Two Big Kids Head To Disney For Their 1st Anniversary

[Beach Clubber]

Sounds like your having a good time LOBSTER YUM!!!!! What time have the storms been rolling in? We will arrive on Fri. . Hope the crowds start to thin out. Can't wait to hear more

I'm so excited for you! On Friday, I'll be starting to get the end of vacation blues. I'll be getting my stuff gathered together to head home the next morning. Can't think about that right now though, I've still got a lot of fun ahead!!

The rains have been starting around 2pm most days. The mornings have been very HOT! So take it slow in the morning and expect to hide inside for an hour or two mid-afternoon. The plus side of the rain is that it cools things down considerably.

We went to Extra Magic Hours in EPCOT tonight. The regular park closing was at 9pm but it seemed like everyone was getting extra magic bracelets and staying in the park until midnight. We tried to go on Soarin' at 10:30 and the wait was 75 minutes, Test Track wait was at least 60 and Mission: Space was over an hour. World Showcase thinned out after the fireworks so that made for a nice place to walk and enjoy the views.

Happy Packing !!!

 

[Beach Clubber]

Hee hee! I couldn't wait to post this picture! We had our third lobster of the trip on Monday for lunch.

DH with Lobster #3

On Monday, we walked over to the Yacht Club Resort and had lunch at the Captain's Grill. When we sat down and saw Lobster Rolls on the menu, we read no further. I grew up in Maine and I've had my far share of Lobster Rolls, the Captain's Grill makes an EXCELLENT lobster roll. It is served on a toasted bun, the lobster salad is mixed with celery and not too much mayo. The fries on the side were hot and crispy. We liked our lunch at Coral Reef on Sunday but the Captain's Grill was better quality food (in our opinion )I have a feeling we'll be having lunch here again before the trip is over. I couldn't wait to tell you guys about this since you thought we were crazy for having two lobsters in two days...

 

[luckylady]

A live TR. I love those. Sounds like you two are have a great anniversery trip.What a great place to be for the 1st. Congrats on it.question on EMH at MK, how crowded is it late at night. Are the parents of little kids good parents and take them back to hotel. or are they there? We leave next Friday and MK is night EMH.

 

[Beach Clubber]

Happy Anniversary Beach Clubberixiedust:

So glad that you are enjoying your own wifi hotspot as we did last month Gotta love those travel routers

How long would it have taken you to drive from Charlotte to Disney? We are thinking of driving down for our December trip. We live about 75 minutes north of the Charlotte airport.

I chuckled when reading about your neighbors not understanding your love of Disney. We were at the pool yesterday and friends of ours were asking what it is about Disney that makes us go back three times in one year. They have been once and they think that is enough

They couldn't understand why we didn't by timeshare in Aruba instead of the BW. Silly people.

Loving your trip report!

Hi DisneyJen! It took us about 8 hours to drive down from Charlotte. We spent Friday night just off the highway outside Savannah. Exit 94 on I-95 is a great place to stop. There are at least 8 different hotel chains all bunched together, lots of casual restaurants (Denny's, Cracker Barrel, Outback, Applebee's, McDonald's), and gas.

This trip to Disney has really shown me that Disney can be a great vacation spot for people of all ages. We've been really relaxed about the parks. We've been going to parks but have not been crazy about hitting all the rides. We've discovered some really great restaurants. Aruba's got the beach but not much more...I can only sit on the beach for a short while before I go stir crazy! Silly people indeed!!

Thanks for the anniversary wishes!

 

[Beach Clubber]

A live TR. I love those. Sounds like you two are have a great anniversery trip.What a great place to be for the 1st. Congrats on it.question on EMH at MK, how crowded is it late at night. Are the parents of little kids good parents and take them back to hotel. or are they there? We leave next Friday and MK is night EMH.

Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom was better than EPCOT. The crowds died down around 12:30 am. Extra magic hours went from 11 pm until 2 am on the night we were there. I still saw kids but the littlest ones were passed out in their strollers. We walked onto Pirates, had to wait 10 minutes for our first ride on Big Thunder Railroad and we pretty much walked onto our second ride at 1:30 am, 25 minute wait for Pooh ride, 60 minutes wait for Buzz Lightyear (we got fast passes for this one) and no wait for Monsters Inc.

We really liked the night EMH at MK--cooler and less crowded than the EPCOT EMH. DH would have melted if we had tried to go in the middle of the day.

 

[Beach Clubber]

Your Dinner loked so good. We will be there friday for 15 days can't wait . Can't wait to hear more .

I just noticed that you are coming down for 15 (FIFTEEN) DAYS! I am soooo jealous.

 

[pooksma]

We east coast girls know our lobster meat!

Sounds like things are going great. We have 13 days until we arrive-hope the crowds die down a bit but with all the DISers going I don't think so

 

[DisneyJen]

Hi DisneyJen! It took us about 8 hours to drive down from Charlotte. We spent Friday night just off the highway outside Savannah. Exit 94 on I-95 is a great place to stop. There are at least 8 different hotel chains all bunched together, lots of casual restaurants (Denny's, Cracker Barrel, Outback, Applebee's, McDonald's), and gas.

This trip to Disney has really shown me that Disney can be a great vacation spot for people of all ages. We've been really relaxed about the parks. We've been going to parks but have not been crazy about hitting all the rides. We've discovered some really great restaurants. Aruba's got the beach but not much more...I can only sit on the beach for a short while before I go stir crazy! Silly people indeed!!

Thanks for the anniversary wishes!

Thanks for the info BeachClubber

DH would like to drive non-stop from our home when we head to WDW for Christmas I will share with him the info on the Savannah area exit.

Loving your TR ... sounds like you and DH are definitely in a DVC state of mind (meaning non commando)!

 

[Beach Clubber]

Last night as we finished up dinner, we hit the wall. DH looked at me with through glazy, food coma, half shut eyes and said "I don't care if we already paid for it, I don't wait to eat again."

Not sure how many of you have done the Deluxe Dining Package. It entails eating A LOT. You get THREE table service meals each day--including apps, entree AND dessert, plus two snacks. As I've reported, we've gone for the big table service meals. No holding back. Lobster whenever possible. At home our meals are the size of appetizers and we eat dessert only once and a while.

So today we are dialing it back. Even though it caused me a great pain in my heart, we canceled our ADR at Boatwright's for breakfast. Breakfast at Boatwright's is very very good. I recommend it to anyone looking for a tasty breakfast treat.

Hopefully if I starve DH all day, he'll be ready for our ADR at California Grill. I've never been and I am really looking forward to eating there. Crossing my fingers that 18 hours of food deprivation will bring him back to the PLAN.

 

[Credit Man]

Really enjoying your report. Thanks for posting.

 

[Beach Clubber]

I guess this has become my afternoon spot. It is shaded but I still get to enjoy the great outdoors! The afternoon rain shower has come and gone and it is P-A-R-T-Y time at the boardwalk pool. The kids are out en masse. They've got a cast member leading games at the pool and the music is ROCKING. MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" is on right now. Love this music! I actually had to stop typing and go back into the living room to wow DH with my MC Hammer dancing. He's sitting on the couch, working on his laptop. He's seen my crazy dancing before and barely noticed me breakin' it down hammer style.

This morning we were super indulgent, we went to the Mandara Spa at Disney’s Dolphin Hotel. Spa treatments are expensive at Disney but I found a way to get 20% off…our local Costco sells SpaFinder Gift Certificates for 20% off the face value. SpaFinder certificates are accepted at spas across the country and the spa at the Dolphin happens to be one of them. I had a facial and DH had a massage. The spa is absolutely beautiful. It has a very Zen relaxation/meditation room. We ended up spending an hour after our treatments in there: reading, sipping tea and just enjoying the quiet. If you are thinking of getting a spa treatment while a Disney, I would recommend going to the spa at the Dolphin. While I was at the gym here at the Boardwalk, I noticed the massage rooms. They are located inside the gym, so it is not really a relaxing atmosphere. Prices at the two places are comparable. So if you are thinking about having an escape, go to the Dolphin Spa and RELAX. Mandara operates spas all over the world if you want to check out their website for price lists and services.

 

[CHEK]

Sounds like a wonderful trip , any Lobster today???

 

[Beach Clubber]

Just found out that one of my younger cousins is here in Orlando on her Honeymoon. I was able to change my ADR for California Grill from tonight to tomorrow without penalty (phew!). The newlyweds are going to Cirque Du Soleil Show at 5:30, so we told them we'll meet them at 7:30 outside of Cirque and will take them to dinner Does anyone have a recommendation for a good place to go in Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island/Marketplace--that accepts dining plan--we don't want to pay cash for DH and me?

Thanks!! I didn't plan on eating down there so I didn't do any research.

Thank you for your help.

 

[schoen]

I loved the wolfgang puck cafe the last time I was there. Great sushi, and my husband's pasta was really good. There are three wolfgang puck restaurants there, the quick service one, the regular one, and the fancy schmancy one. I would go to the regular one and it is 1 TS credit. If you have 2 extra credits you might be able to use them for your cousin and her new hubby. Whatever you decide, have a great night!


we also REALLY liked Raglan Road. It was delicious. I had the scallop app, and it was great. The bread pudding there was perhaps the best thing I have ever had at disney!

I believe cap n jacks also accepts the dining plan...

 

[Beach Clubber]

I loved the wolfgang puck cafe the last time I was there. Great sushi, and my husband's pasta was really good. There are three wolfgang puck restaurants there, the quick service one, the regular one, and the fancy schmancy one. I would go to the regular one and it is 1 TS credit. If you have 2 extra credits you might be able to use them for your cousin and her new hubby. Whatever you decide, have a great night!


we also REALLY liked Raglan Road. It was delicious. I had the scallop app, and it was great. The bread pudding there was perhaps the best thing I have ever had at disney!

I believe cap n jacks also accepts the dining plan...

Thank you so much for the quick response. I will run down to our lobby and see if either Wolfgang or Raglan Road has an opening. The DIS is the BEST! Thanks for making me appear to be a Disney expert! hee hee...with a little help from my friends at the DIS.

 

[Me&3]

I just noticed that you are coming down for 15 (FIFTEEN) DAYS! I am soooo jealous.

I am coming up we only live 3 1/2 hours south of the magic . We are annual passholders. How are the crowds today ? I love the Boardwalk DH and I honeymooned there 10 yrs ago . We also love the Beachclub stayed there last summer we loved it. I'm really enjoying your trip report.

 

[Me&3]

A live TR. I love those. Sounds like you two are have a great anniversery trip.What a great place to be for the 1st. Congrats on it.question on EMH at MK, how crowded is it late at night. Are the parents of little kids good parents and take them back to hotel. or are they there? We leave next Friday and MK is night EMH.

As a good parent I will be there with my little kids next friday at EMH !! And all 15 days that I am there . That would be so they don't have to die in the heat with the kids of bad parents . Most people that go to Disney like kids .

 

[luckylady]

As a good parent I will be there with my little kids next friday at EMH !! And all 15 days that I am there . That would be so they don't have to die in the heat with the kids of bad parents . Most people that go to Disney like kids .

Been there done that with little kids. Please don't take this the wrong way, I was being sarcastic. I have run into parents tho late late at night whos kids who you could clearly see should have been in bed. Meltdowns asleep etc. As for the heat take in shows, eat in AC and drink tons of water. 15 days have a magical time and I hope you write a TR.

 

[Beach Clubber]

we also REALLY liked Raglan Road. It was delicious. I had the scallop app, and it was great. The bread pudding there was perhaps the best thing I have ever had at disney!

We just got back from Downtown Disney. Raglan Road was great. On your recommendation, i ordered the bead pudding--VERY VERY GOOD. Also on your recommendation, DH and I split the scallop appetizer-LOVED THEM. Raglan Road is a really fun place to eat. The music started mid-way through our meal and the irish dancer came on once. She was excellent.

I'm glad we were able to meet up with the newlyweds, I knew the bride when she was little but hadn't seen her for a number of years since I've lived away from home since college. We had a fun time catching up. Plus it is so much fun to talk to newlyweds, they still had that starry lovestruck look in their eyes.



Thanks again for saving me with the quick recommendation.

 

[Beach Clubber]

I am coming up we only live 3 1/2 hours south of the magic . We are annual passholders. How are the crowds today ? I love the Boardwalk DH and I honeymooned there 10 yrs ago . We also love the Beachclub stayed there last summer we loved it. I'm really enjoying your trip report.

Me&3, Thank you so much for reading. Only 2 days!! You must be getting so excited!!

Sorry for my presumption. Since I grew up so far North, I sometimes forget that there is still half a state below Orlando....this always felt so far away.

Crowds were still very heavy today. This is my first time coming to Disney in the summer, so crowds at this level are a new thing for me. I have a new-found appreciation for January and the less crowded parks around that time of year!! I may have to start training for the Disney marathon--it is scheduled for January and it would provide the perfect excuse to schedule another trip down here!

Do your kids still love coming to Disney because they are able to visit so often? DH and I were talking about how spoiled are kids are going to be since we'll start bringing them to Disney when they are babies. Then we were wondering if they would get sick of it. This little mind of mine, loves to worry about the what-ifs.