at the pool today. Meanwhile my mom and my sister and my neice decide to go to MExico and Norway to do the rides.
We were going to meet the guys and the rest of our friends from NJ at The Living Seas by 5PM so we could watch them dive. While we were awalking to The Living Seas after the boat rides, THe character bus came along and it stopped right in front of us so my DN got a lot of pictues. IT wasn't too crowed at first but by the time we left it was jammed!
We made it over to The Living Seas and went up to the Observation deck and watched the dive. It was AWESOME. This was my DH 2nd time to do it and my DS first time since he just finished his Adult Open Water Certification this past summer. He loved it and the look on his face was priceless.
A lot of people crowed around and were surprised to see the divers in the tank. I took a lot of movies and they came out great. It was the highlight of our trip. Now I asked one of the Dive MAsters who was int he observation area if he would take me and my girlfriend, whose husband was also diving up to see where the tank was. He agreed and gave us a wonderful tour and we got to see the dolphins up close! IT is very interesting and I would recommend this to anyone who has a Dive Certification Card. They were in the water about 40 minutes and then they came out and everone clapped and then we agreed to meet back at the rooms!
Before we left EPCOT we wnet on SE since there wasn't any line! After that we all met at the Pepper Market to talk about the great ending to a great day! What a nice Christmas Eve!
Tomorrow Shopping at the MArketplace to avoid the crowds at the Parks!
Myself: DW who is a trip planer, tour guide etc!
(This is my 25th trip!)
DH: Who loves Disney and trip planning as much as I do!
DS: 16 yr. old and vows to start his family (when he has one) on Disney yearly vacations! He's been going since he was 5!
Relatives: My mother and father, their 6th trip with us! 70's and in great shape!
Mays Landing, NJ
Sister and Brother-in-law who retired and are Full-timers and are spending the winter in Florida anyway!
Sister and her 6 yr. old daughter. Both went May 1999 with us and whose daugther is the original chicken girl! Pittsburgh, PA
Brother and his 2 daughters, ages 10 and 12. Pittsburgh, PA
Friends:
Couple from our church and their 2 sons, ages 12 and 16. (Who were more thankful to us than my own family!) Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Sunday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve!
Today's Weather is cloudy but going to reach 70 degrees!
Some of us split up and MK and MGM and my family which includes myself and my DH and DS went to catch a bus to the Dolphin. I really wanted to meet SwanDolphin since we have resies there for June and to go explore the place! My DH and DS wanted to go Mini Golfing at Fantasia and play the hard course that Tiger Woods played when he was there. Now my DH and DS are golfers and they played that cousre before and it was frustrating but now they want to tackle it again! By using your AP you got buy one game get one free.
So they got dropped off at the Swan and they walked across the road and I got dropped off at the Dolphin. I went to the Concierge desk since they were not busy and asked for anyone who knew SwanDolphin. Well the guy looked at me like I was nuts and he shook his head. I asked politely if he would call and he really did not want to be bothered but he called someone and then he said no one works here by that name. Even after I explained about the DIS boards he stared at me blankly.....
So, I had to use my second name, Richard. Now Richard had taken care of me over the phone when I originally called to make ressies. So he was on duty and he came out to greet me! All I can say is he is the BEST! He is so polite and kind and he agreed to show me around. He took 1 hour of his time and we looked at a balcony room deluxe what I have reserved and then he took me to the Concierge Room to show me if I upgrade what I would get. He showed me where he worked and then all the restaurants. We talked like old friends and I was very impressed. My only dilemma is whether I should upgrade or not. I really want the balcony and the Conciegre rooms don't have them! Oh well, I have time to decide.
My only regret was that I did not meet THE SwanDolphin but Richard could not have been any more helpful. It is nice to know a friendly face and I make it a habit to meet someone in management at every place I stay so I have a freindly contact. Now let me tell you what I thought.
The Lobby was incredible! The tree was immense and I loved the train. The resaurants looked great. I visited in the mroning so many were closed but I got to look around without anyone being there. Shula's looks like a place I will visit! I don't eat meat but they have a great fish selection! My DH & DS loves steaks so this will be on our list. The rooms were on par with the Beach Clubs room though I must say the BC has a little more room with the day bed in them. I also liked the BC balconys because they seemed bigger but these are not major points just my observations.
My DH & I are staying at the BC on Feb. 8 to the 13th and I will visit the Dolphin again so my DH can see the rooms for himself. I also did not go to see the pool so that is for our next visit. I would like to try to meet SwanDolphin also if anyone knows who he is....
The Dolpphin is hugh and it I wonder how it would feel to walk to the pool and then have to find your way to your room dripping wet...Oh well just little things that I think of.
After I said my goodbyes to Richard and wished him and his family a lovely Christmas and Happy New YEar, I made my way to the boats so I could go to EPCOT. Now I do know that the Boats are slow and if you want to you can walk to EPCOT MUCH faster. So I got off at the Y & BC and walked to EPCOT and the boat was just leaving the Boardwalk. I went into EPCOT and was glad to have the day to myself!
I stopped in France and went to see my favorite movie! I then walked slowly aoound and watched hte people and then went to Japan and who is standing by the watches by my DH & DS. Go figure...I thought I was going to be by myself oh well. We walked over ot the AA and this is my DS very favorite so he and my DH went on it while I went to Germany to meet up with 5 more of our gang to have lunch in the Beirgarten. Now since we have been taking my DS to WDW (he was 5 when we started) he has been in love with EPCOT and the countries. He has learned so much from this place. I don't understand when other people say EPCOT isn't for children. I believe that by exposing my son to all the interesting things there and taking the time to explore, it has helped him in his school work and just in his general knowledge of geographpy etc.
Innoventions is our favorite and he would spend hours in Commincore EAST and WEST. So while he went to see AA I hopped and skipped over to Germany.
My sister and neice were already there and she was listening to the German Santa...Kris Kringle? tell a story. THen she went to the Kidstop to make a mask. My parents arrive shortly after and we went inside to sit and wait for my DH and DS to meet us. Well it was not crowded at all and the srever agredd to seat us since we were all starving, before the others arrived! We sat down and helped ourselves to the buffet. It was GREAT!
This was our first time here and the food was excellent. The Roast was tender so everyone said and there was plent for me to eat since I don't eat meat! The pickled beets and red cabage was wonderful. Also the entertainment was nice! My DS & DH came 10 min. after we were seated and they ate a lot. It was only 12.95 for adults and my D neice did not want to eat so they did not charge her! She ahd eaten a hot dog earlier and she was full! After dinner we split up for a SURPRISE!
Well, this was my gift to my DH and DS. I booked a ressie dor them to do DIVEQUEST! Also the other member of our group, our friend from NJ was going to do it as a gift from his wife! So the 3 guys were going to meet at the front entrance of EPCOT while my father decide to go back to the room to be with my brother who had stayed at the pool today. Meanwhile my mom and my sister and my neice decide to go to MExico and Norway to do the rides.
We were going to meet the guys and the rest of our friends from NJ at The Living Seas by 5PM so we could watch them dive. While we were awalking to The Living Seas after the boat rides, THe character bus came along and it stopped right in front of us so my DN got a lot of pictues. IT wasn't too crowed at first but by the time we left it was jammed!
We made it over to The Living Seas and went up to the Observation deck and watched the dive. It was AWESOME. This was my DH 2nd time to do it and my DS first time since he just finished his Adult Open Water Certification this past summer. He loved it and the look on his face was priceless.
A lot of people crowed around and were surprised to see the divers in the tank. I took a lot of movies and they came out great. It was the highlight of our trip. Now I asked one of the Dive MAsters who was int he observation area if he would take me and my girlfriend, whose husband was also diving up to see where the tank was. He agreed and gave us a wonderful tour and we got to see the dolphins up close! IT is very interesting and I would recommend this to anyone who has a Dive Certification Card. They were in the water about 40 minutes and then they came out and everone clapped and then we agreed to meet back at the rooms!
Before we left EPCOT we wnet on SE since there wasn't any line! After that we all met at the Pepper Market to talk about the great ending to a great day! What a nice Christmas Eve!
Tomorrow Shopping at the MArketplace to avoid the crowds at the Parks!
