faline
05-15-2012, 09:54 AM
When – May 3 – 13, 2012
Who – Gene & Linda
Where – Beach Club Villas
Plan for the Day:
Fly from Boston to Orlando
Check in and get Settled
Perhaps an Early Dinner / Late Lunch at Beaches and Cream
Weather:
Boston – Cool and Cloud Covered
Orlando – Cloudy with some sun; nice breeze; warm but not too humid
Miles – Walked around 4 miles before the day was done
Date: Thursday, May 3, 3012
Things got a bit bumpy as we came in for a landing. Pilot came in pretty hot and really used those reverse thrusters quite fully. We were on the ground and we were safe. In fact, we landed 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule.
We didn’t see our driver as we descended the escalator but she quickly found us and led us to the right carousel which was one over than what had been announced on the plane. We waited a bit for our bags to pop out but, once they did, we were quickly loaded in the car and our driver headed on over to Publix for our grocery stop. Couldn’t remember where I had put my list (found it later) but we remembered everything on it (not that it was an extensive list to begin with). By quarter to 4, we were pulling up in front of the Beach Club.
Gene was settling the driver and getting our bags seen to while I headed into the resort to check in. Before I got to the door, I was approached by name by a cast member who escorted me into the building and right to the check in desk. In only took a few minutes to check in and be assigned our room. I was hoping we’d be asked to take part in the new version of Fast Pass testing but no such luck.
We have a pool view one-bedroom room at the end of the building closest to Epcot.
While waiting for our bags to be brought up, we check out what will be our home for the next week and a half. In December, I had been a bit disappointed that there was no availability here. However, after seeing the living space here, I know that Old Key West was certainly a better choice for that trip. This will serve us well for the two of us but I think I would find it “tight” if we were a larger family – even if we had a second bedroom.
The master bedroom setup is a bit funky as well but will go into more detail about our accommodations in a separate review.
Once the bags arrived, we quickly unpacked and got everything put away for our stay. By time that was accomplished it was around 5 pm and we were definitely hungry. I had thought about going to Beaches and Cream for dinner but we opted to walk over to ESPN Club instead. When we arrived, they had not yet opened the dining room to dinner guests but, within a matter of about two minutes (and just when we were going to opt to sit in the bar area), we were the first dinner diners led into the dining room. Gene had the Philly Cheese Steak while I had the pulled pork sandwich. Both hit the spot.
It truly was lovely out – not as humid as we’ve experienced at this time of year and there was also a nice breeze. We decided to wander through Epcot and just take in the sights, sounds, smells of being here. A short stroll brought us to the International Gateway. Once inside Epcot, we made the decision to walk straight ahead into the United Kingdom instead of going right towards France. We wandered through countries, each in its turn, browsing through shops, stopping to look at flowers and topiaries as we came across them, stopping a moment here or there to take in something else such as a few songs by Off Kilter who were performing as we walked by.
The Hat Lady was performing when we entered Rose & Crown but no seats were available either inside or out, which was not a surprise, so we continued on. The first ride of our trip was the Gran Fiesta Tour. Peeked into La Cava del Tequila but, my, aren’t those drinks pricey? Think we’ll skip it. Maelstrom had about a 15 minute line but we waited.
Considered buying a fragrance – hmm – I’ll think about it a bit longer. We did not do the movies in Canada, Norway or China. We did stop at the Bead Station and I purchased a bracelet made from the recycled guide maps (I have another which I bought on our last trip).
It was starting to get dark by time we got to Germany. We stopped here and each got a beer. We found a bench, facing the German pavilion where we could sit, sip, and watch people walk by. Just before Illuminations started, I was able to find a piece of fence with a partially obscured view (tree) of the show. We watched most of it from this area but then decided to walk along while we viewed the rest. Illuminations ended even before we got to France. From there, we just continued our walk back to our resort.
It was still such a gorgeous night, that we relaxed on our balcony for a bit before heading off to bed.
Plan for the Day:
Magic Kingdom
If reservations are available, try out Il Mulino
Date: Friday, May 4, 2012
Weather:
Boston – Cool and Cloud Covered with a high of 58 – but who cares? I’m not there!
Orlando – Sunny with a fair amount of cloud cover. Expected high of 86 with a humidity level of 46% - still not bad for this time of year
Miles – Don’t know – day not over yet as I’m writing this
Despite being up fairly late, we wake up fairly early. Breakfast is at home. Coffee along with bagels and cream cheese for me; coffee and muffin for Gene.
I decide I might like to dine at the Plaza Restaurant if we can get in. I call and we can get a reservation for 11:05. Ok – we’ll take it. This is the first time, I’ve found the call-in reservations line to be all automated – does that mean more cast members lost their jobs?
We head to the bus stop and find an orderly line waiting for the Magic Kingdom but – this is not something I’ve generally seen at the deluxe resorts but, ok, I’ll go with the program. A bus arrives a short time later and it’s standing room only for us.
When we arrive, we make the impromptu decision to see Mickey Mouse at the Town Square Theater. That wait time was listed as 15 minutes while the line for the princesses was listed as 45 minutes. No princesses for us. When we get on line, I get handed one of those timer tags that help them set the wait time signs.
One little girl in line insists she will be seeing Minnie Mouse though the line is listed as Mickey Mouse. All of use in line agree she will get to see a Mouse regardless. Who knew? She was right as both Mickey and Minnie are in residence for pictures. In the group in front of us, one of women gave Mickey Mouse a kiss. You should have seen the look she got from Minnie! Minnie even came up and gave her husband a kiss in retribution. The woman made it all up to Minnie at the end by giving Minnie a big hug and a kiss. I’m sure all was forgiven!
From there, we climbed on board a horse drawn trolley for the trip up Main Street. Before lunch, we were able to visit the Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and Pirates of the Caribbean. We also picked up fast passes for Splash Mountain, carefully calculating that we should have completed lunch and be able to return within the specified hour. We tried to get on Aladdin’s carpets a couple of times but decided the wait times were too long – another time perhaps. (When hours for this day were released, the closing time was listed as 10 p.m. Somewhere along the way that was changed and the park will be open until 11 p.m. this evening).
We checked in for our 11:05 a.m. reservation at Plaza Restaurant and were quickly seated in an almost empty restaurant. I had the Plaza Club along with home made chips and a vanilla milkshake. Gene had the turkey sandwich along with French fries and a chocolate shake.
Following lunch, we headed back to Splash Mountain to use our fast passes – good thing we had them as the standby wait times are now listed as 45 minutes! Yikes! We found ourselves in the front row and, at the end of the ride, found ourselves totally soaked! Let’s take a ride around on the train while we dry out. We also were able to take in the Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents and the Haunted Mansion. We bypassed Small World as the line was quite long. As expected, Peter Pan had a 45 minute wait and fast pass return times were for 6:40 this evening! Yikes!! We rode the Carousel which was only a 5 minute wait time. Even Snow White had a 30 minute wait now. We decided things were decidedly getting too crowded so it was time to return home.
We were very surprised to see the extent of the construction at this point. The construction site extends up to the Haunted Mansion and just behind the Carousel (where Dumbo used to be).
It was just before parade time as we made our way down Main Street and out of the park. We did not wait too long for a bus and were soon back at the Beach Club.
Il Mulino has no availability but I was able to get a reservation for the Yachtsmen’s Steak House so we will dine there this evening.
To be continued….
Who – Gene & Linda
Where – Beach Club Villas
Plan for the Day:
Fly from Boston to Orlando
Check in and get Settled
Perhaps an Early Dinner / Late Lunch at Beaches and Cream
Weather:
Boston – Cool and Cloud Covered
Orlando – Cloudy with some sun; nice breeze; warm but not too humid
Miles – Walked around 4 miles before the day was done
Date: Thursday, May 3, 3012
Things got a bit bumpy as we came in for a landing. Pilot came in pretty hot and really used those reverse thrusters quite fully. We were on the ground and we were safe. In fact, we landed 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule.
We didn’t see our driver as we descended the escalator but she quickly found us and led us to the right carousel which was one over than what had been announced on the plane. We waited a bit for our bags to pop out but, once they did, we were quickly loaded in the car and our driver headed on over to Publix for our grocery stop. Couldn’t remember where I had put my list (found it later) but we remembered everything on it (not that it was an extensive list to begin with). By quarter to 4, we were pulling up in front of the Beach Club.
Gene was settling the driver and getting our bags seen to while I headed into the resort to check in. Before I got to the door, I was approached by name by a cast member who escorted me into the building and right to the check in desk. In only took a few minutes to check in and be assigned our room. I was hoping we’d be asked to take part in the new version of Fast Pass testing but no such luck.
We have a pool view one-bedroom room at the end of the building closest to Epcot.
While waiting for our bags to be brought up, we check out what will be our home for the next week and a half. In December, I had been a bit disappointed that there was no availability here. However, after seeing the living space here, I know that Old Key West was certainly a better choice for that trip. This will serve us well for the two of us but I think I would find it “tight” if we were a larger family – even if we had a second bedroom.
The master bedroom setup is a bit funky as well but will go into more detail about our accommodations in a separate review.
Once the bags arrived, we quickly unpacked and got everything put away for our stay. By time that was accomplished it was around 5 pm and we were definitely hungry. I had thought about going to Beaches and Cream for dinner but we opted to walk over to ESPN Club instead. When we arrived, they had not yet opened the dining room to dinner guests but, within a matter of about two minutes (and just when we were going to opt to sit in the bar area), we were the first dinner diners led into the dining room. Gene had the Philly Cheese Steak while I had the pulled pork sandwich. Both hit the spot.
It truly was lovely out – not as humid as we’ve experienced at this time of year and there was also a nice breeze. We decided to wander through Epcot and just take in the sights, sounds, smells of being here. A short stroll brought us to the International Gateway. Once inside Epcot, we made the decision to walk straight ahead into the United Kingdom instead of going right towards France. We wandered through countries, each in its turn, browsing through shops, stopping to look at flowers and topiaries as we came across them, stopping a moment here or there to take in something else such as a few songs by Off Kilter who were performing as we walked by.
The Hat Lady was performing when we entered Rose & Crown but no seats were available either inside or out, which was not a surprise, so we continued on. The first ride of our trip was the Gran Fiesta Tour. Peeked into La Cava del Tequila but, my, aren’t those drinks pricey? Think we’ll skip it. Maelstrom had about a 15 minute line but we waited.
Considered buying a fragrance – hmm – I’ll think about it a bit longer. We did not do the movies in Canada, Norway or China. We did stop at the Bead Station and I purchased a bracelet made from the recycled guide maps (I have another which I bought on our last trip).
It was starting to get dark by time we got to Germany. We stopped here and each got a beer. We found a bench, facing the German pavilion where we could sit, sip, and watch people walk by. Just before Illuminations started, I was able to find a piece of fence with a partially obscured view (tree) of the show. We watched most of it from this area but then decided to walk along while we viewed the rest. Illuminations ended even before we got to France. From there, we just continued our walk back to our resort.
It was still such a gorgeous night, that we relaxed on our balcony for a bit before heading off to bed.
Plan for the Day:
Magic Kingdom
If reservations are available, try out Il Mulino
Date: Friday, May 4, 2012
Weather:
Boston – Cool and Cloud Covered with a high of 58 – but who cares? I’m not there!
Orlando – Sunny with a fair amount of cloud cover. Expected high of 86 with a humidity level of 46% - still not bad for this time of year
Miles – Don’t know – day not over yet as I’m writing this
Despite being up fairly late, we wake up fairly early. Breakfast is at home. Coffee along with bagels and cream cheese for me; coffee and muffin for Gene.
I decide I might like to dine at the Plaza Restaurant if we can get in. I call and we can get a reservation for 11:05. Ok – we’ll take it. This is the first time, I’ve found the call-in reservations line to be all automated – does that mean more cast members lost their jobs?
We head to the bus stop and find an orderly line waiting for the Magic Kingdom but – this is not something I’ve generally seen at the deluxe resorts but, ok, I’ll go with the program. A bus arrives a short time later and it’s standing room only for us.
When we arrive, we make the impromptu decision to see Mickey Mouse at the Town Square Theater. That wait time was listed as 15 minutes while the line for the princesses was listed as 45 minutes. No princesses for us. When we get on line, I get handed one of those timer tags that help them set the wait time signs.
One little girl in line insists she will be seeing Minnie Mouse though the line is listed as Mickey Mouse. All of use in line agree she will get to see a Mouse regardless. Who knew? She was right as both Mickey and Minnie are in residence for pictures. In the group in front of us, one of women gave Mickey Mouse a kiss. You should have seen the look she got from Minnie! Minnie even came up and gave her husband a kiss in retribution. The woman made it all up to Minnie at the end by giving Minnie a big hug and a kiss. I’m sure all was forgiven!
From there, we climbed on board a horse drawn trolley for the trip up Main Street. Before lunch, we were able to visit the Swiss Family Treehouse, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room and Pirates of the Caribbean. We also picked up fast passes for Splash Mountain, carefully calculating that we should have completed lunch and be able to return within the specified hour. We tried to get on Aladdin’s carpets a couple of times but decided the wait times were too long – another time perhaps. (When hours for this day were released, the closing time was listed as 10 p.m. Somewhere along the way that was changed and the park will be open until 11 p.m. this evening).
We checked in for our 11:05 a.m. reservation at Plaza Restaurant and were quickly seated in an almost empty restaurant. I had the Plaza Club along with home made chips and a vanilla milkshake. Gene had the turkey sandwich along with French fries and a chocolate shake.
Following lunch, we headed back to Splash Mountain to use our fast passes – good thing we had them as the standby wait times are now listed as 45 minutes! Yikes! We found ourselves in the front row and, at the end of the ride, found ourselves totally soaked! Let’s take a ride around on the train while we dry out. We also were able to take in the Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents and the Haunted Mansion. We bypassed Small World as the line was quite long. As expected, Peter Pan had a 45 minute wait and fast pass return times were for 6:40 this evening! Yikes!! We rode the Carousel which was only a 5 minute wait time. Even Snow White had a 30 minute wait now. We decided things were decidedly getting too crowded so it was time to return home.
We were very surprised to see the extent of the construction at this point. The construction site extends up to the Haunted Mansion and just behind the Carousel (where Dumbo used to be).
It was just before parade time as we made our way down Main Street and out of the park. We did not wait too long for a bus and were soon back at the Beach Club.
Il Mulino has no availability but I was able to get a reservation for the Yachtsmen’s Steak House so we will dine there this evening.
To be continued….