ADP Live From Universal & Disney World

[Mouse Skywalker]

Wow, what a magical evening Aaron. It sounds wonderful. Give my best to Kim.

 

[dpuck1998]

You're kill'en me DelPrince! I'm glad my wife doesn't read the boards!

 

[crazydisneyman]

The Beauty and the Beast song is one of my favorites too.

We loved Narcoosses. Absolutely LOVED it!

I am gald your experience was so magical.

The whole night sounded very Disney.

Have a wonderful day at Epcot. Can adults do the Kim Possible missions, too?

 

[DVCsince02]

I'm all teary. I am so happy you are having a magical trip.

 

[ADP]

Sounds like you had a great day! The wedding pavilion story is so sweet That moment was obviously meant to happen and one that won't be forgotten, for sure. I can hear the music now...

It was really special for us. We couldn't believe it was open with the music playing. We were a little nervous of someone walking in on us, but we took the chance. It was so worth it.

Wow, what a magical evening Aaron. It sounds wonderful. Give my best to Kim.

I will Dave. Thanks! I'm enjoying your report of Colonial Williamsburg. Hope you had a great time.

You're kill'en me DelPrince! I'm glad my wife doesn't read the boards!

You know me Puck. I'm one BIG Sap!

The Beauty and the Beast song is one of my favorites too.

We loved Narcoosses. Absolutely LOVED it!

I am gald your experience was so magical.

The whole night sounded very Disney.

Have a wonderful day at Epcot. Can adults do the Kim Possible missions, too?

Thanks Chris! Yes, the adults can play. It wouldn't surprise to see just adults playing, although we haven't seen that as of yet.

I'm all teary. I am so happy you are having a magical trip.

Thanks Jen! We can't wait to see you guys again.

 

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are about ready to head out the door for today. We are going to EPCOT for the day. Tonight we are going to experience an Illuminations dessert party of the Italy pavillion. We are going to have a great viewing spot.

Tomorrow we are checking out of AKL and checking in over at Bay Lake Tower. Tomorrow night we are going to try the dessert party at the Magic Kingdom. Between the desserts tonight and tomorrow night we should be on a sugar high come Saturday.

Our hope is to take our time walking around World Showcase today.

More to come!

 

[aspen37]

Hi Everyone,

We are about ready to head out the door for today. We are going to EPCOT for the day. Tonight we are going to experience an Illuminations dessert party of the Italy pavillion. We are going to have a great viewing spot.

Tomorrow we are checking out of AKL and checking in over at Bay Lake Tower. Tomorrow night we are going to try the dessert party at the Magic Kingdom. Between the desserts tonight and tomorrow night we should be on a sugar high come Saturday.

Our hope is to take our time walking around World Showcase today.

More to come!

Have a great day Aaron!

 

[katscradle]

Aaron I hope everyone has a fabulous day!

The experience at the wedding pavillion is something to be treasured as I am sure it will be. I am happy that you and Kim got that chance for a bit of magic.

 

[Cyrano]

Aaron sounds like the meal, walk and moment at the pavillion are special memories. Thanks for sharing

 

[Joan S.]

Hi Everyone,

We are about ready to head out the door for today. We are going to EPCOT for the day. Tonight we are going to experience an Illuminations dessert party of the Italy pavillion. We are going to have a great viewing spot.

Tomorrow we are checking out of AKL and checking in over at Bay Lake Tower. Tomorrow night we are going to try the dessert party at the Magic Kingdom. Between the desserts tonight and tomorrow night we should be on a sugar high come Saturday.

Our hope is to take our time walking around World Showcase today.

More to come!

Hi, I have been following along with your "live report" and I am anxious to hear about your checking into BLT!! Joan

 

[ADP]

Thursday, August 6th

Hi Everyone,

We got back late last night so I'm writing yesterday's experiences this morning. We stayed at EPCOT for EMH until 11:30AM.

Before we left yesterday to head to EPCOT we walked around AKL to see some of the animals and African art. AKL has the most extensive African art collection in North America. The centerpiece of the art collection is this head dress or mask. It's the largest in the world.

AKL also does a lot with story. Here's one example.

One of the centerpieces of activitiy at AKL is this firepit located out back. African storytelling can be found here each night with an African guide.

We left for EPCOT around 1:30PM. When we arrived we made a stop in the Art of Disney. I noticed a new experience guests can take advantage of in the store. You can have an artist sketch your favorite character and add a photopass picture next to it, have it framed, and matted. The frame and mat is $80 and the sketch is $35.
Here is the artist sketching Tow Mater.

Here's a look at the finished product from a different order.

Later in the day we decided to try and get into Chef's De France to see Remy and have dinner. When we walked up to the check-in desk at Chef's De France around 3:00PM they said they were booked for the day. No more ADRs were available. I decided to call Disney Dining. I was able to get the reservation we wanted for 5:10PM for a party of 3.
Here are some pictures from Chef's De France.

I had 2 appetizers. One was the french onion soup and a bleu cheese salad.

Kim had a baked macaroni and cheese dish

At 5:20PM Remy came around to greet guests dining at the restaurant. He is fully animatronic. He interacts with guests and is very cool.

Our meal was very good. I really enjoyed the french onion soup. Our total bill with the 20% discount and 18% gratuity came to $52. Not bad for dinner. We left Chef's De France very satisfied.

After dinner we walked around World Showcase and headed for Test Track. We had fastpasses to use. We also brought a change of clothes with us for the evening dessert party and Illuminations viewing. The dessert party was very good. It was nice to see so many friends we haven't seen in a year or so. The desserts were very good. Unfortunately, because it rainied a bit earlier in the evening the dessert party was moved inside on the second floor in Norway. We ate dessert for about 45 minutes and walked to the Italy pavillion later to view illuminations.
Sorry, this picture came out a bit blurry.

We stayed at EPCOT until 11:30PM. We did get to catch up with friends and take another spin on Test Track.

This morning we are checking out of AKL and moving over to Bay Lake Tower for 2 nights. We can't wait to check out the resort. This evening we are meeting a group of friends to have a Dole Whip at the Magic Kingdom.

More to come!

Up Next:
Checking into Bay Lake Tower
Magic Kingdom
Dole Whip Meet

 

[jcb]

That's not a blurry picture, its an artsy photograph.

 

[ADP]

Friday, August 7th

Hi Everyone,

We've checked into Bay Lake Tower. This place is pretty nice. There are certain aspects of it I don't like, but to each their own.

They did a really nice job with the pool area; although I believe the actual pool is too small for a resort of this size. The other pool amenities are very nice.

We walked around the resort earlier and took some photos.

Here is a shot of our room. We are in a studio, and unfortunately ended up on the 1st floor with a view of Bay Lake.

I love the Mickey art over the bed.

We made a stop in Community Hall. It's a small Community Hall, but it has some nice things to do for kids and adults.

We made a stop at the founders fountain outside the back of the resort near the pool. Founding members are listed on the fountain base.

The pool area is very nice; especially the water slide.

The Cove Pool Bar

Water play area for kids

Finally, here is a shot from the 5th floor walkway leading to the Contemporary resort.

We are headed out the door for the Magic Kingdom. We are going to grab a bite to eat, have our Dole Whip meet with several friends. Later on tonight we are attending the Wishes dessert party over at the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station. I'll pictures of our evening later.

More to come!

 

[exwdwcm]

another great update. wow on the slide, really nice artistic touches too. the whole modern style just isn't my thing, but BLT is really nice!

 

[dpuck1998]

Tell us what you didn't like about it! Also, compare the slide area to Kidani for me, I'm deciding where to stay at Xmas.

 

[ADP]

Tell us what you didn't like about it! Also, compare the slide area to Kidani for me, I'm deciding where to stay at Xmas.

I'm not a big fan of the furnishings in the room. I'm more of a maple, oak, or walnut furniture kind of person. The furniture in these rooms seems to be a venere.

There's also the issue of the sink bathroom being in the kitchen area. I believe this only holds true for studios and not 1, 2, or grand villas.

I think the slide area at Kidani is a little better. It has more plant and tree life around it. Here at BLT it's a glass block slide. So, it comes down to what you like; plant life or glass block. The BLT slide turns you all the way down where the Kidani slide has different turns as you go. In my opinion the slide at Kidani wins.

We haven't found much else we don't like about BLT.

I thought you were AKV for sure over X-Mas?

 

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are back from our evening at the Magic Kingdom. We met our friends at Aloha Isle for a Dole Whip. We hung out for a good 2 hours catching up with our lives. It was great seeing everyone again.

When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom we were a little hungry so we stopped at Pecos Bills. We noticed the new chairs inside the restaurant without the backs. The only good I saw from the new chairs were they take up less space and the tops of the chairs have cushions so at least your bottom is comfortable. By the way, the fixings bar at Pecos Bills is still as good as ever.

We left Pecos Bills and met up with our friends at Aloha Isle. Kim, Anna and I were so happy to see everyone again. Kathy, Alicia, Jen, Kim, Shelly, and Liz thanks for coming out and seeing us.

Liz (Iwishfordisney) was missing from the picture. I took the photo after she had left. Sorry Liz.

We left Aloha Isle at 8:15 and headed for the Tomorrland Terrace where our Wishes dessert party would take place. This is a great spot to watch the fireworks; however, I think charging people for a premium spot maybe wrong. I know you get dessert, but it just seems Disney is manufacturing experiences based on location.

When we arrived the line was already about 30 people deep. We were given a wristband and section letter while we waited in line by a cast member. We were section A. They started letting people into the dessert area at 9:00PM. When we walked in our table was waiting for us with our name on a tag. We had 1 hour to enjoy our desserts. Once Wishes started at 10:00PM they pulled the desserts, but left the drinks out for guests to enjoy.

I thought the desserts were fantastic. There was a huge assortmant of desserts. Coffee, lemonade, iced tea, and milk were served with dessert. The party was totally worth it in my opinion. Good food and we didn't have to fight for a viewing spot of Wishes. We really didn't want to watch the Spectromagic parade because we were too busy eating dessert during the parade. Hearing the music was nice though.

Here are a couple photos from the dessert party.
The dessert table

The drink station

Here is what the Spectromagic parade looked like from our vantage point.

The view of Wishes was specutacular as you would imagine from the Tomorrowland Terrace.

We stayed at the Magic Kingdom until 12:30. It was very nice knowing we had a short walk or monorail ride back to our resort at Bay Lake Tower. We decided to take the resort monorail, get off at the Contemporary and walk across the sky bridge. A very nice way to get back. It took us about 15 to 20 minutes to get to our room.

Another great day in the books. Tomorrow we don't have much planned. We're hoping to enjoy our resort most of the day and possibly head to Hollywood Studios. We also plan on going up to the Top of the World Lounge tomorrow night. I'll have pictures from the 15th floor and the lounge tomorrow night.

More to come!

Next Up:
Our day at Bay Lake Tower
Hollywood Studios
Top of the World Lounge

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

It was so fun meeting up with everyone. I had a fantastic time and got to get on quite a few rides despite the crowds. Totally worth the drive up for us. You and your family are so nice as is everone else. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!!! Now Gene is reading your trip report to see how you like Univeral. LOL. He needs his own DIS account.

 

[kpadalik]

Didn't Kathy say on the podcast that the desserts were left out during the fireworks? I thought I remembered her saying that. If that's true, it's interesting that they now pull the desserts before the fireworks.

 

[safetymom]

That's a shame they pull the food now. We didn't have a table with our name on it. Sounds like they have changed things.