Geyser Gazer
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 4, 2001
- Messages
- 428
Since we don't get TV broadcasts Darlene and I were able to honestly tell our friends that we were flying to Florida to watch the Superbowl. Only after jealous snears did we mention that we were going to watch it on TV at the Wilderness Lodge. We flew Southwest and took DME for the first time. We enjoyed not having to mess with the expense and stress of renting a car this time. We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge by 2pm and our studio villa was ready. It was cool and cloudy but I managed to hot tub for a bit before our 5:30 pm Aritst Point reservation. This was our first experience with DDP and we were well taken care of by our server Gary. Darlene had the smokey mushroom soup and filet mingon, while I had the venison spring rolls and buffalo sirloin. The meals were excellent and Gary picked a nice though spendy wine to compliment my steak. We both had the berry cobbler for dessert which neither of us felt was quite as good as we have had there previously. We missed the opening kickoff/Bears TD return but Gary kept us updated as we finished our meal. Darlene eager to get to the game was feeling the effects of too much food too fast but we managed to make it back to our room to digest and watch the Colts win the game.
After a little morning workout we spent Monday hanging out at the Lodge in the morning before heading over to the Poly that afternoon for lunch at Captain Cooks. I had the BBQ sandwich and Darlene had the Hawiian flat bread, both were good but not great. We were allowed into the MK for the Princess and Pirate party at 4pm where we enjoyed little to no waits for the Jungle Cruise, Buzz, Philharmagic, and the People Mover, before catching Wishes from the Tomorrowland bridge. We then did Space Mountain (even though Darlene has been having issues with the wilder rides), Buzz again, Peter Pan, Jack Sparrow, and Pirates before seeing most of the first parade, the Castle stage show, and Party fireworks. These fireworks were awesome and we again appreciated the view from the bridge. We both had dinner at Cosmic Rays though much later in the evening for me. They delayed then messed up my order and neither of us were that impressed with our burgers. It was about at this point that we started feeling a little overwhelmed by the DDP. We made it back to the Lodge by 11pm having done and seen all that we wanted to.
Tuesday we played games in the lobby before heading over to Downtown Disney. We had lunch at Wolfgang Pucks Express and were very impressed with the food. Darlene had the 4 cheese flatbread while I had the rosemary chicken with garlic mashed potatoes . We each had creme brulee for dessert..stuffed again. We spent the afternoon hanging out at the beach on Bay Lake where a nice couple from the UK ended up treating us to a day both the parks and a waterpark before they caught their flight home. We made some tropical drinks before heading back to the Poly for our Kona dinner. Dar had seafood chowder, shrimp/scallops, and white chocolate cheescake while I had crab cakes, Mahi Mahi, and chocolate macadamia nut tart. The food and service was good, and we headed home, full again.
We did Blizzard Beach on Wednesday as the weather warmed up nicely. We shared a Cobb salad which was suprisngly good and turkey sandwich for lunch. We found a nice little nook for the 2 of us to hang out in when we weren't climbing stairs or sliding slides. We headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma which was great as usual.
Off to Epcot Wednesday morning, another beautiful, sunny day. We got a fast pass for Soarin' before I did Mission Space and Test Track. After Soarin' we did the Nemo ride and headed for the World Showcase. After a sweet pretzel snack and Viking ride in Norway we did Spaceship Earth for the first time in years. Back to tour the World with a Dos Equis and Margarita in hand we stopped at Germany for my weiss bier before watching the balancing act in France. I had lunch in Morraco (chicken and lamb "gyros: with rice) and Dar had her favorite fish and chips in the UK. We left Epcot to get our boarding passes from the Beach Club Enroute to the Studio's. I did Tower of Terror before meeting up with Darlene for the car stunt show, she felt that this one "must be a guy thing" . I hit R&R Roller Coaster before meeting back up with Darlene in Canada for the Off Kilter concert. We headed for the Coral Reef for dinner, it was a little louder and more chaotic than I would have hoped but we enjoyed the aquarium and the food/service was good. Dar had soup, prime rib, and pineapple cake while I had NY crab claws, strip steak, and cheese cake. Stuffed again, I reminded Dar that we did it, we finished our last table service so I laughed when we got our "bill" and found out we still had another to go. That night we watched the water pagent and I stayed to watch the MK party fireworks again from the beach at the Lodge.
Friday morning and the packing begins. We had a really nice breakfast at the Whispering Canyon (French toast for Dar, corned beef hash with eggs for me, and fruit smoothies for us both). We caught DME back to the airport and returned to a frozen Indiana and 2 girls excited to have their parents back.
In retrospect, I think the DDP will end up saving our family thousands of dollars. I figured that at some point we would go on a Disney Cruise but we just can't handle the whole food thing. Even if its good, eating big every day makes it "unspecial" and not near as satisfying as a great meal once in a while. It was fun but we tired of feeling full so frequently.
After a little morning workout we spent Monday hanging out at the Lodge in the morning before heading over to the Poly that afternoon for lunch at Captain Cooks. I had the BBQ sandwich and Darlene had the Hawiian flat bread, both were good but not great. We were allowed into the MK for the Princess and Pirate party at 4pm where we enjoyed little to no waits for the Jungle Cruise, Buzz, Philharmagic, and the People Mover, before catching Wishes from the Tomorrowland bridge. We then did Space Mountain (even though Darlene has been having issues with the wilder rides), Buzz again, Peter Pan, Jack Sparrow, and Pirates before seeing most of the first parade, the Castle stage show, and Party fireworks. These fireworks were awesome and we again appreciated the view from the bridge. We both had dinner at Cosmic Rays though much later in the evening for me. They delayed then messed up my order and neither of us were that impressed with our burgers. It was about at this point that we started feeling a little overwhelmed by the DDP. We made it back to the Lodge by 11pm having done and seen all that we wanted to.
Tuesday we played games in the lobby before heading over to Downtown Disney. We had lunch at Wolfgang Pucks Express and were very impressed with the food. Darlene had the 4 cheese flatbread while I had the rosemary chicken with garlic mashed potatoes . We each had creme brulee for dessert..stuffed again. We spent the afternoon hanging out at the beach on Bay Lake where a nice couple from the UK ended up treating us to a day both the parks and a waterpark before they caught their flight home. We made some tropical drinks before heading back to the Poly for our Kona dinner. Dar had seafood chowder, shrimp/scallops, and white chocolate cheescake while I had crab cakes, Mahi Mahi, and chocolate macadamia nut tart. The food and service was good, and we headed home, full again.
We did Blizzard Beach on Wednesday as the weather warmed up nicely. We shared a Cobb salad which was suprisngly good and turkey sandwich for lunch. We found a nice little nook for the 2 of us to hang out in when we weren't climbing stairs or sliding slides. We headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma which was great as usual.
Off to Epcot Wednesday morning, another beautiful, sunny day. We got a fast pass for Soarin' before I did Mission Space and Test Track. After Soarin' we did the Nemo ride and headed for the World Showcase. After a sweet pretzel snack and Viking ride in Norway we did Spaceship Earth for the first time in years. Back to tour the World with a Dos Equis and Margarita in hand we stopped at Germany for my weiss bier before watching the balancing act in France. I had lunch in Morraco (chicken and lamb "gyros: with rice) and Dar had her favorite fish and chips in the UK. We left Epcot to get our boarding passes from the Beach Club Enroute to the Studio's. I did Tower of Terror before meeting up with Darlene for the car stunt show, she felt that this one "must be a guy thing" . I hit R&R Roller Coaster before meeting back up with Darlene in Canada for the Off Kilter concert. We headed for the Coral Reef for dinner, it was a little louder and more chaotic than I would have hoped but we enjoyed the aquarium and the food/service was good. Dar had soup, prime rib, and pineapple cake while I had NY crab claws, strip steak, and cheese cake. Stuffed again, I reminded Dar that we did it, we finished our last table service so I laughed when we got our "bill" and found out we still had another to go. That night we watched the water pagent and I stayed to watch the MK party fireworks again from the beach at the Lodge.
Friday morning and the packing begins. We had a really nice breakfast at the Whispering Canyon (French toast for Dar, corned beef hash with eggs for me, and fruit smoothies for us both). We caught DME back to the airport and returned to a frozen Indiana and 2 girls excited to have their parents back.
In retrospect, I think the DDP will end up saving our family thousands of dollars. I figured that at some point we would go on a Disney Cruise but we just can't handle the whole food thing. Even if its good, eating big every day makes it "unspecial" and not near as satisfying as a great meal once in a while. It was fun but we tired of feeling full so frequently.
