9 days 2 resorts FREE Dining Christmas Lights & a bouncing Tigger who stole my heart

[rusafee1183]

I love the pics of the Epcot tree. I just love Christmas lights at night. I turn on my Christmas tree on every night and Bob and I watch TV with just the lights from the tree on. I'm going to be sad to see it go this weekend.


OK - I have a question. Do you ever feel guilty about taking pictures of the screens at WDW? I always want to take pictures of the ride photos or of all the Spaceship earth stuff .... But I always feel like the CM's are judging me.

I just noticed that you have a lot of photos from the rides - did you buy them all or just take pictures of the screen when you get off the rides?

 

[Pluto_fan]

I'm finally caught up!
Love all the updates and especially the pictures. Thanks, Shelly, for all the time you put into sharing your trip with us!
And I love DS10's Pluto sweatshirt!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update! I'm getting sad that your TR is nearing its end! At least you still have a couple of days to report on! Looking forward to reading about CM breakfast...we had a blast there in August of '08!

I'm sad too! It's been fun reliving it with everyone here. But it does seem like I have been writing it forever!! I guess it has only actually been about 7 weeks or something like that.

I will be doing CM breakfast very soon!

Sandcastle club looks and sounds great. Glad your boys enjoyed the Wii and were able to get one for Christmas! I might let the kids try Sandcastle club since we are at Beach Club this June. They have never been to any kids clubs yet. Glad you and your DH were able to enjoy a nice dinner. Love your Epcot and spaceship earth pics too.

Thanks!

I definitely recommend the Sandcastle Kid's Club. It has been wonderful both times we have used it. The kids are entertained, well fed, and happy! When I first heard of the kids clubs I thought it was something I would never do. But after a few trips I researched them and thought we'd give it a try. I was surprised how comfortable I felt leaving them there. And of course, my not-so-shy kids were just fine!

The kids club looks great!! Sorry your dinner wasn't...

I hope your move went smoothly.

Thanks Amy! The move actually went much smoother than expected!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I love the pics of the Epcot tree. I just love Christmas lights at night. I turn on my Christmas tree on every night and Bob and I watch TV with just the lights from the tree on. I'm going to be sad to see it go this weekend.


OK - I have a question. Do you ever feel guilty about taking pictures of the screens at WDW? I always want to take pictures of the ride photos or of all the Spaceship earth stuff .... But I always feel like the CM's are judging me.

I just noticed that you have a lot of photos from the rides - did you buy them all or just take pictures of the screen when you get off the rides?

Thank you! I love watching TV in the evening with just the Christmas tree lights on too. Although my tree has been gone since the Sunday after Christmas! I know. We just put our decorations up so early (Thanksgiving weekend) that by the time Christmas comes I am tired of all the clutter!

No, not really -- about the pictures. Everybody else is doing it, so why not?! Peer pressure, you know. I just turn my flash off and snap a picture real quick as we are walking by. We do buy them sometimes. I don't think we bought any this trip though.

I'm finally caught up!
Love all the updates and especially the pictures. Thanks, Shelly, for all the time you put into sharing your trip with us!
And I love DS10's Pluto sweatshirt!

YAY you're back and all caught up! Glad you are enjoying the report and pictures.

I got DS that sweatshirt shortly after we got back from our January trip. It was on clearance at Disney shopping online. I put it back and got it out just before this trip. It worked out good that we only had one chilly day, so we got to wear it once! Pluto is one of his favorite characters!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Friday November 13th ~ Yep, Friday the 13th!!!


We got up early and packed up the rest of our stuff. Took us about an additional 15-20 minutes on top of the hour we had spent packing up the night before. Not too bad. DH was very helpful.

We all got ready and took our luggage to Bell Services and had them call us a cab. We waited about 5-10 minutes and a van cab pulled up. DH says - that has to be for us. So he heads for it. So do 2 other people. They were trying to steal our cab! No one else had called for a cab, it's like they thought they just pulled up randomly to see if anyone needed a ride. As we thought, that cab was for us. DH motioned us over and we loaded in. None of us had ever been in a cab before, so the kids were very excited!!

In no time at all we were at OKW. POR & OKW are very close to one another. The details are starting to get a little fuzzy at this point, I could go back and check my OKW review, but I am pretty sure cab fare was $5.50. As we pulled into OKW we were greeted by a CM who said -- Welcome Home! He told us to go inside and check in and if our room wasn't ready we could store our luggage. But he was pretty sure our room would be ready because they weren't too busy.

I went inside and check in. They had a room ready for us. Not in the section I had requested, or anywhere near it. But it was on the top floor. The CM said we were in building 50 and showed me on the map. It was the furthest building away. Now here's where my mistake was, I should have asked for something different. But being that we have stayed at 3 very large moderate resorts (CBR, POR, CSR) and never had a problem with distance, I didn't figure it would be an issue here. Little did I know we would be so far away that we would need to take a bus to get to the pool, gift shop, restaurant, etc.

We went back outside to tell the CM that our room was ready. We told him the room number and he said -- we will need to take you there. He got someone to come with a golf cart type vehicle and take us to our room. Keep in mind this was early in the morning, boy was that ride cold!!

On the way he told us how the buses ran and how we would need them to get back to the main building. He carried our luggage up the stairs and left. From there I could see that not only were we very far from everything, we were also right by the 4 lane highway. The view from our balcony - road. I was determined to make the best of it though and not trek back up to the main building to complain. Plus we just wanted to get unpacked and get to our 9:50am ADR at Chef Mickey's. And we were only going to be there for 2 nights.

So we took some room pics, unpacked a bit, and headed to our bus stop to catch the bus to MK.

So overall the move over to OKW went very well. We were sad to say good-bye to POR, we really enjoyed it there. We thought OKW was very beautiful and loved the theming. But really couldn't see a whole lot of difference between it and the moderates. The one thing we really did appreciate was the larger room size. That was great! The microwave in the room was nice too. The balcony is a plus that the moderates don't have, but with the view of the road we really didn't use it much. So while we liked OKW very much, I'm not sure it was worth the extra money to us because we like the moderates just as much if not more.


Up Next: Chef Mickey's breakfast and back to DHS!

 

[sisaaliyah]

I wanted to come out and say HI ! I've been getting caught up on your TR for a few days. Hadn't been dising much since we got back from the world (stayed at BWV) and I don't have a trip to plan .

Thank you for your report! I'm hopeful to go back maybe in 2011 and thinking about staying at OKW. By then hopefully, we'll have a refurbed room and request a bldg closer to the main bldg. I think we'll like OKW with the parking spaces right outside your bldg. We always rent a car and prefer to drive to the parks rather then rely on the buses. The car is so much quicker especially when the parking to your room is so convenient. My guess is OKW is similar to CSR, we stayed there last year. What do you think? That would be our complaint about having stayed at BWV parking is really far away, but it all depends on what your vacation style is. This past trip we had an ADR at O'hana and we decided to walk from BWV to EPCOT to catch the monorail and then change monorails to get to the Poly, boy it took forever seemed like almost an hour. So much wasted time.

So unfortunate about your LC ADR. We haven't been there yet. It's on the list for next time.

Great bouncing with tigger! I've bounced with Tigger in the UK too on our previous trip. It's a great character meet area, they've got there.

Waiting to see what you thought of CM.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I wanted to come out and say HI ! I've been getting caught up on your TR for a few days. Hadn't been dising much since we got back from the world (stayed at BWV) and I don't have a trip to plan .

Thank you for your report! I'm hopeful to go back maybe in 2011 and thinking about staying at OKW. By then hopefully, we'll have a refurbed room and request a bldg closer to the main bldg. I think we'll like OKW with the parking spaces right outside your bldg. We always rent a car and prefer to drive to the parks rather then rely on the buses. The car is so much quicker especially when the parking to your room is so convenient. My guess is OKW is similar to CSR, we stayed there last year. What do you think? That would be our complaint about having stayed at BWV parking is really far away, but it all depends on what your vacation style is. This past trip we had an ADR at O'hana and we decided to walk from BWV to EPCOT to catch the monorail and then change monorails to get to the Poly, boy it took forever seemed like almost an hour. So much wasted time.

So unfortunate about your LC ADR. We haven't been there yet. It's on the list for next time.

Great bouncing with tigger! I've bounced with Tigger in the UK too on our previous trip. It's a great character meet area, they've got there.

Waiting to see what you thought of CM.

Hi there! Welcome to my TR. Hope you are enjoying!

I think you will be fine at OKW with a car. As you said, parking is right outside your door - very convenient. And you'll have your car if you get stuck in one of the far away buildings.

OKW is similar to CSR and CBR in that it is very spacious and spread out. The lay out at OKW is just very different, instead of the resort road going in a circle, it has roads off to the sides which makes for a lot of backtracking on the bus. Therefore making the ride around the resort longer than any of the moderates. So it is to your advantage to have a car there! We do not rent a car at Disney, so we probably won't be back to OKW anytime soon. Plus we like to try new resorts out!

How did you like BWV - other than the parking being so far away? We are hoping to stay in the BW area next time.

Chef Mickey's will be up next!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

So sorry about your room location. I LOVE LOVE LOVE OKW, but have only stayed in buildings 62-64, so we have had a water hole golf view and can walk to the HH. It really is a beautiful resort, and with 5 of us, the one bedroom size is INCREDIBLE!!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

So sorry about your room location. I LOVE LOVE LOVE OKW, but have only stayed in buildings 62-64, so we have had a water hole golf view and can walk to the HH. It really is a beautiful resort, and with 5 of us, the one bedroom size is INCREDIBLE!!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR.

That would be a great location! It really is a beautiful resort.

 

[seacrestpromo]

Great pix of OKW resort Shelly. I like all the extra amenities you got with the room. Too bad you didn't have a better view - but it still looks very nice overall.

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Completely OT:
Shelly, do I remember correctly that you guys flew Airtran one way? Any pros or cons? I think that's what we're flying for our cruise...I'm a little nervous...

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great pix of OKW resort Shelly. I like all the extra amenities you got with the room. Too bad you didn't have a better view - but it still looks very nice overall.

Thanks Sea!

Completely OT:
Shelly, do I remember correctly that you guys flew Airtran one way? Any pros or cons? I think that's what we're flying for our cruise...I'm a little nervous...

Yes, we flew down with them this trip. We actually prefer to fly AT over SW. Pros -- assigned seats, as opposed to lining up like cattle with SW , and one side of the plane just has 2 seats, rather than the 3 & 3 SW has. It's nice to be able to sit 2 and 2 one right behind the other and not have another person (stranger) in your row. Another pro -- AT has never broken my luggage, SW has twice. Cons -- AT charges for checked luggage and is known for changing their flight times.

What are you nervous about?

We prefer AT, but usually end up with SW for a better rate.

 

[JoBird]

Great Split stay review.

I remember when we were discussing you doing the trip that way before you booked -and whether or not it would be an easy transition.

So glad it worked out for you guys and everything was smooth.

I think OKW is beautiful---- your pics make it look gorgeous, but like you , I think I wouldn't stay there without a car.

Looking forward to CM's review!

Jo

 

[rusafee1183]

Great pictures Shelly! OKW seems very peaceful I always kind of forget about it. It has just never stood apart for me. I think I just love the theming of the other resorts a little more.

Still, it does look beautiful there. I may need to reconsider someday!

I'm ready to read all about CM! We skipped our ADR there this year. I made it waaaaay earlier than we wanted to get up that day!

Oh and here's my .02 cents on the flights.

We fly AT every time we go to MCO from PIT. My DH and I love it!!!! And the funny thing is - we can never seem to find good rates with SW. Everyone else seems to find dirt cheap flights with them, but AT always ends up being cheaper for us somehow (aside from the baggage which still annoys me). I truly do not understand why SW seems expensive for me... But, we love AT! So it's fine by me!

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Thanks Sea!



Yes, we flew down with them this trip. We actually prefer to fly AT over SW. Pros -- assigned seats, as opposed to lining up like cattle with SW , and one side of the plane just has 2 seats, rather than the 3 & 3 SW has. It's nice to be able to sit 2 and 2 one right behind the other and not have another person (stranger) in your row. Another pro -- AT has never broken my luggage, SW has twice. Cons -- AT charges for checked luggage and is known for changing their flight times.

What are you nervous about?

We prefer AT, but usually end up with SW for a better rate.

Just nervous-fear of the unknown! Have always done SW or AA, but SW doesn't go to San Juan, and AA was a little more expensive, so we went for AT. Their bag fee is I think $5 less than AA, saving us at least $20. I read about the change in flights, and I've seen complaints that people weren't notified, so we'll make sure to check on that periodically. Not a huge deal. We didn't pay the $6/person for seats, so that makes me nervous as well. I don't care to be next to strangers, but I'd like to make sure each kid is by a parent! I think I'm probably more nervous because because it's a long time on a plane with a temperamental 3 yr old!

 

[Pluto_fan]

OKW looks very pretty. Did you have a Studio? I forget what the room choices are. I've thought about trying to rent DVC points and OKW seems to require the fewest points, so that might be what we would try. I guess we'd want to do it on a trip when we'd have a car, though. Good to know!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Friday November 13th continued ~


Being that we had checked out of POR today and had been there on Free Dining, we had until midnight to use up all of our DDP credits. We didn't get the DDP for the 2 days we would be at OKW, we used a room only discount instead. At this point we had 8 TS credits left. We had it planned out that we would have 4 left for Chef Mickey's. But seeing that I didn't use a TS credit at BRG, I had that coupon for a free appetizer which I had for my meal. And that the kids didn't use a TS credit the night before, because their dinner was included at the Kid's Club. And that I didn't get charged for my meal at LeCellier the night before, we had 4 extra TS credits that we were determined to use up! So we would be thinking about that throughout the day and where we might want to go and if we would even be able to get an ADR anywhere. We also had 2 CS credits left. I think DS8 and I shared meals a couple of times, so that's why we had those. And we had 5 snack credits left.

So when I last left off we had just unpacked at OKW and were on our way to MK. When the bus dropped us off the plan was to walk over to the monorail and take it to the Contemporary for our breakfast at Chef Mickey's. But we were let off at the furthest stop from MK. I said to DH -- do you think it is closer to walk to the monorail or to the Contemporary? He looked and said -- boy I don't know, it looks about the same. Just then we saw the monorail come buzzing by us. I said - let's just walk over to the Contemporary, who knows when another monorail will come. It was warming up and was a nice morning. The wind was finally starting to die down from Tropical Storm Ida. The walk was probably about 5 minutes or so. And guess what? We got there before another monorail came!

There was a long line to check in, but it moved fast. We were seated in about 10 minutes. We were seated in the back section to the right, up a few steps. Same section we were in the last time we were there for dinner. We had been to CM for dinner 3 times, but this was our first time for breakfast. It was pretty much the same, well except for the food! The service was good, the characters were great, and it was loud & crazy!

The food was very good. Maybe not quite as good as Crystal Palace, but still very good. The characters were great and spent plenty of time with the kids. DS8 always loves coming here because Minnie always seems to give him lots of attention!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued. . . .



The characters ~

The view from our table ~

So overall it was another good experience at Chef Mickey's. But truthfully I am getting a little tired of the place and I think we might skip it next time. Although I think I said the same thing after the last trip! We used 4 TS credits and the total bill was $83.


Up Next: Back to DHS to do the things we missed and to hit RNRC one more time!!

 

[DisneyDreamerMom]

Great pics at Chef M! We've always gone for breakfast and loved it, but we're trying dinner this year. Should be interesting...

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I think OKW is beautiful---- your pics make it look gorgeous, but like you , I think I wouldn't stay there without a car.

Looking forward to CM's review!

Jo

Yes, it is! I think you would like it. Especially since you always have a car with you!

Great pictures Shelly! OKW seems very peaceful I always kind of forget about it. It has just never stood apart for me. I think I just love the theming of the other resorts a little more.

Still, it does look beautiful there. I may need to reconsider someday!

Yes, OKW is just one of those resorts that you seem to hear very little about. It really was very nice, just not our favorite.

I'm ready to read all about CM! We skipped our ADR there this year. I made it waaaaay earlier than we wanted to get up that day!

We did that this trip with Crystal Palace. We had an 8:00am ADR that Saturday, but we knew the night before that we weren't going to want to get up that early!

Oh and here's my .02 cents on the flights.

We fly AT every time we go to MCO from PIT. My DH and I love it!!!! And the funny thing is - we can never seem to find good rates with SW. Everyone else seems to find dirt cheap flights with them, but AT always ends up being cheaper for us somehow (aside from the baggage which still annoys me). I truly do not understand why SW seems expensive for me... But, we love AT! So it's fine by me!

When we first started going to WDW we flew AT. That was before the baggage fees. Then we got better rates with SW a few times. And this last time AT was cheaper, but we had that $260 credit with SW. That's the only reason we flew one way with them. AT was actually cheaper, even with the baggage fees.

So I'll fly with either, whoever happens to have the best rates!

Just nervous-fear of the unknown! Have always done SW or AA, but SW doesn't go to San Juan, and AA was a little more expensive, so we went for AT. Their bag fee is I think $5 less than AA, saving us at least $20. I read about the change in flights, and I've seen complaints that people weren't notified, so we'll make sure to check on that periodically. Not a huge deal. We didn't pay the $6/person for seats, so that makes me nervous as well. I don't care to be next to strangers, but I'd like to make sure each kid is by a parent! I think I'm probably more nervous because because it's a long time on a plane with a temperamental 3 yr old!

Don't be nervous! Just watch your flight all the time. If they change it at all you can get a full refund.

We didn't pay the $6 to pick our seats either. I just did online check in 24 hours prior to the flight and we were fine.

OKW looks very pretty. Did you have a Studio? I forget what the room choices are. I've thought about trying to rent DVC points and OKW seems to require the fewest points, so that might be what we would try. I guess we'd want to do it on a trip when we'd have a car, though. Good to know!

Yes, we had a studio. Which was plenty of room of us. They also offer a 1 BR and a 2 BR.