DizMare
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2000
- Messages
- 303
Presidentsâ Week Trip Report
February 17-23, 2001
Old Key West
Cast: Maryann (46) Tim (46) Katie (11) and Mike (10)
The first ever mid-winter school break offered by our school board offered a great opportunity to leave cold and snowy Philadelphia and head to the palm trees of Florida and the cheer of WDW. Here are some highlights of our trip.
HYATT ORLANDO INTL AIRPORT: We arrived at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. Rather than use our DVC points for that night, we stayed at the Hyatt. Very nice room on the 8th, with two double beds, a coffee pot and a large patio from which we enjoyed breakfast watching the planes take off. In the morning, dd and I went to the terminal food court to fetch us all breakfast. That worked well. Then, down to valet services to meet Ian from Tiffany Towncar.
TIFFANY TOWNCAR: Just dandy, as usual. Ian kept us laughing, and gladly stopped at the Publix for us to grab the necessities. Mohamed and Debby surprised us for our return trip by sending a super stretch limo, complete with drinks and Chicken Run on the television. Great fun!
OLD KEY WEST: Wow! This was our first visit here, and we were blown away. Our one bedroom villa, 1624, overlooked a green. We loved sitting on the patio critiquing the duffers. The villa was clean and well-maintained. Housekeeping quickly brought up the requested extra blanket and coffee pot. All cast members were super friendly. The grounds were amazing. Loved it!
PACKAGE SHIPMENT CHARGE: There was some discussion on this subject a while ago. I shipped some non-perishable food to myself at OKW via UPS. I was NOT charged a package handling fee.
VISITORS: For the first time, we entertained two sets of friends on our trip. On Monday, our dearest neighbors, who were staying with family in Celebration, came to spend the day at Epcot with us. On Tuesday, my mom drove in from Ormond Beach to go to Animal Kingdom with us. It was great fun to show these newbies around the parks and see them again through fresh eyes.
REVERSE BEVERLY FAKE: Of course, we couldnâÂÂt wait to trick our friends into trying Beverly by raving about its taste. My friend took a big sip, and said she thought it tasted pretty good, sort of like cream soda. Cream soda?? Naturally, I had to have a taste, thinking something was amiss. Well, it was the same old bitter stuff! Gotcha!
SURREY RENTAL: We took a 4 person surrey around OKW. The kids had wanted to do this at BW, but that hill on the way up to the Epcot path always scared me off. I figured OKW looked flat enough to try. It was fun, but way too much work for the two adults.
WEATHER: Just lovely. Warm and rain-free. We wore shorts everyday. Some evenings we switched to pants and two nights we liked having our lights jackets to throw on. Kids went in the pool everyday. Even I went in twice.
CROWDS: Not bad at all, IâÂÂd estimate it was less crowded than Thanksgiving week (which also wasnâÂÂt bad, IMHO). The only time I felt crowded was at Animal Kingdom, but I think that is because of the narrow paths. We didnâÂÂt wait long for any rides, used fastpass whenever possible, and never waited long for a bus. If thatâÂÂs as bad as Presidentsâ Week gets, thatâÂÂs great!
ROSIE: Well, I dreaded going to the Studios on Thursday, RosieâÂÂs first day of taping, but thatâÂÂs the way things worked out. Her show did not seem to increase crowds that much. On Friday we were outside Pooh buying some of those yummy almonds, when there was a sudden wave of humanity that separated us. There were Rosie and Andy Dick surrounded by cameramen and handlers and faithful fans. She was 3 feet away from me before thirty people crowded in between me and her. We scooted out of there quickly and regrouped. We did see Andy Dick at the end of Main Street later that day, just hanging out with his kids. (If I hadnâÂÂt seen him with Rosie earlier that day, I would have never recognized him.)
EATS: Took our neighbors to the Garden Grill and the Biergarten. Great meals at both. We had a particularly neato waiter, Tico, in Germany. (Among other giggly stuff, he pretended to sell our camera to someone in the buffet line after offering to take our picture.) We all enjoyed doing the polka and the Chicken Dance. Word of warning: dance BEFORE you eat.
We did the Hoop de Doo. The food was pretty darn good, as was the all you could drink sangria. But our waiter was unenthusiastic and unresponsive. And, our Sixpence just wasnâÂÂt as funny as others weâÂÂve seen. And Sixpence really makes the show. Still enjoyable, just not the best show weâÂÂve ever seen.
We also enjoyed Olivias, Liberty Tree Tavern, Tusker House, Pinocchio Village Haus and the Backlot Express.
FAVORITE SOUVENIR: Got to be our Rockinâ Rollercoaster poster. It was just a bit more money than the 8 x 10 photo offered. ItâÂÂs laminated and presented in a nice shipping tube, so we got it home without damage.
It was a great trip. IâÂÂll be glad to answer any questions you might have! Thanks to all for their great hints and tips!
February 17-23, 2001
Old Key West
Cast: Maryann (46) Tim (46) Katie (11) and Mike (10)
The first ever mid-winter school break offered by our school board offered a great opportunity to leave cold and snowy Philadelphia and head to the palm trees of Florida and the cheer of WDW. Here are some highlights of our trip.
HYATT ORLANDO INTL AIRPORT: We arrived at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. Rather than use our DVC points for that night, we stayed at the Hyatt. Very nice room on the 8th, with two double beds, a coffee pot and a large patio from which we enjoyed breakfast watching the planes take off. In the morning, dd and I went to the terminal food court to fetch us all breakfast. That worked well. Then, down to valet services to meet Ian from Tiffany Towncar.
TIFFANY TOWNCAR: Just dandy, as usual. Ian kept us laughing, and gladly stopped at the Publix for us to grab the necessities. Mohamed and Debby surprised us for our return trip by sending a super stretch limo, complete with drinks and Chicken Run on the television. Great fun!
OLD KEY WEST: Wow! This was our first visit here, and we were blown away. Our one bedroom villa, 1624, overlooked a green. We loved sitting on the patio critiquing the duffers. The villa was clean and well-maintained. Housekeeping quickly brought up the requested extra blanket and coffee pot. All cast members were super friendly. The grounds were amazing. Loved it!
PACKAGE SHIPMENT CHARGE: There was some discussion on this subject a while ago. I shipped some non-perishable food to myself at OKW via UPS. I was NOT charged a package handling fee.
VISITORS: For the first time, we entertained two sets of friends on our trip. On Monday, our dearest neighbors, who were staying with family in Celebration, came to spend the day at Epcot with us. On Tuesday, my mom drove in from Ormond Beach to go to Animal Kingdom with us. It was great fun to show these newbies around the parks and see them again through fresh eyes.
REVERSE BEVERLY FAKE: Of course, we couldnâÂÂt wait to trick our friends into trying Beverly by raving about its taste. My friend took a big sip, and said she thought it tasted pretty good, sort of like cream soda. Cream soda?? Naturally, I had to have a taste, thinking something was amiss. Well, it was the same old bitter stuff! Gotcha!
SURREY RENTAL: We took a 4 person surrey around OKW. The kids had wanted to do this at BW, but that hill on the way up to the Epcot path always scared me off. I figured OKW looked flat enough to try. It was fun, but way too much work for the two adults.
WEATHER: Just lovely. Warm and rain-free. We wore shorts everyday. Some evenings we switched to pants and two nights we liked having our lights jackets to throw on. Kids went in the pool everyday. Even I went in twice.
CROWDS: Not bad at all, IâÂÂd estimate it was less crowded than Thanksgiving week (which also wasnâÂÂt bad, IMHO). The only time I felt crowded was at Animal Kingdom, but I think that is because of the narrow paths. We didnâÂÂt wait long for any rides, used fastpass whenever possible, and never waited long for a bus. If thatâÂÂs as bad as Presidentsâ Week gets, thatâÂÂs great!
ROSIE: Well, I dreaded going to the Studios on Thursday, RosieâÂÂs first day of taping, but thatâÂÂs the way things worked out. Her show did not seem to increase crowds that much. On Friday we were outside Pooh buying some of those yummy almonds, when there was a sudden wave of humanity that separated us. There were Rosie and Andy Dick surrounded by cameramen and handlers and faithful fans. She was 3 feet away from me before thirty people crowded in between me and her. We scooted out of there quickly and regrouped. We did see Andy Dick at the end of Main Street later that day, just hanging out with his kids. (If I hadnâÂÂt seen him with Rosie earlier that day, I would have never recognized him.)
EATS: Took our neighbors to the Garden Grill and the Biergarten. Great meals at both. We had a particularly neato waiter, Tico, in Germany. (Among other giggly stuff, he pretended to sell our camera to someone in the buffet line after offering to take our picture.) We all enjoyed doing the polka and the Chicken Dance. Word of warning: dance BEFORE you eat.
We did the Hoop de Doo. The food was pretty darn good, as was the all you could drink sangria. But our waiter was unenthusiastic and unresponsive. And, our Sixpence just wasnâÂÂt as funny as others weâÂÂve seen. And Sixpence really makes the show. Still enjoyable, just not the best show weâÂÂve ever seen.
We also enjoyed Olivias, Liberty Tree Tavern, Tusker House, Pinocchio Village Haus and the Backlot Express.
FAVORITE SOUVENIR: Got to be our Rockinâ Rollercoaster poster. It was just a bit more money than the 8 x 10 photo offered. ItâÂÂs laminated and presented in a nice shipping tube, so we got it home without damage.
It was a great trip. IâÂÂll be glad to answer any questions you might have! Thanks to all for their great hints and tips!
