A Much Needed Vacation - Disney/Universal - Old Key West-w/picture link- Updated Grand Finale added About This Page:

[Smiley]

Friday morning, January 30, 2004 my father drives to Bourne, MA to pick up our rental minivan from ALAMO rental. We rented a Pontiac Montana… very spacious and roomy… Plenty of room for the four of us to ride comfortably, plenty of backseat leg room, and the last set of seats fold down nicely for tons of packing space.



He drives to CT, where everything is packed and ready for him and Jordan to load the van….



We wait for Joe’s arrival from work. A little after 4pm we are off to the Alamo in Bradley Airport to add Joe and I as drivers of the rental. A little after 5:30pm we are off and running…



While on the road we had a few “run ins” with “Jeepers Creepers.” “Jeepers Creepers” was a raggedy car carrying truck… The one with two layers of cars. The last car on the bottom was a beat up maroon minivan, the back drivers side tire was flat and the bumper on that same side was crunched… The minivan was bouncing up and down and it seemed that the injury to the bumper may have happened while on the car carrier. There was also a chain tied to the center back of the carrier that was dragging causing lots of sparks.



We passed Jeepers Creepers at least 4 times, each time he always appeared back in front of us… We past him just before running into construction moving onto a roadway of 2 narrow lanes lined with Jersey barriers. As the construction ended he miraculously appeared in front of us… How did he get there?



The last time that we passed him, I turned to look up to see what he looked like, but the way the shadows cast onto the cab of the truck I could not see inside… Spooky….



Other points of the drive was interesting as we noticed the differences in the weather, the vegetation, the signage and whatnot… We knew we were getting closer as we started seeing palm trees somewhere around Georgia, where it was still rather cold and the locals seem to need signs to let them know that the roads ice up in the winter? What is up with that? We also learned interesting things on the drive such as there seems to be some sort of waffle addiction from Maryland south as there was a Waffle House at nearly every exit and rest stop. The signs for the Waffle House were huge glowing yellow squares with thick black lettering that glowed brightly like bug lights high over the city and countryside… They were everywhere! We made sure not to stop there to hopefully help prevent the addiction from moving too far north. Lol!



We drove straight through stopping for fuel for the minivan and us, as well as bathroom breaks. We didn’t stop too often and although we ran into some delays in New York traffic and the last stretch of Florida, due to dark rainy weather, we managed to slip onto our exit as Route 4 was being shut down due to at least 2 accidents (we saw them just after they happened) and a down power line. We were so lucky as we heard on the news after checking in that Route 4 would be closed to at least 2am because of the high voltage line being down…



As we turned into the Old Key West Resort on Saturday evening a woman came out to greet us and check to see who we were. Upon confirming that we were checking in she said, “Welcome Home!” I almost cried, realizing that we were actually at Disney!!!



We drove up to the Hospitality House ready to check in as I called earlier to add on an extra night. I had originally booked us for Sunday, not knowing if we were going to be able to drive straight through, and did not have any problems adding an additional night. We had a couple of small problems upon checking in, one of which may have been due to lines being down as they would not accept my check for a code reason that no one had ever heard of before… I ended up paying a split of my debit card and cash and did not have a problem with my debit card (from my same checking account, but I have a daily limit on it to prevent anyone from emptying my account). Thankfully Joe (my bf) had come in with me and I could have used his credit card in case of an emergency. We knew the money was in there, but being over a thousand miles away from the bank there was only so much that we could do. It was quickly and easily resolved, and more embarrassing than anything, but also a reminder to be prepared for anything.



We found our room, checked all of our key cards and walked in…



OMG!!!! The place was HUGE!!!!!



We walked in the door that opened up into a huge kitchen, dining room, living room area… There was a full sized refrigerator/freezer with ice maker, microwave oven, regular oven, flat topped counter type electric stove, dishwasher, toaster, coffee maker, blender, double sinks with garbage disposal, dishes, glasses, pots and pans with paper towels, fresh sponge and dish soap for the sink and dishwasher with trash in the bottom cupboards for regular and recyclables. The counter space was amazing! If the wall counter space wasn’t enough there was also an Island counter top which nicely hid a large screen TV and DVD player. Facing the TV was a full sized couch that opened to a queen sized bed, a love seat, two end tables with a telephone and lamps, an oversized comfy chair with hassock and large coffee table. Moving over there is a large kitchen table and chairs… There was a ceiling fan and all sorts of lights and light switches. To the left of the table was glass doors that led to the outside balcony which was huge with a table and chairs and lighted ceiling fan. Yes, a ceiling fan outside!!!!



Moving back towards the front door on the right was a door that lead to a bedroom with two queen sized beds, with night stands, phone, a ceiling fan, TV, chest of drawers and small table with chairs. This opened up to a outer bathroom with sink and mirror and large closet that had another door to the inner bathroom with tub and shower, toilet and another sink and mirror with a hair dryer on the wall…



Exiting this room and crossing the hallway, there was a door to the right with a washer and dryer, iron and ironing board. Beyond this was another door which was a small closet with a vacuum cleaner, and something else that I cannot recall…



Further on was the master bedroom with a king sized bed, a ceiling fan, end tables, telephone, chest of drawers, TV, a separate door that opened onto the balcony (the one with the outdoor ceiling fan… I just cannot get over that! Lol!). The master bedrooms inner bathroom had a huge whirlpool tub… Ooooooooohhhh I soooo miss that tub and could go for a soak in that right now… a sink a huge closet with a safe, extra pillows and blankets and a baby crib. There was a further door to the inner bathroom with a full countered sink with mirror and hair dryer, toilet, and a huge walk in shower (The shower door was a small single door and not made to be wheelchair accessible - the other bathroom had an assist bar in the shower). The flooring in all of the bathroom areas was beautifully tiled, and very slippery when wet… You should trust me on this one!



Every room was simply and nicely decorated with different types of shelving, sea shells, paintings and photos… It was big and beautiful. The entire villa was much larger than our actual home, and we could only imagine how large the Grand Villa would be!



As Joe, Jordan, and my Dad emptied the van contents into our home for the week I called Randy’s Mobility to have my scooter delivered. It was delivered first thing in the morning, and was fantabulous! I was able to drive it onto the Disney buses and monorail as well as have it disassembled to use in the van for our Universal trip.



It was really too dark and rainy to see much of anything coming up to our room the night before so when we awoke Joe and I went out exploring while my father and Jordan (13 year old ds) got themselves ready for the day. Looking around the resort, we thought that it was gorgeous! Palm trees everywhere lining the streets… A HUGE heated pool (we were told that the pools are kept heated to 85 degrees throughout Disney) at the Hospitality House, a sauna in the bottom of a lighthouse that actually lit up at night, a work out room with treadmills (not that anyone would need one of those in Disney!) and all sorts of work out equipment and weights, a restaurant, gift shop, take out restaurant window, a game room (where Joe and I stopped to play ping pong for a bit… Although I always managed to hit the ball it was hard to tell where it would end up…hahahah! I had to try and hit with a lot less force and a lot more control… hehehe!), showers and bathrooms for the pool area, tons of lounge chairs, and a window to pick up towels for the pool or rent DVDs, and different sorts and sizes of bicycles and boats… So much to do just here!!!!! Where to start???

[Mitzi&Kevin]

Sounds like a great start to your much needed vacation. I wonder how that truck kept appearing in front of you, you're right VERY creepy. Can't wait to read about the rest of the trip.

Mitzi

[Colexis Mom]

Great start I know all about those Waffle Houses. Do a lot of business travel in SC Glad to here OKW was wonderful, and can't wait to read the rest of your report

[Smiley]

Those Waffle Houses must do one heck of a business to have so many of them!!!

I uploaded some pictures from my digital camera to a picture trail for you all to see... I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, and I have some on disposable cameras that I need to have developed.

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...&members=1

PART 2 OF THE TRIP REPORT:

We go back to our room, where Jordan and my Dad were ready to go. There was a message waiting for us that the Hoop Dee Doo that we had scheduled for that night had been cancelled…. We decided to back up to the Hospitality House. From there we hopped on a Disney Bus to Downtown Disney.

We strolled along Downtown Disney, stopping at the Magic Shop where we saw a couple of card tricks. From there we went over to Disney Quest…. Jordan loved Disney Quest… We were there for hours…. His favorite part was a Pirates of the Caribbean ride/game that he went on several times and got Joe so involved in it that he went on it 3 times with Jordan and another man there with his son…. There was so much to do there, that it was incredible. It was my least favorite of all that we did on the trip, but mostly because there wasn’t a lot that I could do there, not being able to stand for long periods of time.

We had lunch at Disney Quest, which was the Cheesecake Factory Express… I was disappointed as I love the Cheesecake Factory in Boston, MA and as this was an Express restaurant they did not have the wonderful salads that I thought that they would have, so I kind of set myself up for that one… What we did have was good though…

My father got a little adventurous at DQ and decided to Jump in the back of the raft with Jordan and go on a virtual white water rafting ride through a treacherous jungle filled with prehistoric dinosaurs! They were both given paddles with wheels and placed in front of a screen in a raft on a section of inflatable “water.” The way that they paddled was the way that the raft went… The ride was rough and a couple of times I thought for sure that my Dad was going to be tossed overboard! Lol! It ws sooooo funny watching them! I think my father laughed the entire trip, which they “virtually” did not survive.

We stayed at DQ well after dinner time… Jordan would have stayed longer, but once we had decided to leave he didn’t want to go anywhere else, so he and my Dad went back to the room to have dinner while Joe and I wandered around downtown for a bit and decided to hop a bus to the Contemporary Resort to see if we could be seated at the California Grill.

After the slight head rush from the speeding elevator to the 15th floor we were treated to quite a view!!! We were too late to witness the fireworks in Magic Kingdom, but the view of the castle changing colors all night was something to see… Absolutely incredible… That being said, the magic of the California Grill stopped at the view… I know that lots of people rave about this place, and it is possible that it was an off night, but both Joe and I thought that the food was just passable… Certainly not worth the extravagant price!!! We both ordered the potato soup, then I ordered a scallop dish and he ordered fish… For desert I opted for the special chocolate cake that had to be ordered 30 minutes ahead of time for it to be prepared… I am sorry but it was terrible! I cannot recall when Joe ordered for desert… I would not go back there for anything but the view. We both would have preferred to have gone back to our room for a tuna sandwich, but I think that if I hadn’t had been able to try this restaurant I would have felt like I had missed out on something…

We hopped a bus back home to Old Key West and I promptly ran the water for the whirlpool (that I wish I could right now!) and finally figured out that the button to push was actually the silver thing that looked like a stud and was not really a button at all and all I had to do is touch it… I quickly realized that if the “button” was not dry (I turned it on with wet hands) that any water left on it would activate it on and off… hahaha! The tub worked out especially well for me with my back as it had a higher seat area to sit in first and then I could go from that position into the bottom of the tub. Because of the tiles I would recommend laying out a towel on the steps so that there would not be a slipping problem when exiting the tub.

The next morning we got up and were off to Universal… We didn’t get there as early as I wanted, as it seemed even in the magical place of a Disney Resort my 13 year old son still thought that sleeping in was a good idea and did not like to get up in the morning…

If you do decide to go to Universal and had not purchased your tickets ahead of time, I want to tell you that there are ATM type machines to the right of the ticket windows where you can purchase your tickets with a credit card. The lines at the ticket windows were very long at this time of the day, and there were only 1 or 2 people waiting for each machine.

The first fun thing was the people mover… For anyone that hasn’t seen it, from the side it may appear to be a very long area for an escalator but it is actually flat, like the people movers on the Jetson’s cartoon. Jordan decided to race me running on that moving twice as fast as I popped my scooter up to full speed, which was pretty darn fast! The race was close and I think that I won on the way in and he won later on on the way out.

The day was nice and warm and Universal was great! It was Monday, there was not many people there, no lines, and we went on everything we wanted including going on Men In Black 3 times (once and then later on twice in a row). Men In Black was a ride where you try and shoot aliens and you get points… Also the aliens and the people in the car beside you can shoot at you making the car spin around really fast like the old Tilt-a-Whirls… The Tilt-a-Whirls were always my favorite as a kid, and this ride was my favorite here…

We went on rides such as:
Jaws - This was kinda fun, a boat ride where we had to try to outrun and hide from Jaws, who we eventually fried with the high power line in the water…It was kinda corny lol!

Twister - this was a good one… more of a show than a ride, something that we all enjoyed… There was lots of rain and wind and a cow actually flew by!!!

Earthquake - this was a good one too… pretty realistic we thought. We were in a subway station during an earthquake and the place literally shook and fell apart! They did a good job on this one.

ET - an old one, but still an OK ride with a great view of the stars in the sky as we flew up in our bicycles with ET in the front basket.

The Terminator 3D show was excellent! I just love how they mix it up with real people and the show… There is a part where the people are on stage and they get into an elevator that brings them into the movie.. It is just so cool….

We had lunch at this little seafood place, Captain Quints, which is supposed to mimic a place on Martha’s Vineyard. Having grown up on the edge of the Cape and been to Martha’s Vineyard, I sincerely hope that people don’t think that the seafood tastes like that. I know it is park food, but I figured that being in an ocean state that the seafood would be of the fresh variety… Oh, well… It was quickly forgotten when we had dinner at Emeril’s in Downtown Universal. Yes, Emeril’s as in the Emeril from Fall River, MA with his own cooking show… BAM!

We have NEVER been to anything even closely resembling such a place… It was beyond fantabulous!!! EMERIL’S IS A MUST DO!!! Since it is located in Downtown Universal, there is no park admission required… Even if there was, it would be worth it! Seriously worth it!

I had made reservations a couple months prior to this day and they were ready for us with a table… We were directed to a table and the napkins were literally placed in our laps for us!

I ordered a drink called an espresso martini… Oooooo baby was it good! I was told that it was guaranteed to bring you up and knock you down at the same time, and it was soo true…

I had seafood stew which was mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp and fish in this wonderfully flavorful sauce with what could only be describes as toasted herbs… OMG… You just cannot imagine how wonderfully flavorful and delicious it was! Joe had a halibut entree, Jordan ordered what he later described as the best Caesar salad in the world, and my Dad enjoyed a plank salmon dish.

It was all just too good to be true!!!

Let me tell you that the total presentation was incredible… When they delivered the meals, 2 waiters came out and all four plates were placed on the table simultaneously. There was a table behind us with 10 people dining and five waiters came out and placed the plates down simultaneously in front of them, it was like a big show just delivering the food to the table!

Joe got up during his meal and a waiter came behind him and folded up his napkin and placed it neatly beside his plate… There was always someone there to make sure that the presentation of all of the tables was perfect, but they were never invasive or made you feel uncomfortable…

At one point I was joking to my son that he better not make any crumbs or someone would come over with a little broom and sweep off the table, and I swear I had no idea that they had these little things that would do just that!!!!

Between our meals and desert our waters were removed and replaced with fresh cold ice waters in glasses that were still warm from being washed.

Joe had the signature desert of banana cream pie, and although my caramel cheesecake was delightful his banana cream pie was so amazing that I wished that I had ordered that as well… Next time I will do just that… Jordan also had the caramel cheesecake and my father ordered the Oreo Pie, which he thoroughly enjoyed. I will make reservations to visit Emeril’s at the beginning and end of my next trip.

The pricing of Emeril’s was a bit pricey, but still cheaper than the California Grill and the Brown Derby at Disney. I have to tell you that if we had to eat box lunches all week even to afford one meal at Emeril’s it would be more than worth it… Even my 13 year old has not stopped talking about it! Just to give you an idea of the cost, my seafood stew was $28, the plank salmon was $26, the halibut was $36 and the entrée Caesar Salad was $9. The deserts were between $7 and $8 each…. I have to tell you again that the food was just soooooo fantabulous! I wish I could hop in my car and head over there right now!

Jordan lost his disposable camera somewhere in Universal Studios and I wish that I had written his name and my cell phone number on it… I will have to make a note of this for next trip.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great installment Your pictures were great!! Sorry you had an off nite at California Grill, but sounds like Emeril's more than made up for it Looking forward to more

[luvnwdwgal]

Great updates! Your meal at Emeril's sounded awesome!!

[Smiley]

Yes, Emeril's was AWESOME!!!!

I added a few more photo's to Picture Trail for you all!

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...&members=1

Part 3

Tuesday morning I had planned to get up early and go off to MGM… We did go to MGM, but it was so much later than I had hoped and things were going so wrong that I decided to go back home to Old Key West after lunch at the Brown Derby. I had such a hard time getting Joe out of bed that when I couldn’t get the covers off of him, I grabbed the squeeze bottle of water by my bedside and started squeezing!!! Hahahaah! It ended in a water fight, and when all was said and done he was up, and I was on to the next room to get two more up…

When we first arrived everyone seemed to be dragging as we walked around and looked at different things… I pulled us all into a little shop, The Writer’s Stop, and purchased coffees, a hot chocolate, and cookies for us all. The cookies were amazingly good!! One each was more than enough and we will have to go back there again… I had the white chocolate raspberry… Mmmmmmmmm….

We did get a chance to see the Muppet 3D show, which was great! Jordan and my father hopped on the Star Tours for a bumpy ride that they both enjoyed and then we all sat down to watch, but mostly listen to a Drew Carey Sound Show that none of us got… At one point almost everyone started laughing and none of us understood why.. Did anyone ever go to this show and get it? My cousin told me that it was an old show, which was probably why we didn’t really enjoy it… I would certainly count this one as the waste of time of the trip…

We had scheduled an early lunch at the Brown Derby. Although our PS was at 11am, they didn’t officially open until 11:30. The woman at the desk gave me one of the lighted up beepers and we went to a show next door, which we had to leave because the thing started beeping so loudly that I knew it had to be disturbing others… It was odd as it was just a couple minutes after 11, so we went back and were told that we had gone out of range. We were only a few feet away and didn’t know that there was a range, and I had wished that I hadn’t had accepted it as now the show had already started, we were too embarrassed to go back so we sat and waited and then ate…

Our server had a Mouse in training, I think that it was she called him, who spilled a drink down Joe’s back… lol! It wasn’t too bad and they apologized profusely and then gave him a voucher to get a new shirt anywhere in the park that he wanted.

Three of us chose the Cobb Salad and Joe chose the Chicken Orecchiette. The food was OK, really nothing special, we thought… The server did give us the recipe for the Cobb Salad on a Brown Derby hat card that was pretty cute… It looks like an awful lot of work, and I probably won’t be making it, but it was so thoughtful of her to offer it.

After lunch we shopped for a bit and then hopped back on a Disney bus and headed to home to Old Key West where I rented a pontoon boat. At the time I didn’t know what kind of boat it was and it said Party Boat on the side so I asked for that… The men in the Rental Shack teased me about my MA accent and commented how I definitely wasn’t a southern girl! Hahahah!

The four of us got into the boat and off we went… It was so nice and I drove as far as I could, turned around and drove as far as I could the other way before we went back… We were out for over an hour and it was sooooo relaxing. I would highly recommend it to everyone….

Note to self: Pontoon boats are not really Party Boats, regardless of what they say on the side and don’t do donuts very well!

After the boat ride we all went back to our villa where Dad took a nap and the rest of us changed into our swimsuits and headed for the main pool at the hospitality house. Ohhhhh, the pool water was soooo nice….We were told that the pools are kept heated to 85 degrees at all times. My father got a kick out of heated pools in Florida which reminded me of the 3 men that we had run into that morning heading to the pool… One had said to the other two that it was sooo obvious that they were tourists as only tourists would be swimming in this kind of weather.. Lol! It was 70s and 80s the whole time, except maybe sometimes in the morning and late night that it was in the 60s, but it all felt pretty good to us!

We swam for quite a while and when it was time to get out so that we could go and see Spectro Magic at the Magic Kingdom on the only day that it was showing for our stay, I could not get Jordan out of the pool! It wouldn’t have been bad if he knew how to swim and we could leave him there for longer, but he really doesn’t trust me to teach him for some reason and there isn’t a lifeguard on duty so I wasn’t about to take that chance.

Finally we got him out of the pool and went back to our room to change… My Dad was not getting up and Jordan decided that he was going to stay in to, so Joe and I went out to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom. The first 2 busses were too full for a scooter and by this time it was really too late to go to so Spectro Magic, so we decided to catch the next Epcot bus to see Illuminations and we had to wait for the 2nd Epcot bus to go…. (We were later told that EPCOT really stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired and is interchangeable with Every Pocket Comes Out Thinner… We agreed with both!)

Illuminations was absolutely beautiful and we had a great view….

After the display we hopped back on a bus and got off at the Hospitality House and picked up some eggs, bacon, and cheese and Joe made us a late dinner/breakfast in our villa. We chatted and ate as “the boys” were in bed or at least in their room, and then I hopped in the shower followed by the whirlpool… Sooooooo gooooooddddd… I brought some assorted bath cubes and salts and a couple of candles and picked out my one for the night and relaxed something wonderful before going to bed.

Waking up, I couldn’t believe that it was already Wednesday! I was excited about the things we were going to do and also trying not to let it hit me that we had to go back to the ice and snow shortly…. We had plans to meet my cousin, her husband, and their daughter in Epcot so off we went…..

We met them at the stroller rental and let Ashley, my cousins 4 year old, pick the first couple of things to do to help break her out of her shyness as we had never met her before… Before we went off to the rides we opened up my Pal Mickey, who thought that he was in Magic Kingdom since he wasn’t on when he came into the park, I hooked him onto my fanny pack belt and we were good to go!

We went on a cute little Imagination ride with all sorts of neat things to see and do and even smell! As with most rides it ended in a gift shop, (funny how that happens, huh?) and my cousin pointed out the cubes that they somehow put your 3D image in… Wellllll I just had to have one! Then I changed my mind a couple of times as I saw more and ended up confusing the poor cast member who was trying to help us and seemed that he didn’t need any more confusion than what came with a plain regular order… He deleted and redid and called someone else over at least twice and finally it was paid for.

Ashley and Jordan wanted to have a picture done and Ashley insisted on the Princess picture… hahahahaah!!!! Jordan tried to talk her out of it, but was really good about it and may be the only 13 year old boy to be in a Princess Portrait! Lol! He took on a really manly stance and I will have to scan that one and see if I can post that one… Ashley was thrilled and was going to have her Mom hang it in her room…

We next visited the Living Seas, which was very nice. There was really a lot to do and see there, fish and mammals and exhibits… Ashley stopped to make Jordan a special crown with little colorful sea things pasted all over… So cute! We were there for quite a while before moving over to get a fast pass for the boat ride that brings people through the area where Disney grows their fruits and vegetables in the air and sand and whatnot (cannot recall the name of this ride). This building was very busy, even this time of year, so we opted to leave for lunch and went to the Electric Umbrella, which while still busy was a bit more tame… I opted for an Island Chicken Salad that had bits of fruit like mango and it was definitely delish!! Everyone else opted for the basic cheeseburger and fries, and roast beef sandwich except for my cousins husband who ran out to get himself a turkey leg which I think is his favorite.

After lunch we went over for our boat ride and it was very nice…. My father and Joe started plotting on how to try some of these Disney ideas at home and asked some questions to the cast members that they couldn’t answer… I am not sure if they will remember all of their thoughts by the time the weather gets nice enough here for some mad science experimentation… If they try anything and are successful I will have to let you know!

We wandered around a bit more and Jordan decided that he was going to give Mission Space a whirl, although he’d have to experience it by himself… While we waited for him to come out Ashley became a bit demanding and told her mother to take her over there now so she could see the boy! I know that I shouldn’t have, but she had been so quiet and sweet up to that point that I laughed… Bad me…. Jordan finally emerged and he was thoroughly disappointed with the ride… We had heard a lot of hype about the ride on the Resort Disney Channel and from the bus drivers and Jordan thought that it was much too short and really not much to write home about, although he later thought that he would go on it again in another position as each person on the mission has a “job”.

Somewhere during the day we stopped into the cool station with the different soda samples by Coke… After starting a snowball fight in the entranceway (not that we couldn’t do this at home, but what the heck… the situation presented itself and it was only us in there) we went in and tried a bunch of different sodas from different parts of the world… I have to say that some were pretty nasty and I cannot imagine people actually drinking them! Are these really for real??? Some were pretty good too, like the watermelon one that my cousin Teena pointed out as being her favorite… There was one that Joe liked, that I did not… It was not really a soda, but a vegetable drink… Not really my thing.

We wandered over to get fast passes for Test Track for Jordan and my Dad, and then my cousin and family left to pick up their son/brother and we went off to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Jordan and I had seen this one before quite a few years ago and it was funny to see the reactions of my Dad and Joe as they experienced the show for the first time… All Disney shows are more of an experience, than a viewing, I think… I won’t give away any details in case someone hasn’t gone before… I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun for you!

Jordan and my father went onto Test Track and really enjoyed the ride… Joe and I walked around inside and checked out all of the vehicles on display. They had a Hummer on display and I was surprised to see how small it was inside! It wasn’t tiny, but it wasn’t as spacious as I thought that it would be… I am not sure what they did with all of the room!

It seems that we may have done a couple more things before going to Norway for the boat ride with the drop that Joe was ready to give me heck for as he doesn’t even do the tea cups… lol! I guess it was tame enough for him as well as giving him enough of a thrill so I was safe…. Haha!!!

Before leaving the park we stopped back at the Imagination Station to pick up the holographic cube that I had ordered, and it was soooo soooo wrong… What I thought would be a quick stop on our way out to our Luau turned into a long thing as one cast member got another and another and blah blah blah… Everyone was pleasant and they assured me that it would be fixed and sent to the gift shop at my resort by Friday at 1pm. I left with my fingers crossed that it would be right this time and that we wouldn’t be late for our Luau!!! I had been looking forward to this for a long time and now we had to run!

Joe and my Dad had been eyeing the monorails so we decided to hop on those to go to the Polynesian Resort for the Luau, instead of taking the buses… It was a nice ride, but the 2nd group that came on was exceedingly loud and we couldn’t hear all of the interesting facts and information that they play for those who want to know… I imagine that many of the people probably heard more of their share of the information, but we did not… It was a good ride though, and longer than we had expected…

We got to the Polynesian and asked for directions twice to the Luau… I would be surprised if the walk to the Luau from the front of the resort was much shorter than a mile… I was nervous that we would be too late…

Every time we bumped into someone they greeted us with “Aloha!” so pleasant! When we finally got to our destination, they acted like we weren’t late at all and there was a few people in front of us getting their leis placed over their heads and being greeted with “Aloha!” and then it was our turn….

We were directed to our table, which was in the center section, 2nd from the front. What a perfect view!!!! I went to pull out my chair a bit and it was so heavy that I at first thought it was nailed to the floor!!!!

Our waiter came right over to us and took our drink orders… Jordan ordered soda and my Dad and Joe followed suit… I decided on the Chardonnay, but later ordered their specialty drink in the souvenir glass with the lighted ice cube.. Mmmm… sooo good!

First they served us fresh pineapple and pineapple bread, followed shortly with chicken breasts, rice, veggies and ribs… OMG the ribs were sooooo good!!! The meat was falling off of the bone and so flavorful! I had heard mixed reviews on the food for the Luau so I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular and was pleasantly surprised. Everything was wonderful!!

The chicken was moist, the rice tasty, the veggies were just right, and the ribs… Did I already tell you how good the ribs were???

Joe, who rarely eats red meat, was filling up on those ribs and just raving about them… Jordan was agreeing and wishing for more pineapple… Ask and you shall receive! The waiter brought him a bowl of pineapple just for him!!!

Our waiter was fantastic and kept filling our trays, as this was an all you can eat sit down buffet. Every time someone took something he was right there to fill it up…

Next came desert…

The presentation of the volcano desert was something to see as the waiters came dancing out with smoking volcanoes on a tray! How wonderful!!!

The desert was a chocolate mouse volcano with raspberry lava… Sooooo goood, and he brought us seconds!!!

Our waiter then came around to make sure that everyone had enough drinks to last through the show as he explained that they did not serve once the show started…. He took care of us and the show went on (there was a pre-show also that was pretty good while we were being served).

The show was fantastic!

None of us had ever been to a Luau before and were not disappointed by the one put on in Disney… It was a little corny at times and a couple of the jokes were adultish, but overall the show was great!

Everyone seemed amazed by the fire dancer who was up there for what seemed like forever… He was amazing!

There were other dances and music and songs too, that were all great! We were very pleased with the performance, and my father thanked me more than a couple times for taking him here… We all agreed that thus far the highlights were Emeril’s and the Luau, not that everything else wasn’t good, but these two things really stood out as amazing….

We were all certainly exhausted as we left and no one was looking forward to the long and winding walk back to the Resort and out to the buses…. We were lucky that two busses to Downtown Disney showed up at once and since I was in a ECV and it took a while to get the bus settled and the ramp down everyone else went on the second bus, so we were chauffeured directly to Old Key West. How sweet was that!!! Normally we would have to hop a bus to Downtown Disney, get off there and then pick up a bus to Old Key West…

I was sooo tired that I almost did not take the time for a soak, but my back needed it so I forced myself to walk passed the bed and into the bathroom, and my body was glad that I did!

I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but sometime around the time that we first pulled up to the gate at Old Key West for the first time Joe started to realize that Disney was much bigger than he ever imagined, and with each passing day he grew to love it more and more to the point that he began talking about not leaving, our next trip, and possibly moving to Florida! The transformation was incredible as he at first thought that Disney was some sort of fantasy land with cartoon characters crawling all over the place and little else to offer. I tried and tried to get him to take more time off for a longer vacation and was lucky to get what I did… This will not be a problem next time, and there certainly will be a next time!!! I had purchased a brand new updated PassPorter for our next trip before we even left for this one… lol!

Disney certainly has a way of growing on a person…. We had 2 full days left and a breakfast planned at Fresh for the morning of our departure on Saturday, February 7.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update And more great pictures Looking forward to more

[pparm]

Smiley, what a great report so far! I'm really enjoying reading about your trip and am looking forward to the next 2 days!

[luvnwdwgal]

Wow! What a full day you had! The Luau sounds great!!
Looking forward to the next installment!

[Smiley]

I am glad that you are enjoying this report! I am trying to make it as fun as possible, with a lot of details but not too many....

Part 4:

Waking up on Thursday, February 5th was a little slow… We had received our daily wake-up call, and while getting breakfast together in our room Joe realized that my ECV had been unplugged!!! I distinctively remembered plugging it in the night before, Joe remembered checking it as did my Dad, but just the same it was unplugged… Perhaps we were all too tired or perhaps a curious 13 year old decided to take it for a ride and forgot to plug it back in? Either way we knew this could be a problem….

Joe plugged in the ECV, which was pretty drained, for a few minutes as we had breakfast and the plan was to get to Magic Kingdom to meet Teena, Kevin, and Ashley at 9:30 and rent an ECV there while mine sat on the charger. As I waited in a long line two little signs were put out that the ECVs were temporarily out of stock… L

I waited to the front of the line and asked about a waiting list or plugging me in, and they stated that since their ECV room was empty they could plug me in, however to go on an ECV waiting list I would have to pay the full $40, and if one did not become available before the close of the park they would refund my money… I also had a chose of a regular slingback wheelchair. I tried out the chair, and it was just way too uncomfortable for me to sit in for a couple of hours with my bad back, so I decided that we would just plug in whenever we could and wing it…

As we walked onto Main Street U.S.A. I pulled Jordan into the Main Street Barber Shop to get his hair cut. Joe spotted a plug to the right of the door, so I backed in and was plugged in for a bit. Just before it was Jordan’s turn I started to try to pursued him to get the colored gel put into his hair with the touch of pixie dust. At first he protested and said no way, but then Teena told him how her son gets his hair cut there and how it would look good… Finally he decided to get into the spirit and do it up. We decided on the yellow gel as his hair is really dark and we wanted it to show up. After his hair cut the barber painted a yellow Mickey head on the back of Jordan’s head and then spiked up the top of his hair with the yellow gel followed by a generous sprinkling of pixie dust (shiny assorted colored metallic pieces cut into Mickey head designs).

Jordan’s hair looked fantabulous! He loved it, as did all of us and he got many many positive comments from both guests and cast members.

Ashley spotted the Mad Tea Party tea cups as we walked on, so her and Jordan went ahead to wait in line… It was a pretty good sized line and Teena had spotted a plug by the restrooms down the hill from the ride, so I went over there and plugged in and sat and waited for them.

We wandered around a bit and Ashley was getting hungry so we decided to stop and eat. We went to Columbia Harbour House where I had a Garden Galley Salas and a cup of New England Clam Chowder, my father and Joe had a combo with fries which is a plate with both chicken strips and fried fish, and Jordan had some type of sandwich and fries. Everything was very good! I cannot personally vouch for what everyone else had, but the chowder and salad were very good, and I am pretty picky about my clam chowder.

The day seemed to be running away with us and as we headed up to the Haunted Mansion it was nearing the time that Nate would be getting off of the bus. Ashley wasn’t happy that we were leaving her, but she finally said good bye to Jordan and we parted ways…

We practically walked onto the Haunted Mansion. It is obvious that this is one of Disney’s older rides by some of the theming inside the ride, but also it is obvious how advanced some of the technology was. You just have to love the eyes that follow you in the paintings in the hallway and the singing busts! It was certainly a fun ride.

From the Haunted Mansion we decided to walk over to the Hall of Presidents but got sidelined by the building crowd waiting for the parade. We decided to find a spot and wait for the parade, which was wonderful! We had a great spot just across the street from the Hall of Presidents and the parade stopped in front of us several times for performances. At one point Jafar spotted Jordan’s new colorful and glittery hair and he was not pleased at all… He stopped and looked right at Jordan, pointed at him and made hand gestures around his head as he shook his head in great displeasure… A couple of people to the right of me started asking who Jafar was scolding and a few others piped in that he was not happy about the boy over there’s Disney hair cut. I guess pixie dust is a no-no to the villains… lol!

After the parade we made our way across the street to the Hall of Presidents… The beginning of the show is an old style movie, and some people may be fooled into thinking that that was it… Anyone who left would surely miss the wonderful display of the wax Presidents at the end. Every President was there, and so lifelike! They all had something to say… I can tell you that a couple of them were in their own voice, but I cannot say for sure how far back the voices go as I don’t know what they sounded like. I am also not sure how they decided on the voices of the oldest of Presidents… I can tell you that I was impressed on the realness of it all… As one President started to talk all of the others looked over at him. The ones that were sitting crossed their legs, wiggled their toes and repositioned their hands. The Presidents that were standing shifted their weight from one foot to another, moved their hands and arms and so forth… It is just something that you have to see.

After the show we went into the Liberty gift shop to see what we could find on JFK for a report that Jordan was doing for school. There were all sorts of old style voting buttons but none for Kennedy. We found a mini bust of him, but it was too pricey for what we wanted it for. We ended up spotting a document of the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy and Jordan thought that would add to his oral presentation so we purchased it for him.

Our next stop was Mickey’s PhilharMagic. This is the newest 3-D Disney presentation and it was something… It covered sight, touch, smell, and sound. It was really real, and our only complaint was that it was too short! My father was particularly impressed by all of the 3-D and 4-D shows that we had seen. He said that he thought they would be like the ones that had come out at the movies from time to time and that he had no idea that they could do anything like this. I think that the 3-D movies were one of his favorite parts of the trip.

No trip would be complete without a trip down Splash Mountain! This is my favorite Disney ride. While we were there it wasn’t opening until 11am due to refurbishment and I was afraid that the lines would be long, but they weren’t too bad. Joe spotted the falls as I tried to tell him that this was a pretty tame ride where you saw all these things about the Briar Rabbit… He just wasn’t buying it and opted to keep Pal Mickey for me as Mickey said to please not get him wet… Jordan and my Dad got the front seat and I sat behind them.

My fathers facial expression on the shot they took on the ride certainly didn’t match how he was feeling as he said that he thought that we were going to tip end over end because it was so steep. As a matter of fact he ended up getting sick afterwards… Perhaps that is why there are restrooms right there as you get off the ride?

We walked over to the Pirates of the Caribbean and my father decided to sit outside and wait for us. We went all the way in as there was no on in line at all. When we hit the bottom the CM told me that I shouldn’t have been allowed to take my ECV down there and that he was sorry but that I had to get it back out, but by now all these people were coming down and it was obvious that there was no way out! Hahahah!

I told Jordan to go ahead and go on the ride. I tried to get Joe to go on with him, but he insisted on staying with me so off Jordan went. As soon as there was a break in the line I stared up the walkway quickly, as I knew that once off of that little narrow stretch the line widens and people could pass on either side of me without a problem. The CM again apologized and said that he was trying to get us an escort, I told him not to worry about it as I sped past him, that we would be just fine…

Jordan enjoyed the ride and we headed over to Space Mountain. This is when Pal Mickey made one of his funniest remarks, I thought… He said, “Take both of my ears and hold them against my head. This is how we will look while riding on Space Mountain.” Then after a couple of seconds he started shaking again and said, “Oh I almost forgot that you have to be 44” to ride, I guess you’ll have to go on it alone.” ROFL!

The wait here was a bit longer and Jordan loved it so much that he wanted to go again… He was the only one of us to go on the ride, and I would have to say that it is his favorite… I wasn’t too surprised as he loved it the other time that he and I had visited when he was much much younger… I told him to go on again if he wanted, and he was off and running for the line again.

As Jordan got off of Space Mountain he wanted to go again, but we wanted to see the fireworks so we headed over to the bridge and found a good spot. It was a better spot than I thought it was at first, as I thought the tree would be in the way, but there were some seats there and my Dad really needed a break off of his feet… It ended up that TinkerBell flew right over us! The view was incredible, as were the fireworks… An amazing display, for sure…

As we went to leave the park the realization of how full the park was came to light as we were part of a sea of people… It was like rush hour traffic and we were barely moving towards the exit. It took us quite a while to get out the door, but once there the way to the busses was an easy walk.

We decided to get off at the Hospitality House at Old Key West and have dinner at Olivia’s. We went in and sat down… As we sat there I think that my Dad was still feeling a bit ill from the ride and nothing really seemed to appeal to Jordan, with the exception of the milk shakes and desert. They decided that they wanted to go back to the room, so I gave Jordan some money to order from the window in the back if he wanted and they left. Our waiter came out and asked if we were missing people, and I explained that they were tired and that it would only be the two of us.

We ordered the mozzarella and tomato salad to split to start and each of us ordered the Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken. We sat there for a while waiting and I was just about to let the waiter know that we would like to have the salads before the meal, in case that was not apparent to him, when he came out with the one salad split onto two plates and one entrée for Joe! At first I thought that he was going to go back in for mine, but then he asked if there would be anything else and I was just stunned… I guess I was too stunned to talk as finally Joe stated that we each expected a meal. lol! The waiter must have had a long day or something as he apologized and went in to order another… At this time Joe was upset and I told him not to worry, just to enjoy his and I would eat my salad and that it would be out soon… Of course, he wouldn’t eat it and let it sit and get cold and then they had to warm it for him after mine finally came out. It took a while to warm as they steamed it to keep it’s flavor, the waiter explained.

In any event the meal was good and I had spotted mango pie on the menu and had never heard of that before and really wanted to try it. Joe had decided that he didn’t want anything so I ordered the pie with two forks. Wouldn’t you know that the waiter came out with two different sized forks, handed one to Joe and then went back in for another of the same size? To be perfectly honest, I probably would not have even noticed… The pie was very good, so good in fact that Joe later said that he would have liked to have a piece all of his own.

I ended up leaving a small tip for him. I wasn’t really sure what to do in this instance… It seemed like he was trying, he was pleasant, but just couldn’t seem to get his act together. I know that some people probably would have left nothing, especially because the restaurant was really slow at this time so it wasn’t like he was rushing around, but I left him one anyway…

The night was beautiful, the lighthouse by the pool was lit and the palms just looked so wonderful at night as we headed back to our villa. We took our time going back talking about all the fun that we were having and how much we both wanted to stay. We had been following the weather back home on the Weather Channel and we knew what was going to be waiting for us and were in no hurry to leave this wonderfully warm climate.

My father was up and watching TV in the living room when we came in and Jordan was watching TV in their bedroom. Joe sat down and talked with my Dad for a while as I ran the tub water for my nightly whirlpool bath and threw some clothes in the washing machine. Having a washing machine and dryer in the villa was so convenient! It ended up that when we left for home nearly everything was clean! Everything except what we wore to bed the last night… It was just so great.

Before going to bed my cousin Allison called, she also lives in Florida and wanted to spend the our last day with us so we exchanged numbers and made plans for Animal Kingdom. I talked to my Dad and told him that I wanted to go to early entry and leave early to take a break as we had tickets to La Nouba that night and I didn’t want anyone to be overtired… Him and Jordan didn’t want to get up that early so we planned that Joe and I would leave early and then we would call them and plan a meeting place to meet them and Allison and two of her children later in the morning, maybe around 9:30 or 10am.

That was the plan anyway…

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like another great day Looking forward to more

[Wendyismyname]

Great job so far!

Wendy

[DISNEYGOOF]

This report is wonderful. We will be in a 2 bedroom
at OKW in March. Your details are making me so excited
to be there. Thank you for the great detail. I can't
hardly wait. The luau sounds like a nice evening.
Thanks again!

[Smiley]

Kelly you are going to love it!!!

People here told me that they loved it and I listened to how people recomended other places as well, but whenever I opened that door and walked in.....