The Double-and-a-half Trippie ** COMPLETED **

[StephSalyer]

I could see the fireworks from the last Christmas Party from my window!!

Hey, I was at that Christmas Party! The fireworks were great that night and the weather was perfect (for a Floridian) for the Christmas Party.

 

[my3disneygirls]

WL looks great. I got a chuckle when you said your card was declined. You sure did enjoy shopping! Your lucky that you can save face by blaming it on the foreign bank.

 

[marivaid]

at Hairspray.

To this day I can't even look at a can of Freeze-It and not remember that day

great trip reports, thanks

Thanks for reading

Great update! You have an excellent gift for writing. I can actually see everything you write about. I truly look forward to your updates!

Oh and Hairspray..............

Wow, thanks for the great compliment !! English's not my first language so my vocabulary's kind of limited.

We'll know not to do the sleigh ride in December. We have no patience to sit through that.

Yikes...who knew the sleigh ride would be that lame? Okay, so I am cured from wanting to venture on one of those now.

Oh, boy, we're going to get banned from the WL for ruining their sleigh ride business

WL looks great. I got a chuckle when you said your card was declined. You sure did enjoy shopping! Your lucky that you can save face by blaming it on the foreign bank.

I sure was. And used that one again several times through the week; Just in case someone at the bank had realized I was in Disney, and it was CHRISTMAS,come on let's give her another hundred bucks

 

[marivaid]

It was hard to already say goodbye to Wilderness Lodge that morning But we were moving over to the Beach Club and I was thrilled about that.

Plus, this morning, we were going to visit the Grand Floridian for the first time !!! We had booked a breakfast at 1900 Park Fare because we're lazy and I knew if we didn't have a commitment of some kind we'd have stayed at the pool instead.

So we gathered up our stuff, called Luggage Services and asked them to transfer our luggage to the Beach Club, everything but my laptop bag.
We took a cab to the GF - it was so close, the driver didnt even turn the meter on and told us to give him whatever we liked (we gave $10).

I have to admit, I'm one of those people who decided early on that the GF was Snob Central, just because it's the most expensive resort. And it is, a bit, on the snobby side. However I can't deny how impressed I was, before we even entered the lobby.

Since we were a bit late we just glanced at the lobby before going in to check at Park Fare. We waited about 10mns to be seated.

The restaurant is very pretty - white and pastels and vintagey looking things everywhere.

Unfortunately, that morning, it was also a mad house. We're used to little kids running around at character meals. Chef Mickey's is so big, it's not really a problem there. But Park Fare is small and cramped, and there's just not enough space for kids to run. Or enough space for a laptop bag under our table.
The breakfast was good, but I can't remember any particular dish that stood out. I was surprised that Grumpy didn't try the lobster eggs benedict, she loves lobster AND eggs benedict but she said she didn't want any. Of course now she insists she didn't know there were any, and complains that I didn't tell her

Characters at 1900 Park Fare are : Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh and Tigger.

Pooh was the first character we met, then we didn't see any for a while, then next thing we knew all 5 were at the table right behind ours.
Mary Poppins took her time but the other characters were a bit rushed. It didn't matter because Grumpy wanted to see Mary Poppins the most, neither of us are very familiar with Alice in Wonderland, and we'd see Pooh and Tigger at Crystal Palace.

Grumpy had a ball meeting the characters even if it was a short visit

All in all, Park Fare was a "glad we did it once, but have no desire to go back" restaurant.

The Grand Floridian, however, was beyond our expectations. We were in that lobby for about half an hour. Grumpy went into one of the shops while I was taking pics. She came back out fast though, as almost nothing in that shop was priced under $150.

The tree was gorgeous

Nice details on the ceiling

Birdcage (I think) in the lobby

I thought this was really pretty

And of course, we got to see the life size Gingerbread house !!!

Grumpy kept saying how much she loved the scent of gingerbread and I told her since the shop only opened at 10, she'd have to wait a little bit if she wanted to buy gingerbread cookies.

"Oh no I HATE gingerbread ! I just like the scent."



We got lost on our way to the monorail and then I saw those stairs. I *had* to had a picture of those stairs but people came walking down !!!! THE NERVES of these people who were paying $500 a night to stay at the GF and were using the stairs when I wanted to take a photo !!!

Finally we got lost 2 or 3 more times until we found the monorail (I probably would get lost again if we ever went back - the place's huge!) and then we were on our way to Magic Kingdom.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

You guys sure do make the most of your trip and enjoy yourselves. I love going around to all the resorts just to take in all the different themes. GF is pretty, but I totally understand about the snobby thing. LOL! We haven't gone to Park Fare in ages, but it sounds like it hasn't changed a bit. I can't wait to hear more!

 

[DisneyTabby]

Love the new update. We need more

 

[Hedy]

How dare they walk in your picture!

Funny, when we were at 1900 PF were commented on how much more quiet it was than Chef Mickey's-maybe because we had an early seating.

 

[marivaid]

You guys sure do make the most of your trip and enjoy yourselves. I love going around to all the resorts just to take in all the different themes. GF is pretty, but I totally understand about the snobby thing. LOL! We haven't gone to Park Fare in ages, but it sounds like it hasn't changed a bit. I can't wait to hear more!

We love the parks but this trip was mostly about resorts. The only Deluxe we didn't visit was the Poly because it's just not that great around Christmas.

Love the new update. We need more

Working on it !!

How dare they walk in your picture!

Unbelievable right ? Some people...

Funny, when we were at 1900 PF were commented on how much more quiet it was than Chef Mickey's-maybe because we had an early seating.

I've got to admit I've never seen Chef Mickey's at peak time. One time our ADR was 7.50 and once 11-ish. Never very crowded. I don't think it helped that we were at Park Fare so close to Christmas,either.

 

[marivaid]

Where was I ???
We had just hopped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom after our breakfast at the Grand Floridian.

When we reached MK, Grumpy realized she'd left her annual pass at home, so we had to stop by Guest Relations first. They gave her a Grumpy AP !!!! She was thrilled. I was jealous, because I always end up with stupid Cinderella or even worse, the Incredibles. I don't even know what the Incredibles are.

One more stop, to get a locker, because I'm not carrying my laptop in MK all day. There was quite a line to get lockers and/or EVCs, but we had no choice. We waited.

The crowds had most definitely arrived. MK was more packed that morning than it had been during evening EMH only a few days before. Since I'd done all the rides I wanted to, I let Grumpy choose.

She picked Haunted Mansion first. Good, because I'd forgotten to take pics.

Next in her list was PhilarMagic. Neither of us can get enough of that show.

She was a bit put off that I'd seen Hall of Presidents without her, so we walked back towards Liberty Square. On the way we stopped for a little Small World ...

We had to wait a bit for the next HoP show and I spotted one of those carts that sells personalized lacy umbrellas. We had wanted to buy one for Granny in October and totally forgot about it. Although we were a bit disappointed by the choices - the smaller ones only come in pink with white lace or white with lavender lace - we bought one and had "Granny" painted on it. The lady selling them told us to just come pick it up after our show was over.

As I suspected, Grumpy loved the Hall of Presidents. When we came out she spent an insane amount of time in the Americana shop. She picked half a dozen books, plus the US states cards I'd noticed a few days earlier.
The kids from her classes loved the cards, by the way. I think they're the only French kids who can tell you the capital, slogan, and flower of each US State

As much as she loves MK, Grumpy was getting antsy. I'd talked her ears off about Stormalong Bay and she wanted to get there. I tried to take her for a little Splash but we did have a bag full of books plus a rather fragile umbrella to carry, so it wasn't the best ride.

So,yes, after only 4 rides, we left MK and went to check in at the Beach Club.

The bus was right here waiting for us and after about 15mns we were at the BC. One step inside the lobby, we were greeted by an older gentleman.

"Welcome to Disney World, Welcome to the Beach Club Resort!"

Oh, I'm going to love this place.

A few more steps in, another greeter comes our way.

"Welcome home, ladies. May I help you ?"

We explained that we were checking in.

"You shopped already????"

Oh, boy, they already have us figured out. And they haven't even seen The Bags yet. We explained that we were coming from WL and he said that it was his favorite resort this time of year. I told him we loved it but I had a feeling the BC would be even better.

We get in line to check in, and, I kid you not, a third greeter comes to us, introduces himself and takes us to the Concierge desk so we wouldn't have to wait. It was about 1pm, and our room was ready !!!

I couldn't wait to see it. I fell in love with the BC's bedspreads after seeing the pics on AllEars.

Our room was on the floor above us. On our way up, Grumpy noticed the Marketplace and said she wouldn't mind a drink. So we got the mugs out of my laptop bag, and went to fill them. Grumpy got herself a Lunchable and I went for a fresh turkey mozzarella and basil sandwich.

We brought our loot upstairs and found our room.

That's it. The Poly has been dethroned. This is my dream resort.

THEY NEED TO SELL THIS LAMP SOMEWHERE!!

The room was large, bright and airy. A big contrast to WL's. Although I love the style of AKL and WL, I am a girl and therefore need somewhat decent lightning to put on eyeliner.

To me the BC rooms have just the right amount of Mickey for guests to remember they are at Disney World, but not feel over-moused.

I went to open our balcony doors, expecting the kind of view we had gotten at AKL in our Standard room (rain gutter).
Nope, siree. That's what we got :

Standard view ??? Not so much ! We were both thrilled. Plus we had a full balcony.
Grumpy got changed into her suit, and we went to explore the resort and find Stormalong Bay. I didn't want to swim but told Grumpy I'd just take pics and maybe play in the arcade a bit.

We didn't even need to wait for the elevator as we were only a few stairs away from the lobby

I stopped to admire the chocolate/gingebread carousel in the lobby... they even have the recipe (kids, don't try this at home).

We leave the lobby and see this

and this

... we go by the beach....

... then, a little path...

and we found Stormalong Bay !!!!

 

[Hedy]

Those pictures make me want to stay at the Beach Club. They're beautiful.
Sidenote-I feel the need to let you know I used your "homesick-as in sick of being at home" phrase yesterday.

 

[DisneyTabby]

Was this a standard room or did they upgrade you. What a view! Do you remember the room number? A must try for us someday.

 

[marivaid]

Those pictures make me want to stay at the Beach Club. They're beautiful.
Sidenote-I feel the need to let you know I used your "homesick-as in sick of being at home" phrase yesterday.

It really is an incredible resort.
LOL too funny that you "quoted" me Could you be missing WDW???

Was this a standard room or did they upgrade you. What a view! Do you remember the room number? A must try for us someday.

I never figured out if we had been upgraded or not. The CM didn't say anything to us about an upgrade. I *think* that our room number was 5283. But I'm a bit on the dyslexic side, so it could be 3285. Or 2583. Sorry, that doesn't help much. Tomorrow I'll check to see if Grumpy still has our express checkout bill, maybe they put the room number on it.

 

[SeptemberGirl]

Okay, I want to stay at the Beach Club now!

 

[marivaid]

Grumpy went to get her Stormalong Bay wristband and pool towel while I just walked around.

I found Beaches & Cream. Found a smoking area. Went for a walk on the beach. Then I decided to try the arcade.

My sister & her friend are video games junkies. I stink at every single one of them. The last video game I managed to play was Duck Tales, on what I think was a "Super Nintendo"... circa 1992. And it took me a couple months to finish it.
But I want to like video games. Mostly, because that pink DS is really cute.

So, in the arcade I went. I bought a $10 card. Went to a game that looked pretty fun. Put my card in, got ready to at least TRY.

Some dude came on the screen with a big sword and, apparently, sliced my guy's head in half.
Nice.
The screen went blood red and started blinking "GAME OVER".
I'd been there for five whole seconds.

Because I don't particularly enjoy having my head cut off, I went to play pinball instead. Which I also stink at, but it cost less credits so it lasted longer Plus, no sword or blood involved (usually).

When I came back in the resort, on my way to our room, who do I see roaming the halls but GRUMPY ?? Apparently I'd spent quite some time playing pinball.

"FINALLY!"
"Huh? Are you waiting for me to get back in the room?"
"I don't remember which room is ours."

Apparently she'd been back from the pool for some time. She couldn't remember our room number, so after getting lost a few times she'd gone to the front desk, gave them her name and her key and asked which room she was supposed to be in. They wrote the number down on a piece of paper for her and sent her on her way. When she got lost, again, she was too ashamed to go back to the front desk so she just waited for me to come back.

We found our room, and got changed. We wanted to go see the Osborne Lights at MGM and maybe squeeze in a ride or two. It was still early but we didn't want to rush.

We were ready to take the elevator downstairs when I remembered the stairs. Come on, we can use the exercise. And what do we see in the lobby but Mr and Ms Mouse themselves !!!!

I'd totally forgotten that the characters were coming to some of the resorts for greetings that day. It was a big surprise. Grumpy said it was really nice to see them but she didn't feel the need to have her picture taken. Besides there were a lot of kids waiting.

So we went to the boat dock (at the Yacht Club) and waited for our Friendship to MGM.

We got in the park, and I insisted Grumpy let me take her photo next to Dopey and The Esclavagist's topiaries. She did, begrudgingly.

We had time to kill, but not much, before it got dark outside, so we went to see Great Movie Ride. The wait wasn't as long as last time, and Grumpy liked the ride, especially the Casablanca part. Personally, I like the alien

It was dark when we came out so we went to see the Osborne Lights. Grumpy agreed me with me about the "dancing" part. We like our lights to stand still.

The crowds were absolutely nuts that night. They'd blocked a path around Stars Tours so people could come out, but not in. It was quite a mess. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there, just enough to taste the snow (you don't wanna do that, by the way.. it's soap!).
Since it was about 25mns before Fantasmic we thought we'd have a good shot at getting a seat, even a bad one. But when we reached the Beauty & the Beast theater a CM was there yelling STANDING ROOM ONLY FOR FANTASMIC!

Grumpy didn't want to wait for the 2nd show (I wasn't even sure if there would be one). She loves Fantasmic but not the wait - who does! And I'd already seen it. So we left the park and headed towards the boat dock.
And we were NOT the only ones there.

Thankfully they'd called for reinforcement and we could see 2 boats arriving. It did take a good 40mns for us to get back to the Beach Club, though.

We went straight to Beaches & Cream. Since it was about 9, we didn't expect there'd be a line. We were wrong. When we checked in, the CM told us it would be at least 35mns. No burger is worth a 35mns wait - we were about to leave when the CM called us back.

"They have 2 seats at the counter, if you want!"

Yes, we would like that very much

Here's Joseph, our Beaches & Cream buddy. He brought us our food and also took care of the orders to go.

I love this place !!! It reminded me of Luke's Diner in Gilmore Girls, well a much friendlier Luke's. They have a real jukebox in there.

Grumpy wanted chili or soup. They were out of both so she got a hot dog instead. With fruit.
Great, now I have to order fruit with my burger too.

She seemed to like her hot dog fine, and the burger was REALLY good. I'm no expert, but it was much better than the CS burgers in the parks. I'm a bit freaked out by square burgers...

Then I took a calculated risk. Our room was roughly 4 minutes from the diner. If we asked for the check first, and ate fast, I could make it.

I asked Grumpy if we could share an ice cream. She said it was a very, very bad idea.... but that she hadn'd had a banana split in ages and the ones our counter neighbours were eating looked particularly yummy.

One scoop vanilla, one strawberry, one chocolate.
Plus a banana and a bunch of whipped cream...

We dug in !! I, concentrating on the strawberry and cream, Grumpy on the chocolate and cherries.

Our other server came to check on us.

"How's the split, ladies?"
"Awesome. Makes me wish I wasn't lactose intolerant."

He laughed, then looked concerned when I didn't laugh back.

"You're not kidding."
"Nope."
"But isn't it going to make you...."
"Oh yeah. It's okay, our room's close. I timed it."

We finished up, leaving a small gooey mess, and went back to our beautiful room. Grumpy went off to find the hot tub, and I waited for the inevitable

Tomorrow we have a rendez-vous with Lieutenant Dan !!!!

 

[Hedy]

Exclavist.

 

[DisneyTabby]

Love the update

 

[SeptemberGirl]

OMG, you are too funny! I love your lactose-denial!

 

[marivaid]

Exclavist.

Love the update

OMG, you are too funny! I love your lactose-denial!

Thanks for reading guys !!!
We leave in 11 days and I really want to try & finish this TR before we go. I didn't take notes in December and my memory is fading fast.

Three more days to go

 

[marivaid]

After a rather crampy night, we both woke up in a great mood.

We were looking forward to our breakfast with the characters at Cape May (in our resort!!) and mostly, our Big Event : the Candlelight Processional. Starring Gary Sinise aka Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump !!!!
Okay, I admit it, I had no idea who he was until I looked it up. And I have never seen him in another movie.
But nevermind those pesky little details !

Grumpy & I got dressed in our matching Mickey T-Shirts and went downstairs for our 9.30 ADR at Cape May.

My mom just had to try one of the vintage chairs in the lobby.

We checked in and were called right away. Our server at us at a big table, and gave us crayons.

"The tablecloth is paper. Go nuts!"

It was so not the thing to tell us that morning.

We both grabbed the crayons like a couple of 3 year olds and got to work.

Grumpy went short and sweet with a huge I LOVE GOOFY in orange.
I decided to be bolder and wrote
PRINCESSES ARE SCARY

Which, truly, they are. First their hair doesn't move. And one of them is sleeping all the time, which is just weird.
And don't let me get started on the yellow one and her beasty boyfriend.

(I added the Chip'n'Dale rock to soften the blow.)

Asparagus for breakfast, anyone ?

Goofy came to visit.

And Minnie.

I was very interested in Chip-or-Dale's swimming outfit. What more could a chipmunk want ?

Since we had stuffed ourselves silly at breakfast I suggested we walk around the lake. Grumpy was game.

First, the Yacht Club.

We peeked inside and it looked very nice, although a little bit more stuffy than the Beach Club.

Friendship boat on the lake, on its way to MGM, I think.

The Swolphin (By the way, people WILL look at you very weird when you actually call it the Swolphin out loud. Including your own mother. )

There were several families riding surrey bikes around the lake and they looked like they were having a ton of fun. Except for this poor dad and his young son, who couldn't quite go up the "hill" of the Swolphin bridge.

"Hmmm guys, want a push ?"
"No, thanks, I want a LIGHTER KID!"

They gave up and went the other way.

We finished our tour... looking at our beautiful resort from afar

By then we'd gotten to the Boardwalk and we checked out the store. Nothing great there, they didn't even have the Boardwalk resort pin. We didn't stay long and didn't buy anything.

It took us about half an hour and we were almost back to the Beach Club, with Stormalong Bay in view.

We were back at our starting point. It was such a gorgeous day and Grumpy was dying to go back to Stormalong Bay. I let her do that while I went to the Marketplace and did some shopping. My credit card still wasn't complying so I only got small cheap stuff. Beach Club pin, magnet, luggage tag... I'd seen a cute Beach Club windbreaker I wanted to buy for my sister. It was just a windbreaker, not even lined. Couldn't cost that much.
How about $65 ???

Dear Sister will just have to get wet.

When Grumpy came back, we changed into regular mouse-less clothes and walked to Epcot. We had a 3.45 "dinner" ADR at Nine Dragons for the Candlelight Processional.

Can I say just how awesome it is to WALK to Epcot ?? The buses are so far from the entrance, especially if you come from a Value resort. In five minutes we were in World Showcase, heading to China.

But first we had to find some Grumpy lip gloss.

 

[marivaid]

We had just gone through the turnstiles at International Gateway when Grumpy stopped dead in her tracks. I bumped right into her.

"What's your problem???"
"Lip gloss !! I need Grumpy lip gloss!"

Okay, that was weird. Grumpy rarely calls herself Grumpy in public.

"Elaborate,please."

So it turned out that on our first trip to Disney, a year ago, I had bought her some Grumpy lip gloss in the kiddie section of one of the stores on Internationa Plaza. She'd given it to one of her friends at work who had fallen in love with it and asked her to bring some back.

We had some time before our ADR so we went to those stores. Both of them. NO Grumpy gloss. No Dopey gloss, either, or any of the other dwarves.
Finally I asked one of the cashiers who told me these glosses had been discontinued and replaced with Princesses glosses. You can guess how much that pleased Grumpy.

There wasn't a thing we could do about it though so we walked to China. It was still too early for our ADR and we went in the store where we bought a few things we've yet to use (or unwrap). Then I wanted to see the Chinese warriors display which was interesting.

When we came out, Mulan was there!

Grumpy declared she wanted nothing to do with one of the lip gloss thieves and went into Nine Dragons.

I had never seen it so packed. The last time we were there, only a few tables were taken.

We were seated and our server explained to us how the Candlelight Processional worked. We were given our admission "stickers" for the show.

The food was great - we love Chinese. It was a little odd to be eating dinner before 4pm, but we managed just fine
(By the way, if you're interested, all our dining reviews are here).

Oh, I'm going to miss that honey chicken!!

We walked around a bit, enjoying the sights.

Grumpy had wanted to see American Adventure again but we had just missed the show. So we found a smoking area and Grumpy had her little cancer-on-a-stick while we waited.



We waited too long.


The line for those who had bought the package went past America. And past Japan. And almost past Morocco. I don't see how anyone who hadn't bought the package could have gotten in. Maybe it was because it was Gary Sinise's first day, and the first show in the dark ?? Either way we waited quite a bit, but once the line got moving it was fairly fast.

Our seats weren't the greatest, but we were mostly here to listen so it was fine with us.

The choir made their entrance and it was pretty impressive.

Then Gary Sinise himself came in and everyone applauded, loudly.

When the applause stopped, Grumpy leaned over and whispered in my ear "Lieutenant Dan ! You've got LEGS!".

You're not supposed to laugh when someone is telling you about the birth of Jesus.

The music was beautiful. I told Grumpy we had to buy the CD and bring it back to my dad (he loves choir music).

It does get mighty cold in Florida when the sun goes down.
Frozen Grumpy, anyone ?

We thoroughly enjoyed the Processional, and wished it lasted longer. If we ever go back in December, we'll need to go at least twice.

After the show ended, we walked a few steps towards Morocco for some restroom time. When we finally started to hunt for an Illuminations spot, all our good ones were taken. We got a good views of the fireworks but couldn't see much of anything that was happening on the water.

It was the Holiday version of Illuminations,which lasts longer, and ends with all the countries lighting up one by one and saying "peace on earth" in their language. LOVE IT !!!

When it was over, while the masses were trying to beat each other to the bus stops, we simply walked off through International Gateway. Oh, how good it felt. I'm not a snobby kind of person but boy was I feeling special. Walk to the bus, you little people ! Wait 40mns to squish butts with strangers. We are walking home.

Well, tonight we are. Not tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be joining you butt squishers.

I found this on my bed when I got back in the room.

They're making it really, really hard for us to leave