Reporting Live with Pictures (was Summer Vacation booked - Mandarin Oriental, DC)

[nzdisneymom]

Love the hidden Mickeys!

We found out today that we got the White House tour! Our White House tour is at 11:30 and the Capital is at 2:00-That will be a busy day! Like a commando day at WDW!

Congratulations on getting the White House tour! You can arrive a bit early and depending on the crowd level, you might even get to go in early. It's a hike to the Capitol, so plan accordingly

We went to the Jefferson Memorial last evening - it's about a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel - they have a footbridge that leads you across 14th street so you're close to the Tidal Basin when you cross. We got specific directions from the front desk (they always come from around the desk if they want to show you where to go - it's a nice touch - whether you've just checked in or are asking for directions out of the hotel). We went as the sunlight was really great across the Washington Monument and on down to the White House - spectacular views. The Jefferson is my favorite memorial, although we haven't seen FDR yet - it's on today's agenda.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We took the TourMobile today after going to the Washington Monument. No matter how much WDW training we've had, a hike around the monuments/memorials in JULY was more than we wanted to do, so we purchased tickets for two-days on the Tour Mobile. It takes you to multiple stops throughout the downtown area and also does a driving tour through Arlington National Cemetery. Two days is $35/adult and $17/child (up to age 11, not sure what age is free). We decided to splurge on it to save the kids' feet (and ours) since we had a lot to see / do today and didn't want to spend more time in transit than doing/seeing. The TourMobile stopped about every 15-20 minutes - kinda like the WDW buses when running properly

The hotel has picked up in how busy it is; we've seen a lot more people in and around the lobby. Not that the lobby is a place to hang out unless you have a wad of money. We have enjoyed using the Tai Pan Lounge in the late afternoon / early evening to hang out for a bit. Tonight the boys went back to the room and got their baths while DH and I relaxed for a short while.

We have really enjoyed our time here at the Mandarin; if there was one thing we'd change, it would be the size of the beds from double to queen in the two-bed rooms. There is adequate room for two queens, at least in our room.

I wasn't able to find out about suites (a previous poster asked), but if any of you have any questions about the hotel or surrounding area, I'll be glad to answer if I can. We have one more day ahead.

 

[Flyerfan]

Hope you don't mind me asking. What would you say are must sees for a 5-1/2 to 6 hour stay at the Smithsonian? We are going on a bus trip on a Sunday and that's about all the time we have. Three museums of interest are Air & Space, Natural History and American Indian.
Thanks!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hope you don't mind me asking. What would you say are must sees for a 5-1/2 to 6 hour stay at the Smithsonian? We are going on a bus trip on a Sunday and that's about all the time we have. Three museums of interest are Air & Space, Natural History and American Indian.
Thanks!

We haven't been in the American Indian museum but from the outside it looks cool. You could spend the whole time in Air/Space just to see a good bit of it, and of course depending on your interests, there is a lot to see at the Natural History Museum. I'd say go online and find a map of the galleries in each and decide which ones hold your interests and then plan accordingly.

I think you can go to www.goSmithsonian.com and get the visitor's guide online - at least that's what is printed on the front of the booklet they have in all the museums. Inside is information about each of the museums including a layout with the galleries marked. That will help you decide.

It's about a 10 minute walk from Natural History to Air/Space, and about 5 minutes from Air/Space to American Indian. Air/Space has McD's for food (and ice cream) and we've found that to be easier to navigate than the cafeterias elsewhere. They have a good selection of wraps, salads, and of course the usual burgers/chicken selections.

Hope that helps.

 

[Quiksilvr]

Hope you don't mind me asking. What would you say are must sees for a 5-1/2 to 6 hour stay at the Smithsonian? We are going on a bus trip on a Sunday and that's about all the time we have. Three museums of interest are Air & Space, Natural History and American Indian.
Thanks!

The American Indian museum is a different museum from the others in the Smithsonian. Because it's the newest, the exhibits are updated and better designed. The American Indian museum is not your standard "repository of artifacts" the way a lot of museums seem to be. If you move quickly, you can get through the American Indian museum in an hour or so. There just isn't as much to stop and stare at. They do have some cool exhibits though (the last time I was there they had one displaying dancing costumes. I think it's still there).

Whether you prefer the Natural History museum to the Air&Space museum depends entirely upon your personality. If looking at a butterfly exhibit isn't your idea of a good time, then maybe you'd be better off at the Air&Space museum. The one thing everyone seems to stop at the Natural History museum for is to look at the Hope diamond and the other pretty rocks in the jewel area. If I were going to see one thing at the Natural History museum that would probably be it.

My personal view is that the Air & Space museum really needs an overhaul. A lot of the exhibits are dated and just not as impressive as they were fifteen or twenty years ago. Technology (with respect to presentation and content) has advanced so much and they haven't really taken advantage of it (the American Indian museum and the National Portrait Gallery are examples of recently renovated museums that use technology in presentation). Maybe the Air & Space museum will be renovated after they get done with the American History museum. We'll see. Either way, the best parts of the Air & Space museum are the artifacts. Regardless of how far forward the ball moves on technology, it's still cool to see the Spirit of St. Louis and the other old planes and space technology they have in the museum. If you have younger kids they will probably enjoy the science-related hands on exhibits.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Great trip report! I hope the rain today won't dampen your activities too much. I live in Falls Church so a cyber-wave hi to you and your family

I agree about a trade-out sub forum--it would be nice to read/see tr's and pictures of places we can trade out to!

We ate dinner in Falls Church on Tuesday at the Pie-Tanza on Broad - it was really good - we had the wood-fired pizza. Mmmmm..... we have some friends who live there so we met them for dinner.

 

[aurorafan]

We ate dinner in Falls Church on Tuesday at the Pie-Tanza on Broad - it was really good - we had the wood-fired pizza. Mmmmm..... we have some friends who live there so we met them for dinner.

OMG--Pie-Tanza is about 1/4 mile from my house--the Giant there is my grocery store! DH and I have talked about trying it so I'm glad to hear the good reviews .

 

[Flyerfan]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's great that all the museums are free so if we don't care for one, we can just leave and go to the next. The maps will help. Thanks again!

 

[nzdisneymom]

OMG--Pie-Tanza is about 1/4 mile from my house--the Giant there is my grocery store! DH and I have talked about trying it so I'm glad to hear the good reviews .

Our friends live over on Sewell - about a stone's throw from the PieTanza if the street went straight through. The pizza was really good - it's a bit on the expensive side ($12.99 for a 12-inch specialty pizza)... we split three among us - the classic mediterranean, the four-cheese, and the sausage/peppers one. They were all good.


Today is our last day in DC. We have really enjoyed our stay at the Mandarin Oriental and also our sight-seeing in the Mall area. We finally finished the Air and Space Museum, went over to the National Postal Museum (by Union Station), and then saw a few more galleries at the Natural History Museum. DS#1 wanted to do the carousel at the Castle, so he and I went to do that while DS#2 and DH returned to the hotel.

We were back in time to go to the Tai Pan Lounge for snacks and soft drinks, and now it's time to start packing Thanks for following along with us.

 

[Psychodisney]

Thanks for the report and all of the info! Safe travels!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks to all of you who shared travel and DC tips with us and for those who have joined us on our first exchanging-out-of-Disney DVC experience.

I have a few random thoughts to wrap up our trip as we're heading back to work and "reality" today.

When we checked out on Saturday morning, the front desk guy mentioned that our room and tax had been taken care of through Expedia. I guess that might be how DVC does it? Not sure - but anyway, just thought that was interesting.

The bell services was quick to come help us with our luggage and the valet guys got it all loaded into the car in a neat, orderly fashion - and there was still a little room left!

Tipping: Be sure to bring plenty of dollars for tipping, especially if you're using the Tai Pan Club. While I don't think it is necessarily "required," it is greatly appreciated and accepted. Also tipping for housekeeping (morning and turn-down) scores you extra amenities And of course there is the bellman, and the valet service if you have your own car. We tipped $2 at breakfast each morning, and then $2 in the evenings for their snacks. If we got extra drinks throughout the afternoon/evening, we would tip later in the evening as well (not every time we got a drink as many times it was just someone handing us the bottles to take back to our room). We left $2 in the morning and $2 in the evening for housekeeping. I wasn't sure what was an appropriate amount so I figured there are four of us in the room, so $4/day was appropriate for the room - and just split it morning/night.

Would we stay there again? Probably not on DVC points since we've "been there, done that" and want to use our points elsewhere. And it's too much cash for me to pay for it myself (LOL), but if we were to have an awesomely amazing deal or someone were to put us up there, we'd gladly stay.

We were glad to have the opportunity through DVC to stay somewhere "swanky" and have that experience. It's part of why we bought into DVC - to have the chance to stay other places besides just Disney.

Now to figure out where we want to go next summer.

 

[marvali]

Thanks for all the great reports. It was fun "vacationing with you."

 

[kikiq]

Thank you for the trip report. We're thinking of a trip to Washington DC and this was wonderful. It's nice to hear from folks who are using their DVC points other than Disney.

 

[MassMom94]

You know, now that I think of it, our tour guide kept commenting on how lucky we were that it was 1) just us on the tour (guess no one else from our district was in DC wanting a tour at this time), and 2) just before we got to security, she said that we would probably have a lengthy wait, but as we came around the corner, there was NO ONE in line. She was amazed, and the Capitol security person waved her on through with us. We had to wait for a couple of Staff people to go through before we did, but it she kept saying how lucky we were. And even in Statuary Hall where the "whisper spot" is, we were able to huddle around with one other group that was also a group of four.

So I guess we were really really lucky! Maybe time of day (it was a 2 p.m. tour) and that it is the week AFTER the 4th of July.

One thing I'd advise is NOT going during any time when a large number of school groups are likely to be there, most likely April and May (perhaps into June). DD went with her entire 8th grade class (200+ kids) a few years ago, and the tour company said that a trip to DC was the most popular trip nationwide and that eighth grade was the most popular year for it. So get a few of those groups together, and "regular" tourists, and you have a REALLY long line.

Even though I know a lot of the kids in DD's class, and they are great, I did feel especially sorry for the group of business people who by the luck of the draw wound up accompanying them on their flights. Even though the school used two planes and divided up the group, would you want to fly with 100+ super-excited 8th graders?

 

[MassMom94]

Whether you prefer the Natural History museum to the Air&Space museum depends entirely upon your personality. If looking at a butterfly exhibit isn't your idea of a good time, then maybe you'd be better off at the Air&Space museum. The one thing everyone seems to stop at the Natural History museum for is to look at the Hope diamond and the other pretty rocks in the jewel area. If I were going to see one thing at the Natural History museum that would probably be it.

My personal view is that the Air & Space museum really needs an overhaul. A lot of the exhibits are dated and just not as impressive as they were fifteen or twenty years ago. Technology (with respect to presentation and content) has advanced so much and they haven't really taken advantage of it (the American Indian museum and the National Portrait Gallery are examples of recently renovated museums that use technology in presentation). Maybe the Air & Space museum will be renovated after they get done with the American History museum. We'll see. Either way, the best parts of the Air & Space museum are the artifacts. Regardless of how far forward the ball moves on technology, it's still cool to see the Spirit of St. Louis and the other old planes and space technology they have in the museum. If you have younger kids they will probably enjoy the science-related hands on exhibits.

The last time we were in DC (for museum-going purposes) was way back in 2001, so this is not a recent review. But we felt the same way about the Air & Space Museum. It was actually a bit disappointing to our then DD9 who was really into all things space at the time. We spent more time at the Natural History museum. Her favorite museum, much to our surprise, turned out to be the Hirschhorn.

 

[lat]

Thanks for the postings. Was it an upgrade by the hotel to the club level? I just checked DVC's point chart and there is no concierge level point chart. The most is a water view deluxe room. I would be happy to get the club level by using the points, but I wonder if you were just lucky or that is what they would offer.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks for the postings. Was it an upgrade by the hotel to the club level? I just checked DVC's point chart and there is no concierge level point chart. The most is a water view deluxe room. I would be happy to get the club level by using the points, but I wonder if you were just lucky or that is what they would offer.

The points chart has four categories for the Mandarin Oriental for 2008 - the District Deluxe, Water Deluxe, Mandarin District Deluxe, and Mandarin Water Deluxe. The "District" corresponds with what the Mandarin refers to as a City view. The "Mandarin" distinction is the concierge distinction which the Mandarin Oriental now calls the Tai Pan level - if you reserve the Mandarin District or the Mandarin Water through DVC, you'll get a room on the 8th or 9th floor and you'll also have access to the Tai Pan Club and all the amenities / services that go with that (complimentary breakfast for two guests, evening snacks, all-day soft drinks/water/tea/coffee, free wireless internet in your room, etc.). If you don't get the "Mandarin" level, you can still access these features via the hotel but you pay for them.

We reserved the Mandarin District Deluxe room as it was 49 pts per night rather than 54 pts per night that the Mandarin City View would be. We opted for the Mandarin level because we wanted the concierge experience and we had sufficient points for the week. But we didn't care about the view so we chose the lesser point-expense for the District/City view. When we arrived shortly after 3 p.m. (which is their posted check-in time), our City view room was not yet ready, but they told us that a Water view room was ready if we wanted it. Because I knew from not just the points chart but from having gone to their website and priced out a comparable booking that the water view was "worth" more, I knew they weren't trying to push us into a lesser room.

FWIW, the "views" aren't much of anything from the Mandarin Oriental - I wouldn't spend "extra" points or cash for a water view over the district view. Neither view are spectacular

We also found out that the hotel may upgrade a party to the "club level" in terms of their room assignment without the benefits of access to the club. So just because you are assigned a room on the 8th or 9th floor, unless you book it specifically to include the Tai Pan Club, you don't have access and will have a charge if you access the services. When you enter the Club for breakfast, they ask your room number and then verify that you're on the "list" as a guest who has "free" access (meaning you've already paid via your room reservation). If you don't, then they'll tell you about how much it costs, etc., which pretty much discourages regular families like us from going further than the front door

Anyway, we've never stayed anywhere that we've had a "club" to access - the area was spacious and comfortable, and DH and I were able to enjoy some quiet time there while the kids were watching cartoons in the room. It was a bit like being on the DCL