Fellas 40th Bday Treehouse Villa Trip!

[djmeen]

We shared a TreeHouse with some friends a couple years ago.

We had a BLAST going to a local grocery store and picking up some burgers, sausages, etc, and grilling out there right at the treehouse. The grill is right at the base of your stairs. ...My husband brought his guitar, and we had a great time sitting out on the deck.

...Just a thought. We're really looking forward to getting together to do it again, soon.

No one in the group plays guitar, but am sure we'll be singing! We ordered patties for burgers and some steaks so we intend to make full use of the little grill!

 

[TeresaNJ]

What an awesome wife you have! We just stayed at the THV last May, and everyone loved it. We were in villa 7034, on the 17th hole, I think, steps to the bus stop, and not even a minute's walk to the pool, not to mention right next to the walking path to Saratoga Springs. It was a great location. It was me, my husband, my brother, SIL, 20 yo nephew, and 23yo niece. The guys played golf a few days during our vacation, then had a mock awards ceremony right on the green our villa was on, awarding the "golden donut banana" to the golfer with the best score, which happened to be my nephew. The guys have done this every year for the last several, and newphew always wins. SIL found a plaid jacket at a thrift shop, I sewed golf patches all over it, and the winner has to have their pic taken wearing it and holding the trophy. It's hilarious. Have a wonderful time!

 

[djmeen]

TeresaNJ,

Seeing as how my wife's name is also Teresa, I have to officially now suspect this is some sort of same name sisterhood disney girls support network thing!

j/k - she is awesome and very aware how blessed I am for the trip and her!

Am digging the idea of an awards ceremony! We had planned on a "trophy" for the winner of the event and also planned on worst score for each round being responsible for cooking breakfast....the jacket sounds classic though.

I am really hoping we get a room near the pool and bus stop...but seriously, if my biggest complaint on any day is the location of a great hotel room at Disney, then I am simply being ungrateful!

Will share pics from this trip on this thread as well!

 

[ToddyLu]

Coronado Springs has a new cool bar called the Rix. They have a website and you can listen to the DJ mixes. My 40th was a couple of years ago---so go have a great time and HB !!

 

[toocherie]

I love resort-hopping and enjoying an adult beverage at the different lounges/pool bars. Some folks do the "Monorail Crawl" through CR, Poly and GF. Plus, it allows you to tour resorts you haven't seen yet.

I am going with a group of girlfriends in just over a month and we are doing the Monorail Crawl. and the Epcot "drink around the world."

Another vote for Raglan Road--my favorite place at DTD. They have Irish dancing and a great band! (but you need to go later--don't have dinner at 5 p.m.)

My other favorite place for dinner is the Turf Club right at SSR. I LOVE sitting out on the patio (if it's not too cold) and watching the boats pull in and out of the dock on the river. I've found the food to be very good (usually have steak) and the waitstaff is one of the best I've encountered at WDW.

Some friends and I stayed at THV in November and we loved it too!

Have a GREAT time.

 

[dvc at last !]

This is a great idea ...
... enjoy your trip !

Happy Birthday !

 

[TeresaNJ]

You can request villa 7034, although it won't be guaranteed, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Call and have it noted on your reservation. I also forgot to mention we were about a 2 minute walk to the boat dock to DTD. So, close to the pool, bus stop, walking path & boat dock. It truly is the perfect location. Too funny on your wife's name being Teresa, and spelled like mine! How many times does she have to correct people? Everyone always wants to put an H in it.

Here is our villa right next to the walking path to SSR.

A few pics from the "awards" ceremony!

 

[pkitty]

Hooray for the "Golden Doughnut Banana Award" ....I hope that the King's Speech wins it this year

 

[djmeen]

Teresa - thanks for sharing the pics! Love the award and the idea of a ceremony on the green.

As for location of the villa - looks like that spot is one of the best! Will request it as well (knowing requests are not guaranteed lol)

And yes - my wife is constantly having to tell people "no H" when they spell her name..

 

[WDWDad]

I always thought if I were down with a group of my buddies, one day after playing 18 and having a cocktail or two it would be fun to tour our way around the lake at Boardwalk, Y & BC, and the like. Big River Brewery would be a great dinner spot, while ESPN would be a great way for my buddies and I to do a little late afetrnoon sports round table. Ending up the night at Jellyrolls where a guy and his golf buddies can always have a great time.

Yea thats the ticket...... This will happen soon.

 

[djmeen]

I always thought if I were down with a group of my buddies, one day after playing 18 and having a cocktail or two it would be fun to tour our way around the lake at Boardwalk, Y & BC, and the like. Big River Brewery would be a great dinner spot, while ESPN would be a great way for my buddies and I to do a little late afetrnoon sports round table. Ending up the night at Jellyrolls where a guy and his golf buddies can always have a great time.

Yea thats the ticket...... This will happen soon.

Looks like I just got a blueprint for the afternoon we spend out by the Boardwalk! Excellent....this thing is coming together nicely. Thanks everyone for some great suggestions and for feeding into the excitement!

 

[Cee]

You have us all anticipating this trip as much as you are! You will probably not have enough time to achieve all the wonderful suggestions here, but if all goes well, you and your buddies might just make this an annual "tournament".

You will be there one week from today and we will all wait (somewhat) patiently for the trip report and pictures to come.

Have the time of your life..........

 

[dvcbrad]

You've got some great ideas in here! Me and three buddies of mine did a golf trip there and had a blast! We played LBV, Magnolia, Palm, Oak Trails and Osprey Ridge. I see Osprey is missing from your itinerary, but I'd highly recommend adding it if you have a chance to squeeze in another round.

I've had drinks & cigars outside at Sosa cigar bar - next to Raglan Road - and have to admit it's been one of the most fun places to sit outside, have drinks, smoke cigars and watch the crowds go by. I can't tell you how many guys looked at us with the look of 'why can't I be doing that'?! We had one really nice meal at Wolfgang Puck, the others were more normal. Someone in here recommended Jelly Roll's for after dinner one evening, too, which I second and highly recommend!

I'm envious of this trip just thinking of it. As you can tell by my avatar (I think that's what the pic is), I love golf, too, and that picture was from another guys golf outing ... which would take way too long to go into how much we loved THAT one! Have a blast and enjoy!

 

[csharpwv]

I thought sure that JellyRolls would be one of the first suggested - but it wasn't! Oh well - at least someone remembered the only dueling piano bar on property! HAHA

There are so many options at EPCOT - but if you really want to see Illuminations - make an ADR for Rose & Crown for around 8:15 - 8:30 and ask to be seated outside on the terrace.

We did that in December and it was FANTASTIC! One of the BEST views of Illuminations! AND - the view comes free with dinner! HAHA

If you guys like to fish, you might want to consider a fishing excursion out of one of the marinas. People say the bass fishing is best on Bay Lake. We have seen some REALLY large bass come out of Bay Lake around the dock area at Wilderness Lodge.

Have fun, and enjoy the trip! What an amazing birthday trip!

 

[TeresaNJ]

You have us all anticipating this trip as much as you are! You will probably not have enough time to achieve all the wonderful suggestions here, but if all goes well, you and your buddies might just make this an annual "tournament".

You will be there one week from today and we will all wait (somewhat) patiently for the trip report and pictures to come.

Have the time of your life..........

Ditto!

 

[djmeen]

Wow - some great vibes from the thread! Thanks so much all of ya'll for the replies and suggestions.

The groceries are ordered so Thursday we'll be doing up steaks on the grill at the THV! That and baked potatoes and roasted corn (with some nice Chilean wine one of my buddies is bringing with him from Chile - yeah, he's making the long trip to WDW!)

I'll definitely post some pics as it's a nice opportunity to catch a different side of Disney.

Alot of folks at work are surprised I'd even take a guys trip there thinking only of the parks! So will be nice to show another side of the place I love.

Outside of tee times, we don't have a single set time for anything....which is really appealing to me this time around!

Oh - and I'm starting to get almost daily texts from my buddies about this trip so the excitement is definitely building!

 

[djmeen]

Slight diversion....

Seems like a trip to Best Buy or the local Apple Store may be in order for the Friday that we're there for a certain iPad2 purchase...

Anyone know where those are related to SSR? We don't have a car so we'll need to cab it if we do this...just a quick run there and back to THV's before hitting Epcot I think will be the plan. And what's more of a guy thing than new electronic doodads?!?!?

Any advice on which store would be more convenient to get to?

 

[Mousewerks]

Slight diversion....

Seems like a trip to Best Buy or the local Apple Store may be in order for the Friday that we're there for a certain iPad2 purchase...

Anyone know where those are related to SSR? We don't have a car so we'll need to cab it if we do this...just a quick run there and back to THV's before hitting Epcot I think will be the plan. And what's more of a guy thing than new electronic doodads?!?!?

Any advice on which store would be more convenient to get to?

A quick search on Google Maps shows your best bet to be the Florida Mall. It has both a Best Buy and an Apple Store. It's up off Sand Lake Rd so yes, you'll need a cab to get there.

 

[csharpwv]

You might want to consider a one day car rental instead of paying cab fare - you can walk to the Hilton across from Downtown Disney and rent a Economy/Compact car for under $50.00 a day. The price is even better than that sometimes - you just have to watch various sites!

Cab fare can be $$$$$

 

[dvcbrad]

You might want to consider a one day car rental instead of paying cab fare - you can walk to the Hilton across from Downtown Disney and rent a Economy/Compact car for under $50.00 a day. The price is even better than that sometimes - you just have to watch various sites!

Cab fare can be $$$$$

I agree that a one-day rental may very well be less. Car rentals are also available at Dolphin/Swan, whic could tie right in with the Epcot visit.