Davids-Coco
I miss the tag fairy.
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2004
- Messages
- 1,727
General
This was a great trip. We are so sad to be home but it does feel good. It was an anniversary trip and no one seemed to say that we couldnt wear ears even though it wasnt a honeymoon. Actually, most people thought that it was really sweet that we would celebrate our second anniversary since people start doing it only every five years. What can I say? We have been together for ten years, married for two, and enjoy each other every day. Plus Disney is an escape for us. It is a world where nothing bothers us and I am normally a very stressed person with a lot going on.
I was surprised this year by the number of people who had negative thing to say about marriage and children. There were a couple of ladies who had comments like this is what you have to look forward to after arguing with their spouse. Or, those with children who say things like think really hard about having these or just wait. My deduction is that people find out too late that they really werent ready to get married or have kids. OH well.
Ophelia took our humidity for a couple of days, making it nice to be out in. The weather was a bit warm the last couple of days, but that is coming from Oregonians. The high at home was lower than the night time low in Florida.
The parks werent very busy. We walked on to most things or the longest line was 20 or 30 minutes. The only time we actually waited was for Soarin during EMH at Epcot. But it was worth it. We went on another two or three times after that. We also went on Test Track during EMH. It is the best at night! The dark made it so much more fun. We almost didnt go back onto it because we didnt want to ruin the dark runs memory. So, although EMH was busy, definitely go if you can. It is a nice experience, and not too warm.
Keys to the Kingdom was AMAZING! It was such a great time. We learned so much that we would have never realized or noticed. It was a lot of fun. We went on the 8:30 tour, which was hard after the time change and all. But I was so glad that I changed it from the later one when we saw them. They had nearly 20 people we had six! Do the early one if you can, it is so much more intimate.
Transportation
Airline
I love Alaska Airlines plus we got our non-stop first class tickets for $300 with a $50 companion ticket and miles upgrade. It was very nice, and I enjoy the extra space I can actually sleep. So nice on a 5 hour flight.
One little problem: they left the bag with my clothes in Portland. There are no Alaska agents at Orlando. They partner with American, who was less than helpful about the bag. It took two days to get my bag! Part of it was that they didnt put it onto a plane until the next day (granted there is only one Alaska flight in and one out of course they could have put it on another carrier). We called over and over again. They just didnt handle it right. They could have cared less that they inconvenienced me and that I had NO clothes. They will be hearing from us.
Towncar
We used Quick Transportation again because it is who our travel agent uses. Our first driver was amazing. He waited for us with the bag although it took at least an hour and I am sure it totally threw off the schedule. No one has ever deserved a tip more in their lives. So, ask for Al to drive!
Hotel
The Grand Floridian was everything we could have asked for and more. We loved it last year and stepping back into the lobby felt like home. It was an instant release of were really on vacation now. Concierge came down and took us up to check in. We got all our paperwork but didnt get the requested turret room but that is okay. I was a little disappointed until we got to the room.
My darling DH had been in communication with Jane at Gifts of a Lifetime. The room was amazing and I am going to leave it at that. It was perfect and romantic. I had been so worried that this trip would not measure up to our honeymoon last year; it disappeared the moment that we walked into that room.
All the things that I had concierge set up was wonderful. The cigars were amazing and we have them at home now, and are able to extend the vacation a little with chocolate. DH was surprised by my little things. On the other hand, I was surprised at what had been set up for me. The Cinderellas slipper and Minnie with chocolate covered strawberries were wonderful. Needless to say, we had a ton of chocolate in our room!
We did have a Jacuzzi honeymoon room. It was the same type as we had for our honeymoon and I was concerned about noise with Gasparillas open this year. It was fine though. We never heard any noise from that (although we could hear Nights of Joy, including 3 am sound checks). It was still really nice and we didnt spend too much time in the room anyway. The lighting is my only complaint every time I can not see my self enough to do a good job on my makeup.
The lounge was nice and we didnt see all that many people on a regular basis. There was a family who constantly lost their children. One of them tried to stick his fingers into my DHs hot toaster oven. I could hear DH saying no, dont touch that. The little boy didnt understand English. Thankfully, DH speaks Spanish and was able to tell him no, and eventually let the dad know what had happened. Not nearly a half hour later, the dad was out on his two way asking if the other person knew where his kid was and peering around the main building from the lounge.
Grand Floridian Spa
The spa was wonderful. I had the anti-aging facial and the aromatherapy body massage and wrap. DH had a gentlemans facial it was a surprise. He really enjoyed it and had never been to a spa before. His back is so sensitive that I knew he wouldnt enjoy a massage. We both had the same person and both thought she was good. I was a little apprehensive about a male masseuse, and it was nice but I would rather have my normal acupuncturist do my massages. But the facial was a nice change.
Dinning
Yes, we were on the dining plan and got it for free. We went with the thought that we would be doing what we wanted regardless of if it fit into the dining plan. We did have left over credits.
A couple of problems occurred. There was a problem with our park admission not being on the reservation. Concierge took care of it but ended up giving us only 6 days of dinning, not 7. That was fixed once we found out. The other was that Gasprillas charged us 11 instead of 1 and it took a while to sort out. So keep your receipts and check the number of guests (at the top on the right) before you left.
Now on to what you really want to know:
California Grill 1st night 2 ts credits used - $67.97
DH used dining credits for the filet, which was wonderful. We shared his flatbread and valrhona cake. Mine was paid for separately because I wasnt nearly hungry enough to eat all that food.
Columbia Harbor House 2nd day included with KTK tour
DH and I both had the chicken fingers with fries. It was good.
Citricos 2nd night 4 ts credits used - $115.26
I had scampi for an appetizer; DH had something I cant remember. We both had the Seafood stew for dinner and it was very good. My desert was their cinderellabration. DH had the Crème Brulee. All in all, it was a good meal that I may not have done without the dining plan.
Earl of Sandwich 3rd day 2 cs credits used - $16.80
I had the Cannonballs and DH had The Original. It included drinks and desert.
Teppanyaki 3rd night 2 ts credits used - $79.69
The best used credits in our opinion. This was so much food! DH had the lobster, scallops, and shrimp. I had the chicken and scallops. Both was wonderful.
Toy Story Pizza Planet 4th day 2 cs credits used aprox. $26.00
We each got a side salad, individual pizza, drink and desert. This was a ton of food! The pizza wasnt bad. The salad was fresh. It wasnt a bad meal at all. I was expecting to be disappointed.
Mama Melroses 4th night 2 ts credits used - $80.95
Dh had the calamari, veal, and coffee tarufo. He enjoyed it quite a bit. He is a calamari snob and said it was great. I had the Mozzarella tomato appetizer, Italian sausage pasta, and chocolate truffle cake. It was all pretty good. I wasnt too impressed with the quality of the Italian sausage though.
Picos Bills (MK) 5th day 2 cs credits used - $19.87
DH had a bacon cheeseburger and I had the chicken wrap with fries. We both declined desert since it was a peanut butter brownie and I am allergic to peanut. They tried to give them to us again because it was our anniversary (and they saw the hats) but we couldnt take them.
Victoria and Alberts 5th night not included not telling
Everything was AMAZING as always.
Le Cellier Steakhouse 6th day 2 ts credits used - $52.22
This was a very nice lunch but a little heavy for a lunch. DH had a grilled beef tenderloin appetizer, field greens entree, and the special happy anniversary desert they gave us. I had the tomato stack appetizer, steak burger, and smores childrens desert. I really liked the smores desert and the burger was amazing. Our waitress was wonderful too.
Room Service 6th night not included no idea.
We had soup and salad for dinner in our room late and watched wishes from the room. It was nice. It also gave us a chance to eat some of our chocolates for desert.
Earl of Sandwich 7th day 2 cs credits used - $16.80
We had the same things as before. Although DH ordered something else, they accidentally made him the original. He ate that one and saved the one he really ordered since they brought that one too!
California Grill 7th night 4 ts credits used - $129.96
DH had the spicy sensation sushi and veal. I had the tomato extravaganza and the filet. It was absolutely wonderful as always.
The Launching Pad (MK) 8th day 2 cs credits used - $ unsure
I had the vegetarian wrap and DH had a chicken sandwich. It was pretty good, but not the best meal of the trip.
Snacks 14 credits used - $33.88 total
We bought two sodas and use the last 12 at Gasprillas for mickey rice crispy treats. Now we have a good supply at home!
Please feel free to ask if there are any questions! Thanks for reading!
This was a great trip. We are so sad to be home but it does feel good. It was an anniversary trip and no one seemed to say that we couldnt wear ears even though it wasnt a honeymoon. Actually, most people thought that it was really sweet that we would celebrate our second anniversary since people start doing it only every five years. What can I say? We have been together for ten years, married for two, and enjoy each other every day. Plus Disney is an escape for us. It is a world where nothing bothers us and I am normally a very stressed person with a lot going on.
I was surprised this year by the number of people who had negative thing to say about marriage and children. There were a couple of ladies who had comments like this is what you have to look forward to after arguing with their spouse. Or, those with children who say things like think really hard about having these or just wait. My deduction is that people find out too late that they really werent ready to get married or have kids. OH well.
Ophelia took our humidity for a couple of days, making it nice to be out in. The weather was a bit warm the last couple of days, but that is coming from Oregonians. The high at home was lower than the night time low in Florida.
The parks werent very busy. We walked on to most things or the longest line was 20 or 30 minutes. The only time we actually waited was for Soarin during EMH at Epcot. But it was worth it. We went on another two or three times after that. We also went on Test Track during EMH. It is the best at night! The dark made it so much more fun. We almost didnt go back onto it because we didnt want to ruin the dark runs memory. So, although EMH was busy, definitely go if you can. It is a nice experience, and not too warm.
Keys to the Kingdom was AMAZING! It was such a great time. We learned so much that we would have never realized or noticed. It was a lot of fun. We went on the 8:30 tour, which was hard after the time change and all. But I was so glad that I changed it from the later one when we saw them. They had nearly 20 people we had six! Do the early one if you can, it is so much more intimate.
Transportation
Airline
I love Alaska Airlines plus we got our non-stop first class tickets for $300 with a $50 companion ticket and miles upgrade. It was very nice, and I enjoy the extra space I can actually sleep. So nice on a 5 hour flight.
One little problem: they left the bag with my clothes in Portland. There are no Alaska agents at Orlando. They partner with American, who was less than helpful about the bag. It took two days to get my bag! Part of it was that they didnt put it onto a plane until the next day (granted there is only one Alaska flight in and one out of course they could have put it on another carrier). We called over and over again. They just didnt handle it right. They could have cared less that they inconvenienced me and that I had NO clothes. They will be hearing from us.
Towncar
We used Quick Transportation again because it is who our travel agent uses. Our first driver was amazing. He waited for us with the bag although it took at least an hour and I am sure it totally threw off the schedule. No one has ever deserved a tip more in their lives. So, ask for Al to drive!
Hotel
The Grand Floridian was everything we could have asked for and more. We loved it last year and stepping back into the lobby felt like home. It was an instant release of were really on vacation now. Concierge came down and took us up to check in. We got all our paperwork but didnt get the requested turret room but that is okay. I was a little disappointed until we got to the room.
My darling DH had been in communication with Jane at Gifts of a Lifetime. The room was amazing and I am going to leave it at that. It was perfect and romantic. I had been so worried that this trip would not measure up to our honeymoon last year; it disappeared the moment that we walked into that room.
All the things that I had concierge set up was wonderful. The cigars were amazing and we have them at home now, and are able to extend the vacation a little with chocolate. DH was surprised by my little things. On the other hand, I was surprised at what had been set up for me. The Cinderellas slipper and Minnie with chocolate covered strawberries were wonderful. Needless to say, we had a ton of chocolate in our room!
We did have a Jacuzzi honeymoon room. It was the same type as we had for our honeymoon and I was concerned about noise with Gasparillas open this year. It was fine though. We never heard any noise from that (although we could hear Nights of Joy, including 3 am sound checks). It was still really nice and we didnt spend too much time in the room anyway. The lighting is my only complaint every time I can not see my self enough to do a good job on my makeup.
The lounge was nice and we didnt see all that many people on a regular basis. There was a family who constantly lost their children. One of them tried to stick his fingers into my DHs hot toaster oven. I could hear DH saying no, dont touch that. The little boy didnt understand English. Thankfully, DH speaks Spanish and was able to tell him no, and eventually let the dad know what had happened. Not nearly a half hour later, the dad was out on his two way asking if the other person knew where his kid was and peering around the main building from the lounge.
Grand Floridian Spa
The spa was wonderful. I had the anti-aging facial and the aromatherapy body massage and wrap. DH had a gentlemans facial it was a surprise. He really enjoyed it and had never been to a spa before. His back is so sensitive that I knew he wouldnt enjoy a massage. We both had the same person and both thought she was good. I was a little apprehensive about a male masseuse, and it was nice but I would rather have my normal acupuncturist do my massages. But the facial was a nice change.
Dinning
Yes, we were on the dining plan and got it for free. We went with the thought that we would be doing what we wanted regardless of if it fit into the dining plan. We did have left over credits.
A couple of problems occurred. There was a problem with our park admission not being on the reservation. Concierge took care of it but ended up giving us only 6 days of dinning, not 7. That was fixed once we found out. The other was that Gasprillas charged us 11 instead of 1 and it took a while to sort out. So keep your receipts and check the number of guests (at the top on the right) before you left.
Now on to what you really want to know:
California Grill 1st night 2 ts credits used - $67.97
DH used dining credits for the filet, which was wonderful. We shared his flatbread and valrhona cake. Mine was paid for separately because I wasnt nearly hungry enough to eat all that food.
Columbia Harbor House 2nd day included with KTK tour
DH and I both had the chicken fingers with fries. It was good.
Citricos 2nd night 4 ts credits used - $115.26
I had scampi for an appetizer; DH had something I cant remember. We both had the Seafood stew for dinner and it was very good. My desert was their cinderellabration. DH had the Crème Brulee. All in all, it was a good meal that I may not have done without the dining plan.
Earl of Sandwich 3rd day 2 cs credits used - $16.80
I had the Cannonballs and DH had The Original. It included drinks and desert.
Teppanyaki 3rd night 2 ts credits used - $79.69
The best used credits in our opinion. This was so much food! DH had the lobster, scallops, and shrimp. I had the chicken and scallops. Both was wonderful.
Toy Story Pizza Planet 4th day 2 cs credits used aprox. $26.00
We each got a side salad, individual pizza, drink and desert. This was a ton of food! The pizza wasnt bad. The salad was fresh. It wasnt a bad meal at all. I was expecting to be disappointed.
Mama Melroses 4th night 2 ts credits used - $80.95
Dh had the calamari, veal, and coffee tarufo. He enjoyed it quite a bit. He is a calamari snob and said it was great. I had the Mozzarella tomato appetizer, Italian sausage pasta, and chocolate truffle cake. It was all pretty good. I wasnt too impressed with the quality of the Italian sausage though.
Picos Bills (MK) 5th day 2 cs credits used - $19.87
DH had a bacon cheeseburger and I had the chicken wrap with fries. We both declined desert since it was a peanut butter brownie and I am allergic to peanut. They tried to give them to us again because it was our anniversary (and they saw the hats) but we couldnt take them.
Victoria and Alberts 5th night not included not telling
Everything was AMAZING as always.
Le Cellier Steakhouse 6th day 2 ts credits used - $52.22
This was a very nice lunch but a little heavy for a lunch. DH had a grilled beef tenderloin appetizer, field greens entree, and the special happy anniversary desert they gave us. I had the tomato stack appetizer, steak burger, and smores childrens desert. I really liked the smores desert and the burger was amazing. Our waitress was wonderful too.
Room Service 6th night not included no idea.
We had soup and salad for dinner in our room late and watched wishes from the room. It was nice. It also gave us a chance to eat some of our chocolates for desert.
Earl of Sandwich 7th day 2 cs credits used - $16.80
We had the same things as before. Although DH ordered something else, they accidentally made him the original. He ate that one and saved the one he really ordered since they brought that one too!
California Grill 7th night 4 ts credits used - $129.96
DH had the spicy sensation sushi and veal. I had the tomato extravaganza and the filet. It was absolutely wonderful as always.
The Launching Pad (MK) 8th day 2 cs credits used - $ unsure
I had the vegetarian wrap and DH had a chicken sandwich. It was pretty good, but not the best meal of the trip.
Snacks 14 credits used - $33.88 total
We bought two sodas and use the last 12 at Gasprillas for mickey rice crispy treats. Now we have a good supply at home!
Please feel free to ask if there are any questions! Thanks for reading!
