offwego
12-17-2008, 09:55 AM
Friday Dec 12th
Plan transfer from Pop to VWL, DVC tour, Meet up with ElenitaB and her DS, HS, Meet for lights later, Dinner at chefs in France and I'm tired already and haven't even written all of this...
Cast DH 40 something planner of meals and parks, and now wrangler of teenagers and the occasional scooter.
DS 13 thrill seeker, eater of food and now disinterested in parental unit time for the most part
Me-Offwego shopper, shoe fan & disney fan
Special Guest apperances by ElenitaB and her son, That Guy and his lovely wife Caroleh, Pogo, Beastfanatic and me thinks others as well.
So we wake up in plenty of time for our tour, lugguge pick up pre arranged and wander down for our van pick up which is a few minutes early.
DS goes off to play PS2 and we grab a coffee. Our guide shows up momentarily, answers any and all questions shows us the models for Bay Lake & and AKL and provides us with our incentive (100 gift card since we were staying at the VWL anyway).
One thing that seemed funny in hindsight, one of our questions is extended family stays and can you either be close or apart if you wish depending on your plans and wants. Our guide assures us that's something they take very seriously and it's quite simple..good to know I thought as ElenitaB had requested we be close to each other at VWL.
We finished at about the time we thought we would and were able to meet up with ElenitaB and her DS in the lobby along with Mikki and her husband Andrew and the star of the show Fiagaro.
We checked in but our room wasn't ready (of course it was only about 9:45 so that's not surprising), we then headed to HS as we knew if we wanted TSM fastpasses for the now 5 of us we would need to get there. The bus ride was fairly straightforward here and we arrived in time.
Now this part (as we went to HS quite a few times) is something I can't recall if we saw on this entrance or a different one but there was an entertainer standing on a bench holding up a christmas tree..I didn't ask but I assume he's "Detree"
Our fastpasses were for 6:45 that night..which worked as we wanted to come back for a meet later anyway. The guys all did RNR while ElenitaB and I sampled the WDW version of a Latte. I know we did some shopping as well. We then met up again to wander towards the Star Tours which the guys did and then caught the tail end of the Jedi Training (very funny lines between the trainer and the stormtroopers).
We had lunch at the Backlot (very yummy but no magic card discount alas), I know the boys pulled on the rope and I can't recall what else we did prior to wandering our way out for a rest.
ElenitaB's room was ready (wow was it big!!), ours was not but she graciously allowed us to wait with her. Until a fair bit past 4 if memory serves. Despite a check in at 9:45! Oh well, while waiting I consoled myself with the thought we were likely just around the corner from our room.
When it was finally ready (and after much mysterious phone action on ElenitaB's part that became clearer much much later that night) we hiked off to our room. We were in the very last room in the hallway furtherst from hers. We were almost in a different zipcode. (and it had a lovely view of the dumpster, the used towel dump and the shrinkwrapped fresh towels depending on the time of day). Somehow as an enticement to drop 17 grand on DVC this wasn't working. But our luggage was brougt up promptly allowing us to grab much needed warmer coats etc for the evening.
We headed to the bus for HS to meet up with some folks, saw many we wanted to see and missed a few as we did ran late. I think this was a normal wait if longish and not a sorry can't take you wait,
TSM was calling all of us so we went to that (amazing loading system there for scooter/handicap including the best system for loading those that can't transfer I've ever seen I was as impressed with seeing this part as I was with the ride itself I must tell you!!) Everyone loved it again as ususal!
We then wandered a little but were mostly headed towards the entrance to meet up with Caroleh and the soon to be "that guy" for our dinner ADR at Chef's.
The line for the boats was quite long and we did see another friend while in line which was great!! The boats were packed but effiecent enough.
The entrance to Epcot at the boats has a poor distance between it's bag check and turnstiles in particular if your navigating a scooter with a full load of people and strollers. As only so many of the entrances for the tickets have access it would be nice if people would use more politeness at these locations then we witnessed.
We were now running a bit late for our ADR so went straight there, the soon to be "that guy" speaks fluent french so checked us in and we waited a fair bit for our table as they were packed. (and it was getting very very cold)
Our meal was wonderful and the portions here (in particular for the apps) were huge!! We between the 7 of us sampled quite a few different dishes but we all agreed we enjoyed it. Our Magic Card worked here and 20% was a happy thing to share with our friend ElenitaB as well. (hey when you have teenage boys every bit counts)
My DH and the two teenagers left to hit up MS and anything else they could get on, whilst we settled up as it was EMH. Our plan was to then leave for the busses to head back.
Straight there with only a stop for some pics left ElenitaB and if first in line for a bus, handy as with a scooter it's nice to know your not in anyway cutting in and should have an easy time manuvering to where you want to be correct? Not so much, despite the cold buses were running at about the 20 minute mark (ok but chilly) the first one stops and says his lift isn't working. Silly us assumed he would tell dispatch but as we waited a full 20 minutes again (at least) for one with a working lift it didn't seem to be the case.
Oddly we were waiting so long for the first one the guys showed up in time to get on it!! Despite playing the games at MS and wandering into innoventions as well I believe.
Frozen to the point of looking at the fireplace to curl up into we made our way back to our rooms. (I should have brought a walking stick to fit into the theme)
Plan transfer from Pop to VWL, DVC tour, Meet up with ElenitaB and her DS, HS, Meet for lights later, Dinner at chefs in France and I'm tired already and haven't even written all of this...
Cast DH 40 something planner of meals and parks, and now wrangler of teenagers and the occasional scooter.
DS 13 thrill seeker, eater of food and now disinterested in parental unit time for the most part
Me-Offwego shopper, shoe fan & disney fan
Special Guest apperances by ElenitaB and her son, That Guy and his lovely wife Caroleh, Pogo, Beastfanatic and me thinks others as well.
So we wake up in plenty of time for our tour, lugguge pick up pre arranged and wander down for our van pick up which is a few minutes early.
DS goes off to play PS2 and we grab a coffee. Our guide shows up momentarily, answers any and all questions shows us the models for Bay Lake & and AKL and provides us with our incentive (100 gift card since we were staying at the VWL anyway).
One thing that seemed funny in hindsight, one of our questions is extended family stays and can you either be close or apart if you wish depending on your plans and wants. Our guide assures us that's something they take very seriously and it's quite simple..good to know I thought as ElenitaB had requested we be close to each other at VWL.
We finished at about the time we thought we would and were able to meet up with ElenitaB and her DS in the lobby along with Mikki and her husband Andrew and the star of the show Fiagaro.
We checked in but our room wasn't ready (of course it was only about 9:45 so that's not surprising), we then headed to HS as we knew if we wanted TSM fastpasses for the now 5 of us we would need to get there. The bus ride was fairly straightforward here and we arrived in time.
Now this part (as we went to HS quite a few times) is something I can't recall if we saw on this entrance or a different one but there was an entertainer standing on a bench holding up a christmas tree..I didn't ask but I assume he's "Detree"
Our fastpasses were for 6:45 that night..which worked as we wanted to come back for a meet later anyway. The guys all did RNR while ElenitaB and I sampled the WDW version of a Latte. I know we did some shopping as well. We then met up again to wander towards the Star Tours which the guys did and then caught the tail end of the Jedi Training (very funny lines between the trainer and the stormtroopers).
We had lunch at the Backlot (very yummy but no magic card discount alas), I know the boys pulled on the rope and I can't recall what else we did prior to wandering our way out for a rest.
ElenitaB's room was ready (wow was it big!!), ours was not but she graciously allowed us to wait with her. Until a fair bit past 4 if memory serves. Despite a check in at 9:45! Oh well, while waiting I consoled myself with the thought we were likely just around the corner from our room.
When it was finally ready (and after much mysterious phone action on ElenitaB's part that became clearer much much later that night) we hiked off to our room. We were in the very last room in the hallway furtherst from hers. We were almost in a different zipcode. (and it had a lovely view of the dumpster, the used towel dump and the shrinkwrapped fresh towels depending on the time of day). Somehow as an enticement to drop 17 grand on DVC this wasn't working. But our luggage was brougt up promptly allowing us to grab much needed warmer coats etc for the evening.
We headed to the bus for HS to meet up with some folks, saw many we wanted to see and missed a few as we did ran late. I think this was a normal wait if longish and not a sorry can't take you wait,
TSM was calling all of us so we went to that (amazing loading system there for scooter/handicap including the best system for loading those that can't transfer I've ever seen I was as impressed with seeing this part as I was with the ride itself I must tell you!!) Everyone loved it again as ususal!
We then wandered a little but were mostly headed towards the entrance to meet up with Caroleh and the soon to be "that guy" for our dinner ADR at Chef's.
The line for the boats was quite long and we did see another friend while in line which was great!! The boats were packed but effiecent enough.
The entrance to Epcot at the boats has a poor distance between it's bag check and turnstiles in particular if your navigating a scooter with a full load of people and strollers. As only so many of the entrances for the tickets have access it would be nice if people would use more politeness at these locations then we witnessed.
We were now running a bit late for our ADR so went straight there, the soon to be "that guy" speaks fluent french so checked us in and we waited a fair bit for our table as they were packed. (and it was getting very very cold)
Our meal was wonderful and the portions here (in particular for the apps) were huge!! We between the 7 of us sampled quite a few different dishes but we all agreed we enjoyed it. Our Magic Card worked here and 20% was a happy thing to share with our friend ElenitaB as well. (hey when you have teenage boys every bit counts)
My DH and the two teenagers left to hit up MS and anything else they could get on, whilst we settled up as it was EMH. Our plan was to then leave for the busses to head back.
Straight there with only a stop for some pics left ElenitaB and if first in line for a bus, handy as with a scooter it's nice to know your not in anyway cutting in and should have an easy time manuvering to where you want to be correct? Not so much, despite the cold buses were running at about the 20 minute mark (ok but chilly) the first one stops and says his lift isn't working. Silly us assumed he would tell dispatch but as we waited a full 20 minutes again (at least) for one with a working lift it didn't seem to be the case.
Oddly we were waiting so long for the first one the guys showed up in time to get on it!! Despite playing the games at MS and wandering into innoventions as well I believe.
Frozen to the point of looking at the fireplace to curl up into we made our way back to our rooms. (I should have brought a walking stick to fit into the theme)