Well, it has been a long morning at work today - 3rd day back in two weeks!! And after an amazing typical Disney holiday, it's just that much more bland - the world of stock market regulation. So, why not type a few words to describe my most recent trip to people who understand the magic best.
The players: My fiance, my brother (who is working at Epcot in Le Cellier at the moment) and his friend who came down with us.
Nov 30 - Dec 9:
We had a long day of flying from Calgary to Minnesota, from Minnesota to Orlando. Flying Northwest was a bit of a challenge after the last few spoiled trips with Air Canada and WestJet. Comparatively, the service is much worse. But we left Calgary at 1:30 and arrived in Orlando at midnight. A long and painful line-up at the Alamo desk to get the rental car...took about 45 minutes!! One guy working at the desk...which is understandable at that time of night...but when you have places to be!? It seemed like forever. In the car and off we went to pick up my brother at the Commons (the apartment complex where the international program people who work at the world showcase call home for a year). We picked him up...after waiting for him at the gates for about 20 min (this drove the girls nuts). Visitors aren't allowed in the Commons past 1 am. He finally arrived and after a brief greeting (he's been there for 5 months now), we headed to Coronado Springs to check in at 2 am. Checked in and didn't get the room request we put in - wanted the cabanas but got the ranchos building instead. Which worked out alright though because it was close to a bus stop and a 2 min walk to the main pool.
We got up bright and early to do Epcot (perhaps not exactly how my brother wanted to spend his morning off)!! God, I love that park. The atmosphere, the ambience, the architecture, the music...it's just such a great combination that makes me wish I could live in that park. And even after working there for a year myself, it still hasn't gotten "old". We went around future world for a bit and my brother went to work at noon. He was food running that week and had to work both the lunch and dinner times...though, for him, was great because it meant he was making close to $300/night in tips. But for us, who came to visit him, meant we walked the rest of Epcot by ourselves. My brother's friend hadn't ever been, so we were playing tour guide for the first times. And seeing someone's initial reaction to WDW is great...first the astonishment with how big everything is, and then they pick up on the attention to detail and the smiles on their faces when they see an attraction for the first time is all worth the planning and the guiding. And their xmas decorations were fabulous as usual.
The next few days we went to all of the parks and had a great time showing my brother's friend around. The weather was fantastic the whole time - which is atypical for December in Florida. We spent a lot of time at the Coronado pool in the mornings and headed over to the parks when my brother had to work. Just easier that way for him to sign us in.
My brother's friend was prone to heat stroke, so she had a few rough days at Animal Kingdom...but all in all, we had a incident free first 9 days.
Highlights were dinners (multiple) at Le Cellier and Boma. The filet at Le Cellier is great and there was this Mullagawatti soup at Boma that I had to go back for (a sweet Currie based soup that was to die for). Also, we watched Illuminations a few times and it was just as beautiful as I remember. The holiday ending was great. Oh yeah, and the ping pong tables outside of the yacht and beach club. We had a few good tournies there inbetween trips to Cape May Cafe and MGM from Epcot. Also, doing the world showcase is always an enjoyable experience. We had dinners (when not eating at Le Cellier) in Italy, Mexico and had a few good attempts at drinking around the world - though we never made it the entire way! Also, the Monster's Inc. Laughing Place at MK - what a great new attraction. We all had a good time in that one. And of course, it was my first time riding Expedition Everest. Great ride! Oh yes and La Nuba, the cirque show was great. I've been to a few Cirque shows in the last few years, and this was one of the better ones. Nothing like Beatles Love in Vegas...but good nonetheless and worth seeing. And at a CM discount for $40 a ticket!? Why not!?
Sea World was a great day...though it really only does take 1/2 to 3/4 of a day to do. But that experience is always a favourite - feeding the animals and interacting with them. And Kraken was closed...and I love that coaster. The dolphins, sealions and Shamu made up for it. But after encountering wild elephant seals and sealions in Oregon and Cali the last couple years, it did seem a bit contrived.
Let downs - Spaceship Earth being closed down still kinda sucked. But what can you do? Stitch's Great Escape was a great let down. I had only been on this when it was Alien Encounter...I do enjoy the old ride better. The Stitch ride is horrible, in my opinion. The predecessor should have stayed...even if it was too scary for kids...let the kids go on Buzz and bring back Alien Encounter. And yes, the Nemo musical in Ak...a little too long.
And I have been to
Disneyland three times in the last three years. And WDW in May 2004. Perhaps I'm getting old and boring, but the parks didn't have the same appeal to me this time...except for Epcot and AK. I felt a little...bored in MK and MGM. I think I'll need a longer time between
Disney vacations now. I could spend days upon days in Epcot...but that wouldn't be reason enough just to go to WDW again in the near future.
Dec 9 - 13:
Time for Cruise! We headed out the morning of the 9th from Coronado to board the Disney Wonder 4 night cruise. Went to the Commons to pick my brother's dress clothes up that he forgot...and realized I left my suit bag at the Coranado!! After a little embarrassment and apologizing, we turned around to get my suit. Turned out to be a bit of a process at a huge resort like that...but I got it and we were off! Hit the terminal in Canaveral late and were onboard by 3. Went for a little lunch and then went to tour the ship...our last stop and greatest discovery? The rainforest room in the spa! We loved it and paid the $15 fee all of the days we were onboard to use it. It was lovely the first night before dinner...it was empty - probably because the families were in the early seating and no one had really thought about spa-ing it yet. The rainforest room is a tranquil little getaway on the ship with 3 different types of steam rooms and 4 heated rock-like seats with a fountain in the main room. I loved the tropical mint showers. Great way to relax and feel freshened up for dinner.
First night was Parrot Cay restaurant. Overall, not too impressive of a menu. Though we did enjoy it, I think everyone was tired and the seas were a little choppy while we were eating. Definitely not bad, but the worst compared to the other restaurants, in our opinion.
The next day we hit Nassau and walked the tourist strip and shops. Nothing caught our eye, so we rented some scooters to tour the island and see Atlantis. We headed over to Atlantis as we got accustomed to driving on the left hand side and the crazy driving habits of the Bahamians. Atlantis was Atlantis. Nothing special...and if you've been to Vegas, you've been to Atlantis. Completely fake, a huge casino...but great architecture and attractions. Spent a couple hours there...and off again to moped around Nassau. As we were merging onto a busy roadway, I hesitated a bit (I was in the lead), and my brother must have missed my initial hesitation and he jumped a curb and his friend fell off the back of their scooter and almost got ran over by a FedEx truck!! lol - but the truck stopped and she survived and we made it back to the ship in one piece. And as we were returning the scooters, the 3 guys who rented at the same time we did and were totally hammered were returning their 1 scooter...but they left with 3!? The Bahamian police were there...and the guys were being obnoxious and rude and I thought for sure these kids were American...until one of them said "you're gonna make me go with some guy i don't know and retrieve these bikes in a foreign country! no way dude! i'll miss my flight to canada! this is bull#$#%!". It was a bit of a surprise...though, why I don't know. I've seen Canadian kids do just as stupid of things as Americans.
Then back on the boat to hit the rainforest before dinner again. Though my fiance and my brother's friend did ladies night at the spa - consisting of a facial, massage, nails and some other girly things. Dinner at Triton's was amazing...and our servers began to grow on us. Anil and Horrie were great throughout the whole cruise. I think they made me gain 15 lbs before they let me go!!
The next day was
Castaway Cay and we had a blast! We went straight to the adult beach - Serenity Bay. Fantastic weather...still waters....tonnes of sun and a great drink of the day they were serving. We rented some floaties...but I preferred the beach chairs. The island is gorgeous and forgot how beautiful it was. We all said that if we could, we would have skipped the Nassau day and spent both days at Castaway. We went to the rec area for the basketball challenge and had the bbq at the adult only tent. Great times. And it was time to head back to the ship when the big horn blew at 4:30. That was disappointing...but only because we loved the island so much.
That night we went to see the show The Golden Mickeys (a live musical show). Good enough show in the Walt Disney theatre. The guys who played the hunchback was good. And then off to Palo for dinner. By far the best quality dinner and I would definitely recommend going...even if you miss Pirates night. Big deal, there's always the party afterwards. Though we missed our servers, we did have a great time at Palo. We ordered two appies and two entrees each - lol! The martinis were a great touch too. We headed to the Pirate party on deck 9 and watched the fireworks...though after the WDW fireworks for nine days, these were not spectacular. Though cool to think they do this in the middle of the ocean on a ship that already has everything on it. Last, we took in the movie in the Buena Vista Theatre that night. Awesome that there's a movie theatre on the ship...but a little cramped for space...it was a tad bit uncomfy...though it was a very minor criticism.
We did hit Wavebands and the other clubs a few times, but you're kidding yourself if you expect a nightlife on the
disney cruise. And the little Australian guy who ran the wavebands stuff was obnoxious, sarcastic and bothered me...Trent. I'm sure some people find him funny...but I didn't.
The next days was sea day and my fiance and I hit breakfast early and got a seat by the adult pool early to soak in the sun. It was a relaxing day. Nice to have a day like that. Then Animator's Palate was the last night dinner. It was good and we were reunited with Anil and Horrie. Good guys, I tell you. And the night was fun as we polished off a few bottles of red before we hit the restaurant. We saw Disney Dreams that night and it was great. Definitely worth seeing. Then a stop to get some souvenirs and look at our pictures taken throughout the cruise in Shutters and we were off to bed.
And the only annoying thing was that they wine you, dine you, relax you...and the last morning blast on the intercom for you to get off the ship early enough that you feel like you're back at work!! lol
Dec 13 - 15:
Brother had to work at 11 so we rushed back to Epcot. Got him to work on time and went outlet shopping at Premium outlet malls which is right behind the commons and on the other side of the I-4 from the Goodings and DTD. I love the Lake Buena Vista area. Maybe 'cause it's so clean and familiar to me after living there for a year. But the mall was good and stocked up on new gear. Then we checked in at the Regal Sun Resort (formerly the Grosvenor) for the last 2 nights. Nice enough place, but no where near as cool as the Coronado. We went to MGM that night to see the Harlem Gospel Choir perform and see the Osborne lights - the choir was fantastic!!! They just tore apart their renditions of Oh Happy Day and Peace on Earth. Made me want to convert to Christianity I tell you...lol! The voices and the harmonies....I'd say it was the best show I saw on property, including Candlelight.
Then the last day we hit up Animal Kingdom in the morning and rode Everest, Dinosaur and the Safari one more time. Headed to Epcot when my brother had to work and then went to the Mickey's Very Merry Xmas Party to end the trip. Great way to end it with a great xmas feel and fireworks!! The parade was good too.
Oh yes, I forgot shopping too...my brother had 40% off merchandise for the holidays...and we shopped...til we dropped at DTD the night before. Honestly, I don't know how we got everything back...and one thing we did get back that i wasn't expecting to was a big snow globe we got for our Mom. All the way through security on the way home we heard the list of things we couldn't bring on board...and you just don;t think about snow globes being included in the "over 100ml of liquids" when you buy them in WDW as they all pretty on the shelf. I was a bit panicked when the security guard said we'd have to throw out the $100 present for my Mom. But the bag went through the x-ray, they said nothing, we said nothing and the snow globe came with us, safe and sound, on both flights back home.
So that was our trip...probably more (or less) I could have written...but we had a great time. It was a little too long, maybe. My fiance missed our dogs a lot. But other than that...well worth the $ and time for the amount of fun and relaxation we had. Oh yes, and it was good to see my brother too. : )
And here are some photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9665&l=01aa5&id=511689409
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9669&l=c656c&id=511689409
Our driver didn't pick us up till 9. The airport has a 4 hour window to check in, so we had to wait half an hour to do that. Once we got checked in we had 4 hours before our flight left. Walked around, shopped, ate at Chilis---made the time go by pretty quick. Plane left at 2:30--this time it was a 4 hour flight
Arrived in Denver at 4:30 our time, Hotel didn't pick us up until 5:30. Every van that passed by us said they didn't have room for us or our luggage. Finally got a ride, but had to stand in the van
Driver slammed the heal of my foot in the door. FINALLY got in our vehicle at 6 p.m. to head home. DH drove the entire 4 hours home. If it were me that was driving there is no way I would have, I was BEAT, I would have caught a night in a hotel and come home on Friday. BUT then on Friday, we were dumped with a foot of snow, so I guess getting home Thursday night was best. Quite the change to go from 80 degree weather to 20 degree weather within 10 hours.
We got back late last night.
