Kevin Stringer
Chat Host
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
- Messages
- 2,698
DAY 6 SUNDAY 22nd OCTOBER 2006
Whos going:
Me, Kev Husband, father, friend and all round good egg.
Wife, Tam she hates to be called the wife so I left the the off. Make sense?
India, nearly 16, eldest daughter.
Georgia, now 13, youngest daughter.
Deb & Matt good friends
Susan another good friend, joining us for part 2 of the holiday.
After last nights strenuous activities (if you call dancing and drinking strenuous) we all decide to have a quieter day as we are going to the DIS Meet in Raglan Road this evening.
I get up around 8.00am to find Deb, Matt and Tam downstairs having breakfast. Shortly after me, Tam and the girls leave to go shopping at Walmart for a few things. A few things leaves us $109 lighter. Admittedly much of this is due to replenishing the dwindling alcohol stocks.
Our shopping trips usually follow a similar pattern. I start out in a resigned state of mind as we trudge around supposedly getting the bits and pieces we have come for before slowly lapsing into mild annoyance as we get sidetracked into areas that were never meant to be investigated by parochial Brits. I mean, who knew we required tyres for a monster truck? Mild annoyance now turns into low level fuming as we flit from one aisle to the next like a humming bird on speed. I usually end in full-scale supermarket rage as we approach the checkout and India decides she would rather like a book to read. Hello? Why were you not off looking at books while your mother discovered the delights of haemorrhoid preparations in aisle 372? She doesnt need them, but they might be on sale.
Another hour of pain complete we drive back up the 192 to I4 and then Reunion. At least this puts me in a better mood listening to 96.5 Classic Rock with double headers by AC/DC and Queen.
Back at the villa Deb and Matt have already left for lunch in the Clubhouse so we get changed into our swimming things and head for the Reunion water park. This is a lovely place with lush vegetation, swimming pools, a lazy river, water slide, childrens play area and even a climbing wall. I guess its nearest Disney equivalent would be Stormalong Bay except Reunion water park is much quieter.
The girls enjoy the delights of the water park, although its difficult to tell.
We have lunch and drinks brought to our sunbeds by the roving waiters and then have a float around the lazy river. A couple of goes down the water slide are followed by some trip reporting and relaxation time. Its another record high of 92°F today, but a cold front is expected tomorrow to plunge temperatures to a positively Arctic 75°F.
I think we all enjoy some time doing nothing but relaxing in the beautiful Florida sun. The water park at Reunion is lovely, quiet and spacious with plenty of shade.
On returning to the villa we all shower and the taxi arrives to take us to Pleasure Island. It costs $30 including tip, which seems very reasonable for the 6 of us.
We walk down through PL towards Raglan Road and Im disappointed to see lots of ugly fences sectioning off many areas, as there is a lot of refurbishment going on. Many of the exteriors of the buildings are starting to look a little shabby and a lot needs to be done here if Disney is not going to lose out to Citywalk in a big way.
We enter Raglan Road and immediately meet Jules (Saratogagirl) and Ian. At the bar are Claire (Fizz13), her children and her grandfather along with Sara (Dream of Disney) and children, Joh (Wilma Bride), Gary and the children (Bill and Ted) and Nathan Rose and his wife. Vernon joins us soon after we are seated. Mark and Sue also poke there heads in briefly as they are eating later with friends.
We are all shown into a little annex to order our meals. My first impressions of Raglan Road is that it is much bigger than I had expected.
The food that Tam and I have is quite good, but I wouldnt rave about it. The starter is a smokie something or other, which is a sort of thick, creamy fish soup. This is very nice indeed. The main course is Kevins Bacon. Now, see this is a play on words as it is a pork dish and the chefs name is Kevin, but what makes it really clever is that he named the whole thing after me as Bacon is my middle name. I believe there is some actor chappy with a similar claim too.
This is ok, but its not really hot enough. Tam has the bread pudding for dessert, which she says is very nice.
Much chatting goes on with some of us in the early stages of our holidays while other poor souls are soon to depart. (Disney that is, not this mortal coil).
Young Dean (Claires son) is dressed like Peter Pan and takes a particular shine to Matt. For some reason he decides it is fun to head butt Matt in the chest repeatedly. Claire makes him stop much to my disappointment as I was enjoying the spectacle.
Young Dean in his pre-butting days.
As fine a collection of male beefcakeyness as you could ever wish to see.
L to R: Matt, Vernon, Ian, me.
Charlies Angels or 3 slappers out on the town. You decide.
L to R: Jules (Saratogagirl), Tam and Deb
The place livens up considerably as the evening wears on although we can only hear the singer on stage from our corner of the room. I think it would be fun to come here and sit at the bar to enjoy the entertainment.
After the meal we say farewell to Sara, Nathan and Vernon. I didnt really get to speak to Nathan for which I apologise. Many thanks to Claire for doing a sterling job organising the meet.
On to the Adventurers Club for the rest of us. Our first visit is to the Mask Room where Tam is chosen to wake up one of the masks by tickling it with a frond. Now thats entertaining.
Matt gets picked on continually during the evening partly due to his colourful Disney Hawaiian shirt I suspect.
Kungalooshs are taken into the library for the Balderdash Cup competition. All is going well until we stand to sing the Adventurers Club anthem at which point Tam manages to knock her large and sticky Kungaloosh onto the floor.
In the second show in the library she is throwing her arms around excitedly and spills my beer all over me! Now, its one thing spilling your own drink, but another entirely spilling mine.
The comedy gets better as the evening wears on. Either that or we get merrier. At one show Matt is sat with India and Georgia on a bench by the side of the stage and gets picked on by Samantha Sterling again. Matthew, darling, are those yours?
His reply of Good lord, no! is accurate if a little ungallant. She then asks how we all know each other and I tell her we met on the internet. Sounds of knowing disapproval emanate from the audience before I point out that it was through a Disney web site (the DIS).
We stay at the Adventurers Club until the very last show at midnight. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I think it is better to make a full evening of it at the Club as you get to know the characters better and they interact with you more. At one point I was doubled up laughing at the Colonel, hes my hero.
We leave and walk back to get a taxi. Jules and Ian walk with us and reveal that they have had a problem with frogs at Saratoga Springs and they are both frightened of them, much to our amusement.
Back at the villa a few games of pool round things off nicely current score me 20, Matt 17. Bed at 2.00am.
Kev
Whos going:
Me, Kev Husband, father, friend and all round good egg.
Wife, Tam she hates to be called the wife so I left the the off. Make sense?
India, nearly 16, eldest daughter.
Georgia, now 13, youngest daughter.
Deb & Matt good friends
Susan another good friend, joining us for part 2 of the holiday.
After last nights strenuous activities (if you call dancing and drinking strenuous) we all decide to have a quieter day as we are going to the DIS Meet in Raglan Road this evening.
I get up around 8.00am to find Deb, Matt and Tam downstairs having breakfast. Shortly after me, Tam and the girls leave to go shopping at Walmart for a few things. A few things leaves us $109 lighter. Admittedly much of this is due to replenishing the dwindling alcohol stocks.
Our shopping trips usually follow a similar pattern. I start out in a resigned state of mind as we trudge around supposedly getting the bits and pieces we have come for before slowly lapsing into mild annoyance as we get sidetracked into areas that were never meant to be investigated by parochial Brits. I mean, who knew we required tyres for a monster truck? Mild annoyance now turns into low level fuming as we flit from one aisle to the next like a humming bird on speed. I usually end in full-scale supermarket rage as we approach the checkout and India decides she would rather like a book to read. Hello? Why were you not off looking at books while your mother discovered the delights of haemorrhoid preparations in aisle 372? She doesnt need them, but they might be on sale.
Another hour of pain complete we drive back up the 192 to I4 and then Reunion. At least this puts me in a better mood listening to 96.5 Classic Rock with double headers by AC/DC and Queen.
Back at the villa Deb and Matt have already left for lunch in the Clubhouse so we get changed into our swimming things and head for the Reunion water park. This is a lovely place with lush vegetation, swimming pools, a lazy river, water slide, childrens play area and even a climbing wall. I guess its nearest Disney equivalent would be Stormalong Bay except Reunion water park is much quieter.
The girls enjoy the delights of the water park, although its difficult to tell.
We have lunch and drinks brought to our sunbeds by the roving waiters and then have a float around the lazy river. A couple of goes down the water slide are followed by some trip reporting and relaxation time. Its another record high of 92°F today, but a cold front is expected tomorrow to plunge temperatures to a positively Arctic 75°F.
I think we all enjoy some time doing nothing but relaxing in the beautiful Florida sun. The water park at Reunion is lovely, quiet and spacious with plenty of shade.
On returning to the villa we all shower and the taxi arrives to take us to Pleasure Island. It costs $30 including tip, which seems very reasonable for the 6 of us.
We walk down through PL towards Raglan Road and Im disappointed to see lots of ugly fences sectioning off many areas, as there is a lot of refurbishment going on. Many of the exteriors of the buildings are starting to look a little shabby and a lot needs to be done here if Disney is not going to lose out to Citywalk in a big way.
We enter Raglan Road and immediately meet Jules (Saratogagirl) and Ian. At the bar are Claire (Fizz13), her children and her grandfather along with Sara (Dream of Disney) and children, Joh (Wilma Bride), Gary and the children (Bill and Ted) and Nathan Rose and his wife. Vernon joins us soon after we are seated. Mark and Sue also poke there heads in briefly as they are eating later with friends.
We are all shown into a little annex to order our meals. My first impressions of Raglan Road is that it is much bigger than I had expected.
The food that Tam and I have is quite good, but I wouldnt rave about it. The starter is a smokie something or other, which is a sort of thick, creamy fish soup. This is very nice indeed. The main course is Kevins Bacon. Now, see this is a play on words as it is a pork dish and the chefs name is Kevin, but what makes it really clever is that he named the whole thing after me as Bacon is my middle name. I believe there is some actor chappy with a similar claim too.
This is ok, but its not really hot enough. Tam has the bread pudding for dessert, which she says is very nice.
Much chatting goes on with some of us in the early stages of our holidays while other poor souls are soon to depart. (Disney that is, not this mortal coil).
Young Dean (Claires son) is dressed like Peter Pan and takes a particular shine to Matt. For some reason he decides it is fun to head butt Matt in the chest repeatedly. Claire makes him stop much to my disappointment as I was enjoying the spectacle.
Young Dean in his pre-butting days.
As fine a collection of male beefcakeyness as you could ever wish to see.
L to R: Matt, Vernon, Ian, me.
Charlies Angels or 3 slappers out on the town. You decide.
L to R: Jules (Saratogagirl), Tam and Deb
The place livens up considerably as the evening wears on although we can only hear the singer on stage from our corner of the room. I think it would be fun to come here and sit at the bar to enjoy the entertainment.
After the meal we say farewell to Sara, Nathan and Vernon. I didnt really get to speak to Nathan for which I apologise. Many thanks to Claire for doing a sterling job organising the meet.
On to the Adventurers Club for the rest of us. Our first visit is to the Mask Room where Tam is chosen to wake up one of the masks by tickling it with a frond. Now thats entertaining.
Matt gets picked on continually during the evening partly due to his colourful Disney Hawaiian shirt I suspect.
Kungalooshs are taken into the library for the Balderdash Cup competition. All is going well until we stand to sing the Adventurers Club anthem at which point Tam manages to knock her large and sticky Kungaloosh onto the floor.
In the second show in the library she is throwing her arms around excitedly and spills my beer all over me! Now, its one thing spilling your own drink, but another entirely spilling mine.
The comedy gets better as the evening wears on. Either that or we get merrier. At one show Matt is sat with India and Georgia on a bench by the side of the stage and gets picked on by Samantha Sterling again. Matthew, darling, are those yours?
His reply of Good lord, no! is accurate if a little ungallant. She then asks how we all know each other and I tell her we met on the internet. Sounds of knowing disapproval emanate from the audience before I point out that it was through a Disney web site (the DIS).
We stay at the Adventurers Club until the very last show at midnight. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I think it is better to make a full evening of it at the Club as you get to know the characters better and they interact with you more. At one point I was doubled up laughing at the Colonel, hes my hero.
We leave and walk back to get a taxi. Jules and Ian walk with us and reveal that they have had a problem with frogs at Saratoga Springs and they are both frightened of them, much to our amusement.
Back at the villa a few games of pool round things off nicely current score me 20, Matt 17. Bed at 2.00am.
Kev
