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From: Sue/WDW1972 on 17 Jul 2010 15:11
DAY 1 – Friday 7/16/10
Who: Sue (51), DVC member
Robin (51), Friend since college

Plan: Work til 1, Drive to WDW, Get Robin at 5, Kona dinner,
Fireworks from BLT

Actual: I left at 1 as planned and when I passed the halfway point
realized I had failed to bring a cooler (for Kona leftovers) and pack
my cappuccino. I was not turning around to go back, so I’ll just have
to deal with it in alternate ways – like eating leftover dinner for
breakfast and buying an overpriced decaf sissy coffee from the lobby
of the Contemporary <g>.

Just after 3pm I was pulling into the Contemporary entrance, where
once again the security guy was very nice and friendly. I parked over
at Bay Lake Tower and walked to the Contemporary since I only had an
overnight bag. I had a short wait since someone was at the online
check in desk (taking an inordinate amount of time so perhaps it
wasn’t someone who had done online check in). When the next cast
member became free they sent me over to her.

She found my packet and the studio was ready. But, they had a note
there was something there for me and I knew it was Robin’s DME
packet. They weren’t successful in finding it and I spent almost 30
minutes dealing with that before finally they noticed it. I think
they were looking for it under my name even though I was very clear
that it was for the OTHER PERSON because I drive! Ugh. They were
apologetic and I was happy to stop spending my less-than-24-hours at
the front desk!

My studio is on the 9th floor and it’s dead center in the middle of
the C with a direct view over the pool area to Bay Lake. Being in the
center of the C means my studio doesn’t look into other units (and no
other units look into my studio). I would have preferred being on the
outside, facing the Contemporary dock area, but for 1 night this is
perfectly fine. I put my stuff in the studio and then went back over
to Contempo Café for a chocolate chip cookie since I’d missed lunch.

Back in the studio I took some pictures and got online. Robin’s
conference is ending at 5 so I hung out until about 4:45 and then
drove over there. The entrance to Dolphin was a madhouse, with lots
of people evidently arriving to check in. I circled around since I
didn’t see her. I found a shady spot where I could watch the entrance
so I sat there for about 5 minutes until I saw Robin come outside. I
pulled up to the entrance, she threw her stuff in the trunk and we
drove back to Bay Lake Tower.

We put her stuff in the room and then headed downstairs to the marina
at the Contemporary next door. Bill (Major Woody from radp) was
working so we visited with him for a while – it’s always nice to see
him. As we were getting ready to head over to the Polynesian Bill
offered to give us a ride and we happily accepted. We went to one of
the pontoon boats and had a nice ride around the lake, showing Robin
how Wilderness Lodge resembles a bear, and then he took us over to the
Poly. The dock is right outside the main building so it couldn’t have
been more convenient for us – plus it was a much more fun way to
travel than public transportation (monorail). On the way we passed
the big ferry boat, which was jam packed with people headed to the
Magic Kingdom for the evening. I’m really glad we don’t have access,
as it’s probably mobbed at night through 8/14.

Inside the place was an absolute zoo, with hordes of people waiting
everywhere! We went to the Tambu Lounge and Clinta was working so we
stood near the bar until he could see us and chatted with him. I
ordered a glass of pinot grigio and Robin got a virgin pina colava
drink. With the Tables in Wonderland discount it was $14-15. When a
couple barstools opened up at the end Clinta waved us down, so we got
to sit. We sat there for a while, then I went over to Kona Café to
check in. I was about 25 minutes before our reservation and they said
it’d probably be close to that time before we were called. I went
back to join Robin and it was maybe 5 minutes before the beeper went
off!

We were seated and had a great meal. Robin ordered the mahi mahi and
I stuck with my favorite coconut almond chicken. Everything was very
good, including the service. I used the Tables in Wonderland for 20%
off and the check ended up being $40 Robin was wearing her birthday
button (her birthday is 7/20) so they brought her a birthday dessert
of a small profiterole with happy birthday written on the plate.

After dinner we didn’t see any sign of Bill to so we were relegated to
public transportation with the peasants <g>. We had a short wait for
the monorail, and were able to get seats. After stops at the Grand
and MK we were back at the Contemporary. We stopped in the studio so
I could drop off my leftovers in the fridge and I went out on the
balcony for a few minutes.

We went downstairs to go upstairs to the Top of the World Lounge.
Chris called to report he’d been up in our attic and discovered really
old beer cans up there. Guess at some point I had an a/c guy who
needed some beer up there?? The cast member took Robin & me the
elevator and sent us up to the 16th floor. The lounge had several
people in there but it never got too crowded and people came and went
throughout the night. We took a table by the window and were shocked
by how low the chairs sit! I later saw another couple sit at another
of these tables and within a minute they got up and moved to one of
the high-top tables.

I had another glass of pinot grigio and Robin had a bottle of
Perrier. Our waitress provided excellent service – very eager to
please. I looked to see if a female bartender was working (for a
dvctalk member) but only saw a male. We sat there chatting & enjoying
the lounge for a while and then I glanced at my watch and saw it was
only 5 minutes until the fireworks! We quickly settled the tab ($16
after Tables in Wonderland) and just as we stepped outside the music
from Nightastic started.

There was plenty of space along the wall so we walked right up and had
an excellent view. Security was up there keeping parents holding kid
a few feet back from the wall. The fireworks were excellent – very
nice and so BIG! The music is piped in up there and although most of
the fireworks appear behind Space Mountain from up there it’s a nice
spot for viewing – a lot less crowded than Main Street, too! The
fireworks only last about 9-10 minutes so as soon as they were done we
went inside and rode the elevator down to the 5th floor and went out
to the walkway.

Within a minute or 2 the Electric Water Pageant started, so we watched
that until it was over and then went up to the studio and got online
before turning in pretty late. I pulled out the sleep sofa for Robin
– hopefully it’ll be comfortable enough for her.

Today was a short day here but we fit a lot in and had a nice time
catching up. WDW is a great place to visit if you’re not bothering
with the parks, too!


DAY 2 – Saturday 7/17/10
Who: Sue (51), DVC member

Plan: Outlets, Drive to Gainesville

Actual: I slept pretty well and it was nice & quiet here. Robin
declared the sofa bed better than the old style but not really
comfortable. She figured it was intended for kids more than adults.
She was up early to shower, dress & get ready to go. I got up around
6:30 to take my shower and get dressed so I could walk her downstairs
for her 7:25 Magical Express pick up. The bus was waiting when we
arrived, so that worked out pretty well. It was great seeing her last
night – hopefully the next time won’t be years away!

I went inside to the coffee place in the lobby and for $7.75 bought a
small hazelnut decaf latte and a cinnamon roll. The cinnamon roll was
huge so I just ate what I could. It was pretty good, but not
outstanding. I took both items up to the studio and hung out online
while enjoying breakfast.

Around 9:15 I started packing my stuff up and then headed out to the
car. Since gas is so cheap here I filled up at the Hess station
across from Pleasure Island and then continued over to Premium
Outlets. They open at 10 so it wasn’t busy while I was there.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) I didn’t see anything I needed to buy.
I ended up only going into 2 stores, so evidently I was eager to get
on the road to get back to Gainesville.

The photos from this trip are on Snapfish at
http://www1.snapfish.com/mypoints/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2742292016/a=5159584/

This was a wonderful little trip and I’m so thankful for dvc. Without
dvc I wouldn’t have been staying at such a great resort, with those
wonderful fireworks watched from the roof. It’s just so pleasant
being here (same is true for most dvc resorts) and what a great way to
show Robin a nice time during her trip.

Thank you everyone for the outpouring of positive thoughts, prayers
and good wishes during this health situation. I have confidence in my
surgeons and myself, so I’ll get through the rough parts in order to
get back here writing many more trip reports! My next trip will be
Labor Day weekend, on the concierge level at Jambo House (original
Animal Kingdom Lodge). It’ll still be way too hot to be comfortable
so it’ll probably be primarily a resort trip. Hopefully it’ll be more
comfortable when my Food & Wine Festival trips start!

Until next time – thanks for reading.
Sue/WDW1972
From: MitchB on 19 Jul 2010 09:54
"Sue/WDW1972" <wdw1972(a)aol.com> wrote in message
news:100bfef7-58c9-45ac-930e-3edf71f6e946(a)c10g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
> DAY 1 � Friday 7/16/10
> Who: Sue (51), DVC member
> Robin (51), Friend since college
>
> Thank you everyone for the outpouring of positive thoughts, prayers
> and good wishes during this health situation. I have confidence in my
> surgeons and myself, so I�ll get through the rough parts in order to
> get back here writing many more trip reports! My next trip will be
> Labor Day weekend, on the concierge level at Jambo House (original
> Animal Kingdom Lodge). It�ll still be way too hot to be comfortable
> so it�ll probably be primarily a resort trip. Hopefully it�ll be more
> comfortable when my Food & Wine Festival trips start!
>

That sounds like a great way to get ready for your surgery! Keeping you in
my thoughts and prayers. Let us know how you're doing when you can.

Michelle

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