Jenna319
10-20-2007, 09:53 PM
Hello everyone! This is my very first trip report and I have been so excited to write it for SO long.... Let me start by introducing myself- my name is Jenna, my husband's name is John, I am 25, he is 29.... we are both from the Chicagoland area..... We are huge disney fans! We had been dating for 5 years and have been to Disney World twice and Disneyland twice together over the past few years.... everyone told me to go someplace different for our honeymoon because we had been to Disney so many times.... but there was no question where we were going- DISNEY WORLD TO VISIT THE MOUSE! I must tell you that I am a HUGE planner, i love to organize everything and plan everything out to a tee! 180 days in advance- I was on the phone making my ADR's! I have lots of pics to share but I have never posted pics on here before so bear with me if I don't do it right the first time! Our wedding was on Saturday, October 6th in IL and we decided we wanted to drive down to Orlando because we had enough time planned off of work (3 weeks!) so we were going to take our time and stop places along the way. We spent the first time at a Harrahs in Metropolis, IL, then went to Bowling Green, KY to see the corvette assembly plant/museum, spent 7 nights at Disney (10th-17th), then spent 2 nights in the Smoky Mountains, TN.... it was a FANTASTIC trip and if you have the time to do it, I really enjoyed our road trip! Well- on with the report!!!
Day 1- Check in to the Beach Club villas, Lunch at Hurricane Hannahs, Dinner at Chef Mickey's
We arrived at Disney's Beach Club villas around 11AM on Wednesday morning. This was my first time renting points from a DVC member and I must say I would never do it any other way! It was a great experience. Not only did we save $1000s by doing it this way, we also were able to take advantage of some DVC discounts because we were guests of a DVC member (more on that later)! Pretty much the only difference between staying at the resort and staying in the villas is that there is no housekeeping (one day, they came in and took our garbage and gave us more towels).... but that did not matter to us. Since we got to the hotel very early (I think check-in is around 4pm), I did not expect to get our room yet- I just wanted to get our dining plan paid for and set up so we could eat lunch on the plan.... but our room was ready! When I told him it was our honeymoon, the man at the front desk gave us the "just married" pins and gave me the last rose he had in a vase behind the desk. We went straight to our room- we got a studio, and it was very nice, just like a standard hotel room, but with a kitchenette, microwave..... I was a little disappointed that we were on the first floor (I always like a balcony) and the patio was pretty small.... there was no view but I had already heard that the BCV do not have a view of epcot for the most part.... I chose to stay at the BCV mostly for the fabulous pool and the 5 min walk to Epcot and it was very convenient!! Ok- here is my first attempt at a picture of our hotel:
<img src="http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=100001500gr6.jpg">
Our first lunch on the dining plan, we ate at the poolside grill at the BC- Hurricane Hannahs. We had never been on the dining plan before and I heard it was a lot of food.... we are definitely not used to eating 3 course meals but I think the plan was really great, so easy and nice to not have to worry about tipping too!
For lunch, we both got cheeseburgers, 2 cokes, I got a chocolate chip cookie for dessert and John got an apple. The cheeseburgers were fabulous, desserts we ended up saving for later (and never got around to eating them)....
Cost of Meal
Cheeseburger- $5.89
Cheeseburger- $5.89
Coke- $2.09
Coke- $2.09
Chocolate Chip Cookie- $2.09
Apple- $ 0.99
Total Cost- $19.04
2 CS Credits used
One thing I had planned (actually last minute planned the night before!) was to surprise John with a gift basket from the Disney World Florist.... it had our bride/groom Mickey ears, champagne, 2 champagne glasses, cheese and crackers, and chocolates.... I had hoped for it to get delivered to our room and to surprise him when he walked in but after lunch, the front desk had left a message that someone has to be in the room to accept alcohol so I called them right back when John was in the shower and told them we would be in the room if they could deliver it within the next 15 minutes, and the girl said she would do her best..... this was around 2:45.... at 4:00, there was still no delivery to our room and we had to get going to Chef Mickey's for our ADR.... so I ended up having to go with John to the front desk to get the basket.... it was not as much of a surprise as if it would have been delivered waiting in our room, but he was still surprised so that was all that mattered..... up next, our dinner at Chef Mickey's!
Day 1- Check in to the Beach Club villas, Lunch at Hurricane Hannahs, Dinner at Chef Mickey's
We arrived at Disney's Beach Club villas around 11AM on Wednesday morning. This was my first time renting points from a DVC member and I must say I would never do it any other way! It was a great experience. Not only did we save $1000s by doing it this way, we also were able to take advantage of some DVC discounts because we were guests of a DVC member (more on that later)! Pretty much the only difference between staying at the resort and staying in the villas is that there is no housekeeping (one day, they came in and took our garbage and gave us more towels).... but that did not matter to us. Since we got to the hotel very early (I think check-in is around 4pm), I did not expect to get our room yet- I just wanted to get our dining plan paid for and set up so we could eat lunch on the plan.... but our room was ready! When I told him it was our honeymoon, the man at the front desk gave us the "just married" pins and gave me the last rose he had in a vase behind the desk. We went straight to our room- we got a studio, and it was very nice, just like a standard hotel room, but with a kitchenette, microwave..... I was a little disappointed that we were on the first floor (I always like a balcony) and the patio was pretty small.... there was no view but I had already heard that the BCV do not have a view of epcot for the most part.... I chose to stay at the BCV mostly for the fabulous pool and the 5 min walk to Epcot and it was very convenient!! Ok- here is my first attempt at a picture of our hotel:
<img src="http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=100001500gr6.jpg">
Our first lunch on the dining plan, we ate at the poolside grill at the BC- Hurricane Hannahs. We had never been on the dining plan before and I heard it was a lot of food.... we are definitely not used to eating 3 course meals but I think the plan was really great, so easy and nice to not have to worry about tipping too!
For lunch, we both got cheeseburgers, 2 cokes, I got a chocolate chip cookie for dessert and John got an apple. The cheeseburgers were fabulous, desserts we ended up saving for later (and never got around to eating them)....
Cost of Meal
Cheeseburger- $5.89
Cheeseburger- $5.89
Coke- $2.09
Coke- $2.09
Chocolate Chip Cookie- $2.09
Apple- $ 0.99
Total Cost- $19.04
2 CS Credits used
One thing I had planned (actually last minute planned the night before!) was to surprise John with a gift basket from the Disney World Florist.... it had our bride/groom Mickey ears, champagne, 2 champagne glasses, cheese and crackers, and chocolates.... I had hoped for it to get delivered to our room and to surprise him when he walked in but after lunch, the front desk had left a message that someone has to be in the room to accept alcohol so I called them right back when John was in the shower and told them we would be in the room if they could deliver it within the next 15 minutes, and the girl said she would do her best..... this was around 2:45.... at 4:00, there was still no delivery to our room and we had to get going to Chef Mickey's for our ADR.... so I ended up having to go with John to the front desk to get the basket.... it was not as much of a surprise as if it would have been delivered waiting in our room, but he was still surprised so that was all that mattered..... up next, our dinner at Chef Mickey's!