Maddy had too much summer work to finish and my mother-in-law decided to do some bathroom remodeling. Savanna's mother, Susan, had to be in Jacksonville for a work seminar from Thursday to Sunday so she asked if she could follow us on Wednesday to break up her trip. What the hell? The more the merrier.
I wanted this trip to be relaxing and without plans. Susan is the total opposite of that and she insisted I make a time to depart. We were only an hour off of the schedule by the time we gassed up the Caravan II, hit the bank, and loaded up the guests.
We set off, waving good-bye to Savanna's dad, Susan following us in her car. Orlando is a hop, skip and a jump from where I live and the drive is relatively smooth. We found the resort without any problems, but because we couldn't check in until four o'clock, we decided to find a place to have a nice sit-down lunch. Maddy and I checked our Around Me apps and voted on a Thai place a few miles down the road. We set off in the Caravan II following Siri's directions and ended up in Celebration, FL.
Celebration, for those who have no idea, is a town and community that was the idea of the Disney corporation. Disney designed and built the town in the model of its happy, go-lucky, greatest place to live philosophy. The homes are built in a twentieth-century architectural style and the whole area is idealistic and warmhearted with immaculate yards, grassy parks, and streets so clean you could eat off of them.
Much has been written about the rules and regulations and the residents who have had issues with them, but the town looks beautiful and very Disney like. Some people find it like a set out of a movie. Susan and Savanna had never been there before and I hadn't driven through it in years so we were quite happy to enter.
We found the restaurant, Thai Thani, in downtown Celebration and we were lucky to land a prime parking spot right in front of the establishment. It was quite a large restaurant with outdoor seating, a large bar, and cocktail area, and a huge dining room compared to the Thai restaurants we are used to in our area.
We were the only people in the restaurant since it was late afternoon and we were seated in one of the booths with the sparkly tables that we had read about on Yelp when researching the restaurant. The decor was beautiful with colored parasols hanging from the ceiling, hand-carved furniture and antiques. The iced Thai tea and coffees we ordered were sweet and just what we needed after a long drive on a hot, summer day. Complimentary Thai salads were brought to the table and the staff was courteous and attentive. We ordered two pad thai dishes, one chicken Panang dish, and one yellow curry with chicken. All of it was delicious and we exited with leftovers and full stomachs.
Savanna wanted to tour the town and I was all for that because as we had entered Celebration I had suddenly remembered that there was something I had wanted to do in Celebration. The problem was I had no memory of what that was.
So we set off strolling downtown past shops and restaurants heading toward the "waterfront area". The entire time we strolled, piped music played and people smiled and greeted us. Savanna found it all creepy, but Madison and I found it reminded us of Storybrooke from Once Upon A Time. And since that show is on ABC and that is a Disney company it wouldn't surprise me that the writers might just have done some modeling from Celebration.
The "waterfront" area is a man-made lake surrounding by umbrellas and benches for relaxing and talking. There is an area with a Disney-like-fountain, that popped up water spouts at random, and small children in bathing suits were squealing and running through it to cool off.
Darcy spied a Kilwins, the ice cream place for Pompano Beach and I screamed, "THAT'S IT." That was what I couldn't remember. Kilwins was in Celebration. I had seen it on Facebook and had made a mental note to get some toasted coconut ice cream while on this trip. Thank goodness Darcy saw it otherwise I might never have remembered. We go some ice cream despite our full stomachs and then headed back to the car.
The resort is in Reunion, FL one exit from Walt Disney World. The directions had me enter through the main gate, heavily manned by security who required my license and in turn gave me a pass and strict instructions on where to display it, and then proceed to the main hotel.
The drive through the area took us along the Arnold Palmer golf course, around a round-about, and up the hill to the massive, palace of a hotel where doormen whisked me into the air-conditioned lobby, bowing at the waist.
I had to go to the left to the Worldmark Wyndham where three desks were manned by smiling employees who offered me a seat. I was paired with James, a nice looking African American man dressed in a black dress shirt, a bright white sports jacket, and a black and white striped tie. He was a tad nervous, but I had him laughing in delight in no time.
He began by showing me a map of the over 2,000 acres within the resort with golf courses, a spa, tennis facilities, a hotel, homes, pools, etc. He explained that Wyndham only owned a small portion of the area, but that we were welcome as owners to use all the amenities. Then he did his thing of signing me up for a "free breakfast" where I would hear about some Margaritaville addition.
James: "You are familiar with Margaritaville, right?"
Me: "I am familiar with margaritas!"
James: (Laugh, laugh, laugh)
This free breakfast, along with the $100 American Express card he wanted to give me, would allow me to fill my stomach, ask questions, and party down later with the money. I told him I heard him, I understood his job, but that I was here for rest and relaxation, that I was here without my husband, and I didn't want to hear the salesman get annoyed when he discovered all of that.
James assured me that this wasn't the normal pitch and that it would only be 45 minutes and that I would be part of a group of singles (without spouses). I told him that if I got there and it wasn't all of that and I got stuck with an angry salesman that I would come down, find James, and drag him around by his colorful tie. He then whipped out a fake, paper car key and offered me a chance to win a brand new Lexus or $25,000 cash.
Me: "Just what I need...another car."
James: "Some people take the $25,000 cash."
Me: "James, if I win $25,000 in cash I will split it with you."
James: "Are you serious?"
Me: "I am dead serious."
He made me shake on it. Obviously, the man believed what he was selling.
I'm now stuck on attending a 11:30 breakfast on Saturday. Oh, boy.
James finished with me, walked me across the lobby, and handed me off to Bryan, the hotel registration guy, also seated at a desk with comfortable chairs for me to sit in. He gave me my keys and the directions to the resort and villa I was staying in. I went back out the lobby doors and we started our caravan of cars back to the round-about.
As we rounded it once more, to turn off on the third road, Savanna remarked that the area wasn't looking as elegant as the other areas. She was right. This section is close to the main interstate and under development with sandy, empty construction lots and empty development land.
Eventually, it got better as we found Wyndham and entered the Villas North. The buildings are three stories and designed in a modern, Virginia, country club-style centered around the golf course. Each level had three units and each villa had a pool. Our building was seven buildings away from the pool area which was a bummer, but we were on the ground floor.
All the units are three bedrooms and three bathrooms with a full kitchen, living room, and porch area. Our unit was over 1,500 square feet so we felt quite comfortable. Maddy and I took the master suite with a king bed and a large bathroom that came with a DOOR (something Kelly felt Wyndham needed to improve in its master suites). I immediately texted her a photo. Savanna and Darcy took the second bedroom with an adjoining bathroom that had two double beds. Susan took the third bedroom and bathroom with another king bed.
We looked around, left to buy groceries, returned to the unit, and ate dinner. Susan brought a very nice bottle of wine and she and I sat in the living room and enjoyed that and conversation while the girls entertained themselves in the other part of the unit. It was a nice evening and we retired to our rooms full and satisfied with our first day.
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