Back from 1st stay at BLT - family loved it!!!

[bbn1122]

okay which adress do I use on photobucket to post a pix, not just the linlk, but to get the photo to show.

Thanks!

 

[jade1]

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011015.jpg

This is our view from 7902 Master bedroom.

This is a good example-you mentioned not seeing other rooms, the curve of BLT makes you feel all to yourself-one of our favorite things about it.

Thanks for the report.

 

[dbs1228]

We are staying at AKL in the summer and now I am second guessing that decision since my boys loved there home resort so much. There is so much at your finger tips. I am very glad we decided on BLT.

I will have more after we go the Sunday Mass, Happy Easter to everyone. We are just home today, since we had such a busy vacation week. We need some down time.
Finally, beautiful weather in NJ, it looks like we brought the good weather with us from FL.

If you never stayed at AKV do not second guess yourself! We own and LOVE BLT but in Feb we stayed 1 ni at AKV with our 15 yr old DD and just love it because it is so different! I would not even consider staying there without a Savanna view though watching giraffe's and zebra's while hanging on the balcony is spectacular! We will go back.

 

[bbn1122]

http://i1179.photobucket

The view from the 2nd bedroom.

 

[bbn1122]

Okay, I still can not figure out how to get the photo to appear instead of an address. So, if anyone can help let me know.

I forgot to mention. While waiting for my DH to park the car on check in day, a CM ask me to take part in a survey where I record what we spent everyday. I have a manual and when finished I mail it in and receive a $25 gift card.

Day 2: I got my younger boys up early for the MK. It was open from 7a-1a our entire trip. I let my older son sleep since he got in a 2:30am from the MK the night before. We just did not have the energy to get there by 7am. My DH went to the gym and was going to do some work and meet us at the park for our ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for 12:35pm.

After having breakfast in our room, which we loved we walk over to the MK which took all of 7 minutes. The park was already busy we head right over to SM and fast passed it. We went over to the speedway, my two sons had never rode it since there is always such a long line. Well, this morning they got on it twice. The wait time was less than 10 minutes. Then we head over to Buzz Lightyear, then we all rode Astro Orbitor for the first time, again always a long line. After that it was time for Space Mountain, wow it seemed so much faster, really good. We then went over to Small World. We pasted the construction area for the new expansion, so much built already it looks like it will be great. Small World line seemed pretty long and the boys really had no desire to ride it, they were only going for Mom. I convinced them to see Mickey's Philharmonica, which we hadn't done since they were little. We all loved it. Next, Haunted Mansion. I had called my DH and he said my older son would meet his at MK. We met at Tom Sawyer Island which my boys love. Frontierland was packed, I did not realized that a parade would be coming through, which was probably why, but it was a mad house. Has any one ever seen how Disney uses masking tape to direct traffic along the water, very interestin. By then it was time for Lunch.

My DH meet us at Libery Tree Tavern, it is one of his favorite places. I think what he likes most about WDW is the Table Service Restaurants. We were seated about 15 minutes after checking in and were seated in the George Washington room. My DH and DS got the Pot Roast, yummy. I order the Vegetarian Pot Pie, it was okay. I can remember what my other 2 sons got. By the time we were done the park was so packed that we head back to BLT.

We went over to CR pool after walking through BLT pool area, which was packed. We did go to the BLT pool twice once, in the morning and once at night. But, we really enjoy the CR pool during the day, it is large and plenty of seating, plus they have that extra circle pool by the lake.

For dinner we ate in our room. I had ordered a couple of frozen pizza and casear salad etc through the Garden Grocer. It was so relaxing not to have to travel any where for dinner. My boys went over to the arcade after dinner and then we all watched Wishes from our balcony. We were to poop to go back to any parks.

A couple things I realized I missed in the kitchen, foil, a cookie sheet and pizza cutter. But, I improvised and everything went fine. I really was surprised how many supplies you get.

Oh the beds were very comfortable. I love alot of pillows and there were 6 on our King bed. We also loved the 3 bathrooms with 5 of us.

I have photos loaded to Photobucket, I just need help getting them to display here.

 

[jade1]

When you have the photo on photobucket, right click on it and select properties. Then "copy" that string ending after .jpg

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...BLT2011015.jpg

Then paste that in the "insert image" icon above.

 

[bbn1122]

View from Master Bedroom.

View from 2nd bedroom.

View from front of building by elevators.

I hope this works. Thanks for the help posting photos.

 

[bbn1122]

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011013.jpg

View from master.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011012.jpg

view from 2nd bedroom.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011093.jpg

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011094.jpg

View from front of building 9th floor elevators.

 

[bbn1122]

When you have the photo on photobucket, right click on it and select properties. Then "copy" that string ending after .jpg

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...BLT2011015.jpg
Then paste that in the "insert image" icon above.

Thanks for your help, but it seem not to work. I just got the X box for my photos, so I just copied the address so members can click on the link.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our DS and family were traveling south on I 95 when you were. We were all grateful that they arrived in Florida safely.

 

[bbn1122]

Day 3 - Epcot.

Well, I got everyone out the door together and we got to Epcot by 8:45am.
We had right to Spaceship Earth and then on to Test Track. Well, we probably should have done Test Tract first because it was already a 45 minute wait. We decided to Fast Pass it and get on the single rider line.
That work great. Then we head to Innoventions.

Side note: After dinner our first night at Ohana we stopped by and talk with Brendan at a DVC stand. I ask about the BLT Welcome Home sessions and he signed us up quick for Thursday at 12:40pm. He told us all of us would get a special VIP fastpass card which would entitled us to 3 front of the line fastpasses. That peak our interest. More on this on Thursday.

While my DH and boys were in Innoventions, I stopped by a DVC stand again by the MouseGear store and had a nice chat with Scott.

Forget to mention the weather was 88-94 degrees our entire stay. Hot, but gorgeous blue skies...great pool weather.

We used our FastPasses on Test Track and then headed over to the World Showcase. We had a lunch reservation at Bierengarten.

My middle son wanted to try out Kim Possible game, so he signed up at the Innoventions. You go to Norway to pick up the decoder. He did it for two mission but the we had lunch etc. So, he brought it back. It seemed that you should do the game when you had time and nothing scheduled.

We rode the Mexico ride, nice and cool. And of course the Norway ride, my boys love the Trolls. A few more stops then time for lunch. All our early meals were to please DH. He loves German food. We were seated after about 15 minutes with two very nice women from California. The were great table mates. The food was great and the entertainment was fun.

My DH was ready to go back to the villa for some office work. He is an attorney in private practice, so he always has something going on that needs tending to, plus he is not a big park guy. A few hours and then he is done. Where we live in NJ, a Six Flags is in our town, so we get alot of amusement park time during the year.

So, off 3 DSs and Mom head off to see the rest of countries. My boys love the store in Japan. That is the highlight of the countries for them. Well, the hear of the day was getting to us and we knew we would be back. Plus, youngest son is not a country enthusiasts so he was complaining most of the time to go back to the pool. We took the boat across from Morracco and stop to see Figament show. It was fun and very cooling to be out of the heat. My middle son is the shopper, so one last stop at MouseGear before we headed back to BLT. Very slow and crowded getting back.

I made an executive decision before we went back to our villas to stop a Contempo Cafe for a quick dinner to bring back. I really enjoyed the food from here. I had a steak salad (huge). I got a hot roast beef for hubby. He really enjoyed it. My older so had a flatbread and younger boys got kids meals. It is so nice, to relax in your villa. We had so much room, what a different experience from having only a room or two.

After dinner we all went down to the BLT pool. Boys were riding the slide, playing ping pong and swimming. DH and I hit the hot tub. The pool area was very quiet. While in the hot tub I noticed some ligtening and then heard the thunder. We did not get any rain it passed us by. But that was the end of our pool time. We probably were down there for about an hour.

My DH and older son went back to our rooms. My younger sons wanted to rent some movies (free to DVC members). So, we stopped by the Community Hall. They have a binder with pages showing all there G and PG movies. And then another binder with the PG-13 and R movies. The boys picked Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Nightmare Before Christmas.

Well Day 3 coming to a close. It is so nice to settle into your home away from home for the evening.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011096.jpg

 

[bbn1122]

Some more photos:

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011095.jpg

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011009-1.jpg

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011011.jpg

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x390/gemini1122/DisneyBLT2011003.jpg

We loved the space.

We are in a 1 bedroom AKL in August. I have a feeling we will miss the second bedroom.

 

[jade1]

I just clicked on each link and opened the pic, right clicked and copied the properties-then pasted in the Insert image box-but be sure to clear the Insert image box so you dont get 2 http's. Thanks for the pics/update.

 

[bbn1122]

Jade,

Thanks for the help with the pix. I will keep trying.

 

[toniosmom]

A couple things I realized I missed in the kitchen, foil, a cookie sheet and pizza cutter. But, I improvised and everything went fine. I really was surprised how many supplies you get.

We do a lot of meals in the villa, so I always bring foil and ziplock bags (both quart and gallon size). I also bring a salt shaker. Everything else comes from Garden Grocer. My son loves to swim, so once he gets in that pool it's hard to get him out. He doesn't care if we have an ADR at 6pm for dinner. So, I've learned not to plan dinners out.

Regarding your trip to AKV this summer -- don't change your plans. We stayed at Kidani March 2010 and it was lovely. (Savannah view can't be beat -- loved watching the giraffes and zebra every day.) Since then, we have stayed at BLT and BCV. We were just at BCV last week and the pools there are phenomenal. But when I asked my son which pool he liked best, he said Kidani. He likes the water play area (he is 6) where the water shoots out at you and the buckets dump on your head. It really is a lot of fun there. You will enjoy it.

 

[bbn1122]

Let me finish up this report before I forgot what we did, you know old age and short term memory!!!!

Day 4 -

We head over to the Animal Kingdom. This is my boys least favorite park, maybe because on 3 prior trips it poured everytime. Finally, beautiful weather. Well, we got over there pretty early but it was already packed. We went straight to Everest and fastpassed it. Then to Dinosaur, we got right on maybe a ten minute wait. This is a fun ride. My little nephew is going in a 2 weeks and loves Dinosaur. We can not decide if he will be scared or love it!. I can not remember the name of the small coaster, but that was closed for renovations. My boys decided they were too big for Triceratops Spin, and they went over to boneyard and they were definitely too big for that, so that was it for Dinoland. I was a littel sad about that.

I convenience my DH and boys that we had to see Festival of the Lion King. I heard it was a fantastic show and we never seen it. WOW!!! what a great show. I loved it. Even my big boys loved it. I am recommending it to my sisters who will be going shortly with their families. I am so glad I insisted on seeing it.

Next stop, It's Tough to Be A Bug! I love this show, especially since you get to wind throught the bottom of the tree with all the great carvings.

Believe or not, my DH and youngest were done with AK after that. So, 2 DSs and me stayed a little longer. My middle guy want to go to Conservation Station. We took the train to Raifiki Planet and checked things out. It was a nice stop. We were a little rushed because we had lunch reservations at Whispoering Canyons at WL. Originally, I had us having dinner that day at Rainforest Cafe, but we changed our schedule. So, I cancelled my ADR there and had no problem finding a lunch spot. I book Whispering Canyon the night before at 9p. Since, we were at BLT, it is only a boat ride from WL to CR. So, DH and son went back to BLT to relax and we meet up at WC for lunch.
My DH and oldest had the skillet. I had the Pulled Pork Spring Rolls and a salad. It was fun being back at WL. We stayed there in 2006 and believe it or not my sons barely remembering being there.

After lunch I wanted to get a pix of my sons in front of the Disney Totem Pole. I had one from 5 years ago. We meet up with a Park Ranger CM, who asked us who the Bear was on the bottom of the Totem. Well, we could not get the answer right. It's Humphrey the Bear, who was with Mickey in movies in the early day. Interesting trivia.

DH and me decided to check out the WL Villas, so we walked over. My sons played tether ball by the lake. The pool area seems nice but very small. For folks who think BLT has a small area, not like WL. Both DVC's are part of a bigger resort with a larger pool, so now I understand why BLT pool is not gigantic. You also have CR pool, just like WL Villas have the larger WL resort pool.

We were able to walk right into the first floor of WL villas. Very nice are, just very different from BLT. Dark and woodsy, but with some nice quiet areas.

We then headed back to the resort for some down time and swimming. Once again, over to CR pool.

That night we went to DHS. We caught the Indiana Jones Show. We had not seen this since 2003. We always made to the park at night and missed the last show. My boys loved it.

We were very sad to see Star Tours closed. I had no idea about this, especially after all my planning and research. So, we headed over to Muppets 3-D. Now, I love the Kermit and the Muppets, but here is a show that needs some updating or needs to be replaced. It is definitely showing its age.

We were hoping to see the early Fantasmic show, again this is something we last saw 2003. My boys never wanted to go. But, this time I insisted we were going. My oldest sons friend was texting him from the line and venue that it was getting pack and it was still 45 minutes to show time. We headed over, but right near the entrance they made an announcement that it was standing room only, so we decided to eat and go to the 10pm show.

We were trying to decided where to eat. I had no ADR for tonight. I had booked Mama Melrose for the next night. A CM over heard us and asked us if we need help. He suggested the Commissary or Backlot. We went to the Commissary and could not believe how good the food was. DH, me and oldest got the Angus burgers with the fried shrimp, wow it was great.

We then went to the Great Movie ride, which I love. I always forget how good it is. We wandered around after that and then headed over to the Fantastic show.

I absolutely loved it. My 2 younger sons were falling asleep by the end. When we got out of the show, my oldest was going to meet up with his best friend again for the rest of the night. My two youngest wanted to go back to BLT, but I insisted that DH, 2 DSs and me ride Tower of Terror, there was only a 20 minute wait. I got so scared right before we boarded. I only rode this ride once before. Well, all I can say is fun!!!!! I really enjoy this ride. It is scary and fun all in one. This woke my boys up and they want to ride Rock and Roll Rollercoaster, but it was 75 minute wait, plus we planned to use our VIP Fastpasses on that tomorrow night. So, after a stop in a couple shops, off we went back for some rest. My oldest stayed with his friend till it closed at 1 am. The two of them rod RNR and TOT twice, they had a blast together. This would be their last get together.

I will try to post photos again soon. Thanks for reading....