Walking on the Boardwalk and Snoozing at the Grand!

[kaffinito]

Before the trip I did the math to figure out if we should get the DDP or not. I do it by picking the restaurants we want to dine at, and then adding up the cost for what we will all eat there. I figured out it would be cheaper this trip to use our daily allowance money for CS meals (20.00 pp) and use the TIW card at meals. We saved almost $300.00 by not getting the DDP!

Anyway, dinner was at Cape May that night, and when we got back to the room Ben was there taking a nap. I woke him up in time to shower before dinner, and off we went to Cape May. Ben was walking way ahead of us – he had heard me mention the crab legs and really wanted some. Ben’s trips sort of revolve around his stomach. He’s also very unusual for an autistic kid in that he has no problems trying strange foods. He will literally eat anything. Now if I could get him to shower as easily as I could get him to eat I’d be all set.

Well the wait was short for Cape May, and as soon as we found our table Ben was off for the crab legs. John and I waited to order our drinks, and then we headed off too. I did have crab legs myself to start, and so did John. They were ok crab legs, a little on the mushy side but still good for a buffet. Everything else was great of course. I had a salad that was really tasty, noodles with a sauce and fresh veggies in it. Very cold and crispy!

Ben received a little birthday cupcake since it was the day before his birthday, but no one sang with was fine by him!

Ben's cupcake

Close up

John at dinner.

We were all kind of tired still, so we figured we’d have dessert in the lounge and watch the Boardwalk entertainment for a while. We got back and watched Bill the Magician, who kept us laughing with his banter. I liked his magic tricks a lot!

Ben has a thing for magicians, so he stayed on the Boardwalk catching as many acts as he could while John and I went up for dessert. We had a fairly early bedtime since the next day was Ben’s big day!

I was really nervous too – after all of that miscommunication – would the cake even be there for his birthday dinner? And what would I do if it wasn't? He hadn't had a birthday cake for a few years since he outgrew them, and I really wanted his cake to be a surprise.

Night at the BWI DSA out back. I know, another crappy cell phone pic!

 

[jackemail]

Pretty good picture from a cellphone! I liked the photo of Ben looking at his cupcake---with crab legs in hand. And John looks cute in the hat.

Thanks for posting another installment---I was looking for it!

 

[kaffinito]

Pretty good picture from a cellphone! I liked the photo of Ben looking at his cupcake---with crab legs in hand. And John looks cute in the hat.

Thanks for posting another installment---I was looking for it!

Thank you and you're welcome! I got a bit behind because of the weekend.

 

[kaffinito]

The Big Day!

I woke up the morning of the 26th sad and excited all at the same time. My little baby was 18 years old, and was not really a child (in some respects) any more.

We had some breakfast at the Lounge and relaxed in the room until it was time to go for Ben’s birthday gift – the Backcountry Segway Tour at FW.

John opted to stay at BWI until we got back. Now I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that the choice to let a kid be on his or her own depends entirely on the maturity level of the kid. And John at 10 is more responsible than Ben is at 18! But then again Ben’s autism is a lot different than Johns. Johns is more of a mild Aspergers, whereas Ben’s is more of the “just not on the planet” type. So John had plans to go shopping at the resort store, and watch some tv. He had his cell phone with him too, in case he had a problem.

So Ben and I got to FW, waited forever for a bus to the Bike Barn, finally got there and checked in for the 11:30 tour.

I have to tell you that although FW is beautiful, I wouldn't stay in a cabin there unless I had a car and felt like driving around a golf cart. The bus system there is slow and it's tough to figure out which buses go where in the campground - it's HUGE!

So it was time for the tour to start. Ben was acting up a lot, and I was worried that they wouldn’t let him on, but after a few minutes he settled down. There were 6 of us on the tour, and after we got to the little parking lot to learn how to use our Segways one of the girls decided not to go. I did fine in the parking lot, but was having a little bit of trouble stopping. I was also getting a little freaked out by the whole thing. It feels really fast when you’re on one! Ben did fine, and seemed to get the hang of it quickly.

Well once we left the practice lot and went out on the road I lost it. I kept going really fast, couldn’t remember how to stop, and started getting a major panic attack. If any of you has ever had a panic attack you know they are not fun! Also, once they start they usually get worse.

We hadn’t gotten very far when I lost control of the Segway and crashed into a fence. So now I’m starting to really freak, and when we had only gotten another 100 feet or so down the road lost control and crashed again – this time into the side of a sign near the bus stop. Well that was it for me! I quit! They had to call a golf cart to pick me up and take me back to the Bike Barn. It was really embarrassing to say the least.

Ben, of course, did fine and continued on with the tour.

So after my near death Segway experience, we got back to the resort at around 2:00 and John was in the room watching tv. He likes “Stacy in Spanish” as he calls it. He just likes the Spanish version better than the English version. He bought some malted milk balls and a new lanyard at the gift shop. The gals in the lounge said that he is a perfect gentleman. What a nice compliment!

I saw Lorenzo in the hallway and we were joking around about the Steeplechase Suite that was down the hall. Ok so not so much joking as I was trying to get him to put us in the suite for a night. He asked us if we’d want a tour of the suite so of course I said yes! John and I loved the tour and loved the suite! It is so gorgeous! I asked if I could come back later or even the following day to take pics and Lorenzo said sure. What a great guy!

So of course next up is pics of the suite.

 

[jackemail]

Looking forward to the pictures of the suite. Great that Ben did so well on the Segway!

No comment on your Segway driving skills (guess you should have stayed in the parking lot, huh?)

 

[kaffinito]

Looking forward to the pictures of the suite. Great that Ben did so well on the Segway!

No comment on your Segway driving skills (guess you should have stayed in the parking lot, huh?)

I should have!

I am downloading pics of the Suite right now, but will only post a few on here, the rest will go on the Resorts Photos thread. I'll put a link in my siggy though so you can go right to the rest of the pics.

 

[kaffinito]

Got some pics of the Steeplechase Suite!

And more here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=38116820#post38116820

 

[jackemail]

That bathroom is just a WOW!

 

[kaffinito]

That bathroom is just a WOW!

For me it's a DROOL! Hee hee

I tried to get Lorenzo to let me take a bath in the jacuzzi but he just laughed and hustled me out of there quick.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I just wanted to say so far I am enjoying reading your trip report.

 

[Janet B]

Karen
I don’t know if I should take tips from you on driving to DW, given your recent segway experience (sorry you had such a hard time, I would love to do this sometime - either when Samantha is old enough or when I can drag my son back!)

I love the picture of John in the hat coloring … and Ben on his Birthday.

And the Suite pics .... amazing! I think the bathroom is about the size of my room at Pop Century!!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Karen, your SegWay experience is exactly why I will never attempt trying one of those things - that would be me without a doubt. I'm sorry, I admit to laughing when I was reading ....but only because I know it could be me.

Suite is sweet!

 

[kaffinito]

Karen
I don’t know if I should take tips from you on driving to DW, given your recent segway experience (sorry you had such a hard time, I would love to do this sometime - either when Samantha is old enough or when I can drag my son back!)

I love the picture of John in the hat coloring … and Ben on his Birthday.

And the Suite pics .... amazing! I think the bathroom is about the size of my room at Pop Century!!

Ha! Too funny! Trust me I drive a car a lot better than I drive one of those Segways!

That bathroom was huge - I just loved it!

Karen, your SegWay experience is exactly why I will never attempt trying one of those things - that would be me without a doubt. I'm sorry, I admit to laughing when I was reading ....but only because I know it could be me.

Suite is sweet!

I really liked it in the parking lot but on the road was really scary!

 

[kaffinito]

Update 9/8 Whew! I finally found the pics so I've added them.


Well we had another relaxing afternoon; we really didn’t do a lot of parks this trip. We did make a run to DTD since John wanted to do some shopping there, but we weren’t gone long. I scheduled our dinner ADR’s with the lounge offerings in mind too. Ben will order an appetizer if he doesn’t get one from the lounge, so I kept that in mind when making all of dinner ADR’s. He loves to celebrate his birthdays at WCC, so that’s where we went. We had a 6:20 ressie so we had plenty of time to eat some snacks in the lounge before going to WL. I figured I’d drive, so we hopped in the car and left.

Once we got there to check in the gal said that we were all set and that we would have our “thing” since it had arrived. She did a lot of winking when she said that, so I knew she meant the cake. Yeah! Ben was wandering around clueless so he didn’t hear anything and John was playing with a pencil on the check in desk so I was in the clear.

We were seated and had our dinners. Ben had the rib eye steak which he liked, I had the Whiskey Maple glazed Trout and I didn’t. It wasn’t very good – I should have stuck with the skillet. John had the kid meal skillet, which worked out just fine for his tiny bird like appetite. He didn’t even notice he didn’t get the “real” skillet since he was getting in one of his autistic funks during dinner. He kept lining everything on the table up because it was crooked. He does much better at restaurants where he can draw before dinner.

Then I started getting antsy, I knew the cake was coming up, but would it be ok? Just then Ben said “you’d better not be planning to sing or anything for my birthday!” He said and I don’t want a cake or anything embarrassing like that – I’m an adult now and too old for that stuff!” So YIKES!

So I just explained to him that if I did do something, he had better take it with good grace since this particular birthday was about me too! I am the Mom, and he wasn’t exactly an easy kid to raise after all. You know, since he's autism and was a total nightmare when he was younger. This birthday for him was a milestone in his life, but as I explained it to him, it was a milestone in mine too.

So I just asked him to be polite and to suck it up, whatever it was, as a favor to me. I also reminded him that I know him pretty well, and wouldn’t even try anything embarrassing. So then he settled down a bit.

Then the cake came!

It was exactly what I had ordered, and Ben was thrilled to get a red velvet cake. It had the white icing on it as I had ordered, an xbox theme, and said "Happy Birthday Ben" And best of all for Ben, there was no singing, and no fanfare. But next time, if I ever do that again, I’ll get a 6 inch cake for sure! An 8 inch, even with the “human vacuum” is too much cake.

Note the smile on the kids face? I think I did good!

So that was it – we were officially “done” with Ben’s birthday. He got to show off his state id a few times at DTD after we left WCC, and he was happy.

And that night I had to do what I dreaded, I packed up our stuff so we could leave for GF the next morning. How could I leave this view?

 

[LinnyNad]

I called the WL cake # yesterday, and the only Bday cake options they gave me were VERY limited. The small 6' cake with no personalization. A 10", choice of chocolate or vanilla, with the name on the plate and then another type of 10" where I can get a small Toy Story edible disc for an additional fee.
Was this the same info you got? I had hoped for more options and for maybe something smaller than 10". There will be 7 of us. 4 adulys and 3 little ones. They said the 10" will feed 10-12 people ( that's alot of cake)

 

[kaffinito]

I called the WL cake # yesterday, and the only Bday cake options they gave me were VERY limited. The small 6' cake with no personalization. A 10", choice of chocolate or vanilla, with the name on the plate and then another type of 10" where I can get a small Toy Story edible disc for an additional fee.
Was this the same info you got? I had hoped for more options and for maybe something smaller than 10". There will be 7 of us. 4 adulys and 3 little ones. They said the 10" will feed 10-12 people ( that's alot of cake)

Yes, tell them you want a specialty cake made and they will give you the email to the CR bakery so you can ask them about the cake. After you get their ok, then you can call the cake line at WL back and place your order. They have a 6 inch Mad Hatter cake that looks really cute over on the Cake Thread. Good luck!

 

[kaffinito]

I did NOT want to leave BWI and go to GF. I really did not want to, even a little bit. I was dreading the next 4 days of our stay. Everything I had read on the boards led me to believe that the CM’s at RPC were stuffy and stuck up, and not nearly as nice as the folks at BWI.

So it was with a heavy heart that I check out of BWI at 10:00 and headed over to GF. If Ben hadn’t picked it as part of his birthday, I would be staying in my beloved BWI or even better, the Poly. And trust me, without a hefty discount I wouldn’t be staying at the GF at all! But Ben had picked this out of all of his choices and he seemed to want to stay there, so oh well. It was on my list of resorts to try after all.

While we were driving to the GF I discovered that my car charger didn’t work. I had purchased two cheapie chargers for the trip, and since Ben and I used the same kind I figured we could share. Well the car charger just didn’t work anymore. A small worry, but still a worry for me.

Anyhow, we drove over to the GF, and when we got there we pulled up out front. Bell Services was right there, and I said the magic words “Club Level please.” The fellow took down my info for valet. I’ve found it easier to valet the first day, and with my knee acting up I didn’t want to walk back and forth to the self-park area unless I really had too.

We left the car, walked a few steps, and there was a gal with a green folder that said “Affinito” on it. She asked if we were the Affinito family, we said “yes”, and she walked us inside the building. As you know, the lobby is just beautiful, and Ben, who had never seen it, was very impressed. I was impressed with the “magical” way in which that lady appeared. I never saw or heard anyone calling for someone to fetch us. It was all very smooth and very well coordinated.

So we were escorted to the third floor, had the elevator explained to us, and were seated for check in right away. The fellow who checked us in was very nice, and very friendly, and unfortunately I didn’t take his name. Check in took just a few minutes, and we were told to go to the lounge for some breakfast. We were there before 10:30 so we had some time to eat.

The breakfast offerings in RPC are really quite wonderful IMO. One of the gals there, Laurette, made small talk with me as I grabbed some turkey, a croissant, and some herbed smoked salmon cream cheese. So that was two people who were nice and friendly at GF so far. Three if you count the gal who brought us upstairs. And yes, I was trying to find fault with the GF so we could check out and move over to the Poly. I was going through serious Poly withdrawal this trip!

Well the boys were impressed with the food too – and Ben took enough to make a sandwich like I did. John even took a croissant and some meat. I saw assorted Danishes there, and some raisin bread for toast as well. The coffee machine was a bit of a pain, and I already missed the one at BWI and the one at AKL. With all that food, it looked like we were starving, and it wasn’t like we hadn’t had breakfast already at BWI!

I had to ask a question downstairs, and reminded Ben not to disappear since John and I wanted to go to DHS. Well of course he did, so John and I searched high and low for him before going out anyway. I figured Ben would call me when he figured out we were gone.

John wanted to do the usual at DHS so we went on the Great Movie Ride first, and then went to see the Muppets.

I love this doorway!

That’s all we ever do there. We did have some vague plans of maybe seeing some other things there, but after the Muppet movie I got a text that our room was ready, and a call from Ben that he couldn’t find us at the resort. I told Ben that we were leaving DHS so to wait for us near the elevator on the third floor, and we hightailed it (slowly) back to GF.

 

[kaffinito]

We got back to the GF around 1:00 and went to find our room. We were given room 4328, which was right down the hall from the smoking balcony. Yeah! So now, if you are keeping score, we met friendly CM’s there, had great service so far, and I had my room request met so no more trekking all over a resort for my going- to -bed smoke. So far the GF was looking pretty darn good!

Of course Ben wasn’t where I told him to be, and he didn’t have his room key yet since he had disappeared so quickly, so John and I went to find the room. I was kind of dreading the room view, since I had a bad feeling that it would be a view of the Poly (pure torture for someone who was jonesing to be there!) and I was right.

But at least we had a pool view too!

The room. Now it's kind of hard to explain the room layout. First of all the room was HUGE! When you walk in the door you see a nice table/hat rack with a lot of floor space around it. The bedroom area was to the right and the bathroom area was to the left.

So here's what you see when you walk in, but of course you face it head on.

View from bathroom towards bedroom area.

Kitchenette

Desk

Daybed

Towel Mickey

Hamper across from bathroom sinks

Really cute towel purse

One bed, toy gun not included.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Those rooms at the Grand Floridian do look nice.

 

[kaffinito]

Those rooms at the Grand Floridian do look nice.

It really was sumptuous. Not very clean though.

Have you stayed here yet?