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starfish1113 · #1 Post by **starfish1113** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:38 pm

For future reference, if you want to go to Disney, try to make it the second week of December. The crowds were simply not there. We walked on to MANY top tier attractions, got fast passes that directed us to come back in an hour as opposed to eight hours, and were able to secure tables at restaurants without having reservations. The only part that was unacceptably busy was the Mickey's Christmas Party, a ticketed event that we didn't attend (Tracey's sister and family did, and were sorely disappointed with the crowds).

We went to Disney's Vero Beach resort for the last three days of the vacation and that place was desolate. I actually didn't like how few people were there. We were the only people on the beach (literally) and often were the only ones at the pool. I would prefer a few more people to be around.

We began our drive home Friday night at midnight (well, I guess that's Saturday morning at midnight), and got home around 3:30 pm. Nothing like a 15 hour drive to end a vacation!

I had next to no internet connection there, so what did I miss??

Buffacuse · #2 Post by **Buffacuse** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:48 pm

Welcome back!

SportsFan68 · #3 Post by **SportsFan68** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:53 pm

Welcome home! Glad you had a good time!

You missed me complimenting you this morning on your prowess at Times to Remember. Warning -- if we ever play again, I get T-Bone on my team.

silvercamaro · #4 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:55 pm

I'm glad you're back, Fishie. So, why didn't you mail me a postcard from MickeyLand?

peacock2121 · #5 Post by **peacock2121** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:05 pm

Welcome home!

You missed a gus chase.

You missed fanny slapping around HoltDad a bit.

You missed Beebs breaking her wrist.

I am sure there is more.

As I remember, I will add stuff.

silvercamaro · #6 Post by **silvercamaro** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:09 pm

peacock2121 wrote:Welcome home!

You missed a gus chase.

You missed fanny slapping around HoltDad a bit.

You missed Beebs breaking her wrist.

I am sure there is more.

As I remember, I will add stuff.

You missed the world's first practical demonstration of my new superpowers.

ne1410s · #7 Post by **ne1410s** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:33 pm

No crowds!! A claustrophobe's dream come true. Glad you had a good time!

MarleysGh0st · #8 Post by **MarleysGh0st** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:54 pm

Welcome home, Fishie!

So how did you arrange being able to take the kids out of school for the second week in December? I presume that issue is why the parks were so empty.

And did you actually have the energy to spend a full day at Disney and then start driving home at midnight?

BackInTex · #9 Post by **BackInTex** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:08 pm

peacock2121 wrote:Welcome home!

You missed a gus chase.

You missed fanny slapping around HoltDad a bit.

You missed Beebs breaking her wrist.

I am sure there is more.

As I remember, I will add stuff.

You missed Pea flirting with me, talking about her, uh, extra tail feathers.

starfish1113 · #10 Post by **starfish1113** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:26 am

MarleysGh0st wrote:Welcome home, Fishie!

So how did you arrange being able to take the kids out of school for the second week in December? I presume that issue is why the parks were so empty.

And did you actually have the energy to spend a full day at Disney and then start driving home at midnight?

Well, we took them out of school. This will probably be the last time we do this, because pretty soon all five will be out of elementary school and in the midst of less understanding teachers! The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually much less crowded, but I had never been there during this time of the year before, so it was quite the culture shock for me!

The last three days of our vacation were at Disney's Vero Beach, where there aren't any parks, so we spent all of Friday at the pool and beach, took a nap in the evening, and left from there at midnight. I would never have been able to make it after walking the parks all day!

starfish1113 · #11 Post by **starfish1113** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:28 am

peacock2121 wrote:Welcome home!

You missed a gus chase.

You missed fanny slapping around HoltDad a bit.

You missed Beebs breaking her wrist.

I am sure there is more.

As I remember, I will add stuff.

I always miss gus chases.

Is this the reason for Fanny's avatar and quote? I'm guessing that HD helpfully pointed out some minor error in a QoD question, pointing out how much smarter he is than everybody else. Close?

Beebs! Broken wrist?? I hope it is healing well....

fantine33 · #12 Post by **fantine33** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:06 am

starfish1113 wrote:
peacock2121 wrote:Welcome home!

You missed a gus chase.

You missed fanny slapping around HoltDad a bit.

You missed Beebs breaking her wrist.

I am sure there is more.

As I remember, I will add stuff.
I always miss gus chases.

Is this the reason for Fanny's avatar and quote? I'm guessing that HD helpfully pointed out some minor error in a QoD question, pointing out how much smarter he is than everybody else. Close?

Beebs! Broken wrist?? I hope it is healing well....

Spunky, darling! Go answer some QODs, if I haven't answered and scored them yet I'll take your answers since you had an excused absence. Ha! I'm going to be doing 12/13 in a little bit, so start from there.

No, HD kept unhelpfully insisting that I was wrong when I wasn't and he was a right arsehole about it in the process.

T_Bone0806 · #13 Post by **T_Bone0806** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:29 pm

Welcome back, Mr. Fish! I trust you had as big of a blast as we did! As you could see, we left the place in pretty good shape for ya'll.

The only day that the crowd was surprisingly huge was 12/1 (a Saturday) at Disney-MGM. Have no idea why it was so. The Osbourne Lights were almost impossible to navigate. We wound up taking a spin over the next night after some shopping at Downtown Disney and before dinner at the California Grill, and it was much much better.

Still hoping that one of these days our trips coincide. Don't know about you, but I started missing it as soon as I saw the "Welcome to Walt Disney World" sign in our rear-view.

After 6 inches of snow, some freezing rain, and 4 more inches after that yesterday, and single digit temps tonight, I'm REALLY missing it now.

Did the 80 degree temps hold on for you guys while you were there?? I know that they were predicting good weather for your first couple of days, at least.

starfish1113 · #14 Post by **starfish1113** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:26 pm

T_Bone0806 wrote:Welcome back, Mr. Fish! I trust you had as big of a blast as we did! As you could see, we left the place in pretty good shape for ya'll.

The only day that the crowd was surprisingly huge was 12/1 (a Saturday) at Disney-MGM. Have no idea why it was so. The Osbourne Lights were almost impossible to navigate. We wound up taking a spin over the next night after some shopping at Downtown Disney and before dinner at the California Grill, and it was much much better.

Still hoping that one of these days our trips coincide. Don't know about you, but I started missing it as soon as I saw the "Welcome to Walt Disney World" sign in our rear-view.

After 6 inches of snow, some freezing rain, and 4 more inches after that yesterday, and single digit temps tonight, I'm REALLY missing it now.

Did the 80 degree temps hold on for you guys while you were there?? I know that they were predicting good weather for your first couple of days, at least.

We are going back for our anniversary in March (only for a long weekend and sans kids). Any chance that you're making a similar trip? California Grill is about to become a tradition for us, as we went there last year for our anniversary and we are going again this year.

Where did you stay when you were down? We were at Old Key West (not as good as Saratoga Springs, but not bad) and will be staying at Boardwalk in March.

And, YES!, I am already missing it!!

T_Bone0806 · #15 Post by **T_Bone0806** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:10 pm

starfish1113 wrote: We are going back for our anniversary in March (only for a long weekend and sans kids). Any chance that you're making a similar trip? California Grill is about to become a tradition for us, as we went there last year for our anniversary and we are going again this year.

Where did you stay when you were down? We were at Old Key West (not as good as Saratoga Springs, but not bad) and will be staying at Boardwalk in March.

And, YES!, I am already missing it!!

Our next trip will probably be April of '09..that will be the BIG family blowout with kids, spouses, grandkids, and possibly a few strangers who will get sucked up in the vortex as we make our way en masse to the World. Doubt we'll get there before then, as we will have to save a lot of pennies for the big trip, but ya never know....

We stayed this time at the Boardwalk Inn..our room was HUGE..you can't beat the location..walking distance to EPCOT and a 15-minute walk to MGM..or, as it will be known shortly, Disney-Hollywood Studios. Fun entertainment at night on the Boardwalk, too..street entertainers and the like.

California Grill is my new favorite restaurant..first time we ever went there. Had the pork tenderloin..amazing..and I'm not usually that crazy about pork. Watching the Christmas "Wishes" from the observation deck was waaaaaaaaaaaay cool.

When are you going in March? I see thatthe Fower and Garden Festival starts mid-March. Can't say that part excites me much, but they'll have "Flower Power" concerts at EPCOT. Here's who is there in March:

March 19 - 22 The Guess Who
March 23 - 24 Petula Clark
March 25 - 29 Paul Revere and the Raiders

Did you catch the new "Finding Nemo-The Musical" at Animal Kingdom? Excellent attraction.

Again, welcome back.

starfish1113 · #16 Post by **starfish1113** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:30 am

T_Bone0806 wrote:
starfish1113 wrote: We are going back for our anniversary in March (only for a long weekend and sans kids). Any chance that you're making a similar trip? California Grill is about to become a tradition for us, as we went there last year for our anniversary and we are going again this year.

Where did you stay when you were down? We were at Old Key West (not as good as Saratoga Springs, but not bad) and will be staying at Boardwalk in March.

And, YES!, I am already missing it!!
Our next trip will probably be April of '09..that will be the BIG family blowout with kids, spouses, grandkids, and possibly a few strangers who will get sucked up in the vortex as we make our way en masse to the World. Doubt we'll get there before then, as we will have to save a lot of pennies for the big trip, but ya never know....

We stayed this time at the Boardwalk Inn..our room was HUGE..you can't beat the location..walking distance to EPCOT and a 15-minute walk to MGM..or, as it will be known shortly, Disney-Hollywood Studios. Fun entertainment at night on the Boardwalk, too..street entertainers and the like.

California Grill is my new favorite restaurant..first time we ever went there. Had the pork tenderloin..amazing..and I'm not usually that crazy about pork. Watching the Christmas "Wishes" from the observation deck was waaaaaaaaaaaay cool.

When are you going in March? I see thatthe Fower and Garden Festival starts mid-March. Can't say that part excites me much, but they'll have "Flower Power" concerts at EPCOT. Here's who is there in March:

March 19 - 22 The Guess Who
March 23 - 24 Petula Clark
March 25 - 29 Paul Revere and the Raiders

Did you catch the new "Finding Nemo-The Musical" at Animal Kingdom? Excellent attraction.

Again, welcome back.

We'll be going March 14-17, so we just miss the Flower Power concert, which is a bummer since it would have been nice to have been there for any of those three. When we were there last year in March, BJ Thomas was performing. I took a couple of pictures, but we didn't stay and listen. Too much else to do!

We didn't do the Finding Nemo Musical at Animal Kingdom. AK was our "short" day as we were doing the Hoop-De-Doo Review that night and only stayed in the park until about 2. That gave us time to do Expedition Everest twice, Dinosaur (in which we were selected as Family of the Hour and got to go to the front of the line and get a car all to ourselves!), the Lion King show, the Safari, Kali River Rapids, and a few other things before having to leave.

We ate for the first time at Morrocco this trip. It was quite good, although (as with any food at Disney, it seems), a bit on this high side in terms of price. That leaves China and France as the only two place I've never eaten at Epcot. Maybe in March!

Enjoy the big family bash in 2009! Our current plan (always subject to change) is to not do Disney again until 2010, when we would like to take the kids to Disneyland Paris. I have no idea whether this will actually happen, but we can dream! Our DVC points for 2008 will be gone once this March trip takes place and I think we'll have to take from 2009 and borrow from 2011 in order to take the Paris trip in 2010!

ladysoleil · #17 Post by **ladysoleil** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:35 am

starfish1113 wrote:
T_Bone0806 wrote:
We are going back for our anniversary in March (only for a long weekend and sans kids). Any chance that you're making a similar trip? California Grill is about to become a tradition for us, as we went there last year for our anniversary and we are going again this year.

When's the anniversary? My birthday is also in March and the past few I've spent at the California Grill. Mmm. I can taste that goat cheese ravioli in my head. I don't know if I'm going to make it down for it this year but I do have 3 days left on my ticket so I'm thinking of making a weekend pilgrimage.

MarleysGh0st · #18 Post by **MarleysGh0st** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:36 am

starfish1113 wrote: Enjoy the big family bash in 2009! Our current plan (always subject to change) is to not do Disney again until 2010, when we would like to take the kids to Disneyland Paris.

Would you be seeing any of, you know, France on this vacation? It seems odd to go to the extra trouble and expense of a European vacation to see Disneyland, even if you are a big Disney fan.

ladysoleil · #19 Post by **ladysoleil** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:38 am

starfish1113 wrote:
We'll be going March 14-17, so we just miss the Flower Power concert, which is a bummer since it would have been nice to have been there for any of those three. When we were there last year in March, BJ Thomas was performing. I took a couple of pictures, but we didn't stay and listen. Too much else to do!

It would be good if I read the whole thread before I commented, I guess.

My birthday is the 12th, so if I go, it would likely be that weekend.

silvercamaro · #20 Post by **silvercamaro** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:41 am

ladysoleil wrote:

It would be good if I read the whole thread before I commented, I guess.

What?

And break the tradition that we've all been building for years?

starfish1113 · #21 Post by **starfish1113** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:47 am

MarleysGh0st wrote:
starfish1113 wrote: Enjoy the big family bash in 2009! Our current plan (always subject to change) is to not do Disney again until 2010, when we would like to take the kids to Disneyland Paris.
Would you be seeing any of, you know, France on this vacation? It seems odd to go to the extra trouble and expense of a European vacation to see Disneyland, even if you are a big Disney fan.

We would be staying at Disneyland Paris because we can use our point from the Disney Vacation Club and stay without doling out cash. My guess is we would spend two days (tops) at the Parks themselves (they have Disneyland and Disney Studios) and the rest of the time would be in Paris.

Don't worry, Marley.

starfish1113 · #22 Post by **starfish1113** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:48 am

ladysoleil wrote:
starfish1113 wrote:
T_Bone0806 wrote:
We are going back for our anniversary in March (only for a long weekend and sans kids). Any chance that you're making a similar trip? California Grill is about to become a tradition for us, as we went there last year for our anniversary and we are going again this year.
When's the anniversary? My birthday is also in March and the past few I've spent at the California Grill. Mmm. I can taste that goat cheese ravioli in my head. I don't know if I'm going to make it down for it this year but I do have 3 days left on my ticket so I'm thinking of making a weekend pilgrimage.

Our actual anniversary is March 25, but we are going a couple of weeks early because on our actual anniversary weekend, Tracey is traveling with her sister and her friend to New Jersey to see, uh, Rick Springfield.

MarleysGh0st · #23 Post by **MarleysGh0st** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:52 am

starfish1113 wrote: Don't worry, Marley.

Okey dokey!

ladysoleil · #24 Post by **ladysoleil** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:56 pm

silvercamaro wrote:
ladysoleil wrote:

It would be good if I read the whole thread before I commented, I guess.
What?

And break the tradition that we've all been building for years?

Just call me n00b!

ladysoleil · #25 Post by **ladysoleil** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:58 pm

starfish1113 wrote: Our actual anniversary is March 25, but we are going a couple of weeks early because on our actual anniversary weekend, Tracey is traveling with her sister and her friend to New Jersey to see, uh, Rick Springfield.

Mine is the 22nd, presuming I stay married that long.

And now you have Jesse's Girl stuck in my head. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving.