Ready, Set, Let the Games Begin! - Link to new PTR/TR!

[rentayenta]

What a wonderful day! Love that you got to ride RSR again without unloading.

You toured this day like we do.

The lamb burgers look insanely delicious. That's on my must list for sure. Do they still serve the garlic fries?

 

[franandaj]

One thing about the way we travel is that we tend to overpack. Luckily the class of service we fly allows three bags complimentary. Unfortunately DME doesn’t account for that. In fact I think that the people at DME thought we would only have one bag per person. I always cut the luggage tags in half when I use them, but this time we packed five suitcases all half full so that we didn’t need to buy another one to get home. I had to make another luggage tag to have enough for our bags. Can you tell which one is the Frankentag?



So I’m guessing you all read about my lack of sleep trip to WDW and how groggy I felt that morning and just how surreal it was to be getting on a plane when I didn’t even feel like I was in my body any more, but that was the good. Now let me share with you the bad and ugly! I’m not sure if I mentioned that we took the scooter to be looked at after the trip to DL. Since we knew one had a low battery, but we were not sure what was wrong with the other, we took it to a scooter shop.

Well the place that was right near DL that we used to take it to moved to Laguna Niguel. Another ½ an hour at least farther south, but we took it there anyways the next day. It turns out that even though the scooter was making signs that it was damaged, it was still just the battery, so both scooters needed new batteries. Since the place in Laguna wanted $215 for replacement or $45 to get it out of hock, we chose the $45. I had a place in Long Beach that sold me batteries for two scooters for $225, while the quote of $215 was for only one scooter battery replacement.

The only thing was that I had to put the batteries in myself. While this seemed like a good idea, maybe it wasn’t when you hear the rest of the story. I put both scooter batteries back together and charged them. After my all nighter and packing, I rode both scooters from our garage to the front of the house to load them into the car. Each one was running perfectly. I put mine inside the car and loaded Fran’s on the lift on the back of the car.

Eventually we were ready to leave for the airport and we took off. When we arrived at the airport, I removed Fran’s scooter from the lift and tried to drive it off. Dead. As. A. Doornail. Normally when a scooter has a problem it makes a series of beeps that help you try to identify the problem. Not this time. No siree! It was just DEAD. Since we didn’t have a lot of time and we were both silly stupid, Fran said, “We don’t have time for this, put it back in the car and we’ll rent another one once we get there.” So I did what she told me. Luckily my scooter did everything it was supposed to and we were able to get going. I took the car to the normal parking lot, grabbed the shuttle back and we were on our way.

She rode the scooter and I walked. I had forgotten how different they treat you at the airport when one person is able bodied and the other is in a scooter, they really let the person in the scooter off while the other person is responsible for everything of their own and the scooter riders belongings. When both are in scooters they bend over backwards to help you but otherwise, they just leave the person not in a scooter hanging high and dry and wonder why it takes you so long get the belongings back together. Duh! I’m doing two people’s stuff, two computers in two bags, everything else, plus putting shoes back on two people, I’m sorry I’m clogging up the line!!!! DEAL WITH IT!

OK rant over, but it’s rather annoying that they make you jump through so many hoops and then get irritated with you for not being able to do it on THEIR time frame. So back to the plane, once we got there, I don’t remember much about boarding and things, I think I maybe even dropped off to sleep for a few moments, but eventually we got on board and took off. I took them up on the complimentary champagne cocktail because frankly, after the night I had, I needed it!

After we were in the air for a while, we got our breakfast. I went with the steel cut oatmeal and berries. I hope you don’t’ get tired of this, I chose it for my next few flights. These pictures were taken with my phone, so you’ll have to excuse the quality.



Fran had some kind of Sante Fe Panini, which was eggs, cheese and some chilis, maybe ham or something like that. I’m pretty sure that mine was the vegetarian option, so hers had meat on it of some kind.



One of the things that I love about flying American First class is that they make these cookies baked on flight just before you are about to land and they are so hot and delicious. These are macadamia nut or white chocolate or something equally as delicious, I don’t remember I was so tired, but they were awesome! I wish you got more than one!



Once we got to MCO, we took our first “monorail ride”.



Pretty soon we were on DME and saw this



And this



And then we were checking in here












[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

We were assigned to our room pretty quickly and thank goodness. I snapped these pictures before we trashed the room.

























Our view







Our owner’s locker had already been delivered as had our groceries, so I called up Bell Services and had those delivered, and then I unpacked the groceries. I love when my kitchen is stocked!





I started working on dinner when I realized that there was a key component that I hadn’t considered. My pot to cook dinner, my rice and soup mix were all in my luggage, and I had no idea when that was going to arrive! DOH! I started off by chopping the veggies and cooking my sausages.







Luckily, right about that time, the luggage started to arrive and the first bags to show up were the ones that had my cooking pot and ingredients.



While dinner was cooking, the remainder of the bags arrived and I started to hang up some of the clothes and get things ready for the next day. Fran woke from her nap, just as dinner was ready.



We ate, I chatted online while the tub filled up and then I took a nice hot bath in the Jacuzzi tub before some much needed sleep!

 

[jedijill]

Yes, and it tasted very "Bailey's", that's why I liked it better, I'll post my pics, but it was a white creamier sauce with a little more alcohol flavor than the one I remembered from before. I think I'm going to get another one today when we go over there!

Yum! 16 more days until I can have one!

Jill in CO

 

[mvf-m11c]

I'm sorry to hear about the scooter being dead when you got to the airport.

I do enjoy riding the airport MCO monorail.

The room at Disney's Wildnerness Lodge looks great.

 

[dgbg100106]

You made it to WDW....Congrats, and your day at DCA looked wonderful.

Have a wonderful tiem and enjoy every minute

 

[kmedina]

I got a little backed up, since we were busy with Crap's birthday yesterday. I am going to reply to Disneyland first them read DisneyWorld. It is such a bummer that you had scooter issues again. I hope you were not too sore the next day. Even though you relax and never go full commando, you really seem to get a lot done. Connor is finally tall enough to ride MJJ this trip. We are all excited for that. Looks like you all had a good time there. We have not ridden GRR or Splash in a long time, since Crap and I are not overly fond of getting wet. Like PiO's son, Xander is a huge fan. It is just a matter of time before he finds those rides (hopefully not on our upcoming trip).

It really is neat that you got to see PiO and her family at a leisurely pace, and that you would be seeing them again soon. Bret is the best Disneyland guide ever, so it is cool you got to see him too. Sounds like you all had a great time with each other. A cool DISmeet indeed.

I like that you got to try delicacies from Bret's Mom and PIO's hometown. That is pretty neat and yet another reason I love the DIS.

 

[kmedina]

Frakentags! That is seriously funny. I wonder why they only send one per person. When we fly Southwest, we usually bring two bags per person. I call and ask them to send me more, but I do not have the talent to make a Frakentag. We tend to use less bags when we fly American or United. Crap gets a free bag per passenger on Delta.

I hope you get the scooter issue worked out soon. It is a bummer that you had a rough time at the airport due to that. With the new battery, I am bummed it did not work for you.

Fran's breakfast on the plane looks fantastic.

It always seems like we need something from the bag that has yet to arrive. I am glad we're not the only ones that happens to. Thank goodness the bags arrived in time though. Your meal looks delicious.

 

[Leshaface]

Unfortunately, for right now most of the stuff gets put right into boxes and get labeled for later. I can tell you we have the candelabras, the hourglass, the coasters, some pillows and throws. The HM stuff won't come out until we build the HM room upstairs, but I'm really hoping that once we move in some of this stuff starts to come out on the shelves in big numbers. We need to pack our shelves and show as much stuff as we can. Today at Theme Park Connection, they needed more in their glass cases in the front. Ours will be much more concentrated!

I did get pictures of the shopping she did tonight before they packed it up to ship back!

Can we please get moving on this whole house ordeal so you can start on the HM room please!?

More shopping??

I didn't drove all the way back to Sacramento by myself. I had to go back to Irvine to pick up my brother and his GF. My brother drove most of the way back to Sacramento while I got to rest while he was driving. I left Anaheim around 3:30pm and got to Irvine at 4pm. We left around 4:30pm and we got back home to Sacramento at midnight since we had to battle traffic when leaving SoCal (good thing Sactown traffic is not as bad as SoCal).

That's good that you had someone to travel with. I think that drive would be awful by yourself

Thanks for clarifying on the driving back to Sactown. I was going to say the same thing, but even so, I think Alicia is amazed at your ability to travel so far so late. I think her DH does most of the driving!

Sometimes DH gets too tired to drive after the grapevine so i'll take over, which is fine with me.

 

[Leshaface]

Breaking News!

The chocolate "pudding" in Ireland is the same ole molten center chocolate cake as it was in 2009. I guess the use of the word "pudding" was in the British sense of the word, not the American use. The sauce was different than in 2009. I liked it better.

OH MAN AM I EXCITED! I was just looking at this last night and thought it looked great. But now that you gave it even further approval, i'm ecstatic!

What a nice room at the Wilderness Lodge! Can't wait to stay here one day.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I got a little backed up, since we were busy with Crap's birthday yesterday. I am going to reply to Disneyland first them read DisneyWorld. It is such a bummer that you had scooter issues again. I hope you were not too sore the next day. Even though you relax and never go full commando, you really seem to get a lot done. Connor is finally tall enough to ride MJJ this trip. We are all excited for that. Looks like you all had a good time there. We have not ridden GRR or Splash in a long time, since Crap and I are not overly fond of getting wet. Like PiO's son, Xander is a huge fan. It is just a matter of time before he finds those rides (hopefully not on our upcoming trip).

It really is neat that you got to see PiO and her family at a leisurely pace, and that you would be seeing them again soon. Bret is the best Disneyland guide ever, so it is cool you got to see him too. Sounds like you all had a great time with each other. A cool DISmeet indeed.

I like that you got to try delicacies from Bret's Mom and PIO's hometown. That is pretty neat and yet another reason I love the DIS.

Hope Crap had a great birthday yesterday. That is nice to hear that Connor is able to ride MJJ during your trip. I didn't ride GRR on Monday with PiO, her family and Alison since I am not a huge fan of wet rides. Xander and PiO DS will be perfect for each other so they can go ride GRR all day long.

It was a great DISmeet and this is one that I will remember for a long time.

That's good that you had someone to travel with. I think that drive would be awful by yourself



Sometimes DH gets too tired to drive after the grapevine so i'll take over, which is fine with me.

It is good to have someone else that can drive you especially for that long drive. I have driven solo before to SoCal and back with only a few stops (mostly for gas and food and I also stop on the way to my grandmothers). So I am use to driving solo for 7 hours with a few stops. Mostly I leave around noon during my trips when I head back to Sacramento.

Going through the Grapevine can be daunting but when you pass it, going on 5 or 99 is a breeze.

 

[rentayenta]

Red sharpie to the rescue!


I want to like oatmeal, I really do, but I cannot get past the consistency. Same with bananas.


Stocked kitchen. You're a woman after my own heart. I seriously like gasped when I saw it. Food and feeding make me happy.

 

[TifffanyD]

I was super happy when we had our kitchen stocked at Aulani! Aoooo nice to be able to go upstairs and get food!

 

[ACDSNY]

What a rough start to what I hope is otherwise a great vacation. Your view a VWL looks so relaxing.

 

[franandaj]

What a wonderful day! Love that you got to ride RSR again without unloading.

You toured this day like we do.

The lamb burgers look insanely delicious. That's on my must list for sure. Do they still serve the garlic fries?

I couldn't believe when they let us go again! But then again it was difficult for Fran to load the vehicle so it was also very considerate.

If that is how you tour, we'll catch you at the pool! We thought we were going to die the next day!

The lamb burger IS insanely delicious! I've had them elsewhere and none are as good as that, even mine!

Yum! 16 more days until I can have one!

Jill in CO

You won't be disapointed!

I'm sorry to hear about the scooter being dead when you got to the airport.

I do enjoy riding the airport MCO monorail.

The room at Disney's Wildnerness Lodge looks great.

Leaving the scoot behind put a damper on an already surreal day.

I can tell you after switching resorts, that was a much bigger room though on the surface they look identical.

You made it to WDW....Congrats, and your day at DCA looked wonderful.

Have a wonderful tiem and enjoy every minute

I'm so glad to finally be here!

I got a little backed up, since we were busy with Crap's birthday yesterday. I am going to reply to Disneyland first them read DisneyWorld. It is such a bummer that you had scooter issues again. I hope you were not too sore the next day. Even though you relax and never go full commando, you really seem to get a lot done. Connor is finally tall enough to ride MJJ this trip. We are all excited for that. Looks like you all had a good time there. We have not ridden GRR or Splash in a long time, since Crap and I are not overly fond of getting wet. Like PiO's son, Xander is a huge fan. It is just a matter of time before he finds those rides (hopefully not on our upcoming trip).

It really is neat that you got to see PiO and her family at a leisurely pace, and that you would be seeing them again soon. Bret is the best Disneyland guide ever, so it is cool you got to see him too. Sounds like you all had a great time with each other. A cool DISmeet indeed.

I like that you got to try delicacies from Bret's Mom and PIO's hometown. That is pretty neat and yet another reason I love the DIS.

I glad you were able to get caught up. I'm laughing at the bold because this was the most commando I remember ever going! Fran and and I have NEVER done that many rides together and I haven't done the parks like that in over 25 years!

Frakentags! That is seriously funny. I wonder why they only send one per person. When we fly Southwest, we usually bring two bags per person. I call and ask them to send me more, but I do not have the talent to make a Frakentag. We tend to use less bags when we fly American or United. Crap gets a free bag per passenger on Delta.

I hope you get the scooter issue worked out soon. It is a bummer that you had a rough time at the airport due to that. With the new battery, I am bummed it did not work for you.

Fran's breakfast on the plane looks fantastic.

It always seems like we need something from the bag that has yet to arrive. I am glad we're not the only ones that happens to. Thank goodness the bags arrived in time though. Your meal looks delicious.

We're dealing with the scooter thing, but its not the same as having our own. I probably didn't attach a wire securely enough and it was juggled out of place on the way to the airport. That's the only thing I can think of.

Can we please get moving on this whole house ordeal so you can start on the HM room please!?

More shopping??

That's good that you had someone to travel with. I think that drive would be awful by yourself

Sometimes DH gets too tired to drive after the grapevine so i'll take over, which is fine with me.

The bold made me totally LOL while I read it at Epcot yesterday. Fran was shopping again, so I took out my phone, when I saw this I thought it was so funny because I'm so ready to be done with it and move on.

I won't drive over the Grapevine. I don't mind LA traffic nor the straight road on the 5 or 99, but no grapevine for me. I used to be OK but now the altitude and curves just make me totally white knuckle it.

OH MAN AM I EXCITED! I was just looking at this last night and thought it looked great. But now that you gave it even further approval, i'm ecstatic!

What a nice room at the Wilderness Lodge! Can't wait to stay here one day.

That was my favorite dessert of the festival! I'm glad it's the same cake.

We are already looking forward to our next stay at VWL, but plan to spend more time relaxing at the resort.

 

[franandaj]

Red sharpie to the rescue!


I want to like oatmeal, I really do, but I cannot get past the consistency. Same with bananas.


Stocked kitchen. You're a woman after my own heart. I seriously like gasped when I saw it. Food and feeding make me happy.

Sharpie and a highlighter!

It has already come in handy having a kitchen stocked like at home. I don't know how Fran gets so hungry, but the ham sandwiches, bagels and yogurt have been perfect!

I was super happy when we had our kitchen stocked at Aulani! Aoooo nice to be able to go upstairs and get food!

It makes me very happy knowing I don't have have to go find a QS to order way too much food and that I have stuff I like right there!

What a rough start to what I hope is otherwise a great vacation. Your view a VWL looks so relaxing.

It was, I had hoped we would see some wildlife but we never did. The most I saw was a butterfly when I was waiting for the bellman to pick up our bags.

 

[franandaj]

So after a few hours of sleep I found myself wide awake at 3:30AM Eastern Time! After about 30 minutes of trying to go back to sleep, I gave up and got into the bathtub. That sort of helped me out and by around 5:00AM I was falling back asleep again, only to be awakened my Mike Wazowski with a Monsters University wake up call at 6:30AM. We were able to get up and going as we had an 8:20 breakfast reservation at the Grand Floridian at 1900 Park Fare. We had been placed all the way at the end of the hallway, so we started our trek.



We had decided that the best route was going to be to take a boat to MK and then the Monorail to the GF. But first we stopped in the lovely lobby of the Villas to take a look around. Hopefully we took some better photos before checkout yesterday that I can share later!











Then we took the trek back up to the main lobby. You see We Go Shop (who by the way did an EXCELLENT job) made one small mistake. They bought us Dr. Pepper in bottles, not DIET Dr. Pepper. When I called they simply asked us to leave the wrong item with the Bell Desk and they would exchange it out for us. So we stopped by there on our way to the dock.



The swamp outside the Villas.







And the Mickey topiary that greets you as you approach your Villa. Both of us were too tired to take a picture of him last night.





Love the light fixtures!



We would be back for a photo op on that bridge.



Here we are on our way to the boat.





Last time we stayed here, our room was on the top floor of the right hand side of this building.



We arrived at the end of the boat dock. “I’m sorry Ma’am but the next HA boat will not be by for another 45 minutes.” So much for taking the boat to our reservation that was in now less than half an hour. We headed back to the building.



Since our plans had been completely destroyed we checked with the Concierge who was able to put a note in our reservation that we were running late and on the way so as not to cancel it. Then we headed to the bus stop. New plan. Head to MK and catch the Monorail to the GF. A look back from the Bus Stop.





And here is our bus!



Next up Breakfast and Pooh! Not two things that normally combine happily!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I can't believe that the DIS ate another one of my posts. What a pain that one of the scooters broke down just as you arrived at the airport. Breakfast looked surprisingly tasty for airline food. I just love Wilderness Lodge. This is such a pretty resort. One of those days I will get to stay there, too.

Corinna

 

[Linda67]

Love all the photos of WL - such a beautiful resort
Hope your journey to breakfast went smoothly after the crazy situation with the boat

 

[Leshaface]

It is good to have someone else that can drive you especially for that long drive. I have driven solo before to SoCal and back with only a few stops (mostly for gas and food and I also stop on the way to my grandmothers). So I am use to driving solo for 7 hours with a few stops. Mostly I leave around noon during my trips when I head back to Sacramento.

Going through the Grapevine can be daunting but when you pass it, going on 5 or 99 is a breeze.

The Grapevine is the part I hate the most. Coming back home, as soon as you're off it, it's pretty quick I think.

Do you take the 99 straight through or do you take the 5 going home?

The bold made me totally LOL while I read it at Epcot yesterday. Fran was shopping again, so I took out my phone, when I saw this I thought it was so funny because I'm so ready to be done with it and move on.

I won't drive over the Grapevine. I don't mind LA traffic nor the straight road on the 5 or 99, but no grapevine for me. I used to be OK but now the altitude and curves just make me totally white knuckle it.


That was my favorite dessert of the festival! I'm glad it's the same cake.

We are already looking forward to our next stay at VWL, but plan to spend more time relaxing at the resort.

I feel the same way about the Grapevine. And some people just speed right through those curves like no big deal

Do you feel that the transportation from VWL to the parks and back is pretty quick? It seems so far out of the way, but it's such a great resort. We'll be there on Tuesday, I think, for dinner at AP