Disney Barbie's TR.July'09-14 nights at the Yacht Club! updated 11/21 pg6 COMPLETE!

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

Would you believe we still havnt eaten in japan? Dying to try it and you look like you enjoyed it!!

Keep them coming! Your a long way to go! So exciting!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

I just love reading your updates!!! Such a lovely family!!! Glad you enjoyed yourselfs... Too funny that tink tried to get served at Rose & Crown, got to amdit, I think she had a valid point! I am so excited to try Teppen Edo for the 1st time in September!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Thank you for all your lovely comments so far!

Sorry it's taking me so long to get this TR on here... we don't seem to have had a weekend at home since being back (it's been a month since wdw already !)

here goes day 4....

Emma x

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 4 – golf for the boys, Epcot for the girls… then dinner with Cinderella, a Splash soaking, Spectro & Wishes.

Sunday July 12th 2009
Morning

This was the first day I’d planned as a ‘rest day’ i.e. not a full day at the parks.

DBFD was keen to play golf while in wdw, as it had been a popular part of the holidays to the caribbean for the boys.
I had booked them three tee rounds during the vacation, each at a different course – the first was at Magnolia.
The booking was at 10am, but I’d been told when booking they should be there 30mins before; Steve, DBFD & Gaston went to the lobby and requested their taxi to the golf course… they only had to wait a few minutes for their (free) taxi!
Here are some photos of the boys golf… they all really enjoyed it, I’d guess the Disney courses are the best any of them had ever played on. They said the CMs were so attentive and very professional – they cleaned golf clubs before & after the round,and there was a drinks cart that frequently came around the course.

The three of them were joined by a guy from Bradenton , Fl … as Disney tries to put people into groups of four when possible.

The golf buggies had GPS technology which Steve said was fantastic (showed you where other buggies were, if severe weather was on its way, etc!).. and at the first hole they had a ‘gator spectator’ !!!

(look to the left of the bird's head.. the gator!)

Now, for the girls… today had originally been Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique day for Cinderella at DTD, so thought we’d have gone there for some shopping, BBB, then back to the YC to get ready for dinner at CRT later on.
But as the BBB appointment had been cancelled… I asked the others what they’d like to do. This was quite new for us, as when the boys had gone to play golf in the caribbean , we had had no choice but to lie on the beach (and drink rum, like Captain Jack Sparrow!) But now we were in the World and had a hundred and one different things to choose from!
Tink suggested that we walk over to Epcot and go to the character spot in Futureworld – as she wanted to get lots of autographs, but the boys were not keen on stopping & queueing while we were in the parks.
This turned out to be a nice idea, we spent a few hours in Epcot without going on the ‘E ticket’ attractions (didn’t think the boys would forgive us for going on Soarin’ etc without them!).

Walking through an empty UK pavillion to FW...

First to meet the Fab 5… (again I was so glad to have prepurchased the Photopass cd.. we got so many photos taken here!)

Donald was particularly cute here, at one point he was stood alone & just started dancing to the background music!


Quick side note… DBFM, Belle & Tink seemed keen to meet characters, but they always had to mention some crazy story about them really being small humans dressed in costumes?! And kept saying things like “oh I bet it’s hot inside that costume” and “that could be a girl inside the Mickey costume” !
Ok ok, I’m 24 and not a child… but when I see Mickey in wdw… to me, that is Mickey Mouse! Disney is about imagination & make believe.. I didn’t see why they had to keep on & on about it being ‘someone dressed in a costume’ .. why spoil it? I worried that a child might over hear them and get really upset. And if they are that aware of it being a CM in a costume, why the fuss about getting autographs and photos? (I’d only had an autograph book the first time I went …aged 8!)
Right.. rant over!

Next I suggested we went to Club Cool in Innoventions… I just had to try the Beverley again (couldn’t decide if I liked it last trip!) and encouraged the others to try them…

I suggested we did some attractions that the boys (particularly DBFD) wouldn’t be bothered about doing (the ‘kids’ rides!) so we headed over to the Living Seas… there was no wait for Nemo & Friends; the others hadn’t done this and liked it – when we got out of our clam-mobile, Tink asked me “where are we?” .. she had no idea about the pavillions in FW! Next we did Turtle Talk which was wonderful and cute.

Belle said we should go for a walk around the countries.. but as it was only 10.30am I said we’d have to wait til 11 (they didn’t know about the split opening times at Epcot!)
So we headed to Journey into Imagination – again, no wait. I actually quite like this attraction & it’s a shame it’s not as popular as it used to be.

We went in Mousegear next – this is such a fantastic store! I adore all Disney merchandise, the range is amazing – and IMO it’s such good quality too
I bought the ‘4 parks 1 World’ cd & decided I needed some new jewellery for dinner at CRT! So I got a rainbow colored mickey bracelet & a silver necklace with a hidden mickey on the pendant.

By then it was after 11am so we walked to World Showcase, starting in Canada … we went in the shops there, they hadn’t realised before that the countries in WSC were more than just buildings!

They checked out the menu for Le Cellier (we would be eating there on Tuesday), I would’ve liked to do O Canada but thought we could leave that til another day when we were all together (which turned out not to happen… we missed sooo much out in Epcot! ).
We strolled through the UK , then to France – where we stopped for lunch at the bakery… I’d heard great things about this place & it didn’t disappoint! I had a vegetable quiche, the others had ham & cheese sandwiches.
We continued our walk around the world, stopping in the shops along the way.

Tink spotted Aladdin & Jasmine in Morocco & had to stop for a photo!

She got a huge crush on Aladdin, she had her nails painted blue & he said they were the same color as the genie, and he called her Princess! ..

Jasmine got a little jealous I think..

Near Germany , we stopped to sit on a bench & a Photopass CM took our picture….

I think she usually took pictures of Snow White at the meet & greet area, but SW had gone for a quick break to see the Dwarfs

We sat on the bench for quite a while as the other three all had aching feet… they had all bought the same flipflops .. £3 ($5) a pair from Asda, our Walmart, and had really bad blisters already… none of them had brought trainers or other walking shoes either.
(I’d done some research into wdw footwear on the DIS and purchased some Haivainna flipflops, they were fantastic & I didn’t get a single blister all vacation)

The wait time for Maelstrom was 30minutes, so we decided to leave it… and went to Mexico to ride the Three Caballeros boat ride (no wait) – Tink, Belle & DBFM didn’t realise that Mexico was inside the pyramid, so were really impressed with the market place & evening setting!

By now it was just after 1pm and their feet were really hurting… so we left Epcot and went back to they YC.
We went to Storm Along Bay for an hour or so, until the boys returned from their golf.

 

[disneybarbie]

Evening
We got ready and left at 4.30pm (ADR was at 5.45pm and there was no way I wanted to be late for CRT!)
The rain was quite heavy this afternoon.. in fact when we got to MK we waited under the bus stop for about 10minutes until it started to ease!

I decided to put on my poncho… I’d straightened my hair & had a nice outfit on, and didn’t want to get soaked on our way to the castle!
This resulted in a ‘minus point’ from DBFD – but I didn’t mind, I was dry! Plus he should’ve been pleased because I let him & Gaston use my HSM umbrella!!

As we entered MK, I passed a fellow DISer, Mindy, but unfortunately I didn’t see her & she couldn’t stop because of the weather.. sorry Mindy!
We walked through the Emporium to get to the hub.. by then the rain was easing.
I checked in & then we went into the waiting area downstairs to meet Cinderella. Steve & his Dad hung back, not wanting a photo with her, but I told them they had to as it was part of the dinner package! I’m glad they did as we got a lovely group photo. Gaston loved Cindy!! (i'll post these photos once we've scanned them)

The mice watching Cinderella..

We only waited 2 minutes before we were called… so upstairs we went and into the beautiful restaurant!

CRT seems to have the most varied reviews of any wdw restaurant; I was a little nervous about it especially as Steve & I had paid for it in advance, our treat for everyone else!
I didn’t have to worry though, we had a great server called Gina, she didn’t rush us – and gave us each a wand or sword!

The table was decorated with castle confetti, and we could see Fantasyland from the beautiful stained-glass windows.

The food was delicious & I thought there was a good choice, everyone found something they wanted.
I had the castle salad, the salmon – and then the chocolate buckle…

The show during dinner was cute, the Fairy Godmother did a speech & asked what people were celebrating, and two girl mice ran around the tables, stopping for photos.

After the meal, we walked over to Tomorrowland and sat down….

Waiting for the Endeavour shuttle launch… !
It would’ve been great to catch a glimpse of it from here..

Other guests were sat waiting too… then a guy told Gaston it had been cancelled, again!
So we decided to go on Buzz Lightyear and then Stitch’s Great Escape in Tomorrowland.
We had an hour to go until Spectromagic.. so there was a group decision to go on.. Splash Mountain . Usually a favourite of mine; however, not when it’s evening time & we’re all dressed up for dinner… especially DBFM who was wearing a full-length dress …
And, inevitably, we got soaked on that bit where you get splashed from the raft that is going down the 5-storey drop!
I put my poncho on so I was ok…. But others weren’t as lucky! DBFD had to go buy a new tshirt, he was that wet through! And DBFM was soaked, and wasn’t happy about it.

We found a spot in Frontierland to watch Spectromagic.. right up against the rope.. it was about 8.45pm – (one lady asked me what everyone was stood waiting for?!)
We saw a really rude woman shout at a CM, there was no need for it – he was so polite too.
DBFM & Tink had words about something, which ended up with DBFM announcing she was going back to the hotel !!!
DBFD managed to convince her not to… luckily.

By now it was getting dark, so I put on my light-up princess tiara! This resulted in a second ‘minus point’ for me because DBFD thought it looked silly… I didn’t care though… a little girl stood next to me told me she liked it too!
Spectro doesn’t get to FL until about 9.20pm – but it was worth the wait, it’s wonderful! There were more floats than I remembered seeing last October. The Queen of Hearts flirted with Gaston as she walked past!

We walked to the hub and waited for Wishes at 10pm… the area was packed solid – it didn’t help that people were sitting down on the floor?!

DBFD asks Steve where he could buy a beer from….. uh oh. Steve explained that there was no alcohol in the MK, just as Walt wanted … DBFD didn’t like this , and seemed really unimpressed with it?! This was decided to be a ‘silly’ rule by Gaston & DBFD.. personally I think it’s lovely that Disney maintain the tradition.. you don’t need to have beer to have a good time anyway!?!
So they had to wait until they got back to the hotel for a drink. I thought it was shame they had to make a big deal out of it – I’m sure I’d already told them that MK was a ‘dry’ park.

The Wishes show was beautiful, it’s DBFM’s favourite and she cheered up by the time it ended, I’m so glad she didn’t storm back to the hotel before!

It was EMH in MK that night, we were all a little tired but decided to avoid the post-Wishes rush to leave and wandered over to Adventureland and rode POTC…
We saw some guests outside the ride who we didn’t think were staying at a Disney resort.. and they were trying to convince the CM that they’d left their room keys back at the hotel.. ?!

Back to the YC for a night’s sleep, before heading to Hollywood tomorrow!

Emma xxx

 

[Mindy5767]

I'm so glad you're doing such a detailed report. I really regret not calling after you. I knew it was you. I was struck at how much taller you are than me. I was just so soaking wet. I couldn't have been more wet if I'd jumped in a swimming pool. I didn't think I'd make a great first impression. I was sure if I ran into you once, I would again. Why did I think that? Especially with all those Bazillions. Of course, all these thought went through my head in a split second because we were rushing out as you were rushing in.

I never did convince my MIL and niece to do Pirates of the Caribbean. She thought it was probably "silly" and DD7 said she was scared of the pirate. I love Spectro Magic. Nothing puts me in a upbeat mood and cheers me up like the Spectro Magic music. I wish I had it on CD. I did buy a CD of classic Disney tunes. I'll have to double check and see if its on there. I don't remember. DD21 quickly spirited it away and loaded it onto her ipod. I love Wishes too. Its my favorite fireworks show.

I must say, I am surprised at CRT. I have never done that, and I pictured it more of a white table cloth, china an silver type of experience. It seems more Balmoral than Kensington Palace. royal analogy from a yank!! Looking forward to reading on..

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 5 – Hollywood here we come… twice in one day?!

Morning

Today we left the YC at 8.30am and strolled over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
I love the walkway from Crescent Lake to DHS – it takes about 15-20mins.
We waited a little while at the turnstiles and then waited on Hollywood Boulevard for the opening ceremony.

DBFD asked us “right.. do we want to ride Rock n Roller Coaster or ToT first?” …. It’s been 3 years since the family last went to wdw & knew very little about any of the new attractions… so Steve had to say to him “no Dad, we HAVE to go to Toy Story Midway Mania first, otherwise we’ll not get on it today!”
So after the fun opening show, we walked (!) around the hat, down past the Little Mermaid show & into Pixar Place.

The line looked huge already… but luckily that queue was actually for the FPs!!
So we got in the line.. the standby entrance already said 40mins… but we didn’t wait longer than 5 minutes.. it was actually hard to get photos of the cool queue through the toys!

I rode alone (problem of having a group of 7!) but it was pretty good because I had loads to shoot at & got a really high score!
TSMM turned out to be a big hit with the family… so once we finished riding we went to get a FP – the line had now disappeared.

Next we headed over to Sunset Boulevard to get the other two E attractions done… we rode RnRC & ToT.

While waiting in line for ToT, DBFM commented how badly the walls were painted in the hotel gardens…. Lol!! As soon as she’d said it, she realised that it was probably meant to look like that.. we commented on the crumbling plasterwork and cobwebs throughout the queue after that though!!

We stopped for breakfast at Starring Rolls Café, this is a great spot for breakfast, lots of tables & a lovely choice of bagels, pastries, fruit & yoghurt.
Just as we were finishing eating.. we heard something… it started quietly, I realised it was a drum beat to a song.. hmm, what was it… as it got louder, I started to recognise the music…. It was ‘Now or Never’ from High School Musical 3! Suddenly we could see the parade float moving towards the Sorcerer’s Hat… I was so excited that I leapt out my seat and moved closer to the hat to watch the start of the show.

The rest of the family are not as into HSM as me
After a few minutes, everyone had finished their food & we headed back to TSMM to use our FPs.

Next we headed to the Backlot Tour… we’d been in line for a few minutes when a CM walked down to us and asked if anyone would like to star in the show!
Steve & I had actually already participated in the show a few years ago, so we declined.. but Gaston & Tink were brave and said they would!
The rest of us got to move to the front of the queue area and stand in the front row, so that we’d get the best view of our two new ‘movie stars’!

The rest of the tour was good, I really like going through the costuming & scene painting depts.
Steve took a lot of photos, as usual!!

Bone cage from POTC2

Walt's private plane

Catastrophe Canyon

Davey Jones' church organ from POTC 2 & 3

Next up was the Muppets 3D show… I love this so much, even the pre-show area is great!

We wandered around the Streets of America area and had a photopass picture taken

We decided to get a FP for ToT (you might have guessed that this was one of the favourite rides in all of wdw for the group!)

By then it was 1pm, so we headed over to the 50s Prime Time Diner, for our lunchtime ADR.

I was really looking forward to this meal – I’d never eaten here before but had heard great reviews about it online and also from my parents & sister.
We had a good waitress, she was really in character – but the rest of the party didn’t really ‘get’ the humour and weren’t playing along.

At first we were sat on two tables, not quite next to each other – there was a table between us, but there were dirty plates left on it from the last diners.
A server walked by and I asked if Gaston, Steve & I could move onto the table, he said “sure, let me get you a tray and you guys can tidy those dirty plates up!” … I thought it was funny, but as the others weren’t really getting the theme of the restaurant, just thought he was being rude!! …. Same when our waitress gave us a basket of cutlery and told the youngest to set the table.
I really enjoyed the food… it was simple American classics but really well cooked and presented. I tried Meatloaf for the first time! I even ate all my vegetables too I also had a Mowie Wowie cocktail.. it came with a color-changing souvenir ice cube, it made the drink so pretty!!

After lunch we did the Animation Tour, and then walked back to ToT to use our FPs..

then decided the park was getting a bit busy, so we’d head back to the YC.
Just as we left, we caught the beginning of the Bloc Party Bash

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 5 continued - afternoon

After a brief stop at the YC – the others decided they wanted to drive over to Orlando Prime Outlets mall. I wasn’t too bothered to be honest, I wasn’t planning on buying anything (only Disney merchandise this trip!) but Steve wanted to go.
We were there for a couple of hours, it was quite a nice place but I’ve been to the Ellenton prime outlets near Bradenton and think I preferred that one.
Steve got some Timberland boots for $60 (they are at least £100 in England!), and a few sports tops. We were finished shopping within an hour, so we sat in the food court with a bud light while the others finished their shopping!

We headed back to the YC at 7pm, had a quick shower & changed…. And the ‘group’ decision for the evening was to….. go BACK to DHS for evening EMH!!!
I was a bit surprised, ok – ToT is good fun & a bit spookier at night, but to go there twice in one day? It didn’t really make sense to me, I’d rather have had a relaxing evening around the BW or wander into World Showcase for a bite to eat and watch Illuminations… but in a group of 7, you kinda have to go with the flow!!
I was concerned we were doing too much too soon (we did still have 9 days of vacation left after all), and thought that if Cinderella had been with us, there was no way we could’ve been doing all this with a 4 year old in tow!

First we had something to eat on Sunset Boulevard, I had a chicken Caesar salad – it was really nice & there was so much of it! The others had mini pizzas, burgers & turkey legs.

We rode ToT and then RnRC –

the others started to walk over to TSMM, but Steve & I decided we were tired and walked back to the YC together.
Belle & Gaston had a photopass picture taken…

apparently the TSMM line was still 70 minutes, so the others left the park fairly soon after we did.


Coming up tomorrow…. Leaving wdw to go to that ‘other’ theme park resort in Orlando… felt like I’d cheated on Mickey!!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Great update and I love the pictures! We loved TSMM, too. I was sad that we didn't make it to 50s PTC on this trip so it's back on my "to do" list for next time. We didn't ever make it to the outlets, so I'm hoping we can do that on our weekend trip in October...at least to the Disney outlet stores!

 

[onelilspark]

Subbing! I'm really liking your trip report

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Great update!!! My aunt and uncle have a winter home in Bradenton Fl!!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 6 – Islands of Adventure… the dinner at Le Cellier & some Future World.

Morning – venturing out of the World
Today was originally planned to be Typhoon Lagoon.. I’d thought we’d want a quieter day, not in the parks by now.
However, DBFD DBFM Gaston, Belle & Tink were eager to get to Universal Orlando .. so, Steve and I had to follow the group!

We met just after 8am and headed to the YC car park where ‘the beast’ rental car was parked! We drove out of wdw (I hate going out under that gateway!!) and after a 30 minute drive, we’d arrived at the Universal Orlando Resort.

I have mixed feeling about UO… I can remember visiting Universal Studios on my first trip to Orlando in 1993, so I like that park for the nostalgia.. and IoA has some amazing rides… but there’s something ‘missing’… I can’t put my finger on what it is, but – unlike Disney – I feel that UO has no ‘soul’ ?? it’s just the little things that Disney does that UO neglects that makes the overall experience not as magical or fun… IMO
For the rest of the party, they couldn’t wait to get to IoA and get on some ‘proper’ rides, as they called them.
First off.. I’m really not a fan of the multi storey car park and endless travelators to City Walk, and then to the parks.. it seems to take forever!!
We finally got to IoA just after 9am, so were straight through the turnstiles.. before we even got to a ride, DBFD was at a ticket stand BUYING fast passes for the day!! I couldn’t believe that UO charged for FPs!! $33 per person… x 7 adults …
First we went to Spiderman, this is a very clever ride and I quite enjoy it… I can see why it cost Universal $500 million to build it, it’s so advanced!
Then we headed back to the Hulk (btw we couldn’t even use the FP we’d bought yet as they can only be used after 10am!! You get one ride on each attraction, and only in one UO park) and queued for nearly 30 mins… the roller coaster is good but I knocked my head on the restraint and had a bit of a headache for the next hour lol.
Next to Toon Lagoon to ride Popeye & Dudley Doo Right water rides.
Now.. I got wet on Kali River Rapids in AK… but this was nothing compared to the wet factor of the IoA water rides!! We might as well have jumped in a pool.. we were all soaked through!!
Tink & Belle… (btw the matching outfits were not planned!!)

I actually didn’t take my camera to IoA because of the water rides there.. I wrapped my bag in a poncho to protect it and even then it still felt damp?!
Steve did have his camera but didn’t take many photos at all.
Next we went to Jurassic Park area, we stopped for lunch… my opinion of UO got worse here, as my chicken salad had nuts on it!! (I’m allergic.. and there was nothing on the menu about the dish having nuts!) – I joked that Universal was trying to kill off the Disney fan
I didn’t really enjoy my meal as I had to check every forkful of food didn’t have any nuts on it.

We decided to do the third water ride, Jurassic Park, as we were all still pretty damp!
Next we went to the Duelling Dragons rollercoaster.. the park was getting busier by now so we used our FP for the coasters.
We rode both fire & ice … they are very good rollercoasters but I don’t like that you can see ‘back stage’ of the parks when you’re up there?!
We headed back to Marvel section to do Spiderman, Hulk, Doctor Doom & Storm waltzer, all with our FP cards.
Everyone else wanted to do Dudley Doo Right & Jurassic Park again (Popeye had broken down), but I was still wet from 3 hours earlier, so decided not to go on them.. I wear contact lenses and the spray from those rides had got in my eyes too! I sat people watching and bought an apple to eat.. I noticed at UO a lot more places serving beer than at WDW, guess it’s their link to Busch Gardens?

We left IoA at around 3pm, Gaston wanted to go get a souvenir glass from the Hard Rock Café (something he collects), while he went there Tink, Steve & I waited by the bridge to City Walk.

Afternoon
After the long walk (!) back to the car, and the drive back… we were back under the beautiful gateway to WDW! (which was being painted!)

We spent a couple of hours in our rooms, I spoke to my parents & sister back in England.
There was a wedding being set up right outside our rooms in the pavilion…
They had a solo violinist playing Disney love songs, it was beautiful! We left the door to our balcony open so we could here the music.

At 5.30pm we met up and walked over to Epcot, on our way to dinner at Le Cellier in Canada.

I thought the others might have liked to go on the attraction ‘O Canada’, but there wasn’t much enthusiasm lol.. so we went straight to the restaurant. We waited about 10 minutes, while we waited the CMs did Disney trivia! If you got a question right, they gave you a mickey sticker…. Tink, Gaston & I all won a prize!

We had a lovely waitress from Montreal.. she liked it when we said ‘merci’ and told us lots about French-Canadian culture
The meal was spectacular.. I was so excited to get this ADR, steve and I had tried on each trip together to go to Le Cellier but I’d never managed to get a reservation
We shared the appetiser sampler, then I had the pork chop… steve had the salmon for entree & for dessert he had the maple crème brulee, I tried a little of it and it was delicious.

Side Note…
This happened at pretty much every meal for the entire vacation, and it became quite frustrating and annoying..
In England, the custom is to tip 10% of the check, and only if you’ve had a good meal experience. Of course, in the USA this is different – and I thought it was pretty well known that tipping is 15-20% of the check?!
As there were 7 of us in the party – we had 18% automatically added to our checks, at most wdw restaurants.
DBFD & M were NOT happy with this.. they didn’t see it as a tip for the servers, but an 18% addition to the check.
Quite early in the vacation, I’d explained this to the family – that it’s different to England, that 18% was the norm & it was a decent tip.
However… Every. Single. Meal. They had to moan about the tip!!
Not to sound rude.. but they are pretty comfortable, financially, so I was surprised and a little embarrassed that the tipping became (another) reason to complain about wdw?!

Anyway! After dinner, we wandered over to Futureworld.. the others wanted to ride Soarin’ but the line was over an hour, so instead we did Living with the Land.. new for everyone but Steve & I… all of us grow fruit & vegetables in our gardens back at home so we all enjoyed the attraction.

Next we headed to Spaceship Earth,

there was no wait at all… I love this ride, it’s such an Epcot classic, even after the update! Gaston & Belle sent their ‘future’ video to Gaston’s parents by email after the ride.

While Illuminations was on we wandered back to International Gateway and the Yacht Club.

Ready for a good night’s sleep and FINALLY a proper rest day!!

Emma x x

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Can't wait to hear about the rest day. Our In Laws sound very similar!!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Wednesday 15th July 2009 – Typhoon Lagoon, Fantasia Garden & dinner at the Captain’s Grille.
Today we finally have a rest day!! This was what I had actually planned for yesterday.. but the others’ ‘need’ to get to IoA had just got too much for them lol.

We met just after 8.30am in the corridor and headed to the bus stop – in no time at all the DTD/TL bus had arrived.
I love that the Typhoon Lagoon buses play ‘Surfin USA’ ‘Wipe Out’ etc on the way to the water park!

So we get to the park, straight through the turnstiles & Steve and I lead the way to the locker rental area… we turn around to ask the others how many lockers we needed to rent…. And all I can see is their looooong faces; they all looked so miserable?!
None of them had been to a Disney water park before – but they’d been to some in Europe (which just do not compare IMO!!), so DBFM & Belle had already decided they were NOT going to enjoy themselves today. Not even give TL a chance?!

So just Steve & I got a locker… the others said they didn’t need one (?!) were just going to have all their stuff at the sunbeds… ok….
We found some good sunbeds close to the wave pool. Steve said ‘ok, shall we do the family raft ride first?’ – oh but no… the others can’t, they won’t leave their bags unattended by the sunbeds… !!
So Steve, TInk & I headed off (I needed to get away from the sad faces & negativity – I just couldn’t understand why they’d come to TL if they weren’t going to have a good time? Or at least give it a try?!”)

First we did the group raft ride… it was so much fun – Tink was definitely in the spirit of things & loved it!
I really like that there’s photopass at the waterparks – photos you usually wouldn’t get yourself.

Next we went in the wave pool for a bit – the waves are amazing – we swam in pretty deep! I love that where ever you are in TL you can here each wave go “vrrrm” and then the inevitable scream from everyone who’s in the pool!
Then we went on the Crush & Gushers – we got a ring that fitted all three of us – we went on two of the slides (the third one is for twos only). The slides are fantastic, they go up as well as down, and you really fly around!!

We decided we needed to ‘relax’ a bit so we got in the creek around the edge of the park – so peaceful!
We had been nearly all the way around… when who did we see on the sidewalk – Gaston & DBFM, headed to rent some lockers…. Finally!!!

Pretty soon all seven of us were in the creek, we went all the way around.
Tink encouraged everyone to head back to the Crush & Gusher slides… everyone enjoyed them – although both Belle & DBFM (the two who ‘don’t like water parks’!) both fell out the rings when they got to the splash pool!!

Gaston, Steve, Tink, DBFM & I all went in the wave pool for some more waves.
Steve and I went to get some lunch – we went to Typhoon Tilly’s – I had a chicken wrap & lemonade. When we got back to the sun loungers, the others went off for their lunch – Steve & I sunbathed for a while.
By then it was just after 1pm and getting pretty hot – so we got our stuff together and headed out of the park.

Back at the YC – the group decision was to head to (their favourite ‘theme park’)… Walmart!
We were only there about an hour, luckily!
We got some drinks & snacks for our rooms… and I got some gossip magazines (They are soo much better than the ones we get in England!)
Soon we were back in the World … and decided to go try out… miniature golf!

Fantasia Gardens was a great idea as it was walking distance from the resort!
I’d never played mini golf at wdw so I was excited to see another area of the World… and it didn’t disappoint!

We walked around the lake to the Swan & Dolphin, then crossed the road to FG.
It cost around $11 each (including a souvenir golf ball when you finish playing) – there was a choice of two courses, we went for the ‘fun’ one today!
The boys played in a three (more competitive!) and the girls played in a four.
First to pick a color golf ball…

There are 18 holes and each was really well designed.

There is a little poem at each hole to describe it…

There were clips of the Fantasia soundtrack playing all the way around the course – and it’s very close to DHS and ToT ...

We all enjoyed the game – I can’t remember who won but it certainly wasn’t me – I lost my ball on the 17th hole, into the water… I was under pressure as all of my party were watching me, plus some guests who had caught up behind me!!

We looked up to the sky to try see the shuttle launch – it did go up, finally! But unfortunately we missed it as there was a lot of cloud in the sky.

In the evening, we didn’t have to go very far for dinner as I’d made a reservation at the YC Captain’s Grille (because I’d thought we’d have been out of the World at IoA today!) – so we spent time relaxing in our rooms, then met at the Crew Cup Lounge for drinks before dinner.
The bar has a window into the Yachtsman Steakhouse’s Butcher!

Shot of the YC lobby.

We had a lovely meal – the menu was simple but everyone found something they liked – there was a three course set menu for $28 which was excellent value.
I had clam chowder (same as at the Cape May Café mmmm!), crab lump cakes & then key lime pie..

Everyone agreed they’d had a really nice day at wdw without going into the theme parks (they seemed surprised there was so much else to do!!)

After dinner, we spent some time in the resort arcade…

Steve & I headed back to our room… and were greeted by a flashing red light on our phone – “You have a magical gift! Please come to guest services!” … ooohh what could it be?!

So we went down to the lobby – and they tell me a gift basket has been delivered for us!!
However – it has alcohol in it, so Steve had to go back to the room to get his ID!
While he’s away I chatted to the CM about WDW & how much I loved everything about it – I said it was the best place in the whole wide world, and he was so thankful, saying he knew the CMs were doing their job if that’s how people felt about WDW!
So Steve got back with his ID… and we were given THIS!!

From my sister!! She is sooo amazing!!

It contained a signed photo from Mickey & Minnie, glass champagne flutes, a bottle of Moet Champagne, Lindt D'or chocolates, Ghiradelli chocolate bars, biscuits & a light-up tinkerbell clip... all in a mickey-shaped wicker basket! (which, of course, I had to bring back home in my suitcase!!)


Tomorrow…. Soarin’ over California, Mission to outer space & Testing a car…. !

 

[gemmybear83]

Awww great day! Loved your mini gold course photos were planning on trying that course out. We loved Wintersummerland on our last trip!

Love all your disneyflorist gifts I have ordered one for DF as a surprise

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Sounds like two wonderful days! I haven't been to Universal Studios yet, although we're thinking about going next month...I'm wondering if it will just seem like a "let down" after the magic of WDW? And I don't like thrill rides, so I'm not sure I'll enjoy it.

We loved Typhoon Lagoon -- especially Crush 'n Gusher! The family raft ride was fun, but the one at Blizzard Beach is better (much longer).

Your meals sound wonderful, too (except for the nuts -- sorry about that!).

Great TR!

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 8 – Epcot… Florida Mall…. Then dinner at the pub!
Thursday July 16th 2009
Today we left the Yacht Club just after 8.30am and took a leisurely stroll over to Epcot – through international gateway turnstiles and down towards Futureworld.. we waited for a mini ‘rope drop’ near the rose garden to the left of the fountains/innoventions .. we could hear the main opening ceremony going on (I really love the ‘Celebrate You’ theme song for this year! It is the most played song on my iTunes lol!!) and soon the CM holding the rope stepped aside, and we joined the masses heading to The Land pavilion!

We more or less walked straight onto Soarin’ .. there was a bit of a delay as there was a guy (I’d guess in his 30s) having to be convinced by 4 CMs that the ride wasn’t scary and he was going to be fine! He was so nervous about it, he kept walking out of the pre-show & back to the front of the queue, asking the CMs for reassurance it wasn’t a rollercoaster?! Bless.
We rode the attraction, got the front row which was great!
Next over to the other side of FW – got a FP for Test Track & rode Mission Space.

DBFM suddenly became very anxious about the ride (she has ridden it before & is a big thrill-seeker ride, ie loves IoA way more than wdw parks ) … but she was getting worried about the warnings for claustrophobia. She was brave though and we all rode the orange ‘intense’ version!
Next to Test Track… this was good, except when our car was on the outside portion of the track… it suddenly stopped! We were on quite an angle too, it was quite funny.. luckily we were only there for about a minute, then the car started suddenly again – we didn’t make it up to top speeds of 65 mph though!!
Tink wanted her Dad to try the sodas at Club Cool, so we headed over there next.. I tried Beverley for a third time & decided I think I might like it… !
Just outside Club Cool..

We looked around Mousegear for a while, and by then it was just after 11am, so we decided to head over to World Showcase.
DBFD suggested we stroll around anticlockwise, ending up in Mexico for lunch at the Cantina (the one place he’d requested we ate at when I was booking ADRs… lol – I told him I didn’t think we’d need a ressie for a counter service )

However… Tink declares that she is NOT walking all the way around WSC again, her feet hurt far too much … DBFD gets mad at her, so instead.. we just go straight to Mexico, rode '3 Caballeros' attraction (DBFD didn’t realize the Mexico pavilion was inside the pyramid either)

and then we had an early lunch!!
I had the taco salad which was ‘deliciosa’! I hadn’t eaten at the Cantina before (although had several meals at San Angel Inn mmmm!) and I was quite impressed with the location & my salad.

DBFM didn’t like the look of anything on the menu so she didn’t eat.. instead, when we walked back to International Gateway she & DBFD went to the bakery in France so she could get a ham & cheese sandwich.
The rest of us were going to walk back to the YC.. but there was a Friendship waiting at the dock, so we were lazy and got the boat back! (it was pretty hot right then lol)

For the afternoon, the others wanted to do more shopping, so we went to the Florida Mall (I wish I could’ve stayed in Epcot all day instead!!) – Steve & I went off separately, we didn’t want to buy anything, but Steve decided he’d like a donut.. so we walked around the whole place, including the food court, and couldn’t find a single place selling donuts!! We went in starbucks instead and had a skinny latte (me) and a large vanilla bean frappuccino with cream (steve) !!

Met the others and drove back to the YC.
We got back around 5.30pm – I spoke to my sister on the phone, then got ready and headed back to Epcot for dinner!

We went straight to the Rose & Crown and were given a buzzer – I’d chosen this restaurant for tonight as it was halfway through the vacation, and when I’d been on vacation with Steve’s family before they’d usually started craving ‘normal’ home foods by now… so I thought a meal in the UK pavilion was a good idea!

We got a drink from the stand outside the restaurant, I had a cider (unusual for me!) but I quite liked it, it was very sweet! Soon we were seated inside the pub, our server was called Lauren & was from Liverpool. She told us it was her first night working tables and she was on the international college programme (something I dreamed about doing aged 18!!).

We were seated on two tables, next to each other, but DBFM wasn’t happy … I said we could ask to wait for one big table.. but then she decided it was actually ok, as we could ask for two separate checks and not have to pay the 18% tip that they all hated paying so much.
I was pretty embarrassed by this, they’d made such a big deal about the tipping already… I felt really sorry for our server (particularly as she was English, like us!) because she only got a 10% tip from our table of 7 that night.
APART from that, I really enjoyed the restaurant!!! I had the lamb ‘two ways’ (roast cutlets & in a shepherd’s pie), Steve had the sausages & mash – the others all had fish & chips, which Steve pointed out – they could’ve just ordered from the counter service outside ?! We all enjoyed the food but the fish&chips portsions were apparently 'too big'.

Tink was really interested in the college programme that our waitress was doing, and said she’d love to do it.. to which Gaston said, “why? I can’t think of anything worse” … which got me really upset – the whole family just didn’t ‘get’ Disney and they just seemed to be moaning about every aspect of wdw so far…

When we watched Illuminations later that night, I’m sad to say I had a few tears in my eyes because I had wanted them all to enjoy wdw - at least a fraction of how much I love it.. but it just didn’t seem to be happening.
I decided during the ‘We Go On’ finale that I just had to enjoy being in wdw, and stop worrying about whether the others were enjoying themselves!
It felt quite selfish, but I’d looked forward to this vacation for months, and there was no point feeling down just because the others were moaning about so many trivial little things.
Some photos of the beautiful Illuminations (we got to watch it from the R&C's private viewing area)..

After the fireworks, we walked back to the YC – DBFD was keen to go back to the arcade, Steve & I stayed for a bit, he played a few games of air hockey with Belle (I can’t say I really enjoy arcade games to be honest! ) … then we went back to our room.

Tomorrow…. Leaving wdw again to that ‘other’ Orlando resort!!

 

[onelilspark]

I think you need to go back on a trip with your boyfriend, just the two of you

 

[jenbear123]

"When life gets you down, you know what ya gotta do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" Oh how I love Dory from Finding Nemo

Sorry to hear you were with a bunch of lumpy grumps I hope they perk up at that other Orlando resort theme park... but we both know that WDW is just SO much better!!!!

 

[Mindy5767]

Wednesday 15th July 2009 – Typhoon Lagoon, Fantasia Garden & dinner at the Captain’s Grille.
So Steve got back with his ID… and we were given THIS!!

From my sister!! She is sooo amazing!!

It contained a signed photo from Mickey & Minnie, glass champagne flutes, a bottle of Moet Champagne, Lindt D'or chocolates, Ghiradelli chocolate bars, biscuits & a light-up tinkerbell clip... all in a mickey-shaped wicker basket! (which, of course, I had to bring back home in my suitcase!!)


Tomorrow…. Soarin’ over California, Mission to outer space & Testing a car…. !

That sounds and looks the THE perfect gift basket!! At least for me! I love Moet & Chandon! Its a one of the best champagnes. Lindt and Ghirardelli are my #1 favorite chocolates too!!

One of my favorite Disney memories is from April 2007 when my sister and I took my youngest and her son (5 and 10 at the time) to WDW ourselves. We had a wonderful Surf & Turf meal at R&C (original meal plan) and timed it perfectly to watch illuminations as we ate our dessert. We had a lakeside outdoor table (thought it was a bit chilly).

What you do with those Gerty Glooms is you fill them up with gin & tonics!!