GrammieMame
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- Joined
- Jan 6, 2000
- Messages
- 640
New Group: Me again, with DH , his DS John, DIL Judy, DGD Linda (age 11 and ready for anything); DGS1 Tommy (age 9 and not ready for anything) and DGS2 Matt (age 5 and lover of all characters)
Tuesday April 2: I had a reservation for breakfast at Kona Cafe, but we just didnt feel up to it and thought we better save our energy for the next 4 days, so we just had breakfast in our room and lingered on the porch with coffee. We stayed until right at checkout time, since we are moving to the Contemporary today. We went to the drug store and picked up a few cold remedy supplies. By this time, my sore throat had developed into a full blown cold, and I needed something to relieve my symptoms. I had lots of food left over that I planned to take over, and had put the whole thing in storage, so we loaded up the car and drove over to the Contemporary. This time, our room wasnt ready, and it was quite a production to split the boxes and bags between those that were going up to the room and those that were staying in the car for the trip home. We finally got it all straightened out (the baggage people were very nice and patient while we figured it out) and walked around on a reconnaissance mission to try and figure out the Contemporary before the family arrived. We took a test ride on the monorail so we would know where to get on and off, etc. I think the Contemporary is a little intimidating and hard to navigate until you figure out where everything is. But we are so lucky to be here. Our reservation was at Shades of Green, but they started renovating it this very day, and so they moved us to the Contemporary. On the monorail, pool with a slide - I felt like we had won the lottery. Back at the lobby, our room still wasnt ready, so we settled in comfortable chairs and waited. We had tried to contact the family by cell phone, but couldnt reach them for some reason, but knew they had left very early and expected them to show up any time, which they did about 3:00. Just as they arrived, we found that our rooms were ready and so we went directly to the North Wing (where all the SOG people were being housed) and settled in. I had called and asked if we could have rooms with a water view, but was told that since I hadnt paid the extra $10 for a pool view at SOG, I couldnt have a water view, and even if I was willing to pay now, there werent any available. I was pretty much resigned to a lovely parking lot view, but when we went in the rooms we found a beautiful view of the lake. Won that lottery again. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, where DGD went down the slide more than a dozen times.
I had made a PS at 1900 Park Faire for a character dinner for our first night. This is the family's first trip, and I did so want everything to be perfect. 1900 Park Faire isnt my favorite (based on a previous experience), but I couldnt get Chef Mickeys. Monorailed over to the Grand Floridian, just as a beautiful sunset was in full bloom. The GF is really an impressive place, and we didnt have to wait too long for our Pooh dinner. I was curious to see how the children would react to the characters, since DIL said that DGS2 has been very shy and scared of any furry character-type person in the past. But that little boy immediately bonded with Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and the whole crowd, chattering on at great length with all of them, hugging and kissing, etc. We practically had to tie him to the chair to keep him from following them from table to table. And the food was much much better than I had remembered from my past trip. The waiter was so observant and attentive that he noticed that I had a cold and suggested that I might like some orange juice. We made a bunch of trips to the buffet, stayed at the table long enough for the Pooh gang to come around twice. We stopped in the lobby awhile to listen to the piano man (trying to inspire DGD to want to practice), and then went back to the hotel just in time to go to the top of the Contemporary for the fireworks on the outside observation deck. We had asked one of the CMs in a store where the viewing area was, and were told that no one was allowed up there unless they were eating at California Grill. From these posts, I knew that wasnt true, and it was a fine place to view the fireworks without the really loud noises that go with them. It was about a perfect evening at this point, so we all went to our rooms.
Tuesday April 2: I had a reservation for breakfast at Kona Cafe, but we just didnt feel up to it and thought we better save our energy for the next 4 days, so we just had breakfast in our room and lingered on the porch with coffee. We stayed until right at checkout time, since we are moving to the Contemporary today. We went to the drug store and picked up a few cold remedy supplies. By this time, my sore throat had developed into a full blown cold, and I needed something to relieve my symptoms. I had lots of food left over that I planned to take over, and had put the whole thing in storage, so we loaded up the car and drove over to the Contemporary. This time, our room wasnt ready, and it was quite a production to split the boxes and bags between those that were going up to the room and those that were staying in the car for the trip home. We finally got it all straightened out (the baggage people were very nice and patient while we figured it out) and walked around on a reconnaissance mission to try and figure out the Contemporary before the family arrived. We took a test ride on the monorail so we would know where to get on and off, etc. I think the Contemporary is a little intimidating and hard to navigate until you figure out where everything is. But we are so lucky to be here. Our reservation was at Shades of Green, but they started renovating it this very day, and so they moved us to the Contemporary. On the monorail, pool with a slide - I felt like we had won the lottery. Back at the lobby, our room still wasnt ready, so we settled in comfortable chairs and waited. We had tried to contact the family by cell phone, but couldnt reach them for some reason, but knew they had left very early and expected them to show up any time, which they did about 3:00. Just as they arrived, we found that our rooms were ready and so we went directly to the North Wing (where all the SOG people were being housed) and settled in. I had called and asked if we could have rooms with a water view, but was told that since I hadnt paid the extra $10 for a pool view at SOG, I couldnt have a water view, and even if I was willing to pay now, there werent any available. I was pretty much resigned to a lovely parking lot view, but when we went in the rooms we found a beautiful view of the lake. Won that lottery again. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, where DGD went down the slide more than a dozen times.
I had made a PS at 1900 Park Faire for a character dinner for our first night. This is the family's first trip, and I did so want everything to be perfect. 1900 Park Faire isnt my favorite (based on a previous experience), but I couldnt get Chef Mickeys. Monorailed over to the Grand Floridian, just as a beautiful sunset was in full bloom. The GF is really an impressive place, and we didnt have to wait too long for our Pooh dinner. I was curious to see how the children would react to the characters, since DIL said that DGS2 has been very shy and scared of any furry character-type person in the past. But that little boy immediately bonded with Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and the whole crowd, chattering on at great length with all of them, hugging and kissing, etc. We practically had to tie him to the chair to keep him from following them from table to table. And the food was much much better than I had remembered from my past trip. The waiter was so observant and attentive that he noticed that I had a cold and suggested that I might like some orange juice. We made a bunch of trips to the buffet, stayed at the table long enough for the Pooh gang to come around twice. We stopped in the lobby awhile to listen to the piano man (trying to inspire DGD to want to practice), and then went back to the hotel just in time to go to the top of the Contemporary for the fireworks on the outside observation deck. We had asked one of the CMs in a store where the viewing area was, and were told that no one was allowed up there unless they were eating at California Grill. From these posts, I knew that wasnt true, and it was a fine place to view the fireworks without the really loud noises that go with them. It was about a perfect evening at this point, so we all went to our rooms.
