We did the unthinkable!We Left the teenagers home: DH & I do Disney solo:update 1/15

[MEK]

Originally Posted by Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Yes, I'll be about 24 weeks pregnant. We'll be in Florida for a month. We are lucky as we have done quite a bit of travelling before now. We are looking forward to whole new adventures with kiddies.

Well congratulations - Your first baby is so special because it is a whole new world. You are also fortunate to be spending a month in Florida. I would kill ( not literally) for that!

[ILuvCrush]

Originally Posted by MEK

No - that is totally cool. I love what you did with it. I am not that creative and I don't quite have the computer "know - how", so I appreciate having my own editor. Keep it up!

I'll be back later to post. I want to keep going, but I really have to do some decorating for Christmas. I didn't do a blessed thing before we left, except buy one big poinsetta from Costco. Yeah - I know poinsettas are poisonous for cats, but my cats never go near them, so I feel safe!

p.s. I went back and looked at your work a second time and it looks awesome - love it!

I'm glad that you like it After I did it I felt really guilty and figured I really should have asked 1st. At least I didn't turn you into a gnome I've been know to do that

I have no real poinsettias, just silk ones. They're so pretty though

Paula

[MEK]

Hills and dales in Florida????? Maybe not. When I left off we were just leaving AK to go check in for one night at POFQ. I booked the room with an AP discount. Actually, the wonderful TA I use at the South Carolina AAA booked the room for me with the AP discount. I discovered this TA here on the boards and she is really good. So if anyone ever needs a good AAA TA, pm me and I will forward her info to you.

What I like about this agent is that when she books the room, AAA pays for it, and then I pay AAA. This is handy because I get quarterly rewards from my AAA credit card, so I was able to apply my reward certificate to the room. As it turns out, she booked me a room with a king sized bed. I generally do not like to spend extra money for preferred locations, water views, or larger beds, but this was $15 well spent.

I was pretty excited to see POFQ. I wanted to unpack and go explore. I was thinking about grabbing dinner in the food court, at Boatwrights, or at the ESPN club on the boardwalk. And I was getting hungry.

Unfortunately, DH had other plans. Remember how DH left his sunglasses near our neighbor's mailbox? Well - it turns out he also left his belt in the Phila airport when he took it off for security. Doh! He decided that he would not be able to live another hour without a belt. "Come on", I exclaimed, "Can't this wait until tomorrow". Nope, un uh, no can do. DH had to have the belt the second after we checked into POFQ (which - by the way, there was NOOOOOOO line at check-in ).

We were given a room in Building 1, which is all the way to the right of the complex, closest towards the direction of DTD. I really wanted to see the room, but instead we asked Ellie to help us find a clothing store. Ellie may be good at locating fast food places and hotels, but she wasn't very helpful in finding a belt!

While we were driving around looking for a stupid belt, I realized I was getting seriously hungry. I hadn't eaten anything since a breakfast sandwich in the airport. (Airline pretzels do not count!) I quickly realized that I was not going to be eating on Disney property. I had a short 2 1/2 hours of "the magic" and I was already being sucked out of it to find a stupid belt. Fortunately we stumpled upon a Vanity Fare outlet (no thanks to Ellie). I generally like VF, and I was saddened when they closed the one in Wilmington, DE, but at the moment I was in no mood for VF. I prompted DH to hurry himself along. "Did you forget anything else, dear, socks maybe?" (DH always runs out of socks - socks and underwear) So DH grabbed himself a pack of socks, but alas, I should have asked specifically about underwear.

When we got back in the car I announced to DH that I needed to eat - NOW! I am not a big fan of fast food, but I like Chik fil a and Taco bell. TB happened to be on the right side of the street, so it was a sharp right to the drive through. I inhaled that food. Seriously, it was gone in about 90 seconds flat!

After TB, we went into that super expensive Gooding's market near DTD. That place is ridiculous. Seriously, there was a display with trail mix. They were selling small bags of trail mix for $13. Who would buy that?????? Dh and I started laughing and joking around about the prices. We bought muffins for the am ($1 each), beer, water, and entenmann's chocolate chip cookies. Here's a tip - if you ever find yourself at this overpriced excuse for a supermarket, buy Entenmann's. Why - because the prices are already on the food and the store can't mark them up anymore. Case in point - A package of Oreo's was $6.00.

Finally, we were on our way back to the FQ.

Here is DH, VF bag with belt and socks in hand


And here is a picture of room before we messed it up



Our room location was truely great. We had a corner room that was as close to the water as it could be. It was really lovely. I was disappointed that we were only staying one night. I really fell in love with POFQ and I understand why it is so popular on the boards.

Now that we had arrived we decided to do a little exploring. Here are some night time pics of the pool area.











This hot tub area looked so great, but it was about 45 degrees out. The lifeguards looked like they were in snow suits

DH and I decided to keep walking through the resort and right on over to Riverside. We stayed at Riverside in 2003. It was our first on site trip and it was the trip that made me a Disney addict for life. I have special, fond memories of Riverside because I truely experienced my first touch of the magic there.

Here is a picture of the tree in the Riverside lobby

Available in the gift shop for purchase


A quick stop in the lounge - yum!


And this gentleman was in the lobby helping to make memories



After visiting the gift shop and the lounge we went out to walk the remainder of the property. Even though it was cold, there was not wind and the air was dry. It was a perfect evening for a refreshing walk.

OK - I have to admit - I enjoy decorated windows. I don't know how cool it is to take pictures of those windows, but I figure if you decorate your window, then they are fair game. I did use the zoom to get these pics. I wasn't peeping





After our Riverside tour, we returned to FQ for a few more pics






Well, I am thinking I am probably at my 25 pic limit, so I'm going to put a close to this chapter. DH and I did consider a quick trip into Epcot to watch Illuminations, but by the time we completed our exploring it was close to 9pm and we didn't feel like doing a mad dash to Epcot. So we went to our quiet, cozy room with the king sized bed!

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Originally Posted by MEK

You are also fortunate to be spending a month in Florida. I would kill ( not literally) for that!

We are extremely lucky! The only thing that's really costing anything is the week at Disney and even then we got the 4/3 deal. My parents have a place down there where they winter, so we're going down with them.

[Lady Lallie]

I love your photo tour of POR and POFQ! They look like great resorts!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by Mr. & Mrs. Smith

We are extremely lucky! The only thing that's really costing anything is the week at Disney and even then we got the 4/3 deal. My parents have a place down there where they winter, so we're going down with them.

That 4/3 deal is great! I wish I could do it this summer! I am trying to get my brother and his family to take advantage of it, but they bought a new house and haven't been able to sell their old house, so they can't do it. I can't wait until I can spend the winters in Florida. Your folks have the right idea.

[MEK]

Originally Posted by Lady Lallie

I love your photo tour of POR and POFQ! They look like great resorts!

Thanks. I have more photos to come!!!!!!!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by ILuvCrush

I'm glad that you like it After I did it I felt really guilty and figured I really should have asked 1st. At least I didn't turn you into a gnome I've been know to do that


Paula

Paula - Please know you are free to edit any of my future photos. I really need to learn how to do that. I may want to turn my DH into gnome when you hear what he does next.

[ILuvCrush]

Originally Posted by MEK

Paula - Please know you are free to edit any of my future photos. I really need to learn how to do that. I may want to turn my DH into gnome when you hear what he does next.

I could definantely help with that

LOL!!!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by ILuvCrush

I could definantely help with that

LOL!!!

Somehow I knew you could! (and you will want to when you hear about our other side trips!)

[MEK]

Wow _ I am really tired tonight, but I would like to add a quick post. Before I start talking about our first full day at the world, let me show you a few more pics from POFQ.

Here is the view from outside of our door - nice!











Like I said, we couldn't be any closer to the water without falling in it.

We got up fairly early on Sun 12/13. We had some Dunkin donuts cinnamon spice coffe in the room and we laced up to go for a run. The morning was fairly pleasant. We ran the same course we walked the night before, By the time we got back, showered, dressed, packed, and loaded up the car it was after 8am. Originally I thought it would be nice to go check into SSR and the go to MK, but I decided it would be better to get to MK at park opening. And that's exactly what happened. We arrived just as the train was pulling away after the opening ceremony. Darn! We missed it but I actually like getting to the parks right after opening. Most of the people are already through the gates so there is minimal wait.


Guess what? I thought I could post now, but I keep making too many mistakes, I'll be back tomorrow!

[ILuvCrush]

That is a great view!! Did you see any alligators...that weren't playing instruments???

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I love your view!!

[Lady Lallie]

What a beautiful view. POFQ looks so nice. It's on my must stay list at some point. Did you request a specific area or was it just luck of the draw? I can't wait to hear about your MK Morning.

[MEK]

Paula, Mrs. Smith, and Lallie -

Glad you like the view. Wasn't it superb? I knew from reading the boards that the king size rooms at POFQ often have great views and locations, so I think I was just fortunate to get the BEST view! As you will find out soon, my studio at SSR did not begin to compare with the room/view at POFQ. That disappoints me, since SSR is my home resort. But I would be even more disappointed if I was paying with cash. I'm sure the studio at SSR is about $100 more a night.

Anyway - I am sold on POFQ and I will definately try to stay there for all my non DVC stays. I actually forgot how nice the moderate resorts are. My most recent stays have been alternating between the values and SSR. I rediscovered that I am a big fan of the mods, esp POFQ.

I'll be back later tonight to tell you about our pleasant morning at MK!