[WishUponAStar]

Dates of Visit: August 18th-26th

Cast: Wish & her husband Dan, occasional walk-on appearances by other family members.

Notes: I am going to add the day by day reports one per day, BUT stay tuned after all the reports for final commentary b/c I have A LOT to add about my opinions on the Boardwalk, Lunch w/ an Imagineer, etc...

Day 1: Friday, Aug. 18th:
(“I don’t think this woman understands the urgency of bun replacement”)

We headed to Newark airport three hours before our flight, which isn’t usually our practice but checking luggage takes a little more time these days. Fine with us, it felt like we were starting our vacation just a little bit earlier. We had already checked in on-line at Continental.com, so all we needed to do was visit the MUCH less occupied “luggage drop” area. I strongly recommend doing this to anyone. When we walked into the Continental desk area the “check-in” line appeared to be AT LEAST a 45 minutes wait. The “luggage drop” desk though, well, we were able to breeze through that in only 10 minutes tops. After a swift luggage drop we headed up to the security area to go into the terminal. I was actually shocked that they did not seem to be checking for “liquids” AT ALL. It was nothing more than the normal remove shoes, put laptop & bag through machine, walk through machine, collect stuff. Nobody ever requested to search through my purse or anything for that matter. After exploring the terminal a bit we headed to our gate and thankfully it was still slated for an “on time” departure. Guess what, we boarded on time, taxied on time, and even become air born right on time! This had to have been a first for me departing from Newark, which is NOTORIOUS for “take off” delays.

So there we were air born and ready to roll! WDW here we come!!! I spent the duration of our flight watching Faye Dunaway as Joan torture “Christina” about wire hangers, birthday gifts, and eating rare steak. Haha. Yes, “Mommie Dearest” was my choice of in-flight movie which I did notice got me a few curious glances from passengers around me. C’est la vie, just remember… “NOOOO WWWIIIRREE HANGER!!”

Thanks to unusually cooperative weather in the southeast and a brilliant pilot we arrived at MCO nearly 25 minutes before our stated arrival time!! I have never seen that sort of luck before, so I embraced with a big imaginary hug and was ready to run off that plane like the dish running after the spoon. For a moment it was really eerie, the baggage claim area and ground transportation desks were NEARLY empty. I was almost ready for a crowd of people to jump out and scream “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” or something, I could not figure out where everyone was. We actually got our own luggage, checked into Magical Express, and boarded our bus within 45 minutes of our landing time; yet another swift first.

Oh, I must mention on a sidebar an extremely unfortunate (or hilarious, depending on the levels of evil present in your sense of humor ) event we witnessed on the tram that brings you from your terminal to the baggage claim area of the airport. As we walked up there was a tram JUST leaving when we saw a 30-something big macho guy stick his foot in the door in an attempt to keep it open for his family. Next thing you know his face turns nearly white and he’s yelling expletives. Well, guess what, the tram is not like an elevator folks… it took off with his flip-flop!!! The poor guy first looked embarrassed as anything when all of the sudden he just looked at us, shrugged and started laughing. At that point, one foot shoeless, what else can you do but laugh? Mr. Oneshoe Sammy got on the tram and removed his other shoe. Daniel and I could hardly look each other in the eye for fear we would have not been able to keep a straight face. Of course we felt bad but come on, who gets there foot stuck in a tram door and is unfortunate enough to lose their shoe in the process?

Boardwalk was the first stop and we arrived without a hitch. Daniel and I were both walking in somewhat of a daze b/c it almost seemed unreal that we were actually there! Visiting the Boardwalk during your WDW vacation is magical but actually getting to check-in and stay there is surreal to me b/c it’s always been amongst those “dream” resorts in my head. We were in our room within 10 minutes, which was beautiful but didn’t want to get too comfortable because we were hungry and anxious to get going. A quick glance at the clock begged us “It’s 6pm, do you know where your dinner is?” I do, it’s waiting at Beaches & Cream! We took a leisurely stroll across the Boardwalk, over the bridge, and to the Beach Club resort. Daniel played some video games in the arcade while we waited for a table.

Beaches & Cream was a lot smaller and louder than I had thought, but none less fun and full of atmosphere. I had to get the “Coke in a bottle” and being seated next to the jukebox was only a bonus for a chronic button-presser like me. About 2 minutes after the waitress brought our meals I reached over to get the ketchup and BAM, here I go already, I spilled my whole glass of water with ice ONTO MY PLATE of food. YIKES! Here I was, hungry as anything and close enough to smell being full and I spill water all over my plate. I was able to salvage the fruit side plate and the actual burger but my poor bun was soggy and inedible, even to a squirrel. When our waitress came back I explained my unfortunate turn of events and she offered to bring me back another bun. I felt like I waited forever for that precious bun and after about 8 minutes Daniel busted out with the quote of the day; “I don’t think this woman understands the urgency of bun replacement.” Haha, Apparantly she didn’t because once we were able to wave her over she apologized b/c she had forgotten about my soggy plate. Anyway, once everything came together it was pretty good. Daniel’s roast beef sandwich with au jus was a lot better but that could have been because he was able to comsume it dry and warm. The best part of Beaches & Cream was our desserts, we knew we couldn’t double-handedly handle the famed “kitchen sink” so D decided on a “Brownie a la Mode” and I went for the “No Way Jose” which was an AMAZING concoction of chocolate, peanut butter, and whip cream.

We were thankful for the semi-lengthy walk back to the Boardwalk Inn because our stomachs felt relieved after the walk. We stopped along the way to take in our surrounding, decided we wanted to rent one of the Montauk boats sometime during the week, took a few pictures, checked out the Luna pool, and returned to our room for MUCH needed rest. It wouldn’t be your first night in Disney without watching the “Top 7” show with our friend Stacy. So we watched and floated off to Disney dreamland with great anticipation of our “first real day.”


This was our first for the first night at the Boardwalk. We were on the "Inn" side this night, before checking into our DVC reservation on the "Villas" side. I was actually impressed how BIG the room was and for a "standard" room we had a beautiful view of a nice courtyard.

[WishUponAStar]

I just realized the image codes are turned off for the "trip report" forum and they are coming up as links. Sheesh. OK. Well the ones that are small enough to attach I will. If not, I apologize but you have to click on the links.


I took this picture of Daniel on the way over to Beaches & Cream. It's really a lovely walk between resorts.

[ingamba]

It sounds like you had a great time Jess. I don't know for sure because I haven't set aside the hour and a half it's going to take to read your first post.

Just kidding Jess. Your TR's rock and I'm going to read it right now.

[WishUponAStar]

While perusing the adorable Beaches & Cream Menu I KNEW I had to have a "Coke in a bottle!"

[WishUponAStar]

The infamous jukebox. Although, every button I pressed they never played the song, I think it was a conspiracy. haha.

[WishUponAStar]

On the walk back from Beaches & Cream, we knew we had arrived!

[WishUponAStar]

The EPCOT resort area was SO pretty at sunset!!!!

[WishUponAStar]

It was so pretty Dan even wanted to take a scenic picture.

[PhilliesFan]

Well I'm glad I'm home on a Saturday night to read your TR. Your TR's are always fun to read and I love your photos!

[WishUponAStar]

I never saw these Mickey hands holding anything outiside of the Boardwalk's DVC Info Center but they sure were CUTE!

[gingita]

Wish, I feel so bad we never got a chance to get together. Thursday night turned out pretty crazy and I was sick pretty much all of Friday and still today. Ugh. But at least we got to chat on the phone while we were both in Disney. That's almost the same right.... ok, I know it was a long shot.

Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!

[WishUponAStar]

This was our room that I tried posting in my first post. It was a link before, now I am just attaching it.

The room was SO big!!!

[Princessbaby]

I can't wait to read about your trip!!

[Dana]

Great report...can't wait to read more!

[timkelmom]

Sounds like a great start. Hope the rest of your TR reveals much more fun.