ripleysmom
Lucas and Ripley's mom!
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2000
- Messages
- 5,499
The cast myself, Wayne (DH), Lucas (DS) and Ripley (DD).
We flew out of LaGuardia airport on Sunday afternoon, always a touchy thing. It took about 30 mins of waiting on the runway before the plane took off. The flight was good with no surprises.
Arrived in Orlando, got our luggage and went out to National's Emerald Aisle to see what was there. Unfortunately no vans, SUVs or cruisers. We did get a Bonneville though (which was smaller than in previous years) and we went on our way.
Got to the Boardwalk. Received a Welcome Home from the CM that checked us in. Off we hiked to our 2 BR standard view for our first trip home!! You know when you walk around the models you're very impressed with how nice they are but it's not until you check in that you realize how very big the rooms are!! We were delighted with our more than spacious accommodations for the trip. Best part was having a full refrigerator. I went to Publix and bought bottles of water which I froze for our forays to the park. Probably one of the things that kept us from dying of heat stroke.
By this time it's pretty late so we had dinner at ESPN (got a playstation booth) and then went to check out the Luna pool. The kids had a ball!!
8/27 The next day (Monday) we went to the Magic Kingdom. Yikes!! We should not have ventured near Fantasyland on that day!! We actually wound up doing very few rides. Although we did have lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The pot roast was so tender I could cut it with my fork. After lunch we went back to the hotel and swam for a while. I left early to get dressed for the DIS meet I had set up. DH stayed at the pool with the kids swimming.
The DIS meet was at the entrance to Luna Pool at 7:00 pm. We had a nice little turnout!! Myself, Gail and Joe Reale, caskbill and DW, beachangel and friend, SJCSuzy, Credit Man and TDC Nala all showed up. Gail made up name tags (thanks again Gail!!) and I made little lime green ribbon pins to pass out. A nice time chatting was had by all. At 8:30 a small group of us headed over to Epcot to watch IllumiNations. Walking to Epcot was great!! After IllumiNations, my family headed over to Beaches and Cream. Now we know what the fuss is about....
8/28 Tuesday was a day we spent pool hopping at the Yacht and Beach Club. After my children had seen the pool the night before we were not getting away without going to swim in this pool. That pool is just awesome!! Lucas spent the day catching lizards and Wayne and I took turns lazing by the pool while Ripley swam. We went to Boma at AKL that night for dinner based on the recommendations of Credit Man and PandyPaws. The foods were a little different but it was really good!! The desserts were great!!
8/29 Wednesday we went to Epcot. That was a hot day!! We were walking around the World Showcase and I spy a DIS Moderator T-Shirt. It turned out to be Debi the moderator for the Disney Tips board. So we joined forces and rushed a group of characters that had just debarked at Japan. Debi was on a quest for Tigger pics. And Ripley was on a quest for everyone. Debi was actually amazingly patient and even walked back to China with us to return my son's broken umbrella. When we got to France the Living Statue was out. We took some pics and stayed to watch her. After she left, Ripley got up on the platform and started imitating her. It was very funny. We decided to head back to the room for the pool and dinner and had talked about going back to Epcot after the pool but I died (battling a sinus infection) and we stayed home.
8/30 Thursday we went back to the Magic Kingdom and did more stuff. The kids really like tomorrowland. Ripley loved TTA. She must have ridden 4 times. Thursday night we went to Community Hall at the Boardwalk. Lucas had a great time!!
8/31 Friday morning we checked out. There was a discrepancy in the bill. Two charges from ESPN for 8/26 when we only ate dinner and did not buy souvenirs. Got that settled. Had breakfast at Spoodles. Once again the DISers were right, breakfast at Spoodles was awesome and not to be missed!!
Anyway we headed over to Portofino Bay. We did the advance check-in and stormed Islands of Adventure. All I can say is Front of the Line Access is a fabulous thing and not to be missed!!! We breezed right onto most rides. We had lunch at Confisco's, I was a little disappointed here though to be honest. I don't think I'd eat there again.
Important tip!! Not sure if this has been posted before but there is a lever near the front of Me Ship Olive on the left hand side of the second level. This controls the water coming out of a water tower for the Popeye Raft Ride. Lucas and I spent about 45 minutes soaking people with it!!!
That night we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner. Being a DVC member definitely had it's privileges there. We showed them the room key (cause it had 8/31 as a checkout day) and we breezed past everyone and sat right down!! Wayne's mouth just dropped over that. Then we went to Disney Quest. The kids had a good time there.
9/1 Saturday we went back to Islands of Adventure and then over to Universal. Had dinner at the hotel that night, Trattoria del Mar (I think). Wayne had the steak which looked great. I had the pasta buffet, which I enjoyed. It rained so we decided to go to our room and pack.
9/2 Sunday Checked out of Portofino. There was also a discrepancy with this bill. They charged us for valet parking when we self-parked. Got this straightened out and headed to the airport. Returned the car without mishap. Used the EA member feature of they charge you for gas used at a reasonable rate. Was very happy with our rental.
Checked in with Delta. They had an equipment change so our seats got switched around. We managed to get 3 seats together and then 1 alone. Later they upgraded the lone seat to First Class. My hubby being the wonderful guy he is let me have it so I got a comfy seat in First Class.
The flight actually arrived early at LaGuardia and we did not get stuck on the runway waiting for a gate so this worked out very well.
All in all, a good trip. It would have been great if it hadn't been so hot!!
We flew out of LaGuardia airport on Sunday afternoon, always a touchy thing. It took about 30 mins of waiting on the runway before the plane took off. The flight was good with no surprises.
Arrived in Orlando, got our luggage and went out to National's Emerald Aisle to see what was there. Unfortunately no vans, SUVs or cruisers. We did get a Bonneville though (which was smaller than in previous years) and we went on our way.
Got to the Boardwalk. Received a Welcome Home from the CM that checked us in. Off we hiked to our 2 BR standard view for our first trip home!! You know when you walk around the models you're very impressed with how nice they are but it's not until you check in that you realize how very big the rooms are!! We were delighted with our more than spacious accommodations for the trip. Best part was having a full refrigerator. I went to Publix and bought bottles of water which I froze for our forays to the park. Probably one of the things that kept us from dying of heat stroke.
By this time it's pretty late so we had dinner at ESPN (got a playstation booth) and then went to check out the Luna pool. The kids had a ball!!
8/27 The next day (Monday) we went to the Magic Kingdom. Yikes!! We should not have ventured near Fantasyland on that day!! We actually wound up doing very few rides. Although we did have lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The pot roast was so tender I could cut it with my fork. After lunch we went back to the hotel and swam for a while. I left early to get dressed for the DIS meet I had set up. DH stayed at the pool with the kids swimming.
The DIS meet was at the entrance to Luna Pool at 7:00 pm. We had a nice little turnout!! Myself, Gail and Joe Reale, caskbill and DW, beachangel and friend, SJCSuzy, Credit Man and TDC Nala all showed up. Gail made up name tags (thanks again Gail!!) and I made little lime green ribbon pins to pass out. A nice time chatting was had by all. At 8:30 a small group of us headed over to Epcot to watch IllumiNations. Walking to Epcot was great!! After IllumiNations, my family headed over to Beaches and Cream. Now we know what the fuss is about....
8/28 Tuesday was a day we spent pool hopping at the Yacht and Beach Club. After my children had seen the pool the night before we were not getting away without going to swim in this pool. That pool is just awesome!! Lucas spent the day catching lizards and Wayne and I took turns lazing by the pool while Ripley swam. We went to Boma at AKL that night for dinner based on the recommendations of Credit Man and PandyPaws. The foods were a little different but it was really good!! The desserts were great!!
8/29 Wednesday we went to Epcot. That was a hot day!! We were walking around the World Showcase and I spy a DIS Moderator T-Shirt. It turned out to be Debi the moderator for the Disney Tips board. So we joined forces and rushed a group of characters that had just debarked at Japan. Debi was on a quest for Tigger pics. And Ripley was on a quest for everyone. Debi was actually amazingly patient and even walked back to China with us to return my son's broken umbrella. When we got to France the Living Statue was out. We took some pics and stayed to watch her. After she left, Ripley got up on the platform and started imitating her. It was very funny. We decided to head back to the room for the pool and dinner and had talked about going back to Epcot after the pool but I died (battling a sinus infection) and we stayed home.
8/30 Thursday we went back to the Magic Kingdom and did more stuff. The kids really like tomorrowland. Ripley loved TTA. She must have ridden 4 times. Thursday night we went to Community Hall at the Boardwalk. Lucas had a great time!!
8/31 Friday morning we checked out. There was a discrepancy in the bill. Two charges from ESPN for 8/26 when we only ate dinner and did not buy souvenirs. Got that settled. Had breakfast at Spoodles. Once again the DISers were right, breakfast at Spoodles was awesome and not to be missed!!
Anyway we headed over to Portofino Bay. We did the advance check-in and stormed Islands of Adventure. All I can say is Front of the Line Access is a fabulous thing and not to be missed!!! We breezed right onto most rides. We had lunch at Confisco's, I was a little disappointed here though to be honest. I don't think I'd eat there again.
Important tip!! Not sure if this has been posted before but there is a lever near the front of Me Ship Olive on the left hand side of the second level. This controls the water coming out of a water tower for the Popeye Raft Ride. Lucas and I spent about 45 minutes soaking people with it!!!
That night we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner. Being a DVC member definitely had it's privileges there. We showed them the room key (cause it had 8/31 as a checkout day) and we breezed past everyone and sat right down!! Wayne's mouth just dropped over that. Then we went to Disney Quest. The kids had a good time there.
9/1 Saturday we went back to Islands of Adventure and then over to Universal. Had dinner at the hotel that night, Trattoria del Mar (I think). Wayne had the steak which looked great. I had the pasta buffet, which I enjoyed. It rained so we decided to go to our room and pack.
9/2 Sunday Checked out of Portofino. There was also a discrepancy with this bill. They charged us for valet parking when we self-parked. Got this straightened out and headed to the airport. Returned the car without mishap. Used the EA member feature of they charge you for gas used at a reasonable rate. Was very happy with our rental.
Checked in with Delta. They had an equipment change so our seats got switched around. We managed to get 3 seats together and then 1 alone. Later they upgraded the lone seat to First Class. My hubby being the wonderful guy he is let me have it so I got a comfy seat in First Class.
The flight actually arrived early at LaGuardia and we did not get stuck on the runway waiting for a gate so this worked out very well.
All in all, a good trip. It would have been great if it hadn't been so hot!!
