If we can DREAM it, we can do it! ..... another 30 day vacation Update 02/07

[englishrose47]

Hi Karin, I am so excited first my May trip and now the Feb 2014 one. Dan booked another cruise while still on board , he said you get a discount !!

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry for being absent for a while!

First off, work got pretty intense - teacher's meeting, two exams to prepare and getting winter decorations ready for a classroom,
then, Disney changed park hours for our February trip and we needed to change hotels and
then, winter hit us with full force. More than 2ft of snow in 24 hours - more than I really need. So driving took much longer than usual (we do not have snow days, we just hope that we get from a to b) and I was beat in the evening.
But now, here I am to do replies and even update over the weekend!

Lion King Theming is awesome !!!

Rosie, wait until you see the Cars section. It was my favourite part. Like stepping right into the movie!

Aww...DISMeets are great, and not one meet, but two is even better!! I was saying to Howie as we left Chef Mickey's.. wouldn't be it nice if I see Karin & Tom, so I looked for you and sure enough there you were. It was a great afternoon, we had a lot of fun together.
I know I have been out of touch lately, and finally had some time to catch up on your TR. Our Christmas vacation to WDW had it's ups and downs. Of course, the beautiful castle and the decorations can't be beat. It was crowded, but it didn't matter to us and we loved being there for New Years Eve. Being delayed 1 hr sitting on the plane in NY, waiting on the Dollar car rental line only to be told that Hertz took over Dollar and now we have to wait on the Hertz line, so it took 1 hr to get a car. Finally got to Beach Club around midnight. The following week Rachel was sick for 2 days in bed and then I didn't feel too well. Then I get a phone call from my mom that both her and my dad fell and were in the hospital. I was ready to take the next plane home, but my mom said they were being taken care of at the hospital. They are in rehab now, but I am running back and forth to see them. It has been a crazy start to the new year!

Elaine, we so enjoyed the meeting you and Howie and the "young folk". I am keeping my fingers crossed that you will go back to WDW in August and we overlap. Have you heard from Jeff? He tries to convince Lily that he has to come to WDW in August too.

And more travel drama. Seems that flying from the NY area is a bit of a worry. And then having some problems with your rental too. Guess we will be warned now. I had NO idea Hertz took over Dollar. We have a Dollar rental in February, so this should be interesting.

Hope your parents are better and that things calm down for you!

You got some great pictures of the Lion King section as well as the cars section! I do think they did an awesome job with the theming. I just was shocked at how long it took to get to the LM rooms!!

There are lots more pics of the Cars section. I really loved it there - how awesome that must be for a kid.
LM was way off - and they were still closed in August. But you had to go way back to the fenced off area.

Karin, than you for all the AOA photos! Absolutely love the Cars section!!

It is sooooo cool. Sophia will love it!

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin

We are going to be in a Little Mermaid room

It's only for three nights, just to check it out then it's off to the Villas At Wilderness Lodge

Did you eat at Landscape Of Flavors? I love the look of the menu - tons of veggie options !

Lx

The theming is really awesome, Linda!
No, we wanted to eat there, but never made it back. And now we will not get to eat there in February either. Can't remember if you read my PTR, but we changed resorts.

Hi Karin - long time lurker on your trip reports here! I just want to say, in the past, I've been lucky enough to stumble upon your completed trip reports. Reading a new, uncompleted one and waiting for updates is a killer!

But I love your reports, and my favorite part is the food!!! Can't wait for the next update

Kristi

I love lurkers, who come forward and join in in the fun!
Sorry the updates take so long, but real life tends to get in the way. I am working on more updates and I promise there will be some this weekend.
But, if you are interested - I have a PTR for this year's Disney trips - We invite you, if you dare ....

Hi Karin, I am so excited first my May trip and now the Feb 2014 one. Dan booked another cruise while still on board , he said you get a discount !!

I cannot believe we will get to cruise together, Rosie! That should be so much fun!
And yes, if you rebook on board you will get a 10% discount AND a stateroom credit!

 

[annmarieda]

Sorry for being absent for a while!

First off, work got pretty intense - teacher's meeting, two exams to prepare and getting winter decorations ready for a classroom,
then, Disney changed park hours for our February trip and we needed to change hotels and
then, winter hit us with full force. More than 2ft of snow in 24 hours - more than I really need. So driving took much longer than usual (we do not have snow days, we just hope that we get from a to b) and I was beat in the evening.
But now, here I am to do replies and even update over the weekend!

Sounds like a hectic time! No worries about being absent (although your absent is like other people being active on dis )

There are lots more pics of the Cars section. I really loved it there - how awesome that must be for a kid.
LM was way off - and they were still closed in August. But you had to go way back to the fenced off area.

We were lucky to stay for a night in October. It was just such a walk, I am not sure I would do it again. However the room itself was amazing

 

[englishrose47]

The theming is really awesome, Linda!
No, we wanted to eat there, but never made it back. And now we will not get to eat there in February either. Can't remember if you read my PTR, but we changed resorts.




I love lurkers, who come forward and join in in the fun!
Sorry the updates take so long, but real life tends to get in the way. I am working on more updates and I promise there will be some this weekend.
But, if you are interested - I have a PTR for this year's Disney trips - We invite you, if you dare ....



I cannot believe we will get to cruise together, Rosie! That should be so much fun!
And yes, if you rebook on board you will get a 10% discount AND a stateroom credit!

First what is a state room credit ??? Christine seems to think we need to book earlier than May in order to get the stateroom we want !!

 

[dizneeat]

Sounds like a hectic time! No worries about being absent (although your absent is like other people being active on dis )

We were lucky to stay for a night in October. It was just such a walk, I am not sure I would do it again. However the room itself was amazing

It has been a pretty stressful week and there will be another one next week. Two large exams to mark and this is the week with NO day off.

The LM section looked pretty far off, if you have to walk there. No problem for us, since we would have a car, but since they had no discount for it, it was removed from my list. One day, one day I would love to stay in one of the Cars suites. So cute!

First what is a state room credit ??? Christine seems to think we need to book earlier than May in order to get the stateroom we want !!

Rosie, I explained to Christine in detail about booking. Maybe she can forward you my email.
If you want a VERY specific stateroom it's better to grab it while it is still available. Since you haven't cruised yet, it would not be such a problem. IF you book NOW to secure a specific stateroom (and take advantage of the prices right not - they do rise, be warned!) you can then rebook on board to get the discount and stateroom credit.
IF you book now and you want to rebook - then YOU will have to make the booking, because if Christine is the lead passenger YOU cannot cancel the booking and rebook!
Stateroom credit - there is no cash or CC payment on board. You have an account on board and everything is charged to your stateroom via your stateroom key.
Now, if you have a stateroom credit, then Disney puts a certain amount of money (100$ for a 4 night cruise) in your account which can be used for whatever you want. (like a 100$ gift!)
Rosie, if you have more questions you can email me - just use the link in my user ID.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 9, August 19

Goodbye Contemporary and Welcome Home to Old Key West - Part 4


Our next stop was the Cars section,

which was again so well themed, with all the cars from the movies and so many different icons.
Again, we walked back on the inside of the building and we were able to peek into some of the Family suites again and they all looked so awesome.

Should be awesome to stay in them one day, even without kids. The last part we wanted to check out was the then unfinished Little Mermaid section. But we quickly realized that it was still all closed off and you could not see too much, so we headed back to the Animation Hall for a biological break and to cool off a bit.
Once we were sufficiently cooled down again, we headed back out and back to the car. Tom took the top down and we drove over to Downtown Disney. The carpark was getting full already in the early afternoon, but we found a spot close to World of Disney and headed right for the shop.
It took us quite some time to get through all the different rooms and check out the new merchandise before we walked over to Wolfgang Puck’s Express to use up the first of our free dining credits. We put in our order, picked up our glasses and filled them and then found a table to sit, sip and chill until our lunch arrived. We both had ordered old favourites, which we had been craving for about half a year. Tom had ordered the

Barbequed Chicken Pizza, red onion, cilantro, tomatoes and smokey BBQ sauce on a crisp pizza base. I had wanted the

Four Cheese Pesto Pizza, Parmesan, mozzarella, fontina, goat cheese, plum tomatoes, fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes for a long time and was happy to dig in, when it arrived at our table. We both had ordered their

Crème Brulee for dessert and enjoyed every little spoonful of it. It was already 2pm when we were done and headed back to the car. The car got opened up again and off we were again to Old Key West.

Tom let me hop out at the front desk to ask if the room was ready and yes, it was and within a few minutes we were on our way. We wanted to check out the villa first, then head back to bell services to pick up our luggage.
Within a few minutes we arrived at Old Turtle Pond Road, found our building, but didn’t find the right staircase to go up. When we had finally found it, we were happy to see that we were on the top floor and that the villa was in tip top shape. We headed back to the car and got our hand luggage and computers and put them in the room, before we decided to still let our luggage at bell services and instead head over to Publix to fill the fridge.
Publix is about a 10 minute drive from Old Key West and soon we were pushing a cart through the isles, filling the cart with lots of treats. With a cart full of shopping bags we returned to the car, filled the trunk and off we went again, back to Old Key West. We brought all our purchases upstairs, then headed back to the car, with the top already down and went to bell services to pick up our luggage. Some of our luggage had to go on the back seat and the rest was stuffed into the boot and within a very short time we were back at our villa with all our belongings.
While Tom stocked the fridge with our new goodies, I started to unpack

and do a load of laundry, since we had already travelled for more than a week.


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

 

[dizneeat]

Day 9, August 19

Goodbye Contemporary and Welcome Home to Old Key West - Part 5


While Tom stocked the fridge with our new goodies, I started to unpack and do a load of laundry, since we had already travelled for more than a week.
We had some coffee and Coke out on the veranda and relaxed and enjoyed the view. We had a long night ahead of us with Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the villa just kicking back. Around 6pm we got ready for dinner at the Wave. We were a little late, well, about half an hour late, for our reservation, but they happily honoured our reservation and we were asked to sit in their lounge.
It didn’t take more than five minutes and our table was ready. We were led to a table for two along the wall and handed the menus. And after having a look at the Drinks menu we both decided to get something extra. So after ordering the standard

Diet Coke, we both opted for something extra. Tom tried the

Organic Beer Flight which consists of 3 Orlando Brewing beers. The flight included three 5oz. samples of their Blonde, Pale and Brown ale, which he really enjoyed.
I had my heart set on the

Pineapple Upside Down Martini, Skyy Infused Pineapple Vodka, Frangelico, Pina Colada Mix and freshly squeezed lemon juice, topped with whipped cream. It was delicious.
In the meantime our server had delivered some slightly warm

wholegrain bread, with a nice crust and some

butter sprinkled with sea salt. It didn’t take long and our main courses arrived at the table. Tom had ordered the

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Shallot Butter, Potato Gateau and Spring Ratatouille. It looked and tasted wonderful, but my main course was equally good. I had ordered the

Locally-sourced Thompson Farms Pork Tenderloin in a Charred Herb marinade with Bread Salad and Bourbon-grilled Florida Peaches. It was definitely heaven on a plate. Since we were on the Disney Dining Plan we HAD TO tackle dessert. Tom went for the

sorbets. That day’s offerings were

Pineapple,

Mango and

Coconut. I stuck with the more cake like desserts and ordered the

American Flavours,

Key Lime Cube,

Ganache-dipped Banana mousse cake, and a

Coconut bar. They were all very good and filling and once we had stuffed ourselves we settled the bill, which was quite some puzzle to do, as part of it was paid for by the DDP and the rest went on a regular bill which we used the Tables in Wonderland card for. Once we were done we headed over to the MK for Extra Magic Hours.
The park was still pretty crowded, but we were sure once the Extra Magic Hours would kick in, it would thin down.

We explored the shops on Main Street, and after Extra Magic Hours had officially started we headed over to the Peoplemover.
And were shocked! There was quite a line. When we had finally made it to the Cast Member at the entrance we showed our resort key and went up the moving walkway, then got into the line that snaked around some handrails.

Happily seated in our vehicle we began our ride around Tomorrowland

and were still stunned by masses of people that were still there. Once we got off we walked around Tomorrowland, then crossed the hub and walked over to Adventureland. We always love to ride the Jungle Cruise during Extra Magic Hours, as the skippers crack a lot of non scripted jokes, but this time the line was pretty long. We thought about it for a few seconds and decided to get in line anyway, the crowds would subside until we were done.
It was a fun ride in the dark, with lots of laughs and old and new jokes and when we got off, the line for the ride was even longer and it appeared that the crowds had increased instead of getting less. We headed towards Pirates of the Caribbean and it only had a 15 minute wait advertised, so we jumped in line, the left line that is.

It WAS a 15 minute wait until we made it onto the boat and the loading area was crowded too. By that time we were about halfway into Extra Magic Hours and we were getting pretty tired of fighting crowds that appeared to be heavier than during the day. There was a 50 minute wait for Splash Mountain and a 40 minute wait for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we decided to pass on both. We strolled over to Liberty Square and decided to try the Haunted Mansion. Score, only a 10 minute wait and since most visitors chose the new line, it even shorted our wait time.
We walked back into Fantasyland and hopped onto It’s a small world,

which had a 10 minute wait as well. While on the ride we decided to leave before Extra Magic Hours would be over. So, when we got off the ride, we slowly strolled towards the exit,

headed back to the car and arrived back at Old Key West a little before Extra Magic Hours were supposed to end. We had a nightcup and watched a little TV before we finally headed to bed.


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

 

[Teri1]

Mick would absolutely love staying at the Cars section of AOA. Too bad it is out of our price range. Maybe we can with our daughter's family some day.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I'm all caught up. I was about 10 pages behind. I love club concierge . We got a chance to use it at AKL. It was great because I basically had a broken arm and it was nice to be able to go to the lounge and get food. They always had a pitcher of freshly brewed iced tea available too. Great pictures of AoA. I made reservations to stay there next November but I need to cancel as it worked out better to stay at BCV.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

The Cars section is really cool. It reminds me of when I was a child traveling old Route 66 through the west. A lot of places looked liked the Cars area.

Boy, i love when we travel, can't do those crowds at the parks anymore.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

The Cars section is really cool. It reminds me of when I was a child traveling old Route 66 through the west. A lot of places looked liked the Cars area.

Boy, i love when we travel, can't do those crowds at the parks anymore.

Doris, I have the same memories as a child traveling through the southwest on the now "historic" RT 66. Remember the TeePee Motel?!

I can't handle the park crowds anymore either, so it is off season for me - although it is looking like a few days late August with DGD.

P.s.come join us on the Grannies PTR's thread!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I have the same memories as a child traveling through the southwest on the now "historic" RT 66. Remember the TeePee Motel?!

I can't handle the park crowds anymore either, so it is off season for me - although it is looking like a few days late August with DGD.

I sure do remember the TeePee Motel! I also remember the bucking horse statues out front at those places. Saddles were on the horse & one could sit on them. I had my picture taken on one of those. Not much left on old Route 66 anymore.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

I sure do remember the TeePee Motel! I also remember the bucking horse statues out front at those places. Saddles were on the horse & one could sit on them. I had my picture taken on one of those. Not much left on old Route 66 anymore.

We must be about the same age. We made that trip several times when I was a kid and once when I was 23 and wanted to do the same road trip - only we started from Boston that time rather than the Midwest. Fond memories.

Sorry for the little hijack, Karin!

 

[podsnel]

Loved your visit to Animation- the resort looks great! VERY impressed they did the internal hallways, too.

We are spending our 1st night of DISmoms this year at OKW- before we check in at AKV CL. I am looking forward to beakfast at olivia's and a visit to the Gurgling Suitcase!

 

[eandesmom]

Dinner looks lovely! We really really enjoyed the Wave for dinner and it's nice to have a lovely place that is often easier to get into and flexible if you are late. Bummer on the crowds though. I've always wanted to do JC in the dark but on our last EMH as a family there, it wasn't open during EMH which was a big bummer.

Fun updates and nice to be all settled in at your villa.

 

[englishrose47]

Wow how unusual that MK was soooo busy!!Anytime I have done Extra hours it really thins out and rides are walk on!!I read your comments on booking the cruise and tomorrow when I am OFF will give Christine a Buzz and figure it all out !! Thanks!!

 

[dizneeat]

Mick would absolutely love staying at the Cars section of AOA. Too bad it is out of our price range. Maybe we can with our daughter's family some day.

It is just such a cool part of the resort! And the theming there is just unbelieveable. My favourite part of the resort!
Just a bit over the top with pricing.

I'm all caught up. I was about 10 pages behind. I love club concierge . We got a chance to use it at AKL. It was great because I basically had a broken arm and it was nice to be able to go to the lounge and get food. They always had a pitcher of freshly brewed iced tea available too. Great pictures of AoA. I made reservations to stay there next November but I need to cancel as it worked out better to stay at BCV.

for being caught up! You are in luck - I didn't do many updates lately - real life gets in the way.
CL is great! I would love to try it at AKL. Maybe one day!

I would love to stay at AoA, if they just lowered the prices a little bit.

The Cars section is really cool. It reminds me of when I was a child traveling old Route 66 through the west. A lot of places looked liked the Cars area.

Boy, i love when we travel, can't do those crowds at the parks anymore.

It's impressed me the most. So cute!

Doris, I have the same memories as a child traveling through the southwest on the now "historic" RT 66. Remember the TeePee Motel?!

I can't handle the park crowds anymore either, so it is off season for me - although it is looking like a few days late August with DGD.

P.s.come join us on the Grannies PTR's thread!

Sophia will love AoA. It is like you step right into a movie set!

 

[dizneeat]

We must be about the same age. We made that trip several times when I was a kid and once when I was 23 and wanted to do the same road trip - only we started from Boston that time rather than the Midwest. Fond memories.

Sorry for the little hijack, Karin!

You are welcome to hijack whenever you feel like it!

Loved your visit to Animation- the resort looks great! VERY impressed they did the internal hallways, too.

We are spending our 1st night of DISmoms this year at OKW- before we check in at AKV CL. I am looking forward to beakfast at olivia's and a visit to the Gurgling Suitcase!

AoA is definitely worth a visit. Such a cute resort. The inside hallways are great - unfortunately the LM rooms have the outside entrances.

for staying at OKW! Have you ever stayed there before? It feels like a small village, not really like a hotel. And breakfast at Olivia's! I envy you!

Dinner looks lovely! We really really enjoyed the Wave for dinner and it's nice to have a lovely place that is often easier to get into and flexible if you are late. Bummer on the crowds though. I've always wanted to do JC in the dark but on our last EMH as a family there, it wasn't open during EMH which was a big bummer.

Fun updates and nice to be all settled in at your villa.

We just love The Wave. A bit different to the usual menus and you can get a table more easily than somewhere else.
We have never experienced anything like it. The crowds seemed to multiply instead of subsiding.
You HAVE TO ride JC during EMH - you won't see much, but the skippers come up with the funniest jokes. They stray from the usual spiel and it is so worth it to go at that time.

Wow how unusual that MK was soooo busy!!Anytime I have done Extra hours it really thins out and rides are walk on!!I read your comments on booking the cruise and tomorrow when I am OFF will give Christine a Buzz and figure it all out !! Thanks!!

I think they were open until 2am that day, and I think many guests with hoppers just came over after the other parks closed. It was a madhouse!

on talking cruise things over with Christine! Let me know what you come up with.

 

[englishrose47]

Karin I forgot to mention how good your food looed at the Wave !!I have eaten there twice and enjoyed it both times , both of your dinners looked wonderful !! I think I would have chosen your dessert though!!