An APRIL Adventure in Autism: 2008 (8/8) Time to Say Good-Bye....

[mousescrapper]

great updates Kathy...and "welcome Home! to OKW!!!


it lokks just lovely....Michael would have been right at home in that Papa's Den reading nook!

Can't wait to see inside that room!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Love that Billy made himself right at home!

I also really like Papa's Den since I am a huge Hemingway fan -- suddenly OKW is on my radar of choices for a future stay.

Gorgeous pictures -- I guess I didn't realize just how lush and tropical OKW really is!

Hope your reverse psychology worked!

 

[KathyRN137]

(Okay, is it just my eyesight getting weaker, or did the DIS-font change yesterday??)

***************************************​

irish dancer & jcc0621: Come now! It was just a teeny-tiny cliffhanger! Jeez!

LuvindisCruiser: Gotta luv the palm trees... so tropical... so not New Jersey!

preschoolmom: Oh my... you did that road trip with such young children?? I bow to you!

karriemouse: Wow! Better get your things packed ahead of time!

kaysmommie: I can't believe the OKW villas "cost" the fewest DVC points! And they're bigger!!

mom2mek: Thanks! We love OKW! I'd stay there every time but for the urge to try something "new!" I'll be back soon with room pix.

mousescrapper: Papa's Den is so cozy... just like the rest of OKW! It truly feels like a den in someone's home!

Charleston Princess: It's very lush; even more so since it was Spring! The aroma of tropical flowers and plants is everywhere you walk...


Thanks for the comments, everybody! I love hearing from you.


Kathy

 

[IluvXU]

Glad you arrived.. can't wait for the real fun to start! I think OKW is so pretty... someday!

 

[KathyRN137]

I think OKW is so pretty... someday!

That's the way to think!!

Kathy

 

[blue_river]

Nice pictures of Ed at DL!!

You do know that the lizards are up on the higher floors as well eh?

What a lovely resort...I hope your reverse psychology worked

 

[KathyRN137]

You do know that the lizards are up on the higher floors as well eh?

Aww, you're just sayin' that....right??


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

CHAPTER SEVEN: "Mom, Are There Alligators In the Water?"


As we all crowded around, Ed placed the key card into the slot. The little green light flickered, he slowly turned the door handle and we spilled into our studio home-away-from-home. In the wink of an eye, the kids dropped their bags… Billy ran for the TV remote and Tricia ran to get to the bathroom first!! I opened the drapes to let in some of that gorgeous Florida sunshine.



“Don’t start relaxing yet,” Ed growled as he spied Billy kicking off his shoes again. “And don’t you start taking pictures,” he said, eyeing me as I flicked open the lens cover of our camera. “We’ve got to unpack all that stuff from the van!” (Doesn’t he ever want to take a vacation from giving orders?) “Come on, move it! Move it! Let’s go!” Grudgingly, I moved toward the door.

“But Dad,” Tricia wailed, “I’m in the BATHROOM!”

“Well, hurry it up,” he called as the three of us left our new digs and went back to the van that was parked close by. After a few trips, Ed was satisfied that all our necessities had been transferred to our room and we proceeded to unpack our clothes, toiletries and food.


Unlike the one- and two-bedroom villas that we had stayed in on previous trips, the studio villa had neither a washer/dryer nor a full kitchen. However, it did have a very convenient “kitchenette” with a coffee-maker, a bar-size sink, and an under-the counter fridge that was a bit larger than the ones you might see in the other Disney resorts. This we filled with the water bottles, Pepsi, and Starbuck’s frappachinos from our cooler. Tricia and I used one of the cabinets to put away the bags of snacks we had brought along; the other cabinets and drawers held paper plates, glass wear, flat wear, etc.



The studios at OKW also differ from those at the other resorts in that they have two Queen beds, not a Queen and a sleeper sofa. There was the usual “bistro” table and chair set-up, a tall dresser with a television on top, a full bath, and a cute little patio. Pale colored walls, pastel patterned bedspreads, and framed prints of seashells continued the theme of Key West style.



I’m sorry that Ed prevented me from taking photos of the room when we first came in, because I kind of forgot about it and only wound up with a couple of shots that I can share with you!



Beds and door leading to the patio:

Seashell print in the bathroom:

Tricia brought her bear, Fluffy. Here she is looking out our front window. Seems like it’s a jungle out there!

Small table with two chairs. Grumpy husband is in one of them.

I’m so sorry that there isn’t more! But, I did get the opportunity to take a few more pictures of the grounds because Ed needed to do a bit of work on his laptop... so he chased the rest of us out of the room so he could have peace and quiet! And so, Tricia, Billy and I went outside to explore a little.



Let's go check out the quiet pool...

We were so close! Tricia counted the steps... it was something like fifty-something steps to the pool area! There was a little playground there, a shuffleboard court, the laundry, and the Turtle Shack poolside bar.


The water looks so nice!

Billy saw the pool and immediately began asking to go swimming. Since we wouldn't have time to swim and shower before dinner, we distracted him by telling him we would go looking for alligators in the pond! We retraced our steps and investigated the other side of our building.


You can see the windows of our villa there on the right corner, first floor:

We saw our bus stop for the first time:

Then we came across a little pond covered with lily pads:

We saw some shiny green dragonflies and a few yellow and white butterflies. I could hear a frog croaking and little bubbles on the surface told me there were fish and turtles swimming among the lily pads and floating algae. Now and then, a pair of eyes would break the surface of the water, then sink back underneath. Tricia saw them and got a little nervous.


"Mom, there really aren't any alligators in the water, are there?"

I explained that the eyes we saw were little turtles, not alligators, (thus the name Turtle Pond), but that there was always the possibility of an alligator swimming into the resort waters from the outside since sightings were plentiful in Florida. She played it cool, but I think she was keeping a watchful eye on those bubbles! Billy began to get a bit antsy, so we began walking back to our room.



When we had returned, Ed was still working, so the kids and I took some cool drinks out onto the tiny “verandah” and relaxed a bit. The cast member at check-in had been truthful about the highway noise… I didn’t hear much at all, and then only if I strained really hard to listen. The lush vegetation not only provided shade, it gave us privacy from the parking lot and the adjoining verandahs.

Kickin' back...

Soon there were the familiar whines of “I’m hungry” and “when’s dinner?” from the kids. Ed wrapped up his work while the rest of us freshened up. We didn’t have any plans at all for the evening… I had rather expected that we would all be a bit pooped from the long ride… so we decided on the spur of the moment to take a water taxi from the resort to Downtown Disney and grab a counter service dinner.


Because we weren’t quite sure if the resort bus would pass the Hospitality House before heading out, we decided to take a nice, easy stroll over to the marina to catch the water taxi.

We passed the lighthouse on the way to the marina:

We made a stop at Saratoga Springs and a few guests got on board, then we were motoring down the canal once more toward the Marketplace. The temperature was cooling slowly as the sun dropped lower in the sky, and a lovely breeze whipped the little flags on our boat merrily.


The big boy and his mommy:

Our destination:

Once at the Marketplace, we headed straight for Earl of Sandwich. As usual, it was crowded, but at least when Tricia and I emerged with the food, Ed and Billy had been able to find us a table. There was nothing on the menu that Billy would eat, but I had anticipated that and had brought something with us from our cooler just for him. We happily munched away and basked in the fact that we were eating our Disney sandwiches surrounded by Disney shops, Disney music, and Disney fun!



My sandwich, my favorite, the old Beef & Bleu (which, sadly, is no longer on the menu.)

We wandered around a bit after dinner… unlike last time, Tricia was eager to start collecting more pins! Over to Pin Traders we went. I may have picked up one or two myself. Ahem!


Tricia chose this "baby princess" pin set...

I really don’t remember if we visited any other stores… I didn’t take any other pictures after this one, so I’m guessing we called it a night and took the little ferry back upstream to Old Key West so we could fall into peaceful slumber. Ahhh, it was so good to go to bed knowing that our whole vacation was ahead of us!!


Thus ended our first night in the wonderful world of Disney!


Kathy

 

[Hedy]

I'm sorry, I'm giggling at the aligators, as I had a coversation with a client just this week about random aligators being why I don't trust Florida.

 

[mom2mek]

Those pins are adorable! I'm gonna have to look for some of the baby princesses when we go! Your room looks very nice and roomy! Ed sounds exactly like Shawn when we arrive somewhere on vacation - I'm just happy to be there, want to soak it all in, look at everything, and he is all "hut, two three, four....let's get this car unloaded....bark bark bark..." It's like he doesn't know how to relax until the room/house is filled with all of our JUNK!

I'm always keeping my eyes open for alligators! I will definitely be looking for some at the Poly! Yikes!

Sara

 

[KathyRN137]

Hedy: I was just reading about a woman in Tampa who found an 11-foot alligator on her front doormat!! A neighbor phoned her and told her to look outside before she opened the front door!!


mom2mek: I sometimes get annoyed by Ed's authoritarian style, but I guess someone's got to be the pack leader!! (And I sure as heck don't want that job!)


Kathy

 

[ILuvWishes!]

CHAPTER SIX: Welcome Home!
Well, we were given a first-floor studio in the Turtle Pond area, # 4110Kathy

Hey...I stayed in that room!! Just last August!! I remember, because we had Room 4110 for our 1st week and then moved to Room 4111 for our 2nd week ( and by the way, we stayed in room 4111 on 3 different trips). I love staying in Turtle Pond area.

I guess you had the room 1st since you went in April and I went in August.

 

[ILuvWishes!]

You do know that the lizards are up on the higher floors as well eh?

And cockroaches, too. Believe me we found them in our dishwasher...YUCK!!

 

[KathyRN137]

Hey...I stayed in that room!! Just last August!! I remember, because we had Room 4110 for our 1st week and then moved to Room 4111 for our 2nd week ( and by the way, we stayed in room 4111 on 3 different trips). I love staying in Turtle Pond area.

That's really amazing... you got the same room three different times?? Without asking for it?? Wow! You need to play those numbers in the lottery or something!

...I am tactfully ignoring the roach post....


Kathy

 

[mousescrapper]

Kathy...the picture of Ed and Tricia walking arm in arm is priceless

and the alligators in a pond....ok now we didn't actually quite see it, but on the last day as we were circling CSR on the bus as we were coming to a stop a little group of people were crowded by a pond looking at something half in and out of the water...someone on bus said it was an alligator...

 

[karriemouse]

And cockroaches, too. Believe me we found them in our dishwasher...YUCK!!

Keep breathing Karen - think happy thoughts - not working - ahhhhhhhhhh - runs away screaming...

Note to self - it's now DH's job to empty the dishwasher...

 

[ladylyons]

and the alligators in a pond....ok now we didn't actually quite see it, but on the last day as we were circling CSR on the bus as we were coming to a stop a little group of people were crowded by a pond looking at something half in and out of the water...someone on bus said it was an alligator...

Now this happened 15 years ago the first and only time I've been to Disneyworld. We were at a camp ground (not on Disney property, don't remember the name of it) but when we checked in they told us that if we had dogs to make sure they were either always with us or in the trailer because there was a couple small (3-4 ft long) alligators in the pond past the camp ground. Needless to say me being 15, my sister 13, and my cousin 8 just had to see them so my grandpa took us to the pond and sure enough one was sunning it's self and the other was in the water and you could just see it's eyes. It was really cool and we stayed a very safe distance away because even being that long they are dangerous. Sorry that probably didn't help ease your fears.

 

[melk]

Hi Kathy,

I haven't begun reading this TR yet, so tonight I am looking forward to sitting down and starting it (like a good book!). But we just got back from a wonderful trip and had to tell you about one funny thing. We stayed at VWL (home!) and one night went down to the arcade with the kids. My oldest looked down at her feet and said "Mom, I forgot to change out of my spongebob slippers!!" I looked at her, rolled my eyes and said "Oh, Aunt Rae!" My family all turned and looked at me like "What??????" I had a nice little chuckle for myself, and thought you might get a kick out of it yourself .

DH and I had a dinner for two at Artist Point, which was so great, thought back to your other trip report then, too.

Now off to work, but can't wait to read this report!!

-Melissa

 

[KathyRN137]

Hi Kathy,
My oldest looked down at her feet and said "Mom, I forgot to change out of my spongebob slippers!!" I looked at her, rolled my eyes and said "Oh, Aunt Rae!" My family all turned and looked at me like "What??????" I had a nice little chuckle for myself, and thought you might get a kick out of it yourself .

I've made her into a DIS-Icon!!!


Can't wait to hear all about your trip!!!

(Are you even allowed to wear SpongeBob slippers on Disney property??)


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

mousescrapper: Oh, I've heard about the CSR alligator before; I'm sure they saw it!

karriemouse: In Florida, they are euphemistically called "Palmento Bugs!"

ladylyons I've never seen an alligator at WDW, but we did see a HUGE turtle (tortoise?) slowly making it's way across one of the roads at SSR!

Hey, we're in they're backyard!!!


Kathy