BigBadBob's Blog

Well, we are actually back in Albany now. I never got around to writing out the last post last night, so here is what we did on our last day in Florida yesterday.

We got up early and headed to the resort restaurant for breakfast. After that we went back, got ready for the day, and packed up. Check out time was at 11:00, so we brought our bags over to the front desk and had them hold it for the day. Our flight was at 7:35pm, and we were scheduled to take the 4:30 bus from Disney to the airport. So after dropping the bags off, we headed to Epcot to enjoy our last day as best we could.

We ate lunch at a German buffet called Biergarten. It was definitely one of the best buffets I’ve ever been to (sorry Pondo). There were all kinds of sausage, chicken snitzel, spetzel, meatballs, more sausage, as well as not so German things like turkey breast and pork roast. It was all pretty tasty, and I loved being able to try everything. I think I can honestly say that I do love German cuisine, but I just can’t get it enough anywhere. After lunch we headed out into the park. We went on this 45-minute Ellen DeGenerses ride, and all I can say is that I had my fill of her for the next ten years. We also went into the Epcot ball and did a ride called Spaceship Earth, which was basically a tour of human civilization. By the time all this was over, we had to catch the bus back to the resort and get ready to hop the plane.

We got to the airport and through security in no time, leaving us almost two hours to wait until our flight. We had dinner at Sbarros, which was horrible. I barely ate any of my baked ziti since it was gross and heavy, but at least they had good breadsticks. After dinner we sat around and waited for the plane. The flight was a pretty good one…we experienced absolutely no delays, had no turbulence the entire time, and got to Albany about ten minutes ahead of schedule. Not too shabby.

So that was the end of our honeymoon. We had a great time, and as we talked about it, we realized there was nowhere else we would have wanted to go. Disney may be seen first and foremost as the place to be for a family vacation, but it really is a romantic honeymoon location as well. The employees there, from the janitors and bus drivers to the ride operators and servers, are all extremely pleasant and always happy. We did not have one bad experience with anyone down there, and that says a lot for all the employees we had to interact with. Our resort was a perfect paradise, and definitely a major player for the best resort to honeymoon at. Thanks to the dining plan and our bonus gift card, we paid very little out of pocket. The gift card covered anything our dining plan didn’t (including all our souvenirs), and the only thing I paid out for was server’s tips. It really was a wonderful time, and we hope to go back again to re-live it all again.

Today was a somewhat relaxing day. We had a slow morning poolside, just hanging out enjoying the sun. At around 1pm we headed for Downtown Disney for lunch and to hang out until dinner.

For lunch we hit a place called Earl of Sandwich, which had gourmet sandwiches, salads, and wraps. After lunch we hit up all the shops that are down there. We picked up some souveniers for ourselves and other goodies (including a giant lollypop for me and a custom-made darl chocolate pretzel for Shell.) There were enough shops that we finished up in time for our dinner reservation.

We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Cafe. For dinner Shell had a really tastetacular macadamia-crusted chicken breast, and I went for beef goulash. I was jealous of Shells dinner…hers was much lighter and tastier than mine. For dessert we shared a slice of carrot cake and a personal key lime pie.

The bus ride back to the hotel was annoying because the driver was being trained. He had two trainers with him, and these three clowns took forever to get the bus to the hotel. A 15-minute trip turned into 45-minutes by the end. After we got back we headed to the beach area and just plopped our butts down and relaxed for over an hour.

Tomorrow will be busy, since we need to get up early to snag a bus to Sea World, and then dinner and fireworks at Epcot at night.

Today was a pretty lazy day. After a slow morning and breakfast at the resort, we went to the pool and did some laundry. It was here that we first experienced todays crazy weather, as there were frequent random rainstorms throughout the day.

After laundry and showering we went to lunch at the resort, and then headed back to the hotel to hang out. Eventually we headed out to Epcot, since we had dinner reservations at 5pm at San Angel Inn, a Mexican restaurant.

Before dinner we hung out in Mexico land in Epcot. There is a huge temple you go into, and inside is the restaurant, a bar, some shops and stalls, and stupid little water ride. Dinner was awesome. Shell had a pretty delicious margarita that was layered in several different flavors. For dinner she had a mole chicken meal, and I had carne con chile relleno, which was a tender steak on top of a bed of rice and then covered with a pablano pepper stuffed with cheese and refried beans. For dessert I went for a white chocolate mousse with fruit and Shell got a white chocolate bread pudding.

After dinner we went to Blizzard Beach to go mini golfing at Winter Wonderland. Its a Christmas-themed mini golf course that we have had been to previously and really enjoyed. We took plenty of silly pictures there as well which was a lot of fun. After the golf we headed back to the hotel room and called it a night. Tomorrow was a free day, so we are going to go back to the Magic Kingdom for the day tomorrow before heading over to the Polynesian resort for dinner.

Sorry this one is a little late. We stayed out last night and didn’t get back til 12am.

Yesterday was a somewhat lazy day. We slept in a bit and grabbed breakfast at the resort. After that we jumped in the pool for awhile, then headed back to shower.

After eating lunch at the resort we rented some bikes and went for a ride around the resort. I hadn’t ridden a bike in probably 15 years, and it was a while for Shell too. We both started off pretty wobbily, but by the time we returned them we were pros. We were both glad that neither of us crashed, though there were some close calls.

We went back to the hotel room to escape the sun for a bit and filled out post cards (so some of you can be expecting them later this week.) At around 3 we headed over to the Boardwalk, which is an outdoor boardwalk area around one of the lakes with a couple of shops, restaurants, and clubs.
We ate dinner at Kouzzina, which is Cat Cora’s restaurant. Its a Greek/ Mediterrain restaurant that served a few of her own personal recipes. Shell got a seafood stew that contained bass, scallops, clams, shrimp, and some other stuff. It was a tad spicy but she loved it. I had a pretty tastetacular slow-cooked lamb shank with these giant lima beans which was out of this world. Dessert was also awesome. Shell got a phiylo pastery filled with semolina custard and topped with a vanilla-praline ice cream and I got this chocolate molten cake. Both desserts were awesome, and by the end we practically needed to be rolled out of the restaurant.

After that we headed over to a place called Jellyrolls, which is a dueling pianos bar. The guys there were pretty funny and played some good music, though the crows was definitely requesting more country music than anything. We stayed there for over three hours then eventually left to make our way home. Unfortunately, by 11pm the Disney buses become somewhat unreliable so it took us a little over an hour to make it back to our resort, but it was still a real fun night. We are both looking forward to today, which is our adventure to the Magic Kingdom!

Today started out as a easy day, but we did end up going out to the parks. We started with a semi-late morning (going out for breakfast by 8). After that we spent about an hour relaxing in the pool. After getting showered and hanging out, we ate lunch(I had a huge cold cut sandwich that looked like a Dagwood and Shell had an impressive meatball sub) and then headed down to the docks.
There were some boat rentals available to take out on the resorts three interconnected lakes. We were going to take a small speedboat, but we both couldn’t fit in it. Instead we took out a giant 10-man party boat…with just the two of us. We took turns driving the boat and had a lot of fun. Neither of us ever imagined that we would be piloting a boat ourselves! We also stopped at the shops and picked up postcards, so be expecting them soon.

After the boat ride we came back to the room and then headed over to Epcot. We got most of the park done today actually (at least the stuff that interested us.) There was a huge aquarium there too which had some bigger animals like manatees, dolphins, sea turtles and sharks.While we were there we experienced a huge thunderstorm, but we got inside quick enough, and by the time we were finshed in the building the storm had passed. We also spent time walking through the little country sections in Epcot. I succeeded in stopping Shell from buying too much Italian stuff, but she did buy a Mickey Mouse Italian car antenna topper.

For dinner we went to Les Chefs de France, which is obviously a French restaurant. It was definitely French, from the French servers to the snooty hostess. The food was ridiculously tasty though. We shared a bowl of lobster bisque which we dipped our baguette in. For dinner Shell had beef shortribs and pasta, which was very tender and tasty. I went for the duck which came with potato gratin and greenbeans. For dessert Shell had a delicious creme brulle and had an apple caramel crepe.

After dinner we headed out of the park and went back to the hotel. We jumped in the pool for a bit before retiring for the night. Tomorrow we are going to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) and I’m looking forward to finally experiencing the Tower of Terror.

First off, I know I swore I wouldn’t do this. However, we will be doing so much that I don’t want to forget everything. Thus each day, I will be writing a quick blog to share what we did. I won’t be sharing this via Facebook or Twitter, so its only for those who really care (mainly family and friends).

Our first day was a late one. Due to thunderstorms, our plane was delayed. By the time we got to Orlando, hopped a bus to the Caribbean Beach Resort, and checked into our room, it was almost 8. We ventured out to the food court for dinner which was awesome. I got a mojo pork roast with mashed potato and plantains and Shell got a roasted chicken with mac & cheese and plantains.Our dinner consisted of the dinner, any drink, and any dessert we each wanted, so we got an order of fruit and one of cheesecake.However, by the time I finished writing this, Shell had finished the entire carrot cake by herself. But that didn’t stop her from stealing a grape and cantalope too.

By the time we got back from dinner our bags had arrived from the airport. We changed into our bathing suits and hit the pool which was deserted and warm. As we started enjoying a fireworks display from Epcot, it started to thunder and lightning so we left.

The resort is beautiful with a Caribbean-jungle/beach atmosphere. Our room is located in the “Jamacia” area and the staff are ridiculously funny. When we first got to our room we had a voicemail from Mickey and Minnie congratulating us on our marriage and wishing us to live “happily ever after.”