Pods-n-El & The Love Bug(S)- September 24-29th,2010 at AKV Concierge! Updates 11/30

[rndmr2]

Just found your TR today and read through the whole thing so I am caught up. Hope you have a good time on your cruise, Looking forward to hearing about that trip as well. I really want to try a Disney Cruise, I have been on a few cruises over the years but never Disney ones.

Loved the pics of your special safari tour, that baby elephant is too cute!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Hi Ellen! Sorry I've been MIA for this entire report so far. Thought I would stop by to say hello. I'm about 25% through the thread right now. Great pictures as always. Looks like a another great trip.

Alan

 

[dallastxcpa]

Hey Ellen,


Are you back yet? I am going through withdrawal over here.

I hope you had a fabulous time at Vero and on the cruise.

 

[podsnel]

HEY EVERYONE!!!! Yes, we are back- I am just overwhelmed with "stuff". Here are a few pics from our 11 day vacation to help you pass the time until I can write again...

A great time had by all-

 

[CRdisMom]

i can't believe how big the boys got since I last saw photos. 11 isn't long enough is it? I had 10 and it went by WAY too fast.

 

[anewmac]

Looks like you all had a great time.. I see SHOTS... thats my girls!!!!!! lol

 

[podsnel]

Have a really great trip! I know its going to be a blast!

Thanks! We had a great time- a few mishaps, but nothing to ruin a vacation (it all worked out). So much work to come home to!!

Anytime within the next year would be great! I have 412 days until our trip.

Have a magical time on your cruise. I cannot wait to read all about it!

Thanks for the far-off deadline! And I can't wait to write it- but I will have to!!

I think my absolute favorite is the Belle Vue Lounge at the Board Walk. It is truly a hidden gem. Such a wonderful place to stop and relax after a long day.




I have enjoyed this spot in the past however, at times I have seen some out of control rug rats in the vicinity. I just wish the actual bar was a little more removed from the area that serves as a waiting room.

On a side note it sounds like you have been super busy getting ready for the cruise. I will be thinking of you throughout the next week and wishing I was a stow away in your suit case.

Just out of curiousity for our next cruise which isn't even on the horizon yet. Are you renting a car from MCO and returning it at the port?

I really like the Bellvue Lounge, too- I've been there twice now. What I find funny about it is that there are always people sitting at the bar, talking about their DVC, saying how they always end up staying at BWV because it's their favorite. Well, I guess we'll find out how we REALLY feel when we stay there next year!

And for the cruise we hired the same limousine company we hired last time. Although it seemed as if we had hired a different one... But that's another story for a different day. We do that because then we can stop at a liquor store and a grocery on the way. This time we picked up a case of water, 6 bottles of wine, yohoho and a bottle of rum. After the cruise we rented a car from Budget. Next time I'm thinking of going to WDW after and using the Disney Transportation so we don't have to deal with luggage- which we had a LOT of!

Omg I am LOVING the pic of you all witht he incredibles! TOO CUTE!

AND I knew I liked Pods, and now Mikey too.. they are both lefties.. me too lol were the only people in our right minds LOL.

aww poor Lonnie she needs to ride Soaring its the best ride yall need to do it on the next moms trip! its always our 1st and last at Cali Adventure here in SoCal!

and In case I dont say it before you leave...

HAVE A GREAT CRUISE, CANT WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT!... BTW Grab Jen (aka Nennier) for Magic Quest shes never seen it and its so much more fun to go with a buddy aka pre made team LOL cant wait to see THOSE pics LOL (dont forget your "water" and breakfast of champs kalua and think of me slaving away at work LMAO)

Timmy is also a leftie- only for some things, same as Pods. Very confusing.

Never had your breakfast of Champs, but Jen and I & DHs sat together for Magic Quest- I LOVED that show!! It was HILARIOUS!!!! If we had gotten there before they started, we would have made a great team!

That is something I am going to have to include in my below listed TR.

I agree with the above poster - what the hey was that lady in heals thinking??.



I think the sub title of the blip (in my tr) will be just that:

"WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?"



On a different note - looking forward to the Ditch and my very first Dole Whip


But alas.........NO MONKEY KISSIN ON MY TRIP .




T.T.F.N.

Well, monkey lovin is not for everyone....

Hope you enjoyed your Ditch trip and dole whip!!

Have a great time on your cruise Ellen. Can't wait to hear all about it!!!!!

And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Thanks! We had a blast- rebooked with a dummy date, planning to go again in 2013 (due to the fact that we are already booked on a cruise in 2011, 9 nights on RCCL Explorer which is a half an hour's drive from home) and are planning on Hawaii in 2012).

 

[englishrose47]

Can't wait for the TR !!Pix as usual are great Ellen!!

 

[podsnel]

Uh, yeah, that's basically it - except that the males live about 10 minutes and the females live about an hour. That's the story I'm gonna use when Ally gets older and I'm pushing abstinance..... "sex can kill you after only 10 minutes!"

Still working on the points. I'm stressing over getting BWV at the 11 mo mark.....

That's SOOOOOOOOO funny!!

It is stressful with the points when you don't have the 11 month advantage somewhere- but at 11 months you're fine (unless you want AKV C, or a GV- then that's stressful, too). So you were able to rent BW points?

that is the best line ever Kara!

ITA!!

Just found your TR today and read through the whole thing so I am caught up. Hope you have a good time on your cruise, Looking forward to hearing about that trip as well. I really want to try a Disney Cruise, I have been on a few cruises over the years but never Disney ones.

Loved the pics of your special safari tor, that baby elephant is too cute!

Hi and WELCOME!! I wrote a TR about our last cruise on DCL if you can't wait for the new one- it's one of those little cutoff links in my sig- which will hopefully be looking better when I change my ticker to a smaller one. And that elephant was sooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!!

Hi Ellen! Sorry I've been MIA for this entire report so far. Thought I would stop by to say hello. I'm about 25% through the thread right now. Great pictures as always. Looks like a another great trip.

Alan

Hi Alan!! I've missed you! Glad you found me! Any trips planned?

Hey Ellen,


Are you back yet? I am going through withdrawal over here.

I hope you had a fabulous time at Vero and on the cruise.

HAHA- I'll try to update today with our AP dinner, which I thought was wonderful.

i can't believe how big the boys got since I last saw photos. 11 isn't long enough is it? I had 10 and it went by WAY too fast.

11 was a great amount for us- by the last day, Pods is DONE, and that really puts a damper on it for the rest of us. Plus we had some "stuff" to get through at the end, so that made the day a little stressed.

Looks like you all had a great time.. I see SHOTS... thats my girls!!!!!! lol

Of course!! We did them for YOU!!

 

[podsnel]

Can't wait for the TR !!Pix as usual are great Ellen!!

Thanks, Rosie!! I was trying to catch up on your TR last night- WOW- you really wrote fast!!! I'll be by later to say hello!

 

[TarzansKat]

Why, Ellen...that is some nifty lookin' orange & black tie dye you have there.

Love, love, love the photo of the boys kissing you on the cheek. Glad everyone had a good time!

 

[Fastpaks]

Hey Ellen!!

That trip was a lot of fun. My wife and I were finally glad we finally got a chance to meet you and your husband. It was a fun time at Palo, and we totally enjoyed the conversation on the top deck on the rainy day. Still one of my favorite days!!

 

[MEK]

Great, great pictures to cover the highlights of the trip! I especially love the sunset pic and the one of you and the boys in their tuxes.

Looks like such a fun trip!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Awesome pictures Ellen!! Looks like you had a fabulous time!! Did you get my text last week?? 32 degrees my car thermometer read one morning!!! I immediately thought of you off in the Caribbean somewhere...

 

[podsnel]

We got ready for dinner and decided to get a cab over to WL for our 1st experience dining at Artists Point. I was pretty excited- this restaurant was my LAST Signature dining experience at WDW- meaning now I have eaten at all of them. We arrived a little early, and of COURSE decided to have a glass of wine in the Territory Lounge!

The bartender was a doll, and i explained that I have been trying to get to the TL with a friend of mine (Cammie) for a couple of years now to do that Gran Marnier flight, but it just never seems to work out! Maybe I would come back tonight after dinner for it....but we did have plans to hit EMH at MK after dinner, so we would see.....at any rate, Cammie, we WILL be havin' the GM this year!!

Soon we were buzzed..in more ways than one ...and headed into AP to our table.

Right over our heads...

Our server was a nice, very personable guy from NY or NJ originally, who has been living in Fla most of his life. And he was very proud of his restaurant- I love that! For starters, we shared Braised Penn Cove Mussels served with fennel and grilled sourdough toast-

At $14, this was a skimpy portion in a HUGE bowl...but OMG, they were DELICIOUS!!! Absolutely perfectly cooked, and the tomato broth with them was TDF....

I told Pods what to order, we needed to try the Smoky Portobello Soup with roasted shiitakes and chive oil-

And yes, it was as good as I have heard. A very yummy soup. For dinner, I HAD to try their Signature dish, of course! Cedar Plank Roasted Wild King Salmon with spring vegetables, orange-soy buerre blanc & parsley oil-

De-throned-

I adore wild salmon- my favorite is Sock-eye. This King salmon was incredible, very full flavored (FYI- you should eat wild salmon because it has TONS more EFAs than farm raised- and it just really tastes better! Wild salmon IS more expensive, but it is a case where you truly get what you pay for). The vegetables included sea beans, which are very salty, but which I definitely liked. Pods was having Pan Seared Halibut with Dungeness Crab Risotto and blood orange sauce.

This was incredible. Of the two, the halibut was a significantly fancier, more complex dish. The salmon was lighter, much more simple and straightforward. But neither was overwhelming- both were delicious, and I would have either again. Pods clearly believed he had the winner, because he thought the salmon was too plain- he likes more of a fish creation on his plate. We also ordered a side, because I HAD to try them- Truffle fries-

O.M.G. Seriously. I am still dreaming of them. They may be the best thing I have ever, EVER tried in WDW. For $6, again, it's a skimpy portion- but WOW, so, soooooooo delicious and crispy and ...just WOW. I am ALWAYS ordering these. We had a bottle of Pinot Noir with dinner-

King Estate. Really like this wine- we actually just had King Estate Pinot Noir with dinner on the cruise 3 or 4 nights, we enjoyed it so much. As usual, we had NO room for dessert- this was an expensive meal, and we were very glad to have the TIW discount off of it! But I would go back in a heartbeat, and I can absolutely say that as far as the Signature Restaurants go, I saved one of the best for last.

Up next- tut tut, it looks like a freakin monsoon!

 

[podsnel]

Why, Ellen...that is some nifty lookin' orange & black tie dye you have there.

Love, love, love the photo of the boys kissing you on the cheek. Glad everyone had a good time!

KAT! I got stopped by people EVERYWHERE about our shirts (the CMs really loved them when we were wearing our mustaches with them). Sooooo many people asked, and I kept saying "TarzansKat on the DIS made them- she'll make them for you, too!" Were your ears ringing???

And Pods told the boys to kiss me- so sweet.

Hey Ellen!!

That trip was a lot of fun. My wife and I were finally glad we finally got a chance to meet you and your husband. It was a fun time at Palo, and we totally enjoyed the conversation on the top deck on the rainy day. Still one of my favorite days!!

Hey John!

I was glad we got to meet you, too! Amy found me on FB . I was so happy you were able to work out that brunch- what a nice surprise to be in the private room with so many of us at Palo- and I enjoyed the rainy day out on deck with you guys, too!

Great, great pictures to cover the highlights of the trip! I especially love the sunset pic and the one of you and the boys in their tuxes.

Looks like such a fun trip!

Hey ME! Thanks- I love when the boys dress up- Tyler complains about it, but TOO BAD!!! He can't be smelly every minute of his life, LOL!!

Awesome pictures Ellen!! Looks like you had a fabulous time!! Did you get my text last week?? 32 degrees my car thermometer read one morning!!! I immediately thought of you off in the Caribbean somewhere...

YES! I did get your text-I just couldn't send one back because of limited battery that I needed to save for important reasons...

We all felt just SO BAD for you being so cold!! What a shame!

 

[podsnel]

We thought about going back to the TL for that Gran Marnier flight, but really, we were sooooo tired- and I was not feeling the greatest. I was having this issue with congestion and my eyes were really itchy and really puffy (I know- it sounds like allergies, but it's not). But we did want to go to EMH at MK, even if just for a little while. So we went down to the dock.

Where we waited....and waited....and waited....for a boat. While we were waiting, the Water parade from 1902 went by-

Two years ago, I was excited because I was seeing this for the first time- since then, i have seen it nearly every visit, and I gotta say, once was enough. It took until probably last week for the soundtrack to get out of my head...CRAP! It's back! Oh well- it is cute, but I just wish they could alternate the floats or something, or FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DISNEY, CHANGE THE MUSIC!!!! Eventually, we were on our way to MK...

It doesn't look like a really cloudy night, does it?

But, clouds can be deceiving at night, especially in WDW, and we were being rained on, and then RAINED ON BIG TIME by the time we got to the MK dock. But, on the way, a few pics-

THIS is as close as we got to MK-

The heavy rain which was starting to come in was killing me (I get really bad sinus headaches from bad weather) and people were leaving the park in droves. I knew we would be back in a month, to go to MNSSHP, so we decided to take it easy and get on line with 400 other people for the AKL bus. I'll tell ya, EVERYONE on that line was raggin' about the bus service. Again, it makes NO SENSE AT ALL to see 4 buses from, say, POR go by, and you still haven't seen even 1 for AKL. Really burns people up. Probably my only WDW complaint- fix the freakin bus issues, Disney! Oh yea- and change the stupid water parade music!! SHEESH.

Eventually, we were headed home- and wouldn't ya know, the Yankee game magically appeared on our TV...so that's how we finished our evening in Jambo-

Nothin' ends the night better than watchin' the Yankees beat the Red Sox!

Up next- wake up!! Time to golf at Osprey Ridge!!

 

[TarzansKat]

KAT! I got stopped by people EVERYWHERE about our shirts (the CMs really loved them when we were wearing our mustaches with them). Sooooo many people asked, and I kept saying "TarzansKat on the DIS made them- she'll make them for you, too!" Were your ears ringing???

Now I know my paranoia that week was justified!

Seriously, I'm really glad that you liked them and that everyone else did, too. Honestly, nothing pleases me more than to see pictures of the finished product on people who are enjoying wearing them so much!

And Pods told the boys to kiss me- so sweet.

Good man!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't you just love that water parade? Every time I see / hear it, it takes me right back to when I was a kid and watched it with my parents.

 

[disney1474]

Your trip reports are great!! Makes me wanna be there with you guys

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Should've stayed at the bar!! Oh the electric water pageant!! I sort of have a love/hate with that show. The very first time I saw it, I was nine years old!! We stayed at the Contempory and it was such a magical surprise! We had no idea they did it and I STILL remember how excited we all were that we could see it right out our hotel room balcony, like it was a show just for us!!

BUT I think the show is EXACTLY the same as it was aaallll those years ago! Tom can't stand it but it makes me laugh..."Everybody do the dinosaur!" The BEST experience I ever had with those barges is on our last trip when we did the fireworks cruise for the special 4th of July fireworks show and they brought out the barges and played the stars and stripes part to accompany the fireworks!! I think I cried.....