Saturday, October 14 Part 2 Whats next? AKA It doesnt start till when?
Tea done and we have time to kill. The question is what next? Well we are on the monorail loop so why not go exploring?
Bye GF see you in a little bit
The Contemporary across the pond
The MK all decked out for Halloween. Purty. Never went during Halloween time. One of thes days I will make it along with not so scary.
Number Seven
And The Kid.
Co-Conspirators
Decided to get off at the Poly. Thought that the other kid would like to see it. Once again, my instincts were good. They took about 10 minutes for two poses. All the time giving me directions. Hey Kidos, I take a pretty good picture. Maybe not these but then again, think of the subject matter.
OK, this is not such a good one but I had to include it. The Princess Pirate Mickey. Arrg!
Nice background
Much shopping was going on as I just wandered around. She picked up a Pluto animal/pillow thing. They were finally bored and we went outside to explore the grounds. A look at the pool and then I started walking a certain way. DD started to talk about the time she spent at the Kids club here. It really left a strong impression. She was always a social animal and did not suffer from separation anxiety at all. We had no problem dropping her off at one of the kids clubs. Neverland was by far her favorite. The first time she went was probably about 5. When she toured she remembered they used to have a slide through the window to get into the club and a big alligator to play on. Both are long gone. After a little while reminiscing with her friend, she asked if we could stop by the place. My response was, Where do you think we are going? Soon we were here.
We went in and I told the CM that Princess was an Alumnus of the Club and was hoping she could show her friend. Since no kids were there, they were allowed to do wander around. I went outside to chill in the lush grounds. They took a couple of pics. That was until a CM told them that pictures were not allowed.
They are still kids at heart
They saw ducks and had to take a picture.
What a life the wild animals must be at WDW. I can imagine their conversations, Duck 1, What are we going to do today? Duck 2, Lets go by the food court for lunch and then we can head to EPCOT. Duck 2, Nah, we there all week for Food and Wine. Im thinking we go to the Magic Kingdom. We can hang out at the Jungle Cruise and then a snack at Aloha Isle. We might get lucky and some kid will drop a Dole Whip. Duck 1, Umm, Dole Whip. Im sold.
While the ducks were consulting the Lines App., we decided to head back. Got this of cleared grounds by the Grand Floridian. Did not see any signs of construction of the expected DVC resort there. Princess loves the GF and cant wait to stay there.
Got the car and headed to the planned surprise resort. Found out the surprise wasnt going to start for a number of hours. Oops. DD looked at me with that disappointing look when I screw up. She uses that look a lot. They still had now idea what was going on but they did not want to sit here for a couple of hours. We did look around the place and they found this. DD had to have a picture.
Now what to do? DD wanted to show 7 the Boardwalk. Sure, why not. Drive over there and was hit with a bad show Disney moment. Not so much for me but for guests staying there. Pull up to the guard shack and told the white lie that we were having dinner. He tells me that I could either pay for valet or park at Downtown Disney and take a bus back. We were doing valet anyway so I pull up. Pass the valet lot and see a sign it was full. Huh? The entrance was a mess. Cars were either waiting or parked all over the place. Some were turning around in the driveway. Took us a while when we finally pulled in front of the resort.
Valet then informs us that they were turning away everyone except those with handicapped permits. Luckily we have one so we were allowed to use valet. I later posted on the DVC board my experience and then others who were staying at the resort that weekend told their horror stories. I never stayed at BW during Food and Wine and I know parking here is a challenge. Some guests told of parking in the CM lot, or way out in the boondocks and not allowed access to the main guest parking lot. Seems there was a big convention going on that was using the BW facilities and it was said they received exclusive access to the guest lot. And this included people staying at other resorts and were not BW guests. WHAT?
OK, soapbox firmly below my feet. I can understand if people (like us that day) want to tour the resort, and are denied parking access. But guests staying there? DVC members pay dues for that lots upkeep. If someone told me that I would have gone BALLISTIC. The guests staying at the Inn are paying a small fortune for their rooms. AND NOT BE ABLE TO PARK ANYWHERE NEAR THE RESORT! The Boardwalk is always a challenge finding a spot but guests at the resort need first priority. This was inexcusable. They need to provide gated parking area with access only for resort guests. Enough said on that.
So anyway we got through the hoops of parking the car. Didnt take any pictures of the resort but the other kid was impressed. I love walking into this place. We were there when the Boardwalk officially opened and immediately fell in love with the place. I know it has detractors but it is by far my favorite DVC resort.
We go down the staircase and by what I call the Great Lawn. Its a NY City reference. From there we walked around. DD wants to head over to the Y/B Club. Im not sure I want to walk that far but finally give in. Walked around there a little bit and stopped by Beaches and Cream. They watched as a kitchen sink was presented. And yes, they used A WHOLE CAN.
It was starting to get a little dark so we went back to the Boardwalk to see some of the entertainment. On the way back we saw this sunset. Wow. These pics are nice but not as impressive as the real thing. Saw many beautiful sunsets here but this one was amazing.
And my favorite. I wanted to catch the light as it was passing the glass and just missed it.
The girls enjoying the view
The sun soon moved on and so did we. Found a crowd and the girls sat down to enjoy the show.
She shot a short video. As you can hear, all the kids enjoyed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnwM2F5lvc&feature=player_detailpage
My favorite entertainer was just starting a show so I called the kids over and we went down a little bit to see him. Dont know his name but he is the one that tools around on a bike. I mistakenly walk behind the stage area and he turned around then commented to the crowd that he guesses I had a backstage pass. The kids enjoyed that. He did a few things including a card trick. When he was doing that trick, he kept showing me different cards and asking if it was the right one? I of course shook my head no.
Love the entertainment they provide. Always a good time at night here. After her revealed the chosen card, it was time to go. Car is retrieved and we head to the other resort.
Out of picture space so thats it for now. Next update is the surprise. Will have that one up before Thanksgiving. I hope. Dont hold me to it.
Up next: Saturday, October 14 Part 3 A few drinks and more than a couple of laughs. AKA Where are you from?