Many Adventures of Grumpy and Pooh About This Page:

[Mr.Grumpy]

Date: March 22 – April 2, 2002
Adventurers: Grumpy (Joel) [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img] & Pooh (Jeanne)
Resort/Hotel: Boardwalk Villas & Walt Disney World Swan
Celebration: Spring 2002, Easter, Grumpy’s Birthday (34)

For those that know us, you’ll know how we love to drive to WDW. Well that is not entirely true. However, we would rather save the money from airfare on fun when we arrive at WDW.

So, it is Friday, March 22, 2002, we had to work all day and now we are ready to make the trek down south. Just in time, too. It was 30 degrees when we left New York. We drove via route 84W into the sunset and snowflakes that were coming in over the Pennsylvania horizon. The thought of snow at this point was exciting as we had had enough of winter and knew that we would be in sunny Florida early the next evening. We found the drive out of NY to be uneventful we hit I-81 in record time.

Now, we needed to get psyched up for the long and arduous journey through the mountains of PA. While driving we both realized that it was still lent and of course Friday. This meant that we could not just drop into a local Burger King for a quick bite. We decided that we would look for a pizza establishment along the way and take a break from driving. This sounds easier than it actually was. There are no pizza places listed on the highway signs until you reach Mechanicsburg, which is almost to the southern end of PA. Finally, a Pizza Hut. Now although we do not usually get too excited over the thought of Pizza Hut, this was an awesome find. Actually, to make our dining pleasure better for the evening, we found a local pizza shop in the plaza on the way to Pizza Hut. We thought that this would be a better alternative [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] . We could just get a few slices and be on our way. Of course, they did not have any pies ready when we got there. We waited a few minutes for them to bake a fresh one and we killed time looking at the atlas at one of the tables. This was a great find. The locals that came in were very friendly and gave us a few laughs. One man came in with a Disney coat on, which of course gave me the permission that I needed to strike up conversation with him. While we laughed and compared favorite things to do in WDW, while another (drunk?) [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] couple kept chiming in that they just loved Disneyland (they of course meant World but we did not correct them). They told us about the lane closures up ahead on I-81 and told us that we should make an alternative plan to go south on I-95. We listened and thanked them and then went on I-81 anyway…knowing we had a reservation in Harrisonburg, VA, we had no choice to take our chances.

Luck was with us again. The lane closures were very short and there was no traffic so it was smooth sailing. We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton that we booked online and earned mucho points on our Starwood Preferred Card (if you do not have one of these, I recommend it highly. You get points from stays at the Swan and Dolphin as well as other Sheraton, Westin and FourPoints properties…which lead to free nights). The hotel was pretty nice other than the fact that our room overlooked the enclosed pool which was being cleaned at midnight?!? With one call to the front desk the noise subsided and we were off to NeverNeverland in preparation for the final leg of the trip in the morning.

Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 5AM the alarm sounded with some God Awful Twangy Radio Station. We sprang from the bed and turned off the tunes and opted for the Weather Channel so we could find out what was in store for us for the rest of the day. As DW showered, I wrote my notes for this trip on some hotel stationary…..and of course I had to take the pen (you will see that this will become a regular thing of mine throughout our trip.) We were on the road by 6:30 (I can’t believe it took us this long to get out of there…but that is what the notes say so who am I to change history).

We made great time on I-81 to I-77 through the mountains of southern VA. If you ever get the chance to travel I-77 in VA you will be in awe at the beauty of the mountains and the steeeep cliffs. Not to mention the runaway truck ramps that line the side of the mountain. Off to NC. We just love driving through NC on I-77. We especially love the Lake Norman/Charlotte area. We even talked about moving there some day to be closer to WDW (this will become a topic of conversation as we come upon other towns as well.) The drive was uneventful through NC and to I-26 in SC to I-95…….Guess what happens next.

You guessed it…traffic [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] . Of course, it is I-95, we would expect nothing else. This was stand still traffic for almost two hours (20 miles). Once we got to the end of the jam we noticed the cause. I told DW to keep her eyes on the road and I would scope out the cause. It was a horrible accident. The frame of a rig was smoking on the side of the road and the remains of a Toyota 4Runner were on the flatbed of a tow truck. We prayed that everyone was ok but would be amazed if anyone could’ve made it out of that mess.

Upon my calculations, we had 349 miles left to go. We took off to the GA border. We noticed that many of the cars from VA that were passing us had large American flags [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img] posted on the backs of their cars. We felt left out and wanted to buy one for our car but could not find any while we were down there. We arrived in GA at 4PM. They are creating a new welcoming sign with lots of nicely arranged palm trees in SC. We’ll look to see how much they get done while we are in FL for the week. THREE lanes!!! Yipppeeee [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] . We were sailing now. We of course asked each other why more interstates along the way could not be three lanes. We then noticed that the GA exit signs have changed and do not correspond to those in our 2000 atlas. This was also the first time through GA without the swamp smell! Don’t take offense if you are from GA but this smell is more offensive than the cow manure smell that we put up with in NY in the summer.

DW is telling me now to stop babbling and get to the good stuff. Skip ahead to our arrival at Downtown Disney.

We pull up to the Marketplace and find a prime spot directly across the street from the World of Disney store. We walked through the store on our way to eat and noticed some cool things that we would have to come back to buy later in the trip. But now it was fueling time so off to the Portobello Yacht Club [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] for dinner. They seated us pretty quickly in Monika’s section. She was very friendly and Disney-like. What a nice way to start off our trip. Our food was outstanding.

We headed back to the car, as we were now full and ready for some shut-eye. We arrived at the Farifield Inn in Lake Buena Vista (also accepts the Marriott Reward Card for points toward free nights). This was very close to the MarketPlace and extremely clean.

Well off to sleep… be back at 6AM on Sunday morning to move over to the Boardwalk Villas [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img] See you then!!!

[tikibird]

Wow Grumpy,

Sounds like a great adventure so far - can't wait to hear about your arrival in the World!

[sammycat699]

Great start. Can't wait for more.
I can't wait to hear more about your pen adventures. My father was a collector of pens and pencils.

[Mr.Grumpy]

Date: March 22 – April 2, 2002
Adventurers: Grumpy (Joel) & Pooh (Jeanne)
Resort/Hotel: Boardwalk Villas & Walt Disney World Swan
Celebration: Spring 2002, Easter, Grumpy’s Birthday (34)

Monday, March 24, 2002

It is 6AM. Time to get to it. We were up and ready in record time. Now, for the first excitement of the day. I packed the knapsack that we would carry with us through the parks and made certain that the Annual Passes, Camera and Wallets were securely in the bag. That is when I unzipped the section where we store the passes and found $125 in cash. I asked my wife if she put it there before leaving NY and she said NO. So, all we can figure is that it was leftover $$ from our trip to Disney last July. What a surprise! We will justify some of our non-essential spending throughout the upcoming week because of this found money.

The Fairfield Inn serves a free Continental Breakfast so we opted for a quick bagel and juice before heading over to the Boardwalk. Check-in was very fast and the CM was very nice. They treated us like actual Vacation Club Members since we had purchased someone else’s points for our four-day stay. We left the luggage in the car because it was early and we knew that the room would not be ready. Another awesome perk! A parking pass to park anywhere on property for FREE. We decided that we would utilize the pass and head over to the Animal Kingdom. On our way, we noticed that Blizzard Beach’s parking lot was empty. SO, we made a quick U-turn and pulled in. This would be a first for both of us. We were very excited. Since we left the luggage in the car, the bathing suits and rubber sandals were quickly found in the back and off we went. I was in awe at the details at this park. We love to ski and thought the charm of a melting mountain was up our alley. We rented towels and a locker and made a quick change into the appropriate attire. Now what? We have always had an idea of where to go and what to do in all the other parks. We stood and looked at each other and said….”What do we do now?” I have heard about some of the highlights of the park but did not know what to do first. So, we started to walk around and made our way to an entrance to the Lazy River AKA Cross Country Creek. This was as awesome as I thought it would be. We entered across from just before the Tike’s Peak Bridge and came upon the first adventure… The Cave! Now I noticed some people trying not to get wet by heading toward the center of the entrance. I commented to my wife that I would head right for the falls and get the full effect. I got it all right. Jeanne tried very hard not to get her hair wet at first and soon realized that there was no way to survive the day without getting soaked. She enjoyed the river more than I thought at first. As I went through the cave, I began belting out the words to Yo, Ho! Yo, Ho! A Pirate’s Life for Me. Others began to join in as I moved on my journey around the park. We lazily floated along in the warm Florida sun. Remember it was 30 degrees back in NY when we left a day and a half ago. I loved the touches to the landscape along this river such as the Sneezing House and the huge bubbles that float up from under the river. Then we began to smell the most wonderful aroma…It was those warm cinnamon sugar donuts that we have discussed on the boards. We knew that we would be trying these babies before the day was out. We made it back to our starting point and decided that we were ready to explore the park a bit further. So we went up the mountain to Teamboat Springs. They gave us a whole raft to ourselves. This was nice. We headed down and thought it would never end. This is the longest water ride that I have ever been on. It was terrific and not too adventurous for my wife that was weary at first due to the fact that she had back surgery a few years back. This ride did not bother her in the least. We enjoyed the view from the top of the mountain as well. We saw the Tree of life at AK and some bright orange things that we would later identify when we toured that park. We were also able to see Spaceship Earth and Tower of Terror. We knew that this was a great choice of parks to visit first. The anticipation was growing to experience everything again.

Anyway, we went over to Runoff Rapids. This was a great ride as well. We noticed that at the top everyone was going to the middle and the far right. The lines were congested, so we opted for the far left. Terrific ride. Again, Jeanne was a bit leery of riding but found this to be a good choice as well. We rode again and then I decided that I needed to find out if the right side was different. It wasn’t any different in my opinion. However, I realized why everyone was lining up to ride the middle tube. It was enclosed and dark. I loved this ride. There are small amounts of light that illuminate parts of this ride. It reminded me of the flashing tube that you travel through at the beginning of Space Mountain. Awesome.

We decided to ride the Cross Country Creek over to Lottawatta Lodge for lunch. At this point, I gave Jeanne some $$ to go get those donuts for dessert and I stood in the line for my all time favorite WDW fast food…Crispy Chicken Strips. Jeanne had a pizza. The Donuts were indescribable. They were the best and my mouth is watering as I post this report.

After lunch, we split up so I could ride some more of the more adventurous rides that Jeanne did not feel she could do without hurting her back. She shopped! I rode! I did the Snow Stormers and Toboggan Racers first. These were a lot of fun. You lay on your belly and go down headfirst. This reminded me of my childhood years, as I would go over snow jumps on my plastic snow sled. Then, I saw a line forming at the Downhill Double Dipper, so I thought this would be better than waiting in an even longer line later as the park was beginning to get crowded. This was also fun. You race another person down a slide on an inflated tube. This ride really books. I skipped across the pool at the bottom and went back up for another race. By the time I returned, the line was extremely long so I passed on a second turn.

I got back into the Cross Country Creek and looked for Jeanne. As it turned out we must have missed each other as I went around the first time but I was spotted and summoned to exit after 2 1/1 laps. I was beginning to burn anyway. I did not apply sunscreen that morning to most of my body. I had applied to my face as we first thought we would just go to one of the four major parks. Big mistake! I changed and went to return our locker key and was told that I could get our $2.00 deposit back or get a souvenir mug. I opted for the mug. What a great touch. I stopped at the phones and called to see if the room was available and it was Room 1087 BWV. We decided to go to the hotel and bring in the bags. We spent 6 hours at BB 9-3pm! What a great time.

I pulled up and had bell services bring the bags in as I parked. Before I returned to the room, the bags were in, Jeanne tipped the bellhop and he was gone. Quick and efficient! He told Jeanne that Mariano Rivera (NY Yankees) was visiting and staying in the hotel when he saw that we were from NY. I of course was on the look out for the next week but never actually saw him but we did see someone that I will mention later when we get to the part about breakfast at Boma.
We called up to the Concierge floor to see if Jackie (from NJ) was working so we could say hi. She was an integral part of making our honeymoon trip so special a few years ago. We always like to say hi when we get to Disney. She was very glad we called and told us that she would arrange for us to meet later in the week as she was very busy today (maybe Mariano was there?!?!). We told her to give us a call if she could but not to worry about it if she couldn’t. We just wanted to say hi and tell her that we were thinking of her. She is one of the most awesome parts of the Boardwalk. I hope they know that there. I think they do.

The room was beautiful. We had a king sized bed with a pale blue quilt upon it. The couch was a soft blue and white design. The mirror was oversized. The small table had two high back wooden chairs with rattan seats. Inside the armoire was the TV (which of course was immediately turned in to WDW TV). There was a comfortable easy chair near the sliding glass door that also sported a soft blue and white patchwork print. The curtains were dominated with boardwalk typical scenes including Ferris Wheels and folks strolling along. The wall prints included a framed picture of a beach chair and umbrella and then my favorite. The Disney Boardwalk from the perspective of someone sitting on a balcony near the ESPN Club looking toward JellyRolls. All this sounds wonderful and it was…except we have now been in the room for nearly two hours and the AC does not seem to be working. So we call down to Guest Services and they told us that they would get someone to our room shortly. We informed them that we would head out to a park and they could get it up and running while we were out. Sounded like a great plan. We wished! (I’ll get back to this after telling about our first night at in the parks.

We walked from the Boardwalk to the International Gateway and entered the back side of Epcot and shopped in a few stores on our way to the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Sounds like a long way to go but we love this. We feel like we are part of the action this way. As we casually strolled through Future World we discussed our adventures so far at BB and looked with anticipation to MK. We stopped at the Leave a Legacy stones to see if we could find someone that I work with but then realized that I failed to bring the location with us. So, we saved that for another day.

We left the main entrance of Epcot and boarded the monorail. Por favor man tengan, se allejados de las puertas. Now I am really here! We listened and recited the speech played on the monorail. Switched over to the MK train and arrived soon there after. We got our bags searched rather quickly and entered to the left of the train station. We made it up to the castle in time for the new Cinderella Surprise Celebration. This was a terrific show. We loved the number of characters that were included and the depth of the story. I loved the use of the castle as a stage. I have never seen character come out up on the castle. Cinderella, Peter Pan, Captain Hook… awesome touch. Donald Duck was very funny during this show as well. I am gaining a new found appreciation for him. We walked on to Liberty Square after the show and noticed that Hall of Presidents was closed already for the night. Haunted Mansion had a 50-minute wait. It’s a small world was packed so we opted for leaving and finding a place to eat. Maybe a MK Resort restaurant? We stopped at City Hall and could not be seated at Narcoossee’s, California grill or Citrico’s….so we took a PS at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. We missed the boat to the WL so we had to wait for the next one. We chatted with the CMs that were on the dock. One of the CMs was especially funny.

We arrived with plenty of time to spare so we checked out the lobby as usual and checked out the store. We checked in early and were seated almost immediately. Now everyone that we talk to tells us how much they love this restaurant. We have tried to eat here in the past and have never found anything on the menu to be appealing. We were determined that this would be the trip to go and we would “find” something. I loved the wine list. We loved the bread and the garlic butter. I got adventurous and tried the Corn Chowder, which was ok but not something I would order again. Jeanne had a shrimp appetizer that she thought had a “strange” spice on it. Oh no! Appetizers that we were not overly pleased with. What would our meals be like? We discussed that we should keep an open mind as Tim and Cruella love it here and so does Lois a former colleague. I ordered the filet mignon, which was very dry, and Jeanne’s scallops had the same “strange” spice on them that the shrimp appetizer did. The service was ok but not the best. When the bill came we decided that we could have enjoyed similarly priced meals at our favorite Disney restaurants. Now just to set the record straight, we are VERY Picky eaters. Don’t let our impression sway you if you have never tried it. It is a beautiful restaurant and has received all the awards. We caught a boat back to the MK with a quick stop at FWC.

We went over and caught a bus to the Boardwalk and fell asleep on the way back. This was one long day. Now for the really bad news… the AC was not fixed and it was 10:30PM. Jackie had sent us a nice tray of fruit and had our table set for a nice little romantic snack….but it was stifling in there. We immediately called downstairs to tell them of the problem. They transferred us to Engineering, who told us that they just fixed it and we needed to wait a bit for the cool air to fill the room. We waited 45 minutes and there was still no relief. I called the front desk again. I was a bit upset and annoyed at this point but did not want it to ruin our vacation. I talked with Alisha (manager) and she assured me that Tony would be up immediately. Tony arrived and did not leave until 1:30 in the morning. Luckily the Oscars were on TV so we wanted to stay up or this would have gotten really annoying. Still no fix. They were going to move us to the Boardwalk Inn for the night but told us that we would have to move back to the Villas in the morning. We were already unpacked and did not want to do that. We wanted to be moved for the remainder of the trip but this would not be possible. They offered to give us a smoking one bedroom—however, we had to decline based on the fact that my allergies were already flaring due to the flowers. AHHHHH! They brought up two floor fans and we slept on to p of the blankets. Tony told us that there was a big problem with the AC and that they would need to work on it the next day. Not a great way to end the day, however, it was better than being in NY in 30 degree weather. We slept soundly because exhaustion soon set in. The room situation will get better tomorrow. For now though, I am going to sign off and hope that I can sleep while I have all this on my mind.

[PS - I LUV WDW]

Great report so far! Since I am also a picky eater, I am glad to hear your thoughts on the restaurant. Glad to hear you enjoyed BB. We have been only once and that was only 2 days after the opening of the park. I think it will be time to go again soon.

[minnievoice]

Great report! Can't wait to read more!

[Mr.Grumpy]

LauraBelle-
We have looked online at the cost of housing in the Lake Norman area and see that it is pretty high. Similar to our area in NY. It is all a pipedream at this point but it is always nice to dream. Ten hours from WDW...can't be beat unless your are 10 minutes....say in Celebration?!??

[LauraBelle V. Hime]

Great report, Joel, keep it coming! [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img]

We've traveled the I-88 and then I-77 route many times, since our daughter lives in Charlotte. It is a beautiful drive. If you seriously are considering moving there, do some thorough research. The cost of living is high in and around Charlotte. But then again, it's only about a 10 hour drive to WDW!

I too am a picky eater, so it's really hard for me to critique the food also.

[DisneyNutMary]

Great Report Joel!

The A/C situation stinks, too bad they didn't have a room similar to the one you were in to move you to.

That whole I-81 and I-77 thing...are those roads quicker? and would that work from NYC, because I really hate I-95 but it's the only way I know [img]graemlins/pout.gif[/img]

Can't wait to read more so keep it coming! [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img]

[Mr.Grumpy]

From NYC - I would go over the GWB (80West) into Jersey and hook up with 287 to 78 into PA and then 78 to 81S - the mileage is more but the traffic is 1/2 and we have found although we drive further we are in the car less (don't get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on Jersey turnpike and through Washington.

There have to be other ways as well. We have taken a few local roads in the Washington area to save time as well. Another alternative through Washington is the Baltimore - Washington Expressway (which can be quicker even though the speed limit is lower).

[Mr.Grumpy]

Almost done with the next installment! I have to finish my report cards this weekend for my students and then I will type away!!! [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img]

[tikibird]

Mr. Grumpy,

Thanks for the update - we're anxiously awaiting the next chapter! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pjpoohbear]

Happily awaiting more, first paragraph got you into "Our Magic Book", Leaving 15th May hope to have a full report. Will read as a whole on plane ride. Love, Penny

[Ursunique2001]

Well it was not a perfect day, but hopefully everything worked out better the next day. I sure hope that the Disney did something extra special for you two since you had to sweat it all night.

Oh and it is nice when you get unexpected money, isn't it! Looking forward to reading more.

Ursula

[iloverags2]

You're killin' me here with suspense! Who did you see at breakfast???

Love the day at BB! Guess maybe you should've camped out in one of the snowbanks there for the evening? (Sorry, couldn't resist!)