lenshanem
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2002
- Messages
- 8,930
Sunday, 2/6/05 - Wednesday, 2/9/05
OK, so our 10th wedding anniversary trip finally came and went. I know Ive been babbling about this trip for months We got engaged in Cinderellas castle so this was really the place we wanted to be! I must admit our quick last minute get away trip in October might have killed some of the excitement of getting away for a few days without our girls, but it was still a nice trip.
We left early Sunday morning, leaving our girls with their grandparents. (Both sets of grandparents took turns watching them while we were gone.) My 6 ½ year old was very excited, she had been counting down the days My 4 year old wasnt so sure and I felt a tad of guilt as we pulled away
Drive down was very easy in my new Ford Freestyle. I hated watching the miles pile up on it, though! I winced as I saw 1000 miles Jotted down state license plates, the state of Michigan really likes going to Florida! We made it down from Atlanta in 7 hours, driving into VWL at 4:30 after a welcome home at the gate.
VWL
Hubby settled into the lobby while I waited to check in. Quickly, I discovered my check in jinx was still in full effect. After our October trip at OKW I had emailed DVC MS regarding non-smoking and non-handicap requests. MS went and added non-smoking due to medical reasons and non-handicap for tub on all our existing reservations and had sent me new confirmations with the requests on them. My oldest has asthma and after experiencing the studio with no tub at OKW Ill probably request a non-handicap studio for the girls when I travel with them from now on. Since this was a trip without the girls these two requests werent necessary, but still would be nice.
Well, sure enough we were preassigned to a studio that was smoking. Had my daughter been with us I would have FLIPPED. What would have happened had we arrived late and couldnt get switched to a non-smoking room with her? Anyway, I must have had a twisted look on my face cause hubby came over trotting all our luggage. Since Im a southern gal, I kindly asked if we could be changed to a non-smoking studio. She studied the computer and called someone over. Can she move us into this room? The other CM told her someone else was already in it! OPPS! So she left us and went to the back. Came back out with a new room assignment that was non-smoking. Great! Is it non-handicap? Yes. Great! Course the view is now only woods (Arent most rooms there mostly wood views?) Fine. Our confirmation had it was our anniversary on it, too. Not a mention. Oh, well.
Hubby and I walked away laughing that we must have given up some great view to get a non-smoking and wed probably be in the basement or something
WOW! Were we surprised! FANTASTIC room! Thank you front desk! (Could my check in jinx now be over?) Studio 3531, close to elevator, dedicated corner room overlooking the quiet pool and lake. It was large and had a cool little window in the corner you could open up and feel the glorious breeze of Floridas warm winter Wait! Is that the sound of a boat horn beckoning us to go to the Magic Kingdom? Yes, it is! (Insert romantic time here. Who would have ever thought that sound would invoke romance?)
OK 10 minutes later (Note to laugh there ), we start getting settled in. Room is in FAB condition, as was all of VWL and WL. Only thing we found was some weird pellet food? Was it cereal, dog or cat food, rat poison - we just dont know, but some was beside the bed and behind the coffee maker. Otherwise, the room was perfect. Although, I loved that little window as a mommy I thought it odd there was no screen. It looked just the right size for a small kid to fall through and it was close to the floor.
Our PS for Artist Point wasnt until later so we opted to do some walking around the resort. The spa near the quiet pool was drained. Wonder what is up with that? And I had to sneak some Splenda and creamer from Roaring Forks cause none were in our room. I felt really guilty, kinda funny I guess.
We had ordered a couple personalized items from DTD prior to the trip that were to be delivered to WLs gift shop on our arrival day. They couldnt find our package and looked very confused. Luckily, I had brought a confirmation number and a manager told us shes look into it for us. Got the DVC snowflake ornament (FYI - They have stopped making the nice resort ornaments! Im so sad cause I had a collection going. All the resorts now have a cheaper ornament.) and then tried to buy some DVC pins The CMs acted like they didnt know what we were talking about! Go to pin cart out in the lobby, also dont have a clue. How odd
Go back to room to change for dinner (I think hubby really just wanted to watch the Super Bowl ) and then decided to go to the bar to watch half-time (Im a HUGE Beatles fan so I wanted to see Paul McCartney.). Stop back by the pin cart and another CM was there. I asked again about the DVC pins and SURPRISE! She pulls out a drawer full of them. Snag one I was missing from last year and got the two new ones for this year. (WDW now has cool shadow boxes for your pins! I bought one at DTD for my resort pin collection.) Moving ahead, after dinner we stopped back by the WL gift shop. The manager had DROVE down to DTD herself and got our package while we had eaten. AWESOME! Gotta love Disney!
Note - DDE
We still hadnt received our DDE cards we ordered for $50 using our AP, but had no problems using our email confirmation for all our PSs. We broke even and then saved some. Our next two DVC trips will all be savings! Im so glad we ordered it. A few days after we got back our cards were in the mail. The expiration was even a month longer than I was originally told it would be.
Artist Point
Not many people there, we got a nice table next to the window where we could see the waterfall outside and the Electrical Water Pageant going by. I mentioned our anniversary when I made all our PSs and Artist Point had printed us out personalized menus congratulating us. Very nice touch. We had a lovely time, but I was disappointed in our food. I had the pork chop and it was chewy, the noodles underneath werent cooked long enough. I had read so many good reviews, hopefully my dinner was a fluke. We both agreed it wasnt worth the $100 and we probably wont be back.
Keys to the Kingdom tour
Monday morning we did the Keys tour. (I remembered to get the DVC discount, too!) We had never done this and were pretty excited about it. It was very interesting and fun to see backstage and the utildors. I think we knew alot of the information already just cause were such nerds, but still fascinating to see. At one point I think I might have hijacked the tour, hubby said I made it very obvious that I secretly wanted to be a character by the million questions I asked. Sorry! I was a little disappointed with our tour guide. She was mostly great, but I think some of the questions I asked her she didnt know the answer to and she either made up something or almost I felt put me down. For instance, I asked when the pet cemetery was added at the Haunted Mansion. She told me it had always been there and was very adamant about it. Im pretty sure this was added in the last decade or so. Could someone put me in my place and correct me if Im wrong? We had lunch at Columbia Harbour House and all in all it was a good time. One point we all had to stuff into a small area between doors before she could let us backstage and it was very Willy Wonka like! (You know the scene?) Course, nobody agreed when I mentioned this so once again I must just be a nerd. The tour ended in a speech about not sharing info online (Was she talking directly to me?!?) and we walked away a little more knowledgeable and showing off our new pins to boot. Unfortunately, we will now always refer to our Disney experiences as being for our safety, as a courtesy, as being efficient and good show. (If youve taken the tour you probably heard all about the keys, too.) Note - the new headsets are great! She was able to point out things while we were riding the Haunted Mansion.
Another note the castle is going to be so BEAUTIFUL when it is finished. They had already completed a few of the spires and the new gold decorations just sparkle like crazy. No cake monster this time I really hope it is done for spring break!
After the tour we tried to squeeze in a few rides, but the park was so crowded. I think it was a combination of Super Bowl, Mardi Gras escapees (I learned the schools in New Orleans were out that week.) and cheerleaders? We then headed back to VWL to change for dinner.
California Grill
Wow. This was a great meal and also a first for us. Our PS was for 7:20 and we were really aiming to see Wishes at 9:00 out on the observation deck. We were taken upstairs immediately after checking in and were told happy anniversary numerous times. Unfortunately, despite them trying to get us a good table they were quite busy and I think we ended up as far away from a view of the castle as possible. I was facing TTC in the back. Our waitress was great, a little over zealous, but extremely likable. We expressed our desire to finish our meal in time for Wishes and she delivered just that! We made it outside about 5 minutes before it started, coffee in our hands. The meal was YUMMY! I had pumpkin lasagna. Kinda odd, but it tasted so good! The view of Wishes was wonderful, the weather was great and the music was piped out on the deck. Big thumbs up for this PS!
Afterward, we arrived back to VWL just in time to watch the Electrical Water Pageant from the beach. It was a great day, but we were very tired! I had to take off my heels and walk barefoot back up to the room. (By the way, the transportation this trip was great! Very efficient!)
Grand Floridian afternoon tea
Tuesday we spent the morning enjoying MGM. The weather was so beautiful! I cant even describe it! We then went to the Garden View Lounge for tea. It was cute and quaint, we both had the Buckingham Palace service. I preferred the afternoon tea they used to serve in England at Epcot, but this was still fun to try out. I think we were the youngest people there and were not that young! It was relaxing to sit and listen to the live music playing in the background
After we finished up we decided to hop the monorail and try to get in some of those rides at the Magic Kingdom we missed the day before. We passed by our brick at the bottom of the monorail ramp near the gate. It is looking pretty faded these days. Bummer. It wasnt quite as busy and we were able to ride all the mountains. Got to try out Stitch, too. I preferred the old AE, but I think my girls might be able to do this now. Still a little scary, but not as bad.
Nine Dragons
Making a very full day of it, we headed off to Epcot on the monorail. We immediately picked up our EMH bracelet and headed off to dinner. I didnt realize it was the Chinese New Year so this ended up being the right meal for the night! Typical Chinese food fare, nothing exciting to report. We got the meal for two and were out rather quickly. This is a restaurant we wouldnt normally eat at cause my oldest is severely allergic to peanuts and nuts. I think we ate there once YEARS ago. It was food I miss eating, but Id say overpriced.
We found a good spot for IllumiNations and enjoyed the glorious weather. After it was over we rode a few rides. It was still rather busy at Test Track so like always we opted to do the single rider line. Hubby tried in vain once again to get me to ride Mission Space, but my tea cups experiences told me it best not after eating Chinese food. Im sure it was the right decision.
Kona Café
How sad, our last morning. Packed up we drove over to the Polynesian. Ive always wanted to try that Tonga Toast. We had a little of a wait so we bought a postcard in the gift shop and walked over to Ohana to see if we could get a server to grab a characters autograph so we could send it back home to the girls. They were so nice! They said it would be a bit, but theyd bring it over to us at the Kona Café. A few minutes after we were seated he came back over with the postcard FILLED with all the characters autographs! You gotta love Disney! I was so excited. I thought this would be really cute since well be bringing the girls for spring break. Kinda a we look forward to seeing you postcard! I guess I really pumped up the Tonga Toast in my mind, cause it wasnt as fabulous as I thought it was going to be. Good, but I was expecting guidebook distinction!
We then drove over to OKW to check out the new slide. I took some pictures to show my girls since well be staying there spring break. Guess what? It looks no different in person than it does in pics. I dont know what I was expecting! It is cute, but not a WOW! Kids should love it, though!
After a quick drive through SSR (Still seems like alot of construction to me, hubby likes the feel of this resort more than me says it has a small town feel?!?) we head over to DTD to do some shopping at World of Disney using our AP discount. We spend a small fortune and then decide to go over to Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch using our DVC discount. It is past time to leave and the weather is so beautiful and it was just really hard to get into that car!
Our drive back was not fun - got turned around and went the wrong way down 192 (I was amazed at the amount of damage still from the hurricanes. So sad.), lots of police to slow us down and rain the second part of trip. My girls hugs were great to get when we walked in, though!
PhotoPass was waiting for us online back home. What a cool service! Im sure well use it spring break! (AP has a deal for 50% off and Disney Visa 20% off thru end of April?) Funny, a few trips back I mentioned to hubby they should have your photos online to view once you got home and POOF! They now have this service. I really should work at Disney! HA!
So now we wait for our spring break trip
I hope we get to meet some fellow DISers like we did last October. I lost my DIS lime green button so I didnt have anything this trip and I never spotted any lime green anywhere else. Where were yall?
Here's some pics -
(Note hubby is wearing the SAME hat and shirt as he was in our pic with Mickey last October! OPPS!)
Us with Mickey
Me looking too serious for this pic
Hubby with Minnie
OK, so our 10th wedding anniversary trip finally came and went. I know Ive been babbling about this trip for months We got engaged in Cinderellas castle so this was really the place we wanted to be! I must admit our quick last minute get away trip in October might have killed some of the excitement of getting away for a few days without our girls, but it was still a nice trip.
We left early Sunday morning, leaving our girls with their grandparents. (Both sets of grandparents took turns watching them while we were gone.) My 6 ½ year old was very excited, she had been counting down the days My 4 year old wasnt so sure and I felt a tad of guilt as we pulled away
Drive down was very easy in my new Ford Freestyle. I hated watching the miles pile up on it, though! I winced as I saw 1000 miles Jotted down state license plates, the state of Michigan really likes going to Florida! We made it down from Atlanta in 7 hours, driving into VWL at 4:30 after a welcome home at the gate.
VWL
Hubby settled into the lobby while I waited to check in. Quickly, I discovered my check in jinx was still in full effect. After our October trip at OKW I had emailed DVC MS regarding non-smoking and non-handicap requests. MS went and added non-smoking due to medical reasons and non-handicap for tub on all our existing reservations and had sent me new confirmations with the requests on them. My oldest has asthma and after experiencing the studio with no tub at OKW Ill probably request a non-handicap studio for the girls when I travel with them from now on. Since this was a trip without the girls these two requests werent necessary, but still would be nice.
Well, sure enough we were preassigned to a studio that was smoking. Had my daughter been with us I would have FLIPPED. What would have happened had we arrived late and couldnt get switched to a non-smoking room with her? Anyway, I must have had a twisted look on my face cause hubby came over trotting all our luggage. Since Im a southern gal, I kindly asked if we could be changed to a non-smoking studio. She studied the computer and called someone over. Can she move us into this room? The other CM told her someone else was already in it! OPPS! So she left us and went to the back. Came back out with a new room assignment that was non-smoking. Great! Is it non-handicap? Yes. Great! Course the view is now only woods (Arent most rooms there mostly wood views?) Fine. Our confirmation had it was our anniversary on it, too. Not a mention. Oh, well.
Hubby and I walked away laughing that we must have given up some great view to get a non-smoking and wed probably be in the basement or something
WOW! Were we surprised! FANTASTIC room! Thank you front desk! (Could my check in jinx now be over?) Studio 3531, close to elevator, dedicated corner room overlooking the quiet pool and lake. It was large and had a cool little window in the corner you could open up and feel the glorious breeze of Floridas warm winter Wait! Is that the sound of a boat horn beckoning us to go to the Magic Kingdom? Yes, it is! (Insert romantic time here. Who would have ever thought that sound would invoke romance?)
OK 10 minutes later (Note to laugh there ), we start getting settled in. Room is in FAB condition, as was all of VWL and WL. Only thing we found was some weird pellet food? Was it cereal, dog or cat food, rat poison - we just dont know, but some was beside the bed and behind the coffee maker. Otherwise, the room was perfect. Although, I loved that little window as a mommy I thought it odd there was no screen. It looked just the right size for a small kid to fall through and it was close to the floor.
Our PS for Artist Point wasnt until later so we opted to do some walking around the resort. The spa near the quiet pool was drained. Wonder what is up with that? And I had to sneak some Splenda and creamer from Roaring Forks cause none were in our room. I felt really guilty, kinda funny I guess.
We had ordered a couple personalized items from DTD prior to the trip that were to be delivered to WLs gift shop on our arrival day. They couldnt find our package and looked very confused. Luckily, I had brought a confirmation number and a manager told us shes look into it for us. Got the DVC snowflake ornament (FYI - They have stopped making the nice resort ornaments! Im so sad cause I had a collection going. All the resorts now have a cheaper ornament.) and then tried to buy some DVC pins The CMs acted like they didnt know what we were talking about! Go to pin cart out in the lobby, also dont have a clue. How odd
Go back to room to change for dinner (I think hubby really just wanted to watch the Super Bowl ) and then decided to go to the bar to watch half-time (Im a HUGE Beatles fan so I wanted to see Paul McCartney.). Stop back by the pin cart and another CM was there. I asked again about the DVC pins and SURPRISE! She pulls out a drawer full of them. Snag one I was missing from last year and got the two new ones for this year. (WDW now has cool shadow boxes for your pins! I bought one at DTD for my resort pin collection.) Moving ahead, after dinner we stopped back by the WL gift shop. The manager had DROVE down to DTD herself and got our package while we had eaten. AWESOME! Gotta love Disney!
Note - DDE
We still hadnt received our DDE cards we ordered for $50 using our AP, but had no problems using our email confirmation for all our PSs. We broke even and then saved some. Our next two DVC trips will all be savings! Im so glad we ordered it. A few days after we got back our cards were in the mail. The expiration was even a month longer than I was originally told it would be.
Artist Point
Not many people there, we got a nice table next to the window where we could see the waterfall outside and the Electrical Water Pageant going by. I mentioned our anniversary when I made all our PSs and Artist Point had printed us out personalized menus congratulating us. Very nice touch. We had a lovely time, but I was disappointed in our food. I had the pork chop and it was chewy, the noodles underneath werent cooked long enough. I had read so many good reviews, hopefully my dinner was a fluke. We both agreed it wasnt worth the $100 and we probably wont be back.
Keys to the Kingdom tour
Monday morning we did the Keys tour. (I remembered to get the DVC discount, too!) We had never done this and were pretty excited about it. It was very interesting and fun to see backstage and the utildors. I think we knew alot of the information already just cause were such nerds, but still fascinating to see. At one point I think I might have hijacked the tour, hubby said I made it very obvious that I secretly wanted to be a character by the million questions I asked. Sorry! I was a little disappointed with our tour guide. She was mostly great, but I think some of the questions I asked her she didnt know the answer to and she either made up something or almost I felt put me down. For instance, I asked when the pet cemetery was added at the Haunted Mansion. She told me it had always been there and was very adamant about it. Im pretty sure this was added in the last decade or so. Could someone put me in my place and correct me if Im wrong? We had lunch at Columbia Harbour House and all in all it was a good time. One point we all had to stuff into a small area between doors before she could let us backstage and it was very Willy Wonka like! (You know the scene?) Course, nobody agreed when I mentioned this so once again I must just be a nerd. The tour ended in a speech about not sharing info online (Was she talking directly to me?!?) and we walked away a little more knowledgeable and showing off our new pins to boot. Unfortunately, we will now always refer to our Disney experiences as being for our safety, as a courtesy, as being efficient and good show. (If youve taken the tour you probably heard all about the keys, too.) Note - the new headsets are great! She was able to point out things while we were riding the Haunted Mansion.
Another note the castle is going to be so BEAUTIFUL when it is finished. They had already completed a few of the spires and the new gold decorations just sparkle like crazy. No cake monster this time I really hope it is done for spring break!
After the tour we tried to squeeze in a few rides, but the park was so crowded. I think it was a combination of Super Bowl, Mardi Gras escapees (I learned the schools in New Orleans were out that week.) and cheerleaders? We then headed back to VWL to change for dinner.
California Grill
Wow. This was a great meal and also a first for us. Our PS was for 7:20 and we were really aiming to see Wishes at 9:00 out on the observation deck. We were taken upstairs immediately after checking in and were told happy anniversary numerous times. Unfortunately, despite them trying to get us a good table they were quite busy and I think we ended up as far away from a view of the castle as possible. I was facing TTC in the back. Our waitress was great, a little over zealous, but extremely likable. We expressed our desire to finish our meal in time for Wishes and she delivered just that! We made it outside about 5 minutes before it started, coffee in our hands. The meal was YUMMY! I had pumpkin lasagna. Kinda odd, but it tasted so good! The view of Wishes was wonderful, the weather was great and the music was piped out on the deck. Big thumbs up for this PS!
Afterward, we arrived back to VWL just in time to watch the Electrical Water Pageant from the beach. It was a great day, but we were very tired! I had to take off my heels and walk barefoot back up to the room. (By the way, the transportation this trip was great! Very efficient!)
Grand Floridian afternoon tea
Tuesday we spent the morning enjoying MGM. The weather was so beautiful! I cant even describe it! We then went to the Garden View Lounge for tea. It was cute and quaint, we both had the Buckingham Palace service. I preferred the afternoon tea they used to serve in England at Epcot, but this was still fun to try out. I think we were the youngest people there and were not that young! It was relaxing to sit and listen to the live music playing in the background
After we finished up we decided to hop the monorail and try to get in some of those rides at the Magic Kingdom we missed the day before. We passed by our brick at the bottom of the monorail ramp near the gate. It is looking pretty faded these days. Bummer. It wasnt quite as busy and we were able to ride all the mountains. Got to try out Stitch, too. I preferred the old AE, but I think my girls might be able to do this now. Still a little scary, but not as bad.
Nine Dragons
Making a very full day of it, we headed off to Epcot on the monorail. We immediately picked up our EMH bracelet and headed off to dinner. I didnt realize it was the Chinese New Year so this ended up being the right meal for the night! Typical Chinese food fare, nothing exciting to report. We got the meal for two and were out rather quickly. This is a restaurant we wouldnt normally eat at cause my oldest is severely allergic to peanuts and nuts. I think we ate there once YEARS ago. It was food I miss eating, but Id say overpriced.
We found a good spot for IllumiNations and enjoyed the glorious weather. After it was over we rode a few rides. It was still rather busy at Test Track so like always we opted to do the single rider line. Hubby tried in vain once again to get me to ride Mission Space, but my tea cups experiences told me it best not after eating Chinese food. Im sure it was the right decision.
Kona Café
How sad, our last morning. Packed up we drove over to the Polynesian. Ive always wanted to try that Tonga Toast. We had a little of a wait so we bought a postcard in the gift shop and walked over to Ohana to see if we could get a server to grab a characters autograph so we could send it back home to the girls. They were so nice! They said it would be a bit, but theyd bring it over to us at the Kona Café. A few minutes after we were seated he came back over with the postcard FILLED with all the characters autographs! You gotta love Disney! I was so excited. I thought this would be really cute since well be bringing the girls for spring break. Kinda a we look forward to seeing you postcard! I guess I really pumped up the Tonga Toast in my mind, cause it wasnt as fabulous as I thought it was going to be. Good, but I was expecting guidebook distinction!
We then drove over to OKW to check out the new slide. I took some pictures to show my girls since well be staying there spring break. Guess what? It looks no different in person than it does in pics. I dont know what I was expecting! It is cute, but not a WOW! Kids should love it, though!
After a quick drive through SSR (Still seems like alot of construction to me, hubby likes the feel of this resort more than me says it has a small town feel?!?) we head over to DTD to do some shopping at World of Disney using our AP discount. We spend a small fortune and then decide to go over to Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch using our DVC discount. It is past time to leave and the weather is so beautiful and it was just really hard to get into that car!
Our drive back was not fun - got turned around and went the wrong way down 192 (I was amazed at the amount of damage still from the hurricanes. So sad.), lots of police to slow us down and rain the second part of trip. My girls hugs were great to get when we walked in, though!
PhotoPass was waiting for us online back home. What a cool service! Im sure well use it spring break! (AP has a deal for 50% off and Disney Visa 20% off thru end of April?) Funny, a few trips back I mentioned to hubby they should have your photos online to view once you got home and POOF! They now have this service. I really should work at Disney! HA!
So now we wait for our spring break trip
I hope we get to meet some fellow DISers like we did last October. I lost my DIS lime green button so I didnt have anything this trip and I never spotted any lime green anywhere else. Where were yall?
Here's some pics -
(Note hubby is wearing the SAME hat and shirt as he was in our pic with Mickey last October! OPPS!)
Us with Mickey
Me looking too serious for this pic
Hubby with Minnie
..........
We got the same internet speech too. I did want to tell him that he gets good reviews from the DIS boards, but I refrained. I was excited when I found out that he was going to be our guide, because someone else had written that he was very good, and I recognized his unique name. 
How did the girls like the postcard? Did you show it to them yet? It was a great idea!
10 minutes might be all we can afford anyway, what with the kids in tow... (LOL!) 
