Just Keep Swimming - March 31-April 7, 2013 - Closing Thoughts (Updated 5/17)

[jecskc]

They'd have to buy out the agreement Universal Orlando has with Marvel. I guess there isn't a quick enough ROI on buying out the agreement and then developing attractions for WDW versus just letting the agreement run its course and collecting what ever licensing fees they get. However, they can develop Marvel attractions for Disneyland, so I think they should put Marvel area out there, and a Star Wars land at WDW.

Sounds like a good plan to me !!

I am here!

Hey Tammy !! Yay !!! You are here !!

 

[jecskc]

Day 1-Part Three

So after our little shopping trip to Downtown Disney, DD was dying to get on the pool at BLT, so we headed back so she could get her suit on and try out the slide.

Some more art in the foyer by the elevator.

Splash Pad

Pool photos





Fire pit









The slide !!





I have to tell you a story about this lady nearest the slide sitting in the lounge chair there. She had on this REALLY tight skirt and these six inch high wedges. At the pool. She was walking back and forth between her chair and the bar and me and these ladies behind me were amazed that she could even walk in them let alone wear them to the POOL. There may have been some snickering. DH said that if she had even so much as passed gas, that her skirt would have a bubble under it since there was no way it could escape. Ahhh .... Brazilians. Gotta love them and the amusement they provide for us.



DD playing some pool games



She loved the pool games !! LOVED them !!!



We hung out at the pool for a couple of hours and then went back up to the room to get DD back into some clothes and get ready for our Chef Mickey’s ADR.

Carpet in the hallway at BLT



I relaxed on the balcony for a bit before dinner and had a glass of some wine we brought from home. I love my Mickey wine glasses.



View from the balcony



When it was time, we headed across the skyway











Come on, Dad !! We are hungry !!





Wilderness Lodge in the distance

 

[marDgreen88]

BLT is just the greatest thing ever. Okay... WHAT? That Ariel and Flounder art MUST be new because I definitely would have noticed it! MY FAVORITE!

Oh man, these pictures are making me miss this place so much more than I already did! AHHH that beautiful resort and pool and that slide and the skyway ahhhh. Love it. Can't wait to see Chef Mickey's pics!

 

[jecskc]

BLT is just the greatest thing ever. Okay... WHAT? That Ariel and Flounder art MUST be new because I definitely would have noticed it! MY FAVORITE!

Oh man, these pictures are making me miss this place so much more than I already did! AHHH that beautiful resort and pool and that slide and the skyway ahhhh. Love it. Can't wait to see Chef Mickey's pics!

I know it. We loved it there. LOVED it. Can't wait to go back !!!
The Ariel art was on the first floor foyer of the elevator bank located to the left of the lobby when you come in from the parking lot. If the helps ... LOL

 

[tazdev3225]

Loved the Build-A-Dino. Thomas Kinkade was always a favorite. I may need to get back into puzzle building for after my ankle surgery. Love the computer but it gets boring after awhile.

One of my favorite things to do at Disney, and pretty much everywhere else, is people watch. You can see some strange sights.

BLT looks like a great place to stay. maybe I'll look into renting points yet.

 

[luvslikepi]

I now want to move into Bay Lake Tower, permanently. What a beautiful place to stay. I wonder if you can buy recreations of the artwork because that Space Mountain print is awesome!

 

[jecskc]

Loved the Build-A-Dino. Thomas Kinkade was always a favorite. I may need to get back into puzzle building for after my ankle surgery. Love the computer but it gets boring after awhile.

One of my favorite things to do at Disney, and pretty much everywhere else, is people watch. You can see some strange sights.

BLT looks like a great place to stay. maybe I'll look into renting points yet.

DD loved the Build-A-Dino for sure. I have been doing a lot of puzzle building in my convalescence. It helps pass the time when you can't do much. Did you schedule your surgery yet ??

I love to people watch, too. But that lady really stood out. Her shoes were absolutely ridiculous.

Again, I highly recommend renting points. Even if you stay at Old Key West, the DVC accommodations are amazing and if you rent points it costs half as much as what Disney charges for the deluxe rooms.

I now want to move into Bay Lake Tower, permanently. What a beautiful place to stay. I wonder if you can buy recreations of the artwork because that Space Mountain print is awesome!

We were so sad to leave. I will say that it is my favorite so far, but we stay at Beach Club in September, so we will see if that wins out. Bay Lake was AMAZING though !!!

I don't know if you can buy copies, but I agree that they were really cool. I love the colors in the artwork. There was a lot to look at and all of it made me feel happy.

 

[tazdev3225]

DD loved the Build-A-Dino for sure. I have been doing a lot of puzzle building in my convalescence. It helps pass the time when you can't do much. Did you schedule your surgery yet ??

I love to people watch, too. But that lady really stood out. Her shoes were absolutely ridiculous.

Again, I highly recommend renting points. Even if you stay at Old Key West, the DVC accommodations are amazing and if you rent points it costs half as much as what Disney charges for the deluxe rooms.

I go for a third opinion on monday and then I have to decide from there. I watch my 4 year old granddaughter so I may try and wait a year til she starts school for surgery if I can. I'm hobbling but I'm getting around.

I may look into points. I thought about Old Key West. I like the theming and it is a little cheaper than some of the other places. I need to talk to my husbband again and see what he wants to do. Otherwise I think we are staying at POR.

 

[emmysmommy]

WPE is one of my favorites at DTD as well. I didn't know there was a build-a-Dino in T-Rex either.

I can say from first hand experience the slide at the BLT pool is great! Hmmm... 6" wedges at the pool.... maybe they were cork and could be used as floatation devices?? That's definitely odd.

Your Mickey wine glass is so adorable! Makes cocktail time more festive!

 

[teekathepony]

The pool and slide look awesome! Love the view from that walkway.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I love that picture of the MK from window bank because that was what we got to look at all week from our balcony. It was AMAZING. OMG, I miss BLT!

I seriously was in love with all of the artwork. They need to sell it because I want some. LOL.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[afwdwfan]

Looks like a fun time at the pool. I'm glad you had some incidental entertainment from the inappropriately dressed lounger.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi, joining in. I've read another of your trip reports and would love to read along with this one.

I love, love, love the Mickey wine glass. I think I need one!

 

[jecskc]

I go for a third opinion on monday and then I have to decide from there. I watch my 4 year old granddaughter so I may try and wait a year til she starts school for surgery if I can. I'm hobbling but I'm getting around.

I may look into points. I thought about Old Key West. I like the theming and it is a little cheaper than some of the other places. I need to talk to my husbband again and see what he wants to do. Otherwise I think we are staying at POR.

I can't imagine putting it off for a year - wow. I just wanted all of my pain NOW. Get it over with so I can get onto the business of healing. I still may need a scope from scar tissue build up. I wanna know what the other doctor says though. Just curious.

All of the DVC resorts are awesome. We have loved them all. So you can't lose. The only thing I can say about renting points is that you get what is available for your time period. You don't always get to chose. It just depends on availability.

WPE is one of my favorites at DTD as well. I didn't know there was a build-a-Dino in T-Rex either.

I can say from first hand experience the slide at the BLT pool is great! Hmmm... 6" wedges at the pool.... maybe they were cork and could be used as floatation devices?? That's definitely odd.

Your Mickey wine glass is so adorable! Makes cocktail time more festive!

WPE really is the best QS place. I am not sure I ever would have known about Build-A-Dino if my DD hadn't sniffed it out.

Yeah - that lady looked ridiculous. It was funny to watch her.

I love those Mickey wine glasses. We always take them. They are plastic, so they travel well.

The pool and slide look awesome! Love the view from that walkway.

BLT is the bomb-diggity ... just sayin'.

I love that picture of the MK from window bank because that was what we got to look at all week from our balcony. It was AMAZING. OMG, I miss BLT!

I seriously was in love with all of the artwork. They need to sell it because I want some. LOL.

DD wants a theme park view next time. It depends upon the points for me though. I really enjoyed our lake view. It wasn't as awesome as the theme park view I imagine, but still .... it was very nice.

Yes, the artwork is really awesome.

Great pics!

Thanks. Although, I am a horrible photog. I haven't taken the time to learn to take really good photos. Missyrose here on the Dis has some the best ones. Her fiance takes some super amazing photos. Also, OneTreeHillAddict has some really great ones, too.

Looks like a fun time at the pool. I'm glad you had some incidental entertainment from the inappropriately dressed lounger.

DD loved that pool. The lounger provided good entertainment.

Hi, joining in. I've read another of your trip reports and would love to read along with this one.

I love, love, love the Mickey wine glass. I think I need one!

So happy you are here and reading along !!

We got them at Mickey's Pantry in Downtown Disney They still had them when we were there last week. I bet you could find them online as well.

 

[jecskc]

Day 1 – Part Four

On our way to Chef Mickey’s for dinner, we crossed the skyway and
Entered the Contemporary











We were a little early, so we cruised the gift shops a bit.





And then it was time for our dinner. Here are a few photos.











If you want to see a full dining review go here to read.

After dinner, the kids stopped into the arcade to play some games.



I looked around in the gift shops some more. I thought this shirt was cute.



Then we headed back across the skyway.





DS and I got a shower and settled in for the night. But DH and DD went up to the Top of the World lounge to check out the view
.










Apparently, these were taken inside.





And then some from the back deck of the Top of the World Lounge.



DS from our balcony

 

[jecskc]

Day 1 – Part Four (cont’d)

Some more from the lounge







And from the ground level.











They came in and we all crashed. We had all been up since 2 AM. DS and I dozed some in the car, but not much. We were very tired. Stay tuned for day 2 !!!

 

[Pixie Princess]

I love that mom rail shirt too! I've had my eye on it the last couple of trips. Yay! Chef Mickey!! We go for B'fast. My DD can put away some b'fast food, so I kinda feel like I at least get my money's worth for her. The lake facing side of CR/BLT is so tranquil at night. It makes me happy.

 

[jecskc]

I love that mom rail shirt too! I've had my eye on it the last couple of trips. Yay! Chef Mickey!! We go for B'fast. My DD can put away some b'fast food, so I kinda feel like I at least get my money's worth for her. The lake facing side of CR/BLT is so tranquil at night. It makes me happy.

DH loves the breakfast buffets. I feel like a breakfast ADR takes too much time away from the parks when you go during a super busy time. During a slow time, though, I like to eat breakfast somewhere. When we stayed at WLV last September, we ate at Roaring forks a lot and really liked it.

We really loved our lake view. I mean theme park view would have been awesome, but the lake view was VERY nice. It was fun to watch boats come and go and we got to see the EWP every night from our balcony and that little show just makes me so happy.

 

[melmar136]

Joining in! Love seeing BLT...we'll be staying there for 2 nights in Aug for our first time. Might be a little too modern for my taste but Meg will LOVE it!
Funny you were there on those dates. I was SOOOO tempted to take a brief solo trip on 4/1-4/4 while Meg was in DC with school! Flights prices were so low, and I would love to see F&G, but you can imagine what she thought of that idea. I didn't feel (too) bad about not going when I saw how crowded it was.