Hi everybody, we're back from disney, and lord what a trip. So much happened, good and not, that thinking of writing a real trip report gives me a headache. I'll nutshell it for now
the Contemporary
1. the room housekeepers are lazy idiots
2. the tower view is omg awesome
3. the beds are so comfortable, with great mattresses and duvets
4. it's outrageously expensive, ridiculously expensive
5. the monorail right there in the hotel was great
6. the monorail still smells like a barn
7. I didn't use the pool or shop there this time, for no particular reason, just how it went.
8. the elevators seem to move a lot faster than last time, which is cool.
9. there were many trainees at the front desk, which caused us some check-in confusion, but lead to us being moved (without asking) from our assigned 8th floor room to a wowee 11th floor room.
10. we asked and were allowed to use our last year's mugs there
11. the arcade is great
12. no towel animals, but nicely done, cozy turndowns
AKL
1. bugs (read my post on the resorts board for details)
2. wonderful, competent, courteous, prompt mousekeepers
3. we did pool view this time, and loved it better than the savannah view
4. we had the deluxe room for 5, with the requested bunkbeds, and there was adequate breathing room for us all.
5. the beds and blankets were not as comfy as the CR
6. very fast room service
7. many scheduled activities that we never took advantage of, unfortunately, like culinary tours, night vision, storytelling, a parade through the lodge every evening
8. easy check-in
9. not enough drawer space
10. very good bus service, with personable drivers each and every time
11. i witnessed a pretty bad slip and fall in the laundry room, where I ended up having to call 911, and learning that WDW is tapped into the public 911 system! Big Brother is watching.
12. didn't eat at either Jiko or Boma this time, but dropped a small fortune on the fried shrimp at the Mara, which was kept very clean with CMs constantly walking around wiping and sprucing.
13. a strong animal poop odor, which we never had before on previous trips.
14. we hat the hot tub/jacuzzi to ourselves every night at around midnight, which was so relaxing.
General
1. we saw the space shuttle go up, from Blizzard Beach, where they made an announcement for everyone to look up and see it. it was so amazing, I cried.
2. i got really sunburned
3. i was a guest conductor on the Main Street train! I got to wear the conductor's cap, do the all clear/all aboard, and blow the whistle.
4. we got to see Spectromagic from a VIP area where the parade begins, and again I cried. It comes down an alley type area, where you see the light reflecting on the walls before the actual floats come down, and it was so exciting. Also, we got to "turn off the lights", which means we were given a handful of pixie dust, and at a certain time during the opening announcement, we had to throw the pixie dust into the air], and it reflected as the lights were turned off.
5. we got to see Wishes from a VIP area that was taped off right in front of the castle, in the middle of the street by Casey's.
6. Chad and my nephew got to "end" spectro, by holding the lighted pole thing and walking down Main street, and we followed behind. Chad has vid clips of all this, and he'll post them tonight.
7. best meal was at Rose and Crown
8. we had a funny "grenade tugging" incident with one of the Toy Story green army men
9. we did Expedition Everest with a "nonstrings attached" pass that put us in front of the Fast Pass line, which was 90 minutes long!!! The standby was 180. It was the best attraction ever!!!!!!!!!!
10. we met the performer who is Dale, and maybe Pooh too, but she didn't want to give too much away.
11. Please don't kill me but we used our CR mugs at AKL, and the CMs were perfectly fine with it, no objection, no problem, they even encouraged us to do it to save money from buying a new set of mugs.
12. this trip cost more than I expected, and if I think about it too much, it gets to me.
13. it's better, at least for me, NOT to do a Grand Gathering.
14. my back, which was bothering me a lot right before the trip, got better day by day, thankfully.
I have a pile of laundry to do, and I've been getting it done all day today with Jesse's help. Chad's working today from 10 am to 8 pm. Mel is at Tennis Camp, and I feel like a jerk making a mistake telling everyone he went to Space Camp!
I hope you all had a fun 4th of July. Grim and Dede, it was fun talking to you, and I'll be sending you the done-deal info. All went
smoothly.
Tiggie, I got disney maps and other printed info for your friend, and also some dismeet kid's scrapping stuff. I have your address, and I'll send it right out.
Nan, take a breather, will you! I can't believe it's been a year since you last told us about your attending the grand prix. Hugs to you!
And Karen, your pirate talk got me all excited! Can't wait to see the movie. When we were at WDW, the PotC ride was closed, waaaahhhhhh, so we missed out on the LIVE ACTOR portraying Jack Sparrow! We heard the resemblance is freaky!
I'm so bad, my doorbell just rang, and I ignored it!
: I woner wha they are doing *right now*
Johnny Depp 
