Who we are:
DH- 25 (had his b-day while on our trip), hard-working hubby and daddy and all around great guy. Hasn't been to Disney in 10 ears.
DS- 2, a little ball of energy, loves Mickey Mouse (was Mickey for Halloween). This is his first trip.
DMil- 48, wonderful grandma coming along to help out with DS. Last trip was in '99.
Me- 24, stay at home mommy and main trip planner (I bought so many guidebooks that DH thought I was nuts
). Never been to Disney.
Tuesday, April 30th
BOARDWALK FOR LUNCH AND DOWNTOWN DISNEY
We were meeting some relatives for lunch this day so we weren't going to any theme parks. We had breakfast in the hotel lobby. We had some postcards to mail so DH went to the gift shop to get some stamps. He came back saying the hotel wanted 50 cents per stamp which I thought was a little odd since I had never heard of stamps being marked up anwhere. We had about 20 to mail so there was no way I was payng that price. Needless to say, DH and I took a little trip to the post office after breakfast. We mailed out the post cards and then took our time browsing in a gift shop next door. I ended up buying two Orlando t-shirts for 14.00. We retruned to the hotel and the relatives arrived shortly after that. We all wanted to try lunch and the ESPN Club so it was off to the Boardwalk. We told our intentions to the guard at the gate and were let in without a problem. We again used the valet parking because one member of our party, DH grandfather, recently had heart surgery and has some trouble walking distances-especially in the sweltering heat. Did I mention that the whole week we were there, it was unbelievably hot? Since it was 12:00 on a Tuesday afternoon, the Boardwalk was virtually desserted. We strolled around a little looking at the flowers and architecture. I fell in love with this hotel, I have to say. Someday I would love to stay here. We were able to get right in to the ESPN club (there were maybe 2 other groups eating there at this time). DH's grandfather and step-grandmother each had a smoothie and they said they were excellent. We split an order of nachos between all 6 of us for an appetizer and there was still some left un-eaten--this platter was huge!!
These were absolutelly delicious. We stuck with burgers and sanwiches for lunch and everything was great. DS had the Power Play Pasta which was really mac-n-cheese. Our server was great as well. He didn't write our orders down but kept them all
straight in his head. He also brought out DS's mac-n-cheese before our lunches were ready without even being asked to do so. This is something we often request to keep DS from becoming too bored. We were also brought a stack of napkins without having to ask and believe me, with DS and mac-n-cheese, we needed them. After a great lunch, we looked through the adjoining gift shop. DH found a nice hooded sweatshirt marked down from 48.00 to 23.99. He grabbed that and a t-shirt for DS that says, "I watch ESPN with my daddy". DH's grandfather went to relax in the lobby while the rest of us explored some more. We took a wrong turn somehow and ended up walking around the back of the entire hotel. Yes, it definately is a big place!! We met back up with DH's grandfather in the lobby and then headed back to the Hawthorn Suites. We said good-bye to the grandparents and we were off for Downtown Disney. We arrived around 4:00 and it was nearly empty. I have to say Downtown Disney was a highlight of the trip for me. The lego store, lego statues and World of Disney were delights. World of Disney was not crowded at all so that added to our enjoyment. We were able to look around and take pictures at our own pace. If it had been packed, I am sure it wouldn't have been quite so much fun. One thing I had to do on this vacation was try a Ghiradelli sundae so we went there next. It felt almost surreal to actually be sitting outside eating the sundae like I had imagined so many times. We walked further browsing and shopping. DS saw the carousel so he took a ride with DH. There was a little area for kids to get wet so DS was playing in there when there was suddenly a little sun shower. The sun was still out so all the water looked so pretty and we were all having such a good time. It's one of my favorite memories from the trip. We walked all over DTD checking out anything we felt like. I bought some stickers for the scrapbook at the bookstore. We all liked the Rainforest Cafe gift shop. We bought a lot of stuff in there even though we weren't eating there. So, we made plans to come back and eat there for DH's B-day ! DH and I took a walk-through of Planet Hollywood--I didn't like it as much as Hard Rock Cafe. I did like seeing Forrest Gump's boat outside. By the time we reached the West Side, the place was getting mobbed. We saw what we wanted over there and then found a place to sit and relax for a few minutes. I was pooped from so much walking. DTD is pretty big and we had covered the entire thing. The lights at night were nice but it was just getting too crowded for us. We made the long trek to the car and headed for our hotel, stopping at Giordano's for dinner. We had pizza and grinders. This was excellent. The pizza had real cheese - I hate that fake stuff
. I even had some for breakfast and it was great then too. My philly steak grinder was also good. I would definately eat there again. We all went to bed too late--around 11:00.
DH- 25 (had his b-day while on our trip), hard-working hubby and daddy and all around great guy. Hasn't been to Disney in 10 ears.
DS- 2, a little ball of energy, loves Mickey Mouse (was Mickey for Halloween). This is his first trip.
DMil- 48, wonderful grandma coming along to help out with DS. Last trip was in '99.
Me- 24, stay at home mommy and main trip planner (I bought so many guidebooks that DH thought I was nuts
). Never been to Disney.Tuesday, April 30th
BOARDWALK FOR LUNCH AND DOWNTOWN DISNEY
We were meeting some relatives for lunch this day so we weren't going to any theme parks. We had breakfast in the hotel lobby. We had some postcards to mail so DH went to the gift shop to get some stamps. He came back saying the hotel wanted 50 cents per stamp which I thought was a little odd since I had never heard of stamps being marked up anwhere. We had about 20 to mail so there was no way I was payng that price. Needless to say, DH and I took a little trip to the post office after breakfast. We mailed out the post cards and then took our time browsing in a gift shop next door. I ended up buying two Orlando t-shirts for 14.00. We retruned to the hotel and the relatives arrived shortly after that. We all wanted to try lunch and the ESPN Club so it was off to the Boardwalk. We told our intentions to the guard at the gate and were let in without a problem. We again used the valet parking because one member of our party, DH grandfather, recently had heart surgery and has some trouble walking distances-especially in the sweltering heat. Did I mention that the whole week we were there, it was unbelievably hot? Since it was 12:00 on a Tuesday afternoon, the Boardwalk was virtually desserted. We strolled around a little looking at the flowers and architecture. I fell in love with this hotel, I have to say. Someday I would love to stay here. We were able to get right in to the ESPN club (there were maybe 2 other groups eating there at this time). DH's grandfather and step-grandmother each had a smoothie and they said they were excellent. We split an order of nachos between all 6 of us for an appetizer and there was still some left un-eaten--this platter was huge!!
These were absolutelly delicious. We stuck with burgers and sanwiches for lunch and everything was great. DS had the Power Play Pasta which was really mac-n-cheese. Our server was great as well. He didn't write our orders down but kept them all straight in his head. He also brought out DS's mac-n-cheese before our lunches were ready without even being asked to do so. This is something we often request to keep DS from becoming too bored. We were also brought a stack of napkins without having to ask and believe me, with DS and mac-n-cheese, we needed them. After a great lunch, we looked through the adjoining gift shop. DH found a nice hooded sweatshirt marked down from 48.00 to 23.99. He grabbed that and a t-shirt for DS that says, "I watch ESPN with my daddy". DH's grandfather went to relax in the lobby while the rest of us explored some more. We took a wrong turn somehow and ended up walking around the back of the entire hotel. Yes, it definately is a big place!! We met back up with DH's grandfather in the lobby and then headed back to the Hawthorn Suites. We said good-bye to the grandparents and we were off for Downtown Disney. We arrived around 4:00 and it was nearly empty. I have to say Downtown Disney was a highlight of the trip for me. The lego store, lego statues and World of Disney were delights. World of Disney was not crowded at all so that added to our enjoyment. We were able to look around and take pictures at our own pace. If it had been packed, I am sure it wouldn't have been quite so much fun. One thing I had to do on this vacation was try a Ghiradelli sundae so we went there next. It felt almost surreal to actually be sitting outside eating the sundae like I had imagined so many times. We walked further browsing and shopping. DS saw the carousel so he took a ride with DH. There was a little area for kids to get wet so DS was playing in there when there was suddenly a little sun shower. The sun was still out so all the water looked so pretty and we were all having such a good time. It's one of my favorite memories from the trip. We walked all over DTD checking out anything we felt like. I bought some stickers for the scrapbook at the bookstore. We all liked the Rainforest Cafe gift shop. We bought a lot of stuff in there even though we weren't eating there. So, we made plans to come back and eat there for DH's B-day
! DH and I took a walk-through of Planet Hollywood--I didn't like it as much as Hard Rock Cafe. I did like seeing Forrest Gump's boat outside. By the time we reached the West Side, the place was getting mobbed. We saw what we wanted over there and then found a place to sit and relax for a few minutes. I was pooped from so much walking. DTD is pretty big and we had covered the entire thing. The lights at night were nice but it was just getting too crowded for us. We made the long trek to the car and headed for our hotel, stopping at Giordano's for dinner. We had pizza and grinders. This was excellent. The pizza had real cheese - I hate that fake stuff . I even had some for breakfast and it was great then too. My philly steak grinder was also good. I would definately eat there again. We all went to bed too late--around 11:00.
Bumping up for friends and family 
