Year of The Yacht Club... (That Disney Commercial Life... Updated 3/27)

[BellaSoleil]

Cheers! And ' to a new trip report. Fingers crossed I will actually finish this one!

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
- Anais Nin

This was the most RELAXING Disney vacation I have ever had and I can't wait to relive it with you.


THE DATES: March 1-5


THE WHO:
A group of travel planners who had never met prior to this trip. Sounds awesome, right?!?!

(Will bunk with a stranger for a night at Epoct...just saying...)

Me: A full time 'road running mama'... part time travel planner. I have three girls, a busy husband and a cutie pie dog named Lulu. They are my world.

L: See my description, plus a daughter and minus the dog.

S: The boy mom of the group. She is also a pharmacist and shares our passion for planning.


THE WHERE: My new favorite place... The Yacht Club

So... it looks like my camera lens needed a good scrub prior to this trip. Please excuse the spots.

THE PLAN:

Originally, I was traveling to Disney World with our fearless leader. (She was the common denominator between L and myself. S was in a room down the hall with other team members.) Due to a family situation, she had to pull out the day before the trip. We were all so sad, but were determined to make the best of it.

So you would think a group of people who plan for a job would have all kinds of marvelous plans... well, you would be wrong. Other than our plans for work and research we were totally 'fly by the seat of your pants' people. I would never suggest this for first (or even second or third) timers and especially not families or large groups, but for us... it worked.

It worked fabulously!

​

 

[BellaSoleil]

Table of Contents-

Getting There...
Living That Disney Commercial Life...

 

[TEAMJACOB]

A relaxing Disney vacation, LOL, that is a new concept. Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[balty74]

Love the Anais Nin quote. So very true, especially when writing about Disney trips!!

 

[Trixie15]

Sounds interesting - update again soon.

 

[BellaSoleil]

A relaxing Disney vacation, LOL, that is a new concept. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Hi! Totally new concept for me... well, sort of... my Honeymoon was very relaxing, too! But it's been a loooonnngggg time since then, so it felt new and WONDERFUL!

Love the Anais Nin quote. So very true, especially when writing about Disney trips!!

So glad you feel me!

Sounds interesting - update again soon.

You got it!

 

[BellaSoleil]

Twas' The Day Before Disney...


I spent Monday packing up and set out to run last minute errands and house work on Tuesday.

The bigs girls were off to school at 7:30am. It was Dr. Suess week AND 100 days of school week, so prepping for that was an adventure in itself.

For the record: Tuesday was crazy hat day. Thursday was crazy sock day. This was Tuesday. Middle sister just likes crazy socks- any day. Big sister was too cool too participate in hat day. But not to cool to pose for a picture. Middle sister was not having picture time. She just wanted to get her crazy hat and socks on the road.
This is the story of my life in a nutshell.

Baby Sister and I ran our errands and stopped for lunch at our favorite diner. (Our favorite diner is not actually Dunkin' Donuts... we ate somewhere else. That was just a caffeine run.)

Once we got home, I put her down for a nap and I started in on laundry.

That's when...

my phone rang....

cue ominous music ....

(Let me preface this by saying, I don't love to fly. Or at least I didn't love to fly. I begged my boss to book our tickets together so I would have moral support. OR... in case I ended up seeing a pioneer woman churning butter on the wing of the plane like Kristen Wiig did in Bridesmaids. Basically, I needed a chaperone.)

I picked up the phone in my most cheery 'Hi boss, we're going to Disney World tomorrow' voice...

"You're going to kill me..." She said before explaining that she wouldn't be able to make the trip.

So not only was my fly buddy out, but I would also now be sharing a room with a complete stranger and not a whole lot of plans....

But I was TOTALLY FINE! I felt at peace. We joked about me putting my big girl panties on and agreed that it would all be great.

Then I just had to get through the afternoon...

Big Sister had tumbling that after school and then we hit up the McDonalds drive through. I figured if it was going to be the last meal I fed my kids, I had better make it one they loved!

As soon as they were done with dinner my mom arrived to pick up the girls.

I took a shower, finished packing and settled in bed early hoping for a good night's sleep....​

 

[LISAMWDW]

 

[BellaSoleil]

Getting There...

I feel asleep around 8pm, but my phone went off with group text messages until about 9pm. At 9pm, I gave up, turned my phone on ignore and slept hard until my alarm went off at 3:30 am.

Now I know I am in good company here.... getting up at 3:30am suuuuuuccccckkkkssssss... unless you are Disney bound...

then it's like...

I laid everything out the night before, so all I had to do was curl my hair, brush my teeth and put clothes on.

By 3:50am we were in the car headed to the airport.

(My sister asked me to SnapChat my trip and I didn't get much further than this picture...)

Check in went smoothly, I kissed my sweet husband goodbye and headed up to my gate. I stopped in a shop nearby and grabbed a water and a banana.

I was SOOO nervous to take off. Thankfully, I had a great group of people around me. Behind me sat a group of super cute senior ladies who were headed to Vegas. They were bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4:50 am and I knew it would be fun chatting the flight away with them. Next to me was a young man who was heading to Mexico on a family vacation. It turned out that he was an airplane engineer, so he walked me through every step of the flight.

Just as soon as we made it up, we were headed back down for landing. Once on solid gourd, I gave myself a pat on the back for surviving.

The second flight was also great. I made another friend. I watched the beginning of Jackie O and then some of Moana and snacked a little more.
​

(Random fact: Every time I fly I drink cranberry juice. This ritual began on my first every flight, which was to Orlando, my senior year of high school.)
​

Flying over Orlando was so exciting! Our landing was little rough, but we made it and my new friend showed me the way to baggage claim.
(It has been a minute since my last baggage claiming experience, so the extra help was welcomed...)

I had a while to wait before my travel companion would arrive, so I decided to check out the airport.

Let's discuss ChickFilA for a second...

Customer service at ChickFilA is like no other fast food joint in the USofA. We all know this.

I needed a little protein and some tea, so it was the obvious choice to fill that need....

My server was not friendly. She did not greet me kindly. It was more of a Buger King style greeting. I ordered unsweet tea, nuggets and a side of sauce. She did not repeat my order, respond or make eye contact. As she was loading up my tray I kindly said "I would also like some ChickFila sauce." She finally made eye contact and said "I heard you the first time." What?!?! Surely this is not how Truett Cathy trained his people.
What happened to 'my pleasure'?

Most likely she was just having a very bad day. It happens. I wasn't going to let her rain on my parade, so I apologized for asking twice, thanked her and chose not to mention that she had, indeed, given me SWEET tea instead of unsweet. Oh, well....

L arrived soon after and I met her and our driver in Terminal B. We used Charlie from Park Ave Limo and he was amazing! I had been lugging my suitcase around for over an hour. As soon as he spotted me he ran over and took it. L and I introduced ourselves and headed out to our ride.

I highly recommend Park Ave Limo. Obviously, Magic Express is wonderful and free, but if you are looking to get to Disney World quickly or just treat yourself, this is a fun way to go. There were phone chargers and bottled water waiting for us. The ride was comfortable and L and I enjoyed getting to know each other better on the ride to our resort. We hit it off right away and I knew we had an awesome trip ahead...

Up Next: Living in a Disney World commercial.... ​

 

[BellaSoleil]

That Disney Commercial Life...

We made it past security and approached the Yacht Club. I was having such a good time getting to know L that I had absolutely forgotten we were pulling up at my dream Disney resort. It was such a surreal feeling.

There wasn't a line for check-in. In fact, the place felt pretty empty.

A cast member named 'City' waved us over and began the check-in process.

"Do you have exciting plans for the day?" She asked.

L and I both looked at each other an shrugged. We had just met in person 30 minutes before. The night before we had spoken on the phone and agreed that there weren't many 'must do' items on our list. We just wanted to go with the flow. We did, however, search for a Beaches and Cream reservation because we both wanted to try it. Sadly, none were available.... but since we were going with the flow, our feelings weren't hurt too badly.

"You should try Beaches and Cream!" City told us. We told her that we weren't able to get a reservation.

"Can you be like the cast member in the Disney World commercial who just makes these sort of things happen?" I asked.

Ahem....

Without a moments hesitation she said 'Sure!' And walked from behind the counter towards us. "Follow me..."

(For the record, that commercial has always annoyed me and I may or may not yell back at the television 'No! That's not how it happens! You have to book those things at the 180 mark or the 60 mark! Just no!' But apparently some Cast Members actually are Fairy Godmothers in disguise. )

Well, alright....

The walk out of the Yacht Club lobby is breath taking! To your left is the most amazing pool on Disney property and straight across is the cute and colorful Boardwalk. L and I both whipped out our phones and starting taking pictures and videos. I sent my family a text saying "I cannot wait to bring you here!!!" (Hint, hint...)

City gave us a quick tour and showed us how even the flooring changed between the Yacht and Beach Club. L and I took a seat at a precious ice cream cone table for two and City let us know that we would be seated in about five minutes. SCORE!!!!

Beaches and Cream was much smaller, but just as charming as I had imagined.

I had been playing out this very scene in my head for about eight years (possibly more)... so there was no question as to what I would order.

Our server suggested a side of grilled onions and I am so glad that she did.

L also had a cheeseburger, but one of us had fries and the other had onion rings. We shared them and I preferred the onion rings, although bother were good.

For dessert we ordered a No Way Jose and a banana split.

If you are like me and you've spent the last eight years drooling over No Way Jose pictures, do yourself a favor and go try one! They are every bit as good as everyone says!

After lunch we stopped by bell services where we had stored our luggage prior to lunch and headed to our room.

It was on the first floor, which I loved! I plan to request a first floor room for our next trip. It seemed effortless to get to around.

I loved the decor in our room, but I will admit that the bathrooms seemed to be in need of some refurbishment. Nothing big. They were clean and everything worked. It just seemed a bit worn in there.

I snapped a picture of the daybed and sent it to my girls.... I have a feeling they will be fighting over it on our next trip.

Outside of our room was a quiet pool, which we never used but enjoyed looking at.

We were in the room long enough to unpack and freshen up. Then we decided it was time to play...​

 

[LISAMWDW]

I love Beaches & Cream! It is tough to get in at times, lucky you!!!

 

[Disneyhayes]

Joining in! What an adventure so far to meeting your trip mate for the first time on arrival and then getting some pixie dust with the Beaches & Cream lunch!

 

[ariane37]

Joining! It sounds like you lucked out with L. I hasd an "unknown roommate" situation for the first time last Feb. when I went down to Universal for a TA training, which I just started writing about in my TR from last Nov. Like you it worked out well but man, was I nervous about it! It can be such an uncomfortable thing...........

The walk out of the Yacht Club lobby is breath taking! To your left is the most amazing pool on Disney property and straight across is the cute and colorful Boardwalk. L and I both whipped out our phones and starting taking pictures and videos. I sent my family a text saying "I cannot wait to bring you here!!!" (Hint, hint...)

It's definitely gorgeous over there We've stayed at the BW 4x and had our first stay at BC last Nov. Younger DS loved Stormalong Bay! DH and I are returning to BC next month; you can't beat the convenience of getting to Epcot and HS!

Beaches and Cream was much smaller, but just as charming as I had imagined.

Isn't it cute in there? But yes, very small.

Looking forward to reading about your unplanned adventures!

 

[Ladyfish77]

Joining in. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

The second flight was also great. I made another friend. I watched the beginning of Jackie O and then some of Moana and snacked a little more.
​

What airline gives stroopwaffles for a snack?

 

[longlostprincess]

that's so cool that you guys met for the first time in disney. looking forward to hear more!

 

[BippityBrittany]

following along, this trip sounds so cool! can't wait to read more

 

[Shrfleen]

Sounds like it is going to be a great trip!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

You are off to a great start. You hit it off with your roommate, scored a table at Beaches & Cream and the room at Yacht Club is adorable.

I can't wait to hear more.

 

[BellaSoleil]

I love Beaches & Cream! It is tough to get in at times, lucky you!!!

It was such an exciting surprise!!!

Joining in! What an adventure so far to meeting your trip mate for the first time on arrival and then getting some pixie dust with the Beaches & Cream lunch!

So glad to have you!!! The pixie dust didn't stop there, either!

Joining! It sounds like you lucked out with L. I hasd an "unknown roommate" situation for the first time last Feb. when I went down to Universal for a TA training, which I just started writing about in my TR from last Nov. Like you it worked out well but man, was I nervous about it! It can be such an uncomfortable thing...........


It's definitely gorgeous over there We've stayed at the BW 4x and had our first stay at BC last Nov. Younger DS loved Stormalong Bay! DH and I are returning to BC next month; you can't beat the convenience of getting to Epcot and HS!


Isn't it cute in there? But yes, very small.

Looking forward to reading about your unplanned adventures!

Glad your roomie situation worked out, too! Happy to have you!

Joining in. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!


What airline gives stroopwaffles for a snack?

It was United. Yikes!

that's so cool that you guys met for the first time in disney. looking forward to hear more!

Glad you are here!

following along, this trip sounds so cool! can't wait to read more

Yay!!! Thanks!!!

Sounds like it is going to be a great trip!

It was an awesome trip! Glad you are following along!

You are off to a great start. You hit it off with your roommate, scored a table at Beaches & Cream and the room at Yacht Club is adorable.

I can't wait to hear more.

It was a wonderful trip!

 

[pooh'smate]

Joining in. I would love to try the No Way Jose but I have developed a nut allergy in the past couple of years. PB and chocolate used to be my favorite combo ever.