our non-rushing (sorta) disney anniversary w/ PICS & VIDEO! new TR link - p. 136

[punkin413]

the first part of this update is on the previous page!

it took me 8 minutes to walk from the congress park bus stop to high rock springs pool, which is the main pool area. and i was walking at a leisurely pace. not bad at all!

i took this pic at 9:27 and there were people in the pool. crazy!

the arcade....

the pool bar, which was closed since it was 9:30 a.m.!

the jacuzzi.....

the zero-entry area of the pool. i got in here up to my calves and the water was wonderful! very warm for 9:30 in the morning.

the slide....

this area is one of those squirting fountain areas. the fountains weren't on that morning (yet).

cute!

the view overlooking high rock springs pool with my back to the artist's pallete...

the artist's pallete, which is the food court/gift shop area. not very busy at 9:30 in the morning!

this is outside the check-in area at the carriage house.

i think i posted this pic earlier in the TR, but i actually took it on this day. this is the area you pull up to to check in.

they have framed pictures of disney horses in the kids' waiting area to go along with the saratoga springs theme!

the kids' waiting area....

i can't believe i forgot to take a picture of the lobby.....it's beautiful!

it was almost 10:00 by this time and i decided to head back to the room because i needed to make a couple of phone calls before we headed out for the day.

the best part of my walk that morning.....

i hope someday this is a regular sight for us to see!

up next......shopping, shopping and more shopping, lunch at.....just wait and see! and you want to go WHERE??????????

 

[IluvXU]

Love love the pictures... what a pretty place. I hope someday to stay there, the zero entry pool would be great for kids!

 

[scottny]

gorgeous pics. I will have to try it sometime.

 

[hlrababy]

Great update Dawn!! All the pictures are just beautiful!
I love all your new shirts btw!

 

[Camster0307]

Love your pictures of the resort! We're DVC members and always stay at the BW but it's nice to see pix from the other the other vacation club resorts.

Love your t-shirts purchases also. The pink tank top is adorable. I need to stay away from the disney shopping site for a while though - everytime I go over to "browse", I find a deal that's just to good to pass up!

 

[MeMom]

Excellent pictures! This is the only official Disney resort I haven't set foot on, but I plan to change that in a couple of weeks. I haven't been to Swan or Dolphin, either, but they're just semi-official, so they don't count.

As for the CP, Jill and I did go to it last year, but we thought the others might like to see it. The more we've discussed it, I guess we're just going to see and/or hear what we can from the back and not worry about doing a package.

Are you on the phone with Disney Dining right now?

 

[lmillercrew]

love the mickey head tank! Freat pics of the resort.

 

[Eventer98]

Love the pics...makes me homesick

 

[DisneyLaura]

for luke (anna will pay me back)....

Cute shirts, love the tank too. This Buzz one I bought this same shirt for my DS6 who is addicted to Buzz lightyear still since he's been 3.

And those pictures of our resort, I think I'm in love That is a beautiful resort. Is that a walk in pool? Just gorgeous. Makes me wish I could "live" there too. Some day when I get a paying job DH said we can buy DVC. Love the update.

 

[IcePrincess467]

Phew- all caught up now!! I can't believe the rudeness of the CM at RnRC!! I think I would have went and complained right away! But I can see Ray's view too, and I think your email was perfectly written!!

So far you TR is awesome!! Seems like you guys had an amazing time.

I have one question about crocs for you, I don't know if you wore your MaryJane ones or not on this trip, but I was wondering just how compy they are? I am thinking about buying a pair for my July trip, but I don't want my feet to be killing me!! Anyways, let me know and thanks in advance!!

I look foward to reading the rest of your TR!!

 

[KristinAnne]

Great pictures! Everything looks so pretty! It is a very cute tank top, by the way! I need to find me some Disney t-shirts over the next 5 days!!!

 

[punkin413]

just got off the phone with disney dining. i think i got a rather new CM. she made a big deal about the fact that we weren't staying on property, saying, "i'll have to see how many days out you are because you can't make reservations more than 180 days if you're not staying on property." duh. i let her check even though i knew it was exactly 180 days out from december 11th. once she was satisfied, she went ahead and let me make the reservation. then she said something about the new ride at DHS, that we should definitely check it out because she hears it's really fun. i swear that she called it "the new story ride". um.....yeah.....whatever you say!

the only thing they had available for lunch for a party of 5 was 1:35. i wanted earlier because i want to see the block party at 3:00 and i'm afraid this will be cutting it too close. she said they had nothing earlier, so i took it. but i'm going to ask when i call back later this week. i have a feeling i might have more luck with a more seasoned CM. i don't have to call tomorrow because we're going to beaches & cream on december 12th and they don't take reservations.

Super cute shirts! I especially love the red Mickey one.

thanks! i may save the red one for our december trip. if it's cold i'll just wear a long-sleeved white shirt under it.

Love love the pictures... what a pretty place. I hope someday to stay there, the zero entry pool would be great for kids!

thanks! yes, it was very pretty. i hope go go back there someday. if you're not DVC members (as we're not) you can rent points from one - it's the way to go as compared to going through disney. i think the rate per night there if you book through disney is somewhere around $300/night. but we rented points and we paid something like $130/night (except for friday which was more expensive - the points go up on the weekends).

gorgeous pics. I will have to try it sometime.

it's such a nice, peaceful place! i highly recommend it.

Great update Dawn!! All the pictures are just beautiful!
I love all your new shirts btw!

thanks! i knew you'd like the shopping pics.

Love your pictures of the resort! We're DVC members and always stay at the BW but it's nice to see pix from the other the other vacation club resorts.

Love your t-shirts purchases also. The pink tank top is adorable. I need to stay away from the disney shopping site for a while though - everytime I go over to "browse", I find a deal that's just to good to pass up!

thanks! we hope to buy DVC someday. the payments aren't bad but we really need to pay off some credit cards and student loans before we commit to another monthly bill. maybe in about 4-5 years!

i know what you mean about disney shopping. i can never resist anything on sale!

Excellent pictures! This is the only official Disney resort I haven't set foot on, but I plan to change that in a couple of weeks. I haven't been to Swan or Dolphin, either, but they're just semi-official, so they don't count.

As for the CP, Jill and I did go to it last year, but we thought the others might like to see it. The more we've discussed it, I guess we're just going to see and/or hear what we can from the back and not worry about doing a package.

Are you on the phone with Disney Dining right now?

see above about disney dining. you are psychic!!!

SSR is definitely worth checking out. brooklynn would love playing in the donald fountains, so bring a change of clothes. i know luke enjoyed it when they came later in the week. anna, chris & luke ate lunch at the artist's pallette and they said it was really good, just FYI.

love the mickey head tank! Freat pics of the resort.

thanks! as i said above, i may save that red mickey tank for our december trip and just wear a long-sleeved white shirt underneath it if it's cold. we'll see!

Love the pics...makes me homesick

you'll be back there VERY SOON!!!

Cute shirts, love the tank too. This Buzz one I bought this same shirt for my DS6 who is addicted to Buzz lightyear still since he's been 3.

And those pictures of our resort, I think I'm in love That is a beautiful resort. Is that a walk in pool? Just gorgeous. Makes me wish I could "live" there too. Some day when I get a paying job DH said we can buy DVC. Love the update.

i got luke a small and he just turned 4. i hope that's the right size. i figure it might be kinda big but he's got until december to grow into it!

yes, that's a walk-in pool. it's called a zero entry pool. it's really neat! we are hoping to buy DVC one day, too. the payments aren't that bad if you finance it, but we need to pay off some other bills before we add more debt to our huge pile!

Phew- all caught up now!! I can't believe the rudeness of the CM at RnRC!! I think I would have went and complained right away! But I can see Ray's view too, and I think your email was perfectly written!!

So far you TR is awesome!! Seems like you guys had an amazing time.

I have one question about crocs for you, I don't know if you wore your MaryJane ones or not on this trip, but I was wondering just how compy they are? I am thinking about buying a pair for my July trip, but I don't want my feet to be killing me!! Anyways, let me know and thanks in advance!!

I look foward to reading the rest of your TR!!

thanks! yeah, that CM at RnRC *almost* ruined our night. it did for a little while and then when fantasmic started i forgot all about it. at least for a few minutes anyway!

about the crocs, yes, i wore my mary jane ones and my alice ones this trip. i loved both of them! the mary jane ones are a little wider than the alice ones and they're definitely comfortable. i NEVER had any problems with my feet while i was there this time! i kind of split my time between my crocs and my sneakers and it worked out great! i think i like the look of my alice ones more, but the mary janes are definitely cute too....plus you can put jibbitz in them and that's always fun.

Great pictures! Everything looks so pretty! It is a very cute tank top, by the way! I need to find me some Disney t-shirts over the next 5 days!!!

wow.......5 days! that's so exciting! hope you have a great trip!

 

[DisneyJo]

Beautiful photos Dawn, what a lovely way to spend an hour

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Howdy! Please excuse me for being late to the party! I believe I lurked on one of your previous TR's and very much enjoyed it. You and DH are a cute couple and I love your sense of humor -- think we see "the World" through similar eyes. I'm not all caught up yet but wanted to mark my place. Some random stream of consciousness thoughts so far:

HoJo... NO JO. Sounds yucky. Ever since I saw a Dateline NBC or one of those investigative reports about the germs found on a hotel comforter I've never been able to sleep w/ one on the bed. But when experienced in the pursuit of Disney, it's all good.

Bat anatomy. And this is why I just about failed science. If you hadn't included a warning I wouldn't have even know what I was looking at well enough to make an inappropriate comment!

Dinner at Kona looks yummy! I may have to add that to my list for Oct (the list that has changed 100x to date and continues to change almost daily)

Holy crowds at Spectro, batman! And what's up with the the CM bracelet police??

DH came back to B&B show w/ fries, a drink and a fast pass?? WOW!!

You're going back in December? I'm thinking about Dec too (even though I am already going in October)!

As Billy Idol says... "more, more, more"

 

[punkin413]

fire ants and crab grass are the bane of my existance. guess what i've been doing today?????

Beautiful photos Dawn, what a lovely way to spend an hour

thanks! it was a nice way to start the day for sure!

Howdy! Please excuse me for being late to the party! I believe I lurked on one of your previous TR's and very much enjoyed it. You and DH are a cute couple and I love your sense of humor -- think we see "the World" through similar eyes. I'm not all caught up yet but wanted to mark my place. Some random stream of consciousness thoughts so far:

thanks for joining in! i don't mind that you're late - i just like having you here!

HoJo... NO JO. Sounds yucky. Ever since I saw a Dateline NBC or one of those investigative reports about the germs found on a hotel comforter I've never been able to sleep w/ one on the bed. But when experienced in the pursuit of Disney, it's all good.

yuck! i won't EVER go back there! i told ray the other day that next time we will stay at a value the first night to avoid skanky hotels. we never go during the peak season so values are usually around $80-$90/night. i'd rather pay like $20 extra to be on disney property and away from the "real" world!

Bat anatomy. And this is why I just about failed science. If you hadn't included a warning I wouldn't have even know what I was looking at well enough to make an inappropriate comment!

well, EVERYONE there noticed it. a young girl even told her dad, "that bat was sunning his b*lls!"

Dinner at Kona looks yummy! I may have to add that to my list for Oct (the list that has changed 100x to date and continues to change almost daily)

kona = good. we're going back there on our december trip!

Holy crowds at Spectro, batman! And what's up with the the CM bracelet police??

tell me about it! i think some CMs are just inexperienced and go by the rules too rigidly.

DH came back to B&B show w/ fries, a drink and a fast pass?? WOW!!

what a guy, huh????

You're going back in December? I'm thinking about Dec too (even though I am already going in October)!

yep. i'm actually going in september with a girlfriend for free dining (and since i have an AP, i only have to pay for the hotel!!!) and then in december for our christmas trip. i'm a very lucky girl this year! it will probably never happen again and i'm counting my blessings.

As Billy Idol says... "more, more, more"

"with a rebel yell"...... i promise to have an update soon!

 

[VandyFan10]

thanks! let me know what you ended up buying!

I'm prob. not going to get anything....I've seemed to have bought TONS of clothes lately

the zero-entry area of the pool. i got in here up to my calves and the water was wonderful! very warm for 9:30 in the morning.

I want one of these in my back yard!!

I love the pics of the different horses in the lobby....really cool!

just got off the phone with disney dining. i think i got a rather new CM. she made a big deal about the fact that we weren't staying on property, saying, "i'll have to see how many days out you are because you can't make reservations more than 180 days if you're not staying on property." duh. i let her check even though i knew it was exactly 180 days out from december 11th. once she was satisfied, she went ahead and let me make the reservation. then she said something about the new ride at DHS, that we should definitely check it out because she hears it's really fun. i swear that she called it "the new story ride". um.....yeah.....whatever you say!

Did you tell her you would be riding the 'new' story ride in Sept when you are coming AGAIN and staying ON property!!!!

fire ants and crab grass are the bane of my existance. guess what i've been doing today?????

Fire ants

Yard work??!!??

 

[Lovemy3babes]

SSR is gorgeous!! What a perfect way to start your non-park day. Ahhh..... Someday we hope to own DVC as well. Someday always sounds so far away, doesn't it? Can't wait to hear what else you did and where you ate lunch. I'm definitely building a "break" day into our next trip!

 

[KatGarcia]

oh, i saw the canvas print and i wanted it, too, but i decided i couldn't spend any more money. i'd love to have that to put in my future baby's room. it's gonna be peter pan themed. and no, i'm not pregnant......just thinking ahead!

I always say that we better have a girl so I can go all Tink and dress her room and her in Tink!

SSR is really beautiful!

 

[Minnie_Lover08]

Hi there i have been a lurker and i am really enjoying your trip report, it sounds like you and DH had a great time execpt for the rude CM.

 

[xominnieox2]

Hello! I just read all 42 pages of your TR. It is fantastic! I can't wait to read the rest!

-Minnie