osugal
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 19, 2011
- Messages
- 377
I've been to WDW probably over 30 times since I was a child but very few on-site stays. So, my DH and I decided to take DD 7 and DS 3 on a big splurge on-site stay this year.
We stayed Club Level at BCR for a week (9/17-9/24). We just returned a few days ago. We had a wonderful stay and an amazing trip overall. It literally went by faster than any vacation I've ever been on. It felt like we were there for just a couple days and we were already turning around and coming home. But we had such a great time.
We drove in from Ohio so on the second day we got there around 1 pm. We were taken right up to the 5th floor to check in. They took my two travel-weary kids into the club and got them snacks and drinks while I checked in. We were upgraded to a Deluxe level room. I'm assuming this was because it was our 10 year anniversary and my DS's 4th birthday.
We went to our room and loved it (even though it was a really long walk from the club or the lobby. But, I'm not complaining! It overlooked the quiet pool and we had a beautiful view. We went to eat at Beaches and Cream and checked out Stormalong Bay.
We stopped in at Periwigs to get my son's haircut and my daughter's nails painted but there wasn't anyone in when we stopped - even though it was during their hours. And, just as a side-note we went 3 times that week and were never able to be helped. One of the times we went they didn't acknowledge us or speak to us at any point so we just walked out. But, we didn't really care. We just moved on to other things.
After Beaches and Cream we went to Epcot and rode a couple rides. It was the kid's first time being there and they really liked it. Stayed a couple hours and went back to get some sleep.
The next day we went to DHS and unfortunately we did not enjoy this park. It's just not our thing and there wasn't a lot there that appealed to us. We rode TSM, Star Tours (which we LOVED), Movie Ride, and some others then we had lunch at Pizza Planet which was very good. After it started raining we just left and didn't return for Fantasmic or our 50's reservations. We just wanted to use the time at Stormalong Bay.
The next day was Animal Kingdom (first time for all of us). We enjoyed the park - my kids really love animals. We left at 1:30 to make reseravations at T-Rex for my son's birthday. We drove to DTD and had a great time at T-Rex. I thought the atmosphere in the restaurant was unbelievable and we had a great time there. Went back and enjoyed the pool for the rest of the day.
Day 3 was Magic Kingdom AT LAST!!!! We had a great time as we knew we would. Did most of the things on our must-do list. Ate at Pinocchio's overlooking It's A Small World and we really enjoyed watching the boats. My kids waved to every last one the entire time we were there. Rode all of the rides in Fantasyland at least once and spent most of the day there. Also did Haunted Mansion and a few others. Went back to the resort for a little pool time and ate at Cape May Seafood Buffet for dinner. It was delicious! Loved the choices. But - if you're not on the Dining Plan it is quite expensive.
Day 4 was Epot for the day. We did all of Future World and a little of World Showcase. We ate a late lunch at Mexico's counter service and sat by the water. I LOVE LOVE LOVE World Showcase. It was getting late in the day adn we were tired or we would have spent a lot more time there. And, we all really enjoyed Soarin. I wish we could have gone on several more times but there was much more to see and do. We went back and enjoyed some pool time and snacks in the Club.
Day 5 was Magic Kingdom again. We did Pirates, the train, Jungle Cruise and Tomorrowland. Had lunch at Pecos which we always enjoy. Shopped for souveneirs and loved being able to send them back to the resort without carrying them around. We got rained out late in the day and I'm still devastated that I left without seeing the night-time parade and Wishes. I just can't believe that I waited until the end of the week for it and missed it. If I could do the week over again that would be my do-over. I think they still ended up having it because the rain slowed down and eventually stopped. But we were already packed up and moving out of the park when I had my change of heart. I'm still trying to get over it. That's the quintessential Disney to me. That's what I remember most growing up and that's what still brings me to tears. But, I had such a great time I'm not letting it dampen anything.
Day 6 was Epcot one last time to finish World Showcase. We ate at Rose And Crown in England for dinner. They squeezed us in without reservations which we greatly appreciated. We sat by the water and saw all of Epcot at night. It was so beautiful.
Overall - we spent a lot of time in the parks but never did first thing in the morning until first thing at night. We wanted the kids to have down time and time at the pool. So, we always either slept in and swam before going or ended the evening there. It worked well for us and kept the kids from getting overly tired. We usually used SAB but once in a while we'd just run down to the Quiet Pool which was really convenient and relaxing.
Next time I would either skip DHS or do half day at DHS and half day at AK so we would have the majority of the time at Epcot and MK since those are by far our favorites. We were literally a 2 minute walk from Epcot which was so cool! I liked looking at the Boardwalk from across the water but it really didn't have anything that appealed to us. We walked over once and ate but it just wasn't our thing.
We went into the week with 4 ADRs and canceled 3 of the 4. We kept T-Rex for my son's birthday and made ADRs at Cape May Seafood Buffet. It was hard to predict where we would be when. And, without the dining plan we snacked a lot at the hotel's club and ate a lot of counter service meals.
We loved the hotel and the Club Level. The Club CMs outdid themselves all week long. They were attentive and helpful at all times. Breakfast was a bit of a stampede but we always managed to find a table. The offerings changed daily. My daughter was in the process of losing her first tooth and the CMs in the Club asked her about it every day and gave me a Cinderella pin to put under her pillow. I apologized once for wasting something that I didn't drink or eat (can't remember what it was) and they quickly said that trying new things is part of the fun and you won't like every single thing that you try. So, no pressure from anyone on things like that.
I loved the big rolls they put out with the little cups of peanut butter and jelly for the kids. The warm snacks also changed daily and were delicious. They let me in any time for drinks. We LOVED the evening cordials and desserts. We went up for this every single night. It was just such a fun way to end the each night. We still miss this.
The only negative about the hotel was that the housekeeping was not very good. Our room could have been cleaner (a lot of dark smudges on doors, walls, and light switches). And, the biggest was that we often had to clean up dishes and trays in our room even after the housekeeper was there and put it out in the hall. This was really irritating. And, a neighbor's breakfast tray sat out in the hall for 4 days. I called housekeeping about it and it still wasn't cleaned up until the next day. So, housekeepers walked past it for 4 days without taking care of it. But, it in no way dampened our vacation or our opinion of the resort. We'd stay again in a heartbeat and loved every minute of it.
It will probably be 2 or 3 years until we go back. We don't do Disney every year so we can go to other places as well. When we go back we will definitely do Club Level again and no dining plan again. I think having both would be an overkill. And, we will either stay at BCR again or try out the Poly. I need as much time in MK as I can get!
We stayed Club Level at BCR for a week (9/17-9/24). We just returned a few days ago. We had a wonderful stay and an amazing trip overall. It literally went by faster than any vacation I've ever been on. It felt like we were there for just a couple days and we were already turning around and coming home. But we had such a great time.
We drove in from Ohio so on the second day we got there around 1 pm. We were taken right up to the 5th floor to check in. They took my two travel-weary kids into the club and got them snacks and drinks while I checked in. We were upgraded to a Deluxe level room. I'm assuming this was because it was our 10 year anniversary and my DS's 4th birthday.
We went to our room and loved it (even though it was a really long walk from the club or the lobby. But, I'm not complaining! It overlooked the quiet pool and we had a beautiful view. We went to eat at Beaches and Cream and checked out Stormalong Bay.
We stopped in at Periwigs to get my son's haircut and my daughter's nails painted but there wasn't anyone in when we stopped - even though it was during their hours. And, just as a side-note we went 3 times that week and were never able to be helped. One of the times we went they didn't acknowledge us or speak to us at any point so we just walked out. But, we didn't really care. We just moved on to other things.
After Beaches and Cream we went to Epcot and rode a couple rides. It was the kid's first time being there and they really liked it. Stayed a couple hours and went back to get some sleep.
The next day we went to DHS and unfortunately we did not enjoy this park. It's just not our thing and there wasn't a lot there that appealed to us. We rode TSM, Star Tours (which we LOVED), Movie Ride, and some others then we had lunch at Pizza Planet which was very good. After it started raining we just left and didn't return for Fantasmic or our 50's reservations. We just wanted to use the time at Stormalong Bay.
The next day was Animal Kingdom (first time for all of us). We enjoyed the park - my kids really love animals. We left at 1:30 to make reseravations at T-Rex for my son's birthday. We drove to DTD and had a great time at T-Rex. I thought the atmosphere in the restaurant was unbelievable and we had a great time there. Went back and enjoyed the pool for the rest of the day.
Day 3 was Magic Kingdom AT LAST!!!! We had a great time as we knew we would. Did most of the things on our must-do list. Ate at Pinocchio's overlooking It's A Small World and we really enjoyed watching the boats. My kids waved to every last one the entire time we were there. Rode all of the rides in Fantasyland at least once and spent most of the day there. Also did Haunted Mansion and a few others. Went back to the resort for a little pool time and ate at Cape May Seafood Buffet for dinner. It was delicious! Loved the choices. But - if you're not on the Dining Plan it is quite expensive.
Day 4 was Epot for the day. We did all of Future World and a little of World Showcase. We ate a late lunch at Mexico's counter service and sat by the water. I LOVE LOVE LOVE World Showcase. It was getting late in the day adn we were tired or we would have spent a lot more time there. And, we all really enjoyed Soarin. I wish we could have gone on several more times but there was much more to see and do. We went back and enjoyed some pool time and snacks in the Club.
Day 5 was Magic Kingdom again. We did Pirates, the train, Jungle Cruise and Tomorrowland. Had lunch at Pecos which we always enjoy. Shopped for souveneirs and loved being able to send them back to the resort without carrying them around. We got rained out late in the day and I'm still devastated that I left without seeing the night-time parade and Wishes. I just can't believe that I waited until the end of the week for it and missed it. If I could do the week over again that would be my do-over. I think they still ended up having it because the rain slowed down and eventually stopped. But we were already packed up and moving out of the park when I had my change of heart. I'm still trying to get over it. That's the quintessential Disney to me. That's what I remember most growing up and that's what still brings me to tears. But, I had such a great time I'm not letting it dampen anything.
Day 6 was Epcot one last time to finish World Showcase. We ate at Rose And Crown in England for dinner. They squeezed us in without reservations which we greatly appreciated. We sat by the water and saw all of Epcot at night. It was so beautiful.
Overall - we spent a lot of time in the parks but never did first thing in the morning until first thing at night. We wanted the kids to have down time and time at the pool. So, we always either slept in and swam before going or ended the evening there. It worked well for us and kept the kids from getting overly tired. We usually used SAB but once in a while we'd just run down to the Quiet Pool which was really convenient and relaxing.
Next time I would either skip DHS or do half day at DHS and half day at AK so we would have the majority of the time at Epcot and MK since those are by far our favorites. We were literally a 2 minute walk from Epcot which was so cool! I liked looking at the Boardwalk from across the water but it really didn't have anything that appealed to us. We walked over once and ate but it just wasn't our thing.
We went into the week with 4 ADRs and canceled 3 of the 4. We kept T-Rex for my son's birthday and made ADRs at Cape May Seafood Buffet. It was hard to predict where we would be when. And, without the dining plan we snacked a lot at the hotel's club and ate a lot of counter service meals.
We loved the hotel and the Club Level. The Club CMs outdid themselves all week long. They were attentive and helpful at all times. Breakfast was a bit of a stampede but we always managed to find a table. The offerings changed daily. My daughter was in the process of losing her first tooth and the CMs in the Club asked her about it every day and gave me a Cinderella pin to put under her pillow. I apologized once for wasting something that I didn't drink or eat (can't remember what it was) and they quickly said that trying new things is part of the fun and you won't like every single thing that you try. So, no pressure from anyone on things like that.
I loved the big rolls they put out with the little cups of peanut butter and jelly for the kids. The warm snacks also changed daily and were delicious. They let me in any time for drinks. We LOVED the evening cordials and desserts. We went up for this every single night. It was just such a fun way to end the each night. We still miss this.
The only negative about the hotel was that the housekeeping was not very good. Our room could have been cleaner (a lot of dark smudges on doors, walls, and light switches). And, the biggest was that we often had to clean up dishes and trays in our room even after the housekeeper was there and put it out in the hall. This was really irritating. And, a neighbor's breakfast tray sat out in the hall for 4 days. I called housekeeping about it and it still wasn't cleaned up until the next day. So, housekeepers walked past it for 4 days without taking care of it. But, it in no way dampened our vacation or our opinion of the resort. We'd stay again in a heartbeat and loved every minute of it.
It will probably be 2 or 3 years until we go back. We don't do Disney every year so we can go to other places as well. When we go back we will definitely do Club Level again and no dining plan again. I think having both would be an overkill. And, we will either stay at BCR again or try out the Poly. I need as much time in MK as I can get!
