Early Christmas Gift - Day 4 About This Page:

[MargaretJ]

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

Day 4 – Saturday December 7, 2002

Once more Mickey is on the phone waking us up. We decided to go back to Magic Kingdom today thinking it would not be crowded since everyone was at MVMCP last night. Boy were we wrong. They were filming the Christmas Parade today so Main Street was a zoo. The rest of the park was not too bad so we took advantage and road as many rides as we could before heading to Animal Kingdom to eat at Rainforest Café for lunch. We ended up driving to Animal Kingdom Lodge & then riding the bus to Animal Kingdom. I had bid on $50.00 worth of RFC gift certificates on E-bay & won the bid at $35.00 – what a deal. We only ended up spending about $35.00 so the waiter ended up giving us change back from the $40.00 I gave him & we still have $10.00 for our next trip.
I was still not feeling well for some reason so we decided to check out the decorations at Animal Kingdom Lodge & Wilderness Lodge. Both of these resorts are just incredible. I would love to stay at Wilderness Lodge at Christmas. It just looks so inviting & warm to me. Back to the resort for a short rest before we head over to Fantasia to play miniature golf. We played the side that is supposed to be close to playing real golf & I have to tell you it was difficult. I lost big time to my son & he so enjoyed laughing at me each time my ball went into a sand trap.
We had planned on meeting up with some Disney internet friends who were having dinner at Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) just to say hello & then head over to Epcot. Of course once we saw the group (LindaB, Bruce, Duchess, Terry, Mellany, Rich, PammyK & 2 of her aunts ) we ended up staying for dinner. I was afraid Matt would not eat anything on the menu but he said he wanted to try the Tenderloin with Macaroni & Cheese. It was awesome, you did not even need a steak knife to cut it. I was really feeling badly now so only ordered an appetizer & did not finish most of it. After dinner we head back to the resort & I knew that unless I improved quickly we would be leaving tomorrow. Unfortunately I did not improve & ended up getting up very early the next day to tell Matt that we were going to have to leave. He was very understanding & worried about me. Disney was great & credited back a night’s stay to us without me even asking. The drive back to Atlanta seemed to take forever as I had to stop at every rest stop. We never did get the rental car back that we had to trade in, because when I called late Friday it was not fixed & they did not know what was wrong with it. I told them that even if they got it fixed I was not driving it back to Atlanta. I stood my ground on this as I did not want to worry about the car all the way back. They finally agreed to let me keep the trade in car & said they would be responsible for getting the 1st car back to Atlanta. It did return to Atlanta 1 week later & still had my Apartment clicker in it.
Even with the cold temperatures, the crowds at MVMCP, the rain & my not feeling well this was a great trip. Matt & I are now official Disney snobs. OK I was before but before I was a Value or Moderate snob now Matt thinks we have to stay at a Deluxe resort on each trip. I think so too but unfortunately by bank account does not always agree. We are now in the process of planning our summer trip so we can get the last use out of our Annual Passes & for the 1st 5 days of our 10-day trip we are taking some 1st timers & staying at Coronado Springs. If all goes as planned the 2nd 5 days we can become Deluxe snobs again as we are hoping to stay at the Beach Club.

[tikibird]

Margaret,

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! Sorry that you had to cut it short, but sounds other than than not feeling the greatest and the car problem, that you had a nice, laid back time while you were there.

You make the Boardwalk sound very appealing - I will have to check it out next trip! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Thanks again for taking the time to write this up for us - I enjoyed reading it! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Mouseketeer]

Hi Margaret! Enjoyed your trip report. It's a shame you had to cut your visit short, but at least you have another trip to look forward to.

And good for you for sticking to your guns with the rental car company!

Lynda

[jakenjess]

I really enjoyed your trip report, Margaret. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] It sounds like you had a great time. Sorry you weren't feeling well at the end. We saw the Boardwalk for the first time on our last trip, and it looked gorgeous. I'd love to stay there someday. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Thanks for sharing!

[Teddysmom]

So sorry you had to leave early. That is so sad. You kept up a great attitude with all that went wrong. At least you are going back fairly soon. Great Report.

[Mel & Richard]

That's too bad that you had to leave early, but I guess planning another trip so soon makes it all ok. I enjoyed reading your report! Looking forward to the next one too. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mel

[ 01-22-2003, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: Mel & Richard ]

[TINKN]

Great final installment! What a bummer to have to go home early. You'll have to make up for it this summer.