rinkwide
04-20-2005, 10:40 AM
If you don't have anything nice to say...
Ahh, where to begin. How 'bout the room?
The wear and tear in 465: To be honest, the room wasn't in great condition. The carpet was pulling up by bathtub, worn down edges of the furniture, sticky stains on the couch, etc. Heck, none of that stuff ever bothered me, I just kept telling myself the goo on the couch was Twinkie filling.
BCV Epcot view is overrated: In the whole 2 weeks I only half-watched Illuminations from the room once. We were way too busy. Ironically, Soarin' was sort of blockin' our view.
Illuminations cruise is overrated too: Sure, it was a special treat to see it from a boat but I didn't think the viewing spot was all that great. For that kind of money I wanted singed eyebrows.
Some truth to the surly BC front desk CM rumors: I had no problems personally. My wife took issue with one gal she delt with while trying to coordinate the addition of an adjoining lock-off to our 1bdrm. Seems her pixie dust might have been a quart low (the CM's, not my wife's (well, maybe both)).
Newly refurbished BC store a hit: The layout and item selection (especially food) seems much improved. Traffic in the store seemed way up over that of previous visits. Maybe it's just that it's been closed for so long. I can tell you we seemed to spend a lot more time and money in there on this trip. Did you know you can buy Tinkerbell underwear for every day of the week? Tip: Buy the next size larger cause they do tend to ride-up.
Everyone must order a Beaches & Cream Kitchen Sink at least once before they die: It's too much fun and you get a lot of not-quite-envious looks from those around you. Had a cardiologist hand me his card on the way out.
New luxurious DVC coming soon to ???: Talked at length with someone at one of the DVC kiosks. He said he couldn't say where or when but it was clear by our conversation that it would be very convenient to MK. He also went out of his way to mention that it would be more upscale with amenities such as plasma TVs and the like. Folks, look for the points per night to go through the roof on this one.
Fishing the World Showcase Lagoon before park opening is surreal: Went out of the Yacht Club from 7 to 9am and my guide motored us all around the world. Tip: Flip a lure into the Italian gondola moorings and you'll have a big ole' bass inhale it as soon as it hits the water. Mama Mia!
Universal Studios Orlando is pretty darn cool: US is a surprisingly great park and my 6-year-old had a fantastic time, as did I. With MIB, Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, Back To The Future, The Mummy and Jaws they've got a pretty solid lineup that certainly rivals Disney MGM Studios. What sucks is you can't just buy a 1 park 1 day pass, they make you buy a two-park one for like $60+.
Emeril's Restaurant at Universal City Walk has great food: Worth a trip outside "the World" for this one. Service is good too but they do tend to look at you funny if you absent-mindedly give them your DDE card when the check comes.
Speaking of DDE: We sure got our money's worth out of that thing. Gotta' love that it works on the alcohol. The wife says we saved about $450 over the course of the trip. Hey, wait a minute, I'm not a math wiz but that means we spent over... Yikes! better just focus on the savings.
Discovery Cove is nice (as long as you've never been on a Disney Cruise): If you've been to Castaway Cay, Stingray City or done the Dolphin swim out of Nassau like we have then DC just won't do it for you. Water temp was a chilly 75. If it had been 85 we'd have had a much better time. Maybe they could charge $300 a pop instead of $250 and heat up the water?
Epcot's Soarin' needs to have additional film shot of the entire USA: It's a great ride regardless, but if they could just add Mt Rushmore, the NYC skyline, wheat fields of Kansas... Oh well, CA has pretty much everything you could want in a state anyway so maybe it's not really necessary.
All-in-all, it was just another great trip home to WDW: You know, a stay at any DVC Resort is kinda' like pizza or sex; Even when it's bad it's still pretty good.
Yeah, I know it was a long post, but hey, it was a long trip.
Ahh, where to begin. How 'bout the room?
The wear and tear in 465: To be honest, the room wasn't in great condition. The carpet was pulling up by bathtub, worn down edges of the furniture, sticky stains on the couch, etc. Heck, none of that stuff ever bothered me, I just kept telling myself the goo on the couch was Twinkie filling.
BCV Epcot view is overrated: In the whole 2 weeks I only half-watched Illuminations from the room once. We were way too busy. Ironically, Soarin' was sort of blockin' our view.
Illuminations cruise is overrated too: Sure, it was a special treat to see it from a boat but I didn't think the viewing spot was all that great. For that kind of money I wanted singed eyebrows.
Some truth to the surly BC front desk CM rumors: I had no problems personally. My wife took issue with one gal she delt with while trying to coordinate the addition of an adjoining lock-off to our 1bdrm. Seems her pixie dust might have been a quart low (the CM's, not my wife's (well, maybe both)).
Newly refurbished BC store a hit: The layout and item selection (especially food) seems much improved. Traffic in the store seemed way up over that of previous visits. Maybe it's just that it's been closed for so long. I can tell you we seemed to spend a lot more time and money in there on this trip. Did you know you can buy Tinkerbell underwear for every day of the week? Tip: Buy the next size larger cause they do tend to ride-up.
Everyone must order a Beaches & Cream Kitchen Sink at least once before they die: It's too much fun and you get a lot of not-quite-envious looks from those around you. Had a cardiologist hand me his card on the way out.
New luxurious DVC coming soon to ???: Talked at length with someone at one of the DVC kiosks. He said he couldn't say where or when but it was clear by our conversation that it would be very convenient to MK. He also went out of his way to mention that it would be more upscale with amenities such as plasma TVs and the like. Folks, look for the points per night to go through the roof on this one.
Fishing the World Showcase Lagoon before park opening is surreal: Went out of the Yacht Club from 7 to 9am and my guide motored us all around the world. Tip: Flip a lure into the Italian gondola moorings and you'll have a big ole' bass inhale it as soon as it hits the water. Mama Mia!
Universal Studios Orlando is pretty darn cool: US is a surprisingly great park and my 6-year-old had a fantastic time, as did I. With MIB, Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, Back To The Future, The Mummy and Jaws they've got a pretty solid lineup that certainly rivals Disney MGM Studios. What sucks is you can't just buy a 1 park 1 day pass, they make you buy a two-park one for like $60+.
Emeril's Restaurant at Universal City Walk has great food: Worth a trip outside "the World" for this one. Service is good too but they do tend to look at you funny if you absent-mindedly give them your DDE card when the check comes.
Speaking of DDE: We sure got our money's worth out of that thing. Gotta' love that it works on the alcohol. The wife says we saved about $450 over the course of the trip. Hey, wait a minute, I'm not a math wiz but that means we spent over... Yikes! better just focus on the savings.
Discovery Cove is nice (as long as you've never been on a Disney Cruise): If you've been to Castaway Cay, Stingray City or done the Dolphin swim out of Nassau like we have then DC just won't do it for you. Water temp was a chilly 75. If it had been 85 we'd have had a much better time. Maybe they could charge $300 a pop instead of $250 and heat up the water?
Epcot's Soarin' needs to have additional film shot of the entire USA: It's a great ride regardless, but if they could just add Mt Rushmore, the NYC skyline, wheat fields of Kansas... Oh well, CA has pretty much everything you could want in a state anyway so maybe it's not really necessary.
All-in-all, it was just another great trip home to WDW: You know, a stay at any DVC Resort is kinda' like pizza or sex; Even when it's bad it's still pretty good.
Yeah, I know it was a long post, but hey, it was a long trip.