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Weekend
January 2006
Last year, the Martin Luther King holiday afforded us with a three-day weekend and we had a great WDW holiday. Later that spring, due to the hurricanes of 2004, the Duval County School Board, our employer, directed that the Calendar Committee redo the 2005-2006 school calendar and add "weather days."  These would be days that would be used as make-up days in the event school days were lost due to bad weather.  Well, despite almost 30 named storms, Jacksonville was spared any real weather and lost no school days.  Therefore, the scheduled weather days became days when school is closed, and....therefore, due to the influence of the chair of the calendar committee (me), Friday, January 13 is a "school closed" day, creating a four-day weekend.  I convinced Lyd to take Thursday as well. We coordinated with our good friends Mike and Marilyn to join us and they made their reservations for the same weekend. Tragically, over the Christmas holidays Marilyn broke her foot and they were forced to cancel.  They really would have added a lot to the magic.  We did, however, have other magical help.  Recent trips to CAC and PAC have spoiled us and we love the Contemporary Hotel both for the amenities and the location.  This trip we booked the concierge floor and all of the extra amenities that go with it.  In the past, I've made a lot of phone calls to book dinner times.  This trip, we used the concierge functions to do the work for us.  Heather Laws, and others, in the concierge office did a lot of work and laid down a thick layer of pixie dust to make this trip even more magical.  So..........
Thursday, Jan 12 Today we packed in the morning and then had lunch at Don Pablo's, a Mexican Restaurant in Tinsel Town.  This is our traditional luncheon site on our way to WDW.  We arrived, just before 4 and went to a 10th floor Tower Room, a new experience for us at the Contemporary, though we stayed in concierge accommodations at Yacht, last year.  Dinner was at the fabulous California Grill on the 15th floor of the Contemporary.
Friday, Jan 13 We did a combination of MGM and the Magic Kingdom. The projected 20% chance of rain produced showers after 3:00 P.M., followed by Narcoossee's for dinner.
Saturday, Jan 14 Cold and Windy! Whereas our dinner plans were at Jiko's at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we spent the day at the Animal Kingdom.
Sunday, Jan 15 We did EPCOT.  Dinner will be at Artist Point in the Wilderness Lodge.
Monday, Jan 16 We only have 3-day Park Hopper passes, so this will be a travel day back to Jacksonville, with leftovers for dinner.