Escaping Irene: A NY family "evacuates" to Disney! *Update 7/7 WWoHP*

[kokotg]

Wow--that room looks great!

My pictures are heavy on kids admiring the Disney wildlife, too . Lizards, snails, rabbits, squirrels...you'd think living in the middle of the woods they'd get enough of it at home...I guess the Disney wildlife is more...magical.

 

[DrMomof3]

I love your view! I actually prefer the lake view at BLT to the MK view. The MK view has too much parking lot. Sure it is great for the fireworks, but that is only 15 minutes a day. The lake view, on the other hand, is so relaxing all day. Plus you get to see the water parade. Did you catch that this trip?

We saw a bit of the water parade. I've heard that the noise from the water parade can be annoying but it didn't bother us at all!

YAY for getting into your room when you were ready to. Nay on them not letting you know. I was scanning that picture of the pool to see if we were in it, we were there so much! LOL I wouldn't have been surprised to see us. Was thinking that might have been DH talking to a guy in the pool, but not sure. I don't see me or the kids. Looks like this was right after the storm so we were probably back in the room changing to go back to the pool.

On second thought, there is someone in a white cover up by the chair under that tree where we sat the first couple of days, that could be me and I see two kids in the pool, one on the steps and one at the bottom of the slide. It very well could be us. LOL

Too funny!!!

I am loving your trip report and pics.

Thank you!

Wow, your room is gorgeous! I'm not surprised BLT is almost completely sold out for DVC!

I really liked BLT. If I were buying DVC, it would be hard choice between BLT and BCV.

OMG- your views are incredible! I didn't know you could see EPCOT from the BLT!!! If I'm recalling correctly, didn't you have a view of the golf ball from your BCV room? I'll stay tuned to see if you are able to view Illuminations from your balcony.


Great gift basket for Tom! I love the kids (big and small) all trying to be pirates!


But the picture I am really focusing in on is the one below.

We are remodeling our master bathroom. When I saw your pictures, I couldn't help but remark that we are using a similar design and colors of the little block tiles! Who knew our style was "Contemporary?"

Too funny about the bathroom pics!
We honestly had a better view of Illuminations from BLT than we did from BCV last year. Crazy, right?

Wow--that room looks great!

My pictures are heavy on kids admiring the Disney wildlife, too . Lizards, snails, rabbits, squirrels...you'd think living in the middle of the woods they'd get enough of it at home...I guess the Disney wildlife is more...magical.

Glad that my kids aren't the only ones more focused on wildlife than Disney attractions. I'm only kidding.... Mostly...

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

At this point it was almost time for our early dinner ADR at Chef Mickey's. We all changed into nicer clothes and took the sky bridge over to the restaurant. I like Chef Mickey's. I think it's one of those iconic restaurants that screams Disney World. The food is fine - I'm not a huge buffet person - and the characters are fun. Yes, it's very noisy but it's very Disney.
What I hate at Chef Mickey's is the stupid picture they make you take before you are seated. And then try to convince you to spend too much money on a mediocre picture. Why not make it photopass? Or include the picture in the cost of the meal? We did NOT buy our picture. Obviously.
We were seated near the buffet in a pretty decent location. Tom and I enjoyed a much-needed adult beverage while waiting for the character arrivals. We took turns filling plates for ourselves and the kids. There were several annoying people in the buffet line (filling 5 plates and taking forever while the line just filled behind them). I guess some people feel they really need to make sure to get their money's worth! There is plenty of food at the buffet that I like. I don't know that this buffet is worth the cost but I don't mind it at all.

Minnie arrived first. And earned huge brownie points for noticing that Jessica's dress matched her own. I had put Chef Mickey autograph pages in our book and they were much admired by the characters.

Followed by Pluto:

And Goofy!

Donald:

And, Mickey himself!

The kids enjoyed the meal but I was very glad that we had an early dinner because we were all exhausted.
We headed back to the room and got the kids ready for bed. And realized that Zachary was burning up with a fever! I gave him some motrin (I travel prepared!) and brought him into bed with us. He had a very restless night. He did drink some water but was pretty miserable.

Amanda

 

[dismagiclover]

Great pictures! I love Chef Mickey's too. It is just so Disney! We've been to Chef Mickey's and just skipped the picture. No one said anything about it.

 

[natebenma]

We honestly had a better view of Illuminations from BLT than we did from BCV last year. Crazy, right?

Crazy, but we actually had a really great view of Nightastic from our balcony at the Beach Club. We actually could see some of the fireworks from Illuminations from the balcony too, but had a better view of the MK fireworks!

 

[natebenma]

Looks like the kids had a great time at Chef Mickey's. Glad to see some smiles on Zachary's face before he started to rapidly go downhill.

It is a good thing you were so close to "home"

We have been to CMs twice for breakfast. I know that last time we skipped the picture.

 

[Pills]

When you were dancing in the downpour in Frontierland, we were stuck on IASW.

Oddly, we didn't hit Chef Mickey's this time. It's normally a favorite, but we wanted to shake things up.

Those pics of the room at BLT really make me want to join DVC.

 

[DrMomof3]

Great pictures! I love Chef Mickey's too. It is just so Disney! We've been to Chef Mickey's and just skipped the picture. No one said anything about it.

I think the picture has become part of the ritual for us. As has refusing to buy the picture.

Crazy, but we actually had a really great view of Nightastic from our balcony at the Beach Club. We actually could see some of the fireworks from Illuminations from the balcony too, but had a better view of the MK fireworks!

Last year we could see both Illuminations and Wishes from our balcony at BCV. Not a great view of either but still a view!

Looks like the kids had a great time at Chef Mickey's. Glad to see some smiles on Zachary's face before he started to rapidly go downhill.

It is a good thing you were so close to "home"

We have been to CMs twice for breakfast. I know that last time we skipped the picture.

I always think that breakfast buffets are a poor value from my family since I'm the only one who eats pork. Then again, my kids all love smoked salmon which is probably more expensive than the pork!
Zachary loves the characters. At this point Jessica is truly the darling of the character meals but both Zachary and Nathaniel (who is just naturally shy) are coming along!

When you were dancing in the downpour in Frontierland, we were stuck on IASW.

Oddly, we didn't hit Chef Mickey's this time. It's normally a favorite, but we wanted to shake things up.

Those pics of the room at BLT really make me want to join DVC.

I totally agree that staying at BLT made me re-think DVC again. I loved it. A lot! And I loved walking to MK. There were some monorail issues (minor) during our trip and it made the ease of walking that much better!

Amanda

 

[beebeeryan]

Walking to MK was the BEST thing ever! Love it. So convenient. There wasn't a day we didn't hop over there even for just an hour or so. We walked by the DVC desk at the CR so many times and the guy tried his best to get us to stop. LOL Hey, if we had the money we'd buy BLT in a heartbeat buddy, no need to sell us.

 

[klacey1]

Aww, you can tell your kids had a great time at dinner! I'm sorry Zachary started to get sick, though-- no fun!

 

[Mary Anne]

I own DVC but we do not own at BLT. You can however stay at all of them no matter where you own. Be careful of your children's Disney addiction.... they grow up, go to college and then run away to Disney to be a CM. Trust me, I speak from experience You have made me want to plan ahead and book a night or two at BLT next year. Sorry your son was not feeling well.

 

[firecracker725]

Just checking in on you. Hope things are going well. I *think* you're either at Disney or shortly returned.

 

[DrMomof3]

Walking to MK was the BEST thing ever! Love it. So convenient. There wasn't a day we didn't hop over there even for just an hour or so. We walked by the DVC desk at the CR so many times and the guy tried his best to get us to stop. LOL Hey, if we had the money we'd buy BLT in a heartbeat buddy, no need to sell us.

I know. I know! I loved BLT!

Aww, you can tell your kids had a great time at dinner! I'm sorry Zachary started to get sick, though-- no fun!

We did have fun at dinner. And poor Zachary!

I own DVC but we do not own at BLT. You can however stay at all of them no matter where you own. Be careful of your children's Disney addiction.... they grow up, go to college and then run away to Disney to be a CM. Trust me, I speak from experience You have made me want to plan ahead and book a night or two at BLT next year. Sorry your son was not feeling well.

Thank you! We've gone back and forth on DVC for several years. It's been a long debate in my house!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Just checking in on you. Hope things are going well. I *think* you're either at Disney or shortly returned.

I know I've been missing! We did just get back from a short trip to Disney!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

First an apology for abandoning my trip report. My eldest son ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks at the end of September and we're still recovering. We were supposed to be on a cruise right now but had to cancel due to concerns about being unreachable in the Bahamas. Tom and I did get a quick 2 day trip to Disney (returned last night). It was a great trip and I will write about it soon!!!

Back to our summer trip.....

We woke up Monday morning and Zachary was still sick. His fever did not break. He was a bit lethargic but pretty mellow. We ate breakfast in the room (Zachary maybe drank some water and took some motrin) and piled in the car for DHS. We easily made RD at DHS and Tom sent me off to get FPs for TSM. I literally cut through stores to get a good position at RD and off I went! We had originally planned to get in the stand-by line after getting FPs but.....

This was what happened between RD and TSM.

I guess that's what happens when you try to drag your sick child through the Disney parks. Bad mommy! Bad mommy!!! We headed over to the new Star Tours instead and did baby swap (the nice thing about a sleeping child is that the CMs can't see that he *is* actually tall enough for the ride!). While Tom rode with the kids, I headed to Guest Services for this:

No, no, no. Not a diet Coke.
A GAC and stroller = wheelchair tag for Zachary.

I have to admit that Zachary's motor skills are coming along to the point where we might not need a GAC for very much longer. However when one child has a fever and you're trying to give the other 2 a vacation, it's really nice to keep the sick child in the stroller all day!

On the way back to Star Tours, Zachary and I ran into a CM that I met last year at Epcot. He's a veteran from Brooklyn who lost his legs and sits in a wheelchair. He used to work at Kim Possible but now is at the Indiana Jones show. Zachary was still sleeping but this very kind CM took some time to talk to me. He noticed the stroller = wheelchair and had some advice (like the fact that the stunt show is very loud and might not be good for Zachary). He's really a nice man. I told him that I remembered him from Kim Possible.

We got back to Star Tours and Tom took Zachary so I could ride with the big kids.

Gotta love those 3D glasses!

I love the new Star Tours! Really awesome!!! Then we took some required pictures:

Before racing off to meet Tom in line for the Phineas and Ferb meet n greet area.

Posting...

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

Poor Zachary!!! No fun not to be feeling well at Disney At least he was sleeping and hopefully was not uncomfortable.

I'm glad to hear that you loved the new Star Tours! I'm excited to check it out myself.

Love the story about the CM you talked to. It is nice when you reconnect with people from previous trips.

VERY cute pictures of the kids on the speeder pods.

 

[DrMomof3]

Poor Zachary!!! No fun not to be feeling well at Disney At least he was sleeping and hopefully was not uncomfortable.

I'm glad to hear that you loved the new Star Tours! I'm excited to check it out myself.

Love the story about the CM you talked to. It is nice when you reconnect with people from previous trips.

VERY cute pictures of the kids on the speeder pods.

Zachary did pretty well in the stroller. I reclined it so he could sleep comfortably.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

So we joined Tom and Zachary in the queue to meet Phineas and Ferb. We are huge fans of the show so this was quite exciting. And our autograph book had a Phineas and Ferb cover:

The family behind us in line were British and absolutely adored my autograph book. I think they were more impressed than my children! It was a mom, a teenage daughter (older teen - she can drink in England but not in the U.S.), and a tween or younger teen son. They were nice and I enjoyed talking to them.

Zachary slept through the whole encounter.

They do a cute little spiel before the characters come out. There's a CM who's pretended to be a director of a new P&F movie and his pulls people out of the line to do things (I think he had someone hula dancing in a grass skirt, etc.). We were toward the front of the line but the line got quite long.

Phineas entering the meet n greet.

Joined by Ferb.

I wore my NY shirt in honor of Hurricane Irene.

I thought it was very sweet that Phineas went by Zachary so we could have a picture with him and Phineas.

Right next door was the Cars meet n greet. There was basically no line so we headed over. Please note that Zachary has woken up - a little bit, anyway.

After that it was time to use our FPs for TSM....

Amanda

 

[klacey1]

What a stressful time for you! I hope Nathaniel is okay now. Sorry you had to cancel your cruise, but I'm glad you got to sneak away for a little break.
The Phineas and Ferb meet sounds great-- that's so sweet that one even stepped by Zachary for you!

 

[beebeeryan]

YAY NY!!! The craziness of the weather phenomenon continues upstate, we got snow last night and it's still on the ground this morning, before Halloween!!!

Awesome book cover and that was super sweet of Phineus. We love that show too.

Sorry about the cruise, but at least you got a couple of nights away, it's something. Hopefully Nathaniel is on the mend.