Janmac
09-09-2012, 01:30 PM
The Epcot Flower & Garden Show DBF Cousins Amtrak POR/VWL April Experiment
Travel and Arrival
Cast of characters
>From Missouri – 15 – 22 April, Sunday to Sunday
Me – [ineffective] OCD planner
DH – my dear husband, almost immune to Disney magic
Eeyore - my dear sister
Tink - Eeyore's daughter
Pluto - Tink's 7 year old daughter
DBF – Tink's significant other & sorta newbie (visited almost 20 years ago as teen)
>From Illinois - 17 – 22 April, Tuesday to Sunday
Remy - my dear cousin
Pirate – Remy's DH
Wall-e – 7 yr old son of Remy & Pirate
Introduction:
We usually visit the World in December or January but we'd been wanting to see the Epcot Flower & Garden Show. We booked for as late in April as we can manage, with Tink's work schedule – hoping for fewer spring break crowds.
Tink had been wanting her DBF to come along, altho he'd been wondering what he's getting into, with our [constant – his word] OCD planning. (Which he of course doesn't do – unless he's planning a trip to Sturgis in August.) As he's not as OCD about Disney as we are, I haven't managed to come up with any sort of Disney alias.
On our last trip to the World, January 2010, we had to drive home by way of Texas and eastern Oklahoma due to a major winter storm dumping ice and snow across our usual route. On that extra travel day we began thinking, hey, why not another train trip to Florida, next time. It's been 14 years since we took Amtrak to Disney. We planned some sight seeing in Washington, DC as well
Last summer after our family reunion we asked our Illinois cousins if they wanted to join us, and, surprisingly- because their previous two Disney trips haven't been a whole barrel of fun – they agreed. Remy had planned to take Amtrak with us to the reunion on the West Coast but flew instead when it looked as tho the North Dakota floods would prevent the Empire Builder from operating. This Disney trip afforded her another chance at her first long distance train experience.
Port Orleans Riverside and Villas at Wilderness Lodge - this wasn't going to be part of the experiment this trip. In September 2011, a one bedroom villa came available at Wilderness Lodge, so my sister grabbed it, thinking another one bedroom would surely show up. The only villas available between September and February were at Saratoga and we were kinda hoping for something either in the Epcot area or the MK area. As a back-up plan I began checking other options, such as Shades of Green and Port Orleans, which we have long been interested in due to the numerous great reviews. Thanks to a military discount, DH and I and our cousins got a great rate at Royal Guest rooms at POR in November. Probably the most last minute Disney lodging reservation I've ever done. Now we're experimenting with our group being in two different resorts as well as experiencing royal treatment.
I have added a new category: Oops! And I'm using some aliases for no good reason I can think of. And now, for the long awaited trip report; fasten your seatbelts since this is an experiment - we may be in for some attraction malfunctions.
The Plan:
The Missouri contingent will travel coach on Amtrak, which means 3 trains, from 10 am Friday to 1:30 pm Sunday, coach seating. (Southwest Chief, Capitol Ltd and Silver Meteor, if you're interested. Sure do miss the Sunset Ltd.) We have reservations with a transport service to take us from the Kissimmee station to our resorts. A couple of days later, the Illinois contingent will travel on an evening flight (Southwest) after school/work, using DME to transfer to POR.
Arrival day, Sunday – after check-in, taxi to SoG for tickets, then head to VWL for grab bag distribution. Half my luggage was grab bags with all the t-shirts, glow in the dark bracelets, battery fans, fanny packs, sunglasses, and goggles for the kids, ugly pins for trading. Supper at the Contemporary.
What really happened:
DH and I were meeting Eeyore, Tink, DBF and Pluto at the train station in north central Missouri – near Kirksville. Little bitty train station but the parking is free and even tho it's unsecured, no one has ever bothered our vehicles. Unfortunately, being a small station, there isn't much in the way of weather protection, and this morning was stormy. We were fairly damp by the time we got our luggage into the small waiting room. Things were looking up, tho, as the train was on time and the precipitation was down to a drizzle while we were boarding the Southwest Chief, one of my favorite trains.
We arrived on time in Chicago with a few hours until the departure of our next train, the Capitol Limited. We like to wait in the Great Hall. It's so nice that some stations still have access to the old architecture. Since we didn't have a lot of time on the way down in Washington, DC, between trains, we planned to do our sight seeing on the return trip.
For once, I was hoping Amtrak would be late. And it was – but not the Capitol Ltd, which arrived even a bit early. Rather our connecting train, the Silver Meteor, was hours late getting in from the north. Apparently there had been some sort of difficulties on the tracks. We had already checked out the stores, the food courts and all the neat architectural stuff around this Union Station and still had hours to go, according to the reports on the Meteor's progress.
At one point Pluto was beyond bored. I had been waiting for this moment and presented her with her own digital camera – a simple Kodak I had bought from Walmart almost the day before, on a whim. It was a bit pricey, but for the entertainment value in a situation like this – priceless, as it kept her busy until the Meteor arrived.
Amtrak has time built into the schedule and we were able to arrive at Kissimmee on time. A big SUV from Tiffany Towncar was waiting for us at the station. We had plenty of room for the six of us and luggage. The driver was courteous and chatty. He said he'd much rather take folks from Kissimmee Amtrak to WDW than from Orlando Amtrak to WDW. It's a better drive, he said.
We arrived about 3 pm, stopping at Port Orleans Riverside first, and then on to the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. There was no line at check-in, our room was ready, and in a short time, we had a map, room keys and all the other stuff you get at check-in. We had been rolling our luggage – one big bag each, with two carry ons each – all over train stations from Missouri to Florida, so we thought we'd be able to wheel them right over to our room. By the time we got to Oak Manor, we were wishing we'd used Bell Services. Bit tougher at the resort or maybe we were feeling the two nights in coach on the train.
After checking out the room's pleasantries, and unpacking we took a taxi to SoG. We have never been to this resort before – very pretty. I would like to stay here some time. I had also forgotten toiletries for DH, which we bought at SoG. After checking out the resort some, we walked to the Poly where we caught boats to VWL for grab bag distribution.
While making trip plans we had debated where we were eating supper. First night is usually 1900 Park Fare with the Tremaines and those other two. This wasn't our first train trip, so we knew better than to make ADRs which we might not be able to honor. We love a train ride and Amtrak has always gotten us where we're going, just not necessarily on the scheduled day. And we knew Remy and Pirate would get a kick out of the character interaction. So 1900 Park Fare became our last night's supper. For this night we finally decided to go to the Contemporary's Contempo Cafe. Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian was a runner up, but the Contempo was a shorter trip. And a good choice. We found plenty of options, and mostly liked what we got. DBF is quite picky, and despite the accompanying photo, made an unwise choice. He got better at food choices as the week progressed. After a little shopping, we like to shop at the Contemporary, we split up for the evening, agreeing to meet about 7:40 in front of the Magic Kingdom in the morning. We have early ADRs for Cyrstal Palace!
Oops!
Major big goof: forgot DH's USN Retired ball cap. Darn the luck. (of course he could have remembered his own hat, eh?) And wouldn't you know it? Shades of Green had every other cap but Navy. Even had Coastie hats. Galore. I could still weep about forgetting that hat.
Next goof (not nearly as big): The folks at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge were not on the DDP as they thought they were. Neither I nor Eeyore remembered to sign up 3 days prior to arrival. We did remember we paid at arrival. Eeyore and Tink figured this would be a test of just how good a fit is the DDP.
Surprise: military discount park admissions are apparently not able to be attached to one's room key. I was glad I had copied the backs of the tickets and had DH put that in his wallet. We were covered in case anyone lost that little scrap of card stock. No one did. No one ever forgot a ticket either.
At the end of the day - We're at Disney!! And in a Royal Guest room! We got to see Shades of Green. We had supper at a new to us eatery. It was a pretty good day.
Jan
Travel and Arrival
Cast of characters
>From Missouri – 15 – 22 April, Sunday to Sunday
Me – [ineffective] OCD planner
DH – my dear husband, almost immune to Disney magic
Eeyore - my dear sister
Tink - Eeyore's daughter
Pluto - Tink's 7 year old daughter
DBF – Tink's significant other & sorta newbie (visited almost 20 years ago as teen)
>From Illinois - 17 – 22 April, Tuesday to Sunday
Remy - my dear cousin
Pirate – Remy's DH
Wall-e – 7 yr old son of Remy & Pirate
Introduction:
We usually visit the World in December or January but we'd been wanting to see the Epcot Flower & Garden Show. We booked for as late in April as we can manage, with Tink's work schedule – hoping for fewer spring break crowds.
Tink had been wanting her DBF to come along, altho he'd been wondering what he's getting into, with our [constant – his word] OCD planning. (Which he of course doesn't do – unless he's planning a trip to Sturgis in August.) As he's not as OCD about Disney as we are, I haven't managed to come up with any sort of Disney alias.
On our last trip to the World, January 2010, we had to drive home by way of Texas and eastern Oklahoma due to a major winter storm dumping ice and snow across our usual route. On that extra travel day we began thinking, hey, why not another train trip to Florida, next time. It's been 14 years since we took Amtrak to Disney. We planned some sight seeing in Washington, DC as well
Last summer after our family reunion we asked our Illinois cousins if they wanted to join us, and, surprisingly- because their previous two Disney trips haven't been a whole barrel of fun – they agreed. Remy had planned to take Amtrak with us to the reunion on the West Coast but flew instead when it looked as tho the North Dakota floods would prevent the Empire Builder from operating. This Disney trip afforded her another chance at her first long distance train experience.
Port Orleans Riverside and Villas at Wilderness Lodge - this wasn't going to be part of the experiment this trip. In September 2011, a one bedroom villa came available at Wilderness Lodge, so my sister grabbed it, thinking another one bedroom would surely show up. The only villas available between September and February were at Saratoga and we were kinda hoping for something either in the Epcot area or the MK area. As a back-up plan I began checking other options, such as Shades of Green and Port Orleans, which we have long been interested in due to the numerous great reviews. Thanks to a military discount, DH and I and our cousins got a great rate at Royal Guest rooms at POR in November. Probably the most last minute Disney lodging reservation I've ever done. Now we're experimenting with our group being in two different resorts as well as experiencing royal treatment.
I have added a new category: Oops! And I'm using some aliases for no good reason I can think of. And now, for the long awaited trip report; fasten your seatbelts since this is an experiment - we may be in for some attraction malfunctions.
The Plan:
The Missouri contingent will travel coach on Amtrak, which means 3 trains, from 10 am Friday to 1:30 pm Sunday, coach seating. (Southwest Chief, Capitol Ltd and Silver Meteor, if you're interested. Sure do miss the Sunset Ltd.) We have reservations with a transport service to take us from the Kissimmee station to our resorts. A couple of days later, the Illinois contingent will travel on an evening flight (Southwest) after school/work, using DME to transfer to POR.
Arrival day, Sunday – after check-in, taxi to SoG for tickets, then head to VWL for grab bag distribution. Half my luggage was grab bags with all the t-shirts, glow in the dark bracelets, battery fans, fanny packs, sunglasses, and goggles for the kids, ugly pins for trading. Supper at the Contemporary.
What really happened:
DH and I were meeting Eeyore, Tink, DBF and Pluto at the train station in north central Missouri – near Kirksville. Little bitty train station but the parking is free and even tho it's unsecured, no one has ever bothered our vehicles. Unfortunately, being a small station, there isn't much in the way of weather protection, and this morning was stormy. We were fairly damp by the time we got our luggage into the small waiting room. Things were looking up, tho, as the train was on time and the precipitation was down to a drizzle while we were boarding the Southwest Chief, one of my favorite trains.
We arrived on time in Chicago with a few hours until the departure of our next train, the Capitol Limited. We like to wait in the Great Hall. It's so nice that some stations still have access to the old architecture. Since we didn't have a lot of time on the way down in Washington, DC, between trains, we planned to do our sight seeing on the return trip.
For once, I was hoping Amtrak would be late. And it was – but not the Capitol Ltd, which arrived even a bit early. Rather our connecting train, the Silver Meteor, was hours late getting in from the north. Apparently there had been some sort of difficulties on the tracks. We had already checked out the stores, the food courts and all the neat architectural stuff around this Union Station and still had hours to go, according to the reports on the Meteor's progress.
At one point Pluto was beyond bored. I had been waiting for this moment and presented her with her own digital camera – a simple Kodak I had bought from Walmart almost the day before, on a whim. It was a bit pricey, but for the entertainment value in a situation like this – priceless, as it kept her busy until the Meteor arrived.
Amtrak has time built into the schedule and we were able to arrive at Kissimmee on time. A big SUV from Tiffany Towncar was waiting for us at the station. We had plenty of room for the six of us and luggage. The driver was courteous and chatty. He said he'd much rather take folks from Kissimmee Amtrak to WDW than from Orlando Amtrak to WDW. It's a better drive, he said.
We arrived about 3 pm, stopping at Port Orleans Riverside first, and then on to the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. There was no line at check-in, our room was ready, and in a short time, we had a map, room keys and all the other stuff you get at check-in. We had been rolling our luggage – one big bag each, with two carry ons each – all over train stations from Missouri to Florida, so we thought we'd be able to wheel them right over to our room. By the time we got to Oak Manor, we were wishing we'd used Bell Services. Bit tougher at the resort or maybe we were feeling the two nights in coach on the train.
After checking out the room's pleasantries, and unpacking we took a taxi to SoG. We have never been to this resort before – very pretty. I would like to stay here some time. I had also forgotten toiletries for DH, which we bought at SoG. After checking out the resort some, we walked to the Poly where we caught boats to VWL for grab bag distribution.
While making trip plans we had debated where we were eating supper. First night is usually 1900 Park Fare with the Tremaines and those other two. This wasn't our first train trip, so we knew better than to make ADRs which we might not be able to honor. We love a train ride and Amtrak has always gotten us where we're going, just not necessarily on the scheduled day. And we knew Remy and Pirate would get a kick out of the character interaction. So 1900 Park Fare became our last night's supper. For this night we finally decided to go to the Contemporary's Contempo Cafe. Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian was a runner up, but the Contempo was a shorter trip. And a good choice. We found plenty of options, and mostly liked what we got. DBF is quite picky, and despite the accompanying photo, made an unwise choice. He got better at food choices as the week progressed. After a little shopping, we like to shop at the Contemporary, we split up for the evening, agreeing to meet about 7:40 in front of the Magic Kingdom in the morning. We have early ADRs for Cyrstal Palace!
Oops!
Major big goof: forgot DH's USN Retired ball cap. Darn the luck. (of course he could have remembered his own hat, eh?) And wouldn't you know it? Shades of Green had every other cap but Navy. Even had Coastie hats. Galore. I could still weep about forgetting that hat.
Next goof (not nearly as big): The folks at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge were not on the DDP as they thought they were. Neither I nor Eeyore remembered to sign up 3 days prior to arrival. We did remember we paid at arrival. Eeyore and Tink figured this would be a test of just how good a fit is the DDP.
Surprise: military discount park admissions are apparently not able to be attached to one's room key. I was glad I had copied the backs of the tickets and had DH put that in his wallet. We were covered in case anyone lost that little scrap of card stock. No one did. No one ever forgot a ticket either.
At the end of the day - We're at Disney!! And in a Royal Guest room! We got to see Shades of Green. We had supper at a new to us eatery. It was a pretty good day.
Jan