travelin' tigger
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2001
- Messages
- 3,655
Cheap airfare and a chance to see my brother and sister-in-law at their ocean-side condo for the weekend was the basis for this trip. But of course I couldn't go all the way to the sunny state of Florida without stopping at WDW. No park passes this trip, but that was OK. Id never been to Typhoon Lagoon and was looking forward to that. So here's my report:
Fri nite (June 6): Arrived at MCO from PVD via SW. We were about 20 min. late due to the previous flight out of Chicago being delayed on the runway with thunderstorms but the pilot did a great job of making up some time - I think the total air time was 2 hrs. 20 min. Since I only had a carryon, I was able to head straight out of the airport to where my brother was waiting, hopped in the car and off to Ormond Beach. Arrived around midnight, chatted for a few minutes then off to bed.
Sat (June 7): A fairly uneventful day - ran some errands with the family and thought of heading to St. Augustine, but those plans were quickly squashed as the daily thunderstorms rolled through in the afternoon. Watched the Belmont horserace while my sister-in-law whipped up a nice dinner. Afterwards, the storms were gone so we went for a nice walk up the beach then called it a night.
Sun (June 8): To beat out the rain, we hit the beach early. It was sunny and warm, but around noon, in rolled the clouds, then the rain. We headed to Daytona and decided to catch Finding Nemo. What a funny movie!!! Headed to Mai Tais for a few Happy Hour drinks, then off to find some dinner at a local seafood place on the beach in Ormond. Got home and caught Food Unwrapped about WDW, then off to bed as I had to be up at 5:30am to catch my ride to Coronado Springs.
Mon. (June 9): It was 5:15 when my alarm went off. Got showered, dressed, grabbed my things and hopped in the car for the hour+ ride. My brother had to be at work before 9am in Orlando, so I arrived at CSR at 7:30am. Went to check-in and was surprised (and delighted) to find my room ready - Ranchos 7B, Room 7760. I got all my requests!!! My brother drove me over and after goodbyes, I went to my room. It was great!!! On the 3rd floor near the elevators and ice machines. Dropped my things off, then headed to the Maya Grill for some much needed breakfast. The place was fairly quiet, but Id brought my book to keep me company. Great assortment of hot and cold food and my waitress, Denise, made sure my OJ glass was full. Rolled out of there and headed back to the room to get changed for Typhoon Lagoon.
It was so nice to be back on Disney busses!!! Arrived before 10am, only to find some fairly long lines, but they moved quickly!! Got $3 off admission with my DC card!!! Anyway, went in and found a chair off to the side of the wave pool. Decided to do some exploring and ended up in Castaway Creek - nice and relaxing. Then headed toward the screams of excitement at the wave pool - that was wild!!!! About an hour later, the big clouds rolled in and at 11:30 it was announced that thunderstorms were rolling into the area and all water attractions would be temporarily closed. Went to find a dry place to hang out and ended up under a shelter near the Shark Reef. Boy, did it pour!!!! Waited for an hour for the rain to end, but finally gave up and headed back to CSR.
Before going back to my room, I stopped at the Pepper Market to get some soup to warm me up. It wasnt cold out, but I had that chill from sitting in a wet suit. They had a great Taco Soup with bread so I got that, then walked back to the room. The rain had stopped at this point, but the clouds were still hanging in there.
After relaxing for a while, the sun broke through so I decided to go back to TL and hit some things I had missed, mainly the Shark Reef. That turned out to be the highlight of my day!!! It was sooo cool I did it twice, and will definitely do it more in the future. The off to hit both tube rides. By the time Id gotten done with them, the announcement came that the park would be closing soon so I headed home.
My original plan had me heading to find some dinner and see the MK fireworks from the Poly, but I knew if I didnt get to DTD to get my shopping done, Id never get there. Once there, went to Wolfgang Puck Express for the Roasted Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes - they are the best!!! Got everything I needed at the World of Disney with my 10% DC disc. Of course a trip wouldnt be complete without Ghiradellis so I got a Rootbeer Float that was just heavenly!!
By this point my body was starting to complain that it had enough fun for one day, so headed back to CSR, called home and off to bed.
Tues (June 10): Since I had to head home tonight, I decided to take advantage of the Dig Site today. Slept until about 8am, then headed to the Pepper Market and got a Breakfast Sandwich with milk, and went outside to enjoy my breakfast at one of the tables. I stopped by the registration desk to see if I could get late checkout since Mears wasnt picking me up until 3:25pm and was told I could stay until 1pm - yeah!!! Walked back to the room, taking some pictures along the way, got changed then went to the pool. Very few people there, so I soaked for a while in the hot tub then went into the main pool. What a great pool!!! Even went down the slide with a bunch of kids!!!
Around 11am Id had enough sun, so it was time to get packed up. Caught a bus back to El Centro, put my stuff in storage and headed to B&C for my last meal in WDW. Took the bus to MGM and as it pulled up to the stop, I saw the boat just leaving the dock. So what do I do? Walk to B&C in the noontime heat with no shade!!! Sometimes I just dont think!!! As I dragged myself to the Boardwalk, the boat showed up to take me for that LONG RIDE all the way across the lake, but it was well worth it as I couldnt have walked another step.
Walked in and was seated immediately at the counter. Susan was my waitress and she was great!!! Got a cheeseburger with onion rings and orange ice cream drink (called a Florida Sunshine or Something Sunshine). That really hit the spot, but the only thing I could finish was my drink I was so full!! As I was walking out then door, someone got a Kitchen Sink so I watched the festivities, then caught a boat to the Dolphin where Ill be staying in Dec. thru the magic of Priceline!!! I cant wait!!!
Now it was time to head back so once again caught a boat to MGM (no more walking for me!!!), then the bus back to CSR. Went to registration and got my MVMCP ticket, then got my things out of storage. Mears was a few minutes late, but with a full bus, we were off to the airport. Got my boarding pass, went through Security without a hitch and got to the gate with plenty of time to spare.
While waiting, I struck up a conversation with 2 guys from Worcester; one of whom was in the process of selling his house and moving to Orlando - what a lucky guy!!! Our plane was delayed as our pilot and flight crew were coming in on another flight, but soom we were off and ended up landing 2 minutes early - boy, SW is good!!!
Now Im back to planning my Nov./Dec. trip - it seems Im always in the process of planning a WDW trip, but who isnt!!!
Fri nite (June 6): Arrived at MCO from PVD via SW. We were about 20 min. late due to the previous flight out of Chicago being delayed on the runway with thunderstorms but the pilot did a great job of making up some time - I think the total air time was 2 hrs. 20 min. Since I only had a carryon, I was able to head straight out of the airport to where my brother was waiting, hopped in the car and off to Ormond Beach. Arrived around midnight, chatted for a few minutes then off to bed.
Sat (June 7): A fairly uneventful day - ran some errands with the family and thought of heading to St. Augustine, but those plans were quickly squashed as the daily thunderstorms rolled through in the afternoon. Watched the Belmont horserace while my sister-in-law whipped up a nice dinner. Afterwards, the storms were gone so we went for a nice walk up the beach then called it a night.
Sun (June 8): To beat out the rain, we hit the beach early. It was sunny and warm, but around noon, in rolled the clouds, then the rain. We headed to Daytona and decided to catch Finding Nemo. What a funny movie!!! Headed to Mai Tais for a few Happy Hour drinks, then off to find some dinner at a local seafood place on the beach in Ormond. Got home and caught Food Unwrapped about WDW, then off to bed as I had to be up at 5:30am to catch my ride to Coronado Springs.
Mon. (June 9): It was 5:15 when my alarm went off. Got showered, dressed, grabbed my things and hopped in the car for the hour+ ride. My brother had to be at work before 9am in Orlando, so I arrived at CSR at 7:30am. Went to check-in and was surprised (and delighted) to find my room ready - Ranchos 7B, Room 7760. I got all my requests!!! My brother drove me over and after goodbyes, I went to my room. It was great!!! On the 3rd floor near the elevators and ice machines. Dropped my things off, then headed to the Maya Grill for some much needed breakfast. The place was fairly quiet, but Id brought my book to keep me company. Great assortment of hot and cold food and my waitress, Denise, made sure my OJ glass was full. Rolled out of there and headed back to the room to get changed for Typhoon Lagoon.
It was so nice to be back on Disney busses!!! Arrived before 10am, only to find some fairly long lines, but they moved quickly!! Got $3 off admission with my DC card!!! Anyway, went in and found a chair off to the side of the wave pool. Decided to do some exploring and ended up in Castaway Creek - nice and relaxing. Then headed toward the screams of excitement at the wave pool - that was wild!!!! About an hour later, the big clouds rolled in and at 11:30 it was announced that thunderstorms were rolling into the area and all water attractions would be temporarily closed. Went to find a dry place to hang out and ended up under a shelter near the Shark Reef. Boy, did it pour!!!! Waited for an hour for the rain to end, but finally gave up and headed back to CSR.
Before going back to my room, I stopped at the Pepper Market to get some soup to warm me up. It wasnt cold out, but I had that chill from sitting in a wet suit. They had a great Taco Soup with bread so I got that, then walked back to the room. The rain had stopped at this point, but the clouds were still hanging in there.
After relaxing for a while, the sun broke through so I decided to go back to TL and hit some things I had missed, mainly the Shark Reef. That turned out to be the highlight of my day!!! It was sooo cool I did it twice, and will definitely do it more in the future. The off to hit both tube rides. By the time Id gotten done with them, the announcement came that the park would be closing soon so I headed home.
My original plan had me heading to find some dinner and see the MK fireworks from the Poly, but I knew if I didnt get to DTD to get my shopping done, Id never get there. Once there, went to Wolfgang Puck Express for the Roasted Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes - they are the best!!! Got everything I needed at the World of Disney with my 10% DC disc. Of course a trip wouldnt be complete without Ghiradellis so I got a Rootbeer Float that was just heavenly!!
By this point my body was starting to complain that it had enough fun for one day, so headed back to CSR, called home and off to bed.
Tues (June 10): Since I had to head home tonight, I decided to take advantage of the Dig Site today. Slept until about 8am, then headed to the Pepper Market and got a Breakfast Sandwich with milk, and went outside to enjoy my breakfast at one of the tables. I stopped by the registration desk to see if I could get late checkout since Mears wasnt picking me up until 3:25pm and was told I could stay until 1pm - yeah!!! Walked back to the room, taking some pictures along the way, got changed then went to the pool. Very few people there, so I soaked for a while in the hot tub then went into the main pool. What a great pool!!! Even went down the slide with a bunch of kids!!!
Around 11am Id had enough sun, so it was time to get packed up. Caught a bus back to El Centro, put my stuff in storage and headed to B&C for my last meal in WDW. Took the bus to MGM and as it pulled up to the stop, I saw the boat just leaving the dock. So what do I do? Walk to B&C in the noontime heat with no shade!!! Sometimes I just dont think!!! As I dragged myself to the Boardwalk, the boat showed up to take me for that LONG RIDE all the way across the lake, but it was well worth it as I couldnt have walked another step.
Walked in and was seated immediately at the counter. Susan was my waitress and she was great!!! Got a cheeseburger with onion rings and orange ice cream drink (called a Florida Sunshine or Something Sunshine). That really hit the spot, but the only thing I could finish was my drink I was so full!! As I was walking out then door, someone got a Kitchen Sink so I watched the festivities, then caught a boat to the Dolphin where Ill be staying in Dec. thru the magic of Priceline!!! I cant wait!!!
Now it was time to head back so once again caught a boat to MGM (no more walking for me!!!), then the bus back to CSR. Went to registration and got my MVMCP ticket, then got my things out of storage. Mears was a few minutes late, but with a full bus, we were off to the airport. Got my boarding pass, went through Security without a hitch and got to the gate with plenty of time to spare.
While waiting, I struck up a conversation with 2 guys from Worcester; one of whom was in the process of selling his house and moving to Orlando - what a lucky guy!!! Our plane was delayed as our pilot and flight crew were coming in on another flight, but soom we were off and ended up landing 2 minutes early - boy, SW is good!!!
Now Im back to planning my Nov./Dec. trip - it seems Im always in the process of planning a WDW trip, but who isnt!!!
