Our 11/12-24 POR Silver/Poly Platinum/Pop trip - finished!

[diswedwish]

Who? - DH 24, me 26

Pre-trip:
Our trip could also be named the "How do we afford it, we're in debt up to our eyeballs" trip We had just been to Disney in Jan., and had planned for Jan. '05. When the 7 for 5 deal came out we (okay I) didn't want to wait, so we planned the 7 nights at POR. Then I came up with the great idea to try 3 nights on the Platinum Plan so we could do all of the cool stuff included in that. We paid our deposits, then impatiently waited for SEAL to come out with flight times. Then we had a choice, either leave at 5am on the last day of the Platinum Plan, or stay 2 extra nights... Hmm, tough decision - lol!

Okay, no problems so far, everything was budgeted for... Then DH's car died, and we needed to replace it with another "pre-enjoyed" car. Okay, still enough left for the trip, but it did get kind of scary for a while - what if another expense came up? Of course there are our trusty credit cards, but we don't carry over balances, and that whole idea scares me. I don't know how those of you with children manage - then lots of things can crop up that are unexpected. Not very fun!

So fast forward to the night before we left. I'm away from home for work from Mon.-Thurs night around 10. Our flight left at 12:20 on Friday. I'm the anal one, so I got to pack. I had everything ready to go by Sunday night so we wouldn't be stressed before we left. Perfectly planned and executed I thought... That wasn't to be... DH had the checkbook during the week and "misplaced" it. I discovered this at 10:30 pm. Major stressing out time for about an hour. Visions of going to Disney by myself floated through my head... That or flinging DH from the plane j/k! DH finally found it under his car seat. Crisis solved, we went to bed a lot later than planned, but at least we were packed and ready to go...

 

[Marla Hellwig]

I know that pre trip stress all too well - but you are off and can't wait to hear your adventures - thanks for posting!

 

[diswedwish]

11/12 - travel day and DD
With no further problems, our flight took off as scheduled at 12:20. We requested and received an exit-row seat which was a blessing for 6'5" DH. Our driver from Tiffany Towncar, Max, was waiting at the bottom of the escalator and it was onto our favorite part, waiting for the luggage...
We had borrowed some of my parent's luggage (2 smaller suitcases) in addition to our 2, so I just looked for our Tink luggage tags. Apparently my eye-sight isn't too great since 1 of them that I was convinced was lost was the last one on the luggage belt. Oops

We had a smooth ride to POR, even though it seemed to take forever because of our driver. He drove fine, he took some work-related calls but that didn't bother us. What did was that for half of the trip he spoke of himself very highly - how people request "Max only" constantly, but he didn't want to brag. Know the type? After he tired of that, he began to tell us his political views. Fine, nothing wrong with that, except that he was extremely opinionated and saw his view as the one true view. So we just sat there quietly and hoped to arrive soon...

Finally we were "home"
We checked in, I forget the CM's name but she was great. Very dry sense of humor, we had a good time with her The week before we left I had gotten myself a Tink purse at Walmart, and she loved it. So we got a blank room key that was unactivated since you can see Tink better We were given room 2815 in AB. We ran over to the food court to give our room-key it's first workout and bought our refillable mug. After a short wait for bell services off we went.

We had originally planned to throw our stuff in the room, run to MK, and somehow make it to DD for our dinner at Fulton's at 8:30. I thought that it might be better if we took our time and unpacked. We'd be here for a while, no sense in rushing if we didn't have to... So we unpacked and changed, then waited for the boat to DD. Us and about 500 million mosquitos.... We really enjoyed seeing flowers again, and the warmth, just forgot about all that goes with that!

We arrived at DD, did some shopping and had our purchases sent back to our room (never did that before, so we decided to try it). Then we waited for our PS at Fulton's. Festival of the Masters was that weekend so DD was busy!! We really enjoyed our dinner, took a relaxing bus ride back to POR and passed out, ready for our first full day

 

[diswedwish]

Back to our trip report... I hope these help someone!

Sat. 11/13
We started our day with breakfast at Crystal Palace, this has become our new tradition on our past 2 trips. We had a good time and decent character interaction. I love the French toast!! We weren't rushed, but we were in and out in not much time at all.

The crowds hadn't started to build yet, so we headed for Tomorrowland and got fastpasses for the new Stitch ride. DH loved Stitch so we headed for the store that's convieniently located right at the exit A CM insisted we pose for pictures with the Stich hats and teased us for coming to the store in the wrong order... Stich the ride was okay. Not terribly great, not terribly bad IMHO. Some parts were cute, but the smell stayed with me the whole day I could see how little kids would find it scary, although again IMHO it wasn't as scary as AE.

We managed to get on a few of our favorite rides before it got around lunch time. We'd decided to stuff our suits in my bag in case we decided to go to Typhoon Lagoon. So we walked to the CR and waited for a bus to TL. Ah, paradise Not too many people, a nice warm sunny day (change from PA weather!), and Disney's version of a waterpark...

We live near Dorney Park, so the only waterpark I had experienced was Wildwater Kingdom. TL was quite a change of pace!! Even the changing rooms were themed with the detail that we both love so much about Disney. So we had our locker with our stuff tucked away and went to explore...

That's where I learned that it's been a looooooooooong time since I was on the swim team - lol! Even though I work out all the time at home, it's not in a pool and treading in 6-7 ft. of water was not fun after a few min. So I balanced my time between hanging on to DH who's 6'5" or staying in a safe 5' of water. Very much fun We tried the lazy river for a bit and it was neat to just come and go as you please. Then it was on to the slides and the family raft ride. Slides were okay, the family raft ride stunk. If we'd known what it was we wouldn't have waited in line...

Then we braved shark reef. I figured it would be good practice for Aqua Seas since neither of us had ever snorkeled. We got our masks and after a few amusing minutes of trying to figure out how to put them on we were off. Temps were in the mid-80s so the water felt good and not too cold. I absolutely loved watching the fish and the rays and the sharks I got about halfway across before I figured out how to time my breath and relax. So of course we had to do that again, and again, and again (I felt like Donkey in Shrek - "Let's do that again!!". DH complied although he had a harder time getting used to the breathing and not getting water in his mask so he didn't have quite as much fun.

After all of this we were hungry. Time for lunch - we split the garbage pail sundae. That hit the spot, and the pail made an excellent carry-all for the way back to POR. We were greatly amused by the Mickey head sprinkles... So off we went to POR full and happy. We were greeted by some towel animals and our Mickey bear was "talking" on the phone - he was holding the phone with a sign that said hello. There were extra Mickey soaps on the phone so it wouldn't go off the hook.

We showered and headed for MK again where we caught the boat for WL. Navigating Disney transportation was much better this trip since we had a clue about what we were doing... We headed for Artist Point earlier than our PS but were seated right away. We're not too adventurous here, we always have the same thing (mussels, buffalo, and berry cobbler) and always enjoy it

We took the boat back to MK and managed to catch Spectro which we hadn't seen yet. Then we raced to POTC since we hadn't done that yet and it's one of our favorites. We were the only people there it was great although somewhat creepy. Then we watched Wishes as it started to drizzle. We both still couldn't believe we were back

We had to wait quite a while for a return bus to POR. Fortunately I'd stuffed our refillable mug inside my purse so we got a drink at the food court before heading back to AB to dream about our next day

 

[diswedwish]

Okay, time to finish these long overdue reports up and relive our trip Sorry these took so long, I thought no one was reading them (before I realized what "views" meant) Hope you enjoy them!

Sun. 11/14 - Epcot/AK/DD
Today was supposed to be our relaxed day, and it was - don't know if our version of relaxed is everyone's though We began our day bright and early with breakfast at Boatwright's - I love, love, love the banana-stuffed French toast My waistline doesn't, and I'm still regreting everything we ate, but oh well... We felt a little cheap about bringing our refillable mug into the restaurant - DH ordered something to drink, but I didn't - but our waitress treated it like no big deal and we were soon at ease.

We decided to head to Epcot to catch the end of the F&W festival. We rode a few rides waiting for WS to open. Then I decided that it was late enough for me to try the ice wine without being a true lush We tried the strawberry rice cream and the ice wine. We split a sample of the wine - it was good, but not enough for us to shell out the $ for a bottle.

That afternoon was our AK time - we *love* AK. At first, when we tried to rush through it wasn't our favorite, but once you take the time to actually look at what's around you, talk to the CMs, and just wander, it's well worth the time spent. We wandered a bit, then split an AK meal deal for lunch at Flame Tree. We had a good time in the seating area - I looked up under the roof of the pavilion we were in and realized that it was covered in "ants"; it wasn't crowded so we had to go inspect all of the other pavilions to see what was inside them... It had just started to rain when we were at the FP machines for the Safari - DH had his Safari shirt on, and the CM gave us FPs that were good immediately By the time we got off the ride, the rain had stopped The rest of the afternoon we just strolled along the trails, rode some rides, and enjoyed how empty AK gets in the afternoon.

We had a PS for Rainforest at 5:30, were seated right away and had fun trying to get the most out of our wishes. We "saved" around $90 here, so I'd say we did pretty good! We really enjoy Rainforest, and make it a point to eat here at least once a trip. We've always had decent food and great service. After we got home, I looked into the Safari Club and joined - so next time we head to WDW we'll still get a discount, not as good as the plan, but better than nothing...

We were done around 6:30ish, and just as Tyler said, there was someone waiting to ask us where we were headed. Since we wanted to go to DD we said AKL, and were directed to the bus. Easy enough! We did some Christmas shopping and got a ton of antenna toppers before heading back to POR for an early night.

 

[diswedwish]

Mon. 11/15 - MGM/MK/Epcot
This morning we were headed for Chef Mickey's - I get such a kick out of DH. He'd never been to Disney before our wedding/honeymoon, so for him the characters are a huge deal. Picture a 6'5" guy who's muscular looming over Mickey waiting for a hug Chef Mickey's was a little busier than it had been the last time we were here, and this time we were all the way in the back. But it was still fun and we'd eat here again.

That morning we decided to head to MGM. We rode our favorites - RnR, ToT, Star Tours, met Lilo and Stitch, and by then had had enough of MGM. We decided to head over to the Poly and explore a bit. I'd walked through the grounds before, but DH hadn't. He was worried that he wouldn't like it since he'd only stayed at POR. Once we arrived at the Poly, he quickly became very excited about staying there We stopped by guest services and I asked if they knew where we'd be (since we were on the Platinum Plan we had an itinerary planner and included in our planning packet were some papers about concierge). The CM was very nice and told us that we would have concierge-access, not sure if we'd be in Hawaii or not, but we'd definitly be able to use the lounge. So as we wandered the grounds we were very excited! We were very impressed by the volcano pool and the grounds. We wandered along the Lagoon to the WP (first time we'd been there since the wedding) then over to Sunset Point, and ended up walking over to the TTC.

We decided to go to MK for a while. We'd been used to Jan. and Feb. crowds or lack thereof, so we ran into more lines than we'd expected... Still the weather was much nicer, so that's the trade-off I guess... We grabbed our Dole whips and relaxed on the terrace. We rode some of our favorites, and I talked DH into trying the Liberty Belle much to his dismay. This is after I made him get wet on Splash Mt. So needless to say, we were hot, wet, dirty, and crabby, so we headed back to the room. This going back to the room thing was a new revelation this trip. Before we wouldn't dream of taking a break - lol! This time we really enjoyed going back to the room and seeing what Mousekeeping had left, getting showered, and getting ready for dinner.

And yes, strike 3 for me today, I had picked Bistro de Paris for dinner DH wasn't thrilled about this choice from the get-go (weird food, he had to wear something other than a t-shirt by my insistance), but I wanted to try it so being the that I am, talked him into it This was probably one of the most amusing dinners of our trip though, so it was worth it! We checked in with the hostess ("she's snobby" DH said - complaint #1). Then we went upstairs, where we loved how quiet and elegant everything was ("Okay, maybe this won't be so bad"). Our waiter was very nice (another plus), and the food sounded good (Phew, I thought). Until we got the appetizers. DH tried foie gras for the first time and hated it, I tried the scallop still in its shell, didn't realize that it was in its shell and tried to cut said shell ). Okay, made it through that course intact (without pride, but intact). We both got the veal chop for dinner. Our waiter brought it to our table and presented it (DH was impressed by how large it looked), then proceeded to cut it into about 1/6 of its original size His face was priceless. Perfect size for me though... So after laughing our way through dinner and hobbling out through Epcot (I decided to wear my "cute" sandals - e.g. cute = not comfortable at all), we capped off the evening with a swim in the pool and the hot tub.

 

[diswedwish]

Tues. 11/16 - Hidden Treasures of the WS/kitchen sink/mini-golf/MGM
This morning we had our first tour of the trip We had choc. chip pancakes for bfast at the food court Then we made it to guest relations in Epcot with plenty of time to spare. I was a bit confused at whether it was inside or outside, but that was quickly resolved and we settled down to wait. I think we were the youngest there by several years, so we felt a bit out of place, but we were excited.

We were both so glad that we decided to try this tour. I think for us Epcot is a lot like AK - if you take your time you'll enjoy it, otherwise... On our last trip, we rushed through WS once and that was it. After this tour, strolling through WS has become something we both really look forward to. There were about 27 of us, so it was a pretty big group, but we were still able to hear our guide and it didn't present any problems. We walked through FW and our guide explained Walt's vision for Epcot. Then we started with Mexico and worked our way around the countries. If anyone wants details, ask, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't taken the tour yet. DH was excited because he was the one picked to whisper in the center of the Temple of Heaven in China to demonstrate the acoustics. Our guide pointed out several little details and hidden Mickeys. We got to go backstage for a bit in France and again in Canada. At the end of the tour we were given our special pins and we were on our way. We used wishes for this tour, and felt it was well worth a wish a piece.

After this we had decided to attempt the kitchen sink. We took the boat to BC (lazy, but we had been standing for a long time on the tour)... It was very much fun We had several people actually thank us for ordering it since they'd always wanted to see it. We substituted the mint chocolate chip and coffee ice creams and didn't have cherries (yuck!). After a few bites we realized that we'd do better if we took off the brownies/cookies/extra stuff. Once we did that we managed to polish off the ice cream and whipped cream. We were the perfect little piggies and rolled out of there afterward...

Next up was mini-golf, another first for us. We walked off maybe 1/4 scoop of ice cream on our way to Fantasia Gardens. We used our vouchers for this that were included in the Silver Plan. We got our tee time and waited outside for a few min. before we could play. We loved this and it was one of the highlights of our trip We're both musicians, and we love Fantasia so this was perfect for us. We got such a kick out of all of the theming - especially the water-effects and the hole where Pan plays (I play flute and had played most of those songs). It sure beat the mini-golf around where we live... I think I used a whole roll of film here!

Then we decided to head to MGM to ride RnR and ToT. After that we discovered the Osbourne lights which we'd never seen before. We were impressed, and glad that we were able to see them. We had a PS at Le Cellier, so we headed back to Epcot. After a wonderful dinner (and a good use of our wishes too!), we watched Illuminations while walking backwards (very carefully) and crashed as soon as we got back to the room. Hey, eating all that ice cream wears you out

 

[diswedwish]

Wed. 11/17 - AK/FW/Epcot
This morning we decided to try breakfast at Rainforest Cafe at AK. Good, but pricey... Then we spent a relaxing morning at AK, and even made it to Rafiki's Planet Watch which we usually don't have time for. Again, if you take your time, AK can be so much fun

Around lunchtime we decided to split another AK meal deal - only this time we were at Pizzafari. Not the greatest, but the inside was really neat. In the room next to us there was this little girl screaming and rocking her chair back and forth, back and forth. Her parents told her to stop, but did nothing else, so before too long, poof, over she went. She wasn't hurt, so we felt okay about laughing Hopefully that will deter her from doing that in the future

As a break from the parks we decided to try to get the lay of the land for later in the week. The first morning of the Platinum plan we wanted to go horsebackriding, then parasailing, then to MK for lunch. We wanted to get a time frame for all of that, so off we went. No problems at all, and we were glad we took the time to do it now so we wouldn't be confused/stressed later in the trip. This was our first time at FW and we thought it was really neat. After we found the riding stables, we went to the other end of FW to see the other stables by the petting zoo. DH fell in love with the draft horses. I finally got to see Cinderella's ponies so I was happy too We spent a good hour there, watching the horses and looking at the little room they have as a museum. We took the boat to the CR, then instead of going to MK headed towards Epcot.

This night we really appreciated what we'd taken from the tour because we actually had a wonderful time in Epcot (imagine) We were also finally able to find our Leave a Legacy tiles. Before, the location we were given didn't exist so we weren't able to find it. This time, we found both of them and took pictures - we had a good time finding them. After that we wandered through WS. We saw the living statues and had fun there - I pushed DH up to the front so she played with him for a bit. Then we finally saw the Hummels that come out of the cuckoo clock in Germany. We also waited like vultures for the Beast to come out for his last set of the night (he's DH's favorite character). We had dinner at Rose and Crown and it was okay, we liked our server, but weren't too wild about the food. We made a PS at 7:30, but were finished long before Illuminations, so we found a spot and watched Illuminations sitting instead of walking backwards

 

[diswedwish]

Thurs. 11/18
This was an early morning - I was bound and determined to get us to MK for EMH. We had our choc. chip pancakes again - almost made 7 am bearable We were both glad we actually made it by 8 because we got on a lot of rides - Peter Pan, Snow White, WTP, tea cups, SM, HM, Philharmagic, POTC, and much to DH's dismay Goofy's Barnstormer. We decided to try Barnstormer and made the mistake of squeezing into one row. DH had no where to put his legs...

We had a late lunch at CRT which was great as always. I love Bruno's BBQ Another good use of our wishes. By now, the crowds were building, so we decided to head to TL again (we figured we'd do this, and had our suits/trunks ready to go). Since we arrived after 3pm, it was only $1 to rent a locker rather than $5 We did the wave pool, lazy river, and shark reef over and over and over - you get the idea Had to practice for Aqua Seas... lol

We went back to our room and discovered more towel animals showered, changed, and headed for DQ. We did everything we wanted without much of a wait. DH wanted me to play this stupid kill game (my terminology) with him, then got a tad upset when I kept beating him I don't know how it happened, but at least I got back at him for always beating me on Buzz...

We wandered through DD and had a late dinner at Portobello Yacht Club. It was good, although not so good that we'll go back every trip. Our server told us what we were allowed to get with the Silver Plan - one was an extra lobster tail. So instead of 2 tails we each had 3. I, of course, pawned mine off on DH who after eating 4 1/2 felt sick (wonder why?) So now he doesn't want any lobster for quite a long time. More for me

 

[diswedwish]

Fri. 11/19 - MGM/AK/MK
Our last day of the Silver Plan began on a bad note... We had to check-out/in since this night we were staying room-only between packages. This took much longer than I expected, and as an added bonus the camera battery was going (or something else was wrong, we weren't sure what). The camera was only 2 months old, we didn't have the instructions, and we had to leave for our bfast at Cape May Cafe, so I was *not* a happy camper.

We had a great time at breakfast however. Our waitress brought out extra whipped cream for our mickey waffles, so we were happy - doesn't take much Once we were in MGM, we went to the camera shop there and it was an easy fix - just the battery... We rode ToT and RnR before heading for a relaxing afternoon at AK.

We made it to MK by the skin of our teeth for our PS at Tony's. There had been something wrong at the bus loading area, then the MK bus took another 30 min. to come... But dinner was wonderful, we always have a good time at Tony's. This time I asked if we could have Lady and Tramp's autographs. Our waiter told us to wait a min., he had to check. Pretty soon, he came back with a stamp from Tramp, Joe, and Tony. He said that Lady was being a prima donna (e.g. couldn't find that stamp - lol). When our travel agent made our PS, she mentioned that we had gotten married at Disney and how this trip was an early anniversary trip (okay, very early, but it was Sherre - TA- idea not ours). Our table was decorated with Mickey heads and streamers, and everyone was very nice

We used our preferred viewing for Wishes next, and tonight we were glad we used it as it was pretty crowded for our tastes. This time we decided to try a new tactic - instead of rushing out, we'd let the crowds go first, watcht he castle change colors, browse shops, etc. Didn't work - or we didn't wait long enough - because we still waited forever and a day for a bus.

We got back to the room and packed for our switch to the Poly

 

[diswedwish]

Sat. 11/20 - The start of Heaven on Earth a.k.a. Platinum Plan
We got up very very early (have to get our $'s worth!), got our stuff ready to be picked up to transfer to the Poly, and headed to the Poly by way of the MK bus. We got to check-in in Hawaii even though our room was in Samoa and wouldn't be ready until later that afternoon. It was very nice to sit down to check-in and Hawaii was very pretty. We were given a tour of the concierge lounge and oohed and aahed for a bit before heading to breakfast at 'Ohana.

We enjoyed 'Ohana - next time we may try it for dinner. It was relaxed (for a character breakfast) and we loved the pineapple bread. It was very nice not to have to pay because of the Plan. Until this point, we paid outright for breakfast, and saved our wishes for lunch and dinner.

As soon as we were finished, we headed to FW to give DH some more time with the draft horses. We still had plenty of time before our horsebackriding so we decided to rent some Sea Raycers. We had to wait for the marina to open (told you we were up early!), and were the first ones there. We took out 2 and had a lot of fun - before this we'd only taken them out on Crescent Lake, it was neat to see the Castle and the Poly and Wedding Pavilion from the water. We also could see people parasailing - what we were doing after riding

When we got back we booked it to the stables. We stuffed our stuff (I'd brought shorts for us to change into after the ride) into the free lockers and met Minnie and Amos our horses. The ride was okay, we won't do this again though. I was right behind the guide and she thought it was hysterical that we hadn't seen the touch-sensitive water things in the stables before. Hey, we aren't exactly city-folk, just haven't been around horses too much in the past few years... I'd learned to ride when I was little so for me the ride was pretty tame - it was for DH too who'd only ridden once. But they have to do that for insurance purposes I'm sure. Our guide told us how people try to make it around the age limit, and how one girl broke her arm because she was doing something she shouldn't have done and they tried to sue Disney. Interesting...

After our ride we hopped on the boat to the CR and changed (thankfully!) into our shorts - it was *hot*! I was less afraid of sudden death this time and we had our shoes off. When we came back in they told us to dip our feet in the water which was fun. We went separately and the bill came to $240 - glad we were on the plan, we wouldn't have done this otherwise...

We ran over to MK for lunch at LTT, a first for us. We'll be back, everything was delicious and we had a great time The park was so busy, it was so nice to just sit in the a/c and relax. By the time we returned to the Poly, our room was ready. We loved being able to hop on the monorail to get "home"

We *loved* our room - it was bigger than POR and we loved having a balcony. We were overlooking the volcano pool and the WP and if you leaned over far enough you could even see the Castle. Definite upgrade for us, we'd only paid for a garden view room, so this was a pleasant surprise We wouldn't be able to afford this for a whole week, but for a few nights at the end of our trip it was very very nice! We called my parents to brag - on family vacations growing up it was Motel 6 all the way and then got ready for Cirque.

We got to DD with plenty of time to spare (learned that from our last trip!) and did some shopping. We were in our seats with plenty of time to go. We enjoyed it just as much this time as the first time. Only problem were the people that seemed to think they were at the movies - one man made literally 5 trips for popcorn. That was a bit distracting, but not too bad. We survived

After this we had dinner at Fulton's. I had the twin ME lobsters and had fun making them say "don't eat me, don't eat me" much to the disgust of DH Seafood is fun food, I say... We always enjoy Fulton's, we've always had great food and good service - lucky I guess!

Before we headed back, I wanted to pick up our Plat. Plan gift - a crystal Tink. She wasn't in-stock But they told us she would be shipped, maybe in time for Christmas, most likely by Jan. She did come towards the end of Jan., and it was actually nice to have that to look forward to, so we didn't mind.

We made it back to the lounge just before they put the cordials away, so we had some Bailey's and cookies When we entered our room we saw a box full of goodies on the bed from Concierge and a candy bar with a picture of the resort on front - more So many nice surprises on this trip Then, even though I'd drug DH around all day, I had to drag him to the pool too The horror We liked the zero-entry and loved seeing the castle change colors. But, sadly, we were beat, so we didn't stay very long. Had to get our rest - we had 3 more days just like today

Thanks for reading We'll be going to Cedar Point for the next few days, so I'll be finishing these up next weekend...

 

[diswedwish]

Sun. 11/21 - another blissful day
We got up relatively late (for us), and grabbed some coffee at the concierge lounge. We were headed for our first princess breakfast at Norway It wasn't until 10, so we had plenty of time to get there. Our experience was okay, I think we'll wait to go to another of these until *after* we have kids... The food was okay, the characters were rushed, but it was so cute to see all of the little girls dressed up and happy. We saw Jasmine, Belle, Snow White, Mulan, and a very crabby Aurora. DH put up with it - he wasn't too embarassed

Next up was the Epcot Living Seas Aqua Tour at 12:30. We still had a little time, so we went into the Living Seas to see if we could catch Turtle Talk with Crush. We did, and it was adorable Then it was off to the front of the park and guest relations. I started to get worried because no one else was there but us, and no one came for us. About 10 min. after we were supposed to arrive, our tour guides showed up - we were the only 2 on the tour We walked backstage and she explained how the water was filtered, and how they have a ride-out team for hurricanes and storms. Then we got to see the sea turtle, manatees, a brief glimpse of the dolphins, saw how they prep the food, and she told us how they feed the sharks. We were led to a room to watch a video about how to use the snorkel/scuba equipment and had a soda. After we were done, we were taken to the locker rooms where we changed and then headed upstairs. We had 30 min. to snorkel, they would call us back when our time was up. We were also supposed to stay away from the area fenced off for the dolphins. We had such a good time It was so neat to see all of the fish, rays, sharks, the people through the glass, Coral Reef, and the VIP room with the glass piano. One time a shark looked pretty close to me (he was still pretty far away), and I jumped Towards the end, we were able to see the sea turtle. Overall, it was a wonderful experience! After we were showered and dressed we collected our t-shirts, more soda, and pictures, we headed back into Epcot.

We had a late lunch planned at Alfredo's and time to kill, so we used our choice feature for our 3rd Leave a Legacy tile. We also walked around WS and took pictures of stuff we learned about on the Hidden Treasures tour. Then we had lunch at Alfredo's. We enjoyed it - then again, we were trying to "spend" a lot of $ which was easy to do. We'll go back, but probably not on our next trip.

Our next item on the itinerary was our preferred viewing for Fantasmic, so off we went to MGM. We got one ride in on ToT and saw the Osbourne lights again. I attempted to catch a "snowflake" on my tongue Apparently I had overlooked that they were soap bubbles Crowds were much heavier than we were used to - we were glad we were busy doing things that didn't involve waiting in line... We headed off for our p. viewing which was in the same spot as the FDP people. It was nice to use, although usually when we go it's not crowded, so we probably won't be using the FDP in the future. We amused ourselves before the show by trying to figure out how much $ Disney makes from those glow-in-the-dark things. A bunch of kids around us started clamouring for them and it was amazing how many of them ended up with new toys I know we have no clue yet since we don't have children, but just then we were very glad it was just the 2 of us!

Next up was a late dinner at Citricos, but we had time to kill before then so we headed back to the room. Earlier I thought it would be neat to order chocolate covered strawberries as a "snack". They were waiting for us and they were very yummy Again we were glad we were on the plan - never would we have spent $37 for a dozen strawberries!!! We enjoyed them while out on our balcony *sigh*. Bad idea because by the time we got to Citricos we weren't hungry... Oops! This was one meal I didn't enjoy at all. The atmosphere was nice and the food was good, I was just fooded out for the day and wanted to go to MK which was open until 12... We were able to see Wishes from the window, and when we were done we high-tailed it to MK. So many people!!!!! Tomorrowland was packed, so we figured we'd just make a circle and see what we could actually ride. HM, Btmrr, and Splash hardly had a wait so we were happy again. We squeezed in one last ride on Potc - it's creepy being the only ones there at 11:55! On our way out of the park we took a picture of the clock to prove we were there so late

Overall, another satisfying day

 

[diswedwish]

Mon. 11/22
These last 2 days literally flew by We didn't even have time to write in our Passporter... This morning we managed to crawl out of bed at a very early hour (my bright idea to go to MK until midnight ), and grabbed a light breakfast at the Concierge lounge. After that a bit of drama since it took a grand total of 45 min. for an AK bus to come and we were the last one to arrive for the Backstage Safari tour

Still we made it and enjoyed the tour. This was our second time for the tour. We didn't have Paul this time At the end our guide asked who we had had before and we told her and she said she was glad we hadn't told her before the tour as she would've been intimidated. We of course hastened to add that she was very good. We didn't add that she wasn't as good as Paul lol! This time it was a bit different. We got to see the inside of the elephant barn which was neat and we got to touch a gecko (I think) instead of a snake. This time we didn't get the book and bad that we did last time. But we were glad we did it again - got it out of our system, next time we want to try Wild by Design.

AK was packed... We waded through the crowds for lunch at RFC. We enjoyed our lunch as usual and headed back to the room. We had a great time at the Poly. The volcano pool was closed, so we decided to rent some Sea Raycers again. We had a good time again zipping around We headed to the concierge lounge to relax for a little while and then headed for our first every trip to the spa... On the way we stopped at the WP and got some nice pictures. It was our first time inside since the wedding - sniff, sniff.

So before we went over I had told DH to wear his swim trunks and I'd wear my suit (I thought there was a communal hot tub - not one in each locker room). I'd hold onto his undies (neither of us felt comfortable going commando), and after our dip in the hot tub he'd get them. So we check in at the desk, and they lead us our separate ways. Oops So I enjoyed the hot tub solo, weighed myself (very bad idea after all of those meals), and got my robe on. We were going to have the 25 min. Swedish massage included in the Plan and they were able to book the couple's room for us. I felt bad that DH had to go commando, so I also decided to brave it with just a robe... We met up in the couple's room and I was told to ring the little bell when we were ready. So I had fun with that, starting to ring it before DH was ready All in all, the massage was very relaxing. Again, this is something we wouldn't have tried without the Plan...

We walked back to the Poly and saw some raccoons at the WP - by this time it was dark, so none of the pictures turned out... We had time before our seating at V&A, so we took a dip in the volcano pool and tried out the slide Then we got dressed and took the monorail to the GF. We were a bit nervous after our experience at Bistro, but we loved it!!!!! We were in the private dining room next to the Christmas tree and the fireplace. Even though we had no idea for the most part what we were eating, everything was delicious I got the wine pairing, and realized that I wasn't too used to alcohol! We were amused by the coffee press at the end of the meal, and I loved my rose. If we'd have known we'd enjoy it this much, we would have eaten here every night we were on the Plan.

Again we walked (I hobbled - painful cute sandals) back to the Poly, and enjoyed our last night in a deluxe (sniff, sniff)...

 

[diswedwish]

Tues. 11/23 - last day
On our last day we started it very nice - breakfast in our room I got to try Tonga toast for the first time We called bell services to take our luggage to be transported to Pop later in the day, and sadly walked to the TTC to take the monorail to Epcot But we were excited too, since this morning we were going to do Dolphins-in-Depth!!! There were a lot of people on this tour. We met Calvin and Rainier, and learned about how they were trained. We were highly amused because Calvin is an adolescent and was "excited" and playing with his one toy - lol! Going in the water with them was the best part. We got to give Calvin, then Rainier some signals and a rub down, and we posed with Calvin for a picture. DH really enjoyed this - even more than I did which is saying a lot

Afterwards, we had lunch at the Coral Reef. It was very tasty, and neat to see the Living Seas from the other side of the glass after we'd been inside the tank. After lunch, we headed to Pop Century and checked in. You know how everyone says to end your stay with the nicest hotel - follow their advice. We didn't since we had to leave very early the next day, so it just didn't make sense. Pop was just fine; but I think I've destroyed our chances at ever staying at a value resort again. I'd stayed at ASMu before and kind of knew what to expect, but DH never even visited a value resort... Needless to say, he wasn't thrilled

We went over to AK and wandered the trails one last time, then headed to MGM for one last time (see the theme?), then took the boat to the YC for our Illuminations Cruise. We were with a family of 4 who were also on the Platinum Plan. They had no clue - the husband said that he thought Thanksgiving week wouldn't be crowded, and they were describing what they'd done so far - hang out by the pool, etc. So although we "saved" over $2000 by using the plan, I think they lost at least $2000. Why you would want to go on an expensive plan when you have little ones is beyond me... There was a little boy and girl, and they were both passed out through most of the cruise, we felt bad for them... Anyway, the cruise was wonderful, we had a perfect view, and it was so loud. We'll be fine not going again, but it was wonderful to have tried it once

We had our last dinner at Yachtsman. It was good, and a nice ending to our trip. We headed back to Pop and tried to snatch a few hours of sleep before our return trip home Our towncar pick-up was at 6:30 am Our return flight was very smooth with no trouble, we were just very sad to leave...

Hope you enjoyed the report and thanks for reading

 

[leahannpen]

Just wanted to say I enjoyed your report! Sounds like you sure did it up right... and wow did you guys eat! LOL!! I loved it!...(made me hungry...I'm 8 months prego! haha!)

Thanks for sharing!

 

[heaven2dc]

What a great writer you are! Really enjoyed the detail days of your trip - makes me feel like I was there with you. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[diswedwish]

Thank you very much for your replies, I'm glad you enjoyed our recaps