Hey Everyone!
Greetings from.............New Jersey.
We just returned home, yesterday afternoon and we're in that "Re-entry Period", now, so it hasn't quite "hit" us yet that we are no longer "in the Disney Domain"..........I'm sure that it will hit us with a resounding "thud" by this evening (I KNOW that you all know what I'm talking about!
)!
Thanks so much again for all of your kind posts and thoughts! We had a great vacation! We really enjoyed staying at Port Orleans Riverside - it was really pretty, there, and very convenient to all of the parks! We stayed in the Alligator Bayou section, in a lodge that was very close to the main building. It was very quiet and serene and very comfortable! We had a chance to walk over to Magnolia Bend and to the French Quarter, as well, neither of which we had ever visited before - they were very nice!
Despite my disappointment about IASW being closed, we did lots of new things (for us!) - saw PhilharMagic (very cute!), FINALLY got to play "Millionaire" (though neither of us had fast enough fingers to get into the Hot Seat, despite Linda's very helpful tutelage on the previous evening.......but we did a pretty respectable job, I must say!), FINALLY got to see "Voyage of the Little Mermaid", and of course braved Test Track for the first time (I will post the photo in our Epcot album, today)! As for Mission: Space...........Frank immediately got a FastPass for it, as soon as we entered Epcot........but when he saw the model of the ride "vehicle" outside the attraction, he became very uncomfortable and felt that he might become very claustrophobic in such a narrow space. So he chose not to do it, this time around. Our CM friend Mike (Frank's "Thrill-Ride-Riding-Partner") was not able to join us on our Epcot day, and Frank said that had he been there, Mike would have been able to badger him into going on it! But that's OK - we did some other old favorites in Future World, instead - Journey Into Your Imagination, Spaceship Earth, The Living Seas, etc. (I can't believe that the whole Wonders of Life Pavilion is down for rehab indefinitely! First they take away Food Rocks, then that! I hope that they still have the life sciences represented in Future World, SOMEWHERE, when they're through with all of their remodeling!)
We also ate in some restaurants that we had never tried before. Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is just fantastic! The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was great - very much like the California Grill, one of our traditional favorites (we always try to have at least one "fancy night out", when we're there!). The entire AKL is amazing - we had never been there before! We also went to one of the restaurants in the Japan Pavilion in World Showcase, for the first time, and to Boatwright's at our hotel, which was very nice. We also did some old favorites - 'Ohana (with Linda and Tom!) and the Kona Cafe at the Poly, the Brown Derby at the Studios, and Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK.
We spent lots of time with our friends Mike and Danny, on property and off. Mike had taken off from Fantasmic during the time that we were there, but at the last minute was recruited by WDI to do the show lighting installation for the new Stitch attraction in the MK. So we saw him in the evenings and after he finished his half days of work, in the parks, and hung out with Danny (who is on disability leave from his job at the Contemporary) in the mean time. We also spent an evening at their new house in Davenport - it was neat to see what their new commute looks like and how close they are, geographically, to different parts of the WDW property. They're so lucky - they have actual palm trees growing in their yard........*SIGH*
We also got to spend some time with our Princess Pal, who is the daughter of a wonderful fellow DIS'er!
The Cruise was fantastic - we would definitely recommend it! I don't know how you all feel about vacationing on a ship, but it was a really nice "extension" of WDW and something new and different for us! (Plus, the land and sea packages can be done very affordably........well, "affordably" by WDW standards, that is!) I'm sure that you all would enjoy it! The ship was just gorgeous and had every ammenity imaginable, as I'm sure you would guess! The service was fantastic and the whole transportation back and forth from WDW and the airport as well as the customs / immigration processes were done unbelievably smoothly with absolutely no inconvenience to the guests - classic Disney organization! The restaurants and shows were wonderful and we had fun on Nassau and
Castaway Cay, too! And - just like they advertise - there are tons of programs for children, for teens, and for adults, separate areas of the ship for each, etc., which was really neat. We met many parents whose children loved the children's programs so much that they preferred to stay with those activities than spend the evenings with their parents - just like all the TV commercials and Travel Channel specials indicate! And there was lots of "magic" aboard, as well - from the time that we arrived on board (and a Crew member announced through a microphone "THE DISNEY WONDER WELCOMES ABOARD THE ROSSELLO FAMILY!" - and the attending crew members all applauded!) to the time when the ship pulled out of Port Canaveral and the Captain blasted the ship's horn (which plays the first seven notes of "When You Wish Upon a Star"!) and the Fab Five were dancing with the guests, to a live band, on the top deck, to the time when we left the ship yesterday morning and the Captain and all of his Officers were there to personally say "goodbye" to everyone - many magical moments!
Most of our pictures are up at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/lisaandfrankdisney2004 , if you'd like to see. I still need to scan in the WDW photos that I took with my "regular film camera". And since I took most of our cruise pictures with regular film, it will take me awhile to scan and upload them, as well. There are a few in the
DCL album now (I'm in the process of uploading as I write!), but many more to add! They should all be there by the end of the week!
Linda and Tom are still down there - we left a message for them on their hotel voice mail before we left for DCL. I hope that they are having a wonderful time!
And hope that you all had a great week, as well!
CONGRATULATIONS on your graduation, Emily!
That is fantastic! And so glad that you had a great time (I'm sure that you looked wonderful, too! AND very cool!
)! Please post pictures, if you can - we'd love to see them! And have a great time, counting down to WDW!
I think that I am going to combat the "Post-WDW-Blues"..........by popping over to the
Dreams Unlimited site and requesting some quotes for next year............!
Have a great day, Everyone!
Caroline
Really I am very glad you are having fun!!!
