The Incredible, The Amazing, the Snooty, the Ridiculous, and the Sublime: Our magical trip to WDW September 18-23 2003
9-19-03
Cast (again) me: 32
DH: 25, DD, 7 Dear Dad, 62 year old kid
Day two: Princesses, fun, and a surprise PS
I had planned a wake up call at 8, but awoke very promptly at seven, because our room was so close to the lounge that I could hear all the children happily chattering away with their families as they headed for continental breakfast. This is something for folks to consider if they want to sleep in: request a room away from the lounge.
I didn't mind waking up early, though, as I wanted to soak in every possible moment at the GF. My family slept through the noise and I dressed and snuck out of the room to get some coffee.
I found that they offered a great selection of breakfast items. At least five varieties of cereals (Frosted Flakes, Raisen bran, fruit loops, special K, and I think rice krispies) with whole and skim milk in chilled pitchers. Coffee, hot chocolate (mix) teas of many kinds, orange juice, apple juice, and bottled water were also waiting for us.
Over at the pastery table, there were the most AMAZING apple danishes (had one every day!) as well as puff pastries with cheese filling (also delicious) blueberry and also spice flavored muffins, bagels and cream cheese, several breads you could toast, and fresh fruit platter were there as well. On the platter were varieties of melons, pineapple, grapefruit and orange slices. There was more fruit: apples, bananas, pears, watermelon. My DD especially enjoyed the fresh pineapple, I think she consumed her weight in it while we were there LOL.
Since we had a breakfast reservation at 10:30 at the Storybook Princess breakfast, I didn't eat more than a danish and a little fruit and several (four) cups of coffee and a couple cups of tea. Yes, I was caffeinating myself to face the day (my doc says it's less harmful than any of the meds he could prescribe to fight fatigue!)
I chatted with the concierge cast a bit, told someone about my daughter's tears over Buzz and he said he'd "see what he could do to surprise her."
I sat in the lounge and just soaked it all in, I was amazed by how friendly the staff and the other guests were! We all chatted, it was very cozy, and I fell in love with the food services and housekeeping staff. Everyone was so genuinely warm and friendly.
After some time, I went back to the room to be sure my family was waking up. Soon we were on our way to Epcot for breakfast!
We allowed an hour travel time to get from GF to Norway and it was a good thing, we needed every minute of it. I don't know why but this vacation, I found the transferring monorails to be especially tiring, and we later used other means to get to and from Epcot as much as possible (more later).
We arrived at the Norway pavillion, checked in and soon, we were led to our table. I had never been inside Askerhaus (sp) before and thought the interior was very pretty, and the perfect setting for princesses. We had a WONDERFUL server, her name escapes me at the moment, but she was so cute and very efficient.
The big surprise was the food, I hadn't expected much based on past reports but it was fantastic! Scrambled eggs, hash browns that my husband called "the best he's ever had" bacon, waffles, cinnamon rolls, a couple other kinds of pastries, all delicious. They brought it all in a steaming skillet, and as we ran out of items like bacon or eggs, another skillet was brought, still sizzling hot. It was the best breakfast we had all trip.
The food however was not the main attraction for dd, she was simply transfixed watching all the princesses! I wholeheartedly recommend this breakfast, the food, the characters, the service, couldn't have been better. On a scale of 1-10, I give them a 12
I was so excited too because for the first time I got to meet MY favorite princess, Mulan! She was SO adorable and tiny, and we chatted with her for some time. She was surprised that we knew all the dialog from her movie! I asked her where Mushu was (my favorite) and she said he had 'gotten in trouble and was in the kitchen cooking, she asked if we liked the potatoes because Mushu had peeled them." LOL
She invited us to come see her at Innoventions West later in the afternoon (we, and a lot of other people didn't know that the princesses switch off in an alcove inside the building in the afternoons, it's a great secret! Check it out!)
We recommended our favorite book to Belle, she was intrigued by the title ("Click Clack Moo, Cows that type.") and said she'd check it out right away! We also met Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. My daughter was wearing a princess fabric pattern dress that my grandmother made for her right before our trip and it was a huge hit, everyone asked where it came from. She was thrilled with all the attention.
After a truly perfect breakfast, we decided to ride the Maelstrom since there was no line at all. We walked right on, and my dd surprised me by starting to cry in the troll room! I had no idea she'd be so afraid of what was coming, and I held her and told her not to worry, I'd been in it before, everything was okay. She settled down after the backwards drop when I told her it was 'over' and decided she wanted to go on it again.
We wanted her to see the movie (educational) and we sat down, the only people in the theater save one gentleman about 5 rows behind us. The doors closed. The soundtrack started and...no picture. At first we thought it was just a momentary glitch, but as time went on we realized that the picture wasn't going to appear, and there were no cast members in sight. My daughter and I found this extremely amusing and were giggling like loons, and as we finally gave up and exited the theater the gentleman behind us (who turned out to be British) was very entertained by our giggles. We had him laughing before we got out the door! We told the cast outside the door that the projector wasn't working and walked back onto the ride.
DD enjoyed it completely this time. At the end, the CM said "There will now be a short fi..." and someone came up and whispered in his ear. "oh, sorry, there won't be a short film." and we all started roaring again with laughter.
We wandered off through world showcase. We stopped at Italy, where there was a performance of mimes in masquerade costumes beginning. They were incredible! Their body language was so perfect, the music, the dancing, it enthralled us all. We took videotape and posed for pictures with the performers after the show. Without a single word they were able to convey such emotion and personality, we were truly amazed by them and I hope to see them again when we go back.
We visited China, (dd said "I can't believe I met someone from China!") and the UK, Germany, France. DH wanted to see the American Adventure but I knew the movie would be too much for dd's tender heart to take (the part where they show the pioneer family at the babys grave would send her into hysterics, she has a six month old half-brother) and so we skipped it and headed for Future World. We saw Imagination, SSE, shopped a little.
I knew that due to the heat and the fact Dad was already feeling tired too that we most likely wouldn't make it till our 6pm dinner ressie at France. So we cancelled it and dropped in for lunch at the Rose and Crown. They seated us right away (had to ask for an inside table though, it was so hot!) The food was fantastic as usual, I had the lamb barley soup and the fish and chips. Lunch was lovely until we had a family sit down next to us with two boys, aged about 8 and 10.
The 10 year old looked green as grass, and they ordered him some fish and chips and after a few minutes indoors in the cooler air, asked him if he 'felt better'. I think they'd been on M:S and when the food came, he tasted it and then said he didn't think he could eat it.
His dad went ballistic. He spent the next half an hour berating and humiliating the boy, telling him either he'd eat it or he'd pay for it. The wife just sat there doing nothing as the man made the boy cry, and I was growing angrier and angrier by the moment. Finally the wife got up and left the table with the younger boy, while the father drank one beer after another in short succession and continued to humiliate the boy in full view and hearing of all in the room.
I wanted to say "I'll pay for the kid's lunch if you just stop making him cry!" the boy wasn't badly behaved or anything, the father was just a total jerk. Finally, after I'd finished what I could eat of my food (lost appetite) I told my guys that I'd take my daughter into the shops and I shot the guy at the table a look. When we left the boy was still crying.
I was so upset that we left dd's sunglasses and water bottle never to see them again. Note to parents out there: If you feel the need to discipline your child, at least take them outside so you don't ruin the meal of anyone around you. And note to that father if you're out there, making a nauseaous child eat fried food, GREAT idea, genius! I kept waiting for him to lose it all over me (I was sitting next to him in a booth).
We went into the stores and found Pooh and Tigger, which helped to take my mind off what had happened. Soon we went to France and shopped around and all, (I got a great Disneyland Paris t-shirt) and we saw Belle again, this time with Beast. They were just wonderful, and everyone was all smiles again by the time we headed to Future World.
We did a few things there, SSE, Imagination, Mousegears, then we went to Innoventions to look for Mulan. Turned out she had to go to the Studios for the Stars and Motorcars parade, but we got to see Snow White and try a few things there before we decided to head back to the hotel to rest, and take dd swimming.
We returned to the room to find that the baskets I'd ordered had arrived, it was cute my DH saw dd's and said "Look what housekeeping left for you!" LOL I laughed, said nooooooooo not them, me! The treasure chests I'd ordered were a big hit with my 'pirates'. I found that they had added a couple items to DD's basket that I didn't pay for, I think that must've been Crissy at the planning office but never found out for sure. I'd asked for a Belle doll, a cinderella mirror and brush set, and a cinderella crown and some candy. She also had a magic wand and some extra snacks in there as well.
I was a little disappointed that the chocolate coins in the treasure chests were fused (melted) together and inedible, I will follow up with the florist on that soon. But otherwise, they were great.
We also found a surprise in the room for dd: an autographed picture from Buzz and Woody with a note wishing her a great vacation! That did a lot to smooth over the disappointment of the day before, and she was thrilled as we got ready to go back out again.
Dad slept awhile in the room and DH, DD and I headed to the theme pool. It was amazing! They LOVED the waterslide, which is longer than you'd think from looking at the hill. The waterfall was so cool. We swam for hours, finally I was tired and returned to the room while DH and DD took some more turns on the slide.
I asked my dad what he wanted to do for dinner later, he was open to suggestion and so I decided to go to the concierge desk to see what they could do for us on a PS. I'd hoped to do Park Fare (we had a ressie later in the week) but it was fully booked, and so we ended up with a late evening PS for Narcoosees. I hadn't planned to eat there on this trip, but decided to give it a try. The food was excellent!!! The view was lovely, my Dad really loved it and rated it among his top three dining experiences for the whole trip. My husband's only negative comment was that the size of his portion was small in his estimation (he had the giant scallops, which were delectable) there were only five of them on the plate. I gave him half of my steak as I was still kind of full from lunch, and he was satisfied. We had room for dessert. Sadly, I can't remember what I ate LOL but I know it was delicious!DD scared us both by getting her arm stuck up to the elbow between the slats in the chair she was sitting in, I was about ready to let my dad and husband break it to get her out when I finally got her loose, she had a bad bruise on her elbow the rest of the trip, but mostly she was just scared. Thankfully we got her free pretty quickly.
After that I took her for a walk, and DD and I watched the water pagent (she'd never seen it and loved it) outside on the terrace as Dad and Dh finished their dessert, and Dad insisted on paying for dinner (he did that a LOT on this trip, he kept saying "it's not going toward lodging; you can't stop me!" LOL. We were all full, happy, and tired, and wandered back 'home' to Sugar Loaf.
Snacks were out, cookies, cupcakes, lemonade, tea etc but we were full. I used a little lemonade and hot water to mix up my dd's calcium drink (so convenient instead of having to go to Gasparillas!) and everyone showered and got ready for bed.
I had been curious what the difference was between the concierge service at Sugar Loaf (which we found to be sublime) and in the main building, and my Dad was curious as well, so I decided to inquire about an upgrade.
They quoted me the rack rate for the room, and I said "I'm getting an AAA discount, what about paying the difference?" they said it would be 130 dollars a night plus tax to upgrade, and that they couldn't move us until Sunday because a large convention had the rooms full. (Abbott labs had something going on, and we saw a couple large wedding groups as well.)
The concierge added he could be 99.9 percent sure we'd get a MK view.
I decided to go ahead and plan the move to the main building, and was very excited about the idea. I thought that since we were there and who knew when we'd stay there again, I wanted to get the full experience the resort had to offer. They said we could have a late check out Sunday morning and hopefully our room at RP would be ready. It was then that I realized we'd be hanging out around the hotel Sunday morning, and I decided to truly go for it: I booked myself a head and shoulders massage at the spa for 10am Sunday morning. The guys said they'd look after dd so that was that!
One thing I hadn't expected: knowing we'd be gone all day, I had left both envelopes for housekeeping in the room, one marked for turndown service. Well, when we stopped back into the room, both were gone and the beds hadn't been turned down yet I found out that the turn down staff is definitely a completely seperate crew from the morning housekeepers, and I never left both envelopes out again. Lesson learned!
I fell asleep to the sound of contented snoring all around me LOL and the images of Royal Palm dancing in my head. I had no idea what we were going to do the next morning...aside from our breakfast at Chef Mickey and dinner at O'hana we had no plans. I'd let the family decide and see where the day took us. It was a wonderful day, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.
Coming up: Chef Mickey, more parks, and the incredible Ohana!
9-19-03
Cast (again) me: 32
DH: 25, DD, 7 Dear Dad, 62 year old kid
Day two: Princesses, fun, and a surprise PS
I had planned a wake up call at 8, but awoke very promptly at seven, because our room was so close to the lounge that I could hear all the children happily chattering away with their families as they headed for continental breakfast. This is something for folks to consider if they want to sleep in: request a room away from the lounge.
I didn't mind waking up early, though, as I wanted to soak in every possible moment at the GF. My family slept through the noise and I dressed and snuck out of the room to get some coffee.
I found that they offered a great selection of breakfast items. At least five varieties of cereals (Frosted Flakes, Raisen bran, fruit loops, special K, and I think rice krispies) with whole and skim milk in chilled pitchers. Coffee, hot chocolate (mix) teas of many kinds, orange juice, apple juice, and bottled water were also waiting for us.
Over at the pastery table, there were the most AMAZING apple danishes (had one every day!) as well as puff pastries with cheese filling (also delicious) blueberry and also spice flavored muffins, bagels and cream cheese, several breads you could toast, and fresh fruit platter were there as well. On the platter were varieties of melons, pineapple, grapefruit and orange slices. There was more fruit: apples, bananas, pears, watermelon. My DD especially enjoyed the fresh pineapple, I think she consumed her weight in it while we were there LOL.
Since we had a breakfast reservation at 10:30 at the Storybook Princess breakfast, I didn't eat more than a danish and a little fruit and several (four) cups of coffee and a couple cups of tea. Yes, I was caffeinating myself to face the day (my doc says it's less harmful than any of the meds he could prescribe to fight fatigue!)
I chatted with the concierge cast a bit, told someone about my daughter's tears over Buzz and he said he'd "see what he could do to surprise her."
I sat in the lounge and just soaked it all in, I was amazed by how friendly the staff and the other guests were! We all chatted, it was very cozy, and I fell in love with the food services and housekeeping staff. Everyone was so genuinely warm and friendly.
After some time, I went back to the room to be sure my family was waking up. Soon we were on our way to Epcot for breakfast!
We allowed an hour travel time to get from GF to Norway and it was a good thing, we needed every minute of it. I don't know why but this vacation, I found the transferring monorails to be especially tiring, and we later used other means to get to and from Epcot as much as possible (more later).
We arrived at the Norway pavillion, checked in and soon, we were led to our table. I had never been inside Askerhaus (sp) before and thought the interior was very pretty, and the perfect setting for princesses. We had a WONDERFUL server, her name escapes me at the moment, but she was so cute and very efficient.
The big surprise was the food, I hadn't expected much based on past reports but it was fantastic! Scrambled eggs, hash browns that my husband called "the best he's ever had" bacon, waffles, cinnamon rolls, a couple other kinds of pastries, all delicious. They brought it all in a steaming skillet, and as we ran out of items like bacon or eggs, another skillet was brought, still sizzling hot. It was the best breakfast we had all trip.
The food however was not the main attraction for dd, she was simply transfixed watching all the princesses! I wholeheartedly recommend this breakfast, the food, the characters, the service, couldn't have been better. On a scale of 1-10, I give them a 12
I was so excited too because for the first time I got to meet MY favorite princess, Mulan! She was SO adorable and tiny, and we chatted with her for some time. She was surprised that we knew all the dialog from her movie! I asked her where Mushu was (my favorite) and she said he had 'gotten in trouble and was in the kitchen cooking, she asked if we liked the potatoes because Mushu had peeled them." LOL
She invited us to come see her at Innoventions West later in the afternoon (we, and a lot of other people didn't know that the princesses switch off in an alcove inside the building in the afternoons, it's a great secret! Check it out!)
We recommended our favorite book to Belle, she was intrigued by the title ("Click Clack Moo, Cows that type.") and said she'd check it out right away! We also met Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. My daughter was wearing a princess fabric pattern dress that my grandmother made for her right before our trip and it was a huge hit, everyone asked where it came from. She was thrilled with all the attention.
After a truly perfect breakfast, we decided to ride the Maelstrom since there was no line at all. We walked right on, and my dd surprised me by starting to cry in the troll room! I had no idea she'd be so afraid of what was coming, and I held her and told her not to worry, I'd been in it before, everything was okay. She settled down after the backwards drop when I told her it was 'over' and decided she wanted to go on it again.
We wanted her to see the movie (educational) and we sat down, the only people in the theater save one gentleman about 5 rows behind us. The doors closed. The soundtrack started and...no picture. At first we thought it was just a momentary glitch, but as time went on we realized that the picture wasn't going to appear, and there were no cast members in sight. My daughter and I found this extremely amusing and were giggling like loons, and as we finally gave up and exited the theater the gentleman behind us (who turned out to be British) was very entertained by our giggles. We had him laughing before we got out the door! We told the cast outside the door that the projector wasn't working and walked back onto the ride.
DD enjoyed it completely this time. At the end, the CM said "There will now be a short fi..." and someone came up and whispered in his ear. "oh, sorry, there won't be a short film." and we all started roaring again with laughter.
We wandered off through world showcase. We stopped at Italy, where there was a performance of mimes in masquerade costumes beginning. They were incredible! Their body language was so perfect, the music, the dancing, it enthralled us all. We took videotape and posed for pictures with the performers after the show. Without a single word they were able to convey such emotion and personality, we were truly amazed by them and I hope to see them again when we go back.
We visited China, (dd said "I can't believe I met someone from China!") and the UK, Germany, France. DH wanted to see the American Adventure but I knew the movie would be too much for dd's tender heart to take (the part where they show the pioneer family at the babys grave would send her into hysterics, she has a six month old half-brother) and so we skipped it and headed for Future World. We saw Imagination, SSE, shopped a little.
I knew that due to the heat and the fact Dad was already feeling tired too that we most likely wouldn't make it till our 6pm dinner ressie at France. So we cancelled it and dropped in for lunch at the Rose and Crown. They seated us right away (had to ask for an inside table though, it was so hot!) The food was fantastic as usual, I had the lamb barley soup and the fish and chips. Lunch was lovely until we had a family sit down next to us with two boys, aged about 8 and 10.
The 10 year old looked green as grass, and they ordered him some fish and chips and after a few minutes indoors in the cooler air, asked him if he 'felt better'. I think they'd been on M:S and when the food came, he tasted it and then said he didn't think he could eat it.
His dad went ballistic. He spent the next half an hour berating and humiliating the boy, telling him either he'd eat it or he'd pay for it. The wife just sat there doing nothing as the man made the boy cry, and I was growing angrier and angrier by the moment. Finally the wife got up and left the table with the younger boy, while the father drank one beer after another in short succession and continued to humiliate the boy in full view and hearing of all in the room.
I wanted to say "I'll pay for the kid's lunch if you just stop making him cry!" the boy wasn't badly behaved or anything, the father was just a total jerk. Finally, after I'd finished what I could eat of my food (lost appetite) I told my guys that I'd take my daughter into the shops and I shot the guy at the table a look. When we left the boy was still crying.
I was so upset that we left dd's sunglasses and water bottle never to see them again. Note to parents out there: If you feel the need to discipline your child, at least take them outside so you don't ruin the meal of anyone around you. And note to that father if you're out there, making a nauseaous child eat fried food, GREAT idea, genius! I kept waiting for him to lose it all over me (I was sitting next to him in a booth).
We went into the stores and found Pooh and Tigger, which helped to take my mind off what had happened. Soon we went to France and shopped around and all, (I got a great Disneyland Paris t-shirt) and we saw Belle again, this time with Beast. They were just wonderful, and everyone was all smiles again by the time we headed to Future World.
We did a few things there, SSE, Imagination, Mousegears, then we went to Innoventions to look for Mulan. Turned out she had to go to the Studios for the Stars and Motorcars parade, but we got to see Snow White and try a few things there before we decided to head back to the hotel to rest, and take dd swimming.
We returned to the room to find that the baskets I'd ordered had arrived, it was cute my DH saw dd's and said "Look what housekeeping left for you!" LOL I laughed, said nooooooooo not them, me! The treasure chests I'd ordered were a big hit with my 'pirates'. I found that they had added a couple items to DD's basket that I didn't pay for, I think that must've been Crissy at the planning office but never found out for sure. I'd asked for a Belle doll, a cinderella mirror and brush set, and a cinderella crown and some candy. She also had a magic wand and some extra snacks in there as well.
I was a little disappointed that the chocolate coins in the treasure chests were fused (melted) together and inedible, I will follow up with the florist on that soon. But otherwise, they were great.
We also found a surprise in the room for dd: an autographed picture from Buzz and Woody with a note wishing her a great vacation! That did a lot to smooth over the disappointment of the day before, and she was thrilled as we got ready to go back out again.
Dad slept awhile in the room and DH, DD and I headed to the theme pool. It was amazing! They LOVED the waterslide, which is longer than you'd think from looking at the hill. The waterfall was so cool. We swam for hours, finally I was tired and returned to the room while DH and DD took some more turns on the slide.
I asked my dad what he wanted to do for dinner later, he was open to suggestion and so I decided to go to the concierge desk to see what they could do for us on a PS. I'd hoped to do Park Fare (we had a ressie later in the week) but it was fully booked, and so we ended up with a late evening PS for Narcoosees. I hadn't planned to eat there on this trip, but decided to give it a try. The food was excellent!!! The view was lovely, my Dad really loved it and rated it among his top three dining experiences for the whole trip. My husband's only negative comment was that the size of his portion was small in his estimation (he had the giant scallops, which were delectable) there were only five of them on the plate. I gave him half of my steak as I was still kind of full from lunch, and he was satisfied. We had room for dessert. Sadly, I can't remember what I ate LOL but I know it was delicious!DD scared us both by getting her arm stuck up to the elbow between the slats in the chair she was sitting in, I was about ready to let my dad and husband break it to get her out when I finally got her loose, she had a bad bruise on her elbow the rest of the trip, but mostly she was just scared. Thankfully we got her free pretty quickly.
After that I took her for a walk, and DD and I watched the water pagent (she'd never seen it and loved it) outside on the terrace as Dad and Dh finished their dessert, and Dad insisted on paying for dinner (he did that a LOT on this trip, he kept saying "it's not going toward lodging; you can't stop me!" LOL. We were all full, happy, and tired, and wandered back 'home' to Sugar Loaf.
Snacks were out, cookies, cupcakes, lemonade, tea etc but we were full. I used a little lemonade and hot water to mix up my dd's calcium drink (so convenient instead of having to go to Gasparillas!) and everyone showered and got ready for bed.
I had been curious what the difference was between the concierge service at Sugar Loaf (which we found to be sublime) and in the main building, and my Dad was curious as well, so I decided to inquire about an upgrade.
They quoted me the rack rate for the room, and I said "I'm getting an AAA discount, what about paying the difference?" they said it would be 130 dollars a night plus tax to upgrade, and that they couldn't move us until Sunday because a large convention had the rooms full. (Abbott labs had something going on, and we saw a couple large wedding groups as well.)
The concierge added he could be 99.9 percent sure we'd get a MK view.
I decided to go ahead and plan the move to the main building, and was very excited about the idea. I thought that since we were there and who knew when we'd stay there again, I wanted to get the full experience the resort had to offer. They said we could have a late check out Sunday morning and hopefully our room at RP would be ready. It was then that I realized we'd be hanging out around the hotel Sunday morning, and I decided to truly go for it: I booked myself a head and shoulders massage at the spa for 10am Sunday morning. The guys said they'd look after dd so that was that!
One thing I hadn't expected: knowing we'd be gone all day, I had left both envelopes for housekeeping in the room, one marked for turndown service. Well, when we stopped back into the room, both were gone and the beds hadn't been turned down yet I found out that the turn down staff is definitely a completely seperate crew from the morning housekeepers, and I never left both envelopes out again. Lesson learned!
I fell asleep to the sound of contented snoring all around me LOL and the images of Royal Palm dancing in my head. I had no idea what we were going to do the next morning...aside from our breakfast at Chef Mickey and dinner at O'hana we had no plans. I'd let the family decide and see where the day took us. It was a wonderful day, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.
Coming up: Chef Mickey, more parks, and the incredible Ohana!
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They did a lovely job, I especially liked the princess basket they put together for DD!
