Yacht Club Grown up Family About This Page:

[Kelly66]

Aug 12-22 2012
- Our Party (Kelly 46 yrs. old -2 solo trips & Disney's College Program for 6 wks- 4th family trip, Chris (DH) 46 yrs. old -4th family trip, Brandy 21 yrs. old (DD) 4th family trip)
- Our Journey (departure Newark 6 AM to Orlando International Aug 16th, return to Newark Magical express 10:55 for flight later Aug 22)
- Yacht Club got a garden view for same rate, upgraded to a water view/ we could see the lighthouse, dock & lake and part of Stormalong Bay-oh and part of a flat roof below
Our Special Plans (Disney’s Spirit of Aloha & O’Hana’s & Sci-Fi Dine in, Kelly’s solo Princess breakfast Akershus Royal Banquet Hall)
We left the house at 3:30 AM for a 6 AM flight. We drove to Newark, and ended up paying $231 for parking, but my hubby couldn't find a car service for under $300. We did use Magical Express and received our luggage very quickly. At first when I went to the room I thought, ‘Oh I should have packed shorts, a fanny pack and/ or a swimsuit.’ I went to see where I could get unsweetened iced tea. I asked a lifeguard who thought I could probably get it at Hurricane Hanna’s because they sell alcohol and all that. (Not true) But I could get it at Beaches & Cream take-out. I did have to stand in line to get my refillable mug refilled, and B&C was still a walk even though we were in the wing of the Yacht Club closest to EPCOT. The Beach Club Marketplace was the closest place I could pick-up a refillable mug, but I was told I PROBABLY could get refill it with coffee in the Yacht Club Lobby. I wasn’t yet convinced to spend the $15 for that long a walk for tea or coffee, so I headed back to the room. By this time our luggage was there and I changed into my park gear. ALthough my plan was to go to AK, I went to EPCOT around 3:30 PM with a plan to go to MK, but never got there either..........
I was planning to go day by day, but I am just so excited, I think I am going to post them in a different order.
I had reservations for Sunday, August 19th 8:35 AM for my
Princess Breakfast -Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - I chose this day because there were not AM EMH. DH & DD went to regular opening of MK.
I had planned to leave my Yacht Club room at 7:40 AM, but left a little later than that. Went through security at IG an noticed someone else had been told they couldn't enter the park yet. I went to the turnstiles andafter they checked their list for my name, I was told they weren’t ready for me yet. Then they said, ‘We are ready now,’ and I was able to get through the turnstile before the other family who had been turned away moments before. I did need to walk through Canada instead of the other way around. But the CM ‘guarding that route told me to enjoy my Princess Breakfast. I stood in a line of about three people at the podium at Norway and hadn't yet exhausted my ‘empty park picture taking opportunities’ before I was called, photographed and seated.
I wanted to do this Princess Breakfast after seeing all the little princesses on the way into EPCOT when I was a CP. But I am so glad I chose this for my ‘Character Breakfast’ for this trip. For 4 reasons. 1) Since I was all alone, I loved that the pic with one Princess (Belle) came with the breakfast. It is also extra special, since I didn’t have an autograph book, or anyone to take pics, that 2) I could chat with each Princess. (since Mickey and Minnie don’t speak) Ariel commented on my curls and asked me if I used a dinglehopper. Sleeping Beauty asked me what were my plans for the rest of the day. I told her since I planned to be at MK late I was going to take a nap. She told me all the great places to take a nap in EPCOT! Then, silly me, I had to ask her which princess she was! Snow White, Cinderella and Belle told me about each of her respective prince/beast, so I got to talk about my wonderful husband! 4) The hot foods are served family style to your table. I am not truly a fan of buffets-especially on vacation- If I am going to spend that much $$, I would actually like to be served. I listened to Stine, my server carefully. She described everything on the buffet, and I was thinking -no eggs? Then she said that the hot foods -eggs, sausage and roastie? she described it so superbly-I wish I could remember how-but it was the most light, fluffy (with cheese I think) potato breakfast thing I have ever had! Perhaps Stine underestimated my frequent need for coffee, but she did a fabulous job! I just hope she got her whole tip. I used my Disney Dreams reward dollars card, and I THOUGHT that I added the tip, then she ran it, then I got a receipt saying there was about three dollars left. But later when I tried to use it to buy Figment, I was told it was empty. When I left the breakfast, there was a line in the restroom. Most people were actually children changing clothes. That probably happens often. Wouldn’t it be cute if they just had a little Royal Chambers/changing room for the kids to change back into a little girl after her princess breakfast? It would handle the whole yuck/ don’t let it touch the floor thing, and free up the toilets for that use. When I left it was about five minutes after park opening. By this time part of the gift shop in Norway was open (I don’t know if it was before my breakfast. I didn’t check). The rest of the store was roped off, but there were princess costumes, wands, autograph books, pens and other cute little things to buy, I think a pressed penny machine too!!

[lazanya]

Great start!

[Kworrell0514]

Sounds like fun - that is one breakfast I'd love to go to!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[Wolfy6688]

Great start!

[bsblady01]

great start

[Kelly66]

Back to Magical & Express Arrival: We landed about 11:45 AM and were on the way on the bus before noon! My husband thought we were making incredible time.
I loved the comfy seats, and, as a vertically challenged person, I was thrilled to see a little thing to lower down on the seat in front of me where my feet could go. Although it was bizarre in that it never locked into place as the ones on the train do, it was still very helpful. If you have little ones whose feet do not touch the floor, please let them use it. Most places I go my feet don’t touch the floor. On the airplane, I purposely pack a bag to put underneath the seat in front of me so that, after take-off I can slide it out a bit and put my feet on it. Do you ever wonder why children in booths always want to sit on their feet? It is WORLDS more comfortable than sitting there with one’s legs dangling for an hour or so. When I go out to eat, I usually put my purse on the floor so I can rest my feet on something. If the booth is still to high, I, myself, at age 46 will sit on my feet. So please don’t fuss at your children for fidgeting if you don’t give them something on which their feet can rest. Ok, on we go!
As soon as we got underway, a video started and it was much more exciting and festive than others I have seen. We first stopped at Port Orleans, the bus driver announced before we got there that we would be there soon. The bus driver again announced once we were there. We were seated in one of the back seats, and it was then that a young boy, about 19 years old who was sleeping, ignored his phone which rang and rang and rang and annoyed us as he continued to ignore it. We left Port Orleans and started on our way, and DH suggested we may be to our hotel by 12:30!!!!
We drove for a bit. A man with two young children ahead of us went to talk to the bus driver. The bus turned around and went back to Port Orleans. At which time the cell phone behind us continued to annoy us and the boy continued to sleep through it. The bus driver drove toward the Boardwalk, announced that would be the next stop, and said he wanted to make sure the speaker worked. He announced again when we got to Boardwalk. I think we then stopped at Beach Club which was bizarre because we passed the Yacht Club to get there. Next as the Bus driver announced that we were approaching the Yacht Club, the boy behind us FINALLY answered his phone, said he was on the Magical Bus, and I think figured out that he had missed his stop and expressed concern about his ‘stuff’ and then went up to talk to the bus driver. When he came back and answered his phone again he began screaming and cussing loudly.
As we got off the bus, the man ahead of us with young children looked at me and told me that was inappropriate behavior. I told him, “he doesn’t belong to me.” As we got off the bus a cast member asked how the flight was and we told her the story about the bus. The only line we saw was the people who had gotten off of the bus with us. Cast members can’t do anything about other guests behavior, but tried to turn around our experience for us. The Cast Member said they get a lot of people who get off of the airplane drunk or otherwise discombobulated as this boy had been. My daughter and I went to the Fittings & something gift shop while my husband checked-in. DH told the story about the uncomfortable bus ride and asked if we could by an upgrade to a concierge room. There were none available even for a day, but we were upgraded to a water view (for free). By the time we finished in the gift shop, we headed back to the desk just as my husband finished and by 1:00 we were on the way to the room. Until the last day, I found the hallways on the way to the room extremely freezing! We were on the fourth floor, with a long walk and several twists and turns that were so convoluted that many of us needed help getting to the room often. The room was 4219, which, for some reason was difficult for me to remember. I had to put it in my cell phone and my daughter called me a couple times to refresh her memory.
But all in all the room was very nice. I loved the crisp. clear decor. My daughter and I put our suitcases on the Daybed. The desk had a pull-out nesting table, and a mirror over it (which was too high for me to use to put on my make-up), a private balcony with two chairs and a table, A frige inside the cabinet, and the coffee maker was on top of the chest of drawers, which made it impossible for me to reach to make coffee. There was a little corner shelf by our bed near an outlet, but, for some reason, both of our chargers (my iPhone and his blackberry-couldn’t both charge at the same time) I had to either charge it all the way across the room at the dresser table, or on top of the chest of drawers where I couldn’t reach. Ok honestly I ended up charging it by one of the two bathroom sinks -not so comfortable with that and the water though. The room did have a hair dryer not attached to the wall. Ooops don’t want to pack that. And a safe with a key. Hangers could come off the rack inside the closet, but no robes much to my husband’s surprise at the price we were paying. Oh don’t forget to turn on the tv for a treat, there are many channels including one which tells you the ‘Must Do’ attractions. I THINK this is a different girl than before, and I think I liked the other girl better. Now I MUST DO attractions next or everyone will get tired of reading my trip report.

[Colexis Mom]

Congrats on the upgrade!

[Wolfy6688]

Sorry about the awkward bus ride but I'm glad you got a water view upgrade. How vertically challenged are you, if you don't mind me asking? I'm average height and even I love those little foot things on the DME bus!

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by Wolfy6688

How vertically challenged are you, if you don't mind me asking? I'm average height and even I love those little foot things on the DME bus!

I am four foot 9.5 inches. My DH is 6'2" hehehe

[Wolfy6688]

Originally Posted by Kelly66

I am four foot 9.5 inches. My DH is 6'2" hehehe

Wow! At least you can wear any size heels you want next to him!

Great start at Epcot. I don't have a comparison for the darkness of Spaceship Earth.

[Kelly66]

Originally Posted by Wolfy6688

Wow! At least you can wear any size heels you want next to him!

Well I could, if I could find them. I wear a size 2.5 WOMENS...it seems not many people even MAKE those much less carry them in grown up heels. However, when I lived in Puerto Rico I was able to find many shoes that fit me, even at Payless I think I bought more shoes the few years I lived there than I did my whole life.

[Kelly66]

EPCOT in the Afternoon- Day 1/2: I headed out to EPCOT by myself-if you are wondering why I was by myself so much-my daughter has been at home with an illness for two years and this was kind of a vacation for us from each other. I made a beeline to my favorite ride at EPCOT Figment’s Journey Into Imagination and walked right onto it. I noticed that the song isn’t what is on my older Official Album. I emailed myself a Figment, and found many stations unoccupied. I didn’t play with anything else, but went to the gift shop. I find the merchandise not as exciting as it was the first time we visited in ’96. I noted there were three different sizes of ‘Figment’, I think around 11, 14, and $20, and that he doesn’t have the ‘dog tag’ that he wore on the first one we bought.
Spaceship Earth- I waited a minimal amount of time, but was pretty much walking while I was waiting. I took my place in my spaceship and enjoyed the interactive touch screen which is new since I have been there. You will want to smile for the camera. My ‘old friend‘ the monk writing in the book of Kells? is still there, but the audio doesn’t talk about him as prominently. My husband says the new exhibit is a tribute to Steve Jobs, Disney’s biggest stockholder. I found parts of it much darker than before. Is this true? I wonder if anyone who finds the dark troubling is helped by the screen in the car?

[Kelly66]

Queue Questions: There are sometimes to wait in a queue, so I thought I would add this part to my trip report. I mention it here first because I took some pics of Figment’s Queue and this is one of my favorite queues. I purposely try going at a busy time, but rarely have gotten to wait for Figment. I love the comments in Passporter about the queue. In queues in general, as I noticed people waiting, I considered, that, if one has a little one in a stroller, whether or not one can bring the stroller into the queue could be a HUGE deal, so I will try to note that when I talk about queues. Others please add info if you know. I saw people waiting in line for Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios holding sleeping children for over 80 minutes. I also noted that the lines with the firm bars are helpful for people carrying children because they can still hold them, but let them rest their feet on the bar for a few seconds. Some Queue Questions answered Coming up: Space Mountain, Festival of the Lion King, Toy Story Midway Mania (With pics) and more.
I Love the wittiness of the queue in figment. And the colors-oh the colors. I wish I could do a room in my house these colors!!

[Kelly66]

Still Day 1- I backtracked to The Land Pavilion. I had an old pic of the balloons in here that I love and I wanted to take another picture. I find this building, however, acoustically aggressive. Sunshine Seasons is a counter service eatery here, sitting out in the middle of everything, so think about the noise if you are considering that. I decided to check out The Circle of Life since I hadn’t seen it.
Queue Questions-The Circle of Life- If I remember correctly this was a big room with some benches. The room got more crowded as time went by. There were many people standing by the doors and still openings on the benches when I entered. We started out being very spread out and ended up quite cozy. (I suspect this was because a rain storm had just ensued). And now...back to the ride
I enjoyed the real-life nature scenes in this picture as well as the ‘Environmental Fable‘ as told by our Lion King friends. I was thinking, this music is nice, it isn’t too overwhelming, but then it built to the crescendo. LOUD! I found this story’s approach to be more constructive and upbeat than the attitude at Conservation Station.
I was kind of ‘stuck‘ in The Land Pavilion because of the rain storm. I asked a CM by the entrance if there was a gift shop. She said there was a tiny one by Soarin. They were selling ponchos which had been (slightly) displayed on the counter. I got a child size for about a dollar cheaper than an adult. The line took awhile due to many questions about the ponchos. The ponchos smell like Barbies on Christmas morning to me. I headed back to the entrance and the downpour was still torrential, so I decided to do Living With the Land. Walked right onto it. I don’t remember anything about the queue. This is one of those rides where, if you are accompanied by a botanist or know a little more about stuff than they are telling you, it can be really exciting. I, however, found it to be a relaxing boat ride, and just kept wondering how much the Utilities cost was on that whole Pavilion, and wondered whether or not the costs for the greenhouse were actually recovered by the food they produced there. Are parts of this dark? I don’t remember that.
By 3:30 I was asking DH if they were ready to go to a park. By 4:20 they were in England heading to Mexico. DH and I had been texting back and forth. They were now at EPCOT and were anxious to see ‘Ancient Mexican television‘ as they call it, a tribute to the old ride which had an oddly placed old time TV screen in Ancient Mexico. They rode Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Cabelleros, which features many more 'tv' screens but aren't quite as funny anymore. They shopped in Mexico, but were riding Nemo, by the time I got there. I still love shopping in Mexico. DH mentioned The Seas With Nemo & Friends was a very cool ride. By 5:04 they were riding Figment. I got on a Friendship boat. The World Showcase is much more impressive from the boats than by land, I believe, at least from a visual architectural standpoint. I was looking for ice trays at the gift shop at the IG Gift shop, actually paying with my Disney Dream Rewards Card when I saw DH go by outside. I told the CM, “I see my husband out there, I’ll be right back.” I think she thought I was nuts!