December 14, 2010 7:27 a.m.
I write this as our heat pump blows out the heat from the ceiling in emergency mode (should be called money burning mode) and our faucet drips water in order to prevent freezing from occurring. It is showing 26 degrees and windy, with wind chills in mid-teens, here at Breezy Point.
The past two days, our children have gotten their annual dose of pop culture and commercialism as we decided on a mini-staycation, to spend a night at a D*sney value hotel, and make use of their transportation in order to visit Downtown D*sney to shop, and also to walk around and see various sights on the property, including the lavish Christmas decorations inside several of the hotels. We have something of a tradition of doing this during the Christmas season, with the children especially enjoying the monorail and ferry rides, and Self-Reliant Man and I especially enjoying our visits to the Gr*nd Floridi*n Hotel. Please note that you can have a day or two of such activity without once entering the theme parks. The transportation system is available to any hotel or campground guest, included in the price of the room, which for us, was just $80 after tax.
So after church, we got there at our “value resort”, which was more than adequate for us (no complaints here). My only complaint was having to wait 90 minutes on a check-in line. That was not good, and I did learn that it could have been avoided if I had checked in online prior to our visit. Live and learn is all I can say, and it did give me an opportunity to have a nice (long) chat with the mother of six in front of me who was visiting from Connecticut and had a rather major reason to complain about having to stand on that line (won’t go into the details, but it was a major case of lack of accountability on the part of D*sney).
Did I tell you yet that we froze our buns off during this D*sney visit? But I digress.
We checked into our room and changed from our church clothes to the warmest clothing we had with us. Turtleneck shirts layered with flannel shirts layered with fleeces layered with a heavy coat, etc. We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the festive atmosphere of Downtown D*sney. We hung around into the early evening to see Miss O (Chips’ chamber trio coach of the previous three years)perform the electric violin as she does four times each evening during weekend nights at Downtown D*sney (and almost every night in December). Afterward, she visited with us, between performances, and that was neat.
This little girl decided to get up and dance and twirl to the music. She was a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. (this was on the relatively warm first night)
Miss O was happy to see our kids in the audience.We eventually made our way to the monorail and visited the Contemporary and the Gr*nd Floridi*n Hotels, catching the M*gic Kingd*m fireworks show while at the GF, and stopping inside for hot chocolate and baked goods. That hotel is really something, and we explained to our children that when they are adults who are rich and famous, they can give us a week there any time.
It was beginning to get rather chilly by the time we returned to our hotel, but the next morning proved to be a humdinger.
Any thought we might have had of renting a bicycle or a boat, playing mini-golf, or swimming, were dashed by day 2 when we exited the hotel. It was freezing and windy as ever. We donned heavy jackets, hats, scarves, and gloves and never once felt warm. Folks who were visiting from northern climes, who had thrown a hoodie into their suitcase as an afterthought before heading to the airport, were in for a shock. It didn’t get warmer as the day progressed – it got colder and windier, with the temps topping out at 46 windy degrees the entire day. Pools everywhere were abandoned by guests, mini-golf courses had nary a car parked in their lots, water parks were shut down for the day, folks steered clear of the interactive water features in the shopping village, as they dashed outdoors from building to building. The boardwalk resembled the New Jersey boardwalk in December, well, you get the idea. It really felt Christmassy!
Bundled up on Bay Lake.
Sweet Girl taking a breather.
Look at all the cold gulls, Mommy. They’re shivering.
Aww, Mommy, he’s cold!
Horse sense. This little fella knew better than to leave his shed.
So we had a pleasant sit down breakfast at the F*rt Wilderness campground and thanked God that we had not chosen to camp there this year, as we usually do. We also went to visit the horses and ponies at the stable there to see how they were doing. They were well-tended-to for the weather, and the Shetland ponies tried their best to stay warm. We had a few ferry boat runs to make, but the boats were, fortunately, enclosed. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Just freezing!
A Christmas decoration at the B*ach Club hotel. Find 11 hidden Mickeys throughout this chocolate and gingerbread rotating carousel.
We definitely had a nice two days there, but this Mom was tired when we got home last night.
The past two days, our children have gotten their annual dose of pop culture and commercialism as we decided on a mini-staycation, to spend a night at a D*sney value hotel, and make use of their transportation in order to visit Downtown D*sney to shop, and also to walk around and see various sights on the property, including the lavish Christmas decorations inside several of the hotels. We have something of a tradition of doing this during the Christmas season, with the children especially enjoying the monorail and ferry rides, and Self-Reliant Man and I especially enjoying our visits to the Gr*nd Floridi*n Hotel. Please note that you can have a day or two of such activity without once entering the theme parks. The transportation system is available to any hotel or campground guest, included in the price of the room, which for us, was just $80 after tax.
So after church, we got there at our “value resort”, which was more than adequate for us (no complaints here). My only complaint was having to wait 90 minutes on a check-in line. That was not good, and I did learn that it could have been avoided if I had checked in online prior to our visit. Live and learn is all I can say, and it did give me an opportunity to have a nice (long) chat with the mother of six in front of me who was visiting from Connecticut and had a rather major reason to complain about having to stand on that line (won’t go into the details, but it was a major case of lack of accountability on the part of D*sney).
Did I tell you yet that we froze our buns off during this D*sney visit? But I digress.
We checked into our room and changed from our church clothes to the warmest clothing we had with us. Turtleneck shirts layered with flannel shirts layered with fleeces layered with a heavy coat, etc. We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the festive atmosphere of Downtown D*sney. We hung around into the early evening to see Miss O (Chips’ chamber trio coach of the previous three years)perform the electric violin as she does four times each evening during weekend nights at Downtown D*sney (and almost every night in December). Afterward, she visited with us, between performances, and that was neat.
This little girl decided to get up and dance and twirl to the music. She was a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. (this was on the relatively warm first night)
Miss O was happy to see our kids in the audience.It was beginning to get rather chilly by the time we returned to our hotel, but the next morning proved to be a humdinger.
Any thought we might have had of renting a bicycle or a boat, playing mini-golf, or swimming, were dashed by day 2 when we exited the hotel. It was freezing and windy as ever. We donned heavy jackets, hats, scarves, and gloves and never once felt warm. Folks who were visiting from northern climes, who had thrown a hoodie into their suitcase as an afterthought before heading to the airport, were in for a shock. It didn’t get warmer as the day progressed – it got colder and windier, with the temps topping out at 46 windy degrees the entire day. Pools everywhere were abandoned by guests, mini-golf courses had nary a car parked in their lots, water parks were shut down for the day, folks steered clear of the interactive water features in the shopping village, as they dashed outdoors from building to building. The boardwalk resembled the New Jersey boardwalk in December, well, you get the idea. It really felt Christmassy!
Bundled up on Bay Lake.
Sweet Girl taking a breather.
Look at all the cold gulls, Mommy. They’re shivering.
Aww, Mommy, he’s cold!
Horse sense. This little fella knew better than to leave his shed.
A Christmas decoration at the B*ach Club hotel. Find 11 hidden Mickeys throughout this chocolate and gingerbread rotating carousel.We definitely had a nice two days there, but this Mom was tired when we got home last night.
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2 comments:
A few years we've gone to visit the mouse for Thanksgiving. The weather was always very nice. Once we went from Dec, 22 through Dec. 26, and I nearly froze to death. By talking to enough people, I learned that "It's always in the 60s here in December!" translates to, "Every day, for no more than 12 minutes, the temperature approaches the 50s around 3PM, and you can expect to be cold otherwise. P.S., don't plan on swimming." I swore I'd never go to Mousetown in December again!
Good thing you have warm coats for the kids, but I was shivering just looking at your pictures. BTW, it's only 10 degrees colder here today than it is there. There is something wrong with this situation!
looks like you had fun, but it is so cold here right now you are braver then I am. I so want to hibernate. Oh and this one way to find out I don't own a winter coat at all.
As I type to you right now our heat pump keeps switching to a/c. As if it isn't cold enough. Thinking the thermostat is going (or gone). Warm blankets and a space heater tonight.
Love seeing and hearing about all your adventures