This elevator leads directly to THE GIFT SHOP! A Dec. 2011 TR from BWI - FINAL 8-27

[kwitcherkicken99]

For a really poor example of WHY I’m writing this TR, see here.


It was a really bad example of a PTR, but trust me – my TR’s are WAY better! See here.http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2748176

Anyway, this is a recollection of my 7 day/6 night stay at WDW with my best friend, Erica, and her mom, MB. We stayed at Boardwalk Inn with an awesome room (and a surprise theme park view…).

The beginning will be light on photos but I promise there will be plenty others to view down the road.

So aboard on our amazing trip!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

POST 3: Introduction to the road past traveled
POST 4: The Plot Thickens...
POST 5: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

POST 6: Day from Hades... the beginning
POST 7: Day from Hades gets hotter
POST 8: And even hotter...
POST 9: Day from Hades eventually cools off
POST 10: Have you met my friend, tequila?
POST 11: Getting our feet wet
POST 12: Wait... my phone rang?
POST 13: Day 2 & the FP dash for TSM
POST 14: We've got character!
POST 15: What to do? What to do?
POST 16: ST, Sci-Fi, and a BIG MISTAKE.
POST 17: Beware the creature from the Black Lagoon!
POST 18: Day 3 & the morning of MVMCP
POST 20: Party on Wayne
POST 21: The sky is falling
POST 22: You’ve GOT to be kidding me!
POST 23: Tour Day
POST 24: Cousin Jed and his kinfolk…
POST 25: What time is the 3 o’clock parade?
POST 26: Central shops – the super secret building place
POST 27 Day 5: Animal Kingdom
POST 28: Rafiki’s and the elusive Russell
POST 29: Holding our breath
POST 30: Poor Disco Betty…
Post 31: Dinner in EP
POST 32: Day 6 - MK
Post 33: How dare you child!
Post 34: In the torture, torture, torture, torture, torture room
Post 35: So long, Cap’n
Post 36: To Tomorrowland and Beyond!
Post 37: You did WHAT?!?!?!?!
Post 38: Still the most depressing day of vacation
POST 39: I think I just scared the pants off that CM. Oops!
POST 40: Don’t forget to volunteer!
POST 41: WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
POST 42: The end of it all =(

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

To take you back a little bit – when E and I hatched this plan to vacation together in Florida instead of me flying to her hometown in South Dakota, we decided that we were either going to go big or… well… go big.

We wanted this trip to be one that MB would NEVER forget. We planned and planned, reformulated, and planned some more until we had the GREATEST ideas to make MB a blubbering mess of happiness for the duration of the trip. E and MB would arrive in Florida a few days before me and spend time at the “other” park then I was to meet up with them and spend the rest of the time in WDW.

We decided that this trip would be full of firsts. That included a new resort, new food, and new experiences and most importantly, TOP SECRET SURPRISES!

First order of business for the WDW portion was the room. Once E settled on a new resort, the Boardwalk Inn, we scoured various internet resources for examples of the rooms and decided we weren’t too keen on the décor and layout of the rooms at BWI but we made our decision and were sticking to it. MB loved the EP area resorts as EP is her favorite park, so it only made sense to stay there and they’d already stayed at BC so BWI it was.

Upon viewing the photos here http://allears.net/acc/bwiss.htm our minds went to work on how we can festi-vize the room. By the time we were finished, every inch of the room was accounted for on how to Christmas it up.

Then we talked about what surprises we could pull off during the week. We considered a fireworks cruise and the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party but neither was a good fit. We opted for a basket of goodies and the Behind the Seeds tour for our special treats as well as having a mini-Christmas during the week.

Once we got the main things covered we needed to devise a plan to get the room decorated secretly. We literally decided to cover every square inch of the room in Christmas in some way and with bag fees so high we knew we needed to ship boxes ahead (and the headache that comes along with it – more on that in a bit…) because our suitcases would be full enough as it was.

Our plan was set and we were ready to go.

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! Could I be first...and not LAST???

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I sure hope not!

I'm digging through my PTR to those I've lost touch with. My guess is almost everyone is in bed...

 

[PrincessInOz]

I sure hope not!

I'm digging through my PTR to those I've lost touch with. My guess is almost everyone is in bed...

*almost*....'cept for us night-shifty-noises.


Looking forward to the ride.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm here! And I NEED to know what that title means!

 

[usnuzuloose]

Nice to be reading your report, nice to have you back online, you were missed.I am here.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I'm here! And I NEED to know what that title means!

Be patient grasshopper...


You only need to wait about 20 posts!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Nice to be reading your report, nice to have you back online, you were missed.I am here.

Aww thanks usnuz!

I missed everyone around here, too!

Stupid change of schools (for work) and lack of proper internet forced me away.

 

[annmarieda]

I am here! I am glad I didn't miss you starting. Good thing you gave me a little nudge to help me figure out you did other wise I would have probably missed it. That would have sucked!!!

Can't wait to read about your adventure!

 

[pharmjenn]

I am looking forward to reading your report. I have never been to the parks for a holiday, but will be staying at BWV this summer, so can't wait to hear your thoughts on the property plus your trip.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Yeah!!!

I get to live vicariously through... hey wait a minute, I'm a supporting role in this TR. Can you live vicariously through yourself?

Meh, my next trip isn't for months, and even then it is only Sioux Falls, lets get this party starting I'm dying to know what... hey wait a minute

This is going to be like someone blurting out the end to Harry Potter book 6 (which sadly I have done to one poor unsuspecting soul {sorry Dylan} ) and yet still read the books {not sure if he did finish}.

Anywho I am here, I'm supportive, I'm comic relief (not that we need it) and I promise to try and stay an active lurker (sorry Janet) LETS GO! Where is my next installment!!!

Have I mentioned I love you yet today

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I am looking forward to reading your report. I have never been to the parks for a holiday, but will be staying at BWV this summer, so can't wait to hear your thoughts on the property plus your trip.

HI!!

I didn't spend a lot of time perusing the grounds but the Inn side main building is really nice! I loved the decorations more than I expected to and the location couldn't be beat.

The folks at Bell Services were great and the grounds were pretty. The resort is well-themed and I believed it all.

I'll be the first to say I'm not a fan of white walls, buildings, etc - it has always felt so static BUT I loved the use of it here.

I've got some more shots from the property that I'll post eventually.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I am here! I am glad I didn't miss you starting. Good thing you gave me a little nudge to help me figure out you did other wise I would have probably missed it. That would have sucked!!!

Can't wait to read about your adventure!

Hi!!!

After my DIS-hiatus I was afraid I'd lose touch with everyone! Glad you popped over.

I'll be heading over to your TR to see how your trip panned out soon.

Been dealing with 2 kids with strep and DH has a sinus infection.

How's your family doing?

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Yeah!!!

I get to live vicariously through... hey wait a minute, I'm a supporting role in this TR. Can you live vicariously through yourself?

Meh, my next trip isn't for months, and even then it is only Sioux Falls, lets get this party starting I'm dying to know what... hey wait a minute

This is going to be like someone blurting out the end to Harry Potter book 6 (which sadly I have done to one poor unsuspecting soul {sorry Dylan} ) and yet still read the books {not sure if he did finish}.

Anywho I am here, I'm supportive, I'm comic relief (not that we need it) and I promise to try and stay an active lurker (sorry Janet) LETS GO! Where is my next installment!!!

Have I mentioned I love you yet today

We might need some relief!

And you can't spill ANY BEANS... no matter how much Janet begs you to learn the reason behind the title of the TR!

I'll see your next installment and raise you a posting!

MWAHHHHH!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Hot dog!

Not even 24 hours old and I've turned a page!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

We secured airfare for me at the best possible time of day. My flight would leave Indianapolis at 7 a.m. and arrive at MCO around 9:15a. We planned for lunch at 1:00 at San Angel. Providing my flight landed perfectly, I’d have time to grab my luggage, get the packages we mailed ahead, then run up to the room, decorate it, then hightail it over to Mexico. We would tell MB that I wasn’t going to land until noon and I’d have a good amount of time to decorate and get to the park.

Simple, right? :

Not so much…

Remember the box headache I alluded to in my last post?

and with bag fees so high we knew we needed to ship boxes ahead (and the headache that comes along with it – more on that in a bit…)

Well… we learned the HARD way what NOT to do when shipping boxes to the Walt Disney Property.

We both mailed our packages early in the week after Thanksgiving to make sure we had a good enough buffer for the annual higher volume of mail traffic due to the holidays. We packed our goods and sent them US Mail. I called BWI directly to get on our reservation that we would have some boxes and to PLEASE not let MB, the primary on our reservation, know anything about them.

Once E and MB arrived in Florida and I got confirmation from USPS that my packages had arrived at the Walt Disney World property I called BWI to confirm they made it to the resort. No one had a CLUE as to what I was talking about… I called the next day and the next a few times. FINALLY I got all the way up to a manager for them to inform me that all USPS mail goes to the central warehouse and not directly to the resort. ONLY UPS and FedEx packages go directly to the resorts.

Luckily a day prior to my arrival, our packages made it out of the central warehouse and over to BWI where they were safely tucked into housekeeping until I was ready to reclaim them.

Sadly though, this wasn't our lone hiccup for arrival day.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

This was the view outside the door of the elevators we used to get to our room.

Boardwalk Bakery sign (where we could successfully trade CS for snack credits):

Sunset on the Boardwalk:

 

[PrincessInOz]

Forecast for this TR at the moment? Sound like a couple of bumpy hiccoughs are scheduled along the way.

What made you choose USPS for mailing packages and not UPS or FedEx?