Grumpy's Yacht Club Adventure!

Once upon a time..................there was a disneyfied military family who was in search of the holy grail.....actually relaxing on a WDW vacation. They'd been stationed in Florida for 18 months and gone on many different trips there, day trips, extended family vacations, weekends at Shades of Green and many other hotels outside the world but the relaxation factor had eluded them. Perhaps it was the sheer scope of the place, perhaps they just were seduced by the Disney commando mentality or perhaps having been to DL many times they just couldn't believe how much better it was at WDW. Whatever had happened this elusive magic had alluded them.

They tried in Spring of 2002 when they splurged on a week at the Polynesian. Fantastic trip but so much going on and they hadn't been for 4 years so it was a mad rush to see it all and do it all. They tried again in Jan 2003 but two members of the tribe got sick, casting a pall on the trip.

But thankfully they are nothing if not perserverant. ( Some might call it obsessive but who listens to those people anyway?) :lol: And finally at the end of Oct 2003 they reached the pinnacle they had been striving for.....the perfect, magical relaxing, no stress WDW vacation.

What's the explanation? Hard to say. It could have been the glorious ambiance at the Yacht Club, the fact that the two darling children were old enough to go off on their own:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: or it might have been that they'd finally been there enough times to feel like they were "home". Maybe it is true that wishes do come true. Personally I think it was some sort of transformation that happened when they had their faces flattened to the headrests on Mission Space. But whatever the explanation it was a magical time.

This is their story. Scoff if you like but it really happened like this. Stay tuned for Part 2

 

[epcotisbest]

Hey Grump, sounds like you discovered one of the best secrets to WDW, namely relaxing and having a good time. The best thing we have ever done is abandon the "have to do as much as possible in the time we have" attitude. It is so much more fun to just relax, go with the flow and enjoy.

So, how amazing is Stormalong Bay? Did you spend a lot of time at this pool?

Here is a link to a thread to when we changed our touring style. Read some of it if you get the chance. Some of the replies are really enlightening.

Without a camera.

Oh, can hardly wait for "Part 2".

 

[surfsupdon]

Ohhhhhh, I am intrigued!!

We will be staying at Yacht Club for the first time and are very excited--and also aprehensive--so it looks good that you liked it!!!

Cannot wait!! For part 2 either, haha!

 

[Grumpy56]

Grumpy's Yacht Club Adventure Part 2


We had a very pleasant flight down on Delta Song. We arrived around 3 and headed to the Radisson Resort Parkway. I had booked Yacht Club at the last minute through SOG and they could not give me the first night. It confirmed to me that I just don't want to stay off property again. The hotel was fine but nothing special. We headed over to the MK for MNSSHP. It was awesome. The decorations were great, the lines were short and we enjoyed a birthday dinner for my daughter at Liberty Tree. Food's as good as ever. All the characters made a fuss over her and the waiters sang happy birthday to her when they brought the cake. We headed back around 11:30 because everyone was tired.

The next moring we did our best to get our 14 year old out of bed with no luck. :snore: Finally at 10:30 I pointed out to her that we HAD to check out at 11am. Now DD didn't know where we were going after this, so we decided to drive over and check in at Yacht CLub, thinking we'd just leave our luggage and head over to Epcot. But when we arrived our room was ready. The kids were blown away! My DD asked "Isn't this ridiculously exspensive?" Well yes it is but it was worth it! And did they ever treat us right! I had faxed ahead, telling them about my daughter's clinical depression and how we wanted to make this a special birthday trip for her. I didn't ask for anything particular, just said if there was anything they could do, I'd appreciate it. I've faxed room requests before and never had any luck so I wasn't expecting anything. Was I surprised when we opened the door and saw the fabulous view of the lake and SAB. It was spectacular!:king: We saw the fireworks from Illuminations from our balcony as well as the lights of the Boardwalk at night. We were in room 4205 and we loved the theming and the view.

Nobody could wait to check out SAB so we changed and headed right down. I don't think there is any doubt that it's the best pool on property. My son loved the slide, my DH and I loved the hot tubs (and the pool side bar service!) and DD just liked it all! We spent time in the pool every day except the day we went to Typhoon Lagoon.

After we dried off we headed to Epcot becasue the kids were hot to do MS. All I can say is I'm prone to motion sickness so I was apprehensive. It is an a totally unique ride, I'm glad I did it and I doubt I'll ever do it again!:hurl: Now I didn't actually get sick and I'm really glad they have that pretzel stand out in front. My kids however loved it. My DD didn't want to ride it again that day but her thrillseeking brother wanted to right away so he did it by himself. Did a number of rides, TT, Maelsrom, did a bit of the WS. Had a great meal :slurp: at Le Cellier. Steaks were great, bread sticks and cheddar cheese soup also yummy. It was our first time and we liked it a lot. After that we got beavertails and watched Illuminations. It was a perfect day, best of all we took a short walk to Yacht Club and tumbled into bed.

 

[surfsupdon]

That's quite a pleasant surprise--that view!! Sounded great. I am looking forward to our first outing at the Yacht Club--but not the pool, go figure--and am hoping that we get a decent view as well, as requested.

Did you dine at Yachtsman, and, if so, was it good?? About 20-25 bucks per steak???

 

[Katherine]

That is so great! I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[Grumpy56]

Part 3


The next day was Saturday and my son wanted to do extra magic at his fav park, MGM. DD was dead to the wolrd so we headed off without her.:snore: It was so much more pleasant than everyone getting stressed out about her making us late. We hit the park and rode TOT twice (the new ride sequences are awesome), and RnR in the first hour. Lines were not long although TOT line did start to grow due to only one side being open. We grabbed a FP for TOT first thing, then pretty much walked on to it. Went to RnR and got a FP went back to use our FP at TOT, got off that and used the FP at RnR. It sure was nice of them to put those two rides so close together! Went to see Muppets 3-D. It is still a lot of fun. (Finally saw the net full of jello and the key under the mat.) The guys did Star Tours while I did some shopping at the xmas store. ( I collect ornaments, and my Disney collection has grown to the point where I think this year they'll have to have their own tree!) We then did Indiana Jones which we hadn't seen our last few trips. We all enjoyed it.

It was getting to be lunch time and we called DD and she wanted to meet us for lunch so we took the boat back, she met the boat and we rode over to BW for lunch at Big River. It was our first time and we thought the food was good, not too expensive and the beer was yummy:slurp: . Our plan for the afternoon was for Dad to take DS to Typhoon Lagoon and I would do something with DD since she didn't want to go to TL. I suggested Epcot or DD and she said what she really wanted to do was go to MGM! So I said you'll have to go by yourself cause I've had my fill of thrill rides for the day. She was fine with that, and then her brother says she's going all by herself???!?? I want to go too! And off they went for the first time on their own at WDW.

Now this is where the vacation really starts to get good!:animwink: My DH and I realize we're free!:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: We drop them off at the boat dock at the Swan and decided to check that out. We went to the front desk and got a key and went up to check out a room. It was very nice though smaller than our room at YC. I just had to check out the heavenly bed. Now get your minds out of the gutter folks. I just laid down for a sec and made sure to neaten it up when I got up. It was the most comfortable hotel bed I'd ever seen. With the military discount this would be a great value. We checked out the Dolphin as well, but we liked the Swan better, it's smaller and that lobby in the Dolphin was a bit over the top!

The rest of the day we spent at the YC, relaxing by the pool and then we took a nap. It was awesome and so relaxing. We ddin't see the kids agin until we met up with them at MK to see Wishes. We did make a quick trip around WS on our way to MK to get some food from the Food and Wine Festival and then took the monorail over to MK. So that made 3 parks in one day! We absolutely loved Wishes. We saw it from the rose garden by the old Swan boat dock and thought it was great view. We did a few more rides, SM, Buzz, JC at night which is the best and POC. We had a nice ride back on the bus and after the kids got tucked in my DH and I went to the Crew's Cup for a night cap. Very nice.

Stayed tuned for Part 4 in which we do the unthinkable, arrive at MK on a Extra magic morning at 10:30! The things I do for my WDW newbie friends!:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:

 

[Grumpy56]

Part 4

Sunday morning we received a call from our friends who had arrived the night before. They have 2 kids, a 3 year old and a 7 month old baby. The said their 3 yo really wanted to go back to MK. "They do know it's extra magic hour at wdw and they won't get there till 10am?" I inquired sweetly. But MK it was and did we have the best time. It was sheer bliss showing MK to a 3 year old. She was so entralled by everything. They'd gotten there a bit earlier than us and taken her on Snow White, which scared her. (There's a surprise!) So we opted for Mickey's Philharmagic. I t was our second time and seeing the laughter and delight on her face was as much fun as the movie. She kept reaching out for things and giggling. I think it's a great attraction, it really is for little kids, yet the whole family can enjoy it together.

She had been riding Dumbo and loved it so I suggested Aladdin and we ended up taking her 3 times because the line was so short! By that time they wanted lunch so we headed back to the Yacht Club and stuffed ourselves at Beaches and Cream. The portions there are huge. We spent another lovely afternoon at the pool and then headed to Epcot for dinner at Marrakesh. The meal was great and our 3yo firend loved dancing with the belly dancer. My kids of course were way too cool for that!

So I found out what it's like to arrive late to Extra Magic hour. We did like 4 rides before we left but it was fun anyway and it was getting crowded by lunch time. All in all we had a great day which we ended by watching Illuminations. Perfect!

 

[Grumpy56]

Part 5

I apologize for taking so long to complete this, life has been hectic......I wish I was back at WDW

The next day was Monday and we had decided to go to Typhoon Lagoon. So my son was devasted to wake up in the morning to rain! It looked like it would pass so and after breakfast it had so we packed up and headed for our first trip to TL . Even my teen got out of bed for that. We arrived about 10:30, it was not crowded and the sun was beginning to come out.

We had the best time. It was so fun and relaxing, We loved the shark reef. My husband and I both scuba dive but this was so cool and a great opportunity to share that kind of experience with our kids. We also liked the raft rides and Castaway Creek but I did leasn that there is such a thing as a Mega-wedgie. One time on Humunga Kowabunga was enough for me! I liked the wave pool better and spent most of the afternoon there.

After getting changed at the hotel we headed over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma. We walked around the hotel a bit, seeiing the animals and the pool. We all thought it would be fun to stay there if not for the location. Being at the Yacht Club was just so convienent! Our meal at Boma's changed our mind! It was so delicious and fun. If you have not been to Boma's, GO! NOW! AS soon as you can! I can not recommend it highly enough. The food is exotic but very accesible and there are plenty of choices for picky eaters. I think it's the best deal on property. We've eaten at lots of nice restaurants at Disney and enjoyed them and they are pricey. This is just such a good value. You get a high end meal, good service and plenty of choices. And of course, Zebra Domes!

We ended the day at Downtown Disney where we did a litlle shopping and the kids enjoyed Disney Quest. They loved it and want to spend a lot more time there next time.

 

[Grumpy56]

Part 6

Our last day

We actually felt ready to leave, unlike other times when that last day was alway hard. I think this was because we had had such a rleaxed time that we weren't exhausted and we flew back in the afternoon so we still got a half day in the parks.

We started the day at 7:30 at the Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast. We took my son only becasue the teenager was sleeping. This was our first time and I recommend it highly. Lots of character interaction but not as noisy or frenetic as some I've been to. The food was excellent but let's just say this is not the place to go if you're on Atkins! One whole side of the bufffet is a wall of sweet carbs, including Krispy Kreme donuts. I saw a group of teen aged boys who looked as if they'd died and gone to heaven when they saw that.

We had a great time with Chip and Dale. DS was wearing his It's my Birthday badge from the MK and Chip wanted to know how old he was. Then my son tells him I've got a birthday coming up the same as Mickey's. After commenting on how good Mickey looks for 75, Chip indicates he too has a birthday coming up. We ask him how old he's going to be and he writes down 50 and we congratulate him. Later when Dale comes by we wish him a happy birthday and say Chip tells us you're going to be 50! Dale starts shaking his head and writes down, No, 60! And then, SENIOR MOMENT! It was too funny.

After checking out and bidding a fond farewell to the Yacht Club we head over to Epcot so the kids can do MS one more time. I also did a little shopping, got some very nice placemats and coasters with classic Mickey cartoon posters on them. And picked up the Food and Wine Festival Poster which I'm having framed. We ended up by doing the food and wine for lunch. Highlights were the bakalava, the lamb form Austrailia, my husband loved the german food and I finally got to do the Walkabout in Austrailia. Lots of fun. We headed out around noon and made our way to the airport.

It's been a month since we got back and the memories are still fresh. Not a day goes by that somebody doesn't mention something form the trip. We saw the Magical Gatherings commmercial yesterday and everybody got real quiet, which is rare around here:lol: