WDW in May - The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees - Day 4 - DONE (JUNE 21)
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**DrDolphin** · 05-27-2004, 07:04 PM

Saturday, May 22

Day 2 - Part 1

Looking for a Resort, DVC presentation and Lunch at the Boardwalk

We woke up this morning, took showers; ate our peanut butter & bread in the room (this was a great thing – it cut the edge in the morning – and prevented me from eating the morning high carb junk that I usually eat when I travel). We also saved a bit of cash doing this. After getting dressed – we headed out of our room and drove to the Beach Club resort. We are trying to decide where to stay for our birthday trip at the end of September after we get off of the Wonder. We were down to two resorts – the Beach Club and the Boardwalk Resorts. We knew that we wanted to be close to EPCOT since we will be there for the Food and Wine Festival. So this morning we decided to head to the Beach Club, and then to the Boardwalk at noon. We drove up to the gate, explained to the guard and he said, “Come on in!” We had decided last January to stay at the Yacht Club this coming January for the marathon in 2005. I know there are lots of Beach Club lovers out there – but we didn’t feel it nearly as much as we had felt it when we checked out the Yacht Club. This doesn’t mean we won’t stay here – we have to look at the Boardwalk yet.

Before the trip, I had seriously been considering joining DVC. I had ordered the videotape from the DVC website, and called DVC to make an appointment to meet with a guide. I’d told Cheryl she did not have to come with me – since she really had no interest in DVC, but she decided to go with me. We drove from the Beach Club to Saratoga Springs Resort and the new DVC tour center. We found it (after some confusing driving instructions from the guard), parked the car, went in and checked in at the front desk. We had an appointment with Richardo. We enjoyed the tour; Saratoga Springs will be a very lovely resort when it is complete. For a short report of the tour and results, see the post in the “Owning a piece of the Magic Forum - Terri's mini DVC report.” The end result is that I did not buy DVC – not right now. I will likely do it next year – it all depends on finances. We finished our tour with a scoop of ice cream in the ice cream shop at SSR and then headed to DTD to do some shopping.

Cheryl needed to go there to replace her Minnie hairbrush and a multi-colored pen that her dog Phoebe ate!!! I wanted to look for a new pen to write with – I bought one previously, it’s just a bit too thick to use all the time. I also wanted to check for a “Grumpy’s Gymnasium” sweatshirt – which was a bad idea since it was the wrong time of year to look for a sweatshirt!!! After our short sopping trip to WOD, we headed to Disney at Home to look for wedding gifts for our running buddy and new Disney convert Kris. I ended up buying her a Classic Pooh teakettle, a classic pooh hot plate for the tea pot and bought my niece Jolene a three fairies tooth pillow. Cheryl could not find anything to get Kris – so we headed out toward Boardwalk to get some lunch and check out our second birthday resort option.

We arrived at the Boardwalk and really liked the entrance area.

It was very bright and was bright and cheery. When we entered the lobby all I could say was WOW – which was my reaction the first time I ever saw the WL lobby!! We walked through the lobby and into the other areas of the resort and then headed to the Boardwalk itself. We had considered to get lunch at Spoodles – but discovered they don’t serve lunch and ended up at the Big River Brewing Company instead. I did not realize that this is not a Disney owned restaurant. I had the Blackened Mahi sandwich with kettle-cooked potato chips, while Cheryl had the Chicken Cashew salad. The total bill came to $24.48 before tip, and there was no DDE discount since this is not a Disney restaurant.

Next installment - EPCOT, Flowers and France!!!

loobyoxlip · 05-27-2004, 09:01 PM

2 great installments, Terri. Keep 'em coming! Thanks for the good reads.

luvnwdwgal · 05-27-2004, 09:12 PM

Great update Terri!!

mom2my4dwarfs · 05-28-2004, 12:47 AM

Great trip report so far Terri. Can't wait to read more. Sorry to hear about your location at the CBR. They tried to put us in building 39. I told the CM we requested Aruba or Jamaica and got the same answer you did about not having it noted on the ressie. At least we were able to get into Jamaica Building 44.

**Colexis Mom** · 05-28-2004, 07:40 AM

Great updatesx Terri

Sorry you encountered rude CMs at Cali Grill

but your salmon did look yummy

Looking forward to more

buckysmom · 05-28-2004, 01:40 PM

Great update!
Thanks for the pictures of resorts and food...can't wait to read more.

Grammy Grumpy · 05-28-2004, 01:45 PM

Thanks for the report so far. We are doing CG in June and will report on our experiences. I'll try to avoid any cranky CMs!

**DrDolphin** · 05-29-2004, 06:42 PM

Who - Terri (33) Disney nut from FL

Cheryl (28) Disney Nut from VA

May 21- 24

Where - CBR

Day 2 – part 2

After lunch, we considered walking to EPCOT and leaving the car at the Boardwalk and then coming back to Boardwalk after Illuminations to head to the Magic Kingdom to see Wishes and the second showing of Spectromagic. Then we started thinking about it and decided to drive around and park the car in the EPCOT parking lot. Then if we decided to head to MK – we would just take the monorail, transfer at the TTC and head to MK – and then reverse it to get the car after its all over.

We arrived at EPCOT around 130pm and started immediately taking photos of the flowers and topiaries. Here are a couple of examples.

Mickey and Minnie on the way to a picnic

Tinkerbell Topiary

We rode Space Ship Earth – as is a requirement of a trip to EPCOT. We walked through the former AT&T communication center and headed out into Future World. We thought about Test Track and Mission Space – and decided this was a low key trip and that neither of us was really in the mood for fast or spinning rides. We just wanted to walk around, enjoy the flowers and relax.

Can you see the hidden mickeys??

We headed back to World Showcase and made a complete lap of the counties including France – Cheryl got a raspberry crepe (she’s been wanting one for a few years now and we always forget), I got a rainbow Kaki Gori, the first time I’ve actually eaten one – YUM – not too sweet at all!!! While walking around World Showcase Lagoon we saw Goofy and Max in a WaterMouse (ok I forget what the new ones are called) and they came over to play on the beach.

We also had an “encounter” with the living statue in Italy – here are some photos:

After we spent the time with our friendly marble friend, we were both hungry and decided to get a snack… we’d seen lots of folks with a peach-colored frozen drink and we were wondering what that was. So we stopped someone and asked – they told us it was a frozen drink from the Cantina in Mexico. We walked over and ended up getting Frozen Congos, Cantina Nachos and a side of guacamole for $17.10. It was a much needed snack. We were both really hungry and getting a bit cranky from low blood-sugar, heat and dehyration.

After our snack stop in Mexico – we decided we wanted to find the Dogone Maze. I thought it was in the UK (ok I knew there was a maze there) – luckily we found a manager Cm walking past and asked him where it was – he walked with us for most of the way and I finally got to play in the Dogone Maze with Pluto and Stitch!!!

I'm in the dog house!

After our little jaunt in the Maze – we headed toward the American Gardens theatre and got to see the 530pm show of Paul Revere and the Raiders as part of the Flower Power Concerts. It was really fun!! I took some photos – but they came out major blurry – so I won’t be posting them. The concert finished and we headed for a 7pm PS at Chefs de France. Cheryl had requested this restaurant for dinner and in all honestly, I was worried that I would not find anything on the menu since I am not a major fan of French food. However, our CM Emmanuel made some fantastic recommendation and this is what we ended up with: Cheryl got the Duck and Chicken and I got the Seafood Brochette (salmon, shrimp and scallops) with Paella rice. We finished with the Profiterolles that are puff pastries with vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce. Our total bill came to $47.59 after discount and tax.

After dinner, we decided to walk around WSL and find a good place to see Illuminations. We ended up at the “bottom” of the lagoon, closest to Future World between the two gift shops. Cheryl found us a spot and I went to buy some post cards that I’d promised to send as a FairyGodMailer. CMs had the area roped off initially due to the direction of the wind (right at us) and we ended up not being able to go any closer – but we were first in line right behind the rope.

After another great showing of Illuminations, we were cranky, tired and dehydrated. We were supposed to run 5 miles in the morning and decided that we really needed to get some sleep and opted not to go to MK for Spectromagic and Wishes.

SE and Fountain at night

Next – Sunday May 23 – no run for us – early entry MK.

statelady01 · 05-29-2004, 08:35 PM

A great installment Terri- thanks!

Annabel · 05-29-2004, 08:56 PM

Great trip report and wonderful photos, thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading more.

Annabel

**2princessmom** · 05-29-2004, 10:17 PM

Great report! keep it coming!

buckysmom · 05-30-2004, 09:13 AM

What beautiful pictures. I'm always amazed at Disney ingenuity!
Thanks for the update, and appreciate the prices on meals...trying to decide if the DDE is worth it.
Looking forward to more

**DrDolphin** · 05-30-2004, 10:20 AM

Alleesmom - DDE is SO worth it - ok so its been worth it for me. YOu have to factor in how much you'll use it and where you will use it, since not all places take it - not even all Disney restaurants. It is good for up to 6 people in your party and good for both drinks (the adult kind) and food - 20% off -- If you have an AP its cheaper to get and renew it. I have about worn mine out this year and will definately be renewing in Sept. This year I really didn't track how much I saved to see if I paid for it - but you figure I've stayed at WDW 20 nights since I got the card Sept 03 and had a couple of times I was "in the neighborhood" and decided to have dinner at 'OHana with co-workers. I have noticed that it sort of motivates me to eat at more sit down places.... Hope this helps. With a family (or more than one person) I think it would definately pay for itself faster than just one person - there is a whole list of restaurants, etc and discussion about it on Deb Wills Allears site.