DH and I took a mini-trip without the kids last weekend because we had some points to use up. We stayed at the Portofino Bay on Saturday so we could take advantage of FOTL at Universal. We went to Universal because we both love thrill rides and can't really do those with the kids (DS4 and DS2). It was well worth staying onsite at Universal for their FOTL. I wish Disney could do something similar but I think they have just too many hotel rooms. It may be a nice option for those of you who don't like to use points for a Saturday stay. The highlight of that evening was having dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop. That was one of the best meals we have ever had. We are already planning on going there when we go on our November and March trips.
We checked in at about 7:30am Sunday morning at SSR. We really just wanted our parking pass since we were going to be at Epcot all day. We requested N/S with a view of DD. They did have a studio available but it didn't have the DD view so we passed. The CM seemed to be a bit scatterbrained. She gave us our room keys and told us to call later for the room assignment. Then, she said to come back later to get our Welcome Home folder. Since this was our first trip home, I didn't question it, and we left. BTW, the entire time we were at SSR, no CMs (probably came into contact with 10) welcomed us home. Not a big deal, but we were so excited about becoming members, it would have been nice.
We did the Segway tour at Epcot and it was awesome. The first hour was spent in training (which I needed desperately b/c I'm not too coordinated and was worried about being kicked out). The second hour we spent touring World Showcase before it opened. I think we noticed more of the details b/c there were no crowds blocking our views. We went up and down little hills (in Japan) and slalomed through columns. It was fun to get the envious looks of the people we passed on our way back to the training center. Everyone in our group survived--nobody hit anything or anybody. We may do it again in November. DVC members get a discount. DH has been trying to justify buying a Segway (there is a store about 2 miles from our house).
We ate lunch at Chefs de France which is one of our favorite restaurants b/c of their wonderful french onion soup. Then, we did Mission Space and Soarin' which was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed looking at all the topiaries. I think Flower & Garden will be our 2nd favorite time to visit after Food & Wine.
Finally, we got into our studio at SSR. It was one of the Congress Park buildings (furthest west). We thought the room was beautiful and were quite happy with it. We finally picked up our Welcome Home folder and both the CM and I were confused as to why I wasn't given the Welcome Home folder when we checked in in the morning. It annoyed me b/c in it was a Photopass Card for DVC members which gives you 50% off of 4 pictures. Well, we really could have used that at Epcot since we had many pictures taken on our Segway Tour. We didn't really have time to explore the resort b/c we had to do some shopping for our kids. We went to Boma for dinner. It was our first time to Boma and we loved it.
Monday morning we had breakfast at Kona Cafe. It was wonderful. We had the Tonga Toast and the macadamia pineapple pancakes. Then, we went to visit our "home"--BCV! It really felt like home when we walked into the lobby. We are so happy that we bought there. We can't wait to stay there in November. Then, off to the Playmobil store in the Florida Mall--DS4 loves Playmobil. Then, we went to the airport. It was a great trip for DH and me.
We checked in at about 7:30am Sunday morning at SSR. We really just wanted our parking pass since we were going to be at Epcot all day. We requested N/S with a view of DD. They did have a studio available but it didn't have the DD view so we passed. The CM seemed to be a bit scatterbrained. She gave us our room keys and told us to call later for the room assignment. Then, she said to come back later to get our Welcome Home folder. Since this was our first trip home, I didn't question it, and we left. BTW, the entire time we were at SSR, no CMs (probably came into contact with 10) welcomed us home. Not a big deal, but we were so excited about becoming members, it would have been nice.
We did the Segway tour at Epcot and it was awesome. The first hour was spent in training (which I needed desperately b/c I'm not too coordinated and was worried about being kicked out). The second hour we spent touring World Showcase before it opened. I think we noticed more of the details b/c there were no crowds blocking our views. We went up and down little hills (in Japan) and slalomed through columns. It was fun to get the envious looks of the people we passed on our way back to the training center. Everyone in our group survived--nobody hit anything or anybody. We may do it again in November. DVC members get a discount. DH has been trying to justify buying a Segway (there is a store about 2 miles from our house).
We ate lunch at Chefs de France which is one of our favorite restaurants b/c of their wonderful french onion soup. Then, we did Mission Space and Soarin' which was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed looking at all the topiaries. I think Flower & Garden will be our 2nd favorite time to visit after Food & Wine.
Finally, we got into our studio at SSR. It was one of the Congress Park buildings (furthest west). We thought the room was beautiful and were quite happy with it. We finally picked up our Welcome Home folder and both the CM and I were confused as to why I wasn't given the Welcome Home folder when we checked in in the morning. It annoyed me b/c in it was a Photopass Card for DVC members which gives you 50% off of 4 pictures. Well, we really could have used that at Epcot since we had many pictures taken on our Segway Tour. We didn't really have time to explore the resort b/c we had to do some shopping for our kids. We went to Boma for dinner. It was our first time to Boma and we loved it.
Monday morning we had breakfast at Kona Cafe. It was wonderful. We had the Tonga Toast and the macadamia pineapple pancakes. Then, we went to visit our "home"--BCV! It really felt like home when we walked into the lobby. We are so happy that we bought there. We can't wait to stay there in November. Then, off to the Playmobil store in the Florida Mall--DS4 loves Playmobil. Then, we went to the airport. It was a great trip for DH and me.
