I read some suggestions from my post about what we should do about our accommodations? Part of the dilemma was that we were staying on points for the first four nights so we couldnt move until after Wednesday. One idea I had was to move over to the GF for the last 2 nights. Many people liked that idea too, so I called CRO and nothing but concierge was available (I would rather do GF concierge with just dh). I even called to find out about the YC concierge and they only had standard rooms available. A couple of people suggested moving rooms at the BWVs so that is what we did. I had gone down the night before to talk to someone about the hammering. A very nice CM said he would get back with me, and he did telling me that the hammering was indeed from the enhancements and not from work they might have been doing for just for the day. My dh went down Wednesday morning and spoke with another CM about changing rooms. She had a BW view available. She thought the noise would be better on that side. I was happy to be getting a BW view. The only problem was that we would be out of a room for a while.
That morning we packed up and had bell service get our bags and we headed over to Epcot. We thought we would go grab a bite for lunch. We went to San Angel Inn. We have eaten dinner here once. We really like the atmosphere. The food was good and so was the service. They told us the earliest we could get our room was 1:00 so we decided to walk along WS and head back to our room so the kids could nap. It was very hot out so I had to get a layered margarita to cool down. We have never spent much time at Epcot during the day. We really enjoyed it because it was crowded at all unlike the MK. On the walk back the baby fell asleep and we were hoping she would stay asleep. When we got back to the BWVs it was 1:30 and our room wasnt ready but the CM who was helping us saw the baby sleeping so she went to go see what was going on and lo and behold it was ready! All of the CMs that we dealt with at the BWVs were great. We had a much better view with a huge balcony. We were looking towards the BWI. I felt happy that we moved. It sure would have been nice to be in this room to begin with, it would have saved us $45 ($30 for the room change and the rest tips for bell service)
We went down for a swim and heard from our friends that they were in. They were supposed to get in earlier in the week but had to change plans. They have been coming to WDW with us for the past 2 summers and this was the first time that we wouldnt be staying at the Polynesian together. After a quick swim we got ready for dinner at Ohanas. We had a PS at 6 so I knew we should leave at 5 to be safe. My dh thought I was crazy, I told him just wait and see. Sure enough we got there right on time. Our friends were nowhere to be found. They were going to ride the bus with us but they decided to get a drink in their concierge lounge and they would meet us there. Well we waited for them for 25 minutes. They didnt drive, but took the bus. They couldnt believe how long it took to get to the Polynesian. Lucky for us it wasnt very busy so we still got our table for 10. This is one of our must do restaurants. We had a great time and everyone chowed down. The service was outstanding. We all came back to our room and watched the fireworks from Epcot.
The next morning we were hanging out in the room when all of the sudden we could hear someone sawing away! Maybe all of this wouldnt be so terrible if I didnt have such bad memories of when we had construction done on our house for first 7 months of my last pregnancy! Then I started thinking about how much money we were spending for this room and I was getting disappointed again. It would have been alright if we were at the parks all day because then we wouldnt hear the noise. I kept on thinking, should we move over to the AKL or tough it out? I even called CRO to find if there was availability at the AKL which there was, so I called the AKL and they had a room we could get into right then. The problem was that it was now getting close to 11:00 am and there was no way we could pack up and get out of there by check out time. My dh did not want to move, plus we had to pick up the rental car at the Dolphin later on that afternoon. I said fine I will just deal with it and enjoy the room and the view.
My 7yr old was dying to ride a surrey bike so we thought now would be a good time, we headed down to the Boardwalk to go check it out. We had fun, but man is that hard going up those hills. We had some lunch in the room and then the kids took their naps. I headed over to Epcot. Its great walking over there from the Villas. I really like hanging out here by myself. There is so much to see in each country and I only made it to 2 countries. We were going to do MGM with our friends that afternoon, but first we had to get our rental car. We needed a rental car to drive up to Destin, where we were going to spend 5 nights with our family before we drove to New Orleans to fly home to Denver. We rented a premium car (Chrysler Concorde) with a booster seat and a child seat. We had great service. Our car seats were cloth and they were clean. It did feel nice to get into our own car and drive.
We were planning on doing our first Fantasmic dinner. We had a PS for a Fantasmic dinner on Tuesday but we cancelled when the weather looked bad (the sky ended up clearing and it was beautiful, at least we saw Illuminations that night!) We got to MGM when the parade was starting. We had a PS at Mama Melrose at 5:40 so we had to hurry. This was our first time eating at this restaurant. The service was very good, while the atmosphere and the food were good. When we got done with dinner we got a couple of quick autographs from Woody and Buzz at Als Toy Barn. Then there was a quick ride on Star Wars before we tried to find our friends. We said we would meet over at the Great Movie Ride. They were taking a while and I knew that they wouldnt want to go on, so I went in line with my 2 dds. This was the longest wait I have done at Disney. They have a short line before you get to these doors where there is a really long line. My dh waited for us to come out for over an hour. When we did come out there was a major t-storm coming through. We had to wait inside until it blew over. It looked like Fantasmic was going to be cancelled. We sure could have used our yellow ponchos that we left back in the room! We waited until 8:45 when the rain let up somewhat. We thought it would be better to walk back in the rain than wait behind 100 people for a boat. We didnt get to spend much time with our friends as they were leaving the next morning. We came back to a nice clean room, one of the benefits of paying cash, and went to bed.
I got up early, and decided that we were going to move. I called CRO and got everything worked out before anyone got up. I had most of our stuff packed so my dh couldnt complain. We were up, out the door and in the concierge lounge by 9:30. Yvonne(?) was there to greet us. She told us to go get a bite to eat and then come over to check in. I really enjoyed the lounge. The food is laid out better than at the Polynesian and there is a little more variety with fresher pastries and bagels. The coffee machine is pretty awesome too. After we were done enjoying breakfast I sat down with Yvonne and told her where I would like a room, which she gave us no problem. I wanted a room that would be close to the pool and the elevator to go to the lounge. We were on the Zebra Trail facing the Arusha Savannah. She asked us if we wanted a refrigerator for our room (free of charge) and we said yes. Now we were originally going to stay 2 nights at the end of our stay, so the AKL concierge planning dept got in touch with us as soon as we made the original reservation. When I got a call from the planning dept. they were very friendly and wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help our stay. Yvonne then went over all of the activities in the lodge and the different meal services they had in the concierge lounge. She called bell service to come take us to our room. We just loved the room right away. I really wished that the Polynesian had that same sort of wow when you walk in. The rooms are smaller, but I like how they are laid out. We were all so happy. The kids just loved looking out on the balcony. This was our last day and we were hoping to do AK, but after seeing everything we just couldnt leave. We went down to the pool. I love this pool. We got to see feeding time for the flamingos before we went swimming. The kids liked the pool too. My ds finally went down a waterslide! He loved it. My dd on the other hand didnt care for it. My dh and I got some drinks from the bar. We tried 3 different drinks and they were all amazing. I got us some lunch from Mara which was very good. We played until nap time. While the kids were napping I sat and watched the different animals. I just love how the scenery changes all the time. When my ds woke up I took him up to the lounge for some afternoon treats. Thats when we found out about all the ABC stars. We didnt see any, but it was fun wondering who was staying there. We ate up in the lounge for our dinner. They had some great food with a lot of variety. This lounge never got crowded like it did at the Polynesian. We wanted to go swimming again, but we needed to go to DD to get my ds some birthday presents. We went to Once Upon A Toy Store and my kids were in heaven. We got a few things for his monorail set and we were out of there. My ds kept on asking us when we could go back! We went back to the AKL. We got some desserts from the lounge and went back to watch the animals from our balcony.
This was our last morning at WDW. We realized that 11 nights is a little to long (and expensive). We still didnt get to see and do everything we wanted to, but isnt that why you always come back? We had a nice breakfast in the lounge and then we went down for a swim. We got there before the slide was open. They have a little ceremony with the kids to wake up the water Gods. It was really cute! We got a good swim in before we had to get ready to leave. We really fell in love with this place. We know now that we will stay our first few days at the Polynesian and then end with a few days at the AKL. I dont need to experiment with any other resorts. I will just enjoy them by visiting them instead.
We had our last meal at the WCC. This was our first time eating there. I wasnt so sure about going there since it seems like there are many mixed reviews about the place. We ended up having a great time. The kids thought it was a lot of fun doing the pony races and making animal sounds. The food wasnt too bad either. We enjoyed our server and I can see us coming back again.
We had a great time despite all of our moves. We learn something new every time we go. I was really glad we have annual passes; that way we didnt feel like we needed to be at the parks all day long and we could enjoy the resorts and relax a bit. Plus you can always get that last minute room discount!
That morning we packed up and had bell service get our bags and we headed over to Epcot. We thought we would go grab a bite for lunch. We went to San Angel Inn. We have eaten dinner here once. We really like the atmosphere. The food was good and so was the service. They told us the earliest we could get our room was 1:00 so we decided to walk along WS and head back to our room so the kids could nap. It was very hot out so I had to get a layered margarita to cool down. We have never spent much time at Epcot during the day. We really enjoyed it because it was crowded at all unlike the MK. On the walk back the baby fell asleep and we were hoping she would stay asleep. When we got back to the BWVs it was 1:30 and our room wasnt ready but the CM who was helping us saw the baby sleeping so she went to go see what was going on and lo and behold it was ready! All of the CMs that we dealt with at the BWVs were great. We had a much better view with a huge balcony. We were looking towards the BWI. I felt happy that we moved. It sure would have been nice to be in this room to begin with, it would have saved us $45 ($30 for the room change and the rest tips for bell service)
We went down for a swim and heard from our friends that they were in. They were supposed to get in earlier in the week but had to change plans. They have been coming to WDW with us for the past 2 summers and this was the first time that we wouldnt be staying at the Polynesian together. After a quick swim we got ready for dinner at Ohanas. We had a PS at 6 so I knew we should leave at 5 to be safe. My dh thought I was crazy, I told him just wait and see. Sure enough we got there right on time. Our friends were nowhere to be found. They were going to ride the bus with us but they decided to get a drink in their concierge lounge and they would meet us there. Well we waited for them for 25 minutes. They didnt drive, but took the bus. They couldnt believe how long it took to get to the Polynesian. Lucky for us it wasnt very busy so we still got our table for 10. This is one of our must do restaurants. We had a great time and everyone chowed down. The service was outstanding. We all came back to our room and watched the fireworks from Epcot.
The next morning we were hanging out in the room when all of the sudden we could hear someone sawing away! Maybe all of this wouldnt be so terrible if I didnt have such bad memories of when we had construction done on our house for first 7 months of my last pregnancy! Then I started thinking about how much money we were spending for this room and I was getting disappointed again. It would have been alright if we were at the parks all day because then we wouldnt hear the noise. I kept on thinking, should we move over to the AKL or tough it out? I even called CRO to find if there was availability at the AKL which there was, so I called the AKL and they had a room we could get into right then. The problem was that it was now getting close to 11:00 am and there was no way we could pack up and get out of there by check out time. My dh did not want to move, plus we had to pick up the rental car at the Dolphin later on that afternoon. I said fine I will just deal with it and enjoy the room and the view.
My 7yr old was dying to ride a surrey bike so we thought now would be a good time, we headed down to the Boardwalk to go check it out. We had fun, but man is that hard going up those hills. We had some lunch in the room and then the kids took their naps. I headed over to Epcot. Its great walking over there from the Villas. I really like hanging out here by myself. There is so much to see in each country and I only made it to 2 countries. We were going to do MGM with our friends that afternoon, but first we had to get our rental car. We needed a rental car to drive up to Destin, where we were going to spend 5 nights with our family before we drove to New Orleans to fly home to Denver. We rented a premium car (Chrysler Concorde) with a booster seat and a child seat. We had great service. Our car seats were cloth and they were clean. It did feel nice to get into our own car and drive.
We were planning on doing our first Fantasmic dinner. We had a PS for a Fantasmic dinner on Tuesday but we cancelled when the weather looked bad (the sky ended up clearing and it was beautiful, at least we saw Illuminations that night!) We got to MGM when the parade was starting. We had a PS at Mama Melrose at 5:40 so we had to hurry. This was our first time eating at this restaurant. The service was very good, while the atmosphere and the food were good. When we got done with dinner we got a couple of quick autographs from Woody and Buzz at Als Toy Barn. Then there was a quick ride on Star Wars before we tried to find our friends. We said we would meet over at the Great Movie Ride. They were taking a while and I knew that they wouldnt want to go on, so I went in line with my 2 dds. This was the longest wait I have done at Disney. They have a short line before you get to these doors where there is a really long line. My dh waited for us to come out for over an hour. When we did come out there was a major t-storm coming through. We had to wait inside until it blew over. It looked like Fantasmic was going to be cancelled. We sure could have used our yellow ponchos that we left back in the room! We waited until 8:45 when the rain let up somewhat. We thought it would be better to walk back in the rain than wait behind 100 people for a boat. We didnt get to spend much time with our friends as they were leaving the next morning. We came back to a nice clean room, one of the benefits of paying cash, and went to bed.
I got up early, and decided that we were going to move. I called CRO and got everything worked out before anyone got up. I had most of our stuff packed so my dh couldnt complain. We were up, out the door and in the concierge lounge by 9:30. Yvonne(?) was there to greet us. She told us to go get a bite to eat and then come over to check in. I really enjoyed the lounge. The food is laid out better than at the Polynesian and there is a little more variety with fresher pastries and bagels. The coffee machine is pretty awesome too. After we were done enjoying breakfast I sat down with Yvonne and told her where I would like a room, which she gave us no problem. I wanted a room that would be close to the pool and the elevator to go to the lounge. We were on the Zebra Trail facing the Arusha Savannah. She asked us if we wanted a refrigerator for our room (free of charge) and we said yes. Now we were originally going to stay 2 nights at the end of our stay, so the AKL concierge planning dept got in touch with us as soon as we made the original reservation. When I got a call from the planning dept. they were very friendly and wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help our stay. Yvonne then went over all of the activities in the lodge and the different meal services they had in the concierge lounge. She called bell service to come take us to our room. We just loved the room right away. I really wished that the Polynesian had that same sort of wow when you walk in. The rooms are smaller, but I like how they are laid out. We were all so happy. The kids just loved looking out on the balcony. This was our last day and we were hoping to do AK, but after seeing everything we just couldnt leave. We went down to the pool. I love this pool. We got to see feeding time for the flamingos before we went swimming. The kids liked the pool too. My ds finally went down a waterslide! He loved it. My dd on the other hand didnt care for it. My dh and I got some drinks from the bar. We tried 3 different drinks and they were all amazing. I got us some lunch from Mara which was very good. We played until nap time. While the kids were napping I sat and watched the different animals. I just love how the scenery changes all the time. When my ds woke up I took him up to the lounge for some afternoon treats. Thats when we found out about all the ABC stars. We didnt see any, but it was fun wondering who was staying there. We ate up in the lounge for our dinner. They had some great food with a lot of variety. This lounge never got crowded like it did at the Polynesian. We wanted to go swimming again, but we needed to go to DD to get my ds some birthday presents. We went to Once Upon A Toy Store and my kids were in heaven. We got a few things for his monorail set and we were out of there. My ds kept on asking us when we could go back! We went back to the AKL. We got some desserts from the lounge and went back to watch the animals from our balcony.
This was our last morning at WDW. We realized that 11 nights is a little to long (and expensive). We still didnt get to see and do everything we wanted to, but isnt that why you always come back? We had a nice breakfast in the lounge and then we went down for a swim. We got there before the slide was open. They have a little ceremony with the kids to wake up the water Gods. It was really cute! We got a good swim in before we had to get ready to leave. We really fell in love with this place. We know now that we will stay our first few days at the Polynesian and then end with a few days at the AKL. I dont need to experiment with any other resorts. I will just enjoy them by visiting them instead.
We had our last meal at the WCC. This was our first time eating there. I wasnt so sure about going there since it seems like there are many mixed reviews about the place. We ended up having a great time. The kids thought it was a lot of fun doing the pony races and making animal sounds. The food wasnt too bad either. We enjoyed our server and I can see us coming back again.
We had a great time despite all of our moves. We learn something new every time we go. I was really glad we have annual passes; that way we didnt feel like we needed to be at the parks all day long and we could enjoy the resorts and relax a bit. Plus you can always get that last minute room discount!
Watch out....he will be ready for anything now. 
