Don't Stop - the Pocono mountains section COMPLETED
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clio · 06-19-2010, 08:23 PM

Your flight home sounds great and the food looks good. I bet you were glad to be home after such a long trip.
Liz

**chezp** · 06-20-2010, 03:10 AM

Final thoughts:

I always really dread this bit for two reasons:

1) It means that, not only is our vacation now long over by the time I write this up, but it means that my trip is as well and therefore my link to that vacation is almost done too.

2) I always wonder how on earth I’m going to do the amazing vacation that we’ve had justice, particularly when, like this one, it involves visiting so many places over such a long period of time.

Let’s go through it like a PassPorter, starting with:

Planning our Adventure:

This was the first time that I had planned a road trip and it was really important for me to get it right, as we have got three more to come all around Europe during 2010. My biggest concern was whether or not I had programmed in too much into each day, particularly with my chronic fatigue. As it happened, I hadn’t With the exception of heading down to Key West, there wasn’t much driving to do at all each day and I managed to also include a reasonable amount of time to visit the places that I wanted to go to.

The Disney side of the vacation is always easier, as we plan around food. With the exception of not making it in time for the Wave on our first night and Chef Mickey’s the next night, as we were just too full, that all worked out perfectly.

When we got to Sue and Steve’s, we were very much in their hands and trusted them, as they knew what they were doing and so it proved to be. There wasn’t a lot programmed and it was very relaxing and also, at times, gave me the chance to catch up on things, like the boards and the trip report. I knew Steve found it a bit odd, me doing things like that, but I found that very relaxing in itself.

Getting There and Back:

I have nothing but praise for Upper Class, but as I think I’ve mentioned, it should be an excellent service, because you certainly pay for it. We really lucked out with the deal we got and my dad was right when he said that, after you’ve flown it once, you’ll want to always fly that way again. Whether finances allows us to do that is another matter, but if the opportunity presents itself again, then it’s something we will be doing it again, that for sure.

I can’t imagine a more relaxing way to travel and it certainly helped to start and end our vacation on a great note.

I have already spoken a bit about our road trip down to Key West. That was a lot of fun, although we both felt that we had a lot of baggage to carry during it, but what else could we do, as we were visiting both hot and cold climates during out stay. If we did it again, I think we’d prefer to travel lighter and I wouldn’t pick up a car from Avis at the Downtown Disney Hilton again. You don’t get any choice there and, as a result, we didn’t end up with the car we wanted. Yes, it was fine, but it wasn’t as nice as some others we’ve had in the past, which was a shame.

Disney’s Magical Express was also less than magical for us and I doubt it’s something we’ll use again in all honesty. I thought it was fine for getting you to the airport when I used it in May, but there were definitely issues with it on this trip. As we have said to people though, what do you expect from a free service?

Our internal flight from Key West to Tamp was certainly an adventure. Had I known beforehand just how small the plane was going to be, I think I might have freaked out, but in the end, it was fine and actually a lot less bumpy than our flights over to the States.

Southwest, once again, proved to be as great as they’ve always been in the past and I loved the early bird check-in. I would certainly use that again in the future, as it’s well worth the money and I would definitely fly Southwest again. I love the whole attitude of the airline and the fact that they don’t charge for luggage, especially the amount that we carry with us. That’s a nice perk.

Sue and Steve were great tour guides, driving us around everywhere. I was very glad that we didn’t have to find their place, as it really is in the middle of nowhere. We said to them we could just imagine the sat nav telling us to turn off the main road and us screaming at it “but there’s nothing here!”

Staying in Style:

Well, we certainly saw a lot of hotels during this trip and, for the most part, they were amazing.

Starting at the beginning, which is the logical place to begin, I really liked Bay Lake Tower, probably more than I thought I would. I was delighted that we got a partial view of the Magic Kingdom, that was such a pleasant surprise, although I wasn’t as keen on all the security arrangements as far as visiting this resort and the Top of the World lounge went. I hope they relax this soon.

Perhaps one of the disappointments this trip was Kidani Village. Much as I loved our room and its close location to the lobby and we had some great animal interaction just outside our window, we were left with an overwhelming sense of isolation here. It’s a shame, as this could be such a good resort and should be, just as good as its sister resort, Jambo House, but it just doesn’t quite make the grade. If we have any choice in the matter, this will probably be our first and last stay there, as I think we’ll opt for Jambo House in the future.

Somewhere where we had a much more pleasant stay this time around was Vero Beach. Out first stay was not helped by very cold weather and news of the tsunami on the other side of the world, which suddenly made the sea outside look a lot less friendly. The fact that we visited not long after the last big hurricane didn’t help either. This time, we loved out time there much more. This is a great place to relax and get away from it all, but still enjoy a touch of Disney at the same time. I hope we can make it back here for more visits in the future, as the place is really growing on me.

The Express by Holiday Inn in Boca Raton was much nicer than it first looked from the outside and that just proves the old adage about not judging a book by its over. Wise words indeed....

The Z Ocean Suites in Miami Beach turned out to be a great choice and a great use of our Holiday Inn loyalty points, as I doubt we could ever afford to stay here otherwise. The fact that we chose to eat in there the two nights we were there says something, as we just couldn’t bear to be out of our luxurious room. This really was an seriously indulgent place.

Our next stop at the Crowne Plaza at Key West was another great choice and again a good use of our Holiday Inn points. I knew it would be centrally located and so it proved to be, but I was also very impressed by its history. I had no idea that there were so many great stories associated with this place or that it had a deck to watch the sunset from. Shame the weather didn’t cooperate enough to allow us to do that.

The Beach Club Villas were just as wonderful as ever. I think, no matter where else we stay within the DVC resorts at Disney World, this place will always be our home resort. It’s just so beautifully themed and perfectly located for visiting our favourite park, Epcot.

I thought the Hyatt at Orlando International Airport was very nice, but I had no clue as to how big the thing is. Although it was noisy, I would still consider staying here again, if we had an early morning flight, as it was so convenient to get from our room to the plane.

The Crowne Plaza at the King of Prussia mall was another winner and another case of what are we driving into when we first arrived, but what a lovely place it turned out to be, even if we weren’t meant to photograph it and we were on the quiet floor.

We saved the best for last with the Pocono Wilderness Lodge. It really was everything I had seen in photos and so much more. I cannot begin to tell you what a stunning place Sue and Steve live in. It’s so wonderful and homely and I love the way that the place is just filled with all their memories. Every home should also have a Charley and Joe’s as well. As Steve says, you always have a great time there and he was right.

Our final stay at the Holiday Inn at Newark Airport was fine, even if it did have the most unfriendly staff we’ve ever come across and there was that little incident with the shots fired.

Touring:

We certainly did a lot of touring and, not just at Disney, but that’s where I’ll start. My Guest Assistance Card proved to be such a blessing for us. I really had no idea how much use this thing was going to get when I first picked it up. Although, at first, I was a bit reluctant to use it, that soon gave way, as the wait times went up, the nearer we got to Christmas and, we walked on to Toy Story Mania, I figured that I might as well view it as the positive side to what has been a horrible year for me and us. I just hope 2010 is much better...

We didn’t do that many rides at Disney, but you know what? We don’t need to anymore, as that’s not what Disney is all about to us.

: It’s about just enjoying being there and the great theming and the wonderful restaurants,. But more to come on that in a moment...

As far as our other touring went, there were so many great highlights. Some that do come to mind instantly are:

Sitting on Miami beach, enjoying the beach, especially when we look back at it, as the weather was so good, compared with what was to come...
The Flagler Museum and the Morikami gardens, both of which were superb and both must visits for us and for anyone heading down that way.
One day, maybe we’ll make it back to Vizcaya, as that was also quite something, but we just missed so much of it, thanks to the rain.
Key West had so much to offer and now we’ve seen the main sights, like the Southernmost point, Mallory Square, Hemingway’s House and Mel Fisher’s Maritime Museum, we have talked about going on a glass bottomed boat next time we go back. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to do that on a western Caribbean cruise one day...
From the Pocono mountains, highlights were definitely Longwood Gardens, which was only marred by the horrible rain that night. I’m so glad that Sue and Steve enjoyed it there.
We also loved Hershey Park, especially the cows on the ride, but again, it’s a shame that the weather didn’t play ball more. It was so hard to enjoy it while freezing to death, at least that’s what it felt like to me.

Feasting and Snacking:

Oh boy, we did enjoy some good meals this trip and that was our problem, as we no doubt headed home a lot bigger than we left!

The Deluxe Dining Plan again worked for us, allowing us to enjoy many fine signature meals without worrying about how much it was going to cost us. It’s definitely worth doing each time we go for at least part of our stay.

Tables in Wonderland also proved to be a great purchase for us, saving us a lot of money on alcohol and our first few meals, as well as giving us free valet parking, a perk we had got used to as DVC members, until it was sadly removed from us.

The standouts this time around were some old favourites, the California Grill and Boma, along with the Flying Fish Cafe that is rapidly becoming one of our new favourites. Beaches and Cream was as good as ever and we also loved the afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian, although it was way more food than we thought it would be.

Tutto Italia once again delivered, although it’s definitely one to visit on the Dining Plan, as the prices there are quite high. We loved Sanaa, a great addition to Disney dining.

Outside of Disney, La Trattoria at Key West was excellent and we loved our meal at Longwood Gardens at 1906. Of course, I can’t say enough nice things about Sue’s cooking as well, with or without those bad shrimp!

Making More Magic:

Now this is usually the bit where all the other bits that won’t fit into any other category go and this trip report is no exception to that. We had so many magical memories along the way and not just at Disney.

Highlights of course included my birthday and the celebration for it at the Crystal Palace with a special grey donkey, but also at Teppan Edo and then at the Allentown PassPorter meet. It was so nice to have that thought of even then.

We found magic with the characters at Disney and with the Cast Members, but sadly not with the guests. We saw more appalling behaviour from them then we’d ever seen before and that was a great shame.

Magic came away from Disney as well, with the amazing sunset cruise that we enjoyed in Key West, even if it did have a bit of an after-effect on me!

Then there was the magic of exploring beautiful places along the east coast of Florida. Boy, there are some gorgeous places in that area.

Talking of beautiful, the Pocono mountains were stunning, especially when it snowed. All along, I had wanted to see snow there, provided that it didn’t interfere with our plans and that’s exactly how it was. It was truly magical to wake up to all the whiteness outside.

But the most magical thing this vacation, as always, were the friends that we saw, both old and new. The celebrations were somewhat toned down this year for the event formerly known as MouseFest, but there was still a pretty impressive turnout and it was so good to catch up with so many old face again and to meet some new ones along the way as well.

The same can be said of the Allentown meet, where I was truly impressed at how far people had travelled to be there.

Of everyone we saw, special mention has to go to two in particular. Firstly, Wendy and Ben, who came down just for the day to see us. I know a lot of people thought they were made to come down for such a short period of time, but they weren’t at all and we had such a fun day together.

Of course, the others were Sue and Steve for putting us up, or should that be putting up with us

for the best part of a week. It was so wonderful to be able to spend so much time with them in their beautiful home, with their beautiful animals, especially Belle, who stole my heart.

I cannot thank them enough for inviting us to stay with them. Maybe one day, we’ll make it back there again. I certainly hope so.

Yes, the most magic we made this trip was definitely with all our friends and, to each and everyone of you that we saw and spent time with, no matter how short or long, thank you for helping to make magic with us.

So that’s it for this trip report.

We won’t be back in the States now until next year (at least I can now say that, when it was 2009, it seemed like so long to go...

), but in the meantime there will of course be trip reports for our three European road trips this year to Switzerland, Northern France and Disneyland Paris and then through France and down to Spain. (coming in early September)

ilovedisney247 · 06-20-2010, 03:32 AM

Great finish Cheryl! See you in April!!

**chezp** · 06-20-2010, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Great finish Cheryl! See you in April!!

Can't wait!

Wendyismyname · 06-20-2010, 12:44 PM

Fabulous wrap up! Such well written thoughts!! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to every step of the planning it took too!! That Poconos Wilderness Lodge looks better than the real thing!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chezp

Of everyone we saw, special mention has to go to two in particular. Firstly, Wendy and Ben, who came down just for the day to see us. I know a lot of people thought they were made to come down for such a short period of time, but they weren’t at all and we had such a fun day together.

There's no better gift to be given than love and attention!

No one else in the world I'd haul my butt that far for.

Not

at all. Besides, I've never been one to give a flying fart what other people think of me or what I do.

pamcarey · 06-20-2010, 01:19 PM

Great finish! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful, epic trip report with us!

**KMB733** · 06-20-2010, 02:49 PM

Great wrap up to a wonderful trip!! Thanks for sharing the trip with us!!

**Colexis Mom** · 06-20-2010, 06:50 PM

Great finish Cheryl!

Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

honeybee723 · 06-21-2010, 08:43 AM

Great finish! I'm so glad you have another one to read though!

Ciavobella · 06-21-2010, 11:34 AM

I very much enjoyed every aspect of this trip report. Thanks Cheryl.

**OhToodles!** · 06-21-2010, 03:55 PM

Great wrap-up Cheryl! It's amazing all that you did while you were here! I thoroughly enjoy reading your TRs! I'm very glad I was able to meet you & Mark in December!! I hope we can see each other again someday.