Early Christmas Gift - Day 2 About This Page:

[MargaretJ]

Who – MargaretJ & son Matt
Why – Christmas Gift
When – December 4-9, 2002
Where – Disney Boardwalk Inn

Day 2 – Thurs December 5, 2002

Up at 730a to the sound of the phone. I usually put on speaker so we can both hear Mickey greeting us. We take quick showers & then head to the Food Court for breakfast. The good thing about driving is you can take more stuff & since we have stayed at the other All Stars many times we brought our mugs even though we knew we would only use once. Breakfast was pretty good, we both got the egg platter but we seemed to eat very fast today. I guess we were ready to hit The Boardwalk. We have stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge & Wilderness Lodge but this will be our 1st time at what I truly consider the deluxe resorts. We are huge Epcot fans so this location is perfect for us. We drive to The Boardwalk & tell the Valet that we are going to see if the room is ready before we unpack the car. WOW what a beautiful resort anytime but at Christmas time is it gorgeous. Matt is busy taking pictures while I check in. Check-in was fast & efficient & our room was ready at 9a. We were given a water view on the 5th floor that overlooked the courtyard & had a beautiful view of the Yacht Club & the Swan & Dolphin. Oh my gosh this resort is more beautiful than I thought. Bags in the room we decide to hit Downtown Disney before going to the Parks.
First stop was the new A Toy Store, this was a really fun store. I enjoyed seeing all of the Monorail items set up & running in one of the rooms & loved the area set aside for Mr. Potato Head. You could buy kits already made, Disney accessories or you could package your own Disney Mr. Potato Head. I believe it was $16.00 to stuff as many parts into a box. We ended up doing just this for my nephew. I got quite a bit in the box but was surprised as how much some people were trying to jam in. You have to be able to close the box & there was no way some of these people would be able to even come close. We made our way through the various stores, Disney Christmas, the New Pin Shop, World of Disney & Team Mickey leaving money all the way. We spot Ghirardelli’s & have to stop for a couple of Chocolate Shakes because shopping is hard & it is HOT today. I wished all day that I had on shorts.
We head back to the resort with our stash of packages & I learned the joy of Valet Parking. It was great, I think I can stand this staying at a Deluxe Resort & having the car brought to me in a matter of minutes. We head downstairs & decide to grab lunch at the Spoodles window before heading to Epcot. Matt had a couple of slices of the pizza & I had their Greek Salad. Both items were very tasty & the salad was only $5.00, a deal I thought. We ended up buying only 1 mug since our stay was so short but got good use out of it. Into Epcot now where we made our way around the countries to hear The Storytellers & do a bit of shopping. Matt bought himself a very nice Sterling Silver necklace in Italy that was very reasonable & I think he only takes it off to shower. We also take in a show with Off Kilter in Canada. They are such a great act. Before we head back to the resort for a short rest Matt has to ride Test Track. We almost always go the Single Riders line so we were on & done in about 15-20 minutes. Back to the resort to rest a bit in our beautiful room. We decided that Thursday might be a better night to see the Osborne Lights than Friday would be so off to Disney Studios we went. The boat ride there is very nice but you really could walk faster I think. We hit a few attractions & visited One Man’s Dream (I love this attraction) before grabbing a quick bite at Backlot Express. By the time dinner was done Osborne Lights had been opened at least 45 minutes so the crowds were not bad at all. You could actually walking freely from one side of the street to the other & take pictures. We missed Fantasmic but have seen it a few times before so were not too unhappy. We leave the Park just at closing time because it looks like rain & thought we could catch a boat & be back before the rains hit. No such luck, the line for the boat was longer than any line I had seen at Disney so we ended up walking. About ½ way back the rain started & then all of a sudden it began to pour. We ended up following 2 couples who entered Boardwalk Villas through a side door. We were all soaked but were glad to be out of the rain & actually in our resort. Well I think we were at The Boardwalk. I have never had to walk so far from where we entered until we got to the lobby. I would hate to have a room that far away. What a trek. Once back in our room Matt decides he has to go to the Bakery for a little snack. He brought back a huge, delicious piece of Chocolate Cake with 2 forks. That’s my boy.

[Teddysmom]

I'm enjoying your reporting and how sweet is your son sharing his chocolate cake. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]