Value Resorts and Inside Staterooms? Bah Humbug! 30 days of Disney fun! 02/10 Day 30

[dizneeat]

Still Day 1, August 14

A huge surprise starts off the trip! Part 2

So, where did we leave of ....... oh, yes, lunch on board!

Before they started serving we joked that it would be “Chicken or pasta?” and guess what …. It was chicken or pasta we had to choose from.

So, here's a photo of the tray we were given.

As our starters we had a small salad with Balsamic dressing and a herbed shrimp skewer! Yummy!!

Tom’s main course was the sweet and sour chicken, which was surprisingly moist and flavourful.

I had the trofi-pasta with two kinds of pesto. Pasta cooked perfectly, don’t know how they do that with pre-packaged food and the pesto went well with it. A very nice lunch.

For dessert we had some strange looking lime cake. We had the same thing on one of our previous flights, and even though it had improved it was still tasting a bit odd.

After we had had tea and coffee we took some sleeping aid and turned on the little monitor to watch a movie or two and dose off. Tom was clever taking two pills and sleeping on and off for some time. I had only taken one and was afraid of taking another one, so I watched “Young Victoria” and fell asleep a few times but never for too long.

I then changed to “Alice in Wonderland” and finally fell asleep for some time too. We both woke up right before we were served a light dinner.

This time there was no choice, it was Sicilian pasta with olives and very tasty too.

For dessert they offered yoghurt. I didn’t like the strawberry one and tasted Tom’s cherry one, which he didn’t want to eat anyway and it was at least a little nicer.

Shortly after dinner we arrived at MCO a little early only to learn that a Virgin Atlantic plane was still at our gate and we had to sit on the plane for another 15 minutes. Once the doors were opened we were lucky to be able to leave the plane fast and got in line for immigration. Thankfully there were not too many people in line ahead of us, so it only took us half an hour.

 

[KatMark]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Mail. And the purse rocks! Great job, GF.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, OH MY GOSH!! The mail is fabulous..but that Dooney & Burke....well, what I'd give for one of those! Good for you!! Enjoy!

Thank you! I just love getting mail from Disney! Even if it means I have to pay them for sending me some!

Ever since I saw the D&B DCL bags in one of Stefy's posts I knew I needed one! It was hard deciding which one, but then I hope they will still be selling them next summer and I can get another style too!

 

[KatMark]

Hmmmmmm....maybe I should go get me one of those "sleep" helpers for our flight tomorrow. I have this horrible fear and hate of flying and I try to sleep but very seldom can.

Great update, Karin. The food looks pretty darn good for plane food.

 

[dizneeat]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Mail. And the purse rocks! Great job, GF.

Thank you! I knew you'd agree on the purse!

Hmmmmmm....maybe I should go get me one of those "sleep" helpers for our flight tomorrow. I have this horrible fear and hate of flying and I try to sleep but very seldom can.

Great update, Karin. The food looks pretty darn good for plane food.

We get ours from Walgreen's and those sleeping aids are such a blessing! Nearly 10 hours on a plane are not much fun, and I can't go to sleep without "help"! I took 3 on the way home and was out like a light! Strangely enough we woke up in time for breakfast!

As for the plane food ....... Lufthansa does a pretty good job feeding it's customers! We really enjoyed our lunch and dinner!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Hmmmmmm....maybe I should go get me one of those "sleep" helpers for our flight tomorrow. I have this horrible fear and hate of flying and I try to sleep but very seldom can.

Great update, Karin. The food looks pretty darn good for plane food.

Not sure that it helps you but it helps me. I rarely buy the tabloid magazines (US, People, etc.) so when we go on vacation I get a couple and it helps the time go by quicker.

 

[Stefy]

Okay, before I get on with my trip report I have something I want to share with you all!

Guess what was in the mail yesterday and the day before!

Mail from DCL - the confirmations for two of our three 2011 cruises! Nothing better to get me into the right mood!

And speaking of DCL - here's something else I wanted to show off!
One of my most priced possessions!

Yes, I got one of the Dooney and Bourke DCL bags!

Front, I picked one with "my ship" in the center!

and back!

for Mickey Cruise Line mail

Can I just say that bag is FAB.U.LOUS!!! Love it

Great update, plane food doesn't look half bad

What did you think of the Young Victoria? I loved it, Emily Blunt was perfect for the role

 

[MickeyNicki]

Lucky kids you two to go on all these cruises! Loving the purse!

 

[dizneeat]

Still Day 1, August 14

A huge surprise starts off the trip! Part 3

We went to search and pick up our luggage, took it through customs, only to learn that we were to hand it in again to be delivered to a conveyer belt in the terminal. Okay, at least no carrying it. We then made our way across the terminal to the conveyer and waited for another 15 minutes for our luggage to arrive. While we waited we both talked about picking up the rental car.

In February we had booked a larger type car only to learn they were out of that category and to go to aisle xy to pick up a car. Well, they only offered “buses”! 6 to 8 seaters and we actually had to downgrade, as I would not want to drive around in one of those, let alone park them at a WDW parking lot. Now this time around we had booked a convertible, our plane was the same time as in February, 7pm and by the time we got to the counter it was past 8pm. We were welcomed after about 3 minutes and guess what, the representative looked kind of puzzled and told us to wait a second, as our reservation came up “funny” and he needed to talk to a supervisor. After 16 hours of travel time I was in NO mood for problems and could feel a knot forming in my stomach.
The guy came back a few minutes later and told us they were out of convertibles. Yeah, here we go! He then put on a really happy face and told us we were to be upgraded. I was waiting for the – here’s a bus for you, but no, he offered us a Camaro. Guess I have to explain – these are NOT common in Austria and I had NO idea what it was, so I asked Tom and he said that he thought it was kind of a “sporty” car. So I lean over the counter and asked the guy if my luggage would fit in the car. The rental car guy was puzzled too by the question and I guess our not freaking out over the upgrade. He told us about 5 times that it was a C-A-M-A-R-O!!! We didn’t blink! Once our paperwork was finished we made our way over to the parking garage, a bit puzzled as we are usually told to “pick a car in row xy” and this time we were to ask for the key at the little booth in the parking lot. Well, looooong story short, we walk out and they have ONE car parked right close to the booth and we both look and read and look and read again and this is it ……… our car!

Yeah, NICE surprise and a GREAT upgrade!

Even though I could barely see over the dashboard we really fell for our car for the next four weeks. It took us a few minutes to figure out how to put most of our stuff into the trunk and how to work everything, but we were soon on our way. After a few minutes on the highway the first billboards made us realize that our vacation had actually started and with a wonderful upgrade surprise.

We made it to WDW in about 25 minutes and checked in at Old Key West at around 9pm.

The wait was short and we were welcomed home. There is something about the feel of Old Key West, that quiet little village feeling with lots of smiling and happy inhabitants – Tom and I love it there. The CM looked for our paperwork and handed us the Keys to the World and I realized we were on the first floor. That is something else I am funny with – I do not like to stay on first floors. So she asked a manager if she could change our room assignment because we were staying for nearly two weeks and he agreed and she put us in the same building, actually just above the villa we had originally been asigned, but only on the second floor. I am fine with that. We drove down Old Turtle Pond Road, walked up to the building and up the stairs and when we opened the door we knew we were finally here and at home.

We moved all our luggage upstairs and went out to do some shopping at Publix. There were a few snack items and drinks we wanted to pick up and there was more than enough time to do so. When we had finally finished shopping we went to our all time favourite counter service place to pick up some very late night dinner, Wolfgang Puck’s Express.

Since we did not feel like either cookies or brownies we decided to pay out of pocket for our dinner. Our order was put in and in no time we were on our way back to Old Key West and sitting at the dining table with two plates of delicious food and some cold drinks.

We had chosen two sandwiches to share, the Warm Turkey Melt with cheddar, caramelized onions and arugula in freshly baked all natural bread with yummy sweet potato fries. It was SO good, still warm, even though we had to take it back to a very air conditioned villa and the sweet potato fries were SO good!

Our second choice was the Pesto Chicken Salad sandwich with romaine and plum tomatoes in freshly baked all natural bread with crispy herbed fries. TO DIE FOR!!! Once we had enjoyed our sandwiches we noticed just HOW tired we were so we fell into bed for a good night’s rest.

 

[dizneeat]

for Mickey Cruise Line mail

Can I just say that bag is FAB.U.LOUS!!! Love it

Great update, plane food doesn't look half bad

What did you think of the Young Victoria? I loved it, Emily Blunt was perfect for the role

Mail from Captain Mickey is the BEST!

....... and thanks for pointing out the DCL collection of D&B! I might have gotten a theme park one hadn't I known about them. They have a great collection of DCL ones - I wonder which one you will choose next summer!

I LOVED the movie! The fact that I am drawn to the lives of the British kings and queens made me choose it. And I was glad I did! A perfect portrait of the young Queen Victoria!

Lucky kids you two to go on all these cruises! Loving the purse!

I need to check out the new ship, so you and Kathy can come along with us! Cruising with Disney is the ultimate fun - they even serve drinks to you while you enjoy some time IN the clear waters of Castaway Cay!

Seriously Todd needs to reconsider - he HAS to go on a Dream cruise!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Incredible upgrade on the vehicle! Cruising in hot rod style, my kind of style

We stayed at OKW for 4 nights in 08 and we had the most relaxed time ever...we didnt go to a park for the first three days!

The chicken pesto sandwich is one of my favorites at WPE! I love it, so tasty and fresh and delish!

 

[dizneeat]

Incredible upgrade on the vehicle! Cruising in hot rod style, my kind of style

We stayed at OKW for 4 nights in 08 and we had the most relaxed time ever...we didnt go to a park for the first three days!

The chicken pesto sandwich is one of my favorites at WPE! I love it, so tasty and fresh and delish!

Once we had realized WHAT kind of car they had upgraded us to we were two VERY happy bunnies. I even "stole" the little sign on the inside-mirror that said "VIP hold"!

Ever since the Disney gods decided to upgrade us from a studio at OKW to a one bedroom villa we were HOOKED! Whenever I can afford it we try to stay there and since Disney UK came up with 42% off the resort AND free dining it was a no brainer!

We had the chicken pesto sandwich several times - soooooooooooo good! The salad makes it light and the dressing is devine!

 

[Stefy]

Mail from Captain Mickey is the BEST!

....... and thanks for pointing out the DCL collection of D&B! I might have gotten a theme park one hadn't I known about them. They have a great collection of DCL ones - I wonder which one you will choose next summer!

I LOVED the movie! The fact that I am drawn to the lives of the British kings and queens made me choose it. And I was glad I did! A perfect portrait of the young Queen Victoria!

I like that they are only available on DCL, hopefully I can get one next year

Which one is the question for this year, as I have seen other styles that I love. Gonna be a tough decision, but I am sure I will manage somehow

I love Tudor history, I learnt about most of it through TV (The Tudors) and books (my fav author Philippa Gregory).

TYV was a great film, depicted really well

Loving the update, awesome car upgrade Bet you got lots of comments about it.

Quick question for you, after clearing Customs you picked up your bags and then had to put them on another conveyor belt? How come you couldn't just keep them with you?

I thought that if you wanted ME to pick it up you had to collect your bags after Customs and then drop them off on the belt for it to be collected and delivered.

 

[dizneeat]

I like that they are only available on DCL, hopefully I can get one next year

Which one is the question for this year, as I have seen other styles that I love. Gonna be a tough decision, but I am sure I will manage somehow

I love Tudor history, I learnt about most of it through TV (The Tudors) and books (my fav author Philippa Gregory).

TYV was a great film, depicted really well

Loving the update, awesome car upgrade Bet you got lots of comments about it.

Quick question for you, after clearing Customs you picked up your bags and then had to put them on another conveyor belt? How come you couldn't just keep them with you?

I thought that if you wanted ME to pick it up you had to collect your bags after Customs and then drop them off on the belt for it to be collected and delivered.

Actually the DCL bag wasn't the only D&B I got , so it will be interesting to see which ones you like (I have this thing for handbags and got two more Vera Bradley ones as well! I need to post photos of them too!)

Don't you just love good old Henry VIII? Something my pupils have to learn about when we do my "brief" British History (and yes, they need to know the names of his wives and how they died! ).
BTW I LOVED to watch "The Tudors" on TV! What a great portrait of the time.

There were ENDLESS comments about the car and you'll read about them in my trip report once we get there!

I don't know about ME as we always rent a car (I really don't fancy riding on the Disney buses ....... sorry! ), but we had 3 huge bags and two pieces of hand luggage (and only 4 hands to tackle them with! ). So before going through customs we picked up a cart to wheel them through. Once we had cleared customs we came to an escalator and the men working there told us that we either had to carry our luggage OR hand them over to them and they would be put on the belt and transported to the arrival area. Since we didn't see a way to manage 5 pieces of luggage through a busy airport without a cart we just put them on the belt. But you CAN carry them yourself if you want.
You have to take the bags through customs yourself if you arrive from outside the US, that's all I know, so I guess I am not a HUGE help on ME questions.

 

[englishrose47]

First Great start to your TR !From the plane ride over to the UPGRADE Camaro!!!

I have a little rhyme that may help your students remember The wife's of Henry

Divorced
Beheaded
Died
Divorced
Beheaded,
Survived !!!

So the wifes were

Catherine of Arragon
Anne Boleyn
Jane Seymour
Anne of Cleves
Katherine Howard
Katherine Parr

The only way I get them in order is with the rhyme !!!!!

 

[dizneeat]

First Great start to your TR !From the plane ride over to the UPGRADE Camaro!!!

I have a little rhyme that may help your students remember The wife's of Henry

Divorced
Beheaded
Died
Divorced
Beheaded,
Survived !!!

So the wifes were

Catherine of Arragon
Anne Boleyn
Jane Seymour
Anne of Cleves
Katherine Howard
Katherine Parr

The only way I get them in order is with the rhyme !!!!!

That's exactly the rhyme my pupils need to learn! I picked that up during a holiday language training in GB!

So Rosie, you'll get an A+ on your/my British History test!

 

[KatMark]

Oh my...first, the upgrade on the car! AWESOME! Mark, however, would never be able to get out of that car once he got in it.

Second, the sandwiches at Wolfgang look out of this world. Mark would really like those sweet potato fries.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh my...first, the upgrade on the car! AWESOME! Mark, however, would never be able to get out of that car once he got in it.

Second, the sandwiches at Wolfgang look out of this world. Mark would really like those sweet potato fries.

We really ENJOYED the "upgrade"! Tom loved the car and to be honest, so did I! ............ and it was hard getting ME out of it!

You need to try the sandwiches at WPE! They are SO good! And the sweet potato fries were to die for, as were the herbed fries that came with some of their items. Whoops ........ giving away that we made several trips to Wolfgang's! On the other hand, would you have expected anything else from me?

 

[englishrose47]

That's exactly the rhyme my pupils need to learn! I picked that up during a holiday language training in GB!

So Rosie, you'll get an A+ on your/my British History test!

Well Thank you

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

You got your confirmations for two out of THREE cruises you booked next year??? Nice!

Love the upgrade - great way to start a trip.

Funny how when you get an upgrade like the one to a 1bdr villa, you want to book it that way from then on. It's the smartest thing for Disney to do (upgrade folks). I wonder if they do it on purpose?? (If they have the room to do it!)