Disney Magic on Main Street!

   While there are so many exciting and thrilling attractions in each theme park at Walt Disney World, sometimes it's a totally unexpected surprise that just takes your entire trip up a notch.

   On our last visit, just my Wife and I, we were treated to such a moment, and will never forget it.

  As we were walking down Main Street on our way to lunch at Tony's Town Square, we passed by the world famous Dapper Dans as they were serenading a young man in a wheel chair.  We stopped to enjoy the moment, and I thought how lucky that gentleman was as he was just sitting there taking it all in with his family and others gathered around enjoying the delightful harmonies of this group.

   I gave a wink to one of the Dans as they were singing, and nodded my head towards my Wife who was wearing her Happy Birthday button.  I didn't think he got the "telepathic" message that I was hinting at, so we just clapped and walked away talking about how great the Dapper Dan's are.

   We walked into Tony's about 10 minutes early for our ADR (Reservation), and were sitting in a little waiting area when in walked the Dapper Dan's.  They walked right over to us and introduced themselves to us...

                                 AND THIS HAPPENED!



   It is now one of the top ten classic moments of our Walt Disney World experience list.

   I 'owed' her, because many years ago, we went out to the Olive Garden to celebrate my birthday, and she told someone there that it was my birthday.  After the meal, the wait staff came over and placed what looked like some kind of hat made out of Balloons and a Coffee Filter on my head and sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  I vowed that  some day she would pay for this dastardly (but fun!) deed.

The moral of the story is...  Revenge is a dish best served up cold, and...
                                     ALWAYS WEAR YOUR CELEBRATION BUTTONS AT WDW!  (or get others to)!

OUR POP CENTURY TRIP

   Just finished another visit to WDW, and although we've been there enough times in the last few years to really feel like "Disney Experts", we experienced a lot of "firsts" on this trip.  Some eateries, some things in the parks, even exploring some resorts.  One of the biggies was where we stayed.  After passing through to drop people off on the magical express bus while heading to Animal Kingdom Lodge's Kidani Village, and always saying "Some day we're going to stay at Pop Century!"... we finally did it!

The Resort:

 POP CENTURY

We wanted to save our DVC points for another trip this year, and booked 6 nights at Pop Century with an Annual Pass discount.  We always wanted to stay there, and the price was right for a budget trip.

It is a colorful place.  All about fun.  Kids will love the color of it all, and adults (like us) will just eat up the nostalgia that is around every corner there.  The food court gets a little "crazy" but there are lots of offerings, and we enjoyed getting a whole pizza there, then taking it back to our room for a relaxing evening "in".  They offer in room pizza delivery service, but we saved a few bucks on the delivery fee, and just ordered and walked back to the room.  I'm sure the smell of pepperoni pizza trailing us was making folks hungry as we strolled by!

 

It is a pretty large complex.  If you've stayed there before, you probably have your favorite "section" (or decade) you prefer to stay in.  We agreed that we didn't know exactly what we wanted, so we just checked in and let them put us wherever they wanted.  We ended up on the 3rd floor of the "90's" building.  It turned out to be a great location for us.  Not facing a pool which meant a little less noise.  Close to the bus stops and Classic Hall (where the food court and shops are).  And the building had an elevator!

even the elevators are fun at Pop!

 There is no doubt that we loved the Pop Century!  Once we were settled in our room, we felt like we were "home" each afternoon or evening when returning from the parks or Downtown Disney.  We even watched the Superbowl in our room while enjoying our tradition of having sandwiches on Superbowl Sunday... The Earl of Sandwich can't be beat!  Pop is a great base of operations while touring WDW.  The pools are great, the food court offers lots of choices, the shop has a lot to offer, a game room, well marked bus stops, it has everything you need. ...and A LAKE!

I'm sure we'll be returning there again.  And when the Art of Animation resort is finished, it will be a short walk across Hour Glass Lake via the "Generation Gap" Bridge to even more fun and exploration.

There were some other firsts on this trip, but your first time at any Walt Disney World Resort is always memorable.