Our August 2009 trip to Disney

Okay this is a shot of our resort's water view from the main area called the hospitality house. If you read my previous post of how when ended up at Old Key West resort you will know I can't complain. (well, really complain) Our family was the first to arrive. We had a 7 am flight. I am not sure it was worth the early flight because at the cheap price we did have a layover. I think we were up too early at 4:30am because we were tired. It was just the only flight we could find before 7 pm at the $79 per person price. I am saying all this to say maybe I was a little tired. I was whining ALOT about the resort. I think I even teared up a little. I text everyone to warn them about the possibility that they might be unhappy. Don't get me wrong Disney, it is a beautiful resort, the staff was wonderful, the main pool was great, the room was way bigger than a value with a kitchenette. It is just SO far apart. You have to take a bus to your room. They have internal buses but who knows how often they come, so we always opted to walk to the first bus stop and any bus that comes along will stop at "your" bus stop the one that is walking distance to your room. This is a "home away from home" resort for Disney Vacation Club members and it feels like like a townhome and I was not fond of that feeling. You really needed a car here. I think I spent more money this time because I bought so many waters and snacks. We brought them back to our room verses just getting a snack on the dining plan at the resort. If you did that after the parks you had to stop and get off the bus to go to the small snack shop by the main pool and than get back on the bus to go to your room. Who wants to do that? So that was the consensus of our group. We missed the value resort. At a value resort, we could easily walk to get a snack, to go to a pool, to go to the main pool, or even go next store to each other's room. The snack and counter service at Pop Century is huge compared to OKW and it is opened 2 hours later. So at OKW you could get three choices for a food platter and Pop Century they are 12 choices, plus and ice cream shop, and you can easily walk to fill your drink cups. And I forgot to mention there are people walking around and it feels like it is happening but not anything you can hear from your room. At OKW it was quiet and hardly any people like a townhouse. I think some people will love this resort, the size of the rooms, the kitchenette, and the quiet feel of the resort. I think alot of people have a car who stay here and may even drive in with a snacks and a case of water to put in their fridge. (1 bedroom to 3 bedrooms have a full kitchen.
But for us we love the HUGE value you get at the value resort's for the GREAT price.




Hollywood Studios when we wore our made by us tee shirts. Toystory ride was lots of fun. I came in second after my brother. American Idol experience was neat. I think they have about 6 or more showings in a day with a fianl show of a winner from each round. They hold separate auditions for the chance to sing on stage. We waited in line and during that time they do interviews and record us yelling and even chanting some one's name. You file in to the seats and the area is suppose to represent the American Idol stage. The host tells you how everything is going to work with the cameras and voting. They introduce the judges. Ryan Seacrest is played on screen. The contestants come out and perform they are judged. The first girl that came out was pretty good, but I felt the judges were a little mean to her. The second girl had a promo before she came out. They played clips of us in line shouting her name and a short interview. I am not sure if she was picked earlier in the day. Anyway the third fellow came out and he was older and funny. I am not sure if they set up for 2 okay singers and 1 really good singer so the one gets voted in by us. The 6-8 people who got voted in their round come back for the final show at 7 pm. That evening you can see who receives a golden ticket to be guaranteed a spot in front of the audition process at American Idol. Not in fron of the main judges but in front of the pre judges. It was neat and I would love to see the final show now that I know how it works and they play it on the outside of the theatre on a big screen if you don't make it in.



We went to Typhoon Lagoon this day. We really enjoyed it. The wave pool was awesome. A small group of us went snorkeling with the shark and stingrays. Two of the group waited in line and felt the cold water and wimped out. (Ray and Bobby) It was cold, but seriously you got use to it in a minute. We ended the night with a dinner with Cinderella and Prince Charming. I really enjoyed all teh food selection from different types of food. Italian, Mexican, American it was a yummy buffet. My niece got to dance with Cinderella. WOW!

We took off in between and split up. One group went to Animal Kingdom which was fun but super hot. Another group went back to Hollywood Studios to see the car show it got cancelled our first day from a quick lightening storm. The last of the group went to the OKW main pool with a slide. My husband came down with a fever this day, but he took some medicine and hung on like a trooper without even complaining or having a grumpy face. We ate at Wolfgang Puck for dinner in downtown Disney and we enjoyed it.



We went to Magic Kingdom after having a wonderful breakfast at Boma. It is located at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it definitely worth going out of your way. We got to magic Kingdom a little later did a few rides and during the parade the girls got their hair done at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. They had a wonderful time. The photo of the girls in the middle shows the Minnie shirts we made for them with crystals. This park is always a favorite. We finished the night off with the firework show called Wishes.



This was our Blizzard Beach day. Bobby, Ray, Chris, Kim, myself, and my 7 year old neice went on the Summit Plummet Water Slide. One of the world's tallest, fastest water slides. It is funny you see how high it is but yet we throw ourselves down it with little hesistation. We enjoyed ourselves. My little neice is young, but tall enough to go on some crazy slides and we just had to throw her down the slide. She was scared on one but was thrilled at the end of the ride. LOL! This park I wil warn you has a TON of stairs. They actaully have a ski lift but it was liek a 1/2 hour wait to ride so we walked up stairs all day. their pool is a wave pool but just bobbing waves not like the Typoon Lagoon which was our favorite.
The photos are from our dinner at the Backyard BBQ. My brother took the kids to the chaulk drawing area to draw The Best Family Vacation Ever on the ground and sign everyone's name.



We enjoyed this dinner. We got their a minute before it started so I would suggest arriving a 1/2 hour early. The food was alright BBQ buffet. The ribs were awesome. Adult beverages are only yucky beer and even yuckier wine. The country band played songs and I thought teh lead singer was really wonderful. The characters spread out to dance in areas with the kids. It is a little chaotic at first until the kids calm down and just dance instead of trying to capture the characters. As the night winds down the crowd thins out. Dessert is just ice cream popsicles.

The last day we went to Epcot and there were not many photos. We did lots in Future world and ate at the Coral Reef. The food was pretty good and the view of the water was great. My brother's family left and took one of my kids back to the pool. We went to the world showcase to eat our conter service in Morocco. It was fun and watched Illuminations firework and laser show. It was good and they had the world there because last year it was missing maybe it was being refurbished?

We had a wonderful time at Disney together.