Get Off The Ship - we are running out of towel animals! Update 10/25 Day 31

[Minnie&Nana]

Love the way Tom thinks - Dalmatian Day! Too cute!

Always so nice to spend time with friends at Disney! Lots of nice goodies for all too!

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful surprise! A Disney trip in January..and the Hotel New York!!! So happy for you and Tom!

(Absolutely love the Post Disney Depression....might have to borrow that one sometime for home. Tom is fabulously creative! )

 

[Linda67]

Yay, you have another trip to DLP planned - how exciting
I'm hoping to get back there at some point next year again

 

[SigalTchelet]

Just came upon your TR last nigh and am up to date. I am looking forward to reading about the Fantasy, specifically Eastern Carribbean as I leave for Florida 9 weeks from today and set sail 9 weeks from Tomorrow. I wish I could fly business class from California. Sorry your trip started off so poorly, but glad you at least had the lounge with the good food, comfy chairs and free Wifi!!!

 

[scottny]

I am exhausted just reading the different parts of the trip. LOL
7 hour layover. OMG!! I could not imagine.
I cannot imagine waiting as long as you did for a flight.
OKW rooms are nice and big.
I would be sleeping the next day, the whole day. LOL
You got up early but for a good reason I see. Meeting friends is always good.
Dalmation Day. LOL
All caught up.

 

[dizneeat]

I love meeting Disney friends! The gifts were so thoughtful and cool! Playing golf at Winter/Summerland is on my list of things to do.

Congrats on the trip to DLP and Hotel New York! on Dalmation Day! That is super clever!

Jill in CO

It was so nice to see Jeff and his family again. We had a blast cruising together in 2011 and I cannot wait to see them again.

We had played minigolf at Winter/Summerland YEARS ago, but it was so much more fun seeing the kids enjoy it so much.

I can't believe we are going back to the NY in Paris. It is pricey, but SO convenient when it comes to walking to the park.

Mmm that breakfast looks delicious! I love eggs benedict as well, but hardly ever order it.

I've never been to the miniature golf course over there, but it looks like fun! It's themed fantastically!

I love the pictures that you post. Do you make these yourself?

What a nice hotel!

We love Olivia's for breakfast, well, actually ALL meals are good there. And I so love Eggs Benedict, but only ever have them on vacation and you will see them reappear here quite a few times.
The miniature golf is so fun - the theming is absolute great. We had such a fun time. I am sure once Calvin is old enough you will love going there.

Tom does those pictures. He is very good when it comes to creating something like that. They are actually e-cards on our homepage. Come on over and check them out. They are at the end of our homepage (link in signature).

We love the Hotel New York. It is so conveniently located at the back entrance to the Disney Village. BUT it has its price - one higher than I usually like to pay. But we have such a short visit, so it's really worth it.

Congrats on your Paris trip. We love Winter Summerland. We always play everytime we are there.

Thank you, Elaine and thanks for the PM!
We have been to Winter/Summerland years ago, when we got vouchers for it with our tickets, but it was so much fun to play with Jeff and the kids.

Oh my gosh what a long day. I just did the conversion and 900 euros will be over $1200 in US dollars...thats a nice chunk of change.
How fun to find Jeff's family right away. And mini gold sounds like a fun way to start out the trip.

It was like a never ending day. Add in the 6 hour time change and we arrived in Orlando 25 hours after we started our trip (not counting the time it took us to get to the airport).
I love that you converted the Euros to US dollars! And the 900 Euros are what we will receive AFTER the commission to the lawyers!
I could not believe we would "run" into Jeff like this, but it was fun to spend time with him, Lily and the kids.

 

[Texas lady]

Enjoying your trip report..
Dh & I leave in 6 days for our cruise!!!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Dalmatian Day Now I have a little puppies with spots running around inside my head. You guys are funny!

Kate

 

[englishrose47]

Just keeping up , don't want to miss an update !!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, what a fun update. So glad you had a great breakfast at Olivia's (we ate there one day during our trip...but I haven't gotten that far in my TR yet), and then you hooked up with your friends and got to go to Winter Wonderland (which we also did on this trip).

Great gifts too!

We love Olivia's. And no trip would be complete without Strawberries and Cream there.
I still cannot believe we just "ran" into Jeff and his family. We had so much fun that day ..... and the next day as well.
We did the minigolf at Winter/Summerland before, when vouchers for it came with the tickets we bought here, but we have had APs for ages now. And it was so different to experience it with the kids.

Nice update Karin, I am suffering from post Disney depression too! At least you are planning a cure! The most I could do is go to the Disney Store and buy Lily some gifts.

So sorry you are suffering from Post Disney Depression too. But I guess you are the lucky one, being able to head to the next Disney store, it would take us 7 hours in a car to get to one, so booking another trip is the "easier" solution.

How nice you had such a good visit with friends. The eggs Benedict looked so good, I need some of those soon!

I know what you mean about Disney depression, I received pin today. It was for 30% off a deluxe! but since I have to foot the rent for a month in south Florida next March, no Disney this soon!

We loved spending time with our DISfriends, not only Jeff and his family, but there were a few more fun meets.
Lucky girl, receiving a pin! Even if you won't return, they WANT you there.

Oh my! I nearly choked when I read in your "firsts" that your plane was hit by lightening. How scary!!!

Even with that and the late taxi though, it looks like you were off to a good start. How could you not be with that kind of food offered on your flight. And... being given such a cute little napkin too. How fun!

The lounge looks very nice...as did the buffet food. That was to be a long layover anyway, but the delay must have made it just horrid!! 13 HOURS!!! Hopefully you get compensated!

Wow, your seat had a remote control?? How cool is that??

Glad you made your way through customs easy enough.

Yay! For pixie dust upon arrival to OKW!

I love the pictures of the room at OKW! I am so happy to hear that it was big.

2:45 am? That is a LONG travel day.

I will give away a bit of my trip planning to you... because you have had such lovely breakfasts at oliva's, I have a breakfast booked there in January! Your recent pictures just make me want to get there sooner!!

How cool you have a january trip! You will be coming back from Paris just as I am leaving for FL!

And the miniature golf looks like fun. It isn't something you read about on many trip reports either.

Yes, we got a lot to tell looking back at that flight. Not the perfect start to our vacation, but it got A LOT better after that.

The business class seats are awesome! Not only are they remote controlled, but they can be made completely flat, so they really turn into a bed. It was just so nice to be able to stretch out and sleep after such a long day.

We always do the online check in and so far it always worked for us. I was a bit worried that since we came in so late, we might not get our favourite place, but no matter what, we got Turtle Pond Road and the higher floor.

Yeah, for trying Olivia's for breakfast in January. I can reveal a bit to you too, we DID have breakfast at Kouzzina ...... don't want to give anything away, but we will return.

The minigolf was a lot of fun, especially with the kids.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin I loved your breakfast choice at Olivia's .That was my choice too The Eggs Benedict!!! How great you got to spend some Fun time with Dis Friends !!! I Love Tom's Dalmation Day !!

I knew you would like my choice, Rosie!
It was nice to spend those first two days with so many friends. We really had such a good time.
Tom picked the Dalmation Day up on one of the boards he visits. It was so fun I had to share it.

HAPPY DALMATION DAY!

Looks like a lovely breakfast - especially when you get to go twice with a good friends! I'm glad the golf was so fun for all of you!

Breakfast at Olivia's is always fun, even more fun if you get to go there with friends.
The minigolf was lots of fun. We had to stop often and laughed a lot.

Great update, Karin! What a fun DIS meet, and as usual, you teach me a lesson in enjoying the less obvious choices at WDW like mini-golf. I really need to learn to slow down, as my TR will make clear, I'm sure.

Oooh - are we going to end up with another mini-TR within a TR from you????

Thank you!
We had such great fun spending time with Jeff and his family and we didn't even need to get to a park for it.
Years ago, we did the parks commando style, but we are too old for that. We need to take our time and smell the roses.

You might very well have a mini-TR coming your way for our DLRP trip. Especially since the cast member on the phone told me that they are still doing the Dreams show and that they will have some Christmas themed elements in it.
I love the parks all decked out for Christmas and we will catch the very end of the season in January.

Dalmation Day? How cute is that?

Breakfast looks yummy!

Your gifts are fantastic.

How fun to meet up with your friends.

20 minutes to get your KTTK card working is about 15 minutes too long, IMHO!

I too thought that Dalmation Day was cute. He picked it up on one of the boards he reads.
I am with you - with all their technology it should not take them 20 minutes to get the key to work, but we had our friends with us, so we didn't care all that much about it.

 

[englishrose47]

All these hanges , with the wrist bands , the NO GAC and FP + ,I am gonna have to0 relearn Disney

 

[dizneeat]

Love the way Tom thinks - Dalmatian Day! Too cute!

Always so nice to spend time with friends at Disney! Lots of nice goodies for all too!

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful surprise! A Disney trip in January..and the Hotel New York!!! So happy for you and Tom!

(Absolutely love the Post Disney Depression....might have to borrow that one sometime for home. Tom is fabulously creative! )

Christine, I am all with you, I think that Dalmation Day is cute too!

It was lovely to meet up with Jeff and his family again. We had spent a lot of time together on the cruise in 2011 and it was a lot of fun.

I was really happy we got the January trip to happen! AND the Hotel New York. It usually is too expensive for my taste, but for only three nights we can make it happen (and I got a good discount too!)

Christine, the Post Disney Depression is an e-card on our homepage, feel free to use it whenever you want to.

Yay, you have another trip to DLP planned - how exciting
I'm hoping to get back there at some point next year again

I can't believe that we are actually able to fit in a short trip to DLRP. But since we have to skip our trip to Italy, we can plan on DLRP one more time.
Hope you get to fit in another visit REAL soon.

Just came upon your TR last nigh and am up to date. I am looking forward to reading about the Fantasy, specifically Eastern Carribbean as I leave for Florida 9 weeks from today and set sail 9 weeks from Tomorrow. I wish I could fly business class from California. Sorry your trip started off so poorly, but glad you at least had the lounge with the good food, comfy chairs and free Wifi!!!

Welcome!
You are going to love the Fantasy, such a beautiful ship. We really enjoyed the Eastern Caribbean, very relaxing days at sea and the ports were really nice.
We can't usually afford to fly business class, but the offer was to good to turn it down. And it paid off this time with all the delays.

I am exhausted just reading the different parts of the trip. LOL
7 hour layover. OMG!! I could not imagine.
I cannot imagine waiting as long as you did for a flight.
OKW rooms are nice and big.
I would be sleeping the next day, the whole day. LOL
You got up early but for a good reason I see. Meeting friends is always good.
Dalmation Day. LOL
All caught up.

We were exhausted too!
Well, the 7 hour layover did not come unexpected. It was the "price" we had to pay for businessclass and it paid off in the end.
I wish we could sleep in, but with the 6 hour time difference it feels like it is already 2pm when we get up at 8am.
And the time we spent with Jeff and his family made more than up for the "short" night.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Karin, they must want us back very badly. I've been getting PIN numbers since last fall, the best was 35% off the Club Level. That is what I used this past trip. We want to go out west next year, but who knows if Disney comes calling with a great PIN!

Bob decided WDW wasn't so bad after all, he wanted to stay longer. Imagine that!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

All these hanges , with the wrist bands , the NO GAC and FP + ,I am gonna have to0 relearn Disney

Me too!! It is whole new Disney!! Sure hope I like this one!!

 

[RGirl]

Thank you!
We had such great fun spending time with Jeff and his family and we didn't even need to get to a park for it.
Years ago, we did the parks commando style, but we are too old for that. We need to take our time and smell the roses.

You might very well have a mini-TR coming your way for our DLRP trip. Especially since the cast member on the phone told me that they are still doing the Dreams show and that they will have some Christmas themed elements in it.
I love the parks all decked out for Christmas and we will catch the very end of the season in January.

You know, I am too old for it too! I need to learn how to make myself slow down.

I love getting to read about DLRP!

 

[dizneeat]

Enjoying your trip report..
Dh & I leave in 6 days for our cruise!!!

Welcome!
I am glad you enjoy the trip report so far. I was so busy last week, I never got around to updating, but I will do better, I promise.
You are so close to your trip, you must be so excited!

Dalmatian Day Now I have a little puppies with spots running around inside my head. You guys are funny!

Kate

It's a fun expression, isn't it?

Just keeping up , don't want to miss an update !!!!

Update coming up pretty soon, Rosie!

All these hanges , with the wrist bands , the NO GAC and FP + ,I am gonna have to0 relearn Disney

They are just trying to offer you a "new" experience, Rosie! Keeps us on our toes.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, they must want us back very badly. I've been getting PIN numbers since last fall, the best was 35% off the Club Level. That is what I used this past trip. We want to go out west next year, but who knows if Disney comes calling with a great PIN!

Bob decided WDW wasn't so bad after all, he wanted to stay longer. Imagine that!

Wow! 35% off is a REALLY good deal! Clever girl to grab it!
And so happy that Bob wants to stay longer. It is pretty there isn't it.

We wanted to do the West Coast as well the summer after next, but somehow we cannot get away from the cruising, so we decided that after we cruise the Med next summer we WILL return to Florida for the summer of 2015.

Me too!! It is whole new Disney!! Sure hope I like this one!!

It IS Disney, Christine, I am SURE, you'll like it!

You know, I am too old for it too! I need to learn how to make myself slow down.

I love getting to read about DLRP!

Oh, it's easy to slow down - just stay for a month and you will see how easy it is.

DLRP is very pretty all decked out for Christmas, but it can get VERY cold at that time of the year, so the hot chocolate comes in very handy.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 8

Cruise friends - Part 2

Soon it was our turn to hit the course and we all tried our best and while we tried so hard we shared a lot of laughs. We took our sweet time getting through the course and had several groups overtaking us while we just stood and chatted and had a blast.















About halfway through the course Tom and I discovered that we had forgotten one important thing, applying sunscreen. So we knew we were in for a bit of a sunburn, but we had just too much fun to think about it.
When our game came to an end, we returned our clubs and were rewarded with mini sugar canes which we ended up giving to the kids. We all then went back to our cars, Jeff and his family went back to their hotel for a little rest and a dip in the pool while Tom and I headed out to do some shopping for our Fish Extender gifts and some snacks and drinks to take along for the cruise.
So we went to Kissimmee and went through some stores without finding shops to find all the things we still needed and ended up close to Krispy Kreme. Unfortunately the “Hot Now” sign was not on, so we decided that instead of stuffing ourselves right there and then to just pick up half a dozen doughnuts and try some different ones when we got back in in the evening.
Last stop was Publix, where we stocked up on drinks to take on the cruise and for the two days we were still at OKW. Needless to say we needed some nibbles as well and our cart was quickly filled. When we walked outside we could see the grey clouds rolling in and it started to rain when we had loaded everything into the car.
Ten minutes later we were back at Old Key West and hurried to take all our shopping upstairs before the downpour started. We had some time to rest and relax, so we put everything away, then laid back on the beds and watched a little TV while nibbling on some salad and tortilla chips.
But wait, there was a message waiting on the phone. I listened to it and they wanted me to call the Contemporary Marina because there was a mix up with our fireworks cruise. I had initially booked a Wishes Fireworks cruise for Jeff and his family, our other friend Michelle and her family and Tom and myself and had thought that it would be fun to depart from the Polynesian Resort. Fast forward a few weeks and I was able to score a reservation at Be Our Guest for Jeff, his wife Lily and the kids. Now sailing out of the Poly Marina didn’t sound all that fun any more, so I called and changed it to the Contemporary Marina. The Cast Member on the phone did not sound very trustworthy, so as soon as I had hung up I called back and found out that indeed, nothing had been changed. The second Cast Member swore that now everything was in order and I left it at that. Now the phone call from the Marina was a bit alarming. I called back and they had conflicting information which we set straight and they promised our pontoon boat would be waiting at the Contemporary Marina.
Around 5pm we got ready again to meet up with Jeff and his family again for dinner and a fireworks cruise. We met up at the Contemporay Resort as I still had to figure out if my reservation was correct now. And after finding out that they had to make another call to get our boat over, we left and headed to the Magic Kingdom for dinner.
We headed up to the Monorail and rode over to the Magic Kingdom



and joined the masses for bag check, before we headed to the turnstiles. Jeff went to one side, as he met a friend who had tickets for him. Lily, Tom and I went to the other side, held our Annual Passes against the new turnstiles and were in. Lily mistakenly had scanned a kids ticket to gain entrance and the Cast Member at the turnstiles now needed to put the day that had been taken off the kids ticket back on. We all headed towards the side and while the Cast Member and and another one worked the ticket we stood in the air conditioning and waited. Jeff and the kids came over, we explained the situation and finally the situation was resolved. Then the Cast Member asked how many people we had in our party. Stunned we told him that there were six of us and he went back, filled something out and handed us a “Guest of Honor” fastpass, good for all of us. Now, that is what I call being sprinkled with pixie dust.
We very slowly made our way under the railway station and onto the Main Square. It was so nice to see the excitement of Molly and Philip as we headed towards the castle. The castle show was on and the kids were excited to see a bit of it. We were at the hub and they were just a bit too short to be able to see well, so after a peek behind us, if we were blocking someone’s view, we told them to stand on a bench and watch. Philip was in awe and I could tell, that Molly loved watching as well.



Once the show was over we all headed over to Tomorrowland to ride everyone’s favourite ride, the PeopleMover.
There is nothing better than people watch from your fun ride. We all enjoyed our ride around Tomorrowland and once we were off the kids wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear. The standby line was long, but we had our Fastpass and used it for the ride. We got into the Fastpass line and it moved very quickly and soon we were seated in our cars. Jeff and Lily in one car, Tom and Philip in another and Molly and I rode together.
It was one of the most awesome rides ever. The kids added so much magic for us as well. Once the ride was over we slowly walked over to New Fantasyland and over to the Beast’s Castle for our dinner reservation. We were a bit early and when we tried to check in we were told that we were only allowed to come back 15 minutes before our ADR. So we strolled over to the Friars Nook for some drinks as we all were very thirsty. Philip needed a restroom break so I took him over there and as soon as we were back and had finished our drinks, it was time to sign in and be handed a buzzer. We walked up to the restaurant,



found a bit of shade and waited. I think it took about 20 minutes until our buzzer went off and we were led inside the castle.



The kids loved it and we loved seeing the kids excitement. We were seated in the ballroom,





with a lovely view inside the library where the Beast was holding court. There was so much to look at that we had barely glanced at them menu when our server came by to introduce herself.
At least we all knew what we wanted to drink and placed our order.



Then we went back to study the menu. When our server brought the drinks we ordered our dinner and while we waited Molly taught me how to make the cute bracelets



she had made for all of us. She was a pretty patient teacher to say the least. Then our server brought out warm rolls and some butter and we all enjoyed one. Soon after our dinner was served. Tom had ordered the



Thyme Scented Pork Rack chop, with au gratin pasta and green beans and I had ordered the



Pan seared Salmon on Leek Fondue, served with creamy Saffron crushed potatoes. Both dishes were really good, Tom’s pork chop was juicy and went well with the perfectly seasoned baked mac and cheese. I loved the crispy skin salmon, which was still moist inside and the leeks and potatoes were just divine. We all gobbled up our dinner and when we were finished and the dessert trolley was rolled by we were able to talk Molly into having a



Strawberry Crème Cheese Cupcake. And she also brought out a plate of the



"Grey Stuff", as Jeff had told her we were celebrating our friendship.
After we had settled the bill and the kids had had another restroom break we got in line to see the Beast.

To be continued ............

 

[MEK]

What a lovely and fun day! Mini golf looks like a blast and the detail in the course is amazing.

Yay for scoring a BOG ADR and being able to go as one big group. You are right - kids really add to the magic.

Now I am on pins and needles as I hope everything works out with your fireworks cruise. I know how much you enjoyed it last year and it really looks like a wonderful time. Can't wait to read all about it!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Your dinner looks very tasty! I was wondering how the mini golf course looked, now I know! We wanted to try it, but ran out of time.

It's fun to see WDW through the eyes of a child, but I still love our child free trips! LOL