WDW TR may21/06-may26/06

Taking a deep breath,
First time ever doing anything this lengthy..so bear with me
Cast:
Me: Patricia
DH:Soren
Friend:Ruth
Friend:Harvey

My DH has been friends and business associate with Harvey for almost 20
years and lately they do a lot of collaborative work so get together often
even though we reside in Toronto and they in PA...the wives have only met in
the last 4-5 years.
Two winters ago I was trying to get DH to go on a winter vacation but he
does not swim (or even wear shorts!) but I really *needed* to get out of the
cold weather. Soren mentioned it to Harv in passing and he said jokingly we
are going on a Disney cruise....book it and join us...so we did. This was
when we found out about all things Disney and boy was I hooked...I loved the
ship..I loved the sun and we all appreciated the level of service and care
we received while on the ship in fact we loved it so much DH and I booked
the western Caribbean for the next year while on the Eastern cruise...our
friends being long time DVC members (not that we really knew what that was
at that time) had been on almost all the cruises and some member
cruises...so we resigned ourselves to being alone..then the oldest son and
his s/o (both 30 with no kids) booked a room next to ours...but everytime we
talked to our friends I kept going on and on and on...you get the picture
about how we would be missing them and that they had nothing else to do (ya
right!) and I we must of worn then down as right after we boarded we had a
knock on our cabin door and there they stood camera in hand and yelling
surprise!..well I was so overwhelmed I burst into tears.....yes they had
managed to get a room just down from ours and the 6 of us had a wonderful
cruise this past February...they had kept it a secret between all of them
except me....I was totally blown away. We had only stayed with them 1 month
earlier at OKW in WDW and still they managed to keep it a secret from
me....during that stay at OKW which was a business trip for the guys...I got
to see a little of WDW for my very first time and since we had been talking
since the first cruise of how it would be a benefit to us to join DVC we
also became members during that 2 trip so we have been on a grand adventure
since then!
Ruth called me in early April and said she needed to use up some DVC points
and could I join her for a girls wknd in May....at the time it was not
doable for me so I declined but that dang seed had been planted and from
then on I wasn't happy. She later called and said her DH would join her and
still I wanted to go so DH arranged at the very last minute to have their
studio at OKW changed to a 2bdrm at OKW and we booked 4 days before and were
off on another grand excursion...also since they had already opted for the
meal plan we had to do this and once we thought about it, it seemed to make
sense but seemed a heck of a lot of food for 4 people but without a car and
only being there for 5 nights it was ok.
We had booked so late that we did not have time for Disney to mail out ME
stuff but took care of it over the phone and we then had a very swift flight
to MCO, arriving 15 ahead of time and we were whisked off on the ME right to
OKW.
Room was not ready so we checked the luggage with the front desk, met up
with our friends right in the lobby (timing was great) and decided to try
out the DDP with an early lunch at Goods at OKW and hope that the room was
ready by then.

Patricia-hamburg/fries -ice tea
DH -tuna salad on bun-ice tea
Harvey-hamburg/fries -dietcoke
Ruth-turkey wrap-water

We ate and broiled under the sun in our rather heavy clothing so decided
after we ate and perused the bill the see how the DDP worked to go back and
get our shorts as we were really hot.....oh how we loved the sun/ sights and
sounds of the OKW resort...we felt like we were really in Florida!
So after changing we head again to guest services to find out about what
kind of pass Soren and I need (remember we have never been before but knew
we would be coming back hopefully next Feb and we are green about the
parks/layouts/entertainment...the whole shebang! GS was very patient about
going over what we would need or not need but since we were DVC members we
had to go to GS at DD to purchase our passes....we hopped on a bus and
headed out to at least get that out of our way and before you know it
(everything is simple when you have 2 friends who know their way around they
were a big help)
we had purchase 2 AP.
We were then told that our room was ready so we headed back to OKW with me
just about bouncing around wanting to get to a park...but had to wait and
control myself (no wonder kids have meltdowns...I could have easily had one
;-) )
Room was lovely, 2bdrm out by Turtle Pond....yes it is a bit more secluded
but we are 4 adults with no small kids so don't mind the extra distance in
bus rides and the pool was literally a dozen steps from the front door so DH
could sit under the palms and still see us in the pool. We settled in for a
bit and by now it was late afternoon and we decided to stick together so
they could show us the ropes so I had decided that this trip I wanted to
"do" Epcot (oh ya I thought I could do it in 4days!) so off we headed and we
then learned firsthand how the buses are marked and how they run internally
and where they drop off and pick up...daunting for the first time as it
seems so far to walk yet compared to walking in the park it was a breeze.

When we entered Epcot I was amazed at all the F&G displays...they were so
beautiful and the colours were so brilliant and so massive! Harvey can see
that there is no wait time for Spaceship Earth so we hop aboard and thought
this was a great ride.We dawdle along at a very slow pace but it is getting
to be about 6:30pm and we are all getting hungry again so we think we should
start looking for restaurants...even with a map I can't get it around my
brain how big Epcot is so we start out walking towards Canada and decide to
see if we can get seating in Le Cellier which is no...we meander towards
England where I instantly see Tigger in flowers and Rabbit and am like a
little kid I am so tickled to see them that the guys see if we can eat in
the Rose and Crown and after the funny look they give us they tell us
no...sorry not even outside seating..try the counter service so we gamely
thing we may have to resort to this when we fall into France and I am slowly
winding my way through the gift shops (have I mentioned that I am a shopper!
and tried to go into as many as possible to the dismay of the other 3 ) they
finally think well it won't hurt to ask if Les Chefs de France can fit us in
and within 20 minutes we are seated on table back from the view of the
lagoon and it is beginning to grow dark. At this point we are hungry but
more tired and really wanted to just grab a bite but one look at the menu
and the prices and what we had paid for we decide to nibble our way through
it all

Patricia -app goat cheese raisin crustini with wild salad greens and
raspberry vinaigrette.....wow so good!
DH-app smoked salmon with dill so gorgeously presented with a real flower
garnish
Harv/Ruth- app lobster bisque
Patricia & Harvey main --top sirloin with green peppercorn sauce with
roasted potatoes
Soren -main-lamb shanks--so tender and really tasty
Ruth--main-Salmon with potatoes
Patricia dess orange sorbet with almond macaroon and white chocolate drizzle
Soren-dess-some kind of chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and a sauce
Harvey & Ruth dess-creme brule
3 ice tea 1 diet coke (no alcohol total bill came to just over $137 so with
lunch it was more than the daily meal plan..)
Half way through dinner IllumiNations started and our friends quickly clued
us into a bit of history about it...done nightly...out on the water...worlds
light up...done to music and we watched and had a wonderful view through the
restaurant window..we could only hear the very loud booms and nothing else.
About 10pm we were tired, full and ready to wind our way back to OKW where
we flopped into bed and got a slow start the next morning

Patricia
who thinks this a tad too long and will try to shorten it
[to email remove the knot]


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