Our DVC Vacation: SSR, Member Cruise 2010, & AKV - SSMC Day 1 completed

[Time2go2disney]

Yes, we were in the hot tub when a little girl with a life jacket, a life jacket I say, did a cannon ball. I was not happy with that. I mean, come on. It is a hot tub not the pool.

And good thing Chuck was there for the little kid. Some parents, huh.

Sorry I deleted the link while cleaning house for the 2010 SSMC Logo .............

Here is a replacement:

copy and replace in your signature .................

 

[dvc4life]

When are you going to the Food and Wine Festival? Chuck and I leave Thursday. I think Terrie and Wally are there now. We will be at BLT.

Ahhhh, Thursday, seriously? How lucky are you. We are not going until the 5th of November. We are meeting our friends who live in Florida and we all will be staying at BW. Can't wait to hear how it is. Be sure to post something ok? And yay for Terrie & Wally for being there now!

 

[dvc4life]

Sorry I deleted the link while cleaning house for the 2010 SSMC Logo .............

Here is a replacement:

copy and replace in your signature .................

Michael is this for the 2010 logo? I see mine is missing and would be grateful to get it back.

 

[dvc4life]

Marsha - your photos are making me so homesick for SSR. They are so wonderful. Am glad we will be staying there in March again.

Can't wait for the next update!

 

[dblr]

Great trip report now I am home sick can not wait to go back to SSR. The last trip over the 4th of July we took our camper and stayed @ FW had a great time there but we got my mom and her sisters a 2bedroom @ SSR so we got to enjoy the resort with them they loved it and want to know when they can go back.

 

[BigDogHU75]

Glad you liked Turf Club as much as we do. It's on our "must do" dining list every trip.

The whole family really enjoyed it. The food was terrific. I see why it is on your "must do" dining list.

Yes, we were in the hot tub when a little girl with a life jacket, a life jacket I say, did a cannon ball. I was not happy with that. I mean, come on. It is a hot tub not the pool.

And good thing Chuck was there for the little kid. Some parents, huh.

I cannot believe that. I would have told her that the hot tub is not a pool so please do not jump in it.

Saratoga Springs Resorts is such a lovely resort - the rooms are so beautiful! It's nice to have a day of relaxation before hitting the parks

SSR is a lovely resort. Like I said before, I wish I had more time to explore it.

When are you going to the Food and Wine Festival? Chuck and I leave Thursday. I think Terrie and Wally are there now. We will be at BLT.

Vicki & Chuck - I hope you are having a wonderful time at the FW Festival. That is somethinng that I want to go to one of these days.

Ahhhh, Thursday, seriously? How lucky are you. We are not going until the 5th of November. We are meeting our friends who live in Florida and we all will be staying at BW. Can't wait to hear how it is. Be sure to post something ok? And yay for Terrie & Wally for being there now!

Jealous! Nov. 5th will be here before you know it. Have a great time.

Marsha - your photos are making me so homesick for SSR. They are so wonderful. Am glad we will be staying there in March again.

Can't wait for the next update!

Thank you. I wish we were going back to WDW sooner than August. But since we are not be sure to post some pictures. Enjoy your upcoming trips. Again, I'm jealous.

Great trip report now I am home sick can not wait to go back to SSR. The last trip over the 4th of July we took our camper and stayed @ FW had a great time there but we got my mom and her sisters a 2bedroom @ SSR so we got to enjoy the resort with them they loved it and want to know when they can go back.

Thank you. Our family is asking when they can go back.

 

[BigDogHU75]

When I left off, we had just arrived at DTD via the ferry. I must say, the ferry is a relaxing way to get to DTD. The SSR's ferry dropped us off at Pleasure Island. So, the first store we saw when we got off the ferry was the Harley Davidson store. I had to go inside. Every time I see a Harley it reminds me off my godfather who passed away in 2002. He rode this beautiful blue & white Harley. He kept it in pristine condition. I remember riding on the back of it with him. I miss him so. So, I had to go inside and to my surprise, we not only could take pictures of the bikes but also we could take pictures on the bikes.

After everyone got their turn posing on the bike of their choice, we were off to do some more window shopping.

Next, we went into D-Street.

DS found a chair he liked and took a little break from all of the walking.

The CM came up to DS and asked if he wanted to play a game of tic-tac-toe. I did not even know DS knew what tic-tac-toe was.

Come to find out not only did DS know what tic-tac-toe was, he also knew how to play. He won the game and received a certificate.

After our adventures at D-Street we went to Ridemakerz and looked at some of the cars on display.

DS was very interested in the cars. He wanted to go for a spin but of course we could not do that. He also wanted to make his own car but we did not do that either.

After Ridemakerz, I went to get my Disney rewards card from here:

After a brief telephone call, my Disney rewards dollars were loaded onto the card. The next stop was the House of Blues.

 

[BigDogHU75]

There were a few reasons I chose the house of Blues for dinner. One, we did not have to pay money to go to a restaurant in a park. Two, I wanted to eat somewhere I never ate before. Three, I wanted to go to DTD before the cruise. And, four (which was a bonus), I purchased a $25 restaurant.com gift certificate for $2.

I mentioned earlier that oour original reservation was for 4:15 p.m. but I moved it to 5:00 p.m. When I was on the phone changing the reservation time, the CM told me that we would now be sitting at the same table whereas if we kept the original reservation we would be split up. Well, we were still split up in two booths that were back to back so that was not too bad. Our CM was fantastic. The food (from the appetizers to the dessert) was DELICIOUS. Some of the food was a little spicy to say the least but it was so good. We arrived a little before 5:00 p.m. so we were able to order appetizers at 1/2 price which is a happy hour special. I did not take any pictures of the food because we devoured it since it was so delicious. Here are some pictures that I did manage to take.

Outside of the restaurant:

Menus:

Inside the restaurant (you might be able to see some food on the table):

Ceiling:

After dinner, we took the DTD West Side ferry to DTD Marketplace.

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Really enjoying your TR so far Eagerly waiting for more. We are down to 53 days until our stay at AKV and you are sustaining us with your details.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I'm a late joiner to your TR but loving it so far! We also stayed in a 2 bedroom at SSR in The Grandstand. We were there August 2009. We LOVED it! Your pictures are bringing back wonderful memories! Thanks!

 

[BigDogHU75]

Usually after dinner, DH likes to relax after dinner. So, when I said I wanted to go to the Marketplace he was none to pleased. I told him that he could go back to the room but he wanted to stay together. You see, I was a woman on a mission. Earlier in the day, DS was saying her wanted a Mickey hat like his daddy. Therefore, I was determined to get him one before the cruise. I do not know why I was so determined. Maybe, I just wanted to explore DTD but off we were to catch the ferry because we were not about to walk. The ride was very relaxing.

Once we arrived at the Marketplace, my parents took a seat at a table by the water. The rest of us headed to the World of Disney store. But, first we had to say hello to Stitch.

DS wanted Stitch to "spit" on him so we waited until the water sprayed him and then we went inside.

We searched the store and could not find a visor similar to DH. I left the store defeated and headed back to where my parents were sitting. DMIL, on the other hand, picked up the baton and decided to continue the search. She, DBIL, & DH went into another store. Meanwhile, DS spotted the train and wanted to ride. Usually, I would say "no" but, since we were not going to the parks, I decided why not much to DS's delight. Now, DS is into Thomas the Train so he was very thrilled to ride the train.

By the time the ride was finished, the troops had come back and reported that the mission was successful. They found a hat similar to DH & DS was very happy.

Since the mission was accomplished, we headed to the bus stop. Of course, DS had to run in the fountains.

We did not let him play long because we had to get back to the room. I had to do some laundry, put DS to bed and pack up the suitcases because the next day we would be headed to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Wonder!

 

[BigDogHU75]

Really enjoying your TR so far Eagerly waiting for more. We are down to 53 days until our stay at AKV and you are sustaining us with your details.

Thank you. 53 days until AKV - how wonderful. AKV is our home resort. Have you stayed there before? Are you staying in Jambo or Kidani? Both places or lovely and have their own unique qualities.

I'm a late joiner to your TR but loving it so far! We also stayed in a 2 bedroom at SSR in The Grandstand. We were there August 2009. We LOVED it! Your pictures are bringing back wonderful memories! Thanks!

Better late than never. I am glad you found my TR and that I could bring back some wonderful memories for you. SSR is such a lovely resort.

 

[rondesj]

keep us filled in. cant wait for mine

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Thank you. 53 days until AKV - how wonderful. AKV is our home resort. Have you stayed there before? Are you staying in Jambo or Kidani? Both places or lovely and have their own unique qualities.

AKV is our home resort also. This will be our first trip home since joining in April. We are staying in a 1BR Savannah room in Kidani for 4 days and then moving to a 1BR Lakeview room at BLT. I can hardly wait. It will be our first trip since Christmas 08' and I'm having severe withdrawals. My best friend is coming with us and we're leaving all the kids at home

 

[dvc4life]

Great updates Marsha! Just love DTD. And if you can't tell, I just love it all!

And you can tell that Charles loved that train ride. Just look at his smile. It made me smile.

Can't wait for the next update for the WONDER!!!!!

 

[BigDogHU75]

keep us filled in. cant wait for mine

I'm back with another update. Hope you enjoy. Enjoy your vacation.

AKV is our home resort also. This will be our first trip home since joining in April. We are staying in a 1BR Savannah room in Kidani for 4 days and then moving to a 1BR Lakeview room at BLT. I can hardly wait. It will be our first trip since Christmas 08' and I'm having severe withdrawals. My best friend is coming with us and we're leaving all the kids at home

You will have a lot of fun! I know you are getting excited.

Great updates Marsha! Just love DTD. And if you can't tell, I just love it all!

And you can tell that Charles loved that train ride. Just look at his smile. It made me smile.

Can't wait for the next update for the WONDER!!!!!

Thank you. DS was really happy riding on that train. He loves trains.

The wait is over! Sorry for the delay. I have had a terrible cold/flu that will not leave me alone. But, I am feeling better so here is another update. I hope you enjoy!

 

[BigDogHU75]

After staying up half the night doing laundry and repacking, I finally managed to go to bed to get some shut eye. But, who could sleep. I was ready to go. The plan was to leave SSR by 9:00 a.m. so that we could be one of the first ones there. I did not want to get the boarding number that I got last year or a later one. Last year, our boarding number was "lucky 13."

Well, the morning started off well. Everyone was out the door a little before 9:00 a.m. We went to the Carriage House to check out, which we really did not have to do, but DMIL wanted to make sure. I had to run in the Carriage House to put a letter in the mail. When I came back to the van, DS informed me that he had to poopy. Really!?! Yes! Deja vu, except this time he was old enough to tell me. So, we go back in the Carrage house to use the potty. I was walking so fast that DS could not keep up and he tripped. I felt bad so i slowed down. DS really did have to use the potty and it took him what seemed like forever. Finally, when he was finished, we headed back to the van and were on our way ... to the gas station. DBIL had to get some gas. Here we go again! While he was filling up, I decided to call member services to book a room before our 5-night Dream cruise we have planned for next year. I was able to book a 2 bedroom savannah view room at Kidani for 5 nights in August 2011. At least I was productive during our wait.

Finally, we were on our way. The traffic was not bad and soon we were seeing our beautiful ship on the horizon.

And, as we got closer...

and closer...

the excitement kept building and building. We had finally arrived!

Let the fun begin!

 

[BigDogHU75]

Excitement was in the air. We had finally arrived! Unloading was a breeze. Our porter was great. He even knew how to handle my mother. He told her to go sit down since she was on vacation. Besides, he knew what he was doing.

Now, I know some people say to go inside to begin the check-in process while the drivers park the car but I wanted to keep our group together since the drivers were new to this experience. It did not take long for them to park the car and for us to head inside. Of course, there was some construction going on since the terminal is being upgraded to handle all the passengers who will be boarding the Dream but I did not mind and barely even noticed.

Once inside, my group seemed to disperse. Most had to use the restroom. I couldn't believe it. Could we hold it until after check-in. But, no they could not. So, my family checked-in hoping that the other family members would have the same boarding number. And, what was our boarding number? Well, it was not 13 or a number higher than that. We did do a tad bit better. Our boarding number was 10 and the rest of our group managed to get the same boarding number.

After all of us checked in and got our photo taken (I was happy we could check-in and get our photo taken at the same spot), it was time for DS & I to explore the terminal.

Of course, we had to get our picture taken with Mickey or Minnie (whomever would be there when we got to the front of the line). No one from my group wanted to join us.

While waiting in line, some DIS friends came up to me. I was so excited to see dvc4life & Time4disneynow.

It was great seeing and chatting with them again. When we reached the front of the line, Minnie was there! Last year, we took a picture with Mickey so it was great taking a picture with a different character. Needless to say, DS was very happy.

And, I was too.

After our photo session, we explored the terminal some more. Here are some random pictures:

I couldn't wait to be here:

 

[clayfolks]

Please come back and finish your tr. I have read your other reports and can't wait to read more. Thanks, sue

 

[BigDogHU75]

Please come back and finish your tr. I have read your other reports and can't wait to read more. Thanks, sue

Thank you for the compliment and interest. You must have been reading my mind. I was looking at pictures from our trip just this past week and told DH that I wonder if anyone is still interest in my TR and now here you are. I have not been on the DIS as much as I used to but now I have some free time. So, I will come back and finish my TR. I will start it this upcoming week Lord willing. Thank you for reading.