A perfect week at the Yacht Club-Apr.26-May 2/09 Lots of pics! THE LAST UPDATE!

I know that feeling.....that "oh no my vacation's almost over feeling". I hate it. Absolutely hate it! You really should post your food pictures over on the Disney Food Picture thread. Loving all the updates and look forward to reading more.

Hi mickeystoontown. Hmmm, well, I guess maybe I could post the food pics in the food reports section. Thanks for the idea!
 
I'm really enjoying your TR and all the pics too! :yay:

I understand your "arrangement" with your "boy" friend quite well! My sister has a guy friend with the same kind of relationship. They've tried being married (twice!), but have finally settled into a wonderful niche of being best friends. It's worked out wonderfully for them for the past ten years that way. :thumbsup2

Hey, my DH doesn't like kids either....oh, except ours! :lmao:

I like your Titanic pic and thank you for your description of the Kimpossible adventure. I've been wondering what that's all about.

I hate to see your trip end so soon because I'd love to hear many more days' worth of your adventures! :cheer2:

Pink
 
I love all your updates and your pictures. You know....I was kind of wondering why I was having a hard time getting ADR's at 90 days for 2 people (for September). Now I remember the old 2 vs. 4 people thing. It is harder to get those coveted ADR's.
 

I had a question about the Beach Club Marketplace and the Captain's Grill.

Firstly, at the Beach Club Marketplace did they have breakfast stuff like scrambled eggs or biscuits or waffles that could be ordered and possibly brought back to your hotel room? We are going to stay at the Beach Club at the end of November and my dad usually goes down to the hotel restaraunt and get's my mom breakfast and brings it back to the room to her. Do they have hot breakfast food there? She doesn't care of pastries for breakfast.

Also for the Captain's Grille breakfast is it a sit down meal or can things there be ordered to go?

thanks! love the trip report.
 
Hi,
Just saw your tr and clicked and I am glad I did. Fun tr, great pics and you stayed at YC which made me jealous.
 
I'm really enjoying your TR and all the pics too! :yay:

I understand your "arrangement" with your "boy" friend quite well! My sister has a guy friend with the same kind of relationship. They've tried being married (twice!), but have finally settled into a wonderful niche of being best friends. It's worked out wonderfully for them for the past ten years that way. :thumbsup2

Hey, my DH doesn't like kids either....oh, except ours! :lmao:

I like your Titanic pic and thank you for your description of the Kimpossible adventure. I've been wondering what that's all about.

I hate to see your trip end so soon because I'd love to hear many more days' worth of your adventures! :cheer2:

Pink

Hi Pink! Ah yes,your sister sounds alot like us. It is hard to explain it, but it works well just the way it is! Thanks for reading along!

I love all your updates and your pictures. You know....I was kind of wondering why I was having a hard time getting ADR's at 90 days for 2 people (for September). Now I remember the old 2 vs. 4 people thing. It is harder to get those coveted ADR's.

Hi Mek. It sure is hard. I have to wonder what it will be like to make ADR's now that they can be done online!

I had a question about the Beach Club Marketplace and the Captain's Grill.

Firstly, at the Beach Club Marketplace did they have breakfast stuff like scrambled eggs or biscuits or waffles that could be ordered and possibly brought back to your hotel room? We are going to stay at the Beach Club at the end of November and my dad usually goes down to the hotel restaraunt and get's my mom breakfast and brings it back to the room to her. Do they have hot breakfast food there? She doesn't care of pastries for breakfast.

Also for the Captain's Grille breakfast is it a sit down meal or can things there be ordered to go?

thanks! love the trip report.

Well, if I remember correctly,the Marketplace did not have waffles or scrambled eggs. The only hot item they had was the omelette on a croissant.
Here is a link to the menu:
http://allears.net/menu/menu_bcmp.htm

I don't think you can order food to go from Captain's Grille. You can order room service at the Yacht Club though. I am not sure if room service comes from the Captain's Grille or from a restaurant at the Beach Club. Perhaps some else knows...anyone?

I hope that answers your questions! Thanks for reading my trip report!

Hi,
Just saw your tr and clicked and I am glad I did. Fun tr, great pics and you stayed at YC which made me jealous.

Hi scottny...yes, we were very lucky to be able to stay at the YC! We enjoyed it there very much! Thanks for reading!
 
Day 7
May 1 2009


Well, this was our last day. It’s also a very busy day! Along with our 7 hour backstage tour, we also had reservations at Yachtsman Steakhouse and plans go back to World Showcase during Extra Magic Hours. We also had to start packing too! To top it off, we also realized we BOTH had to return t-shirt that were way too small! The t-shirt I bought at the Wilderness Lodge was a medium. Most shirts I buy are small or medium. This shirt was crazy small! LOL! I thought perhaps I bought a child’s shirt, but it didn’t indicate that anywhere, so who knows. Perhaps it was labeled incorrectly. The t-shirts Tony bought at The House of Blues were extra large. He noticed that there were a lot of XL, XXL and XXXL t-shirts, and thought it was odd to have such large sizes. Once he tried them on, he realized why. They too were way too small! So at some point today we had to find the time to exchange our shirts.

We started the day with a very quick breakfast at the Beach Club Market Place. We had to meet our tour group at the front entrance of Epcot at 8:30. It was so nice to walk through Epcot from the back entrance before it opened! So quiet and peaceful!

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Our tour group consisted of about 32 people. Our tour guides, Jeff and Carmen gathered us all together and asked everyone to introduce themselves. Tony whispers to me,”You’re doing the intro.” To which I quickly replied, “No, you!” So as it was our turn, be BOTH began the introduction! So, I finished the intro. As it turned out, the couple next to us are also from Ontario, just about an hour away from us in fact, in Grimsby. So after the intros, we were each given headphones so we were able to hear our tour guides. We were then reminded that we were not allowed to take any pictures. Awww. So, sorry to say, this is the only picture I got.

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So, I will try to give a short yet somewhat detailed summary of the tour for those who may be considered going on the tour.. Hopefully it will be interesting despite the lack of pictures!


We all boarded a Disney Cruiseline bus and had a very nice driver named Gustavo! Our first stop was behind the scenes of the American Adventure attraction. We were divided into two groups, and our tour guide was Jeff. They talked about the animatronics and how much it has evolved and improved over the years. We then walked through the cast members “operational costumes” area. It was a huge warehouse full of row after row of various uniforms that cast members go to to sign out their uniforms(they all have barcodes) and return them for cleaning and repairs.

Next stop was Hollywood Studios. We were taken behind the Tower of Terror building and told a brief history of the development of the tower. We were disappointed we didn’t get to see behind the scenes INSIDE the Tower of Terror, not just stand around OUTSIDE of it. We saw the old seating which used a lapbar that went across the whole row instead of the individual seatbelts they have now. Yikes! I’m glad they got rid of the one size fits all bar! Scary! :eek:

We returned to the bus and were given a small bottle of Dasani to drink as we drove over to another building where all of the stage costumes are designed and created. If you have ever taken the Backlot tour, you may recall going past a long row of windows and seeing people inside working on costumes. We got to walk through there and wave at the tour tram driving by outside. We felt kind of special being the ones on the INSIDE, rather than the ones on the OUTSIDE looking in! I really enjoyed being able to see the various gowns that Belle, Ariel and Cinderella wear. They are really beautiful and intricately designed!

Next up, we went to Whispering Canyon Café at the Wilderness Lodge for Lunch. (Darn, I should have brought the t-shirt with me to exchange! Oh well.) We had a sectioned reserved just for our group. We had three tables of 10 or 12. The chef came out and discussed meal options with those who had allergies. Our drink orders were quickly taken, and our meal quickly followed. Each table was given large trays of chicken, ribs, beans, sausages, potatoes and cornbread. Yum! Loved the cornbread! Dessert was peach cobbler with ice cream. Lunch was completed quickly and efficiently and we were back on the bus by 1:00.

After lunch our last stop was Magic Kingdom. We went through a very large workshop where various things are made (molded plastic, wood etc.) or painted and repaired. Any idea what needs repairs most often? The Speedway car bumpers! As our tour guide Jeff said, you let a kid drive a car you are going to have to repair a lot of bumpers! We saw quite a few things in the workshop such as the elephants from the Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain coaster cars, and Splash Mountain boats.

Next up, laundry. :laundy: Now, I know, it doesn’t sound very interesting does it? But it actually was! We went though this huge (and I mean HUGE!) laundry facility for staff costumes and uniforms. Every single piece of clothing is scanned before going on a conveyor belt and sorted. The clothes are then put into huge blue laundry bags until they reach about 250 pounds. The bags are moved along a motorized track then are dumped down a large chute and into a washing machine. It is then automatically dumped into a dryer. When it is 50% dry, each item is put on a hanger (by staff).the hangers have barcodes that help with sorting everything according to location. As we moved along, clothes were moving along over our head and automatically going into the correct row. They have several people hand pressing items. We were told this facility had a very low turn over rate. Management works very hard to give worker input into how to improve working conditions and productivity.

Next, we go back on the bus and went behind the Main Street area. As we pulled up, I saw Cinderella dressed in her finest walking over to take her place in the parade that would be taking place shortly down Main Street. We had a quick bathroom break, and then we went to watch the parade. Now FINALLY, I am allowed to take pictures!

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At this point of the day we were all getting pretty tired. It was hot out; so many people just sat on the ground in the shade and didn’t pay much attention to the parade. With the exception of Spectromagic, we don’t really care much for parades. Nonetheless, it was nice to get some good, fairly close pictures of the characters.

Our last stop was UNDER Main Street. I was intrigued to see that there is a large series of tunnels under Magic Kingdom which cast members use to get around. These tunnels are also used in case of emergencies (illness etc) in order to get through the park faster. Staff can also ride bikes to get from one place to another quickly.

So this was the end of our tour. We got back on the bus and returned to Epcot. We all got a pin for participating in the day long excursion.

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What is our overall impression of the tour? Well, we did enjoy it for the most part. The tour guides were excellent. They were very, very knowledgeable and were able to answer every question that was thrown at them. Our guide Jeff was a great guy! Very funny, yet very professional. It was nice to have the large air conditioned bus to travel around in, and appreciated the bottled water that was provided. At the entrance to every park, we had security board the bus and look in our bags. At least we didn't have to stand in line for the bag check outside in the heat, so that was good. Having the headphones was also helpful in ensuring you can hear what the guide is saying. The food was ok at Whispering Canyon, but the service was very quick and efficient in order to keep us on schedule. However, we agree that the tour just wasn’t worth the high cost of 200 dollars per person. We were hoping to see more of behind the scenes of the rides. I also hoped to see the Christmas decoration warehouse, but I later learned that is included in a different tour. So, I admit we were a little disappointed. After having spent 400 dollars on it, we expected a little more.

We were dropped off at Epcot at about 4:30. We had ADR’s at Yachtsman at 6:10, so we headed straight out through Epcot to head back to our room to rest for a bit and freshen up a little. As we approached the Canada pavilion, I was reminded yet again of that cute little moose that I mentioned a few posts back. Well, I could resist him no more! I had to have him! So I ran in and got him!

This is sort of a strange picture. Trust me, he does have eyes and a face, you just can't see it here! LOL!

Moose.jpg


The cool Canada jacket!

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We still had to go back to Downtown Disney and The Wilderness Lodge to return our t-shirts before dinner. On the way back to the room we stopped at the Yachtsman to see if we could change our reservation for a bit later. We were told they did not have a later time, but if we were a little late, they will still seat us as soon as they can. So, we ran upstairs to the room, grabbed our too small tees and headed out. We had an hour till dinner so we had to make it quick. Tony ran into the House of Blues while I drove around outside of Cirque de Soleil waiting for him. Then we headed to Wilderness Lodge and I ran in and grabbed an XL. There is no way I am going to risk having it be too small again! You know something, it fit…but barely. What kind of shirt is this anyway? Sheesh!:confused3

We arrived back at the hotel and quickly ran up to our room to get changed for dinner. We waited for this dinner for a long time, we can’t miss it…or can we? :guilty:


Up next…feeling woozy..uh oh, sicky girl strikes again and final goodbyes!
 
That's crazy about those shirts running so small!! I bet a lot of people get home before they realize they've got a shirt that won't fit!

I'd love to walk through World Showcase before opening, even if it just to get to the gate. So pretty! :goodvibes

Thanks for the explanation of the tour you took. We want to take a tour or two on our next trip, but I think that one might be a little too long for my impatient DH.

Yikes, I hope you make it to Yachtsman! :scared1:

:cheer2:

Pink
 
I've caught up with your TR! I'm loving your trip and I can't wait to see if you made it to your dinner :thumbsup2
 
That's crazy about those shirts running so small!! I bet a lot of people get home before they realize they've got a shirt that won't fit!

I'd love to walk through World Showcase before opening, even if it just to get to the gate. So pretty! :goodvibes

Thanks for the explanation of the tour you took. We want to take a tour or two on our next trip, but I think that one might be a little too long for my impatient DH.

Yikes, I hope you make it to Yachtsman! :scared1:

:cheer2:

Pink

Hi Pink, Ya, it was crazy how small they were, and even crazier that we didn't notice it when we bought them! I'm glad we tried them on back in our room or we would hae been pretty mad when we got home!:headache:

I've caught up with your TR! I'm loving your trip and I can't wait to see if you made it to your dinner :thumbsup2

Hi Butiflfeet. Thanks so much for reading! I'm not getting many replies for some reason, but I am happy to see I at least have hit over 5000 read, so that's pretty good I guess!

I hope to get my last installment up in the next few days. Thanks again for reading and posting!:thumbsup2
 
What a great update and what a busy day! I think your shirt had to be a child's siz, no other explanation. The tour sounds interesting, but it would be hard to pack $200 worth of behind the scene touring into such a short time span. I took the KTTK tour a few years ago and really liked that. The guide was fabulous!

I hope you make it to dinner!
 
So,before I post my last installment I wanted to take a little poll. We are hoping to go to WDW again next year, but we can't decide where to go!We are looking for opinions. We would like to go somewhere we haven't been yet, so we have narrowed it down to these choices:

1. Grand Floridian

2. Polynesian

3. Boardwalk

4. Beach Club

5.Port Orleans French Quarter


Thoughts? Opinions? Any input is appreciated!
 
Why not do a split stay? If you're staying long enough, it's fun to do. We did 4 our last trip and will do 4 again next year. It's like 4 vacations in one!

So,before I post my last installment I wanted to take a little poll. We are hoping to go to WDW again next year, but we can't decide where to go!We are looking for opinions. We would like to go somewhere we haven't been yet, so we have narrowed it down to these choices:

1. Grand Floridian

2. Polynesian

3. Boardwalk

4. Beach Club

5.Port Orleans French Quarter


Thoughts? Opinions? Any input is appreciated!
 
Just read your trip report, thanks for sharing!!

And based on your bathroom preference, the Poly has the bathroom set up you like ::yes::
 
I'd say stay at the Poly! Just because I've always wanted to stay there :yay:
 
POFQ is my favorite moderate resort, so if you are looking to save money, I don't think you can go wrong with FQ. The water view rooms over looking the river are lovely. It is small, easy to walk around, and nice for parking a car.

Since you just stayed at Yacht Club, I guess you could skip BC this time. The Poly gets rave reviews! I'd probably vote for that, although I have yet to stay there. Someday!
 
I'm really enjoying your trip report! Thanks for posting. My husband and I are going in October so it's fun to have an adult report to read : )

As far as hotels, I vote for either the Poly or the GF. I love the tropical feel of the Poly and the GF is so classy. Being on the monorail is fantastic and there are so many great restaurants nearby. The spa is fantastic too if you're so inclined. My other fave WDW hotel is the Yacht Club so you have that one covered.
 
Why not do a split stay? If you're staying long enough, it's fun to do. We did 4 our last trip and will do 4 again next year. It's like 4 vacations in one!

If we ever ended up going for two weeks, we would consider doing a split stay. However,I don't really like the idea of unpacking,then re-packing to change resorts and then unpacking again. Are you saying you stayed at four different resorts during one visit? Wow! How long were you at each resort?

Just read your trip report, thanks for sharing!!

And based on your bathroom preference, the Poly has the bathroom set up you like ::yes::

Oh,really? Well, that changes everything! ;) Hmmm, that's one vote for Poly! Thanks for the reminder!

I'd say stay at the Poly! Just because I've always wanted to stay there :yay:

Hmmm, that's another vote for Poly!

POFQ is my favorite moderate resort, so if you are looking to save money, I don't think you can go wrong with FQ. The water view rooms over looking the river are lovely. It is small, easy to walk around, and nice for parking a car.

Since you just stayed at Yacht Club, I guess you could skip BC this time. The Poly gets rave reviews! I'd probably vote for that, although I have yet to stay there. Someday!

Hi Mek! Yes, POFQ looks like a nice resort. Yes, I think you are right about Beach Club this time around. so, another vote for Poly it is!

I'm really enjoying your trip report! Thanks for posting. My husband and I are going in October so it's fun to have an adult report to read : )

As far as hotels, I vote for either the Poly or the GF. I love the tropical feel of the Poly and the GF is so classy. Being on the monorail is fantastic and there are so many great restaurants nearby. The spa is fantastic too if you're so inclined. My other fave WDW hotel is the Yacht Club so you have that one covered.

Hi TiggerCL, thanks for reading! Yes, the spa would be nice! You know, now that I think about it, I think I would enjoy the Poly more in the spring, and would REALLY enjoy the Grand Floridian during the Christmas season!

Well, let's see if we have any more votes. I am surprised nobody picked Boardwalk! We never really considered The Boardwalk before, I'm not sure why though! Perhaps it would be too noisy there. We are reconsidering it now because we really loved being so close to Epcot, and we enjoyed the Boardwalk area. So, who knows! Has anyone stayed at the Boardwalk? Any opinions?
 
My vote is for Grand Floridian! I've never stayed there, but have seen it during that time of year and it is beautiful! :thumbsup2

:cheer2:

Pink
 




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