Delays, Dilemmas, Delights & Drinking around the world! Our 13 Day Disney Trip!!

[iluveeyore]

Yes, after all the planning, waiting, counting down and dreaming, it's over I came back to reality - actually because I had to, not because I wanted to - out of food, out of money, so back we came. Now I get to re-live it all with my fellow DIS'ers through my trippie - that might help with my Disney withdrawal.

Sooo, on we go! I was going to do a live trip report, but preferred writing in my journal when I had time, and then posting with pics when I got home. Hope I have some of you join me in the pages to come!


First, let me introduce our gang on this trip. We went with our friends who had joined us two years ago at OKW. They wanted to stay there yet again instead of trying something new since they loved it so much. So I made our room ressie back in February and the planning and waiting began. Our dates were Sunday, August 23- Friday, September 4.

Our cast of characters - First, the kids - Ryan and Nicholas are our friend's boys - they are 10 and 5 (six this week actually!). The middle girl is my daughter, Brooke (14) and then there is Jamie (also 14), my daughter's BFF and also our only first-timer.

Next, the grown-ups (bread-winners, human ATM machines, people that bought all the kids' "stuff" on vacation, planners extraodinaire, etc., etc.)

Rob and Pat (red shirt & green shirt) are our best friends, I have known Pat since grade 2. Even though we live an hour and a half away from each other, we still make time and keep in touch. This trip was to include Pat's birthday on August 27th. Next is me, Tracey, and my DH Bob. These photos were actually taken on the morning we had to check out (you know how you think over your vacation and realize, hey, we don't have any pictures of us all together???? We took care of that!)

Now that you can put faces to names, I'll quickly go over the final plans that I put in place before we left. Our biggest worry was finding cheap air fare, and I hunted like a thirsty vampire (yes, I love Twilight), every day for a ding, a dong, a bone, anything that would get me there within budget. By chance two months before our trip, back in June, I found $59 one-way fares from Buffalo on Southwest. It was only for a connecting flight the afternoon before our check-in date, so I hurriedly checked AP rates on line, made a quick call to Rob at work, and we all decided to take the cheap air fare, and book a room using a cash AP rate for the day before. The air fares for the Sunday we had planned on leaving were ridiculous so far, being at least $147 each for one way - with 8 people, ouch! And the returns weren't looking any better. So even with the room, which was the same as we had booked on points, a two bedroom villa at OKW, we were still saving about $60 per family and getting there a day sooner!
Just on a side note, my family lives in Fort Erie, Ontario Canada, and Pat and Rob live in Cayuga, Ontario. We are exactly 20 minutes from the Buffalo airport, plus it's much cheaper than the Toronto airport, so their was no doubt about which airport to find our flights at.
Okay, so now we're leaving a day sooner, have a cheap flight (although connections made me nervous), and now have to look for cheap flight to get us home. That took me until mid-July to find, and it was only by chance that I was lucky enough to grab it. I had been surfing (or hunting) as usual, on any airline - I wasn't going to be picky since they were all expensive for the Labour Day weekend return. I happened to be on Airtran site, saw a non-stop at 2pm on Friday the 4th of Sept. for $62 each, called Pat, and we all snagged our four tickets each at the same time. I swear to goodness that 20 minutes later the same flight showed a price of $120 each. Whew, that was lucky. And yes, I knew we each had to pay $15 for return luggage, but that still only made it around $80 each return. No complaints here. The flights never did come down and even went up to $274 each one-way on both airlines, so we thanked our lucky stars (and perhaps pixie dust??) for what we had. We would not be thanking anyone at travel time, but that comes later.

Okay, so room booked, air fare booked, I made a couple of ADR's, and then the guy's favourite part, golfing tee times. This would be DH's first time golfing at WDW, although he had been dreaming of it since our first stay at OKW 8 years ago. And Rob is an avid golfer, so he was extremely excited to pack his clubs and hit the greens. With that all done, I started to watch Disney movies every chance I had as part of my countdown, and waited to pack.


Saturday, August 22, 2009 - Day 1

It is time!! Today is the day! Last night I took a gravol to help me sleep - do you know why?? Because I was too excited to sleep! It actually did the trick as I slept from 11pm to 7am this morning. Had my morning tea, got my shower before anyone else got up, and finished packing our bathroom bag. I had to run over to Walmart to get some non-drowsy Gravol I had forgotten to help us all get through the two plane rides we had ahead of us. Then I did a load of towels, washed the dishes, and Pat and Rob arrived at 10:45 am ready to get going. Jamie was a bit late, got here around 11:10 a.m. (supposed to leave at 11), but that was fine. Her dad was giving us a ride to the airport and Pat and Rob were parking their van there for the two weeks (we had to leave our car for our two sons to use while we were gone). We were actually through security and at our gate at 12:30 p.m. Our flight departure time was 3:10 p.m. so we had plenty of time. Not like our last trip with them when we thought we had lots of time, but the security line was a nightmare and we actually had to run to be the last ones on the plane. At least this time our friends actually got to experience waiting at the gate area and seeing what the inside of the airport actually looked like!

I have to also add that Hurricane Bill had been a concern, and we had been watching the airline website and the weather channel avidly all week. But it had missed land and apparently posed no threat to our trip, thus the reason for us waiting for our originally booked flight.

At 2pm, the guys went to stretch their legs, and noticed on the monitor that our flight departure time did not say 3:10 p.m. - it said 4:35 p.m., but they announced that even with the change we would still make our connecting flight in Baltimore. Fine, we thought, we'd wait the extra hour or so here in Buffalo instead of in Baltimore as was first booked.

Then, at 4:30, they announced that Baltimore was now closed to all flight traffic, no one could leave or land due to weather. They were getting strong bands of storms from, guess who? Bill!!! But they still promised they would keep us informed and that all connecting flights would be available. Yeesh, and with four excited kids who just wanted to get the heck to Disney, this wasn't going well at all (not to mention the four excited but exhausted and ticked off adults - why, oh why couldn't we find a cheap non-stop flight????). So at the airline's mercy, we waited. After an eternity, we were able to board by 6:15 p.m. and got on our waiting connecting flight. At 8pm we were finally on our way to Orlando, where we were originally supposed to land at 7:20 pm. We landed at 10:15 p.m., and were met with Nicholas using a few airsick bags. I think a combination of his exhaustion, excitement, and not eating properly all day made him sick, poor little guy. Plus we were at the back of the plane and now had to wait until everyone got off.
I managed to leave everyone else to get the luggage at their request so I could check us in at Magic Express so we could get right on a bus when they got to that side of the airport. That actually worked out well, because we were on the bus to Old Key West and on our way by 11:15 p.m.
Being Jamie's first time, it was a little disappointing to cross under the Disney sign we loved to see in the dark. We still cheered, and then were happy to discover that Old Key West was the first drop off for our bus. We had all our luggage to drag into the lobby with us, and Pat had to make a couple bathroom trips with Nicholas, who was still as green as the Florida palms we were excited to see.

 

[iluveeyore]

Day 1 continued...
So we're checking in 3.5 hours late, and it's now after midnight, so my Aug. 22 check-in is now Aug. 23. The cast member said they had us in Building 62 for the night on our cash stay, then moving to Building 26 on Sunday for our points stay, on the ground floor. We had hospitality house requested on our ressie. We explained that we wanted golf & water view, 2nd floor or higher for our two week stay, and also that we wanted a room that night that we did not have to move from. We had a sick child, exhausted teenagers, and we didn't want to haul all our stuff from one room to another once we laid our heads down that night. We also had to do a grocery run with a rental car in eight short hours, and were not leaving the kids in limbo somewhere while we waited for our second room to be ready.
She went in back a couple of times for what seemed like forever (about 10 min. each time) and came out with a couple of different offers. We were now willing to take a room anywhere on property as long as it met our view needs and was close to a bus stop. She finally offered us a two bedroom in Building 37 on the second floor on Turtle Pond Road, and we wouldn't have to move at all. Perfect, we'll take it - let's get to bed!!! Not so fast, it took 20 minutes to get a bell services cast member to take us to our room. By 12:45 a.m. we were unpacking a few things and dropping half-dead into our beds. I set the alarm for 7:30 a.m. because Pat and I had to be out front for the Alamo shuttle for 8:30a.m. to go get our rental and our food & supplies. Bob and Rob were supposed to golf at Oak Trail at 8:30 a.m., but they were going to reschedule it for Monday instead so they weren't so exhausted, and so Rob could look after our sick little Nicholas while we got groceries.

Day 2, Sunday August 23

Here was our beautiful view in the morning:

My favourite sign (after the Walt Disney World sign)

Pat & I were up, ready and walked to the front by 8:30 a.m. - the Alamo shuttle was already there, so we were at the Car Care Centre in time for her 9am reservation of our rental car. We rented a Ford Taurus and were off to the Walmart Super Centre. We had two carts each and had to check out twice and took 3 hours to get everything we needed - two weeks worth of groceries, water, pop, beer, wine, coolers, a few souvenirs, and then we were back in the car headed to our villa. Here are the spoils of our shopping trip:

We really couldn't fit another bag if we tried!!! Many trips up and down the stairs later, and with lots of help, we got everything out of the car and into the room. Brooke & Jamie headed out to Magic Kingdom once they grabbed a bite to eat as we unpacked, and the guys took Ryan and Nicholas to the pool to give us space to get organized. Nicholas was feeling much better thank goodness. Bob and Rob had bought our refillable mugs (one for each family), and got the kids some food from the gift shop while we were gone, so they didn't wait around for us to make something for lunch. Pat & I unpacked the food and organized the cupboards and fridge for each family so we knew what belonged to who - I love Old Key West kitchens for all the storage space they have, especially the pantry cupboards beside the dining room.
I had to call for a new mattress for the pullout couch, because the one the girls had slept on was a joke - full of springs and as flat as a pancake. I had to laugh when I called housekeeping, because the girl did not understand english sarcasm - I said the mattress was as flat as a pancake, and she said "What, you found a pancake in the mattress???"
We also had to call for a tech for the internet, as we couldn't get that to work either. They both showed up within half an hour - the maintenance guy took away the old mattress, and unwrapped the new mattress out of its plastic wrap, and he even made the bed up before folding it back in!!! Plus we had our internet fixed quickly and easily.

After some time at the pool, Bob and I had a frozen Tombstone deep dish pizza each, and Pat & Rob waited to see what their kids would eat for supper. I had an invitation to go to the Mickey Moms Club party at Epcot that evening, and had asked Pat & Rob to bring the kids and join us. But Nicholas looked a little pale still, and they were tired, so they opted to just relax and enjoy the villa while the two of us headed to Epcot. The girls were still at Magic Kingdom enjoying Jamie's first visit there!

More soon....

 

[yellowtink]

I'm on bored. Sounds fun to read about. I am so jealous u got 13 days at WDW.

 

[Nazran]

subbed

 

[ehstrojette]

2 whole week. I am so jealous but excited to read what happens

 

[iluveeyore]

Day 2 Cont'd...

Thanks for reading everyone!!

So last I left you me and DH were heading to Epcot for the Mickey Moms Club Illuminations party. Check-in wasn't until 8pm, but we got to Epcot around 5:30pm. It was a gorgeous evening, nice and Florida warm, and it had just stopped pouring rain before we got off the bus. Thankfully, that was the end of the rain. The park had emptied out a bit because of the down pour, and because it was dinner time, so we were able to do Spaceship Earth with no wait, and then Test Track with a short 20 min or so wait. Soarin was still showing 70 min. wait time as usual and no fastpasses left, so we skipped that. I've got two weeks, I'm sure I'll get on it sometime. Since we did the rides we wanted to do for now, we opted to wander slowly around World Showcase starting in Canada. We visited the gift shop - should have bought a t-shirt I saw, said "Poor Me --- More Wine!"
Next on to United Kingdom for my usual visit to the Twinings Tea Shop - here I am - I love tea, and don't drink coffee, so it's nice to look around in here.

When we exited the tea shop, we entered into the rose garden, and the British Invasion was getting ready to perform, so we leaned on the Toy Shoppe building and listened with quite a few others. That was relaxing, but it was really warm there with no flow of air, so once I started feeling dizzy from the heat, we kept moving. It was 7:30 pm by now, so we walked around the rest of World Showcase without really stopping at any of the countries. I got some free ice water at a concession stand which helped a lot, and then we continued all the way around to Mexico.

We found the sign in desk for the Mickey Moms Club at the entrance to World Showcase between Mexico and Canada by the boat dock and signed in. Got our name tags and were directed back around past Canada to the building between that and United Kingdom (forget the name of the building but it's empty right now - used for extra countries' displays for the Food & Wine Festival). Our name tags were our tickets inside, and it was really neat in there. There were many carts full of free desserts and beverages that we could help ourselves to - ice cream (Mickey head sandwiches, Mickey on a stick, frozen fruit bars, etc.), huge fresh baked cookies of all kinds, krispie treats, pretzels, smart pop, water, choc. milk, soda. I was full after a Mickey ice cream sandwich, and DH loved the cookies. We stood around visiting with other Club members and filling our stomachs. Then at 8:50 we went out to the roped off viewing area beside the boat launch at the entrance to World Showcase to enjoy Illuminations.

Sorry the photo is dark, but it was dark when the cast member took it. We enjoyed our first night at Disney watching Illuminations (wow, I'm really here!) On our way out of the roped-off section we were handed a few free goodies - Mickey Moms Club magnet and notebook. We were back at our villa by 10 p.m. Pat & Rob were relaxing watching tv while the boys were sound asleep. We visited for a bit then headed for my wonderful king-size Old Key West bed. The guys had changed their golf morning at Oak Trail to tomorrow instead of this morning, so they wanted to get up early and go, and Pat and I had to take the rental car back before 9 am. Brooke and Jamie were out until 12:30 enjoying extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom. And boy, did I sleep good finally!

Monday, August 24 - Day 3

I really should have stayed in bed today - not a fun day at all and hopefully not a forecast of days to come during this vacation. It started off normal, and the guys were excited to golf.

Bob and Rob were up and gone by 7:30 am for their 8:30 am tee time at Oak Trail. They were using one of their plus pass days to golf at the nine hole course. Bell Services had their clubs stored up front, so they just walked there, asked for a cab and their clubs and were on their way, feeling like royalty.

Pat and I had to return the car. The girls were still sleeping on the pullout couch, so around 8 am I shooed them into our master bedroom so they could get some more sleep while the rest of us bustled around the kitchen area for breakfast. We left the kids in the room with strict instructions to not answer the door and to not leave or go out on the deck. The girls were half awake, so we told the boys to only disturb them if they needed something - otherwise, they were in zombie mode watching the Disney Channel cartoons in the living room.

Before we left, Pat told me the phone light had been blinking, so she listened to the message. The message said that they would be starting construction on our building this week and that we needed to call and see what arrangements could be made to move us. Say what????!!!!! Okay, not sounding promising, but we had to get the car back, so we decided to hit the front desk when we returned in the Alamo shuttle.

Soooo, an hour later we are at the front desk explaining to the girl there about our message. She of course knew nothing about it and went and got a guy from the back office to come and talk to us. He said they were very sorry, but they had placed us in that building by mistake - it was supposed to remain vacant for the construction and we should have never been put in that villa. He asked which building we'd prefer to move to and he would call us in the next couple of days and let us know where we'd be placed. We were kind of in shock, and not knowing how to react to this information, we just picked out buildings 26 and 13, 2nd floor or higher and walked back to our room. As we walked and talked, we suddenly realized what this all entailed. We had spent our first full day shopping, unpacking, organizing and settling in, and now we had to waste another day of our vacation packing, moving, unpacking and settling in yet again.

So now we were frustrated (can I say pissed off??? I guess I just did), angry and impatient for the guys to return from golfing so we could spread the good news to them. Thankfully they were back by 10:30 all happy and smiling from their time golfing. Boy, did we know how to wipe the happy smiles away quickly. We filled them in, and they were adamant that someone was going to fix this and tell us how to get back a lost vacation day that wasn't our fault. So the four steaming grown-ups hiked to the front desk to find an unsuspecting cast member to unload on.

The lady we got was training a young guy 'earning his ears', so he got to learn a bit more about customer service. Rob and Bob were very calm, explained what was happening, and made sure she was clear about us losing a full day of our precious vacation time and that it was their fault. She went and spoke to a manager for a while, then came back with him. (not sure if I can use his name, so I won't) After assisting another guest at the concierge desk, he made his way over to us, at which point we reiterated our displeasure at losing a vacation day because of this error. He apologized profusely, told us our new room in Building 26 had just been checked out of, and that he had a rush on the cleaning of our room. He told us to stay in our current room until the new one was ready, and they would help us move at that time. We said great, fine, but that still wasn't going to make up for the day we are losing packing up everything, waiting for our room to be ready, then moving and unpacking yet again. He said of course it wouldn't, so he was willing to offer us a one night credit for the room at rack rate, which was $545. The lady piped up saying, "But they get a member discount on cash rooms" meaning he should take 25% off the price to credit us. We shook our heads and I glared at her, but the manager cut her off saying no, they get the full rack rate. So that meant we would split the credit, giving each family $272.50 to spend as we wished. We looked at Pat & Rob, they nodded their acceptance, so we didn't ask for anything further, told him we were satisfied with that.
Back to our room we went, and the construction workers were already all over the parking lot and ripping off siding from the building beside us. Back in our villa, we voiced our satisfaction to each other about our compensation. Rob had wanted to ask for a grand villa, but only if they put us off about getting moved today. The credit helped ease the crappy day we were having, so we decided to just get it over with and move on. We had some lunch, and Pat quickly packed up their clothing and bathroom stuff. Rob was itching to get the kids to a park since they were complaining they hadn't gone anywhere yet, so they were heading to Hollywood Studios. We told them to go ahead, and meet Bob and I back here at supper time (around 5) to eat and then pack up the food to move. The girls went to Hollywood Studios too, only separately. I told the girls that I planned to pack everything and get us moved before Pat and Rob got back to surprise them, so the girls were to go to the front for the new room number when they got back later. I would text Rob the new room number once I had moved us. I felt bad that they chose to vacation with us and had already had awful luck with the flight delays, Nicholas being sick, and now having to move everything, so I wanted them to have an easy time of it today.
So Bob and I spent two hours packing groceries, clothes and our bathroom. I called the manager at 2 pm to let him know we were ready and see how the 'rush' on our room was going. He said it wasn't ready yet, but hang in there and he'd let me know. I waited another hour and called again. He checked and said yes, it was just finished - then he asked if we needed assistance! Excuse me???? I told him we have about 50 bags of groceries, 6 cases of water, 4 cases of pop, 2 cases of beer, 8 people's luggage and carry-on bags - YES, send a few people to help!!
He said they'd be there in five minutes. So we packed the freezer stuff up and noticed it was pouring rain outside - but of course!
Then there was a knock at the door, and there was the manager with storage containers for our perishables ready to help himself. He had brought a bell services guy and another lady who had a PT Cruiser to load our groceries into. The bell services guy walked in and asked the manager if he was trying to kill him after he saw all our stuff (you literally could not see the carpet for all the grocery bags and other stuff - wish I had taken a picture now). The manager laughed and said there would be too much paperwork if he killed him. Then he informed us the luggage guy was worried because we were actually on the third floor in Building 26 - so he had to carry our bags down two floors, then up three floors, not too much fun!
But the manager helped move every last thing, along with Bob and I and the two others. Then he told us to wait in our room, he didn't have a spot for us in his electric car just then, so he'd come back and pick us up in a few minutes and bring us our new keys. At our new room, he proceeded to help us carry every last thing up to the third floor (and it had stopped raining thank goodness). Our new view was awesome, and I really didn't mind the third floor since we didn't have a stroller or anyone we had to carry.
After all was said and done, trust me, I sent an email to DVC member satisfaction team and told them how the manager went above and beyond to help us, and we really appreciated that.

So Bob and I got all the groceries put away just as we had them in our first villa (we had labelled all the bags so we knew what belonged to which family). I had texted Pat and Rob, and they showed up just as we were finishing with the food. They were extremely happy with our new room - it was the same building they had stayed in with us two years ago and loved how close it was to the Peninsular bus stop and a quick walk to the Hospitality House and the pool.
The girls showed up soon after, and Rob made us all cheeseburgers and fries while Pat & I unpacked all the suitcases. Hollywood Studios was open until 10pm that night, so we all headed out together at 6:30 except Bob - he was going to use the workout room instead of using a park day for just a couple of hours (I had an AP and everyone else had already been to a park that day). Rob and Pat got their stroller rental while I went to Guest Services and upgraded Brooke's 7 day park hopper to a 10 day to match Jamie's pass. It only cost $9 to upgrade the three days, so even if she only used one or two extra days, I wouldn't be too upset losing $3 a day. Pat and Rob had gotten fastpasses for Tower of Terror in case we wanted to use them, and the girls had gotten one too, so Rob, Ryan, Brooke, Jamie and I rode it while Pat & Nicholas waited. Then we parted ways, and the girls and I checked out the Rock 'n Roller Coaster - 60 min. and no fastpasses - save that for another day since Jamie hadn't ridden it yet. We browsed through some gift shops then headed back to our new room. Great getting off at the first bus stop.
Pat and Rob showed up soon after us. The little kids went to bed, the girls went to the pool, and the grown-ups got their pj's on and went out on the deck to play cards and throw back a few cold ones. We thought the space shuttle launch was at 1 am, but when we turned the tv on at 12:45 am, we realized it had been postponed. Oh well, we had fun making noise on the balcony (sorry any neighbors that our laughter bothered!), then off to bed we went to finally bring an end to this neverending day!!!

Up next - normal vacation time and park days - really???

 

[iluveeyore]

Day 4 - Tuesday August 25

Okay, so now I can really get on with my vacation.
We woke up to a beautiful blue sky and very warm temperatures today. Everyone slept in a bit this morning (about 8am, which is sleeping in for us at Disney). The girls of course slept way past that, but today was their 'down day' when they weren't using a park day. Pat & Rob got a later start and were on their way to Epcot around 9:30 a.m. Bob and I enjoyed our tea on the balcony and then got ready to go to Animal Kingdom.
We got there around 10:30 a.m. I will note that this week it seemed busy, and it was necessary to make use of fastpasses. I will also note that it depended on which park you went to, because some parks seemed like rides were walk-ons, and others you had to wait a long time. More on that later.
So at Animal Kingdom we got fastpasses to the Safari for return time 11:30 to 12:30. I had forgotten about the central fastpass location by It's Tough to Be a Bug, but remembered later in the trip - this idea is wonderful and saves so much running through the park, especially when it's hot (when isn't it hot at Animal Kingdom???).
To kill time until our fastpass window, I went on Expedition Everest and Bob went on Kali River Rapids. Both of us got on fairly quickly - I love the single rider line on EE - I never have to wait long, and this is great when I'm truly by myself (not like others, but I won't complain as we will do this later in the trip). We each did these rides separate because I can't get him on Everest (he turned green his first and only ride a few trips ago) and I do not like to get wet unless I'm in a bathing suit by a pool.
We had about 15 min. before our fastpass time, so we walked through Pangani Forest Trail bypassing everything until we reached DH's favourite spot - viewing the gorillas.

After viewing what I tease him to be his brothers, we used our fastpasses and got on the safari in about 10 min. We had a great driver - she spoke very fast but she ad-libbed a lot and was very funny and entertaining. Even though it was noon, there were quite a few animals out. This guy (or girl, not sure as I didn't look), was right beside us.

And in all the times I've been on the safari, I have never gotten a picture of these that's worth printing:

It's a cheetah, by the way

Then we decided to head back for lunch. On the way through a gift shop in Africa (to make full use of the air conditioning) Bob saw a new shirt I just had to have - you might have noticed it in my first post picture - It's got Pooh with his binoculars and he's looking at a baby elephant with a purple bow on its tail and it says "Eeyore, is that you?" Just like the one that's been around for a while with a tiger that says "Tigger, is that you". Had to have it (note my DIS name), so DH was able to buy himself a watch for $12.95 with my shirt purchase, and he was happy too. (watch has Mickey in front of the castle with silver face and black band, comes in mens and ladies sizes - I ended up getting matching one later in the trip, love them!)
Back at the room by 1pm, and the girls were just now moving around the room still in their pj's, so we all had some lunch together (their breakfast actually). Then Bob and I went to the pool for the first time - we read our books, had a swim, dried off in the sun and were back at our room by 3pm. Pat & Rob were back with the boys after I got out of the shower. Pat took Ryan for a swim while Nicholas played with the girls and Rob made their supper. I made us some brats and perogies.
We were all planning to go back out to a park for the evening, maybe Epcot, but it had started raining and storming out and it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. The girls were going to go the pool, but it was closed because of the lightning, so they just ended up walking up front in their bathing suits in the rain to get them and the boys some movies from the Community Hall.
We were all just enjoying being lazy for the evening. Bob and I relaxed in the master bedroom, watching Hells Kitchen, reading our books, then turning in early (well I guess 11pm is early on vacation!). We all had plans for the next day, so rest was needed!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm signing on! I hate that you had problems with your room location. But, I think you were rightly compensated which is a plus! Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures.

Lisa

 

[iluveeyore]

I'm signing on! I hate that you had problems with your room location. But, I think you were rightly compensated which is a plus! Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures.

Lisa

Welcome Lisa and thanks. I'm actually enjoying your trippie too!!!

 

[iluveeyore]

Wednesday, August 26 - Day 5

Everyone was up early today, yes even the teenagers! Bob & Rob were like little kids on Christmas morning - they were golfing at the Magnolia Course and left by 8am, even though their tee time wasn't until 10am - they just wanted to get there! They were going to buy the $50 DVC golf membership to get a $39 golf fee, but they found out that if they used a plus day from their passes, it would only cost them $40 for a round and save them the $50 fee. So that's what they did, and they were able to keep their originally booked tee times the whole trip. Here Bob is by the Mickey sand trap which he swears he didn't hit his ball into.

And this is how he feels -

And here's Rob taking a shot

While the guys were living the dream on the Magnolia, the teenage girls were up and gone before 9am (no, really!) to Animal Kingdom for a full day - it closes at 5pm, and they are the babysitters tonight for our adults-only evening out we were planning.

I was up and ready when the girls left - had to be sure to witness them leaving and then document it in writing. I had plans to go to Downtown Disney and shop for Pat's birthday present for tomorrow, so I left her in the villa with the boys - she was going to do some laundry & clean up a bit, then take the boys to the pool until lunch.

So I was at Downtown by 10 am. What a wonderful time to shop and look around - hardly anyone there. I saw many things for Pat, but finally settled on a black and silver bracelet with crystals in the shape of Mickey heads every second charm. I got a matching gold-plated and clear one. And of course then I had to stop in at Ghiradelli's and pretend I'd never been in there so I could get my free sample of a chocolate square - I don't know why I feel the need to look around like I've never entered through the door before, I guess I just feel guilty knowing I pop in every chance I get for my free chocolate fix. Today was milk chocolate and almond squares - yummy! I never buy them though, because I know they're going to melt into piles of goo before I can get them back to my room.

After looking through several of the shops, especially 365 days of Christmas (my favourite after the chocolate), I caught a bus back and was in the room by noon. Pat and the boys were just then heading to the pool, so I stayed in the room alone and made myself some lunch, then checked my emails while I watched All My Children. I know, just like at home, but that's how my villa at OKW feels, like home!

Everyone landed back in the room around 2pm. Rob and Bob were sweaty and tired, but smiling from ear to ear after their golf day. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting showered and ready for our evening out at Epcot. We had an early supper, made sure the boys were fed, and waited for the girls to get back, which was around 4:30 - they had a fun and full day at Animal Kingdom and were ready for relaxing and babysitting for the evening.

Here we are ready to tour the world childless at Epcot:

It had, of course, started to rain, so we packed the ponchos, gave last minute instructions, and headed out. Pat and Rob couldn't stop smiling - they rarely get to go out without the boys. Our first plan had been to take Rob to the Polynesian to the bar and get him a backscratcher - an actual drink that comes with a backscratcher in it - he loves backscratchers that he found in Japan last trip, so we thought this would be a perfect surprise. Unfortunately, he had purchased three new backscratchers when the visited Epcot yesterday, so that nixed that idea. But another of Rob's dreams was to go drinking around the world showcase in Epcot - sounded good to us.
It was lightly raining when we got to Epcot and this would be the theme of the evening - ponchos off/ponchos on. So we started in Mexico - guess what I always wanted to try but never did??

We got Fiesta Margaritas - strawberry, mango and lemon - Bob and I shared one - boy, are they strong (I'm not a big tequila fan). Pat drank her own, but only about half.

Because Rob is a beer drinker, even in Mexico!

Next was Norway - Pat and I decided to stick with wine, Bob was going to continue on the hard stuff, and Rob of course was going all the way with beer. So here we are getting our zinfandel in Norway - we also had a treat from the Kringla bakery - a pastry filled with cream that was amazing (my brain is stuck for a name right now)

China was next, and it was raining pretty good out by then, so we ducked into the Chinese theater. Amazingly enough, Pat and Rob had never been inside because they had always had the kids. So they got to look around at the warriors' tomb, and then we sat to wait for the next movie in 9 minutes. We still had our wine, so we didn't buy a drink in China (nothing really appealed to us anyhow). While sitting there, it was announced that the acrobats would be performing inside after the next movie began, so we opted to wait for them instead.
Here's the girl acrobat - all the rest were boys jumping and leaping in ways that made my bones ache. And no, she's not balancing our drinks!!

After the show, we continued on our world tour. Our next stop was Germany, Rob's favourite place for beer. Bob decided on a lemonade/cherry brandy slushie. Pat and I were holding out for Italian wine.

So here we are in Italy - I got Asti Spumante, which was wonderful and I should have just drank that all night as it was my absolute favourite!

By now we were all starving - if Italy would have had a counter service, we gladly would have scarfed down spaghetti and meatballs from a paper plate. Unfortunately, not the case. So trying to squash my spaghetti craving, we decided that fish & chips from the UK would be the way to go, especially when we could smell it as we got closer. We would double back and hit France for dessert afterwards. In the United Kingdom it was very busy, plus they had roped off the patio eating area as a reserved space for Illuminations. Rob went and got a beer at the pub while Pat and I ordered the fish and chips from the counter service. Bob spent that time talking to a cast member standing by the rope beside the patio area. When we headed to the rose garden with every other fish and chip eater, Bob informed us he had schmoozed (is that a word???) our way into a special viewing area for Illuminations in honour of Pat's birthday tomorrow. We were to show up at the patio area at 8:45 and the nice guy he spoke with would allow us in to stand against the wall behind the fish and chip place and view Illuminations - sweet!!!

The fish and chips hit the spot - we just shared one serving between two of us. Then it was back to France to visit the Boulangerie, another place Pat and Rob had never visited. Pat and I got the dessert I raved about - a long tube of pastry stuffed with whipped cream - I think it starts with 'nid', but not sure, I just know it's to die for! Bob had a chocolate chip pastry and Rob had an apple turnover (the turnovers at Main Street bakery still put this one to shame). Then to the wine store!!

We each got a rose brut wine, very dry but tasty. I still was yearning for another Asti spumante!

Bob discovered his new favourite drink at the counter service bar in France - a Grand Marnier orange slushie, complete with glowstick (which he brought home)

By now it was time for Illuminations. We met the guy beside the fish and chip place, and he directed us to his wife at the next rope, and she welcomed us and directed us to any spot we wanted along the wall by the lake. It was a perfect spot, probably the closest I've ever been to the 'earth'.

After Illuminations, we decided to call it a night - park was closing anyhow. So we did the exit shuffle out to the bus. We were back at the room at exactly 9:59pm, which didn't make Ryan happy. He had one minute until bedtime, and I think he was hoping the girls would let him stay up later if we weren't back. We let the girls go to the pool for a while and everyone else hit the hay.

Busy day tomorrow - Pat's birthday, full of shopping, snacking and surprises!

 

[iluveeyore]

Hey guys - anyone following along with me????? Anyone?????

Will update soon but only if someone is reading this and wants to keep reading

(That's okay if I have lurkers too, just making sure you're paying attention!)

 

[teedee]

I'm reading! Sounds like you started having a great time once the room craziness got settled. I can't wait to hear more!

Terri

 

[Credit Man]

I'm here. Enjoying your report. Thanks for posting.

 

[iluveeyore]

I'm reading! Sounds like you started having a great time once the room craziness got settled. I can't wait to hear more!

Terri

Thanks Terri - next update on its way!

I'm here. Enjoying your report. Thanks for posting.

You're welcome - thanks for reading! Can't believe we left for home a week ago today.

 

[iluveeyore]

Today is Pat's Birthday!! And she's spending the whole day with just me!! She thinks that's so she can have a girls' day out, but it's really to keep her busy while the rest of the gang work their birthday magic.
And to keep up the act, Bob and Rob are taking Nicholas and Ryan golfing at the Oak Trail (9 hole) course. Rob is an avid golfer, and both his boys have a couple of their own little clubs, which he brought with his own. Bob hates to admit it, but he said the five year old is a better golfer than he is.
So, needless to say, we were all up early in a flurry of activity this morning, around 7:30 am. I made the girls drag their tired butts off the pullout couch and into our master bedroom so they could continue to sleep while the rest of us had breakfast and got ready. The guys headed out about 8:45 am into the hot and steamy day, and Pat and I were ready and out by 9:15 am.
We went to the front desk to find out how her birthday gift card could be obtained. We were told she could only get one at guest services at one of the four parks. I guess that's how they know you already have a park pass, thus the reasoning for your gift card.
Next was trying to decide which park to visit. Pat already knew I had booked us an afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian at 2pm, so we had about 4.5 hours to kill. We decided that whatever bus came first, that's the park we would go to. So we walked out to the bus stop, and there sat the Magic Kingdom bus, so off we went!
She got her $79 gift card at guest services after showing her park pass and her photo i.d. then we hit the Main St. Emporium to see how she could spend it. Pat mentioned she would like a ring and a necklace. She found a ring she loved (silver with Mickey shaped crystals), and also a Pooh fitted t-shirt. She bought the shirt, but was going to look around more before buying the ring. So out the door we went for our first view this trip of the beautiful castle - but it wasn't so beautiful with a big ugly crane behind it.
We had noticed they were starting to decorate for Halloween when we came in, so it must have been there to hang lights for MNNSHP.

So we stopped in front of the castle for Pat's first birthday pic of the day:

Next stop was Liberty Square, a visit to the Christmas Shoppe, then Pat wanted to ride Thunder Mountain. We got fastpasses for an hour from then since it was a 50 min. wait and rode Haunted Mansion instead. We were going to ride some rides in Fantasyland, but everything was over 30 min. wait, so we looked in Pooh's store, then headed for a snack on Main Street. We saw part of the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade on our way to the bakery - love the music to this!

For a snack, Pat got the apple turnover, which are huge and filling. For some reason, they no longer had the cherry turnovers, which are my favourite. so I settled for a cherry danish.
Then it was time for our fastpass return to Thunder Mountain - I'll never understand how people continue to stand right in the way as they wait in enormous groups for their time to come up - seriously, get out of the way and come back after the time starts
Even though I find this ride tame by my standards, especially near the front where we sat, we still giggled and screamed like little girls (you're as old as you feel!). By now it was almost noon. I then made the stupid suggestion that we take the monorail to Epcot to do some shopping at Mouse Gears (our favourite huge gift shop at the parks), and Pat agreed. By the time we got a monorail from MK to the TTC, transferred to the Epcot monorail and arrived at Mouse Gears it was 12:50. So Pat looked at the selection of rings, finally decided on the one that was her first choice at MK, bought it at Mouse Gears, and we headed back to the monorail at 1:15, getting kind of anxious about being late for our tea time (and I don't mean golf!)
We were able to reach the Grand Floridian with a whole 10 min. to spare, which we used to freshen up in the ladies room. The heat today had pretty much melted the make-up off of my face, and my bangs were plastered to my forehead, so we really needed to freshen up and cool off. Then on with the birthday tea!!!

We actually sat across from each other, but a server took our photo together first.
Now, I had done the tea for the first time last November for my 40th birthday with my sister, so I knew what I wanted to order for Pat (this was my treat). Our server was an older lady who told us this was the only day she worked this week, and her name happened to be Pat as well.
I ordered the Buckingham Palace for us to share, with Eros tea. This tea is wonderful, and tastes like orange creamsicle when you add milk, which is how we both like our tea. Pat (the server) actually brought us a huge teapot since we were sharing, and I think we each got four cups out of it, which was wonderful.
I had wanted us to share something, because I didn't want her to fill up on too much. I knew the guys were busy making her birthday dinner and baking a cake back at the villa, and we were supposed to be there by 5pm.
So on with the Buckingham Palace! This was our first course, finger sandwiches, all of which are delicious.

The second course was a scone and a jam tart. The server asked if we'd rather have two scones and no tarts so we could each enjoy one - we said sure. Then she proceeded to bring us each a scone and jam tart, after all, it's Pat's birthday! Then came dessert - we each chose this yummy treat off the tray:

We both commented on how much our favourite Grandmas would have enjoyed this, as they both enjoyed afternoon and evening tea so much - unfortunately they are both not with us anymore. The saddest part was that I actually had my grandma at Disney with us four years ago for two weeks, and had mentioned the tea to her, but we never made time for it. But I know they were both with us enjoying it too.

As we were finishing and asked for the bill, Pat (the server) presented Pat (the birthday girl) with this:

The card was signed by the entire staff, and the rose smelled amazing - it actually lasted on our dining room table the rest of the trip!

On our way out, we noticed a beautiful bride at the podium - I didn't want to be Mrs. Obvious and take her picture head on, so I waited until we passed by her and snapped one - kind of far away, but her dress was beautiful.

I see a bride almost every time we visit the Grand Floridian. Her wedding party was actually sitting in the little kids chairs by the elevator watching cartoons - I think they were waiting for their reception to start, since the groom was there too.

Now, back out to the heat we went. We decided to go to Downtown Disney and spend the rest of Pat's gift card. It was around 3pm and I had to keep her busy until 5pm. She just thought it made sense since we just ate and she didn't want to go back to the room and figure out what to make for dinner just yet. We ran for the DTD bus just as we left the lobby, and hit the Christmas store first. I made my first purchase of the day, my 2009 Christmas ornament. Pat got herself one too. Then we had to get our free chocolate square at Ghiradelli's before blowing the rest of her gift card at the World of Disney store. She got the rolling WDW duffle bag with her purchases, and at 4:20pm we were on the boat to Pleasure Island, where we transferred to the OKW ferry.
I got Pat back to the room at exactly 4:55 p.m. The DND sign was on the door, so I made her knock (we had too many bags to find our keys anyhow), and Nicholas opened the door while everyone yelled surprise.

Sorry the pictures are so dark - it was so bright outside and we didn't have the lights on in the villa. They had decorated everywhere (I had snuck all the decorations from home in my suitcase, along with cake mix and frosting because Pat shopped with me when we got to Florida and I couldn't have bought anything without her seeing it). The girls had brought in the patio table and made an '8' shape for the eight of us to eat dinner. Rob made pasta and cheesy buns along with chicken pieces for dinner. And he baked the cake I had brought, and decorated with her favourite characters.

It was a wonderful surprise, and Pat loved it all. After we were done eating, Bob and I shooed Pat and her family out the door for some family time at a park - I think they went to MK to watch Wishes for her birthday. We cleaned everything up, and the girls went to DTD for a couple of hours. I went to Community Hall and got a couple of movies for the kids to watch. When the girls got back, I ended up watching one of our own DVD's I had brought from home with them - Race to Witch Mountain. Bob read his book in our room while I popped popcorn and spent some time with the girls. It was a great day, and we were all in bed by 11pm.

Up next - more fun, and will we finally see the Space Shuttle launch????

 

[iluveeyore]

As a quick side note for those following, just wanted to let you know that after we got home, I sent an email to the DVC satisfaction team and let them know what a wonderful help the manager was (his name was Stephan, moderators can remove if I can't say!). Joy from DVC called - she's such a ray of sunshine
She thanked me for my positive email, relayed how sorry they were for the error, and how happy she was everything turned out good, especially with the manager's help. She also said my email had been forwarded to his supervisor as well to show our satisfaction with the way things were handled. So if you have comments on your stays, especially with DVC, forward them, they will be paid attention to.

New installment coming for those of you waiting with anticipation.

 

[iluveeyore]

This morning everyone slept until around 8am. Pat & Rob took the boys to their first Magic Kingdom day around 9am. Bob went alone to Typhoon Lagoon for its opening at 10am (I don't have plus days on my AP, so no water park buddy for him!). I dragged the girls out of bed and off to Hollywood Studios at 9:30 am. We arrived and got fastpasses for Rock 'n Roller Coaster as it was already a 40 min. wait. They were for an hour from then, so we went on the Backlot Tour which killed about 35 min. I was trying to make sure Jamie saw as much as possible in the park that she hadn't so far when her and Brooke went alone.
We wanted fastpasses for Toy Story Mania (who doesn't! ), but my 11 a.m. the return time was 5:30-6:30, so we didn't bother as we wouldn't be there that late today. I promised the girls we'd do it another time since we still had a week to try.
Back to RNR we went with a nervous Jamie, especially after she saw the coaster take off while we stood in line inside. But, just like I predicted, she loved it. This is Brooke and I before going on.

I bought them each a frozen pink lemonade for their bravery (or mine), and left them to explore more on their own. Once back at the villa, Bob was already there having lunch. I made myself a sandwich and joined him on the deck. It was noon, and after I ate I quickly got changed and told him I'd meet him at the pool when he was ready - it was getting cloudy in the distance and I wanted some pool time while there was still sun. It spit rain for a minute, a few dark clouds passed while I read my book by the pool, but that was about it - I think it was too hot and humid to rain (about 91 F, but felt like 100). Bob soon joined me, we read, we tanned, we took a refreshing dip, dried in the sun, then I went back to the room to shower and watch my soap opera while Bob went to the workout room.
The girls were just getting off the bus as I got near our building. They wanted some pool time too, and then they were going to Epcot after supper since it was open until midnight for extra magic hours.
After supper, Bob and I went to Magic Kingdom for the evening. Pat and Rob had been there all day and said it wasn't busy at all - they had walked on everything. That was still the case for the evening. We went on Splash Mountain (walked right on), Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents (love the refurbishment), Buzz Lightyear, Laugh Floor, and then found our favourite spot for wishes. Bob went to the bakery to get himself an apple turnover and me a giant cookie for snacks before the fireworks.
We watched Wishes, never get tired of that. Then we waited for a few minutes to let the crowd thin - didn't take too long as it wasn't as packed as usual. Then we browsed in some gift shops on the way out to get some air conditioning on the way to the bus. We were back in our room a little after 10:30 (Wishes had been at 9pm). The girls got back right after us - they had watched Illuminations, went on Test Track and decided to come back.
Pat & family were already in bed after a long day in the sun.
We found out the space shuttle Discovery was launching at 11:59 pm when we turned on the news getting ready for bed. I got out our resort map and tried to figure out which direction we'd have to look to see it, and got a pretty good idea of where we could watch from our balcony. Then we tried to stay awake. Jamie lost the battle and was out cold. Brooke wandered around our room with her camera watching our tv and tried to stay awake for it. So at 11:59 we saw on tv when it launched, and then we raced out to the balcony. It didn't take long to figure out where to look - the sky lit up like sunrise, then we watched it become an orange blob, saw the boosters fall away, and then it continued up until it was an orange dot, then a white dot like a star. They were in orbit in 8 minutes as we watched - it was so amazing, and my pictures don't do it justice. Brooke got it on video on her digital camera. We were so lucky to see it, and all of us were glad we had stayed awake long enough.

Up next - we tour Kidani, and EMH at AK

 

[iluveeyore]

So hopefully I just have a lot of lurkers following as you are all a quiet bunch - if not, guess I'm just talking to myself.

But if you are following, here comes the next installment.

So we left home a week ago today for that horrible, not to be spoke of, long day at the airport. Time really does fly when you're having fun!

We awoke to a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. Pat and Rob were up and gone with the boys to Animal Kingdom. The rest of us slept in and got up around 8:45 am. Tonight is extra magic hours at AK until 8pm, so we thought we'd do that later and explore some resorts with the girls for the morning. Jamie has never been here, and I really wanted to show her how many different things there are to see and enjoy outside the parks.

We actually managed to get the girls out to the bus at 10:30 am - no easy task, let me tell you! Our first choice to see was the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Being DVC members, we wanted to visit the new Kidani Village, so we got on the AK bus from OKW and were going to transfer to the AKL bus at the park. On the way there, I suggested it might be a good idea to grab fastpasses for Everest for tonight since we would be at the park anyhow. Everyone agreed, so into AK we went. I remembered the general fastpass location set up by It's Tough to be A Bug, so we got our EE fastpasses there - this is so much easier than hiking all the way to Everest to get them! Since we werer already there, and the wait time was only 5 min., we took the girls to It's Tough to Be a Bug - Jamie had never been to this show, so we were excited to see what she'd think. She jumped and screamed in all the right places so we enjoyed both her discomfort and joy and we all had a good laugh with our bug eyes on!
Finally, we got on a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and got off at the Kidani stop to look around. I know it's smaller than Jambo house in the lobby area, but it's so homey and I love the theming (my house is decorated in African themes).

Here is a proverb in the library - I have the same one at home carved on a displayed stone that Pat actually gave me for my birthday two years ago! Mine says 'Good Friends Double the Joy and Divide the Pain', but same idea!

And here are the girls cooling off their feet in the pool.

We are planning to stay here with the whole family (16 of us) next Christmas, so now I can't wait!

Next, we took the bus to Magic Kingdom, then transferred to a bus of the Wilderness Lodge. She was amazed, as we always are, by the beauty of the lobby. We visited the gift shop, and I bought us all my favourite treat as lunch - Nestle Toll House Cookie Sandwich - no one complained! We ate them in the solitude of the Iron Spike room at the DVC section of the Lodge. Here are the girls playing chess while we relaxed. If I'd have brought my book, I likely would have spent the day here!

By now it was about 12:30 p.m., so we took a Magic Kingdom bus from there and got on the Old Key West bus, which was right beside the WL bus stop. It was a gorgeous day, but hot and humid - no rain in sight and about 93 degrees (felt like 103!). We opted for a late lunch/early supper back at the room around 3pm after some pool time. By 4:30 the four of us were entering Animal Kingdom for extra magic hours, and we actually ran into Pat & family leaving AK. They had a full and fun day there and were going back for dinner and a rest.

I took the girls on Everest while Bob went to wait in line for Kali River Rapids. The wait for Everest was 40 min., and the girls wanted to save their fastpasses for later near dark, so we used the single rider line that had no wait. (I know, shouldn't do that, but we got on quickly and filled in needed space since there was no one else waiting in single rider line).

Then the girls decided to go on Kali too - I'm not big on getting soaked, so I waited on the bridge by the exit with my camera to get them all on film. It was hot waiting, but that still did not inspire me to get wet. Bob and the girls got wet, but not soaked like I saw some other unfortunate souls - no one seemed to mind though in the heat. It was about a 40 min. wait, but they all enjoyed it. When the girls came off after Bob, we gave them our Everest fast passes and told them to go have fun without us. It's much easier in pairs to do what you want, and we'd been with them all day anyhow. So they happily took off to enjoy the park, and so did we. Bob let me ride Everest alone since we were going right by it (yes, I rode single rider line legally this time, all by myself!). Then we went on Dinosaur since there was no wait - literally walked right on except for having to watch the video first. Here we are, front row:

By now it was 6:30 p.m. and us old farts decided we'd had enough. We found out later that the girls were one of the last ones on Everest and had got to ride it at least 8 times in a row, so they had a blast.
Back at the room by 7pm, the rest of the gang was still lazing around the room. They were going to see Spectro Magic and Wishes at 9&10pm, so they headed out soon after we got back.

Bob & I made some hamburgers since we hadn't really eaten on a normal schedule today. We were going to go enjoy the fireworks too, but then just opted to relax in the room. I watched a movie on tv in the living room and Bob fell asleep in the master bedroom reading is book. The girls got back around 9:30 tired and happy, and watched tv with me once they were ready for bed. We all were asleep by 11pm.

Tomorrow - big surprise for the girls with just me!

 

[iluveeyore]

Busy day today, sorry no time for updates - off to bed but will post second week's fun tomorrow!

 

[iluveeyore]

I was very excited this morning - I had planned a surprise for the girls with just me, and couldn't wait to get them there. I had told them last night that we were going to Epcot for their surprise, and they absolutely had to be out the door by 8:45 am. Much to my amazement, we were actually out the door at 8:50 am, better than I thought! Unfortunately, we didn't get to Epcot until 9:40 am. We had been waiting out front for an Epcot bus for over 20 minutes, when one finally showed up. But then the driver proceeded to drive all over the resort Well, I told the girls at least we were in air conditioning instead of sitting at the hot bus stop. We got back to the front and saw Bob with Pat, Rob and boys waiting for their bus to Blizzard Beach. The girls were waving and pressing their faces up to the windows at the back of the bus to get their attention, but I knew they couldn't see them.
So off we went finally, arriving at Epcot on this gorgeous and warm morning. Epcot was pretty much empty even though it had been open for almost an hour. Jamie had never rode on Soarin' and Brooke didn't remember what it was like, so I suggested we get fastpasses to use for after their surprise. They wanted to ride it right then and there because the wait was only 10 min. (which I never see), but I only had 20 minutes to get them to their surprise, so we got our fastpasses and on we went.
I made them pick up the pace as we walked quickly through the rose garden on the path to Canada in the World Showcase. Brooke was confused because she was thinking I had a breakfast reservation but had let them have some toast earlier.
As soon as we went out the exit at the International Gateway, Jamie says, "Did we just leave Epcot" I made them haul tail over the bridge walkway to the Beach Club. We went inside to freshen up in the lobby bathroom, and then I checked the three of us in at Cape May for Goofy's Beach Club Character Breakfast

Brooke's like "I knew it!", and Jamie was clapping her hands in excitement when she saw the characters as we were taken to our seats. We ordered our beverages - the girls had chocolate milk, I had my tea, and we were also served orange juice. We saw Goofy, Donald & Minnie visiting other tables not too close to ours, so I knew we had plenty of time to get our first helping. I had never done a breakfast buffet before, so I was full of anticipation. The food here did not disappoint. Here's my first plate:

The bacon was really crispy, the way I love it - and let me just say, breakfast pizza rules!

Then we had a visitor - my 14 year olds turned into 4 year olds (I guess I did too!)

My second plate:

The fresh fruit and yogurt was wonderful. All the food was fresh, and warm if it needed to be. I loved the Mickey waffles and the pastries were yummy. The girls aren't huge eaters, but they had four helpings each.

More visitors - the characters were great, even with the older kids. Minnie signed Jamies autograph book for her, and we enjoyed it immensely.

The girls thanked me profusely when we were done, and held their stomachs as we browsed in the gift shop ("We're soooo fullllll!!!"). It was a great time, and we didn't feel rushed to eat and get out. I enjoyed about three cups of tea while we leisurely ate and waited for the characters. And we didn't wait in huge lines at the buffet while getting our food. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

We wandered back in to Epcot after that. I stopped in United Kingdom at the Twinings tea shop to get my earl grey tea since I was out of it back at the villa. We looked around in Canada at the gift shop since the girls had never been inside. Then off to use our Soarin' fastpasses. Both the girls loved it, but now it was a 50 min. wait, so they didn't love it enough to do stand-by for a second ride. After leaving the Land, I asked Brooke if she had taken Jamie to Club Cool yet. She said no, because it had been closed when they were there at night time. So of course we had to introduce her to Beverly! The girls were even more full after downing every kind of drink they had to try.

That was all they wanted to do for this morning, so we headed for the exit. On the way out, Jamie asked what the 'big golf ball' was for, so Brooke & I took her on Spaceship Earth with no wait. They especially enjoyed their pictures on the computer screen at the end. Back to the villa after that for a rest and maybe a late lunch if I could find room!

We all spent the afternoon at the pool. Jamie and Brooke actually played some tennis with Rob and Ryan, even in the sweltering heat. Bob went to do a workout, so I headed back to the room around 3pm. I had the whole villa to myself for about an hour, which is really nice. I had a shower, made chicken parm and pasta for our supper. We ended up not even having lunch since we were so full (Bob had lunch though).

Magic Kingdom was open until midnight tonight for extra magic hours, so that was our plan. Bob and I left at 6:30 pm and told the girls to meet us in Frontierland by 8pm, as I thought SpectroMagic was tonight. I had it written in my notebook that it was, but when we got to MK, I found out it wasn't. Live and learn to check show times after arrival, not before!
This is us when we got to MK:

And this is us waiting for the girls in Frontierland:

The story behind the rocking chairs: Back in 2005, we had visited WDW for Halloween with the five of us in our family (Me, Bob, 2 DS's and DD), and brought along my favourite Grandma (dad's mom), my Dad and his girlfriend (my Mom passed away 14 years ago). We had a wonderful time and Grandma was amazed by it all. She had been there when it was just Magic Kingdom when I was about 10, but couldn't believe how much it had grown. And she loved OKW. One night we were at MK for EMH, and Brooke, Dad's girlfriend and I were doing rides, but Bob and Grandma didn't feel up to it. We told them we'd meet them in Frontierland. So Bob found these rocking chairs and him and Grandma sat and rocked together on these chairs in the darkness and beauty of MK at night for about an hour. Grandma really wanted to find the soundtrack to Frontierland playing, cause she said she could have rocked and relaxed to that for hours longer.

So that's why Bob was so excited to find the exact same chairs available and why we sat in them for an hour people watching and waiting for the girls. Some parents that ran around after their young kids in and out of the gift shop we were beside actually voiced their jealousy at how relaxing and wonderful it looked to sit and rock for so long!

At about five to eight, the girls found us, showing up eating a funnel cake. I swear they tried every snack at every park during our vacation. Then they're like, where's all the crowds for Spectromagic??? Yes, Mom dropped the ball on that one

So since we were all together, we decided to drag them to a few attractions to make sure Brooke was showing Jamie everything possible on her first visit. We started with Philharmagic, which I feel is a 'must see'. We all enjoyed that, Jamie thought it was 'awesome'. After that, it was around 8:40 p.m. and people were starting to find spots for Wishes. We took the back way around to Tomorrowland and walked right on Buzz Lightyear. When we came out, Wishes had started, so then we walked right into the Laugh Floor. Very funny, and I like that parts of it are different every time.

At this point it was 9:30, so we set the girls free to enjoy the rest of the night without the old folks dragging them around. On our way out, we stopped at the Bakery - I got a huge, pink cupcake and Bob got his usual favourite apple turnover. We got them to go, so I had to drool over my container until we got home. Pat and Rob were just getting the boys into bed, so we ate our snack then joined them for a drink in the living room to catch up on our activities from that evening.

We hit the hay by 11:30 p.m. - the girls were home later after enjoying a full evening of no lines at MK until midnight.

Up next: golfing, a 'me time morning', and a very bad storm!!!