Yacht Club June 5-11

[photobob]

This was our third consecutive year to stay at the Yacht Club and sixth trip to WDW in the past eight years. Yacht Club is actually way out of my league pricewise, but my sister in law insists that we go with because we have such a good time on these trips and she and her husband pay for our room.

We (Me, Wife, 12 yo daughter) arrived On Sunday at about 7 pm after a 550 mile car trip. We were upgraded to waterview room with a fantastic view. We were on the third floor near the gazebo and had a perfect view towards Epcot and could see the firewoorks from the balcony, very nice. The rooms now have small refridgerators in them, a plus. After spending time talking with SIL and nieces (8,14 and 16) me and mine headed over to boardwalk and I ordered a pizza and calzone from the window at Spoodles and carried it back to the room for dinner. I brought beer with me on the trip which was cold in the cooler back in the room. I have a problem paying more for one beer than I'd pay for a six pack so I do my beer drinking in the room.

Monday morning we headed to the boat dock to go to Disney MGM Studios. All seven of us (BIL arriving later in the day) got up and out and to the park at opening. Once in I grab everyones tickets and speed walk to got a FP for everyone for RNR while they make reservations for 50's Prime Time. We meet up and go in the standby line at ToT. We are quickly inside and when we are about to get on the ride the CM notices my unusual haircut. (I usually have a shaved head but before going to WDW I let my hair grow for about three weeks and then shave the night before we go leaving a Mickey head on the back of my head.) The CM told me that since I showed such enthusiasm for Disney to tell the person who greets us after the ride is over to send us back up for a re-ride. Very cool.

After two rides on ToT and RNR we went to the Great Movie Ride. We had made reservations for 50 's PT for 1:15 or so which they said was the earliest we could get but we were hungry since bfast was an in room snack. We walk over to 50's a few minutes after 11 am and were seated immediately. BTW this was a trend for the entire trip, we'd go to make reservations for the restaurants and it would always be after 1 pm or later for lunch and we'd walk in within 30 minutes after opening and get seated immediately. I guess for walkins that's the key, know what time they open and arrive near that time and get in. Anyhow this was our second year in a row to eat at 50's and we got the same waiter as the previous year. I'm embarrassed that I can't recall his name but he is from Morocco and is a great deal of fun. If you haven't eaten here before the entertainment alone makes the meal worthwhile. Being from the South I know good fried chicken and there's is outstanding. The waiter made the meal quite memorable, three of the girls and I had to get up and sing "I'm a Little Teapot." The 16yo niece was moved to another families table because she wasn't being nice and the 14 yo niece had to stand in the corner for not finishing her meal.

After lunch we all went back to RNR and then to Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. We walked in 10 minutes before it started and didn't have to wait but a couple minutes before we were seated. The show is very good and I'm always happy to experience new attractions since I've been so many times now.

After the show everyone but my daughter, 14 yo and myself headed back to the YC. My niece hadn't done many of the smaller attractions so I took her and my daughter to several. We went to Millionaire and arrived five minutes before the show started and were seated immediately. On the opening question to see who gets in the hotseat I was third fastest in the getting the right answer. Only eight of the 300 or so got it right. I'm sure they just guessed right just like me.

We also went to the Star Wars ride, 5 minute wait, backlot tour, no wait. Walkin at Muppetvision. We may have done one other thing but I can't recall, I'm using my photos to help me remember the order in which we did things.

We headed back to the YC for and rest. That evening me and mine and walked to Epcot and thought we might sneak in a ride on Soarin', it was curently down and of course no FP's available os we walk over to TT, no way. With Soarin' down everyone was there so we walk around for a while, took some beautiful night photos around Epcot and then found a spot to watch Illuminations. After Illumunations we took a stroll to Boardwalk and then back to the room, a very full day. I like those kind of days, my feet hurt but we had a great day..

More later added to this thread..

 

[photobob]

Day 2 the older girls (14 and 16) decided to sleep in as the rest of us walked over to Epcot. We got to the International date at 8:45 and had to wait for 15 minutes for the gate to open. Once in I again grab everyones tickets and head to the Soarin FP distribution while everyone else heads to test track.

I get the FP and meet everyone at TT. My SIL and BIL had never ridden TT so that was pretty cool for them. When we got off we only had to wait a short time to get a FP for TT since I had such an early time for Soarin FP. We headed over to Soarin and rode it. We were lucky and all got on the front row where you are high up and don't see feet dangling in front off you. Everyone loved the ride.

Once out of Soarin I looked at our TT FP time and noticed that we could get another Soarin FP in about 20 minutes or so and would still have time to make the latter part of the TT FP time if we did a few things around there. So we went to Honey I shrunk the audience. Again SIL and BIL and never experienced this attraction. They loved and SIL just about jumped out of her seat when the mice "ran" under the seats.

Once out we headed back to TT with our FP and get on with very little wait. After TT we still had some time to kill before our Soarin FP time ao we did some shopping in Mouse Gears. Bought me a new car tag. We head over again to Soarin and ride again. Stand by times getting very long I notice. After Soarin we head over to try to walkin at Coral Reef. Again we had made reservations for later in the afternoon but were hungry. We walk in at 12:30 or so and get seated within 10 minutes. Very good lunch. Most of us went with the lunch special. The shrimp dish I had was delicious as was the lobster soup. The atmosphere was really neat and a diver fed the fish and did a few other crowd pleasing things.

After lunch we went to explore Living Seas for a little while. BIL headed back to the resort and was to meet us with the other two at Animal Kingdom.

Once we all met at Animal Kingdom, Dinosaur was our first stop. Bil and SIL and their girls had never ridden. They liked the ride a great deal. We head over to Kilamanjaro and get on after a 20 minute wait or so. Got some good photos. Afterwards we make our way to Kali River Rapids. I decide not to ride because I'm toting a $3000 camera. Weather was staring to move in and I get a photo of the group as they go under the foot bridge. I think they were the last raft before they closed it because of weather.

Next we try to go to Primeval Whirl and are just a few people from getting on when they close it for weather. We decide to try Dinosaur again and get on after a 30-40 minute wait that included the ride not working for about 15 minutes. It's almost 9 pm by now-Extra Evening Hours-and we're pooped so we head back to the room...have a beer and a sandwich and head to sleepy town.......more later

 

[photobob]

Day 3

Older 2 kids stayed behind again and they rest of us headed over to MGM. BIL missed first visit so we went again. We did ToT and RNR a couple of times and Muppets and then walked in at Sci-Fi at around 11:30 and werre seated for lunch within 5 minutes. Our first time to eat there though we had planned to eat there for years. I had cheesburger and fries and we had an order of onion rings and they were very good. Everyone enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere was outstanding. After lunch we headed back for naps and swimming with plans for a late night at MK.

When we arrived at MK around 7pm it was a zoo. The crowds and lines were awful. We did a few things, BTMRR, COP, Astro orbiter, Philharmagic. It's a small world looked really good since the refurb. I think we may have done Haunted Mansions as well. We saw wishes from the bridge that goes from BTMRR back towards adventure land. First time for all of us to see that and got some nice photos. We saw Spectro from the walkway going up to the castle, nice photos of that and the castle lit up. The crowds were still significant at 11:30 so we headed out decided to try again first thing in the am.

Day 4

MK at opening. I grab tickets and head to Space for FP while everyone else heads to Splash. I speed walk and make it back to Splash before they had gotten off and I noticed that BTMMRR was a walkin so I headed up for a solo ride and exited about the same time they exited Splash so we headed back and rode splash again. Once off Splash BTMRR was still wide open so we rode it two more times and I gots some great photos by sitting in front of our group and shooting back. I may post some photos later, they are very good. I'm a photographer so they should be! It was getting time to head across towards Space so go, stop for a snack on the way, funnel cakes. I get some shots of everyone with the castle in the background and we head over to Space Mtn. My Bil stayed back so we had an odd number so we the called for a single my hand went up and a way I went. I love that ride.

Once done we head to the monorail to head over to Epcot. Just as we get out of the gate and head up to the rail the rain starts. We were some of the first people up there and I asked if we could ride up front. They said four of us could so my daughter and two of my nieces and SIL rode with the driver. We arrived at Epcot and it was still raining. I went and got us all FP for Soarin but they were for 5 hours later. My SIL and her girls head back to the resort and my wife, daughter and I decide to have lunch at Ristorante Alfredo at Italy. It was very nice to have lunch with just us, not that I didn't enjoy everyones company but it was a nice break. Again no ressies walked in and were seated within 5 minutes. They both had chick parm and I had a sampler. All were very good plus we had a dessert sampler. It was raining harder when we left so we headed back to YC. Four of us headed back later to use the Soarin fastpasses and walked around for a while.

Day 5

A tropical storm was in the gulf and rain was expected for our last day. We had planned to go to Typhoon Lagoon but opted for DTD for shopping. We shopped for a good while and then had a nice lunch at Rain Forest Cafe. After lunch everyone but me and my daughter went back to the resort. I took her to Disney Quest and we spent about three hours playing in there. It's not really my cup of tea but I had fun with my daughter and she enjoyed it.

My BIL made reservations to take everyone to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner. We had reservations and arrived for the longest wait for a table we had they entire trip. Boy was it worth the wait. My BIL ordered a bottle and wine for the the adults and then another. We had appetizers which were excellent. I had scallops as did BIL, my wife had a salad and my SIL had grilled asparagus, all were delicious. Most had filets for entrees, I had the bourbon mainated NY strip and SIL had Surf and Turf. Everyone had desserts which were delicious. The two bottles of wine were like $210 each and I'm not sure but I think the bill had to have been in the $800 range. Fortunately the bill didn't come to me...

Some final thoughts later...

 

[photobob]

Another great trip. We hadn't planned on going this year because my son is about to start college and we weren't going to have the funds to go. My SIL really wanted us to go and payed for our room. We still had enough days left from tickets from previous trips that we didn't have to buy a ticket for me or my wife. We bought my daughter a 10 day MYW Premium Ticket with no expiration. She still has 6 theme park days and 4 options left so she won't need a ticket for next trip.

My BIL makes a very nice living and obviously is very generous with the rest of the family. We did actually pick up a few lunch tabs which isn't easy to do with him, but he was very gracious when we did.

Though this was our sixth trip we did do some new things and ate at some different places which made for a great trip. The only repeat restaurant for us this year was 50's PT. Eating at themed restaurants is very cool, atmosphere and ambience makes for wonderful dining experiences.

a few observations-

-i overheard two women walking in front of me that were both pushing the huge double strollers side by side saying "I'm just going to start running over people." They were cutting a swath 8-10 feet wide and couldn't understand why everyone was getting in THEIR way.

-had a woman standing in line in front of me at Muppets just talking up a storm while going to town flossing her teeth. She flossed with great percision, must be a dental hygenist.

-Soarin is very cool. the third row isn't quite as good. First row is the best, and I was fortunate enough to be there 3 out of 4 times.

-All things considered I'd rather be at Disney World.

-I hope my SIL really wants us to go again next year.

-I wish I caould afford Disney Vacation Club...

Until next trip...Bob

 

[lynn71092]

Great report, I really enjoyed it.
I love when it's all in one thread.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Flossing teeth while waiting in line?!?! That is just GREAT!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[Del]

Thanks for writing because i enjoyed reading. Del

 

[Credit Man]

Enjoyed your report! Thanks for posting.

 

[CPer'sMom]

Yes, thanks for posting Very enjoyable posts. It's always fun to read other people's observations about the YC, our very favorite resort

 

[MazdaUK]

I have a problem paying more for one beer than I'd pay for a six pack

So do I Also with paying twice as much for a pizza to be carried the 200 yards to my room when stuck minding a sick child (so waited til DH and DS(11) got back and went and bought dinner then!)

 

[LAS]

Thanks for the report. It makes them much easier to read in one thread. I would really like to see some of your photos, especially the ones you took on BTMRR. I hope you get to go again next year.

 

[tubachick]

THANKS for the trip report. I LOVED reading the whole trip in one report. I can't wait to see some of your great pics!!! Thanks again.

 

[toystoryduo]

Thanks for the trip report! It was great!!!

 

[jugglinfish]

I really enjoyed your post. Thanks for putting them all in one thread. Sounds like you had a great trip.

 

[Corinne]

I enjoyed your trip report, and hope you decide to post your photos. Flossing teeth in line--ICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[klofan]

Great report. seems like u had a nice time!

 

[jennymouse]

I enjoyed your report very much Bob. I too would love to see you photos! I can see why your inlaws like to vacation with ya; sounds like you're lots of fun and generous with the time you take with the kids. Not to mention the fastpass runner!

 

[roberrl187]

Thanks for the report.

We had a trip like yours years ago. My Dbro and SIL paid for our plane and room. She didn't want to go alone. We were happy to oblige her.

 

[CarolB]

a few observations-

-had a woman standing in line in front of me at Muppets just talking up a storm while going to town flossing her teeth. She flossed with great percision, must be a dental hygenist.

Until next trip...Bob

OMG!!! Were the teens with you???? I can just imagine their reaction