Will You Chill Out if I Sprinkle You With Pixie Dust? The End p136 *New TR Link* p138

[eandesmom]

So, where will you be staying on the group trip. I thought it was going to be BWV. Tough being an owner at both places, isn't it? Decisions. Decisions.

Current plan is for a split stay. In my mind it's 6/3 BWV/THV but Jeff balked a little at the 9 nights over the weekend. Realistically we just need to map it out over the next month, he's worried that with the addition of the Aulani week he might not have enough vacation time for a 9 night trip. We will see. The boys have their heart set on THV but are ok with it even if it's only one night, as long as they get at least one there. A 6/3 split works well with our points and well if we do WDW/US in that order. Complication could be the dates spilling into the school year and whether that works for everyone or not. We will get them hammered out over the holidays though.

And I am hoping to start our TR next week. I am going to upload my cell pics to my new computer, but most of my memory cards are uploaded to the other computer, so I may finish those edits. Organization is the key.

BTW - How WAS that Boddington's? It looked good, even at 5am!

I started my upload but honestly have no idea where I left off so will have to get on that, hopefully this weekend while working on the photopass sort, which is so big we have TWO CD's!. I haven't even finished all my editing for the summer trip lol! But at least I"m a few days ahead of where I am on the TR so I guess that's something.

The Boddington's was good. About half of one would have been better. Didn't bug me the next morning but by last night was feeling it for sure. Not sure if was that, or just 4 days in a row of indulgence just all adding up. We were at an Irish pub/restaurant and ordering anything other than beer (or whiskey, which I don't typically drink) seemed just wrong!

 

[KatMark]

On the flight home and trying to read and catch up on a couple of threads; I am loving your picture recap, MaryEllen.

 

[natebenma]

Thank you so much for the photo recap. I know it was a lot of work, but it was a great way to relive the highlights of your trip (hopefully for you too). There were a few pictures either I didn't see or forgot all about.

LOVED the one of the Haunted Mansion as seen through the awning. And the closeup of your nephew hugging Eeyore. You don't see that perspective in many character greet photos, but that one was just so sweet!

I have been dragging my feet on my TR- I think I have one more update and maybe some final thoughts, but that one is almost in the can. Then I can get back and finish my Atlantis report- I think my next update there will be our tour of Nassau, so I will let you know when I post that.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Oh wow, you have a number of emotional things on your plate right now, don't you?

Wonderful photo recap!! It was fun to "relive" the trip!!

Untitled by dvcmek1, on Flickr

I LOVE this! Where did you find it??? (sorry if you said in the chatter, I missed it!)

 

[amandaw]

Love your photo recap of the trip! You really got so many lovely pictures.

 

[MEK]

Current plan is for a split stay. In my mind it's 6/3 BWV/THV but Jeff balked a little at the 9 nights over the weekend. Realistically we just need to map it out over the next month, he's worried that with the addition of the Aulani week he might not have enough vacation time for a 9 night trip. We will see. The boys have their heart set on THV but are ok with it even if it's only one night, as long as they get at least one there. A 6/3 split works well with our points and well if we do WDW/US in that order. Complication could be the dates spilling into the school year and whether that works for everyone or not. We will get them hammered out over the holidays though.

That sounds like a great plan. I love that. You definitely need to stay at the treehouse more than one night. I really think 3 nights is the minimum to really enjoy the resort. And, of course, 6 nights at BWV sounds like heaven. Hopefully you will be able to figure it all out datewise.

I started my upload but honestly have no idea where I left off so will have to get on that, hopefully this weekend while working on the photopass sort, which is so big we have TWO CD's!. I haven't even finished all my editing for the summer trip lol! But at least I"m a few days ahead of where I am on the TR so I guess that's something.

I am not surprised we have two CD's. That is a huge undertaking for you and I know we all appreciate you doing it. Huge!

The Boddington's was good. About half of one would have been better. Didn't bug me the next morning but by last night was feeling it for sure. Not sure if was that, or just 4 days in a row of indulgence just all adding up. We were at an Irish pub/restaurant and ordering anything other than beer (or whiskey, which I don't typically drink) seemed just wrong!

Absolutely wrong. You had to have the Boddington's. As I see it you really had no other choice.

On the flight home and trying to read and catch up on a couple of threads; I am loving your picture recap, MaryEllen.

Thanks Kathy. I'm so glad you liked the pics. Hope you had a safe trip home and I can't wait to hear all about your fabulous trip!

Thank you so much for the photo recap. I know it was a lot of work, but it was a great way to relive the highlights of your trip (hopefully for you too). There were a few pictures either I didn't see or forgot all about.

So glad you enjoyed the recap. I think a long trip deserves a recap. I started working on this over 6 months ago. I was surprised at how much I forgot.

LOVED the one of the Haunted Mansion as seen through the awning. And the closeup of your nephew hugging Eeyore. You don't see that perspective in many character greet photos, but that one was just so sweet!

I like both of those two. I actually took the HM with my phone. And CL and Eeyore - that was absolutely so precious. I had to post that. He had such an awesome time and I never took my boys to Disney when they were that young, so I missed all that type of interaction.

I have been dragging my feet on my TR- I think I have one more update and maybe some final thoughts, but that one is almost in the can. Then I can get back and finish my Atlantis report- I think my next update there will be our tour of Nassau, so I will let you know when I post that.

Please so because I am not sure if I am subbed to your Atlantis TR. I would like to read it.

I know what you mean about the dragging feet!

 

[MEK]

Oh wow, you have a number of emotional things on your plate right now, don't you?

Thanks Brook. I still just feel so bad for my mom, but she's managing.

Wonderful photo recap!! It was fun to "relive" the trip!!

Thank you. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I do enjoy reliving trips simply by looking at the favorite photos.

I LOVE this! Where did you find it??? (sorry if you said in the chatter, I missed it!)

I found it on Amazon. I think the sticker was $1 but the shipping & handling was $2. Totally worth it IMHO and I am sure they had other versions to pick from.

Love your photo recap of the trip! You really got so many lovely pictures.

Thank you. So glad you enjoyed it!!!!!!

 

[Millie12591]

Thank you Mary Ellen, I really loved read your TR. You take such great pictures and help us all feel like we've been right there with you.

I can't wait to read about your trip with Cynthia.

 

[Nermel9]

Great recap of your trip, wow, that must have been a pain in the @#$ to do though! Can't wait for the final thoughts and then the next TR!

 

[Poolrat]

IT'S TODD!!!!!!!!! ( paul is the faded one)

Nice recap!!! So great to recap a trip and relive the memories.


I hope the BW waitlist comes through for me in May.

 

[scottny]

Okay catching up. The chairs still creep me out.
I have the dvc car magnet, keychain and a t-shirt. LOLOh and the clear plastic bottle in the pic.
The villa looked so nice. Sad it is the last day.
I hope when we drive we don’t get off the wrong exit. Vinny is cheap and will yell that I had to pay twice. LOL
Great recap of the trip.

 

[MEK]

Thank you Mary Ellen, I really loved read your TR. You take such great pictures and help us all feel like we've been right there with you.

Thanks so much Camille. So glad to have you join in to my TR and I'm really glad you enjoyed it and my pictures!

I can't wait to read about your trip with Cynthia.

I just uploaded all my cell pictures from the first day so I am really gearing up now!

Great recap of your trip, wow, that must have been a pain in the @#$ to do though!

I worked on it a little at a time, which I never do. But I still only had about 5 updates done. The rest I did on the fly. Yeah - I was pretty sick of it but the 9th and 10th post. I was feeling a little like this -

Can't wait for the final thoughts and then the next TR!

I hope to post final thoughts tonight or tomorrow and then its time for the new TR to begin!

IT'S TODD!!!!!!!!! ( paul is the faded one)

You're right. I actually went back to check because I keep thinking Todd should be the faded one and Paul should be the colored one. Not sure why, but I just think it should be reversed!

Nice recap!!! So great to recap a trip and relive the memories.

It really was a fun trip and I enjoyed going back through my pics, despite it being a tad labor intensive.

I hope the BW waitlist comes through for me in May.

I hope so do. I think its great that you are switching things up a bit, but since BCV is your home resort, you can't go wrong either way.

Okay catching up.

Yeah! Thanks for stopping by and be on the look out for the start of my new TR within the week!

The chairs still creep me out.

You and everyone else. Honestly, is there anyone out there NOT creeped out by those chairs.

I have the dvc car magnet, keychain and a t-shirt. LOLOh and the clear plastic bottle in the pic.

I love the magnet, but I already have the HHI DVC sticker and I just added one from Rehoboth Beach, so I was afraid my back window might be getting cluttered.

The villa looked so nice. Sad it is the last day.

Have you stayed there? If not, you should give it a try. Very different from SSR, but in a good way. Both resorts have so many plusses.

I hope when we drive we don’t get off the wrong exit. Vinny is cheap and will yell that I had to pay twice. LOL

Vinny sounds like me. Double paying a toll is definitely something that irritates me and it really shouldn't

Great recap of the trip.

Thanks!

 

[MEK]

Firsts, Foremost, and Final Thoughts

So here it is - My very last update for this TR. You're happy about that right????

Foremost -

Lastly - I want to thank everyone who followed this trip report and commented, whether you commented once or 20 times. I met some new readers and DIS friends through the trip report and I reconnected with my old DIS friends. I look forward to sharing more memories with you in my next trip report which will be starting soon.

Firsts -

Hard to believe that my trip was 6 months ago and in less than 6 months I will be returning. Yeah. Oh wait – is it really a Yeah? I said I wasn’t going back in June because I don’t like the heat and crowds. But I think I can suck it up one more time. It is for my nephews, after all and I love them.

So this trip was filled with many “firsts”, as most Disney trips are. I won’t belabor that point. How about if I just get on with it.

Transportation Firsts-

The most obvious first is the fact that we flew out of a completely new airport this trip. Yup – that’s right – ABE or Lehigh Valley International was new to us and I LOVED it. Seriously. What a great experience. Yeah, it takes almost an hour more than driving to BWI, and its a lot longer than flying out of Philly, but it was great. What’s not to like about no lines, a curbside drop off, and on time departures?

I am genuinely sorry that Air Tran pulled its service from ABE. And Frontier has pulled their service already. Seriously people – if you live in the Philly region, you missed a great opportunity to fly from an awesome small airport. Well, worth driving a little further.

Nuff said. I hope some carrier comes back so we can fly from there again. We got to see Denny’s mom and have Denny’s brother drop us off. That alone, made the extra drive worth it. I'm just orry I didn’t discover this little airport gem sooner.

In other transportation firsts, I am sure this is the first time we rented a Mitsubishi Galant. If you ever rent one, my word of advice is don’t start looking for a gas cap release inside the car. It doesn’t exist. Just push on that gas cap like you mean it and you’ll be just fine and you won’t be the cause of traffic back-ups at the pump.

Travel Companions -

I’ve traveled to Disney world alone, on girl’s trips, with my immediate family, and with another couple, but this is the first time I have traveled with my extended family. If you remember the beginning of my TR you know that originally it was almost impossible to get my brother’s family to commit to this trip. And even when they were there, I wasn’t sure if they were even having fun.

But as you can see, the pixie dust hit full force and they are very excited about their return trip. What makes this even better is, since they have been to the parks, they have an idea of what they want and don’t want to ride. In other words, they are finally vested in the planning. I expect park planning will go much better this June and I truly hope that meltdowns are a thing of the past.

They have for Biergarten in June and, of course, to return to WPE. Anyone shocked about that?

But I have a little surprise for them. Yesterday I booked a Fantasmic dinner package for all of us at Mama Melrose. Technically, its a lunch fantasmic package. Lunch at MM was cheaper than dinner at Hollywood & Vine, and I haven't eaten at MM in forever. So Denny said to do it and it will be our treat.

Oh - and since I am already off topic - I also booked Denny and I at Be Our Guest. I just have to try to it. I have too. Plus there's wine there. I'll have Cynthia tell me what I should order ahead of time. She is my personal sommelier and I love her for that.

DIS meets -

I definitely feel a lot more comfortable than I ever did with DIS meets. I was so nervous for my first DIS meet several years ago. But each meet had gotten progressively easier. I mean, come on, I feel like I already know you guys by the time I meet you. I love that. During our June trip I had my first DIS meet with Anita, Marc, and Baylor (and Jen who I already met).

Unfortunately, we missed Anita and Marc in October, because their APs had just expired, but I just learned they will be staying at the BC the same week we are there this June. So Yeah – now I am hoping to see Marc, Anita, Mary, Kathy, Cayley and Avery. How great is that? I am also hoping to see Dawn and Caitlin later in the week. My fingers are crossed very tightly for that because our trips may barely overlap.

It's great to know that this June will be another time to have some great DIS meets.

And speaking of DIS meets, I know for sure that I will see Bill (saints tickets) and his DW in October because our trips overlap during F&W. So can I get another Hip Hip Hooray!

Dining -

Another first for me was the Quick Service Dining Plan. I have done the regular dining plan and the deluxe dining plan. My overall opinion of Disney dining is that while the price has gone up, the quality may be heading down a bit. That’s a bummer. Right now I think the TIW card works well for me, but they just jacked the price again. It was only $60 the first time I bought it. Then it was $75 last December. Now it’s $100. Seriously? That stinks. I wanted to buy a new one this June and I will be lucky to break even during that trip. Of course, I will use it again in the fall, but still.

So what did I think of the QS Dining Plan? Even though I was pretty "eh" on the idea, I think it worked out great for our party of 9. I mean - there was no way we were going to do a bunch of table services meals with that group, so this was the perfect alternative. I also discovered some new QS eateries that I really enjoyed. For example, my three top favorites were WPE, the Pepper Market, and the Tangerine Cafe. These were also "firsts" for me!

Here's the Pepper Market

And WPE

Not only was the food really yummy, but the value was good. Plus, in June when its crowded and park touring requires more time, saving time and eating efficiently was a major plus. And, as you may recall, my analysis showed we definitely saved some $. So, while I won't rush to do the QSDP for an adult trip, I would definitely use it again for a family trip that involves children.

There were a couple other restaurant firsts this trip. Bistro de Paris was a first and I definitely enjoyed it for overall experience. It was definitely a treat for us and the view of Illuminations were wonderful.

Another first for us was Boma Breakfast. I definitely recommend a late breakfast at Boma. The food was hot, fresh, and delicious and it was wonderful to have the whole restaurant to ourselves.

This was also the first time we sampled the chocolate goodness from the Karamel Kuche. It was so relish. But we ended up never eating our chocolate strawberry because we left it at K&T's house. They even put it in a pretty little plastic container.

Here's another food first - the tuna salad at sunshine seasons.

It is quite possible that this was my first Mickey Waffle

And a drink first - a grapefruit margarita at DTD

Resorts -

When I joined DVC one of my goals was to visit all of the DVC resorts at WDW and on the East Coast. Well, with my stay at BWV, I accomplished just that. That's right - I have stayed at SSR, Vero, Animal Kingdom, VWL, BLT, BCV, Hilton Head, OKW, the treehouse villas, and BWV, in that order. One of the things I love about DVC is the flexibility. And I love all the DVC resorts because they each have their unique character. See what I mean - SSR sometimes gets a bad rap, but who doesn't love this view of DTD?

So now that I have visited them all - what's next? Well, I hope that in fall of 2014 I finally visit DL resort and get to add the Grand Californian to my list.

As far as WDW resorts. I can't wait to try the GF DVC resort and I really, really want to stay in one of those little mermaid rooms in AoA.

Another first this trip was our visit to AOA. Yeah, I know, we didn't stay there (although I want to), but it was so fun taking a tour of the property.

Pools -

I added a few "first" pools during this trip. As you may have noticed - pool time was really big for me this trip. I think we were so fortunate to have great weather every day and next to no afternoon thunderstorms. New pools for me this trip were the treehouse pool, the Grandstand pool, the BWV quiet pool, and the quiet pool at the Boardwalk Inn.

Park Attractions -

I have been to Disneyworld more times than I can accurately count, so its pretty hard for me to do a new attraction. But I did accomplish a "first". This was the first time I watched the Main Street Electric Light Parade and the first time I watched the Magic, Memories, and You show. They were both so enjoyable. Watching the castle all aglow in a myriad of colors, was just breathtaking.


Oh wait - Here's a first

(of course, I had a little help when the ride stopped)

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a great trip. However, for the first time I think I developed some park "burn out". June is HOT and June is CROWDED. Couple that with the fact that there aren't a lot of new things for me to see and I found myself wanting to run out of the parks by early afternoon.

See what I mean by crowded. This is the line to the TTA or Blue Line.

And the line for IASW

Quite simply, I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the resorts and the amazing pools more than I enjoyed touring the parks. And you know what - I didn't feel guilty about this. I just went with it.


I will say that the evenings in the world were amazing. Every evening the humidity dropped and the parks were glorious. In fact, during our last evening while watching the fireworks from the Poly Beach, it was actually a little chilly. Hard to believe, but if I had a light sweater or jacket, I would have put it on.

So how will I handle the heat this June? Well, I'm not going to worry about it. Since we are staying off site I won't have wonderful Disney pools to escape to, but if I can't take the heat, I'll just head on out and return in the evening. We will have the PAP so that means a water park (or two) will be in our future plans.

Future trips -

I always like to do a little blurb about Future Trips, even though its pretty obvious what we are doing.

April 8th is a return to Hilton Head Island. This time its a couples trip

June 8th is our return to WDW staying outside the park.

And October 24th we return to WDW for F&W for 3 nights, then we cruise for 4 nights, then return to WDW for a little more F&W. This is a milestone birthday trip for the Denster. Right now my reservation is at VWL for all 7 nights, but I plan to try to switch the first 3 nights to BWV. I'm not sure about the last 4 nights. It really depends if our friends decide to come with us. Either way, I may switch to AKL unless Denny has a burning desire to stay at VWL.

So that's it and once again - thank you all for following my TR and sticking with me to the end.


Don't forget that I will be starting our F&W trip report soon. Please stay tuned to this TR for when I post the link!

Thanks and may you all have a magical day.

 

[natebenma]

Thanks for the awesome report! Great writing and spectacular pictures.

I enjoyed getting to know you and your family over these past few months!



Ready when you are for the October report!

 

[jenseib]

Fabulous wrap up. You had a pretty good trip. I am glad your brother drank the koolaid.

 

[MEK]

Thanks for the awesome report! Great writing and spectacular pictures.

I enjoyed getting to know you and your family over these past few months!



Ready when you are for the October report!

You are so welcome. It was fun and it was great getting to know you, too. I hate to say goodbye to this TR, but now its time to start working on the next one.

 

[JoshMom5]

I've enjoyed your report and am a little sad to see it end, but I look forward to your next one.

 

[MEK]

I've enjoyed your report and am a little sad to see it end, but I look forward to your next one.

Thanks Paula. Glad you enjoyed it. I'm a little sad to see it end, too, but the next report is going to be so different. It's very DIS heavy as we had lots of meets and tons of fun.

 

[MEK]

So I just learned about the shooting in Connecticut. I had no idea. I shopped all day today and never heard anyone mention it. I can't believe I didn't know. I am saddened and sickened. It's not even enough to say that my thought and prayers are with those children and their families.

I'm speechless.

 

[Millie12591]

....the next report is going to be so different. It's very DIS heavy as we had lots of meets and tons of fun.

Can't wait!!