Day 3-Sept, 30th: Day three of our vacation saw the sun rise on our new home resort, The Beach Club. It's another New England style Beach-themed resort that really has a restful atmosphere. The pool area, called Stormalong, is arguably the best in Disney since it's really more of a water-park than a pool. The bottom of the pool is sandy and there is a great water slide that can only be reached by climbing a 'shipwreck' on the beach. Also, there are other great details about the pool, such as a lazy river section w/ a current, a whirlpool section that the kids just love, and a huge sandy kids' pool that looks almost naturally created. The lobby and rooms are furnished w/ pale woods and fabrics, white pannelling, painted wood floors, and other very restful details. The landscaping is just beautiful and there are lots of great sitting areas throughout the resort, as well as two 'quiet' pools for those that don't want to deal w/ the vastness of Stormalong Bay. I actually preferred the elegance of The Boardwalk, as far as decor goes, but I did enjoy the relaxing admosphere of the Beach Club and the close proxmity to EPCOT.
Our room was almost a mirror image of The Boardwalk's Studio room and we were more than ready to move in and unpack finally. The View from Villa 270 was just a little bit less exciting than our Boardwalk view had been but the balcony was bigger. One of the downsides of renting points from a Vacation Club member and staying at the villas is there is no daily maid service. You kind of have to straighten up after yourself, even though they do make periodic visits to empty trash and replace towels.
This day was our Magic Kingdom day but due to our late night, we let the kids sleep a little longer and planned to hit the park a little before lunch. We went first to Tomorrowland since we had only gotten Buzz Lightyear out of the way the night before. We also met up w/our friends again and they joined us for most of the day. Johnson enjoyed Space Mountain and we did the baby swap again (a great arrangment that Disney allows where one parent waits in line w/ the kids who can ride and then after they're finished, the other parent gets to ride w/out a wait)so he got to ride it twice. Laugh Floor, a new attraction with Monsters Inc characters was my favorite new thing at Disney. It's an interactive comedy show where the audience provides part of the entertainment and it's hilarious!
After nondescript counterservice lunch in Tomorrowland, we headed to Fantasyland for the Winnie The Pooh ride and playland. The Playland was a first for me and I really enjoyed details like these in pooh's house:
Today was one of my favorite days also because Nathan and JOhnson both went on Splash Mountain with me. It's one of my favorite rides for sure. The details are so incredible and the ride is both relaxing and thrilling. It's just one of Disney's best attractions. The hill is big but nobody seemed to even notice and we only got slightly sprinkled on the landing.
We had dinner reservations at the Contemporary Resort so we went back to the hotel for a quick swim before getting dressed a little nicer for our meal at the California Grill. This restaurant is a regular for us on every trip! It is pricey so it took up two of our Table Service credits each, but it is well worth it. The pork loin on polenta is incredible. The Chocolate Lava Cake and Butterscotch Creme Brulee are out of this world! And the view, from the top of the Contemporary is stunning, especially during the Magic Kingdom Fireworks which are clearly visible from the windows.
Day 4, Oct 1st: Victor was one year old today! Anyway, today was EPCOT day. We walked over from our resort only a few minutes late for the opening and didnt have to wait for ANY of the Future World rides for more than five minutes. This was my first visit to the Seas Pavilion since they Nemo update and I'll admit in a second that it's an improvement. The Nemo and Friends ride is a bit of a throwaway until the final moments but they are well worth it since animated characters are incorporated w/ the existing aquariums almost seamlessly. 'Turtle Talk' with Crush allows kids to interact w/ the Sea Turtle from Finding Nemo and no matter how annoying his 'dudes' and 'righteous'es are, it's still extremely entertaining. The boys also really enjoyed the Land Pavilion where we ate lunch. Sunshine Seasons Food Court is unique in that much of the fresh ingredients used in the food are grown right on the premises. I had a most a-typical counter service lunch of Wild Salmon with a calamata olive pesto sauce, fresh green salad, and mashed red potatoes. In addition, it was my first ride on 'Soarin', which is remarkable, and both the boys absolutely loved the 'Living With The Land' ride, where you get to take a boat ride through Disney's State of the Art Hydroponic Gardens.
After a quick break at the hotel pool again, we went back to EPCOT to really tour World Showcase. Shopping is great there, especially in China. We had dinner reservations at Tokyo Dining in 'Japan' and the meal was hearty and well presented. The kids got their meal on little airplane shaped platters and they got free toys after they finished. I had a Tempura selection of scallops, shrimp, and veggies that was very yummy indeed.
Day 5, Oct 2nd: Today was our 'free day' originally but since we had missed some major attractions at The Studios, we decided to head back there to ride Toy Story Mania and the Tower of Terror. Toy Story Mania was great fun; better than Buzz Lightyear even. You wear 3d glasses and shoot at targets as they come at you...I'm better at this than the laser tag thing. Then we went to Tower of Terror. Johnson went w/ daddy and decided he couldnt do it again (ahhh!) so I went alone, which I didnt mind at all. I had no wait, after all. We left the studios by about mid-morning and went back to the hotel to enjoy Stormalong Bay. We had lunch and ice cream by the pool and rode the slide multiple multiple times. I love this place!
Dinner reservations were at Raglan Road, an Irish Restaurant in Downtown Disney. Lots of shopping there and the boys are crazy about the lego store. I ordered the 'It's Not Bleedin' Chowder' and whatever it was, it was delicious. I didnt care for the soda bread, however. We did some shopping afterwards, before heading back to the hotel. Another very busy day.
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