It’s the little moments that count!! 3/31 KathyRN137 & Lurkyloo's podcasts

[mrsksomeday]

May 20th was Dine with Imagineer day!! We love this experience and will probably being doing it every trip. While waiting for the friendship boat we learned the answer to the eternal question that all you Disney fans wonder about...


How do they keep Crescent Lake from being overrun by plant life in the water?

When you Dine with an Imagineer you get a fancy name tag that Bill is modeling in this picture:

I was happy because this time they spelled my name right!! We met our Imagineer, his name was Ron Macdonald.

As you can see he does plaster and rock work, mostly for Animal Kingdom he went there because of Expedition Everest. We liked talking to him about the animal and plant life prints in the walk ways. He joked that though they liked the look of them it had to be hard for certain people to walk on the pavement and asked Bill how he felt about them. Bill told the group he could feel every uneven part when wheeling across it.

The dining part came into play when it was time for the appetizers, I got the famous Cobb Salad, Bill declined.

I am pretty sure we both got steaks but I don’t have pictures. I did take one of Bill’s creme brulee:

This was Ron’s first time talking to guests in this setting. He was really funny, personable, and answered all our questions. He said they really take into account how the guest will look at and feel things as they go through the park.

He said when people were putting the yeti together at Everest they decided to do a little tribute to Imagineer Joe Rohde. He was involved with Animal Kingdom from the start and recently worked on the Aulani Resort. The guy that wears a huge earring:

So the yeti under all that fur has an earring. We love hearing stuff like this. It is just a great experience with about 8 or 9 other people that love Disney just like us. When the time was almost up Ron started signing the Imagineer plates that are given out. This is our second set, this was a different design:

Before Ron left he shook people’s hands good bye:

It was a gorgeous day, we love the sights at DHS:

Since my knee was bothering me and Bill had work to do on the laptop we headed out:

One last trip on the friendship boats:

Poster child for someone that was too stubborn to let me put sunscreen on him:

We got back to the resort and I saw another hidden Mickey:

We are just in love with the lobby at the Boardwalk:

Scary clown... SCARY CLOWN!!

After we relaxed and Bill got some work done we decided to go back to the ESPN Club for our last dinner.

It was gorgeous that night:

Bill’s chair decided to leave one last mark on the World:

Continued in next post... Night at the Boardwalk

 

[mrsksomeday]

After dinner we wandered the Boardwalk, we really enjoy the vibe of the area.

Goodbye Beach Club:

Goodbye Yacht Club:

You can almost see the energy and fun in this picture:

Boardwalk Inn side:

I was loving the clouds tonight:

This duck started following Bill:

We didnt want the night to end:

Next installment... Time to go back to reality. Why does our Magical Express bus not have a wheelchair lift?

 

[Tinker_Tam]

What a great experience you and Bill always have with the imagineers. I am glad they spelled the name correctly. Thank you for always passing on the tidbits of info your learn. I will be looking for the earring (under all the fur) as I am screaming my head off on EE in December!

Bill looks so sad in that last picture! My heart breaks... until I remember that you guys have TONS of trips planned for the next year! I think Bill can really pull off the pouty face if he wants to...He just has that look!

 

[tazdev3225]

I need to look into the Dine with an Imagineer for December. That looks like a lot of fun. That resort really is lovely. Is the elephant suppose to be Lucy from Margate in NJ. I took some great pics of it in Jannuary.

 

[cheekypoppins]

BOOOOOOOOOOOO I don't want it to end!!!! I'm not ready yet,and yeah thats nuts the buses should be wheelchair accessible I always wondered how hard that must be to deal with.

 

[jenseib]

For some reason, back in Nov. I thought that the chairs Paul and Todd were at Beach Club and I asked about them but many CM's gave me a weird look and had no clue. One knew exactly what I was talking about and said, wrong resort, need to go to Boardwalk and we never made it over there to see them. I had been in the lobby last March, but never thought about looking then.

 

[Deesknee]

I so want to have lunch with an Imagineer. But with DD only being 9, it just isn't practical right now. Looks like you & Bill had a wonderful experience. Those plates are gorgeous! Love looking at your pictures of the BW. I need to get a good one, enlarge it, and hang it in my Disney room. Maybe next time we are down there.
Why would ANY of the disney busses not have the chair lift? That's nuts.

Sorry Bill got too much sun. But, that is a great picture you took of him to show it.

I don't want your TR to end. Maybe you will be starting a PTR soon?

 

[piglet50]

thanks for the great updates. lots of great pictures. hope the sunburn wasn't too painful.

 

[luvfigment]

Looks like a great day! Hope Bill's face wasn't too sore. All of your pictures from around The Boardwalk and Yact Club were beautiful. It made me want to be there! I don't want to wait til Dec for another TR.

 

[ddstratton]

Dining with an Imagineer -- looked like you guys had a great time! Poor sunburned Bill -- but he should have let you put some suncreen on him! Sunburn is bad!! (Says the person who sunburns if she even looks outdoors.)

Love the pictures of the Boardwalk area -- so pretty.

 

[mrsksomeday]

What a great experience you and Bill always have with the imagineers. I am glad they spelled the name correctly. Thank you for always passing on the tidbits of info your learn. I will be looking for the earring (under all the fur) as I am screaming my head off on EE in December!

Bill looks so sad in that last picture! My heart breaks... until I remember that you guys have TONS of trips planned for the next year! I think Bill can really pull off the pouty face if he wants to...He just has that look!

Bill is a great pouter, he can get about anything he wants with that face.

I need to look into the Dine with an Imagineer for December. That looks like a lot of fun. That resort really is lovely. Is the elephant suppose to be Lucy from Margate in NJ. I took some great pics of it in Jannuary.

We really enjoy Dine with an Imagineer, I think it is a tradition with us now.

BOOOOOOOOOOOO I don't want it to end!!!! I'm not ready yet,and yeah thats nuts the buses should be wheelchair accessible I always wondered how hard that must be to deal with.

Dealing with transportation with the wheelchair can be an issue at times.

For some reason, back in Nov. I thought that the chairs Paul and Todd were at Beach Club and I asked about them but many CM's gave me a weird look and had no clue. One knew exactly what I was talking about and said, wrong resort, need to go to Boardwalk and we never made it over there to see them. I had been in the lobby last March, but never thought about looking then.

We think they are very interesting.

I so want to have lunch with an Imagineer. But with DD only being 9, it just isn't practical right now. Looks like you & Bill had a wonderful experience. Those plates are gorgeous! Love looking at your pictures of the BW. I need to get a good one, enlarge it, and hang it in my Disney room. Maybe next time we are down there.
Why would ANY of the disney busses not have the chair lift? That's nuts.

Sorry Bill got too much sun. But, that is a great picture you took of him to show it.

I don't want your TR to end. Maybe you will be starting a PTR soon?

I think there is an age limit for the experience and it can be a bit dull for someone not really into imagineering. I will talk about the wheelchair issue in the next installment. Bill is completely stubborn about sun block, it drives me crazy. I don't think there will be a PTR, we are so boring and do a lot of the same things it would be a snooze fest .

thanks for the great updates. lots of great pictures. hope the sunburn wasn't too painful.

Thanks for posting, it looked bad but didn't hurt.

Looks like a great day! Hope Bill's face wasn't too sore. All of your pictures from around The Boardwalk and Yact Club were beautiful. It made me want to be there! I don't want to wait til Dec for another TR.

Bill said the sunburn didn't bother him . We miss the Boardwalk so much.

Dining with an Imagineer -- looked like you guys had a great time! Poor sunburned Bill -- but he should have let you put some suncreen on him! Sunburn is bad!! (Says the person who sunburns if she even looks outdoors.)

Love the pictures of the Boardwalk area -- so pretty.

I sunburn very easily too and slather it on before we leave the room.

 

[scottny]

I would love to do the dining but am afraid I will freeze up and just sit there and not ask anything.

It did look like a gorgeous night there. I hope we can get in there for December.

Great update and pics.

 

[RunningGirl]

I love that little tidbit about the Yeti! Would love to dine with an imagineer.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I would love to do the dining but am afraid I will freeze up and just sit there and not ask anything.

It did look like a gorgeous night there. I hope we can get in there for December.

Great update and pics.

Are you still coming to WDW in early December? Lorrie is supposed to be there too, maybe we should try to book the same lunch with the Imagineer? You would feel more comfortable. I think it could be fun!! They do it Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I had no luck with openings for December with two rental agencies .

I love that little tidbit about the Yeti! Would love to dine with an imagineer.

You should try it some day .

 

[carissanboys]

What a wonderful experience with the imagineer! I'd love to do something special and unique like that one day.

Poster child for someone that was too stubborn to let me put sunscreen on him:

Poor Bill! Ouch! Chuck got a sunburn one day on our trip while out fishing. The temps were cool so you almost forgot how hot the sun was.

Beautiful pictures of the Boardwalk! I'm bummed we didn't end up over there this trip. One day I will get over there! (Except for my quick run through it during the marathon relay, I've never been over there.)

 

[DisMomAmy]

You're back!! And now you are almost done!

Sounds like you had a great last few days at DHS!

 

[mrsksomeday]

What a wonderful experience with the imagineer! I'd love to do something special and unique like that one day.



Poor Bill! Ouch! Chuck got a sunburn one day on our trip while out fishing. The temps were cool so you almost forgot how hot the sun was.

Beautiful pictures of the Boardwalk! I'm bummed we didn't end up over there this trip. One day I will get over there! (Except for my quick run through it during the marathon relay, I've never been over there.)

We really love talking to imagineers, we enjoy hearing about how things are developed and come to life throughout the parks.

Bill said the sunburn looked bad but didn't really hurt. We love the Boardwalk, apparently so does everyone else, it seems we won't be able to rent points for it in December . You have to go one day.

Thanks for reading .

You're back!! And now you are almost done!

Sounds like you had a great last few days at DHS!

Hi Amy!! Your trip is so close! We just love DHS, Disney needs to give it some love.

 

[tazdev3225]

I wanted to try the Boardwalk in December too but my DH decided he would rather stay at POR. He wants us to be in control of our vacation. I will pop over to see it decorated for the holidays though.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I wanted to try the Boardwalk in December too but my DH decided he would rather stay at POR. He wants us to be in control of our vacation. I will pop over to see it decorated for the holidays though.

I understand the control issue, that is the only thing I don't like about renting points. With us though it does help stop the resort change/addonitis issues we tend to have . We loved POR when we stayed there.

 

[mrsksomeday]

We didnt want to wake up, we didnt want to check our luggage with Bell services, we didnt want to say goodbye to the Boardwalk Villas, but we had to we were getting kicked out. I had packed the good camera so all my pictures on this day are from my cell phone, sorry for the quality.

We had decided to have lunch a Big River Grille, heck we had lived over the top of it for about a week we might as well go eat there. To console ourselves we ordered some drinks, I know shocker!

I got a turkey sandwich:

Bill got pasta:

We had decided the night before to just hang out at the resort until the Magical Depression picked us up. I thought this was just adorable:

Look at the size of this furniture:

The lobby is so pretty:

Various Boardwalk pictures coming...

Area just off the Boardwalk lobby:

Love these little wicker chairs:

Great view from here:

We went back in to sit in the lobby and chose the area with the miniature carousel. It plays a couple of times an hour:



Click the above picture to see the carousel in action. Sorry I didnt have the phone turned the other way.

The next thing we knew it was time to sit outside and wait for ME. This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip:

I saw the bus off in the distance, It wasnt a usual Magical Express Bus.

See the look on Bills face? He was seeing what I was seeing, or rather what we were NOT seeing. There was no lift for the wheelchair on this bus. I had specifically made sure when we had been at the airport that a bus with a lift was noted on our return ME reservation.

I panicked. I always worry about missing flights. I immediately went up to the bus driver as soon as the doors opened and asked if he knew if another bus was coming with a lift. He had no clue, he wanted me to talk to bell services and have them contact ME. I told him he needed to get on his radio and get this corrected asap, I was nice but firm. Twenty minutes later a bus came with this:

YAY!!! This cracked me up and I had to take a picture:

Poor Bill has to be strapped down in front of the potty.

We had to stop at all the All Stars resorts too and it felt in my mind that time was flying.

By the time we got to the airport and got to the Southwest line, we have to get the wheelchair checked in, it was getting closer and closer to our flight. Security didnt take too long and we were at our gate. We decided from then on we would be asking ME for a pick up 4 hours before our flight.

I had to take this picture since it was this poor little wheelchairs last ride in a plane:

So bittersweet, it has been on 11 WDW trips with us, but a new wheelchair is being adjusted over and over right now to make sure Bill is comfortable for trip #12!!

We picked up Ace the next day and well this is how he felt:

This one says why do you always point that thing at me Mommy?

We were happy to be home because that means we are back with Ace, he is a light in our lives, we just adore him.

Thanks so much for following along with us and posting. Right now we have a trip booked in December with tentative plans for Spring 2014 , late December 2014, and Star Wars Weekend 2015. As always I will take way too many pictures and write more trip reports, hope to see you then.

P.S....... We did some podcasts