RoseAnne and I had a wonderful trip and we have many of you to thank for that. As she's already posted, it meant a lot to both of us that she was made to feel welcome by you, especially those of you who had already embraced me and one another from previous trips and gatherings. The people I've been fortunate to come to know from the DIS are among the best people I know and I'm blessed to have you in my life.
Our trip began on Friday. After checking in at POP, our day began with lunch at the SSR Turf Club where we were joined by Angy, Mel, Carrie, & Bart. Having lunch only steps away from the clubhouse at Lake Buena Vista Golf Course tested my discipline a bit (I have a DVC golf membership thats almost as vocal as my AP) but I resisted the temptation and we enjoyed a pleasant welcome to the World meal with good friends. Afterwards, we ran into Teresa and Sha which was a really nice surprise!
We made it back to POP for some pool time where we met up with Andrea, Darcy, Patty, Robin, Ken, and Corrina.. It wasnt long before we organized a synchronized swimming team, and I thought we did a commendable job for not having much time to rehearse. Amy joined us after a short while and as shes already reported, I couldn't resist giving her a big soggy hug! Amy, Im only a little sorry for getting you all chlorinated after youd already showered and changed, but now that you know me you know to expect those kinds of things
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Later on we arrived at the Poly and walked around the resort before having drinks at the Tambu Lounge where we met up with Carrie and Mel and were entertained by some dude who sounded like hed been chain-drinking all day. That was followed by dinner at Kona with Tracy and her intimate gang of ..how many? 17?
. Anyway, what a fabulous meal and a fun time! Best memory of that evening was what Ill call the Kona word game with Andrea. Those of you who know Andrea know that she has an amazing talent for word play, and well, the combination of that and Konas use of exotic words for its food and drink, like lapu lapu and authentic poke made for some hilarious group banter. Big thanks go out to Tracy for putting it all together and for tolerating my public shout out to you for organizing this gathering!
The next morning, we were determined to find a local Starbucks for some good coffee to start the day. So Carrie joined us on what turned out to be a frustrating search along Rte 192. We ended up at a McDonalds where the breakfast sandwiches were fine, but as in trips past they managed to screw up my iced coffee order - not once, but twice! (is it really that difficult to fill a plastic cup with ice and pour black coffee over it?! LOL). Anyway, armed with coffee and food, we headed to AK for rope drop to begin what would be one of the best days Ive ever experienced at WDW, and this despite a brief snafu at guest relations with our passes (eventually they replaced both my AP and RoseAnnes unexpired park hopper ticket with 2 days remaining on it). The 3 of us made it to the rope and counted down to make our ways into Asia and Africa, with RoseAnne getting FPs at Kilimanjaro Safari while Carrie and I went to EE where we would meet up with Mel and Charlene, and then saw Augie and corralled him for a group ride on EE. Then we joined Angy for a second turn on EE, and headed over to KS to meet up with RoseAnne for a beautiful 2-week trip through Harambe. We later joined up with Darcy, Patty, Bart, Andrea, Jerry, Corrina, and Ken for Lion King (did I miss anyone?..we were a formidable herd of elephants!). Love that show! ..brings out my inner tumble monkey LOL. Next, we managed to get RoseAnne onto EE and she loved it!! (thanks Augie for the FPs!) After lunch at Flame Tree, we took a second trip to Harambe before converting RoseAnnes park ticket into an AP and then we returned to POP for some relaxing pool time where Tracy and Andrea made fun of my skittishness over some menacing clouds overhead! (they were menacing I tell you! lol). Dinner at Citricos that evening was a delight. Jerry, Andrea, Corrina, and Amy joined us for a memorable meal and great conversation. Andrea was kind enough to thank our friendly and attentive waiter on behalf of the group and in her own appreciative way.
Amy covered the rest of the night really well in a previous post, so I wont go into detail here. Just a few highlights - lawnchair sandwich, Wishes from the beach, goofy pics on the pier, what happens in the front of the monorail, stays in the front of the monorail, Spectromagic up close and personal, and Splash Mt. at midnight. What a memorable day!
*to be continued with Part II*
Don't you just love an excuse to go to DL or WDW? I know I do!
