PLEASE! Whistle while you work Update Day 6 - 06/16

[englishrose47]

Last Day sounds soooo sad !!! I am Not looking forward to that!! We found the same thing with the food at AoA it was cold , I am pretty sure Carol had the shrimp burger too , she said it was good but cold !!

 

[dizneeat]

YOU ALWAYS LEAVE ME HANGING AFTER THE FOOD PICTURES!!!!!

I see it as giving you time to digest!

We are staying at AoA for a couple of days in December and can't wait to try their food court

It is such an awesome resort, Linda. We loved checking it out in the summer. What section are you going to stay at?
I really hope they do away with the metal baskets for their food. Since the airconditioning was on the tables were pretty cold and the food went cold fast. Otherwise it was pretty yummy!
We will definitely be back!

Last Day sounds soooo sad !!! I am Not looking forward to that!! We found the same thing with the food at AoA it was cold , I am pretty sure Carol had the shrimp burger too , she said it was good but cold !!

The last night is always so sad. Packing up, putting your luggage outside ..... no fun.
Rosie, the burger was "warm" when I got it to the table, but after taking pictures of it and finally starting to eat, it had gone pretty cool.

 

[dizneeat]

Half term vacation 2013, Feb 16 - Feb 24

Day 6, February 21

……… another kind of cruise makes our day! - part 2

First off we both needed some jeans. They are far cheaper than here in Austria, so once we were done eating, we headed back out to the car and made our way to the stores to find some jeans. About an hour later we both had found several pairs that fit and we then decided to give one of the outlet malls close to Disney a try.



We drove over to the mall and tried to find a space to park our car. The parking lot was packed, but then we saw one car depart and pulled into that spot. We walked over to the side entrance of the mall and headed for the Fossil shop first.
Lots of things to look at, but nothing that interested Tom in particular. Next stop was the Vera Bradley Store, which was packed as always.
And guess what I didn’t find anything either. Then we popped into the Dooney and Bourke store and while they had some really nice bags, I found nothing I wanted to take home.
The last store we wanted to hit was the Disney outlet store. We stayed for quite some time and checked out lots of different things and finally picked up some Christmas ornaments. We made it to the checkout and the cast member there told us to pick up one more.
I first didn’t really catch what he meant, but Tom went back and picked up another one. Turns out that if you bought five of those figurines they were half of what four of them had been. Disney logic!
Happy with our purchases we headed back to our car. By then it was past 3pm and since we were already on the road and had one more purchase to make, why not have a look if the Krispy Kreme Hot Now sign was on. We drove out there and were sad to see that the sign was not on. Since we were already there we popped in none the less.



We were surprised to see the conveyer belt working, but they did not make the glazed doughnuts but the



glazed crullers. So why not try those? We ordered two of them and half a dozen regular glazed doughnuts,



a small coffee and a diet coke and sat down at a table to taste and enjoy our sweets. And while the crullers were nice, they were a bit too heavy for my liking and we were happy to have the regular glazed doughnuts to take home with us.
One last stop was still on our list and it was a visit to Publix to buy some snacks, some drinks and some salads and most of all sweetener. We drove to our regular Publix at Xentury City and when we turned into the parking lot we were stunned that there were no cars. Only when we looked more closely we noticed that the Publix lettering on the building was gone.
We were shocked and tried to find another Publix close by but the only one that I knew was close was behind the outlet mall. So we turned around and off we went past the outlet mall again and finally found a Publix. Since it was a different store it took us a while to find everything we needed, but in the end it took a bit longer than we actual had planned. When we were done we loaded everything into the car and finally headed back to Walt Disney World and Bay Lake Tower.



Again, we parked our car and headed right into the building to ask for our room number. The people in front of us were just picking up their things and heading towards the elevator, so there was no wait at all. We were told our room number and since the cast member checking us in saw that we were holding the ticket for our luggage he offered to have it delivered to our room. Yeah, nice, one less task to do.
Once we were done we were heading up to the 7th floor. Same floor we had stayed on for the first day of our vacation. And when we walked down the hall something dawned at us, this room must be very close to the one we had had previously. Turns out we were in the neighbouring room. What a coincidence.
We walked into the room and everything was perfect, so we took a lot of photos before we made ourselves at home.



















It did not take long and our luggage was delivered and this time the cast member did not have any trouble taking his tip.
There were a few more things in the car, so we went back to it again and hauled everything upstairs. Once we were back we had a drink out on the balcony and had another doughnut. There was not much time left until we had another meet, one I had been looking forward to for quite some time.

To be continued ...........

 

[englishrose47]

Your shopping day sounds like FUN!!! When we were there we passed an Aldis coming in and then couldn't find it again. So ended up at Walgreens to pick up snax!! Aldis is really cheap no frills type store, you bag your own stuff, but the prices are good !!

 

[dizneeat]

Your shopping day sounds like FUN!!! When we were there we passed an Aldis coming in and then couldn't find it again. So ended up at Walgreens to pick up snax!! Aldis is really cheap no frills type store, you bag your own stuff, but the prices are good !!

Rosie, I am glad you like Aldi! Did you know that the original Aldi (Hofer) originated here in Austria? They sold the concept to someone in Germany and now it is a world wide company.
I often shop here at the original Hofer stores (Austria is the only country to be able to stick to the original name ).
Yes, no frills, but they offer some really nice merchandise.

Oh, and I think the Aldi you passed should be a little way from the Florida Mall. We have shopped at that store too!

 

[jedijill]

Mmmmmm, Krispy Kremes. Where's the drool emoticon? Love BLT...I'm currently waitlisted for October...I got to stay there a night before my cruise last October and would love to stay longer!

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

Mmmmmm, Krispy Kremes. Where's the drool emoticon?

Jill in CO

 

[dizneeat]

Mmmmmm, Krispy Kremes. Where's the drool emoticon? Love BLT...I'm currently waitlisted for October...I got to stay there a night before my cruise last October and would love to stay longer!

Jill in CO

I really hope your BLT waitlist comes through soon. We were waitlisted for our Feb. vacation too. I think I only booked it about 5 weeks out and it went through within 2 days!
Such a great resort to stay at!

 

[jedijill]

Jill in CO

 

[englishrose47]

I do believe you mentioned this before !! Yes I think we did see a sign for the Mall, but with only 3 days and 3 parks to see , not much time for shopping . The girls did take time to get tattoos on the back of their necks, in NY State you have to be 18 , but in Florida with parental consent you can get them at 15 . I will have to take pix and show you . Judy got the chinese sign for strength

 

[jedijill]

I really hope your BLT waitlist comes through soon. We were waitlisted for our Feb. vacation too. I think I only booked it about 5 weeks out and it went through within 2 days!
Such a great resort to stay at!

Thanks! I just added a second waitlist for a Lake view so between that one and the standard view I'm hopeful. I'm booked at Kidani so I'm happy there too but would like to spoil myself with a monorail resort.

Jill in CO

 

[jenseib]

I found the outlook on our Nov. cruise too. It was early morning though. I have heard it's really dead and no one even really knows it is there and often it is used for things like weddings or special parties.

 

[MEK]

BLT I am itching to stay there again. Cute room and nice view.

How great that you got to stock up on some much needed blue jeans. I have never been to the Vera Bradley outlet, but I'll get there someday.

Yum - Crispy Creme. Oops I mean Krispy Kreme! Who doesn't love their donuts?

Oh yeah - glad you checked out AoA for lunch. Surf on surf - what a winner.

 

[dizneeat]

I do believe you mentioned this before !! Yes I think we did see a sign for the Mall, but with only 3 days and 3 parks to see , not much time for shopping . The girls did take time to get tattoos on the back of their necks, in NY State you have to be 18 , but in Florida with parental consent you can get them at 15 . I will have to take pix and show you . Judy got the chinese sign for strength

Tell me about time being of the essence, Rosie. I would not have struggled with going back and finding it either.
The girls got tattoos? Wow! They are pretty young to do that, but I think this is definitely another generation. I would have died doing something like that at their age - too afraid that it would hurt too much.

Thanks! I just added a second waitlist for a Lake view so between that one and the standard view I'm hopeful. I'm booked at Kidani so I'm happy there too but would like to spoil myself with a monorail resort.

Jill in CO

I have stalked the site prior to us booking our vacations and I think you have a fair chance to get a lake view! MK view (even though very high in points) and standard seemed to go pretty fast. LV is really nice though. We enjoyed the location of our studios and there is always the observation deck to go up to and enjoy the view of the park and fireworks.
And if all else fails, there is always Kidani, which should be awesome to stay at. We have only stayed at Jambo House prior to being DVC, but i am definitely planning on going back to AKV one of these days.

I found the outlook on our Nov. cruise too. It was early morning though. I have heard it's really dead and no one even really knows it is there and often it is used for things like weddings or special parties.

Yes, everyone we spoke to said that it was rarely used. What a shame, as it is a pretty neat spot. We have been up twice and it has been closed both times.
I don't even know if they have it on the Fantasy , but if so we will try to hit it at sunset, as this is when it is supposed to be open.

BLT I am itching to stay there again. Cute room and nice view.

How great that you got to stock up on some much needed blue jeans. I have never been to the Vera Bradley outlet, but I'll get there someday.

Yum - Crispy Creme. Oops I mean Krispy Kreme! Who doesn't love their donuts?

Oh yeah - glad you checked out AoA for lunch. Surf on surf - what a winner.

If you get the chance, Mary Ellen, you should definitely try BLT. AWESOME location that can't be beaten. We love to be able to just walk over to the MK.

The Vera and Dooney outlets are fun at the Mall. Unfortunately they did not offer any Disney bags. I bought some Dooneys for every day use at school during our last vacation and they came with a really nice discount.
We went to check out AoA last summer and were very impressed. Ever since I wanted to try their foodcourt, but never got around to it, so we were both pleased to make it there AND really enjoy the food. Now, if they only get rid of the metal baskets.

 

[dizneeat]

Half term vacation 2013, Feb 16 - Feb 24

Day 6, February 21

……… another kind of cruise makes our day! - part 3

There was not much time left until we had another meet, one I had been looking forward to for quite some time. There was just time for a little rest, then we had to dig through our suitcases to find all the goodies we had brought for our friends and put them all in the gift bags we had brought. Yikes, the gift bags were not big enough, so only the chocolates went in the gift bags and the rest of the gifts had to go into “WalMart” bags.
We were supposed to be at the Contemporary Resort marina at 7pm, so around 6.30 we went over to the Contemporary.
I was so unsure we were in the right place as I did not see any bigger boats in the marina, but before we could find out we had to make one more purchase, a gift card for one of our little friends. We walked right into the Fantasia store and bought a gift card. And while we waited for the cast member to find an envelope for it, we heard an all too familiar voice behind us. Our friend Tracy was doing some shopping of her own. So we all hugged and since we knew that we would spend some time lateron we went ahead to look for our other friends downstairs.
We easily spotted Michelle, Vito and Angelina. It was so wonderful to see them again. We had met for the first time the summer before and had had a lot of fun together. And after hugs and some excited sentences we went outside to look for the rest of our travel party, Ann, her husband Steve and Miss Zoe, whose trip reports I have read for a long time and who I was dying to meet. We walked towards the marina and then I first saw Zoe.
A few steps more and we caught sight of Ann and her husband. Needless to say that there were a few more hugs, presents were exchanged and we all started to chat away.





It was as if we all had known each other personally for a long time. We had been talking for quite some time when our skipper came up to us and asked who was in charge of the reservation.
Well, that was me and I had been too excited to pay any attention to the financial part of the reservation. But a credit card sealed the deal and we walked out to our pontoon boat,







were told that there were drinks and chips on board and off we went. Another cruise for us that night, but this time was special, a speciality Wishes fireworks cruise.
We had always wanted to do one, but it had always seemed a bit of a waste for just the two of us, so this was the perfect opportunity. Our skipper took us out onto Bay Lake and explained about the building of the Contemporary and Bay Lake,





pointed out the different islands and fun facts of Bay Lake and the surrounding resorts



and then we finally made it over to the Seven Seas Lagoon.



We went past the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian



and finally found a nice spot in front of the Magic Kingdom







where we just floated around. Our skipper told us that we would not be able to drop anchor, but we needed to still be free floating and she would take care of a perfect view of the castle and the fireworks behind it. It did not take long and the fireworks started.


To be continued ...........

 

[jenseib]

what an exciting evening!!!!!

 

[dizneeat]

what an exciting evening!!!!!

And it only got better! We loved the company and the fireworks cruise!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

What a neat thing to do! Especially with a group of Dis friends. So far you are having a wonderful vacation.

It's been awhile since I've been to the outlet mall there. We never have a car at WDW anymore. Bob hates driving to Florida, so I can't wean him of those non stop flight to Orlando.

I got our air fare for our Sept. trip to Disney. After this trip it will be a couple years before we go again. We want to drive to the southwest instead.

We will be at AKL beginning on Sept.9, it would be nice to meet again.

 

[englishrose47]

Tell me about time being of the essence, Rosie. I would not have struggled with going back and finding it either.
The girls got tattoos? Wow! They are pretty young to do that, but I think this is definitely another generation. I would have died doing something like that at their age - too afraid that it would hurt too much.

You will Find NO tattoos on me either !! I see no point in inflicting unnecessary pain on myself what so ever But you are right it is a different generation

 

[HowieHowie]

Glad you had a nice evening with your friends. Too bad they had a pushy DVC guide. Hopefully they will decide to buy at a future time.

The last night is always very sad, but at least you know you will be back in a few months. You had a nice breakfast with your friends and Ana.

We always say we are not in WDW until we go under the arches. I would love to stay at BLT again and get the same view we had in Aug. Sounds like a good shoppping day...glad you found jeans. Of course you would get Krispy Creme, it wouldn't be a WDW vacation if you didn't. We always go to the Publix on 192. It is right behind Kidani and there is a Target across the street.

Aldi just opened by my parents, I guess I will stop in one day and check it out.

Sounds like a wonderful DISmeet with friends. A fireworks cruise sounds awsome.