brookelizabeth
Jambo Wildbunch Gang
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2006
- Messages
- 11,271
So, I left off just as we had entered the BLT lobby and were about to be ushered up to the Top of the World lounge for the DVC BLT presentation. I didn't expect much, but I knew they did serve cheesecakes on a stick...
A CM comes to gather a group of us and up we go in the elevator. As we step out, we see this view
Pretty, pretty!
And then the camera was put away....for a very long time. I took ZERO pictures of the lounge or the entire event!
We enter into the lounge, which is a decent size, but smaller than I expected, and quite a few people are up there already, like at Welcome Home Wednesday, all the tables were occupied. But, we did find a nice grouping of lounge furniture that we staked as our spot. Before we got settled in, all three of us headed up to the buffet area on the bar. They were serving little sandwiches, maybe a couple other simple things and then...
the glorious cheesecake on a stick.
Seeeeeeeeeeeeriously.
So stinkin' good!
I do believe I ate...oh...about six.
I am completely certain the CMs were talking about me behind my back wondering how many I could pack away.
But! They encouraged it! They kept telling everyone, "Get more food! There is cheesecake!" So I was just obeying.
Anyway, the presentation started shortly after everyone was seated and munching away. It was a similar style, but less "flashy" than Welcome Home Wednesday. They had four volunteers come up for the contestants and quizzed them on questions. There was a twist to it though-where a name was drawn from a box of people in the audience and we had to choose one of the four contestants to answer, they would answer, then we had to agree or disagree with them. The contestants were purposely picked of things like "New DVC Member" "Long time Member", etc. so their degree of knowledge was varied.
Most everyone in the room had a turn and everyone won something - regardless if you were right or not.
They would sometimes show a short video or give information about various DVC offerings, BLT, the new resort in Hawaii and also the new cruise ship, the Dream.
It was a lot of fun and again, we learned something!
And ate a lot of cheesecake.
At the end they gave away MORE prizes by drawing a name from the box. I cannot recall what the prizes were, various DVC gifts mostly.
Then there was the grand prize, a $100 Disney Gift Card.
They pulled out the paper and....
THEY CALLED MY NAME!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't believe it!!!!!!! I won yesterday, I won today! Two AMAZING prizes! Needless to say I was THRILLED! We had already settled our bill at the Boardwalk, so this was money to either save for the next trip or blow...we'll see later what we decide to do with it.
After I got over my unbelief we started to head out to the model rooms on a lower floor.
Oh-but how was Henry during the entire presentation?
WILD MAN!!!!
He sat nicely for a short while, enjoying some of the food--then he and another little one made buddies and found the giant round ottoman in the middle of the room and decided flinging themselves on it and running around was a lot more fun.
When he grew tired of that he colored on some of the DVC paper items we were given. He was a bit restless and bored after a bit, but it was completely manageable, thankfully! Overall, it was fine - the entire presentation was very laid back and no one seemed to mind the shrieking and laughing child.
We soon were following a guide down to the model rooms.
As we were walking down the hallway I found myself really liking the feel of it all.
They opened the door to the 2 bedroom model unit and I uttered a "Wow!"
It was beautiful!!!!!
Not at all what I expected my reaction to be! I completely expected to like it fine, but not to be wowed, but I was!!!
I haven't a clue if they changed something, if my taste has changed, or if natural light truly helps (the models over at SSR do not have natural light) - but these rooms were stunning.
And despite me really enjoying the room, a guide was speaking with us and Henry was still being quite wild, so I only snapped one picture:
Joe wanted to speak with the guide about numbers - we are thinking about an add-on in the future and was just curious as to what it was selling at, and all the info. So we went into another model until that they had turned into a conference type room and started to chat.
However, it was here that Henry had had enough - the meltdown was starting. So I left the room and took Henry for a diaper change (pretty bathroom!) and to settle down. He was exhausted. I laid him down in his stroller and waited for Joe.
He came out a few minutes later and asked me to come in - so I wheeled the half asleep Henry inside and Joe wanted me to look at the numbers and talk about some things.
I was NOT happy.
Yes sweetheart, I want that add-on as well, but there was NO WAY we could do it then.
It only took one look with raised eyebrows and he knew what I was saying.
We thanked the guide and left the room.
(The guide called a week later asking if we had made a decision...I had to be a bit BLUNT with him, which was annoying. One no should be enough!)
However, on the way back out in the hallway
we decided that we just had to stay here if we could in next trip.
And as you already know, we got it!! March 5 - 12 will be spent in a Lake View Studio. I am VERY excited! I'm not totally thrilled with the Studio, it's teeny and I do not like the bathroom vanity/kitchen set up (hopefully we get a renovated room - they are changing it!), but I really enjoyed all the other aspects of the resort as we walked around and soaked in it. Plus, staying in a Studio allows us to stay at WDW for two weeks.
Overall, I am still very glad we bought into Kidani at AKL. It's a stunning resort, with an amazing pool/splash area, awesome restaurants, everything from a Value accommodation to concierge. Should DVC ever take away the perk that allows us to book at any DVC resort, I sincerely would not mind staying at AKL. However, we will probably do the add-on for a different resort...not sure where yet. We aren't close-enough to being able to afford it quite yet to speak seriously. The time will come, but it won't be anytime soon.
Back to BLT, before we had left the Lounge upstairs everyone was given 3 DVC FastPass cards, a DVC pin, and a DVC lanyard -- along with all the other little goodies we had been given as we started the presentation. I have pics of everything later.
A DVC FastPass card is a hard plastic card that you put into a FP machine to get a FP good for that exact time - so it allows you to skip the line right away. They are each good 3 times and we had 3, so a total of 9 instant FPs could be used on these. They are wonderful to have!
So, as we left BLT we decided we had just enough time to dip back into MK to hit a thing or two--we couldn't let those FPs go to waste! Plus, earlier at MK Henry had requested to ride Buzz, but we didn't have the time, so we told him we would come back.
We took the walking path to the MK
And by the time we reached MK we realized we were quite pressed for time...talking the guide after the BLT presentation really ate up what time we thought we would have.
And OF COURSE the parade was going on!
And remember how crowded it was earlier? It seemed even worse now! We were power walking through the shops and down the sidewalks, trying to get to Buzz Lightyear.
Not too bad of a picture considering I was almost running!
And it was hot...so, so hot.
Ugh.
Not the way I anticipated on this going.
We short-cutted through the Tomorrowland Terrace and finally reached
It was worth it.
We had one happy boy (wearing the DVC pin and lanyard!)
Even with the DVC FPs, we still had a short wait - it was a longer wait than I had a few days prior in the regular line!
Henry and I rode together.
His score
Mine
You can barely see Henry, but he's there!
Continued in next post
A CM comes to gather a group of us and up we go in the elevator. As we step out, we see this view
Pretty, pretty!
And then the camera was put away....for a very long time. I took ZERO pictures of the lounge or the entire event!
We enter into the lounge, which is a decent size, but smaller than I expected, and quite a few people are up there already, like at Welcome Home Wednesday, all the tables were occupied. But, we did find a nice grouping of lounge furniture that we staked as our spot. Before we got settled in, all three of us headed up to the buffet area on the bar. They were serving little sandwiches, maybe a couple other simple things and then...
the glorious cheesecake on a stick.
Seeeeeeeeeeeeriously.
So stinkin' good!
I do believe I ate...oh...about six.
I am completely certain the CMs were talking about me behind my back wondering how many I could pack away.
But! They encouraged it! They kept telling everyone, "Get more food! There is cheesecake!" So I was just obeying.
Anyway, the presentation started shortly after everyone was seated and munching away. It was a similar style, but less "flashy" than Welcome Home Wednesday. They had four volunteers come up for the contestants and quizzed them on questions. There was a twist to it though-where a name was drawn from a box of people in the audience and we had to choose one of the four contestants to answer, they would answer, then we had to agree or disagree with them. The contestants were purposely picked of things like "New DVC Member" "Long time Member", etc. so their degree of knowledge was varied.
Most everyone in the room had a turn and everyone won something - regardless if you were right or not.
They would sometimes show a short video or give information about various DVC offerings, BLT, the new resort in Hawaii and also the new cruise ship, the Dream.It was a lot of fun and again, we learned something!
And ate a lot of cheesecake.
At the end they gave away MORE prizes by drawing a name from the box. I cannot recall what the prizes were, various DVC gifts mostly.
Then there was the grand prize, a $100 Disney Gift Card.
They pulled out the paper and....
THEY CALLED MY NAME!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't believe it!!!!!!! I won yesterday, I won today! Two AMAZING prizes! Needless to say I was THRILLED! We had already settled our bill at the Boardwalk, so this was money to either save for the next trip or blow...we'll see later what we decide to do with it.
After I got over my unbelief we started to head out to the model rooms on a lower floor.
Oh-but how was Henry during the entire presentation?
WILD MAN!!!!
He sat nicely for a short while, enjoying some of the food--then he and another little one made buddies and found the giant round ottoman in the middle of the room and decided flinging themselves on it and running around was a lot more fun.
When he grew tired of that he colored on some of the DVC paper items we were given. He was a bit restless and bored after a bit, but it was completely manageable, thankfully! Overall, it was fine - the entire presentation was very laid back and no one seemed to mind the shrieking and laughing child.
We soon were following a guide down to the model rooms.
As we were walking down the hallway I found myself really liking the feel of it all.
They opened the door to the 2 bedroom model unit and I uttered a "Wow!"
It was beautiful!!!!!
Not at all what I expected my reaction to be! I completely expected to like it fine, but not to be wowed, but I was!!!
I haven't a clue if they changed something, if my taste has changed, or if natural light truly helps (the models over at SSR do not have natural light) - but these rooms were stunning.
And despite me really enjoying the room, a guide was speaking with us and Henry was still being quite wild, so I only snapped one picture:
Joe wanted to speak with the guide about numbers - we are thinking about an add-on in the future and was just curious as to what it was selling at, and all the info. So we went into another model until that they had turned into a conference type room and started to chat.
However, it was here that Henry had had enough - the meltdown was starting. So I left the room and took Henry for a diaper change (pretty bathroom!) and to settle down. He was exhausted. I laid him down in his stroller and waited for Joe.
He came out a few minutes later and asked me to come in - so I wheeled the half asleep Henry inside and Joe wanted me to look at the numbers and talk about some things.
I was NOT happy.
Yes sweetheart, I want that add-on as well, but there was NO WAY we could do it then.
It only took one look with raised eyebrows and he knew what I was saying.
We thanked the guide and left the room.
(The guide called a week later asking if we had made a decision...I had to be a bit BLUNT with him, which was annoying. One no should be enough!)
However, on the way back out in the hallway
we decided that we just had to stay here if we could in next trip.
And as you already know, we got it!! March 5 - 12 will be spent in a Lake View Studio. I am VERY excited! I'm not totally thrilled with the Studio, it's teeny and I do not like the bathroom vanity/kitchen set up (hopefully we get a renovated room - they are changing it!), but I really enjoyed all the other aspects of the resort as we walked around and soaked in it. Plus, staying in a Studio allows us to stay at WDW for two weeks.
Overall, I am still very glad we bought into Kidani at AKL. It's a stunning resort, with an amazing pool/splash area, awesome restaurants, everything from a Value accommodation to concierge. Should DVC ever take away the perk that allows us to book at any DVC resort, I sincerely would not mind staying at AKL. However, we will probably do the add-on for a different resort...not sure where yet. We aren't close-enough to being able to afford it quite yet to speak seriously. The time will come, but it won't be anytime soon.
Back to BLT, before we had left the Lounge upstairs everyone was given 3 DVC FastPass cards, a DVC pin, and a DVC lanyard -- along with all the other little goodies we had been given as we started the presentation. I have pics of everything later.
A DVC FastPass card is a hard plastic card that you put into a FP machine to get a FP good for that exact time - so it allows you to skip the line right away. They are each good 3 times and we had 3, so a total of 9 instant FPs could be used on these. They are wonderful to have!
So, as we left BLT we decided we had just enough time to dip back into MK to hit a thing or two--we couldn't let those FPs go to waste! Plus, earlier at MK Henry had requested to ride Buzz, but we didn't have the time, so we told him we would come back.
We took the walking path to the MK
And by the time we reached MK we realized we were quite pressed for time...talking the guide after the BLT presentation really ate up what time we thought we would have.
And OF COURSE the parade was going on!
And remember how crowded it was earlier? It seemed even worse now! We were power walking through the shops and down the sidewalks, trying to get to Buzz Lightyear.
Not too bad of a picture considering I was almost running!
And it was hot...so, so hot.
Ugh.
Not the way I anticipated on this going.
We short-cutted through the Tomorrowland Terrace and finally reached
It was worth it.
We had one happy boy (wearing the DVC pin and lanyard!)
Even with the DVC FPs, we still had a short wait - it was a longer wait than I had a few days prior in the regular line!
Henry and I rode together.
His score
Mine
You can barely see Henry, but he's there!
Continued in next post
Our trip was incredible, how could it not be when I was in my most favorite place in all the world?
And this pic reminds me of something from The Exorcist or something. Even Henry wanted to get away by requesting the kiddie pool instead
Congrats on your future plans!
you are almost in the tweens!! 
What a little angel!! 
I didn't put in any requests...so who knows what we'll get! I'm glad to hear you loved it! 
