FLSharon
09-08-2003, 10:08 AM
Cast: Me, Sharon, 54
DH, 48
When: Labor Day 2003
Friday morning, we started north on I 75 around 10:30 am, not bad, we were almost on schedule. We arrived in Orlando around 1pm after a quick bite to eat at a Steak n Shake on I75. We were the only guests to check in at that time. I inquired about a balcony room and was told it would be a 30 add charge. Since I missed the 99 special I really didn’t want to pay anther 30. And with the special you could upgrade to a balcony for 30. That’s what this was already costing us. However, she said to go see our room and see if we were happy with it. And she also explained about how the rooms were newly refurbished and had these heavenly beds. Well, while walking down the 5th floor in the east wing I got the willies. Very narrow hallways with low ceilings always bother me. We found our room and it was very nice, and the view was great. However, I was getting claustophobic. When I inquired about a first floor room with the little courtyard, I was told they were the same price but none were available. Finally I decided I had to do something about this (DH is no help), so I went to the front desk and pleaded for a balcony room. We were moved to the west wing on the ninth floor. Our new room was not a refurbished one, but it was was bigger and I loved it. I was now a happy camper (if I may borrowed someone's name..lol). And I didn’t feel bad b/c their labor day rate with a balcony was the 124 we were paying. So anyway, it all turned out just fine.
After getting settled in our new room (which was in the West Wing and right next to the elevator) and freshened up, we went to AK to see the parade. I hadn’t seen a parade here since the park opened b/c I didn’t really care for the original one. We loved this parade so much better. Lots of upbeat music, tons of characters and also several guests were a part of the parade…. At least 3 floats of visitors. On our way out, we stopped at guest relations to buy our new AP’s. They weren’t due for another month, bur I didn’t expect to be back in sept and didn’t want to miss the discount. And the last time, Disney raised the prices before we renewed and I had to argue like crazy to get the old price. Next, we were on our way to BOMAs for dinner. Dinner is always fun there, but I must admit, the only dessert to me that is worth the calories is the banana bread pudding with vanilla sauce. We left stuffed and drove back to the Dolphin. After we parked our car we returned to the room momentarily then walked to Epcot to view illuminations. We had time to try mission space again, but no way on a full stomach. We had a lovely walk around the board walk after Illuminations. I can’t believe I had a slice of pizza after that huge dinner. We walked into the swan for a while and stopped by the bar with karaoke. What a hoot… they were either terrible or fantastic. The dolphin looked absolutely beautiful at night. It’s seems so different when it’s your home even if only temporarily.
Our intentions were to see the opening show at MK, the next morning. However I miscalculated and we arrived just as it was finished. Darn. The horse and wagon wasn’t out yet for rides so we headed straight back to SM for a ride with no wait. After the first ride, the CM’s would not let us go again even tho there was no one there to get on. So as the empty logs went on their way around, we had to walk clear around… so stupid. I was told it was procedure. Did I say how ridiculous this is???. The last time here, the CM’s were allowing us to ride again as long as there was no line. BTMRR was closed so we went on to the jungle cruise but it had a line. So not into waiting in lines today. So we headed to main street to get a breakfast of cinnamon rolls. I was estatic to see the main street singers and dancers performing while I waited on DH to get the cinnamon rolls. We walked thru the Market store with a quick stop for me to listen on the old fashioned on phone. So funny… We then settled at a little round table on the side street and listened to the music lessons coming from the second story. Before returning to swim DH wanted to do one train ride around the park.
Even tho the room was being serviced we quickly ran into the restroom and changed into our suits and headed for the pool. I wasn’t going to waste anymore time, incase those dark clouds decided to let loose. The pool area here is the most dynamite around, better than Storm Along Bay, IMHO. What a water slide! It’s a full circle at least. For the first time, I talked to more locals that out of staters. Seems everyone was here on a deal. We stayed at the pool for a good couple hours. . Around 5 or 5 30, we decided to take the boat to Epcot for dinner. We lucked out and got a lovely table by the water at the rose and crown. When finished I just couldn’t decide what to do. Since we were staying here, we really didn’t feel like getting back into the car, however we had just seen Illuminations the previous nite. We finally decided to go to MK by car to see Spectromagic. What fun! We were told that this is the last time until the holiday season. Did I mention that there was a private concert at MGM? And since AK closed at 5, that only left 2 parks to hold the crowds. And crowded, they were. I haven’t seen so many people at MK since I don’t know when. Since we weren’t really concerned about front row seats for the parade, we found a spot to sit and just enjoyed people watching. The parade was going to repeat at 11 but we were happy to watch the first one from a few feet back. We passed on the fireworks to beat the really heavy crowds. We were back in our room around 10:30. I enjoyed a glass of wine on our balcony and we listened to the concert in MGM, Finally, I crashed in bed around 11… dead to the world until the really loud booms at midnight. Turns out we had our own private showing of the fireworks from this concert. However, DH enjoyed them, but still half asleep, I turned over and fell back into dreamland. However, I should have dragged my fanny out of bed, cause he said they were really cool and just as good as MK’s. We were told that it cost whoever was doing the concert in MGM 10K just for the fireworks.
Sunday, we were up at 8 and got ready to head to MGM. The boat arrived at the dock around 915. We came to do our very favorite here… RRC. Then afterwards, since we hadn’t been in TT for while, we decided to try it. I looked for Roodad’s, Owen, but didn’t see him anywhere. TT was fun and the drops weren’t so bad anymore. Seems to me like there’s more little drops than one or two big ones. I really enjoyed seeing the hotel and the grounds. Since it had been so long since the last time we were on it, it was like a new attraction to me. After TT, we stopped at Star Rolls for some pastry. Then we headed back to see One Man’s Dream. I love this as much as RRC and I always see some memorabilia that is new to me. I now have all three magazines on display that featured WDW when it opened. While walking around aimlessly, we came upon the Muppets 3 D. This was the first time for us to see this adorable show. So much fun. We decided we needed to head back in order to get in some swim time before our late check out of 4 pm. (the Dolphin gave us this late check out as part of the Labor Day special) Another couple hours were spent on the slide and just enjoyed the area, before we had to head back to the room. Once we were packed up and out, we took the boat to beach club for a quick lunch at B&C. As we walked thru Storm Along Bay, I noticed no one was there. We were told some poop stuff got into the main filter and polluted the whole pool. So they shocked it … we saw one hot tho that wasn’t cleaned up yet and it was pretty disgusting. The CM’s were shuttling the guests to the boardwalk pool if they didn’t want to us the quiet pools. So on to epcot for a ride around the lake . The only attraction we stopped to see was the Canadian Movie, one of our favs. We were both really tired and decide to call it a day. We left epcot by boat, got off at BW. I bought a beer and strolled back to the dolphin parking lot. Needless to say, I didn’t have to drive home..
A couple words on our room. It was a bit dated, but nicely appointed I just don’t really care for the decorating scheme at either the swam or dolphin. However, I thoroughly enjoyed our room. It was a nice size and and had all the amenities, coffee maker, with lots of coffee and tea, glass cups and to go cups with lids, hair dryers, and irons. Oh and a wall safe. Did I say how much I loved our little balcony??? I didn’t really expect to like the hotel, I really just wanted to use the pool area and be close to epcot and the boardwalk. However, the hotel was part of the whole experience and I was pleasantly surprised. Most folks were staying until Monday, but we decided to have a restful day at home before the workweek started. We were questioning our thinking on our way to the car…lol...
I do hope they offer some good specials again, I cause I would def return here.
DH, 48
When: Labor Day 2003
Friday morning, we started north on I 75 around 10:30 am, not bad, we were almost on schedule. We arrived in Orlando around 1pm after a quick bite to eat at a Steak n Shake on I75. We were the only guests to check in at that time. I inquired about a balcony room and was told it would be a 30 add charge. Since I missed the 99 special I really didn’t want to pay anther 30. And with the special you could upgrade to a balcony for 30. That’s what this was already costing us. However, she said to go see our room and see if we were happy with it. And she also explained about how the rooms were newly refurbished and had these heavenly beds. Well, while walking down the 5th floor in the east wing I got the willies. Very narrow hallways with low ceilings always bother me. We found our room and it was very nice, and the view was great. However, I was getting claustophobic. When I inquired about a first floor room with the little courtyard, I was told they were the same price but none were available. Finally I decided I had to do something about this (DH is no help), so I went to the front desk and pleaded for a balcony room. We were moved to the west wing on the ninth floor. Our new room was not a refurbished one, but it was was bigger and I loved it. I was now a happy camper (if I may borrowed someone's name..lol). And I didn’t feel bad b/c their labor day rate with a balcony was the 124 we were paying. So anyway, it all turned out just fine.
After getting settled in our new room (which was in the West Wing and right next to the elevator) and freshened up, we went to AK to see the parade. I hadn’t seen a parade here since the park opened b/c I didn’t really care for the original one. We loved this parade so much better. Lots of upbeat music, tons of characters and also several guests were a part of the parade…. At least 3 floats of visitors. On our way out, we stopped at guest relations to buy our new AP’s. They weren’t due for another month, bur I didn’t expect to be back in sept and didn’t want to miss the discount. And the last time, Disney raised the prices before we renewed and I had to argue like crazy to get the old price. Next, we were on our way to BOMAs for dinner. Dinner is always fun there, but I must admit, the only dessert to me that is worth the calories is the banana bread pudding with vanilla sauce. We left stuffed and drove back to the Dolphin. After we parked our car we returned to the room momentarily then walked to Epcot to view illuminations. We had time to try mission space again, but no way on a full stomach. We had a lovely walk around the board walk after Illuminations. I can’t believe I had a slice of pizza after that huge dinner. We walked into the swan for a while and stopped by the bar with karaoke. What a hoot… they were either terrible or fantastic. The dolphin looked absolutely beautiful at night. It’s seems so different when it’s your home even if only temporarily.
Our intentions were to see the opening show at MK, the next morning. However I miscalculated and we arrived just as it was finished. Darn. The horse and wagon wasn’t out yet for rides so we headed straight back to SM for a ride with no wait. After the first ride, the CM’s would not let us go again even tho there was no one there to get on. So as the empty logs went on their way around, we had to walk clear around… so stupid. I was told it was procedure. Did I say how ridiculous this is???. The last time here, the CM’s were allowing us to ride again as long as there was no line. BTMRR was closed so we went on to the jungle cruise but it had a line. So not into waiting in lines today. So we headed to main street to get a breakfast of cinnamon rolls. I was estatic to see the main street singers and dancers performing while I waited on DH to get the cinnamon rolls. We walked thru the Market store with a quick stop for me to listen on the old fashioned on phone. So funny… We then settled at a little round table on the side street and listened to the music lessons coming from the second story. Before returning to swim DH wanted to do one train ride around the park.
Even tho the room was being serviced we quickly ran into the restroom and changed into our suits and headed for the pool. I wasn’t going to waste anymore time, incase those dark clouds decided to let loose. The pool area here is the most dynamite around, better than Storm Along Bay, IMHO. What a water slide! It’s a full circle at least. For the first time, I talked to more locals that out of staters. Seems everyone was here on a deal. We stayed at the pool for a good couple hours. . Around 5 or 5 30, we decided to take the boat to Epcot for dinner. We lucked out and got a lovely table by the water at the rose and crown. When finished I just couldn’t decide what to do. Since we were staying here, we really didn’t feel like getting back into the car, however we had just seen Illuminations the previous nite. We finally decided to go to MK by car to see Spectromagic. What fun! We were told that this is the last time until the holiday season. Did I mention that there was a private concert at MGM? And since AK closed at 5, that only left 2 parks to hold the crowds. And crowded, they were. I haven’t seen so many people at MK since I don’t know when. Since we weren’t really concerned about front row seats for the parade, we found a spot to sit and just enjoyed people watching. The parade was going to repeat at 11 but we were happy to watch the first one from a few feet back. We passed on the fireworks to beat the really heavy crowds. We were back in our room around 10:30. I enjoyed a glass of wine on our balcony and we listened to the concert in MGM, Finally, I crashed in bed around 11… dead to the world until the really loud booms at midnight. Turns out we had our own private showing of the fireworks from this concert. However, DH enjoyed them, but still half asleep, I turned over and fell back into dreamland. However, I should have dragged my fanny out of bed, cause he said they were really cool and just as good as MK’s. We were told that it cost whoever was doing the concert in MGM 10K just for the fireworks.
Sunday, we were up at 8 and got ready to head to MGM. The boat arrived at the dock around 915. We came to do our very favorite here… RRC. Then afterwards, since we hadn’t been in TT for while, we decided to try it. I looked for Roodad’s, Owen, but didn’t see him anywhere. TT was fun and the drops weren’t so bad anymore. Seems to me like there’s more little drops than one or two big ones. I really enjoyed seeing the hotel and the grounds. Since it had been so long since the last time we were on it, it was like a new attraction to me. After TT, we stopped at Star Rolls for some pastry. Then we headed back to see One Man’s Dream. I love this as much as RRC and I always see some memorabilia that is new to me. I now have all three magazines on display that featured WDW when it opened. While walking around aimlessly, we came upon the Muppets 3 D. This was the first time for us to see this adorable show. So much fun. We decided we needed to head back in order to get in some swim time before our late check out of 4 pm. (the Dolphin gave us this late check out as part of the Labor Day special) Another couple hours were spent on the slide and just enjoyed the area, before we had to head back to the room. Once we were packed up and out, we took the boat to beach club for a quick lunch at B&C. As we walked thru Storm Along Bay, I noticed no one was there. We were told some poop stuff got into the main filter and polluted the whole pool. So they shocked it … we saw one hot tho that wasn’t cleaned up yet and it was pretty disgusting. The CM’s were shuttling the guests to the boardwalk pool if they didn’t want to us the quiet pools. So on to epcot for a ride around the lake . The only attraction we stopped to see was the Canadian Movie, one of our favs. We were both really tired and decide to call it a day. We left epcot by boat, got off at BW. I bought a beer and strolled back to the dolphin parking lot. Needless to say, I didn’t have to drive home..
A couple words on our room. It was a bit dated, but nicely appointed I just don’t really care for the decorating scheme at either the swam or dolphin. However, I thoroughly enjoyed our room. It was a nice size and and had all the amenities, coffee maker, with lots of coffee and tea, glass cups and to go cups with lids, hair dryers, and irons. Oh and a wall safe. Did I say how much I loved our little balcony??? I didn’t really expect to like the hotel, I really just wanted to use the pool area and be close to epcot and the boardwalk. However, the hotel was part of the whole experience and I was pleasantly surprised. Most folks were staying until Monday, but we decided to have a restful day at home before the workweek started. We were questioning our thinking on our way to the car…lol...
I do hope they offer some good specials again, I cause I would def return here.