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

[Disney9.9.10]

I can't wait to read all about your trip! I love the title (and Finding Nemo, of course!)

 

[afwdwfan]

Ooooh... sorry you were still in the scooter. Especially dealing with spring break crowds where it feels like you're swimming upstream.

 

[jecskc]

Joining in! It's always fun reading TRs by people who were there at the same time. And the same resort!

Hey Sarah !! I am so happy you are here. Gah - I am so kicking myself that I didn't get to meet you and Erin. Dang !! Are you going to do a TR ?? I wanna follow along on yours, too, if you do. We can look for each other in our photos ... LOL. But from your facebook posts, I would say they we weren't ever at the same place at the same time. Except the reost, of course.

I can't wait to read all about your trip! I love the title (and Finding Nemo, of course!)

Hey Krysten !! I am so glad you are following along again. Glad to have you back !!! I have TONS of photos to upload and photobucket is being so stupid. I set up my computer to load day 3 before I left for work this morning and I bet it is still just churning away at home SLOWLY loading photos. I hope it is done when I get home ... so I can then set up Day 4 to load. Sigh.

Ooooh... sorry you were still in the scooter. Especially dealing with spring break crowds where it feels like you're swimming upstream.

Hey Andy !! Glad you stopped by !! Yes, I am MUCH better and I was able to get around the resort without the scooter, but going 5-8 miles in the parks wasn't happening. Still too sore for all of that. Dude, this injury is taking FOREVER to heal. My doctor said it would take a year and I didn't want to believe him. But it is looking more and more like he is right. Dang it !!! It was a challenge sometimes with the scooter for sure. My strategy was to get behind a dad with a double stroller and let him plow the way for me It worked, too !!!

 

[daisymomof4]

How brave of you to go at spring break! lol Can't wait to read your report I also saw your yummy updates from the 'live' thread. Mmmmmmmm....

I've got a friend that broke her ankle several years ago and her road to recovery was a long one. She always joked that she'd not have minded it if she'd been doing something fun or exciting instead of something she knew she shouldn't have been doing, lol. I hope you are healing well!

 

[jecskc]

How brave of you to go at spring break! lol Can't wait to read your report I also saw your yummy updates from the 'live' thread. Mmmmmmmm....

I've got a friend that broke her ankle several years ago and her road to recovery was a long one. She always joked that she'd not have minded it if she'd been doing something fun or exciting instead of something she knew she shouldn't have been doing, lol. I hope you are healing well!

I am going to do a full dining review as well, i just need to get everything organized. Hope to see you over there as well. We really don't mind Spring Break. If you manage your time and fast passes well, you can still have a great trip and do everything you want.

I had pretty bad tendon damage so that takes even longer to heal. And I just fell down the stairs at my house. The last three stairs. that was all it took to ruin my life ..... I hope to at least get back to 85% one day. I really miss playing tennis and I am not getting any lighter just sitting around waiting for it to heal.

 

[Desi]

Can't wait to read all about it!

 

[marDgreen88]

I'm here!!! BAY LAKE TOWER!!!!!!!!

 

[jecskc]

Can't wait to read all about it!

Thanks for following along !!!

I'm here!!! BAY LAKE TOWER!!!!!!!!

Hey Marissa !!!

Oh eM Gee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bay Lake Tower was the absolute BOMB diggity !! We loved it soooo much. It was very hard to leave.

 

[daisymomof4]

I am going to do a full dining review as well, i just need to get everything organized. Hope to see you over there as well. We really don't mind Spring Break. If you manage your time and fast passes well, you can still have a great trip and do everything you want.

I had pretty bad tendon damage so that takes even longer to heal. And I just fell down the stairs at my house. The last three stairs. that was all it took to ruin my life ..... I hope to at least get back to 85% one day. I really miss playing tennis and I am not getting any lighter just sitting around waiting for it to heal.

Oh gosh, just 3 stairs! That just really stinks. I hope you recover well enough to play even a little tennis some day.

(My friend tripped over her dog)

 

[tazdev3225]

I'm home and here. Looking forward to reading along.

 

[Nermel9]

Yay I'm here! That's funny that you did a split stay of both of the resorts I just did a split stay in on my Feb. trip! Can't wait to read more!

 

[jecskc]

Oh gosh, just 3 stairs! That just really stinks. I hope you recover well enough to play even a little tennis some day.

(My friend tripped over her dog)

Our dog was involved. She was barking at something and knocking things over and I shifted my focus from the stairs to see what the fuss was and missed a step.

I'm home and here. Looking forward to reading along.

Hey Lorrie !!! Welcome back !! So glad you are here.

Yay I'm here! That's funny that you did a split stay of both of the resorts I just did a split stay in on my Feb. trip! Can't wait to read more!

Hey Jen !! I am so glad you came over to follow along. I need to catch up on everyone's TRs.

 

[jecskc]

Day 1 – Part One

DH likes to drive at night, so we got up SUPER early – about 2 AM and got on the road. We live in South Carolina, so it usually takes us about 7 hours to get there at night. I takes about an hour more when there is traffic. Traffic was basically non-existent and we (not DH) dozed off and on as he drove. At sunrise, we stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast.

The kids and DH love Waffle House. I always feel like I need a bath when I leave. Their food is OK, but their restaurants are always dirty. Anyway, we did that and after a couple of hours, we were driving through these wonderful gates.

We are DVC owners and for the first five nights of this trip, we were staying at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort. This resort is new to us and we were so excited to stay there.

Our first monorail sighting !!

Another !!

Entrance

Lobby

This resort is so cool. I normally prefer a more traditional décor, but I found myself loving the modern furnishings and decorations.

Fountain outside and some very tall bamboo.

Back inside

Since it was Easter, they had some Easter decorations. We saw them everywhere during our trip.

More décor.

We checked in about 9:30 AM and our room was ready !! We were so excited.

I tried to get photos before everyone made a huge mess. Which happened sooner rather than later. I live with the 3 little pigs, y'all.

Foyer

The guest bathroom.

Laundry

Dining Area

 

[jecskc]

Day 1 – Part One (cont’d)

Kitchen

Living room.

In addition to the sofa folding out, the chair folded out to a twin bed.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Balcony

Shuffleboard

We were so excited about our room and was really amazing. There were sliding doors everywhere and I thought this was brilliant. Especially when we moved over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. The doors that swing open take up so much room and you really notice it in a smaller room. Our room at Bay Lake was bigger than our room at AKL, but the space would have been better at AKL if it had sliding doors as well. I loved them. We thought there weren’t any locks on the sliding doors, but our 10 year old showed us how to lock them. Go figure.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hey Sarah !! I am so happy you are here. Gah - I am so kicking myself that I didn't get to meet you and Erin. Dang !! Are you going to do a TR ?? I wanna follow along on yours, too, if you do. We can look for each other in our photos ... LOL. But from your facebook posts, I would say they we weren't ever at the same place at the same time. Except the reost, of course.

I know, it is a bummer we couldn't meet up. I am planning on doing a TR and will hopefully have it started within the next couple of days! I will post the link on my PTR.

 

[jecskc]

I know, it is a bummer we couldn't meet up. I am planning on doing a TR and will hopefully have it started within the next couple of days! I will post the link on my PTR.

YAY !! I can't wait to read !!

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm a huge BLT fan so your room makes me smile!!! Was it a 1 or 2 bedroom? It looks so much like our 2 bedroom that we had last summer with the "laundry room" ... I agree the pocket doors are such a space saver. That's funny that your DS showed you how to lock the doors. I was at BLT at least 3 times before I noticed the little latch doohickie.

I've never been to a Waffle House but from your photos the food looks pretty good - especially the waffle!

 

[jecskc]

I'm a huge BLT fan so your room makes me smile!!! Was it a 1 or 2 bedroom? It looks so much like our 2 bedroom that we had last summer with the "laundry room" ... I agree the pocket doors are such a space saver. That's funny that your DS showed you how to lock the doors. I was at BLT at least 3 times before I noticed the little latch doohickie.

I've never been to a Waffle House but from your photos the food looks pretty good - especially the waffle!

We had a one bedroom and we loved it !! The kids appreciated not having to share a bed. DD is the one who figured it out - the lock on the door that is. Which I think is ironic since she is the only one in our family who doesn't knock when the door is closed. I can't tell you how may times i have had to yell out "I just want to pee alone !!" Don't you have four kids ?? I know you know what I mean ... LOL.

The food there is good, but the places are always so dirty. They are open 24 hours so I imagine they get a lot of wear and tear. But some of them are just nasty. I do love the food though !!

 

[Pixie Princess]

Ah, the Awful Waffle. My dd loves that place too. I think I burnt out on it during college. I told dd y'all stayed at BLT. She is extremely jealous. The Contemporary and BLT are her dream resorts. That view is gorgeous. I think I might almost prefer it to a an MK view....almost.

 

[jecskc]

Ah, the Awful Waffle. My dd loves that place too. I think I burnt out on it during college. I told dd y'all stayed at BLT. She is extremely jealous. The Contemporary and BLT are her dream resorts. That view is gorgeous. I think I might almost prefer it to a an MK view....almost.

Well, we need a to plan for you guys to stay a couple of nights with us sometime. You know, get a 2 bedroom. I am serious. DD's new dream is stay in a grand villa. I imagine the points for those are crazy !!