We began packing for the trip a few days in advance, as that always seems to get me excited about the upcoming trip. Sarah and I prepared an array of checklists, and tediously cross-checked them to ensure that we weren’t leaving out any essential item without which our vacation might be ruined. Having a 9:25 a.m. flight out of Midway the next morning, and living a good distance from Midway, we went to bed at 10 p.m. the night before our trip.
The next morning (if it can be called as much) we woke up at 3:45 a.m., 15 minutes before our alarm was set to go off, because neither of us could sleep. This early awakening would typify two themes of the trip: excitement and sleep deprivation. We arrived at the South Shore Line (train) station at 5:08 a.m. for the 5:16 a.m. train—cutting it close, I know, but in my meticulous planning, for some reason I thought the train departed at 5:25 a.m.
The South Shore Line arrived in Chicago at 6:45 a.m., and we quickly made our way to the CTA, which departed at 6:50 a.m. We finally arrived at Midway at 7:30 a.m., where we checked our bags, and began the long wait for our plane by reading Around the World with Disney. As we were flying Southwest, we did this on the ground at the front of the boarding “group A” line (as I wanted to be in the front of the plane so we could get off as quickly as possible).
Aboard the plane, I continued my series of photos of my Figment plush’s travel experiences (above). Prior to this, our flight was running slightly late, so the pilot “made up some time” in the air, which caused our flight to arrive in Orlando slightly ahead of schedule.
We raced to the Disney Magical Express counter and boarded our bus bound for Saratoga Springs Resort (after some confusion). Our bus driver had quite the sense of humor—already we had a taste of the great experiences to come with Cast Members.
Sarah and I were supposed to meet our friend Nick, a friend of ours doing the College Program at Space Mountain, when we arrived at SSR, but we got there twenty minutes early, so we spent the time taking pictures while we awaited him. When he arrived, we checked in, and made our way to the room, which, unbeknownst to us, had been upgraded for free from a studio to a one-bedroom room.
When we entered the room, a towel art…dog(?) greeted us. We were floored by the beauty of the room. Quite simply, the room was one of the nicest resort rooms any of us had ever seen, definitely the nicest we’d enjoyed at Disney World.
After gawking at the room briefly, we made our way to Downtown Disney. There, we grabbed a quick bite at Sandwich of Earl, and perused Art of Disney, making sure not to touch anything, for free of breaking something and being indebted to the Disney Company for life. Since we had 6 p.m. reservations at California Grill, and still had to return to our resort to change clothes, we left Downtown Disney.
We arrived at the Contemporary and were seated almost immediately. Having never been to California Grill, I was amazed by the view, and enamored the all the windows. Not content to gaze out the window by which we were seated, I roamed the restaurant like a small child, taking numerous pictures from either outdoor balcony while we awaited our sushi and main course.
Dinner was amazing. I had a sushi sampler, salmon, and chocolate dessert. For the three of us, our bill would have been over $260 if we weren’t on the Disney Dining Plan. When we informed him of this, we had yet another encounter with an accommodating Cast Member. It turns out that two of the sushi plates we ordered were not covered on the DDP. He told us that normally we would be charged for them, but he overrode that on the computer.
We had told him we had just arrived at the start of the meal, so I think he understood we hadn’t any experience with the DDP. He kindly told us that in the future, we may want to let the server know we’re on the DDP ahead of time, so they can inform us of any items not included on the plan.
Upon leaving, all three of us made our way to the balcony/catwalk on the Magic Kingdom side, where we took some more pictures. As it was getting late, we made our way home, where we changed and headed out to Pleasure Island.
We went to a couple of clubs at Pleasure Island, most notably, the Adventurer’s Club. After hearing the rave reviews about it here, I tried some Kungaloosh, which was fairly decent. Nick was called forward to participate in the maid’s performance, which Sarah and I found amusing, although we regret not having a camera handy to catch a photo of him. We didn’t stay out too late, knowing we would be getting up early for a full day of park hopping the next morning.
Baffling common sense and science alike, I awoke at 6 a.m., an hour before our alarm was set to go off, too excited to sleep. No one else shared this excitement with me, so I decided to take my tripod and get some pictures of Saratoga Springs at sunrise.
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
The next morning (if it can be called as much) we woke up at 3:45 a.m., 15 minutes before our alarm was set to go off, because neither of us could sleep. This early awakening would typify two themes of the trip: excitement and sleep deprivation. We arrived at the South Shore Line (train) station at 5:08 a.m. for the 5:16 a.m. train—cutting it close, I know, but in my meticulous planning, for some reason I thought the train departed at 5:25 a.m.
The South Shore Line arrived in Chicago at 6:45 a.m., and we quickly made our way to the CTA, which departed at 6:50 a.m. We finally arrived at Midway at 7:30 a.m., where we checked our bags, and began the long wait for our plane by reading Around the World with Disney. As we were flying Southwest, we did this on the ground at the front of the boarding “group A” line (as I wanted to be in the front of the plane so we could get off as quickly as possible).
Aboard the plane, I continued my series of photos of my Figment plush’s travel experiences (above). Prior to this, our flight was running slightly late, so the pilot “made up some time” in the air, which caused our flight to arrive in Orlando slightly ahead of schedule.
We raced to the Disney Magical Express counter and boarded our bus bound for Saratoga Springs Resort (after some confusion). Our bus driver had quite the sense of humor—already we had a taste of the great experiences to come with Cast Members.
Sarah and I were supposed to meet our friend Nick, a friend of ours doing the College Program at Space Mountain, when we arrived at SSR, but we got there twenty minutes early, so we spent the time taking pictures while we awaited him. When he arrived, we checked in, and made our way to the room, which, unbeknownst to us, had been upgraded for free from a studio to a one-bedroom room.
When we entered the room, a towel art…dog(?) greeted us. We were floored by the beauty of the room. Quite simply, the room was one of the nicest resort rooms any of us had ever seen, definitely the nicest we’d enjoyed at Disney World.
After gawking at the room briefly, we made our way to Downtown Disney. There, we grabbed a quick bite at Sandwich of Earl, and perused Art of Disney, making sure not to touch anything, for free of breaking something and being indebted to the Disney Company for life. Since we had 6 p.m. reservations at California Grill, and still had to return to our resort to change clothes, we left Downtown Disney.
We arrived at the Contemporary and were seated almost immediately. Having never been to California Grill, I was amazed by the view, and enamored the all the windows. Not content to gaze out the window by which we were seated, I roamed the restaurant like a small child, taking numerous pictures from either outdoor balcony while we awaited our sushi and main course.
Dinner was amazing. I had a sushi sampler, salmon, and chocolate dessert. For the three of us, our bill would have been over $260 if we weren’t on the Disney Dining Plan. When we informed him of this, we had yet another encounter with an accommodating Cast Member. It turns out that two of the sushi plates we ordered were not covered on the DDP. He told us that normally we would be charged for them, but he overrode that on the computer.
We had told him we had just arrived at the start of the meal, so I think he understood we hadn’t any experience with the DDP. He kindly told us that in the future, we may want to let the server know we’re on the DDP ahead of time, so they can inform us of any items not included on the plan.
Upon leaving, all three of us made our way to the balcony/catwalk on the Magic Kingdom side, where we took some more pictures. As it was getting late, we made our way home, where we changed and headed out to Pleasure Island.
We went to a couple of clubs at Pleasure Island, most notably, the Adventurer’s Club. After hearing the rave reviews about it here, I tried some Kungaloosh, which was fairly decent. Nick was called forward to participate in the maid’s performance, which Sarah and I found amusing, although we regret not having a camera handy to catch a photo of him. We didn’t stay out too late, knowing we would be getting up early for a full day of park hopping the next morning.
Baffling common sense and science alike, I awoke at 6 a.m., an hour before our alarm was set to go off, too excited to sleep. No one else shared this excitement with me, so I decided to take my tripod and get some pictures of Saratoga Springs at sunrise.
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
