[Joy J]

Our trip started off famously with our cab drive to the airport. Our driver was exceptionally funny and he kept us entertained the whole way with hysterically amusing stories about some of the snags he's run into while flying to various places. Unfortunately, however, once we got to the airport, things started to go downhill in a hurry. We were informed on arrival that Air Canada now required all passengers to use the kiosks to check in rather than being able to have an actual person do it for you at the counter. I immediately got a little concerned because only one of our two flights had been booked directly through Air Canada and the other one I had used Air Miles for. I tried to explain that to one of the Air Canada employees who was hustling everyone into the various kiosk line-ups. She raised her brows at me like I was some sort of bumbling idiot but when I persisted, she grabbed my paper copies of our electronic tickets and went with us to the nearest kiosk. Sure enough when she tried to process our info, she ran into a snag and then said, "We're going to have to try to do this a different way on another machine." So off we went to another kiosk where she took our passports and one by one inserted them into this machine. It spit out two boarding passes for us all right wherein we were sitting nowhere near each other. I tried to explain to the airline employee that we wanted to sit together but she merely shrugged and said, "You'll have to ask about that at the counter when you check in your luggage." So even after all that nonsense about using a kiosk, we still had to get in a long line anyways. When we finally got up to the counter, as the woman began to check in our luggage and asked to see our passports and boarding passes, I explained to her about the mix-up with the seating arrangements and asked about having our seat assignments changed. She shook her head at me and said that we already had our boarding passes so that was that. Okay, now I was getting annoyed. I stuck a smarmy smile on my face and said, "Fine then but you better warn whomever is stuck sitting beside my husband that he's a very nervous flyer so the flight is not going to be a lot of fun for them. " Suddenly her tune changed and she was able to change our seats with no problem. Go figure. Because of all the hubbub I had assumed that the flight was going to be fairly full but no such case. The plane was mostly empty so why I was given such grief about the whole seat assignment thing is a mystery to me.
I'm a huge figure skating fan so I was tickled pink when Kurt Browning and his wife and daughter came and sat near us in the waiting area for boarding. He was every bit as charming and sweet in person as he appears to be on television. Since he was obviously there with his family, we simply interacted with him like he was any other fellow passenger and I even refrained from mentioning I knew who he was or anything else of that nature. It was fun watching him play with his little daughter. He was just like a big overgrown kid himself. Once we were staying at WDW, we did see a blurb on the TV news about him and how he was in Orlando on behalf of this charity that he supports.
The flight itself was a smooth uneventful one and our trip from the airport to the resort was even smoother. Disney Magical Express once again provided us with fabulous service. I have had exceptional luck with them because every time I've used them to date, no sooner do I board the bus then it's off we go with no wait time at all.
I was immediately charmed by the Boardwalk Inn and Villas from the moment we arrived. They were just rolling up a red carpet when we arrived so I jokingly kidded, "Hey, you're putting that away too soon. We're here now." The cast members laughed and one of them offered, "For you, we'll roll it back out." We declined their kind offer but that had us laughing and smiling all the way to the front desk. The lobby of this resort is so charming and welcoming - it just makes you want to curl up on one of the cozy chairs or sofas and soak up the atmosphere.
We checked in and, since our room wasn't ready yet, we left our carry-on bags with Bell Services and headed over to Downtown Disney to do a bit of shopping. We bought pin vests for wearing all our pins since neither Kim nor I find the lanyards very comfortable. Plus all the pockets in those vests make it unneccessary to carry any sort of camera bag or backpack with us into the parks. We spent some time in the Art of Disney store and also took the opportunity to renew our membership in the Walt Disney Collectors Society and get our new member piece and its companion. This year's offerings are excellent - it's Cinderella and Bruno the dog. We then stopped in at Guest Services to get our annual passes activated. The cast member there kindly called over to our resort for us and learned that our room was now ready so we zipped back to the hotel to unpack and settle in before dinner.
We were thrilled with the location of our room. It was on the third floor and just down the hall a short ways from the elevator. Directly across from our room was a stairway leading down to the main pool. It doesn't get much more convenient than that. The decor in our room was lovely and it proved to be a very quiet location as well. Maybe it's the way it's laid out but our room here seemed a little larger than the studios I stayed in at both the Beach Club Villas and Old Key West.
Our suitcases were already in our room, compliments of Disney's Magical Express so, after a quick call to Mousekeeping for some extra hangers, I set to work unpacking everything. I'm such a nester that I can't truly enjoy my vacation until every single item of clothing and every other article is neatly put away. By the time I accomplished this as Kim took a quick snooze, it was time to amble over to the World Showcase for our dinner at Teppanyaki. Neither of us had ever eaten there before and, in fact, Kim wasn't too thrilled about the prospect. He kept muttering about how he didn't like Japanese food. So I asked him when was the last time he ate at a Japanese restaurant and he reluctantly admitted, "Well, never." I reminded him of the whole Boma situation and how he had fought against eating there and how it had ended up becoming one of his favourite restaurants. As you might have guessed, our dinner at Teppanyaki ended up being an instant replay of sorts of Kim's experience at Boma. The meal was a delight from beginning to end. Kim had some sort of Japanese soup, I had the salad. For the main course, he ordered the chicken and I ordered the filet. I had the ginger cake for dessert and Kim got brave and ordered the green tea ice cream after our server assured him that it was very good. It turned out that she was right and he loved it. In fact, every bite of our entire meal was scrumptiously delicious. Our chef was very entertaining and we actually got to watch another chef at the table right next to us before ours arrived so it was like two shows for the price of one. For some reason our server presented me with this bag of hard Japanese candies although she didn't give one to anyone else at our communal table. I thanked her profusely and she smiled and bowed in her oh so charming way. Kim and I were in agreement that we'll definitely dine at Teppanyaki again once it reopens. The night we ate there was their last night of being open before the renovations were to begin. My only criticism of Teppanyaki would be it's rather ordinary decor so it will be interesting to see what it looks like after the remodelling.
By the time we exited the restaurant it was almost time for IllumiNations. We grabbed a spot for viewing quite close to the restaurant and simply enjoyed the lovely warm climate while we waited for it to begin. Then the lights dimmed and it was show time. What a magical way to launch our Disney vacation - it was so romantic to stand there arm in arm while the beauty of IllumiNations filled the night sky. Afterwards we strolled slowly back to the resort enjoying all the scenery along the way.

Joy