12 days at bwv, LIVE! You name it, we’re probably doing it. *DAY 8 with PICS p7#100*

[MissMet]

Welcome to my trip report!

If you’re coming from my ptr, thanks for coming over.

If you’re new to my tr, let me get some of the details together for you...

This is an ADULTS ONLY trip at the Boardwalk Resort for 12 days beginning tomorrow (9/28). Yeah! Characters Gone Wild!!! Whew!! Just kidding! I say adults only just for those who, like me, especially enjoy TRs from an all adult perspective.

The cast:

Me (Lisa)- I’m just shy of 24. I grew up with WDW in my life & feel so blessed that I did. I was ready to buy into DVC at the age of 17, but felt I better finish school first, so I convinced my parents to purchase and then I finally bought two years ago. My goal is to have DVC paid off before I’m married, so that way my family will enjoy “free” WDW vacations...one less expense to worry about. My favorite resort is Boardwalk since a special Mother/Daughter trip where we did a split stay at CR Tower with a MK view & BWI. My favorite “ride” is Mickey’s Philharmagic. Growing up it was Small World & Kitchen Caberet/Food Rocks. I had the Small World book with the cassette that you would read along with & it had the song in the background... I would drive my older brother CRAZY playing it over & over.


Mom (Rose)- She is 59 years old, don’t tell anyone. She loves WDW as well. She says she could just sit with my dad on Mainstreet the entire trip, but we all know she’s the wild one of the bunch & that would only last maybe a day. She was one of those mom’s that would force her kid onto every ride, whether they were scared or not. Thanks mom. To this day I love to tease her about this fact & reflect on those terrifying rides on Maelstrom & Haunted Mansion. She also has to be one of the most sarcastic people I know & I have her to thank for my sense of humor. Her favorite resort is the Boardwalk. Her favorite ride is Space Mountain & screams on every drop & jolt. Riding it with her makes it even more fun than the ride actually is.


Dad (Don)- He is 61 years old and has learned in his 39 years of marriage to just go with the flow. He loves WDW & could sit on Mainstreet or at the Boardwalk for his entire trip. I have him to thank for my fear of scary rides... Thanks dad! His favorite resort is Beach Club, although we have yet to stay there and his favorite ride is probably Ellen’s... he loves his power naps! I think in the 20 years we’ve been going he has yet to see that whole ride.



Like I said, we will be staying at the BWV for 12 days. The last time I went to wdw was 20 months ago & the last time with my parents was over 2 years ago, so it will be nice. My mom & I are checking in tomorrow. My dad is at a business conference & will be flying in late Thursday night. This trip has been almost a year in the making. It is a VERY special trip. This will be the first trip in five years that my mom will be visiting wdw without the need of a wheelchair. For everyone’s sanity I will not go through the long story. If you would like all the details & see all the crazy changes this trip has gone through, feel free to head over to my PTR: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2217047

What you can expect in this TR, among other things:

sarcasm
lots of pics
F&W food pics
water pics
sarcasm
daily updates
at least one tour
very possibly, parasailing
“characters in flight” ride
sarcasm
Wishes Dessert Party
my parent's first time on EE (they insist they're not going on, but they are!)
everyone's first time on TSM & American Idol experience
& most important, FUN

On this trip I will be bouncing back & forth from my point-and-shoot camera, Olympus Stylus 790 SW (waterproof) & my still somewhat new Nikon dslr D60. I bought this camera to force myself to learn on, however I am ashamed to say, I’m still not comfortable to use it off of auto mode, so don’t expect awe-inspiring. When I get home I’m taking classes! Ok, that was a random thought, but I’m gonna go with it. Yes, when I get home I’m taking lessons & I feel you all should know.

Well, that’s all I can think of tonight. If I don’t get a sudden thought, I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow after my first complete day at Disney!!!!

Oh, by the way... I'm a recovering DISboard SMILLIESaholic. I will try & keep the smillies in control, but they are just so cute!


Up Next: Let the fun begin! I’m at WDW during the final week of the NY Met's season... THANK GOD!

[MissMet]

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I'm just coming in to say good luck with the Live TR and I hope you find the time to update.

[annnewjerz]

I'm in!! You should be at (or on your way) to WDW by now. Can't wait to hear all about the trip!!

[heaven2dc]

Came over from your PTR and can't wait to read all about F&W Festival! Hope you, your mom & dad have tons of fun!

[sisaaliyah]

Can't wait to read your report and hear all about the BWV. I just found your TR from your post on the BWV renovation photos thread. We'll be staying there for the first time in two months. Day after Thanksgiving trip!

[lily23]

Followed you.Have a great time.

[DisneyJen]

Can't wait for the fun to begin!

I followed you over here from the DVC BoardWalk Renovation Thread.

Looking forward to seeing my home-away-from-home ... as well as following your fun in the sun!

[MissMet]

Originally Posted by EastYorkDisneyFan

I'm just coming in to say good luck with the Live TR and I hope you find the time to update.

Thanks! I'm also hoping to have time each night for my tr posts. Because we have 12 days we are taking it a lot easier, so I don't think it will be too hard.

Originally Posted by annnewjerz

I'm in!! You should be at (or on your way) to WDW by now. Can't wait to hear all about the trip!!

Glad you came over! Just close your eyes whenever I post a pic with the Nikon.

Originally Posted by heaven2dc

Came over from your PTR and can't wait to read all about F&W Festival! Hope you, your mom & dad have tons of fun!

So glad you came over! We had a great day & I'm about to go write it up. Stay tunes F&W pics coming soon.

Originally Posted by sisaaliyah

Can't wait to read your report and hear all about the BWV. I just found your TR from your post on the BWV renovation photos thread. We'll be staying there for the first time in two months. Day after Thanksgiving trip!

Oh, what an awesome trip you have planned. Well, if you have any questions about the BW, let me know while I'm here & I'll try & answer them.

Originally Posted by lily23

Followed you.Have a great time.

So glad you made it over.

Originally Posted by DisneyJen

Can't wait for the fun to begin!

I followed you over here from the DVC BoardWalk Renovation Thread.

Looking forward to seeing my home-away-from-home ... as well as following your fun in the sun!

Pics will be up soon & we definitely had sun!

[B&WMickey]

Looking forward to seeing your F&W pics since we’ll be there in about a month and are anxious to see what are some good choices for us to use our snack credits from DP on.

[annnewjerz]

Originally Posted by MissMet

Glad you came over! Just close your eyes whenever I post a pic with the Nikon.

Uh oh! This could mean one of two things. A) the pictures are going to be horrible and I should avoid looking directly at them (which I doubt) or B) you think I own a ::gasp:: CANON! I totally do not! We may differ in our love of baseball teams, but when it comes to cameras we're on the same page. I, too, had a D60 before upgrading to the D90---so I'm excited to see what you end up with, even if they're all in auto mode.

[jekjones1558]

I also followed your from DVC board and can't wait to see the flat screen and armoire. As far as I know, you will be the FIRST to post a photo of the new TVs at BWV! Thanks for taking vacation time to feed us BWV lovers!

[mhmcduff]

This looks like it is going to be GOOD!!- Have a great trip and I am in!!!
Also will be arriving on the 7th so advice for Food and Wine - what to get and what to avoid would be great!!

[Lizziejane]

Hey Lisa,

I'm so glad I found you as you're just beginning your trip! I am planning a family trip for January - me, hubby and our two sons ages 21 and 23 and we'll be staying at our favorite - the BWV! I'm soooo looking forward to the "adult" perspective, especially as you're about the same age as my oldest. We've been 3 times before, but this will be the first time we're all legal to drink, so I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know where the cool watering-holes are for 23-year olds!!

Looking forward to your report...!

[MissMet]

Well, Day 1 of this amazing trip is complete, so now it’s time to fill you all in. Just a warning this is gonna be a long one.

For those of you who did not read my ptr. We have actually been in Florida since Tues night. We were visiting some family in Ocala, Fl.

Anyway...

After staying about until about 1 am doing last minute things, I finally called it a night. I had set my alarm for 6am, but I really could have gone without it. I was so excited I woke up every hour. Finally at 5:45am I got up. I had bought my mom a special souvenir & had it wrapped & waiting for her by the coffee pot. She loved it.


I had some last minute things to pack up, then it was my job to pack up the car, for the two of us. Anti-overpackers please look away now. Here is our rented PT cruiser packed up & ready to go for the TWO of us to go to wdw.


Can we say a little out of control?? Oh & yes, the backseat is folded down to accommodate the luggage. Now I will go on the record & say that yes I do overpack- I can’t help it. However, I’m not near as bad as my mother. Do you know of anyone else who checks into a hotel, especially one at wdw, with leftovers???! Yeah, she did. “Hi we’re checking in. 3 suitcases & a bag of leftovers.” Yeah, it’s bad. While at my family’s house we had Sonny’s BBQ, which is not available in NY. Well, my parents are obsessed with it. Since my dad is off at a conference my mom felt the need to pack a plate of leftovers for him. So we checked in this morning with a bag of leftovers! After packing up the van. I was told that we had to drop my aunt’s garbage off at the dump. Ummmm... okaaaaay. So instead of unpacking the entire half of the PT cruiser, I got left & this took my place:
[img=http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4771/p9280233.jpg]

My mom got back from the dump & we were finally ready to leave. But wait! My mom had to have Dunkin Donuts. She has been watching her weight & was dying to have some hash browns. So we headed over to DD. HUGE mistake. We ordered two boston cream donuts, one hash browns & a coffee. Kind of hard to mess that up right? Oh, no. We’re in Florida folks. First of we get up to the window & the lady behind the counter hands us a bag with the two donuts & the coffee. She then disappears for 2 minutes. She then reappears walking through the parking lot. Oookaaay. I look through the bag to get out our donuts & there’s something wrong... wrong donuts. I opened the bag & saw no chocolate frosting. I then lifted the donuts & still saw no frosting. She reappears in the window & we give them back & tell her they’re wrong. She hands them back & says they’re right, just up-side-down. Now when it comes to me & my boston cream donuts I don’t mess around! I take the bag back & flip them completely over this time. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but this is not how we get out boston cream donuts in NY. Fine whatever. We begin to eat them as we sit there waiting for the hash browns. We sit for about another 4 minutes. During these four minutes the window of the drive through is opening & shutting like every 20 seconds. We don’t know what is going on in there, but we don’t know what to think. Now it’s 15 minutes of sitting at the window for a stinking cup of hashbrowns! The window opens for what felt like the 150th time & our girl reappears. She then asks us to pull over into a parking spot & she will bring them when they are ready. Okay, maybe I’m missing something, but usually you’d think at now 8am, probably DD busiest time that maybe I don’t know, they’d have some food! It’s fried potato for goodness sake! 20 minutes later we finally get the long awaited hash browns. Really at this point I was expecting my mom to pull out a cup of solid gold hash browns. This is what we got.


We were so beyond annoyed, I think we laughed about half of the way to wdw. It really was crazy & a really weird experience to say the least. So finally, we actually are on the road. I was the navigator. I never recommend Mapquest, but they actually did a good job. We got to the BWV in exactly an hour. It was a nice drive & it went buy really quick. We arrived at BWV & the valet took the bags & car- poor guy! Check in was a breeze, or so we thought. There was a small hiccup you’ll hear about later. After checking in we walked the boardwalk & then to my GREATLY saddened eyes I turned the corner & saw this!!!


Noooooo! One of my main objectives this trip was to get as many BW photos as I could. Hoping it’s down before I leave. Also, there are construction walls up at the front of the resort, as well as the dtd marketplace bus stop is still closed, until at least Thursday. the MK bakery is closed until the 6th, hoping it stays on track, as well as others. After we walked the bw, we picked up the car, gassed it up at the hess & returned it to the Dolphin resort. It was about 10:15 by then so we lazily walked over to Epcot to enjoy F&W right at opening. The walk was nice. We had to pick up our annual passes. Now this I was very worried about. Just a few days before leaving I realized that I had lost all confirmation info on my ticket purchase. We got there & explained the situation. The girl searched the database & found 47 women with the exact name as me picking up tickets. One from the same town, but still found nothing. Turns out, I purchased them in my mom’s name. Oops. After about 10 minutes she found it & we were finally on our way. We went into Epcot & found a bench right in between Greece & Canada’s booths. We were armed & ready. We had the plan of attack all mapped out. My mom would sit on a bench in the shade & I would be the food runner. She would also journal what we ate & right each of our ratings from 1 - 10 down. When it comes to food, I don’t mess around. Once we were done that area, we'd move to the next shaded bench & continue the process. Now let me take a moment to put in my brief disclaimer for the day. IT WAS 93 DEGREES TODAY!! That is oh, my God we’re gonna die hot. Not exactly the type of weather you want to lug around a 300 lb camera, take lots of pics of yourself & eat a lot in. I did get some pics today, but not a lot with us in them. Just thought I’d let you know.

Continued on next post...