WDW at a slower pace this time (now complete)

[LYNSUE]

Wednesday 10-18-06
DH and I have had many many visits to WDW. Our goal was to take this one at a more leisurely pace and I think we accomplished that. Wednesday was our pre-travel day. We left home about 5:00pm and drove about an hour and 45 min. to Milwaukee where we would catch our flight the next day. Our first stop was Mader's German Restaurant in downtown Milwaukee. The food there is absolutely fabulous. We dropped about $75 on dinner, but it was well worth it. Next stop was the Super 8 Motel about five minutes from the airport. They have a great park and ride plan that we use everytime we fly from Milwaukee. Got settled in the room and watched some baseball playoffs. Got to sleep about 10:30 and slept great until about 2:00am.

Thursday 10-19-06
From 2:00am to 4:15 am, it was just tossing and turning and not really sleeping. We were ready to leave the room about 5:00am and caught the 5:30 shuttle to the airport. Our flight was at 7:10. Security was not too bad this early in the morning so we breezed right through. We waited at our gate about 40min and had a breakfast snack of milk and cookies. The flight was great and we arrived at Orlando right on time at 10:45.

We learned that the Magical Express counter was moved from the A side of the airport to the B side. It was a recent change so our ME documents still said A. So with only a slight delay, we found the correct area. We were at the ME counter at 11:10am, on the bus at 11:17am and the bus left the airport at 11:25am. THAT IS GREAT SERVICE! Keep up the good work Disney. (I know we were very lucky). Others have told stories of not the best service at ME, but those always seem to happen later in the day. Mornings seem to be better. We arrived at OKW at 11:52, checked in by noon and on a bus to MK at 12:05. AGAIN WITH THE GREAT SERVICE! Arrived at MK at 12:30.

At this point I am loving life. Who dosn't at Disney! Will the luck hold out? I think when you have the attitude of going at a slower pace and not worring about time so much, thing just happen the way they will and there is no fretting, which in turn causes us to think everything is going great. (or it could just be dumb luck) Who knows!

The rest of the story will continue in this same thread........

 

[eargal]

Sounds like a great start! I'm excited to hear more.

 

[LYNSUE]

Thursday 10-19-06 continued:
So here we are at the MK with all the wonderful feelings of walking under the train station and up Main Street and seeing the castle. (You all know what I'm talking about). It never gets old and I really do love that feeling! But the next order of business to tend to is HUNGER. I am not a big fan of counter service, but it is part of our dining plan so I like to make the best of it. Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland really has a good selection and decent food. DH went to the sandwich area and had BBQ pork sandwich with a pasta salad, brownie and soda. $11.21. I went to the chicken area and became a victim of trying to maximize the dining plan. (I swore I would not do that) What can I say...I am weak. Anyway I ended up ordering the chicken & rib combo which had the yummyist mash potatoes and the best glazed carrots I have ever tasted. Also included was a bottle of water and sugar-free jello for dessert. $17.00 total. The chicken was good, the ribs just ok. I would have been very happy with just the potatoes and carrots. I gave DH the dark meat of the chicken and only ate part of the ribs. But there was not a trace of the potatoes or carrots left. They were really that good! Of course I was stuffed (which I swore I would not do) and I had some guilt over wasting food. But it is time to move on!!

First order of ride business to tend to is the new (and improved) Pirates. I hate to admit it but I am a fan of Mr. Depp. He does appear 3 times in the ride and it is done very well. The last scene of the ride which now includes Capt. Jack Sparrow, is very good. By adding him to the attraction, I think it helps the younger people relate to the ride better. Be sure to see it, it is good.

Next we got a FP for Splash and waited in line 20min for Thunder. Then back to splash to use the FP. Next was Hall of Presidents which included a small nap and then the haunted mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic and a few other FL attractions. We saw a new show called "Let's have a Ball". It is performed behind the castle. Very cute show. We did Buzz 2X. The first time I had a score of 2300 and the 2nd time 210,000. It is amazing how your score can improve when you hit the right targets.

MK was closing a 6:00 because there was a MNSSHP at 7:00. We had dinner plans at O'hanas which I was really looking forward too. It has been a couple of years since we had been there. Our ADR was for 7:00 and we only waited about 10 min for our table. The food was absolutely wonderful and I do like the changes. The shrimp is better as an appetizer. It just got too overdone when it was cooked on the skewers. The potatoes that replaced the rice are fantastic (if you havn't guessed, I am a big fan of the potato). I will only admit this to my Disboard friends... but I ate the entire serving of potatos by myself (DH did not want any). They were so good. I did try a little of the pork and turkey which were both great. I especially liked the pork with the green cilantro sauce. However, the shrimp and potatos left very little room for anything else and I even skipped dessert. DH is a big fan of bread pudding, so he was ok with eating it alone. Besides, it was a swap for the potatos. We did leave an extra tip of $10 for our waiter because the service was that good. We did maximize our DDP today!

We took the monorail back to MK and caught a bus to OKW. It was only about a 15 min wait for the bus. We had to ride the bus all the way around the OKW complex since the check-in area was the last stop. We finally got to the main building and collected our carry on bags. Got our room number which was building 63, room #6315. This was a DVC studio room. When we got to the room, our bags were there (thank you ME). I really like the studios at OKW because they have two beds. (not the pull out couch) and the studios are bigger than the other DVC resorts. There was also a very nice patio off our first floor room. We watched some TV, "Deal or No Deal" and then the 7th game of the baseball playoffs. We went to bed about midnight. We were only staying at OKW just one night, so we really did not have time to enjoy the resort. We are moving to the BWV tomorrow. We had a great first day. Although Orlando was having record high temps, the heat on Thursday was not real bad. Friday will be much worse heatwise.

To be continued......

 

[LYNSUE]

Friday 10-20-06
Got up about 7:00am and did enjoy the patio off of our studio for a few minutes. We are leaving OKW today to transfer to the Boardwalk. I feel sad we did not have a chance to spend more time at OKW. Our original reservation had us four nights at OKW and two nights at Boardwalk. However, I did get on a wait list for the Boardwalk because we wanted to be close to Epcot for the F&W festival. The waitlist came through for all but Thursday night. Hence our one night stay at OKW. We will definately try it again sometime.

At 8:15 we took a cab (we took our luggage with us in the cab) to the Boardwalk. $10 for the ride which included the tip, well worth it. By 8:30 we were all checked into BWV and our luggage was stored with Bell Service. Check-in was very smooth.

Next we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery. I had never been in this place before. It is very very tiny. So if you see a line out the door, don't be discouraged, there are not that many people ahead of you. We spent $13 OOP for breakfast. DH had the breakfast burrito and cheese danish. I had the sunrise sandwich. Both were adequate.

We walked to the BW bus stop at about 9:10 and waited about 10 min for a bus to AK. It was very hot this morning, in the mid 90's. I don't do well in the heat! We went directly to EE and got a fast pass with a return time of 11:00. Then we waited in the stand by line about 20 min for EE. It was every bit as good as it was last May when we rode it for the first time. This is a great addition to AK. I love the part of the ride when the coaster goes backwards in the dark. Great sensation. As we were getting off EE my cell phone rang. It was BWV letting us know our room #. We had a room available already and it was only 10:00am. We were assigned room #3054, it had a pool view. View is not real important to us, so we said that was fine.

As we were walking from EE to the Safarri ride we saw Devine for the very first time. I had looked for her in the past but was never lucky enough to find her. It is just eerie how she moves around. It is also eerie how she acts so shy and stands perfectly still to blend in with the rest of the surrounding vegetation. I feel very lucky to have seen her.

There was a 40min wait for the Safarri, but we got in line anyway. It was a pleasant ride. Then we went back to EE to use our fast pass. Next was Kali River Rapids. I wore a rain slick. As we exited the ride I offered the slightly used rain slick to anyone in line. A older guy grabbed it right away. We caught a bus back to BW at about noon.

Taking the bus from the park to BW has many stops. We stopped at the Swan, the Dolphin, & the Beach Club. Next stop would be the BW, but we decided to get off at Beach Club and walk to Epcot even though it was still extremely hot. Our plan at Epcot was to have lunch at the food booths of the F&W festival. We could use our snack credits from the DDP for these items.

My first stop was New Zeeland. I ordered the scallop & seafood salad. It was really yucky. Very fishy tasting. I took two bites and through the rest away. Besides the scallops, there were other fishy things that I did not recognize. I really chose poorly on my first item. However, the next stop made up for it. We stopped at the Argentina booth. DH and I each ordered the Grilled Sirloin with a yellow salsa over potatoes. It was excellent. In fact we had this same dish later on in the vacation. This dish was recommended by another Diser in a trip report. Thank you for the good advice. Next DH had the chicken & sausage casadilla at Mexico, also very good.

The heat was becoming unbearable and I felt like I could not walk any further. The heat had caused me to lose my appetite and none of the food was very appealing. We decided to go back to the BW and cool off in our room. We stopped at a stand on the Boardwalk to get something to drink. The line was very slow and I was feeling awful. We finally got into the resort and we stopped to get directions to our room. The guy at the desk sent us the wrong direction. He sent us to the inn side instead of the villa side. I knew it was wrong, but I followed DH anyway. The room numbers shown did not include our # so we then went to the other side of the lobby and took the elevator to the third floor and found our room. It was a nice studio. We could not see the pool as there were large trees in the way. Who cares. I just wanted to lay down, rest and cool off.

The noise coming up from the pool was unbelievable. We had the balcony doors shut tight and curtains closed and it was very loud. The pool staff was conducting a trivia game and the leader was using a microphone. In between the game questions, they played very loud rock music. When the bellman brought our luggage, I asked him how long this noise would go on. He said they don't do the game everyday and it usually is not that loud. I figured it would not be that long, so I tried to rest anyway. Well an hour later, I could not take it any more. I made a trip down to the front desk. I politely asked the desk person about the pool noise and the length of time this goes on. She said it only last about a half hour. I said it had already been an hour and a half. The resort was full, so moving to another room was not an option. She suggested I get some ear plugs. I asked if they had a schedule of when the game is conducted each day so I could adjust my schedule to be out of the room at that time. (our slower pace trip was to include a rest each afternoon). The front desk did not have the schedule and they suggested I check at the pool. I was frustrated and did not make another stop at the pool. I went back to the room and after another half hour it finally stopped. So I figured every day between 2-4 we would be out of the room. Rest time would have to be after 4:00.

Could I possibly be having a bad day at Disney??? This just can't be. I had to do whatever was necessary to turn this around. And besides, I was angry at myself for letting the heat and being tired get to me. A slight case of PMS was also adding to the problem. Things just had to get better and it was up to me to make that happen.

I was willing to give it a try..... But our dinner at LeCellier later that night would test my willingness. To be continued....

 

[novdisneydreams]

I hope that things look up for your trip Great Reporting!

 

[LYNSUE]

Friday 10-20-06 continued...
I finally gave up trying to rest at about 4:30. We walked back to Epcot to take in a concert. During F&W, they have what is called an "Eat to the Beat" concert. We were going to see Three Dog Night at their first performance of the evening at 5:45. The music is in the American Theater. The line was backed up to Italy when we got there. However, we knew from past concerts that the theater holds a lot of people and we would get good seats. Although it was early evening, it was still quite hot. Thank goodness there are trees in the seating area of the theater that provide shade. TDN was very good. They did a lot of songs that I knew, but had forgotten were theirs originally. It was very enjoyable.

After the music we did the boat ride in Norway and we even stayed for the movie. It is very dated, but it is also very short. Good thing it is short, because the seats in that theater are awful. We also did the boat ride in Mexico.

It was getting close to the time for our ADR at LeCellier 7:50pm. Since it is a long walk from Mexico to Canada. (poor planning on our part) we thought we would get started. We arrived in Canada about 7:40 only 10 min early. We checked in with the hostess who said it would be about 15 minutes. We waited inside with other groups of people. We did see many walk-ins get turned away. We waited and waited. Other people who came in after us were being seated and the hostess just kept ignoring us. It was now about 8:30 and we had been waiting about 50 min. We were the only two people left in the waiting area. The hostess still kept ignoring us even though we made comments about getting seated. It actually got to a point where I was just going to wait to see how long this would go on. Finally, one of the waitress passing through asked us if we were waiting for a table. We explained that we had been there a long time and never got called. It turned out that the hostess (the one ignoring us) did not check us in correctly. The waitress got the manager and the manager finally seated us. He was very apologetic about the mistake. Our order was taken very quickly and we had our appetizer (shrimp cocktail) in no time. I had the prime rib and DH had the New York Strip Steak. The food was very good. The manager came back to our table and gave us an express FP to any ride in the park, good anytime. He also offered to delay our dessert while we went outside to watch Illuminations. We did pass on the delay for dessert and ordered Creme Brulee and the sorbee. I only had a few bites as I was quite full. I know I could have shortened the wait time if I had just gone back to the check in desk. But it was so busy that I could not be sure if the others being seated had been outside and were waiting before us. The LeCellier manager was very gracious and did his best to make it up to us. However, my feelings toward the restaurant as still a little tainted.

We walked back to BW and got there about 9:30. Because it was such a warm evening, there was still pleanty of noise coming up from the pool. At least it was just screaming kids and no one had a microphone or boom box. There was also a baby crying next door. I was really hoping I could sleep. I layed there with this thought... I will not be staying at the BW again. At least not in a pool view room.

So I have to say I had my first "somewhat bad day" at WDW. But it was still better than a good day back at home or work.

 

[Cass]

I hope things improve on your next day. The manager at LC sounds like he was genuinely sorry the check in girl screwed up.

 

[OhMari]

Hi LynnSue, are you from Lake Geneva? If not, sorry, I just thought I remembered you.

I'll be in a Standard View Studio at the Boardwalks, and I will be going back to our room in the afternoon.

I heard from other people it was hot the past October. Isn't it wierd that WI is below average cold almost the whole month of October.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your TR.

 

[LYNSUE]

If you have a standard view room at boardwalk, I believe those all face the front of the building away from the pool. The noise should not be a problem over there. Also if the weather is cooler (as we found out later in the trip) and the pool is more empty, they don't do the trivia game in the afternoon.

I think you may remember me from my trip report last May. DH and I are from a small town north of Appleton. You mentioned your DH worked in nearby Neenah at one time. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[LYNSUE]

Saturday 10-21-06
DH and I were up at 7:00. I called my oldest son as he was just returning from a week long trip to Vegas. He was way to tired to talk. But I was glad to know he made it home safely. We had a small breakfast snack in the room and left about 7:30 to catch the boat to the Studios. There was early entry at the Studios today, 8:00am. We only waited about 2 min for the boat to arrive. We could see it coming toward the boardwalk as we approched the dock. The boat ride is slow because there are stops at the Swan, the Dolphin, the Beach Club and Epcot. But with the temps being high again today, the slow boat ride was better than walking. The walk to MGM is a little longer than to Epcot which is another reason to go with the slow boat. We arrived at MGM right at 8:00.

First order of business was TOT for a fast pass. Then we got in line for TOT with just a few minutes wait. We then did RRC with about a 30 minute wait. After that it was back to TOT to use the fast pass. We then headed to Star Tours. We had not done this ride in many years and thought we would give it a try again. We had heard that if you sit in the front row, the jerking around is less intense. We waited in line about 20 minutes. I had forgotten how cool the queue area is for this ride. When it was finally our turn, we were sent down to the far loading area. It looked like they had just opened this loading area. There were only about ten other people in the area with us. So when we asked for the front row, the CM said no problem. Twelve of us were seated. A CM carring a shoulder bag came into the ride area with us and congratulated us as "Year of a Million Dream" winners. We were each given a fast pass for the six major attractions at MGM. I felt very special that we got to experience this. We had seen people the previous day at AK with these passes and I was very curious about them. It was not a complete suprise as I had read some info on these boards about people receiving these. On the other hand, it seemed really great for the others who had no idea what was happening. Their suprise was so much fun to watch. DH was one of the suprised people. The fast pass was dated for only that day. We now had a chance to do TOT and RRC again without a wait. We had planned to stay in MGM until about 2:00. Since it was so hot, we were going to try to enjoy the quite pool at our hotel from 2-4 when the other pool was so noisey. Now our plans were changed so we could use our special FP.

The first FP we used was for Indiana Jones. This is another attraction we had not done in many years. We would not have done it this time either, but we had the magical FP. We also returned to Star Tours for a second ride.

Our lunch today was counter service at ABC Commisary. I had heard some bad reviews, but we tried it any way. The place was packed. I found a table and DH went to order our food. I had the cuban sandwich and it came with fried plantains. First time I had plantains, they were ok. Also had a bottle of water and fruit for dessert. DH had the Chicken Curry and Flan for dessert. Total bill was $25. As counter service goes, it was ok. I would go back.

We spent the next few hours using our special FP. Even though the heat was unbearable we kept going. We had done the Motor Car Stunt Show last May for the first time. It was ok, but neither of us really liked it very much. Now with the FP, we felt we should give it another try. I was really afraid the heat was going to be a factor when sitting in the stands at this show. Well, we did it anyway and I was right. It was hot, it was noisey and I was miserable. I really tried to find something enjoyable about the show but there was nothing. This show is just not for us.

We left MGM about 4:00 and took the boat back to BW. We did catch the last 15 min of the pool trivia show but after that it was pretty quiet. We rested until 5:30. Got showered and changed and got a bus to DTD. We arrived about 6:30 and we did a little shopping. Our ADR was for Wolfgang Pucks Cafe at 7:30. We only waited about 10 min for our table. We were seated outside and it was very nice. Our waiter was Dale and he did an excellent job. I had the mushroom soup, crab cakes and the meatloaf. DH had the Chicken Cassadilla, Veal weinersnitzel and choc Fondue for dessert. Total bill was about 75.00. We will definately return here for another meal.

After dinner we did more shopping at the Virgin Mega Store. We purchased some DVD's and books for Christmas gifts. Then we went over to Pleasure Island for the Comedy Warehouse and Adventurers Club. We did the 9:00 show at CW and then three shows at AC. All of the shows were very enjoyble. We had a great time. We did not get back to the BW until 1:00am. You do see some characters on the Disney buses that late at night. It was after midnight at the Adv Club when I saw a young couple with a month old baby. We were in one of the side rooms between library shows and there they were. Dad was holding the baby seat on his lap while Mom was nursing. They also joined us for the last show in the library that evening. I know the one month old does not know the difference, but to have a new born in that loud drunken atmosphere, just seemed very wrong to me.

All in all.... It was a very good day.

Looking forward to telling more.

 

[LYNSUE]

Sunday 10-22-06
I slept well until about 4:00am (only three hours) when I woke up to see the message light flashing on the phone. I figured it was a message from the resort or Disney related, but you know how your mind wanders about things in the middle of the night. So I slept off and on until about 8:00am. Once DH was awake, I checked the message. It was Disney Magical Express asking why they did not hear from us for pick-up. We were not leaving until Wednesday? I then realized that we were originally leaving OKW on Sunday to transfer to BW. DME must have had the wrong info. I called and explained what happened and set up our pick up for Wednesday 10-25-06. Once that problem was solved, DH ran to the Boardwalk Bakery to get himself another Breakfast Buritto. He enjoyed the one he had earlier. I just got some milk and ate a breakfast bar I had brought with me. I was starting to get to that point in our vacation where I am just sick of eating out. It happens every time.

We caught the boat to Epcot. It was actually waiting for us at the dock when we got there at 9:15. First thing we did, DH ran to Soarin for a FP and then he met me at the Living Seas. We wanted to try the new Nemo ride. It is really cute. I enjoyed it so much that we did it twice. We also took in a show of Turtle Talk when we were there. Crush's show is always good. We then did Soarin with the FP and Living with the Land boat ride. Since it was after 11:00 now we wanderd over to the World Show Case to try a few more of the booths at F&W Festival. I know we had some pot stickers in China and a Lobster Roll in America. There may have been one other, but I am not sure. I do remember all was good.

At 12:15 we walked back to BW to the ESPN Club. For the next four hours we sat in the bar area and watched the Packer/Miami football game. Being Sunday during Football season, of course the place was crowded. Sometimes it can be hard to consentrate on the game you are watching when other games get exciting and the crowd is going crazy. But the Packers won so all was good.

We got back to the room at 5:15. We had an ADR for Kona Cafe in the Poly at 8:00. Also the MK was open until midnight so we were going to go there after Kona. Well that just didn't happen. We watched the rest of the second football game and then the World Series baseball game was coming up later. We decided to cancel the ADR for Kona and I walked down to Spoodles to see if they had anything available. They did not. So then I walked over to Big River Grill and they did have an opening at 8:15. We were just going to watch sports and have dinner close by.

The food at Big River Grill was very mediocore. Also their menu was very limited. They are known for their mico brew beer, so maybe food is seconday here. I had the NY strip steak which was very tastless. DH said the same about his chicken pasta dish. I was really regretting cancelling our Kona ADR. But the location of BRG on the BW was very convenient for us. I know we will not return to BRG.

We were back to the room by 9:15 and we watched the 2nd game of the World Series. We had a rather lazy day, but it was a much needed lazy day.

DH and I are learning that you don't have to be in the parks all the time to enjoy WDW.

 

[LYNSUE]

Monday 10-23-06
We were up bright and early at 6:45am. We had our MK tour at 9:00. We were doing the Mickey's Magical Milestone tour. The length of the tour was only two hours, which really appealed to us. We left the room at 7:40 and the MK bus pulled up just as we were approching the bus stop. We arrived at MK at 8:05. We were actually 40 min earlier than our check in time of 8:45. We thought we would just hang outside the entrance until closer to the check-in time. But we saw others entering for breakfast ADR's and no one was asking them any questions, so we went in also. It was really cool to be on Main Street so early with very few people around. We walked up Main Street as far as the castle entrance to FL and then back to the train station. There was a filming going on which we learned was a Canadian version of our "Today Show". There was a small group of guests that would cheer at the appropriate times. There were also characters in with the guests. I'm sure on the TV program it looked like a large crowd, but in reality it was not that many people in the group. After watching some of the filming, we then checked in for our tour and waited on a bench outside city hall. At promptly 9:00 our tour guide met us out front. His name was James and he did a fantastic job. There was only six of us on the tour which made it even better. It was easy to have interaction with such a small group. What we would learn on the tour is how Mickey went from black and white modest cartoons to fabulous color creations in which he was center stage and then how he moved onto more of a host type role.

We started out at Exibition Hall which is a rather overlooked attraction. Be sure to stop in there sometime. It is located directly across from City Hall with the stairs to the train station in between the two buildings. There is a lot of historical information in there. Next we took the train to Mickey's Toon Town where we actually got to meet Mickey in his house. We also did Mickey's Philharmagic sitting in the front row. All during the tour, James was pointing out hidden Mickeys for us. When the tour was complete we each received our own Mickey ears with our name on them. I would highly recommend this tour, especially if you are looking for something that only takes up two hours of your time. Thank you James for such a great tour.

After the tour we had an early lunch at Columbia Harbor House. We both had the fish. We did many of the attractions in MK and also did a little shopping. We were behind on using our CS credits from the DDP, so on the way out we stopped at Casey's for a hot dog. We passed on the extra's that come with the CS dining plan since we were not that hungry. Well when the cashier tried to use our dining card, it would not work. Rather than hold up the line, the CM told us to just take the food. No CS credits were used. We really only stopped here to use up some credits and that didn't work. We had read a flyer that was left in our room that said WDW was doing a computer up-grade today so we assumed that was the reason for the DDP problems. I'm sure we were not the only ones.

We caught the bus back to BW. The bus was actually waiting for us at the stop when we got there. We actually had to run to catch it. We rested for about a 1/2 hour then walked to Epcot to get in line for the 5:45 "Eat to the Beat" concert. This time we were seeing The four Tops. We waited about a half hour in line. The entertainment was good, but not as good as the previous one with Three Dog Night. After the music we walked all the way to Future World to use our special FP (the one from LeCellier) to ride Soarin. When we arrived, there was a 55 min wait and FP's were out for the day. The CM at the entrance accepted the pass and we had a nice ride on Soarin. When we exited the ride, there were many many people waiting around. There was a dad with two little boys, the yougest being about 18 months. Both boys were running around in between the FP machines and really getting in the way of people exiting the ride. Well of course the youngest one ran right into the path of a teen age girl exiting. The poor girl tripped on the child and almost fell herself. I felt so bad for the teen. She was so embarrassed and also upset that she had hurt the child. I don't understand why parents can't see these potential hazards when their small children are in a large crowd. It was just so upsetting for everyone involved.

After our Soarin ride we had to get back to Japan for our ADR at Teppanyaki. It was a long walk and we did not want to be late.

"I have to take an aside here to sing the praises of my wonderful Croc shoes. These shoes may be ugly, but they are the most comfortable things I have ever worn. Usually by this point in the vacation, I have multiple blisters and very sore feet. My feet are usually covered in mole skin, new skin and bandaids. But not this time. I wore my Croc's everyday and there was not even a hint of a blister. I can't tell you how wonderful and comfortable these shoes are. Not to mention the time I saved every morning not having to fix up my aching sore feet. If you try them... be sure to get authentic Crocs. The knock offs are not the same quality so therefore not the same comfort."

Now back to the story.... So because of my great shoes, I was able to walk at a very brisk pace back to World Showcase and we did make our ADR on time. We only had to wait about 10 min for our table. We were seated at a table with another couple and a family of four with two boys about age 9 and 7. Both kids were very polite and had wonderful table manners. You could tell they were experienced at eating out in nice restaurants. However the table next to us was a different story. There was a family with three young children. The four year old girl was having a complete meltdown which included crying and screaming. She said it was too hot to sit by the table so the parents moved her to a chair set away from the table but still near them. That did not make her happy either. The crying went on for another 20 min before the mom actually removed the child from the table. I felt sorry for everyone in the room including DH and I.

Our dinner was very good and our Chef was excellent. She was very entertaining and had some cute jokes she through in while she was cooking. When we tried to pay for the meal we once again had trouble with the dining card. They could not find any credits for us. We offered to just put in on our regular credit card and then we would work it out back at the BW. The manager was so very kind and he called the BW himself and got it straight. It took a while but we did not mind waiting.

We walked out of Epcot while Illuminations was going on. When we got back to the hotel, we stopped at the desk hoping to get this DDP problem corrected. The man at the desk was very patient and tried very hard to fix it but it was not working. They ended up cancelling our current cards and reissuing them. They gave us a temporary card that allowed us to enter our room and they would slip the new corrected cards under our door over night. We did go over all of our meals that we used so far and specifically told them about Casey's not charging us any credits. We were as honest as we could be, so the rest was up to them. We will see if it is right in the morning.

 

[OhMari]

QUOTE=LYNSUE]If you have a standard view room at boardwalk, I believe those all face the front of the building away from the pool. The noise should not be a problem over there. Also if the weather is cooler (as we found out later in the trip) and the pool is more empty, they don't do the trivia game in the afternoon.

I think you may remember me from my trip report last May. DH and I are from a small town north of Appleton. You mentioned your DH worked in nearby Neenah at one time. I hope you have a wonderful trip.[/QUOTE]


thanks for the info on the Boardwalk.

Yep, my dh used to work for Bergstrom, now he works for Michael's Corp. which runs Quarry Quest. We were suppose to volunteer to help, but we didn't.

It's fun reading TR's from people that live in WI.

 

[LYNSUE]

Tuesday 10-24-06
This is our last full day at WDW. We felt that we had accomplished a lot the first five days even at our slower pace. When reading back through this report, it may not seem that we were on a slower pace, but believe me, for us it was slower. Just imagine how hectic some of our earlier trips must have been. Thank goodness we have matured in our park touring.

So we were up at 6:45am for EE at Epcot. We walked there via the International Gate Way and we were about 20 min early. Believe it or not it was actually cold this morning and windy too. It was a shocking 55 degrees. What a change from the previous four days. I wore a long sleeve shirt all day today. Thinking back it actually felt good.

Upon entering Epcot we got FP for Soarin and then got in the line which was only 5 min. After the ride we stopped at Sunshine Season Food Court and DH and I split a breakfast platter. One CS credit on the DDP. We then did Soarin with our FP. Next was Figment and then the mild side of Misson Space. This was our first visit where we had the option of mild or wild. We had experienced wild several times in the past and now we decided we like mild better. DH did leave his favorite Packer hat on the MS ride. We were barely out of the ride when we noticed, and we went right back to the CM to let them know. They were not able to locate it. It was a Christmas gift from our oldest son, so it was a little special to him. We waited for two more cycles of the ride to empty and still no hat. On our way out we stopped in the MS gift shop and checked, no hat. Then we went to guest services and filled out the lost item form in hopes it would get mailed to us. It has not shown up so far.

We had an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern at the MK. All of the waiting around trying to locate the hat made us late. We did the monorail transfer and entered the MK. By the time we got to LTT we were only 20 min late. They were not real busy, so we got in rather quick anyway. DH was a little gloomy during the lunch. It was not just the hat. He was getting a little stressed about being away from his very busy regular job and also his part time work as clerk/treasurer for our township. Lots to do with an election coming up. This trip was just a little longer then our usual visits and it was starting to show. Anyway we got through a not so memorable lunch, food and service was ok. As I mentioned earlier in the report, the meals we experience later in our vacation always get mediocre reviews because of the fact we are just plain sick of eating out. It is not fair, I know.

After lunch we did Pirates again and a few other rides. We took the monorail back to Epcot to check once more on the hat. We tried guest services and the mission space gift shop. It was not there, so we just let it go. We walked back to the Boardwalk at about 3:00. It was very quiet by the pool on this cooler windy day. We did stop back at the front desk once again because our dining credits were still not right. According to the info we received at LTT, we had two extra table service credits. The counter service credits was right. We were unsure about the snack credits because we had lost track with the F&W booths. The CM at the desk strongly hinted that if we were ok with the credits shown, it was best to just leave them alone. The computer update that was done was making it impossible to correct it anyway. DH did not feel right about it, but I pointed out that during the whole month of September they give dining away free. Our one extra meal would not break them. Besides, we would have some counter service credit we would not be using. How's that for justifying?

We have had the dining plan on our last two trips. We are considering going without for our upcoming trip in May 2007. Even though we do not get all of the options at every meal, we still find that it causes us to over eat and eat when we are not hungry. I know for sure I would not miss the counter service meals that we are forced to use every day. I will let you know in my May 2007 trip report how the no dining plan works out economically for us. "To dining plan or not to dining plan, that is the question"

The next few hours we just hung around the resort. Very slow pace this afternoon. We had an 8:00pm ADR for the Blue Zoo in the Dolphin. During the planning of the trip, I was really looking forward to this meal. Blue Zoo is not on the dining plan so it would be an OOP meal. Well when dinner time got closer, neither one of us felt like walking or boating to the Dolphin. Besides we still had that free table service credit to use up. We ended up at Spoodles on the Boardwalk as a walk-in around 7:30pm. The food was good, the service just so-so. I am really disappointed in the menu at Spoodles. It use to have many options all with a Mediterranean flare. Now the menu has about 5 or 6 entree options. Your basic chicken, beef, fish, vegetarian and pasta options. The options were no better than the Big River Grill. I really wish they could go back to their old menu, but economically it is not possible. My disappointment was more than just "sick of eating out". Their menu has really suffered.

We got back to the room about 9:00 and watched another world series game. We also did most of our packing for our departure the next day.

 

[LYNSUE]

Wednesday 10-25-06
We were up at 7:30am and finished our packing. DH was very smart to have tossed an empty soft side duffel bag in his luggage. We did need it to bring our purchases home. Just one more carry on bag to deal with.

We noticed a resort envelope had been slid under our door. We were not expecting it since we had no additional charges to our room. Well when we opened it, we had found that they made an additional full charge of 5 days for the DDP (the saga continues). We had already received this charge on check-in day. I had the computer print outs from previous visits to the front desk to prove it. DH said... See we should not have taken that free table service meal after all. Well a quick stop at the front desk fixed the problem and once again the CM was very apologetic.

We went back to Spoodles this morning for breakfast. The restaurant was very empty and we were seated right away. Service was fast and the food was good. The bill for breakfast was about $30. We went back to the room and made some phone calls and collected our luggage. Down to the front of the hotel to wait for our DME pick-up. We were scheduled for 9:50 and the bus was right on time.

All of our transportation was absolutely excellent this trip. Everything was on time. We were very lucky catching buses and boats and planes.

The Boardwalk is a very convenient place to stay (minus the pool view room with the noise). We spent a lot more time in Epcot World Showcase because of the convenient walk from BW. And really that was our plan to spend more time there because of the F&W Festival and the Eat to the Beat Concerts. After all is said and done, we would go back to the Boardwalk.

Since we have become DVC members, I no longer have that gloomy feeling when we leave the resort. I know that another vacation is just on the horizon. It is such a wonderful feeling. At one point in the trip we walked past a DVC booth. There was a young couple working with a CM and they were deep in conversation. Both DH and I just wanted to run up to them and say "just do it", it is the best thing that ever happened to us vacationwise. But of course we did not bother them.

Another note: I looked all week for fellow Diser's with lime green mickey heads. I did not see any. I was disappointed.

DME got us to the airport within 30 min. Our driver was very nice and very entertaining. Even though we had no luggage for him to handle, DH tipped him anyway. Our departing flight was at 12:48. The flight was delayed a little taking off, but everything went fine after that.

I think we will try to take a slower pace on our trip in May 2007. It seemed to work for us. Also I will assume that the temperature will not be any hotter in May then it was for this visit. Thanks for reading. Now I need to catch up on all the other great trip reports out there.

See ya real soon!

LynSue

 

[OhMari]

I printed up menu's this summer and then I noticed an update of menu's this October. A lot of resturants have cut their menu's down, boo.

Thanks for posting, glad you made it home safe.

 

[kathymc]

thanks for sharing - I have been debating the dining plan for that exact reason of eating just to eat and then get sick of eating!

 

[LYNSUE]

DH and I are planning our next trip for May 2007. We decided we will not be getting the DDP. We really enjoyed it the first time we used it in May of 2006. This latest trip, 10-06 we felt it was too much food and we were not actually eating at the places we like the best. Next trip we will do a cost comparison of our dining and see if we really were saving any $$.