No Good Deed Goes Unpunished- 6 days w/o motorcycles...but at least there's a pool!

[dizprincess717]

I'm in on your trip!

I just need to tell you - YOUR ROTTIE IS PRECIOUS!!! I've had 5 rottweiler... My family has always had rotties in the house. They're the most lovable and sweetest dogs ever. We have 1 right now, Nala. She's a year and a half old and about 90 pounds. She's muscle, but she's a big teddy bear. We have gates up in our house so she won't wander to where she's not supposed to and if, heaven forbid, you touch a gate, she runs away. They're big babies! I love 'em, though. I'll probably always have 1, even when I get married and have my own house. What you're doing with Amber is so great. It kills me to see any animal, but especially rotties, treated poorly. Cheers to you!

 

[reyasmommy]

First of all I'm excited to read more of your TR!! Second, it's always nice to meet another Rottie Lover!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Krista in MA]

Hi Nina!

Hope you all had a good time! Looking forward to reading your report after your fun PTR.

Now I guess I'll just wait and see if there is a pic of your husband standing in front of the castle wearing mouse ears.... with a balloon in one hand and a giant lollipop in the other?

 

[rottiemom]

We are in the northern part of Ohio on Lake Erie.

I'll bet that it's pretty there. I haven't been any farther north than I-80 en route to Wisconsin. But if you ever get to Mansfield you've got to go to Bucks for the fried vegetables...seriously.

I was laughing to myself when I read bug splattered bikers. Friends of ours do the DC ride every year and I remember asking her about the bugs. Apparently from what I learned, you get use to them.

Yes, my way of getting used to them is to keep my face shield down. It's like getting hit by rocks.

I have another friend that went from here to Texas on a bike. Just how the heck do you get 2 weeks worth of stuff packed?

You learn to forgo things like hair dryers, pillows and extra pants .

There you go!

Di! Thought of you this weekend because we went to the Scottish games in CT. There was no whiskey tent, though. And my Amber had no interest in neither sheep nor highland cattle...just the meat pies.

BTW- by "pants" above I meant trousers, not dainties.

Hi great report!! Thank's for the pictures!!
We stayed in rooms 7220 and 7221. What room were you in?
We were at POP Aug. 29-Sept. 10!! with free dining !
What dates were you all there?

We were there from 9/17-9/22 and we stayed in...I want to say 3348? It was great, maybe a 2 minute walk from anywhere we needed to be and pretty qiuet. Probably because I had brought my earplugs, just in case.

Now, did somebody say rotties?!

 

[rottiemom]

More rottie people have found me!

I'm in on your trip!

I just need to tell you - YOUR ROTTIE IS PRECIOUS!!! I've had 5 rottweiler... My family has always had rotties in the house. They're the most lovable and sweetest dogs ever. We have 1 right now, Nala. She's a year and a half old and about 90 pounds. She's muscle, but she's a big teddy bear. We have gates up in our house so she won't wander to where she's not supposed to and if, heaven forbid, you touch a gate, she runs away. They're big babies! I love 'em, though. I'll probably always have 1, even when I get married and have my own house.

Hi Dizprincess, I would love to see pictures of Nala. I truly love these dogs, they are such sweethearts and naturally big clowns. Aren't they funny with how barrier conscious they are? I keep a broomstick across the doorway to keep Amber away from the cat's food...and it actually works. You can guess what happens if I forget to put that broom across the doorway, though .

When I got married I had a rottie & my husband had a cat. Everybody lived together just fine. Actually I think that the dog & cat adjusted quicker than Bill & I did .

First of all I'm excited to read more of your TR!! Second, it's always nice to meet another Rottie Lover!

Pictures! Oh your dog is gorgeous....look at that face . And what a gorgeous baby, too. Having a dog makes having a toddler so much easier, too. Any spilled food gets cleaned up instantly .

Now I guess I'll just wait and see if there is a pic of your husband standing in front of the castle wearing mouse ears.... with a balloon in one hand and a giant lollipop in the other?

Good luck with that, Krista .

I did get a pic of him on "it's a small world" but it came out too dark so you can't fully appreciate his expression where he's likely contemplating pushing me off of the boat and holding my head under water.

Coming up next- day 1!

 

[rottiemom]

Photobucket seems to be experiencing the DTs today (well, so am I) so I'll have to try & add the pictures in later.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the airport we go...I haven't flown since 2001 oh no, oh no!

Up at 5AM- check
Flight still on time- check
coffee brewed & in travel cups- check
tweezers packed after last minute whisker patrol- check

We are ready. The fact that we were busy took my mind off of the fact that Amber-ini's crate was empty & I didn't have to fill her dish. I did give Gremmie a nice, big bowl of wet food which meant that I actually got to see her before we left. Then it was into the car & off to my brother's, who was going to drive us to the airport.

Our son still has no idea where we're going and doesn't care. My brother gets into the car & says " you ready to go to Disney, William?"

Oh well, he was going to find out eventually. And that actually worked out well so it had some time to sink in. So by the time we checked in & breezed through security (a definite harbinger of the apocalypse- Bill did NOT get stopped in security...I hope that the rain of frogs doesn't delay our flight) William was getting pretty excited.

We flew out of a small, local airport which was great. 2 gates, 1 waiting area, walk out onto the tarmac in order to board the plane. We got settled, plugged in the headphones (please explain how I'm the one that packed the headphones yet I'm the only one that doesn't get a set to use?) and prepare for takeoff. I hate to fly. I always did. Deep breaths. Clutch Bill's hand. Think of Ron White saying "How far can we get on one engine?" "All the way to the scene of the crash."

Thankfully, the flight is uneventful, the weather is beautiful and before we know it, we're approaching Orlando!

And the stewards are handing out tubes of Maybelline Ultra Lash to all of the women. Seriously! It's not waterproof but it may work. Has Jet Blue been reading my pre-trippie? Is this another harbinger of the apocalypse? And where in heck do we go to find the Magical Express?

Next- We're here! We're actually here! Really!

 

[LISAMWDW]

Think of Ron White saying "How far can we get on one engine?" "All the way to the scene of the crash."

Still can't believe the mascara thing!

 

[rottiemom]

Once we deplane and get to the main terminal it's time to find Disney's Magical Express. Good luck with that. Disney tries to make it as easy as possible for you but since they probably aren't allowed to put up signs in the airport it can be a bit daunting. Still, once we found the right area everything was smooooooth. And quick. And that seems to be the theme for this particular trip. We put ouselves at the mercy of WDW and WDW transport and I was a little apprehensive but once Disney takes over all is well. We were promptly checked in & told what line to get on and after maybe a 10 minute wait our bus pulled up and we were OFF!

Surreal moment #1- Glancing over at my husband in all of his surly glory on the Magical Express while "whistle while you work" plays jauntily in the backround .

William is excited, though. He's sitting on daddy's lap so that he can see out of the window & so that we can all sit together. William & I are both bouncing. I'm craning to see out of the window & read the signs. We're getting closer, closer, then I spot the "color TV" signs that Krista mentioned in my pre-trippie and I crack up. Because I was looking for them, and there they are! It was like something out of one of Lilek's write ups:http://lileks.com/motels/FL/4.html. We pull up at POP and we're here, we're really here! William wants to play with the giant styrofoam Legos but no, we must check in.

Once again, smooth. Check in proceeds quickly, our room is ready, we're given our keys, directions and a packet of info and we're on our way. POP looks just like the pictures! I felt like such a giddy little girl.

All in all, the plane landed at 10:30AM and we were in our room by noon. That's with us not having a clue how to fine ME, stopping for bathroom breaks and relying solely on Disney transport. It was beautiful.

Up next- what's for lunch?

 

[lurkyloo]

You know, right after you left I had a revelation about your runny mascara!

I once read that the problem is not with the mascara - it's which eye cream you use. I bought one they recommended (Cellex-C GLA Eye Balm ... dunno if they still make it) - and my mascara never smudged when I wore the stuff. Even non-waterproof mascara!

Might be something to think about when the planets align and you head back to WDW...

 

[lurkyloo]

But this year, at Vintage Motorcycle Days in Ohio he was saying "it's just a lot of walkin' around" (and I secretly agreed...shhhh).

Oh my gosh - that was my childhood! My dad worked for Hot Rod magazine, so we were dragged to every hot rod show in California, plus swap meets....

However, now I am glad, because it gave me the fortitude I need to drag myself around Disney!!

Also - I am that your bro spoiled the surprise for your son. I mean, I guess it worked out OK, but I wanted to see a pic of the look on his face when you got on a big bus with Mickey on the side... (then again, perhaps it would have been a look that said, "It's just a lot of ridin' around"... )

 

[rottiemom]

Oh my gosh - that was my childhood! My dad worked for Hot Rod magazine, so we were dragged to every hot rod show in California, plus swap meets....

Well this gives me hope! Because you seem to have turned out OK .
I keep on thinking about my son growing up...I mean, how is he supposed to rebel?

Shave his head? Mommy had a mohawk.
Grow his hair long? Daddy's hair already is.
Get tattoos? Mommy & Daddy both have them.
Get a motorcycle? See above.

His only hope for rebellion is to become a Brooks Brother's clad snob, I guess.
"Mother, don't you know the proper way to hem? And just WHERE did you learn how to iron a crease in a trouser leg?"

However, now I am glad, because it gave me the fortitude I need to drag myself around Disney!!

Girl, there is no dragging. As I read it you are a regular warrior!

(then again, perhaps it would have been a look that said, "It's just a lot of ridin' around"... )

You're right! He WAS complaining about the busses by the end of the trip 9there's just no pleasing some children).

 

[rottiemom]

We're all checked in, have dropped our carry on bags off in the room & I've got my commando hat on, ready to go go GO.

But we need food. We have 7PM ADRs at the Coral Reef. I had visions of us strolling around the world showcase, grabbing a taste of CS here & there but I realized that we had best grab something now, at the hotel, because by the time we got to Epcot I'd be ready to hunt down & cook anything that was moving slow enough (mmmmm....tourist).

So we grabbed lunch at POP, which mainly consisted of me trying to figure out the dining plan, eavesdropping on the people in line around us & constantly responding to my husband's "it's not necessary" with "it's included in the plan.

It is here that my husband begins to get familiar with the wisdom of the DIS. Because the "unnecessary" desserts are brought back to the room for breakfast and the "unnecessary" bottles of water are stowed in my bag for the park. So with the 3 of us now fed & watered (I reccomend the blackened fish sandwich) we set off for our first venture via park bus & get our first taste of why people keep on coming back.

Coming up next "They're realy good at separating you from your money here."

 

[rottiemom]

The most direct route to the POP food court is through the gift shop. The most direct route to the bus stop is through the gift shop. Are we sendsing a theme here? Of course my son is mesmerised by the brightly colored gift shop full of shiny things but somehow I manage to extract him by saying "we'll definitely be buying some things here, just not now". This actually worked. Another harbinger of the apocalypse.

We (easily) find the correct bus stop & hop onto the line of maybe 5 people. And as we're all standing on line we all start chatting. Over the next few days I'm going to get really spoiled because the majority of people that we run into are just so NICE . I'm from NY. We're not used to that sort of behaviour .

In the course of our conversation we mention to the guy in front of us that it's our first trip to WDW and he warns "They're real good at separating you from your money here". We took these words to heart...how little we knew!

Anyway, waited maybe 5 minutes for the bus & pulled up at Epcot in 10. This was pretty much standard for our trip & one of the reasons that I really liked POP. We never had to wait long for a bus and the busses for POP were only for POP. It didn't take long to get pretty much anywhere, we never had to worry about finding a parking sport, or getting lost and even if we were standing the time passed quickly because you usually ended up gabbing with somebody nearby.

Getting to Epcot- I was ready to be wowed and dazzled...I mean, there was the geodesic sphere, just like in the pictures! But first, a gift shop .

I had my handy book of notecards & my (thank God for the) Passporter maps but everything else that I had made a mental note about doing pretty much flew right out of my head.

A word about maps- As a first timer I found the maps that WDW hands out pretty much useless. Nothing on the map is labelled, it takes a while to figure everything out & you still have no clue how to get from here to there! Thankfully I had torn the Epcot map out of my Passporter & brought that along with us...which proved to invaluable. Not only did it have everything clearly labelled on the map itself but on the back there was a breakdown of what each attraction was (boat ride, track ride, movie) and where it could be found. It made life much easier.

So first it was off to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Partly for the fish & partly so that I have an idea where Coral Reef is for later. The ride itself is just adorable, and the starfish pleading with you at the end is a riot. When the ride is over you're spat out into an aquarium and we spent maybe an hour there checking out the exhibits & contemplating which fish would be tastiest.

This was good! We're having fun! Nobody has tried to force us into mouse ears and everyone is smiling. William is getting a little pillish since he's missed his nap but that's OK, we're having fun! Let's go on another ride .

Figment . What an annoying reptile. Seriously, and this comes from someone that loves the cold blooded things. Even my son was unhappy about it so after he played for a bit we scampered over to The Land. Since I was baffled by the whole FastPass thing we grabbed them for Soarin' but never used them. The Land was packed and loud, throngs of people waiting to go into the Garden Grill...oh crap, there's Chip or Dale inside, easily visible by the great unwashed outside & William starts crying that he wants to go see the chipmunk and QUICK, FIND ANOTHER RIDE!

We jump onto Living With the Land and William loves it . He's delighted by the giant fruits & vegetables, the fish & the gators & once again everybody is happy. He's even happier when he discovers the fountains in the sidewalk en route to World Showcase and in spite of him being fully dressed we let him take his shoes off and run around until he's soaked to the skin & delighted. It's a hot day, what's a little water?

As we proceed towards Norway the clouds roll in & the winds picks up. This must be the rain of frogs that I've been anticipating. Actually the wind across the water is delightful but William complains that he's cold so we'd best find another ride to distract him .

The world showcase was very cool. The architecture was incredible...actually the design & detail of all of the parks is pretty amazing. As we're taking the fun, kitschy boat ride through Mexico I'm marvelling over the talavera tile and the execution of the "villas" within the ride itself. As for shopping, I had fully expected to be wandering trough the world showcase with my wallet wide open but honestly, since we live just north of one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world many of the same items could be purchased back at home by going to the corresponding ethnic neighborhood.. Whew!

And of course, there was alcohol. I limited myself to a citron slushie in France, Bill held fast to 1 pint of Kronenborg.

William surprised me by becoming a child again. He's such a grown up, independant little guy that it's easy to forget that he's only 4 1/2 and when we spotted Donald Duck outside of Mexico he said that he wanted to go give Donald a hug. And he ran up & did just that. My heart just melted.

After orbiting the World it was time to start heading back towards the Coral Reef for dinner (after one last ride on Nemo). Our first TS meal in WDW!

Coming up next: Trying to dislodge a manta ray is a lot like trying to dislodge a rottweiler.

 

[LISAMWDW]

Yeah updates! Good stuff!

It's so cool to hear the first time experiences!!! Hopefully you came back to do Soarin! It is a great ride!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Di! Thought of you this weekend because we went to the Scottish games in CT. There was no whiskey tent, though. And my Amber had no interest in neither sheep nor highland cattle...just the meat pies.

BTW- by "pants" above I meant trousers, not dainties.

Och aye the noo!

I'm glad you clarified that - I was having visions of you using disposable 'dainties'

Really enjoying the updates - you sound like you've had a blast so far...and all the advice from the DIS is coming in handy
I'm interested in your review from Coral Reef as we have an ADR there for dinner.
But Nina, FPs for Soarin' and you didn't use them!!!!!

Di x

 

[rottiemom]

It's so cool to hear the first time experiences!!! Hopefully you came back to do Soarin! It is a great ride!

I'm glad that you're enjoying the tales of a first timer . And, no, we did end up giving Soarin a miss. We were hot, tired, confused an overwhelmed.

I'm glad you clarified that - I was having visions of you using disposable 'dainties'

See?! Though it would save space in the luggage .

I'm interested in your review from Coral Reef as we have an ADR there for dinner.

Coral reef was wonderful...as you will soon see.

But Nina, FPs for Soarin' and you didn't use them!!!!!

I know, I know, we'll just have to go back & try to do all of the things that we didn't get to.

Everything seems so possible when you're planning it all out & being all methodical then you get there and the wave of heat hits you along with the scope and the SIZE of the place and you just kinda want to lie down in the fountains and whimper for awhile .

 

[lurkyloo]

As for shopping, I had fully expected to be wandering trough the world showcase with my wallet wide open but honestly, since we live just north of one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world many of the same items could be purchased back at home by going to the corresponding ethnic neighborhood.. Whew!

Same here! I couldn't find anything I wanted there as a souvenir on our honeymoon that I couldn't get in L.A. I finally settled for an $8 bottle of vanilla at the Mexico Pavilion that I could prolly get for $2 at my local supermarket.

Great trip report!

Also, donde estan las fotografias?

 

[rottiemom]

My son is obsessed with scuba divers. Out of all of the aquariums we have gone to the thing that he's most enthusiastic about is the diver that was cleaning a tank at Coney Island. So of course, thanks to the DIS, once I found out that there was such a thing as being able to request a diver to come to your table at the Coral Reef our first ADR was a no brainer. Since we had booked so far in advance & for such a slow time of year we had no difficulty with this and Debbie at the Coral Reef was a sweetheart to work with. A little tweaking and we had 7PM ADRs for our first night and the diver booked. Now to hold my tongue for 6 months.

We were brought to our table immediately and William was handed his menu. He looked at it, noticed his name & all of the pictures of himself & said "these people don't know who I am!" . Our table was right next to the giant fish tank and it was just glorious. I've heard about how loud the Coral Reef is, and it was, but not in a bad way. In an "I'm in a huge restaurant with lots of people" way. Not the place for a quiet, intimate dinner but not annoying, either. We were fine with it...acually we loved it. Being right next to the tank like that was just fantastic and the atmosphere of the place was nice & un-stuffy.

As we sat there a giant ray came over and plopped itself down right in front of the glass next to our table. Rays are my new favorite marine animal because at Atlantis in Riverhead the rays are so used to being hand fed that they will literally zoom up the sides of the tanks like vacuum cleaners & poke their heads out of the water so that you can pet them! All the while hoping for food & staring at you with their big, dewey, Gary the Snail eyes:

So we were amused by the giant ray just sitting there like rottweiler waiting for table scraps...then Bill noticed the divers at the top of the tank & pointed them out to William. William was entranced...especially as the divers got closer, and closer, and closer and then were on the other side of the glass, right next to our table, trying to shoo the ray away! The ray was not having it, every bit as stubborn as a rottweiler in a comfy spot. Eventually they were able to convince the ray to go on about it's business somewhere else and proceeded to unroll their "welcome to Walt Disney World, William" banner and toss shells around like confetti. William was mesmerised, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He didn't utter a peep.

The divers themselves were fantastic. We kept pointing to likely fish and giving the divers the thumbs up & one would rub his belly in agreement . He kept pointing to the fish, then to our plates, then taking his breathing tube out and making chomping motions as he chased the fish. It was a riot and it was a delight and it was truly, truly special. Dummy me had left the camera on aquarium setting so as not to disturb the fish so the pictures are a bit dark but they're still wonderful. After the divers William was still overwhelmed. It was like he was trying to process what just happened. He asked for his dinner...then he fell asleep sitting up at the table .

Once the divers had swam away I felt like all of the secrets were done & I could finally relax. That sense of unreality was gone, we were really, finally at Disney. Bring on the glowtinis! (d@mn, those things are good).

Our dinner arrived. I had the grilled mahi mahi, which was fantastic. I figured that since we were dining in an aquarium I just had to have fish & the mahi mahi was well worth it (fresh ?!). Bill had the seafood linguini. William had ordered the pizza and had managed maybe 3 bites before he fell asleep so Bill & I enjoyed a not quite leisurely dinner while keeping one eye on William to make sure he didn't topple out of his chair. We decided to cut our losses & head back to POP and our server kindly wrapped up William's dinner along with 2 chocolate waves for dessert back at the 50's.

William was out cold. We didn't bring a stroller. Bill carried him from the Seas to the POP bus stop...even noticing the little bat shaped lights flickering across the sky. We were all beat but figured that we were ahead of the game since we were leaving before Illuminations (sorry, guys, no way were we lugging 40 lbs of dead weight back to the World Showcase only to have to lug it back & wait for a bus). Still, the bus was packed and there wasn't a seat to be had. Bill stood the entire way, holding William in one arm. We both vowed then that if either of us was seated on a bus & somebody got on holding a child we would offer them our seat, no matter how dog tired we were...and we stuck to that for the entire trip.

William woke up as soon as we got back to POP...and demanded to go to the pool !

 

[rottiemom]

Same here! I couldn't find anything I wanted there as a souvenir on our honeymoon that I couldn't get in L.A. I finally settled for an $8 bottle of vanilla at the Mexico Pavilion that I could prolly get for $2 at my local supermarket. [

Too true...and I din't want to come off like some kind of snooty "oh well we can get this back home" but I wasn't going to spend twice as much for a bottle of tequila just because I bought it in "Mexico". Besides, I knew I was going home with mouse ears or I wasn't going home .

Also, donde estan las fotografias?

Ah, La reina de las fotografias . Manana, I promise. P'bucket let me post one, then booted me so I'll try again early AM. Sadly, some of the best, most "Disney" ones are on the photopass CD and I don't have that yet so you'll have to make do with my own "quality" photos until I get it...at least those that don't include my thumb or somebody without head.

 

[kismet1003]

I am finding your trip report very entertaining. Thanks for sharing!!