Memories of the DREAM come true .. 08/09 All 30 days done!

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 14

A DISmeet kicks off the trip - Part 1

We were up early. It was 5.35 when we got up because our inner clocks were still running on European time.
We watched a little TV in the morning, then got ready to head for breakfast. We had an 8am reservation at Olivia’s Café and were more than in time for it. We signed in and were the only guests at that time,

so therefore the server took us for a fun little walk around the restaurant, pointing out several of “his favourite” tables, before “parking” us in one of the booths.
We were both handed a menu and told that our server would be right with us. And she was. Before we even had time to study the menus our server came by to take our drinks orders, coffee, tea and orangejuice and soon came by with a huge box of different teas for me to pick from.
Once we had been served the drinks we were ready to order and shortly after our orders had been placed our starter arrived,

the Fresh Strawberries and Cream. It is our new way to start off the first full day at WDW. While we still enjoyed the fresh fruit a few more guests arrived and we watched the CMs having fun seating them after leading them all around the restaurant.
A short time later our breakfast arrived. Tom had ordered the

Conch Republic Omelet, with shrimp, avocado, and Pepper Jack Cheese. I had known what I wanted to have long before we had left Austria,

the Traditional Eggs Benedict, two Poached Eggs with Canadian Bacon on an English Muffin with Key Lime Hollandaise.
We both were in heaven with our breakfast and enjoyed it very much. Once we had finished it, we settled our bill using our new Tables in Wonderland card and went back to the villa.
We saw that mousekeeping was just starting their rounds so we decided to go shopping and give them time to clean up the villa. Our first stop was Downtown Disney.

To be continued ..........

 

[RGirl]

Enjoying the start of your first WDW day! Looks like you managed to find some yummy food right away.

 

[jenseib]

I'm so excited to see who your Dis meet is!

 

[dizneeat]

Enjoying the start of your first WDW day! Looks like you managed to find some yummy food right away.

I am glad you enjoy it too - we certainly did when we were there!
And we seem to be VERY lucky when it comes to good food.

I'm so excited to see who your Dis meet is!

Oh, Jen, you would really LOVE her! She is a Dairy Farmer's Wife, who wanted to go to Disney to experience what the DREAM tastes like!
She is SO much fun!

 

[jenseib]

I am glad you enjoy it too - we certainly did when we were there!
And we seem to be VERY lucky when it comes to good food.



Oh, Jen, you would really LOVE her! She is a Dairy Farmer's Wife, who wanted to go to Disney to experience what the DREAM tastes like!
She is SO much fun!

She sounds like my kind of gal!!!

 

[Tracerr00]

I love eggs benedict and yours looks wonderful! What kind of potatoes are on the side? And I love that the dish makes it's own hidden Mickey. When I went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour I asked our guide what his favorite restaurant is and he said that for counter service it's Columbia Harbour House and for table service it's Olivia's. I want to try it now after hearing that and seeing your photos!

 

[dizneeat]

She sounds like my kind of gal!!!

I love eggs benedict and yours looks wonderful! What kind of potatoes are on the side? And I love that the dish makes it's own hidden Mickey. When I went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour I asked our guide what his favorite restaurant is and he said that for counter service it's Columbia Harbour House and for table service it's Olivia's. I want to try it now after hearing that and seeing your photos!

Olivia's IS a hidden gem! The food is really good and the setting reminds me so much of the "real" Key West.
Their breakfast potatoes are cubed potatoes (might be blanched beforehand) cooked in a white sauce which tastes of cream and onions. Sooooooo good!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Yum Yum and Double Yum!! Ok. ... strawberries and cream (real cream, none of this edible oil junk for me) is my favorite treat!

 

[dizneeat]

Yum Yum and Double Yum!! Ok. ... strawberries and cream (real cream, none of this edible oil junk for me) is my favorite treat!

- I don't know what else they sprinkle these strawberries with (apart from brown sugar), but they always get me in a very Disney mood!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 14

A DISmeet kicks off the trip - Part 2

Our first stop was Downtown Disney. We were a little too early for the World of Disney to open,

so we walked along the lake and admired the many “sculptures” they had created from Lego bricks.

We were not the only ones taking photos, there were quite a few people doing the exact same thing. Once the store had opened we ventured inside and were surprised at how much Lego has advanced since we had been kids. And then it was time to stroll over to the World of Disney.
There were so many new things to see and we took our time and enjoyed browsing very much. Once we had seen all there was to see at the World of Disney we wandered through the other shops, explored the new spices at the Kitchen store and spent some time at the Art shop. Once we had seen it all we walked along the path that runs behind all the shops along the parking lot back to the World of Disney. We had sworn not to overdo the shopping before the cruise, but there was something I was determined to buy, no matter when I would find it, the new 2012 calendar. In 2010 we had seen the calendar in the stores, but put off buying them until the end of our vacation and they had run out of them, so we had ended up ordering them on the internet.
So, after our first shopping spree we headed back to the car to do a little more grocery shopping.
We drove over to Publix and took our time, strolling all the isles, picking up lots of items we could enjoy the first eight days before the cruises. It was almost noon when we returned to our villa,

parked the car, tried to pick up all the bags we had and headed upstairs. Tom opened the door, a look to the left into the master bedroom,

yippie, mousekeeping had already cleaned our room and everything was clean and neat

and a few more steps and we were in the living room

and there was a huge surprise on the kitchen block.

A wonderful basket full of yummy treats. We put down our bags and went to look for the card, even though I was quite sure who had sent us this wonderful surprise. And yes, I was right, it was from our friends Mary Ellen and Joe! After all that shopping and discovering the surprise we needed a little rest, so we went outside onto the veranda and sat there for a while, drink in hand.

To be continued ..........

 

[Queenofallthings]

Oh Karin, the pictures of the villa are just beautiful! Isn't it the best feeling to come back and your room be all tidied and clean...I love it What a beautiful basket! A very special surprise for very special people!

 

[bellesBFF]

following along might not post often, but i'm here!

 

[melmar136]

I may just have to try OKW soon! We have never stayed there but it looks great, as does the food at Olivia's. Yum!

 

[jenseib]

It's amazing how huge that room is. And beautiful too!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Update Karin !!The Lego Sculptures are amazing !!I took many pix of them , your villa was also well photographed on my visit !!!

 

[annmarieda]

I can't imagine how long it took to make those sculptures! They are amazing.

What a nice surprise to come back to find a gift AND your room clean.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh Karin, the pictures of the villa are just beautiful! Isn't it the best feeling to come back and your room be all tidied and clean...I love it What a beautiful basket! A very special surprise for very special people!

We just love OKW because of the space and the relaxed feel of it all. And coming back to a clean room was such a change from our February experience.
The basket was such a wonderful surprise. Mary Ellen just knows what to pick to get me super excited!

following along might not post often, but i'm here!

Welcome!
It's wonderful to have you here as well.

I may just have to try OKW soon! We have never stayed there but it looks great, as does the food at Olivia's. Yum!

PLEASE, check it out! We love OKW because it does not feel like a hotel. It's just like a small community and really feel like coming home!
Olivia's as I might have said before is a hidden gem! Such a wonderful and quiet little restaurant - yum food too!

It's amazing how huge that room is. And beautiful too!

Yes, it definitely has the blessing of space! We enjoy the large living/dining area so much. It sure feels like home!

 

[dizneeat]

Great Update Karin !!The Lego Sculptures are amazing !!I took many pix of them , your villa was also well photographed on my visit !!!

Thank you, Rosie!
We loved the sculptures - how much work must have gone into these? We really took our time and studied them and took a lot of photos!
And yes, I remember Rosie, you liked our OKW villa as well!

I can't imagine how long it took to make those sculptures! They are amazing.

What a nice surprise to come back to find a gift AND your room clean.

Someone must have been very busy and very patient making those sculptures! You sure need to check them out when you are there!

We loved the gift Mary Ellen and Joe gave us! They are very special people and believe it or not, we actually met on a Disney board!
And the clean room was just the icing on the cake ...... and it was clean early in the day EVERY day!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I am caught up on your first couple of days and I have to say that you are doing really well on your 2nd day, considering how much travel time you had the day before. I love all of the food pictures you are posting! I try to remember to take pictures of everything, but I start to forget after a while.

Your Eggs Benedict looks amazing! That is my favorite breakfast and I always order it when I can. Now I will have to add Olivia's as a breakfast option. We have loved eating there for years because the food is so good, but we have never been there for breakfast.

Can't wait for more!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 14

A DISmeet kicks off the trip - Part 3

After all that shopping and discovering the surprise we needed a little rest, so we went outside onto the veranda and sat there for a while, drink in hand.

Needless to say that we needed to take a few more photos of the view as well.

After some time we decided that we better got going if we wanted to have lunch before our first DISmeet.
Where better to have lunch than Wolfgang Puck’s Express again. When we arrived we were stunned at how full the restaurant was 2pm. We placed our order, picked up our number and went to find a table. While we waited for the entrees to come out, we sipped our Diet Cokes and talked about what we expected our first DISmeet to be like. And then our first Free Disney Dining Plan lunch arrived. Tom had ordered

the Barbequed Chicken Pizza with red onion, plum tomatoes and fresh cilantro and I had opted for my all time favourite,

the Four Cheese Pesto Pizza, Parmesan, mozzarella, fontina, goat cheese, plum tomatoes, fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes. Yum!! We took our time to enjoy the heavenly pizzas before it was time to conquer desserts,

the Crème Brulee, which we both had ordered. When we had finished lunch it was about time to drive to the All Star Movies resort for our DISmeet.
But before that we quickly headed back to Old Key West to pick up our gift bag for Jennifer who we were going to meet.

We arrived at the All Star Movies Resort shortly before we were supposed to meet and had a peek into the shop, then stepped outside to walk to the lobby where we wanted to meet.
But we didn’t even have to go to the lobby, right when we left the shop, there Jennifer was, entering through the opposite door. We hugged, exchanged presents and started having fun together.
First off, we took a little walk around the resort to see her room. She stayed in one of the newly renovated rooms and boy was it a nice room. Definitely puts the All Start resorts back on the map!
Once we had had a good look we went back to the car and drove over to Old Key West, so she could have a look at our villa.

We showed her round, then settled in the living room to chat. It was so fun to finally get to know the “real” Jennifer, whose trip reports I had read long before I first dreamed of meeting her.
We learned more about her life, being a dairy farmer’s wife and beautiful little Claire, who I would have loved to meet too. All too soon after a little wine and lots of laughs it was time for Jennifer to leave again. We all squeezed into our Mustang Convertible again and we took her over to Downtown Disney, said our goodbyes and were sad the meet had been over so quickly.

Tom and I went back to Old Key West to relax a little before our late dinner at The Wave and Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom.
And this was when the time change caught up with us. We both put our feet up on the sofas and soon were so tired that we didn’t see ourselves driving to the Contemporary for dinner. Instead we took a romaine salad out of the fridge and prepared a Caesar Salad, used some of the grocery items we had bought and had a picnic in the villa.
Well, wasn’t the best idea either, as eating made us even more tired and after a while we decided that we would just skip the Extra Magic Hours and stay put where we were. We were really lazy, watched a little TV and finally went to bed around 11pm, right when Extra Magic Hours were about to start.

To be continued ..........