Fun, flowers and firsts THREAD 3 OF 7 About This Page:

[GATechGal]

Great review of SS Cheryl. It really got panned in the last issue of AllEarsNet.com newsletter. Love your new picture with "your Donkey".

[kaymeg]

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so i'm curious- what was mark doing all this time?

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Aaah... now that's to come in the next installment - you'll find out tomorrow! All I will say is that there are some wonderful photos of his day to come.

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You sure do know how to keep us all coming back for more!! I am so enjoying your TR and always looking forward to my morning fix!!

[mom2my4dwarfs]

Great update!

[goofy4goofy]

Great updates!!! I love all the pictures too!

Kelly

[chezp]

Wednesday 5 May – part six: The final part of my visit to Saratoga Springs and another PassPorter meet!

Then we saw something perhaps we could stay in one day, the one-bedroom villa and this was lovely. It may seem funny to say this, but everything was so nice and new. Okay, so it should be, as it's not even open to the public, but I got the feeling that a lot of care and attention had gone into creating these rooms and it showed. All very impressive.


The bedroom in the one bedroom villa

The living area – the kitchen is on the right of the photo

The final stop of our tour was the leisure pool for phase one of Saratoga Springs. This is directly opposite Downtown Disney and there's a walkway which runs alongside the water offering wonderful views. This quiet pool had more theming than many of Disney's resorts. For example, it wasn't completely square, but slightly shaped and there were frogs at each corner squirting water through their mouths. Another nice touch.


Children’s play area in phase 1

The leisure pool in phase 1

Hopefully in this shot, you can see the frog on the edge of the pool – in the centre of the photo

And then it was back to the entrance, where I could have had lunch, but really I wasn't hungry and we were due to be eating in just three hours time, so I opted for a Diet Coke instead and sat and waited for Mark.

Saratoga Springs is a wonderful resort and I suspect we may end up trying it for a couple of nights in the future. I'm still not sure about its positioning, as I do worry about the idea of noise from Downtown Disney, but they were at pains to reassure us about that, saying that they had tested it and there was no way you could hear the fireworks in any of the rooms. I guess only time will tell on that count. I did like this more than I expected to and Disney have certainly worked very hard to create a well themed resort.

I waited about 10 minutes for Mark, who turned out to have been driving around the resort looking for me. I had given his name to security earlier, so I was a bit annoyed about the fact they hadn't sent him to the right place. But least I found him in the end.

He told me about his day, which had pretty much been spent tracking down various Disney characters. He'd bought a disposable camera and had almost filled up the autograph book. Not a bad day's work. He also went to see Indiana Jones, which I don't like much and came away saying he didn't think much of it. Something else he didn't think much of was the Backlot Tour. Apparently there's not much left to see on it now. He had lunch at Beaches and Cream and bought a couple of things (I found out the next day when we checked out that he bought a total of almost $100 worth of things, so I was not impressed!)

DH’s day in pictures:

With Mickey, Minnie and Pluto – how rare a sight is that?


Yet another double dose of characters here!

I would’ve loved to have been in this photo as well!

And another triple act from Toy Story this time!

We drove back to the Beach Club Villas and spent the next hour packing, before setting off for the Magic Kingdom, as we were due to meet Elaine (Bert and Sully on the boards) and her husband Keith at 5.30. We decided to park at the Polynesian and this time we weren't given a limit on our parking. We figured they must only do this in the mornings. As we walked up, the monorail pulled away, but there was no way we were going to run for it and we told the CM that. I had a few things for Elaine that she had asked me to get from the UK Disney store (she got some things for me in return) and the bag was not light.

We were in Magic Kingdom by 5.20 and made our way up to the tip board, where we'd agreed to meet. Typically, I kept an eye out for them for about five minutes and as they showed up, I was giving my e-mail address to a CM, so Disney could e-mail me a survey when we got home.

After introductions and exchanging packages, we headed for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, as we still had some time before our PassPorter meet at dinner. I don't remember this ride going so fast and is being so jerky in places. I think once is enough for me this vacation on this ride.

Next: would you like some more food Eeyore and I think you’ve had a little too much already Pooh!

[chezp]

Wednesday 5 May – part seven: would you like some more food Eeyore and I think you’ve had a little too much already Pooh!

We walked back to the Crystal Palace and were just debating whether we should check in or wait until the others got there, when Elaine spotted Sheila (wheatenwalker) and within a minute, Sarah (DreaminDizney1002) and her husband Greg arrived and we were all there. Apart from Elaine, I hadn't really out much contact with any of the others. I think maybe I had PM’d Sheila once or twice and that was it. Still it didn't matter at all, we were all chatting away like old friends in minutes.

I always feel sorry for those who go to these meets, who aren't actively involved in PassPorter (I don't like to generalise, but it's usually the husbands) and I do worry that maybe they’ll be left out, but again that just wasn't the case at all. I think Mark did a good job of keeping everyone entertained. They all kept thinking that he was “yanking their chain” - is that the right phrase? But he wasn't. He was telling genuine stories about the UK, I promise.

In total, we were there for more than two hours. We were seated almost immediately when we arrived at 6.30, which is the first time that’s ever happened to me at the Crystal Palace and we didn't leave there until 8/50. I honestly do not know where the time went. It just seemed to fly by, we were all talking and laughing so much.

We had some great interaction with the characters. Of course Elaine and I are huge Eeyore fans, so when he first came to the table, we got very excited, but if only we had know how many times we would end up seeing him and what fun we would have with him and all the other characters.

My favourite time with Eeyore was when he turned up and sat down to eat Mark's meal, then he sat there patting his tummy after his food. Keith was able to get a great shot of that bit.


Eeyore, full after his “dinner”

A slightly more conventional pose with Eeyore

The first time Eeyore came over, we couldn't find a good place to get a photo of myself and Elaine with him, as the sun kept getting in the way, so we kept moving him around. Eventually Mark told him to just sit down and wait for us and that's exactly what he did. Very funny.


”Just sit there Eeyore – we’ll be finished with you in a moment…”

My two favourites together

Eeyore wasn't the only one playing up. Tigger was being very amorous, kissing all the women's hands and giving us big hugs and Pooh got stuck, trying to get past Sheila's chair. He tried a couple of run-up’s and couldn't get past even then. It was so funny to watch him run-up and then get stuck again. Even as I write this, I laugh about it. In the end, Mark had to offer Pooh a helping hand and had to pull him through. Obviously a case of too much honey!


Pooh – none the worse for his little incident!

Sheila with Tigger

Elaine and Keith with Tigger

Such a smooth operator!

Piglet puts in an appearance

Sarah with Piglet

It was an excellent meal food wise as well, with lots of options for me, including a vegetable and fruit curry and salmon. In all, the bill came to $27 each, which I thought was great value, considering how much fun we had had there and how long we were in there. I think this was the best time we had had at the Crystal Palace and we'd eaten there on a number of occasions.

Crystal Palace – average score: 8.89

Food 8½ 8½
Dessert 8 N/A
Atmosphere 10 10
Service 8½ 8½
Value for money 9 9

This time, I even made sure to leave room for dessert and because we were there for such a long period of time, I was able to eat a lot more than I normally would. Trust me, if you ever get the opportunity to meet up with any of these guys, go for it – they are all wonderful people and so much fun.


The full cast of our PassPorter meet – from left to right, myself, Mark, Elaine, Keith, Greg, Sarah and Sheila

We then went outside just in time to see Wishes and this time, I did get to see it, as I had been trying to take photos last night, so I had missed some things. I did enjoy it a lot more tonight than last night and the fireworks are out of this world. Yes, they’re probably 100 times better than Illuminations in terms of scale, but I still prefer the soundtrack to Illuminations, it’s just a lot more powerful for me.

After Wishes, we walked slowly out of the park and said our goodbyes to Sarah and Greg before just about getting on to the resort monorail. I don’t think any of us thought we would all fit on, but we did. That is true Disney professionalism, just putting the right number of people into each carriage.

We would probably see Elaine and Keith at Chef Mickey’s the next morning, so we didn’t really say goodbye to them and then we took Sheila back to the Boardwalk. I forgot to mention earlier that Sheila had bought us a bottle of wine, as she knew I liked White Zinfandel, which was so kind of her. I did comment that we probably broke some law of Disney, as I’m sure alcohol isn’t usually allowed in the Magic Kingdom!

We were home by about 10.40 and again, it was straight to bed. We had another early start with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s tomorrow.

The weather was hot and sunny and in the 80’s and a warm evening.
The best thing today was the media event, followed very closely by meeting everyone at the Crystal Palace.
the worst thing today was not being able to share my day with Mark.
The funniest thing today was Pooh trying to squeeze past Sheila’s chair and Eeyore eating Mark’s meal.
Today I tried a Disney media event
And the result was it was out of this world.
The most magical moment today was meeting all the other PassPorters and the wonderful character interaction at the Crystal Palace.

Next: Breakfast with the boss and setting sail for the first time

[ilovelilo]

Thanks for the great update! I love SSR's childrens' play area and the pool! It looks like Mark had a good day, too--I'd love to have a picture taken with 3 of the characters!

Looking forward to more!

[DopeyGirl]

I was giggling to myself about all those Eeyore pictures . . . Looks like you all had a fantastic time at dinner!!! Now I am looking even more forward to my meal at Crystal Palace this fall

It appears that Mark had a fabulous day himself . . . I wish I had the luck of having a whole cast of characters in my photos!!! I am so jealous . . . green with envy, I am!!!

All of the photos are great and Saratoga Springs looks lovely . . . might have to try it out someday!!! (But by then, it won't be all shiny and new!!!)

Looking forward to the next part . . . on to the cruise!!!

[ariel1]

another terrific update! and thank you for letting us in on what mark had been up to all day. he sure has luck finding characters! i love the one of him with mickey, minnie, and pluto. what a wonderful time your meet sounded like! cp seems like a good place for that sort of thing. don't wait too long for another update- you know you have a whole bunch of people checking in regularly for more of this report. i'm really anxious to see how you liked the cruise.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Cheryl Love the pictures of Mark with all the characters! And you got some great photos at CP. Thanks for sharing the PP meet ones, it's great to put faces to names

Keep it coming

[Jennifer2003]

Mark is hysterical!!! His pictures from his day alone were great!

Your PP meet looked fun...looking forward to more!
Jennifer

[Wendyismyname]

Excellent Cheryl! Thank you!!!

[DreaminDizney1002]

I am completely jealous at the great photos Mark got on his solo excursion! WOW! It's not very often that you see that many characters together for a photo opportunity!

It was so fun to read about our PP meet - it was like re-living it all over again! We truly had an absolute blast! I don't think we laughed as hard as we did that evening for the remainder of the trip! Mark had us in stitches!!! And the character interaction was, indeed, the best we've ever had at any character meal! It was quite obvious that Pooh had been lingering at the buffet just a little too long! Funny, I didn't see any honey up there - wonder what he's been eating?!

We are so happy that we had the opportunity to meet with all of you and we hope to be able to do so again in the future! Passporters are the BEST!!

Looking forward to the next installment!

[DreaminDizney1002]

P.S.....Don't let Mark's photo with Piglet at the CP mislead you! I seem to remember a certain comment he made to Piglet regarding a slab of bacon, or pork...to which Piglet responded quite angrily!! I don't think Piglet has forgiven him yet!!

[buckysmom]

What a great day/installment.
I'm glad Mark enjoyed himself, and hey, isn't $100 only like 50 pounds right now? That's not too bad!
Echoing Sarah's envy at the PP CP event, glad all had fun.