Did I mention she's my mother?

[kvogel11202]

Ok, well I suppose the best place to start is the beginning. This trip started out as a girls weekend to the Food and Wine Festival with my cousin (also my best friend). Unfortunately she had been in a train accident, and two years later is still unable to to really get around. As a last minute substitution my mother decided to come with me.

This would be our first trip alone. We were flying Southwest out of Manchester NH, as it's generally less expensive than flying out of Boston. My dad drove us up there on Thursday, our flight was at 8:40, landing in Orlando at 11:30. We checked our bags and the woman in front of us told the gentleman her name..it was the same as my mother and I.....so naturally my mother took this as an opportunity to tell them all about our mother daughter weekend. We then headed indoors to have a bite to eat at the restaurant before going though security. We lingered a bit and had an extra martini getting ready for our flight. We were in A group so didn't feel the need to stand in line, but as we approached our gate they were starting to board. We were off. The people behind us walking onto the plane got to hear all about the mother daughter weekend trip.

Upon our arrival in Orlando we got our luggage and lugged it to the Magical Express departure. After a brief wait on the bus we headed out to drop passengers off....I beleive we went to the CBR, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach. It was very quiet in the lobby (it was 12:30 by this time) however somehow I managed to get stuck in a line!! It wasn't long before we were greeted by a second cast member and all checked in. We had been "upgraded" to a water view room. I had gotten a standard view room awith an AP disc. We grabbed our bags, and exhausted headed to room 2515. And we walked, and we walked. And we walked some more. Pretty sure we passed Sir Edmund Hillary on the way. We were overlooking the quiet pool, but had a standing room only balcony. Really, what is the point? It had been a long day so we quickly got into bed.

Tomorrow: Cape May Cafe, Downtown Disney, MNSSHP

 

[kvogel11202]

I forgot to mention that last night when checking in my mother managed SOMEHOW in a totally baren lobby to find three more people to tell about our girls weekend. Unbelievable. I think she's a little excited. I woke up at my usual 7 am..... but this trip no kids to feed. I did have to trek to the lobby for some cream to have coffee. We had brought our own Dunkin Doughnuts coffee to start our day. My mother sleeping soundly I snuck quietly out. The walk wasn't quite as bad this morning now that I wasn't totally exhausted. It was really loud in the lobby, as compared to the Yacht Club. But it was happy noise, so that's OK. Once I got back to the room I made some coffee and sat back to watch a little TV. Mom slept for about another half hour, but woke up just as I went topour myself a second cup of coffee. Being the good daughter I am I made her a cup too. We had ADR's for 9:30 at the Cape May Cafe. I've never eaten here as my dad dislikes buffets intensly. When we got ourselves up and dressed we noticed the tub was very slow draining. Oh well, not going to worry about it now. Upon our arival in the lobby it was even more noisy and full of families. They had a able set up for kids to make towel animals...it was very cute. I checked us in at the podium, while my mother went to set up a tour of the DVC units. She and my father had purchsed points at SSR over Memorial Day and she wanted me to see the units, also we wanted to check out the AKV since my dad really wanted to buy there, now he can add points on. Once our buzzer went off we were seated, our waiter came right over and took our drink order. I went to the buffet to find my favorite breakfast food at Disney, the Mickey waffle. I can't get enough of these. Took some fruit to throw anyone who might be keeping score off track! My mother had fruit and some eggs. We aren't super huge eaters so it was only one trip, but we filled our plates. It was fun to make my mom pose with the characters, they were giving her kisses and hugs! After breakfast we went out to meet the van to take us on our tour. At the vacation Club center we met up with........oh gosh, I can't remeber her name. You'l have to forgive me becasue I am not getting up to go look for it. I think maybe it was Barbara? Well, she was very nice. We walked over to the units, looked all around. I lOVED the Grand Villa. We are gonna have to add some serious points!!! Upon our departure we decide to head to the AKL to look around and maybe grab a drink at the bar. I'd seen the front of the resort when we dropped off for the ME but the inside was beautiful. We wandered around a bit peeking at the savannah and watching the giraffes. We got a little lost looking for the bar, but I guess that's because we were looking for an OPEN bar. Bummer!!!! Well, we know where we can find a drink, Raglan Road. Off to Downtown Disney we go. Because the bus depot at teh Marketplace was being rehabbed, we got dropped off by Planet Hollywood. It was a little bit hot, very humid! Luckily the good folks at RR had nice cold pints waiting for us! We indulged in the scallop forest appetizer, boy it was tasty. The lime dipping sauce was excellent. We wandered around DD for a while, purchsed some Christmas gifts, then headed back the resort. The plan was to pick up sandwiches at the Marketplace tehn head up to the room for some rest time before MNSSHP tonight. We got our sandwiches and got in line, purchasing dessert at well. At the register a very nice woman inquired as to whether or not she could buy us lunch....yup, extra Quick Service meals from the dining plan. WooHoo- free lunch! Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were given a gift certificate for touring the DVC units. That we were saving to use on dinner at the Yachtsman Saturday night. So we hike back to the room, eat our sandwiches and take some naps. I love naps. They are a rarity for me. The Tavern was a ZOO! We hid our camera, we already had pics from last year and didn't want the characters to linger- is that weird? I enjoy the LTT vry much, I know there are those who don't care for the food, but oh well, can't please everybody. I really don't have a lot to report about the party- we decided to go to the late parade and ride some rides. We did get to see the new Haunted Mansion, twice in fact! It was absolutely fantastic. I love the whole new section, and to be able to hear the Ghost Host so clearly now, it was a little fuzzy last time we rode. I got each of the kids a special pin from the party. This was a must for my darling pin collectors. We got a dole whip and settled into a location for Hallowishes. As usual it's great. We went to Tomorrow Land and rode Space Mountain with no wait. We staked out spots on Main St for the parade and waited. After the parade we went back to the hotel, mixed up a couple martinis and hung out. A nice day, not a lot of planning, but that works when it's 2 adults! Oh, and our count for people who know this was a mother/daughter weekend? 7 - 2 waitresses, waiter, 3 bus drivers, person next to us on the bus

Up next - Animal Kingdom, Yachtsman Steakhouse