Well, first let me get the players listed....
DH44,
DS13, 
and me39 
and our travel dates...
12/17 to 12/26
Did we have a great time?
You betcha!!!
We left home in southern Illinois on the 17th, drove to Nashville, TN, which is about 3 1/2 hours. Why? Cheapest airfare...$35 oneway on Southwest thanks to the Ding fare I learned about here at the DIS...
When we left the weather wasn't too bad...hi temps around 50 degrees and dry...no snow or rain. We were staying overnight as our flight actually left on 12/18 at 8:25am, so we grabbed some dinner, stopped at the Baskin Robbins for dessert...we don't have these our area anymore so it's a nice treat...then grabbed some breakfast stuff for our room, watched some TV and drifted off to sleep with visions of 
in our heads.
Sunday 12/18
We grabbed the hotel shuttle to the airport, checked the bags, and headed to stand in line for SW...even though we'd gotten the "A" boarding pass, we still wanted to be able to grab good seats. The flight down to MCO was good...a little turbulance caused us to arrive 5 mins. late at 11:15am. We took the tram over to baggage claim where the driver, Ray, from Tiffany Town Car was waiting for us. He was quite nice, offering to carry all of the bags for us after helping get them from the carrousel. He asked us to wait while he brought the car round for us instead of making us cross the street to the small parking lot. While heading for the door I looked back toward the ME line, which was really long and I was happy we'd chosen TTC again.
We had requested a grocery stop and Ray drove us to the Publix...I always forget the exact location, but remember it being near Sea World. We grabbed the few things on our list...milk, juice, coffee, snacks, Dr. Pepper, and bottled water...the essentials and off we were to Saratoga Springs Resort.
This is our first use year as DVC members and our second trip for the year. However, this was our first time going home to SSR, where we own. We are really starting to love that "welcome home" every time we go through the gate and every time a CM greets us. 
Upon arriving at the Carriage house at about 12:45pm, we encountered a line all the way to the door, which is possibly the longest check-in line ever for us. Once the CM handed us the welcome home packet and we started chatting with the couple in front of us, it started moving quickly. When making the rssie thru MS, I requested NS, Downtown Disney view and I was hoping for a 2nd or 3rd floor. I suppose 2 outta 3 ain't bad...NS and 2nd floor and as a bonus the room was ready. We were assigned to #4645, which is in the older of the buildings in the Paddock section, directly behind the Carrousel bus stop. It has a view of the small lake between the Springs and the Paddock with a foot bridge across it. We were about equal distance between the nearest quiet pool and the main pool, but chose not to swim since it was a bit chilly for us.
For those interested in reading more about the SSR and that part of our trip, please use the link below to see what I had to share. I have several photos of the 1 BDR villa we were in and view from the room. We really liked our location and the room! It gave the 3 of us some space and a bit of privacy.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=989400
We got most everything put away and some of the Christmas decorations up before we headed out for some late lunch. We really enjoyed Olivia's at OKW on our June trip and knowing we'd more than likely be able to get in without an ADR, we grabbed the bus to DTD and transferred there. Okay, now I know there is a boat to DTD and there is service to OKW as well as the path to DTD so we could walk, but we were probably the furthest building from the boat dock and the walking paths...ours was the first building you see upon entering the SSR complex. To be honest, we seemed to have good luck when transferring at DTD Marketplace, which we did often this trip since we ate at many other resorts. Frequently we'd get off the bus walk the correct stop and in less than 10 mins. the bus would be there. Yes, on occassion we did wait longer, but not many.
As we thought, we were seated without delay at Olivia's, had a simple lunch of sandwiches, chowder and salads. It was a great lunch and we ended up taking half of DS's sandwich back to the room since we were going straight there to finish unpacking, getting up the last of the decorations, and resting a bit before our dinner ADR. We hopped the bus to DTD and transferred to SSR, which is when I decided that maybe the Sultry Seahorse I had with lunch packed a bigger whollup than I thought. This is what happened...the OKW bus pulls into Marketplace, we get off thru the back door, head to bus stop 3 which was only a few feet away and notice the bus to SSR is right there so we jump on and have a seat. Then I start looking around...
the driver looked awfully familiar... the bus design looked awfully familiar and we'd only been on 3 others so it couldn't have been they were just all looking the same... then a couple of passengers looked the same... so I asked the driver if he'd just come from OKW...yep! 
Oh, well...I kinda felt like Dory for a minute.
The first day we decided to go easy and really try to get into relax mode, which I think we did pretty well. After getting the room settled in, we headed to BC for our 7pm ADR at Cape May Buffet, where we'd never eaten before.
Arriving at BC, we entered through the main doors and got a look at the gingerbread carrousel, which is some piece of work. After checking in at the podium DH and DS sat and talked while I snapped some photos. Here's one of the carrousel.
We had a nice dinner then looked around a little more, finding some CMs who were handing out cookies and hot apple cider. DH and I grabbed a cider for the walk to the bus stop and it was really tasty...like a hot caramel apple pie! YUM! Again, we did the DTD transfer, getting off at the Springs bus stop at SSR and having a look around the main building. I had to buy some postcards to send to our great nieces and nephews, who love to get them...the last trip one thought it was his ticket to WDW...lol Since we can borrow movies at no charge as DVC members, we grabbed The Hunchback and walked back to our room around the little lake. It will be one of the memories I hold with me from this trip, as DH and DS serenaded me with Christmas carols the entire way. Back in the room, we all got in our jammies, sat in the living room and enjoyed the movie then headed to bed.
Monday, 12/19 would bring us to Epcot with the Candlelight Processional and Marlee Matlin...
If you were hoping to read the dining reviews...I'm sorry! I plan to do those on the restaurant thread so I can go into more detail including our savings by using the DDE card.
I have already posted photos of what we ate on the "Post your pictures of Disney dining..." Here's a link to where my posts begin (#2200) for this trip on that thread.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=773269&page=147&pp=15
DH44,
DS13, and me39 and our travel dates...
12/17 to 12/26
Did we have a great time?
You betcha!!!We left home in southern Illinois on the 17th, drove to Nashville, TN, which is about 3 1/2 hours. Why? Cheapest airfare...$35 oneway on Southwest thanks to the Ding fare I learned about here at the DIS...
When we left the weather wasn't too bad...hi temps around 50 degrees and dry...no snow or rain. We were staying overnight as our flight actually left on 12/18 at 8:25am, so we grabbed some dinner, stopped at the Baskin Robbins for dessert...we don't have these our area anymore so it's a nice treat...then grabbed some breakfast stuff for our room, watched some TV and drifted off to sleep with visions of in our heads. Sunday 12/18
We grabbed the hotel shuttle to the airport, checked the bags, and headed to stand in line for SW...even though we'd gotten the "A" boarding pass, we still wanted to be able to grab good seats. The flight down to MCO was good...a little turbulance caused us to arrive 5 mins. late at 11:15am. We took the tram over to baggage claim where the driver, Ray, from Tiffany Town Car was waiting for us. He was quite nice, offering to carry all of the bags for us after helping get them from the carrousel. He asked us to wait while he brought the car round for us instead of making us cross the street to the small parking lot. While heading for the door I looked back toward the ME line, which was really long and I was happy we'd chosen TTC again.
We had requested a grocery stop and Ray drove us to the Publix...I always forget the exact location, but remember it being near Sea World. We grabbed the few things on our list...milk, juice, coffee, snacks, Dr. Pepper, and bottled water...the essentials and off we were to Saratoga Springs Resort.This is our first use year as DVC members and our second trip for the year.
However, this was our first time going home to SSR, where we own. We are really starting to love that "welcome home" every time we go through the gate and every time a CM greets us. Upon arriving at the Carriage house at about 12:45pm, we encountered a line all the way to the door, which is possibly the longest check-in line ever for us. Once the CM handed us the welcome home packet and we started chatting with the couple in front of us, it started moving quickly. When making the rssie thru MS, I requested NS, Downtown Disney view and I was hoping for a 2nd or 3rd floor. I suppose 2 outta 3 ain't bad...NS and 2nd floor and as a bonus the room was ready. We were assigned to #4645, which is in the older of the buildings in the Paddock section, directly behind the Carrousel bus stop. It has a view of the small lake between the Springs and the Paddock with a foot bridge across it. We were about equal distance between the nearest quiet pool and the main pool, but chose not to swim since it was a bit chilly for us. For those interested in reading more about the SSR and that part of our trip, please use the link below to see what I had to share. I have several photos of the 1 BDR villa we were in and view from the room. We really liked our location and the room! It gave the 3 of us some space and a bit of privacy.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=989400
We got most everything put away and some of the Christmas decorations up before we headed out for some late lunch. We really enjoyed Olivia's at OKW on our June trip and knowing we'd more than likely be able to get in without an ADR, we grabbed the bus to DTD and transferred there. Okay, now I know there is a boat to DTD and there is service to OKW as well as the path to DTD so we could walk, but we were probably the furthest building from the boat dock and the walking paths...ours was the first building you see upon entering the SSR complex. To be honest, we seemed to have good luck when transferring at DTD Marketplace, which we did often this trip since we ate at many other resorts. Frequently we'd get off the bus walk the correct stop and in less than 10 mins. the bus would be there. Yes, on occassion we did wait longer, but not many.
As we thought, we were seated without delay at Olivia's, had a simple lunch of sandwiches, chowder and salads. It was a great lunch and we ended up taking half of DS's sandwich back to the room since we were going straight there to finish unpacking, getting up the last of the decorations, and resting a bit before our dinner ADR. We hopped the bus to DTD and transferred to SSR, which is when I decided that maybe the Sultry Seahorse I had with lunch packed a bigger whollup than I thought. This is what happened...the OKW bus pulls into Marketplace, we get off thru the back door, head to bus stop 3 which was only a few feet away and notice the bus to SSR is right there so we jump on and have a seat. Then I start looking around...
the driver looked awfully familiar... the bus design looked awfully familiar and we'd only been on 3 others so it couldn't have been they were just all looking the same... then a couple of passengers looked the same... so I asked the driver if he'd just come from OKW...yep! Oh, well...I kinda felt like Dory for a minute.The first day we decided to go easy and really try to get into relax mode, which I think we did pretty well. After getting the room settled in, we headed to BC for our 7pm ADR at Cape May Buffet, where we'd never eaten before.
Arriving at BC, we entered through the main doors and got a look at the gingerbread carrousel, which is some piece of work. After checking in at the podium DH and DS sat and talked while I snapped some photos. Here's one of the carrousel.
We had a nice dinner then looked around a little more, finding some CMs who were handing out cookies and hot apple cider. DH and I grabbed a cider for the walk to the bus stop and it was really tasty...like a hot caramel apple pie! YUM! Again, we did the DTD transfer, getting off at the Springs bus stop at SSR and having a look around the main building. I had to buy some postcards to send to our great nieces and nephews, who love to get them...the last trip one thought it was his ticket to WDW...lol Since we can borrow movies at no charge as DVC members, we grabbed The Hunchback and walked back to our room around the little lake. It will be one of the memories I hold with me from this trip, as DH and DS serenaded me with Christmas carols the entire way.
Back in the room, we all got in our jammies, sat in the living room and enjoyed the movie then headed to bed.Monday, 12/19 would bring us to Epcot with the Candlelight Processional and Marlee Matlin...
If you were hoping to read the dining reviews...I'm sorry! I plan to do those on the restaurant thread so I can go into more detail including our savings by using the DDE card.
I have already posted photos of what we ate on the "Post your pictures of Disney dining..." Here's a link to where my posts begin (#2200) for this trip on that thread.http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=773269&page=147&pp=15
