ACK! my Trip Report went to the second page. That is just wrong. You people are supposed to keep the TR up on the front page, even if I don't even glance at it for a few weeks!
My apologies, priority has been on getting our new house set up, getting the kids in school, etc...etc...but I think I have finally reached a point where I'm comfortable taking time away from putting things away (well, ok, so I'm escaping....don't tell DW! I'm like Dory...ESCAPE (pronounced escapA), it's spelled just like Escape. Ahem. That made zero sense at all. But as I always like to say, you get what you pay for!
While this first edition won't have too many pictures, there will be plenty, trust me. Between our camera and our photopass CD...we have alot.
But before I get going, I have forgotten in my last few TR's to do the shortened version. Some of you may be going on a trip sooner than later, and some of you may not have the patience to have to dig through my mundane blather in order to get to the meat of the story. Yes, if you are a person who flips to the back of the book to find out what happened before reading the rest of the book, this section is for you. Ready?
We got on a plane, we landed, we checked into our timeshare, we went to a park, then another park, then a water park, and then a park, and disneyquest, then another water park, then a park, then a park, then we drove, then we stayed in a hotel, then we boarded, we sailed, and we disembarked. Happy?
For the rest of you, buckle in. Have you ever seen anyone who had neck surgery? they wear those big plastic things that keep their heads perfectly straight? I recommend you go buy one of those so that when you fall asleep at the keyboard you don't smash your head on it and end up with "f" "g", "J" and maybe "t" permanently implanted there. I cannot be held responsible. Do I need a waiver???
anyhooooo...you all know the back story leading up to this and the nightmare that was selling our house. This particular entry will start on July 2, a lovely Saturday in beautiful Amherst, NH. Today was the day we were to head to Florida.
Wait, before I start. Just a warning. This is a combo Disneyworld and
Disney Cruise TR. Sorry about that. If you don't want to read about the World, I suggest you return in about 2 months. I should be writing about the cruise by then!
As you read, things had been bumpy for our house...and this morning was no different. We welcomed an electrician as well as the folks to put in fire sprinklers in our basement. We were leaving a noon. Being the enternal optimist that I am, I was sure they would be done before we leave. Yeah, right. DW had to run the dog to the kennel lady (she is awesom. If you live in southern New Hampshire PM me and I'll give you her e-mail. She essentially lives 2 hours away from us, but comes down a couple times a week to drop off and pick up dogs. She exercises them daily, takes pictures and puts them on facebook...etc. Very nice, but I digress...*sigh*, if you don't know me by now...I will do that alot.)
By 11:30 it was clear that they guys were not going to finish, luckily we had a neighbor to come and lock up...we told them goodbye and headed out. Any idea how hard it is to walk away with your house wide open with a bunch of strangers in it? Just chalk that one up along with the many other strange things we had to do to sell our house!
so it was off to the bus. New Hampshire has this bus service that will take you to Logan Airport in Boston. Cheap and easy...so we just parked our car in a park-n-ride lot, and jumped on the bus. Since we are all about timing we arrived about 5 minutes before the bus left...nice! hop on and away we go. It takes about an hour and a half to get down there, but no worries about the traffic or anything else...just sit and read your book. And when we got there we got our first bit of pixie dust magic...we offered a tip to the driver and he turned it down. Crazy! Who turns down Money? I'll have to keep my eye on this guy.
But it was good...since we had been raining money down on everyone in the world the previous several months...and knowing that we were soon going to enter the wallet vacuum zone (come on, you gotta know what I mean with this...once you pass under the arch (picture to come soon), a vacuum attaches to your wallet and does not let go until you are dry. And then the mouse starts using your credit card!
HA! anyway...if you recal our trip in the spring we flew on Continental...not a good experience at all. Do I learn from my mistakes??? Well...YES! of course I do! I can't believe you doubted me. I might not be able to carry on with this TR (oh, TR is Trip Report for those of you who don't yet speak fluent DIS. In past TR's I spelled everything out in a helpful way, but some of you have been with me for quite some time...you should be up to speed by now. Feel free to ask if I use an acronym that you are unaware of.
)
OK, fine, I'll carry on, but no doubting me again. In addition to the bus driver, I clearly need to keep an eye on you guys.
So, back to my story. Given that we DID learn our lesson with Continental we were flying Delta. I have not flown Delta for quite some time, so wasn't sure what to expect. We made it through security without an issue, and I was actually happy as we were in the new Terminal A...which is beautiful. The only bad thing about it is they make you walk 6.5 miles (approximately) to the gates. I understand that I need to lose some weight...but come on! Seriously! more on the distance when I come back into Boston (yes I said when I come back into Boston...not We...ooooh, foreshadowing! I'm at it again. Ha!)
When we booked our flight we didn't have seat assignments...and we were told we would get them at the gate. So we hit the gate and they weren't ready. Off to lunch at Fudruckers...let the eating things in large amounts commence! Then it was back to the gate. Checked with the lady at the counter...and there was something very, very strange going on. Something I would never have expected at the airport. She was NICE! and even a bit funny.
At this point I'm not sure what to make of it. I mean...I've seen nice people before...just never at the airport.
It would turn out that all the Delta employees were nice. Flight Attendants...gate attendants. It was a strange feeling. Now that I live out in California it will be hard...but I'm going to try to fly Delta. I'm all about friendly people.
OOH, time to board. And surely you don't care about how nice the Delta people are. Heck, most of you are here to read a TR about
DCL. Ahem...sorry about the long wait you are about to endure. We got on and the seats had so much more room than the Continental ones. We were not in any special section, so I was pretty impressed with the space they gave us. Not uncomfortable at all. Again...weird.
Shortly after we took off they came around with a cart. With snacks. Free snacks. Really. Free. again, crazy. clearly these people don't know how to run an airline.
Ah, I must digress because I forgot to share something with all of you. For those of you who are regulars on the DIS boards, the DCL component...you probably have read that you should get all your stuff out that you want to take on the cruise, and then cut it in half. We took that to the nth degree. Unfortunately Delta does follow the other airlines in that they charge you to check bags. We are cheap...and didn't want to pay those fees. So we put all of our stuff for a week at Disney World and a 5 night cruise into one carry on bag each. Yup. One bag. We went mega minimalist. Now, we had a washer and dryer in our timeshare...so that allowed us to do laundry...but essentially we had our shirts that DW made, a couple pairs of shorts, one pair of swim trunks, and several other t-shirts. I also had one pair of slacks, one pair of dress shoes and 3-4 polo type shirts for the cruise. That's it, and again it all fit in the one carry on suitcase. And you know what? We didn't die or anything...or cry about missing clothes. More on space in the cabin when we get there....but I had to share that. Yeah...we are pretty cool. We know it!
We landed around 5:30...We had reserved our car at Budget. Again. If you read previous TR's...the first Disney Cruise we ever took we rented from Budget and made a huge mistake. Any of you remember what it is? If I had anything to offer I'd offer a prize for the first one to PM me. But alas I now live in California...that giant Mickey Wallet Sucking Machine is nothing compared to the California Wallet Sucking Machine...so I got nothing.
**************First Tip Coming********************
I like to grandstand on my tips. Now I've probably done this 100 times. Sign up for whatever car companies frequent renter program. Most of these will then allow you to bypass the counter and go right out to the garage. We didn't do this a few years ago and waited a couple hours to get a car
Doing this will save you alot of heartache! Don't make the mistake I did a few years ago.
But as I DO learn from my mistakes....we were out of there relatively quickly. Budget, by the way, was by far the cheapest for the week, and to drop off and pick up in Cocoa Beach. I recommend them. And you know I don't recommend things lightly!
So we were off to our Villa. We do not own DVC. We own Marriott. As I don't want to get flamed, I'm not going to comment.
We booked at the Imperial Palms resort...which has 3 bedrooms. The master...and then each kid had their own room. We tried a few times to get a couple of people to join us...but apparently we smell. Our neighbors who are joining us on the cruise couldn't for a variety of reasons. Maybe they don't think we smell. I'm sure they will chime in at some point.
Some pictures (thanks for bearing with me through the non-picture part of the story)
This is our villa from the front door. It has been redone in the last few years..granite, very nice kitchen, etc.
The main room from the other direction.
The master
One of the two bedrooms. This one had a queen and a pullout.
The other bedroom. OK, OK, the pictures are not from the day we stepped into the place. Unless they didn't bother to straighten up the room! ACK!
The view. There was a cute little lake out behind our villa. Very nice.
Normally we request to be on the top floor so we don't get the noise from the villas above us. This is a holdover from DW's parents...and the many years we went to their timeshares. But we got a bottom corner unit on this trip...Boy was that lucky. We were so happy we had the bottom by the end...when you have been out at a park all day and are exhausted...the last thing you want to do is climb three flights of stairs to get into your villa. Add to that carrying groceries! yikes!
I will pause here whilst you go get some coffee. I'm almost done with this day.
go ahead. No need to worry about the rest of us while you take your time. HEY, come on...seriously? do you need that much sugar in your coffee??
Need to have groceries for the week. When we do Disney World we bring our food in so that we can spend our money on other things. This started a few years ago when we went to
Disneyland Paris. We did it there because everywhere we read said that the food was terrible. And it was..the one day we didn't carry our food in. We have gotten in a habit of getting baguettes, smearing them with Brie cheese and adding salami. Yum. We also wanted breakfast stuff and some snacks. We were going to eat dinner out (which is partly why we were bringing in lunch!).
What better place to go to get your food cheap than Walmart? We found one right down the road on Vineland avenue in Kissime. HOLY COW, what a mistake. This place was an absolute Zoo, and I wouldn't wish our experience on anyone. NOT MAGICAL AT ALL!!! There were 10,543 people packed into this store...all of whom were rude, oblivious to the world and just plain pushy. But we needed to get our food...and we did. By the time we were done we didn't want to stop anywhere for dinner...so we bought a few things to eat in the Villa. This short period of time was the most exhausting of the whole trip. Can you believe that? Anyway, avoid this walmart at all costs. I surely won't ever return there! Sheesh!
So it was off to the villa, a quick dinner and then to bed about 10pm. DW had our week planned out in....
Chapter 2: Hollywood Studios!