PamNC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 4,597
Cast of Characters: Me, 45 and my DH 37.
Trip dates: 7/24 – 7/31
Resort: Beach Club
Day 1: Arrival Day
We actually started our vacation on 7/22 with a 2-day visit to St. Augustine. But, this is a Disney fan-site so I won’t get into that very much except to say that St. Augustine is a beautiful, historic beach town and we had a blast. Blah blah blah – now on to the good stuff….Disney arrival day.
Oh, I do want to mention that we did see a manatee in the wild which was an awesome experience. Okay, I promise, on to Disney.
We arrived at the Beach Club at about 10:30 a.m. What a wonderful feeling to drive up to the security gate of your resort and say “we’re checking in!” Drove on up and were immediately greeted by the valet and bell services cast members. Car didn’t even stop rolling all the way when the nice young man reached to open the door. Now that’s service. They held our bags and DH parked the car himself while I went in. It’s not that we’re too cheap to pay for valet, but we just bought a Prius and we’re not so sure folks know how to work the thing…heck, sometimes we don’t even remember to turn it off. Much to my dismay, Art wasn’t there but I was greeted by a nice man in a suit who was obviously the on duty manager or something of the sort. I asked about Art and he said he was scheduled to come in that day but wasn’t able to make it.
No line at check-in. Walked right up and a very friendly CM checked us in. It was early so we didn’t expect the room to be ready, and it wasn’t. Got all checked in and decided we were hungry for lunch although it was a bit early. We had planned on heading just outside the property for a slice or two of our favorite pizza at Famous Familgia. (I may be spelling that wrong). It’s at the crossroads shopping plaza area. We don’t have this establishment at home and they have DELICIOUS pizza with the best crust I’ve ever had so that’s why we were willing to drive off Disney property for lunch. Just this once, since we weren’t really “fully checked in.” Once we get in the room, we aren’t apt to leave the property for anything, even good pizza. We headed towards Downtown Disney to exit that way and go right across the street to Crossroads. Let me tell you the traffic was HORRIFIC. Never seen anything like it. We stopped at each and every light and sat and sat and sat. It must have taken 30 minutes to get there. And, guess what, we got there and our favorite pizza joint WAS CLOSED!!! Oh no. I guess we should have checked to be sure it was still there, but it just opened a year ago. Who would have thunk it? Starving as we were, we opted to try Chevy’s which is a Tex Mex place right in the area. It was really good!! If you like Tex Mex and want a cheap lunch or dinner, I would highly recommend it if you can tear yourself away from Disney property.
Drove back, equally as slow, to the Beach Club. It was still early so we figured the room wasn’t ready so we decided to head for Epcot. Back in April we were fortunate enough to visit London and Paris so we wanted to go to those pavilions in order to compare and contrast with the real thing. Started with the UK. The first thing I noticed was the street names on the buildings, which is how they do it in London vs. the street signs that we have here in the US. I even recognized a couple of the street names like High Street. The buildings are somewhat authentic looking and are obviously a “mix” of different places in the UK. For instance the building to the right as you look straight on at the UK pavilion looks like one of the buildings at the Tower of London…the one where the crown jewels are kept. We also noticed that some of the buildings looked a lot like the Goodenough Club which is where we stayed in London. It was fun strolling around and seeing the red phone booths again and hearing the wonderful English accents of the cast members. After strolling through a couple of the shops and taking some pics of the lovely garden, we headed off to France. I have to say the Eiffel tower replica is not very good once you’ve seen the real thing. But, I don’t think anyone expects it to be. In Paris, the subway entrance signs are quite artistic, in a modern sort of way. Saw some evidence of that. The little green artists’ stands were quite familiar although I think it would look more authentic if they were open and had some art in them. I love world showcase, I really do, but once you’ve seen the real thing you can kind of see why some say its “plastic and fake.” No flames now - I still love it!
We watched the movie in France and then headed back to the Beach Club to check on our room…by this time it was about 2:30. IT WAS READY! They give you a card at check in so you can call to check on your room without getting back in the check-in line. If the room is ready, you take your cards and head straight for the room. Oh, after you give the bell services folks your card so they will know where to bring your luggage. I was so nervous about the room assignment this time because when we booked all they had left at the passholder rate was a King Sico room. Didn’t sound good to me…a bed that comes out of the wall. I did a lot of research here on the boards and elsewhere and had some idea of what I was getting into, but it still seemed like a weird concept to us. We booked a standard room so the other thing that was making me a nervous Nellie was the fact that we could end up with a view of a parking lot or a roof. However, I had made a request on our ressie and faxed in a request for a patio or full balcony and “a nice view of something other than a parking lot or rooftop.” That’s a direct quote from the fax I sent. And, in typical Disney fashion – we were granted our request 100%. Our room was 4590 – a King Sico dormer room. Okay, now we were hit with this “dormer thing” in addition to the Sico. The view was wooded and we could see the BC Villas to the left. Very nice and quiet so we were happy view-wise. Now, the room did seem a tad smaller but I think that was because it was a dormer room, not because it was a sico room. No big deal as it was quite comfortable for the two of us – the only thing was the lack of drawer space. DH didn’t mind living out of the suitcase so it worked out. The sico rooms don’t have a separate vanity area, but you do get two closets. There is a living area with the sofa/daybed and a small coffee table, and the same desk that is in the regular rooms. There is also a pretty large wet-bar area right by the bed. Strange, but it turned out we really liked the room because of the big living area space. The only thing was there is little space between the bed and the dresser…makes it hard to get to the fridge. Have to sit on the bed to get in the fridge. If the bed were flush with the wall with a headboard vs. jutting out it wouldn’t be a problem. This made me think we might enjoy a regular king room. At this point, we had only been in the 2 queen bed rooms. The room was very clean and there was a towel animal waiting for us in the bathroom between the two sinks. We didn’t have to pull the bed out of the wall the whole trip – it was always there and for all intents and purposes it was just a regular bed sans a real headboard. The mattress seemed the same. I wouldn’t be in the least bit upset if we got a sico room again.
We had ADR’s at Flying Fish @ 5:30 but given the fact that we had gorged ourselves on Tex Mex earlier at lunch, we knew we wouldn’t be anywhere near hungry at 5:30. So, we relaxed in the room awhile and pondered our next move. Here’s what we came up with: I had seriously clobbered my husband back in St. Augustine at miniature golf and he was demanding a rematch. So, we headed off to Fantasia Miniature Golf. AP’s in hand because you get a great 50% discount. I’m sorry to report that he did beat me, but I’m happy to report that we had a great time. All the while he was saying to me, “I will show you no mercy.” We tend to get a little competitive at times.
Okay, now we were hungry but it was 7:00, which was way past our 5:30 ressie. We decided to go on over to Flying Fish, apologize profusely for missing our ADR’s and see if we could get in. We could, but with a 45 minute wait so we opted to head for Beaches & Cream where they told us it would be a 50 minute wait. My brilliant husband did not believe them and it turned out we only waited about 15 minutes. How he knew that, I have no idea! We told them a counter spot would be acceptable so that probably sped things up. I don’t mind the counter because you can watch all the action. It’s especially fun to watch them make the ice cream concoctions. I had a burger and fries, DH had a hot dog and fries…both of which were delicious and then we split a No Way Jose. Flying Fish be damned! We were so glad that we missed our ADR’s. Only thing is, something happened. The male CM, who seemed young and new at the job, was making our No Way Jose and we heard our server say to him, “no, don’t wipe it off the sides, the guests like it like that dripping off the side.” Which, as all No Way Jose fans know, is very very true. We woofed it down and enjoyed every bite. Then, my DH looked all glassy-eyed and said he had “sugar over-ride” (translated HE ATE TOO MUCH). He then plopped over on the table…head down on the counter. I took his picture all slouched over and managed to get him out of there. Poor thing had to rush to the men’s room and…how shall I put this delicately….he had some stomach issues. Nothing horrible mind you, but it messed with him a little. I’m usually the one with the weak stomach and I felt fine. He then remembered something. Apparently when the CM wiped our No Way Jose glass before our server stopped him, he used the same rag he was using to wipe the counters. This would have been good information to know prior to inhaling the thing, don’t you think? I really couldn’t fathom why DH just suddenly remembered that. Oh well. It was delicious and I felt fine but I don’t think DH will ignore such a slip-up again. That’s all I have to say about that.
Back to the room. Illuminations was going off so we rushed out to the balcony to see what we could see. Could see a little, but the trees were in the way for the most part. Nonetheless it was exciting and we were too tired to watch much of anything. All that sugar, grease, fat and dirty rag debris I suppose.
Something I learned about myself on this trip: Now that we’re older we can’t handle all the rich, greasy food that we so much enjoy on vacation. We’ve been going to Disney since our honeymoon in 1994 and back in the day we would woof down 3 big meals every single day. Eat anything we want. We just can’t handle it anymore, but that didn’t stop us from trying as you’ll discover as you continue reading Days 2 – 7. Anyway, I ordered up a wake-up call for 6:30 a.m. because we had ADR’s at Kona Café @ 7:30 a.m. Needed some more grease and sugar first thing in the morning. Our tradition is to eat breakfast at Kona on our first full day of the trip. Can’t balk tradition!
Stay tuned for Day 2 – Magic Kingdom, an attempt at Stormalong Bay, karaoke and cocktails, and the sad discovery that we really don’t like MGM anymore.
Trip dates: 7/24 – 7/31
Resort: Beach Club
Day 1: Arrival Day
We actually started our vacation on 7/22 with a 2-day visit to St. Augustine. But, this is a Disney fan-site so I won’t get into that very much except to say that St. Augustine is a beautiful, historic beach town and we had a blast. Blah blah blah – now on to the good stuff….Disney arrival day.
Oh, I do want to mention that we did see a manatee in the wild which was an awesome experience. Okay, I promise, on to Disney.
We arrived at the Beach Club at about 10:30 a.m. What a wonderful feeling to drive up to the security gate of your resort and say “we’re checking in!” Drove on up and were immediately greeted by the valet and bell services cast members. Car didn’t even stop rolling all the way when the nice young man reached to open the door. Now that’s service. They held our bags and DH parked the car himself while I went in. It’s not that we’re too cheap to pay for valet, but we just bought a Prius and we’re not so sure folks know how to work the thing…heck, sometimes we don’t even remember to turn it off. Much to my dismay, Art wasn’t there but I was greeted by a nice man in a suit who was obviously the on duty manager or something of the sort. I asked about Art and he said he was scheduled to come in that day but wasn’t able to make it.
No line at check-in. Walked right up and a very friendly CM checked us in. It was early so we didn’t expect the room to be ready, and it wasn’t. Got all checked in and decided we were hungry for lunch although it was a bit early. We had planned on heading just outside the property for a slice or two of our favorite pizza at Famous Familgia. (I may be spelling that wrong). It’s at the crossroads shopping plaza area. We don’t have this establishment at home and they have DELICIOUS pizza with the best crust I’ve ever had so that’s why we were willing to drive off Disney property for lunch. Just this once, since we weren’t really “fully checked in.” Once we get in the room, we aren’t apt to leave the property for anything, even good pizza. We headed towards Downtown Disney to exit that way and go right across the street to Crossroads. Let me tell you the traffic was HORRIFIC. Never seen anything like it. We stopped at each and every light and sat and sat and sat. It must have taken 30 minutes to get there. And, guess what, we got there and our favorite pizza joint WAS CLOSED!!! Oh no. I guess we should have checked to be sure it was still there, but it just opened a year ago. Who would have thunk it? Starving as we were, we opted to try Chevy’s which is a Tex Mex place right in the area. It was really good!! If you like Tex Mex and want a cheap lunch or dinner, I would highly recommend it if you can tear yourself away from Disney property.
Drove back, equally as slow, to the Beach Club. It was still early so we figured the room wasn’t ready so we decided to head for Epcot. Back in April we were fortunate enough to visit London and Paris so we wanted to go to those pavilions in order to compare and contrast with the real thing. Started with the UK. The first thing I noticed was the street names on the buildings, which is how they do it in London vs. the street signs that we have here in the US. I even recognized a couple of the street names like High Street. The buildings are somewhat authentic looking and are obviously a “mix” of different places in the UK. For instance the building to the right as you look straight on at the UK pavilion looks like one of the buildings at the Tower of London…the one where the crown jewels are kept. We also noticed that some of the buildings looked a lot like the Goodenough Club which is where we stayed in London. It was fun strolling around and seeing the red phone booths again and hearing the wonderful English accents of the cast members. After strolling through a couple of the shops and taking some pics of the lovely garden, we headed off to France. I have to say the Eiffel tower replica is not very good once you’ve seen the real thing. But, I don’t think anyone expects it to be. In Paris, the subway entrance signs are quite artistic, in a modern sort of way. Saw some evidence of that. The little green artists’ stands were quite familiar although I think it would look more authentic if they were open and had some art in them. I love world showcase, I really do, but once you’ve seen the real thing you can kind of see why some say its “plastic and fake.” No flames now - I still love it!
We watched the movie in France and then headed back to the Beach Club to check on our room…by this time it was about 2:30. IT WAS READY! They give you a card at check in so you can call to check on your room without getting back in the check-in line. If the room is ready, you take your cards and head straight for the room. Oh, after you give the bell services folks your card so they will know where to bring your luggage. I was so nervous about the room assignment this time because when we booked all they had left at the passholder rate was a King Sico room. Didn’t sound good to me…a bed that comes out of the wall. I did a lot of research here on the boards and elsewhere and had some idea of what I was getting into, but it still seemed like a weird concept to us. We booked a standard room so the other thing that was making me a nervous Nellie was the fact that we could end up with a view of a parking lot or a roof. However, I had made a request on our ressie and faxed in a request for a patio or full balcony and “a nice view of something other than a parking lot or rooftop.” That’s a direct quote from the fax I sent. And, in typical Disney fashion – we were granted our request 100%. Our room was 4590 – a King Sico dormer room. Okay, now we were hit with this “dormer thing” in addition to the Sico. The view was wooded and we could see the BC Villas to the left. Very nice and quiet so we were happy view-wise. Now, the room did seem a tad smaller but I think that was because it was a dormer room, not because it was a sico room. No big deal as it was quite comfortable for the two of us – the only thing was the lack of drawer space. DH didn’t mind living out of the suitcase so it worked out. The sico rooms don’t have a separate vanity area, but you do get two closets. There is a living area with the sofa/daybed and a small coffee table, and the same desk that is in the regular rooms. There is also a pretty large wet-bar area right by the bed. Strange, but it turned out we really liked the room because of the big living area space. The only thing was there is little space between the bed and the dresser…makes it hard to get to the fridge. Have to sit on the bed to get in the fridge. If the bed were flush with the wall with a headboard vs. jutting out it wouldn’t be a problem. This made me think we might enjoy a regular king room. At this point, we had only been in the 2 queen bed rooms. The room was very clean and there was a towel animal waiting for us in the bathroom between the two sinks. We didn’t have to pull the bed out of the wall the whole trip – it was always there and for all intents and purposes it was just a regular bed sans a real headboard. The mattress seemed the same. I wouldn’t be in the least bit upset if we got a sico room again.
We had ADR’s at Flying Fish @ 5:30 but given the fact that we had gorged ourselves on Tex Mex earlier at lunch, we knew we wouldn’t be anywhere near hungry at 5:30. So, we relaxed in the room awhile and pondered our next move. Here’s what we came up with: I had seriously clobbered my husband back in St. Augustine at miniature golf and he was demanding a rematch. So, we headed off to Fantasia Miniature Golf. AP’s in hand because you get a great 50% discount. I’m sorry to report that he did beat me, but I’m happy to report that we had a great time. All the while he was saying to me, “I will show you no mercy.” We tend to get a little competitive at times.
Okay, now we were hungry but it was 7:00, which was way past our 5:30 ressie. We decided to go on over to Flying Fish, apologize profusely for missing our ADR’s and see if we could get in. We could, but with a 45 minute wait so we opted to head for Beaches & Cream where they told us it would be a 50 minute wait. My brilliant husband did not believe them and it turned out we only waited about 15 minutes. How he knew that, I have no idea! We told them a counter spot would be acceptable so that probably sped things up. I don’t mind the counter because you can watch all the action. It’s especially fun to watch them make the ice cream concoctions. I had a burger and fries, DH had a hot dog and fries…both of which were delicious and then we split a No Way Jose. Flying Fish be damned! We were so glad that we missed our ADR’s. Only thing is, something happened. The male CM, who seemed young and new at the job, was making our No Way Jose and we heard our server say to him, “no, don’t wipe it off the sides, the guests like it like that dripping off the side.” Which, as all No Way Jose fans know, is very very true. We woofed it down and enjoyed every bite. Then, my DH looked all glassy-eyed and said he had “sugar over-ride” (translated HE ATE TOO MUCH). He then plopped over on the table…head down on the counter. I took his picture all slouched over and managed to get him out of there. Poor thing had to rush to the men’s room and…how shall I put this delicately….he had some stomach issues. Nothing horrible mind you, but it messed with him a little. I’m usually the one with the weak stomach and I felt fine. He then remembered something. Apparently when the CM wiped our No Way Jose glass before our server stopped him, he used the same rag he was using to wipe the counters. This would have been good information to know prior to inhaling the thing, don’t you think? I really couldn’t fathom why DH just suddenly remembered that. Oh well. It was delicious and I felt fine but I don’t think DH will ignore such a slip-up again. That’s all I have to say about that.
Back to the room. Illuminations was going off so we rushed out to the balcony to see what we could see. Could see a little, but the trees were in the way for the most part. Nonetheless it was exciting and we were too tired to watch much of anything. All that sugar, grease, fat and dirty rag debris I suppose.
Something I learned about myself on this trip: Now that we’re older we can’t handle all the rich, greasy food that we so much enjoy on vacation. We’ve been going to Disney since our honeymoon in 1994 and back in the day we would woof down 3 big meals every single day. Eat anything we want. We just can’t handle it anymore, but that didn’t stop us from trying as you’ll discover as you continue reading Days 2 – 7. Anyway, I ordered up a wake-up call for 6:30 a.m. because we had ADR’s at Kona Café @ 7:30 a.m. Needed some more grease and sugar first thing in the morning. Our tradition is to eat breakfast at Kona on our first full day of the trip. Can’t balk tradition!
Stay tuned for Day 2 – Magic Kingdom, an attempt at Stormalong Bay, karaoke and cocktails, and the sad discovery that we really don’t like MGM anymore.
