Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2000
- Messages
- 2,272
Well, here we are, back at home. We are sad because our trip was cut in half from Hurricane Frances, but grateful we are safe.
This trip was a throw together trip. We won an auction on Skyauction for Sept. 4-11th at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. Then we decided to add another week, but to the front end. We then won an auction for Sheraton's Vistana Resort for Aug. 28-Sept.4th. These were the deals of the month, let me tell you. One week at Vistana for $301 and one week at CPGV for $220.
Since we were trying to save some money, it was decided that we would only do one day at MK, one day at Universal and Hoop de doo Revue (Ron and I have seen this but our children haven't).
We drive all night Friday night from Corning, NY starting around 5:30pm. We drop the pooch off at Mom's/Sister's place in Harrisburg, Pa and chat for a little, then back on the road. Things went very well. No problems on I-95. Breakfast was around Savannah, Ga at 8:00am. Then stopped in Ocala to visit an elderly lady who is a friend of the family. I didn't want to do this on the way down because I knew I would feel like a scuz! But I'm actually glad now that we did it that way since there was no way to do it later because of the hurricane.
A week and a half before we were to check into Vistana, I was advised on this board about Diamond Lane check in. You don't have to wait in the same check in line as everyone else and you can put in your request for a specific section of the resort. I did that and requested Cascades, Lakes or Spas section.
When we got to the resort it was about 4:30pm. I immediately went to the Diamond Lane to check in. There was one person a head of me being waited on, and the other line was appr. 20 people deep. We waited around 4 minutes and then we were on. I was SO GLAD WE REGISTERED FOR DIAMOND LANE. My DH comes in with the kids and says to me, "Why are you standing in line over here, don't you need to get in that other line?" I told him about the situation and he just looked at me in amazement. He asked how I found out about this and I said, "where else do you think?"
HE knew where. He just shook his head and laughed.........gratefully, ofcourse.
The check in was fast. They had a room to the side where your kids could check in. It looked really cute. Balloons everywhere, tables set up to give out goodie bags and stuff. My children went over and received a welcome bag full of; a cup of applesauce, 2 small chocolate bars, a small cereal box, toothpaste, sour patches (candy), and coupons for things like tide. And they all received a balloon.
After receiving an email about four days before we left from Diamond Lane stating that there was no availability for Cascades or Lakes, I wasn't sure what to think. When we got to check in, I was very curious what was going to be given to us. After a few minutes, the woman gave us a map of the resort (huge) and circled the Lakes section and wrote the number 1804. I couldn't believe it. We received Lakes section after all and also first floor. I didn't really care about a floor since this was a section that had elevators (5 floors, I think). But I must admit....parking your car 15 feet from your door IS NOT BAD!
It made things SO easy.
The room..............this place is gorgeous! It is "Floridian" which is not my favorite type of decor, but it is beautifully maintained and clean. It is also HUGE! Almost 1200 sq. feet. Full kitchen, stacked washer/dryer, huge kitchen counter with 2 seats at the bar, dining room table that seats six, living room with pull out couch, 2 chairs, coffee table, an end table, TV (I think around 26 in.) with VCR, TV bureau with 4 big drawers on each side and two drawers below, bedroom with 2 double beds and TV and bureau with 4 drawers, bathroom with toilet and tub/shower seperated from even larger area with 2 (I think) sinks. Then...........the master bedroom........WOW!.......King bed, TV and bureau with 4 drawers, sliding glass doors to screened in patio, two night stands, an area with a sink and vanity mirror with a stool, a seperated(by a door) bathroom with large shower and toilet/sink, ........but best of all.......... a jucuzzi in the room where the king bed was.........absolutely beautiful. And there is a TON of space in this room........you could plant another King bed in the middle of the room.
The view.....................if you were in the living room, there was another set of sliding glass doors to go to the outside, screened in patio. There was some landscaping and then a side walk outside our patio. Then there was the view of the small lake with a beautiful fountain, and from there you could see the one pool.
I knew I loved the place, but I think I got an inkling of what my DH felt when he started bowing to me in the middle of the living room.
He couldn't believe I got this place for what we paid.
There are seven pools in this resort. We were closest to the Lakes pool, ofcourse. If you were at the pool, there was a clubhouse you could walk through to get to the Fountains area pool. This pool was bigger with a waterfall area and pool rental stuff. There was also a pool bar. We liked our pool better though, because it was zero entry. It also had those pop up fountains in the middle of the shallower end that the kids loved. The other pool would be busy at times, but our pool was never crowded. It wasn't even half full. You could pick any lounge chair you wanted. It was fantastic! I never wanted to leave.
I would easily pay the same for this place a night that I would for WL or a deluxe room. There are times I want to stay on site (like when DH and I fly down and it's just the two of us and no rental car) but with a family, places like this are great. You just can't beat the space, having two bathrooms, kitchen, washer/dryer (we left with no dirty laundry) and we can't forget about that jacuzzi!!
We decided to go to Universal on Tuesday............boy, was it hot. They do have those misters/fans going which helped. But you have to walk so far from the parking garage and it was so hot, that when we entered the park, I was already soaked with sweat, and that was 9:30am!!
I had asked some advice from the Universal Boards about which park to do with younger children, IOA or Universal. I didn't get much feedback and some said one and some the other. I didn't know which to do. We decided on Universal because IOA is known for its rollercoasters and adults seem to favor that park. WE WERE WRONG!! Or at least I think we were. I don't know what IOA is like, but it can't be worse than Universal. My DS4 liked the MIB (it's like Buzz Lightyear). LOVED the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster, Curious George's water/play area was OK, Shrek was a cute show, and the playground with the water raft ride was great. Other than that.........he saw a lot of violent/tense stuff. This isn't a child who gets scared easily, but he didn't like most of what we went on. And some thinks we didn't let him see/ride. We missed the last show for Barney. I commented to my DH that if there was ever a time to go see a sweet, corny show with Barney.......IT IS NOW! Let's just say.......it will be a while before we go back. We are definately a Magic Kingdom family. We had pizza and a little cheesecake at the Italian restaurant. Both were very good. I would give it a B+.
Magic Kingdom was on Thursday. By now, we realize we will probably be leaving on Friday because of the hurricane. So we head off to see Mickey. Aaaaahhhhh..........we are home. My DH turns to me and says, this is where we belong. (this and EPCOT so DH can get quiche at Chefs de France )
It was hot but didn't seem as not as Universal. Probably because of the tram ride and airconditioned monorail, I wasn't at the turnstiles soaked with sweat already. MK had really low crowds. Walk On............Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Mountain Thunder Railroad, almost everything.
We had lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. DH got a hamburger, which he said was delicious, and I got the Pot roast. I really didn't want anything so heavy, but I couldn't make up my mind. Then the server said it was their signature dish and I decided to try it. OH MY HEART, was THAT good!! You don't even need to pick up your knife! Yum. My children had mac and cheese/grapes and ate every bite. It was a very nice atmosphere and great service. I give it an A+. Oh, and btw, we didn't have PS's and we walked right in around 11:50am.
The rest of the family got Mickey bars latter on, which they loved.
I got a cappacino smoothie at Auntie Gravity's. Yummy.
We tried to have dinner at Plaza Restaurant, but we were too late. It was 7:00 and the park was closing at 8:30 with Wishes fireworks. The only thing we could find open was Casey's. Well, I had heard a lot of good about this place but we had never gone. DH and I ordered the Grand Slam hot dog, kids ordered corn dog nuggets and we split fries. Man! This was a great meal! We put saurkraut and relish on our dogs and I tasted a corn dog nugget. They were good, too. Now, I want to make it a tradition. Casey's on Main Street for lunch at MK!
At 8:00pm I planted myself, facing the castle on the side walk and waited for Wishes at 8:30. WOW!! You guys who said this was great were telling the truth. This was the best fireworks show I think I have ever seen. My DH said the same thing. He wanted to leave before the show because we were all very tired. I told him we didn't want to miss this so could we please stay. He begrudginly said yes. He apologized later.
He said he's glad we didn't miss it.
Highlights of MK: * We LOVED Mickey's Philharmagic. Do not miss this cute show. *Stopping at Autie Gravity's for a cappacino(?) smoothie and finally seeing that darn talking trash can! * Casey's Corner on Main street. * Wishes Fireworks. *Libery Tree Tavern (and maybe next time we will do the character meal)
We had an awesome day!
Friday..........went out to IHOP for breakfast and filled up the gas tank. We didn't have too much trouble finding gas. I expected not to find any by listening to the local media and such. It was a little weird..................bright sunshine yet everything was closing up because they had expected the hurricane much earlier. So here we were, having breakfast like normal, having beautiful weather, yet almost positive we were leaving because of Frances. It was kind of eerie.
I called Skyauction and they told us CPGV wouldn't even let us check in. So the decision was made for us.............we were definately leaving. They told us we would have the next calendar year to pick a substitute week. Not bad. I told my DH I wouldn't have let them give me my money back because I could probably never get CPGV THAT cheap again! I'll keep you all updated as to how this process goes. I don't expect any problems. Skyauction has been great to deal with. I give them an A++.
We got on the road at 4:45pm not knowing what to expect on I-95. HARDLY ANYONE WAS ON THE ROAD. I guess everyone had decided to leave on Thursday. We did 75mph the whole way. Stopped above Savannah,GA in a Hampton Inn &suites. Then Sat. we made the trip to Harrisburg, Pa. and stayed there a few days to visit with family. (Actually, it was more like we didn't want to end the vacation) We were home by 4:00pm on Wed. the 8th.
Now I'm kind of depressed this is over, so guess what I'm going to do............PLAN THE NEXT TRIP, OFCOURSE! That's the only cure I know of.
And for not knowing if we would have any vacation this year at all, we were all very happy with how everything went, even though it had to end early.
My heart goes out to the Floridians and what they have gone through and what they are about to go through again probably with Ivan. May God protect each one and keep them safe.
Thanks for reading, but most of all thanks for all of the advice on this board. IT IS PRICELESS!!
This trip was a throw together trip. We won an auction on Skyauction for Sept. 4-11th at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. Then we decided to add another week, but to the front end. We then won an auction for Sheraton's Vistana Resort for Aug. 28-Sept.4th. These were the deals of the month, let me tell you. One week at Vistana for $301 and one week at CPGV for $220.
Since we were trying to save some money, it was decided that we would only do one day at MK, one day at Universal and Hoop de doo Revue (Ron and I have seen this but our children haven't).
We drive all night Friday night from Corning, NY starting around 5:30pm. We drop the pooch off at Mom's/Sister's place in Harrisburg, Pa and chat for a little, then back on the road. Things went very well. No problems on I-95. Breakfast was around Savannah, Ga at 8:00am. Then stopped in Ocala to visit an elderly lady who is a friend of the family. I didn't want to do this on the way down because I knew I would feel like a scuz! But I'm actually glad now that we did it that way since there was no way to do it later because of the hurricane.
A week and a half before we were to check into Vistana, I was advised on this board about Diamond Lane check in. You don't have to wait in the same check in line as everyone else and you can put in your request for a specific section of the resort. I did that and requested Cascades, Lakes or Spas section.
When we got to the resort it was about 4:30pm. I immediately went to the Diamond Lane to check in. There was one person a head of me being waited on, and the other line was appr. 20 people deep. We waited around 4 minutes and then we were on. I was SO GLAD WE REGISTERED FOR DIAMOND LANE. My DH comes in with the kids and says to me, "Why are you standing in line over here, don't you need to get in that other line?" I told him about the situation and he just looked at me in amazement. He asked how I found out about this and I said, "where else do you think?"
HE knew where. He just shook his head and laughed.........gratefully, ofcourse.The check in was fast. They had a room to the side where your kids could check in. It looked really cute. Balloons everywhere, tables set up to give out goodie bags and stuff. My children went over and received a welcome bag full of; a cup of applesauce, 2 small chocolate bars, a small cereal box, toothpaste, sour patches (candy), and coupons for things like tide. And they all received a balloon.
After receiving an email about four days before we left from Diamond Lane stating that there was no availability for Cascades or Lakes, I wasn't sure what to think. When we got to check in, I was very curious what was going to be given to us. After a few minutes, the woman gave us a map of the resort (huge) and circled the Lakes section and wrote the number 1804. I couldn't believe it. We received Lakes section after all and also first floor. I didn't really care about a floor since this was a section that had elevators (5 floors, I think). But I must admit....parking your car 15 feet from your door IS NOT BAD!
It made things SO easy. The room..............this place is gorgeous! It is "Floridian" which is not my favorite type of decor, but it is beautifully maintained and clean. It is also HUGE! Almost 1200 sq. feet. Full kitchen, stacked washer/dryer, huge kitchen counter with 2 seats at the bar, dining room table that seats six, living room with pull out couch, 2 chairs, coffee table, an end table, TV (I think around 26 in.) with VCR, TV bureau with 4 big drawers on each side and two drawers below, bedroom with 2 double beds and TV and bureau with 4 drawers, bathroom with toilet and tub/shower seperated from even larger area with 2 (I think) sinks. Then...........the master bedroom........WOW!.......King bed, TV and bureau with 4 drawers, sliding glass doors to screened in patio, two night stands, an area with a sink and vanity mirror with a stool, a seperated(by a door) bathroom with large shower and toilet/sink, ........but best of all.......... a jucuzzi in the room where the king bed was.........absolutely beautiful. And there is a TON of space in this room........you could plant another King bed in the middle of the room.
The view.....................if you were in the living room, there was another set of sliding glass doors to go to the outside, screened in patio. There was some landscaping and then a side walk outside our patio. Then there was the view of the small lake with a beautiful fountain, and from there you could see the one pool.
I knew I loved the place, but I think I got an inkling of what my DH felt when he started bowing to me in the middle of the living room.
He couldn't believe I got this place for what we paid. There are seven pools in this resort. We were closest to the Lakes pool, ofcourse. If you were at the pool, there was a clubhouse you could walk through to get to the Fountains area pool. This pool was bigger with a waterfall area and pool rental stuff. There was also a pool bar. We liked our pool better though, because it was zero entry. It also had those pop up fountains in the middle of the shallower end that the kids loved. The other pool would be busy at times, but our pool was never crowded. It wasn't even half full. You could pick any lounge chair you wanted. It was fantastic! I never wanted to leave.
I would easily pay the same for this place a night that I would for WL or a deluxe room. There are times I want to stay on site (like when DH and I fly down and it's just the two of us and no rental car) but with a family, places like this are great. You just can't beat the space, having two bathrooms, kitchen, washer/dryer (we left with no dirty laundry) and we can't forget about that jacuzzi!!
We decided to go to Universal on Tuesday............boy, was it hot. They do have those misters/fans going which helped. But you have to walk so far from the parking garage and it was so hot, that when we entered the park, I was already soaked with sweat, and that was 9:30am!!
I had asked some advice from the Universal Boards about which park to do with younger children, IOA or Universal. I didn't get much feedback and some said one and some the other. I didn't know which to do. We decided on Universal because IOA is known for its rollercoasters and adults seem to favor that park. WE WERE WRONG!! Or at least I think we were. I don't know what IOA is like, but it can't be worse than Universal. My DS4 liked the MIB (it's like Buzz Lightyear). LOVED the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster, Curious George's water/play area was OK, Shrek was a cute show, and the playground with the water raft ride was great. Other than that.........he saw a lot of violent/tense stuff. This isn't a child who gets scared easily, but he didn't like most of what we went on. And some thinks we didn't let him see/ride. We missed the last show for Barney. I commented to my DH that if there was ever a time to go see a sweet, corny show with Barney.......IT IS NOW!
Let's just say.......it will be a while before we go back. We are definately a Magic Kingdom family. We had pizza and a little cheesecake at the Italian restaurant. Both were very good. I would give it a B+. Magic Kingdom was on Thursday. By now, we realize we will probably be leaving on Friday because of the hurricane. So we head off to see Mickey. Aaaaahhhhh..........we are home. My DH turns to me and says, this is where we belong. (this and EPCOT so DH can get quiche at Chefs de France
) It was hot but didn't seem as not as Universal. Probably because of the tram ride and airconditioned monorail, I wasn't at the turnstiles soaked with sweat already.
MK had really low crowds. Walk On............Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Mountain Thunder Railroad, almost everything. We had lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. DH got a hamburger, which he said was delicious, and I got the Pot roast. I really didn't want anything so heavy, but I couldn't make up my mind. Then the server said it was their signature dish and I decided to try it. OH MY HEART, was THAT good!! You don't even need to pick up your knife! Yum. My children had mac and cheese/grapes and ate every bite. It was a very nice atmosphere and great service. I give it an A+. Oh, and btw, we didn't have PS's and we walked right in around 11:50am.
The rest of the family got Mickey bars latter on, which they loved.
I got a cappacino smoothie at Auntie Gravity's. Yummy.
We tried to have dinner at Plaza Restaurant, but we were too late. It was 7:00 and the park was closing at 8:30 with Wishes fireworks. The only thing we could find open was Casey's. Well, I had heard a lot of good about this place but we had never gone. DH and I ordered the Grand Slam hot dog, kids ordered corn dog nuggets and we split fries. Man! This was a great meal! We put saurkraut and relish on our dogs and I tasted a corn dog nugget. They were good, too. Now, I want to make it a tradition. Casey's on Main Street for lunch at MK!
At 8:00pm I planted myself, facing the castle on the side walk and waited for Wishes at 8:30. WOW!! You guys who said this was great were telling the truth. This was the best fireworks show I think I have ever seen. My DH said the same thing. He wanted to leave before the show because we were all very tired. I told him we didn't want to miss this so could we please stay. He begrudginly said yes. He apologized later.
He said he's glad we didn't miss it. Highlights of MK: * We LOVED Mickey's Philharmagic. Do not miss this cute show. *Stopping at Autie Gravity's for a cappacino(?) smoothie and finally seeing that darn talking trash can!
* Casey's Corner on Main street. * Wishes Fireworks. *Libery Tree Tavern (and maybe next time we will do the character meal)We had an awesome day!
Friday..........went out to IHOP for breakfast and filled up the gas tank. We didn't have too much trouble finding gas. I expected not to find any by listening to the local media and such. It was a little weird..................bright sunshine yet everything was closing up because they had expected the hurricane much earlier. So here we were, having breakfast like normal, having beautiful weather, yet almost positive we were leaving because of Frances. It was kind of eerie.
I called Skyauction and they told us CPGV wouldn't even let us check in. So the decision was made for us.............we were definately leaving. They told us we would have the next calendar year to pick a substitute week. Not bad. I told my DH I wouldn't have let them give me my money back because I could probably never get CPGV THAT cheap again! I'll keep you all updated as to how this process goes. I don't expect any problems. Skyauction has been great to deal with. I give them an A++.
We got on the road at 4:45pm not knowing what to expect on I-95. HARDLY ANYONE WAS ON THE ROAD. I guess everyone had decided to leave on Thursday. We did 75mph the whole way. Stopped above Savannah,GA in a Hampton Inn &suites. Then Sat. we made the trip to Harrisburg, Pa. and stayed there a few days to visit with family. (Actually, it was more like we didn't want to end the vacation) We were home by 4:00pm on Wed. the 8th.
Now I'm kind of depressed this is over, so guess what I'm going to do............PLAN THE NEXT TRIP, OFCOURSE!
That's the only cure I know of. And for not knowing if we would have any vacation this year at all, we were all very happy with how everything went, even though it had to end early.
My heart goes out to the Floridians and what they have gone through and what they are about to go through again probably with Ivan. May God protect each one and keep them safe.
Thanks for reading, but most of all thanks for all of the advice on this board. IT IS PRICELESS!!
Man, those were good! The five of us couldn't finish the TWO desserts we ordered. And my whole family LOVED the atmosphere. When the thunderstorm starts and the elephants make noise, my family would just crack up. We couldn't believe all of the great fish in the tanks. We were picking them out and saying, there's Dori, or there's Nimo.........it was great. And when they deliver the volcano, the servers yell in the dining room, VOOOOLLLLLLCCAAAAAANNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!! Too funny. If you want to try this place but don't have the money for lunch or dinner, just get dessert. You've got to experience this place at least once. 
Vacation does go fast, doesn't it?? Thanks for reading.
