BONZO
<font color=660066>Has been known to go off topic!
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2001
- Messages
- 2,100
Monday 11th August
Cast List
Me: No introduction required, I suspect most of you know me by now!
DW: Long suffering DW of the above
Alex: 15 - Coaster and Disney freak
Laura: 13 - Style queen
I was up early again (about 7.30am) this morning after a bumpy night mainly due to having a very busy mind for some reason. I usually rely on the evening walk with the dog to clear my head and mull things over but havent got the dog here unfortunately :
I made coffee in the coffee maker and Alison and I sat on the balcony in the sunshine. Lovely!
We caught up on the Olympic action and then showered.
The girls were slow to rise this morning I suspect in due partly to the very comfortable beds here, but we eventually managed to get them up and showered.
This morning it was my choice so I decided on Perkins for breakfast; even though we were quite late (about 10am) the place was packed with people.
In a word Dee-Liceous!
Me: Eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes, rye toast, coffee
Alison: 5 pancakes. Coffee
Alexandra: Tremendous 12, orange juice
Laura: city slicker, apple juice
Cost about $50?
Drove to Animal Kingdom to see if we have better luck this year, its everyones least favourite park by a long chalk. We all like Expedition Everest and Kilamanjaro Safaris, but theres nothing else that we ALL really like.
By the time we arrived it was already crowded (as you would expect at 11am or so) and the temperature was going through the roof.
In no time at all we were glowing and getting more sluggish by the minute. Laura and I crashed by Dinosaur while Alison and Alexandra grabbed FPs for Expedition Everest.
Alison, Alexandra and I rode Dinosaur while Laura pottered off to look at a couple of shops. We rang her when we came out to arrange to meet up by Primeval Whirl (only Alexandra and I do that ride). We wandered over to Kilimanjaro Safaris (queue was about an hour so we hung about until we could get fast passes). While we were waiting Laura decided she wanted a snack so we got her some fries while the rest of us got cold drinks.
DeVine inspiration
We finally rode Kilimanjaro Safaris (good ride, lots of animals to see, very good driver which always makes a difference) and then over to EE which if you want to be critical is just a runaway mine train with knobs on Disney fashion, although we all really like it. Good effects and great queuing area.
The hills are alive...
The trouble with this park is that there are very few attractions indoors so that you can cool down in the air con. Weve made a note to come here in the winter to see if we like it any better!
Stupid Park left a bit disappointed (once again) and headed back to the restful air of the hotel.
On the way we decided to call in at the Alamo centre near the Magic Kingdom to try and change the car. Were getting two warning messages coming up when we switch on the morning one of them warning that the oil and filter urgently needs changing, the other that the washer bottle is nearly empty. Also were still unhappy about the lack of space in the car so we thought wed see if they had anything else that we could change to, or if the worst came to the worst wed just down size to a regular 7 seater.
There was a bit of a queue but we were seen in about 5 or so minutes and as luck would have it, it was the manager. We explained the position, handed over our paperwork and he tapped away at his computer for a bit, then handed us some keys to look at a car out the front.
Computer says no!
Off we trotted and looked at a regular SUV .erm, no I dont think so we paid for a FULL size SUV! We went back to tell the guy no, and he tapped away some more and finally came up with a big SUV option kid of what we had but with a big boot on the back. The only trouble was there would be a bit extra to pay. When we asked how much he mumbled, two ... We asked him to repeat it as wed not heard and he said, Two thousand dollars
What!! He must have been having a laugh!! We turned that down rapidly and finally asked about just changing to a normal 7 seater (if we couldnt get a refund on what wed already paid we thought wed just swallow the fact that we were downgrading).
But no he wanted about $300 to change to that car. We said it was a lower grade car, but he didnt want to know. We gave up in disgust and walked out. I can feel a letter to Alamo coming on when we get home!
Back to BCV and changed into swimming gear and headed to the pool (via the shop where we picked up some cakes and coffees). We needed wristbands today, so got those and grabbed a couple of sunbeds. We all swam, rode the slide and generally chilled out. We really loved Beach Club generally (especially its proximity to Epcot, and also Stormalong Bay) and more than once Alison and I looked at each other and asked ourselves if wed done the right thing by choosing Wilderness Lodge as our home resort.
After a while there was an announcement that bingo was about to start, followed by a quiz, then water volleyball. I have to say it felt a bit odd having these sort of activities at a deluxe hotel not so much that the activities were taking place but they were in your face, you couldnt easily ignore them I didnt think.
Anyway, we didnt do the bingo but the girls got an entry form for the quiz, then we took part in the volleyball for a few minutes before heading off to the slide for a few more goes.
Finally we left the pool and went back up the rooms to shower and change for dinner.
We headed out to Chillis for dinner
Me: Buffalo Chicken Fajitas, soda
Alison: half rack of ribs and chicken strips, soda
Alexandra: cheeseburger
Laura: Kids ribs
Cost $55
From Chilis we went to MK as it would be our only chance to catch Spectromagic this holiday (it was not on while they were doing some work on the bridge). The park wasnt shutting until midnight so Spectro was on twice and we planned to catch the late one at 11pm. We managed to park close to the front, so avoiding the need to get a tram.
We headed straight to Buzz and jumped in the queue (which always goes down quite quickly). And at long last, after years of trying I finally managed to get the top score of 999,999! Ill be living on that for a long time! (Alison here yes, we know you will!)
We went on a couple of other rides, TTA etc and then grabbed a reasonable viewing spot for Spectro around the hub. Now we are not a parade family at all weve seen all of the Disney parades once over the years and have no desire to see any of them again .except for Spectro. It has become an absolute must do for us, more than Illuminations or Fantasmic. We all love it and it is Lauras ambition in life to be able to take part in the parade she keeps us amused for ages with her impressions of the various characters and the way they move/act on the parade!
We gave the crowds a chance to die down for a while then headed for the exit. Alison suggested a little competition in order to spice things up a little she and Laura would take the bus home, and Alexandra and I would take the car.
We all wandered over to the exit, through the barriers then race on!! Alex and I sprinted for the monorail and we could see Alison and Laura running like billy-oh for the bus stop! We joined the queue and I fidgeted and grumbled until we got on the monorail (not too long a wait), then got off at TTC and we ran for the car. Jumped in and screeched off .erm I mean slowly drew away from the space and carefully drove back to the Beach Club. (Yeah right! I was going to beat them back no matter what!)
We pulled up in the car park, jumped out and ran for the side entrance. As we were heading for the lifts we were sure we could hear Alison and Lauras voices somewhere .then out of the lift, along the corridor, into the room and blast! Alison and Laura were sitting there! Theyd only just got into the room so it was a very close run thing! Theyd had to wait only a short while for a bus so it was a very smooth journey for them, although the bus driver drove more slowly than I did! (Ahem!)
A good bit of fun though well definitely do that again one day!
Cast List
Me: No introduction required, I suspect most of you know me by now!
DW: Long suffering DW of the above
Alex: 15 - Coaster and Disney freak
Laura: 13 - Style queen
I was up early again (about 7.30am) this morning after a bumpy night mainly due to having a very busy mind for some reason. I usually rely on the evening walk with the dog to clear my head and mull things over but havent got the dog here unfortunately :
I made coffee in the coffee maker and Alison and I sat on the balcony in the sunshine. Lovely!
We caught up on the Olympic action and then showered.The girls were slow to rise this morning I suspect in due partly to the very comfortable beds here, but we eventually managed to get them up and showered.
This morning it was my choice so I decided on Perkins for breakfast; even though we were quite late (about 10am) the place was packed with people.
In a word Dee-Liceous!
Me: Eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes, rye toast, coffee
Alison: 5 pancakes. Coffee
Alexandra: Tremendous 12, orange juice
Laura: city slicker, apple juice
Cost about $50?
Drove to Animal Kingdom to see if we have better luck this year, its everyones least favourite park by a long chalk. We all like Expedition Everest and Kilamanjaro Safaris, but theres nothing else that we ALL really like.
By the time we arrived it was already crowded (as you would expect at 11am or so) and the temperature was going through the roof.
In no time at all we were glowing and getting more sluggish by the minute. Laura and I crashed by Dinosaur while Alison and Alexandra grabbed FPs for Expedition Everest.
Alison, Alexandra and I rode Dinosaur while Laura pottered off to look at a couple of shops. We rang her when we came out to arrange to meet up by Primeval Whirl (only Alexandra and I do that ride). We wandered over to Kilimanjaro Safaris (queue was about an hour so we hung about until we could get fast passes). While we were waiting Laura decided she wanted a snack so we got her some fries while the rest of us got cold drinks.
DeVine inspiration
We finally rode Kilimanjaro Safaris (good ride, lots of animals to see, very good driver which always makes a difference) and then over to EE which if you want to be critical is just a runaway mine train with knobs on Disney fashion, although we all really like it. Good effects and great queuing area.
The hills are alive...
The trouble with this park is that there are very few attractions indoors so that you can cool down in the air con. Weve made a note to come here in the winter to see if we like it any better!
Stupid Park left a bit disappointed (once again) and headed back to the restful air of the hotel.
On the way we decided to call in at the Alamo centre near the Magic Kingdom to try and change the car. Were getting two warning messages coming up when we switch on the morning one of them warning that the oil and filter urgently needs changing, the other that the washer bottle is nearly empty. Also were still unhappy about the lack of space in the car so we thought wed see if they had anything else that we could change to, or if the worst came to the worst wed just down size to a regular 7 seater.
There was a bit of a queue but we were seen in about 5 or so minutes and as luck would have it, it was the manager. We explained the position, handed over our paperwork and he tapped away at his computer for a bit, then handed us some keys to look at a car out the front.
Computer says no!
Off we trotted and looked at a regular SUV .erm, no I dont think so we paid for a FULL size SUV! We went back to tell the guy no, and he tapped away some more and finally came up with a big SUV option kid of what we had but with a big boot on the back. The only trouble was there would be a bit extra to pay. When we asked how much he mumbled, two ... We asked him to repeat it as wed not heard and he said, Two thousand dollars
What!! He must have been having a laugh!! We turned that down rapidly and finally asked about just changing to a normal 7 seater (if we couldnt get a refund on what wed already paid we thought wed just swallow the fact that we were downgrading).
But no he wanted about $300 to change to that car. We said it was a lower grade car, but he didnt want to know. We gave up in disgust and walked out. I can feel a letter to Alamo coming on when we get home!
Back to BCV and changed into swimming gear and headed to the pool (via the shop where we picked up some cakes and coffees). We needed wristbands today, so got those and grabbed a couple of sunbeds. We all swam, rode the slide and generally chilled out. We really loved Beach Club generally (especially its proximity to Epcot, and also Stormalong Bay) and more than once Alison and I looked at each other and asked ourselves if wed done the right thing by choosing Wilderness Lodge as our home resort.
After a while there was an announcement that bingo was about to start, followed by a quiz, then water volleyball. I have to say it felt a bit odd having these sort of activities at a deluxe hotel not so much that the activities were taking place but they were in your face, you couldnt easily ignore them I didnt think.
Anyway, we didnt do the bingo but the girls got an entry form for the quiz, then we took part in the volleyball for a few minutes before heading off to the slide for a few more goes.
Finally we left the pool and went back up the rooms to shower and change for dinner.
We headed out to Chillis for dinner
Me: Buffalo Chicken Fajitas, soda
Alison: half rack of ribs and chicken strips, soda
Alexandra: cheeseburger
Laura: Kids ribs
Cost $55
From Chilis we went to MK as it would be our only chance to catch Spectromagic this holiday (it was not on while they were doing some work on the bridge). The park wasnt shutting until midnight so Spectro was on twice and we planned to catch the late one at 11pm. We managed to park close to the front, so avoiding the need to get a tram.
We headed straight to Buzz and jumped in the queue (which always goes down quite quickly). And at long last, after years of trying I finally managed to get the top score of 999,999! Ill be living on that for a long time! (Alison here yes, we know you will!)
We went on a couple of other rides, TTA etc and then grabbed a reasonable viewing spot for Spectro around the hub. Now we are not a parade family at all weve seen all of the Disney parades once over the years and have no desire to see any of them again .except for Spectro. It has become an absolute must do for us, more than Illuminations or Fantasmic. We all love it and it is Lauras ambition in life to be able to take part in the parade she keeps us amused for ages with her impressions of the various characters and the way they move/act on the parade!
We gave the crowds a chance to die down for a while then headed for the exit. Alison suggested a little competition in order to spice things up a little she and Laura would take the bus home, and Alexandra and I would take the car.
We all wandered over to the exit, through the barriers then race on!! Alex and I sprinted for the monorail and we could see Alison and Laura running like billy-oh for the bus stop! We joined the queue and I fidgeted and grumbled until we got on the monorail (not too long a wait), then got off at TTC and we ran for the car. Jumped in and screeched off .erm I mean slowly drew away from the space and carefully drove back to the Beach Club. (Yeah right! I was going to beat them back no matter what!)
We pulled up in the car park, jumped out and ran for the side entrance. As we were heading for the lifts we were sure we could hear Alison and Lauras voices somewhere .then out of the lift, along the corridor, into the room and blast! Alison and Laura were sitting there! Theyd only just got into the room so it was a very close run thing! Theyd had to wait only a short while for a bus so it was a very smooth journey for them, although the bus driver drove more slowly than I did! (Ahem!)
A good bit of fun though well definitely do that again one day!
.x.
so funny that they beat you home on the bus!!!
