We're just back from 10 days at OKW in a 2BR over Thanksgiving week. It was a great trip and we were there long enough to be very relaxed. I posted a separate thread on our experience with OKW on the DVC board....but thought I'd post a trip report here. Here's the link to the OKW report if you are interested.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=29003381#post29003381
My DH, my DD9 and I departed Providence on Saturday 11/23 at mid-day. My older DD's would join us later in the trip as neither of them wanted to miss more than a few college or high school classes. My DD17 wanted to partake in the powder puff football game the day before Thanksgiving. It's a huge school rivalry with a neighboring town and she's a senior - so we understood. But it was hard to leave her behind.
The trip had been a surprise for our DD9. We did not tell her until the Thursday before our departure which was her birthday night. I gave her a Magical Express luggage ticket and a Disney gift certificate......but she didn't get it! So we had to explain. She was excited, but not over the top. She didn't have much time to process the news in that she had to play in a hockey tournament game Friday night before our departure. But she was excited.
We had surprised her two years ago over Thanksgiving for her birthday. That time we picked her up from her afterschool program and drove right to the airport that Thursday. She didn't know where Tampa (Orlando flights were sold out when we booked) was and didn't understand until the next day that we were in Florida and on our way to Disney. Her reaction that year was so much more fun. This year she was a bit more reserved. Oh well. It seemed like a good idea at the time to surprise her. I think I'll tell her earlier next time.
Our Southwest flight arrived on time in Orlando and our room at OKW was ready when we arrived. We were able to quickly drop our bags and head to the MK for a 5:30 ADR at Crystal Palace. I had feared we might miss this reservation as it was so tight, but we arrived only 20 mins late and the head CM at CP was kind enough to let us keep the ADR. As it turns out, they were 20 mins behind and they were seating the 5:15 ADR's as we arrived. So we were inside within 10 mins. I thanked them several times on my way in and out.
The food at CP was as always plentiful with enough interesting offerings for kids and adults. It's not as tasty as some of the better restaurants, but it's good food. We were hungry and it tasted great.
I was not prepared for what happened after we arrived, however. My DD9 refused to sit on the outside of the table and insisted she did NOT want to interact with the characters. She was dead serious and I was stunned. This is a girl who had her birthday party earlier in the week at the American Girl Store and was fashioning hair do's on her doll with her friends. She's a girly girl most of the time and loves dressing up.
She has, however, been playing ice hockey with boys for over a year now.....and so her tastes have changed a bit. But I was not prepared for a complete ban on characters and princesses so soon. Perhaps it was because she hadn't had a lot of time to think about and plan for the trip. Or it might have been different because her older sisters were not there at the start of the trip. I'm still not sure.
We did manage to get her to sit on the outside with her father....and I got some good pictures. She did enjoy herself and loved the cuddling she got from Pooh "because he's so soft". She eventually relaxed a bit. But it was a little bittersweet knowing that we may not have many if any character meals in our future!
We spent the remainder of the night in the MK doing our favorite things as a threesome - Buzz, the cars, the tea cups, Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mtn. We left around 9:30 as we knew we'd be back in the MK in the am for a breakfast at CRT. I was very worried about how well that would go over!
We got back to OKW and unpacked. It was nice to relax and realize that we had 9 more days of fun to enjoy. We went to bed happy to be "home" in DVC and back at WDW after a two year absence. More later.....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=29003381#post29003381
My DH, my DD9 and I departed Providence on Saturday 11/23 at mid-day. My older DD's would join us later in the trip as neither of them wanted to miss more than a few college or high school classes. My DD17 wanted to partake in the powder puff football game the day before Thanksgiving. It's a huge school rivalry with a neighboring town and she's a senior - so we understood. But it was hard to leave her behind.
The trip had been a surprise for our DD9. We did not tell her until the Thursday before our departure which was her birthday night. I gave her a Magical Express luggage ticket and a Disney gift certificate......but she didn't get it! So we had to explain. She was excited, but not over the top. She didn't have much time to process the news in that she had to play in a hockey tournament game Friday night before our departure. But she was excited.
We had surprised her two years ago over Thanksgiving for her birthday. That time we picked her up from her afterschool program and drove right to the airport that Thursday. She didn't know where Tampa (Orlando flights were sold out when we booked) was and didn't understand until the next day that we were in Florida and on our way to Disney. Her reaction that year was so much more fun. This year she was a bit more reserved. Oh well. It seemed like a good idea at the time to surprise her. I think I'll tell her earlier next time.
Our Southwest flight arrived on time in Orlando and our room at OKW was ready when we arrived. We were able to quickly drop our bags and head to the MK for a 5:30 ADR at Crystal Palace. I had feared we might miss this reservation as it was so tight, but we arrived only 20 mins late and the head CM at CP was kind enough to let us keep the ADR. As it turns out, they were 20 mins behind and they were seating the 5:15 ADR's as we arrived. So we were inside within 10 mins. I thanked them several times on my way in and out.
The food at CP was as always plentiful with enough interesting offerings for kids and adults. It's not as tasty as some of the better restaurants, but it's good food. We were hungry and it tasted great.
I was not prepared for what happened after we arrived, however. My DD9 refused to sit on the outside of the table and insisted she did NOT want to interact with the characters. She was dead serious and I was stunned. This is a girl who had her birthday party earlier in the week at the American Girl Store and was fashioning hair do's on her doll with her friends. She's a girly girl most of the time and loves dressing up.
She has, however, been playing ice hockey with boys for over a year now.....and so her tastes have changed a bit. But I was not prepared for a complete ban on characters and princesses so soon. Perhaps it was because she hadn't had a lot of time to think about and plan for the trip. Or it might have been different because her older sisters were not there at the start of the trip. I'm still not sure.
We did manage to get her to sit on the outside with her father....and I got some good pictures. She did enjoy herself and loved the cuddling she got from Pooh "because he's so soft". She eventually relaxed a bit. But it was a little bittersweet knowing that we may not have many if any character meals in our future!
We spent the remainder of the night in the MK doing our favorite things as a threesome - Buzz, the cars, the tea cups, Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mtn. We left around 9:30 as we knew we'd be back in the MK in the am for a breakfast at CRT. I was very worried about how well that would go over!
We got back to OKW and unpacked. It was nice to relax and realize that we had 9 more days of fun to enjoy. We went to bed happy to be "home" in DVC and back at WDW after a two year absence. More later.....
She allowed them to sign a book that I had brought and she waved the wand at least once during the wish granting music (I'm not sure what to call it!) She was much less enthusiastic than she had been two years ago.....but she participated at least. I really did not see this coming.
I have trouble remembering that we actually spent 10 days at Disney. 
