Can I convince you...an offsite adventure (complete 8/29, pg 4)

[zigzagzerr]

Pre-Trip Planning

If you’re not into hearing about obsessive trip planning, please skip over this part. You have to understand that I am an accountant – therefore, I plan things, I budget things, I work out the details to the nth degree. For me, this is kinda fun. Unlike some other folks I’ve read on these boards, it doesn’t bother me to plan out where we’re eating dinner 6 months from now. I like having the rough outline of where we’re going to be on which day and where we’re planning to eat. HOWEVER, I also don’t have a problem with our group changing directions midstream and doing something completely different. That’s okay. I just don’t want to be one those groups sitting around the map in the Magic Kingdom and saying “what should we do now?”

I mean, this is a summer trip we’re talking about. Let’s get serious, people. It’s going to be crowded – we need to have a plan, in my opinion. I want us to remember how great the trip was, not how many lines we stood in.

Anywho, back to planning this trip…..

Because I am an accountant, I like to spread out my spending. If you’re paying for various pieces of the trip each month, it doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks – and you don’t end up with that massive credit card bill when you get home from vacation. I always try to work it out that we’ve paid for the airline tickets, park tickets, and maybe some of the hotel nights during the months leading up to the trip.

We had 2 days of Disney parks left from prior tickets and 3 water park days. Since our last trip, Disney had instituted their new Magic Your Way tickets. We decided to go with the 10 day park hoppers with no expiration, figuring we’d use the remaining days for our next trip. Since my daughter (horror of horrors) has turned 10, Disney now considers her an adult for all park passes and restaurants (ask me what I think about that!), we had to buy 3 adult passes. We also purchased 2 adult and 1 child tickets at Gatorland (she’s still a child there, neener neener Disney!). We bought all these tickets in Feb 2006 from Undercover Tourist, as recommended by the Mousesavers website. Total cost was (gulp) $1,165.00 -- but we can get another trip out of it, so I guess we’ll live. We also have 2 days worth of Universal tickets left from a prior trip, no out of pocket for that. Yea!

We also booked our travel on Southwest at the end of Feb 2006, when the dates opened up for June. Jim has a free frequent flier trip, so total for the 3 of us came to $457.20. We’re flying nonstop from Baltimore on Friday evening 6/16 6:20 pm and leaving on Monday 6/26 at 2:45 pm.

All right, plane tickets and park tickets. Now for hotels. See, here’s the thing-come a little closer, I need to whisper or I might get hit by a thousand poisoned darts from the dedicated dis folks out there - oh what the heck, I’ll shout: I DON’T LIKE TO STAY ONSITE AT DISNEY!! Shh, don’t tell. You know all the people who say “We stayed offsite one time, and never again”? I know I see that written here all the time. Well, we did it the opposite way. We stayed at Disney for a few nights one time. Back in Jan 2001, we stayed 3 nights at the Wilderness Lodge. Nice nice hotel. Really liked it. Beautiful hotel, nice pool (we didn’t get to swim in it, January temps were in the 30’s, kinda nippy), and we absolutely loved taking the boat from the Magic Kingdom. But, as I may have mentioned earlier, I’m an accountant. To be in a Disney hotel for my whole vacation meant that pretty much all my entertainment and hotel and food dollars would be funneled directly into the Disney coffers. I prefer to spread it around a little more. Speaking of spreading it around, my family also enjoys space to roam around in. If possible, we prefer to get “suite” or “condo” type accommodations. If we can have a full size fridge, so much the better.

So I’m lookin’ through my Unofficial Guide for 2006, and am instantly intrigued – the Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate is the #1 rated hotel in the book (higher rated than the Ritz Carlton, higher rated than the Grand Floridian). Normally I would skip over it at that point. But…..it is also listed among the top 30 best deals in Orlando. So I go to the website --- turns out I can get it for $143/night for 3 nights. $143!!! Woo hoo! And we’re talking huge swimming pool, its own lazy river, golf courses, etc. Pictures on the website look fabulous. And at a rate comparable to a moderate at Disney. Sold!! 6/17 to 6/19.

Okay, one hotel down. Jim and I have decided that the majority of our vacation, we want to spend at the Vistana Villages on International Drive. We stayed there once a few years ago when it first opened and really like it. Lovely pool and hot tubs, beautiful grounds, and very nice 1-bedroom units. Just a matter now of finding the best deal – every website I go to is looking around $150/night. Except (go figure) for Travelocity that shows it for $127. Only catch is that you have to prepay with Travelocity. Fine by me – sold again. 6/21 to 6/26.

Because we are planning to use our Universal tickets from last trip, we want to stay one night at a Universal onsite resort. The front-of-the-line perk there is an absolute must, especially since the regular Express Pass system no longer exists. This is the only reservation I’m not as happy with, because we ended up having to pay $233 at the Hard Rock Hotel. Very expensive, and of course I’m terribly spoiled because last trip we managed a rate of $134. But I’m willing to do it – it’s still less than we would spend at a deluxe Disney resort, and it’s really a nice place. Also, I have discovered on Mousesavers that you can use the front-of-the-line pass for both the day you check in and the day you check out. So for one nights rent, I can go to Universal for 2 days.

Now all I need is a cheap place to stay for our first night. Went with a recommendation in the Unofficial Guide and got the Holiday Inn Nikki Bird in Kissimmee for $65. All set. Until I started reading the dis boards, conveniently right at the same time that you all were announcing that the Holiday Inn chain had just dropped this hotel and that it was also a total dump. Then I went through what everybody else did – trying to cancel the reservation. Holiday Inn couldn’t cancel it, because it was no longer part of the chain. The hotel itself was very sporadic about answering its phone. All in all, it was quite a pain. Eventually got it straightened out and booked us at the Fairfield Inn at Little Lake Bryan for $60 tax included. So now we were set. Finally ready to go…………

Plan is:
Friday June 16 arrive around 9 pm, stay at Fairfield
Sat June 17 Magic Kingdom/Epcot
Check into Omni Resort
Sun June 18 Free day – relax at the pool
Mon June 19 Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom
Tues June 20 Universal Studios
Check into Hard Rock Hotel
Wed June 21 Islands of Adventure
Check into Vistana
Thurs June 22 Epcot/MGM
My birthday – have a great dinner
Fri June 23 Water park
Sat June 24 Magic Kingdom/Epcot
Dinner at San Angel Inn
Sun June 25 MGM/Animal Kingdom
Lunch at Prime Time Café
Mon June 26 Minigolf
Flight home at 2:30.


Plan is to spend approx. $75/day for food.

Can we do it? Will we do it? Wait and see.

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for sharing your pre-trip. I am also a big planner, my family thinks I'm crazy planning, but I would rather have it planned out, than deciding at the last minute what to do.

 

[HaleyB]

Holy packing and unpacking Batman!

Four hotels in one trip, that beats my record of three (but to be fair to myself we stayed at one of them both our first and last night, so in a way we are tied).

 

[zigzagzerr]

DAY 0 Travel Day (Friday, June 16)

Before I go into our actual trip, I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t introduce you to our cast of characters.

ME: 37 yr old, loves to go on vacation, loves a bargain. If you combine the two, I am one happy camper.
DH: 38, truly the greatest in every way (more on this later), happy to go along for the ride
DD: 10 years old, daredevil, wants to try every coaster known to man, but would be happy to spend the entire vacation in the hotel swimming pool.

A little background, first:
When I say above that DH is the greatest, he really is. We got married 15 years ago (crazy and very long story – he lived in Baltimore, I lived in Los Angeles, we met in Russia—so, you know, just your basic boy-meets-girl, right?) So anyway, after we got married, I relocated to Maryland. We planned to live here for 1 year, and 15 years later, we’re still here, having had our daughter and grown roots, etc. Anywho, back to the story, where was I? After a couple of years working in the cold cruel world, I decided to go back to school and take enough accounting classes to sit for CPA exam. I took classes at night and worked full time for (what seemed like) forever. And then I stopped for awhile, when my daughter was born. When she was 2, I took it back up again….and studied, and worked, and studied and worked (add about 10 more of these) and finally finally finally took the CPA exam in May 1999--------------AND PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So where do you think we’re going? You got it.

So I took my delightful and patient husband and wonderful 4 year old (at the time) to Disney World for the first time. We had very little idea what we were doing. We bought the Unofficial Guide so we at least knew what the 4 parks were called, and learned that whatever we did, we should definitely show up early. It was a very weird experience for me, because I had gone to Disneyland every year growing up – my dad worked for the Southern California Gas Company and they rented out the park for their employees and families once a year. It was always at night – like, 8 pm to 2 am, something like that. It was great. However, in thinking about Disney World, I couldn’t really grasp how big it was, or how a person could possibly come up with a week’s worth of entertainment there. Pretty much a no brainer, as it turns out.

Anyway we had a great time, I think partly because it was the first vacation we had all taken together that wasn’t to visit relatives somewhere. It’s a much different dynamic when it’s just you. Your family gets to make all the decisions. It was a great time. I have precious memories of my 4 year old daughter at the Crystal Palace hugging all the Pooh characters (in distinct contrast to the preteen she is today!) We went back several times over the years.

Apologize very much for the tangent. Suffice it to say that some of our best vacations have been spent down in Florida, where we can enjoy each others company and relax.

Back to my great husband. As we were planning this festive shindig, we were also contemplating an invite I received in the mail to my 20 year high school reunion, scheduled to take place back in L.A. in August. We went back and forth on whether we should go, weighed the cost of airfare (which of course was going up, due to rising gas prices) and the $200 per person price tag for the event itself. As we were adding up these costs, Disney announced the free dining plan for August and September. We jokingly said, “hey, we could go back to Disney in August for the same price as going to California”, and my wonderful wonderful husband then said, “Hey, why not?” See, isn’t he great? So the good news, is that I’ll be able to compare my June 2006 offsite adventure with an August 2006 onsite adventure that includes free dining. Should be interesting. All in the interest of science, of course….


Okay, enough of all this stuff. I apologize again. Back to day 0.

I worked until about 3:30, when my boss called and told me to get my butt out of there and enjoy my vacation. (don’t have to tell me twice). Changed into jeans at work, hopped in the car, drove to Kindercare to pick up DD, grabbed some Subway for dinner and headed to the airport. We were meeting my husband there, as he has free parking at the Amtrak station at the airport (being a Washington DC commuter). We met up without a hitch and checked in. Hung out at the gate eating our Subway and had one of the most uneventful flights I have ever had (as opposed to the trip home, see later on).

We quickly picked up our car at Dollar, and managed to find the Fairfield Inn in Lake Buena Vista pretty easily. We got to the hotel at about 9 pm, some folks at the front desk were complaining about all the food places being closed at that point, but we were fine with it. We had brought an entire carryon suitcase filled with snacks (yeah yeah , I know, but if you were there, you would have asked me for some, you know you would), as well as our little portable DVD player and the 4th season of “I Love Lucy”, which is my favorite TV show of all time. I have made my DD a believer, too. So, every night, we hooked up this little machine and watched a few episodes – it was a great way to unwind after a long day. A few adult beverage, some cookies, some Lucy….oh, life is very very good!

NEXT: Watch out Magic Kingdom, here we……hey, aren’t we going the wrong way?

 

[Avivasmom]

Sounds good and patiently waiting to read more!

 

[missmun52]

great report so far!

 

[zigzagzerr]

DAY 1
Saturday, June 17

Plan: Magic Kingdom, Epcot


We woke up bright and early, ready for our first day in Florida. I have to give kudos to the Fairfield Inn – the room was nice and quiet, the beds were very comfortable (2 double beds, plenty of pillows). We went down for the continental breakfast at 7:00. This was a very nice spread, with the highlight being the make-your-own Belgian waffles. They had pre-measured cups of batter set up next to the waffle makers. Instructions told you how to work the machine. Employees were also around to bus tables and provide help to the truly inept, waffle-wise (that would be me!). There was also the usual coffee, juice, Danish, fruit, oatmeal, and yogurt. We loaded up – this is the only hotel this vacation that is providing us a free breakfast. For the rest of the week, we were planning on granola bars and fruit in the room. So we ate well, then packed up the car and checked out of the hotel. Once again, I highly recommend this place if you’re looking for clean and comfortable accommodations and free breakfast, at a reasonable price. The other bonus is that if, unlike us, you are staying longer than just overnight, you are within walking distance of the Bahama Breeze restaurant, one of the best offsite restaurants in Orlando (imho).

Quick hop into the car and we’re ready to go. I direct DH onto the I-4 and we’re tooling along, tooling along, tooling along…..hey isn’t that the Universal Studios exit? Wait a minute, if we’re up at Universal Studios, we missed Disney!!!!! My delightful husband then proceeds to inform me that he suspected we were going the wrong way, but figured I knew what I was doing. I have now been banned from all navigation for the rest of the trip. Once we are turned around again and heading back toward Lake Buena Vista, I am starting to get really nervous. It is getting later and later. In fact, it’s possible that we are not going to be at the Magic Kingdom when it (gasp) opens! And I had our plan all laid out and…..we have to be there when it opens, we are ALWAYS there when it opens. All the books and websites recommend that if you do nothing else, follow the advice to be there early early early. Now we’ve parked the car in the Magic Kingdom and I can see that it’s almost opening time, 9:00 and we’re still on the ferry heading across the lake. How can it all be going so wrong, so soon?

Okay, now, get a grip. I suddenly notice that stunning first glimpse of the castle from the ferryboat, and it’s all okay again. We are actually HERE!!!! It is a great feeling to know that we are on vacation, that we don’t have anyplace to be today but here and enjoying ourselves. The day is completely ours. Awesome.

We arrive at the turnstiles about 5 minutes after official opening. It’s actually quite relaxing to not be part of the mob, waiting and straining to get inside. We move down Main Street and head into Tomorrowland to get our Space Mountain groove on. While we’re in line, we chat with a nice father and son who are here in Disney World for the first time and this is their first day in the parks. We get to our rockets and blast into space after about 10 minutes in line. Not bad.

After grabbing fast passes for another Space race later on, we walk over to Fantasyland. Weather is beautiful, sunny and hot. We ride Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and Peter Pan before heading over to one of my favorites, the Haunted Mansion. Gotta love the ghosts. After a ghost follows us home, we tool over to see about getting a fast pass for Splash. Things are pretty quiet over there and we manage to ride Big Thunder and Splash through the standby line with very little wait – how is that possible? I thought it was summer. But not a problem! We grab a fast pass to ride Splash again later. By now, it’s getting close to our Space Mtn FP time, so we walk back across the park, stopping to ride It’s a Small World, which was closed for rehab when we visited 2 years ago. It’s still not as pretty as the Disneyland version, but it looks darn good! After another exciting journey through Space, we stop off for another of my favorites, the Carousel of Progress. Hardly ever a line here (unless the sky opens up), which is a shame, because it’s a must-do for us every trip. And we often catch ourselves singing the song at home.

Finally, one last Splash groove using our FP before we have to getting movin’ and groovin’ our way out of the Magic Kingdom. We have a 1 pm ADR at the Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary for lunch, so time to hop the monorail over and enjoy some air conditioning.

We have been saving our rewards points on our Disney Visa, so we have 3 onsite table service meals planned this week, 2 lunches and 1 dinner, for restaurants we have not tried before.

It’s very quiet over at the Contemporary (I guess everybody’s out at the parks), and there is no wait for our table. It’s peaceful and relaxing in the restaurant, and fun to see the monorails zipping by.

As an aside, I’d like to point out something that I found a little surprising when we ate at Disney table service. When I made the reservations, the person taking my info always made a point of asking how old my daughter was, which I figured was their way of making sure that she was treated as a adult (at age 10) in all the restaurants. If the portions looked large, we were planning to share, since I figured she probably wouldn’t eat a complete adult meal. Well, at all 3 table service meals we had that week, the server immediately and automatically (we didn’t ask) handed my daughter a kids’ menu and she ordered from the kids’ menu all 3 times. Just thought you’d find it helpful that they don’t seem to be strictly enforcing the age thing. (although I suppose they might if you were on the dining plan). I saw a mom and daughter sitting at a table near us during lunch and I explained to my family that they were definitely on the dining plan, because they each had appetizers, steaks and desserts with their meals. Lotta lotta food, especially for lunch! Family was duly impressed with my vast observation skills. Yeah, whatever….

Anyway, DH had a cheeseburger, I had a cheesesteak sandwich, and DD had the kids’ cheeseburger and a lemonade. Total with tax was $33.72. DH and I each cut our sandwich in half and passed it over so we could try both. Cheesesteak was okay, but I think the hamburger was better. Overall, this was a great way to get out of the heat for awhile and I would highly recommend it. And I would bet that it would be even more appreciated on a really crowded day at the parks.

After lunch, we took the monorail over to Epcot to spend the afternoon. I love that the Epcot monorail makes that loop through the park before dropping you off. It’s like a preview of what’s in store for you.

First thing we did upon entering Epcot was to walk over to Test Track and see if, by any chance, there were Fast Passes left. This is DD’s favorite ride and we always have to do it multiple times. I had warned her though, that at 2 in the afternoon, it was quite possible that no Fast Passes would be left. I figured, though, that we had a better chance of scoring TT FP’s than of getting FP’s for Soarin’ – and I was right about that. When we got over to the Land Pavilion later in the afternoon, somebody smart had put a sign up OUTSIDE the pavilion to announce that there were none left. I thought that was clever…otherwise you would have to walk into the pavilion dodging 20 million strollers, and fight the crowds to get downstairs to the attraction, only to be disappointed. So good thinking, Epcot!

Anyway, lo and behold, we were able to get Test Track FP’s for about 5:30 pm. Coolness. Headed over for a ride on Ellen’s Energy Adventure (like her, like the dinos) and then a spin on Spaceship Earth, which always makes me feel like I’m really at Epcot. We ride Journey into Imagination (DD likes Figment, don’t judge) and then start our journey around World Showcase counter clockwise, with a stop in France to watch the movie and then a ride on everybody’s favorite fastpass, Maelstrom! The 10 minute wait in line was very uncomfortable, as the family behind us had their disabled teenage daughter with them in a wheelchair. I’m not an expert on disabilities so I don’t know what her condition was, but her movements were jerky and she did not seem able to speak. It appeared that she did not want to go on this ride, and every few moments, she would let out an eardrum piercing scream. Her family with her, just kept telling everyone around that she was just scared, but that they knew she would love the ride once she got on it. I really really hope they were right about that. I hate to see anyone, regardless of the situation, being forced onto a ride against their will. They weren’t on the same boat with us, but DH said he saw the girl later, after we got off, and she looked happy. All’s well in the end.

After our boat ride, we wandered back over to Test Track with our FP and had a great ride. FP is definitely the way to go with this one.

By this time, we were hot, tired, and ready to head out. Just a quick Monorail to the TTC to pick up our car from this morning, and we were on our way to check in at the Omni Resort at Championsgate.

First of all, let me say that this hotel is an amazing sight as you are driving up to it (I will try, technologically challenged though I am, to put in some pictures for the next post). It is really really big. And I was not prepared for such fancy service, being the basic yahoo that I am. People opening the car doors, and loading up your bags and escorting you to the front desk and introducing you to the check in people by name – “these are the Zerr’s , they’ll be staying with us 3 nights. Please take excellent care of them”. It was all very nice.

While DD and I went up to the room (having a little trouble with the room keycard, being non-mechanical and blonde), my DH went to park the car out in the self-parking section (because we’re cheap) and met us at the room at the same time the bellhop delivered our luggage. We had a really nice room. Two double beds (you could also get a king), nice TV, coffee maker, beautiful bathroom – we actually took a picture of the toilet because it was so pretty. See?

Well, I can't show you the picture at the moment. I get a message saying I have to post a certain number of times before I can post a URL. So as soon as I'm allowed, I'll include pictures.


We immediately had to take a spin on the lazy river. I mean, how cool is that? It's like our own water park within the hotel!!


In addition to the lazy river, there was a main swimming pool with a waterslide and various play areas at different depths, including a no depth fountain thingy for the little kids, and a separate quiet pool, as well as a nice hot tub. The pools seemed very uncrowded most of the times we were there. I don’t think the hotel was very full, judging by the parking lot. So it was like our own private little oasis.

My DH was also mightily impressed with the golf courses (yes, not just one, but multiple, wowie zowie). Although, he says that he could never play on them, it would insulting to the course, considering what a terrible golfer he is. But he is already scheming to plan a golf outing with himself and his cousin to celebrate his 40th birthday. I hope this means we will be back here again, because it’s really pretty great.

Still haven’t convinced you? I’ll keep trying.

Originally, our plan was to eat dinner at Epcot, but we were still pretty full from lunch by the time we left the park, so we decided to look for something near the Omni. Turns out that the area is pretty new and they’re still working on it, but the concierge at our hotel recommended a pizza place in the nearby shopping center called Pepperon’. There was a Publix grocery store in the same shopping center, so that worked out well, for picking up provisions – apples and bananas to have with breakfast, wine, beer, chips, etc. For dinner, we each ordered individual pizzas – DD had extra cheese, DH ordered sausage and olives, and I had an absolutely amazing spinach and chicken pizza that I really didn’t want to share. DD did pretty good on her pizza, finished a little more than half. Luckily, DH is always willing to take one for the team and finished it up. Total was $31.94 plus tip.

Overall dining cost today: $33.72 lunch, $31.94 dinner. Including tips at both places, we spent approximately $75 (which was what we budgeted, so we’re off to a good start).

Just for the record, I don’t count groceries in my dining budget. We spent $14.18 for bananas, apples, drinking water, and wine.

Wore my pedometer today, and the grand total was 9.14 miles (once I remembered to put it on). We are worn out but exhilarated. It was such a great day.

Tomorrow is a non-park day . We are planning play at the pool, and it is also Fathers’ Day. Looking forward to fun in the sun, we watch a few episodes of Lucy and turn in.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE: There’s WHAT in the pool?

 

[missmun52]

I love your report I will be wating for the next installment. I hope you get to post your pictures on here soon. I think you have to have like 15 posts (not sure though). I would love to see what the hotel looked like.

 

[Tink9748]

Very cool. Can't wait to read about the next day.

 

[Pink Disney]

Excellent trip report. Love the detail. Looking forward to more, and to pics.

 

[zigzagzerr]

DAY 2
Sunday, June 18 (Fathers’ Day)

Plan: R&R by the pool


After a long day yesterday, we were looking forward to spending some quality time at the hotel pool. After all, what’s the point of staying somewhere nice if you don’t take the time to enjoy it, right?

Okay, here are finally some pictures of the resort (cross your fingers)

This is the view from our window:

(Well, I just previewed this and the picture looks really small -- I'll keep working at it and hopefully I'll have some normal sized pictures to post in a day or two)

We were up pretty early (this was a theme for us) and enjoyed some oatmeal bars and fruit for breakfast. After making our in-room coffee, which only netted us each one cup (hate those small coffee makers), we decided to scout around the resort for additional caffeine. Fortunately, and ain’t it always the case, we were able to find a little shop in the hotel that sold Starbucks. A $3 cup of joe later, we were taking a walk around the grounds. What a gorgeous place! Besides all the pools, there is a sand volleyball court, a basketball court, jogging trails, and a really cool looking sushi restaurant called Zen (the restaurant people were so nice when we poked our heads in, they ushered us inside to watch the chef preparing the meals, even though we looked really out of place being in this fancy restaurant in our shorts and tennies).

After patiently (read: NOT) waiting for her boring parents to be done with their boring walk, my DD was definitely ready for some pool time. Fine by me – grab me a tube and I’ll float the lazy river all day! We tubed and then swam in the big pool. The slide at the main pool is fun – it’s completely enclosed and totally dark until the very last turn before it shoots you out at the bottom. We went up and down a bunch of times, because nobody else was there!

I would guess we had been swimming a couple of hours, and were back to floating on the river, when a woman calls to us from the side of the pool that we should get out of the water. They’re having to sanitize the main pool because somebody (oh god) pooed in it, and since the water from the main pool cycles into the river, too……augh, get me out of here! I may be traumatized. This is bringing back visions of Caddyshack….and baby ruth bars.

Anyway, we quickly decided we were not waiting around for the poo patrol. Do you know they actually set up little cones and stuff that looked like crime scene tape at the zero depth entry to the big pool? It didn’t look promising. Hopefully we could come back later in the day and put this whole ugly incident aside.

I am by nature an optimistic, glass is half full, kinda gal. So I decided that this was really a blessing in disguise, leading us off to more adventures today. If not for the poo, it would have been difficult to ever get DD out of the pool to go out for a Fathers’ Day Celebration. So we all went back to the room, showered, and got ready to play.

DH was given the task of choosing where he wanted his Fathers’ Day meal. I told him to pick something nice for lunch, because I figured dinner would be crazy busy everywhere, and we might want to be more low-key for that. He chose the Café Tu Tu Tango on International Drive. We have eaten there a couple of times, and I was actually quite surprised he chose it, because we had poor service the last time and swore that we weren’t coming back anytime soon. This restaurant serves “tapas” or appetizer sized plates, so the idea is to order several different dishes for your group and everybody shares. On that occasion, I guess the kitchen had gotten backed up on orders. Since our waiter had told us that we could add on additional dishes as we went along, we took him up on it and ordered one more plate. Well, we waited and waited for this dish to come and it never did (we’re talking 40-45 minutes later), and the waiter was too embarrassed and unprofessional to come deal with us, so he just hid himself away in the meantime. The table next to us had been waiting for their dessert forever and were starting to complain also. When we eventually found our waiter, we let him know that we had been waiting a long time and were now ready for the check, we didn’t want the other dish anymore. We weren’t mean about it, just tired and ready to leave. The waiter apologized at that point, said it was all the kitchen’s fault, and gave us 10% off our check. Told the other table the same thing, and in fact, he brought the chef out to apologize to them too! All of it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth (and not from the food –LOL – which was really tasty).

So anyway, I was surprised that DH had decided to give this another try. I ended up being very glad we did. It’s important to remember that anybody can have an off day, so you sometimes have to give a restaurant a second chance, just like you would a person. We shared 4 dishes between the three of us: Cuban steak skewers, crab and spinach pizza, shrimp spring rolls and grilled chicken quesadillas. I had a lovely glass of white wine, DH had a beer, and DD a bottle of root beer. Everything was absolutely delicious. This brings me to one thing that I think we really did right in this whole parenting thing – my daughter will try anything, because we always made her eat the same thing we were eating. No separate plates of chicken nuggets and mac & cheese. I bring this up because the restaurant, instead of the usual rolls and butter, serves crackers and hummus. I was so proud – my daughter grabbed a cracker, spread some hummus on it, took a bite and said MMMM, this is good! How many little kids do you know who would take one look and say “ain’t no way I’m eatin that”? Hey, it’s the little things that make me happy. Lunch cost $48.56 plus tip, which was a bit more than we would normally spend, but it was a special occasion, a lovely lunch, and we could tone it down at dinner. Very well worth it – come offsite and give it a try.

After lunch, we decided to wander up International Drive and check out the Belz Outlet and the Disney shop up there in particular, since we always like to do that. Didn’t realize until we got there that they moved it to the other building, but not a problem. We can definitely stand to walk off some of the lunch. We trundled across the parking lot to the other building and since we were there, checked out the Universal Studios store as well. Everything was marked down, the checkout lady said they were closing the store for several months and would reopen somewhere else at Belz. DD used some of her souvenir money and got a $5 Universal sweatshirt – pretty good, I say. I got a Bullwinkle keychain for a quarter. Who didn’t love Bullwinkle and Rocky as a kid– a moose and a flying squirrel, what’s not to love? We finally made it over to the Disney outlet, and DD found herself some fashionable Disney pens ($5.99), which marvelous DH used our rewards card to pay for, that sweetie!

After all that delightful outlet shopping, we decided we needed some un-outlets, like for example, Downtown Disney. I often wonder why we go there, as we rarely buy anything. I’m with Horsegirl – we simply don’t need any more STUFF. However, I wanted to check out the Ghirardelli store and possibly see about ordering one of their famous hot fudge sundaes. Okay, my keen perception being what it is, it did not occur to me that anyone else might want to go out for ice cream at Ghirardelli’s on Fathers’ Day. Oh my god, look at all these people!!! There was a big crowd to get inside and order, but we had a nice chat with people behind us in line (DD’s Ravens cap is always a conversation starter), and soon enough we had our little tag with the number on it to set on our table…..if we only had a table! Had to do some serious hovering to score a place to sit. Let me just say that all this trouble was absolutely worth it. We shared a dark chocolate and caramel sundae that was absolutely phenomenal. Now figure this one – my daughter did not care for it. She will eat hummus, but not hot fudge? Okey dokey, well more for me. DH and I finished every bite. YUM. $7.40 with tax and worth every penny.

Done with our shopping (yep, the sundae’s the only we bought in Downtown Disney), we headed back to the Omni for, you guessed it, more swimming. This time the swimming was pretty uneventful, with the exception of this lady who apparently decided that when she vacated the lazy river, she did not want us heathens to have her inner tube, so she jumped out of the water and took it with her! Let me say for the record that there were always lots of tubes in the water and very few people in them. But she was pulling her tube out and instructing her family to do the same, while glaring at us getting into the water, as though we were about to dunk her 5 year old and run off with his tube. LOL. It tickled me.


My notes don’t say much about the evening. I know we took it lighter on dinner and picked up Subway ($11.50) and chilled out for a while. Another park day tomorrow--- need to rest up!!

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE: What the heck’s a Yeti?

 

[swillis]

I am loving your trip report. I stayed offsite as well in May, and it was wonderful. I loved the flexibility.

 

[suzannef]

subscribing and enjoying!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading ~ Looking forward to more.

 

[missmun52]

Your report is so great! Maybe I will stay off site (if they are not having a great promo at Disney) next time.

 

[FayeW]

Done with our shopping (yep, the sundae’s the only we bought in Downtown Disney), we headed back to the Omni for, you guessed it, more swimming. This time the swimming was pretty uneventful, with the exception of this lady who apparently decided that when she vacated the lazy river, she did not want us heathens to have her inner tube, so she jumped out of the water and took it with her! Let me say for the record that there were always lots of tubes in the water and very few people in them. But she was pulling her tube out and instructing her family to do the same, while glaring at us getting into the water, as though we were about to dunk her 5 year old and run off with his tube. LOL. It tickled me.


:

Maybe she thought you poo'd in the pool!

 

[dis-me]

THOROUGHLY ENJOYING THIS! suscribing....

 

[zigzagzerr]

Before I start, many thanks for all your lovely comments. I am having such a ball writing this report, and it's fun to share it.


DAY 3
Monday, June 19

Plan: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom


Okay, up nice and early, grabbed our java to go from the little shop at the Omni and hit the road, because today was the day to try Expedition Everest!! We were very excited to hit our first new attraction for this trip. Boy, this ride really sounded like a doozy, too. We parked our car and laughed at all the folks jostling for seats on the tram – didn’t they notice we were a 2 minute walk from the entrance? We strolled on over to the entrance before the tram even left, go figure.

Okay, the Animal Kingdom is where I started to notice that we were here during the “SUMMER” season, as in “where the heck did all these people come from”? Or maybe it’s just that the entrance and turnstile area at AK is smaller than at the other parks. But it seemed like a serious sea-of-humanity thing going on this morning before rope drop. We must’ve been at least 50-60 people back in line for the turnstile, no lie. And we were there pretty early. It seemed like it took forever to get into this park. And then everybody swarmed toward Everest. I “ruined everything” according to my daughter by stopping for a potty break before getting in line for the ride – sorry, kid, my cuppa joe just kicked in. Anyway, the line went very quickly, and there were lots of interesting displays to see while we waited. Probably got to the ride vehicles about 10-15 minutes after jumping into line. I have to admit I was a little nervous, but not too much, since I knew this coaster didn’t do anything really crazy, no loops, spins, etc. I had read on these boards about the ride going backwards down a hill. In reality, that drop wasn’t too bad. In my opinion, it’s worth it to try this just to see the detail they put into it, even if you’re not a big coaster fan. I liked the Yeti part. He was big.

After Everest, we should probably have gotten fast passes to go again later, but considering the size of the crowd, we decided we might need to fast pass something else along the way. We wandered toward Dinoland and rode one of my daughter’s favorites, Primeval Whirl – we always ride the Wild Mouse type rides everywhere we go. It was fun, but the line always seems to take a long time here. Must be slow loading. After the “Hurl”, we rode Dinosaur with no wait. I’ve somehow managed to freak myself out on this one, and ride with my eyes closed most of the time. Gotta work on that. Stopped at the Tree of Life and really lucked out with timing, walked right in as the crowd was admitted into the theater. Like like like the bugs!!

After the rides and bugs, we headed to Camp Minnie Mickey to see the first Lion King show of the day. Other than trying Everest, this was my most “must-see” attraction, and we wanted to hit the first show, figuring it would only get more crowded as the day went on. We got excellent seats in the warthog section – my DH is very very good at making the warthog sound. I don’t know – for other people, it may be the sight of the castle or walking down Main Street, but for me, it’s watching this show that really puts me in the “I’m actually here!!” frame of mind. I absolutely love every minute of it, and I spend the entire time clapping, cheering and grinning like an idiot. Very much fun-ness.

After a truly wonderful show (and the whole family agreed, not just “crazy mom”), we took the long walk over to Africa and snagged fast passes for the Safari, then headed into Tusker House for lunch. This place is much better than I had remembered from previous trips. If you’re into having “real” food instead of burgers/fries, this is the place for you. Between the 3 of us, we split the Rotisserie Chicken entrée and the Salmon, a large sprite, and a piece of chocolate cake. Total was $23.61. Chicken came with mashed potatoes and green beans, salmon with rice and green beans. Everything was delicious. Although I have read all the crazy food threads on this board and would not share dinners at a table service place, the counter service meals seemed to work great sharing 2 entrées with 3 people. More economical and just the right amount of food that way, most of the time. And we always shared just one drink, figuring we didn’t need that much soda anyway; it was healthier to drink the water we brought with us. Anyway, I highly recommend this place – it’s very good, and you don’t get many chances to eat a big serving of well-prepared green beans with your lunch at Disney World!

We still had time after lunch before we could Safari, so we walked the Pangani Trail and then watched the Bird Show. It was very hot today, and the Bird Show is under canopies with fans running, so it was quite pleasant. We liked the birds. Wandered over to Asia after that to try for fast passes to Kali, but they were too far out at that point, so we walked the Maharaja Jungle Trek and took a peek at the bats before heading over to our Safari ride. Great time had by all.

At this point, we had done almost everything we wanted to do, but it was too early to head out for dinner, so we decided to hop the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We had done this once on a previous trip, and were not wowed. This time I still wasn’t wowed, but there were some interesting exhibits there. In the veterinary window, we saw a turtle who had recently undergone surgery to repair its shell after having been hit by a car. The vets explained how they had fixed it and the procedure they use for releasing him back into the wild. Also, while we were outside, a talking trashcan came by, and delighted all the kids!

And now, the highlight of Rafiki’s place-----------come one, come all, and meet Guitar Dan!!! (we pronounced it with the emphasis on the first syllable, GEE-TAR DAN). Okay, this is actually kinda lame but you sit on a bench in the shade, and honestly, the kids all really got a kick out of it, including my jaded 10 year old. Dan learns the names of all the kids watching the show and sprinkles their names into his songs. Teases them all (in a nice way—everybody was laughing, nobody was upset). It was a very relaxing way to end our day at the Animal Kingdom.

And we needed this relaxation, because it was not at all relaxing to be herded like cattle in line for the train to get back from Rafiki. And it was most definitely not relaxing to try to leave the Animal Kingdom during the parade, with cast members screaming at people to “move along, this is not a parade viewing area!”. No kidding, folks, and I’m trying not to stop, but there are 5 bazillion sweaty people in front of me, some of whom could use a bit of freshening up, know what I mean? After being re-routed into a shop, we bought a rice krispy treat for later, and moo-ed our way of the park. Finally….and then we walked the 2 minutes to our car while people continued jostling their way onto the tram.

We were more than ready for dinner at this point, and unfortunately for my family, I had a plan. The Unofficial Guide mentions that the best steak deal in the area is at the Black Angus steakhouse -- $9.99 for a steak and potato. Yes, folks, we zigzagzerrs are willing to try these things out, so you don’t have to. We drove to the Kissimmee version of this restaurant (there are several locations) and they show the deal right on their billboard outside the restaurant. It’s kind of interesting, because the deal is not mentioned anywhere inside the restaurant. Not in the menu or specials or anything. I’m sure we made our waiter’s day by ordering 2 of the steak specials (for DH and I) and a kid’s steak for DD. Wouldn’t you want to service a table whose total meal with tax was only like $28? Exactly, so I didn’t really blame him for not showering us with attention, like he did the table near us that was ordering much more extensively.

So here’s what I would say about this place in conclusion. The steak deal “is” a pretty good deal. Everything else on the menu is in the $20-25 range, and it’s not that fancy a restaurant, so I don’t know that I would come here without doing the deal. It ain’t kobe beef, guys, but it’s pretty good, filling, and cheap. “Nuff said.

Headed out after dinner for more fun in the parks, and got into the Magic Kingdom at around 6:30. MK and MGM are my favorite parks after dark. We got a fast pass for the Jungle Cruise and then watched both the Tiki Bird Show and Country Bears Show with no wait. I like to people watch during the Country Bears – bored parents and happy kids is a good combo. Took our spin on the Jungle Cruise and got a good skipper, quite funny. We then headed for Big Thunder Mountain because I heard it’s more fun to ride at night. We grabbed fast passes, then decided to brave the standby line while we waited. And then….it started to rain. And then….it started to pour. And then….there was an announcement over the loudspeaker that they might have to stop the ride if the weather continued. We waited in the long long line, hoping that wouldn’t happen. And thankfully, it didn’t. We rode, and then went back on with our fast passes. By this point, although it was only 8:30 we were done. We were tired and wet and ready to head home for our last (sigh) night at the Omni.

Back home, shared our Krispy treat. Yum! And watched some more Lucy on the faithful DVD player.

Today’s counts:
Walked 10.53 miles.
Spent $24 for lunch, $28 + $5 tip for dinner, $3 for krispy treat = $60 total (budget of $75, yea team!)

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE: Died and gone to heaven at lunch!

 

[missmun52]

I love your reports and can not wait for the next one (Have I said that before )

 

[Pink Disney]

Very good trip report. Thanks for checking everything out for us offsite folks. We will be going to WDW for the first time next year, and will be staying offsite as well.