Trip Reports

Accommodations: Off-site at Marriott World Center and OKW Studio
Date of Visit: October 13th - 17th , traveling on Business
Transport: Plane, rental car
Group of adult, Disney Veterans
This is a brief trip to Orlando. I found out earlier this year that I would be attending a convention at the Marriott and my husband decided to go with me and take advantage of some extra golf time. Also, since we purchased annual passes in September, it made it really convenient to hit a few parks while we are down there.

A week before we were to leave, we had a wonderful surprise. Two of our dear friends decided to travel to Orlando with us. They had airfare vouchers that they had to use and Mike needed to have a brief business meeting with Universal Studios, so they were going to surprise us by showing up on the same flight. But, they had to confirm which flight we were on - so, they had to fill us in. We were thrilled. These friends have been big Disney fans for years. Mike is a very talented artist and had seriously considered 2 job offers from Disney over the past ten years or so, but did not want to up root his family in Illinois. Back in our “ignorant” pre-Dis days, we would wonder why they return to Disney year after year. We tease them now because all of our other friends now wonder the same thing about us. Now, this will finally be our first trip to Disney together.

Our flight left from Central Illinois at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday. We picked up our friends at 4:45 a.m. so that we could be one of the first in line and attempt to get an upgrade to Business Class. Well, we were the 1st ones in line and the upgrade was no problem. Due to runway construction in Atlanta and deteriorating weather conditions there, our departure was delayed about 40 minutes. Business class was wonderful; we had spacious seats and a few cocktails on the way down. We arrived in Atlanta and almost walked onto our connection. We arrived in Orlando Atlanta at 12:10 - just a little over 30 minutes late. While Nathan went directly to National to pick up our rental car, the rest of us proceeded to baggage claim. Nathan met us there and we went to pick our intermediate car in the National garage and there were none. We asked for an upgrade, but they said that some would be clean in “2 minutes”. After waiting about 15 more minutes and watching other travelers aimlessly looking for an intermediate, they agreed to give us a full-size that was ready. This was a good thing because our luggage and 2 sets of golf clubs barely fit in the full-size car.

We took the South Exit and headed to All-Star Music to drop off our friends. The CM at the front desk was very pleasant and allowed us to purchase E-Tickets for Friday night even though we weren’t checking into OKW until Saturday. Mike and Katy’s room was not ready, so we decided to drive to Downtown Disney for lunch and some shopping. The parking lot was practically empty! We usually have a tough time finding a space here and we hoped the lack of crowds would be a good sign for the rest of our stay.

After getting a space in the FRONT row - we headed over to Captain Jack’s for a light lunch. Since we had PS at O’Hana for dinner, we didn’t want to spoil our appetites. Nathan & I split some chips with salsa and clam dip, he had a cup of crab chowder and I had a fantastic bruschetta salad. Mike & Katy split some crab cakes and each had a bowl of chowder. The tab for our lunch was about $20 with tip.

We walked over to World of Disney, did some quick shopping and left Mike & Katy there so that we could drive to the Marriott World Center to check in and pick up my registration materials for the conference.

It was going to be odd not staying on Disney property for a few days. We have never stayed off-site, but since the main purpose of my trip was business this was unavoidable.

This resort is big. If you self-park, you have to take a shuttle to and from the parking lot! Needless to say, we decided to valet. Our NS King room was ready (at 3:00 p.m.), so we dropped off our luggage in the room and went down to check out the exhibit hall for the conference. The Marriott really was quite nice. It has a beautiful pool with waterfalls and a lagoon and several excellent restaurants. It really was ideal for the convention crowds and laid out extremely well. While it served its purpose for the conference I was attending, I cannot imagine staying here otherwise. Just doesn’t have the Disney Magic, ya know?

After a few hours unpacking and relaxing, we headed over to All Stars to pick up Mike & Katy. We drove to the Poly and walked around enjoying the beautiful atmosphere. Both couples reminisced of our past vacations here. Katy was telling about the time they stayed for a week in the Concierge building and brought 14 suitcases! Fortunately (for us), they both travel much lighter now. This is still one of our favorite resorts - we just love it here since it reminds us so much of Hawaii. I think it is one of the most romantic resorts.

We were promptly seated for our 7:20 p.m. PS. We haven’t eaten at “O’Hana” for several years. The menu has changed a bit - they have added grilled fresh salmon along with the grilled shrimp, steak and turkey (instead of chicken). I love the potstickers and salad with the honey-lime dressing. We all indulged in a cocktail - I had the house specialty served in a fresh pineapple and Nathan had a “backscratcher”. When they brought the drinks, they gave me a large cocktail glass filled to the brim. I told them that they were mistaken, I ordered the “pineapple” drink. Well, both drinks were mine - it doesn’t fit in the pineapple so I had the excess in the glass. It was excellent, but strong with several shots of rum. I was very relaxed - lol. For dessert, we all enjoyed the delicious pineapple with caramel. Mike & Katy ordered a snowball (ice cream rolled in coconut and drizzled with chocolate) and Nathan & shared a Koko Puff from Kona Café. Our waiter was kind enough to go next door to get it for me - Thanks, Skip! We were hungry since we hadn’t eaten for most of the day, but we were totally stuffed by the end of this feast. We plan on coming back here with the kids in January.

After dinner, we walked out to the boat dock in time to catch the Water Pageant. What a wonderful end to our first day. We are enjoying the independence of being with another couple and not traveling with the kids, but I know that in a day or so I will be missing them and wish they were with us. After dropping off Mike & Katy, we got back to the Marriott at around 10:30 p.m. and turned in.

On Thursday, I was up early and at my meeting by 8:30 a.m. Nathan used this day to golf at The Palm at 10:45 a.m. with Mike. He has the Disney golf badge, so he waits until after 10 to golf in order to get the discounted rate of $35 vs. the $95 or $115 that is normally charged. Also, up to 3 guests can golf with him for the same $35 rate -- so, Mike was very happy about this.

My day was busy and I was through by around 5:00 p.m. I met Nathan at the room. We headed over to pick up Mike & Katy and then drove to Boardwalk where we took the boat to EPCOT. We arrived just in time to see the “Tapestry of Nations” around World Showcase. It was incredible! The puppets have wonderful interaction with the audience and the music is truly inspirational. After watching the parade we headed to “Test Track”. We had not been able to ride in on our trip in Sept. and Mike & Katy’s attempt to ride it last year was thwarted after they waited 2 hours in line only for it to break down just as they boarded. We decided to shorten the posted wait time of 60 minutes by taking the singles line. We waited about 20 minutes and ended up riding as couples in the same car. The ride had operating problems throughout our wait time and boarding/disembarking. We were a little disappointed in the ride itself - not too exciting other than the outside track. Definitely not worth more than a 20-30 minute wait.

We then hightailed it over to the Japan pavilion since I was on a mission to locate Pokemon cards for my son. They now have a small kiosk outside the Mitsukoshi store selling cards and other Pokemon paraphernalia. While Katy and I browsed in the shops, Mike and Nathan held a spot on the 2nd level of the Pavilion for Illuminations. We really enjoyed the beginning and end of Illuminations 2000 - but felt that it lagged a bit in the middle when it focused entirely on the images projected on the specially created globe. Also, it did not seem like there were as many fireworks. We actually like the original Illuminations better.

After the show was over, we rushed over to Boardwalk to make our 9:30 PS at “Spoodles”. I had heard great things about “Spoodles” and we were not disappointed. The food was excellent. We started with the Chef’s adventure appetizer sampler of grilled lamb with cucumber sauce, wild mushroom flatbread with feta and buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes. We also shared a bottle of a wonderful Spanish Pinot wine, which was a wonderful accompaniment to the lamb and beef that we ordered. Mike and I each ordered a delicious romaine salad with proscuitto, pinenuts, caramelized walnuts and pear vinaigrette. Mike & Nathan had the lamb while Katy & I both had the Angus beef sirloin. Both entrees were excellent. We got a sampling of desserts including pumpkin butterscotch crème brulee (served in a mini pumpkin), sickle pears with pepper ice cream, apple tort and a wonderful chocolate cake with expresso shot. Service was very slow, but this was likely due to the fact that we closed the place at 11:00 p.m. The tab for the 4 of us including tip was $235. One aside - I had asked our server re a DVC discount and he said that they gave 10%. But, when the time to pay the bill came - he said that his manager told him it was no longer offered. He made no offer to extend it to us since he had previously misinformed us, but we enjoyed the meal none the less.

We headed back to our respective resorts looking forward to another beautiful tomorrow in WDW - and monitoring the progress of Hurricane Irene!

Friday was another day full of meetings, so it was also another day of golf for Nathan. Today, he and Mike golfed at Lake Buena Vista. He met Mike & Katy at “Kona Café” for breakfast and while the guys golfed, Katy spent the day in the MK - her favorite park.

Nathan met me at the room around 4:30 p.m. and we headed to MK where we were supposed to meet Mike & Katy at City Hall to exchange our E-tickets for the wristbands. Hurrican Irene was skirting southern Florida, but we just had overcast skies and intermitant showers. No real downpours. While Nathan waited for our friends, I ran into The Emporium to pick up 2 pounchos. Of course, we have some at home but I didn’t think (or, I hoped) we would not need them.

After meeting each other, we decided to go on some of the rides that would not be open to E-ticket. Went to Adventureland and picked up pineapple Dole whips on the way. Had a small wait at Pirates and then we decided to head to Fantasyland to hit Peter Pan and Pooh. The line for Pooh was 45 minutes and we were not willing to wait for it. Peter Pan was 20 minutes, and we decided to stick it out. By this time, we were almost ready for our 6:40 PS at “Tony’s Town Square”. They greeted us at the door saying not even to bother coming in unless you had PS. I think people were taking refuge inside from the rainshowers. We waited about 15 minutes for our table and had a great one right by the Lady & the Tramp fountain. Mike and I both ordered pasta while Nathan & Katy had a child’s portion of spagetti and the antipasto salad. Mike & I wished we had ordered what they had! It looked delicious. We were so stuffed that we passed on dessert. Total bill was approx. $60 with MK discount.

After leaving “Tony’s” there was a huge crowd waiting on Main St. to see the 8:30 p.m. fireworks. We worked our way through the mass of humanity. Nathan & I decided to watch Tink and the fireworks from the bridge by the castle, while Mike & Katy headed to Pooh since they had never ridden it before.

After the fireworks, the skies had cleared and it looked like a perfect evening. We met with our friends outside Pooh and our E-Ticket night began! We told them that E-ticket would spoil them and it did! They only sold 1,200 tickets this night and we walked onto Space Mountain, Buzz Lighyear (2x), Alien Encounter (another first for Mike & Katy). We then headed to Frontierland where we rode Splash Mountain 3 tmes in a row without leaving our log. Nathan & I were in the front row and got absolutely drenched. It looked like we had taken a shower. We laughed so hard that our sides ached the next day. We then walked onto Big Thunder Mountain and rode it twice without having to get off. After this, we were beat. It was around 11:30 p.m. and Katy had been at the park since 11:00 a.m. or so. We stopped at Main St. Bakery for a quick treat and headed out of the park very happy and looking forward to the next day!

On Saturday morning, we slept in (wonderful!) and checked out of the Marriott. We headed over to OKW to check into our studio for the night. We arrived at 10:30 a.m. expecting it not to be ready and it WAS! Excellent! The CM said that a lot of people had cancelled reservations at the last minute due to Hurricane Irene. I think they acted a bit prematurely, since we did not experience any problems from the storm other than overcast skies and some showers.

During our last visit at OKW we felt that the service provided by the front desk was poor. I am happy to say that this time, it was wonderful! So, hopefully our first experience here was an isolated incident.

We put our luggage in room (2nd floor, building 47) - we had never seen a studio and loved it. Then we headed to the parks! We drove to the Beach Club and parked there. Then, we took the boat to MGM where we shopped a bit, went on The Great Movie Ride and then went to meet Mike & Katy at “Prime Time Café” at 1:00 p.m. We were waited on by “Aunt Esther” and had a great time. Nathan does not really enjoy the dining experience here, but he was a good sport and Esther left him alone. We really laughed our way through lunch.

After lunch, we walked into Indiana Jones where Mike was chosen as an “extra”. We got a kick out of watching him in his turban with sunglasses. Then, we went to the Sound show and hit the sound booths immediately after. Mike and Katy said that they were surprised re: some out of the way things that they never knew were in the world and had a new perspective seeing it with us. We really loved being with them - there is no better place in the world to be with those you love, imho.

We then caught Muppets, TGMR again and then we headed to Sunset Blvd. Now, I will go on almost anything but I haven’t been on the Tower for a few years because the anticipation of the big drop almost kills me. But, everyone else really wanted to go on it and I made a deal with Nathan that if he rode in the “seatbelt” seat, I would be brave and go with them. We waited about 10 minutes, got on and now I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! With the added drops, I think it is incredible. And, Nathan loved the seatbelt seat so much that we walked right back on 2 more times so that Mike and Katy could try it. We never had to wait over 5 minutes to get back on. They could not talk me into trying the seatbelt seat, however. Maybe next time…

Then we walked over to Rock -n- Roller coaster. There was a 30 minute posted wait, but on the way over a couple of guys asked us if we wanted their Fastpasses. Of course we took them and walked on. Mike & Katy had never been on it and Mike LOVED it. After our ride, we waited in the standby line for about 20 minutes to ride again. Katy sat out for the 2nd ride and then I sat out while the guys rode it for third time. The third time, they said that they just walked right on.

By this time it was 7:30 p.m. and we wanted to beat the Fantasmic crowd, so we went to wait for the boat back to the Beach Club. While waiting for the boat we heard the announcement from the Fantasmic stadium that they would have to cancel this evening’s performance due to high winds.

We arrived at The Beach Club just in time for our 8:20 p.m. PS for “Cape May”. It is funny how traveling without children changes your perspective. I think that I would have enjoyed this more with them in tow, but for two couples it was LOUD and a bit crazy. The food was good - I ordered the all you can eat crab legs for an additional $9.95 - but, we felt that we had better dining experiences this trip.

After dinner, we called it a night and headed back to our respective resorts.

We told Mike & Katy that we would pick them up at 9:30 a.m. for our day at Animal Kingdom. They had never been to this park, so it was a treat to go with them. Crowds were light - we headed to Africa for the safaris and got a Fastpass, then got in line and were in our jeep within 10 minutes. The safari is so absolutely incredible; they were in awe of the wonderful detail. You really do forget that you are in Central Florida. We saw all of the animals, including the lions. It was great.

After a break and a little shopping, we went back to the safari and with our Fastpass walked right on. The standby line was over an hour. As you can tell, we are big believers in Fastpass. We try to time it so that we wait in line and then use the passes - that way you can usually go on an attraction twice with very little wait.

The animals were sparser during the 2nd safari - the lions were nowhere to be seen - which I think reinforces the need to go early in day to catch most of the action.

We decided to head to Countdown to Extinction, get Fastpasses and eat a quick lunch at “Flame Tree BBQ” while waiting for our Fastpass time. Lunch was very good - we had the combo that includes ribs and chicken and Mike had the chicken salad that looked delicious. We sat at a table near the river and it was so peaceful. This is a very good choice for a quick lunch at AK.

After lunch, we went to CTX - the standby line was 20 minutes so we decided to wait and then use our fastpasses after. We LOVED this ride. You have to sit in the front row to experience it. We walked off and right back on with the Fastpass - so, within 30 minutes we were able to ride it twice. We had to buy the picture on this once since we really hammed it up knowing when the picture was being taken.

Next we headed to It’s Tough to be a Bug. I was looking forward to taking someone who did not know what to expect in this show. Our friends were really impressed by the Tree of Life. We waited about 20 minutes to get into the show, but the queue is so interesting and entertaining that we did not mind.

The reaction from Katy during the show was priceless. She actually came out of her seat when the “cockroaches” left the theater! Too funny. We wanted to see it again, but the line was long and we were hot and tired. So, we headed to Rainforest for a snack and drink.

After our snack, it was time for Nathan and I to head to the airport. We hugged Mike & Katy goodbye and thanked them for coming and making our trip so special. They were staying another day or so and I wished we were staying too!

The flight home was uneventful and we arrived at 10:00 p.m. Now, I am planning our next trip to WDW with another couple in January. The only thing that keeps me from having Disney depression is looking forward to the next trip to the World. Of course, every trip that we take reinforces our love for DVC. It is just so great knowing that we have years and years of future memories to make.

Thanks for letting me share this trip with all of you.

Julie Price

FOURPRICES@aol.com

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