mittelst
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2001
- Messages
- 268
Itinerary - WDW 10/4-10/8, Gulf Coast 10/8-10/12
Persons - Mom (me, AKA Pack Mule) and Daughter (7)
Quest - Sleeping Beauty's autograph (daughter), relaxation and book reading (me)
Lodging - All Star Movies 10/4. Beach Club Villas studio 10/5-10/8. Bungalow Beach Resort, Bradenton Beach 10/8-10/12
Sunday 10/12 - A Gecko Says Goodbye
Hazy, Hot, and Humid today
Only the second set-the-alarm day of the trip. Not bad. Went out to the beach to see the early-morning sun. A surprising number of people out for 8:00am. Back to the bungalow to see how much leftover food we could pack. Threw out more than I cared to (I was taught as a child not to waste food - starving Armenians, don't you know). Left water, beer, and pop in the fridge - I hope the cleaning staff took them. Must have left the patio door open when I went out to the beach, because a gecko ended up on the wall near the bathroom! I guess he wanted to say goodbye! I left a note for the cleaning staff to be on the look-out for him. On the road by 9:20. Never did find out how long it would take to get to the Sarasota airport, so I was a little worried. Got gas and arrived at the airport by 9:45. Car returned and bags checked by 10am. At the gate with plenty of time for the 11:40 flight! Plenty of time, that is, to go back down to the National counter and ask them to retrieve the waist-pack and GameBoy my daughter left in the back seat of the car! Thank goodness this isn't the Orlando airport!
Uneventfull flight back to Rochester, where they have been having some fine fall weather - 70's and sunny. View of the changing trees is nice from the airplane.
Reflections
Overall, a great vacation! A few more people at WDW than I expected for this time of year. Apparently, some southern state schools have last week and this week off for a fall break.
- Next time, I wouldn't bother trying to save money by staying "cheaply" on Sat night. I value getting settled in the room more. Sunday was a little stressful waiting to get into our studio at Beach Club.
- As I had originally thought (always go with your first answer), the halloween party was not worth it. Too crowded, too hot, too late.
- Beach Club Villas are great! Our studio (#340) was a fine size for the two of us. Daughter slept on the pull-out couch without trouble. Our view was of some greenery, and a road, but I never noticed the road when the balcony door was closed. The resort is close to restaurants and amenities at Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk. Beach and pools are super! No problems with bus service, and I loved walking to Epcot.
- Mickey bars - good! And I didn't meet a Disney burger I didn't like.
- Little people's feet and legs (and mine too) take a beating at WDW. I knew this, but was still surprised.
- Bradenton Beach vacation was very nice. I think I'll pick a different hotel next time. There looked to be some nice ones further south, on Longboat Key.
- Sarasota airport - very un-stressful. I felt I was on vacation the moment I got off the plane.
- CMs - Ranged from very friendly and helpful (valets, check-in staff) to scarey (the woman monitoring the play area in Dinoland at AK - yelling at the top of her lungs about one-at-a-time something-or-other near one of the slides). I'll admit that are is kind of a free-for-all. Most ride operators were simply that. Few smiles, little interaction with what the ride was supposed to represent.
That's it! Now to pass the time until the next vacation. That's what work is, right? Just the time between vacations?
Persons - Mom (me, AKA Pack Mule) and Daughter (7)
Quest - Sleeping Beauty's autograph (daughter), relaxation and book reading (me)
Lodging - All Star Movies 10/4. Beach Club Villas studio 10/5-10/8. Bungalow Beach Resort, Bradenton Beach 10/8-10/12
Sunday 10/12 - A Gecko Says Goodbye
Hazy, Hot, and Humid today
Only the second set-the-alarm day of the trip. Not bad. Went out to the beach to see the early-morning sun. A surprising number of people out for 8:00am. Back to the bungalow to see how much leftover food we could pack. Threw out more than I cared to (I was taught as a child not to waste food - starving Armenians, don't you know). Left water, beer, and pop in the fridge - I hope the cleaning staff took them. Must have left the patio door open when I went out to the beach, because a gecko ended up on the wall near the bathroom! I guess he wanted to say goodbye! I left a note for the cleaning staff to be on the look-out for him. On the road by 9:20. Never did find out how long it would take to get to the Sarasota airport, so I was a little worried. Got gas and arrived at the airport by 9:45. Car returned and bags checked by 10am. At the gate with plenty of time for the 11:40 flight! Plenty of time, that is, to go back down to the National counter and ask them to retrieve the waist-pack and GameBoy my daughter left in the back seat of the car! Thank goodness this isn't the Orlando airport!
Uneventfull flight back to Rochester, where they have been having some fine fall weather - 70's and sunny. View of the changing trees is nice from the airplane.
Reflections
Overall, a great vacation! A few more people at WDW than I expected for this time of year. Apparently, some southern state schools have last week and this week off for a fall break.
- Next time, I wouldn't bother trying to save money by staying "cheaply" on Sat night. I value getting settled in the room more. Sunday was a little stressful waiting to get into our studio at Beach Club.
- As I had originally thought (always go with your first answer), the halloween party was not worth it. Too crowded, too hot, too late.
- Beach Club Villas are great! Our studio (#340) was a fine size for the two of us. Daughter slept on the pull-out couch without trouble. Our view was of some greenery, and a road, but I never noticed the road when the balcony door was closed. The resort is close to restaurants and amenities at Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk. Beach and pools are super! No problems with bus service, and I loved walking to Epcot.
- Mickey bars - good! And I didn't meet a Disney burger I didn't like.
- Little people's feet and legs (and mine too) take a beating at WDW. I knew this, but was still surprised.
- Bradenton Beach vacation was very nice. I think I'll pick a different hotel next time. There looked to be some nice ones further south, on Longboat Key.
- Sarasota airport - very un-stressful. I felt I was on vacation the moment I got off the plane.
- CMs - Ranged from very friendly and helpful (valets, check-in staff) to scarey (the woman monitoring the play area in Dinoland at AK - yelling at the top of her lungs about one-at-a-time something-or-other near one of the slides). I'll admit that are is kind of a free-for-all. Most ride operators were simply that. Few smiles, little interaction with what the ride was supposed to represent.
That's it! Now to pass the time until the next vacation. That's what work is, right? Just the time between vacations?
