It's kind of fun to do the impossible - 32 days of fun and friends - updated December 29

[buzzrelly]

Well, first off we were suffering from Disney Blues.

It's a real thing

we realized that the next Disney vacation would be more than 700 days away and to be honest, I got pretty depressed

That is a long time!

So I started exploring options for the next best thing, DLRP.
NO way we could afford to stay on property, but there are always some nice options through booking dot com. We actually found a nice little villa right opposite the small bakery we love so much. So we have that booked now and we have our flights booked for half term holiday, which is in February.
We were debating just getting 3 day tickets, but they are only a tiny bit cheaper than an AP with blockout dates. So we are going to get that AND are going back in the summer.

Awesome! Sounds like a fun trip and gives you something to look forward to!

we stopped at a service station that had a McDonald's for a bit of a break and a hot beverage.

What?? Your McDonald's had glassware?? How fancy!

Shortly before we reached the Italian border we left the motorway to fill up the tank again - gas is way cheaper in Austria than Italy and to grab a bite of breakfast.

I'm amazed that you can just hop in the car and drive to Italy!

Your apartment looks really cute!

 

[dizneeat]

A Glimpse of Italy ......

We prepared a nice late lunch

then unpacked and rested for a while. Around 4pm we went for a walk down the main street and were amazed to find almost everything closed. Some of the shops and restaurants had signs that said they would be open from Thursday through to Sunday (thankfully it was Wednesday already). It got dark pretty soon and we walked along the beach promenade for a while

before heading back to our room, we had some spaghetti and then made ourselves comfortable in front of the TV. Having had to get up early that day we went to bed early as well.

The next morning we went out to head to a VERY small grocery store, picked up whatever we needed for breakfast and headed back to our room to enjoy breakfast.

Bellies full we went for another walk along the main street to find that now finally a few of the stores were open and some of the restaurants were preparing for service lateron in the day.

We had wanted to go to a neighbouring town as Tom wanted to get a few of his geocaches done. Remember, these are all touristy towns, so being there at the tail end of the season really helps in not being desturbed when hunting for hidden plastic containers.
He found two while we were strolling through the town, there were some others along a path along the waters edge in a nature reserve.

It was quite a walk and while we were walking the sun came up and it turned into a beautiful day. We had not expected it to become that nice and had not used any sunblock and both of us got sunburned a bit.
The path itself was nice and there was lots to look at, especially since they had "stops" that showed off sea creatures and other things made out of things found at the beach.

A dinosaur

alligators

and an octopus were some of them. And the scenery itself was great as well.

At some point you could even walk up to the water's edge.

a beached jellyfish

We walked on and were amazed by all the snails on the dry brush

We were walking for about an hour and a half to get to this point, then went into a pine wood to find another cache and then we walked all the way back before driving back to our room.


​

 

[dizneeat]

A Glimpse of Italy ......

When we got back we rested for a bit, before heading out for dinner. There were not too many restaurants open, but there was a really highly recommended one, which was just a few steps from our place and this is where we went.
They were half empty when we arrived at 6pm.

Tom got himself a beer, while I had a Coke - and yes, that is how much you get - no free refills.

And after having dinner we went for a short walk (as if we hadn't walked enough that day) before returning to our place where we had some nice Tiramisu.

The next day we had a similar breakfast,

spent most of the day doing a bit of shopping and strolling around and just wasting the day away (which was super nice).

When we got back to our hotel by 5pm we noticed that the restaurant we had been to the night before already started to fill up (given that it was a holiday in Austria there were a lot more people).
We went to freshen up and by half past 5 we headed to the restaurant to find it pretty full, but we still got a table and had some more pizza.

When we were done we had actually wanted to go for another little walk but it had started to drizzle, so we just hurried back, settled in front of the TV and enjoyed the evening at "home".

​

 

[dizneeat]

A Glimpse of Italy ......​

Saturday had come far too soon. Our last full day. We had been thinking about going to Venice, but weather forecast wasn't too good there, so we decided to head to Palmanova instead. It is a very special little town, it's layout is like a star. Here is a pic I nicked from Google.

So after breakfast we drove there. It is about a 50 minute drive.

We had soon found a parking spot and started exploring.

This church was so beautiful from the outside and even more so from the inside.

As you can see, it started to drizzle a bit so we decided to take a break and have some coffee.

When we left it had started to rain harder and the wind had picked up quite a bit, so we decided to come back here another time to explore more, but it was time to head back. (Especially since I had decided to wear the one autumn jacket that was NOT waterproof!)

On the way back we stopped at two more grocery stores, really big ones as we were looking for certain items that we had not found yet and we also picked up some prosciutto and parma ham and several cheeses as well as some rolls to have a nice cosy lunch in our flat.
Needless to say that we needed to rest after lunch.

And while we were "at home" Tom got a text from a friend asking if we had felt an earthquake - but no, we hadn't. Little did we know that we would see some curious sights later that day.
But first things first. ​

On our way back the wind had picked up even more and while we were resting it was houling. We had sat out on the veranda for a short while, but it was way too windy and you could even feel the wind carrying the sand.
We had no idea that this would turn into the big storm that hit the Med this year that caused quite the devastation and maybe you have seen some of the pics of Venice not being IN the water, but UNDER water.

In the afternoon we ventured out again, you really had to fight the wind and we were both happy we had hoods, as you needed to protect yourself. It was then that we discovered this ......

We were later told that after the earthquake there had been quite the waves and pulled out most of the sand. We were stunned.

And when we returned to the town it was deserted ........

Long hot showers helped get rid of the sand and then we packed up our stuff, loaded the car with everything we didn't need for the night and had a nice cold cuts dinner. We didn't even bother with a restaurant.

Overnight the storm picked up a lot and we were up and listening to the howling wind ever so often.

Driving home was pretty uneventful if you take the wind and heavy rain out of the equation. We have never seen so many beautiful waterfalls along the way and rivers that usually are just a tiny little creek were now streams.
Getting back home took us a lot longer than usual, but we made it.



​

 

[superme80]

So glad you are back. I was starting to worry about you. Happy Holidays!!!!

 

[Mopedmom1]

Very nice Italian break, thanks for sharing. That sand ledge is crazy!

 

[wdwnut61]

Beautiful rainbow

I think I gained weight just looking at this

I love fresh tomatoes and mozzarella

So pretty and relaxing

Very cool

Great picture!

Looks like a postcard gorgeous

YUM!

That's scaryglad you both are ok

 

[dizneeat]

I will be back to reply and post an update later this weekend, but I just wanted to post the links to Tom's new Christmas countdown calendars - lots of hats to try on, so there is a

Hat calendar

and you get plenty of food to eat over a 5 week holiday, so there is a
​

Food calendar

Have fun opening them both! ​

 

[dizneeat]

Your savoury plates look delicious.

We were happy to see more and more savoury things creeping into the dessert parties. Tom is not big on sweets, so this really is great for him. And let me add that those savoury items were very tasty as well.

I can never resist bread pudding with ice cream!

Neither can I! And the one at the Starwars party is really yummy too!

How did you find the show? I watched it during my August trip and found it to be projection heavy and light on the fireworks.

It's a good show. We have seen it several times now and I have to admit that I enjoyed the previous ones a bit more. As you said there were a LOT of projections and especially where we were standing we could not see too many fireworks. Also the fire columns (hope that is the correct term) they had had were so impressing and they are not as impressive any more.

I'm sorry your lunch at Be Our Guest was so disappointing, it sounds like the dessert party was fun though and a break from the crowds that night.

We had had that dish several times before and it never was like this. Oh, well, maybe we just hit an off day. But the dessert party was nice and it is always good if you don't have to fight the August crowds.

Sorry to hear that your lunch at BOG didn't meet expectations. I had lunch there during my Labor Day week trip this year and had the same dish. I really enjoyed it so maybe I got lucky with a better batch of the pulled pork.

Ours was so watery. It was like boiled pork (with very little flavour) and some sauce dumped on top. We had had it before and it was really good, so this was disappointed. Glad you got a better one though - might really have been a day off for us.

The Star Wars show at HS is my favorite nighttime show in any of the parks. I was so happy to see that it had even been updated with new scenes since my trip one year prior!

There was lots of projections going on. We both are not big Star Wars geeks, but it was fun to watch. Just wish we would have seen more of the fireworks as well.

I've never been to a dessert party - the food and desserts all look pretty tasty!

You should try it one time. Even though most of the food is yummy it will give you a prime spot to watch fireworks without someone putting their 9 year old who is holding a giant balloon on his shoulders.

Sorry to hear BOG was disappointing we have found it hit or miss.

We stayed away from BOG after the breakfast we had had there. Stale baguette and rock hard bacon. But we thought we would give it another go just for the Onion Soup, Braised pork and Eclair. Oh well, we still have over a year and a half until we return so guess we'll just try again.

I prefer the breakfast although last November we did enjoy our steaks and glasses of champagne.

I am glad to hear that they got their act together with breakfast. We went when they first offered it and it was not desireable. We have not been for dinner since they changed the menu.

Come to think of it that may be why we enjoyed our meal

We plan on booking the SW Dessert party for March glad to hear you enjoyed it. DD is a huge SW fan so I think this will be fun

It was really nice, especially since they have chairs AND tables now and the offerings are unique and pretty yummy as well. If your DD is such a huge fan I really hope they do the meet and greet, which we skipped as I have no idea who is who. They also have some of those Stormtroopers come through and interact with people.

 

[dizneeat]

Following Along!!!

That is an amazing trip!

It WAS! So much fun with all the friends we were able to spend time with.

I love this one. I want this pic.

They had so many fun props this year. It was amazing and good fun!

Really?!? Did they give you chairs?

They used to only have those high desks, where you have to stand and we were happy to see that now they offer seating. But be aware, the tables are VERY close together and if you are just a party of two they will seat you with another party of two.

We were at the MK that same morning. Got there at 8:30 because stupid me knew it was EMH before vacation but I forgot once we were on vacation. Still my kids got on space mtn twice and me once and my youngest and DH got on the Speedway. I would of looked for you but I see where you were and we didn't go into Adventureland that day.

Ah, I would have loved to have a DISmeet right away. But I am happy to hear that you were able to fit so many things in.

And your flight day, yep, we were pulled from the lava pool in the afternoon for storms. The day before (wednesday) there were storms in the evening in the MK so most of the rides were down. Good for us since we went to BTMR and SM with a walk in right after.

By the detour we had to take I was pretty sure there must have been quite the storm. Funnily enough we talked to some friends who live close by and they were not touched by it. Oh well, it's Florida.

Oh how happy I am to have found you! I read your 40 day trip report along time ago and enjoyed it so much! Do you have a link to your other trip reports?
Delighted to be following along.

Still have not finished that 40 day one, but I am on it. I have a few more days typed out and will try to get some updates done over Christmas.

Tripreports - the 2017 one is in my signature and there are a few more .......

Get off the ship .......
We're out of it .....
Think of all the joy you'll find .....
Pixie dust .....
Please, whistle while you work .....
Did you feel pressured ....
If we can dream it .....
The most fantastic ........
Value resorts and inside ....
Memories of a dream ....

be aware ....... not all of them got finished.

Those mugs are so cute!

But such a pain to pack - that's why they were gifted to Vito jr and Hannah in the end.

Bummer about BoG. It does make me less upset that I couldn’t get a reservation for our December trip though.

I was so looking forward to it and it was quite the letdown. But as others have said, we might have picked a day where they were off ..... given that the drink stations didn't work either.

The SW party looks like great fun with lots of yummies. I find it very odd about the seating though. You’re paying for a great viewing... I guess they’re always trying to tweak things.

It was and the food was good. About the seating. Space is so limited and the tables are SO close together, I am pretty sure they were fully booked that day, so they fitted us in like sardines. Our tablemates were nice, but it was still akward.
And the viewing spot was not the best. Would we do it again, I would NOT go up to the front - the further back the better.

 

[dizneeat]

Awesome! Sounds like a fun trip and gives you something to look forward to!

Thank you! We really needed something to hold us over until we can finally return to the US again.

What?? Your McDonald's had glassware?? How fancy!

All of our "McCafes" have china and glassware IF you enjoy it there. Otherwise they will hand you the usual paper cup.

I'm amazed that you can just hop in the car and drive to Italy!

Your apartment looks really cute!

- well, I wish we could just hop on a plane and be at a US park in 5 hours. But being in Germany within an hour, Italy in 5 and Switzerland in 3 isn't bad either.
We like to stay in either a studio or a small flat. So much more space and it feels so much more relaxed than a hotel room. They do service that apartment, which is really nice.

So glad you are back. I was starting to worry about you. Happy Holidays!!!!

Thank you! With age comes being sooooooooo slow and having to teach three English groups doesn't help either. So much to mark and some of their essays are, well, let's say hard to grasp.
But I am done with exams (just a few more minor tests) for this calendar year. 10 more days of school before we have two weeks off.

Very nice Italian break, thanks for sharing. That sand ledge is crazy!

It was such a nice short vacation - it really feels so good to just be away from the daily hustle and bustle. That sand ledge was such a surprise as it had not been there the first time we had wandered out there.

I think I gained weight just looking at this

I love fresh tomatoes and mozzarella

They have so many different varieties of tomatoes in Italy and they are so tasty. And you can buy that mozzarella fresh, not packaged. So yummy!

That's scary glad you both are ok

We never even felt the earthquake. Thanks to a friend who filled us in. And seeing that huge "step" in the sand was quite the surprise.

 

[ncc1701]

Enjoyed your Italy report. We just had a short trip to a New Jersey shore town in the off season and the description of shops & restaurants only open sounded very similar .
Count me as another person impressed with the glassware & plates at your McDonald's

 

[dizneeat]

Day 4, August 11

The perfect way to play at the Magic Kingdom - Part 1

We got up around 7am,

showered and prepared breakfast in our room, consisting of sandwiches, chips and potato salad, sat down and had a relaxed breakfast

before getting ready to ride the Monorail around to the resorts. We also were at the lookout for a pin for someone from our cruise group and according to the shop Disney app it was sold at the Contemporary. So since we had to get there anyway we walked right into the shop, looked around, didn’t see it and asked a cast member. He had no idea, but after being shown on the phone, he went to get another cast member. And he then told us that his particular pin was not released yet and to come back on the 13th, as that was the release date. He swore they already had it in the stock room, but were not allowed to sell it before the 13th.
Okay, good, our cruise was not setting sail before the 25th, so it was no problem to pick it up later.
So off we went through security and up to the Monorail to ride it to the Polynesian Resort. Didn’t take long and we arrived and started our walk through the resort, checking out the stores and grounds.

About half an hour later we stopped in at the store and picked up a cute little Stitch, which would later become my pal for the Halloween Party and then we took another Monorail over to the Grand Floridian. Again, we walked around the grounds,

checked out the stores and watched out for another DISboards friend, who now works at the Grand.
He had posted on Facebook that he was on his way to work, so we hung around for a while, but since we were going to meet another friend, we headed back to the Contemporary and since we still had time, we just stopped at the Contempo Café for a little lunch. Again, we had decided to share and it didn’t take long for them to bring out our food. We had ordered the

Cheddar and Bacon Macaroni & Cheese, Blistered Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions, Bacon, Cheddar Sauce, and Cheese Bread Crumbs and the

Meat Lover's Flatbread, Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, and Smoke Bacon, topped with Mozzarella, which were both delicious. We are both not big fans of Mac and Cheese, but this one was really good and we gobbled it all up. Once we were done we headed back to Bay Lake Tower and waited for our friend Pamela who was on her way.
Didn’t take long and she had parked her car and was on her way to the resort.
We met her out in the parking lot and lots of hugs were in order before we returned to our room for a short chat and then we all headed over to the Contemporary to jump on the Monorail and travel over to Epcot. It was nice to have time to catch up on things while we were riding over, then joined the masses who were queueing up for bagcheck and finally we were able to scan our magic bands and head into the park.

We were a bit in a hurry as we were already at the tail end of our first pass and made it to The Land with minutes to spare. We headed inside and down the escalator to get on Living with the Land. There was a LONG line to get on the ride and even a line for the Fast Pass. We only had a few more minutes (we were already inside the grace period) but luckily made it onto the ride.

Again, we just chatted along and enjoyed sitting in the air conditioning and even though we all had been on the ride lots of times it is still so fun and interesting to see all the plants you ride through.

Once off the ride there was time for a restroom break before jumping right into the fast pass line for Soarin.

Funnily enough the line here seemed to be shorter than for Living with the Land and it was a short walk to the second check-point

and from there we joined a queue to get on the ride. When we finally made it to the point where they assign the seats we discovered that we would be seated on the far right side, so we asked if we could wait and get on the middle glider as I am not a fan of leaning landmarks. It wasn’t a problem, so we just stood back and waited for the lines to clear and then it was our turn. We were seated in row one of the middle glider and thoroughly enjoyed our ride, rediscovering all those beautiful landmarks again. Once we got off the ride, we had just a few minutes until our next fast pass was going to open, so we strolled towards the exit into the blistering heat again and then stopped into MouseGear to have a look around and cool off before heading over to Mission Space.

To be continued .....

Tom's new Christmas countdown calendars

Hat calendar

Food calendar

Have fun opening them both!​

 

[dizneeat]

Enjoyed your Italy report. We just had a short trip to a New Jersey shore town in the off season and the description of shops & restaurants only open sounded very similar .
Count me as another person impressed with the glassware & plates at your McDonald's

And I thought the deserted tourist towns were a European thing. Good to know it's a more "widespread" phenomenon.
We are so used to see china cups and glasses around here that it never occured to me that it was special. But then we are a nation of coffeehouse visitors and we can sit there for quite some time enjoying our coffee or other beverages (out of china cups and glasses. )

 

[MeghanEmily]

I'm with you on not enjoying the leaning landmarks in Soarin'! They give me a headache!

 

[jedijill]

Playing massive catch up! Your Italian holiday looked like fun minus the storms and the crazy earthquake!

Another fun day with Pamela!!!!

Yay for DLP to tide you over to the big trip!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

I'm with you on not enjoying the leaning landmarks in Soarin'! They give me a headache!

Yeah! Good to know we are not the only ones! It takes so much away from the sights if they lean to one side - wish they could do that better.

Playing massive catch up!

Ah, something I know only all too well.

Your Italian holiday looked like fun minus the storms and the crazy earthquake!

It was a very relaxed short break, but it was needed and enjoyed. We could have done without the storm at the end though.

Another fun day with Pamela!!!!

And there were quite some more to come!

Yay for DLP to tide you over to the big trip!

We are so looking forward to it and we ARE getting APs again and going back at the end of the summer. My aunt has invited us to stay with her in London as well, so this is going to be our summer holiday - about 10 days of London (and Cornwall) and another week of French baguette, cheese, wine and eclairs.

 

[wdwnut61]

This looks delicious

and from there we joined a queue to get on the ride. When we finally made it to the point where they assign the seats we discovered that we would be seated on the far right side, so we asked if we could wait and get on the middle glider as I am not a fan of leaning landmarks. It wasn’t a problem, so we just stood back and waited for the lines to clear and then it was our turn. We were seated in row one of the middle glider and thoroughly enjoyed our ride, rediscovering all those beautiful landmarks again. Once we got off the ride, we had just a few minutes until our next fast pass was going to open, so we strolled towards the exit into the blistering heat again and then stopped into MouseGear to have a look around and cool off before heading over to Mission Space.

We've done this as well. No one likes a leaning landmark lol

Beautiful! We love touring the resorts on the monorail for the beautiful lobby's and great shops

 

[dizneeat]

Wishing all of our DISfriends a Merry Christmas!

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[MeghanEmily]

Merry Christmas, Karin and Tom!!