DrTomorrow
Your Disney friend from the Future!<br><font color
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- Apr 11, 2003
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Day 2 ( Thur 6/1 ): Horsing Around -or- SSR, The Incredible Expanding Resort
Greetings!
We slept in a little at BCV (as late as 8AM!), and MrsT sat out on the balcony with some coffee - one of her favorite DVC morning activities. ANNOYANCE ALERT: Mousekeeping knocked on the door at 8:18AM!!! We were already awake, but found this totally unneccesary - check-out time isn't until 11AM, and knocking almost 3 hours before that is simply wrong. We were ready to head over to SSR to check into our 1BR; MrsT said "a Studio is fine, but a 1BR is pure luxury." We took our suitcases out to the car - a helpful CM guided us to the short-cut by the DVC pool - then returned to take some photos and walk around the place in the morning. Once again I appreciated the beauty of BCV - a great design, gracefully done. Got pictures with bronze Ariel and some of the common rooms (Breezeway?) then said a fond farewell to the Beach Club Villas.
SSR beckoned, but our stomachs claimed a higher priorty, so off to DTD for a quick meal at McDonalds. If this disappoints you, well, it disappoints me - or it used to. I know it is near-heresy to say this, but we just don't appreciate dining at WDW. We try to get it - honest we do - but every time we try a nice TS restaurant, we find out that while the theming is nice, the food is unexceptional and over-priced. We're not foodies - we don't go out that much at home - so it's not that we have high expectations; but from Spoodles at BW to Germany at WS to AP at SSR to Narcoosee's at GF, we always leave thinking "that wasn't worth it". The only exception used to be our dear 'Ohana' at the PR, but then they went and changed the menu. Anyways, you'll read very little about our dining, and what you will read will be less than thrilling.
So, eggs & sausage & pancakes & hash browns & biscuits & OJ at DTD McDs. Then we wandered around a little - not much was open; WoD just opened at 9:30, so we browsed around, got the antenna toppers we always forget to buy, then we got a SERIOUS LESSON IN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES. I don't know if many of you have seen the new Bibbity Bobbity Boutique at the WoD store, but if you haven't you simply must. This area is set up like a beauty parlor, with multiple alcoves, each with a chair in the center. This place takes innocent young girls and transforms them into Disney (tm) Princesses, complete with dress, hair-style, make-up, tiara - and for the older girls, the phone numbers of several eligible Disney (tm) Princes - for what I am sure is a price in the hundreds of dollars. I'm a guy, and our only child was a son, so I confess - this place gave me the creeps. I had the vague feeling that I was in a cheesy sci-fi movie (Westworld, perhaps) and was watching the assembly of androids. Start with the princess body & dress, attach the head, spray on the make-up, staple on the tiara, blow on the glitter, press the "ON" button, send her off to the parade area and NEXT.... Of course, MrsT was one smitten kitten. "Oh, aren't they darling?" "My, she looks so sweet!" "I just can't wait until we have grand-daughters". I made one comment about how much fun Disney stuff we could buy a DGD for $100-200 that would last longer than the first rainstorm, but I got that look; hey, I've been married a long time, so I decided not to fight that battle until the situation presents itself. In all fairness, they did have a neat Pirate shop, with skulls and swords and eyepatches and such, but no equivalent area where a 9 year old boy comes in with shorts and a T-shirt and leaves looking like Capt Jack Sparrow.
So, we arrived at the Carriage House at SSR at 10AM - construction is very obvious on the way in, you can see the new pool area quite clearly; yes, this place is gonna be big. As we walked up to the CH, even though we didn't have any luggage in our hands, a Bellman said to let them know if we needed any help with our luggage - maybe someone got the word that Bell Services was a little too inconspicuous. We walked up to the front desk and met CM Abigail, one of the CMs I'm going to compliment in a letter to Disney. She had two other CMs with her, both with "Earning my Ears" ribbons (this was to be seen throughout our trip - the summer CP students were just being integrated). Usually this is a good sign, as someone who is a trainer is up-to-speed - in this case, it was quite true. First, a big "Welcome Home" (which we also got from the SSR Guard) then the typey-typey. Abigail showed the others each screen and where the important stuff was, confirming our address and so on. Then she said "Your only request was NS, correct?" I said yes, then she said "Are there any other requests you'd like to make?" First time I've ever heard that - I assume that she wanted to show the others how to handle multiple requests. I said that a DTD view would be nice; she then asked "Any floor preference?" and I said "higher is better", so she brought up some screens and proceeded to explain to the trainees how to tell what rooms met the criteria. We ended up with room 1334 (3rd floor) in the CP building closest to DTD - the view turned out to be great, most of PI and all of West End. Check-in was perfect - it went promptly and quickly yet we got the full attention of the CM, and we never felt rushed or that we were a 'bother'. Right as we left the CH a ME bus pulled in and disgourged about 15 people; I'm glad that we missed that back-up. Oh, before we went back to the car, we said our first hello to DVCeeBiscuit - that is a beautiful work of art. So much detail in the horse and jockey - DVCB's going to give Ariel a 'run for the money' when it comes to DVC mascots.
We got to our room and it was in typically (for us) great shape, no bugs, beds made, etc. We (and by we I mean MrsT) quickly unpacked (we're nesting types, so unpacking is a good thing) and made a quick trip to Winn-Dixie for food. We picked up stuff for breakfast (donuts, coffee cake) and lunch (deli meat, bread, mustard), fruit, snackies and beverages to last 5 nights - spent $48 (we have a W-D card) which would be about one WDW dinner ::hee::. We made it from the car to the room in one trip - including a 24-pack of water bottles and a 12-pack of Sprite - MrsT is one strong woman (I carried a lot, too - sheesh!). Kitchen was well stocked - we noticed a cutting board (is this new?) and a cheese grater (!?!).
After all this it was break time, so we kicked back, read a bit, had lunch, napped a little then got ready for the night. A quick dinner at Taco Bell (see, how boring) then off to EPCOT for a EMH night. We got there at around 7PM - our lesson from the night before was confirmed: EMH-PM is not a good thing to do. The park was very, very crowded. SE was up and down (yeah, I know that's how the ride goes, I mean it was working then not-working) and lines were long everywhere. We got a M:S FastPass, then wandered over to Club Cool to watch Beverly work her magic (to be honest, I'm starting to actually like that stuff!), a chat with a DVC Kiosk CM - very friendly, no news but we got stickers - then off to use the M:S FP. We really didn't need to - Orange (more intense) was 20 min, Green (less) was 5 - but we already had them and walked right on to Orange. We got two teen girls in our group; they'd never done M:S and were nervous that they'd chosen poorly by going more intense. We, how should I put this, well, we didn't help their nerves any, talking about 'protein spills' and 'g-forces'. They were also worried about what would happen if they didn't hit their button on-time, so we finally reassured them. The ride was great and they enjoyed it, too. We then did a Postcard from Space to DS, and for the first time did that group contest-thingie (our team won!). We did notice that a woman who was doing a PfS before we did was still sending them 15 minutes later after we did the game. Lots of friends?
Soarin and TT were still busy, and Ill was soon, so we did Norway and Mexico and headed back to check out Soarin after Ill. No good, too many resort guests due to EMH-PM. We saw Circle of Life, then wandered over and did HISTA for the first time in years - like Indy, it was more fun than I remembered, then finally rode SE, a walk-on. Hot and tired, we headed back to SSR for a good night's sleep in our King-sized bed.
Stay tuned - more to come!
Greetings!
We slept in a little at BCV (as late as 8AM!), and MrsT sat out on the balcony with some coffee - one of her favorite DVC morning activities. ANNOYANCE ALERT: Mousekeeping knocked on the door at 8:18AM!!! We were already awake, but found this totally unneccesary - check-out time isn't until 11AM, and knocking almost 3 hours before that is simply wrong. We were ready to head over to SSR to check into our 1BR; MrsT said "a Studio is fine, but a 1BR is pure luxury." We took our suitcases out to the car - a helpful CM guided us to the short-cut by the DVC pool - then returned to take some photos and walk around the place in the morning. Once again I appreciated the beauty of BCV - a great design, gracefully done. Got pictures with bronze Ariel and some of the common rooms (Breezeway?) then said a fond farewell to the Beach Club Villas.
SSR beckoned, but our stomachs claimed a higher priorty, so off to DTD for a quick meal at McDonalds. If this disappoints you, well, it disappoints me - or it used to. I know it is near-heresy to say this, but we just don't appreciate dining at WDW. We try to get it - honest we do - but every time we try a nice TS restaurant, we find out that while the theming is nice, the food is unexceptional and over-priced. We're not foodies - we don't go out that much at home - so it's not that we have high expectations; but from Spoodles at BW to Germany at WS to AP at SSR to Narcoosee's at GF, we always leave thinking "that wasn't worth it". The only exception used to be our dear 'Ohana' at the PR, but then they went and changed the menu. Anyways, you'll read very little about our dining, and what you will read will be less than thrilling.
So, eggs & sausage & pancakes & hash browns & biscuits & OJ at DTD McDs. Then we wandered around a little - not much was open; WoD just opened at 9:30, so we browsed around, got the antenna toppers we always forget to buy, then we got a SERIOUS LESSON IN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES. I don't know if many of you have seen the new Bibbity Bobbity Boutique at the WoD store, but if you haven't you simply must. This area is set up like a beauty parlor, with multiple alcoves, each with a chair in the center. This place takes innocent young girls and transforms them into Disney (tm) Princesses, complete with dress, hair-style, make-up, tiara - and for the older girls, the phone numbers of several eligible Disney (tm) Princes - for what I am sure is a price in the hundreds of dollars. I'm a guy, and our only child was a son, so I confess - this place gave me the creeps. I had the vague feeling that I was in a cheesy sci-fi movie (Westworld, perhaps) and was watching the assembly of androids. Start with the princess body & dress, attach the head, spray on the make-up, staple on the tiara, blow on the glitter, press the "ON" button, send her off to the parade area and NEXT.... Of course, MrsT was one smitten kitten. "Oh, aren't they darling?" "My, she looks so sweet!" "I just can't wait until we have grand-daughters". I made one comment about how much fun Disney stuff we could buy a DGD for $100-200 that would last longer than the first rainstorm, but I got that look; hey, I've been married a long time, so I decided not to fight that battle until the situation presents itself. In all fairness, they did have a neat Pirate shop, with skulls and swords and eyepatches and such, but no equivalent area where a 9 year old boy comes in with shorts and a T-shirt and leaves looking like Capt Jack Sparrow.
So, we arrived at the Carriage House at SSR at 10AM - construction is very obvious on the way in, you can see the new pool area quite clearly; yes, this place is gonna be big. As we walked up to the CH, even though we didn't have any luggage in our hands, a Bellman said to let them know if we needed any help with our luggage - maybe someone got the word that Bell Services was a little too inconspicuous. We walked up to the front desk and met CM Abigail, one of the CMs I'm going to compliment in a letter to Disney. She had two other CMs with her, both with "Earning my Ears" ribbons (this was to be seen throughout our trip - the summer CP students were just being integrated). Usually this is a good sign, as someone who is a trainer is up-to-speed - in this case, it was quite true. First, a big "Welcome Home" (which we also got from the SSR Guard) then the typey-typey. Abigail showed the others each screen and where the important stuff was, confirming our address and so on. Then she said "Your only request was NS, correct?" I said yes, then she said "Are there any other requests you'd like to make?" First time I've ever heard that - I assume that she wanted to show the others how to handle multiple requests. I said that a DTD view would be nice; she then asked "Any floor preference?" and I said "higher is better", so she brought up some screens and proceeded to explain to the trainees how to tell what rooms met the criteria. We ended up with room 1334 (3rd floor) in the CP building closest to DTD - the view turned out to be great, most of PI and all of West End. Check-in was perfect - it went promptly and quickly yet we got the full attention of the CM, and we never felt rushed or that we were a 'bother'. Right as we left the CH a ME bus pulled in and disgourged about 15 people; I'm glad that we missed that back-up. Oh, before we went back to the car, we said our first hello to DVCeeBiscuit - that is a beautiful work of art. So much detail in the horse and jockey - DVCB's going to give Ariel a 'run for the money' when it comes to DVC mascots.
We got to our room and it was in typically (for us) great shape, no bugs, beds made, etc. We (and by we I mean MrsT) quickly unpacked (we're nesting types, so unpacking is a good thing) and made a quick trip to Winn-Dixie for food. We picked up stuff for breakfast (donuts, coffee cake) and lunch (deli meat, bread, mustard), fruit, snackies and beverages to last 5 nights - spent $48 (we have a W-D card) which would be about one WDW dinner ::hee::. We made it from the car to the room in one trip - including a 24-pack of water bottles and a 12-pack of Sprite - MrsT is one strong woman (I carried a lot, too - sheesh!). Kitchen was well stocked - we noticed a cutting board (is this new?) and a cheese grater (!?!).
After all this it was break time, so we kicked back, read a bit, had lunch, napped a little then got ready for the night. A quick dinner at Taco Bell (see, how boring) then off to EPCOT for a EMH night. We got there at around 7PM - our lesson from the night before was confirmed: EMH-PM is not a good thing to do. The park was very, very crowded. SE was up and down (yeah, I know that's how the ride goes, I mean it was working then not-working) and lines were long everywhere. We got a M:S FastPass, then wandered over to Club Cool to watch Beverly work her magic (to be honest, I'm starting to actually like that stuff!), a chat with a DVC Kiosk CM - very friendly, no news but we got stickers - then off to use the M:S FP. We really didn't need to - Orange (more intense) was 20 min, Green (less) was 5 - but we already had them and walked right on to Orange. We got two teen girls in our group; they'd never done M:S and were nervous that they'd chosen poorly by going more intense. We, how should I put this, well, we didn't help their nerves any, talking about 'protein spills' and 'g-forces'. They were also worried about what would happen if they didn't hit their button on-time, so we finally reassured them. The ride was great and they enjoyed it, too. We then did a Postcard from Space to DS, and for the first time did that group contest-thingie (our team won!). We did notice that a woman who was doing a PfS before we did was still sending them 15 minutes later after we did the game. Lots of friends?
Soarin and TT were still busy, and Ill was soon, so we did Norway and Mexico and headed back to check out Soarin after Ill. No good, too many resort guests due to EMH-PM. We saw Circle of Life, then wandered over and did HISTA for the first time in years - like Indy, it was more fun than I remembered, then finally rode SE, a walk-on. Hot and tired, we headed back to SSR for a good night's sleep in our King-sized bed.
Stay tuned - more to come!
No need to justify your dining choice. 
) and by the time we got there, waited for seats, ate and then paid, it was 2 Hours!
. 
He's almost past the pirate stage lol)
