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Old 17 Aug 11, 10:06 PM  
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BevS97
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Day 8 - Princesses, Potions and Panera Bread

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Day 8



Well, today is a very important day It's my birthday.

We start the morning with some presents I like presents. I've get a new Mickey Handbag, a cover for my iPhone and a lovely Minnie Mouse luggage tag.

We are moving to the Boardwalk today, so we spend an hour or so packing. I normally pack the night before but we'd been quite tired and hadn't bothered, so it's quite a big job. We seem to have stuff everywhere! We eventually get everything into bags, and into the car, and leave behind an enormous number of rubbish bags. It's just a short drive over to the Boardwalk. We have to show some ID at the gate, and then as we pull up at reception we are greeted with 'Mrs Stephenson, Welcome to the Boardwalk.' It takes me a moment to work out how he knows who I am, and then I realise the gate must have let him know.

We don't expect to get a room until after 4, so we are planning a day out so we aren't left hanging around. Phil goes to park the car and I check us in. We are very surprised and very pleased to be given a room straight away. We are in a Standard View Studio on the 2nd floor. Floor 2 is great, as that's the floor that reception is on.
We find our room, and we are all so pleased with it. We didn't really love the room design at OKW, but we love the layout here. It's a smaller room, but it seems more organised, and we like having the sofa to sit on during the day. It's also got a massive window, so it's nice and bright. Our view is of 2 enormous tree's, so we can't really see anything at all, but they are just far enough away that they aren't blocking the light.
So, we are all very happy.
The kids go down to swim with their friends. I decide not to swim and just go down to watch. It's quite hot though, so after half an hour or so I change my mind and swim as well, it's far too hot to just sit but if you get in the water it's lovely and refreshing.

My choice for the days activities had been shopping. We'd expected to be homeless, so I'd planned quite a bit of shopping, but since we've got a room, we take advantage of that and change the plans a little. We do eventually head out for some shopping. On our way out, I visit Guest Services and ask them to move our tickets over from our OKW keys to our Boardwalk keys.

We go to the Loop and start with lunch at Panera Bread. I'd heard good things about this place, but we'd never tried it. What I'd never been told is that the menu is extensive and complicated! There are at least 10 different types of bread to choose from, before you decide on fillings, cheeses etc.
We all opt for soup and half a sandwich, and Molly has a kids meal. I had forgotten that American cheese tastes like plastic, so I have to remove the cheese from Molly's sandwich but other than that it's all very very nice. And the total bill is $34.47 which is about half of our dining plan counter service bills.

It's time for some shopping! Phil and Katie want some shoes for the cruise. I want some crafty bits, so they go shoe shopping and Molly and I go to Michaels. Molly is planning a Harry Potter party, and all the Halloween stuff is on sale, so we take a look at it, and try and think of some ideas for her party. We need to really sit down and plan it out, as she had lots of ideas but I'm not sure how to make them all work.

I get a few bits and pieces in Michaels but I am fairly restrained. Phil and Katie didn't find any shoes. Next up, is Old Navy. We do pretty well in here. I find a nice t-shirt and a hoodie, Katie gets some shoes. Molly finds a bright pink Beanie Boo that apparently she must have.
It;s getting late, so just time for one more stop. We go over to the Party City, again looking for HP ideas. We don't really see anything specific, so we leave empty handed. Next door is JC Penney. Phil is still looking for some shoes, but he doesn't want to spend a lot on them and they aren't that cheap, so he doesn't get anything. I find a swimsuit which is a result, as the swimsuits I'd ordered before my trip didn't turn up on time, and I had brought one I didn't like. The swimsuit is $23 reduced from $80. I wouldn't have paid $80 for it, but for $23, I am pretty happy.

It's time to head back to the Boardwalk as we have a date with Mickey. As we are walking back to the room, Phil has a thought, and it's quite a significant thought. We have one meal left on our dining plan which we intend to use at Chef Mickey's tonight. However, when we moved our tickets to our Boardwalk room keys, they threw the OKW tickets away and I suspect our remaining credits were lost with them.
I go unto Guest services and ask them to check, and we are right, we've lost the credits. Jim, from Pennsylvania tells me all is not lost, Yet. He says this quite a few times, and often reassures me he will tell me when I ought to panic. It takes him quite a while, but eventually he gives me a bit of paper with a number on it and says that it ought to work at Chef Mickeys but it does't to charge the meal to the room and he will sort it out in the morning.

We get changed and head out to the bus stop to meet up with our friends and take a bus to Magic Kingdom . We get to Chef Mickey's quite early, but we check in at the podium and then make our way over to the bar for a cocktail whilst we wait. I have a tradition at the Contemporary, and I have my usual Godiva cocktail. It's absolutely delicious and I remember to sip it slowly, the first time I had one it was downed in about 30 seconds and it's a bit too pricey to drink it that fast, it's definitely one to be sipped.

We don't have to wait too long and we are seated at a round table. They've expanded Chef Mickeys since the last time we were there, and we are in a new section over to the left side of the restaurant. The buffet is great, and the characters just keep on coming around, we see all of them 3 or 4 times.
When the bill comes, I have to explain to our waiter about the paper room key. He seems a little dubious but says he will see what he can do. He goes away and comes back with Dave and Bev's bill, but says he is struggling with ours. Then we see the Manager come over, the 2 of them can be seen in the back office scratching their heads. I think in the end they ring OKW, because they do eventually manage to sort something out, and we get a receipt showing we've paid with dining credits, and we just have to pay the tip. I think it took 20 minutes or so to sort it all out and I was getting a little nervous but we managed it in the end.

After dinner, it's a quick wander around the shops, and then we decide to get the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. the Monorail is packed when we get on and we are all standing. That wasn't in the plan! However, everyone gets off at TTC and we are able to get a seat. When we get to the Grand Floridian the monorail stops but the doors don't open. We sit there for a while and then the train moves back a bit and then forward a bit, eventually the doors open to a cheer. The train driver comes out and he tells us if he doesn't stop in exactly the right place the doors won't open.

We make it back to the MK, and a bus for the Boardwalk where we again have technical difficulties, this time it's getting the wheelchair lift to work, it's eventually resolved when the bus driver puts a folded bit of paper under one corner of the lift. Technical solutions to technical problems!
Eventually the bus gets going and we get back to the Boardwalk and fall into bed. The kids seem to think we are going to go for a midnight swim, but sadly for the kids, they are wrong!
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