Tammi & Jim - Two Parents alone at DisneyWorld (Another relaxing day?)

[TammiMcMan]

Jim, 39 can sleep for 4 hours in a sauna
Tammi, 40 should have stuck to the original plan


Scene 5 – What do you want to do? I don’t know, what do you want to do?

A little advice that I received from my 7 year old the day before our trip was to purchase some ear mugs (translation, ear plugs). This was after I had climbed into her bed for the second night in a row to escape my husband’s snoring. Being the smart woman I am, I took her advice and ran to K-mart for said earplugs. The smartest gift that I could have purchased for myself and I can’t thank my daughter enough. It was the best sleep that I’ve gotten in a long time and it was so nice to cuddle through out the night with my darling husband instead of having to get up and make a bed for myself on the floor of the walk in closet.

This morning I was the one to sleep in and I was gently prodded awake at 8:30 by the delicious smell of coffee. Jim thought that he would get a jump on the day and head over to the health club bright and early. He only made it as far as the lounge, but hey it was the thought that counts. As per our religion, we couldn’t do anything without watching the Weather Channel for at least 10 minutes. We were being told that today would only reach the mid 70’s and that a cold front was moving in tonight for the next few days. Being from New England and already having developed a fair amount of winter weight (you know the stuff we can usually hide under big bulky sweaters and it does keep us warm in frigid temps), well we could definitely handle mid 70’s in shorts and t-shirts. Off to the lounge we went, without a plan for today. I was thinking that we could take the top off our little sports jeep and tool on over to Celebration. I really wanted to check out this Disney community and I had heard they had shops and restaurants. I threw the plan out there and Jim countered with us going over to MGM for a few hours. He wanted to go on Tower of Terror and Rock-n-roller coaster. I thought that would be okay, we could drive to MGM, hit those two rides and be at Celebration by lunchtime. One thing we notice when we get outside is that it’s hot and we’re happy we chose shorts today. Off to MGM and in no time we’re headed for the rides. We decide to check out both wait times and fast pass one while we wait in line for the other. Rock-n-roller coaster is closed for technical difficulties and the fast pass return time is 1pm. Right now it’s only 10am and I had wanted to be in Celebration by 1 o’clock. We end up getting fast passes for Tower of Terror and do some shopping. I still hadn’t bought anything for myself yet and Jim steered me into a jewelry shop. He bought me a sterling silver charm bracelet with Tinkerbelle on it and he also picked out a diamond initial T for me and Mickey charms with all our birthstones on them. It’s beautiful and a perfect remembrance of our anniversary in Disney. We were at Tower of Terror as soon as our fast pass return time opened up and as usual, it was an incredible ride. Rock-n-roller coaster is still closed, so I head towards the exit. Jim has one more ride request and that’s the Muppet 3D movie. Well, he did just spend nearly $200 on a charm bracelet for me, I guess we could see the Muppets again. I admit, it’s really cute and I’m glad that we did take the time to see it. One more check for Rock-n-roller, but it’s still closed. Oh well, there’s always next time.

Back to the car and back to the question of, what do you want to do now? Jim has that mid-day nap look on his face and I know that pushing him to go to Celebration will only result in a bad time, so we head back to the resort. He wants to head over to the health club and it’s still pretty warm, so I decide that I’ll hang out at the pool for a while. Before he goes, I make one fatal vacation mistake. I ask him to make dinner plans. I’m the one who has planned our whole entire trip and don’t get me wrong, I love doing that. It’s just that I felt a bit guilty and thought that maybe he’d like to pick where we were going to have dinner this evening. He checked out the park hours for Magic Kingdom and saw that they were open until 7:30pm this evening and that meant a showing of Spectromagic. He wanted to see it again. To help him along, I suggested that we A. meet back at the room early, grab dinner at Gasparilla’s and then head over to the Magic Kingdom or B. meet back at the room early, head straight into the Magic Kingdom for dinner and then the parade or C. have a late lunch and save dinner until we got to Downtown Disney, which were the plans for this evening. I even reminded him that he could stop by the concierge desk to make reservations somewhere. We parted company by the pool at about 1:00. I took a nice relaxing swim, got a drink at the pool bar and actually started making notes for my trip report so that I wouldn’t forget anything. At about 3:00, the clouds started building up and the temperature was dropping pretty rapidly. It’s amazing how much warmth is in that Florida sunshine. I returned to our room, took a nice hot shower and dressed in a sweater and jeans. I was planning on dressing up when we went to Downtown Disney and had a nice cream lace shirt laid out with matching jeans and cowboy boots. Not something I’d wear into the parks, but I wanted to look cute when we went clubbing at Pleasure Island. It’s now a little after 3:30 and I’m guessing that Jim will be heading back to the room soon. Okay, now it’s 4pm and I’m thinking maybe I should go down to the lounge and have some tea and a snack while I wait. We had only eaten a light breakfast this morning and I was starting to feel some hunger pangs. I take my Downtown Disney map with me and scout out the places that I want to go tonight. My plans were that we were going to have already eaten dinner by the time we got there and that we could enjoy a nice chocolate dessert at Godiva’s before going to Pleasure Island. I had decided that we were going to try out the Adventurer’s Club this time around. The lounge staff clears off the afternoon tea offerings and start setting up for the 5pm twilight refreshers and still no sign of my husband. Who stays at a health club for 4 hours? Then I remembered the nap look on his face and was asking myself if it was safe to sleep in a sauna or steam room for that amount of time. He finally made it back to the room a little after 5pm and laughed at the way I was dressed. Hey buddy, I watch the Weather Channel, I know what’s coming. He puts on shorts and I stuff his jacket into my backpack against his better judgment. Okay, so it’s past the time for a late lunch, where are we eating dinner I ask him. I don’t know, where do you want to eat dinner? Groan….. I should have seen this one coming.

Into the MK we go with exactly one hour before the start of Spectromagic. Jim wants to do some shopping on Main Street first. Our daughter is in her first year of cheerleading and we had seen some really cute things in one of the shops on our first night. Unfortunately, they didn’t have her size then, so he was hoping to buy the outfit for her tonight. I tried to explain that Downtown Disney had a store that contained only athletic items and that we were sure to find it there, but he was determined to take time away from getting food in order to shop. And you guessed it, they still didn’t have her size. Now I’m thinking that there is no way we can eat before the parade and we decide to have dinner at Downtown Disney. Okay, but I do need something to hold me over because I’m going to drop soon. We walk all the way over to Cosmic Rays because Jim wants to have their roast chicken dinner. I asked him about having dinner in less than 2 hours at DtD. No problem, he can eat again. Well, okay, what about me? There is no way I can pack away two dinners in less than two hours. Now I’m starting to get mad and trying hard not to show it. He wolfs down his meal and wants to find a spot to watch the parade and the fireworks, but we also need to be close to the exit so that we can get right to DtD afterwards. I suggest the second floor of the train depot (thanks to the advice of 55,000 of my closest friends). He heads down that way to snag us a spot while I go into the bakery for hot chocolate and something to tide me over. You guessed it, the Weather Channel gods were right and the temps have steadily fallen from about 80 degrees at noontime to somewhere around 50. I mean it is getting nippy and windy. Too many people were caught un-aware and were either leaving the park or buying sweatshirts by the truckload. I found my husband right where I told him to be, eyes rolling, and offered him the jacket that I had tucked into my bag. He told me that he wasn’t that cold, but he did put the jacket on and zip it up to his neck. He even asked me if I was going to finish my hot chocolate, not that he was cold, just thirsty. The parade was great and we did get a totally different perspective of it by being up so high. I saw things that I never noticed before. The fireworks were just as incredible as the first time I saw them. We dashed over to a waiting boat as soon as they were done and headed back to the resort to get the car. Well, now Jim wants to just run up to the room and put on jeans and another shirt. I told you that I was planning on wearing something cute tonight, but I was so mad about dinner and the fact that I wouldn’t be able to have my Godiva’s that I decided not to change and to just go like I was. That would show him! I can be such a child sometimes.

Finally we arrive at DtD and my son calls just as we’re getting out of the car. He got invited to a birthday party later in the week and wanted to know if he could go. We chatted for a few minutes and when I told him we were having dinner then going to a nightclub, he thought that was so cute. Cute? I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know the answer. All right, plenty of eating places to choose from. How about Planet Hollywood Jim? No, I hate their food he tells me. Let’s just walk this way, he says as he heads right into the World of Disney. You know the store that’s about as big as the state of Rhode Island. Why are we in here, I ask? To find Casey’s cheerleading outfit, he says. But I already told you that they have a Team Mickey store here that only sells athletic stuff. Too late, I’ve lost him. He’s wandering and wandering. I don’t see anything like it he finally exclaims when I catch up with him. Do you think we should try the Team Mickey store after we eat dinner, I ask? Well, lets just shop now and then we’re done for the night says the man who’s already had one dinner to my none. I realize that I lost this battle hours ago and lead him to Team Mickey. Lo and behold there are hundreds of cheerleading outfits in our daughters size. Success, now we can go eat. But wait, oh no what’s that straight ahead, it’s Disney’s Pin Trader station and Jim has spotted it. Inside we go and he’s happy to find a Mission Space pin and offers to buy me a GF pin saying, look honey you can see our room on the pin. I’m dragging behind him as we get back outside and his thoughts finally return to his stomach. He nixed Planet Hollywood, but how about Rainforest, that we just happen to be standing next too. No, too many kids and we have one close to home anyway. I think it was at this point that the skies opened up and we had our first rain shower of the week. All those around us head right to Cap’n Jacks Restaurant, so he nixes that one, the wait will be too long. Let’s walk all the way back to check out Fulton’s Crab House and Portabello’s. We trek through the rain to read their menus. I don’t see anything I like and it’s getting late. I don’t want to be eating heavy at 9:30 at night. The rain starts letting up and Jim suggests that we walk down to the West Side and eat there. At this point, I can’t go another step and I am starting to feel kind of sick because I’ve hardly eaten anything all day. I’m really ready to call it a night, when Jim suggests that we try Cap’n Jacks. Back we go and find that there is no wait. Seems that people just ducked into the waiting area to get out of the rain. We end up having a wonderful meal and afterwards I’m feeling 100 percent better, so we walk to Pleasure Island. Jim’s pointing at all the clubs as we head in, but I’m determined that we are going to at least start in the Adventurer’s Club. The evening plans are back in my hands now. We end up having such a good time there, that we don’t go to any of the other clubs. After the big Hoopla, (hoopla) we call it a night.

Tomorrow is check out, but before then a backstage tour of the Animal Kingdom.

 

[IloveDMB]

Men can be so difficult sometimes, right? I'm glad you're evening ended up with a nice meal!

I'll be looking for the next part.

 

[crs7568]

You are such a good sport. My blood sugar levels drop and I get a wicked headache and the worst disposition you have ever seen.

Would you mind giving some information about the concierge lounge at RPC? I would love to hear what you thought about the food and the staff at the lounge!

 

[TammiMcMan]

I was starting to get pretty witchy and if Cap'n Jacks had a wait, then we would have been eating dinner at McDonalds.

The RPC lounge had the following schedule when we were there:

Grand Beginnings 6:30am-10:30am, this included boxes of cereal, assorted muffins, croissants, toast & bagels for toasting, fresh fruit, yogurt, coffee, tea, assorted juices.

Daily Delights 11:30-2:30pm, this was very light fare offering. Normally there was assorted hummus and bread, sliced vegetables and some type of salad.

Afternoon Tea 3pm-4:30pm, assorted cookies, hot scones with jam and butter, trifle, brownies.

Twighlight Refreshers 5-7pm, cheese & crackers, assorted wines, vegetables, one evening there was sliced roast beef with onions, another there was a sliced, chicken breast stuffed with a spicy red sauce and usually 2 hot dishes. We had mini quesidalla's, spring rolls, honey mustard chicken on skewers, etc. They also set up a small area for the kids which had mini hot dogs, cup cakes and brownies.

Grand Indulgences 8-10pm, assorted cordials and desserts

Throughout the day you could always get coffee, hot water for tea or cocoa, lemonade and mineral water. Other than breakfast, I don't think their intention is for anything other than a snack and their food tended to be on the gourmet side. I found it to be quite delicious and the trips that we've been there with and without our kids, we always spend a lot of time sitting in the lounge area. It's usually very relaxing. There is also a balcony off the 3rd floor which is another quiet spot to relax in. I hardly ever see anyone out there.

The lounge staff has always been quite helpful and friendly to us. I think they are trained to blend into the background, but if you want to engage them in conversation, they happily respond.