When I left off, we had just checked in at SSR. We were told that we had room #5105, in the Paddock area. And our room was ready, even though it wasn’t even 1:00pm yet!
We were so excited, since we’d been up since 2:45am already, and were hoping to be able to get some rest before heading out to do something.
We stayed in the Paddock on our trip last March as well, and we love the area. It’s the 3rd (of 5) bus stop, so there’s nearly always plenty of space on the bus when it gets there. The building is just steps from the bus stop, a quiet pool, and it’s barely a 10 minute walk back over to the main pool & building.
Luckily, my parents’ room was also ready (#5123), and even better, it was also on the 1st floor. I think I mentioned already that my mom is recovering from a knee replacement, so we rented her an
ECV from Walker Mobility, and I was hoping for a 1st floor room for her so she wouldn’t have to deal with the elevator. We headed back out to Bell Services to pick up the ECV, and headed to our rooms. Our room had a GREAT view!
from my phone:
Our original plan was to rest until DMIL & DBIL got there – their plane was supposed to land at around 1:30pm, so we expected them around 2:30 or so – and then head to DTD for some souvenir shopping before our 7:30 ressies at the Turf Club. Oh, the best laid plans…
… I need to go back in time here a bit. DH has an uncle, DMIL’s brother, who lives in Tampa. We knew he was going to drive into Orlando with his fiancée at least one night when we were there. And since we didn’t do the
DDP, we decided each group (us, my parents, and DMIL) would pick one TS meal, and those would be our only TS meals for the week. So when our 90 day ressie window approached, I had DH call his uncle to find out what night he’d be joining us, and if he had a preference for what time we ate or which of the restaurants we ate at. He had no opinions, and said he’d play it by ear and decide closer to our arrival date when he was coming to see everyone. So I made all three of our TS reservations for 8! people, and hoped for the best. Less than a week before we left for WDW, uncle called DH… he wanted us to change our 7:30 ressie for something earlier, closer to 5:00, so that they could get back to Tampa at a reasonable hour!!!
To placate them, I did check the online system, but of course there was nothing available for 8 people, so I didn’t make any changes…
First, DMIL & DBIL were a bit delayed, and then they got lost at MCO looking for ME, so they didn’t get to the resort until 3:30 or so. Their room was also ready, and was also a first-floor room in the Paddock - #5132. We met them in the lobby, and then walked them over to the rooms, stopping to take a few pictures in the process (this is from MIL’s camera – mine was in the room).
Once we got them settled in, DMIL called her brother. He was already on his way from Tampa, and expected to be at the resort by 5:30 or so. This left us no time to go do anything, so we spent some time just hanging out with family. The tweet I sent this afternoon said “Hanging with the family. Might be the first time I've ever been to Disney and not done anything on day 1. :-/ “ I was pretty irritated at this point, as uncle had been told we couldn’t change the dinner ressie, yet was showing up early anyway and still expected to eat early. At some point during this 2-hour span, we gave everyone the matching t-shirts I made using a design I got here on the DIS, and I also gave everyone our itinerary cards.
[This is a good time to point out a major difference in our traveling styles – my parents, DH, and I are very go-with-the-flow kind of people. We don’t get up early on vacation, we don’t schedule our week in advance, we just wake up and make a decision about where to go/what to do. DMIL, on the other hand… wanted a schedule and a touring plan. So I subscribed to TGM, figured out the least-crowded parks for the week, and put together a touring plan. I printed these out on business cards (one side had pertinent info for the day – time to meet at bus, dinner ressie if applicaple, etc – and the other side had the actual touring plan. I put the cards into the plastic protectors for baseball cards so they would be sturdier.]
At 5:30, with uncle claiming to be “10 minutes away,” we headed up to the main building. While the moms, DH, and DBIL wandered around the gift shop, my dad and I headed back to Turf Club to see if there was any way we could be seated early. I checked us in and was given a buzzer, but told it would probably be much closer to our ressie time before they could seat us. Uncle wasn’t there yet, so I wasn’t too worried. We made our way back to the gift shop, and had just barely located everyone, when the buzzer went off! We were seated as soon as we managed to get back to Turf Club, and then waited at least 20 minutes, possibly longer, on uncle.
They finally arrived, and dinner went smoothly. Before the trip, we had decided that each “group” of us would pay for the one restaurant we chose, since DH & I have a Tables in Wonderland card, and we didn’t think that Disney would let us apply it to multiple checks at the same table. Turf Club was my parents’ selection, so it was their night to pay, and I made sure to let the waitress know that uncle & fiancée were on a separate check – it wasn’t fair to let my dad get stuck paying for a group of 8, 2 of whom are relatively big drinkers and aren’t related to him.
We all enjoyed our meals, although I'd have to look at a menu to see what we had. I know my dad & I, and I think BIL, had the prime rib, and uncle & fiancee had some sort of fish (maybe tuna?). Beyond that, I'm not sure, and I didn't write it down or tweet about it.
When it was time to get the check, I handed the TiW card over to my dad, and he asked the waitress for the bill. When she brought the check, she had already deducted the 20% from our check, and also deducted it from uncle’s, which we didn’t expect. The bill for our group of 6 was ~$180 (including gratuity), while the bill for uncle & fiancée was ~$95 for just the two of them!
After settling the bill, my dad & I went to the concierge desk so he could add park tickets to his & my mom’s KTTW cards – the cast member hadn’t mentioned it at check-in, and dad didn’t think about it until right before dinner. We decided on 5-day park hoppers for them. It was quick & easy, and we rejoined the rest of the group still chatting at the table. We spent a few more minutes chatting, and then walked uncle back to the lobby.
The whole group after dinner
DH & I made a quick stop in Artist’s Palette to grab some soda and water for the room, and then headed back to get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow we ARE going to a park!
Up Next: Where are we going? Will my mood improve? And will we make it to our first-ever Disney rope drop?!?! Also, tons more pictures... I didn't start taking any until we hit a park, but I have over 500 that actually turned out pretty well, so...
We did fine by the end, but we're taking a trip just us in March to get the bad memories of Disney out of my head! I'm hoping this TR will help with that, too! 
