Anyone want to hear about our trip to BLT last weekend?

[ercrbc]

Hi!!! Just back from an awesome whirlwind trip for MLK holiday.

Who? my family of 5: me, DH, DD9, DS6 and DD3.
Where? Our first time at BLT! We had a 1BR LV and LOVED the view!
Preplans? I made FP+ for each day, and I was super excited to get the much sought after FP+ for the Be Our Guest lunch! It was our first time seeing the inside of Belle's castle!
Special plans? I scheduled dinner at the Cali Grill for DH and I, while the kids spent the evening at Lilos' Playhouse at the Poly. First time doing this too!

We have had this trip planned since last Summer, I had originally reserved our home resort OKW for the trip. I put BLT on the WL and it came through a couple months later

We left Thursday at 1pm, that morning was crazy getting last minute things done. DH worked til noon, the kids all had school, I taught a yoga class then finished packing us up. We signed the kids out of school early and were on the road by 1:15. It was nice to leave all the crazy behind us and have a few days together WDW!!!

We arrived at BLT around 8:30, so we missed Wishes which were at 8pm. Our room was on the 11th floor and had a beautiful view of the pool and lake. We could see DTD hotels and Spaceship Earth from our room. It was kind of rainy/cold Friday morning when I took this but the sun came out later that day

 

[ercrbc]

When we arrived Thursday night we had very cranky kids who had woken up early excited for Disney, then had a morning of school and a long drive all afternoon. They were all close to melt down (my 6yo had one as we unloaded the car) so we rushed to get the room ready and them into bed. I didn't get any pics of the room that night, well except this one:

Giving everyone electronics made it easier to get the beds ready and groceries unpacked! Our opinion of the room? It was spacious and not a problem to break out the sofa bed and sleeper chair each evening. The bench seat in the kitchen would slide off and there were some knicks in the black furniture. We liked the extra bath, but missed a large master closet to store suitcases. Not a big deal and we settled in just fine for the next 4 nights

Side note: I am doing a yoga instagram challenge this month. I have to post a pic of each daily pose and didn't want to miss days while we were on our trip. DD9 wanted to get in it too, she was my photographer and a good sport to join in some too. That first morning we got one in the room, but I didn't love the lighting or background, and knew we could find better backdrops the next few days

Anyway, back on track. Friday morning we discovered that in our craziness to pack the day before we forgot an incredible important Disney item. OUR STROLLER! DD3 still needs one for WDW but since it's been tucked in the garage since early Fall I completely spaced about getting it into the car. Oops. We figured we would see how it went and headed out to get on the monorail. Here is a pic from the skybridge:

We got to Epcot and DD3 was already asking us to carry her to Nemo. DH went to check out rentals and thankfully came back with this little gem.

Just FYI, a rental would have been $15/day and if you changed parks you have to leave it and rent a new one at the next park. This one costs $38 and was ours to use the entire trip and take home We rode Soarin with a FP first thing. DD3 was *exactly* 40 inches and it took a min for the CM to check her height. But she hit the bar and we were ready to ride! OMG, she LOVED it. So much fun to ride with her for the first time Oh, I should mention. I don't get great pics of my kids at Disney. They aren't usually happy to take pics and certainly don't want to wait in line for character pics nor do they want to do the Magic Photo Pass or whatever you can do with the bands. So I take what I can get and figure there is always next trip Here is one on Living with the Land after we rode Soarin and then with blue icees:

All three were sad the "troll ride" is no longer the troll ride We walked by and saw that Anna and Elsa's castle is starting to go up:

 

[Chip n Dale's Dad]

You are making me "home"sick! We love BLT. Great pics! We too have forgotten our stroller at home and had to purchase one. A definite need. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip. Thanks!

 

[katie424kali]

Excited to hear all about it! I am going to be in a 1 BR at BLT in April with DH and DDs ages 2 and almost 5.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Wow, that's great your husband found a stroller to purchase--especially so cheap! That's probably how much the blue drinks cost.
Waiting for the rest of the trip report.

 

[ercrbc]

Okay, time to finish Epcot day. We had a great time that morning, Soarin, Living with the Land, Nemo, Blue Icees. Then we rode the boat ride in Mexico and wandered around the WS for a bit. Snacks in Germany, DD9 picked a pearl in Japan, then we made our way back toward the Imagination ride. This is when we realized it was getting crowded, FIGMENT had a 35min wait! Spaceship Earth wasn't working, Ellens Universe of Energy was also down and I didn't even bother checking the TT times.

We went back to the room for a break and I took the big kids to the pool. DD3 fell asleep in the stroller on the way back and DH was happy to stay in the room for her to nap. I didn't get pics that first day at the pool, it wasn't warm enough out to swim and it was shady out there in the afternoon! It was barely 70 degrees but DD begged to go so I took them. We were there an hour or so (I enjoyed the hot tub) and then went back to the room to get ready for our big night out! I had talked up the kids going to Lilo's playhouse. They all love spending time in the Community Halls so I compared it to that and told them they would get dinner. We had a reservation to drop them off at 4:30 (made through MS), and we left to get on the monorail around 4:15.

I thought I would take some pics of the poly while we were there but I didn't. It's kind of torn up and I really didn't want any pics of anything. The pool was closed, there were workman and construction crews busy on the villas and the Lobby wasn't terribly impressive.

BUT....Lilo's Playhouse was recently renovated and it looked AWESOME!!!

Here are the two pics I could get from the drop off location:

To the right past the pirate ship were tables, crafts and where they ate. To the left was another room filled with more toys. The kids were ready to race in as soon as we walked in the lobby, but we had to sign off all the paperwork before they would let them back to play. I was so thrilled to see them excited about it!

DH and I had a great meal at the California Grill. Neither of us had ever been there and we were very happy with the food, atmosphere and service. It was fantastic! We were sat in a back room with a view of Bay Lake, it was pretty but I would love to snag a seat in the other room with a view of the fireworks sometime! Here is the only pic I took while there:

We enjoyed our dinner and went right back to the monorail to pick the kids up from the Poly. They were having a great time but happy to see us and head back to the room. We had this grand idea to head up to the Lounge to watch the fireworks (which were over an hour away from starting)

We took the kids up to the Lounge for about 10 seconds. It was obvious it wasn't going to be successful. They were the only kids there, it was busy with adults looking like they were having fun. My kids were all exhausted, and ready to sleep. No way we were going to make it to Wishes. We took a look around and then went back downstairs. It was beautiful in the lounge, and if it had been just DH and I we would have enjoyed staying for a few drinks. But alas, we were tired too so I took one shot of the castle and we called it a night.

 

[betsywdw]

Happy to see your trip report! Love BLT! Can't wait to read more!!!!

 

[ercrbc]

Wow, that's great your husband found a stroller to purchase--especially so cheap! That's probably how much the blue drinks cost.
Waiting for the rest of the trip report.

LOL! The blue drinks are ridiculous! I don't know when it started but as soon as we set foot in a park one of them starts asking for an icee! We have learned where they are available in each park at this point. (my personal fave is the place in HS, for an added cost they will add liquor to any icee, so DH and I enjoy one there too )

 

[ercrbc]

You are making me "home"sick! We love BLT. Great pics! We too have forgotten our stroller at home and had to purchase one. A definite need. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip. Thanks!

Thanks for reading! The stroller was the best purchase we made this weekend by far

Excited to hear all about it! I am going to be in a 1 BR at BLT in April with DH and DDs ages 2 and almost 5.

You will love it!!! Thanks for reading!

Happy to see your trip report! Love BLT! Can't wait to read more!!!!

Thanks for reading, we loved BLT too!!

 

[lovin'fl]

Lovin' the TR so far. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ercrbc]

So Friday night was uneventful and we missed Wishes. BUT, we could watch the very exciting Electric Water Parade from our window (and hear it whether we wanted to or no )

More thoughts on the living room sleeping furniture. It wasn't hard to make either up, but the chair liked to move with me as I tried to open it. Also we could have used an extra blanket or two. Otherwise it was great!

Saturday morning we were all up early (we always are) and the sunrise was gorgeous over Bay Lake!

DD9 and DS6 came to help me with a yoga pic for the day in the lobby by the elevator. The sunrise over the MK was so pretty!!! Here is the pic I used and one of DS being silly:

We had plans to be at the MK all day, I had FP+ lunch at BOG for 1:30, then FP for enchanted tales with Belle, Peter Pan and to meet Anna and Elsa at 4. I was not positive we would make it so long in the park, we usually leave by 2-3 for a break, and all three were already running low from a late night (for us) and an early morning wake up. But we ventured out shortly after 9 and were happy to see the weather was going to be warmer that day (high 70s!)
We got to the park after opening, and I took DD9 on BTMRR while DH took the younger two on Pooh and Ariel.

 

[ercrbc]

DD9 and I rode BTMRR two times with no wait, I got this pic of her in between:

We went to meet the others at Dumbo. We didn't ride Dumbo, all three wanted to get on the Barnstormer instead. This is where being a family of 5 became less fun. For DD9 anyway. You can only sit twos on that ride, so she was forced to ride alone. However, she insisted she could fit with DD3 and I and waited in our line. Of course the CM told her she couldn't when we were loading, and she had to share a seat behind us with a *stranger* (very nice dad whose wife and son were together behind him). DD9 is shy and wasn't happy about that at all. DD3 LOVED the Barnstormer and begged to go again, but DD9 was over it and wanted to move on. A pic of DD3 and I in the line for the Barnstormer, she was purposely closing her eyes, but the lighting is so bad you can't exactly tell. And this is better than the one where she is purposely picking her nose. Anyway, I take what I can get when it comes to pics

We got snacks after that and then rode the People Mover. Here is one of DH giving DD9 a hard time about her attitude on the Barnstormer:

We wandered over toward Adventureland wanting to ride Pirates after that. It was closed and we noticed everything had a sizeable line at that point. It was crowded for the holiday!!! DH really wanted to ride the Jungle Cruise and the wait said 40 min. Over our max wait time but we gave it a try. MISTAKE. Just saying. Kids could care less about riding it, the queue line was boring and fits ensued. I'm really sorry if you are reading this and recognize my family from that line that day. Yikes, we were embarrassing for the 60 min it took to get on the ride. Yes, 60, the wait time posted was WRONG. The ride was fun, but not worth that wait. The only pic as we loaded on the boat:

As we got off we noticed they had updated the line time to 95 min. WOW. It had really gotten crowded!!! We had over an hour before our lunch time and decided to get on the train and ride around the park. We stopped in the shop by Dumbo on our way to BOG and the kids picked out something with their gift cards. (DD3 got an Ariel, DS6 got a Big Hero 6, DD9 got a Anna/Elsa doll that flips to be the other)

Up next: lunch at the BOG and FP+ changes for the afternoon....

 

[disney ny]

I love your report! Seeing all the picture of BLT makes my heart long to be there. I was just working on my report too and I miss it so much. I like your lake view a lot too- I wouldn't mind that at all. Of course I wouldn't mind any view at BLT!

We took our kids to the Kids Club at the Polynesian too and it was amazing! I don't think I got any pictures but it did look like so much fun. They did a great job with it. Our kids went to Simba's Clubhouse at AK Lodge too and they liked the one at the Poly better. It was a huge difference. I wish they had those places in real life and I could just drop off the kids and go enjoy a night out.

 

[ercrbc]

I love your report! Seeing all the picture of BLT makes my heart long to be there. I was just working on my report too and I miss it so much. I like your lake view a lot too- I wouldn't mind that at all. Of course I wouldn't mind any view at BLT!

We took our kids to the Kids Club at the Polynesian too and it was amazing! I don't think I got any pictures but it did look like so much fun. They did a great job with it. Our kids went to Simba's Clubhouse at AK Lodge too and they liked the one at the Poly better. It was a huge difference. I wish they had those places in real life and I could just drop off the kids and go enjoy a night out.

Hi Disney NY!!! I totally agree on the kids club! We debated doing it because it was pricey, but then so is taking 3 kids to the California grill and so not worth it if they don't eat, act obnoxious, loud, cranky, etc. Honestly, even if they act like angels I don't want to spend the money to eat there with my kids. Anyway, it was totally worth it and we all really enjoyed our night. Did you use the DVC discount? It was just 10% but nice with three kids. So glad to know the AK club wasn't as nice! I would be curious to know about the BC one too. I got caught up on your report last night, can't wait to hear more! We will be at the VGF for 5 nights this August and I love reading about your trip! We haven't done August, usually try to find the low crowd times (fyi, MLK weekend no longer falls in that category) I know Aug won't be low crowds, but maybe medium crowds? (that don't get bad til afternoon when we clear out of the parks anyway ) wishful thinking? ah, at least it will be hot and good swimming weather! More on swimming in Jan in my report today

 

[ercrbc]

Back to Saturday and Lunch at Be Our Guest. I have tried to get an ADR to eat dinner at BOG several times since they opened. Somehow I just can't figure out how to get one. But, I did see the thread about the BOG FP+ lunch that you can be invited to. I got the email from Disney a few weeks before our trip and managed to book 1:30 for Saturday. I was excited

We did order ahead of time and I'm glad. Although I couldn't remember what we had ordered when we showed up But it did seem to save the step of ordering and splitting up (one to order one to find seats and wrangle all three kids) Much nicer to stay together and have our food delivered right to us. Finding a seat took a few minutes but we ended up with a nice booth right across from this:

The food came and we all really liked it! DH had the roast beef, I had ham/cheese, two of the kids had grilled cheese and tomato soup (DD9 loved dipping the sandwich in the soup!) and DS6 had the turkey sandwich.

DD3 loved being at the castle and was happy to take a pic outside afterward:

After lunch things got a little hairy. It was VERY crowded. Everything had insane waits (for us) HM was 75 min. PP 110, the mine train was 140. Even IASW was an hour. Our FP+ was Enchanted Tales with Belle from 2-3. Except neither of my big kids could care less about it. And since DD3 had already been in the castle, she didn't care about going either. We had a PP FP+ but not until 3, and then Anna/Elsa at 4. No one liked this plan and all wanted to go swim (it was definitely warm enough). SO, I made the attempt to change my FP+ to evening rides. I obviously knew I wasn't going to get A/E again, but figured it would make everyone happy and then we could avoid lines for a couple hours later in the evening.

I changed the FP to Ariel, Pooh and Buzz starting at 5pm. We went back to get ready to swim.

DD3 absolutely loved the pool, the big kids enjoyed it too. Here are a few pics:

I didn't get any of the hot tub, surprising because I spent a lot of time each afternoon there.The first day I was there this nice lady I was chatting with dropped her phone in the hot tub! I guess I avoiding bringing mine anywhere near it because of that We rescued it and miraculously it still worked. A little Disney magic for her day

The pool break was good and just what everyone needed. We all got cleaned up and the kids ate some mac and cheese in the room. We left for the MK and were happy to see lots of people coming out of the gates. It was a pretty time of day, here is a pic of the castle as we walked in Main Street:

We had a great time on Buzz, then got a snack before our Pooh FP, I think we went over to Gaston's Tavern area? Anyway, we saw that Ariel was on 20 min so we did standby. DD3 loves this ride. She sings and dances and just loves every minute of it DD9, not as much but still thinks its cute.

We got off in perfect time to head to Pooh. My crazy girls:

We all love Pooh. It's so much fun

I really can't remember what we did then. We used all our FPs, except maybe Ariel which we didn't need anyway. We left long before Wishes but thought *maybe* we could watch them by the elevator.

 

[ercrbc]

So we went back to the room and DH stopped by the Contempo Café for some late dinner eats for us, and a snack for the kids. I had the BLT with the strawberry sauce, yum!!! I can't remember what he had but he liked it. The kids had some fries and were ready to crash for the night. Once again, we missed seeing Wishes We did enjoy the EWP though

On our last day I took a lot of pics of the resort. DD9 had agreed to get up early and go out to the beach for my yoga picture (and some sunrise shots around Bay Lake) Here are a few we got that morning:

From the room:

From the beach:

My yoga pose for the day:

On our way back to the room:

I think I took a few more that are still on my phone. Sunrise was my favorite time at BLT!!

 

[disney ny]

Hi Disney NY!!! I totally agree on the kids club! We debated doing it because it was pricey, but then so is taking 3 kids to the California grill and so not worth it if they don't eat, act obnoxious, loud, cranky, etc. Honestly, even if they act like angels I don't want to spend the money to eat there with my kids. Anyway, it was totally worth it and we all really enjoyed our night. Did you use the DVC discount? It was just 10% but nice with three kids. So glad to know the AK club wasn't as nice! I would be curious to know about the BC one too. I got caught up on your report last night, can't wait to hear more! We will be at the VGF for 5 nights this August and I love reading about your trip! We haven't done August, usually try to find the low crowd times (fyi, MLK weekend no longer falls in that category) I know Aug won't be low crowds, but maybe medium crowds? (that don't get bad til afternoon when we clear out of the parks anyway ) wishful thinking? ah, at least it will be hot and good swimming weather! More on swimming in Jan in my report today

We did use the DVC discount which was very nice- I know I would have paid twice that to not have to deal with my cranky son I am also curious about the other Kids Clubs. The kids still had fun at Simba's clubhouse they just said it wasn't as nice. The Cub's Den at WL looks pretty cool too. Hopefully my daughter will be potty trained by the next trip so I can send her there too. Her heart was broken that she was too little and hopefully my son will remember that he had a good time and want to go back. We went in late August which was said to be low crowds but we never saw that at the MK. That place was still packed. EPCOT was much lower crowd wise and very manageable. August would be perfect because of the lower points and the timing of right before school starts back up but the heat will probably keep me away from it for awhile. It will take me many years to forget just how hot August was! Good swimming weather for sure!!!

 

[disney ny]

So we went back to the room and DH stopped by the Contempo Café for some late dinner eats for us, and a snack for the kids. I had the BLT with the strawberry sauce, yum!!! I can't remember what he had but he liked it. The kids had some fries and were ready to crash for the night. Once again, we missed seeing Wishes We did enjoy the EWP though

On our last day I took a lot of pics of the resort. DD9 had agreed to get up early and go out to the beach for my yoga picture (and some sunrise shots around Bay Lake) Here are a few we got that morning:

From the room:

From the beach:

My yoga pose for the day:

On our way back to the room:

I think I took a few more that are still on my phone. Sunrise was my favorite time at BLT!!

Love the pictures of Bay Lake. That is my happy place. I think I would be happy staying anywhere around it or the 7 Seas Lagoon. Just knowing the MK is right there makes me happy and I love all the swampy trees etc. I was also very impressed with Contempo Cafe. We really liked the food and convenience of it. You can't tell that I love BLT can you?

 

[ercrbc]

Hi! Sorry I got side tracked finishing up our last day. Originally plans for Saturday were to go to HS and ride Star Tours, Toy Story and see the Little Mermaid. Well, we got up that morning and all three kids wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom and ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion and DD3 said she wanted to ride the railroad ride. So I cancelled FP+ at HS and added a few at the MK. Obviously not Anna and Elsa or the Mine Train, but it didn't really matter.

Our plan was to get to the park for opening, head straight to PP then over to BTMRR hoping the line would stay low the first hour like it was the day before.

We walked right to Fantasy Land and onto PP, most of the crowd went to the Mine Train so we walked right on (woo hoo!) But 10 min later when we got off the ride the line time already said 45min! At 9:12am! We were happy we got on when we did and made our way over to BTMRR.

DD3 was measured and we were ready to ride! DS6 didn't like this one last Summer, but he was willing to try it again. It was so fun!!! DD3 absolutely loved it, she is definitely going to be my thrill ride kid

We rode twice in a row, here is a pic of DD3's face at the end of the first ride (she said AGAIN! AGAIN!!!)

We rode two times and then went back to get on the Haunted Mansion before lines got crazy. My kids all love "the ghost ride" so much fun. DD3 sings and dances when we get into the cemetery, so cute We made our way over to Pirates and that was really fun, then took the train to Fantasyland to ride Ariel and Pooh. I think we got back on the train to go to the front of the park after that, not exactly sure but this pic was next in order and I know I got it on the train:

I can't remember what we did when, but we rode everything (but the mine train, which had an 80min wait at 9:10am, btw) and the kids wanted to go swimming. It was definitely warm enough that day so we left the park around lunch time and went back to the room. Here are a few shots from our walk back:

We split up and DH, DD9 and DS6 went over to grab lunch to go at the Contempo Café (a new favorite for us) and DD3 and I went back to the room (she had to potty). A few more pics from our walk:

We enjoyed our lunch and came up with a plan for the rest of the day. The kids all wanted to go bowling, shopping and have dinner at DTD. But first a pool break.

While we were at the pool DD9 took a pic of me for my yoga challenge the next day. I knew I wouldn't have a chance the next morning so here was that:

So many pretty places around BLT!!! The pool was fun, and then we went upstairs to get showered and ready to head to DTD for the afternoon/dinner. Unfortunately plans changed a bit....

 

[TeresaNJ]

Enjoying your report very much! Would love to learn yoga!