tinkerbell of winter
Keep Moving Forward-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2004
- Messages
- 782
October 2009, it all started with a flight on Air tran out of Rochester-great airline, great prices, and great service. I think ROC is my new favorite airport, and it's not that much further than Syracuse really. So we got to Orlando and it was HOT! Over 90 each day, but I wasn't complaining because at home it was cold and I have a non-functioning furnace (bought a few electric fireplaces for the interim, new furnace next week 
. This is going to be a hodgepodge trip report, things we've done differently or never experienced. Highlights of the trip....the weather was great, it only rained once, the night we went to MNSSHP and only for about an hour.....we got a "Dream" sort of, we were walking around the lake at EPCOT and Julia recognized her favorite cast member who granted her a "Dream" a year and a half ago in the Magic Kingdom and we ended up with some VIP viewing for Illuminations. We did a little "resort hopping" when it came time to eat, since the "resort mug" is the same everywhere we always had "free" drinks with our meals. The Beach Club has AWESOME Gelato, Contempo Cafe is pretty decent, we liked Gasparilla's at the Grand Floridian, watched Hallowishes one night after eating there, Roaring Forks at the Wilderness Lodge is OK, tired of the Artist's Palette, seriously thinking of offloading my SSR membership and getting one at BLT instead. Again we were in what I define as the worst building at SSR, in the Paddock two buildings away from any bus stop and the lake blocking any direct access to the main building. 6427 was our room, which was ok, this was the same building we were in when I brought my whole family three years ago. We did take a little side trip to check out Kidani Village....my latest acquisition....and the pool there looks AMAZING, I had to check it out while we were waiting for the bus. They are still working on the bus stops and it is a smaller scale than the main lodge, Jambo House, but that is ok. After going to VWL and other DVC resorts i'm irritated with my SSR contract. Anyplace else is convenient to transportation and amenities, but not SSR. Granted the resort is "pretty" but unless you have a car, it's a long walk. And if you are at the treehouses you have to take a bus from there to the Springs stop to get a theme park bus. It's not bad enough you have to take a second bus, but they drop you at the last bus stop where you are almost guaranteed to stand on your way to the parks if it's busy at all. Food and wine fest was great, ate a lot! We did have a great time though....got our faces painted and ended our trip at MNSSHP, finding a great perch for my camera on the sign for liberty tree tavern to tape the parade. Now still contemplating whether or not i'm going in January, I was supposed to run the 1/2 marathon but that's not looking good and I will only feel bad if I go down there and others are running it.
. This is going to be a hodgepodge trip report, things we've done differently or never experienced. Highlights of the trip....the weather was great, it only rained once, the night we went to MNSSHP and only for about an hour.....we got a "Dream" sort of, we were walking around the lake at EPCOT and Julia recognized her favorite cast member who granted her a "Dream" a year and a half ago in the Magic Kingdom and we ended up with some VIP viewing for Illuminations. We did a little "resort hopping" when it came time to eat, since the "resort mug" is the same everywhere we always had "free" drinks with our meals. The Beach Club has AWESOME Gelato, Contempo Cafe is pretty decent, we liked Gasparilla's at the Grand Floridian, watched Hallowishes one night after eating there, Roaring Forks at the Wilderness Lodge is OK, tired of the Artist's Palette, seriously thinking of offloading my SSR membership and getting one at BLT instead. Again we were in what I define as the worst building at SSR, in the Paddock two buildings away from any bus stop and the lake blocking any direct access to the main building. 6427 was our room, which was ok, this was the same building we were in when I brought my whole family three years ago. We did take a little side trip to check out Kidani Village....my latest acquisition....and the pool there looks AMAZING, I had to check it out while we were waiting for the bus. They are still working on the bus stops and it is a smaller scale than the main lodge, Jambo House, but that is ok. After going to VWL and other DVC resorts i'm irritated with my SSR contract. Anyplace else is convenient to transportation and amenities, but not SSR. Granted the resort is "pretty" but unless you have a car, it's a long walk. And if you are at the treehouses you have to take a bus from there to the Springs stop to get a theme park bus. It's not bad enough you have to take a second bus, but they drop you at the last bus stop where you are almost guaranteed to stand on your way to the parks if it's busy at all. Food and wine fest was great, ate a lot! We did have a great time though....got our faces painted and ended our trip at MNSSHP, finding a great perch for my camera on the sign for liberty tree tavern to tape the parade. Now still contemplating whether or not i'm going in January, I was supposed to run the 1/2 marathon but that's not looking good and I will only feel bad if I go down there and others are running it.
