Day 16 Golf, Dolphin Pool and Cape May Café and celebrating NYE on the Boardwalk (not under it!)
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 Joe’s 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 Sat 30th Dec Move to Dolphin and NYE in EPCOT a day early!!
Day 16 New Year’s Eve Sunday 31st December 2006
We woke to a beautifully clear bright and sunny day, just perfect for our plans. After the normal cereal in our room we packed Steve off for his 11am Tee Time at Lake Buena Vista Disney Course. It was the second time he played this course and as it was far cheaper (but still $89 a round!) than the others I had booked it for him twice. This time he played with three DVCers from Staffordshire, but unfortunately they didn’t convert him to the “cause” as they played through Old Key West and Sarasota Springs……. I did try to persuade him that we could take the tour!! He enjoyed playing the same course again, much better score and he reckons he is owed money on the wee wagers….never mind next time!!
For the rest of us it was serious swimming time, but I forgot the camera. The Dolphin Pool is beautiful, well landscaped and peaceful, it wasn’t at all crowded. We changed down there (it’s not the sort of place you drip back to your room with a towel round like at POR!) and swam, enjoyed the Hot Tub tucked away in the “rocks” and the waterfall is a good back massager. After a few hours hunger set in, my plan was to go over to the Wilderness Lodge for lunch as we haven’t seen it at all this time, and it would look so Christmassy. The troops were having none of that so Plan B was Beaches and Cream for Burgers. Unfortunately I had not realised that you could not get burgers at the “window” and the wait time was over an hour. So we bought two sundaes at the “window” and moved on to Hurricane Hanna’s Grille at Storm along Bay. It would be nice to stay at the Beach Club and swim here one day!! Same problem the queue didn’t move, we were starving it’s gone 2pm now!! I didn’t think it was possible to starve at Disney. Next idea was to catch the boat over to the Boardwalk and surely Spoodles Pizza Window would fill the corners. We stand in a line of 10 and don’t move for 15 minutes. I wish we had stopped at Picabu (or gone to WL, I can’t go on at the children though!) So we wait for 1 person in front at the Hot Dog Cart, we were served quickly but they were out of the foot long ones that we were going to share and then we waited another 20 minutes for some inane person to not be able to assemble our order of 1xNachos, 1xFries, 1xOnion Rings and 1xHot Dog. It was revolting, the worst food ever on Disney property. Well hopefully Cape May tonight will be a load better!
We go back to the pool and resume the morning’s (in)activity ! Steve appears with a beer back from golf and we swim for a bit longer.. Eventually we drag ourselves away to shower and change for New Years Eve and dinner at Cape May Clambake Buffet.
We enjoy the walk back over to Cape May. There is no need to hurry and the Boardwalk is lovely at night with the Christmas Decs up! We waited only about 10 minutes for our 7pm ADR, and were seated in a quiet spot at the back. We ate here in 2002 and loved it, hence the choice for NYE. We loved the Clam Chowder, Salads, mussels and clams but the meat (apparently) was quite ropey, I stuck to the seafood. The restaurant seemed very subdued, I thought there may have been a bit more of a party atmosphere on NYE! Our server was very dour and grumpy, he looked as if he was resentful having to work (which I can understand of course) but he could have acted better. Everything was too much trouble, having to repeatedly repeat drinks orders and it was almost impossible to get water refills. Thank goodness the meal wasn’t served by him! I enjoyed a cocktail and the puddings were OK, but the Key Lime Pie comes highly recommended, the best choice by far if you are too full to try them all. Overall, perfectly OK but not as good as last time and a flat atmosphere not helped by the bad luck of a grumpy server (who was very minimally tipped so probably even more grumpy for the next sitting!)
We wander out to stroll and “promrnade”. Kate has always wanted to 2do” a pearl, so she stopped at the stand and “fished” Hers was an 8mm gold one, apparently woth over $100 for the $15 she spent (but being very sceptical I am not so sure) The hard sales talk started on her as she “had” to do justice to the pearl. Set as a necklace was $229, but as we kept saying no they found a perfectly acceptable setting for $29…funny that!
We catch a boat across the twinkling sea to the Boardwalk and hire ourselves a Surrey Bike. Again a first for us, we never got round to it at POR. We had a great time doing two circuits and seeing all the action going on. It was crowded so avoiding mowing people down was quite hard, but we succeeded in not mowing anyone down. EPCOT looked frantic!! After returning our bike we joined the gathering on the Boardwalk lawn to watch a live band playing all the best “classic” party music. Well, for a cheesy Christmas at Disney nothing but “Staying Alive” and “Macarana” would have done. Where else can you sit on the grass at 9pm and not be cold and wet on NYE! Toddlers and Great Grannies were all enjoying themselves.
Sally is feeling a bit ill (food overload?) and we leave Kate and Laura to wander with strict instructions to be back in our room for 11.30pm.
Laura took this picture, so I think they enjoyed themselves!
We slowly walk back to the Dolphin and without our great room the night would have been a bit flat. Sally had a bath and went to bed and we sat and finished some Californian Red and cracked open our bottle of pink champers enjoying the stunning view and the gentle sounds of party drifting up all around us. I still couldn’t bring myself to quite go onto the balcony but having a French door open to let the outside in was wonderful. My batteries were supposedly charging, I had gone out earlier with flat ones…grrr……
Kate and Laura reurned in plenty of time and partook in a little pink fizzy too, and I start practicing the night shots with the camera, and it dies. SOMEBODY did not flick the battery charger to “4 batteries”. I was slightly peeved, but I think in the end it was better not to be squinting through the camera. Sally has perked up after her rest and joins us.
Our own private Illumination Show was absolutely stunning, awesome even (my I hate that word!) I should imagine only Sydney for NY in 2000 would have been better!! Did I mention our great view? No never. Laura took a couple of pictures
After all of that from EPCOT we then could see the Magic Kingdom Wishes again, and then Downtown Disney and somebody, he shall remain nameless, complained that the view of MGM was a little lacking, and that I should have booked a room with a view of all four displays. Nuff said!!
We finish of the champers and roll into bed being ever so ever so superior of all the poor souls fighting their way out of parks and car parks and back to their villas. This is the way to do New Year at Disney!
Happy New Year!!
Tomorrow: Fantasia Gardens, Rainforest Café and Home……….
Day 17 Mon 1st Jan 07 Fantasia Gardens, Rainforest Café, Homewood Bound and Final Thoughts!
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 Joe’s 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 Sat 30th Dec Move to Dolphin and NYE in EPCOT a day early!!
Day 16 New Year’s Eve Sunday 31st December 2006
We woke to a beautifully clear bright and sunny day, just perfect for our plans. After the normal cereal in our room we packed Steve off for his 11am Tee Time at Lake Buena Vista Disney Course. It was the second time he played this course and as it was far cheaper (but still $89 a round!) than the others I had booked it for him twice. This time he played with three DVCers from Staffordshire, but unfortunately they didn’t convert him to the “cause” as they played through Old Key West and Sarasota Springs……. I did try to persuade him that we could take the tour!! He enjoyed playing the same course again, much better score and he reckons he is owed money on the wee wagers….never mind next time!!
For the rest of us it was serious swimming time, but I forgot the camera. The Dolphin Pool is beautiful, well landscaped and peaceful, it wasn’t at all crowded. We changed down there (it’s not the sort of place you drip back to your room with a towel round like at POR!) and swam, enjoyed the Hot Tub tucked away in the “rocks” and the waterfall is a good back massager. After a few hours hunger set in, my plan was to go over to the Wilderness Lodge for lunch as we haven’t seen it at all this time, and it would look so Christmassy. The troops were having none of that so Plan B was Beaches and Cream for Burgers. Unfortunately I had not realised that you could not get burgers at the “window” and the wait time was over an hour. So we bought two sundaes at the “window” and moved on to Hurricane Hanna’s Grille at Storm along Bay. It would be nice to stay at the Beach Club and swim here one day!! Same problem the queue didn’t move, we were starving it’s gone 2pm now!! I didn’t think it was possible to starve at Disney. Next idea was to catch the boat over to the Boardwalk and surely Spoodles Pizza Window would fill the corners. We stand in a line of 10 and don’t move for 15 minutes. I wish we had stopped at Picabu (or gone to WL, I can’t go on at the children though!) So we wait for 1 person in front at the Hot Dog Cart, we were served quickly but they were out of the foot long ones that we were going to share and then we waited another 20 minutes for some inane person to not be able to assemble our order of 1xNachos, 1xFries, 1xOnion Rings and 1xHot Dog. It was revolting, the worst food ever on Disney property. Well hopefully Cape May tonight will be a load better!
We go back to the pool and resume the morning’s (in)activity ! Steve appears with a beer back from golf and we swim for a bit longer.. Eventually we drag ourselves away to shower and change for New Years Eve and dinner at Cape May Clambake Buffet.
We enjoy the walk back over to Cape May. There is no need to hurry and the Boardwalk is lovely at night with the Christmas Decs up! We waited only about 10 minutes for our 7pm ADR, and were seated in a quiet spot at the back. We ate here in 2002 and loved it, hence the choice for NYE. We loved the Clam Chowder, Salads, mussels and clams but the meat (apparently) was quite ropey, I stuck to the seafood. The restaurant seemed very subdued, I thought there may have been a bit more of a party atmosphere on NYE! Our server was very dour and grumpy, he looked as if he was resentful having to work (which I can understand of course) but he could have acted better. Everything was too much trouble, having to repeatedly repeat drinks orders and it was almost impossible to get water refills. Thank goodness the meal wasn’t served by him! I enjoyed a cocktail and the puddings were OK, but the Key Lime Pie comes highly recommended, the best choice by far if you are too full to try them all. Overall, perfectly OK but not as good as last time and a flat atmosphere not helped by the bad luck of a grumpy server (who was very minimally tipped so probably even more grumpy for the next sitting!)
We wander out to stroll and “promrnade”. Kate has always wanted to 2do” a pearl, so she stopped at the stand and “fished” Hers was an 8mm gold one, apparently woth over $100 for the $15 she spent (but being very sceptical I am not so sure) The hard sales talk started on her as she “had” to do justice to the pearl. Set as a necklace was $229, but as we kept saying no they found a perfectly acceptable setting for $29…funny that!
We catch a boat across the twinkling sea to the Boardwalk and hire ourselves a Surrey Bike. Again a first for us, we never got round to it at POR. We had a great time doing two circuits and seeing all the action going on. It was crowded so avoiding mowing people down was quite hard, but we succeeded in not mowing anyone down. EPCOT looked frantic!! After returning our bike we joined the gathering on the Boardwalk lawn to watch a live band playing all the best “classic” party music. Well, for a cheesy Christmas at Disney nothing but “Staying Alive” and “Macarana” would have done. Where else can you sit on the grass at 9pm and not be cold and wet on NYE! Toddlers and Great Grannies were all enjoying themselves.
Sally is feeling a bit ill (food overload?) and we leave Kate and Laura to wander with strict instructions to be back in our room for 11.30pm.
Laura took this picture, so I think they enjoyed themselves!
We slowly walk back to the Dolphin and without our great room the night would have been a bit flat. Sally had a bath and went to bed and we sat and finished some Californian Red and cracked open our bottle of pink champers enjoying the stunning view and the gentle sounds of party drifting up all around us. I still couldn’t bring myself to quite go onto the balcony but having a French door open to let the outside in was wonderful. My batteries were supposedly charging, I had gone out earlier with flat ones…grrr……
Kate and Laura reurned in plenty of time and partook in a little pink fizzy too, and I start practicing the night shots with the camera, and it dies. SOMEBODY did not flick the battery charger to “4 batteries”. I was slightly peeved, but I think in the end it was better not to be squinting through the camera. Sally has perked up after her rest and joins us.
Our own private Illumination Show was absolutely stunning, awesome even (my I hate that word!) I should imagine only Sydney for NY in 2000 would have been better!! Did I mention our great view? No never. Laura took a couple of pictures
After all of that from EPCOT we then could see the Magic Kingdom Wishes again, and then Downtown Disney and somebody, he shall remain nameless, complained that the view of MGM was a little lacking, and that I should have booked a room with a view of all four displays. Nuff said!!
We finish of the champers and roll into bed being ever so ever so superior of all the poor souls fighting their way out of parks and car parks and back to their villas. This is the way to do New Year at Disney!
Happy New Year!!
Tomorrow: Fantasia Gardens, Rainforest Café and Home……….
Day 17 Mon 1st Jan 07 Fantasia Gardens, Rainforest Café, Homewood Bound and Final Thoughts!
