Well, that didn't go just quite as planned ..... an Aug/Sept 17 Update 07/12

[franandaj]

That's crazy that the first CM had no clue abut your passes, and that she was so rude! Nice that Bryan took care of you!

Nice that you got to go on a few rides. A 7oz burger! That's huge! I wouldn't even be able to finish half of that!

Nice to be transferring to the VGF!

 

[KathyM2]

Just catching up, but I can't believe the food you got on the plane lol. And of course at Disney as well lol What a deal on the AP's you ended up with!

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry for being missing for over a week. This time of the year the first big tests for our pupils start and it takes up quite some of my time off getting these tests ready and then marking them. I really hope that I will be able to update a bit more in the time to come, but at least you will have Tom's advent calendars to keep you entertained. I will post the links at the end of my updates as well. Have fun with them! Tom got a lot of fun and yummy pictures in them.

Christmas Countdown Funny Hats Calendar

Christmas Countdown Food Calendar ​

How in the world could the first girl with the APs not see something that Bryan could see immediately??? Glad he got everything sorted as well as an upgrade to the tickets

I was SO shocked when I saw the expiration date! We especially had bought them because they had offered the 13 month AP and I had paid for them around Christmas. Then she says the AP was only good for 12 months.
Thankfully Bryan was able to straighten it out, turn it into the 13 month one AND turn them into the Platinum Plus Pass. He saved the day - BIG time.

It's terrible when the day starts off so hot. Some mornings it's already super humid at 7am.

It was hot here in Austria too, before we left, but we were not used to it being hot and humid. It was like breathing liquid air. And I never really got used to it that summer ..........

Living with the Land always makes me happy. And the short wait doesn't ever hurt.

We have only ever had a half hour wait there once, years ago and it is such a relaxing ride. No matter how often we have seen it, there is always something to discover.

What? One CM couldn't figure out something that Bryan did immediately? Sounds like someone (the other CM) was having a bad day or just going through the motions. Glad you got that sorted out!!

Nope, she insisted that I was wrong and that the AP could not have been the 13 month one. It really hit me, as I had only bought it about 8 months prior because we wanted to use it for this vacation AND next year's as well. I was SO glad we went over to Bryan and he straightened everything out AND converted the APs to the Platinum ones.

Are there no pictures for us of Tom trying on the ears? That would have been so cute.

There are quite a lot of photos, BUT they are all used in the Christmas Countdown Calendars. The links are at the beginning of this post. You will have to come back every day to see them all.

Seems I've read so much in trip reports about the excessive heat in Orlando this year..hmmm.

It was VERY hot this summer. It always hits us because we are not used to the heat and humidity, but this year was something else, we never got used to the heat and we stayed for 25 nights.

What a mess I understand your frustration

I was really unhappy. I had everything planned out so nicely and then first off, we didn't make it to guest services that first evening and then our passes were not recognized as what they should have been. Thankfully we did not give up and had someone else take a look.

Bryan certainly made up for it glad it was straightened out and with an upgrade

Bryan was SO awesome. Everything worked out so nicely and the time spent at his window was so well spent, especially since he also added out MNSSHP tickets as well.

We love the new Soarin and Living with Land is so relaxing.

We really enjoyed the old version of Soarin and love the new one as well, even though the sights lean to one side if you are not on the middle glider. And Living with the Land is always such a fun little ride.

Looking forward to your first stay at GF such a beautiful resort.

It is a VERY beautiful resort and we are happy we stayed there. I always had a feeling that I would not feel "at home" there because it is so upscale, but we really enjoyed our stay there.

Joining along for the ride!

Great to have you!

So jealous of the airplane food! I get excited for the Blue Terra Chips on Jet Blue with my Diet Coke .

It was really nice and the service is awesome - Business Class is awesome to travel in. It means arriving relaxed since you have so much space and are so well looked after. On the other hand, we quite enjoyed the airplane cookies we got flying Southwest to Vegas.

Even more excited that I just booked our flights for next August.

Congratulations on booking your flights! It feels so much more real once they are locked in, doesn't it. When will you be at WDW next year.

 

[dizneeat]

That's crazy that the first CM had no clue abut your passes, and that she was so rude! Nice that Bryan took care of you!

She was young, so maybe inexperienced ........... but she made it sound like I was trying to trick her to give me something I had not paid for and it really made me mad. Mad at her and mad at myself for not bringing the printout with all the info that was still in our room.
I was so happy when Bryan got it all settled for us. He was SO nice and always had a smile on his face the entire time that he worked his magic.

Nice that you got to go on a few rides. A 7oz burger! That's huge! I wouldn't even be able to finish half of that!

It was fun to get on the rides after all, especially since we missed out on EMHs the day before.
The burger WAS huge, thankfully Tom was hungry and I could hand him the bigger half. And it took us quite some time to finish our meal, but we had no problem, since it was nice and cool in the restaurant.

Nice to be transferring to the VGF!

We would have loved to stay in the villas, we have been there before, but we were heading to the hotel. I had been able to get an awesome deal on the hotel and we had never stayed there before.

Just catching up, but I can't believe the food you got on the plane lol. And of course at Disney as well lol

They do feed you well if you are in Business class. Far better than the "chicken or pasta" in economy. And Disney food is always yummy, isn't it?

What a deal on the AP's you ended up with!

Yes, so true. I really just wanted the 13 month deal, as the blockout dates did not affect us. But to be upgraded was awesome, it will give us the possibility to hit the waterparks next summer at no additional cost. If I haven't said it before ........ Bryan was AWESOME!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 23

Happily ever after in a new resort - part 2

We sat for quite some time, people watching and nibbling on our food and around quarter to two we left the restaurant and strolled towards the exit, waved goodbye to Epcot for the day and slowly walked back to the Beach Club Villas and our car, got in and off we went.
It was sad to already leave the Beach Club again, but we knew that we would spend another 4 nights there, so it was all good. Soon we found ourselves at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom, showed our brand new annual pass and were on our way to the Grand Floridian.
There the security guard scanned our magic bands again and soon welcomed us home. We missed the entrance to self-parking the first time around and that way had a nice sightseeing tour of the resort. Car finally parked we walked over to the front desk, hoping that our room would be ready. There was no line at all and we were greeted by several cast members and led over to be checked in. I had done online check in and used Touringplans to request a room location and we were now excited to see where we would end up.
Check in was done quickly, we were handed our second set of magic bands and they even told us that our luggage had already arrived and a bell man would help us with it and drive us over to our room. We told them that we also had an Owner’s Locker box and the bell man went to look for it. Some time later he came back, shaking his head and asking if it was one of the purple boxes, but he could not find it. Looking for it we got a tour through the luggage hold area and no, the box was nowhere to be found. And then I remembered that John for Owner’s Locker had emailed me the day before if we wanted it to the Villas at the Grand Floridian or the Resort and Spa. I showed the bell man the email and he told us to hop into the golf cart and we were on another tour around the resort over to the Villas.

And low and behold there it was. Having everything on board we went over to our building and it indeed was the one I had picked for my touring plans request.

And then we were even more surprised to find out that we got the exact room I had wanted, just two floors down. And after having a good look around the room

we ventured out on the balcony and we even had a view of the Magic Kingdom. Score.

We relaxed a little while and enjoyed the view before heading out again to do some serious shopping. It didn’t take us long to make it to Publix, where we bought some staple foods and some drinks and some things we wanted to take home. Thankfully we had brought some big shopping bags to transport everything back to our room, where we had an early picnic dinner, then rested a little more before heading to the boat dock, which was just a few steps from our room. We only waited for a few minutes for a boat to arrive, found seats and off we went towards the Polynesian

which was the next stop. People left and other people joined us and soon we arrived at the Magic Kingdom. It was awesome to see that they did bag check right there at the boat dock and very quickly we found ourselves in line for the passholder entrance. It was the first time in a long time that the Magic Kingdom was all decked out for Halloween when we arrived for the first time. We took our sweet time taking it all in and it took us quite some time to make our way up Main Street. The Magic Kingdom was packed, so we headed towards our favourite ride, the People Mover.
It had a bit of a line, but we still got in line, got in and enjoyed the view of the Magic Kingdom while leaning back. Once we got off we headed over towards Fantasyland, watched the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train rush by a few times, then we walked over to Peter Pan, but the line was way too long so we hopped into the line at Small World. Yes, there was a line and it said 15 minutes, but it did not take quite that long. We were assigned a row and a few seconds later we were on our way to sail the happiest cruise that ever sailed. And nothing says Disney vacation more than a ride on Small World.

Didn’t take long and we had to get off again. Since we needed to kill some time we just walked along the Rivers of America and then back to the hub via Adventureland. When we arrived at the hub we decided to check out if people were already getting in line for the Happily Ever After dessert party. (I had been very torn about booking it, as the ones that we had done in the beginning had lots of tables and when the fireworks were about to begin everyone was rushing forward and you had to stand and fight for a spot anyway. But after hearing very positive reviews of the new setup I tried to get us a reservation and needless to say there was none. Another DISfriend then assured me that she had been successful getting a reservation shorter to the actual date and she was so right, as really about a month before we went, a reservation had opened up.) When we got to the area, a line had already formed and they were letting people in.

To be continued ........​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 23

Happily ever after in a new resort - part 3

When we got to the area, a line had already formed and they were letting people in.
Needless to say that even if it was 90 minutes before the actual fireworks we got in line as well and soon were welcomed in

and taken to the middle area where you have a straight view of the castle and told us to pick a table. Needless to say that we picked one in the front and the cast member explained how everything worked and then left us to get our food. Upon entering the area they had offered us some sparkling cider and we had both taken a glass and were now toasting our first full day at Walt Disney World, but only a little sip. Boy, that drink was so sweet. After that I went to take photos of the buffet

and then filled my plate with a lot of the yummy sweets they had.

When I returned to the table Tom did the same thing, only he got some cheese and fruit first

and then got us something else to drink. Tom had some

orange juice and he picked up some strawberry lemonade for me. Again, it was pretty sweet, but after adding a little water it was really nice. And there we sat, enjoying our desserts and cheese and looking at the castle.

We both went back for seconds,

made plans for the next few days and time was ticking by. There was a young couple at the table to our right and slightly back and suddenly they started to move their chairs a bit forward. We watched them while they kept sliding them forward a bit, then sitting and having fun and then moving even a bit further forward. We were not sure if we should do the same and move our chairs forward as well, but since it was just the two teenagers we stayed put.

To be continued ........​

 

[smilerjones]

Just found your trip report! Looks like your trip is starting out great, love the grand Floridian rooms.

 

[Pinkocto]

Glad you thought to check about the Owner's Locker. Poor thing was all alone over at the villas! How lovely to have your room ready when you got there and to get the location and almost room that you requested. Great view! and definitely the prime location to be near the boat docks.

I see many yummies I could enjoy at the dessert party. I might have filled my whole plate with macarons

I couldn't help myself, I tried to open the calendars. Tom is so funny! That was just perfect

 

[UKDisneyJoe]

Loving your new TR. Nice cliff hanger with these two sliding forward in their chairs lol

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Those desserts look delish! I'm waiting to see if someone moves in front of you.... cliffhanger!

 

[franandaj]

Oh my gosh! Those desserts look so good! I would have been all over the Macarons!

 

[Bambi-NY]

I'm a little late to join, hopefully it's okay that I follow along.
Your trip reports are great as well as your photos. Looks like a great start to your vacation. Dessert party looks yummy.

 

[wdwnut61]

Just got back from 10 glorious days at the BC.
I love your room at Conch Key and your view. We’ve had good luck with touring plans as well.
I’m so glad you were able to secure the Tomorrowland Dessert Party. After we enjoyed it in May we booked it again for our Thanksgiving trip. We love HEA and the party glad you did as well.

 

[maiziezoe]

I do enjoy living vicariously through you and Tom!!

 

[dizneeat]

So sorry for the long absence, but this being the time of big tests it just seems that time gets away from me more easily than ever. I am really hoping to get up to speed again once my Christmas vacation starts .......

Just found your trip report! Looks like your trip is starting out great, love the grand Floridian rooms.

Never to late to join! We were off to a great start and moving into the GF was nice. We really loved the location of our room and they were VERY nice as well.

Glad you thought to check about the Owner's Locker. Poor thing was all alone over at the villas!

Owner's Locker did contact me and asked where to deliver it. I especially told them NOT to take it to the villas. Well, you know where my poor locker ended up. And I was pretty worried it would fall off the back of the golf-cart that we were riding to our room. Our driver thought it was a race car. Had to hold on quite a bit.

How lovely to have your room ready when you got there and to get the location and almost room that you requested. Great view! and definitely the prime location to be near the boat docks.

Since it was already afternoon we were hoping for it to be ready and thank goodness it was. The big surprise was that it was right where I had requested. We were so happy as the view (as you know) was really nice too.

I see many yummies I could enjoy at the dessert party. I might have filled my whole plate with macarons

Guess a dessert party might be in the works for next summer ......... we really enjoyed the party, the desserts and cheese and fruit were really nice, the apple cider though, well, not my taste.

Loving your new TR. Nice cliff hanger with these two sliding forward in their chairs lol

Great to hear that you enjoy it. Well, the two young people were paving the way.

Those desserts look delish! I'm waiting to see if someone moves in front of you.... cliffhanger!

The desserts were really nice and there was quite a lot to choose from. Guess it's time to reveal the rest of the evening now.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh my gosh! Those desserts look so good! I would have been all over the Macarons!

There were so many different kinds and believe me, I tried quite a few of them. Yum!

I'm a little late to join, hopefully it's okay that I follow along.

You are not late at all. I love to know that there are a few DISers who follow along.

Your trip reports are great as well as your photos. Looks like a great start to your vacation. Dessert party looks yummy.

Thank you for your kind words. We had such a fun start to our vacation, even though we did not get into Epcot that first night. But the dessert party was really nice, the sweet treats were so nice and the fireworks were really impressive.

I love your room at Conch Key and your view. We’ve had good luck with touring plans as well.

It was the first time trying touring plans and it worked a charm. I was SO happy to have gotten Conch Key and the view was the icing on the cake.

I’m so glad you were able to secure the Tomorrowland Dessert Party. After we enjoyed it in May we booked it again for our Thanksgiving trip. We love HEA and the party glad you did as well.

Thank you for giving me the heads up and not give up trying to get in on it. It was so worth it. We loved that first evening, as it was so leisurely with so many yummy treats. We had such a great view of the fireworks, it was really a good decision to book it.

I do enjoy living vicariously through you and Tom!!

So happy to know you enjoy sharing our vacation memories. Lots more to come.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 2, August 23

Happily ever after in a new resort - part 4

We watched them while they kept sliding them forward a bit, then sitting and having fun and then moving even a bit further forward. We were not sure if we should do the same and move our chairs forward as well, but since it was just the two teenagers we stayed put.

It was only a few minutes before the fireworks when another family, who had a front row table moved all their chairs forward. We looked at the newlyweds at the next table, and they looked at us, we all shook our heads a bit, but we stayed put. We had a perfect view over all of their heads, so who cares. The fireworks started

and they were just amazing, even though it was strange to hear a different music than Wishes.

We sat there looking on in amazement and Tom took a lot of photos and then this woman comes up to the front and STANDS in front of everyone.

I put my camera down, as she filled up a huge part of my photos, but Tom kept on taking photos, even though he had to move over a bit and thankfully that space was empty anyway, because the young couple had moved forward.

Once the fireworks were over we did not get up right away, as there were so many people still around and a cast member came by, "blowing out" all the LED candles and handing out bags of Ghirardelli chocolates to everyone who attended the fireworks party. We were surprised at the additional gift and chatted with the cast member for a minute or two before finally leaving.
That night was Extra Magic Hour and a lot of people were leaving, but there were still a lot of people in the park. We slowly crept towards Adventureland and when we got to the Jungle Cruise we decided to get in line. A cast member checked Magic Bands and some guests were turned away, but there were still quite some people in line ahead of us. But the line moved at a slow but steady pace and soon we were to board our boat. We both enjoy the Jungle Cruise and love it even more during Extra Magic Hour as most of the skippers go off their spiel a bit and crack a few new jokes. This night was no exception. We had a great time and there was lots of laughter on our boat.
Once we were off we went towards Big Thunder Mountain

which already had a bit of a line, but the wait time was supposed to be only 20 minutes so we got in line and to our surprise it moved pretty quickly and about 15 minutes later we asked for last row and were told that we would have to wait a train, but were welcome to take the row we wanted. And while we waited for our turn we agreed on the fact that we were both already pretty tired and that we would leave after the ride. Soon we got on and had a lot of funny sliding in the seat and raising our hands while the train hurried along the tracks. When we got off we started walking towards the exit and said that if the wait was not too long we would ride Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was temporarily closed, so our fate was sealed and we slowly walked towards the Resort Monorail and we were lucky as one just pulled in as we made the top of the ramp.
It took quite some time until we finally were able to get off at the Grand Floridian Resort. It was quite a hike back to our building and we were happy to be back. Didn’t take very long and we were in bed watching a bit of TV, but not for long as we were dead tired and soon fell asleep.

To be continued ........

Don't forget to open your Advent/Christmas countdown calendars

Here are the links:

Disney food calendar
Funny ear-hat calendar ​

 

[wdwnut61]

Wonderful pictures of HEA
When we went a few weeks ago we were right up front with a little space to our left in the front corner
While I was getting food the table behind us and to the left parked a stroller in that space next to us with a large Mickey balloon tied to it
Not only did it block our view but the breeze kept blowing the balloon in my face
I got up to see but they had left their table for food so I moved their stroller back beside their table
I can’t believe that woman stood up in front of you but I’m glad Tom was still able to snap pics
I love how close Tinkerbell comes to you when she’s flying over
Love riding the Jungle Cruise at night

 

[BriLovesDisney]

Awesome photos of the dessert party! Everything looked awesome Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[Pinkocto]

Gorgeous fireworks pictures I'm still upset about that lady standing in front. I can't imagine being so rude.

Lovely to get in a few rides during EMH with not bad lines.

Mom and I are very much enjoying the advent calendars. Please tell Tom they're fabulous!