Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
- Messages
- 6,851
Ooooh, I'm on a roll now! Look at me, three updates in less than 24 hours! 
I wouldn't get too excited b/c this is the post where I give you very little photos and far too much talk! 
So, we had checked in, changed into our suits and were headed down for some food and sun! When I was planning, I thought we would do Beaches & Cream for lunch on this day. THEN I found out they had changed to having ADR's for B&C.
I get that they were having too many walkups, but with the cancellation policy I just refused to make a reservation for what I consider a CS meal and then get charged if we were late or stressed if we spent too long at DHS and weren't going to make it. I figured I would take my chances. Well, I guess my luck was out, we walked up and they told us they weren't taking ANY walkups and wouldn't have anything for a few HOURS. 
I was ok with that (until a bit later...remember this) and headed to my Plan B, Hurricane Hanna's, poolside! We had to wind our way around Stormalong Bay to get to it, it felt a bit like a maze with all the stairs going over the pool (OUCHY on my knees that were still sore) but we did make it! A little issue with our meal being given to someone else and having to wait twice as long but finally we were seated and eating a nice lunch...with the birds.
So the birds were crazy-begging, and the ducks were manageable, but the seagulls were swooping down and trying to divebomb people! The guy who checks room keys by the pool entrance was using a broom to shoo them away. We thought it was amusing but I'm sure if you have a fear of birds it might not be!
We were finished with our lunch and I was SO ready to enjoy this pool! We headed back into the pool area and walked...and climbed stairs (again, OUCH!!!) and searched...
and couldn't find a seat. It was 1-2ish in the afternoon on a Tuesday in February, but all the seats were taken. The layout was really confusing so I kept walking in circles trying to get to other areas, I felt like I was in a maze. We did finally find 3 seats and the girls took off to explore. I sat down to relax, I think I ordered a drink? I don't remember! I do remember falling asleep for about 30 minutes. Nice!
and guess what? I didn't bring my camera down and didn't take any photos with my phone?? I must have been delirious! When I woke, I sat trying to enjoy the pool but realized that this was not really my kind of pool. I know, right?!?!
I think I like a more relaxing pool and in my mind I had thought it would be like AKL pool (do we see a theme here with me comparing everything to AKL???) This felt like a waterpark. Really loud, really busy, crowded, and not very relaxing. 
The girls came back and sat in the sun, they had fun exploring the pool and enjoyed it! Yay! I was worried I might burn since I had fallen asleep, and I thought I would let them hang out by the pool while I went up and called for our luggage, so that's where I headed. Back to the room and a phone call later they were at the door with our bags in 5 minutes! I don't even know how they could get to the room that fast, but they did!
About that time, the girls called and said they wanted ICE CREAM. Your wish is my command! I grabbed the camera this time (don't get too excited, I think I was still delirious b/c I took very few photos still!) and headed back down. I thought since they were so busy, we would just do the take-away counter at Beaches & Cream. When we walked in to order, this is what I saw:
Do you notice anything strange??? How about how there are NO PEOPLE??? Now I know it had been maybe a lapse of 2 hours (tops) since I had walked up trying to get in, but they had told me it would be at least three and acted like they were slammed. I found it interesting how empty it was. Just sayin'.
No matter, we really wanted to sit outside by the pool anyway, so we ordered and sat out at the tables right outside B&C. OH MY YUMMY!!!!!! It was so.good. Meet my brownie sundae:
The girls got rootbeer floats, which they liked, but they both tried the brownie and wanted more of it! It was tasty! Here is Savannah finishing it! BTW, my hope is that she has no idea about this TR b/c she would kill me for posting this picture. I didn't post it on FB because she didn't like it, but since I have so few photos to show you this update, you get to see it.
It was such a gorgeous afternoon and we just sat and enjoyed watching everyone at the pool and chatted. We talked a little about the "vibe" at Beach Club...
Ready for a bit of a ramble?
I grew up pretty wealthy. My father was an attorney and we lived in a very affluent area of St. Louis. I went to a private school until Jr. high and basically had a silver spoon in my mouth but didn't know it. The reason I didn't know it is because my father had not come from money and my parents were pretty down to earth. In fact, I think I spent a lot of my teen years telling them I should have things b/c "everyone else did!" that I was surrounded by. They just didn't value stuff or status the way everyone else seemed to in our area. We went on vacations all the time, ate out, and I had everything I needed, but they did try to keep me grounded.
Why am I telling you this? There's a point, I promise!
So, it colored the way I saw things. When I grew up and got married, suddenly I was thrown into the real world and didn't have money anymore. My husband didn't have a college degree and we struggled. It made me possibly a bit bitter but definitely gave me a chip on my shoulder about wealth. I found the older I got, the less I liked the people I grew up around and the more I realized that it all felt contrived and fake to me. I grew up around people who found value in THINGS, STATUS, and Names...and I just could not understand why that mattered more than kindness, thoughtfulness, and being real.
Ha! You didn't realize I was going to tell you my whole theory on my psychoanalyzed childhood and theory of wealth, did you?!?!
In any case...geez...
I sometimes get uncomfortable around what I perceive as "stuffiness" and I felt some of that at Beach Club. It's mostly my own perception, obviously, but the girls felt it as well. They were not as comfortable at Beach Club as they were at Pop and I agreed. When I went down to the pool, I wrapped a towel around myself and realized walking down that it just felt inappropriate to walk to the pool there like that. At Pop I wouldn't have given it a second thought. It didn't keep me from enjoying Beach Club, not at all...but this is what I do, I psychoanalyze stuff. It's just how my brain works (or doesn't work!)
What's interesting to me is that I didn't feel this AT ALL at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Yep, there I go comparing again! So I don't think it's just a "deluxe" issue but more of the vibe that each resort gives.
Shew! I punish you with no photos and overly talking! Poor you!
After we finished our yummy ice cream we headed back to the room and moseyed through the Breezeway and through the quiet pool to get there. I really like this area, it's lovely.
We relaxed a bit before we got ready to WALK TO EPCOT!!!!!!!
I can tell you right now, it was the most fabulous thing to just walk to Epcot. I LOVED it!
I wouldn't get too excited b/c this is the post where I give you very little photos and far too much talk! So, we had checked in, changed into our suits and were headed down for some food and sun! When I was planning, I thought we would do Beaches & Cream for lunch on this day. THEN I found out they had changed to having ADR's for B&C.
I get that they were having too many walkups, but with the cancellation policy I just refused to make a reservation for what I consider a CS meal and then get charged if we were late or stressed if we spent too long at DHS and weren't going to make it. I figured I would take my chances. Well, I guess my luck was out, we walked up and they told us they weren't taking ANY walkups and wouldn't have anything for a few HOURS. I was ok with that (until a bit later...remember this) and headed to my Plan B, Hurricane Hanna's, poolside! We had to wind our way around Stormalong Bay to get to it, it felt a bit like a maze with all the stairs going over the pool (OUCHY on my knees that were still sore) but we did make it! A little issue with our meal being given to someone else and having to wait twice as long but finally we were seated and eating a nice lunch...with the birds.
So the birds were crazy-begging, and the ducks were manageable, but the seagulls were swooping down and trying to divebomb people! The guy who checks room keys by the pool entrance was using a broom to shoo them away. We thought it was amusing but I'm sure if you have a fear of birds it might not be!
We were finished with our lunch and I was SO ready to enjoy this pool! We headed back into the pool area and walked...and climbed stairs (again, OUCH!!!) and searched...
and couldn't find a seat.
It was 1-2ish in the afternoon on a Tuesday in February, but all the seats were taken. The layout was really confusing so I kept walking in circles trying to get to other areas, I felt like I was in a maze. We did finally find 3 seats and the girls took off to explore. I sat down to relax, I think I ordered a drink? I don't remember! I do remember falling asleep for about 30 minutes. Nice! and guess what? I didn't bring my camera down and didn't take any photos with my phone?? I must have been delirious! When I woke, I sat trying to enjoy the pool but realized that this was not really my kind of pool. I know, right?!?!
I think I like a more relaxing pool and in my mind I had thought it would be like AKL pool (do we see a theme here with me comparing everything to AKL???)
This felt like a waterpark. Really loud, really busy, crowded, and not very relaxing. The girls came back and sat in the sun, they had fun exploring the pool and enjoyed it! Yay! I was worried I might burn since I had fallen asleep, and I thought I would let them hang out by the pool while I went up and called for our luggage, so that's where I headed. Back to the room and a phone call later they were at the door with our bags in 5 minutes! I don't even know how they could get to the room that fast, but they did!
About that time, the girls called and said they wanted ICE CREAM. Your wish is my command! I grabbed the camera this time (don't get too excited, I think I was still delirious b/c I took very few photos still!) and headed back down. I thought since they were so busy, we would just do the take-away counter at Beaches & Cream. When we walked in to order, this is what I saw:
Do you notice anything strange??? How about how there are NO PEOPLE??? Now I know it had been maybe a lapse of 2 hours (tops) since I had walked up trying to get in, but they had told me it would be at least three and acted like they were slammed. I found it interesting how empty it was. Just sayin'.
No matter, we really wanted to sit outside by the pool anyway, so we ordered and sat out at the tables right outside B&C. OH MY YUMMY!!!!!! It was so.good. Meet my brownie sundae:
The girls got rootbeer floats, which they liked, but they both tried the brownie and wanted more of it! It was tasty! Here is Savannah finishing it! BTW, my hope is that she has no idea about this TR b/c she would kill me for posting this picture. I didn't post it on FB because she didn't like it, but since I have so few photos to show you this update, you get to see it.
It was such a gorgeous afternoon and we just sat and enjoyed watching everyone at the pool and chatted. We talked a little about the "vibe" at Beach Club...
Ready for a bit of a ramble?
I grew up pretty wealthy. My father was an attorney and we lived in a very affluent area of St. Louis. I went to a private school until Jr. high and basically had a silver spoon in my mouth but didn't know it. The reason I didn't know it is because my father had not come from money and my parents were pretty down to earth. In fact, I think I spent a lot of my teen years telling them I should have things b/c "everyone else did!" that I was surrounded by. They just didn't value stuff or status the way everyone else seemed to in our area. We went on vacations all the time, ate out, and I had everything I needed, but they did try to keep me grounded.
Why am I telling you this? There's a point, I promise!
So, it colored the way I saw things. When I grew up and got married, suddenly I was thrown into the real world and didn't have money anymore. My husband didn't have a college degree and we struggled. It made me possibly a bit bitter but definitely gave me a chip on my shoulder about wealth. I found the older I got, the less I liked the people I grew up around and the more I realized that it all felt contrived and fake to me. I grew up around people who found value in THINGS, STATUS, and Names...and I just could not understand why that mattered more than kindness, thoughtfulness, and being real.
Ha! You didn't realize I was going to tell you my whole theory on my psychoanalyzed childhood and theory of wealth, did you?!?!
In any case...geez...
I sometimes get uncomfortable around what I perceive as "stuffiness" and I felt some of that at Beach Club. It's mostly my own perception, obviously, but the girls felt it as well. They were not as comfortable at Beach Club as they were at Pop and I agreed. When I went down to the pool, I wrapped a towel around myself and realized walking down that it just felt inappropriate to walk to the pool there like that. At Pop I wouldn't have given it a second thought. It didn't keep me from enjoying Beach Club, not at all...but this is what I do, I psychoanalyze stuff. It's just how my brain works (or doesn't work!)
What's interesting to me is that I didn't feel this AT ALL at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Yep, there I go comparing again! So I don't think it's just a "deluxe" issue but more of the vibe that each resort gives.
Shew! I punish you with no photos and overly talking! Poor you!
After we finished our yummy ice cream we headed back to the room and moseyed through the Breezeway and through the quiet pool to get there. I really like this area, it's lovely.
We relaxed a bit before we got ready to WALK TO EPCOT!!!!!!!
I can tell you right now, it was the most fabulous thing to just walk to Epcot. I LOVED it! 
And then on actual CNY I'll dress you up in traditional Chinese silk instead. And we will find some drink to toast to Charlie. And send her a picture.
You'll have to send me photos whenever you go so I can look at them longingly. 
