MajorWoody
The View From My Office
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2002
- Messages
- 294
Major Woodys 2 Week TR 5/17 thru 5/31/04
Who : Bill (45), veteran of numerous WDW trips; Jeanne ( forty something), only her 4th WDW trip, but learning quick.
Where : PO-FQ for 10 nights, followed by 3 nights at the Beach Club
How : Driving from NYS
Day 1 Monday, May 17, 2004:
We woke at about 7:00am, got showered and dressed, and after a breakfast across the street at Perkins, hit I-95 south for the final leg of our trip. We were on the road by 8:30am heading southbound. We stopped at Exit 3 in Georgia for gas ( which is usually the cheapest gas on the entire trip), and crossed over the bridge into Florida a short while later. We made a brief stop at the Murray Brothers Caddyshack restaurant in Florida. I loved the Caddyshack movie ( the original, not the sequel), and whenever we pass the restaurant along 95 it always looked like an interesting place to stop. We got off the World Golf Village exit, and drove over to the restaurant. It appears to be an easy on-off from 95, but in reality, it is about a ten minute drive around the World Golf Village to actually get to the restaurant. As luck would have it, the restaurant was still closed, but the manager allowed us to come in anyway and visit the gift shop. The restaurant really didnt appear to be anything special, there were a few pictures from the movie, and some other golf related pictures around, but it was not what I would consider a true theme restaurant. Maybe Ive been spoiled by Disney!! We went into the gift shop, which was rather small, and bought a few small trinkets. I was really disappointed in the selection available, it was very limited. We left the restaurant, and soon were back on 95 southbound, en-route to I-4.
Our first stop upon arriving in the Kissimmee area was at Wal-Mart on 192. We had money that was donated by my co-workers, in addition to the merchandise we had collected, and we spent the $216 that was collected, adding to our load of stuff for GKTW. We ended up with 16 coffeemakers, 10 clock radios, dozens of blank videos, a box of assorted Disney videos, batteries, and a large of bag of plush. We then drove down Bass Rd to Give Kids The World, and dropped off all the stuff, posing for pictures with the girls from the office ( I cant remember their names). I was given a nice book and framed picture to bring back to work, and subsequently received a very nice letter at work a few weeks later. I really enjoy coordinating these drives at work, and look forward to many more in the future.
After GKTW, we left and headed over to the Premium Outlets off 535. I ended up buying a Cinderella Castle 3d thingy ( I think its called a castle model sheet) which was marked down from $85 to $26, along with most of the Disney desk set pieces, all of which were down at half price. The castle thingy is a LE of 1000, made of ceramic. I bought a Snow White one last year at the other outlet, and I really like them. It was a good visit, and it was well worth the time to stop there.
We then drove onto the WDW property, making sure to go through the main entrance, to experience the feeling of driving through the welcome arches. We arrived at Port Orleans- FQ at 3:30pm, and checked in in a matter of minutes. I had asked for a corner room in either building 2 or 5, and found out we had a corner room in Building 2, room 2201. It was a perfect location, only a minute walk to the pool, main building, or the boat dock. We unpacked, and then drove over to Boardwalk to park. We wanted to catch the Turtles concert at Epcot, and figured it was quicker to park at BW and enter through the IG. We made it with time to spare, and caught the Turtles ( featuring Flo & Eddie) 5:45pm show. They are very funny to watch , and they said this was the eighth year they have played the Flower Power concert series at Epcot. I bought the live CD they sell, although it was a bit pricey at $24 for a single disc. I noticed some of the other Flower Power acts also had their cds at the merchandise cart, and saw the Nelson disc ( which appeared to be Ricky Nelsons kids singing his hit songs) was selling for $40 for a single disc. I wonder if anyone actually bought one of those?
We then strolled over to Teppanyaki for our dinner seating. We loved Teppanyaki on previous visits, so we made 3 PSs for different days at Teppanyaki for this trip. The first thing we noticed was that they no longer offered the carafe of house wine with dinner, which at $18, had been a bargain. Now the cheapest bottle of wine was almost $30. In addition, you used to be able to upgrade from regular steak to filet mignon for a dollar extra, it is now $5 extra. They also raised the prices substantially, so it really cost about $10 more for the entree than last December. The tenderloin and shrimp combo used to be $25.95, now it is $34.95, in only 6 months. Couple that with the wine increase, and it really is a big price increase. Oh, and to make up for the price increase, they were kind enough to no longer include the salad with the dinner, so you pay $10 more for less food. I really enjoyed the ginger salad dressing in the past too, but I skipped the salad this time around, as I didnt feel it was worth the extra money on top of the other price increase. I had the filet & shrimp, Jeanne had the shrimp & chicken. Jeanne had a glass of wine, and I had a soda. The total came to $91, which was more than it cost us in December with a full carafe of wine and our salads included. I was very disappointed in the amount of the price increase, although the food was still very good.
We finished up in time to head back to the America Gardens theater, and catch the tail end of the Flo & Eddie 7:15pm show. We then got in line after the show for an autograph of the CD we bought, and a couple of pics with Flo & Eddie. It was a fun moment, and the pics came out great. We then stayed for the 8:15pm show, although it was almost identical to the earlier shows, even the dialogue was the same. But it was still a good show none the less. They play all their usual hits, like Shed Rather Be With Me, Elenore G, It Aint Me Babe, and Happy Together, interspersed with comedic dialogue. They certainly put on a fun show, and I hope they continue to play this series in future years.
We then left the theater and headed over to our usual spot in Germany for Illuminations. I like this spot for two reasons. One, it is usually easy to get a spot right near the boat dock only minutes before the show starts, and two, the beer cart in Germany has cold German beer and pretty German lasses pouring it!! We staked out a spot, I fetched a brewski ( they replaced Becks with Lowenbrau), and we settled in to watch Illuminations, making it a perfect day at WDW!!!!
After Illuminations, we took a slow walk back to Boardwalk, retrieved the van, and drove to Pleasure Island. We bought our new APs ( which came to $47.88 with our regular AP discount), and entered PI. We walked to the Art of Disney store, and much to my horror, found it was no longer there, replaced by a cheap version of a game room. I also found a large changeover in the shops at PI, none for the better in my opinion. I was really disappointed in this, as we always loved to browse and shop the PI stores between Comedy Warehouse shows. I have bought several items from that Gallery store, now I guess Ill have to do it elsewhere. We then went down to Comedy Warehouse, and caught the 10:30pm show. The cast consisted of Joy ( Jeannes favorite), Krista, Mark, Jake & Brian. The show was very good, but I didnt make note of the specific sketches, so youre out of luck there. We left PI after that show, and were back at PO-FQ at 11:40pm. We then went for a nice romantic stroll along the river for about 45 minutes or so, it was really beautiful out and it was a perfect night for a walk. We then hit the room and hit the sack soon after.
Stay tuned for the next part.....
Who : Bill (45), veteran of numerous WDW trips; Jeanne ( forty something), only her 4th WDW trip, but learning quick.
Where : PO-FQ for 10 nights, followed by 3 nights at the Beach Club
How : Driving from NYS
Day 1 Monday, May 17, 2004:
We woke at about 7:00am, got showered and dressed, and after a breakfast across the street at Perkins, hit I-95 south for the final leg of our trip. We were on the road by 8:30am heading southbound. We stopped at Exit 3 in Georgia for gas ( which is usually the cheapest gas on the entire trip), and crossed over the bridge into Florida a short while later. We made a brief stop at the Murray Brothers Caddyshack restaurant in Florida. I loved the Caddyshack movie ( the original, not the sequel), and whenever we pass the restaurant along 95 it always looked like an interesting place to stop. We got off the World Golf Village exit, and drove over to the restaurant. It appears to be an easy on-off from 95, but in reality, it is about a ten minute drive around the World Golf Village to actually get to the restaurant. As luck would have it, the restaurant was still closed, but the manager allowed us to come in anyway and visit the gift shop. The restaurant really didnt appear to be anything special, there were a few pictures from the movie, and some other golf related pictures around, but it was not what I would consider a true theme restaurant. Maybe Ive been spoiled by Disney!! We went into the gift shop, which was rather small, and bought a few small trinkets. I was really disappointed in the selection available, it was very limited. We left the restaurant, and soon were back on 95 southbound, en-route to I-4.
Our first stop upon arriving in the Kissimmee area was at Wal-Mart on 192. We had money that was donated by my co-workers, in addition to the merchandise we had collected, and we spent the $216 that was collected, adding to our load of stuff for GKTW. We ended up with 16 coffeemakers, 10 clock radios, dozens of blank videos, a box of assorted Disney videos, batteries, and a large of bag of plush. We then drove down Bass Rd to Give Kids The World, and dropped off all the stuff, posing for pictures with the girls from the office ( I cant remember their names). I was given a nice book and framed picture to bring back to work, and subsequently received a very nice letter at work a few weeks later. I really enjoy coordinating these drives at work, and look forward to many more in the future.
After GKTW, we left and headed over to the Premium Outlets off 535. I ended up buying a Cinderella Castle 3d thingy ( I think its called a castle model sheet) which was marked down from $85 to $26, along with most of the Disney desk set pieces, all of which were down at half price. The castle thingy is a LE of 1000, made of ceramic. I bought a Snow White one last year at the other outlet, and I really like them. It was a good visit, and it was well worth the time to stop there.
We then drove onto the WDW property, making sure to go through the main entrance, to experience the feeling of driving through the welcome arches. We arrived at Port Orleans- FQ at 3:30pm, and checked in in a matter of minutes. I had asked for a corner room in either building 2 or 5, and found out we had a corner room in Building 2, room 2201. It was a perfect location, only a minute walk to the pool, main building, or the boat dock. We unpacked, and then drove over to Boardwalk to park. We wanted to catch the Turtles concert at Epcot, and figured it was quicker to park at BW and enter through the IG. We made it with time to spare, and caught the Turtles ( featuring Flo & Eddie) 5:45pm show. They are very funny to watch , and they said this was the eighth year they have played the Flower Power concert series at Epcot. I bought the live CD they sell, although it was a bit pricey at $24 for a single disc. I noticed some of the other Flower Power acts also had their cds at the merchandise cart, and saw the Nelson disc ( which appeared to be Ricky Nelsons kids singing his hit songs) was selling for $40 for a single disc. I wonder if anyone actually bought one of those?
We then strolled over to Teppanyaki for our dinner seating. We loved Teppanyaki on previous visits, so we made 3 PSs for different days at Teppanyaki for this trip. The first thing we noticed was that they no longer offered the carafe of house wine with dinner, which at $18, had been a bargain. Now the cheapest bottle of wine was almost $30. In addition, you used to be able to upgrade from regular steak to filet mignon for a dollar extra, it is now $5 extra. They also raised the prices substantially, so it really cost about $10 more for the entree than last December. The tenderloin and shrimp combo used to be $25.95, now it is $34.95, in only 6 months. Couple that with the wine increase, and it really is a big price increase. Oh, and to make up for the price increase, they were kind enough to no longer include the salad with the dinner, so you pay $10 more for less food. I really enjoyed the ginger salad dressing in the past too, but I skipped the salad this time around, as I didnt feel it was worth the extra money on top of the other price increase. I had the filet & shrimp, Jeanne had the shrimp & chicken. Jeanne had a glass of wine, and I had a soda. The total came to $91, which was more than it cost us in December with a full carafe of wine and our salads included. I was very disappointed in the amount of the price increase, although the food was still very good.
We finished up in time to head back to the America Gardens theater, and catch the tail end of the Flo & Eddie 7:15pm show. We then got in line after the show for an autograph of the CD we bought, and a couple of pics with Flo & Eddie. It was a fun moment, and the pics came out great. We then stayed for the 8:15pm show, although it was almost identical to the earlier shows, even the dialogue was the same. But it was still a good show none the less. They play all their usual hits, like Shed Rather Be With Me, Elenore G, It Aint Me Babe, and Happy Together, interspersed with comedic dialogue. They certainly put on a fun show, and I hope they continue to play this series in future years.
We then left the theater and headed over to our usual spot in Germany for Illuminations. I like this spot for two reasons. One, it is usually easy to get a spot right near the boat dock only minutes before the show starts, and two, the beer cart in Germany has cold German beer and pretty German lasses pouring it!! We staked out a spot, I fetched a brewski ( they replaced Becks with Lowenbrau), and we settled in to watch Illuminations, making it a perfect day at WDW!!!!
After Illuminations, we took a slow walk back to Boardwalk, retrieved the van, and drove to Pleasure Island. We bought our new APs ( which came to $47.88 with our regular AP discount), and entered PI. We walked to the Art of Disney store, and much to my horror, found it was no longer there, replaced by a cheap version of a game room. I also found a large changeover in the shops at PI, none for the better in my opinion. I was really disappointed in this, as we always loved to browse and shop the PI stores between Comedy Warehouse shows. I have bought several items from that Gallery store, now I guess Ill have to do it elsewhere. We then went down to Comedy Warehouse, and caught the 10:30pm show. The cast consisted of Joy ( Jeannes favorite), Krista, Mark, Jake & Brian. The show was very good, but I didnt make note of the specific sketches, so youre out of luck there. We left PI after that show, and were back at PO-FQ at 11:40pm. We then went for a nice romantic stroll along the river for about 45 minutes or so, it was really beautiful out and it was a perfect night for a walk. We then hit the room and hit the sack soon after.
Stay tuned for the next part.....
