2 weeks, 2 Holidays, 2 Resorts, No Parks!

[LIFERBABE]

Hi All we are back home and we had a great time!! We stayed 6 nights at BCV in a studio Dec 23-29 and then a 1 Bdr at SSR for 8 nights. Checked out Jan 6, 2007.

BCV was great!! This was our best BCV stay ever. Chris checked us in and he was great!! "You, requested a pool view villa?" Me: Yes I did, nonsmoking" "We were able to meet that request" Me:

He was just really nice and efficient we were really impressed with the CM's and service at BCV this trip and I was starting to get feel jaded about that before this trip.

Another example was our Villa #416, it is right across from the laundry and main elevators, which was great!! Very nice very clean. I didnt notice any stains on the furniture and the sofa cushions were very clean.

I did notice a few bits of unraveled carpet under the table and chairs, but at first I was not concerned. Well it turned out, that the unraveled carpet was the result of exposed nails on the bottom of the wicker chairs. Every time you moved the chairs it would pull up more carpet. Seeing my dues flash before my eyes, I called Housekeeping and I have to say the response was immediate. They sent 2 engineering ladies up and they checked it out, went for parts, and fixed both chairs and clipped the carpet. We also needed a lightbulb which they fixed also. Very impressed with the response.

Our mattress was new!! It had a tag on it that said Nov 2006. A little firm, but a big improvement over the old ones.
The sofa bed, was not! It was terrible. My boys fought over who would sleep on the cushions on the floor. Dh did sleep on it 1 night (after my DS9 fell asleep in bed with me) and he said it wasnt too bad if you laid on it just right.

Pool Temps: It was cool and rainy Christmas week, but that didnt stop my boys from wanting to live in the Dunes Cove pool all week. We hung out at the pool and hot tub most evenings. The Dunes Cove pool was nicely heated. We only visited SAB 1 day and I thought it was cool, but the boys enjoyed it, especially the swirling waters part. They like to swim, but sliding is not a priority, so most days they picked the quiet pool over SAB

Due to the weather, we put off going to the parks. We figured we'd get to it the next week. One rainy day, Dh took the boys to DQ and I went to the movies at DTD! I really enjoyed Happy Feet!!

Oh! We shared BCV Tree #1 and that was great!! We hung garland and had a tree on Christmas Morning!! It was very Magical!

More later.........

 

[bobbiwoz]

That sounds like a wonderful trip! I'm glad for you.

Bobbi

 

[loribell]

Glad to hear you had a great trip. I would love to be able to have a week of relaxing without the parks. Please let me in on the secret of how you can get the boys to stay out of the parks. My DD, turned 8 on the trip, thinks she has to go every day, even if it is just for a little while.

Can't wait to hear more,
Lori

 

[lisaviolet]

Yes, a woman (and family) after my own heart!!!!!!

We once did 10 days, before DVC at ASMo, with no parks. Maybe TL I can't remember. I tell people and they often say, "What?" then "What did you do?"

Had a wonderful, relaxing, fun-filled vacation.

Loved hearing about your vacation and that you got to your beloved SSR Liferbabe. Can't wait to hear the rest.....

 

[tiggercrew]

I'm impressed that you were able to stay out of the parks for 2 weeks...I can't even convince my family that one full day out of the parks is possible.

I'm glad you had such a good trip. What a wonderful place to spend a holiday.

 

[newholidayx2]

Its NOT my husband and son who I cant keep out of the parks! I COULD NEVER stay that close to Off Kilter and not see most of their shows!

Now if we were at the VWL maybe I could go a day (or more) and not go in the parks.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Thank you all for the kind comments. I really didnt plan on not doing any parks, it just kind of happened that way. Each day we decided to do something else or nothing at all, or the weather didnt cooperate. We were not pressed, as we did visit over the summer and we did the cruise.

DVC is really starting to feel like our 2nd home. We were not on vacation, we were home for the holidays. I kind of caught a glimpse of what many of the OKW families feel as they return year after year.

A little more on BCV........The Lobby was beatiful for the holidays. On Christmas day they passed out punch and sugar cookies. It was very busy, as many came to see the Christmas Carousel. We ate at Beaches N Cream after our 1 visit to SAB and saw our old friend Dolores, who gave us all big hugs

On Friday Dec 29, we moved over to SSR which had been completely sold out the night before. Our Villa was not ready until 3pm, but we hung out at Community Hall I complained a little to my family about having to wait, but my 7 year old told me that they were making it all sparkly.

I have never seen so many people at the main pool!! I had mixed feelings on that. It was nice to see so many enjoying what my family had enjoyed for so many trips, but it was also like the secret was out!

Our Villa was worth the wait and Sparkly! It was a Congress Park DTD View on the 3rd Floor. It was beautiful!! 2 floors directly above the Ground floor 1 bdr we had for our summer trip. Housekeeping had alot of nice extra touches and it was immaculate.

We were on the end next to the stairs, very close walk to the MarketPlace at DTD. We took strolls around the resort and DTD almost daily. We peeked at the Grandstand pool area and it will be very nice. It is a basic pool albeit a large oval shaped basic pool. The splash area is really cute and I think it will be a nice area to stay in, especially with the golf and water views. Everyone knows I love SSR, but after walking around the Carousel buildings, the best thing I can say about them is thank goodness there are not more Carousel buildings. The resort was sold out so they were occupied and everyone seemed happy enough.

We spent Christmas Day at BCV and NYE at SSR. This was our 3rd year at SSR for NYE and again, there is no place I would have rather been!! It was great!! We chilled out around the resort all day and that evening we went to the NYE Party that the SSR Rec staff threw at the Congress Park Quiet Pool.
This years party was even better. There were about 300 guests that attended. The staff passed out popcorn, lei's, noisemakers, played trivia, bingo, and the kids had a great time. They swam and played on the playground. This year they even set up a cash bar.

We had great spots on the lakefront to watch the PI fireworks and again, they were soooo AWESOME!! As I sat there with my family and other families, I felt that it could have been any year we were ringing in. It was so timeless and nostalgic. As long as my fingers can dial MS, we will stay at SSR for NYE

More later.........although it will be very hard to sleep without that warm glow of the Virgin Megastore sign outside my window. At night it would dance and in the morning it was just a sign.

 

[jakenjess]

Sounds like a perfect New Year's Eve!

 

[starbox]

We spent Christmas Day at BCV and NYE at SSR. This was our 3rd year at SSR for NYE and again, there is no place I would have rather been!! It was great!! We chilled out around the resort all day and that evening we went to the NYE Party that the SSR Rec staff threw at the Congress Park Quiet Pool.
This years party was even better. There were about 300 guests that attended. The staff passed out popcorn, lei's, noisemakers, played trivia, bingo, and the kids had a great time. They swam and played on the playground. This year they even set up a cash bar.

We had great spots on the lakefront to watch the PI fireworks and again, they were soooo AWESOME!! As I sat there with my family and other families, I felt that it could have been any year we were ringing in. It was so timeless and nostalgic. As long as my fingers can dial MS, we will stay at SSR for NYE

Okay, now I am sure that I want to make NYE reservations this year!! Just waiting till Feb. 1st................

Thanks for a great trip report! I can see staying at SSR and not visiting a park, but I am not sure I could have done BWV of BCV and actually have seen Epcot calling without heeding the call

I have to say that the pools were busier than they were when we visited over the summer. I think perhaps more people swim in the winter because it's a novelty - or maybe it was just a busier week & the parks were crowded

 

[Mahusky]

Sounds like you had a magical time..... can'twait for the next update!

 

[bobbiwoz]

What wonderful traditions you're making for your family!
Bobbi

 

[Lexxiefern]

I love reading your reports! You've actually got me thinking maybe I should go over New Years some day. I can't wait to read more!

 

[LIFERBABE]

Starbox: I really did want to go to Epcot while we were at BCV, but it rained all day Christmas and after that, the parks were really crowded. 2 days the parks closed due to capacity. They would reopen later in the evening, but there were so many enjoyable things to do so we did them.

Oh! We played mini golf while we were at BCV. First we went to Fantasia Gardens, but there was a 45 minute wait, so we drove over to Winter Summerland and played there. That was pretty fun!! I would do mini golf again! The courses are really cute and my boys thoroughly enjoyed it. We then went over to DTD and had Bongo's for lunch. We love the empanadas.

Kudos to the SSR Recreation Staff again! I finally took the time to do Ceramics. Talk about relaxing. Something I would never have the time to do at home. Also you cant help but meet other people. I met a really nice family from NY and we chatted and painted and had a great time. Saw them again at the NYE Party. They did the parks and they were so crowded they decided not to go again and just relax the rest of the trip.

The boys really enjoyed the Foosball table too. They now have Ping Pong and Foosball and PS2 as well as all the other scheduled activitities.

We did go to TL 1 day. That was a great day!! The water was nice and warm and it was sunny out. They closed at 5pm and we were not ready to leave!

Just a little more............

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I really enjoy reading your trip reports!! It's my dream to get to stay so long! Maybe I'll eventually talk DH into DVC!! He was impressed when we rented points to stay at BCV last fall!

 

[dumbo71]

I have to say I've sworn off visiting WDW during the Holidays but your trip sounds so wonderful I'm rethinking that.

Really enjoyed reading this and looking forward to more.

Thanks.

 

[saschab]

We stayed in the same BCV room, 416 in November. Thought it would be noisy with the laundry and elevator, but it was wonderful!

Except for that horrendous pull-out mattress.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Just a quick blip on the crowds

I-4 was jam packed all the way past Universal the day after Christmas. As I headed to visit a friend in Orlando, I wondered how I would ever make it back to WDW property. The traffic streaming into WDW was bumper to bumper for 15 miles!!!

Thankfully, she gave me the back route to travel and I made it back OK and bypassed I-4. After that, I didnt leave WDW unless I really had to and 1 day I went to Millenia Mall with a friend (a rainy day). If you are an out of state visitor, Macy's will give you a 5 day shopping pass good for 12% off. Out of Country gets a 30 day pass.


Bobbiwoz, Thank you for reading my reports and always being so encouraging and magical. I joke that I am going to have to get new kids because I have wore the 2 we have out already! I know they will remember all of this when they are older and both of them want to live at WDW when they grow up. I told them, its called the College Program . I respect anyone that can establish traditions for their families. It is definitely not easy and sometimes you get opposition but I want to etch out a time of year of our own and I think NYE will be it for us.

to be continued............

 

[Sammie]

Sounds like a fun trip, but then all your trips sound like fun ones.

As to the Carousel section, just so all you know, I requested it for our next trip, so that is one villa someone else won't have to worry about getting.

We always have a car, I love the fact that it is close to a bus stop, we don't swim everyday and if we do we can walk over. I like it is close to the entrance, as we come and go alot in our car.

So I guess strange as it seems, even what others might not want, someone does.

 

[loribell]

Bobbiwoz, Thank you for reading my reports and always being so encouraging and magical. I joke that I am going to have to get new kids because I have wore the 2 we have out already! I know they will remember all of this when they are older and both of them want to live at WDW when they grow up. I told them, its called the College Program . I respect anyone that can establish traditions for their families. It is definitely not easy and sometimes you get opposition but I want to etch out a time of year of our own and I think NYE will be it for us.

to be continued............

Liferbabe, My DD keeps asking when we are moving to Disney World, not Orlando but Disney World. Sounds like she and your boys would get along great! I think I read you say one of them was 9, how old is the other one? Ally turned 8 while we were there.

By the way, we were at SSR from the 26th - 29th. I wish I had realized you were there at that time too. I would have loved to have met you.

Your report about New Years sounds so wonderful I think I will have to plan a New Years trip for 2009.

Thanks for the great report,
Lori

 

[bz8bls]

Hi LiferBabe

DH and I met you last Memorial Day week @ SSR. I was wondering where you were.

The boys will really appreciate the memories you and your DH made for them when they become adults.

Maybe will see you at the quiet pool again soon.

Again, you write beautifully.