*Marty_Mouse_House*
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2004
- Messages
- 60
August 15, 2005
Me: Mid-40s
Husband: Mid-40s
Son: Teenager
Beagle: Age 10
We hear there's record heat today. It ends up being 97 degrees. We are prepared by bringing our misting fans, coolmax socks, and aqua cool scarves. After getting our rental car, we are all pretty hungry by this time and wanted to try a place that we had heard a lot about but had never eaten at, the Earl of Sandwich. It was empty in there at this time (4:00 p.m.) so we placed our order: Earl's club - $4.95, potato salad - $0.95, Roast Beef sandwich - $4.95, Fresh Fruit bowl - $2.45, drink - $1.75 and bag of chips - $1.00. The Beagle rated it as a **Sit Up and Beg**! The decor had an English theme and we enjoyed ourselves. While we were in Downtown Disney we had to also make some of our other favorite stops, the Lego Store (*4 paws up*), and the Ghiradelli store handing out free chocolates (*worth a sniff*).
We checked in at the Swan and noticed that it is no longer free parking. You also need a room key to get out or else you have to pay. The check-in process went fine. We asked if a balcony room was available but were told that it would be an additional $30 per night. We turned it down. Also, we wanted to make sure that they had the correct rate and the desk clerk told us that we had the special rate of $139.00 per night. However, we didn't initial anything on the bill, as some hotels have you do. We should have.
We couldn't wait to get into the parks, so chose Magic Kingdom for the evening. We used our AAA Parking Pass and drove up to the 2nd row in the parking lot. Once in the park, we were able to see a lot, even though it was crowded and hot. However, we did Buzz Lightyear (with a Fast Pass), TTA Peoplemover, Philharmagic (just as good as when we saw it last Thanksgiving), Pooh (fast pass) and Barnstormer. We bought frozen lemonades outside of Barnstormer ($3.29 each) Beagle rated **better than water**! We had never been in the Judges Tent and didn't even know what it was but the line was too long now. I thought it was just Mickey Mouse where they took your picture. We promised ourselves to come back another day. We continued on with Haunted Mansion **Did I mention Howling?** and then had dinner at Columbia Harbor House. We loved this place last time but tonight, the upstairs was closed and it was jammed at 8:30 p.m. However, the food was good, many people were eating there with their meal tickets -- but here's what we had: Bowl of Chili - $4.49, Fish combo with carrots - $6.99, Kids Meal Chicken and Cheese chunks with carton of milk - $3.99 (Beagle rated as **Best Buy**), lemonade - $2.29, and cup of ice water - always free. Because we couldn't eat upstairs the Beagle would rate the entire restaurant experience tonight as **3 paws up**.
The park was very crowded by this time and we had already had a long day so we decided to take the Ferry Boat back to the parking lot. It turned out to be very relaxing, uncrowded, and set the scene for many pictures. We were able to talk to the captain about how many people the ship could hold, etc.
You know how you begin your vacation and you have all these plans of where you want to eat and what you want to do and there is no way that you can get it All done because of weather, crowds, or circumstances but you have the happy thought anyway - today was gravy because we weren't even supposed to be here yet! At least we didn't have to worry about our hotel accommodations, 2 nights at the Swan and then 2 luxurious nights at the Contemporary!
Our Disney Vacation had begun!
Part 3 coming - Epcot and Animal Kingdom
----------------------------------
Previous Trips - 30 plus trips in 33 years staying at:
Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
Me: Mid-40s
Husband: Mid-40s
Son: Teenager
Beagle: Age 10
We hear there's record heat today. It ends up being 97 degrees. We are prepared by bringing our misting fans, coolmax socks, and aqua cool scarves. After getting our rental car, we are all pretty hungry by this time and wanted to try a place that we had heard a lot about but had never eaten at, the Earl of Sandwich. It was empty in there at this time (4:00 p.m.) so we placed our order: Earl's club - $4.95, potato salad - $0.95, Roast Beef sandwich - $4.95, Fresh Fruit bowl - $2.45, drink - $1.75 and bag of chips - $1.00. The Beagle rated it as a **Sit Up and Beg**! The decor had an English theme and we enjoyed ourselves. While we were in Downtown Disney we had to also make some of our other favorite stops, the Lego Store (*4 paws up*), and the Ghiradelli store handing out free chocolates (*worth a sniff*).
We checked in at the Swan and noticed that it is no longer free parking. You also need a room key to get out or else you have to pay. The check-in process went fine. We asked if a balcony room was available but were told that it would be an additional $30 per night. We turned it down. Also, we wanted to make sure that they had the correct rate and the desk clerk told us that we had the special rate of $139.00 per night. However, we didn't initial anything on the bill, as some hotels have you do. We should have.
We couldn't wait to get into the parks, so chose Magic Kingdom for the evening. We used our AAA Parking Pass and drove up to the 2nd row in the parking lot. Once in the park, we were able to see a lot, even though it was crowded and hot. However, we did Buzz Lightyear (with a Fast Pass), TTA Peoplemover, Philharmagic (just as good as when we saw it last Thanksgiving), Pooh (fast pass) and Barnstormer. We bought frozen lemonades outside of Barnstormer ($3.29 each) Beagle rated **better than water**! We had never been in the Judges Tent and didn't even know what it was but the line was too long now. I thought it was just Mickey Mouse where they took your picture. We promised ourselves to come back another day. We continued on with Haunted Mansion **Did I mention Howling?** and then had dinner at Columbia Harbor House. We loved this place last time but tonight, the upstairs was closed and it was jammed at 8:30 p.m. However, the food was good, many people were eating there with their meal tickets -- but here's what we had: Bowl of Chili - $4.49, Fish combo with carrots - $6.99, Kids Meal Chicken and Cheese chunks with carton of milk - $3.99 (Beagle rated as **Best Buy**), lemonade - $2.29, and cup of ice water - always free. Because we couldn't eat upstairs the Beagle would rate the entire restaurant experience tonight as **3 paws up**.
The park was very crowded by this time and we had already had a long day so we decided to take the Ferry Boat back to the parking lot. It turned out to be very relaxing, uncrowded, and set the scene for many pictures. We were able to talk to the captain about how many people the ship could hold, etc.
You know how you begin your vacation and you have all these plans of where you want to eat and what you want to do and there is no way that you can get it All done because of weather, crowds, or circumstances but you have the happy thought anyway - today was gravy because we weren't even supposed to be here yet! At least we didn't have to worry about our hotel accommodations, 2 nights at the Swan and then 2 luxurious nights at the Contemporary!
Our Disney Vacation had begun!
Part 3 coming - Epcot and Animal Kingdom
----------------------------------
Previous Trips - 30 plus trips in 33 years staying at:
Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
