2013 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Fun & Friends: Don't Post Here- New Thread Started

[ocalla]

Teena: I will be thinking of you all day Monday!! I know his surgery will go perfectly You do realize that the best place for recovery would be.................aboard The Fantasy???

OK fellow BC/YCers, how many of you have gone to one of the waterparks??? And did you feel like it would have been just as nice to spend the day at SAB instead of hauling everyone (and everything) away for the day?

We have NEVER done one, and are thinking about TL mid-week during our stay.

ANY advice, tips, pros cons to doing this would be so much appreciated.

 

[TeenaS]

Teena: I will be thinking of you all day Monday!! I know his surgery will go perfectly You do realize that the best place for recovery would be.................aboard The Fantasy???

OK fellow BC/YCers, how many of you have gone to one of the waterparks??? And did you feel like it would have been just as nice to spend the day at SAB instead of hauling everyone (and everything) away for the day?

We have NEVER done one, and are thinking about TL mid-week during our stay.

ANY advice, tips, pros cons to doing this would be so much appreciated.

We're a TL family. Love it. Lily had her first visit there at 12 months old. We love the wave pool and lazy river. Tips: Be there before it opens, stand in line and then you'll be able to actually get some good beach chairs and maybe an umbrella! Take your own towels (too expensive to rent) and be prepared to pay a good amount to rent a locker. We are definitely going at least two times when Jeanne and Lily are here!

 

[RainK]

We are arriving Aug 17 and plan on spending quite a bit of time at SAB.
My DH and I like to lounge while the kids are swimming. I hear it's rather hard to keep an eye on them as SAB is so big.
My 2 Q's are:
Are there a lot of life guards around like the other resorts?
Since DH and I like to lounge, are there a lot of chairs around the pool?

This is our first time at a deluxe but I know at the value resorts there are a TON of chairs everywhere. I am hoping we won't have to struggle to find a chair.

 

[dd53]

Checking into beach club tomorrow after 5 days at POR. It's our first time at both resorts. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay at POR with lots of pixie dust. Hubby is a little worried we will be disappointed at BC but I'm hoping its as wonderful as POR.
Hubby and I have a date night planned for tomorrow with the little kids booked at the sandcastle club. Should we be able to definitely be in our rooms by 4 pm to get ready and if we use bell services to transfer our luggage should we be able to expect it to be here by 4? (We do not have a car). Thanks for any help!!!

 

[catho72]

Good morning!


Teena, I hope Bob has a quick recovery from his surgery! Sending thoughts and prayers his way.

Ocalla, our family loves both water parks and yes, it is definitely worth going to one (or both!). Like Teena said, TL has an awesome wave pool and lazy river. BB has the "big headliner" rides. If your family likes thrills, go to BB. We will probably hit one if not both while we are there in July.

We will be checking in to BC in three weeks from today! I still can't fully devote all of my attention to the trip yet. Once we get past this party (where my brand-new windows will be without window trwpeatments.....argh!) next Saturday, then all my attention will be on getting ready. Hey, at least the girls and I have bathing suits! I was able to take my receipt back to Kohl's and get a price adjustment on the suits. Yay! That extra 15% off coupon helps! Plus, now I have Kohl's cash to spend after July 1! Yay!

Three weeks......woo hoo!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[mistysue]

Have you ever been to a water park? A real one, a huge place with multiple pools, slides, random water features? If you are thinking of a Great Wolf lodge the Disney ones are like 4 times the amount of stuff but bigger and more spread out. The SAB/waterpark depends on how much you enjoy water parks. For a pool at a resort, SAB is awesome. IF you are really looking for a water park, you will notice it is severely lacking once you have been to big ones.
We happen to really love lazy rivers... so a little one isn't so great as one you can get lost in for hours. As infants my sons napped in the lazy rivers and we enjoyed just floating around as they slept for an hour or two. My kids also like the kiddie features. They have good slides for little ones. If they like big slides the water parks have more big slides too. We have found that we don't feel sufficiently waterparked until we go to some combination of TL and BB 3 times on our trip.

Then, of course, there is the wave pool. Both at BB and TL my kids want to stay in that pool for hours. It's fun. SAB just doesn't have anything like that. They have the whirl pool though, which we also somehow float in for hours.

If you are the type who doesn't swim and is just going to sit and watch people, you will have more people to watch but may go crazy sitting for 3-4 hours then finding out the swimmers in your group still have only seen half the place. The food at the water parks is horrible if you have allergies or anybody on a restricted diet.

 

[catho72]

We are arriving Aug 17 and plan on spending quite a bit of time at SAB.
My DH and I like to lounge while the kids are swimming. I hear it's rather hard to keep an eye on them as SAB is so big.
My 2 Q's are:
Are there a lot of life guards around like the other resorts?
Since DH and I like to lounge, are there a lot of chairs around the pool?

This is our first time at a deluxe but I know at the value resorts there are a TON of chairs everywhere. I am hoping we won't have to struggle to find a chair.

There are lifeguards all around. Depending on the ages of your kids, it might be hard to lounge. SAB is HUGE! If you like to keep the kids in your line of vision, you are going to be doing lots of moving around. If they are older, you will be fine.

Finding chairs is tricky if you don't get there early. Chair hogging is everyone's biggest complaint at SAB. Ninja Mom has an excellent idea for dealing with chair hogs......move the hotel issued pool towels to another chair then claim that chair as your own. She does not advocate moving personal belongings AT ALL. She has an eloquent post around here somewhere about it......I'll try and find it.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ocalla]

Teens: I'm sitting here having breakfast at Cracker Barrel and next to us is a toddler that could be Lily's twin. She is wearing a Snow White dress, drinking from a Mickey Mouse sipped cup......blond curls The Whole Nine Yards!!!! I can't take my eyes off if her, the resemblance is Freaking Me Out!

 

[catho72]

Sorry for the awkward copy and paste....the app for DISboards is a pain on the iPad sometimes.....

Now my observation from Storm Along Bay this afternoon: there was hardly anyone in the pool, but almost every chair had a towel on it. OoooOOh! It's a little early in the season for towel drama! I was just thinking about the kerfluffle that happens every summer during high season at Storm Along Bay with the chair hogs/Towel on chair savers.

Remember for those of you going in the summer.... WHAT IS NINJA MOM'S CARDINAL RULE TO DEAL WITH CHAIR HOGS??

What's that??
Peanut gallery replies: "MOVE the chair with the towel on it to a DIFFERENT spot...."

Why Yes!! That's correct and it's because......

Peanut gallery replies: The person who WAS hogging the chair won't know where you moved it and thus can not go all righteous on you because you will have disappeared into the crowd and piggy won't have any idea where to find you. Keep in mind that you shouldn't touch a chair that has someone's personal property on it, only move the ones that have hotel towels on 'em.

Here's another tip: Never take valuables to the pool. If you must then be sure to lock them up in a locker. Lockers are available indoors at the fitness center and there are some rusty, mostly broken ones right where they rent out the tubes by the Volleyball rope in the largest pool. That's where you would get the key to the outdoor lockers. In the fitness center you just program your own numerical lock code into the lockers key pad. So say you have your kindle with you but you want to go in the pool for a dip. Use the locker or the kindle may walk.

So there is your tip for the day! I know some of you are listening and I fully expect to hear reports of how some of you had to convince your spouses that "someone named Ninja Mom told you you have to move these chairs otherwise you will get chased by a pig"... Mwa ha ha! ~NM

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Teena: I will be thinking of you all day Monday!! I know his surgery will go perfectly You do realize that the best place for recovery would be.................aboard The Fantasy???

OK fellow BC/YCers, how many of you have gone to one of the waterparks??? And did you feel like it would have been just as nice to spend the day at SAB instead of hauling everyone (and everything) away for the day?

We have NEVER done one, and are thinking about TL mid-week during our stay.

ANY advice, tips, pros cons to doing this would be so much appreciated.

We love the waterparks so much that we bought water park APs last summer! We once lost dd in the wave pool at TL and dh lost his prescription sunglasses in the wave pool at TL last summer so it's not his favorite. Kids and I LOVE both of the water parks though. We have convinced DH to give TL another try this summer but told him to stay away from the wave pool!

Looks like they are going to have a teen beach party all summer at TL - looks like fun. DS loves Summit Plummit and we all love the family raft ride at BB.

I tend to stay away from the lazy rivers. Too many posters reported seeing snakes at both lazy rivers. I know they can be any where but I'm not pushing my luck!

Last post for today - dd's 8th grade graduation party today!

Teena - keeping Bob in my thoughts and prayers for Monday.

One week from today we'll be checking into our "happy place"!

 

[ocalla]

Thanks for the TL replies!!! We have never been to a big Waterpark, but I think we will love it!!!

Is it hard to get a locker? What are Must Pack items besides sunscreen towels etc. ?

 

[ella6599]

I remember reading a tip from someone on hear about carrying fold up bags in your pocket to avoid the bag lines going in to the park, but still having something to put your stuff in once you're inside...

Love the idea, especially since I've decided (gasp!) to ditch the camera/bag for most of our park time (Normally I take 1400-1600 photos in a week at WDW...but every trip we take, I'm just a little bit older...funny how that happens...and my shoulders and neck protest just a little bit more about the weight of the camera and the lenses...). But...we always carry a water bottle (sometimes just a plastic disposable, sometimes a Sigg) and a Walmart poncho, neither of which fit in a pocket. And I don't always have pockets...I assume carrying a wallet in hand is out? Although, we wear ID and KTTW in a lanyard, which should be fine...and my phone case comes with a waist clip I never use, but could in a pinch...I'm assuming that would be ok with security?

Thanks- we don't travel light so this is a difficult move for us

 

[TeenaS]

Teens: I'm sitting here having breakfast at Cracker Barrel and next to us is a toddler that could be Lily's twin. She is wearing a Snow White dress, drinking from a Mickey Mouse sipped cup......blond curls The Whole Nine Yards!!!! I can't take my eyes off if her, the resemblance is Freaking Me Out!

Wow ... as far as I know Jeanne and Lily are still in Vegas. She does have a Snow White dress and of course only uses Mickey Mouse cups.

 

[HBGdancermom]

Prezackly! Wouldn't you think that people who live in a state where it's hotter than the hinges of he!! would know how to properly make iced coffee??? Gah!

Lol!!!!

 

[ocalla]

Wow ... as far as I know Jeanne and Lily are still in Vegas. She does have a Snow White dress and of course only uses Mickey Mouse cups.

Believe me I was looking for Jeanne!! This little one was with grandparents, and they were enjoying every minute!!!!

 

[HBGdancermom]

We're a TL family. Love it. Lily had her first visit there at 12 months old. We love the wave pool and lazy river. Tips: Be there before it opens, stand in line and then you'll be able to actually get some good beach chairs and maybe an umbrella! Take your own towels (too expensive to rent) and be prepared to pay a good amount to rent a locker. We are definitely going at least two times when Jeanne and Lily are here!

Teena! I will be praying for you guys in Monday!!! ))

 

[HBGdancermom]

Checking into beach club tomorrow after 5 days at POR. It's our first time at both resorts. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay at POR with lots of pixie dust. Hubby is a little worried we will be disappointed at BC but I'm hoping its as wonderful as POR.
Hubby and I have a date night planned for tomorrow with the little kids booked at the sandcastle club. Should we be able to definitely be in our rooms by 4 pm to get ready and if we use bell services to transfer our luggage should we be able to expect it to be here by 4? (We do not have a car). Thanks for any help!!!

Woohoo!!!

 

[pixarmom]

Hello BC/YC fans! Thanks to a PM from MickeyT, I'm reminded to stop by and say hello, even though our next WDW visit is too far away!

Teena, please know that Bob is in our thoughts and prayers.

Regarding waterparks, I'm not a waterpark fan, but I DO like TL in the morning before it gets too crowded. The wave pool is tons of fun - especially if your family is experienced in handling big waves. Lots of fun waterslides, great theming and really the most clean waterpark I've ever seen. And our two older boys love shark's reef.

We are arriving Aug 17 and plan on spending quite a bit of time at SAB.
My DH and I like to lounge while the kids are swimming. I hear it's rather hard to keep an eye on them as SAB is so big.
My 2 Q's are:
Are there a lot of life guards around like the other resorts?
Since DH and I like to lounge, are there a lot of chairs around the pool?

We love summer at SAB!!! Now, I'll admit I'm not really a lounger, but I've started to give it a try now that all of our boys are strong swimmers. We still do need to keep an eye on our youngest. We've stayed at BC over all four seasons and have never had difficulty finding a chair. But we're really only looking for one or two chairs - not chairs for all five of us.

During more recent visits, we've asked the boys to pick a spot to swim and then found a chair near that spot. If they move, they have to check in and let us know. Our new favorite spot is in a central location right in front of Beaches N Cream, so that we can actually see them most of the time. It's not a clear view, and not sufficient if your kids aren't strong swimmers. But it's great for our circumstances right now.

When the boys were younger, we moved with them. And best place for lounging if the kids are small or not strong swimmers is the zero depth entry sand bottom area - most of it is only 2 feet deep, and it's entirely disconnected from the deeper areas of the pool.

A while ago, I created this SAB photo thread that might help: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2790323

 

[toodycat]

But need to do a little happy dance
My grade book and plan book were just turned into the office
Exams have all been scored, bundled and sent to storage
Classroom is clean.
Desk is empty
School is out for summer

Oh Buzzy, you are quite the comedian

Oh, Couchy! I know the feeling! I turned in my grades and keys yesterday. Welcome summer!

And now a couple of BC/BCV questions. DH, DS(19) and I will be at BCV in a one bedroom villa a month from today. Yay!

When I booked my reservation by phone, DH told me to ask for a higher floor which I did. However, after reading about the different balconies, when I did online check-in, I requested a full balcony. My question is: are high floors and full balconies mutually exclusive or do some higher floor rooms have full balconies? Should I change my request to a lower floor if I really want a full balcony? I know requests are just requests, but I want to give myself the best chances.

Also, does anyone know how to go about booking an Illuminations boat cruise? My sister will be joining us, but staying at BC and she is interested in doing a fireworks cruise. I've booked them before when we stayed at the GF and Poly, but am not sure it is the same procedure for Epcot fireworks. Does anyone know?


Thanks!

 

[PittPantherfan]

We are arriving Aug 17 and plan on spending quite a bit of time at SAB.
My DH and I like to lounge while the kids are swimming. I hear it's rather hard to keep an eye on them as SAB is so big.
My 2 Q's are:
Are there a lot of life guards around like the other resorts?
Since DH and I like to lounge, are there a lot of chairs around the pool?

This is our first time at a deluxe but I know at the value resorts there are a TON of chairs everywhere. I am hoping we won't have to struggle to find a chair.

My husband and I found it necessary to take turns lounging- one watches the kids and one lounges. My youngest is 7 and we don't want to let him just wander around because he has gotten near the deep areas which would be too much for him. My 9 yr old (on a swim team) and 13 year old were good doing their own thing. It really depends on your kids. We found when we wanted to both lounge we went to the quiet pool for awhile so we could easily see them.

There are so many lifeguards and they do a great job but they are not babysitters. We were in the pool with the small slide and someone had just left their young child, probably 3, in water wings alone in that pool- not for just a couple of minutes but it was awhile. The mom was riding the big slide but didn't seem to come back. The child started to get upset and the lifeguard had to get other lifeguards to come and help find the parents. Not a good thing.