IvyandLace
Certified pixie dust user
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2000
- Messages
- 758
Our day plan: Sleep in; DisneyQuest; Boardwalk in evening; IllumiNations Cruise; Jellyrolls for JP, Ariel, Uncle T and me
Our meal plan: Lunch: FoodQuest
Dinner: Beaches-n Cream
Birthday surprise: Kitchen sink!
Our weather today: Cloudy and cool
When we woke up this morning, leftover glitter and candy wrappers stuck to our faces and looked outside, we were so glad that we had switched our Blizzard Beach day from today to the past Tuesday. It was a perfect day to spend indoors trying for a high score on Ms. Pacman or braving ghost ships for hidden treasure! After breakfast, we were off to Disneyquest.
No one in our group had ever been here before, and we were excited and curious to try it out. Needless to say, I think we are still trying to track down the males in our group! This place was huge and confusing but extremely fun with something new around every corner. There was much to see and do here. It can get a bit overwhelming at times. My advice: look around and explore before you get pulled in to any one area in particular. There were tons of free video games from classics (Dig Dug, Centipede, etc.) to the surfboard/wave runner/skateboard type of today.
There were also tons of virtual reality rides. Our favorite, hands down, was Pirates of Caribbean-Quest for Buccaneer Gold. Located on the lower level, it is somewhat stuck in a corner-nonetheless, this place is popular! I cant imagine the waits when DisneyQuest is full. One person is needed to steer while the rest (up to 4 more) launch canons to sink different pirate ships for accumulated gold. It was fast paced and inspired teamwork. Uncle T wants to go back just to play Pirates all day long!
This was a good place to just be by yourself and get lost in some video games or pal up with a friend to design and ride your own rollercoaster on CyberSpace Mountain. There were even computers with Internet access in a nice lounge setting called the Wonderland Café. I surfed a bit in a little cubbyhole to see if any new rates were out for a follow-up trip to WDW.
Princess M and I managed to create the hit new song-Girls are Better than Boys are(one of the lines went They lick the gravy off the plates) in a Radio Disney Songmaker sound booth. It was a classic.
We stopped to lunch at FoodQuest (on the top floor) when we were hungry and were very pleasantly surprised at the cost, quality and variety of food available. Lots of good choices! There was even more good stuff available for dessert at the Wonderland Café. Ask GM. I think she spent most of her time up there, sampling.
Because there are no windows here, it is very easy to get sucked in and lose all sense of time. We couldnt believe we stayed until 5pm! Time is another dimension here. This was a great place to spend as a family especially after a late night. We didnt have to worry about anyone, and everyone could do what they wanted. For JP, Jack and Harry that was video games. Unfortunately for them they got enthralled in that one area and couldnt relate when the rest of us talked of the other thrills at DisneyQuest. They just didnt get to anything else which is a shame because there was so much to do here. We will be back! The only drawback to DisneyQuest was that it made the day go too quickly!
As the sun was setting, we walked to the Westside bus stop at DTD and made our way to the Boardwalk. Uncle T, the kids and JP had never been there, and we wanted to explore. When making our vacation plans, we had coined the phrase cluck, cluck to disguise our plans to take the fireworks cruise later this evening. I was thrilled to have gotten it in the first place and wanted it to be a surprise for most of our group!
First of all, we wanted to take a surrey ride around the lake-GM, Ariel, Harry and JP took one four-seater while Uncle T, Jack, Princess M and I took the other. Quite embarrassingly, our surrey lacked two backseat peddlers (ahem, Jack and Princess M!), and we got stuck going up one of the hills. We just couldnt get up it, and we could see our other surrey taunting us in the foreground. It took some very kind (think strong) people to help push us up and over. (Thank you, kind people!) Obviously this happens a lot around the Boardwalk-we saw another family stuck when we were leaving. So if you rent a surrey, make sure you have peddlers! Trust me, you dont want the stigma of getting stuck! After trading Princess M and Jack for GM and Ariel, our surrey made a nice smooth trip around the Boardwalk. I especially liked ringing the bell.
Everyone was hungry-we had planned on getting the kitchen sink at Beaches-n-Cream after seeing the Beach Club Travel Channel special. Eight scoops of ice cream? A whole bottle of whipped cream? Bring it on!
Oops, GM said we had to eat a meal first so those who were hungry got assorted items-cheeseburgers, fries, etc. I stuck with a wonderfully refreshing lime rickey. Very good! Guess Ill try one of those famous cheeseburgers next time! We relaxed and ate outdoors near Storm-a-Long Bay. It was a nice night, cool and calm. Except for the fact that Jack was limping and seemed to lag behind the group, everyone seemed reenergized by this non-park day.
Finally it was time to make our way to the Yacht and Beach Club marina. The cluck cluck was revealed along with our boat driver, Aaron. Upon meeting him, he surprised us by going back to the boathouse for a birthday balloon for Princess M when he heard what we were celebrating this trip. We all piled in to this big pontoon boat (the Donald Duck boat) and snuggled down for a bit of a tour. Aaron was a really pleasant guy who told us a bunch of trivia about the parks and the Boardwalk. He drove us from the marina all the way to the MGM boat dock and then back again for a trip around the Boardwalk. The night breezes ruffled our hair, and we signed and smiled as we took in the sights. It was so relaxing and nice to view the area from the water.
While we waited for IllumiNations to start, Aaron and another boat driver had a joke off-we are talking extremely corny jokes here. We were parked right under the bridge between France and the United Kingdom and could make out crowds of people looking at us as if we were VIPs of some sort (which, of course, we are!) When the fireworks started, we all oohed and aahed. IllumiNations is always topnotch! I love it-the music, the visual presentation, everything. That evening out on the water I made sure I remembered everything about those moments-seeing my nephews face light up with each bright explosion in the sky, humming the music with GM and Ariel, leaning against Uncle T. That time will be imprinted very vividly in my mind.
It was especially nice to be able to see so much-in particular, I could actually discern what videos they were running on the globe. Ive never been able to make that out before. My favorite memory of our IllumiNations cruise was when I pointed out to Harry (who was sitting beside me) how the globe fits in to Epcot and Walts dream for working hand-in-hand. It was special to be able to show him the deeper meaning to my favorite fireworks, to see the light of understanding in his eyes. IllumiNations is so mesmerizing.
The IllumiNations fireworks cruise has many perks, but one of the best was being able to sail back to the Beach Club marina without fighting the crowds. Everyone was in high spirits, and some were even trading corny jokes with Aaron. I would do the cruise again in a heartbeat it was that good!
It was time for ice cream the Kitchen Sink to be exact. We finally got a table at Beaches-n-Cream (be forewarned, this place is always crowded!) and ordered. When it came out, the lights flickered and our waiter extravagantly listed all the ingredients of the delicacy as he was winding his way to our table. People clapped and cheered and generally made us feel like heroes for such an attempt.
But have no fear! With glistening spoons in hand, we nearly knocked the guy over in our gluttony. We did manage to hold off the vultures until we had completed a wonderfully embarrassing slightly off key rendition of Happy Birthday for Princess M (who hid under the table with her fingers stuck in her ears!) Everyone clapped again, Princess M came out of hiding and the eating began. Unfortunately, the kitchen sink was pretty melty and sort of oozed together so that we couldnt taste individual flavors (just stuff like mint-peanut butter which was interesting!) It was sweet and fun to eat though, and we had lot of fun with pictures of us eating it.
After JP had licked the well, the sink it was time for GM and the kids to head home. Jack was still limping, and we urged him homeward. Uncle T, Ariel, JP and I made a brief stop at Jellyrolls which was disappointedly filled with lots of older people who knew all sorts of music that we didnt. Oh, well! We had our magic memories of the night to boost us along.
Tips for the day:
1. Plan a non-park day for the middle of your trip. Its especially needed when you have late nights.
2. Look around DisneyQuest and experiment with new games before you hit the familiar. Plan to be there longer than you think!
3. Take a fireworks cruise!! It is worth every penny!
Aaron our driver was really quite great,
And the kitchen sink made such a sweet date!
And although the day was filled with plenty of fun,
There is still so much more in the World to be done!
Tomorrows a new day with surprises galore;
Time for a wheelchair and lions that roar!
You cant stop now! Each day gets better and better its time for Once Upon a Birthday-November 2, 2002, Day Five: Wheres the Liberty in Liberty Square?
Our meal plan: Lunch: FoodQuest
Dinner: Beaches-n Cream
Birthday surprise: Kitchen sink!
Our weather today: Cloudy and cool
When we woke up this morning, leftover glitter and candy wrappers stuck to our faces and looked outside, we were so glad that we had switched our Blizzard Beach day from today to the past Tuesday. It was a perfect day to spend indoors trying for a high score on Ms. Pacman or braving ghost ships for hidden treasure! After breakfast, we were off to Disneyquest.
No one in our group had ever been here before, and we were excited and curious to try it out. Needless to say, I think we are still trying to track down the males in our group! This place was huge and confusing but extremely fun with something new around every corner. There was much to see and do here. It can get a bit overwhelming at times. My advice: look around and explore before you get pulled in to any one area in particular. There were tons of free video games from classics (Dig Dug, Centipede, etc.) to the surfboard/wave runner/skateboard type of today.
There were also tons of virtual reality rides. Our favorite, hands down, was Pirates of Caribbean-Quest for Buccaneer Gold. Located on the lower level, it is somewhat stuck in a corner-nonetheless, this place is popular! I cant imagine the waits when DisneyQuest is full. One person is needed to steer while the rest (up to 4 more) launch canons to sink different pirate ships for accumulated gold. It was fast paced and inspired teamwork. Uncle T wants to go back just to play Pirates all day long!
This was a good place to just be by yourself and get lost in some video games or pal up with a friend to design and ride your own rollercoaster on CyberSpace Mountain. There were even computers with Internet access in a nice lounge setting called the Wonderland Café. I surfed a bit in a little cubbyhole to see if any new rates were out for a follow-up trip to WDW.
Princess M and I managed to create the hit new song-Girls are Better than Boys are(one of the lines went They lick the gravy off the plates) in a Radio Disney Songmaker sound booth. It was a classic.
We stopped to lunch at FoodQuest (on the top floor) when we were hungry and were very pleasantly surprised at the cost, quality and variety of food available. Lots of good choices! There was even more good stuff available for dessert at the Wonderland Café. Ask GM. I think she spent most of her time up there, sampling.
Because there are no windows here, it is very easy to get sucked in and lose all sense of time. We couldnt believe we stayed until 5pm! Time is another dimension here. This was a great place to spend as a family especially after a late night. We didnt have to worry about anyone, and everyone could do what they wanted. For JP, Jack and Harry that was video games. Unfortunately for them they got enthralled in that one area and couldnt relate when the rest of us talked of the other thrills at DisneyQuest. They just didnt get to anything else which is a shame because there was so much to do here. We will be back! The only drawback to DisneyQuest was that it made the day go too quickly!
As the sun was setting, we walked to the Westside bus stop at DTD and made our way to the Boardwalk. Uncle T, the kids and JP had never been there, and we wanted to explore. When making our vacation plans, we had coined the phrase cluck, cluck to disguise our plans to take the fireworks cruise later this evening. I was thrilled to have gotten it in the first place and wanted it to be a surprise for most of our group!
First of all, we wanted to take a surrey ride around the lake-GM, Ariel, Harry and JP took one four-seater while Uncle T, Jack, Princess M and I took the other. Quite embarrassingly, our surrey lacked two backseat peddlers (ahem, Jack and Princess M!), and we got stuck going up one of the hills. We just couldnt get up it, and we could see our other surrey taunting us in the foreground. It took some very kind (think strong) people to help push us up and over. (Thank you, kind people!) Obviously this happens a lot around the Boardwalk-we saw another family stuck when we were leaving. So if you rent a surrey, make sure you have peddlers! Trust me, you dont want the stigma of getting stuck! After trading Princess M and Jack for GM and Ariel, our surrey made a nice smooth trip around the Boardwalk. I especially liked ringing the bell.
Everyone was hungry-we had planned on getting the kitchen sink at Beaches-n-Cream after seeing the Beach Club Travel Channel special. Eight scoops of ice cream? A whole bottle of whipped cream? Bring it on!
Oops, GM said we had to eat a meal first so those who were hungry got assorted items-cheeseburgers, fries, etc. I stuck with a wonderfully refreshing lime rickey. Very good! Guess Ill try one of those famous cheeseburgers next time! We relaxed and ate outdoors near Storm-a-Long Bay. It was a nice night, cool and calm. Except for the fact that Jack was limping and seemed to lag behind the group, everyone seemed reenergized by this non-park day.
Finally it was time to make our way to the Yacht and Beach Club marina. The cluck cluck was revealed along with our boat driver, Aaron. Upon meeting him, he surprised us by going back to the boathouse for a birthday balloon for Princess M when he heard what we were celebrating this trip. We all piled in to this big pontoon boat (the Donald Duck boat) and snuggled down for a bit of a tour. Aaron was a really pleasant guy who told us a bunch of trivia about the parks and the Boardwalk. He drove us from the marina all the way to the MGM boat dock and then back again for a trip around the Boardwalk. The night breezes ruffled our hair, and we signed and smiled as we took in the sights. It was so relaxing and nice to view the area from the water.
While we waited for IllumiNations to start, Aaron and another boat driver had a joke off-we are talking extremely corny jokes here. We were parked right under the bridge between France and the United Kingdom and could make out crowds of people looking at us as if we were VIPs of some sort (which, of course, we are!) When the fireworks started, we all oohed and aahed. IllumiNations is always topnotch! I love it-the music, the visual presentation, everything. That evening out on the water I made sure I remembered everything about those moments-seeing my nephews face light up with each bright explosion in the sky, humming the music with GM and Ariel, leaning against Uncle T. That time will be imprinted very vividly in my mind.
It was especially nice to be able to see so much-in particular, I could actually discern what videos they were running on the globe. Ive never been able to make that out before. My favorite memory of our IllumiNations cruise was when I pointed out to Harry (who was sitting beside me) how the globe fits in to Epcot and Walts dream for working hand-in-hand. It was special to be able to show him the deeper meaning to my favorite fireworks, to see the light of understanding in his eyes. IllumiNations is so mesmerizing.
The IllumiNations fireworks cruise has many perks, but one of the best was being able to sail back to the Beach Club marina without fighting the crowds. Everyone was in high spirits, and some were even trading corny jokes with Aaron. I would do the cruise again in a heartbeat it was that good!
It was time for ice cream the Kitchen Sink to be exact. We finally got a table at Beaches-n-Cream (be forewarned, this place is always crowded!) and ordered. When it came out, the lights flickered and our waiter extravagantly listed all the ingredients of the delicacy as he was winding his way to our table. People clapped and cheered and generally made us feel like heroes for such an attempt.
But have no fear! With glistening spoons in hand, we nearly knocked the guy over in our gluttony. We did manage to hold off the vultures until we had completed a wonderfully embarrassing slightly off key rendition of Happy Birthday for Princess M (who hid under the table with her fingers stuck in her ears!) Everyone clapped again, Princess M came out of hiding and the eating began. Unfortunately, the kitchen sink was pretty melty and sort of oozed together so that we couldnt taste individual flavors (just stuff like mint-peanut butter which was interesting!) It was sweet and fun to eat though, and we had lot of fun with pictures of us eating it.
After JP had licked the well, the sink it was time for GM and the kids to head home. Jack was still limping, and we urged him homeward. Uncle T, Ariel, JP and I made a brief stop at Jellyrolls which was disappointedly filled with lots of older people who knew all sorts of music that we didnt. Oh, well! We had our magic memories of the night to boost us along.
Tips for the day:
1. Plan a non-park day for the middle of your trip. Its especially needed when you have late nights.
2. Look around DisneyQuest and experiment with new games before you hit the familiar. Plan to be there longer than you think!
3. Take a fireworks cruise!! It is worth every penny!
Aaron our driver was really quite great,
And the kitchen sink made such a sweet date!
And although the day was filled with plenty of fun,
There is still so much more in the World to be done!
Tomorrows a new day with surprises galore;
Time for a wheelchair and lions that roar!
You cant stop now! Each day gets better and better its time for Once Upon a Birthday-November 2, 2002, Day Five: Wheres the Liberty in Liberty Square?
