60 Candles, 30 Million Lights, Best Friends&Family at Disney--Priceless (New 5/23)

[KatMark]

This turtle picture needs a caption...



How about "On the count of 3, we all look in the other direction. One. Two. ..."


"Okay, this direction's fine too."


Will you write my Trip Reports for me?


Ooo, this one is really good. I love the green.
"Don't look now, but I think there's an alligator in our guacamole."

Yep, I think I may pay you to write my next one.

I stayed at that Hampton Inn a couple of years ago. I even got out my travel expense report to verify that that was the hotel I stayed at. They have free wine and beer at happy hour.

Hmmm....we missed the free wine and beer.

Looks like a nice zoo. If I had my pick I'd spend 3 hours in the monkey house. or, I'd skip the zoo and go shopping instead.

I take it you are not a big fan of animals, Shannon.

Let's see, you don't like Cracker Barrel and you're crazy about Awful Waffle??? I am seriously starting to question your future dining reviews after this revelation............. I'll give Mark some cred though...........the man likes his grits!!!

Nope, I hate Cracker Barrel; I think the food is disgusting and the staff very rude. You can always stick with Nicki's dining reviews...she likes Cracker Barrel.

That is a really nice looking airport they have in Jacksonville! I have stayed at a few Hampton Inns in my life. It is usually a really great choice! Sorry Cheddar's wasn't a better experience for you, but then maybe that means it is a great place to try sometime..............

Cheddars was fine, just the french fries were gross (kind of like a counter service at Disney).

Looks like a really good zoo they have there! Quite a variety of animals. And I know you loved being able to enjoy the Giraffes like that!!!

Love me giraffes.

Agreed!

Again...it was cleaner than a lot of restrooms I've walked into at Disney lately.

Awesome zoo pictures! For a while there, it looked like you were at AK because all the animals are there too! My family can spend hours at any zoo. I think my brother would like to see every zoo in the US.

Mark and I love the zoos...just wish we had more time to go; we are members of our local zoo and I'm not even sure when we'll go; we are booked every weekend through Labor Day.

I don't blame you for not wanting to fly into the Atlanta airport, it can be crazy there sometimes. Plus that drive down to FL is soooo boring.

Mark's done it once or twice and hated it...almost more than driving through Atlanta.

Mmmmmmm, Chicken and Waffles. Now I'm hungry.

I could go for some of that chicken right now after my little Healthy Choice lunch.

Forgot to comment on the Hampton, My chain of choice. So easy to deal with and nice every time. I can get good AAA or even government worker discounts and their rewards program is pretty good too.

We used Mark's AARP rate (love that we can do that). I'm not sure if we've joined their rewards program...I'll have to check.

Great pictures of the zoo Kathy!!

Thanks, Doreen.

I am like that with the tigers. I could just watch them all day.

They are probably my second favorite after the giraffes.

Hampton Inn-very nice!!

It was a very nice hotel.

Loved the pix of the Zoo!! Don't know why but I really gravitate towards the Gorillas , they just fascinate me !! Marks Waflle Chicken looked very good , very different too !!!

Gorillas are so cool because of all the facial expressions they make.

 

[KatMark]

The Hampton Inn is very nice.... but it's no CSR Every time we go somewhere NOT Disney and stay in a hotel, I complain the entire time about how boring it is!

You are too funny! No, it wasn't CSR, but it certainly served its purpose for the night.

I hate seeing the big cats in those cages! And the lion with a giant brick wall! Oh the things Disney has spoiled for me! We went to the local zoo here a few years ago and I was like "how am I supposed to take pictures with this cage wire all around?!" People were looking at me like I was nuts but they just don't get it!

The cages were rather small. I looked it up. The Zoo opened in 1914 and moved to its current location in 1925. So it is an old zoo and funds are hard to come by. The elephants and giraffes had plenty of space...but I think those are newer spaces.

I was just about to comment on this! Those zoo pictures look great and sad at the same time. It pains me to see the leopard and other felines in such small and cage-looking enclosures, especially compared to what they have at Disney. Even our (not-so) local zoo (called Parc Safari) has much bigger and natural looking enclosures.

As much as I love Zoos, I really do hate seeing those animals all caged up. But then they are trying to save a lot of those species. It's a hard thing to love and/or not.

The hotel in Georgia looks very nice.

It was...I slept really well in that bed.

Nice zoo shots. I do like the feeding picture, even if we can't see you, it is a really cool shot.

Thanks, Jen.

Oh Mr Elous I love me some grits too !! Yes this Brit loves Grits !!! With butter , with cheese , with redsauce , and grits and guts !!! Had some wonderful Texas friends several years ago and they initiated me into the world of grits !!!

Grits are disgusting...I can't even look at Mark's plate when he gets them (I make him take the picture or I'll lose my appetite ).

It's been a while since I've been to a zoo. I'll be sure to see the tigers while at AK this trip, this post reminds me how much I need to see them this time!!

You will be seeing lots of animals really soon.

Hampton Inn has always been a pretty decent place to crash for the night, so long as it's clean.

Since the Holiday Inn's have gone "downhill" in our opinion, we've come to like the Hampton's (we stay in one in Dubuque as well).

I am sorry to hear that life has been so crazy for you lately. I certainly can relate. Work has not been this busy in forever! I have a "part time" job that normally I get about 39 hours a week at...and we are suppose to stay under 40... well the last couple months it is getting harder and harder to stay under 40.

Crazy is not the word. I had planned on doing nothing but DISsing all weekend...I still have a few TR's to get caught up on (yours included) and then I decided to do the weeding (my thighs are NOT happy with me), clean the patio furniture and put it out, clean the inside and outside of the refrigerator, oven and stove, clean the house AND do laundry. Guess how much time I got on the DIS? Very little (and then I had to take care of a sick hubby when he came home from umpping four baseball games).


The zoo looks fun. I always enjoy going to the zoo.

It was fun and the weather was perfect.

This picture.

I LOVE!!!

I was very happy with the way that one turned out.

Actually, all your zoo pictures are great!

Thanks, Ann.

Well, part of the reason we stayed there is because as a chain, we always like those hotels. You know what you're going to get and they're all fairly nice. But this one was certainly on a little bit higher level.

I like some chains...but not all of them (I just can't do Days Inns or Motel 6's, but I like Hampton's, LaQuinta's, Baymonts).

This one was a little higher level; I assume it is because it is right next to the Conference Center.

 

[englishrose47]

Oh Kathy I love Crackerbarrel !!Has some awful cute memories from when the Twins were 2 from there !! After we ate they were in the store and the staff had a demo going with one of those moving around anilmals , the girls were soooo excited and just laughing and squealing , that they had their own audience ,it was just too cute , needless to say we bought them onw !!! Oh it was the food you didn't like !!We all enjoy it and have never had rude staff there , Ithink I like the breakfast the best though, I can get me some GRITS!!!

 

[KatMark]

We were up around 7 a.m. to get showered and ready to head to Mark's customer. First stop, of course, was to get my Starbucks and Mark something to eat from there (he had a coffee too because we hadn't seen a Dunkin' Donuts anywhere nearby).

We were by "Uncle Bob" as everyone calls him by 8:30 a.m. Having me along, sure makes the order writing go a lot faster. Uncle Bob placed probably the biggest order of the trip.

We were done by 10:45 on the dot. I couldn't have been more pleased. More time to spend at Disney.

We said goodbye to Uncle Bob, I got a hug and we were off.

Soon we saw this:



Of course, we had to stop to have fresh Florida orange juice:



I took pictures on my cell phone and I can't find them now...I hate the new photobucket. I know I had a picture of Mark with his OJ!

Any way, orange juice consumed, we hit the road again. We were on a mission...getting to Disney.

About three hours later, we saw this:



And then we were seeing this:


(this turned out pretty darn good that I might use it for all future Disney TR's )

We knew that we could not check in yet, so we headed to Downtown Disney.

I had to pick up some park maps for someone here on the DIS and also for a co-worker at the office so it was best to get DTD done and out of the way.

We take this picture almost every trip:



We got Mark this shirt...we couldn't resist:



We made a few other little purchases, including a gift for Tim (that's nice) new baby that will be arriving soon and then got back in the car and headed over to the Dolphin, our home for the evening.









I wish I could remember the name of the wonderful gal who took care of us. One of THE best CM interactions we have ever had. We have never stayed at The Dolphin before...it always turned me off for some reason. But Nicki and Todd love it and I thought we might as well give it a try. When I made the reservation, I enrolled Mark as a Starwood member. Our wonderful CM saw that we were Starwood members and upgraded us to a "view of the lake."

Up next....our "view of the lake."

 

[KatMark]

Our room at the Dolphin:





Our view of the Lake:



And this:



More room pictures:







I really wasn't expecting to like The Dolphin, but we really did. If I can't get a good rate somewhere else or can't rent DVC points and can get a good deal, we would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Our luggage was brought up and then we freshened up, changed clothes and started our walk to the Yacht Club for our dinner ADR.

First, a few lobby pictures:









During our walk:

















Up next, our dinner and walking the Boardwalk

 

[KatMark]

Oh Kathy I love Crackerbarrel !!Has some awful cute memories from when the Twins were 2 from there !! After we ate they were in the store and the staff had a demo going with one of those moving around anilmals , the girls were soooo excited and just laughing and squealing , that they had their own audience ,it was just too cute , needless to say we bought them onw !!! Oh it was the food you didn't like !!We all enjoy it and have never had rude staff there , Ithink I like the breakfast the best though, I can get me some GRITS!!!

Rosie, it was their breakfast I didn't like at all.

That is a cute story about the twins...and I can understand your affection for it. I'll stick with my Waffle House though.

 

[englishrose47]

Rosie, it was their breakfast I didn't like at all.

That is a cute story about the twins...and I can understand your affection for it. I'll stick with my Waffle House though.

Amazing how people's tastes differ !!!The Dolphin looks great !!The few is tremendous !!!

 

[eandesmom]

The Dolphin looks lovely! And it has heavenly beds....

Wonderful view, you can't beat the location, good CM interaction, gosh, what's not to like!

Fun update, productive day and really, not a horrible amount of time spent on "work".

Nice entry picture and you both look happy and relaxed...despite having to work on vacation (or is it vacation on work).

 

[mommy2mrb]

nice you got Mark's business finished up so quickly!
great photo of the entrance!
never been over to the Dolphin, it looks pretty and love your view!
so wonderful that you had some good CM treatment and pixie dust of an upgrade!

 

[MEK]

Welcome to Disney World. I definitely think you should use that welcome picture over and over again. Takes the pressure off!!!!!

Dolphin - I like it. The room is very nice and the view is awesome! Lucky. I was pricing it out for June and the only thing I don't like is the resort fee and the parking fee. I feel like they nickel and dime you, but the location can't be beat.

So where is dinner? Can't wait to see.

 

[Poolrat]

It's always a great day when it ends at Disney.


Got work out of the way and then out to go play. Sounds like the Dophin really took care of you.

You got a great shot of the arch. I would reuse that one too.

Some really great shots of both you and Mark. I am sure you enjoyed your dinner at the Yachtsman.

Sorry Kathy , I would pick Cracker Barrel over Waffle House too.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I am so glad you loved the Dolphin, its everything you could want in a WDW deluxe with 1/2 the price

 

[englishrose47]

Hi Nicki!!!!

 

[Nermel9]

The Dolphin looks beautiful! Especially those beds, they look so soft and comfy! I've never really considered staying there, but I should look into it, I like that they are in the Epcot resorts area but they're a bit cheaper than the BW and Beach and Yacht Club!

 

[jecskc]

You guys were just coming in as we were leaving. Thanks for sharing your photos of the Dolphin. I haven't seen many. A good location for sure.

Susan

 

[ronnmel]

The Dolphin looks pretty, but probably not Disney enough for me. Glad you liked it though!

 

[annmarieda]

You definitely are having good luck with pictures. The arch is definitely a keeper.. The pictures of you and Mark are very nice too. You both look so snazzy. The dolphin does look nice! We walked from the BW to there in February. It wasn't that bad of a walk. I could see staying there.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Uncle Bob placed probably the biggest order of the trip.

A successful mission then.
Large orders are very nice things

Of course, we had to stop to have fresh Florida orange juice:

A must if you’ve got the time

I took pictures on my cell phone and I can't find them now...I hate the new photobucket. I know I had a picture of Mark with his OJ!

Copy that…
May need to look into some other file sharing options myself.

About three hours later, we saw this:


(this turned out pretty darn good that I might use it for all future Disney TR's )

And that is a good shot.

Our wonderful CM saw that we were Starwood members and upgraded us to a "view of the lake."

A win and more magic.
May be a long while before I get around to staying on those resorts, but the views from that part of the property are very nice to be sure.

I really wasn't expecting to like The Dolphin, but we really did. If I can't get a good rate somewhere else or can't rent DVC points and can get a good deal, we would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Good to know.

Our luggage was brought up and then we freshened up, changed clothes and started our walk to the Yacht Club for our dinner ADR.

Mmmmmmm… Yachtsman…

 

[Pluto0809]

Yay you made it to Disney!

I love the picture with Mark and his Dumbo.

The Dolphin looks interesting. I have to agree with Mel abov though that it's just not Disney enough for me. Great view though of TOT!

 

[afwdwfan]

I like some chains...but not all of them (I just can't do Days Inns or Motel 6's, but I like Hampton's, LaQuinta's, Baymonts).

This one was a little higher level; I assume it is because it is right next to the Conference Center.

For 4.5 years after I graduated from college, I traveled for work... a lot. In fact, I got a Christmas card from Priorityclub congratulating me on being in the top 1% of customers in both 2006 and 2007.

I always looked for a Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express (these obviously tended to be the most common), Country Inn, Fairfield Inn or Comfort Suites. One of those was almost always available where I needed to stay and for the most part, you know what you're getting with those chains, they have a decent breakfast, and they tend to be clean. I did stay at Baymonts, LaQuintas and Drury Inns a few times, and they were definitely in that tier too. I just tried to consistently stick with the same chains if I could to maximize my points.

I've also spent some nights in some less than desirable hotels. Days Inn, Motel 6, Knights Inn, Super 8, Quality Inn were all on the "avoid like the plague" list because you never knew what you were going to get until you were there... but you knew it most likely wouldn't be good.

First stop, of course, was to get my Starbucks and Mark something to eat from there (he had a coffee too because we hadn't seen a Dunkin' Donuts anywhere nearby)

Starbucks? Really?

Uncle Bob placed probably the biggest order of the trip.

Uncle Bob rocks!

We were done by 10:45 on the dot. I couldn't have been more pleased. More time to spend at Disney.

Hmmm... I like Uncle Bob more all the time.

(this turned out pretty darn good that I might use it for all future Disney TR's )

Almost as good as the picture I have of us driving under it.

We got Mark this shirt...we couldn't resist

I seriously love that shirt. I never saw it until you put it on Facebook, but I want one!

The Dolphin before...it always turned me off for some reason

Is it because they call it a dolphin, but it looks more like a carp?

Our view of the Lake

Mark (Captain Oblivious) would love that view.

I really wasn't expecting to like The Dolphin, but we really did. If I can't get a good rate somewhere else or can't rent DVC points and can get a good deal, we would stay here again in a heartbeat.

I'm glad you liked it.