DS-Age 11 and myself Ageless..hehe (single parent) Native New Yorkers and WDW veterans
Sat-Oct 25, 2003
.We get to JFK (NYC) airport round 6:30AM for our 8AM flight..It was a zoo as usual. Over to the X ray machines first,, then wait to go through security, finally get to the gate. Yay, jet blue, our favorite airline..smooth as glass flight and we land 10 min early. Go to national car rental pick my car and Im on my way to WL..YAY. As I enter the entrance of the lodge and see the bear crossing and topiary, I well up with tears,,I am finally here, my dream come true. (Ive always wanted to stay at the lodge, but it wasnt in the budget. I always stayed at the moderates. Thanks to FTP, this time I could stay, yahoo) Valet takes my car and luggage and I enter that spectacular lobby. We hear the crickets and then the music, AHHHH. DS and I hug each other and dance around (Im the bigger kid). DS goes to watch TV and I check in..hardly any line..its about 11:30 AM. CM is real nice. I ask about Flag family and he goes and gets the book..Im holding my breathe as I see him coming back with the book, (oh happy happy joy joy). Sorry mame, we are filled up but we will put you on the wait list. Oh well,,better luck next time. The good news is that my room is ready...Room 5034 overlooking otter pond, MK & fireworks. We race up to our room and dance around again.. I LOVE MY BALCONY. (Ive lived in an apt all my life, so anything thats not a fire escape and is outdoors is a luxury).
We explore the lodge, do some pin trading, get a huge kick out of the ducks in the swimming pool (which everyone loved, it wasnt the WL lodge pool without the ducks) get a mug from roaring forks, and head off to find Freds Memory Box.. WE are so excited about this. On the way there by the beach, a bride and a groom were taking pictures. I thought, how wonderful that was, I even took a pic of them. Hey, I wanna get married at DW next time. We then jump on the nature trail and head out. I bring the postcard of NYC/Twin Towers and pin to add to the box. With directions in hand, my son locates the X on the tree and we find it. We were so excited. DS thought this was so super, so did I. Just as we put the box back, a family on a surrey bike passed by, so we just acted like we were just walking. We then continued on the trail and looked at the flora and fauna of the area. (For those of you that dont know, besides being a professional musician, my hobby is volunteering as a Park Ranger for the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, part of Gateway National Park). DS and I like insects, snakes, birds, all that nature stuff. We head back to the lodge, DS hits the pool and I relax in a chair, then I unpack a bit and get ready for our PS at Chef Mickeys.
We catch the boat and off to the Contemporary. What a fun time. The food was delicious. We were doing the celebrate dance and swinging our napkins around every time. We loved the picture they took of us..Its the first of many pics I buy..to me they are priceless. I always enjoy myself there, plus we had a surprise visit with Princess Auroara. That pic came out so nice, we are using it as a Christmas card picture. After dinner, we jump on the monorail and head over to the MK for one of our favorites, "Spectromagic". DS and I know all the music and words, so we love singing along. We got a great seat on the curb on main st next to a family from Wisconsin..they were as excited as DS and I so that added to our magic. Then came the new fireworks shows, Wishes! Oh how wonderful.. We ooohed and ahhhhed. After the show we caught the boat back to WL along with hundreds of other people.. We were so pooped..What a looong day..but a spectacular day 1. We hit the bed late and slept like logs. I think we got up round near 9AM the next day..
PS. Nearly forgot. DS & I walked right into Mickeys Philharmagic. That is by far one of the best 4D movies to be ever made. I loved it soooo much. I know I we would be coming back again in the week to see it again.
Sat-Oct 25, 2003
.We get to JFK (NYC) airport round 6:30AM for our 8AM flight..It was a zoo as usual. Over to the X ray machines first,, then wait to go through security, finally get to the gate. Yay, jet blue, our favorite airline..smooth as glass flight and we land 10 min early. Go to national car rental pick my car and Im on my way to WL..YAY. As I enter the entrance of the lodge and see the bear crossing and topiary, I well up with tears,,I am finally here, my dream come true. (Ive always wanted to stay at the lodge, but it wasnt in the budget. I always stayed at the moderates. Thanks to FTP, this time I could stay, yahoo) Valet takes my car and luggage and I enter that spectacular lobby. We hear the crickets and then the music, AHHHH. DS and I hug each other and dance around (Im the bigger kid). DS goes to watch TV and I check in..hardly any line..its about 11:30 AM. CM is real nice. I ask about Flag family and he goes and gets the book..Im holding my breathe as I see him coming back with the book, (oh happy happy joy joy). Sorry mame, we are filled up but we will put you on the wait list. Oh well,,better luck next time. The good news is that my room is ready...Room 5034 overlooking otter pond, MK & fireworks. We race up to our room and dance around again.. I LOVE MY BALCONY. (Ive lived in an apt all my life, so anything thats not a fire escape and is outdoors is a luxury).
We explore the lodge, do some pin trading, get a huge kick out of the ducks in the swimming pool (which everyone loved, it wasnt the WL lodge pool without the ducks) get a mug from roaring forks, and head off to find Freds Memory Box.. WE are so excited about this. On the way there by the beach, a bride and a groom were taking pictures. I thought, how wonderful that was, I even took a pic of them. Hey, I wanna get married at DW next time. We then jump on the nature trail and head out. I bring the postcard of NYC/Twin Towers and pin to add to the box. With directions in hand, my son locates the X on the tree and we find it. We were so excited. DS thought this was so super, so did I. Just as we put the box back, a family on a surrey bike passed by, so we just acted like we were just walking. We then continued on the trail and looked at the flora and fauna of the area. (For those of you that dont know, besides being a professional musician, my hobby is volunteering as a Park Ranger for the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, part of Gateway National Park). DS and I like insects, snakes, birds, all that nature stuff. We head back to the lodge, DS hits the pool and I relax in a chair, then I unpack a bit and get ready for our PS at Chef Mickeys.
We catch the boat and off to the Contemporary. What a fun time. The food was delicious. We were doing the celebrate dance and swinging our napkins around every time. We loved the picture they took of us..Its the first of many pics I buy..to me they are priceless. I always enjoy myself there, plus we had a surprise visit with Princess Auroara. That pic came out so nice, we are using it as a Christmas card picture. After dinner, we jump on the monorail and head over to the MK for one of our favorites, "Spectromagic". DS and I know all the music and words, so we love singing along. We got a great seat on the curb on main st next to a family from Wisconsin..they were as excited as DS and I so that added to our magic. Then came the new fireworks shows, Wishes! Oh how wonderful.. We ooohed and ahhhhed. After the show we caught the boat back to WL along with hundreds of other people.. We were so pooped..What a looong day..but a spectacular day 1. We hit the bed late and slept like logs. I think we got up round near 9AM the next day..
PS. Nearly forgot. DS & I walked right into Mickeys Philharmagic. That is by far one of the best 4D movies to be ever made. I loved it soooo much. I know I we would be coming back again in the week to see it again.
You have to say hello to Brooklyn for me, I haven't been back in years!!! Gooooo Greenpoint
