Trip Reports
02-20-2007, 10:19 PM
Evelyn Brewer - June 2003 - Yacht Club Resort
Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: YCR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Actually staying on property at Walt Disney World was a new experience for Orlando-residents Evelyn and Mark. But complimentary passes and an anniversary weekend were more than enough of an excuse for them to try it out.
Evelyn Brewer -- June 2003 -- Walt Disney World (YCR)
Participants:
Mark, age 44. Computer programmer. Grew up in Frankfurt KY. Has lived in Orlando, FL since 1982. Disney Veteran. First trip to the Magic Kingdom was as a junior in high school.
Evelyn, age 39. Homemaker. Grew up in Lake City, FL. Moved to Orlando in 1989. Disney Veteran. Made first trip to the Magic Kingdom at age 11.
(Disney veterans, yes. Resort veterans, no. Some of my ‘staying on-property tips’ may be a bit basic for some of you.)
Mark and I received complimentary passes to all 4 Walt Disney World parks in early 2003. As our anniversary was coming up in June, we decided to make a weekend of it and stay in a Walt Disney Resort. We live in Orlando and had never really considered staying at Disney as we are in easy driving distance of “The World”. (Although we did spend our wedding night at the Wilderness Lodge) But we made the decision to stay on property, then sorted through the Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resorts. We finally decided to splurge and booked 2 nights at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (YCR).
Mark’s sister graciously volunteered to stay with our 2 year old daughter, Bethany, in our home during our get-a-way. We love our daughter more than life itself, and we love being together as a family. But at least once a year since she has been born we have managed to take a few days just for the 2 of us. This gives us some good quality time together and gives Bethany a chance to spend time with any number of wonderful relatives who enjoy taking care of her. (At least they have up till now . . . age 2 is here and 3 is coming . . . )
I want to mention at this point that I have been looking forward to taking Bethany to the Magic Kingdom since the day she was born. But we have always said that we wanted her to be able to remember her first trip, be able to get through the day without needing a nap, and maybe even do some walking. More on this later.
The Plan:
Friday, June 20. Arrive at the YCR. Check in, get some lunch (possibly at Beaches and Cream?), explore the resort.
Saturday, June 21. EPCOT, dinner at the Restaurant Marrakesh in Morraco.
Sunday, June 22. Sleep in, have some breakfast, do last minute shopping, return home.
Day 1: Friday, June 20, 2003
Mark’s sister, Fairen, and our niece, Leah arrived Thursday evening. By the time we left early Friday afternoon, they were nicely settled in. Bethany did shed a few tears when she realized that we were leaving her, but she wasn’t unhappy for long. She smiled at us at the door and quickly bonded with cousin Leah (three weeks later, she still asks for her).
We arrived at the Yacht Club around 1:15. We were checked in by a pleasant and courteous cast-member. Mark mentioned that we would be celebrating our anniversary the next day. We checked our luggage and went off to find something to eat, as we hadn’t yet had lunch. We went right past the Yacht Club Galley as I had tentatively planned lunch at Beaches and Cream (B & C). When we got to B & C, there was a 25 to 30 minute wait. We were REALLY hungry by now and as we hadn’t seen any sort of line outside of the Yacht Club Galley, we went back to see if we could still get in. (By now it was 1:49; the place closed at 2 p.m.). We got our names on the list, still had a bit of a wait, perhaps 15 minutes or so. However, we had the lovely YCR lobby in which to wait. We found a sofa near the restaurant entrance and while we waited to hear our names, Mark set up a dinner a Preferred Seating time for us at the Cape May Café. (CMC) and a breakfast time at the YCR Galley for the next morning. (Earlier in the week he had already arranged for our PS at the Restaurant Marrakesh. (RM))
We were called to be seated in under 20 minutes. Our waitress was personable and friendly. We did think service was somewhat slow, especially since most people were finishing their meals and leaving. I had the Club sandwich; Mark had the Rubin. Both were good; but we both thought mine was best. Nice big tall sandwich; a real mouthful. We didn’t bother with dessert as we planned to return to B & C later for ice cream.
After lunch we checked on our room. It was ready so we retrieved our luggage and went to find our home for the weekend. I was pleased that it was on the ground floor and just off the main hallway. It was convenient to everything. It was a standard room, as opposed to having a special view (water or courtyard), but our view was pleasant enough . . . some trees and the tennis courts.
I was very happy that the room felt so spacious. Our king-sized bed was at the end of the room; nearest to the doorway there was a small sitting area with a chair and loveseat. My favorite features were in the bathroom: the double sink vanity, the marble floor, and the shelves provided both above and below the vanity for personal items.
We got unpacked (also really enjoyed the little twin closets just outside the bathroom door, each with its own little luggage rack. VERY convenient.), took a break, looked over the little map we received at check-in and thought about what to do the rest of the day.
Our decision: get ice cream and check out the YCR gift shop, the Beach Club resort, and the Boardwalk.
First, ice cream. We really shouldn’t have done this; we had just had a nice lunch and were planning to eat a buffet-style dinner. But we both love ice cream and just decided to pack it in. We each got 2 scoop sundaes, mine with chocolate ice cream and caramel topping; Mark’s with butter pecan ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Mine was great, but next time I think I’ll have what he had . . .
We spent the next several hours looking around. It was sprinkling on and off but people were enjoying the fabulous pool area anyway. We walked around the lagoon to the Boardwalk area which wasn’t very busy as it was only late afternoon. On our walk we saw the little “Disney Vacation Club” sign. I know this may sound strange as we are Florida residents and self-described Disney veterans. (I even worked in the Magic Kingdom one summer before Mark and I were married.) But we had no idea what the DVC was. So, we spoke with the young woman at the booth. She phoned in but they didn’t have any appointments left that day so she had us fill out a card and we went on our way. Back at the room, we decided we really did want to find out more, so we made an appointment for Sunday morning.
We had time to freshen up and rest a bit before going to CMC. We strolled over and got seated right away. I regret that I do not remember all that we ate at the buffet. I do remember that I REALLY enjoyed the clam chowder. That’s not to say the rest of the meal wasn’t good . . . we ate ourselves silly (including dessert, heavy sigh) and made our chubby way back to our room, stopping to purchase a backpack, and taking a few night time photos on the way.
Back in our room we relaxed, watched to Disney Vacation Club channel on television, and turned in early.
Day 2: Saturday, June 21, 2003
Happy 6th Anniversary!!
We got up at 7, dressed and made our way down to the YCR Galley for breakfast. We debated whether or not to do the buffet . . . you probably will not be surprised at this point that we did. We were realizing by now that any future trips to this or any resort would need to include a better eating plan.
Our server was courteous and prompt. My breakfast included scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, melon, a (yummy) cheese Danish, and a muffin. Also lots of coffee.
As is expected on Disney property, the cost of the breakfast buffet was high. I believe it was around $16 each. Of all of our meals on property, this was our least favorite. It was fine, just not anything special. For my part, everything was just average, with the exception of the Danish. The fruit was also good. I would give my breakfast a rating of 6.5 of 10, with 10 being the highest.
Mark got almost everything I did and also the sausage gravy. He is a big fan of good sausage gravy and said that the gravy on this buffet just wasn’t very good. He rated it less than a 6 and said he’d had better breakfasts at Shoney’s. I’ll just leave it at that.
(I have opted in this report to use my 1 to 10 scale only on our most and least favorite meals.)
After breakfast we got our things together, met some friends (also from Orlando) and walked to EPCOT. It was a new experience to walk through the still closed and almost empty World Showcase on our way to Future Worlds. We headed straight for Test Track. We’ve been hearing about it from friends and relatives and couldn’t wait to try it. We were so certain we’d like it that we first got a Fast Pass for later in the day and then got in the regular line for our first ride. The posted time said 25 minutes. It was just that, perhaps a little less, by the time we got on the ride. I’ve been to Disney Parks more times than I can count and I am always impressed with the detail they include in the “line” area. So much to look at while you wait. We were excited when we were sent to the front row of our vehicle. (later we were towards the rear and found that we were much more windblown back there!) We thought the ride was a lot of fun and definitely worth coming back for a second trip.
Not much else to tell about Future World. We rode Spaceship Earth, wandered through a shop (until Mark said, shouldn’t we save shopping for when it starts raining?), went over to the Journey of Imagination to take the ride and see Honey I Shrunk the Audience (one of my favorites . . . I always get tickled at the very end). As we didn’t have Bethany with us we didn’t spend much time in the activity area but it did look interesting. By this time we were near our fast pass time for Test Track, so we headed back over.
By this time the line was so long that we stood in line with our fast pass as long as we had earlier in the regular line. (which by this time was at a 40 minute wait). Once again, great ride. We spent some extra time at the car exhibit before leaving. When we came out everything was soaking wet . . . and everybody was either wet or wearing ponchos or both. We felt fortunate that we missed the rainstorm.
In fact, everything had pretty much gone like clockwork up to this point. I happily told Mark that this was going to be the “perfect” weekend; everything was going our way, even the weather. I’m a native Floridian; I should have known better . . . .
We made our way to Mexico and briefly debated whether we should grab some lunch outside or go in immediately to the boat ride. (This is where the “perfection” came to a screeching halt.) We decided outside. We each got a “Wet Burrito”. (which was sort of ironic, considering what happened next.) Mark stood in line and got our food while I found a nice table by the water. It had an umbrella (in case it were to start “sprinkling”) and had just been squeegee-ed from the last shower. I sat happily waiting for my food.
First it began to sprinkle. Mark came back at this point and we looked around to see if there was another (covered) area were we could eat. We didn’t see anything in the immediate area so we pulled out our ponchos as the rain began to fall harder and the wind to blow. We went from sunny skies to wind and rain in a matter of minutes. Our meals were served in covered Styrofoam containers, so we would very quickly open, take a bite, and close. (The burritos, by the way, were very tasty, especially with the side of guacamole we ordered). When I told this story later, my sister asked, “Why didn’t you MOVE?” The answer is, we just did not see a place to go that was covered. The rest of the day as we walked past all the other eating establishments, we kept saying, “We would have been dry there . . . we would have been dry there . . . “
After we ate we went into the Mexican exhibit and were immediately COLD. We saw some warm looking pull overs which were reasonably priced, so we bought them and put them on right away. Then we were nice and warm for the boat ride.
We went to Norway next (I like this boat ride best) and at that point we discovered that the cell phone needed a new battery so we went back to our room. When we came back, we started at the other side of the world and saw O Canada. We checked out all the shops and came away with some maple cookies. Very, very tasty.
This wasn’t a ‘normal’ trip for us. We usually do not skip anything but we did this time because we had our PS time and we also looking for gifts for Fairen, Leah, and Bethany.
We shopped in England, Italy, Japan, and Moracco. One of my absolute favorite things to do is to see Impressions of France and then go over and have a nice rich pastry. We reversed that this time and had the dessert first. There was only a short wait for the movie which I absolutely love as I do every single time I see it.
Then, on to Morraco for dinner.
This was our 4th time to dine at the Restaurant Marrakesh. The first and second times I had the only ‘feast’ on the menu. The third time I ordered 3 appetizers which made a wonderful light meal. That was four or five years ago. On this trip we found that there were 2 ‘feasts’ on the menu. Mark chose one; I chose the other. Between the 2 meals, we had a sampling of just about everything on the menu.
I have never had a bad experience at this restaurant. This time the food was even better than I remembered. I started out with Harira soup. The first few spoonfuls were good, then it started to get better. The more I ate, the better it got. I was scraping the bowl to get the very last drop. My feast was called the Marrakesh Feast. It also included a Beef Brewat Roll (I could eat 10 of these), a lemon chicken dish, beef shish kebab, and couscous. Also pastries for dessert. Everything was delicious. While I was cleaning my plate, Mark sat across from me enjoying his own feast. I could go on for another paragraph about how good all of his food was, but you get the idea . . .
If you go there, be sure to order the Morroaccan Mint Tea. We always get it warm. Good, good, GOOD!
I think those are the last eating details of the day . . . .
After this we found a place for Illuminations. I think we wound up near Italy. It wasn’t too terribly crowded. I have definitely been in worse crowds. The show was great, as always. I did enjoy it, but by this time I was really ready to get off my feet. (See “appropriate footwear” tip at end of report.)
After the show we made our way back to the YCR. As I mentioned earlier, our room there was a splurge for us. But I think we are both so happy that we treated ourselves. After a long day, it was GREAT to have a short walk to the room instead of having to make our way all the way to the front of the park and then to a bus or tram and then more riding.
We were tired and happy by the time we closed ourselves in for the evening. I could have gone right to sleep but I made time for a soak in the tub first. Very relaxing. We had had a wonderful day and followed it up with a good night’s sleep.
Day 3: Sunday, June 22, 2003
Our appointment with the Disney Vacation Club people wasn’t until 11:30 so we slept in. We got up around 9, got showered and dressed, packed and then went to find some breakfast. There was a little place in the lobby where we had coffee, and some pastries. I got a blueberry muffin. It was huge; I couldn’t finish it.
We got our things in our car and shopped around for a few more things before our appt.
At the Disney Vacation Club place we waited very comfortably in their waiting area. After a short wait we were introduced to Arnault. Nice guy, very helpful. We heard everything he had to say and decided to become members. This was not a brief process. There is a lot of information to share and we had quite a few questions. We left around 3:30 p.m. Later than we’d planned, but happy, happy.
If you like Disney and like to make vacationing a priority for your family, it might be worth your time to hear what they have to say. For us, it is going to make a big change in the way we plan our vacations.
Home Again
Our sweet little girl met us at the door with these words: “Did . . . you . . . see . . .. Micka’ Mouse?”
Our hearts immediately melted all over the sidewalk. We will NOT be waiting until she is 5 or even 4. We have reservations for four nights in January at the Old Key West Resort so Bethany can see “Micka’ Mouse” for herself.
Tips:
Do look over the website and make as many decisions ahead of time as possible for when and where you would like to eat. It was wonderful to have all of our Preferred Seating times arranged so we didn’t have to wait very long (if at all) or have to go through a decision time on property as to which nice restaurant to eat.
Do consider bringing your own breakfast food from off property. We definitely will next time.
Our visit was in mid-June and I was cold nearly every time I was indoors, especially in the resort. So bring long sleeved shirts or a light jacket and long pants in addition to shorts/ short-sleeved shirts. I DID need shorts for our day at Epcot, but wound up carrying a pullover with me that I needed a few times. I should also mention that Mark was cold much less frequently than I but even he made use of a pullover a few times at Epcot.
PLEASE be good to yourself and wear appropriate footwear. I somehow injured my foot before we left home and didn’t feel that I could lace up in my regular walking shoes. I took instead a pair of sandals that I wear everywhere and which are normally very comfortable. I did ok at the park (although my foot was swollen and pretty uncomfortable by the end of the day), but not having the proper support made a huge difference in how I felt over the next 2 or 3 days. My legs and feet were terribly sore, even worse the second or third day than the first day we were home. I will never make this mistake again.
Thanks for reading.
Evelyn Brewer
Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: YCR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Actually staying on property at Walt Disney World was a new experience for Orlando-residents Evelyn and Mark. But complimentary passes and an anniversary weekend were more than enough of an excuse for them to try it out.
Evelyn Brewer -- June 2003 -- Walt Disney World (YCR)
Participants:
Mark, age 44. Computer programmer. Grew up in Frankfurt KY. Has lived in Orlando, FL since 1982. Disney Veteran. First trip to the Magic Kingdom was as a junior in high school.
Evelyn, age 39. Homemaker. Grew up in Lake City, FL. Moved to Orlando in 1989. Disney Veteran. Made first trip to the Magic Kingdom at age 11.
(Disney veterans, yes. Resort veterans, no. Some of my ‘staying on-property tips’ may be a bit basic for some of you.)
Mark and I received complimentary passes to all 4 Walt Disney World parks in early 2003. As our anniversary was coming up in June, we decided to make a weekend of it and stay in a Walt Disney Resort. We live in Orlando and had never really considered staying at Disney as we are in easy driving distance of “The World”. (Although we did spend our wedding night at the Wilderness Lodge) But we made the decision to stay on property, then sorted through the Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resorts. We finally decided to splurge and booked 2 nights at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (YCR).
Mark’s sister graciously volunteered to stay with our 2 year old daughter, Bethany, in our home during our get-a-way. We love our daughter more than life itself, and we love being together as a family. But at least once a year since she has been born we have managed to take a few days just for the 2 of us. This gives us some good quality time together and gives Bethany a chance to spend time with any number of wonderful relatives who enjoy taking care of her. (At least they have up till now . . . age 2 is here and 3 is coming . . . )
I want to mention at this point that I have been looking forward to taking Bethany to the Magic Kingdom since the day she was born. But we have always said that we wanted her to be able to remember her first trip, be able to get through the day without needing a nap, and maybe even do some walking. More on this later.
The Plan:
Friday, June 20. Arrive at the YCR. Check in, get some lunch (possibly at Beaches and Cream?), explore the resort.
Saturday, June 21. EPCOT, dinner at the Restaurant Marrakesh in Morraco.
Sunday, June 22. Sleep in, have some breakfast, do last minute shopping, return home.
Day 1: Friday, June 20, 2003
Mark’s sister, Fairen, and our niece, Leah arrived Thursday evening. By the time we left early Friday afternoon, they were nicely settled in. Bethany did shed a few tears when she realized that we were leaving her, but she wasn’t unhappy for long. She smiled at us at the door and quickly bonded with cousin Leah (three weeks later, she still asks for her).
We arrived at the Yacht Club around 1:15. We were checked in by a pleasant and courteous cast-member. Mark mentioned that we would be celebrating our anniversary the next day. We checked our luggage and went off to find something to eat, as we hadn’t yet had lunch. We went right past the Yacht Club Galley as I had tentatively planned lunch at Beaches and Cream (B & C). When we got to B & C, there was a 25 to 30 minute wait. We were REALLY hungry by now and as we hadn’t seen any sort of line outside of the Yacht Club Galley, we went back to see if we could still get in. (By now it was 1:49; the place closed at 2 p.m.). We got our names on the list, still had a bit of a wait, perhaps 15 minutes or so. However, we had the lovely YCR lobby in which to wait. We found a sofa near the restaurant entrance and while we waited to hear our names, Mark set up a dinner a Preferred Seating time for us at the Cape May Café. (CMC) and a breakfast time at the YCR Galley for the next morning. (Earlier in the week he had already arranged for our PS at the Restaurant Marrakesh. (RM))
We were called to be seated in under 20 minutes. Our waitress was personable and friendly. We did think service was somewhat slow, especially since most people were finishing their meals and leaving. I had the Club sandwich; Mark had the Rubin. Both were good; but we both thought mine was best. Nice big tall sandwich; a real mouthful. We didn’t bother with dessert as we planned to return to B & C later for ice cream.
After lunch we checked on our room. It was ready so we retrieved our luggage and went to find our home for the weekend. I was pleased that it was on the ground floor and just off the main hallway. It was convenient to everything. It was a standard room, as opposed to having a special view (water or courtyard), but our view was pleasant enough . . . some trees and the tennis courts.
I was very happy that the room felt so spacious. Our king-sized bed was at the end of the room; nearest to the doorway there was a small sitting area with a chair and loveseat. My favorite features were in the bathroom: the double sink vanity, the marble floor, and the shelves provided both above and below the vanity for personal items.
We got unpacked (also really enjoyed the little twin closets just outside the bathroom door, each with its own little luggage rack. VERY convenient.), took a break, looked over the little map we received at check-in and thought about what to do the rest of the day.
Our decision: get ice cream and check out the YCR gift shop, the Beach Club resort, and the Boardwalk.
First, ice cream. We really shouldn’t have done this; we had just had a nice lunch and were planning to eat a buffet-style dinner. But we both love ice cream and just decided to pack it in. We each got 2 scoop sundaes, mine with chocolate ice cream and caramel topping; Mark’s with butter pecan ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Mine was great, but next time I think I’ll have what he had . . .
We spent the next several hours looking around. It was sprinkling on and off but people were enjoying the fabulous pool area anyway. We walked around the lagoon to the Boardwalk area which wasn’t very busy as it was only late afternoon. On our walk we saw the little “Disney Vacation Club” sign. I know this may sound strange as we are Florida residents and self-described Disney veterans. (I even worked in the Magic Kingdom one summer before Mark and I were married.) But we had no idea what the DVC was. So, we spoke with the young woman at the booth. She phoned in but they didn’t have any appointments left that day so she had us fill out a card and we went on our way. Back at the room, we decided we really did want to find out more, so we made an appointment for Sunday morning.
We had time to freshen up and rest a bit before going to CMC. We strolled over and got seated right away. I regret that I do not remember all that we ate at the buffet. I do remember that I REALLY enjoyed the clam chowder. That’s not to say the rest of the meal wasn’t good . . . we ate ourselves silly (including dessert, heavy sigh) and made our chubby way back to our room, stopping to purchase a backpack, and taking a few night time photos on the way.
Back in our room we relaxed, watched to Disney Vacation Club channel on television, and turned in early.
Day 2: Saturday, June 21, 2003
Happy 6th Anniversary!!
We got up at 7, dressed and made our way down to the YCR Galley for breakfast. We debated whether or not to do the buffet . . . you probably will not be surprised at this point that we did. We were realizing by now that any future trips to this or any resort would need to include a better eating plan.
Our server was courteous and prompt. My breakfast included scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, melon, a (yummy) cheese Danish, and a muffin. Also lots of coffee.
As is expected on Disney property, the cost of the breakfast buffet was high. I believe it was around $16 each. Of all of our meals on property, this was our least favorite. It was fine, just not anything special. For my part, everything was just average, with the exception of the Danish. The fruit was also good. I would give my breakfast a rating of 6.5 of 10, with 10 being the highest.
Mark got almost everything I did and also the sausage gravy. He is a big fan of good sausage gravy and said that the gravy on this buffet just wasn’t very good. He rated it less than a 6 and said he’d had better breakfasts at Shoney’s. I’ll just leave it at that.
(I have opted in this report to use my 1 to 10 scale only on our most and least favorite meals.)
After breakfast we got our things together, met some friends (also from Orlando) and walked to EPCOT. It was a new experience to walk through the still closed and almost empty World Showcase on our way to Future Worlds. We headed straight for Test Track. We’ve been hearing about it from friends and relatives and couldn’t wait to try it. We were so certain we’d like it that we first got a Fast Pass for later in the day and then got in the regular line for our first ride. The posted time said 25 minutes. It was just that, perhaps a little less, by the time we got on the ride. I’ve been to Disney Parks more times than I can count and I am always impressed with the detail they include in the “line” area. So much to look at while you wait. We were excited when we were sent to the front row of our vehicle. (later we were towards the rear and found that we were much more windblown back there!) We thought the ride was a lot of fun and definitely worth coming back for a second trip.
Not much else to tell about Future World. We rode Spaceship Earth, wandered through a shop (until Mark said, shouldn’t we save shopping for when it starts raining?), went over to the Journey of Imagination to take the ride and see Honey I Shrunk the Audience (one of my favorites . . . I always get tickled at the very end). As we didn’t have Bethany with us we didn’t spend much time in the activity area but it did look interesting. By this time we were near our fast pass time for Test Track, so we headed back over.
By this time the line was so long that we stood in line with our fast pass as long as we had earlier in the regular line. (which by this time was at a 40 minute wait). Once again, great ride. We spent some extra time at the car exhibit before leaving. When we came out everything was soaking wet . . . and everybody was either wet or wearing ponchos or both. We felt fortunate that we missed the rainstorm.
In fact, everything had pretty much gone like clockwork up to this point. I happily told Mark that this was going to be the “perfect” weekend; everything was going our way, even the weather. I’m a native Floridian; I should have known better . . . .
We made our way to Mexico and briefly debated whether we should grab some lunch outside or go in immediately to the boat ride. (This is where the “perfection” came to a screeching halt.) We decided outside. We each got a “Wet Burrito”. (which was sort of ironic, considering what happened next.) Mark stood in line and got our food while I found a nice table by the water. It had an umbrella (in case it were to start “sprinkling”) and had just been squeegee-ed from the last shower. I sat happily waiting for my food.
First it began to sprinkle. Mark came back at this point and we looked around to see if there was another (covered) area were we could eat. We didn’t see anything in the immediate area so we pulled out our ponchos as the rain began to fall harder and the wind to blow. We went from sunny skies to wind and rain in a matter of minutes. Our meals were served in covered Styrofoam containers, so we would very quickly open, take a bite, and close. (The burritos, by the way, were very tasty, especially with the side of guacamole we ordered). When I told this story later, my sister asked, “Why didn’t you MOVE?” The answer is, we just did not see a place to go that was covered. The rest of the day as we walked past all the other eating establishments, we kept saying, “We would have been dry there . . . we would have been dry there . . . “
After we ate we went into the Mexican exhibit and were immediately COLD. We saw some warm looking pull overs which were reasonably priced, so we bought them and put them on right away. Then we were nice and warm for the boat ride.
We went to Norway next (I like this boat ride best) and at that point we discovered that the cell phone needed a new battery so we went back to our room. When we came back, we started at the other side of the world and saw O Canada. We checked out all the shops and came away with some maple cookies. Very, very tasty.
This wasn’t a ‘normal’ trip for us. We usually do not skip anything but we did this time because we had our PS time and we also looking for gifts for Fairen, Leah, and Bethany.
We shopped in England, Italy, Japan, and Moracco. One of my absolute favorite things to do is to see Impressions of France and then go over and have a nice rich pastry. We reversed that this time and had the dessert first. There was only a short wait for the movie which I absolutely love as I do every single time I see it.
Then, on to Morraco for dinner.
This was our 4th time to dine at the Restaurant Marrakesh. The first and second times I had the only ‘feast’ on the menu. The third time I ordered 3 appetizers which made a wonderful light meal. That was four or five years ago. On this trip we found that there were 2 ‘feasts’ on the menu. Mark chose one; I chose the other. Between the 2 meals, we had a sampling of just about everything on the menu.
I have never had a bad experience at this restaurant. This time the food was even better than I remembered. I started out with Harira soup. The first few spoonfuls were good, then it started to get better. The more I ate, the better it got. I was scraping the bowl to get the very last drop. My feast was called the Marrakesh Feast. It also included a Beef Brewat Roll (I could eat 10 of these), a lemon chicken dish, beef shish kebab, and couscous. Also pastries for dessert. Everything was delicious. While I was cleaning my plate, Mark sat across from me enjoying his own feast. I could go on for another paragraph about how good all of his food was, but you get the idea . . .
If you go there, be sure to order the Morroaccan Mint Tea. We always get it warm. Good, good, GOOD!
I think those are the last eating details of the day . . . .
After this we found a place for Illuminations. I think we wound up near Italy. It wasn’t too terribly crowded. I have definitely been in worse crowds. The show was great, as always. I did enjoy it, but by this time I was really ready to get off my feet. (See “appropriate footwear” tip at end of report.)
After the show we made our way back to the YCR. As I mentioned earlier, our room there was a splurge for us. But I think we are both so happy that we treated ourselves. After a long day, it was GREAT to have a short walk to the room instead of having to make our way all the way to the front of the park and then to a bus or tram and then more riding.
We were tired and happy by the time we closed ourselves in for the evening. I could have gone right to sleep but I made time for a soak in the tub first. Very relaxing. We had had a wonderful day and followed it up with a good night’s sleep.
Day 3: Sunday, June 22, 2003
Our appointment with the Disney Vacation Club people wasn’t until 11:30 so we slept in. We got up around 9, got showered and dressed, packed and then went to find some breakfast. There was a little place in the lobby where we had coffee, and some pastries. I got a blueberry muffin. It was huge; I couldn’t finish it.
We got our things in our car and shopped around for a few more things before our appt.
At the Disney Vacation Club place we waited very comfortably in their waiting area. After a short wait we were introduced to Arnault. Nice guy, very helpful. We heard everything he had to say and decided to become members. This was not a brief process. There is a lot of information to share and we had quite a few questions. We left around 3:30 p.m. Later than we’d planned, but happy, happy.
If you like Disney and like to make vacationing a priority for your family, it might be worth your time to hear what they have to say. For us, it is going to make a big change in the way we plan our vacations.
Home Again
Our sweet little girl met us at the door with these words: “Did . . . you . . . see . . .. Micka’ Mouse?”
Our hearts immediately melted all over the sidewalk. We will NOT be waiting until she is 5 or even 4. We have reservations for four nights in January at the Old Key West Resort so Bethany can see “Micka’ Mouse” for herself.
Tips:
Do look over the website and make as many decisions ahead of time as possible for when and where you would like to eat. It was wonderful to have all of our Preferred Seating times arranged so we didn’t have to wait very long (if at all) or have to go through a decision time on property as to which nice restaurant to eat.
Do consider bringing your own breakfast food from off property. We definitely will next time.
Our visit was in mid-June and I was cold nearly every time I was indoors, especially in the resort. So bring long sleeved shirts or a light jacket and long pants in addition to shorts/ short-sleeved shirts. I DID need shorts for our day at Epcot, but wound up carrying a pullover with me that I needed a few times. I should also mention that Mark was cold much less frequently than I but even he made use of a pullover a few times at Epcot.
PLEASE be good to yourself and wear appropriate footwear. I somehow injured my foot before we left home and didn’t feel that I could lace up in my regular walking shoes. I took instead a pair of sandals that I wear everywhere and which are normally very comfortable. I did ok at the park (although my foot was swollen and pretty uncomfortable by the end of the day), but not having the proper support made a huge difference in how I felt over the next 2 or 3 days. My legs and feet were terribly sore, even worse the second or third day than the first day we were home. I will never make this mistake again.
Thanks for reading.
Evelyn Brewer