I just returned from a trip to Vero and then Boardwalk this past week. We drove from Vero Beach and left at 2:07 PM on a clear day. I followed the directions from the front desk at Vero to Boardwalk and arrived at exactly 3:57. This was travelling non-stop at speeds in excess of the speed limit. Traffic was light and there were no stoppages or slowdowns (but boy are those Florida drivers something. I'm from Boston and they make drivers here look like the best in the world). Unless someone knows a short cut, this seems to be about the best time for the trip. At the speedlimit it would probally take 2 hours exactly.
When we arrived our room was ready. We had requested a 1 bedroom on the first floor, facing the pools (preferably the quiet pool). They had assigned us to a 2nd floor room, facing the pool. This was ok, but being able to walk outside to the pool is a nice thing. I asked if there was a 1st. floor room available and the CM looked and found something. It was facing the main pool, but that was ok with us. The room was 1090. It was next to a door to the main pool and just a couple of rooms away from an exit onto the canal, at the quiet pool entrance. Perfect. The room was in good shape and everything seemed to be working.
The day was warm, sunny and beautiful. We decided that we would continue doing what we had been doing, lying by the pool. Cocktails and sunbathing rounded out the afternoon, but then came dinner.
We made a PS / reservation at the Yachtsman for 8:30 PM. No problem getting a table. When we arrived at dinner there was no wait. I requested a window seat and that was available. Service was perfect and attentive. We ordered 2 Ceaser Salads to split and they each came on their own plate. My son and I ordered the NY strip with blue cheese sauce (delicious) and my wife and other son ordered the Filet Mignon (also delicious). 3 of us had cocktails before dinner and my son and I had a glass of wine. The wine list is excellent, but very expensive. The cheapest bottle was around $45 to $50. The glasses of wine were about $10 each and very large. This is a much better way of having wine (unless someone is paying for it). The most unforgettable part of the meal was still to come. My son ordered the special dessert that was prepared for the "Happiest Celebration". It looked so good that he took a picture of it for his cell phone (hint: it has a hidden mickey in it, although it's not so hidden). Dinner was excellent, as always, at the Yachtsman. We were not able to see the fireworks at Epcot this time due to the construction at the Yachtsman. I usually have dinner here on all my trips.
Thursday was a triple header day. I went to Animal Kingdom when it opened, very nice time to go. We went to the Safari and saw lots of animals. Saw a Bugs life and rode on the dinosaur. We were able to leave the park around 11:30 and make it back to Boardwalk for a mid-day swim and lunch. Lunch was by the pool, this is not the best place to have something to eat but it was ok. The hot dog was poor, but the turkey or ham and cheese sandwich was thick and good.
Around 2:30 we left to go to MGM. My plan was to get there by 3 or 3:15 and wait for the "Lights, Motors, Action" show at 3:50. I had been told that you must be in line about 45 minutes early to get in. We arrived at MGM on time and went to the show. They still had fastpasses available for the 3:50 so we picked up some of those. We were told to be back around 3:20 or 3:30 for the show. We were then able to go to the Muppets, one of our favorites, and get out of the sun. When the Muppets let out it was 3:25 and we were only a couple of minutes away from the show. The Lights, Motors, Action show was spectacular. Our seats were in the center about 1/3 of the way up. This show is definately one to see a couple of times. The final explosion is hugh and you can feel the heat in the stands. After this it was Tower of Terror and Rock and Roll. No lines so we went on in.
Part 3 of the day was to be Epcot. It was a Extra Magic Hour day and it was scheduled to be open to midnight. We arrived by boat at the International Gateway and made a dinner reservation at Ristorante Alfredos' in Italy. I had been there before and not impressed, but thought I would give it another chance. Our goal here was to do Mission Space, a walk on and not bad at all, and see Soaring. We also wanted to see some of the flower show. Epcot was beautiful, but on to Soaring.
Soaring had no more fast passes remaining for the day, but it showed a wait time of 45 minutes. We had heard others talk about this and say that the wait was shorter than posted, so we went in. The wait was longer, but well worth it. We finally got to the end of the line at about 8 PM. Soaring is a experience that you have to try. You sit in a seat that is suspended and you swoop and soar over a large movie of California. The seat sprays you with mist over the ocean and you smell the pine forests. You end up at Disneyland after touring all of California (hint, there is a cute effect at Pebble Beach). Everyone left there in awe.
Off to Italy! We made it to the restaurant around 8:45 and had to wait a couple of minutes for a table. The wait was not too bad. Our waiter was fine, nothing special but definately competent. He took our order and brought us a carafe of wine. Within 10 minutes our entre arrived, before the bread and oil. Our waiter apologized about this but it was a bit annoying. The food was very good. I had the 3 pasta dish and it was tasty. They were able to delete the shrimp from my son's fetticini in vodka sauce and my wife's chicken was also good. The portions were small on the plate, but filling. Most restaurants put extra large portions on plates and you eat too much. This was just enough. The price was reasonable ( about $165 for dinner for 4 with a carafe of house wine and 1 desert, but no salad or appetizer, including tip), but a little high. I did feel rushed but I would go back again, just not on my next trip. After this no-one felt like more parks so it was back to the room.
Friday was going to be a golf day. It was a bright and sunny day, but very hot. Golf was changed to a pool day and everyone was much happier. Around 5 we went to do some shopping at downtown Disney. Not much to get, all of their golf merchandise was away. Over to Giradelli's for my wife's traditional chocolate strawberry and then back to the Boardwalk. We went to ESPN for dinner and the World Champion Red Sox. ESPN was as good as usual, but we noticed that it's getting a bit outdated. Most sports bars now have Hi-def TV's, they are thinner and have a much better picture. I was expecting ESPN to spotlight Hi-def tv since it just went to a high def signal itself. Maybe on my next trip. The food here is always good. I had the 1/2 pound hot dog and it was great, could not eat the bun. The Red Sox won and all was right with the world. On the way back to the room we had ice cream and finished our trip on a very good night.
Saturday was up early and off to the airport.
One note about Magical Express. We did not use it this time but people seemed ok with it. I may use it on my next trip.
Next scheduled trip is in October, the last week. Long time between now and then.
When we arrived our room was ready. We had requested a 1 bedroom on the first floor, facing the pools (preferably the quiet pool). They had assigned us to a 2nd floor room, facing the pool. This was ok, but being able to walk outside to the pool is a nice thing. I asked if there was a 1st. floor room available and the CM looked and found something. It was facing the main pool, but that was ok with us. The room was 1090. It was next to a door to the main pool and just a couple of rooms away from an exit onto the canal, at the quiet pool entrance. Perfect. The room was in good shape and everything seemed to be working.
The day was warm, sunny and beautiful. We decided that we would continue doing what we had been doing, lying by the pool. Cocktails and sunbathing rounded out the afternoon, but then came dinner.
We made a PS / reservation at the Yachtsman for 8:30 PM. No problem getting a table. When we arrived at dinner there was no wait. I requested a window seat and that was available. Service was perfect and attentive. We ordered 2 Ceaser Salads to split and they each came on their own plate. My son and I ordered the NY strip with blue cheese sauce (delicious) and my wife and other son ordered the Filet Mignon (also delicious). 3 of us had cocktails before dinner and my son and I had a glass of wine. The wine list is excellent, but very expensive. The cheapest bottle was around $45 to $50. The glasses of wine were about $10 each and very large. This is a much better way of having wine (unless someone is paying for it). The most unforgettable part of the meal was still to come. My son ordered the special dessert that was prepared for the "Happiest Celebration". It looked so good that he took a picture of it for his cell phone (hint: it has a hidden mickey in it, although it's not so hidden). Dinner was excellent, as always, at the Yachtsman. We were not able to see the fireworks at Epcot this time due to the construction at the Yachtsman. I usually have dinner here on all my trips.
Thursday was a triple header day. I went to Animal Kingdom when it opened, very nice time to go. We went to the Safari and saw lots of animals. Saw a Bugs life and rode on the dinosaur. We were able to leave the park around 11:30 and make it back to Boardwalk for a mid-day swim and lunch. Lunch was by the pool, this is not the best place to have something to eat but it was ok. The hot dog was poor, but the turkey or ham and cheese sandwich was thick and good.
Around 2:30 we left to go to MGM. My plan was to get there by 3 or 3:15 and wait for the "Lights, Motors, Action" show at 3:50. I had been told that you must be in line about 45 minutes early to get in. We arrived at MGM on time and went to the show. They still had fastpasses available for the 3:50 so we picked up some of those. We were told to be back around 3:20 or 3:30 for the show. We were then able to go to the Muppets, one of our favorites, and get out of the sun. When the Muppets let out it was 3:25 and we were only a couple of minutes away from the show. The Lights, Motors, Action show was spectacular. Our seats were in the center about 1/3 of the way up. This show is definately one to see a couple of times. The final explosion is hugh and you can feel the heat in the stands. After this it was Tower of Terror and Rock and Roll. No lines so we went on in.
Part 3 of the day was to be Epcot. It was a Extra Magic Hour day and it was scheduled to be open to midnight. We arrived by boat at the International Gateway and made a dinner reservation at Ristorante Alfredos' in Italy. I had been there before and not impressed, but thought I would give it another chance. Our goal here was to do Mission Space, a walk on and not bad at all, and see Soaring. We also wanted to see some of the flower show. Epcot was beautiful, but on to Soaring.
Soaring had no more fast passes remaining for the day, but it showed a wait time of 45 minutes. We had heard others talk about this and say that the wait was shorter than posted, so we went in. The wait was longer, but well worth it. We finally got to the end of the line at about 8 PM. Soaring is a experience that you have to try. You sit in a seat that is suspended and you swoop and soar over a large movie of California. The seat sprays you with mist over the ocean and you smell the pine forests. You end up at Disneyland after touring all of California (hint, there is a cute effect at Pebble Beach). Everyone left there in awe.
Off to Italy! We made it to the restaurant around 8:45 and had to wait a couple of minutes for a table. The wait was not too bad. Our waiter was fine, nothing special but definately competent. He took our order and brought us a carafe of wine. Within 10 minutes our entre arrived, before the bread and oil. Our waiter apologized about this but it was a bit annoying. The food was very good. I had the 3 pasta dish and it was tasty. They were able to delete the shrimp from my son's fetticini in vodka sauce and my wife's chicken was also good. The portions were small on the plate, but filling. Most restaurants put extra large portions on plates and you eat too much. This was just enough. The price was reasonable ( about $165 for dinner for 4 with a carafe of house wine and 1 desert, but no salad or appetizer, including tip), but a little high. I did feel rushed but I would go back again, just not on my next trip. After this no-one felt like more parks so it was back to the room.
Friday was going to be a golf day. It was a bright and sunny day, but very hot. Golf was changed to a pool day and everyone was much happier. Around 5 we went to do some shopping at downtown Disney. Not much to get, all of their golf merchandise was away. Over to Giradelli's for my wife's traditional chocolate strawberry and then back to the Boardwalk. We went to ESPN for dinner and the World Champion Red Sox. ESPN was as good as usual, but we noticed that it's getting a bit outdated. Most sports bars now have Hi-def TV's, they are thinner and have a much better picture. I was expecting ESPN to spotlight Hi-def tv since it just went to a high def signal itself. Maybe on my next trip. The food here is always good. I had the 1/2 pound hot dog and it was great, could not eat the bun. The Red Sox won and all was right with the world. On the way back to the room we had ice cream and finished our trip on a very good night.
Saturday was up early and off to the airport.
One note about Magical Express. We did not use it this time but people seemed ok with it. I may use it on my next trip.
Next scheduled trip is in October, the last week. Long time between now and then.
