nono's march trip '09

[nono]

Highlights:

AutoTrain. Room ready upon arrival in OKW. Dinner at 1900 Park Fare and GF lobby music. Roy's on Sand Lake Rd. Finishing half marathon. Dinner with Team Peacock. Kids races and my D flying towards the finish. 100% finishers of Team Peacock. Cooking out for dinner. Hanging with wonderful DVC friends. Last day picnic at Congress Park with the kids playing on the playground. :thumbsup2::thumbsup2::thumbsup2::thumbsup2::thumb sup2::thumbsup2:

Lowlights:

Getting sick. :sick: NO, it wasn't the norwalk virus! It was the same issue I had before leaving which apparently had a boomerang feature.

Princess half marathon course. Disney doesn't theme it's highways and parking lots, and that becomes very apparent when 11+ of the 13.1 miles are run in those areas. G*d, even zig-zag striped grass cutting would have been a welcome relief! :silly:

[7swans]

Great brief trip report, congrats on the marathon :thumbsup2:, especially if you had been & were getting sick!

How did you like Park Fare? Our student group will be eating there on the last day of this years trip.

[nono]

Great brief trip report, congrats on the marathon :thumbsup2:, especially if you had been & were getting sick!

How did you like Park Fare? Our student group will be eating there on the last day of this years trip.

HALF marathon. (I've never done a full!)

LOVED Park Fare! First time there and I really enjoyed it. Food was good and diverse. Character activity was constant and it just jelled well with the room size. We had a 5 pm dinner reservation and weren't done until about 6:30!

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

Going to tell us more about Roy's other than pricey & yummy ?

Or do I need to google it ?

[nono]

Roy Yamaguchi is a Hawaiian chef who has a wildly successful spot on Oahu. Now he's branched out to the mainland in several spots, including the place on Sand Lake Rd. If you are looking for a fun spot with high quality food, and no stuffy atmosphere, this might work for ya! Bon appetit!

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

Casual dress code ?

[nono]

Yes. Casual dress code. Though if you want to wear something a little nice, you won't be out of place. Here's the Orlando menu:

http://www.roysrestaurant.com/pdf/pdmenus/Orlando.pdf

[7swans]

HALF marathon. (I've never done a full!)

LOVED Park Fare! First time there and I really enjoyed it. Food was good and diverse. Character activity was constant and it just jelled well with the room size. We had a 5 pm dinner reservation and weren't done until about 6:30!

To a non runner any marathon is impressive!

I thought the characters there might be a good fit for the teens, a little jealousy & sarcasm will I think appeal to them!

Roy's looks interesting, the prix fixe menu looks like a bargain.
What did you have to drink there? The 1988 martini looks wonderful.

[jiggerj]

Nice mini-report nono- :)

And CONGRATS on the marathon! And Congrats to L too! :goodvibes:

So you did a cookout at SSR...That sounds like fun!

Bummer on getting sick- Hope you are feeling better and it doesn't boomerang on ya again!

Um..oh and do we have any pics you would share? :love30::love30:

[nono]

Um..oh and do we have any pics you would share? :love30::love30:

Eventually. But, I did forget to take a balcony picture for the db. :blush:

[nono]

Daughter racing:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/nono_33/IMG_0017.jpg

Mr Nono relaxing at Margaritaville at Citiwalk:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/nono_33/mrnoatmargaritaville.jpg

Last day picnic lunch at SSR, complete with sliding and running:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/nono_33/leilanionslide.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/nono_33/konarunningatplayground.jpg

[Niki]

Great Pics, nono.

[cruisindisney]

Sounds like you had a good trip! Cute pics!

Do the kids enjoy the train? Why do you choose train over plane?

[jiggerj]

Run L Run! She runs so fast that her feet don't even touch the ground! :)

Enjoyed the pics nono- So you went over to the "dark side" of Citywalk?

[ffpmme]

Mr. Nono has the right idea. Citywalk may be the dark side, but it does have some good resturants. Emeril, and Jimm Buffet!!

[athenna]

Awwww, such cute pics!
Glad you got a chance to go to Citywalk! I havent been there in years!
Margaritaville is awesome!

[nono]

Here's two shots from our dinner at 1900 Park Fare:

My S, obviously not charmed by Prince Charming...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/nono_33/onecharmingprinceonenotsocharmingpr.jpg

My S, obviously smitten with Anastasia, and she with him!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/nono_33/anastasiaishisgirl.jpg

[nono]

So, a buddy of mine that we travel with sometimes moved from VA to FL on the east coast. He wanted to meet up for lunch at Citiwalk as he was going to Universal for the remainder of the day. Whoo! $12 for parking just to go eat lunch...:oweye: Anyway, I agreed when I remembered there was a Margaritaville there. We all enjoyed ourselves. That was all we did there.

As for taking the train, my children LOVE IT! And I love it too, 'cause it's like 2 extra vacation days for me. It is much less trouble for me to deal with them, as they don't have to constantly be strapped in, can play right away, It is simply load onto the train and relax. Really no more restrictions. We do get a sleeping compartment, which costs more $$, but is lots of fun for the kids and very relaxing for the adults. It's also great to have dinner in the dining car :eating: with free wine :biggulp:, and a pretty good night's sleep on the train. It's as close to a spa day as I get anymore. ;)

Now, we met a family on the way back who said their kids had a horrible ride down, but they had never ridden a train before. We took our S for a day trip into NYC on the train before attempting the Auto Train so that he was familiar with the feel. I think they just need a little experience, because that family's kids slept great on the way back.

We originally tried the Auto Train last fall because airfare for Jersey Week was running about $3000 for our family of 4. With the Auto Train, we end up spending about $16xx for the 4 of us. Yeah, that's more money that excursion rates on the plane, but we have our car, and also 2 more days vacation. Since we live pretty far from the airport, we often spend at least 1 night's lodging the night before flying to Orlando + dinner etc. So it comes out closer than you might think on an expenditure basis. :thumbsup2:

Biggest :thumbsup2: though is how easy it is for everyone to leave WDW. Everyone is so excited to get to the Auto Train, I get full cooperation in packing and keeping to our schedule. To me, that's priceless. :goodvibes:

[lllovell]

I would say not having to drive yourselves is also a huge plus. I know we are spoiled living within driving distance to WDW, but truthfully, those long drives are a killer when the adults are tired too.

I think compared to airfare, nights in hotel and happy, well rested family are well worth it!

Good find.

LLL

[cruisindisney]

I remember your report from last Fall. Afterwards, I looked into the prices and it was quite pricey for us but perhaps there is some strategy for finding the prices I'm missing. So you can get the Auto Train somewhere near where you live?

For us, we have several airports but the closest with direct flights is a 2 hour drive to PHL. We usually stay at a hotel the night before on Starwood points. But then we have to factor in parking at PHL, renting a car at MCO, etc.

I think the train might be fun!
Thanks for the follow-up on my question. It is something I am interested in but have to look into it quite a bit more.

[nono]

Usually in the summer there's a "Kids Ride Free" promotion. Also we tend to go for 8 or more days at a shot, which makes the comparison for a rental car a bit better as the rental car companies don't seem to like 8-12 day rentals these days. :confused:

Our fall trip is $13xx for a family bedroom each way + and "oversize" vehicle. The sooner you book, the better off you are as far as pricing. Amtrak doesn't play games like the airlines. X number of rooms go for the lowest price, then there's a price bump (at least that's what the train discussion sites claim). Now if a reservation cancels, I think that the room goes back on the market at the same price. We try several days around when we want to go and pick the cheapest, then call for our DVC reservations. :thumbsup2:

Anyway, there's only the two stops -- either end of the service. Lorton, VA is just south of Washington, DC. Sanford is just north of Orlando. So it's everyone on the same exact excursion, which makes for a convivial atmosphere and not a commuter-type experience.

[Rozzie]

Roy Yamaguchi is a Hawaiian chef who has a wildly successful spot on Oahu. Now he's branched out to the mainland in several spots, including the place on Sand Lake Rd. If you are looking for a fun spot with high quality food, and no stuffy atmosphere, this might work for ya! Bon appetit!

Mr Roz and I both agree this was the highlight of our trip! (Does this count as a TR? ;))

[cruisindisney]

When you break it down, it seems reasonably priced. I love learning all of these alternative transportation possibilities!

[nono]

Mr Roz and I both agree this was the highlight of our trip! (Does this count as a TR? ;))

Wait. It wasn't the "Thriller" down-memory-lane at the Southpoint grills? I'm still :rolleyes: over that one...

[Rozzie]

Wait. It wasn't the "Thriller" down-memory-lane at the Southpoint grills? I'm still :rolleyes: over that one...

LMAO! :rotfl2:

[cruisindisney]

I looked up the Amtrak line and from where we are it seems that this isn't a viable route for us to persue. We are too far from DC for the autotrain and our closest pickup would be Harrisburg or Philadelphia. Looks like a fun option, though! My son loves trains.