The Drive, the Dream and DVC - A March 2011 Birthday Surprise TR(NEW 11/9 p. 32 END)

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Your cruise portraits are great! They really did a good job on those! I still like the Palo dinner ones best! You both look so happy and relaxed.

SSR looks really nice too. The pool is very pretty. I wouldn't mind floating around in there right now. And they have some really cool lights there! Very colorful!

I would not have been a happy camper with all that walking though. I have to say that is a pet peeve of mine. I expect to walk myself to death in the parks, but I'd like to get a break at the resort! My feet and legs are usually so tired by the end of a WDW day that I can't hardly stand the thought of a long walk back to my room.

And I agree with you on the "deluxe" thing. I think there are several resorts that are more on the moderate side than deluxe. When I think of deluxe... I think of BC, Poly and GF! Each of those stands out in a big way. Maybe they need to add another resort category.... value, moderate, moderately deluxe, & super deluxe!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great updates Sheree!

Beautiful cruise pics!

SSR looks very nice. Reminds me of the 2 nights we stayed at OKW. We loved the atmosphere, but didn't care for how spread out it was and the buses.

Looking forward to more!

Thank you! SSR is nice - since we only stayed one night, I didn't bother to make any room/location requests. If we had a longer stay, I definitely would.

Takes me back to our SSR stay. We were pretty far away, too, but for us, being value folks as the norm, it was great. We loved the walk over to DTD. Your view was much better than ours. The Mickey railings are cool.

One reason I love to experience every ride, restaurant, attraction, resort, etc. at Disney World is because I want to be able to say I have done it myself and not just taken someone else's word for it. In doing that, it also helps me enjoy the pictures of others so much more. In your pictures, I could 'feel' the atmosphere around me, since I have been there. We've sat at the kiddie TV and seen the horse pictures for instance. We've eaten at Artist's Palette and walked by the fountain in the lake and the pools. Every Disney resort lobby has it's unique sights, sounds, and smells, and since I have been to every lobby except Swan and Dolphin now, it really makes looking at the pictures so much more fun.

I agree - I like to experience everything for myself and not rely on other's opinions. Some people are fussier about different things that I don't worry about. The walking didn't actually bother my feet or legs, because I expect to do that a lot at WDW, it was more the time things took that I felt.
I'm glad that you enjoyed the pictures! It does "take you back" if you have been somewhere and are looking at others' pictures!

Oh good pictures!!! Thanks for the update! Girl...ya'll do a lot more on that first day than we ever manage!! LOL...but we areusually up and leavin' the house around 5 before heading to Houston,...if we go anywhere it's usually just over to DTD then we cme back to the room and crash!!!

Well, we did get there pretty early and with no room to go to for a while, we HAD to do something!! LOL! I didn't know when I'd get back to DTD to shop otherwise, even though we'd be going back there later in the week, but I wanted to get some stuff and be done with that so I wouldn't forget.
We tried to rest up - but it's so hard on that first day! I thought swimming would tire them out a bit, but they were just excited to be there (I was too!)

That is so odd that they have the gift shop and the food court combined, I can see that being very hectic during busy times.

SSR looks lovely from your pictures, but I understand what you mean about it not feeling truly 'deluxe', I had the same feeling at OKW - it was nice, and I enjoyed my stay there, but it felt more like a moderate to me than a deluxe. Plus I think the outdoor entry at OKW makes it feel more like a motel, kwim?

Yes, the set up at Artists Palette was just annoying to me. Luckily, we didn't plan on being there but a couple times!
Maybe that's it - the outdoor entry has something to do with it! Otherwise, I found it to be a nice room.

Love the cruise pictures. Very nice. Pretty dress!

Thanks for taking all those SSR pictures. They are all lovely and I think you got a great view from your room. Bummer about not getting a room ready text. Thats just wrong.

I hope you have a fabulous time in MK and that you make up for that lost hour.

Thanks! I don't own a lot of dresses - so I pulled them all out for the cruise!
It's not the first time we've had to wait a LOOOONNG time to get a room. Last summer I think it was we were waiting while at DTD for a non-DVC room and it was near 4 p.m. We must always get the last one that needs to be cleaned! I was a bit perturbed because I wanted to nap, but what are you gonna do? I don't sweat the small stuff.

Love your cruise pics! Great shots of all of you!

SSR is very pretty! You're right -- the theming isn't something I get too excited about, but your shots of the resort and the room are very pretty! Love the Mickey heads on the railings!

Shopping at DtD is always a good thing, and the girls' experience with Sha at Goofy's just highlights what I like about Disney most of all -- incredible cast member interaction!

Thanks! SSR's theme seems to be rather basic, or not over the top. Like some are more extreme and obvious. This is subtle. I've seen Saratoga Springs before (and MEK's pictures) and I guess it's a pretty good representation. But I don't know that I'd vacation in Saratoga Springs. When I go to the Poly or Caribbean Beach, I feel like I'm vacationing somewhere that I'd want to go to for real.

That CM at Goofy's was just wonderful!! We talked about her working there and I thought, Man, that's what I'd love to do! Make magic for people!!

Your cruise portraits are great! They really did a good job on those! I still like the Palo dinner ones best! You both look so happy and relaxed.
Palo was an amazing experience - we really were happy and relaxed! And that food!!! Oh my!

SSR looks really nice too. The pool is very pretty. I wouldn't mind floating around in there right now. And they have some really cool lights there! Very colorful!
I thought the pool area was quite nice. They had a pool bar and refill station right by the lockers and the CS (AP) was pretty close by too. Even though it was busy, it was still really relaxing.

I would not have been a happy camper with all that walking though. I have to say that is a pet peeve of mine. I expect to walk myself to death in the parks, but I'd like to get a break at the resort! My feet and legs are usually so tired by the end of a WDW day that I can't hardly stand the thought of a long walk back to my room.
You would definitely like a more compact resort like POFQ then - or else be sure to make a room request or pay for a preferred location. It would save you a lot of walking! I'll say we did walk pretty dang slow on the way back to the room at night!

And I agree with you on the "deluxe" thing. I think there are several resorts that are more on the moderate side than deluxe. When I think of deluxe... I think of BC, Poly and GF! Each of those stands out in a big way. Maybe they need to add another resort category.... value, moderate, moderately deluxe, & super deluxe!

I like that idea!
The really deluxe-feeling resorts have some extraordinary themes and it's much more special somehow!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Once we arrived at Magic Kingdom, we saw tons of people waiting for the 9:00 parade. I didn’t take a lot of pictures this night. But I more than made up for it with Epcot later in the trip!
We headed to Adventureland and started with a treat!
Dole Whip float anyone??? Of course, I felt the need to eat it rather quickly, since you can’t take it on a ride!
I think I may have left it with Dave and Paige, because only Sarah and I rode Pirates then. Paige is not too excited about it – a little scary for her, so we can only get her on it once in a while.
Then we headed to Fantasyland and rode Paige’s favorite – It’s a Small World! We also did Snow White, the Tea cups (well- all but me!), Pooh and Haunted Mansion, not necessarily in that order (I don’t remember!)
During our MK time, I did keep my eye open for DizneyDawn, Dan and Baylor, as I knew they were planning to be at MK for pm EMH, but we never happened to bump into them. We did have tentative plans to meet up later in the week though. I just thought we might get lucky!

POOH QUEUE PICTURES
You can touch the "honey" and make designs in the wall! There's lots of cute things along the way, but the line was moving pretty quickly so I didn't get to take too many pictures.

A look at the sign that sits at the former entrance to Toon Town. Yup, that's my flash!

I remember waiting for DH and the girls to come out of the Tea Cups and I went to get a drink from the Enchanted Grove and Wishes started up. So I stood watching with an obstructed view from right near there. I know I took a picture with my phone – I’ll have to check the computer at home and see if I uploaded it. I rarely get good fireworks pictures, but one turned out and I posted it on FB.
DH and the kids showed up with snacks – they’d gone over and gotten a churro and pretzel after their ride.

I think Haunted Mansion must have been one of the last things because my notes indicate that after that, the kids were cranky. And it was past 11. (remember the no naps?) So we decided to head out of the park.

Along with about a million other people because the parade had just ended. Half the people were leaving the park, the other half were pushing to go back into the park. And I mean pushing! It was scary!!! I held onto the kids really tight and stuck my elbows out to create some space. It really bothered me because all these little kids were in the crowd, strollers being pushed into people’s legs. I did have to scold some people who repeatedly banged into me. I just said, you know, no one is moving here, we just have to wait.
Note to self: Go sit somewhere for a half hour after a parade ends before attempting to leave the park! Even though the kids were really tired, it would have been so much easier to just hang out away from Main Street and let the crowd clear.

Then we had to wait about 15 minutes for a bus. Paige was nodding off by the time the bus passed the Contemporary! We did make it back to SSR and got to bed around 11:30 (that doesn’t seem bad – maybe it was later?)

The plan was to sleep in on Monday, do some exploring, switch resorts and head to Epcot! The Flower and Garden Festival was going on and I would NEED some extra Epcot time on this trip!

We did end up sleeping in a bit (for us) on Monday morning. I got up around 7:30 and the kids slept in until 8:30. That’s pretty late for them! I remember smelling bacon from one of our neighboring villas and thinking – oooh, that’s why you stay DVC in a 1BR – full kitchen!! So then I was getting hungry! We had some QS credits to use today and decided we’d better get some breakfast up at Artists Palette.
We packed everything up and loaded the car. I think we walked up to AP, but I can’t remember.

AP was SUPER busy! The food was okay. We got 2 ham and cheese omelettes, kids Mickey Waffles and a Bounty Platter. It took quite a while, due to how busy it was. Apparently there are no food pics of our breakfast! Sorry! I think I saved all my pictures for Epcot.

After breakfast, we decided to hop in the car and go somewhere we’d never been before, but Dave had wanted to check out – Old Key West resort! We were checking out DVC resorts this trip!

We found our way over and looked around a bit at the common areas, pool and of course, the gift shop! They had lots of cool stuff – not the generic junk, but some DVC merchandise! We were able to find some great things – Paige picked out a sweatshirt, we got a DVC window cling, a DVC mug, I got a Sorcerer Mickey keychain. DH got a Mickey baseball cap. I think there was more, but I can’t remember. I’ll have to check the souvenir pictures! We thought the shop was really good – lots of stuff. We peeked in the restaurant – Olivia’s and looked around the pool area too. It seemed nice. I’d stay there, but I’d want to be close to the main buildings. It’s another one of those relaxing areas, but very spread out!

By this time the kids were pretty antsy to get somewhere "fun" so we debated going to AKL and checking in first, or just heading to Epcot. In the interest of saving time, and because our QSDP KTTW cards still had some meals on them, we decided to go to Epcot. We were good to go for a few hours, have some lunch at Epcot, and then the plan was to go to AKL, hang out at the pool and we had an ADR for Boma!!

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans...and the segmented DVC/DDP concerns...

 

[jenseib]

Love the updates. My friend just stayed a sartoga too.
She really loved it. I think it's one of the resorts we tour in Aug. I have never been there or even remember driving by it, so it will be totally new to me.
I love the late nights at MK. But the buses can be crazy after parades and fireworks. Looks like you guys got back pretty fast though. I can't wait to read more. I am looking forward to seeing AKL. I am debating taking a little trip over there on my first night before our agent program in August too. I want to do so much, but have so little time.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

oooohh a cliff hanger!! Don't leave us in suspense too long!! SSR and OKW look sooo nice! Very relaxing! Can't wait to hear about AKL - did I forget to mention that we are spending a night there on our trip?

 

[Charleston Princess]

Ugh, I hate those massive exiting crowds in the park.

Oh, I want to see all your DVC souvies -- you took pics for a later post, right?

Oh, I hope your plans don't go to awry!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Phew. I'm caught up. Let's see if I remember what I wanted to say.

*I have already texted Marc to tell him that we MUST go on a Disney cruise. I can't believe your pictures, they are amazing. I think a nice 3 night cruise would be awesome.

*I love the video of the girls getting the cruise surprise, very cute.

*I want to kiss a dolphin!

*What a good Mom treking all the way back to the room for the bathing suit.

*You are totally right about SSR, not so crazy about the theming but it is relaxing but I do not think I'd stay there without a car. Too spread out.

*I hate the mass exodus at Disney, people get so freaking pushy! Ugh.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Love the updates. My friend just stayed a sartoga too.
She really loved it. I think it's one of the resorts we tour in Aug. I have never been there or even remember driving by it, so it will be totally new to me.
I love the late nights at MK. But the buses can be crazy after parades and fireworks. Looks like you guys got back pretty fast though. I can't wait to read more. I am looking forward to seeing AKL. I am debating taking a little trip over there on my first night before our agent program in August too. I want to do so much, but have so little time.

Thanks! I hope you can check out SSR - it's quite beautiful.
We should have just tried to hang out for another 30 - 45 minutes and it would have been a lot better. AKL - so beautiful - I know the first time I saw it , it did NOT impress me the way it does now. I really didn't think it appealed to me, but the second time - I LOVED it! I hope you can squeeze it in. I know what you mean about so much to do and so little time. I need a 10 day trip!

oooohh a cliff hanger!! Don't leave us in suspense too long!! SSR and OKW look sooo nice! Very relaxing! Can't wait to hear about AKL - did I forget to mention that we are spending a night there on our trip?

I'll try to get my update going in the next day! Oh, and YES, you did forget to mention that!!!! I'm going to need some more details, missy!! Start talking!

Ugh, I hate those massive exiting crowds in the park.

Oh, I want to see all your DVC souvies -- you took pics for a later post, right?

Oh, I hope your plans don't go to awry!

Yeah, it was a bit frightening and maddening. Should have sat and waited.
I do have souvie pictures!!! Before we unpacked and put anything away, I got all the bags out and snapped away!
The plans weren't TOO messed up, but I sure had a frustrating time there.

Phew. I'm caught up. Let's see if I remember what I wanted to say.

*I have already texted Marc to tell him that we MUST go on a Disney cruise. I can't believe your pictures, they are amazing. I think a nice 3 night cruise would be awesome.
Thank you - shoot for a 4 night! You'll have more time to explore and relax on the ship!
*I love the video of the girls getting the cruise surprise, very cute.
I'm so glad I remembered to get the video! I often miss those things! They were dang excited!
*I want to kiss a dolphin!
You should!!! It was so fun!
*What a good Mom treking all the way back to the room for the bathing suit.
Aww, thanks, but really what choice did I have? I didn't check to see if we had everything and that's usually Mom's job too.
Plus it gave me a little time to myself- even though it was speedwalking and muttering to myself.
*You are totally right about SSR, not so crazy about the theming but it is relaxing but I do not think I'd stay there without a car. Too spread out.
Yup!
*I hate the mass exodus at Disney, people get so freaking pushy! Ugh.

I have to work on the exit strategy and timing better in the future. You'd think I'd know by now, wouldn't you? I usually am not in any hurry to LEAVE the parks, so I'd just as soon hang around while everyone else leaves.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We ended up heading to Epcot around noon. We drove, which was pretty nice (free parking!) and boy, it was getting hot out! I remember thinking the car would be so hot when we got out!

Look who's back at it again today!

Boy, was Epcot crowded!!! I could not believe it! But it was spring break, and Flower and Garden Festival. We checked the wait times:
100 minutes for Soarin! No FPs after 12:30 (yeah, that would wait for another day!)
50 minutes for Test Track. No thanks
Even Spaceship Earth had a long line!
We saw something we'd never seen before -
a 15 minute WAIT for Journey Into Imagination w/ Figment!!!
We got FPs for Living with the Land and then went to Figment.

Never seen such crowds there!

Yeah, that's really Figment - horrible picture!

I took lots of pictures of the topiaries in Future World.

It smelled like strawberries here!

we just watched this tonight!

We visited the Butterfly House

We got chastised "Don't touch the butterflies" But as you can see, the hand was just a backdrop, not touching!

Always promoting the new movies on the market!

We had to wait a while to get this shot. Lots of people were posing and there was a larger group of women taking turns!

Wish my yard was this colorful!

cont.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Pooh's corner

I guess later in the F&G they added Mater to this display. Of course, they were promoting Cars 2.
We had a photopass photographer take some pictures here too. I haven't gotten them uploaded to photobucket, so hopefully during this long weekend I'll do that and show some more!
I think it was in here somewhere - after the butterfly house that we decided to get some lunch. We headed to Mexico and wanted to try the new place.
So, I go up to the counter and order using dining credits (QS) and want to pay cash for a margarita. (It was really quite hot!) My card reads that it is inactive or no credits or something. Uh-oh.
First I was told I'd have to call the resort to fix it. So I canceled my order, hauled out the cell phone and got a hold of SSR. They had canceled our room keys when we checked out, and with it, canceled our remaining dining credits!!! Oh, I was beginning to fume! I was told that if we had checked in at AKL, they would have put them on our new KTTW cards! But that did not do me any good, since we didn't go to AKL yet (why drive over there when we wouldn't have a room and wanted to be in a park?!). I should have still had 3 QS and one snack left.
Finally we got a manager at the Cantina restaurant to help us. I spent a half an hour on the phone and talking to managers. Mike was my hero! He basically said to the cashier - ring it up, I'll get the info and fix it. He took my card for a bit and came back with us to the cashier and said, "what would you like?" I could have hugged him!!! He told me to check with the CM when we got to AKL and they could adjust our credits and it should be fine. OK...

By this time I was sooo hungry anything would have tasted good, maybe. We got beef tacos - not great. Nachos were good. Chicken strips - (Sarah) - okay. The churros came with a caramel sauce for dipping which was nice.
I was too worked up to take any pictures. We ate and headed out!
My wild berry margarita - the best part of the meal!!! I was so stressed, I chugged that baby right down! (no there was a little left I took away with me!)


One cool thing about F&G was the merchandise kiosks and stands all around. I've heard that the whole festival has been scaled down and is the same old stuff as previous years, but for us newbies, it was wonderful! I thought they had some really cool stuff there.
Like this:

I'm a novice gardener and my boss and some co-workers are big gardeners, so I was really enjoying all the cool stuff. I wish I could incorporate more of this in my yard!
Did you guys see that My Backyard Goes Disney show? We toyed with the idea of a Mickey shaped flower bed in the back yard, but decided against it. I'm thinking I'll stick with some Disney statuary or something. I'm not really into gnomes, but I might make an exception for a Mickey Gnome!

Next we headed over to see Pixie Hollow. We didn't want to wait in lines for any characters today, so we just checked out the topiaries.
Sarah and Paige could tell you which ones are which. I'd be guessing unless the sign is in the picture!

little playset for the kids!

Okay, this one I know is Tinkerbell!

Let me explain the balloons. We stopped into Odyssey to use the bathrooms and someone (a CM) gave Sarah a big bunch of green and white balloons. They were for some event they had done. Sarah, who apparently was feeling like a really nice sister, asked if she could have another one for her sister! Each bunch had about 6 balloons!

After this we decided it was time to head out. We had a text for our room # earlier.
We left Epcot around 4 or 4:30 and headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I found some more fairy pictures!

Aren't the little houses cute?

working our way out of the park, we had to stop some more!

I love how they included Woody's pull string!

See ya later Epcot!

Now we're actually off to AKL!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Tomorrow on our way home, I plan to go back and reread this entire trip report. I fell so far behind when we left back in May I have no idea where I left off.... I think it might have been about the time you surprised the girls!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Love all the Flower & Garden displays, they look a lot different than from the year I went in May. I adore the Rabbit display, I always loved Rabbit when I used to watch the Winnie the Pooh cartoon on Saturday mornings.

How frustrating with your meal credits!! Your cards should NOT have been canceled. That is super frustrating, especially when you are ready to eat. I am so glad that it worked out.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Wow! Those are some massive wait times!!! I have never ever seen a wait for Journey into Imagination!

Ah, so many pretty flowers and topiaries! I would love to be more talented in the gardening department than I am, but I think it is a lost cause.

What a headache with the meal credits!!! I would have been fuming and no wonder you needed to suck down that margarita! Glad it was all worked out finally!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Love all the F&G pictures! Epcot is pretty anyway, but it's just gorgeous during the festival!

What a pain with the meal credits! I've never had an issue using them during our check out day So, the CM told you that they would be added to your AKL stay? I didn't think they would carry over like that, I would think that the only credits on your keys at AKL would be the ones associated with your stay there. The ones from SSR should have been good until midnight on your check out day.

 

[MEK]

Great updates! Love all the F&G pictures, especially the fairies. they are so cool. You got a lot of really great pictures!

Glad to hear that OKW has so many cool things in the gift shop. I will definitely be hitting there in December.

Fun night at MK, well, except for falling asleep on the way home. That's the worst when you are afraid your kids won't wake up again when its time to get off the bus.
to Boma!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

we were there in May of 07 and I looooved all the topiaries! I would take a solo trip to see that!! It's just amazing!! Great pics...I was wondering about the Mexico food...we went years ago, like out 2nd trip, it was AWFUL..so the next year we thought we'ld give it another go...nope still gross! heard it was all changed and the food was great, but I am afraid to try it! I think if you didn't think it was awesome, I ain't goin for it! LOL!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Beautiful pictures Sheree! We went during the Flower & Garden Festival 2 times and it is so pretty.

I can't believe how crowded Epcot was for you guys. Looks like our experience during the F&WF.

 

[jenseib]

How frustrating. I have heard of this happening to others as well. I don't get why they mess with it. It seems like it's always DVC members lsoing the credits too.
I love all your topiary pictures. I hate to admit it, but I didn;t get a lot of them. It was such a busy day and we got there later than I planned, and basically I was out of sync for awhile. I wanted to get to the butterfly house, but I don't even remember seing it, or the fairy garden. I'm sure I walked by it several times, but just didn't click.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Tomorrow on our way home, I plan to go back and reread this entire trip report. I fell so far behind when we left back in May I have no idea where I left off.... I think it might have been about the time you surprised the girls!

I'll take a little break and let you catch up! Sorry I don't have links. I'm not that savvy or organized!

Love all the Flower & Garden displays, they look a lot different than from the year I went in May. I adore the Rabbit display, I always loved Rabbit when I used to watch the Winnie the Pooh cartoon on Saturday mornings.

How frustrating with your meal credits!! Your cards should NOT have been canceled. That is super frustrating, especially when you are ready to eat. I am so glad that it worked out.

Then I bet you'll go see the new Pooh movie in a couple weeks! It was very cute!

That meal credit business was something that made me nuts, but i have heard that can happen with a DVC stay where you can segment the DDP by days.

Wow! Those are some massive wait times!!! I have never ever seen a wait for Journey into Imagination!

Ah, so many pretty flowers and topiaries! I would love to be more talented in the gardening department than I am, but I think it is a lost cause.

What a headache with the meal credits!!! I would have been fuming and no wonder you needed to suck down that margarita! Glad it was all worked out finally!

I laughed when I saw a wait for Figment! I almost didn't believe it.
I try to do some nice gardens, but they have to be much more low maintenance! Mostly perennials, which means they're not quite as colorful.
That margarita tasted awfully good!!

Love all the F&G pictures! Epcot is pretty anyway, but it's just gorgeous during the festival!

What a pain with the meal credits! I've never had an issue using them during our check out day So, the CM told you that they would be added to your AKL stay? I didn't think they would carry over like that, I would think that the only credits on your keys at AKL would be the ones associated with your stay there. The ones from SSR should have been good until midnight on your check out day.

Yeah, now I look at the area surrounding the water by FW and the entrance to WS and it looks plain without all those flowers!!

I knew the credits should remain, everybody knew it, but the problem was the room key. They screwed up when they canceled the key, but didn't leave the DDP credits on it. Grrrr!

Great updates! Love all the F&G pictures, especially the fairies. they are so cool. You got a lot of really great pictures!

Glad to hear that OKW has so many cool things in the gift shop. I will definitely be hitting there in December.

Fun night at MK, well, except for falling asleep on the way home. That's the worst when you are afraid your kids won't wake up again when its time to get off the bus.
to Boma!

Oh, I told my DH that I would be taking a picture of EVERY topiary I saw!!!
Definitely check out OKW. They seemed to have more DVC merchandise than AKL or SSR (although each had some).
I really had wanted to stay later and maximize our time at MK, but the two tired cranky kids would have made it a lot less fun! They woke up enough to drag themselves to the room, but they were pooped out!
Oh, Boma, Boma...

we were there in May of 07 and I looooved all the topiaries! I would take a solo trip to see that!! It's just amazing!! Great pics...I was wondering about the Mexico food...we went years ago, like out 2nd trip, it was AWFUL..so the next year we thought we'ld give it another go...nope still gross! heard it was all changed and the food was great, but I am afraid to try it! I think if you didn't think it was awesome, I ain't goin for it! LOL!!

I would like to take an adults trip someday during food and wine. Of course, DH is not as adventurous as me, but it would still be fun! Ah, someday...
Mexico - I guess I would try it once - order nachos! But my judgment may have been clouded by my anger!! I did write down that the beef was not great - I can't remember exactly what was wrong with it though.

Beautiful pictures Sheree! We went during the Flower & Garden Festival 2 times and it is so pretty.

I can't believe how crowded Epcot was for you guys. Looks like our experience during the F&WF.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it, even though it was crowded. Especially since I knew it was our first of two days we'd be there, I could just take a zillion pictures!

How frustrating. I have heard of this happening to others as well. I don't get why they mess with it. It seems like it's always DVC members lsoing the credits too.
I love all your topiary pictures. I hate to admit it, but I didn;t get a lot of them. It was such a busy day and we got there later than I planned, and basically I was out of sync for awhile. I wanted to get to the butterfly house, but I don't even remember seing it, or the fairy garden. I'm sure I walked by it several times, but just didn't click.

The reason it happens to DVC is that we are allowed to segment our DDP. We can have two days of QSDP and 3 days of DDP or whatever. They seem to need to give you new KTTW cards on the day you switch plans and often they mess up the room access or room charging privileges. I suppose it could happen with split stays as well where you get a new room key. I guess you have to use those credits up on make sure they get on the new room key at the second resort. It didn't seem to be a problem for the AKL CM to check our credits and show the leftover ones on there. We actually ended up with extra snack credits! More on that later!

The girls really enjoyed seeing the fairies topiaries - they knew all of them!