Back from DVC Vacation

[Scrufsmom]

Hello everyone!

We are finally back from our fantastic vacation. Thought I would give you all the breakdown of our trip. Sorry for making it so long.

Sunday 7/27 we check in at our home VWL. Everything was smooth sailing upon checkin. We did ask if there were any rooms available on the 5th floor of the Villas. Nothing was available and all we were able to get was the ground floor. My DH was ok with that till later......I will explain that in a few.

We had ressies at Chef Mikey at 5:30pm, but when we showed up they didn't have our ressie listed. Thank goodness I took a copy of the ressie #. But it seemed that they had us down for the 9:15pm seating, but not to worry the accomodated us well and we had a fantastic time....my DD couldn't even sit still and eat!

Monday 7/28 we were off to Epcot. Personally, we couldn't believe that there was hardly anyone at the park. We immediately went to the Test Track ride and did FP. Just to let you all know that this ride was the only ride that was jammed packed. Since doing FP it gave us time to go into the Epcot ball and do Imagination. Our DD who is 8 yo was just entranced by everything. We were able to get onto the Test Track and let me tell you that this was the highlight of our vacation. My DD reaction was priceless. All she could do is ask to get back onto that ride.

We had pretty much done all the rides by 12:30pm and tried to walk around the world, but our dd found it boring, so we decided to go back to our room and relax for a couple of hours. Around 5pm we took the boat over the MK for the evening, but the weather turned really sour. The am had been brutally hot and by the pm the weather turned very wicked! Really bad Thunderstroms with bad lightening was the way every single day of our trip.

The MK was so packed with visitors that my DH and I couldn't believe that there was an actual line wrapping around the food stand in Tomorrowland just to get onto the people mover. We were only able to ride about 5 rides throughout the entire park.

Tuesday 7/29 was our AK day. When we got into the park we ran to get the FP for Kalimanjaroo Safari (sorry if i didn't spell it right). Since everything is laid out so far we decided to keep to the general area till our FP came up. Everything here at the AK had a long wait. My DH felt that we needed to get a FP for the FP. lol. But anyhow, we had a wonderful day here seeing all the different animals and shows.

We left AK by 3:30pm and got to BWV. We stolled around the Boardwalk, had a couple of drinks and waited patiently for the Members Day BBQ. By 4:30pm DVC was setting up and boy oh boy! What a turn out! Everyone running around trying to get info for their Members Challenge. We met some very interesting people too. So interesting that we ended up sitting together for the entire night. We have new DVC friends!!!!! I gotta tell you all that DVC herself is scuh a hoot. My DH was so deterimined to get a photo with her. Our dd met Mickey and Minnie, played games and danced her little feet off. They did tell my husband they they cancelled the BBQ due to weather.......it was brutally hot! I wore my lime green ribbon with eyeore, but never got to meet nyone from the board....that was a little disappointing.

When we got into our room I realized that Mousekeeping had come in and given us fresh towels. I thought that they did this every 4th day not every 2nd day. We never took the T/T service this time around. But nevertheless we were happy. Fresh Towels!

Wednesday 7/30 was our Blizzard Beach day. Still very very hot! Oh by they way.....at the VWL while walking out towards the pool my dd and I saw a very large black snake. This didn't go over toowell with my DH who now states that we will never ever take a ground floor again. We must have seen that guy several times while walking to pool. Back to Blizzard beach...it was very crowded, but we were able to do all the different slides with no problem. My dd loves the family raft! The entire day was so wonderful and relaxing till they closed at 2:30pm due to bad weather. Those storms seem to come out of nowhere and strike!

For our dinner we decided to try the Concourse Steakhouse at the Contemporary. We had a wonderful meal. What made this so nice is that they have a nice selection of meals for the kids with a wonderful dessert......the painters palate.

Thursday 7/31 was our relax day. This was our last day before checkout. So we decided to rent boat for the day. At the VWL they offer the Captains Plan....4 hours of boat rental for $119. So we took two watermice boats and then took out one of the patoon boats. We just sat out on the seven seas lagoon watching the parasailinjg and tubing. We are going to try the tubing next year. After a full afternoon of boating we decided to hit the pool. Our swimming didn;t last too long because the weather got nasty and we had to get out of the pool fast.

Since the pool was off limits we decided to head over to DTD. I think it was a complete mistake to do this. Never in the years that I have gone to WDW have I ever witnessed such insanity! Almost every store we went into it was of people pushing, pulling, and just plain swiping up every item off the shelves. As fast as the CM stocked the stores people just swiped up the merchandised. At one point some guy shoved my DH so hard that he actually hit a innocent women.

We got made it back to our room with no broken bones or bruises.

Well, sorry to make this so long, but wanted to share with my DVC friends. Now that I am back I have lots of planning to do for next years vacation. Thanks for listening!

 

[CK1]

Hey, great review! About the Concourse -- you've got my attention with the "artist's palette" dessert -- what is it? I have a very meat/potatoes dh guy, so steak house fare does well with us -- how were your meals?

AMAZING story about DTD. I guess when weather turns bad, manners go bye-bye! We always spend a day or two there, just relaxing -- my 2 ds just love the Lego place and eating ice cream by the water, etc., with their dad while dd and I shop! We have been at all seasons of the year, and last year right about this time, but we've never witnessed a no-holds-barred atmosphere like that! Yikes! Better put on my helmet and shin guards!

Interesting too about how your dd was "bored" by the Worlds. I have an 8 yr old that positively loves everything about EPCOT... and a 7 yr old who thinks the countries are a drag. I think that's why EPCOT is the least attended park (or at least it sure seems so!) We try to find things in the countries that we know will spark at least some interest for our middle child (he loves the funnel cakes near USA, and dinner somewhere fun, like Teppanyaki, and thinks the "living statues" are a hoot). I keep hoping he'll have a change of heart -- EPCOT is my absolute favorite park!!


THanks again for the report --

Cindy

 

[mckryan]

Cindy,

The Artist's Pallet is a dessert for kids. It's a white chocolate puzzle that comes with different colored gel frosting and a paint brush. The kids can take the gel and color in their puzzle before eating. It usually comes with a brownie, a cookie or something similar. They might let the grown-ups get one, too!

Christa

 

[lsutigger2]

Thanks for the report. We had a ground floor room in May and loved it. But we didn't see any slithering creatures!! The rain is probably bringing them out. They are usually harmless, but you never know. My country boy DH hates them also!!
Thanks again for the report and glad you had a great time.

 

[CK1]

Originally posted by mckryan
Cindy,

The Artist's Pallet is a dessert for kids. It's a white chocolate puzzle that comes with different colored gel frosting and a paint brush. The kids can take the gel and color in their puzzle before eating. It usually comes with a brownie, a cookie or something similar. They might let the grown-ups get one, too!

Christa

Thanks for the info -- I guess by my post you couldn't tell, but I was actually asking b/c we have 3 kids and desserts are of course the highlights of a child's dining experience!! THey loved the worms&dirt at Garden Grille, and similarly the peanut butter palydough they got at another restaurant... those "interactive" desserts that allow me a few extra minutes to "rest & digest" over a cup of coffee or glass of tea are wonderful!

THanks again...

Cindy

 

[colleen costello]

Glad you had a great trip. Typical Florida July weather -- gotta be ready for anything come afternoon! We have never seen any snakes at any DVC properties yet, and my kids would LOVE it. I wonder if the critters only show themselves to the folks who'd rather NOT see them? This trip we did see an armadillo, though -- the kids' first -- and we were all excited.

We also tried to do the countries but the kids griped too much. We only saw Canada and England... Next time I am renting a stroller, even though they are big (9 and 5). I know they'd do better if they could just ride and look! Might even bring along the Gameboys...

Thanks for the report.

 

[Scrufsmom]

When we ordered the artists palette for our dd; it did come with those three gels. Red was for raspberry, green was for kiwi and orange was for mango. My dd only liked the red gel. It came with a giant mickey head cake to decorate and don't forget the paint brush. Also, the Concourse offers bug juice. We inquired and found out it was a virgin strawberry daiquari with gummy worms in it. Our dd didn't want that.

About the snake at VWL. We saw him twice and would say that he was about 2 feet long. Upon our first meeting he slithered away, we thought, but found out that he was watching us. The second meeting was just getting away from us. My dh is afraid of snakes, spiders, insects.....okay just anything that crawls! He is just a big scardy cat. Our dd would be in that snakes face if given the chance... Ugh!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone is going before the Members Day party ends....it is a must you attend. I suggest it to all.

 

[mckryan]

Originally posted by CK1
those "interactive" desserts that allow me a few extra minutes to "rest & digest" over a cup of coffee or glass of tea are wonderful!

I can totally relate, even with an eleven-year-old. She had fun with the kid's desserts, and it gave us a chance to finish up and not feel hurried. I'm sure your DD will love it!

 

[littlestar]

When I used to visit my relatives in Kentucky that lived on farms, they loved black snakes. They said they ate mice and rats around the barns. They would never kill a black snake. I wonder if this is the same kind of snake? Of course, any kind of snake would scare me.

When we were at VWL last October we saw Disney CMs crawling under bushes after a snake. I told my husband, I don't know how much money these people make, but it can't be enough!

 

[Scrufsmom]

Originally posted by littlestar
. I told my husband, I don't know how much money these people make, but it can't be enough!

lol