Our first trip home to SSR - a MEGA trip report

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

This is going to be a very long trip report. I work for the federal government and therefore tend to use ten words when one would have sufficed. To avoid them getting lost amid the torrent of memories, I’m going to put my lessons learned and tips up front.

Tips and Lessons Learned

Test your light timers and house alarm well before your trip. I was up until after midnight the night before our flight running to Wal-Mart to get batteries and new light timers. The master timer I had (which is supposed to work with our light switches) hadn’t been used in a while and was broken when I tried to program it. We also hadn’t used the alarm in a while, and I couldn’t get it to arm. I didn’t have batteries in the house to change out the ones in the transmitters. It was a mad rush to get everything set, and it weighed on my mind during the trip as to whether everything was working or not.

We have a fountain in our back yard. We’d asked a friend to check on the house for us, but he wasn’t familiar with how the fountain worked. When leaves blew into it and it clogged, he didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, the pump didn’t burn out despite there being no water flow. There was a thick coating of green slime covering the whole fountain. In the future, we’ll drain and cover it before leaving.

If trying to get from one resort to another, there is usually no direct Disney transportation. You need to transfer via a theme park or Downtown Disney. I knew this before going, and planned to use Downtown Disney in each case because it’s so close to our resort – Saratoga Springs. However, on two occasions, we ran into major delays using DD as the transfer point. Tip:Do not use Downtown Disney as a transfer point if it is within one hour of Typhoon Lagoon’s closing time. All buses that leave DD stop at TL afterwards. Near closing, there is a traffic jam on the road between The Westside and TL, and major traffic delays inside the TL parking lot. On two occasions, it took us nearly an hour to get where we were going from Downtown Disney. One of those resorts was Port Orleans, which is right up the street. Even though it’s further away, we probably would have made out better transferring at Epcot or MGM.

I don’t like carrying my wallet once I’ve checked into the resort. Those traveler check commercials have made a lasting memory on me, and I’m paranoid about loosing my wallet when on vacation. For the most part, everything in WDW can be done with the Keys to the Kingdom Card. However, there were a few cases when I needed my photo ID. I was caught off guard and didn’t have it for two of the three times it was needed. It was back in the room safe with my wallet. The first occasion was when I tried to redeem my DVC Annual Pass vouchers at Epcot. (Darn it, I read on here that I needed it, but didn’t think to grab it before we left for Epcot. I talked my way into getting the passes without having to travel back to SSR, but the CM was very reluctant to do it.) The second time was trying to get into Jellyroll’s. (I had it with me this time, but only because I’d been told when making our Hidden Treasures of the World Showcase Tour reservation (which we took earlier that day) that a photo ID was needed for the tour. It was never asked for at the tour, by the way. Anyway, I was lucky to still have it with me at Jellyroll’s that night. Who’d have thought a 41 year old would get carded?) The third occasion was when we lost one of our room keys and needed to get it replaced. (After tearing the room apart looking for it, I stormed up to the Carriage House to get it replaced. I didn’t think to take anything with me except our one remaining room key. Fortunately, I was able to verify enough personal information not to have to walk back to the room to get my ID.)

Hotel rooms never have enough electrical outlets. The Saratoga Springs studios are no exception. We had two cell phones, two digital cameras, and a video camcorder to charge every night. Outlets were at a premium. (I didn’t want my electronics on the bathroom counter or wet sink area, either, which is where two of the three available outlets were.) Pack a small power strip or an extension cord with multiple outlets.

You can’t walk from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom via the Grand Floridian. After our Spirit of Aloha luau, I thought it would be nice to stroll around the Seven Seas Lagoon to our bus at the Magic Kingdom. I didn’t want to deal with the mad crush of people heading for the boat and monorail from the show. We got all the way through the Grand Floridian before realizing the path is a dead end. There’s no bridge. We had to take the boat to the Magic Kingdom (stopping, of course, back at the Poly along the way).

August is HOT! We didn’t find much relief from the misting fan or mini fan necklaces I’d bought from Wal-Mart before the trip. (I think our misting fan problem was the fact that we never thought to freeze it the night before or put ice in it. It wasn’t very cooling because the water in it was always warm.) The fan necklaces didn’t do much of anything at all. As a result, I was sweating like crazy. I knew this would be the case, and had purchased and packed some towels specifically for that purpose. The towels I brought were intended for a golfer, and had a clip at the top for attaching them to the golf bag. This worked well for clipping a towel to a belt loop and having it with me without having to carry it. Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to me beforehand that most of the shorts I’d packed (every pair except one) had drawstrings instead of belt loops.

Check up on one-another, and make sure you aren’t leaving things behind. During this trip, I managed to loose one of the hand towels I was carrying and an $18 pair of WDW sunglasses I’d just bought the day before. I also left my $1200 camera sitting under the table at Seasons (counter service at The Land). Fortunately, I realized the camera was missing before leaving sight of the table. We also left our backpack under the table at 1900 Park Fare. Our server chased us down and found us out in the lobby, about to walk out the front door without it. The biggest panic, though, was getting back to the room one night and realizing we only had one of our two Keys to the Kingdom cards. We think we left one of them sitting on the counter at World of Disney, which is the last place we can remember having it. It was a scary time walking up to the front desk and wondering if there’d be any surprise charges on our room. (There weren’t.) Eventually, we started taking a verbal inventory with one another whenever we got off a ride, left a restaurant, or got on a bus.

Trip Report

The Players: Myself
My roommate, Paul (DRM)
Paul’s sister, Anna (DRMS)

Resort: Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort (DRM and me)
Port Orleans French Quarter (DRMS)

Dates: 7/31/06 – 8/14/06 (DRM and me)
7/31/06 – 8/4/06 (DRMS)

Day 1

I’d arranged to start the day with a phone call from Mickey Mouse for DRM. The call was cute, but I was disappointed that it started out with an advertisement before Mickey came on the line. DRM had to press ‘1’ to hear the message I’d paid to have sent to him. I resented there being an advertisement first. I guess I should have answered the call myself, then handed him the phone. (Note to parents using this service.)

We had a 12:00 noon flight, so it was a leisurely morning. Leisure if you consider pacing back and forth and looking at the clock every fifteen seconds to be relaxing. I much preferred our trip last year, when we had a 6:00 AM flight. There wasn’t as much WAITING on the first day.

We used curbside check-in at the airport. I’ve never paid for a sky cap before, but with four large bags, couldn’t think of an alternative. It wasn’t too bad until a second skycap (not the one who was checking us in) picked up the bags. Great, who do I tip? I gave $10 to the guy checking us in and another $5 to the second guy. DRM gave me the skunk eye for tipping both. I guess I should have left it up to them to figure out how to split the $10.

The flight was DRM’s first time on a small commuter jet. It didn’t help that I’m Pooh-sized, and he was jammed into his seat a little snuggly. Fortunately, we landed a half hour ahead of schedule.

We eventually found our way down to the Disney’s Magical Express area. We got lost at first, and I had to dig through the carry-on to find the ticket book for the directions on getting there. There aren't any signs anywhere pointing you toward DME. I miss the cast members with the Mickey hands who greeted us last year. (We asked about this when we got there, and were told the cab and limo drivers had complained about the DME CM using the hands on the 2nd and 3rd floors, because it was "stealing customers" from them and giving Disney an unfair advantage in the airport. My thought is that everyone taking DME already has a reservation and is going to be taking the DME buses anyway. Why make it harder for those customers to find DME in the airport.)

After checking in at the DME counter and moving across the hall to the waiting area, we were the only ones in the Saratoga Springs line. We must have just missed a bus. The year before, we’d gotten lucky and walked immediately from check-in to the bus. This time, we had to wait about ten minutes before being led out to our bus. Even so, we were at the resort shortly, in our room to drop the carry-on stuff we didn’t need (or thought we didn't need), and at Epcot by 4:30. Our first order of business was to redeem our annual pass vouchers. We waited in the wrong line, first, and were asked to please go to the Guest Services window (instead of the ticket window we were at) because our vouchers were for the DVC pass. At the Guest Services window, the CM assisting us was in training, and had a trainer sitting behind him. When we discovered our mistake at leaving our wallets and IDs back in the room safe, we were afraid it would mean a trip all the way back to SSR. DRMS had flown in earlier that day, and was going to meet us at Spaceship Earth at 5:00. It was already that time, and we hated to keep her waiting longer. I guess we looked pathetic enough or had pleaded enough that the trainer told the CM helping us to go ahead and issue the passes.

Inside the park, we found DRMS near the front entrance. DRM hadn’t seen her in several years, and I’d never met her. We live in Virginia and she lives in Northern Florida. We stood there getting reacquainted for a few minutes, and then had our first PhotoPass picture taken.

DRMS had already ridden Spaceship Earth, so we headed toward Universe of Energy, which is DRM’s favorite attraction at Epcot. From there, we headed to Club Cool. I had my camera all ready, wanting to capture the moment of their first taste of Beverly. Unfortunately, Club Cool isn’t very well stocked. There were only three flavors to taste, and Beverly wasn’t one of them.

We walked through The Land, wondering if there’d be any FastPasses left (there weren’t). There wasn’t time before our ADR to wait in the 90 minute standby line, so we headed toward the World Showcase.

On the walk from Future World to the World Showcase, we experienced the beginning of our first WDW thunderstorm for the trip. Wouldn’t you know it, we didn’t have our ponchos with us. We stopped in a souvenir shop – I was going to buy something, anything, so I could get a plastic bag to wrap around my camera bag. DRM asked a CM, and they gave him a large piece of plastic that had been used to wrap a box of merchandise they were putting on the shelf.

There was still some time before our reservation at Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco, so we stopped at a few countries along the way. We rode the EL Rio del Tiempo at Mexico and the Maelstrom at Norway. Being dumped into the gift shop at the end of the Maelstrom is a real pain in the neck when it’s raining. No one wants to go outside in the rain, and they all stand in the doorways, blocking them. It took us forever to work our way through the shoulder-to-shoulder people and finally force our way outside. Once we made it out, DRMS decided she wanted to purchase a poncho, despite having one back in her room. DRM and I stood under a ledge waiting for her while she fought her way back inside.

We arrived at Morocco about 30 minutes before our ADR, but didn’t dawdle outside because of the rain. Fortunately, there were plenty of tables and they seated us immediately. This turned out to be a lucky turn of events, because we sat down just as the belly dancer began. Had we waited for our scheduled time, we would have missed the show completely. I was surprised when the show only lasted a few minutes, followed by another few minutes of music. Then, there was nothing on the stage for the rest of our time there.

After explaining to our waitress that we were on the Disney dining plan, actually two different DDP since we were in two resorts, we studied the menu and decided to all do the Royal Feast. (Assorted traditional Moroccan salads, Chicken bastilla, Seafood bastilla, Roast leg of lamb Meshoui, Lemon Chicken, Couscous with seven veggies and Crepes Atlas. Priced per person and served family style.) This proved to be a lot of food. We were particularly impressed with the Chicken Bastilla appetizer. The combination of cinnamon and sugar on the outside and the savory chicken on the inside was a wonderful combination. The lamb was also very tender and tasty. Because the menu said it was served family style, I convinced the other two that we all needed to order it. (They were just going to order the lamb.) They were glad I changed their minds, but we were confused about the family style comment in the menu (also appears here in the DIS menu), because each of us received an individual plate with everything on it. We left Restaurant Marrikesh very full and very satisfied. We were also certain of the DDP value for the day, because the Royal Feast by itself was $38 per person, not including the tip, tax, and drinks.

After dinner, we headed toward the American Adventure and were drawn into the energy of the Bjorn Again, A Tribute Band to ABBA show that was going on at the outdoor show. DRM and DRMS were up in the aisle dancing to beat the band. Afterward, I said to DRM, “I didn’t know you liked ABBA.” He replied, “Neither did I.”

We then moved to a viewing spot for Illuminations and waited for the show. Everything was still very wet, but the rain had stopped. Illuminations is still just as exciting and enjoyable as the first time I saw it years ago.

After the show, we walked back to the bus stop, made sure DRMS found the right bus for POFQ, then headed to the line for SSR. We were back in our room by 10:00, and spent the next hour and a half unpacking and getting the room organized.

Day 2

We really hit the ground running on the second day. DRMS was determined to see as much as possible during her short four night/five day stay. We left the room at 7:00 and arrived at Magic Kingdom by 7:30. We found DRMS sitting right where we’d planned to meet, and headed to the area in front of the train station to await the “Good Morning” opening ceremony. I’d never been there for the rope drop before, and was excited to see what an opening was like. Like all things Disney, it was full of music and fun. It made it worth getting up early.

Once inside the first rope, I was extremely confused trying to find the lockers. (We’d walked through the left tunnel under the train station, which now has a big wall where the locker hallway used to be. We walked all around the train station, and finally found that they’ve switched the locations of the locker rentals and stroller rentals. Lockers are now to the right in front of the train station, and stroller/wheelchair rentals are under the train station. (Okay DISers, how come I didn’t know about this ahead of time?)

During the Extra Magic Hour, we managed to get on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority, and the Carousel of Progress, and the Astro Orbiter. (Regular hours started somewhere in the midst of that.) We then walked back to the Main Street to grab a snack at the Main Street Bakery. A huge apple pastry and a large bowl of fruit salad cost us two snack credits. (Can’t remember what DRMS had as her snack.)

Then, we grabbed a FastPass for Jungle Cruise and went on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. Lunch at the Crystal Palace was next on the schedule. After checking in at the podium and getting our pager, we watched a good portion of Cinderellabration from across the square. It was a bit far away, but we could hear the music.

Lunch with Pooh and Friends was the same enjoyable experience that has made CP one of my must-do locations for every trip. I especially like their lunch menu, because I enjoy making a large Dagwood sandwich with the lunch meats and cheeses. (I just wish they had some regular bread.) We cheesed it up with all the characters, and DRMS even came running out of the buffet line to join Eyore’s conga line during the parade.

After lunch, we did the Jungle Cruise (FP – abbreviation I’ll used to denote rides for which we had a FastPass), Hall of Presidents, and The Haunted Mansion. Coming out of the Haunted Mansion, we saw the ropes were up for the Share a Dream parade, so we found a spot along the route and waited for it to start. I was surprised to find a spot right at the line, considering how last minute we got there. After the parade, we did Mickey’s Philharmagic, and Cinderella’s Golden Carousel (I sat that one out, as I don’t like spinning.) We then grabbed some drinks and cooled down in the Pinocchio Village Haus for a while. Then, it was back into the fray again. We did It’s A Small World, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and got a FP for Splash Mountain. Then, we caught the Walt Disney World Railroad to Mickey’s Toontown Fair, where we toured Mickey and Minnie’s houses and posed for pictures with Mickey at the Judge’s Tent. We then took the path back to Fantasyland where we rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan (FP). Then, we walked back to Splash Mountain (FP) and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (FP). We watched the SpectroMagic parade from in front of the turkey leg stall, then, when the parade was over, walked across and grabbed dinner at Pecos Bill. Everyone had a great big bacon double-cheeseburger and fries which we loaded up at the fixin’s bar. (Love those fixin’s bars!!!)

We heard wishes starting while we were eating, but were too hungry and too tired to want to leave our table. We caught the last few of the fireworks after dinner, and then found ourselves in the kaos of getting down Main Street USA to the exit at closing time.

We were back in the room at 11:20 and in bed by 11:47.

Day 3

We didn’t have the same energy for a rope drop as we had the day before. We called DRMS and changed our scheduled 8:00 meeting at Animal Kingdom to 9:00, instead.

Once inside the park, we headed to Asia first thing to get a FP for Expedition: Everest. The return time as 1:30-2:30.

After securing the FP for E:E, we headed for Kilimanjaro Safaris. The line wasn’t as long as we’d remembered from our previous trip, but it was long enough. It took us about an hour, and BOY WAS IT HOT!!!

After our safari, we stopped at Flame Tree Barbeque and used snack credits to get a plate of French fries and an order of onion rings. We also got a round of sodas all around.

Then, we headed to the tree of life. As the group’s official camera nerd, I attempted to get a picture of every single animal on the tree. I don’t know who I was annoying more, DRM and DRMS or the people behind us in line for It’s Tough To Be A Bug.

After ITTBAB, DRM and DRMS went on Primevil Whirl (again, no spinning for me, please). Then, we waited in line for Dinosaur. DRMS proclaimed this to be her favorite ride yet. (I always think it’s too rough, and spend most of my time during the ride hanging on for dear life.)

Next was Festival of the Lion King (another killer hot wait in the line outside the theater… PLEASE LET US IN!!!!!) After the show, it was back to Expedition: Everest for our first ride (FP). DRM and I absolutely loved it. The backwards portion is cool, the forward part is the best. The yeti is fantastic. When we got off the ride, we asked DRMS what she thought of the Yeti. She told us she’d had her eyes closed the whole ride, and didn’t see a thing. OMG!!!!

After E:E, we headed over to Kali River Rapids (FP). I’ve never been on this ride before, because I usually don’t want to be any more wet (than I am from sweat) in the parks. And, I especially don’t want wet sneakers. DRM and DRMS convinced me to go, though. I have to say, as beautiful as the landscaping and horticulture is through this ride, the ride itself is boring. (I guess I’m spoiled by Roman Rapids at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.) One drop and a few fountains sprinkling on you hardly seemed worth the wait for this ride.

I grabbed a wonderful iced tea from a tea cart near Asia, and then we headed toward the front of the park. We wanted to see Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle parade, but had 6:30 reservations at Boma, so needed to be near the exit immediately after the parade.

Near the PhotoPass photographer (taking pictures of people in front of the Tree of Life), I noticed a sign pointing to the exit. We’d had a PhotoPass picture taken that morning in front of the Tree of Life. I explained to the photographer that we already had a Tree of Life picture showing us neat and clean and full of energy that morning, and asked if he would take an “after” photograph in front of the exit sign. I was surprised when she told me no one had ever asked for that before. She took a few pics. (The before and after comparison are funny to look at in the pictures.)

We then walked out to the buses and grabbed a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. When we got there, we were all absolutely pooped. I was also soaking wet with sweat. I didn’t want to go into a nice restaurant in such a state, so we camped out in the lobby for a while getting back to ourselves. DRM soon got bored and set off with his Hidden Mickey book to try to find the ones listed. (We found two or three of them.) It was still well before our ADR time, but I went and checked in anyway. Luck was with us, and they were able to seat us immediately.

Dinner at Boma was absolutely fantastic. It wound up being one of my top three favorite meals of the whole trip. (Spoodles and California Grill being the only ones I enjoyed more.) I especially loved the soup selections, and had a bowl of each of the five choices. I also had quite a bit of the Prime Rib and other offerings. The only things I wasn’t fond of were the carrot soup (too sweet) and the lamb casserole (the raisins threw me, wasn’t expecting it to be sweet).

Despite being over-full, I still had to give the dessert section a run for its money. I can see what all the rave is about with the zebra domes. I had several of these and a large helping of the bread pudding.

Okay, roll us out to our bus, please! But first, we took a few minutes to walk around the pool area and check out the observation decks. This is a very nice hotel. If any of the DVC rumors of adding villas here ever pan out, we may just have to look into some points there.

From AKL, we headed to Downtown Disney Marketplace to transfer back to our respective resorts. I suggested taking the boats. (Both SSR and POFQ have a boat that leaves from behind Cap’n Jack’s restaurant.) DRMS said she wanted no part of a boat ride, because it would make her sick. We helped her find her bus, then headed for the SSR boat. We were going to freshen up in the rooms, and then meet at POFQ for a horse drawn carriage ride I’d reserved.

When we got back to our room, we both showered, changed, and had a nice little nap. As we were getting ready to head out, DRMS called to say she was just getting to her hotel. Her bus had run into nightmare traffic between DD and Typhoon Lagoon, and then had taken forever to get into and back out of TL. It was near closing time, and the parking lot was a mess. We told her to go to her room and relax for a while, it would take us about a half hour to get there.

We took the boat back over to Downtown Disney. I was nervous, because it was nearly 9:00, and our carriage ride was scheduled for 9:30. When we got to the dock, we were lucky. I saw there was a Port Orleans boat loading, and we walked directly from our boat to the Port Orleans boat. (I felt guilty after we cast off. It wasn’t until then that I noticed there was a line of people waiting for the boat. By walking directly from one boat to the other, we’d inadvertently cut in line. Also, they’d counted the number of people they’d let through the line. Because there were two people they hadn’t counted, I saw that a couple folks were sitting on each other’s laps. If you were on that boat, I offer sincere apologies. Our rudeness was unintentional.)

When we got to POFQ, DRM went off to find DRMS while I went to the concierge desk to ask where we met the carriage. I had to wait in a line to get to the concierge, and was then told the tours were at Riverside, not French Quarter. I’m afraid I was a little argumentative, and told him I was certain they’d told me POFQ when I made the reservation. He said he’d ask his boss. While he was gone, I called the 407-WDW-TOUR line to ask them. Sure enough, they looked it up and it was a Riverside. Oops. To make it even worse, when the concierge came back, I was still talking to them on my cell phone (asking what would happen to my deposit if we missed the ride) and I kind of blew the concierge off as I ran out of the hotel to find DRM and DRMS and get us all on the next bus. (Later that night, I reflected on the day and made a pledge to be more considerate of others during my stay. I wasn’t proud of those two incidents.)

Fortunately, every bus that stops at POFQ stops at Riverside too. So, we were able to grab the next one that came in. We arrived at the carriage at exactly 9:30 for our 9:30 reservation. (We were supposed to have been there 30 minutes early, but the driver said we were right on time.)

The carriage ride took us through Riverside, then down along the river to POFQ where we wound all in and around those buildings. It was an extremely relaxing and enjoyable experience. We chatted amongst ourselves and also had a nice conversation with the driver. (I wish I’d written her name down, because she was wonderful.) If you’ve never taken the carriage ride, please consider it. The one at Port Orleans was beautiful. I know they offer them at SSR as well, but don’t know what the sights are on that tour. It think it was 25 minutes for $35.

After the ride, we walked back to POFQ along the river. DRMS went up to her room and we caught the boat back to DD, where we did our first souvenir shopping at World of Disney. I didn’t realize how late it was until I saw that they had locked the doors. I was pleasantly surprised, though, that there was no pressure on people who were already in there to finish their shopping. No announcements or anything.

We wound up with some T-shirts, a necktie for me to wear to work, a photo album, and some gifts. It was nice to get the 10% discount by showing my Disney Visa. (Thanks DIS. That was a perk that wasn’t advertised on the Disney Visa web site.)

We waited at the SSR bus stop for a good 20-30 minutes for a bus, and then finally gave up. It was getting very late, and I suggested we just walk back. We were staying in the Springs section, so we weren’t the closest to Downtown Disney, but it wasn’t too bad of a walk. (We actually missed the entrance to the walkway and wound up walking down the road the buses use.)

Day 4

Sorry, this day apparently wore me out so much, that I didn’t jot down any notes that night in my journal. This entry may be a little spotty.

Once again, the late night conspired to keep us in bed longer than we’d planned. Our 9:00 meeting time at MGM the next morning slipped to 10:00. It took us longer on the bus than we anticipated, and we were even later than that, not meeting up with DRMS until about 10:20.

Our first stop was the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. DRMS, who had been saying after every single ride and show during the trip, “That’s my new favorite!” found one that actually stuck. Whenever we’d ask her at other rides and shows after this one, she’d tell us, nope, Mermaid was better. She even rated it better than Fantasmic.

From Mermaid, we headed to the Magic Of Disney Animation, and stayed to draw Mickey Mouse. DRM and I were thrilled at the quality of our drawings (neither one of us is very artistically talented.) We were standing there trying to figure out how to get them into our backpack without damaging them when DRMS walked up and very unceremoniously balled hers up and tossed it in a trashcan next to us. We both stood there staring at her with our jaws dropped.

I can’t remember the order or what FP we used, but other things we did that day included Muppet Vision 3D, the Backlot Tour, Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage, the Tower of Terror (FP), Rockin’ Roller Coaster (FP), and the Great Movie Ride.

We had dinner at Mama Melrose’s as part of a Fantasmic Dinner Package. We had to pick a single flatbread to split between us (which I didn’t say anything about, but thought was strange on the DDP), and then each got to order an entrée. DRM and DRMS both got lamb (which I think was a special). I opted for the Spaghetti Fra Diavolo. I swear, the lamb they were served looked to be an entire leg! It had to have been several pounds of meat. I was allowed to steal a taste, and it was absolutely scrumptious. It melted in my mouth. The Spaghetti Fra Diavolo was wonderful, too (although I was hoping for it to be a little spicer). DRM and I both cleaned our plates completely. DRMS had a little trouble finishing all her lamb. I’m afraid I don’t remember what we had for dessert.

The evening ended with Fantasmic. Last year, our Fantasmic show was rained out and DRM never got to see it. We were a little anxious again this year, as some black clouds were making their way toward MGM. They were also making the “lightning in the area” announcements every few minutes. Fortunately, it moved off in time for the show to go off as scheduled. I have to be honest; I don’t remember Fantasmic being as wonderful as it was that night. Maybe I’ve only ever seen an abbreviated rain show, myself. I was mesmerized from start to finish. One thing that gave me a chuckle was looking around in the audience during the villains portion of the show. I spotted at least a half dozen little ones with their faces buried in mom or dad’s shoulder.

After the show, it was a mad rush back to the bus stops, and a ride back to our hotels. My feet were a bit sore from the pace we’d been setting on the first four days, so I went down to soak in the hot tub for a while before bed that night. It was nice to be staying in the Springs section of SSR and be so near the main pool and its two spas. One of them is set back, and is very private and relaxing if you’re in there by yourself. Before heading back to bed, I grabbed a sandwich, soda, and piece of pie at Artist’s Pallet. I had them pack it to go, but ate some of it sitting at a table by the pool. (Note: I pointed out to the lifeguard the fact that the table I was sitting at had a large crack in the glass. He took note of it like it was the first he’d heard about it, and said he’d report it. As I later looked around, most of the tables had broken glass tops. I’m surprised nothing had been done to replace these, as broken glass and swimming pools seems to be a particularly bad combination. There were some other maintenance issues at the main pool -- like Donald Duck’s squirting fountain not working -- that really disappointed me, too. If SSR has been let run down this much before construction has even finished, what’s it going to look like in ten years? Little details make a big difference. We also reported a tear in the lampshade in our room, and a piece of trim that was loose in the closet. When we mentioned it, I didn’t get the impression the clerk was making note of it, nor really even listening to what I was saying. Sigh.) I took the other half back to the room for DRM, but he was sound asleep when I got there.

Day 5

We slept in until 9:30 the next morning and then walked up to Artist’s Pallet for breakfast. We each had the full breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, potatoes, and a biscuit) with a bottle of orange juice. (2 counter services)

Then, we put on our bathing suits, tropical shirts, and water shoes and caught a bus to Downtown Disney. Once there, we transferred to another bus and headed to POFQ to meet up with DRMS. It was her last day, she had already checked out, and we were going to hang out at her pool until her Disney’s Magical Express bus left. (I can’t believe we actually used the pool hopping perk on our first stay on points. I’d told DRM we’d probably never use that perk when we bought our points.)

DRMS hadn’t had lunch yet, and had one counter service meal left to use. So, we sat with her while she ate, and DRM and I eventually wound up splitting a chicken taco salad. (1 CS) DRMS had a platter of chicken parmesan and spaghetti that looked absolutely fantastic! I have to admit, I was very jealous of the POFQ food court. It made Artist’s Pallet’s menu seem very inadequate. I was especially jealous to see their soda machine had caffeine free diet coke. How do they rate that? I want caffeine free diet coke in my resort’s machine!!!

After lunch, DRMS showed us to the pool. The themeing was really special, and I really liked it. I especially liked the fact that the serpent statue that goes up and over the pool creates a shady area in the pool where you can stay when the sun get’s too, too hot, like it was that afternoon.

At 2:30, DRMS went into the locker area to shower and change for her flight. DRM and I went to the hot tub area for a little while. We then walked out to the front to wait for her bus with her. Our bus to Downtown Disney showed up first, though, so we made quick good-byes and headed our separate ways. This time, it was our turn to experience a bus transfer at Downtown Disney near Typhoon Lagoon closing time. It took us more than an hour to get from POFQ to SSR, and most of that time was waiting in traffic in and around Typhoon Lagoon.

Our dinner that night was in Epcot’s World Showcase, so we got showered and changed back at the room, and then headed that way. Unfortunately, the Epcot bus passed our building just as we exited the stairwell. We missed the bus, and had to wait the 20 minutes for the next one.

At Epcot, we rode Spaceship Earth, and then headed toward the World Showcase. Another quick stop at Club Cool still didn’t provide a “Beverly experience” for DRM. In fact, they had even fewer flavors available than the first visit.

We were eating at Teppanyaki Dining Room that night, so we spent some time exploring the shops on the first floor of the building. Then, we climbed the steps and gave our name. Unlike the other places where we were seated almost immediately, despite being up to 40 minutes early for the ADR, Teppanyaki told us they were running about 20 minutes late. This turned out to be the case, and we were seated at 8:00 for our 7:30 ADR. We were seated with a family from Delaware, who introduced themselves as frequent Disney visitors, and indicated they’d just arrived that morning. The mother apologized for being a little “out of it” as they’d been up at 3:00 AM to catch the flight.

Teppanyaki was the first place we’d experienced where the menu was limited for Disney Dining Plan guests. The hostess pointed out the sections from which we could order, which was essentially everything except the sushi.

I’m a big sushi fan, so we decided to order a Combo Roll (Spicy Tuna and California rolls) out of pocket. On the plan, I ordered the Misoshiru soup and the Musashi (steak and scallops). DRM ordered Edamame (young soy bean pods) and Fujiyama (steak and shrimp). The Misoshiru soup wasn’t what I was expecting. I don’t know if there’s a difference between Misoshiru and the Miso I typically get at a Japanese steak house, or if it was just Teppanyaki’s recipe. Whichever the case, I didn’t care for it. The sushi platter was very good, though. I enjoyed that.

DRM was having some problems with his soy bean pods. I noticed him making a face and spitting something into a napkin. He told me to try one. It had a very strange texture, almost like chewing a stick, and was a little tough to swallow. But, I eventually got it down. About a minute later, I realized the second bowl he was given wasn't to put soy sauce in (like the bowls for our sushi), but was rather for the peelings. We both felt so stupid when we figured out you had to remove the beans from the pods before eating them. (Yes, we did the look both ways and over our shoulder move to see if anyone had noticed. If the family eating with us knew better or noticed, they didn’t say anything.) The beans were actually quite tasty after we figured out what to do with them.

The chef’s performance included most of the same things we’ve seen at any other Japanese steak houses we’ve visited. The only exception was the flaming oil shaped like Mickey Mouse. To be honest, the level of talent displayed by our chef wasn’t quite up to par with what we’ve found at places outside Disney. Also, while the food was tasty, it was not noteworthy.

We both chose the ginger cake for dessert. I thought it was okay. DRM raved about it.

We’ve decided this will not be a future WDW restaurant choice for us. There are just too many other uniquely Disney places to eat to waste a meal at a place that is identical to places we can visit at home.

After dinner, we were looking around for a place to watch Illuminations from the restaurant. I thought I’d read online that there was a balcony from which to watch Illuminations, but you could only get there through the restaurant, and only if you’d eaten there. (Similar to the observation deck at California Grill for Wishes.) This didn’t turn out to be the case. There is a balcony, but it is accessible from outside, and was therefore jam-packed when we got there.

Instead of waiting to see Illuminations for a second time, we decided to get a head start on the rest of the crowd. It was Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom, so we were going to take the monorail.

At the Ticket and Transportation Center, we opted to take the Ferry Boat across rather than walk back up the ramp to the monorail. (I was tired, and the ramp up didn’t look inviting.) On the trip across, DRM spotted a gym bag abandoned in one corner of the boat. I figured someone had just forgotten it on their trip across and would probably be waiting on the pier to find it. At the same time, I was worried that it might be something else and thoughts of 9/11 suddenly started going through my mind. I found the nearest deck hand and pointed it out to him. I was extremely relieved when he said it was his bag. This was his last trip across for the night before going home.

Once in the Magic Kingdom, we headed back to the Pirates of the Caribbean for a second ride. This time, there was not a long line. I can’t believe how realistic the newly added animatronic Jack Sparrow and Barbosa characters look. Their movements are so much more realistic than the generation I and II characters. I also love the new curtain effect at the beginning of the ride.

After Pirates, we headed to the Haunted Mansion again. DRM was determined to find the hidden Mickey near the opera singer, and hadn’t spotted it on our first time through. We didn’t spot it on this trip through, either.

After the Haunted Mansion, we tried the shooting gallery – something I hadn’t done since before the days of electronic guns and targets. We had a blast with it. DRM especially enjoyed himself, because he was out shooting me something fierce.

From there, we walked over to Future World. We hadn’t done Stich’s Great Escape on our first day in MK because we’re not big fans of the ride. What the heck, though, we figured we’d give it a second chance. Nope. We still didn’t like it. I also got a seat with a non-functioning harness. Unfortunately, the chili dog feature worked just fine for me though.

From there, we stopped along the patch between Future World and Main Street USA to have several shots taken by a PhotoPass photographer. I was determined to get as many shots as possible during our 14 days, because I knew I wanted to buy the CD.

It was five minutes before one when we passed the clock on Main Street USA, and close to 2:00 when we finally turned out the light for bed. (You should see how shaky my handwriting is on this day’s notes.)

Day 6

We slept in again until 9:30. Paul slipped out to use the nautilus equipment in the gym. I got up a few minutes later and headed down to the laundry room to do some wash. It’s a very nice laundry room with four washers and eight dryers. I was the first (and only) one in there, so I had no trouble getting everything done quickly. DRM came in as I was moving things from the washer to the dryer.

While things were drying, we explored the community room, and decided to check out some shuffleboard equipment. The shuffleboard court is over by the tennis courts. Unfortunately, it was in the direct sun on a day in the high 90’s. We lasted for one game to 50, then rushed back to the air conditioned laundry room to fold clothes. Then, we spent the next few hours relaxing at the pool and hot tub. After the hectic pace of the first few days with DRMS, it was so nice to relax and do nothing for a while.

We got a large family size bag of toastitos as a DDP snack and used our refillable mugs a few times. I like the fact that SSR has a soda machine right at the pool that can be used with the mugs. I just wish the hours were a little longer. It’s a pain to put on a shirt and shoes to use the machine inside Artist’s Pallet.

As evening drew close, we got showered and changed and headed toward Epcot again. (Many of our dining plan meals were at the World Showcase.) We’d actually been scheduled to have breakfast at Chef Mickey’s that morning at 8:00, but neither one of us was willing to get out of bed to go. So, I booked us into the Biergarten for dinner instead.

Before heading back to World Showcase, though, we stopped in at The Living Seas with Nemo and got in line for Turtle Talk with Crush. Wow, this is an amazing display of technology. I can just picture the harness that’s probably involved to capture the facial movements and sync Crush's mouth with the words, and the array of options available on a computer screen for the puppeteer. Our friend of Crush was really good at it, and had me laughing out loud the whole time. When one little “dude” got the microphone, rather than ask Crush a question, he told a story about how he had thrown up in the hotel toilet the night before. Crush actually managed a whole routine about vomit, and then showed a visual display of bubbles escaping from the back of his shell. It was Disney potty humor at its best.

Next, it was on to the Biergarten. After a few minutes of waiting, they seated us. At first, it was us and two other guys. Then, they placed a family of four at the table with us. The father of this family was in a tie die shirt, had very long hair, and – well there’s no other way to say it – reeked very strongly of marijuana. I was immediately put off, but politely introduced DRM and myself to everyone. The two guys who had sat down with us introduced themselves as being from Orlando and Toronto. (I suspected they were off-duty CMs.) The family was from Nashville. When we went up to the buffet and then sat back down, the two guys never re-joined us. I guess they had complained and asked to be re-seated, because I later saw them at another table across the restaurant. I’m glad I didn’t do the same, because we had a great time talking with the Tennesseans. It turned out the father, who was a musician (harmonica player) from Nashville, had a severe medical condition. (He’d walked into the restaurant, but we later saw him in a rather well used wheel chair.) We didn’t go into the specifics of it, but what we’d smelled when they sat down was apparently the only way he was able to have an appetite. I don’t know if medical marijuana is legal in Florida or Tennessee, but that didn’t matter. I was disappointed in myself for having jumped to the wrong initial impression, and mad at the two guys who had asked to be moved. (The son saw them, too, and made mention of the fact. The dad said something about his scaring them off.) I really enjoyed our conversations with this family. They were almost as big of Disney fans as us, and we had lots of stories, resort advice, and tips to swap.

After dinner (by the way, another one that’s going on our not-to-be-revisited-soon list of Disney restaurants) we walked over to the American Adventure and were waiting for the 9:00 show. Unfortunately, I lost track of time walking around in the store (I picked out a George Bush action figure as a thank-you gift for our house sitter. The staunchest Democrat I’ve ever met, I shutter to think about what that poor doll may be subjected to in the next few months.)… anyway, I lost track of time in the store, went to the men’s room real quick, and found the doors had already been shut for the 9:00 show when I got back. I was livid with myself. Again, we decided not to watch Illuminations, but to start for the exit before everyone else. DRM also wanted to stop in France to look for a Hidden Mickey he'd read about in one of the flower gardens. Again, we couldn't find it.

We had just reached the path to Future World when the fireworks of the finale went off. We were just slightly ahead of the crowds on the way to the buses. “Here they come!” I told the cast member at the turnstile when I got to the front gate. “Yep.” she replied, already smiling and waving.

Day 7

DRM was up at 7:45 and headed out to Artist’s Pallet to fill his refillable mug with coffee. He also picked up a bag of 6 bagels (DDP snack), which he toasted a few of back in the room. He finally managed to coax me out of bed, and I got up and dressed for a morning at Typhoon Lagoon. We were on the bus at about 9:45.

We started out in the Surf Pool, but the waves weren’t working. We could see cast members in maintenance uniforms working up at the top, so we decided to come back later. The sun was so bright, I was squinting so hard it was painful. I decided to head up to the gift shop and find a cheap pair of sunglasses. The cheapest pair I could find that looked okay on me was $18. Not too bad, and they did say Walt Disney World on them.

Our first ride was on the Crush ‘n’ Gusher. I think we rode pineapple. From there, it was over to Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls. Then, I went through the Shark Reef, but couldn’t convince DRM to join me. (He hates water in his ears, and won’t snorkel again after having a bad time with Shark Reef last year. I tried to convince him it wouldn’t be bad if he put on a vest, but he didn’t want to hear about it.) He watched me from the bridge. Our last water slide was the Storm Slides.

After that, we headed over toward the Surf Pool again, and could hear from the screaming that the waves were working. By the time we’d walked down and around to the front of the pool, though, everyone was out of the water. There was a group of lifeguards working on someone in the shallow surf, and they’d evacuated the pool while they did it. Eventually, the ambulance crew arrived, and they managed to get him out of the water. We couldn’t tell, but thought he’d possibly broken his ankle.

They kept us out of the pool for another 20 minutes or so, turned the waves back on for two cycles, and then waved everyone back in. We hung out for a dozen or so waves, then packed up to head back to the resort. We hadn’t stayed at Typhoon Lagoon for long (a couple hours), and stopped at Earle of Sandwich for lunch when we got to Downtown Disney. I must admit, after all the hype online, I was a little disappointed by this counter service restaurant. Perhaps I was put off by getting to the register and finding out most of the stuff I’d ordered and picked out didn’t qualify for the dining plan. (You get a sandwich only, no chips, slaw, or soup with it. You also can’t get the ice cream sandwiches as a dessert.) I paid for DRM’s slaw and my soup OOP, and swapped the ice cream we’d picked out for cupcakes. The sandwiches were very tasty (I got roast beef, DRM got a club), but the sandwiches we’d gotten at Artist’s Pallet were just as good if not better. I also burned my tongue on the tomato soup. It was just a little hotter than I expected. Earle of Sandwich was a nice place, and we enjoyed our meal. I just don’t know if it was a great use of a DDP counter service coupon.

Back at SSR, showered and dressed, we stopped up at Artist’s Pallet to pick up a SSR pin. Some friends of my parents had coordinated our Friends and Family Referral when we’d bought our points, and I wanted to send them something as a thank you. (I got an SSR pin, a Mickey “Thank You” pin, and some Mickey stationary. I’m going to write them a nice note, and also enclose some pictures of our first trip home; greatly discounted thanks to their help.) I also used the opportunity of being in the Carriage House to ask the concierge for the number to Mears. We were going to Universal the next day, and needed to book a shuttle. (Tip: if you want to talk to Mears to schedule a shuttle, simply dial 0 from any Disney phone and ask to be transferred to Mears.)

From there, we were on a bus and heading back to the Magic Kingdom again. Our reservations that night were at the Liberty Tree Tavern. This was a new restaurant for both DRM and I, and neither one of us knew what to expect. We got there a little early for the reservation, so we rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpets and shopped around for a while. We also walked in the exit of the Haunted Mansion to try to find the Hidden Mickey there. Still couldn’t find it. We're apparently not very good at this whole Hidden Mickey deal.

Dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern was so much fun. We also loved the food. (I’m a big turkey and trimmings fan.) The only thing missing was cranberry sauce. Our server was fantastic. I left him a good tip on top of the 18% from the dining plan, and also spoke to the service manager about him; telling her how special he made the experience for us. This may not have been one of the more expensive meals we utilized on the dining plan, but it’s a definite re-do on future visits.

After dinner, we were full and tired (hello, tryptophan!) so we headed back to the room early. We were in by 8:00, and just chilled by the pool for a while.


Day 8

Monday started out with an early morning bus to the Magic Kingdom and a monorail ride to the Grand Floridian. I thought we’d be late for our ADR at 1900 Park Fare, but actually arrived before they’d even opened the doors to the restaurant. Our reservation was for 8:00, which is apparently the opening time for the breakfast. We were the second group to be seated, and were practically alone in the restaurant for quite a while. The characters, Alice, The Mad Hatter, Pooh, and Tigger were besides themselves looking for things to do. They could only go to the three occupied tables so many times. They started to interact with one-another, which was interesting to watch.

Breakfast was absolutely fantastic. There were so many wonderful things on the buffet I couldn’t believe the amount I was eating. I was too full to continue before I even got to try the strawberry soup.

After breakfast, we started to head to the front of the resort to wait for our shuttle. When we got out in the hall, we saw Mary Poppins. She hadn’t been there when we were seated. We posed for some pictures with her, then headed to the lobby. At this point, our waitress ran up carrying DRM’s backpack. Oops, it had been left under the table.

We’d scheduled a Mears Shuttle to pick us up at 9:30. That gave us about 40 minutes to wait. It just a little late, and we had to squeeze into the last two seats in the very back of the 12 passenger van. It was a bumpy ride, and I got a little car sick.

At Universal, we did the rounds of the rides. Again, I didn’t do any notes that night, so I’m winging it on this day. Details may be scarce.

We started with Twister, then did the Monster Makeup Show, Earthquake, Shrek, Revenge of the Mummy, Terminator 3D, Men In Black, and Back to the Future.

I’d purchased the Meal Deal and sipper cups in advance, thinking they were a good deal. However, when we got to Universal, we were so full from 1900 Park Fare, it was quite a while before we were hungry for anything. We were thirsty, though, so we went into one restaurant to cash in our voucher and get our cups. Since we were in line, anyway, we decided to get a piece of pizza while we were there. The pizza was pretty bad, actually. In fact, it wasn’t even up to the standards of what I remember being served in the school cafeteria. There were also bugs all over the sample food on display. Yuck.

As we left the Terminator 3D show, I realized I didn’t have my sunglasses. I’d been stupid, and propped them up on my hat, instead of putting them away. They weren’t on there, and must have dropped off in the line. The attendant let me walk back through to look, but I couldn’t find them. They were close enough to the color of the 3-D glasses, that it’s not impossible that someone put them in the bin. I had them for a little more than a day. That was a fast $18 down the drain.

Later in the night, we stopped at a burger place. They wouldn’t give us a bacon double cheeseburger, but we did get a bacon cheeseburger and fries. The burger was actually pretty good, even though we were only eating it to get something else out of the meal deal.

By 7:00, we were pretty worn out. Universal always seems to take it out of me. There aren’t many trees, and the lines are always so long. There was also no way we were spending an extra $60 to get their version of FastPasses. Tired, we decided to leave a little early. We didn’t know how it would work with our Mears Shuttle reservations, though. We’d made them for 10:00, thinking we’d be there until closing and then check out Citywalk for a while. When we got to the shuttle loading area, we found out it wasn’t a problem to go back early. There was actually a van leaving shortly after we got down there. There was a little confusion with our ticket, since it said we’d been picked up at Grand Floridian and we said we wanted to go back to SSR. But, they agreed to it after we explained we’d only been at the GF for breakfast. The total round trip cost of the shuttle was $30 for the two of us. I also gave the drivers a tip.

When we got back to the resort, I couldn’t wait to get into the hot tub. My feet were absolutely killing me, and it really did help.

Day 9

The next morning was our Hidden Treasures of the World Showcase tour at Epcot. We had to be there at 8:45, but we were a little late getting out of the room. We also missed an Epcot bus and had to wait quite a while for a second one to come. We literally ran up to the tour right at 9:00. Fortunately, we hadn’t missed the start.

We met our group and were treated to a bottle of water before we started. We also got our nametags. And then, it was through the turnstiles and into the park. (One couple had not purchased park tickets for the day, and there was some confusion as to whether or not they could do the tour. Our guide called his supervisor over, and they worked it out. They could do the tour so long as the guide walked them out of the park when the tour was over.

We started in the hallway outside Character Connection. The guide went through each of the pictures hanging there, and gave us a great background and overview of the concept and development of Epcot. I'd not realized EPCOT the acronym had been changed to Epcot the word because Disney couldn't trademark an acronym, but could trademark a word. Then we headed for the World Showcase. One of the people in the tour said she had an ADR in Mexico after the tour, so our guide said we’d go counter clockwise and finish there. This was actually good, because it meant we could take pictures in more sections of the park. We were allowed to photograph in areas that were open to the public, but not in areas that were closed or back stage. Because we were going counter clockwise, it meant we could photograph in Canada and England (since they were open for walking through from the International Gateway.) Had we started in Mexico, the whole first hour of the tour would have been sans photos.

The tour gave some great insight into some of the very subtle details that are imagineered into the pavilions. It was very interesting to have many of these things we’d always overlooked pointed out. There were several back stage portions of the tour, as well. These were interesting, too. (Not quite as interesting as the back stage portions of our Keys to the Kingdom tour later in the week.) The neatest part of the back stage portion was seeing the Eifel Tower up close.

The tour was about 3 ½ hours long. At the end, we were each given an exclusive trading pin for the tour.

Done with the tour, we went to The Land to get a FastPass for Soarin'. We’d stopped a few days earlier at the DVC Preview Center to meet our guide, Bernard. He’d given us a DVC FastPass card. We were thrilled when we put it in and the FP came out for an immediate ride. Cool!

So, we did Soarin’ right away and also got a second FP with our park tickets to come back later. (These never got used.)

We had lunch at Seasons, which was an excellent location to get a counter service meal. We both opted for a big plate of Chinese food and a huge key lime pie.

Then, we went to the Circle of Life film and Journey Into Your Imagination ride. We also explored a little in Innovations West, and went back over to Club Cool. There were even less selections than the first two times. Still no Beverly. Something is really wrong with their supply channels. They were down to two flavors!

We stood in line at Honey I Shrunk The Audience for a while to use our Surprise FastPass (the FP machine at Soarin’ gave us a Surprise FP for HISTA in addition to the Soarin’ FP). But, I just couldn’t stand any longer. My feet were hurting again. I asked DRM if he minded heading back to the room, and he said he was ready for a break, too.

On the way out, we stopped at the fountains for some great photographs of DRM, and waited a few minutes to get a monorail in the background. We were back in the room early (a little before 4:00).

I’d planned to cancel our 6:00 reservation at Spoodles. The original plan had been to take the boat from the International Gateway over to the Boardwalk. I took a shower and climbed in bed for a short nap.

About forty-five minutes later, I said to DRM, “Do you still want to go to dinner? I’m a little energized after the nap.” He was sound asleep and not dressed, but said he was up for it if I was.

We rushed out to the bus stop, and waited to hop on the first bus that came: Downtown Disney, Epcot, or MGM. I figured we could change buses at any of them. DD is close to SSR, and Epcot and MGM are close to Boardwalk.

The first bus to arrive was for Epcot. We got onboard. When we got there, I asked the driver which bus stop we used for the Boardwalk. The driver sighed and said he wished I’d asked him at SSR before getting on. I didn’t realize it, but there is no bus service from Epcot to the Boardwalk.

We had to walk through the park to get to the International Gateway and take the boat from there. It was a long, hot walk, and we were hurrying so as not to be late for our ADR.

We finally arrived at the gate, and then had a nice boat ride to the Boardwalk. There was a boat leaving as soon as we walked up, so we got lucky. We were just in time for our reservation.

I’m glad we didn’t cancel, because this turned out to be my favorite meal of the entire trip. We loved the atmosphere, and the menu was wonderful. For appetizers, I got the Mediterranean Dips and DRM got the Grilled Lamb Kefta. The lamb was okay, but the dips were absolutely wonderful. We were fighting over every bite of them. The bread was wonderful, too. We went through two baskets of it. For entrees, I got the Portuguese Seafood Stew and DRM got the Oak Fired New York Strip. OMG, we were both in Heaven! The stew was out of this world. DRM said his steak was cooked to perfection.

The dessert tray in the lobby looked fantastic. We had trouble choosing. I finally decided on the crème brulee and DRM had the Chocolate Apricot Pistachio Cake. Had there been a design on the plate, we probably would have cleaned it right off -- our forks scraping the plate could probably be heard in Epcot. My crème brulee was good, but tasted a little more burnt than I would have liked. I wasn't sure if it was over-flamed, or if it was just my unsophisticated pallet.

Note: The Spoodles Dessert Platter was not available on the DDP.

After dinner, we walked around on the Boardwalk for a while watching the street performers. Then, we went into Jellyroll’s. I had a ball in there. We stayed for a little more than an hour, had a few drinks, and then decided to head on home.

Epcot had Extra Magic Hours that night, so we headed back that way. Getting the wrist bands, I thought it was interesting they had a little hand scanner to scan the room key before they’d give you the wrist band. I guess they had too many people using expired room keys to get into EMH.

We didn’t go on any rides, but did walk around exploring for a little while. While we were walking through World Showcase, they announced there would be one more special surprise. It was huge explosion from the fire barge. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be, but it was less than spectacular.

We walked back to the front of the park and caught a bus back to SSR.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Day 10

Wednesday started with laundry, again. I started it while DRM was working out at the gym, and then headed up to Artist’s Pallet to get some breakfast. I got a breakfast flatbread, and took it back to the laundry room to finish it. After putting the laundry in the dryers, I hopped in the hot tub for a while. This is where DRM found me. I told him I’d already had breakfast, and he headed up to Artist’s Pallet to find a sticky bun as a DP snack.

When he’d finished breakfast and the laundry was done, we dressed and got ready to head to Sea World. I’d called Mears the night before for a reservation, but the times they had available for an SSR pick up didn’t work for us. We decided to just take a cab. I’m glad we did, because it wound up only costing us $25 there and $18 back. I'd been led to believe it would closer to $50 each way. The actual fare wasn’t too terribly much more than the shuttle ride, and gave us the flexibility to go and return on our schedule instead of theirs. We'll be using cabs in the future. For Universal and Sea World, it's nice to start from SSR, because it's so much closer to these parks. (Perhaps that's the difference between our fare and the $50 I'd heard about.)

We got to the park at 2:00, thinking we had plenty of time before our 7:00 Dining With Shamu reservation. I’m glad we didn’t go any later, because they’d changed our seating to the 3:30 meal without letting us know. We didn't find this out until checking in at their dining desk near the front entrance.

We did the Blue Horizons show and the shark exhibit, then headed to check in for lunch. The buffet was fantastic, desserts being the best part. (I’ve noticed that all Anheiser Busch Parks seem to have fantastic desserts.) The dining area was outside, but under cover. There were also plenty of ceiling fans, so it wasn’t too hot. It was interesting to see the whales so close, and to have some interaction with the trainers. All-in-all, I think it was well worth the cost.

After lunch, we went to the Nautilus Theater for the circus show, the Clyde & Seamore daytime show, the penguin exhibit, the Clyde & Seamore nighttime show, and Believe at Shamu stadium. We didn't stay for the fireworks, having seen them last year and not been too impressed. Instead, we decided to beat the crowds to the taxi stands.

Day 11

Another water park day, today. We started out heading for Blizzard Beach around 9:00. We like the surf pool and snorkeling at Typhoon Lagoon, but find the slides at Blizzard Beach to be much better than those at TL. We hit them all for a few hours. Then, we headed to Animal Kingdom in our bathing suits. Our plan was to get one FP ride on Expedition:Everest, then head home. Unfortunately, we hadn’t read the small print on the DVC FastPass card our guide had given us. They expired 48 hours after being issued. When we put them in the FP machine, it gave us an “NOT A VALID FASTPASS” ticket with the message our card was expired. Man!!!

We decided to ride anyway, and got in the single rider line. The standby line was for 90 minutes, but we were able to get on in about 25 minutes using the single rider line.

From there, we headed right back to the bus and returned to our room. I had a 1:30 ADR at Sci-Fi Dine In, but there was no way we’d get there in time. I dialed dining and had the reservation changed to 2:00.

Lunch was okay, but we really felt it was closer to a counter service quality than to a table service. I wanted DRM to see the place and experience it, but I don’t think we’ll be going back again if we’re on the DDP.

Our server, by the way, was fantastic. It was especially funny that he had all the dialog from the movies memorized and would talk along with them whenever he was near us. He said, “Every 45 minutes for eight years. You tend to pick it up.”

After lunch, we did the animation class again (Mickey again, but from a different angle). I love that! It’s one of my new favorite things to do at MGM.

We were waiting to get into Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Play It, and since it was so close by, decided to do Sounds Dangerously. I’m really not sure why we wasted our time. It was just as awful as I remembered. A total waste of time, and I don’t know why they’d close WWTBAMPI before closing that.

We also did Tower of Terror two times in a row. This is a great ride. I love the random drops which make it different every time.

At 5:00, we headed back to SSR again. There was only time for a quick change into our Hawaiian shirts and head right down for the bus to the Magic Kingdom. From there, we caught the monorail to the Polynesian and headed to the Luau area. We checked in and walked around for a while to take some photos. We were all corralled into a small area waiting for them to start seating, and then there was a mad rush as everyone tried to go in at once. That was a bit of a mad house. Once we were inside, though, we found that we had an absolutely wonderful table. We were right up front just off center. The appetizer platter was already on the table with salad and wonderful bread. I ordered a fire punch, which was served in a carved coconut shell. Then, they served the main course. OMG!!! So much food. The chicken was great, but the ribs were fantastic! Between the two of us, we ate almost all the ribs on the platter. This made us feel like real pigs, because the platter on our table for two was the same size as those on the tables for four.

After the luau, which was a fun show, we decided to walk back to the bus, rather than deal with the crowds of people leaving the luau and heading for the boat and monorail. We walked around the wedding pavilion, and then looked around the grounds of the Grand Floridian. It was then that we realized the walkway doesn’t go all the way around the Seven Seas Lagoon. Oops. We hopped on the next boat to arrive, and found ourselves right back at the Polynesian. From there we sailed back over to the Magic Kingdom and went right to the bus home.

Day 12

Once again, we were running late in the morning. Stepping out the door of our room, I heard a bus and saw it was a Magic Kingdom. There was no way we were going to make it to it, so we knew there’d be a wait. We weren’t expecting that wait to be 35 minutes.

At the Magic Kingdom, we got off the bus and ran to the bag inspection area. We got through the turnstile at 8:20 and headed right to the tour check in area. There were still a few other people who hadn’t shown up yet, so once we got checked in, we had a chance to cool down a little.

A little while later, our guide, Steve, introduced himself and started our Keys to the Kingdom tour. This tour was absolutely fantastic, worth every penny and worth the 5 ½ hours. The tour included rides on the Haunted Mansion, a private tour on Jungle Cruise, and a ride on Pirates. Midway through the tour, we stopped at Columbia Harbour House, where they served us a nice lunch. We’d ordered that morning when we checked in, and the meal was waiting for us on the table with name cards. There was also a special Keys to the Kingdom pin for each of us.

After the tour, we headed back to the room, changed, and headed to Downtown Disney via the boat. We told the captain we were heading to Disney Quest and he made a special stop for us at the Westside even though boat service to there hadn’t started yet.

We explored DQ for a while and had lunch there. To be honest, we were totally unimpressed. I guess we’re just too old to appreciate a five story building filled with video games. We did try the Jungle Cruise and a few of the games, but soon decided it wasn’t for us and left.

We walked back through Pleasure Island and were surprised to see the extent of the construction that was going on. There were literally construction walls everywhere. It wasn’t very inviting, and we didn’t feel inclined to come back for our normal visit to the Adventurer’s Club. (That was more due to being so pooped at night more than the construction, though.)

On the way through the Marketplace, we stopped in World Of Disney again and picked out some more souvenirs. While we were there, DRM asked me for his room key. I’d been carrying it in a waterproof case around my neck. At the register, I’d planned to just show my Disney Visa, but wound up paying for the purchases with it, instead. DRM handed me his key back, but for the life of me, I don’t know what I did with it. We didn’t discover it to be missing until later that night.

We walked back to our room from there rather than waiting for a boat or bus. This time, we did find the path along the water, and got to see the Congress Park pool area.

Back at the room, I suggested I was too tired to go back out for dinner. Paul was fine with canceling the reservation and we both headed off for naps. A little while later, I was disappointed at not going, and asked DRM if he was up to going. We were really late, so I called dining again. They didn’t have any later reservations, so I didn’t cancel the 7:30 one.

We had to wait for a bus (always when we were in a hurry), and didn’t get to Epcot until 7:30. Then there was the time to get through the bag check, turnstile, and walk all the way to the Living Seas Pavilion. I was certain they wouldn’t seat us, but they didn’t make a big deal about it.

We had an excellent meal. I started with the Caesar salad with fried scallops. Sooooooo good, and a huge salad. There was plenty for both of us. DRM got the calamari. I loved the tomato sauce it was served with.

For entrees, I got the crab cakes and he got the salmon. Both were perfect.

We finished it off with a couple of chocolate waves. Wow!!!

Waiting for the bill, I realized DRM’s room key wasn’t in my case. We figured it would be back in the pants I’d been wearing at Downtown Disney.

Back at the room, we tore the place apart looking for it. Finally, I figured I’d lost it, and headed up to the front desk to have it cancelled and replaced. DRM was very upset by the whole incident and we went to bed in a huff. There’d been no charges against the room, but he was worried new charges might show up in the morning. They didn’t.

Day 13

One more laundry day, followed by a few hours at the pool and a nap. Then, we headed to Epcot again to get our Disney Visa pictures at Innoventions West. On the way into the park, we decided to stop and leave a legacy.

After the Disney Visa pictures, we headed to the World Showcase, watched the Voices of Liberty under the dome of American Adventure, and then watched the American Adventure show. We then headed over to ride Test Track (FP).

We hopped the monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom, where we had reservations at Tony’s. This was another first for me, and I was less than impressed. DRM had steak, and I had spaghetti and Italian sausage. The spaghetti sauce wasn’t flavorful at all. In fact, it tasted more like straight tomato sauce than spaghetti sauce. (I was wishing for Mama Melrose’s sauce or the sauce served with the Calamari at Coral Reef.) Dessert was also unmemorable. I guess it was neat to say we’d finally eaten at Tony’s, but it won’t be on our list for a return anytime soon.

As we left Tony’s the SpecroMagic parade was just starting. So, we stayed to watch it again. Then it was home to the pool and hot tub again.

Day 14 – Last day in the parks

Sunday started at Magic Kingdom. In all the trips I’ve made the Disney World and the Magic Kingdom, I’ve never been to Tom Sawyer Island. So, we headed over on one of the early boats. We spent several hours exploring, and had some ice cream at Aunt Polly’s. (This was an excellent use of a snack coupon.)

On the boat ride back, the skies opened up and it began to rain. How lucky were we? Fourteen days in WDW during hurricane season and it only rained on our first and last days; and only for a few hours on those days.

We pulled out our ponchos and headed for Country Bear Jamboree. When we got out of the show, the rain had gone. There weren’t too many rides we hadn’t done yet on this trip, so we headed to the last few: Snow White and Dumbo. Then, we headed down to Main Street to watch the parade. We’d already seen it once, but during our Keys to the Kingdom tour, they showed us the parade float storage area and told us the parade had been changed since we last saw it. We were hard pressed to see the differences.

After the parade, we headed back to the room to relax for a few hours and get into our dress clothes. Our last table service meal was going to be at California Grill, and we were determined to be dressed to the nines. We even had sports coats with us.

When we were seated, I looked around and was very disappointed with the management’s choice to not enforce the dress code. I knew we were overdressed (and enjoyed getting spiffed up), but the people at tables on either side of us were wearing t-shirts and jeans. On the other side of us was a guy actually wearing gym sweat pants and a white undershirt. I mentioned my disappointment at the desk later, and was handed the manager’s card. The CM at the desk explained that it was frustrating to them to, that they get overruled when telling someone they don’t meet the dress requirements.

I made a mistake when ordering our wine. The one I got for myself was fine. DRM wanted a White Zinfandel, though. I ordered him a Zinfandel, which we found out is not what he had in mind. It was a very dry red wine. The waiter read his face, asked him what was wrong, and instantly replaced it with a white zinfandel.

I had the spicy sushi appetizer. DRM had the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli. Both were fantastic, but the sushi was better. I was nice and shared several pieces with DRM, because I could see he was disappointed with his choice. For entrée’s, DRM ordered the Dayboat Scallops and I had the pork tenderloin. These dishes were beyond description they were both so good. You’d never know our plates had been used they were so clean when we were done.

For dessert, I ordered the Bananas and Butterscotch Buzz, which disappointed me a little. It had a bit too much of a burnt flavor for me. DRM had much better luck with the Apricot Squared dessert.

It was then back to the room, and time to pack for the trip home.

Day 15

Up early, we called bell services to pick up our bags and went up to the airline check in to get checked in for our flight. We then stopped in Artist’s Pallet for breakfast, grabbed some sandwiches for lunch on the plane, and hung out in the pool for a while.

At 10:00, we met our Disney Magical Express bus, and our vacation was officially at its end.

What a trip. What a trip report! My fingers hurt!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Great report, thanks for sharing it. I promise not to leave my ID behind!

 

[Bev J]

Dave-
Thanks for such a detailed report, it was very enjoyable to read and your dining descriptions were wonderful.

Bev

 

[DeterminedOne]

Wonderful report, Dave! Thanks for the detail and for posting it all on one thread. I have so many comments and questions. Hope you don't mind.

I was totally jealous about your surprise fastpasses! What a great gift?

Had to laugh at your comment about there not being a walkway from GF to MK and the fact that you ended up back at Poly anyways.

Your experience on day 9 in realizing there is no bus from Epcot to the Boardwalk/Epcot resorts ... been there, done that.

It was good of you to notify the driver about the miscellaneous bag on the boat. Thanks for not blowing it off.

Did you ever find out what was going on at the Ice Station that they were out of mostly all the flavors? What a bummer?

Sorry you didn't have much luck finding hidden Mickey's. Better luck next trip!

Great review of the Hidden Treasures tour. My DH and I are going on it next month and I was psyched to learn that we can take pictures in some of the areas. The couple who didn't have park tickets but were allowed on the tour anyway - Disney service at its best.

You had a lot of interesting dining experiences, especially the one about the guy on medical marijuana. I am not laughing at him, just the whole experience.

I forget where you all were when you had to split the flatbread between you. Weird. And I'm glad that you and DRM figured out how to eat the edamame. It tastes totally different outside the shell.

Thanks so much for sharing your trip. I enjoyed every word of it!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Thanks for such a detailed report, it was very enjoyable to read and your dining descriptions were wonderful.

Thanks, I enjoyed re-living the memories a second time as I was writing it.

Great report, thanks for sharing it. I promise not to leave my ID behind!

Next time, I think I'm going to bring our passports and keep them in the safe. That way, I won't feel as anxious about having our drivers licenses with us all the time in the parks. Only having a single picture ID each with us on the trip, it was a balancing act between the fear of "how do we get home if we loose our drivers license and can't show it at the airport" and needing to have an ID for some things in WDW.

Thanks for the detail and for posting it all on one thread.

I wrote it ahead of time in Word so I could post it all at once. I knew I wouldn't be able to get it all written in one sitting. (I also wanted the benefit of a spelling checker!)

Did you ever find out what was going on at the Ice Station that they were out of mostly all the flavors? What a bummer?

I'm not sure what the deal was. I've seen some other posts on here in the past that they're having supply problems. I hadn't realized it was so bad, though, that there'd only be two or three flavors available.

Sorry you didn't have much luck finding hidden Mickey's. Better luck next trip!

We got better as the stay progressed. The one in the Haunted Mansion we kept missing (along with a few others around the park) were actually pointed out on the Keys the Kingdom Tour.

Great review of the Hidden Treasures tour. My DH and I are going on it next month and I was psyched to learn that we can take pictures in some of the areas. The couple who didn't have park tickets but were allowed on the tour anyway - Disney service at its best.

On the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, they wouldn't let us take our cameras with us on the tour, and cell phones had to be put away any time we went back stage. On the Hidden Treasures of the World Showcase tour, we could have the cameras, but had to put them away any time we were back stage or in an area of the park that wasn't yet open to the public. So, we really only have pictures of things we could have taken without being on the tour, but we were able to capture some of the little details that had been pointed out to us in the on stage open areas.

I forget where you all were when you had to split the flatbread between you. Weird. And I'm glad that you and DRM figured out how to eat the edamame. It tastes totally different outside the shell.

This was at Mama Melroses, and I think it was a restriction of the Fasntasmic package rather than being a dining plan thing. I like the fact that you can use the DDP for the Fantasmic packages, but caught the fact that we were loosing out on some appetizers.

Thanks so much for sharing your trip. I enjoyed every word of it!

Thanks! I had fun writing it - I keep a blog and used this as both a blog entry and a trip report here. To be honest, I'm surprised anyone made it all the way through it. It was 27 pages in the Microsoft Word document I typed it in. When I get some of my digital photos onto my home page, I'll probably add them in.

 

[Mahusky]

Great trip report.