ZerasPride
DVC Member Since 2001
- Joined
- Sep 1, 1999
- Messages
- 4,283
Thursday, June 10, 2004 - Day 5 Homeward Bound - Our Off Kilter Day or I should just get a job as a Mission Space Therapist!
Up bright and early this our last morning at Disney and at our wonderful hotel. I set the Mickey wake up call for 7:30 but I was up before 7:00 and just laid in the bed counting my blessings and looking forward to the day. Since I couldnt go back to sleep, I went out on our patio. We were just two doors down from one of the big suites, I think the Coral Suite and it had a large patio with a lounger or two and several other patio type furniture. It must be a blast to stay in a suite like that. Anyway, I started a new book and decided to read until I heard the phone ring at 7:30. I must have gotten so deep in my book that I didnt realize what time it was, by the time I poked my head back in the room it was 7:45 and Di was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Horror of horrors, I missed Mickeys last wake up call!!!!
It seems like we were slightly behind the schedule I had set for us every day. I am trying to come to peaceful terms with my inner commando but it just didnt happen this trip. I had planned for us to be checked out of the room, our luggage stored away and at breakfast by 8:00. I guess that wasnt happening. We left the room and we were at the check out desk at 8:30. I didnt have a bill hanging on our door knob so I wanted to check what was up with that and store our stuff. It turns out that when you stay DVC and theres a zero balance, you dont get a bill. There was a valet charge on my account but when I told them we didnt even have a car this trip, they quickly took the charge off. I did ask for a zero bill print out just because Im one of those people that if there is a problem later on, it will happen to me and I wont have any documentation to back it up so I did get the zero bill even though the CM looked at me kind of strange.
After storing our belongings in the storage facility and our precious chocolate cargo in the frig, we walked around the long winding porch (did you know the porch wraps all the way around the main building? Cool) which ends at GG so we could grab some breakfast. Di had french toast and hash browns and I had a bowl of grits, scrambled eggs, and bacon with 1% milk for about $17. Its a lot cheaper than a character meal and the food was pretty good here all week.
We took the monorail from GF to the TTC and then transferred to the Epcot monorail. I let Di pick the final park of trip and she picked Epcot. We arrived to find every line was very long to go through security and check in a little before 10:00. We went straight for TT fast passes with a return time of 11:00-12:00. Off to MS where the 15 minute wait time for stand by changed as we got in line to 25 minutes. We bailed and decided to do single rider as it was only 10 minutes. I was a little nervous with having Di ride with people she didnt know but we had already ridden MS several times and both felt like old pros!
I was part of a mission with some cool acting young men who were bragging what a great time they were going to have and how they werent scared of this ride. Until we got in the capsule. One of them admitted he was kind of claustrophobic and the other two told me how they were concerned about how scary they heard it was. The claustrophobic boy wanted to bail out but I encouraged him to stay and he did. A couple of other times that we rode, people needed reassurance that it would be okay and I was there to comfort and reassure them too. I later told Di that I should get a job as a Mission Space therapist! Between the CMs out front warning you and the signs as you go through the wait area, I was ready to bail out on the ride myself the first time but Im glad I didnt. I would have missed a great experience.
Anyway, after successfully landing on Mars and my checking on the guys in the capsule with me to make sure they were alright, Di told me she was grouped with a rowdy bunch and they had a great time. So we both had a good MS experience in the single rider line.
Next it was off to Ellen and Bill Nye at the Universe of Energy. Di thought it was silly but it gave me some quality nap time off my feet so I enjoyed it. We then did some shopping at Mouse Gears as I was looking for a new set of pajamas but didnt find a pair I liked until the very end of our trip and they were way too expensive. They were in the window of the fancy dress shop at the GF but the top alone was $40. Not!!!!!
Our fast pass for TT was finally opened and we grabbed fast passes for MS with a return time of 1:05-2:05. We used our fast pass for TT and marveled at the 75 minute wait time for stand by. We know the people in stand by waited much longer than 75 minutes because it was 35 minutes before we were in the gift shop after our ride using fast pass. There were some technical difficulties and if we waited over 30 minutes with fast pass, I can just imagine how long those poor stand by people waited! The crowds seemed really heavy to me and many of the lines for rides by the afternoon had ridiculous wait times.
After TT we had at least an hour and a half to kill so we decided to get a snack. We decided to go to the Dolphin (Tubbis) for a real lunch instead of grabbing a quick snack. On our way through Canada we decided against going all the through the IG in the heat and humidity plus it looked like it was going to storm (again). We found a cart and I bought some popcorn and a diet soda and Di got a soda ($7). The next Off Kilter show was starting in 30 minutes and there were very few shaddy spots so we grabbed some seats and munched on popcorn (me) and drank our beverages. Of course the sodas werent cold and I had to go find a stand with someone nice enough to give us two courtesy cups and some ice. That taken care of, we settled down to wait for the show as the sky darkened. I have never had the privilege of hearing Off Kilter before and even though they get rave reviews on the internet, I didnt know quite what to expect. Di was not impressed but I had a rocking good time! I loved their music so much that I bought one of the CDs at a Canadian kiosk. It was $21 well spent and I enjoy listening to it now that Im back home.
It started to rain in the middle of the show but fortunately Di and I were under an umbrella. Most people were not under cover but the band kept rocking and people kept listening, enjoying the music despite the rain. They have a loyal following and now a brand new fan. I loved how when people would come up near the stage to take a picture, the lead singer would do something really silly so that pose was in the picture. He did it for me when I went to snap their picture and I get a kick out of looking at the pics now that Im home. They have a lot of personality! Ive played the CD for DH and he likes the music so I know where we will be spending part of our Epcot time next trip!
We sloshed back to MS for some go time and then SE on the way out. Di really likes SE and so do I. It was a bittersweet ride because it was our last ride of the trip. It always amazes me that when you enter Epcot in the morning, there is always a long line for SE but if you wait until later in the day, you can just walk on.
We took the monorails back to the GF where we had a lovely conversation with a CM named Jennifer from NY at GG, where we went for one last snack. She told me how much she enjoys the college program and all the perks Disney CMs get. We also talked a bit about South Beach because I had ordered the sugar free ice cream and all they had was sorbet and I was disappointed. I also mentioned that I thought it looked like it was raspberry but I was assured it was strawberry. I absolutely hate raspberry and they had a chef come out and talk to me. That wasnt necessary but it was so nice of him to do that and he confirmed that yes the sorbet was sugar free but that it was indeed raspberry. Yuck!
Anyway, Jennifer told me about her own moms success on the South Beach diet so I told Jennifer to be sure and tell her mom a fellow South Beacher said to keep up the great work! Anyway since my efforts at getting a snack were foiled, I ate 3 sugar free mini chocolates I had with me from home and I drank a bottle of water while Di enjoyed an order of fries. They were so good she got a second order.
After our snack, we took the winding porch back toward the entrance of the GF walking slowly and trying to soak up all the ambience we could. We stopped by the various shops one more time and Di made one more purchase before we went out to meet our towncar driver.
As we left the resort it started to rain again. Our flight was scheduled to leave Orlando at 6:45 but with the rain and subsequent storm, after we boarded our plane, the flight was delayed on the tarmac until about 7:30. When we first got to the airport and went through security Di got wanded. I didnt even pay attention because I thought she was right behind me. One of the security agents was saying that I needed to watch as they wanded my daughter. I didnt think they were talking to me because I dont have a daughter. I took my bag and went to walk away. The agent had to bang on the glass to get my attention. They all looked at me like I was the worst mother in the world to walk away from my young daughter being searched. I thought Di was right behind me and when they said someones daughter was being wanded, I thought they were talking to someone else! Duh! So many people thought I was Dis mother that I got tired of saying we were sisters so I just started letting it go. I watched my daughter get wanded and when they gave her the all clear, we gathered our stuff and went on.
Once we were on the plane, they made the announcement that because of lightning the workers couldnt load the luggage so we were delayed like I reported earlier about 30 minutes. We sat next to a nice businessman from Canton and had a chat. I was just grinning to myself about how well I fit into the seat but didnt think Di and I could get away with our Beyounce booty dance with this nice gentleman sitting next to us without him thinking we were crazy so we behaved ourselves. We had an uneventful flight once we got into the air and landed about 9:40 instead of 9:11, not too bad.
DH and DS met us at the airport and it was great to be home again! On the way to our house, I was starved but decided to just eat something at home. I ended up having breakfast after I made half an attempt to start to unpack. I ate ½ bowl of whole wheat cereal and 3 small sausage patties even though it was pretty late. I did read through some mail and was excited my new FIRM DVDs came! Sad that this is what I consider exciting now, I know. I called my sisters to let them know we were back safe and sound and talked about the trip until it was very late. I ended up going to bed about 1:00 a.m., I was tired but it was a fun trip!
FINAL OBSERVATIONS AND SUMMARY:
I am proud that I was able to stay OP on vacation and not even really be tempted by the stuff around me. There were times I caught glimpses of myself in a window as I passed by and I could honestly smile at my reflection. My hard work is paying off and the results are much sweeter than any sugar laden treat I could ever eat!
My top favorite things of this trip: (1) staying at the GF; (2) RnR; (3) MS; (4) fitting comfortably on all the rides, going through the turnstiles and sitting on the plane nicely; (5) being able to fasten my seatbelt comfortably; and (6) working out in the GF health club facility for free.
Di top favorite things of this trip: (1) MS; (2) RnR; (3) BTRM at night; and (4) the hashbrowns at Donalds breakfast.
My least favorite things of this trip: (1) getting bit up by mosquitoes on the first night; (2) finding hair in my food twice; (3) initially having a hard time getting a burger without a bun at counter service places; and (5) the humidity and storms that lasted for hours each day.
Dis least favorite things of this trip: (1) Winnie the Pooh ride; (2) eating at Liberty Inn; and (3) Off Kilter.
We had an awesome time and I cant wait for the family trip were planning for summer 2006 with at least 12 family members at Old Key West! If youve made it this far, you deserve a medal! Thanks for reading and I hope your next trip to Disney is a magical one!
Up bright and early this our last morning at Disney and at our wonderful hotel. I set the Mickey wake up call for 7:30 but I was up before 7:00 and just laid in the bed counting my blessings and looking forward to the day. Since I couldnt go back to sleep, I went out on our patio. We were just two doors down from one of the big suites, I think the Coral Suite and it had a large patio with a lounger or two and several other patio type furniture. It must be a blast to stay in a suite like that. Anyway, I started a new book and decided to read until I heard the phone ring at 7:30. I must have gotten so deep in my book that I didnt realize what time it was, by the time I poked my head back in the room it was 7:45 and Di was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Horror of horrors, I missed Mickeys last wake up call!!!!
It seems like we were slightly behind the schedule I had set for us every day. I am trying to come to peaceful terms with my inner commando but it just didnt happen this trip. I had planned for us to be checked out of the room, our luggage stored away and at breakfast by 8:00. I guess that wasnt happening. We left the room and we were at the check out desk at 8:30. I didnt have a bill hanging on our door knob so I wanted to check what was up with that and store our stuff. It turns out that when you stay DVC and theres a zero balance, you dont get a bill. There was a valet charge on my account but when I told them we didnt even have a car this trip, they quickly took the charge off. I did ask for a zero bill print out just because Im one of those people that if there is a problem later on, it will happen to me and I wont have any documentation to back it up so I did get the zero bill even though the CM looked at me kind of strange.
After storing our belongings in the storage facility and our precious chocolate cargo in the frig, we walked around the long winding porch (did you know the porch wraps all the way around the main building? Cool) which ends at GG so we could grab some breakfast. Di had french toast and hash browns and I had a bowl of grits, scrambled eggs, and bacon with 1% milk for about $17. Its a lot cheaper than a character meal and the food was pretty good here all week.
We took the monorail from GF to the TTC and then transferred to the Epcot monorail. I let Di pick the final park of trip and she picked Epcot. We arrived to find every line was very long to go through security and check in a little before 10:00. We went straight for TT fast passes with a return time of 11:00-12:00. Off to MS where the 15 minute wait time for stand by changed as we got in line to 25 minutes. We bailed and decided to do single rider as it was only 10 minutes. I was a little nervous with having Di ride with people she didnt know but we had already ridden MS several times and both felt like old pros!
I was part of a mission with some cool acting young men who were bragging what a great time they were going to have and how they werent scared of this ride. Until we got in the capsule. One of them admitted he was kind of claustrophobic and the other two told me how they were concerned about how scary they heard it was. The claustrophobic boy wanted to bail out but I encouraged him to stay and he did. A couple of other times that we rode, people needed reassurance that it would be okay and I was there to comfort and reassure them too. I later told Di that I should get a job as a Mission Space therapist! Between the CMs out front warning you and the signs as you go through the wait area, I was ready to bail out on the ride myself the first time but Im glad I didnt. I would have missed a great experience.
Anyway, after successfully landing on Mars and my checking on the guys in the capsule with me to make sure they were alright, Di told me she was grouped with a rowdy bunch and they had a great time. So we both had a good MS experience in the single rider line.
Next it was off to Ellen and Bill Nye at the Universe of Energy. Di thought it was silly but it gave me some quality nap time off my feet so I enjoyed it. We then did some shopping at Mouse Gears as I was looking for a new set of pajamas but didnt find a pair I liked until the very end of our trip and they were way too expensive. They were in the window of the fancy dress shop at the GF but the top alone was $40. Not!!!!!
Our fast pass for TT was finally opened and we grabbed fast passes for MS with a return time of 1:05-2:05. We used our fast pass for TT and marveled at the 75 minute wait time for stand by. We know the people in stand by waited much longer than 75 minutes because it was 35 minutes before we were in the gift shop after our ride using fast pass. There were some technical difficulties and if we waited over 30 minutes with fast pass, I can just imagine how long those poor stand by people waited! The crowds seemed really heavy to me and many of the lines for rides by the afternoon had ridiculous wait times.
After TT we had at least an hour and a half to kill so we decided to get a snack. We decided to go to the Dolphin (Tubbis) for a real lunch instead of grabbing a quick snack. On our way through Canada we decided against going all the through the IG in the heat and humidity plus it looked like it was going to storm (again). We found a cart and I bought some popcorn and a diet soda and Di got a soda ($7). The next Off Kilter show was starting in 30 minutes and there were very few shaddy spots so we grabbed some seats and munched on popcorn (me) and drank our beverages. Of course the sodas werent cold and I had to go find a stand with someone nice enough to give us two courtesy cups and some ice. That taken care of, we settled down to wait for the show as the sky darkened. I have never had the privilege of hearing Off Kilter before and even though they get rave reviews on the internet, I didnt know quite what to expect. Di was not impressed but I had a rocking good time! I loved their music so much that I bought one of the CDs at a Canadian kiosk. It was $21 well spent and I enjoy listening to it now that Im back home.
It started to rain in the middle of the show but fortunately Di and I were under an umbrella. Most people were not under cover but the band kept rocking and people kept listening, enjoying the music despite the rain. They have a loyal following and now a brand new fan. I loved how when people would come up near the stage to take a picture, the lead singer would do something really silly so that pose was in the picture. He did it for me when I went to snap their picture and I get a kick out of looking at the pics now that Im home. They have a lot of personality! Ive played the CD for DH and he likes the music so I know where we will be spending part of our Epcot time next trip!
We sloshed back to MS for some go time and then SE on the way out. Di really likes SE and so do I. It was a bittersweet ride because it was our last ride of the trip. It always amazes me that when you enter Epcot in the morning, there is always a long line for SE but if you wait until later in the day, you can just walk on.
We took the monorails back to the GF where we had a lovely conversation with a CM named Jennifer from NY at GG, where we went for one last snack. She told me how much she enjoys the college program and all the perks Disney CMs get. We also talked a bit about South Beach because I had ordered the sugar free ice cream and all they had was sorbet and I was disappointed. I also mentioned that I thought it looked like it was raspberry but I was assured it was strawberry. I absolutely hate raspberry and they had a chef come out and talk to me. That wasnt necessary but it was so nice of him to do that and he confirmed that yes the sorbet was sugar free but that it was indeed raspberry. Yuck!
Anyway, Jennifer told me about her own moms success on the South Beach diet so I told Jennifer to be sure and tell her mom a fellow South Beacher said to keep up the great work! Anyway since my efforts at getting a snack were foiled, I ate 3 sugar free mini chocolates I had with me from home and I drank a bottle of water while Di enjoyed an order of fries. They were so good she got a second order.
After our snack, we took the winding porch back toward the entrance of the GF walking slowly and trying to soak up all the ambience we could. We stopped by the various shops one more time and Di made one more purchase before we went out to meet our towncar driver.
As we left the resort it started to rain again. Our flight was scheduled to leave Orlando at 6:45 but with the rain and subsequent storm, after we boarded our plane, the flight was delayed on the tarmac until about 7:30. When we first got to the airport and went through security Di got wanded. I didnt even pay attention because I thought she was right behind me. One of the security agents was saying that I needed to watch as they wanded my daughter. I didnt think they were talking to me because I dont have a daughter. I took my bag and went to walk away. The agent had to bang on the glass to get my attention. They all looked at me like I was the worst mother in the world to walk away from my young daughter being searched. I thought Di was right behind me and when they said someones daughter was being wanded, I thought they were talking to someone else! Duh! So many people thought I was Dis mother that I got tired of saying we were sisters so I just started letting it go. I watched my daughter get wanded and when they gave her the all clear, we gathered our stuff and went on.
Once we were on the plane, they made the announcement that because of lightning the workers couldnt load the luggage so we were delayed like I reported earlier about 30 minutes. We sat next to a nice businessman from Canton and had a chat. I was just grinning to myself about how well I fit into the seat but didnt think Di and I could get away with our Beyounce booty dance with this nice gentleman sitting next to us without him thinking we were crazy so we behaved ourselves. We had an uneventful flight once we got into the air and landed about 9:40 instead of 9:11, not too bad.
DH and DS met us at the airport and it was great to be home again! On the way to our house, I was starved but decided to just eat something at home. I ended up having breakfast after I made half an attempt to start to unpack. I ate ½ bowl of whole wheat cereal and 3 small sausage patties even though it was pretty late. I did read through some mail and was excited my new FIRM DVDs came! Sad that this is what I consider exciting now, I know. I called my sisters to let them know we were back safe and sound and talked about the trip until it was very late. I ended up going to bed about 1:00 a.m., I was tired but it was a fun trip!
FINAL OBSERVATIONS AND SUMMARY:
I am proud that I was able to stay OP on vacation and not even really be tempted by the stuff around me. There were times I caught glimpses of myself in a window as I passed by and I could honestly smile at my reflection. My hard work is paying off and the results are much sweeter than any sugar laden treat I could ever eat!
My top favorite things of this trip: (1) staying at the GF; (2) RnR; (3) MS; (4) fitting comfortably on all the rides, going through the turnstiles and sitting on the plane nicely; (5) being able to fasten my seatbelt comfortably; and (6) working out in the GF health club facility for free.
Di top favorite things of this trip: (1) MS; (2) RnR; (3) BTRM at night; and (4) the hashbrowns at Donalds breakfast.
My least favorite things of this trip: (1) getting bit up by mosquitoes on the first night; (2) finding hair in my food twice; (3) initially having a hard time getting a burger without a bun at counter service places; and (5) the humidity and storms that lasted for hours each day.
Dis least favorite things of this trip: (1) Winnie the Pooh ride; (2) eating at Liberty Inn; and (3) Off Kilter.
We had an awesome time and I cant wait for the family trip were planning for summer 2006 with at least 12 family members at Old Key West! If youve made it this far, you deserve a medal! Thanks for reading and I hope your next trip to Disney is a magical one!
and it sounds like you had a wonderful trip with your sister. great reporting 
. that's all from me 
