Just back from first visit home...long.

[jmatias]

Brigitte, thanks again for all the great info. I'm sure we will have a great time at WDW...how can you not

Our June trip will be the second for our DS8 and DS6 and first for DD6 months. I'm really hoping to convince DH to buy into DVC and I"ll make sure he reads your post tonight.

Did you go to the Cape May character breakfast? We are planning on doing it this trip and would love to hear any comments.

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Simba's Mom: That is so funny! We also called around 10 pm and said tomorrow is more than fine. In fact we didn't want them to come at 10 pm due to the kids sleeping and all. They showed up in 15 min like you said and hesitated at the door when my husband answered and said he could change it. They asked if he was sure it was the bulb and not the switch and he said it was definitely the bulb. They said they would change it and he insisted he could and they finally shuffled sideways past the door w/ funny looks on their faces like they were not following protocol. It was funny. I figured that is what was happening. And there were 2 men. LOL! By the way, we were able to fix it w/ no problem. Thanks for posting!

 

[PamOKW]

I agree that your wonderful report was especially nice to read on a day filled with "Comcast mania"! Thanks for taking the time to post in detail and to answer in detail. I am so happy that your first trip "home" was a wonderful one.

 

[DVCindy]

Glad to hear you had such a wonderful first trip !!

We were at BWV Jan 27 - Feb1 and had a great time, too !

On our June 2003 trip, we had room 5094 ... just above yours. I have to agree with you ... it's a fantastic room !!! I would love to get that end room again sometime. My dd's loved being able to watch all the fun at the Luna Park slide !!

Cindy

 

[palmtreegirl]

Welcome back, happy to hear you had a good trip!!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

jmatias: I'm glad I was able to answer some of your questions. I respect you for trying it w/ 3 kids. We are wondering how we are going to do it next year w/ to kids on the move. One was difficult enough. I am hoping our little girl is a little less head strong and energetic when she is little. Then maybe they will switch in their early teens and she will be difficult, but he will be easy. At least then we have a chance. I would definitely say we would have had a much more difficult time w/o the amenities of the DVC. Knowing we had a huge place for naps and to regroup and eat snacks really made the difference. With a young family like your own, DVC seems to be the perfect choice.

We went to Cape May Cafe for the character breakfast on our last day. By this time my son was enjoying the characters and not turning his head. The hostess was sooo nice to us and we were the last ones seated. The food was delish and the ambience was darling. Since we were the last ones there, they gave us extra special attention. Chip and Goofy colored w/ Tristan, Chip rocked Caroline, Chip and Dale teased each other, Goofy spent a lot of time w/ the baby. And Goofy's antics were funny.... he laid on the floor for someone else's pictures and posed. We really enjoyed our breakfast there. It was unhurried and friendly. They even left the food out for us w/o making us feel guilty for keeping them there past hours. We had already put our bags in storage and were able to regroup and relax before hitting the parks on the last day. No pressure from the CM's to hurry at all. I would definitely eat here esp. if you are staying at a resort nearby. It is so convenient and enjoyable.

 

[Lexxiefern]

What a great report!! I am so glad you enjoyed BWV - they are our favorite Sounds like a wonderful room you had too. I have loved all of the rooms I have had so far at BWV. Can't wait for September to come now - you made me homesick for my home away from home!!

 

[BWVDee]

I am so glad to hear that your trip was wonderful. BWV is our home resort and we absolutely love it. Your great trip report made me home sick and I just got back 9 days ago!! LOL!!
It has been many years since my kids were young toddlers and babies but we also used to just go with the flow and let the kids set the pace during our WDW vacations. It made life much easier and more enjoyable. Of course, it took us awhile to figure this strategy out but once we did, we were fine. I will never forget on the first day of our first WDW trip with a 11 month old and a
2 1/2 yr old, we were standing in a very, very long line for Dumbo--it was ungodly hot, the kids were cranky & tired and we (Mom and Dad) were arguing! All of a sudden we both looked at each other and said "this is NOT the way it is supposed to be!". We left MK returned to our WDW resort, put the kids down for a nap and sat out on the balcony with a nice adult beverage and finally started to enjoy our WDW trip. After that day we always went with the kid's schedule and pace and had much happier and pixie dust filled trips. And you know what? What we missed out on riding/doing etc., due to our young children and their schedules--we eventually had time for during many other WDW trips over the years.
Thanks for posting such a nice report.

 

[LucyLou&BobWho]

What a great trip!!! Now I am just so jealous!!! I just can't wait. I am so glad you enjoyed it so much. We haven't even gone on our first trip yet, but already my husband is talking about buying some addl. points at the BWV, this post just reinforces that I think we'll have to do it

thanks for the great report!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Brigitte,
Thanks for the colorful report. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Your view from you BWV room must have been wonderful. I'm going to have to give BWV a second chance and hope for a view like this instead of the one I got last summer---I agree, it would make the walk worth it
Thanks again for reporting in. I'm sure your terrific experiences on this trip will help to tide you over until next year

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

PamOKW: And thank you PamOKW for reading and responding to my post. You have been so helpful over the past few months w/ some of my decisions and I really appreciate you taking the time to check in on me to see how I am doing. Always glad to hear from you.

DVCindy: Nice to meet ya Cindy! Those rooms are truly fabulous! As long as you can handle the walk. We just figured we were walking off all those calories from dinner. Glad to hear you had a great time too! It's always nice to share the happy experiences w/ others.

Palmtreegirl: Thanks for your kind remarks. It was so nice to hear from you!

Lexxiefern: I too love the BWV now. It may very well be my favorite, but I will have to check out all the others before I can make that decision.... but so far, it's my favorite. My room was so great that I can't imagine any of the other rooms being nearly as good. So you make me feel better knowing that I didn't get the very best and it's all downhill from here. Ha Ha. It sounds like a lot of the BW rooms are great. You always have great suggestions and ideas and I am so happy I heard from you again. I hope your trip in Sept is magical!

BWVDee: Your story really hit the mark for me. That is exactly what we had gone through. I always thought that the kids would just have to tag along and keep up and that they had no say when it comes to our vacation. But then the hubby and I had our long talk about our plans just not working and that even 4 or 5 rides a day was TOO much for him. We were all miserable, smiling, but miserable. It was funny....the parent not holding Tristan in a football hold was the parent who was strolling the quiet one and pretending not to know the screaming child and parent carrying the child. We got a kick out of playing, "I don't belong to them." I enjoyed reading your post and finding out were are not the only parents who got a wake up call in front of Dumbo. Thanks for your funny story!

LucyLou&BobWho: If I hadn't already added on, I would do so at the BWV. Definitely go for it if you can. It is the BEST investment we ever made because it was for us. I just hope I have many years of staying at the BWV before there are so many of us and no room there anymore for my family. It is a wonderful wonderful resort. Good luck at getting those extra points! I'll be cheering you on from this end!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Thanks for posting your thoughts MiaSRN62! I really enjoyed reading your comments. Sorry to hear you didn't get a great location last time. If you can, give BWV a 2nd chance! I hope your next experience will make up for your last one. Thanks for contacting me!

 

[MJTinNH]

I was just thinking to myself last night that you might be posting your trip report soon! I am so happy that you and your family had a great trip. The report on your room really makes me look foward to my 1st trip "Home" in May. The long walk didn't even seem so bad because of your easy access to the stairway.

I also enjoyed your description of the weather. Any little suggestion of weather other than cold and dreary is welcome news.

I do have a question. Did you end up going to a grocery store or did you try the fax list on the Member site for your supplies?

Thank you for posting your report, it did help to spread a little "Disney" back into my day!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

It was so nice of you to keep me in your thoughts and to check up on me on the boards MJTinNH! Thank you.

About the weather.... I packed for everything as I am sure one must in January. But we essentially wore shorts and T's every single day. We had to wear our water resistant pullovers one day, but that didn't slow us down any. They temperature was warm and we had turkey and mashed potoatoes at the LTT at the MK which warmed us up nicely. Spectro was cancelled that night though. After dinner, the roads were wet, but no precipitation and the walk to the monorail and thru EPCOT was very nice. Other than that, breezy, warm (65 to 75 degrees), and mostly sunny every day. That weather is perfect for us Northeasters, but it was comical down there. The CM's were all wearing ski type parkas and long pants. They were all bundled up in 60 degree temps. That to us is a most perfect day! By the end of our stay, the temps rose to the mid to upper 80's and it was beginning to get really warm. Still really nice, but I wouldn't want to wait in lines w/ 2 babies in that heat. I remember my DH and I talking about it being a "scorcher" today. It was a day where one could burn quickly. So we hung out by the pool the last few days and used lots of Coppertone. I thought it would be much colder than it was. Next time I'll probably only bring one sweatshirt and wash it if I must to save room in the suit case. In May, you should have really nice weather.

The food situation was so funny. My DH decided not to rent a car, and decided I should send a FAX rather than go w/ FL Tours. I went to send the FAX out the day before we left for WDW and noticed they needed 48 or 72 hrs notice.... uh oh! So I called the General Store and asked them if they had specific items. If the cheese is a different color, my son won't eat it. They seemed to have all of the essentials important to our family. So Mears picked us up at the airport (I must say they did a marvelous job and I might just do Mears all the time they were that good), dropped us off at the resort. We went into MGM, checked in at 4, took naps, and then went out on the town that evening. We had a lovely surrey bike ride around the BW, then after we took the bike back, we strolled into the General Store and picked up the items we needed.... milk, bread, eggs, cheese, etc. and walked upstairs w/ our groceries.

Now granted, we eat out a lot when on vacation and don't need much. So if you need to bake cakes and cook dinners every night, this is not the way to go..... but for our family, this was the ticket and we will do it this way every time. I had the foods I needed to feed my 2 yr old, and Mommy and Daddy still ate out every night. I can't imagine spending my time in a grocery store while on vacation. I was stressing out about having a car drop us off and waiting for us to shop while 2 babies were in the car w/ the other parent? It seemed to be too difficult. I thought the General Store was exactly what we needed. And we noticed no major jump in cost. It's worth it to us to spend the extra few cents to have the convenience of a store right there. Every other night we "dropped" by the store and bought wine coolers (haven't had those in years) or beer and postcards. I loved it. I might use the FAX sheet next time if I am staying across the water at the BCV, but it's really nice walking in there and picking out what you want. So if you are thinking about cooking every night, then you prob. still want to get to a grocery store. If you need breakfast items and some frozen dinners, coffee, and milk, then just FAX or drop by the General Store and let others cook for you and serve you. Hope this helps!!!

I'll be looking forward to your post in May about your trip. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time and your report will give ME a bit of Disney Magic to get me through until we go again next Dec or Jan. Thanks again for being interested!

 

[scotth1042]

Great report!

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

Glad you dropped by scotth1042!

 

[MinnesotaChill]

Brigitte -
Glad you had such a great time! We did too, but we left right as you were getting there. We used our sweatshirts almost every day! The day we left it was supposed to get up to 80 and we were so wishing we'd had one more day! I looked for you but we were in MK & MGM the last day we were there, and never saw anyone in the halls!

I'm like you. I want to go back NOW!!

 

[gopherit]

Hi! Read your wonderful post earlier but am only now just getting the chance to comment! And good thing for me, too -- b/c you added lots of extra commments since the OP! More details!!

As for the lightbulb -- I'd be willing to bet it's not a gender thing, but more likely a mandated safety issue. If, for example, it HAD been the switch, and your dh went to unscrew what he thought was a dead bulb, and suddenly the shorted wire came to life mid-bulb removal -- well, most folks would say (after they got over the shock!) silly me, I had no idea, and then call for maintenance back-up. But there are those who would say, bad bad Disney... why, I could have been "kilt" or worse... where's my lawyer. You get the idea. I'd be willing to bet they are told to perform any and ALL maintenance tasks -- no matter how minor, no matter whether it's a woman or a man or Bob Vila (not to imply that Bob Vila is gender alternate, but you get the idea!)

ANYWAY -- I am SOOOOOOO glad to hear such a positive report on BWV! It's our "home" since we bought back in '99, but we have yet to stay there, oddly enough! This summer we will have me, dh, and our 3 (ds ages 9 and 8, then dd age 4) and bring SIL/BIL and their 2 sons with us (one age 4, one 8 mos). We decided to try BWV -- based on your post, I'm so glad and SO EXCITED!! We are going whole-hog resort-wise this trip... one night at BCV (on cash, courtesy of BIL/SIL, so we can all try out SAB!) Then we move over to BWV for 8 nights... then BIL/SIL leave ( ) and our family will get a surprise (we aren't telling our kids about this part) -- 4 more days over at SSR! We've never switched resorts before -- should be interesting! We're planning on not getting groceries until we move to BWV, so we'll do the Cape May b'fast over at BCV, maybe ESPN for lunch. I'll keep the Gen'l store in mind, although the call-ahead WeShop grocery deal sounded really good. I'd gladly pay someone $20 to grocery shop for me, especially if it meant an extra 2 hrs doing something ELSE, like sipping a drink by SAB or LP! We don't dine in every night, but as your little ones grow a bit, you'll find it's REALLY nice to dine in sometimes! (Crock pots help!) When our kids came back from TL one time, they could barely move. How wonderful it was for them to come back to the villa and TOTALLY unwind! We always do a character b'fast or two, but by and large, we eat b'fast in the villa. The kids eat better in the villa -- it's just too exciting out in the "World" to eat when you're a kid! So we eat out one night, in the next. Same thing with park days (in park one day, not in parks the next). It just keeps everything more relaaaaaaxed (which as you found was vital to true vacation enjoyment for all!)

But back to your report! Wow -- sounds great! I'd like to hear more, specifically -- How was Spoodles? What other dining around BW did you try? (ESPN? Cape May dinner buffet? Beaches or Dolphin fountain?) And how much was the surrey rental (and were they as hard to move as folks say?) How was the cleanliness of Luna Park (when we pool-hopped there last trip, the tiles REALLY needed a SCRUB! Ewwww...) What other character meals did you do? (Did you make a restaurant report?)

I'm sure I'll think of more, but this post/novel is long enough!
Thanks again!

 

[bub]

Enthusiast - We learned a hard lesson with a 2-year-old child as well, and you are absolutely right to plan your day around their energy level. We took my daughter all through Epcot, and she seemed to be happy and loving all of it. When it was time to leave (at 3 p.m. - can't believe we didn't take that midday break) I went to help her onto a bus, and she wanted to climb on "all by herself." She had a complete meltdown the entire way back to OKW, hitting me and screaming "I hate you mommy!" (My husband was in the back of the bus with my better-behaved 4-year-old son.) We got off at the first stop at OKW (feeling a bit embarassed, to say the least) and then had to walk to our room back by Turtle Pond. That would have been okay if it wasn't August!

Anyway, we sure learned our lesson, and our trips since then have been far more mellow and enjoyable. My daughter is now 10, and does not remember any of this. She would never ride anything very challenging (even Dumbo is too high for her) but last October we got her onto Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and RnRC - what a shock, she loved them all. Guess you just have to wait for those developmental stages to pass. She still is really scared of costumed characters (even Piglet, for gosh sakes!) but we do okay with this, too - no need to wait in lines for autographs for this family! My kids are now very into the water parks - Disney is great for having things to do no matter what your stage or interest. As your kids grow, your activities will change a lot, keeping your vacations fun.

Thanks for your great report. We love BWV too and will be there in August!

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by Disney Enthusiast
My DH had a smile on his face the whole time !

Brigitte
Excellent report .................between your posts and Dr. Tomorrow's posts, it makes for excellent reading.