Cast Members:
Trying-to-reform Obsessive Planner Me - Lynne
Over-Worked Softening Curmudgeon HD - Murphy
Day 1
Wake up its 5:15, you awake? Yes, might as well head out. Murf starts out driving, then I take over after about 90 miles, then he drives the rest of the way. We arrive at the Wilderness Lodge at 11:30, and it is as beautiful as everyone said. Yep, there are people walking around with their eyes glued to the upper balconies, and near collisions are miraculously avoided. We head to check-in with only a small wait. They cant give us the king size bed, woods view, as requested in the smoking section of the hotel. They have a queen with bunk beds, but I really wanted the king, because the rooms are small and I wanted the space. Are any upgrades available I ask the girl, who had admitted that she is new and this was her first day. Shell check over her shoulder she mentions to the woman who was supervising her that a Jr. Suite is available, at which time the supervisor stepped in. We dont have anything available tonight, but maybe on Sunday something will open up, let me check. She goes behind a wall, then comes out and says there is a courtyard view with two queen beds available, Fine, I reply. I asked about being a Flag Family, and she said shed check, but with so much going on, we never got around to it again. We get all our documents, including information on our Silver Magical Wishes program, placed in a cute Welcome to the Neighborhood folder, and head to the room.
The room is small, but really themed well, there are cowboy caricatures, with ponies, buffalo and teepees in the wallpaper design around the sink area, and the beds sit really high off the floor. Were tall people, and they were high for us! I guess its to put your suitcases under. Murf is tired, (Poor boy!) so as he relaxes and watches some football on the TV, while I go exploring. First stop, Roaring Forks to get my mug. I opted for the smaller travel mug, to use in the car. Next, I check out the pool area. There are lots of folks enjoying the hot weather by the poolside. I round out my tour with a quick trip into the gift shop. Oh, Ill be back here soon, I promised myself. Oh look, one of the pin carts Ive heard about. Oh, the pins are nice, but where would you wear them outside the park? The nice Cast Member, Darlene, comes over to chat. These things are all the rage, I mentioned, Oh, yes, they are very popular. I dont normally work at this resort, Im at one of the All Stars Resort. We talk for a few moments, and she tells me she on an Internship. I work for a University, so I asked how she learned about the opportunity. Shes an art student, and is enjoying the networking opportunities. She said she was a student at O.C.C., a small community college in Michigan. I went to O.C.C, I told her. Yep, she goes to the same campus of Highland Lakes that I went to. She used to live in Waterford Im from Waterford I told her She went to school in Holly, Do you know any of the Singles I asked yep, she went to school, with my friends son. Too Cool! Im going to love this place. With a quick pang of hunger, I realize we havent eaten since our leftover rollups at breakfast, and if Im hungry, you can bet Murf is too. I better get some food into him as soon as possible.
Up at the room, Murf is slowly waking up from a tiny nap. He wants to watch the UT game, so I suggest we head to ESPN for lunch. Its roughly 2:30pm and the game starts at 4pm. We decide (thats the royal we, as in I decided) to take the boat over to the Contemporary, and then take the Monorail to EPCOT. Well take a quick walk thru EPCOT and take the ferry over to the Boardwalk area. OK maybe my idea wasnt real bright. After the nice boat ride, and the walk to the monorail, I was beat. I think I should have taken a quick nap too. Weve been going non-stop with all the preparation, and I think I just hit the wall. Once on, we decide to take the rail around to the different resorts, before switching at the transportation center. That was fine, a nice preview of the different resorts. I point out Narcoossees, where well have dinner on Monday night. We switch trains, and head to EPCOT. Murphy had never been to this park before, so I thought, weve got time, lets do Spaceship Earth (i.e. giant golf ball!), which was a walk on. I still like this ride a lot. There were lots of interesting things to do at the end, but we needed to keep moving. When we got the International Gateway, we waited for the ferry. It wasnt too long, but the first day of heat, and the quick walking trip to get to this point was wearing me down a bit. The trip over to the Boardwalk was quick, and the speedy walk to ESPN wasnt too bad. Once inside, we wanted a table to watch the game and enjoy some food. We only have one area where well seat you, right this way. We were lead to the center area to the left of the entrance. Right in front for a bank of 9 TV screens. Unfortunately you couldnt hear them. Only one station had any volume and it was tuned to a Georgia Tech game. We ordered a bucket of Hot Chicken Wings, and Im ashamed to admit it, some nacho covered French fries! I had a beer while Murf had coffee, to try to catch his second wind (total cost: $41.87 with tip.) The wings were great! The fries were so-so. We barely got thru half the fries and about 1/3 the wings (This was a generous bucket!) and decided we wanted to hear the game and decided to head back to the room to catch the second half. We made a quick stop at Seashore Sweets, and then went behind to the Boardwalk to catch the bus to take us back to the Lodge. It was very hot by then, and we were drained. The first bus that came along was going to the Animal Kingdom. He advised us to take the next bus to Downtown Disney, and then transfer to the Wilderness Lodge bus. And thats exactly what we did, only once at DTD we waited what seemed like a very long time for our bus. There must have been 5 or 6 buses going to the All-Stars, and several going to Caribbean Beach, and by the time our bus showed up, we were two drained puppies. This Florida heat and humidity were going to take some getting used to. We made it back to our room just before the second half kick off, and that was all she wrote. Our team won, but it wasnt pretty. Murf turned the channel over to watch another game, while I changed and headed to the hot tub. Boy the resort is lovely at night. I joined about 4 or 5 people in the water, and just relaxed! It felt wonderful. I asked the couple across from me where they were from. Just down the road they said. They were enjoying a quick trip, and were leaving tomorrow. We exchanged names, and Doug mentioned that hed moved to Florida right out of high school. Oh yeah, I said where did you grow up? Youre not going to believe this but he said, Oh, a small place in Michigan, called WATERFORD. Im going to love it here! Once back at the room, Murphy was sound asleep. Before long, so was I.
Trying-to-reform Obsessive Planner Me - Lynne
Over-Worked Softening Curmudgeon HD - Murphy
Day 1
Wake up its 5:15, you awake? Yes, might as well head out. Murf starts out driving, then I take over after about 90 miles, then he drives the rest of the way. We arrive at the Wilderness Lodge at 11:30, and it is as beautiful as everyone said. Yep, there are people walking around with their eyes glued to the upper balconies, and near collisions are miraculously avoided. We head to check-in with only a small wait. They cant give us the king size bed, woods view, as requested in the smoking section of the hotel. They have a queen with bunk beds, but I really wanted the king, because the rooms are small and I wanted the space. Are any upgrades available I ask the girl, who had admitted that she is new and this was her first day. Shell check over her shoulder she mentions to the woman who was supervising her that a Jr. Suite is available, at which time the supervisor stepped in. We dont have anything available tonight, but maybe on Sunday something will open up, let me check. She goes behind a wall, then comes out and says there is a courtyard view with two queen beds available, Fine, I reply. I asked about being a Flag Family, and she said shed check, but with so much going on, we never got around to it again. We get all our documents, including information on our Silver Magical Wishes program, placed in a cute Welcome to the Neighborhood folder, and head to the room.
The room is small, but really themed well, there are cowboy caricatures, with ponies, buffalo and teepees in the wallpaper design around the sink area, and the beds sit really high off the floor. Were tall people, and they were high for us! I guess its to put your suitcases under. Murf is tired, (Poor boy!) so as he relaxes and watches some football on the TV, while I go exploring. First stop, Roaring Forks to get my mug. I opted for the smaller travel mug, to use in the car. Next, I check out the pool area. There are lots of folks enjoying the hot weather by the poolside. I round out my tour with a quick trip into the gift shop. Oh, Ill be back here soon, I promised myself. Oh look, one of the pin carts Ive heard about. Oh, the pins are nice, but where would you wear them outside the park? The nice Cast Member, Darlene, comes over to chat. These things are all the rage, I mentioned, Oh, yes, they are very popular. I dont normally work at this resort, Im at one of the All Stars Resort. We talk for a few moments, and she tells me she on an Internship. I work for a University, so I asked how she learned about the opportunity. Shes an art student, and is enjoying the networking opportunities. She said she was a student at O.C.C., a small community college in Michigan. I went to O.C.C, I told her. Yep, she goes to the same campus of Highland Lakes that I went to. She used to live in Waterford Im from Waterford I told her She went to school in Holly, Do you know any of the Singles I asked yep, she went to school, with my friends son. Too Cool! Im going to love this place. With a quick pang of hunger, I realize we havent eaten since our leftover rollups at breakfast, and if Im hungry, you can bet Murf is too. I better get some food into him as soon as possible.
Up at the room, Murf is slowly waking up from a tiny nap. He wants to watch the UT game, so I suggest we head to ESPN for lunch. Its roughly 2:30pm and the game starts at 4pm. We decide (thats the royal we, as in I decided) to take the boat over to the Contemporary, and then take the Monorail to EPCOT. Well take a quick walk thru EPCOT and take the ferry over to the Boardwalk area. OK maybe my idea wasnt real bright. After the nice boat ride, and the walk to the monorail, I was beat. I think I should have taken a quick nap too. Weve been going non-stop with all the preparation, and I think I just hit the wall. Once on, we decide to take the rail around to the different resorts, before switching at the transportation center. That was fine, a nice preview of the different resorts. I point out Narcoossees, where well have dinner on Monday night. We switch trains, and head to EPCOT. Murphy had never been to this park before, so I thought, weve got time, lets do Spaceship Earth (i.e. giant golf ball!), which was a walk on. I still like this ride a lot. There were lots of interesting things to do at the end, but we needed to keep moving. When we got the International Gateway, we waited for the ferry. It wasnt too long, but the first day of heat, and the quick walking trip to get to this point was wearing me down a bit. The trip over to the Boardwalk was quick, and the speedy walk to ESPN wasnt too bad. Once inside, we wanted a table to watch the game and enjoy some food. We only have one area where well seat you, right this way. We were lead to the center area to the left of the entrance. Right in front for a bank of 9 TV screens. Unfortunately you couldnt hear them. Only one station had any volume and it was tuned to a Georgia Tech game. We ordered a bucket of Hot Chicken Wings, and Im ashamed to admit it, some nacho covered French fries! I had a beer while Murf had coffee, to try to catch his second wind (total cost: $41.87 with tip.) The wings were great! The fries were so-so. We barely got thru half the fries and about 1/3 the wings (This was a generous bucket!) and decided we wanted to hear the game and decided to head back to the room to catch the second half. We made a quick stop at Seashore Sweets, and then went behind to the Boardwalk to catch the bus to take us back to the Lodge. It was very hot by then, and we were drained. The first bus that came along was going to the Animal Kingdom. He advised us to take the next bus to Downtown Disney, and then transfer to the Wilderness Lodge bus. And thats exactly what we did, only once at DTD we waited what seemed like a very long time for our bus. There must have been 5 or 6 buses going to the All-Stars, and several going to Caribbean Beach, and by the time our bus showed up, we were two drained puppies. This Florida heat and humidity were going to take some getting used to. We made it back to our room just before the second half kick off, and that was all she wrote. Our team won, but it wasnt pretty. Murf turned the channel over to watch another game, while I changed and headed to the hot tub. Boy the resort is lovely at night. I joined about 4 or 5 people in the water, and just relaxed! It felt wonderful. I asked the couple across from me where they were from. Just down the road they said. They were enjoying a quick trip, and were leaving tomorrow. We exchanged names, and Doug mentioned that hed moved to Florida right out of high school. Oh yeah, I said where did you grow up? Youre not going to believe this but he said, Oh, a small place in Michigan, called WATERFORD. Im going to love it here! Once back at the room, Murphy was sound asleep. Before long, so was I.
