Where did this heat and all these people come from? The new PTR/TR link 5/7

[scrapnmom]

We were there at the same time, I'm looking forward to reading your TR.

 

[kschafer]

Woot! Woot! Not sure if I'm gonna write one so......maybe you will inspire me

I would love to know what all you did in your quickie trip!

Hey!

Excited to see where you are going at the Contemporary....I'm going to guess The Wave!! If so it is SO YUMMY!!

Can't wait for more

Hey Erica! I didn't know if you were around the Dis much these days...hope that cute little man of yours is treating you well

Yeay! You're in Orlando and at Disney!

That's too bad that you experienced turbulence on the way! I didn't realize you flew the day of all that rain and those storms. Now that I am typing it, that was the day I was having lunch with MeMom and Jill, I think.

The rooms at CSR are just so pretty, but I love your picture of the Mary Blair mosaic the best!

Yep, I thought of you guys a lot that day wondering what you were up to.

I had only seen that mosaic on the Dis so I was so excited to see it for myself

Yep. Jarvis texted me to see how I was making it in all the craziness, and I told him I was in Atlanta, so I didn't know about it. He said he forgot about that, and told me that rain was coming down in sheets at home and had been all day. The next morning, when I drove home, that's when all the flooding started getting bad. It took a lot of rerouting and a few extra hours for me to get home. Orlando would have been a nice place to be that day!

Lots of thoughts went out to you and Erica that week! My aunt and uncle left Florida for Michigan that weekend and had to find a different way home to go around the craziness you had going on.

Fabulous first update!! That ME ride DOES seem to take forever-- I love it though! It's the last minutes of anticipation!

I just wanted to get THERE! I tried to sit back and appreciate the fact I had gotten to Florida but I didn't do such a good job

Ok... I can't stand reading your report without pictures (on my work computer) so now I'm about to put a bookmark on your chapter link page into my phone's browser...

Love you!

did you catch up?

YAY--an update that gets you to DisneyWorld!

Waiting to see where you went at the Contemporary........................

arriving is better than leaving that's for sure!

 

[kschafer]

Love your pics! You motivated me to start doing my TR this morning since we were there at the same time and you were already doing yours. Thanks for the motivation! I even did the pics right this time.

Will come find you! Glad you decided to give it a try!

Love the airline pics of the clouds!!!! The rooms look so pretty at CSR now!!!! I can't wait to hear all about what happens next!

Good stuff coming up (OK, probably tomorrow)

Hi! We were there at the same time- I'm writing a joint TR with my girlfriends (DISmoms) and I have to say...ITA! It was HOT and it was CROWDED that week!! Never expected it- we guessed it was spring break for year-round school families? It did really improve by Monday, I think, at least crowd-wise. And we all were just sooooooooo happy it wasn't raining, which is what it did LAST year on our first trip together. We were THRILLED to be dripping in the sun!!

Well- looking forward to hearing about your trip-hope you had as much fun as we did!

Hey! Tracy and Mary Ellen mentioned you a few times. I'll have to come check out your TR. I was very grateful for no rain that week

Most year-round schools would also be in school this time of year I think. I don't have a clue where those kids all come from

We were there at the same time, I'm looking forward to reading your TR.

Hey! Glad to have you along

 

[kschafer]

I am feeling practically giddy this morning at the thought of getting to plan another trip and guess what....












I'm not even going

My brother e-mailed me this morning with a few questions about a possible trip. He and my SIL (not shelby, my other SIL) just caught word of free dining and realized they could squeeze in a trip just before the kids start school in August. He and I skyped for awhile and I gave him some info and as we talked, he said I had convinced him to do it.

Well what do you expect when you ask me about Disney!!!!!

I told him when he has his dates settled to let me know and I would come up with a touring plan for him. They aren't sure if they will tell the kids about it before or try to make it a surprise trip. If they do tell, my niece and I would have a great time coming up with the plan together.

How lame am I?

 

[Lady Lallie]

You are too cute, Katie!!

I am the exact same way when someone starts talking Disney to me.

 

[klacey1]

Haha, you are so sweet to be so happy about someone else's trip! A good friend of mine was planning on going over Columbus Day and decided not too-- a TINY part of me was glad. It was so hard listening to her talk about her trip when I'm not staying onsite until next August!!

 

[MEK]

Katie - you had me fooled. I totally thought you were planning a new trip for YOU!!!!! How will you ever plan another trip without getting bitten by the bug! I think its called enabling in reverse! LOL!

 

[jenjolt]

You're not lame!! I love when family and friends ask me for Disney advice and trust me they do LOL!

Although what a tease you are Ms. Katie!! I was so sure you were going to have another trip planned LOL!!! I was very excited for you!

 

[manntra]

I saw your update and thought awesome she is planning another trip too!!
So nice for you to be excited about their trip. I love helping people plan their trips....and then they come back and don't do what I say! Then they are REALLY wondering why I am going again

Tracy

 

[SoonerGirl]

I agree with Jen - you are a tease! I was so excited for you, thinking you were planning a family trip with DH & the boys. Oh well, planning is almost as much fun as going, so working on a trip for someone else will still be great!

 

[MegansMom]

I think that is so cute that you are so excited planning the trip for them!!! LOVE IT!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I hope they get to go so you get to plan! LOL!!

 

[Roxychica7]

Holy heck, you took a lot of pictures! The more the better!Looking foward to all of them!

We had a heck of a flight in december coming back, to the point of tears. Hopefully your flight home was better! CSR looks absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see more of the grounds!

 

[MHTeacher]

How lame am I?

I don't think that's lame at all!

I get so excited when people ask me for help with their Disney trip. My DH laughs and says if I would just plan other's peoples' trips, I'd still get the thrill, but it would be a lot cheaper for him!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

GB Reporting for TR duty Cap'n! 3500ish photos! Holy Fart Knocking Cow Batman! I like the one's you've posted so far. Go forth and carry on my friend. I'm curious to see if you wound up doing the room location hustle or stayed in 6B. Can't wait for more.

 

[kschafer]

You are too cute, Katie!!

I am the exact same way when someone starts talking Disney to me.

I'm happy to talk Disney with anyone!

Haha, you are so sweet to be so happy about someone else's trip! A good friend of mine was planning on going over Columbus Day and decided not too-- a TINY part of me was glad. It was so hard listening to her talk about her trip when I'm not staying onsite until next August!!

If I hadn't just returned, I might be seething with jealousy but instead I am excited at the thought of helping plan another trip.

Katie - you had me fooled. I totally thought you were planning a new trip for YOU!!!!! How will you ever plan another trip without getting bitten by the bug! I think its called enabling in reverse! LOL!

Well, I know I will never talk Greg into another trip anytime in the near future so it's time to live vicariously I guess

You're not lame!! I love when family and friends ask me for Disney advice and trust me they do LOL!

Although what a tease you are Ms. Katie!! I was so sure you were going to have another trip planned LOL!!! I was very excited for you!

You know I have to have a little fun in this TR don't you!

I saw your update and thought awesome she is planning another trip too!!
So nice for you to be excited about their trip. I love helping people plan their trips....and then they come back and don't do what I say! Then they are REALLY wondering why I am going again

Tracy

I think they would trust my suggestions. That doesn't mean they will follow them blindly but I think they will understand certain variables are not in my control!

I agree with Jen - you are a tease! I was so excited for you, thinking you were planning a family trip with DH & the boys. Oh well, planning is almost as much fun as going, so working on a trip for someone else will still be great!

With no job on the horizon, I can't even joke with Greg about returning

 

[kschafer]

I think that is so cute that you are so excited planning the trip for them!!! LOVE IT!

It's fun, even if it's not me (but yes, just having returned holds down the jealousy factor!)

I hope they get to go so you get to plan! LOL!!

I'm waiting for the official word but I think they probably did it yesterday since they found a good deal on airfare and didn't want to lose out on that!

Holy heck, you took a lot of pictures! The more the better!Looking foward to all of them!

We had a heck of a flight in december coming back, to the point of tears. Hopefully your flight home was better! CSR looks absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see more of the grounds!

The stewardess said there were people screaming in fear on the flight before ours The flight home was smooth, just a pain with the multiple legs

I don't think that's lame at all!

I get so excited when people ask me for help with their Disney trip. My DH laughs and says if I would just plan other's peoples' trips, I'd still get the thrill, but it would be a lot cheaper for him!

If I didn't feel like I might not make a profit and have a sense that I wasted all the time and money on my education (not that it's doing me any good right now in my job search!) I would get my travel agent certifications (or whatever you need) and plan trips for other people full-time! How fun would that be!?!

GB Reporting for TR duty Cap'n! 3500ish photos! Holy Fart Knocking Cow Batman! I like the one's you've posed so far. Go forth and carry on my friend. I'm curious to see if you wound up doing the room location hustle or stayed in 6B. Can't wait for more.

GB is here! Yes, I took a lot of pictures, definitely not all good ones though I'm not sure I can live up to your photo standards but I'm glad to have you along!

 

[Kelrykengab]

I can understand about planning other people's trips. I have plans with a friend on tueday night to plan her trip! So fun! My DH thinks I should be getting paid .

 

[kschafer]

I can understand about planning other people's trips. I have plans with a friend on tueday night to plan her trip! So fun! My DH thinks I should be getting paid .

That would be my dream job, that's for sure! My brother informed me that they booked last night!

 

[kschafer]

Day 1 continued

So when I left you, I had grabbed the bus to MK then hopped onto the monorail to the contemporary. I had a dream for this evening I had been hoping to realize. In all my planning and changes leading up to this trip, I had given up an ADR for the California Grill. I had been hoping to snag one for this evening and despite checking every day in April, nothing had come available. I even asked the concierge at CSR to check for me before I left for the evening but he found nothing either.

I had an ADR for Flying Fish in my pocket but I just REALLY wanted to try CG. SO on the advice of several disers, I decided to walk up to the check-in and ask for a seat at the counter. Imagine my thrill when the girl responded with “I can get you a table if you would like” So I happily made that elevator ride to a window-lined restaurant with all the shades drawn. I was a bit disappointed to not be able to look out but the sun angle would have made it too bright I’m sure.

The waiter came over and I ordered a Mai Tai to kick off my vaction. Beth enjoyed it a lot! (It was so fun seeing the open kitchen and watching the chefs at work. I tried taking several pictures but they didn’t stand in one place long enough to get a decent one!)

This was joined by a basket of sourdough bread. The butter was sprinkled with sea salt which was divine! I had never tried this before and the little burst of saltiness when you crunched into it was delicious.

I was so excited about the appetizers, this was the deciding factor in choosing to go with deluxe! I decided to start with sushi (food descriptions throughout the TR will be courtesy of AllEars.net)

Spicy Kazan Roll - crab, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna and fireball sauce $22

YUM! The sushi rolls were arranged in a circle and the scallops were piled in the middle of them. The fireball sauce had a nice kick but was not set-your-mouth-on-fire hot. Next up I ordered the pork dish which I was told was the signature dish of CG

Grilled Pork Tenderloin - with goat cheese polenta, button mushrooms and zinfandel glaze $34

The pork was cooked perfectly and seasoned nicely, the sauce was very good but that polenta was to die for!!! It was so rich and delicious *drool* I told the waiter to not be surprised if I licked the plate clean but I ended up leaving a few bites hoping to leave a little room for dessert. As I waited, I looked over the cordials options and pondered in what world people pay $30 for 2 oz of brandy

I was debated about dessert a bit (and I don’t see on AllEars what I was considering) but the waiter who had recommended all my choices up until now suggested the chocolate cake so I went with his choice

Valrhona Chocolate Cake - Warm chocolate cake w/molten center, cappuccino caramel crunch ice cream, sweet whipped cream and coffee caramel sauce $13
(actually, I would have preferred the ice cream and sauce noted in this description. Mine came with a rhubarb compote and strawberry ice cream that I subbed with vanilla)

It was good. Not knock-your-socks-off good, but good

As dinner was finishing, the shades in the restaurant rose and I got a peek outside my window

Once done eating, I thought about rushing out to my next destination but I had to keep reminding myself to slow down and appreciate the moment. You see, my previous trip gave me a lot of stress over being the leader of the group (to the point that I had dreams every night of constantly rushing, this did not lead to restful sleep!) After I returned home, I realized that I had been so busy thinking about or hurrying off to what came next, that I hadn’t really enjoyed what I was doing at that moment. I vowed to make this trip different!

So I took a few minutes to step out onto the observation deck and look around. After all, I have no idea when I will have that chance next!

Eventually I wandered back downstairs and grabbed a bus to my next destination. I noticed this poster and thought of all my dis friends who I hoped had enjoyed it that afternoon

Then we arrived at my first park of the trip!!

I didn’t have any big plans for this trip and I had no illusions of hopping on one of the big rides so I decided this would be my wandering evening so I slowly made my way up Hollywood Blvd

When I ran into my first sight like this

There were A LOT of school groups while I was there, especially on the weekends. I had run across some complaints about them on the boards before my trip but honestly, I saw no bad behavior, line jumping or disrespectful attitudes at all!

I rounded the sorcerers hat

On my way here

I had dreams of meeting up with these guys

Because this was supposed to be their last night here. But when I entered I found this

They were done for the evening…not to return. I wandered a bit waiting for the next animation lesson to begin and found out that…

No surprise there! I was happy they were continuing the lessons through the evening. Unfortunately, the artist picked one of my least favorite Disney characters…Stitch. I was bummed but was happy that my drawing at least somewhat resembled that offensive little creature

I headed back out into the evening

trying to decide where to go next