Day 15 Move to Dolphin and NYE in EPCOT a day early!!
Who we are:
Me (Fiona) 41 Commando and Food Planner and Holiday Booker.
DH (Steve) 41 He really does not like the cheese of Disney! Has got rather keen on golf since our last visit.
DD1 (Kate) 17 I am ashamed to say that she wants to know if there is a hairdryer everywhere we are staying shame on her!!
DD2 (Laura) 14 The Fantasmic Laura of old.
DD3 (Sally) 10 she will out park the lot of us and needs the least sleep.
Pre Trip Report Saturday 16th December 2006 - Monday 1st January 2007
Day 1 Sat 16th Dec Are we nearly there?
Day 2 Sun 17th Dec AK and Boma.
Day 3 Mon 18th Dec EPCOT and Le Cellier
Day 4 Tues 19th Dec MK and Narcossees
Day 5 Weds 20th Dec MGM and Spoodles
Day 6 Thurs 21st Dec AK (or Golf!) and Kona Cafe
Day 7 Fri 22nd Dec EPCOT, Le Cellier and Candlelight Processional
Day 8 Sat 23rd Dec Shopping, Chilling & TGI Fridays
Day 9 Sun 24th Dec Swimming/Golf, Celebration and Joes Crab Shack
Day 10 Mon 25th Dec Christmas Day and Dinner at GF 1900 Park Fare
Day 11 Tues 26th Dec Golf and Magic Kingdom for Holiday Parades
Day 12 Weds 27th Dec Shopping, Orange City and Olive Garden
Day 13 Thurs 28th Dec Meeting with friends, TGI Fridays and MGM for Fantasmic
Day 14 Fri 29th Dec Golf, Pioneer Museum and Outback Steakhouse
Day 15 Saturday 30th December 2006
Today was one of the best Disney Days ever!! First of all we were up and quickly packed and cleaned up in the villa. As we had done practically no cooking there was not too much to do and the cleaning ladies were very nice and refused to come in even though we had no problems with them working around us. I even had one last fond soak in the hot tub and shower before we hit the road. We (read I!) were in a hurry to see what the Dolphin was like! We carefully packed up the little Christmas tree that was provided and hoped it was going to be enjoyed by another lucky family next year.
The rest of the family would have been more than happy to stay in the villa but I had a feeling lazy days would have continued and we would have ended up not doing New Year in style as the traffic may have put us off. 30th and 31st December for the Dolphin were not cheap, but for the standard $300 for those nights I managed to get a code for the best EPCOT view high level balcony room (guarenteed!) it was our first time staying in a deluxe onsite, always moderate types before
Location, Location Location ..
Our room wasnt ready, but one just the same was so we took it, Room 7-019 if you need a Room With a View!
Disappointingly the lobby fountain was off for maintenance but we appreciated the bright and airy surroundings. Our room was nice enough, but the view was spectacular. Without the view New Year would have been nowhere near as good!
We had to shift the mini bar contents around to squeeze in milk and champers!!
Anyhow the view was stunning (I havent mentioned the view) and the girls ventured onto the balcony (complete with table and two chairs) The VERTIGO, I couldnt cope with it, they laughed their socks off and hung over the rails, I tried not to react but was feeling very sick. There are no poles holding up those concrete ledges you know!! I like visible support. Did I mention the view, wow!!
I banned swimming cossies, I had also chosen the hotel for its stunning pool, we like pools!! We walked down to find the pool, and I must admit I like the more scenic surroundings of POR, you dont feel out of place in your cossie going to the pool but in a big hotel it can be quite an expedition. The pool was very scenic, and as the weather forecast is now much better we are looking forward to lots of swimming tomorrow. In the meantime we duck back to Picabu for lunch, which was OK, our choices werent great and we only ate here once, again it seemed less atmospheric than the moderate food courts, and less choice. I think I had Caesar Salad and it was not very substantial, and had no dressing or croutons, it turns out that on the way out someone was asking for the dressing and it was tucked away somewhere else in little pots. You can judge an eatery on its Caesar salad you know!!
So we are off to EPCOT for our final park day and jump on the boat to enjoy the ride to the International Gateway. (Part of the holiday planning was the 10 day base tickets we bought with the dining plan for the first 5 days at POR.) We had to use up the days within 14 days, and had to choose to miss out a park on the first day or NYE, we chose the latter as the first week was so much less crowded for parks. As we had great pools at POR and Dolphin we were presuming that the weather may not be up to water parks, and as I could only do half days in parks we were not going to hop, so the 10 day bases at $200 each were a bargain!
I can highly recommend NYE on the 30th. EPCOT has all the extras on the 30th the same as the 31st, but not until midnight, I couldn't last that long anyway! The extra fireworks were definitely on though, that's what we wanted to see. A big advantage were the much more manageable crowds!! We had a great time on NYE as well, so we didnt miss out, you will have to read on for that report!
So Round the World we go, starting appropriately in the UK Making masks (Sally and I), taking photos in silly costumes/hats (Sally) and eating and drinking as we went (everyone). We hoped to catch shows, characters and performances as we went but without trying to hit a certain show at a certain time. It was lovely touring like that. First stop was the one and only Father Christmas in the UK (respelendant in green, traditional Victorian dress) telling the Christmas Story in proper fashion. We caught various other Father Christmas with their varying tales in other countries, they were all excellent but ours is the proper FC!!
Following FC, out trooped The Beatles at 3pm (whoops, British invasion) whom we have never seem before. A nice gathering around the bandstand but everyone had plenty of space and/or a seat. I can imagine the following day would have been a crush to see anything. Several minor tracks and a great rendition of Hey Jude, but even the Beetles must get sick of their classics!!
I found a poor starving artist in her garret in France
..and a very scary Sleeping Beauty too with no queue, unlike Beauty and the beast t the waterfront who had a huge queue.
Steve, Laura and Kate went to see the France film, and as we visit most years they spent the whole film saying been there, seen that, done the other!!
We stayed on, the chair balancing guy and his audience helper put on a stunning show!!
I love Morocco, hopefully we can go there for real soon! We watched the mime guy, he was similar to the Boardwalk one, but there was no mask station, which was disappointing. We soaked up the atmosphere.
We toured Japan, we still havent eaten in the flashing knives restaurant, I should have put it on our ADR list, perhaps next time!
cont....
Who we are:
Me (Fiona) 41 Commando and Food Planner and Holiday Booker.
DH (Steve) 41 He really does not like the cheese of Disney! Has got rather keen on golf since our last visit.
DD1 (Kate) 17 I am ashamed to say that she wants to know if there is a hairdryer everywhere we are staying shame on her!!
DD2 (Laura) 14 The Fantasmic Laura of old.
DD3 (Sally) 10 she will out park the lot of us and needs the least sleep.
Pre Trip Report Saturday 16th December 2006 - Monday 1st January 2007
Day 1 Sat 16th Dec Are we nearly there?
Day 2 Sun 17th Dec AK and Boma.
Day 3 Mon 18th Dec EPCOT and Le Cellier
Day 4 Tues 19th Dec MK and Narcossees
Day 5 Weds 20th Dec MGM and Spoodles
Day 6 Thurs 21st Dec AK (or Golf!) and Kona Cafe
Day 7 Fri 22nd Dec EPCOT, Le Cellier and Candlelight Processional
Day 8 Sat 23rd Dec Shopping, Chilling & TGI Fridays
Day 9 Sun 24th Dec Swimming/Golf, Celebration and Joes Crab Shack
Day 10 Mon 25th Dec Christmas Day and Dinner at GF 1900 Park Fare
Day 11 Tues 26th Dec Golf and Magic Kingdom for Holiday Parades
Day 12 Weds 27th Dec Shopping, Orange City and Olive Garden
Day 13 Thurs 28th Dec Meeting with friends, TGI Fridays and MGM for Fantasmic
Day 14 Fri 29th Dec Golf, Pioneer Museum and Outback Steakhouse
Day 15 Saturday 30th December 2006
Today was one of the best Disney Days ever!! First of all we were up and quickly packed and cleaned up in the villa. As we had done practically no cooking there was not too much to do and the cleaning ladies were very nice and refused to come in even though we had no problems with them working around us. I even had one last fond soak in the hot tub and shower before we hit the road. We (read I!) were in a hurry to see what the Dolphin was like! We carefully packed up the little Christmas tree that was provided and hoped it was going to be enjoyed by another lucky family next year.
The rest of the family would have been more than happy to stay in the villa but I had a feeling lazy days would have continued and we would have ended up not doing New Year in style as the traffic may have put us off. 30th and 31st December for the Dolphin were not cheap, but for the standard $300 for those nights I managed to get a code for the best EPCOT view high level balcony room (guarenteed!) it was our first time staying in a deluxe onsite, always moderate types before
Location, Location Location ..
Our room wasnt ready, but one just the same was so we took it, Room 7-019 if you need a Room With a View!
Disappointingly the lobby fountain was off for maintenance but we appreciated the bright and airy surroundings. Our room was nice enough, but the view was spectacular. Without the view New Year would have been nowhere near as good!
We had to shift the mini bar contents around to squeeze in milk and champers!!
Anyhow the view was stunning (I havent mentioned the view) and the girls ventured onto the balcony (complete with table and two chairs) The VERTIGO, I couldnt cope with it, they laughed their socks off and hung over the rails, I tried not to react but was feeling very sick. There are no poles holding up those concrete ledges you know!! I like visible support. Did I mention the view, wow!!
I banned swimming cossies, I had also chosen the hotel for its stunning pool, we like pools!! We walked down to find the pool, and I must admit I like the more scenic surroundings of POR, you dont feel out of place in your cossie going to the pool but in a big hotel it can be quite an expedition. The pool was very scenic, and as the weather forecast is now much better we are looking forward to lots of swimming tomorrow. In the meantime we duck back to Picabu for lunch, which was OK, our choices werent great and we only ate here once, again it seemed less atmospheric than the moderate food courts, and less choice. I think I had Caesar Salad and it was not very substantial, and had no dressing or croutons, it turns out that on the way out someone was asking for the dressing and it was tucked away somewhere else in little pots. You can judge an eatery on its Caesar salad you know!!
So we are off to EPCOT for our final park day and jump on the boat to enjoy the ride to the International Gateway. (Part of the holiday planning was the 10 day base tickets we bought with the dining plan for the first 5 days at POR.) We had to use up the days within 14 days, and had to choose to miss out a park on the first day or NYE, we chose the latter as the first week was so much less crowded for parks. As we had great pools at POR and Dolphin we were presuming that the weather may not be up to water parks, and as I could only do half days in parks we were not going to hop, so the 10 day bases at $200 each were a bargain!
I can highly recommend NYE on the 30th. EPCOT has all the extras on the 30th the same as the 31st, but not until midnight, I couldn't last that long anyway! The extra fireworks were definitely on though, that's what we wanted to see. A big advantage were the much more manageable crowds!! We had a great time on NYE as well, so we didnt miss out, you will have to read on for that report!
So Round the World we go, starting appropriately in the UK Making masks (Sally and I), taking photos in silly costumes/hats (Sally) and eating and drinking as we went (everyone). We hoped to catch shows, characters and performances as we went but without trying to hit a certain show at a certain time. It was lovely touring like that. First stop was the one and only Father Christmas in the UK (respelendant in green, traditional Victorian dress) telling the Christmas Story in proper fashion. We caught various other Father Christmas with their varying tales in other countries, they were all excellent but ours is the proper FC!!
Following FC, out trooped The Beatles at 3pm (whoops, British invasion) whom we have never seem before. A nice gathering around the bandstand but everyone had plenty of space and/or a seat. I can imagine the following day would have been a crush to see anything. Several minor tracks and a great rendition of Hey Jude, but even the Beetles must get sick of their classics!!
I found a poor starving artist in her garret in France
..and a very scary Sleeping Beauty too with no queue, unlike Beauty and the beast t the waterfront who had a huge queue.
Steve, Laura and Kate went to see the France film, and as we visit most years they spent the whole film saying been there, seen that, done the other!!
We stayed on, the chair balancing guy and his audience helper put on a stunning show!!
I love Morocco, hopefully we can go there for real soon! We watched the mime guy, he was similar to the Boardwalk one, but there was no mask station, which was disappointing. We soaked up the atmosphere.
We toured Japan, we still havent eaten in the flashing knives restaurant, I should have put it on our ADR list, perhaps next time!
cont....
