Tinkaroo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2005
- Messages
- 4,635
Hello all! It's our last night. 
To report on the weather - not bad at all (while knocking on wood). I actually took a picture of a beautiful, peaceful sunrise this morning from our balcony. The wind was up a bit today, and there was the occasional sprinkle, but nothing more than your standard afternoon summer storm in Florida. Actually, by the time we dug our ponchos out, it had usually already stopped! Now, just hoping Katrina will trek westward and not come back onshore to impact from the other side!
Let's see, I'll try to answer some questions...
johnsonet : Unfortunately, we just haven't had time on this short trip to sample the spa. I have some other trips coming up this year, and I hope to partake on one of those. I forget sometimes just how long it takes to get certain things done while at the World - your day can be gone just like that!
Timon71 : We did use ME. I usually rent a car, but for such a short trip (and with the added convenience of the monorail line), we decided to be at the mercy of Disney transportation. While there was nothing BAD about ME, it still took us over 2 hours to get from the airport to up in our room (thank goodness it was ready!). I'm just one of those people that once I decide I want to go somewhere, I want to do it NOW. We didn't use the ME luggage service, either, mainly because the last flight I took, the airline "totalled" my suitcase, and I wanted to inspect things for myself after handling. Once getting checked in with ME, we waited for a bus inside the terminal for about 10 minutes, and then waited for the bus to pull out about another 20 minutes. We shared the bus with the Poly, and those folks got dropped off first. Our flight is at 8:15 p.m., and we're being picked up by ME at 5:20 p.m.
As an aside - the rest of the Disney transportation has been pretty efficient. We haven't waited more than 5 minutes for a bus - even to/from Downtown Disney. Maybe we just got lucky. While they were prompt in picking up, I do wish they would give the MK resorts their own buses. The GF always seemed to be the last drop off. Tonight, it took us almost an hour to come from DTD - we stopped at FW and WL before heading for the GF. With the amount of money you spend for these resorts, Disney should pony up the dough for more speedy transportation. Do love that 3 minute MK commute, though!
TammiMcMan : First, thanks for all your great advice over on the GF FAQ thread! To answer your question - no, we didn't get to see Wishes from the GF at all. With only 3 nights, we did all 3 of the nighttime "spectaculars", and with only one opportunity to see Wishes, I just have to do it in the park. There's nothing like seeing it from right in front of the castle, IMHO. And about the business casual at Narcoosee's - the majority of the guests were definitely attired as such, but we did see some pretty "parked out" people showing up, and they seated them w/o batting an eye. I personally would feel very out of place showing up there dressed in park clothes, but that's just me. One woman looked like she'd had a particularly tough day - sweaty baseball cap, dirty shorts, etc., and she was seated with no problem. I don't if they'll eventually begin reinforcing this rule, but it definitely wasn't strictly adhered to on Thursday night!
Well, got to get to bed. I'll try to write more of a trip report on our return!
To report on the weather - not bad at all (while knocking on wood). I actually took a picture of a beautiful, peaceful sunrise this morning from our balcony. The wind was up a bit today, and there was the occasional sprinkle, but nothing more than your standard afternoon summer storm in Florida. Actually, by the time we dug our ponchos out, it had usually already stopped! Now, just hoping Katrina will trek westward and not come back onshore to impact from the other side!
Let's see, I'll try to answer some questions...
johnsonet : Unfortunately, we just haven't had time on this short trip to sample the spa. I have some other trips coming up this year, and I hope to partake on one of those. I forget sometimes just how long it takes to get certain things done while at the World - your day can be gone just like that!
Timon71 : We did use ME. I usually rent a car, but for such a short trip (and with the added convenience of the monorail line), we decided to be at the mercy of Disney transportation. While there was nothing BAD about ME, it still took us over 2 hours to get from the airport to up in our room (thank goodness it was ready!). I'm just one of those people that once I decide I want to go somewhere, I want to do it NOW. We didn't use the ME luggage service, either, mainly because the last flight I took, the airline "totalled" my suitcase, and I wanted to inspect things for myself after handling. Once getting checked in with ME, we waited for a bus inside the terminal for about 10 minutes, and then waited for the bus to pull out about another 20 minutes. We shared the bus with the Poly, and those folks got dropped off first. Our flight is at 8:15 p.m., and we're being picked up by ME at 5:20 p.m.
As an aside - the rest of the Disney transportation has been pretty efficient. We haven't waited more than 5 minutes for a bus - even to/from Downtown Disney. Maybe we just got lucky. While they were prompt in picking up, I do wish they would give the MK resorts their own buses. The GF always seemed to be the last drop off. Tonight, it took us almost an hour to come from DTD - we stopped at FW and WL before heading for the GF. With the amount of money you spend for these resorts, Disney should pony up the dough for more speedy transportation. Do love that 3 minute MK commute, though!
TammiMcMan : First, thanks for all your great advice over on the GF FAQ thread! To answer your question - no, we didn't get to see Wishes from the GF at all. With only 3 nights, we did all 3 of the nighttime "spectaculars", and with only one opportunity to see Wishes, I just have to do it in the park. There's nothing like seeing it from right in front of the castle, IMHO. And about the business casual at Narcoosee's - the majority of the guests were definitely attired as such, but we did see some pretty "parked out" people showing up, and they seated them w/o batting an eye. I personally would feel very out of place showing up there dressed in park clothes, but that's just me. One woman looked like she'd had a particularly tough day - sweaty baseball cap, dirty shorts, etc., and she was seated with no problem. I don't if they'll eventually begin reinforcing this rule, but it definitely wasn't strictly adhered to on Thursday night!
Well, got to get to bed. I'll try to write more of a trip report on our return!
,Karen
The Grand Floridian is my favorite resort.
