6 down, 1 to go: Completing my DVC mission! An April '13 PTR...TR LINK p. 16

[wdwgirl03]

Good morning everyone! Happy Friday!!

This is another quick (and somewhat pointless) post but I just had to say...

10 DAYS UNTIL

To start the final countdown, how about some more pictures from Simple Disney Things??? AHHH I can't wait!

It's also 10 more days until...

(Oh man, I love this quote so much...I can almost hear it!)

(haha, love this ride)

Did I mention I'm excited?!?!

I also have to do my final DVC flashback (the Boardwalk Villas!!!) so hopefully after school I can get that done.

Oh yes, also, if anyone is on Twitter and/or Instagram and would like to follow me (in case I do any live updates) my username is mugirl0307. Both of my accounts are set to private but feel free to send me a request. It's always fun to have more Disney friends on there.

Hope everyone has a good day! Last Friday before spring break!

 

[Angies1274]

Yay for 10 days!!!! So exciting!!!

Your plans for DTD sound great! Aww...I can't wait to check out Splitsville! It looks like so much fun!

 

[jwwi]

10 more days! So excited for you, it's been such a cold winter, it will be so nice to get warmed up.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

10 days!

Have you started checking the weather yet?

 

[anniebabymu]

I can't believe it's getting so close for all of us!! 24 days here... so I'll have to live vicariously through you for a bit!

 

[marDgreen88]

You are now at SINGLE DIGITS.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for 10 days!!!! So exciting!!!

Your plans for DTD sound great! Aww...I can't wait to check out Splitsville! It looks like so much fun!

Yes it is! I can hardly wait much longer!

It really does look like a blast. I hope to actually go bowling there on a future trip.

10 more days! So excited for you, it's been such a cold winter, it will be so nice to get warmed up.

Thank you! I am so excited to get away from the cold here for a while. Atleast it's supposed to be in the mid-30s this week, and I think the low 40s by the weekend.

10 days!

Have you started checking the weather yet?

Yes I did! I checked it for the first time yesterday and then today it actually had April 1 on the 10-day forecast. It said cloudy and a high of 84. Hopefully by the time we go it'll change to be SUNNY but after the winter here and how it just doesn't seem to want to warm up, I will take 84 and cloudy!

I can't believe it's getting so close for all of us!! 24 days here... so I'll have to live vicariously through you for a bit!

haha, then I will get to live vicariously through everyone going later! Yay for April trips!

You are now at SINGLE DIGITS.

I KNOW!!!!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Anybody want to do the single digit dance with me today?!?!

Only 9 MORE DAYS UNTIL I AM BACK IN DISNEY WORLD!!!!!



OK, well since I've used so many smileys I will post my final DVC flashback in the next post.

 

[wdwgirl03]

DVC Flashback #10: April 2012

When the time rolled around to start planning another spring break trip, I was still pretty set on staying at all of the DVC resorts. The only two I had left were Bay Lake Tower and the Boardwalk Villas. Of course, one of the issues is you never know if your non-home resort will be available, especially during a peak season like spring break. So when the 7-month window opened, Dad checked to see if we could get either place. Luckily, both were available and he ended up booking the Boardwalk Villas. The only downside was that the BW view studios were unavailable so we had to be put on the waitlist. So we (we being my dad and me...the second trip where it was just the two of us) were originally supposed to be in a preferred view studio (I think that's like garden or pool? I'm not exactly sure) which would have been fine but...the waitlist came through! Needless to say I was extremely excited because I know how much my parents and sister enjoyed having a BW view on a trip that they took a couple years before that.

So when we got checked in and found our room, I was anxious to see what the view would be like. It definitely did not disappoint!

Pretty awesome, right?!

After we dropped our stuff off and called home to say we arrived, we walked over to Epcot (one of the amazing perks of staying at the Boardwalk!!!), redeemed our vouchers for our annual passes, and got our first look at the Flower and Garden Festival.

We definitely enjoyed seeing all the topiaries and got to do a couple of the lesser attractions before getting dinner back at the Boardwalk. I just remember sitting at the table and thinking how cool it was going to be staying there for the week. I have always enjoyed visiting the Boardwalk so I guess the Boardwalk was one of my dream resorts. How can you not love that place?! It is gorgeous, and I love all the lights at night.

Then Dad and I went to bed early because we were going to be taking full advantage of the 7 AM EMH pretty much all week!

Our first full park day, which happened to be Easter Sunday, was spent at the Magic Kingdom (where else?). Yes, it was still dark for the welcome show. I love it!

We did a couple of our favorite Tomorrowland attractions before heading over to get our first glimpse of Storybook Circus. It was also pretty exciting to see the progression on Prince Eric's Castle.

I can't believe I will finally get to see the whole thing in just 9 days!!!

We rode the new Dumbo, and because it wasn't very crowded Dad asked if we could each get our own elephant.

It is also going to be exciting seeing BOTH Dumbo carousels now!

We also got one final ride on Snow White's Scary Adventures, which I had to document.

It really was amazing how much we were able to accomplish by getting there for the 7 AM opening. The funny thing was that our longest wait of the morning was for the Easter bunny!

From the MK, we took the monorail to visit the Polynesian and get some lunch from Captain Cook's. It is always nostalgic visiting there, and I definitely am planning on doing the same thing this trip.

That afternoon we went to the Animal Kingdom (we've also learned that DAK is a great afternoon park) and got to do the safari, Everest, and Dinosaur. The safari wasn't as good as the two from the previous March (no good view of the lions...boo) but we got a pretty good look at the cheetahs.

That evening it was pretty cool seeing Illuminations from our balcony. At times you could even hear the music.

So we couldn't have asked for a better first day, and we were only getting started! Other highlights of this trip included...

An unexpected DIS meet with RachelNinja!

On our second morning, we walked over to Hollywood Studios (seriously love that view in the first picture). Our first stop was Toy Story Mania. We rode once and then got fastpasses for later. Well, as we were in line for our second ride, Dad said something to me because he thought he saw Rachel and Howard on the ride. So we shouted out to them and we ended up meeting after our rides. We had known we were going to be there at the same time but hadn't planned on meeting at all so it was pretty funny that we crossed paths again! We went to do the Animation Academy together which was fun. It was great seeing Rachel again!

Taking in some of the lesser attractions
Whenever we go to WDW, we always do the popular attractions and skip out on some of the other ones that don't interest us as much. But every once in a while it is fun to do something a little different, and we definitely did that on this trip! We did things like ride the Liberty Square Riverboat, the Enchanted Tiki Room, the Country Bear Jamboree, and seeing the parade.

Enjoying the Flower and Garden Festival
I sound like a broken record with all of these spring trips, but it really is a highlight of going in March, April, and May.

Experiencing many "firsts"
One great thing about going to WDW is that no matter how many times you go, there is always something new to experience. Some of the firsts on this trip were...

Eating at the T-Rex Café

Taking the boat from DTD to visit Port Orleans

And riding Characters in Flight

(if you have never done CIF, I would HIGHLY recommend it. So much fun and the views are incredible!)

The Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Dad and I had talked about doing this for ages and we finally got to experience it. Another MUST DO if you want to learn some of the secrets behind the park. Plus you get to see the Utilidors. Even a year later I am still so impressed by our tour guide Robert. He made our experience even more enjoyable!

And of course, checking another DVC resort off my list!
As I have said numerous times, I really have liked all of the DVC resorts but the Boardwalk Villas are definitely one of my absolute favorites. I don't know, maybe it's because of being so close to Epcot and DHS, or just being in the Epcot resort area, but I loved it. We were so spoiled with our incredible view and the resort is so pretty.

As you can probably guess it was another great trip. I will leave you with one last picture, just because it was one of my favorites!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

The Boardwalk area is just gorgeous. I love all the lights at night. How cool to be able to look out the window and see it all!

We are big fans of Spring trips as well...the F&GF is fabulous and the weather can't be beat!

 

[marDgreen88]

I'm dancin'!

Nice refresher course on your most recent trip, haha! Looking back on old trips is so much fun!

DARNIT, my trip will be literally right after the Flower and Garden Festival ends... ONE OF THESE DAYS I WILL SEE IT!!!

Anyways... yayyyyy nine days!

 

[jwwi]

Yea! nine days.

Love that last picture. I agree too, spring trips are wonderful. Those pictures from the BWV are so beautiful.

Love your Dad's shirt at Epcot, Go Marquette!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Just had to come on quickly before school to say...

ONE WEEK TO GO!!!

I can't wait to arrive at Bay Lake Tower!

(how awesome is that picture?! Thanks to the WDW official site for that one. )

Hope everyone has a good week! 4 more days left of school!

 

[tink519]

Yay! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Angies1274]

Yay for one week!!!!

 

[marDgreen88]

YAY!

GAH that picture is too perfect. I miss my home.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I'm dancin'!

Nice refresher course on your most recent trip, haha! Looking back on old trips is so much fun!

DARNIT, my trip will be literally right after the Flower and Garden Festival ends... ONE OF THESE DAYS I WILL SEE IT!!!

Anyways... yayyyyy nine days!

Yes it is! So many good memories.

Awww bummer! But won't you be there for Star Wars Weekends? So atleast that is something kind of cool.

Yea! nine days.

Love that last picture. I agree too, spring trips are wonderful. Those pictures from the BWV are so beautiful.

Love your Dad's shirt at Epcot, Go Marquette!

Thank you! As excited as I am to stay at BLT, I am sort of going to miss the Boardwalk. We will definitely have to go walk over there some day when we're at Epcot. Or go for Welcome Home Wednesdays.

YES, Sweet Sixteen again!

Yay! Can't wait to hear all about it!

So excited!

Yay for one week!!!!

YAY!

GAH that picture is too perfect. I miss my home.

I know, when I saw that picture I'm like OK, I need to save that one!

Aww. Atleast you can go say hi on your upcoming trip.

 

[wdwgirl03]

YAY, it is officially SPRING BREAK!!! And it is actually warmer than 40 degrees here today which is something to celebrate considering how cold it's been this March.

Anyway, it's hard to believe that this PTR is coming to an end because we only have 3 DAYS TO GO UNTIL WE LEAVE!!!

Dad talked to Emma a little bit the other day and we're still trying to figure out when we can meet up with her. She has to work until 10:30 on Monday night so there is a possibility she might come over to Bay Lake Tower after work and spend the night since we're planning on going to the Magic Kingdom for EMH Tuesday morning. We also found our her work schedule for the week and she only has off Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (she couldn't really ask off for 2 whole weeks since Mom and Claire are going down next Sunday, aka the day I come home). On Wednesday or Friday we will probably go meet her/visit her at Downtown Disney. Even though I haven't really talked to her much recently, she did post on her blog that she is super excited for when we come. I am too.

Since this will probably be my last update before we go, I wanted to make one last list of other random things I would like to do when we're there. Most of it consists of visiting other resorts!

Sarah's Random List of Must-Dos

Ride the monorail to the Polynesian...this should not be too difficult to accomplish since we'll be on the monorail loop anyway (WOOT!) and we always love visiting. Maybe I could get a dole whip there since, you know, I've never eaten a dole whip before...

See the Electrical Water Pageant...we haven't seen this since we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge a couple years ago and I feel like we sort of have to see it since we'll be in the MK resort area.

Ride the boat to the Wilderness Lodge...It's kind of funny because Dad said something about doing this the other day.

Visit Art of Animation...I just think this resort looks so adorable and I love seeing everyone else's pictures of it! I have to see the Nemo section in person!

Go to the Boardwalk/Beaches and Cream...OK, so last April we had talked about going to B&C and didn't get around to it until our last day. Unfortunately it was pretty crowded and we didn't feel like waiting. So hopefully we can make it over there this time (maybe for lunch if we are at Epcot some morning? Who knows.) Plus, I just really want to see the Boardwalk again. I'm kind of going to miss it. Another possibility for if we visit the Boardwalk is to go to Welcome Home Wednesdays. I guess they redid the show now so it might be fun to see. But, if we don't make it to that it's OK too.

I think that about covers everything. I know it seems like a lot for only having 5 full days, so we'll see what we can all accomplish. Regardless of what happens we will have a good time.

My goal for today is to get a majority of my packing done since I'm actually going to Michigan for Easter and won't be back until Sunday evening. So, I hope all of my DIS friends have a very Happy Easter!!!

(and don't forget to follow me at @mugirl0307 on Twitter and/or Instagram for some live updates ).

 

[marDgreen88]

HOOOOORAY! I really want to visit a lot of resorts on my trip too, so I totally get it! Anyways, you know I'll be all up in your business on twitter and instagram, can't wait! Have a wonderful trip!!!!! Happy Easter!

 

[jwwi]

Have Fun!