Bell Family Vacation - Fall 2007

I'm sure this will come as a big surprise to those of you that are regular readers of the blog, but we just got back from a week's vacation at Disney World in Orlando. Our trip started off after a Thanksgiving meal at the Nana & Papa Bell's house in Massachusetts. Millie braved the Black Friday crowds very early (4am!) but scored some really great deals in tax-free New Hampshire. Later that day we took our shuttle bus into Logan Airport and started our journey to Florida by way of Chicago. We got in pretty late to our timeshare at Saratoga Springs, but were ready and raring to go the next day! We had a great view of the Downtown Disney area from the Rainforest Cafe at one end all the way to the Cirque du Soleil tent at the other.

We spent a day at each of the parks and Millie planned all of our dining activities: Breakfast with Jojo and the Playhouse Disney gang, Lunch with Pooh and Friends, dinner at Teppan Edo (EPCOT), Il Mulino (WDW Swan), and even an "adults night out" that took us to the Ohana restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. We also enjoyed Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and extended hours in the Magic Kingdom, as well as the parades and other holiday festivities going on in all of the parks.

Our Florida weather was absolutely perfect - 80s and Sunny every day until the day we left for home. AJ had lots of fun in Minnie's house, riding the Teacups and the Carousel, and taking pictures with all of the characters. We even managed to get a little shopping in at Downtown Disney.

Click HERE to view pictures from Days 1-3, and HERE for Days 4 & 5.
WARNING: There are lots of pictures!

The Bells Take Manhattan

Over the weekend we had a little getaway in NYC while AJ stayed with the Aviles'. We had some of our vacation club points to use, so we used them to stay in town at the Loews Regency. Here's what we did this weekend...

Friday, March 9th
After taking the train in from New Haven, we walked to our hotel and dropped off our bags. We went on a little adventure and took the subway over to Times Square for dinner. Not being terribly familiar with the subway system, we managed to find our way. Once we reached Times Square, we had dinner at Virgils BBQ - and ate way too much as usual. After dinner, we walked around town a little bit - stopping by the M&Ms world store and the Hershey's store. More on those on Saturday! Since we were still full from dinner, we decided to walk back to the hotel. The weather was beautiful in the city, and a great night to be out.

Saturday, March 10th
We slept in and finally ventured out for lunch. We were planning on seeing a show at 2pm, so we figured we'd get some lunch somewhere nearby. We ended up at the Starlite Deli, which was just up the street from the St. James theatre. I had a nice chicken cutlet sandwich and Millie had some turkey pastrami. By the time we were finished, the line was starting to reach us. It was almost showtime!

We had tickets to see The Producers - what a great show! Tony Danza was playing one of the main roles - and his last performance was to be on Sunday. The show was really funny and we really enjoyed it. It was pretty long, but well worth it....there was even a little surprise at the end. You'll have to see the show to find out what it is!

Since it was a little early for dinner, we decided to wander around a little bit. We went into the M&M's World store to browse as well as get AJ a picture of his M&M car. It's his favorite on the NASCAR circuit. Think 3 floors of M&M stuff...very cool. In comparison, we also went to the Hershey store across the street - we had been there before but now it seemed like a huge letdown. Only 1 floor in a relatively cramped space.

From there, we headed back in the direction of our hotel to visit 30 Rockerfeller Center and the Top of the Rock. 72 stories up and a little breezy, but you can't beat the view. We want to go back during the day next time. Sounds like a field trip to me.

We went back downtown and had dinner at Bella Napoli off Times Square. The food was good, and one of the waiters kept wanting to sing "Copa Cobana" - not sure why :o)

Sunday, March 11th
Today the clocks changed. Not that it affected our plans at all. We slept in and checked out around noon. From there we walked to Grand Central. We passed the Audi, Porsche/Maserati and Mercedes dealers along the way - drooling at the windows. After lunch in Grand Central, we boarded the 1:07 train for home. AJ was very happy to see us when he got up from his nap.

And yes, the weather was beautiful all weekend. And we did go to the Disney Store and the ESPNZone. Not that going to the Disney Store should come as a surprise to anyone.