Our First Full Week at the World, and we went during Spring Break?!? Conclusion 6/2

[scott2997]

D-day arrived.....the day before the flight....the day I could attempt to print our boarding passes online. If I could print them without a "please call for assistance" message, we'd be one step closer to actually getting on our originally planned flight.

I woke up that morning with butterflies of nervousness running through me. Would the airline really dash all my months of planning and bump us? I had to wait until 9:30a or so before I could try.

Good news....I received an email from them stating..."Print your Boarding Passes now!" With a nice little link to their site.

Here goes nothing...


And after about 5 different screens and clicking continue....the magical "Print Boarding Passes" button appeared!

Now I can continue may day....with less nervousness.



Saturday - March 31st.

We had to wake up pretty darn early to drive and hour and 45 minutes to get to the airport and still give us enough time to get through security on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Our alarm went off at around 4:15a or so to be on the road by 5:30a.

We ended up getting on the road by about 5:40a. Not bad. Thankfully the drive was uneventful and we made it to long term parking in our shorts and warm weather wear. Getting out of the car was a crude reminder of the cold temperatures we were leaving. It must've been in the 30s! So yes, it was cold walking the 10 minute walk to the terminal....but we were going to Walt Disney World!


The amazing part is, my DD's still didn't know we were going to WDW! To them, we were still going to the "Ocean". Our typical Spring Break trip is to the beach in Daytona with my DW's family. My DW and I had discussed how and when we would tell them. And due to their ages, we thought we could try and keep it from them until we were in line for DME.


But first, we had to get on a plane! Would they let us on???


We step up to check in our bags and after some nervous moments of making sure they were under the 40 pound limit, we were off through security!


We had made it! I count that as a little pixie dust to get us started!


Waiting at the gate - where's our plane???

We're going to Disney World and the kids still don't know....

The plane shows up - we get on with no additional drama....and off we go. It was an uneventful flight with the iPads keeping the girls entertained.

We land and head straight to DME. Got in line for our appropriate bus. The lines were surprisingly not that long considering the crowds that were ahead of us for the week.


As we're waiting in line...I point out to Addison the mickey mouse on our DME packet - and the mickey mouse on the queue post.

"Do you want to go on Mickey's Bus Addison?"

"Yes" A smile instantly on her face as she starts to realize that something might be a little bit different about this trip.

"Do you think you might want to go to Disney World?"

"Yes" The jumping up and down starts...

"How about for a whole WEEK?"

"YES! Oh, I'm so excited" As she jumps up and down crazily.


Then our line starting moving...would we make it on this bus? We get all the way to the front of the line and they stop us. We just missed it!



Oh well, we'll get the first seats on the next bus! But wait....they're coming back. We can go on! And some more pixie dust for us.

We got a Cruise Line bus....

And of course, the welcome video wasn't working...so they played the Cruise Line video for us. Oh well, at least it was something. And who cares...we're on our way to WDW!!!

Then we saw this...

We're here!

continued in next post.

 

[scott2997]

We got off the bus, gathered up our stroller and made our way to the online check-in area at the Contemporary.

No Wait - sweet!

I had placed a couple of room requests on our reservation and I asked the gal if they were able to accommodate any of them. She said that she hadn't seen any room request on the reservation, but she would do her best to see what she could do.

I had done some "research" before hand and knew that if I requested a North facing studio at BLT on the outer ring - that we'd have a great opportunity to have a view of the Magic Kingdom - even in a Lake View Room. I specifically was looking for a room ending in 06, 08, or 14. Then she said that she had a ninth floor room ending in 08 open, but it wasn't ready yet.

"I'll take it!"

By this time, it was a little after 2p. Normally nap time for my DD's. But they're still going strong. WDW adrenaline had kicked in and nothing was slowing them down.

We decided to head up to Contempo Cafe and get our resort mugs for the week as we were on the DDP. We ended up grabbing some lunch and sampled their flat breads. YUM! I highly recommend the plain cheese one. It was then when we first experienced the decadence of the Red Velvet Cupcake. OMG - it was a little piece of heaven.

I had arranged for some groceries through WeGoShop before we departed and called to let them know that we had arrived. Soon after they met me outside the lobby of the Contemporary with our items and saw to it that they made it to bell services until our room was ready. They were outstanding folks to deal with and made it so easy! Plus, they can deliver booze if you so choose!

After our lunch, we made our way over to the opposite side of the 4th floor area to wait until our room was ready. We waited, and waited...

Looked at the shops...waited some more....Saw the Avengers monorail go by...So cool

A little after 4, the text was received. We made it up to our room and headed out to the balcony...looked off a bit to the left and saw this...

And zooming in.....

Not a bad view huh?? I'm so happy I did my "research"!


Well we made it to our room - but what would we do next?


Well, tonight the DW and I were off for our "date night". My wonderful SIL agreed to take care of the DD's while we went out. I had received a $25 Gift Certificate for Il Mulino New York Trattoria in the Swan some months ago as a prize from a drawing. (Thanks AJRitz) We had originally planned to head to DTD, but since it was already later in the day we decided to hop a bus over at MK and check out the boardwalk area instead since it was so close to the Swan.

While Jenn took our DD's down to the pool, we made our walk over to MK to catch a bus to the Boardwalk area. We loved being able to walk back and forth to MK - major benefit of staying at BLT or Contemporary!

We walked the boardwalk, checking out the shops...took a obligatory picture...

and made it to dinner.

Dinner was amazing! They started us off with a bread basket with two different breads and an appetizer of salami and some kind of eggplant parmesan spread. Yum! I had the Veal Saltimbocca....

and Tricia had Red Snapper. I didn't get a pic of hers, sorry. We finished off our bottle of wine (had to get a bottle of wine - it's date night!). Then we received a complimentary limoncello for dessert. We really didn't need any more booze in us after finishing off that bottle of wine - but it was refreshing nonetheless.


By this time, it was late and we had had a long day. But, we still had one more mission before we called it a night. In a couple of days, Addison had a surprise BBB appointment and we needed to find some shoes to go with her dress that we had brought from home. We stumbled our way over to the Swan's bus stop to hop a bus to DTD to check out the World of Disney store for the shoes. A bus came shortly after and after what seemed like an eternity of many stops, we finally made it to DTD. We dashed through the hoards of people and made our way to World of Disney. We find the shoes we're looking for - but they don't have her size. In fact, they don't have any other size but 2/3! We ask if they have any more in back, and unfortunately they didn't.

So after what seemed to be an hour bus ride from the Swan, we spent 20 minutes at DTD and came up empty handed.

We decided to head to the bus stop and head back to BLT to get some much needed rest.

We caught our bus and made our way back to the room. The DD's were in bed. We made our way out to our balcony one more time before bed. This time we caught a view of Wishes! This would be the first of many times we were able to enjoy Wishes right from our room.

An amazing end to an amazing day.

But what would we do tomorrow? Stay tuned!

 

[dreamerchic33]

reading along!
LOVE your TR so far! I always enjoy hearing a man's perspective!
GREAT room view! Thank you so much for the tip! Good to know!
You have a beautiful family!
How cute to hear your girl's reactions to going to WDW!!!
Looking forward to hearing more!
Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[dreamerchic33]

reading along!
LOVE your TR so far! I always enjoy hearing a man's perspective!
GREAT room view! Thank you so much for the tip! Good to know!
You have a beautiful family!
How cute to hear your girl's reactions to going to WDW!!!
Looking forward to hearing more!
Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[tink65]

Just started on your trip report! I am so glad everything went ok for your flights. I hate to be on pins & needles like that! I always get so teary eyed when I see that Walt Dinsey World sign.....even just in pictures. Your view from BLT was awesome! Can't wait to read more...

 

[scott2997]

reading along!
LOVE your TR so far! I always enjoy hearing a man's perspective!
GREAT room view! Thank you so much for the tip! Good to know!
You have a beautiful family!
How cute to hear your girl's reactions to going to WDW!!!
Looking forward to hearing more!
Thanks for sharing!!!

Welcome!

We really enjoyed our room. It might have been cramped for all of us - but the view and being able to hear all the MK sounds at night made it sooo worth it!

Just started on your trip report! I am so glad everything went ok for your flights. I hate to be on pins & needles like that! I always get so teary eyed when I see that Walt Dinsey World sign.....even just in pictures. Your view from BLT was awesome! Can't wait to read more...

Seeing that WDW sign is almost as awesome as hearing the monorail spiel the first time during a trip. Gives me chills and really makes me realize that we made it!

Thanks for reading along.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm glad that the airline didn't screw you over. I would have been very upset if I had received a phone call like that. I guess that's another reason I prefer to drive.

Love the view... great job of doing your research. Just don't let the fine folks at Disney know about this, or they'll become theme park partial view premium rooms or something.

 

[Maestra99]

Joining in and enjoying it so far! How fun to surprise your daughters like that - I can't wait to do that with my little prince one day. BLT is my dream resort! I'm interested to see how it works out with that many people in a studio. I'm sure it was worth the awesome resort and view!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

what a stressful start to your trip but the meal and view from your accomodation look amazing.

 

[Heluvsme]

Reading along!! Great trippy so far!!
LOVE your room, SCORE!

Oh, and that call from the airlines, I would have stroked out! I am such a planner, that really would have done me in.
Glad it all worked out!!!

~~Dawn

 

[scott2997]

I'm glad that the airline didn't screw you over. I would have been very upset if I had received a phone call like that. I guess that's another reason I prefer to drive.

Love the view... great job of doing your research. Just don't let the fine folks at Disney know about this, or they'll become theme park partial view premium rooms or something.

Normally we don't mind driving. We've always driven to Daytona when we've gone. But this year I couldn't pass up on the low fare.

Joining in and enjoying it so far! How fun to surprise your daughters like that - I can't wait to do that with my little prince one day. BLT is my dream resort! I'm interested to see how it works out with that many people in a studio. I'm sure it was worth the awesome resort and view!

I love BLT! It, for me, is the ultimate location for those with little girls. We tend to spend more time at MK than any other park - so with it being in walking distance, BLT was perfect!

Having 5 people in a studio normally doesn't happen. It's just because Claire is under 3 that this is even an option. We originally planned on having her sleep in the Pack n' play that is provided. But due to space constraints she ended up sleeping on the pull out couch with me. And the other three had the queen bed. Yes, it was tight. But the next available alternative at a different resort would have cost a good chunk of $$.

what a stressful start to your trip but the meal and view from your accomodation look amazing.

The meal was amazing. I would definitely go back to Il Mulino. I was quite skeptical after reading some so-so reviews on it. We enjoyed it.

And the view was amazing from our room.

Reading along!! Great trippy so far!!
LOVE your room, SCORE!

Oh, and that call from the airlines, I would have stroked out! I am such a planner, that really would have done me in.
Glad it all worked out!!!

~~Dawn

Welcome Dawn!

I almost had the big one too. We have another flight with this airline in June. I'm hoping this one goes off without a hitch!

 

[twokids0204]

Well, I have to say... I am not as excited about the latest update as I was for the first couple.

I was looking so forward for the plane bumping you, or the reservation being lost, or the room facing the swamp, or air conditioning not working, or a dastardly stench seeping in from the room above, a hair in the food... anything!

Against my better judgement, I will keep reading... I know most people hope it gets better, but I don't share those good wishes for my nemesis...

 

[twokids0204]

Well, I have to say... I am not as excited about the latest update as I was for the first couple.

I was looking so forward for the plane bumping you, or the reservation being lost, or the room facing the swamp, or air conditioning not working, or a dastardly stench seeping in from the room above, a hair in the food... anything!

Against my better judgement, I will keep reading... I know most people hope it gets better, but I don't share those good wishes for my nemesis...

I am at least hoping it rains tomorrow. It's not fair the only one inconvenienced so far is sweet innocent DD, not having shoes.

The only saving grace is you waited forever on those busses. I guess there is some form of justice afterall.

 

[scott2997]

I am at least hoping it rains tomorrow. It's not fair the only one inconvenienced so far is sweet innocent DD, not having shoes.

The only saving grace is you waited forever on those busses. I guess there is some form of justice afterall.

So sorry to disappoint you Brian. It must've been your MaketheBusGoSlow-inator that caused us to have that long bus ride.

 

[cj9200]

I am in. Glad WeGo went well. Flying in on the next trip and know where I am getting supplies. Glad you guys made the plane. Flying used to be an adventure. Now it is an adventure for the wrong reasons.

Nice looking family Scott. Looking forward to your future adventures. Oh, and you room view wasn't bad either.

 

[scott2997]

I am in. Glad WeGo went well. Flying in on the next trip and know where I am getting supplies. Glad you guys made the plane. Flying used to be an adventure. Now it is an adventure for the wrong reasons.

Nice looking family Scott. Looking forward to your future adventures. Oh, and you room view wasn't bad either.

WeGoShop was great. Amy is the gal that runs the Orlando location - she did a great job for us.

And I have to give all the credit to my wife for providing me a good looking family. Thanks!

 

[Britard]

Loving this report so far! Can't wait to see the BBB adventure and if you find any suitable shoes for your princess!!

 

[twokids0204]

And I have to give all the credit to my wife for providing me a good looking family. Thanks!

Nemesis... we finally agree on something!

 

[scott2997]

Sunday, April 1st

And where would our parks adventure begin???

I'll give you a hint.....It's got a big golf ball out in front.....

Yep EPCOT!

This would be our first monorail experience of the trip. I was probably the most excited one. I don't know what it is about hearing that monorail spiel - but it gets me every time.

We woke up pretty darn early. I have to say, for folks that are used to a beach R&R vacation, we were up pretty early every day to try to make it to the parks my Rope Drop.

We made our way over to the 4th floor Contemporary to get on our monorail.

We made our way to the TTC, changed monorails, and get to EPCOT just over the initial Rope Drop.

There was still a line and we waited patiently..

Addison was all about her autograph book...we're not even in the park and she's ready!

Where do we head first?

Of Course! I was all excited. We got there and the wait was only 20 minutes. So we quickly ran and got fast passes for later and jumped in the standby line. This was the first time we utilized the rider swap option. So it was my DW and I with Addison in line while Aunt Jenn waited with Claire.

I love this pic...

I was especially excited for this trip due to the fact that Addison was now 40" and could ride some things that she wasn't able to before. Soarin, Test Track etc...

Unfortunately, this line experience would set the tone for the rest of the week. We got all the way to the front of the queue, were sitting in the hang-glider and Addison decides she didn't want to ride. Oh well - maybe next time.

I proceed to ride by myself as Tricia takes Addison off the ride. Then Aunt Jenn and Tricia ride with the rider swap pass while I wait with the girls.

After riding, we stop at Sunshine Seasons to get a snack for breakfast. The chocolate croissants are very yummy!

And since we were right there, we jumped in the line for the Land. Consistent with her theme of not wanting to ride, Addison decided to stay with DW while Aunt Jenn, Claire, and I rode.

I could see how the beginning of the ride with the thunderstorm would've done Addison in. She doesn't like the dark, let alone a storm in it! But, she missed out on this...

It was then I decided to make someone's day with the fast passes I had obtained earlier.

We walked outside, trying to find a family of 4 that looked like they were on a mission. No luck.

So we decided to go ride Nemo quick and look while we were walking. It was DW, Claire, and I on Nemo this time. Claire was a trooper with the dark rides, didn't faze her Sassiness a bit!

On our walk back from Nemo through the entrance area to the Land pavilion. I spotted them. That family of 4 I had been looking for. I stopped them and asked if they were interested in fast passes for Soarin. Turns out they were a British family and they thanked me in a wonderful British accent. BONUS! I love passing on the pixie dust when I can! pixie dust:

Where to next??

It was the longest wait we waited for any one attraction all week. The posted time was 60 minutes...I think we made in through in 45.

I'll just post the picture of the big cheese for ya....

Addison and Claire were in all their glory. Pictures and autographs all around!

We then made our way over to the butterfly tent. Addison was talking about it all morning as the thing she wanted to do. She found out about it from a CM at the park entrance, I believe.

Here's a couple of shots from there...

And just outside the tent...

I love being in EPCOT during Flower and Garden...it's so colorful!

Well after a little shopping, it was time for our lunch ADR....

That's right, we were eating in Canada! Yum! You have to try this...

It's their Cheddar Cheese Soup infused with Moosehead beer and bacon!

Lunch was amazing - I had the filet over mushroom risotto, Aunt Jenn had the pork chop, and my DW had the Salmon. Everyone was very pleased with their meals. Desert was Maple Creme Brûlée and Chocolate "Moose".

After lunch, we decided to break for naps. So we hopped a monorail back to the TTC, and to the resort monorail back "Home".

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Day 2 - coming soon!

 

[Emma's Dad]

Whoa... I go an vacation for a few days and you start a TR?!? Sounds like the trip started off ratehr nicely despite your nemesisisisis attempts! Great updates, Scott! Great choice on the first park Completely agree with the whole Flower and Garden Festival making Epcot more magical. Can't wait to read more!