Karen's December Adventure--Day 5--DVC here I come!

TLinden16

Scotty and Ray at Jelly Rolls are the best!
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
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Day 5—Wednesday, December 8, 2004

I woke up around 7:00 and got ready to head over to the Magic Kingdom for the morning. I got there a few minutes before nine and saw the characters arrive on the train, which was pretty cool. I then made my way to Tomorrowland, where I rode Space Mountain. After riding Space Mountain, I went to grab a spicy cheese pretzel at the Lunching Pad.

After paying for my pretzel, I heard someone call my name and saw my DIS friend Bavaria standing there! I had met Bavaria at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party last year, and we also met up in the world in April. I knew that she was going to be there, but we didn’t have any plans to meet up. It was fun running into her, and we decided to hang out for a while.

We went over to Fantasyland and watched Mickey’s Philharmagic. And then we headed to Fronteirland to ride on Splash and Thunder Mountains. After riding the mountains, Bavaria and I said goodbye. Bavaria had to head out, and I decided to make my way over to Epcot to grab some lunch.

When I got to Epcot, I went to Nine Dragons to get some pot stickers and General Tao’s Chicken. The food was excellent—one of the best meals of my trip. Everything was hot and tasty. I know a lot of people don’t like Nine Dragons, but it’s one of my favorites. I’ve never had a bad meal there.

After lunch, I caught a set by Epcot Vybe, and made my way back to the Swan. A Disney Vacation Club van was picking me up at 1:40 for a 2:00 meeting with my DVC guide. I recently signed a contract for points at the Boardwalk Villas, and I had to go over an pay for them. I also wanted to tour Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga Springs was a beautiful resort. It had a small town feel to it—and I guess in some ways it is about the size of some small towns. My guide showed me a studio, a one bed room, and a grand villa. The rooms were beautiful. My guide tried to talk me into buying into Saratoga Springs instead of the Boardwalk, but I knew that I wouldn’t be happy with Saratoga Springs as my home resort—it’s just too big and spread out for my liking. I like my resorts compact, and that’s what the Boardwalk is (plus, it houses my favorite night spot—that factored into my decision as to where I’d buy my DVC points).

At the end of the tour, my guide took me to the Ice Cream Parlor at Saratoga Springs, where they took my picture, and gave me a free ice cream. I was able to put caramel and sprinkles on it, but it didn’t look anywhere near as good as the ice cream I had at Chef Mickey’s did.

After eating my ice cream, I was back in a van, and heading back to the Swan. I had to get ready for another night out. I walked back to Epcot to kill some time before meeting some DISers for dinner. I caught another set by Epcot Vybe, and began to walk around the World Showcase. I went on the boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

I then caught the holiday storytellers in Germany. Daniel and Lukas were the storytellers. Daniel was a fantastic storyteller. There were some kids who kept on interrupting him, making random comments, and Daniel was very patient with them. He really did a fantastic job explaining some of the Christmas traditions in Germany. I really enjoyed listening to him (and told him as much after he was done). After the story, a life sized Nutcracker came out, and I had my picture taken with him. I collect Nutcrackers, so it was fun to have my picture taken with a real live one.

I then headed over to the American Pavillion to have my picture taken with Santa Claus. When I stood beside him, Mrs. Claus told me to sit on his lap. I told Santa I didn’t want to squish him, and he said, “It’s all right.” Looks like Santa was looking for a cheap thrill. I did have my picture taken with Santa for the first time in about 20 years, though.

It was then time to meet my DIS friends for dinner. I suggested that we eat out doors at the American Pavillion and listen to the Candlelight Processional while we ate. Helenabear and her husband Luis, CrazyBoutDisney and DaveH, TigerLily03 and her husband Ted, KathyTX and her mom Nancy, KristaTX and her mom Kay, Towncrier, ASFCurley, and PandyPaws were all there (I hope I didn’t forget anyone). We sat there for about two hours, just enjoying the music and each other’s company. I really had a great time with everyone, and it was so relaxing just sitting there enjoying the company of my DIS friends—I think it was one of the favorite parts of my trip.

After dinner, most of us headed over to an Illuminations Dessert party hosted by the Zurgs. There were many DIS folks there, and I got to meet a lot of DISers who I was looking forward to meeting there—including the Zurgs, 4GreatBoys, Matt’sMom and Buz, VickyBaby, and Pooh’sPal. The dessert party featured make your own sundaes, and they were very yummy. There were too many toppings to chose from!

Illuminations was fantastic. It was nice to watch it from a rail side seat without people crowding into me. The holiday ending was amazing. They had some amazing fireworks to “Let there Be Peace on Earth.” That song always gives me goosebumps.

After the dessert party, I walked back to the Swan with KathyTX. When we walked by Jellyrolls, I slowed my pace a bit, and thought about popping in, but I knew my boys Scotty and Ray weren’t playing that night, so I decided to head back to the room and go to bed early. I dozed off somewhere before midnight watching Will & Grace—another tiring day in the world.
 
From a Beach Club DVC owner, Welcome Home!!! :wave:
 
You know, Kaylee, I'm not a big ice cream fan, but if you pour caramel on it, I love it :)

Thanks for the Welcome Home, Craig! I am so excited for my first trip home in May :)

Karen
 

Ahhhhh. Memories from a great trip. Can we do it all over again :)?
 
I'll be there May 7-13, and Nov. 27-4, Krista. Wanna come?

Karen
 
Hey there Karen

I am jealous, not only do you get to go back to DW before me but you got to share special time with Helenabear/Elaine. I had dinner with her once but not at DW.

Thank you for the great report and some ideas for our next trip.

SG/Linda
 
Karen, you were definitely my good luck charm! Even though I was once again totally soaked on Splash Mountain (hmmm.... that only happens when I ride with you) I ended up having a good day!

Went and got a haircut at Coronado Springs (just needed to get pampered) and had a good snooze as it was soooo relaxing. And my hair smelled much better after I got rid of the Splash Mountain smell.

Then it was off to more work, and best news of all, I got the job that I have been waiting for!

I think that there was definitely some pixie dust flying around that day - the only reason I ran into you was because the train driver mistakenly told us that Mickey's Toontown Fair was open, and since it wasn't I had to take the walkway behind the Speedway.

So all in all that was a GREAT day for me - look forward to seeing you in Disneyland in 2005!
 
Great news on the job! Glad I ran into you :) You'll have to buy me dinner sometime since I was your good luck charm ;)

Karen
 
DEFINITELY!

my schedule has me in the southeast for most of the year....hm......

And I may have to be in Los Angeles this weekend..... hm......

Methinks we can definitely arange a dinner at some point and another trip on Splash and Space Mountain!
 







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