On Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 10:50 PM wdw1972@... [DVCBoards] <DVCBoards@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

DAY 1 – Friday 9/20/19

Who:  Sue (60), DVC Member

            SB (62), husband

                                                                                               

Plan:   Drive to WDW, Epcot/Food & Wine, Starship

 

Actual:   I left work at noon to find SB ready and waiting at home.  He was even wearing the clothes (including sneakers) I’d left out for him – what a refreshing change, lol!  He’d recently gotten a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s, so we shared that once we got in the car.  I quickly changed clothes, packed the cooler, and we were out of there by 12:15.  There seemed to be a lot of cars on the road for some reason, but traffic moved fine. 

 

I kept checking for a message, email or notification about the room and finally just as we pulled onto Disney property I got the “not quite ready” message.  Ugh.  We drove to Old Key West, arriving around 2:15.  We went inside, and learned our villa was not ready and there were no other ones that were ready.  They did say they’d let housekeeping know we were there and ask them to “expedite” it but we’ve heard that before.  

 

We looked in the shop, where SB bought a DVC member luggage tag for one of my Christmas gifts, then we decided to get a drink at Gurgling Suitcase.  We sat at the bar inside, and ordered a Michelob Ultra (low carb) for him and a pinot grigio for me.  I called Pete & Judy to discuss next year’s plans & catch up with them.  After I got off the phone I saw I had a new message with our room number!  We settled the check and poured the rest of my wine into a plastic cup, then headed to the car. 

 

We’re in the Miller’s Road section, which I’ve always said was my least favorite place.  But, it’s only 3 nights so it’s no big deal.  We’re close to the bus stop, and nowadays it seems the buses are quieter when braking.  Back when I used to stay here a lot, you’d hear the squeaking brakes if your room was anywhere near a stop sign or bus stop!  We’re nice & quiet here. 

 

We brought our stuff up to the villa, and it’s one that’s already been refurbished.  I like it much better than the old version.  The 1-bedroom villa here is around 1000 square feet, so it’s quite large.  I think the 2-bedroom staff house we’re living in is just over 1100 square feet.  The master bedroom looks somewhat blah as there’s nothing on the bed other than white pillows and white bedding.  It needs a splash of color.  The master bathroom is 2 rooms – one with jetted tub and sink, and the other with the shower stall (with rain showerhead) plus toilet and another sink.  The laundry room is separate, and has full-size appliances (not the little stack units). 

 

Everything looked great, but soon little issues started popping up.  First, there are a bazillion switches, so trying to figure out what turns on what will take longer than I have on this reservation.  In the bedroom, the lamp on one side of the bed and the floor lamp over the chair/ottoman on that side of the bed wouldn’t turn on.  I later saw neither was plugged in, but plugging them in didn’t change anything.  Silly me used that outlet to plug in my laptop, so when we got home later the battery had drained and the computer shut down – evidently that outlet is no good.  Overall though, we’re pleased with the attractive and spacious unit.  I put the cooler items into the fridge/freezer, and partially unpacked before we headed to the bus stop.

 

The Epcot bus came in about 10 minutes and we were on our way.  Old Key West has 5 bus stops, and we’re the 4^th one.  So many bus stops is a real pain, but it’s a large resort so they need them.  At Epcot the bag check lines were not too bad – I imagine tomorrow morning they’ll be a nightmare.  I HATE the Epcot front entrance, and try to avoid it whenever possible.  There were pretty long lines at the entry, and the passholder line was the longest one by far, so we just got in a regular line. 

 

While waiting for the bus I’d gotten an email to let me know our Living with the Land 3pm fastpass had changed to anything I wanted in that tier.  We weren’t likely to make it in time anyway, and we have another one tomorrow so that was no big deal.  We walked over to the land for our 4:05 Soarin’ fastpass and were surprised to learn the pavilion was “still closed”.  But, less than a minute later it reopened – must have been a power problem.  We were just a couple minutes into our Soarin’ window, and we were able to pretty much walk right on without any wait.  There was even an empty seat in our row (2^nd row, center section).  SB likes this version better than the original over California, and I agree somewhat.  I like the scenes, but tire of the abrupt scene changes.  Also, if you’re on either end some of the locations look really distorted.

 

After Soarin’ we headed out to World Showcase, starting on the Canada side.  I may have mentioned SB is finally taking his diabetes seriously, and had made remarkable progress on his blood sugar and A1C.  He’s also in the past month started dropping some extra pounds.  We talked before the trip, and he was almost reluctant to come, not wanting to undo the progress he’s made.  As a result, our visit isn’t the usual feeding frenzy <g>.  Hopefully tomorrow Tiana & Jonnell will be trying a lot, so I can get more pictures.

 

Our first stop was in Germany, where we shared the bratwurst in pretzel bun.  Specifically, I ate the pretzel bun and a third of the sausage – he ate the rest of the sausage.  We continued around but didn’t get anything else.  I was waiting for him to find something and he was waiting for me to do the same.  The festival booths had really short lines for the most part, and Canada had no line at all both times we passed!  We stopped in France – SB wanted to sit for a bit so we found a shady bench.  He still doesn’t do any walking or exercise, but at least since his sugar is under control he doesn’t have any leg pain any more. 

 

After about 5 minutes or so he was ready to move on, and since the theater in America was already very crowded with people waiting for Starship 1.5 or more hours away, he suggested we find seats and then I go do another loop.  That worked for me, and we found seats with a good view towards the back but near the center of the stage.  The couple next to us had a hot dog, and SB decided he’d like that.  I asked where the guy got it (right there in America), so that would be my last stop.

 

I enjoyed walking, as it wasn’t overly crowded in the park.  Although it’s September, we had a freak cold front pass through the other day, which basically pulled us down below 90 but dropped the humidity too.  There was a great breeze, some clouds, and although it was 87 or 88 degrees, except in direct sunlight it felt wonderful outside!  Normally September is a sticky, sweaty, humid, miserable experience – so we got really lucky!

 

In India I decided to skip the korma chicken since I wasn’t really hungry, but I got the Sula chenin blanc that I remembered liking last year.  I was expecting a 3-ounce pour, which seems to be Disney’s standard, but for $5 it was more like 2 ounces.  The wine was pretty much right at the halfway point in the plastic glass.  On the plus side, I didn’t have to worry about splashing any as I walked, lol!

 

Nothing else really caught my eye, mainly because I wasn’t really hungry, and I figured SB would end up wanting me to finish his hot dog, so I just kept walking.  Back in America I ordered his hot dog and cup of water, and was asked if I wanted the hot dog with chips or without.  On the menu it says $9.25 and it comes with chips.  He won’t eat them now, and I don’t want them, so I said without – and later saw that dropped the hot dog price to $7.50.  Such a bargain, lol – well, maybe by Disney standards.

 

SB enjoyed the hot dog, and as I’d figured, the last couple bites he wanted me to finish.  Boy, is this a switch, lol!  Now I’m the garbage disposal!  In about 15 minutes the first Starship concert started (6:30 on Fridays & Saturdays).  It was packed, with standing room only along the sides.  They did a great show, and we really enjoyed it.  They seem to really appreciate being brought back for 19 years in a row,  too. 

 

After the concert we got in line for the next one (7:45), and this time sat much closer.  It was another terrific concert, with a couple “big” songs repeated but otherwise the shows were different.  This one wasn’t completely full, which surprised me.  By now World Showcase was much busier, with lines at most of the festival booths and more congestion overall.  It felt weird to me, being in the park after dark. 

 

What really hurt was walking past International Gateway and not going “home” that way.  This front of the park crap is for the birds!  SB wasn’t thrilled about how far away the exit was, either – although he did better than he would have 6 months ago.  As we finally reached the bus stop, our bus was pulling up, so great timing.  The a/c on the bus was freezing, but thankfully it’s not a long ride.  It’s a pain being the 4^th stop, and if it was just me I would have gotten off at the first stop and walked (it took another 8-9 minutes riding from that point).  But, SB felt he’d be better just riding so that’s what we did.

 

Back in the villa we settled in for the evening, again trying to figure out how to turn things on or off.  His blood sugar was 81, so clearly he didn’t overdo it at all today.  I imagine the walking helped, too.  I finished unpacking, and then started working on today’s report – it’s tough doing it all at once, and not starting until fairly late at night.

 

Today was a great start.  Yes, I don’t like Old Key West much and hate having to use the Epcot front entrance, but the villa is lovely (and huge – way more than I need) and this is all I could get if I wanted to see Starship.  Epcot this afternoon/evening was delightful – so comfortable compared to what it’s normally like this time of year.  I’m really happy SB was able to walk without complaining about pain, and the Starship shows were excellent! 

 

Tomorrow Tiana & Jonnell will be joining us, so it should be a pretty busy day.  Hopefully everyone will have a nice time!

 

 Sue