Trip of New Phases, Friends & 40! Updated 8/31 - As If Goodbye Wasn't Enough! The End

[Leitadala]

Wow, that is some trunk your boat had! The kind I would need for all the luggage I bring lol! Your road trip recap has me thinking about December when DH and I will most likely be driving... what do you and DH do to pass the time? We had a good book on tape last time, but it gets SOOO boring after staring out the window for too many hours!

[TyRy]

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

Ooo...I think those make your own waffle machines are so fun...(was it the kind that had the batter in the cup...and you pour it in and it bakes...and then you flip it out......I'm a bit naughty with stuff like that...I'd have made one just for the fun of it...

I LOVE those machines and waffles of course. DH couldn't believe I wasn't making one. I just was too tired and wanted to get on the road!

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

Runaway Trucks.......now those are signs we don't see around here...

look at you going right through Atlanta...does a sip of caffeine really do that to you......

I need many, many sips to get me going...

I think Tennesse is the only place I've ever seen those signs, although Chicago probably should have them during rush hour. I don't know why I was freaking about driving downtown Atlanta, since I drive downtown Chicago every day, maybe since I had no idea where I was going?

And yep - just a few sips does that, but I finished the WHOLE can before I knew it or DH could stop me Since I hadn't had caffeine in two years, it really worked well on me.

Originally Posted by heaven2dc

You are definitely brave to drive over the mountains - they always scare me But it didn't seem so bad after all. Can't wait to see what the surprise for your DH is

I admit I thought they were going to be a lot worse and then they were just done. Maybe in the dark and/or bad weather they might be bad, but it was much easier than driving in rush hour traffic every day.

Originally Posted by brookelizabeth

Okay-I just realized Schaumburg is not where we were---we were near O'Hare as well, since of the central location, just like you said. I wish I could remember the town name, the hotel looks identical!! It was a Radission I believe, so perhaps it's just the chain look though. It was a nice hotel with a great breakfast the next morning for everyone that booked with the wedding block! Their wedding and reception was in DesPlaines, at a beautiful wedding hall there, I know the hotel wasn't too far away, as they provided a shuttle.

Okay, enough about me wondering if we stayed at the same hotel. LOL!

No worries , this one we had to visit the restaurant to eat, no free breakfast here. It was a Four Points Sheraton on the corner of Irving Park and Mannheim Roads.

Originally Posted by brookelizabeth

Glad the energy drink kept you awake to keep trucking through all the driving! But you are allergic?? I hope it doesn't have any negative repercussions.... Love the driving pics, almost makes me want to drive sometime....I think if Joe could drive, we would do it once just to do it and see the various states on the way down!

I am allergic and it does two primary things to me...it can give me a really nasty headache and some tummy problems. I downed two tylenol extra strength as I took the first sip, trying to prevent or even lessen the headache. It worked pretty well too. Thankfully it didn't hurt my tummy this time.

We keep saying we'd love the time to explore more in the different states, but somehow I never build it into the trip. If we get the extra day or two, I just build it onto WDW and we still end up just flying through the states.

Originally Posted by Leitadala

Wow, that is some trunk your boat had! The kind I would need for all the luggage I bring lol! Your road trip recap has me thinking about December when DH and I will most likely be driving... what do you and DH do to pass the time? We had a good book on tape last time, but it gets SOOO boring after staring out the window for too many hours!

That trunk was truly the best trunk I'd ever seen. I couldn't believe how much room was left and we brough a TON of stuff. Way more that if we had been on that scary plane. DH and I really just listen to the radio. I tend to have music going most of the time either on CD or Sirius and DH listens to a lot of sports radio. DH also takes a ton of pictures when I'm driving.

[TyRy]

DH drives the last two hours since I’m usually an insane person as soon we get anywhere close to Disney. Plus he know I’d run us off the road looking at things as soon as we hit those gates!

Our ADR was for 7:40pm and I had a feeling we’d make it. I think I told DH it was at 7pm though, just so he wouldn’t dawdle on the road….and it worked!!!

Hello Disney at 6:00pm…we had over an hour to spare!!! We pull up at our first stop for the week, the Contemporary Resort. DH has always wanted to stay there and since this was a “blow-out” trip, I thought it would be a good time to do so. We were confused when we pulled in as they were working on the area where you normally pull up to check in…this time they made us pull up all the way over by the convention center. – that would have been a haul. We decided to self park and then check in. DH got the whole experience on video...

Click Picture to Play


While I was checking in DH took a few more photos.










Since it was so late in the day, our room was ready. We had room 4213, which meant we were on the 6th floor. It was also a bit odd, as our room number at Super 8 had been 213. Didn’t know if this was a good or bad omen….

We go up to our room, and when you turned left off the elevators, our room was right there in the middle. I didn't know it but DH was busy taking video

Click Picture to Play


He also took a few photos....










I'm glad he was occupied because I called Private Dining as soon as we got into the room. A couple of weeks before I had ordered a monorail themed cake, welcoming him to the CR. Here’s what we got:









The cake was good, but waaayyy to much for just the two of us. But it did give us something to pick at for a couple days. We did end up with a lot and didn’t when we switched hotels we knew it would probably go bad. So DH took the big box and tried to find somewhere to toss it (wouldn’t fit in our room garbage.) He found a can outside where he could lift the lid and put it in. He was worried though that someone would think he was putting in a suspicious package!! I couldn’t stop laughing when he told me the story. I’m just glad I didn’t have to get him out of Disney jail.

Continued in next post....

[TyRy]

We relaxed, unpacked and just in general took in that we were staying somewhere we always said we’d wanted to stay since our first trip in 1995. It was then time for our dinner at Chef Mickey’s.


I admit I was a wee bit worried about the wait we might encounter as it always seemed there was a super long line for it. This time we checked in, got our picture taken (still gotta scan that in!) and were seated right away. The view looking into the restaurant from out seat:


We ordered drinks and I, of course, started my glow cube quest again. We were then told we could go and grab dinner. Here’s DH’s first plate…not sure where mine went.


Drinks with and without flash




The characters all came around during dinner to pose for pictures (note to self – NEVER wear that shirt again…I think another person was in there with me!! )










I also asked our waitress what time the Water Pageant would come by. She looked at me like I was crazy and asked if I knew what it was. I told her I did and it was one of my favorite things at Disney. She then laughed and said people either love it or hate it. But if they’ve never seen it before and heard great things about it, they are sometimes disappointed. I assured her I loved it and couldn’t wait to see it. and then it was finally dessert time. DH grabbed some for himself


As I had just one thing on my mind; I had seen in pictures that Chef Mickey’s had a big giant tube of rainbow sprinkles to add to the soft serve ice cream. I LOVE LOVE LOVE sprinkles. DH usually makes fun of me since it will be all sprinkles and just a drop if ice cream. So off I go, grabbing my little bit of ice cream and walking over to grab a mountain of sprinkles, when OH NO, YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! The sprinkle tube is a FAKE! There are NO sprinkles to put on my ice cream. I was soooooo sad, I went running back to the table and DH didn’t believe me until he went and saw it for himself


I said this was a HORRIBLE start and the trip was doomed. It was us getting rooms with the number 13 in it. It was anything and everything. Can you tell I was bummed

We finished up dinner and I swore we’d never set foot in Chef Mickey’s again after their bait and switch program with the sprinkles. DH took a couple of pictures on the way back to the room of the new Outer Rim Lounge




We were tired after our drive but still wanted to do something. So we tossed on our suits and headed for the pool. The quiet pool was EMPTY. We were the only two people in it. And then something happened that started to make up for stupid Chef Mickey’s and their evilness. While we were in the pool just hanging out, DH looked up and pointed to something. Right there, in between the CR and BLT was a perfect view of Wishes at the MK. There was no music, but it was just one of those magical moments. Of course, it calmed me down a bit and I pointed out how magical it was. Then I decided that something BAD was going to happen during the trip since this was so special….yep I was tired. DH laughed and tried to convince me to just go with the magic and not look for bad things. He was correct (for once! ) We then saw the EWP from the beach…DH thinks it’s pretty silly, but knows I love it so he puts up with it.

I made one quick stop at the concierge desk to pick up our MNSSHP and felt really bad for the lady working the desk. She was being totally beat up by a lady in front of me demanding that she find her dinner reservations. To her credit, the CM handled it very well. This lady insisted she had all these reservations, yet no one could find them and she did not have any confirmation numbers…was one of those moments that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. As it turns out, this was not my last encounter with this family! It was finally my turn, and the CM was very nice (I tried to be extra nice to make up for the person in front of me) and in no time I had my tickets was off to the room for my first night of Disney sleep. Tomorrow is an open day, with dinner at the Castle and then MNSSHP.

[brookelizabeth]

Originally Posted by TyRy

We keep saying we'd love the time to explore more in the different states, but somehow I never build it into the trip. If we get the extra day or two, I just build it onto WDW and we still end up just flying through the states.

I SO understand. I'm sure I would do the same thing! By "seeing the states" I mean the interstate, as we fly through them. Must be in Disney ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



You've officially made me crave staying at CR even more now!! Ahhh, beautiful pictures, and the video... I did find it slightly humorous how much time of the video was spent in the bathroom. Men and their bathrooms, eh?

LOVE THAT CAKE!!! HOW COOOOOOOOL! I've never seen such a thing!!! They really did a great job.

I'm sorry to hear about the faux tube of sprinkles! That is a major bummer! Despite all that, this made me laugh out loud...

Originally Posted by TyRy

We finished up dinner and I swore we’d never set foot in Chef Mickey’s again after their bait and switch program with the sprinkles.

And I'm still giggling. I gotta explain to DH what is so funny! "Bait & switch" (but really, how awful to have those tubes, but not a selection!!!)

Wonderful wishes magic moment...ahhh, perfect way to end the day with EWP too - I'm a fan!

[Flossbolna]

Your pics of the CR make me really want to stay there... Sorry for the sprinkles, but it sounds like you still had quite a magical arrival day!! The cake looks huge, what size was it? But it is extremely cute with the monorail on top!

[TyRy]

Originally Posted by brookelizabeth

I SO understand. I'm sure I would do the same thing! By "seeing the states" I mean the interstate, as we fly through them. Must be in Disney ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I had a countdown going the whole time...we have six hours till our ADR, we have 5 hours and 30 minutes....

Originally Posted by brookelizabeth

You've officially made me crave staying at CR even more now!! Ahhh, beautiful pictures, and the video... I did find it slightly humorous how much time of the video was spent in the bathroom. Men and their bathrooms, eh?

I would really like to stay there longer, although I still think the rooms need just a touch more "Disney". And I think we have more pictures of the bathroom than the rest of the room.

Originally Posted by brookelizabeth

LOVE THAT CAKE!!! HOW COOOOOOOOL! I've never seen such a thing!!! They really did a great job.

I'm sorry to hear about the faux tube of sprinkles! That is a major bummer! Despite all that, this made me laugh out loud...

And I'm still giggling. I gotta explain to DH what is so funny! "Bait & switch" (but really, how awful to have those tubes, but not a selection!!!)

Wonderful wishes magic moment...ahhh, perfect way to end the day with EWP too - I'm a fan!

The cake was nice and DH was totally surprised. I had just said a monorail theme and when it came and was painted and everything, it was cool.

I'm still steaming about the SPRINKLES. I would not have made it a priority to go there like I did after seeing it. Until there is confirmation they have them again, we'll never go again.

And I'm glad to have a fellow EWP fan out there!

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

Your pics of the CR make me really want to stay there... Sorry for the sprinkles, but it sounds like you still had quite a magical arrival day!! The cake looks huge, what size was it? But it is extremely cute with the monorail on top!

We did have a very nice day, the evening almost made up for the no sprinkles! The cake was huge, much bigger than I thought - I think it was a ten inch cake. But that's what they made me order if I wanted it customized.

[PracPerfPatricia]

Ah...honey...I'm so sorry the sprinkle thing is a fake.......I'd have been bummed about that too...

I had to laugh when I saw the monorail cake...(very nice btw...makes you not want to cut into them...) As soon as I saw it I thought...wow that;s a big cake...and I know that from experience because I ordered a Mickey Head cake for DAvid's birthday-which was even smaller-and the four of us had a tough time with that...there is no way the two of you were going to finish that...You should have shared it with your Disboard friends... (We had to get rid of ours too...i know what you mean about trying to figure out where...)

I love that you stayed at the Contemporary...David wants to stay there now...after he saw it when we went to the Wave and the Pirates cruise...I'll show him your photos/videos...

The room looked very chic...

Are those alcoholic beverages in those glasses....

I'm so glad you got to see wishes...

[TyRy]

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

Ah...honey...I'm so sorry the sprinkle thing is a fake.......I'd have been bummed about that too...

I think I ran the gamut of emotions...and remember I was pretty tired as well! I was soooo excited for the sprinkle dessert (doesn't take a lot to make me happy at times! ), then stunned, shocked, so bummed and sad and then really really ticked off!

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

I had to laugh when I saw the monorail cake...(very nice btw...makes you not want to cut into them...) As soon as I saw it I thought...wow that;s a big cake...and I know that from experience because I ordered a Mickey Head cake for DAvid's birthday-which was even smaller-and the four of us had a tough time with that...there is no way the two of you were going to finish that...You should have shared it with your Disboard friends... (We had to get rid of ours too...i know what you mean about trying to figure out where...)

I would have loved to have had a smaller cake, but they would only customize a ten inch or more...I don't know if I expected so many layers though. Now I know for next time!

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

I love that you stayed at the Contemporary...David wants to stay there now...after he saw it when we went to the Wave and the Pirates cruise...I'll show him your photos/videos...

The room looked very chic...

Are those alcoholic beverages in those glasses....

I'm so glad you got to see wishes...

Wait till day two - lots more to show David! And yes - those were very yummy alcoholic beverages...just what we needed to start the vacation.

[TyRy]

Forgot about this picture. It's the one they take of your family outside Chef Mickey's.


Yes it was cute and they added the Birthday 2009 on it, but I don't know if I'd buy it again. I think it was $35 or something like that. I used my rewards card, so I justified that I wasn't using "real" money.

But I guess I have nothing to worry about since we won't be returning anyway to the place that fakes people out!

[TyRy]

We awoke to a bright sunny morning…one of the advantages to having a Bay Lake view, over the MK view.
Click Picture to Play


And this was the view we had just laying around….








With the door closed, you couldn’t hear anything. But I we went outside onto the balcony as it was just so pretty and calm. The lifeguards were practicing for all the craziness later in the day (which thankfully never happened!)



We then took a few more photos
















Continued in next post....

[TyRy]

Since it was so empty below, which was amazing and had to be that it was early, DH had me run downstarirs to get a few pictures.






















We weren’t sure what we wanted to do today,. We had a lunch at Sci-Fi (have never been there) and then we had no plans until MNSSHP. Although DH had mentioned he wanted to go parasailing.


He had seen Tiggerbell’s pics of it and wanted to try it. He also thought we should run to the store to get water, beer, and a couple of other little things. Since Sci-Fi was an early lunch and we had been slow getting out of the room, we decided to skip Sci-Fi this trip and go shopping instead. So off we went, and DH then pointed out maybe we should also run to the “indoor/outdoor” outlet mall. It wouldn’t take long this time since we actually knew where we were going. So off to the mall we went.




We found a few nice things, so after our loot was stashed in the boat’s trunk, back to property we went. And I made a fatal misstep here …I said out loud how I was not leaving property for the rest of the trip! I think I said that last time too!

[PracPerfPatricia]

Love your photos...

great views out of your windows...

hmmm...just what were those lifeguards doing...?

Are you seriously not going to leave the property---

(The resorts are really awesome-you could really stay in and have a good time...but still...)

[TyRy]

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

Love your photos...

Are you seriously not going to leave the property---

(The resorts are really awesome-you could really stay in and have a good time...but still...)

We usually don't leave property unless we are headed to the outlet mall or grabbing water which happens the first day or so. We haven't been to Universal at all in our last three trips. We both liked the old Universal and that side of the park just seems to have really gone down hill. That's why I can declare we are not leaving property. Or at least try to say that!

[TyRy]

Back up to the room, and we found these waiting for us:


They were on the counter, a birthday card and an anniversary card. We also received a lithograph that hangs in the BLT rooms.


We also thought now would be a good time to take a few pictures of the room nicely made up, even though our junk was scattered around






















We were also hungry since we had skipped lunch and the room service menu has my very favorite – French Onion Soup. Room service it was. We each ordered a soup and split a burger.




The soups were ok, and the burger wasn’t that great. It wasn’t the worst we had on property, but it was close. I really expected more (and tastier) from the CR dining. But the fries were good.

And it was during lunch that I finally found a little (Disney) in the room. Hidden Mickey’s in the couch fabric.




While the CR is super nice, I really think they could put just a small picture up or something to Disneyfi the room a bit. Just like they did at BLT. We then wandered a bit, went swimming again, and soon it was time for MNSSHP and our reservation at CRT. I wonder if DH will get hurt again so we can get to the front of the line…..