3rd Annual We are "NEVER" going to Disney in the summer again"

We almost always return to the Beach Club from MK via the monorail and walk through EPCOT. I think there was a monorail waiting for us as we walked up the ramp, so we didn’t have to wait.


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The observant reader will notice that this is a different shirt than I am wearing in other pictures. You caught me! This pic is from last year but I thought it would fit nicely here!

You know the punch buggy game? You see a VW Beetle and you punch the person next to you? White one! Punch! Well the boys did that with monorails during the whole trip. Black one! Punch! Red one! Punch! Two for Tronorail! Good times! The worst part is, they have continued this back at home, with any Volkswagon. There has been a lot of punching going on. Boys, you only do this with VW BEETLES and technically, should only count with the original BEETLES. Boys!!!

In 20 minutes, we were circling Spaceship Earth and pulling through Future World to the monorail station. Soon, we were entering the park


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We walked onto the Spaceship Earth ride. I always enjoy this calming, informative, entertaining ride. I love smelling the smoke in the prehistoric cave and as Rome burns. Ben loves making the silly movie at the end. Most of the time, he tries to make a funny face or do something strange when his photo is taken. He’s 9, that’s for sure!


As we continued on towards the Beach Club, we stopped at another classic favorite; Livin’ with the Land. I’m surprised my boys like it as much as they do. They get a lot of milage making fun of me because I miss the “Livin’ with the Land” folksy song that used to be on the ride. I could NOT believe it the first time I rode when the song was absent.

papaya:

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dragonfruit

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pummelo

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Lettuce

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This was about all we had time to do in EPCOT for the evening- we had dinner reservations at the Captain’s Grille at the Yacht club at 6:00 PM. It was our first time eating here and the perfect place for our arrival dinner. It was quiet (not crowded), close to our resort and it was great being waited on. Last year our arrival dinner was the Cape May Café, and although the food was great and we were even closer to our Beach Club room, the restaurant was chaotic and we were way too tired from our long day of travel and play in the parks to deal with the buffet lines.

I was taking photos of the family at the table and a nice woman came over and asked if I wanted to be in the picture too. Awesome. She snapped a great picture, I said thank you and when I turned around to see where she was sitting, I couldn’t find her. She came outta nowhere!

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We had a great meal! Here are some photos. I had the snow crab legs, Mark had the Grilled Rib Eye, Nate had the NY Strip steak, of course and Ben had what he said were the best chicken nuggets ever! He made this declaration about the best chicken nuggets several times on the trip. The desserts were probably the least impressive part of meal.

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After a wonderful dinner, we returned to our room. There was a delivery of milk (in the fridge) and cookies greeting us upon our return. A nice treat from a friend!

The boys got ready for bed and fell asleep quickly and I puttered around the room for a bit, putting away clothes, getting the coffee maker all set so I just had to hit the on-switch in the morning.

What would be the perfect ending to our magical first day?

Next up: My DH and I experience fireworks in our room. Again and Again (Don’t worry, this post is G-rated)
 
Mmm, those crab legs made my mouth water. I dunno, I thought the desserts looked pretty good myself :lmao:

I'm going to guess the fireworks again & again that you were lucky to see both Illuminations & Fantasmic fireworks from your balcony?

P.S. The recyled pic from the monorail with you laying down :rotfl:
 
Mmm, those crab legs made my mouth water. I dunno, I thought the desserts looked pretty good myself :lmao:

I'm going to guess the fireworks again & again that you were lucky to see both Illuminations & Fantasmic fireworks from your balcony?

P.S. The recyled pic from the monorail with you laying down :rotfl:

Yum on the crab legs! There will be more of those to come later in the report. One of those desserts was a Key Lime Tart and it didn't have a ton of flavor. The gelato was just ok.

You are half-right on the fireworks.
 
That meal looks yummy! I'm glad to hear the chicken nuggets are awesome since I'm quite sure my 4yr old will get his fill of nuggets during our trip.

How long does it take to walk through epcot vs taking the bus? It sounds like something fun to do but not sure about dragging 3 tired kids after being at the MK. Maybe I can send my hubby with the little guy and we can race him back. The older boys would get a kick out of that.

Jill
 


That meal looks yummy! I'm glad to hear the chicken nuggets are awesome since I'm quite sure my 4yr old will get his fill of nuggets during our trip.

How long does it take to walk through epcot vs taking the bus? It sounds like something fun to do but not sure about dragging 3 tired kids after being at the MK. Maybe I can send my hubby with the little guy and we can race him back. The older boys would get a kick out of that.

Jill

I'm not sure if we have ever walked without stopping for Fast Passes or an attraction or two. It breaks up the walk time (but increases the overall time)

We ALWAYS do Spaceship Earth on the way since the line is short or non-existant later in the day. If you are coming back to EPCOT that evening, then stop for FP to Soarin' on your way back to the resort. Or reserve a Kim Posible Mission.

This is also a good opportunity to go to the Seas with Nemo or Imagination since you are walking in that direction. Stop at Club Cool and get the boys sugared up.

Or if you haven't had lunch yet, get counter service from Sunshine Seasons or one of the countries to go.

But you asked how long...

Monorail ride is 20 minutes or so.

5 minutes to bag check/enter. 7 minutes if you are behind idiots at the turnstiles. We usually are! :)

10 minute walk through Future World. Another 5-7 minutes through Canada and UK. 5-7 minute walk to Beach Club, and then to your room.

I'd say 25-30 minutes plus the monorail ride, if you don't make any stops. So it is definitely quicker and definitely less tiring to take the bus back if you trying to get to the BC quickly for a swim. Waittime for bus, plus bus ride (15-20 min)
 
Your dinner at Captain's Grille looks so good. I'm thinking I might have to add that to our list for next year.
 
I'm jealous. I really really wanted to eat at Captain's Grille but due to a variety of circumstances beyond my control, it didn't happen. I loved the look of the dinner menu.

I have banned the whole punch buggy thing from my car. It never ends well.

it used to be slug bug

which was played exactly the same way...they started calling it punch buggy after WDW but the end result is the same.
 


My boys are still younger than yours, but I can see us touring the parks in a similar fashion when they get older, so I'm really enjoying your TR!

I had to laugh when you made the comment about our upcoming DC trip -- I had already copied and pasted various bits of advice people had given. We haven't booked a hotel yet, but I've already picked out which train I want to take down. We're many stops further down on the NE Corridor route from you, though! :)

No Lego store in DC though. (Right? Please tell me I'm right!)
 
UTD- great first day!!!

I have outlawed punch buggy- never ends well. We now "point buggy". Never thought it would work but so far so good!


WLAKE- Let me ease your mind- no Lego Store in DC!
 
Your dinner at Captain's Grille looks so good. I'm thinking I might have to add that to our list for next year.

It was really good. I loved that it wasn't crowded, especially after our hectic day. I posted these pictures on a thread someone had starting asking how the Captain's Grillle is. Everyone kept saying that it is a hidden gem. Someone responded... Not if you keep yakking about how good it is!

I'm jealous. I really really wanted to eat at Captain's Grille but due to a variety of circumstances beyond my control, it didn't happen. I loved the look of the dinner menu.

I have banned the whole punch buggy thing from my car. It never ends well.

it used to be slug bug

which was played exactly the same way...they started calling it punch buggy after WDW but the end result is the same.

Captain's Grille was a keeper. I wanted to try Kouzzina on the first night because I love Greek food, but have I mentioned that Nate loves steak? Nate and Mark suggested we go here and they were totally right. I know I had some of Mark's rib eye, which was excellent. I can't remember if I tried Nate's steak.

My boys are still younger than yours, but I can see us touring the parks in a similar fashion when they get older, so I'm really enjoying your TR!

I had to laugh when you made the comment about our upcoming DC trip -- I had already copied and pasted various bits of advice people had given. We haven't booked a hotel yet, but I've already picked out which train I want to take down. We're many stops further down on the NE Corridor route from you, though! :)

No Lego store in DC though. (Right? Please tell me I'm right!)

We were really proud of the boys on this trip. They pretty much kept up with Mark and me during the trip, and we tour pretty seriously!

I'll definitely let you know about any DC planning gems. As I said, Mark has done a lot of the planning. He read the Frommers DC with kids book and got some good suggestions for restaurants and walking tours. We were called by our Congressman's office yesterday to verify info for our White House tour, so hopefully that will happen.

We are going to fly from Manchester NH to DC. 1 1/2 hours each way. We are only going for 4 days, so it will be a very quick trip.

A little warning. There are more Legos in Day 2!!! Coming soon...

UTD- great first day!!!

I have outlawed punch buggy- never ends well. We now "point buggy". Never thought it would work but so far so good!


WLAKE- Let me ease your mind- no Lego Store in DC!

Thank you so much for the reassurance that our DC trip should be free of Lego souveniers!
 
Just as I was settling in for bed after a very long, very busy, wonderful day, the Illuminations fireworks started. I could hear the blasts and went out to the balcony. And, you guessed it! We could see some of the fireworks off to the right!


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This was such a welcome discovery. We get an early start every morning, so by 8 PM everyone is just pooped. It always bothers me that we are less than 10 MINUTES AWAY from the Illuminations show, but we are too tired to go to see it most nights. So I was beyond excited when I realized that we would be able to step outside for a hassle-free show any night we wanted. Perhaps accompanied by an adult beverage from the lounge!

I enjoyed the pyrotechnics and smiled at our amazing luck. A giant tree blocking the view from our balcony? Ok, but not perfect. The view of fireworks? Priceless!

I hit the sack and slept pretty soundly. The end!

But wait! The next morning after Mark woke up he informed me:

“You know, you can see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our room”

“No way!” “Way!” (conversations at 6 AM are not very witty)

He watched the fireworks right from bed. And it was an excellent view. I watched Nightastic every night from our room or balcony (except our last night, Friday), which is exceptional because I am pretty tired by 10 PM. I don’t think I was able to get any great photos because it was pretty far away. I know one night I took videos, but I haven’t found the file yet and I don’t know if the quality is “postable”.

Here is a picture that shows where we could see the MK fireworks- In between the building on the left and those two taller trees:

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Next up: Day 2- EPCOT, Downtown Disney, Saratoga Springs (just passing thru) and EPCOT, again
 
That's fantastic that you could see glimpses of both Wishes and Illuminations from your balcony! We loved watching them in Dec 2008 from our boardwalk view room. All we had to do was look over to the Yacht Club for Wishes and to our right over ESPN for Illuminations (which was especially pretty during the holidays).
 
That's fantastic that you could see glimpses of both Wishes and Illuminations from your balcony! We loved watching them in Dec 2008 from our boardwalk view room. All we had to do was look over to the Yacht Club for Wishes and to our right over ESPN for Illuminations (which was especially pretty during the holidays).

Being able to see two sets of fireworks is truly magical!
 
It's a good thing your DH stayed up to realize you had that view :goodvibes

What luck - I would've never guessed you could see MK from an Epcot resort. You stumped me on that one.

Adult beverage, your private balcony AND bathroom to watch fireworks....now that's magic :thumbsup2
 
We must have had a similar view from our room at BCV. We knew we could see Illuminations because we could see Spaceship Earth. Then my DH realized that we could see Wishes, too.

Amanda
 
It's a good thing your DH stayed up to realize you had that view :goodvibes

What luck - I would've never guessed you could see MK from an Epcot resort. You stumped me on that one.

Adult beverage, your private balcony AND bathroom to watch fireworks....now that's magic :thumbsup2

Very lucky that he was awake. He didn't see them many other nights and unless I knew they were visible, I would have had no reason to be out on the balcony looking out that way at 10 at night. I don't think we could hear the MK fireworks from our room.


I can only hope to be so lucky in one week :banana::banana::banana:.

Oh, I hope so too!!! Wishing for some pixie dust for you!

We must have had a similar view from our room at BCV. We knew we could see Illuminations because we could see Spaceship Earth. Then my DH realized that we could see Wishes, too.

Amanda

That is so cool! I have many many reasons for staying at the Beach Club but I didn't know that the chance of seeing fireworks from two or three parks was another advantage!
 
what a view! I am beyond excited for my first stay at the Beach Club even though it is light years away. The resort just keeps getting better and better!
 
what a view! I am beyond excited for my first stay at the Beach Club even though it is light years away. The resort just keeps getting better and better!

Wait until you hear about the gold bars they give as soveniers! Just kidding!

You can probably tell this, but we love love love the Beach Club! I hope you get a chance to stay there soon!!!
 
Wait until you hear about the gold bars they give as soveniers! Just kidding!

You can probably tell this, but we love love love the Beach Club! I hope you get a chance to stay there soon!!!

LOL!

Our trip to the Beach Club isn't until September 2013 (down to 3 years whewhoo!) We're taking my parents & 2 brothers... our last family trip was in '98 so we're long overdue... my parents & brothers have never stayed on Disney property so after changing our minds a million times my husband & I decided on the Beach Club - we sent my parents a slide show of SAB so they are really looking forward to staying there, although after seeing the pool they wondered if they would ever want to leave and go to the parks, LOL.
 

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