Day 1, first day of an 11 day stay at Beach Club Resort
Cast includes myself 37, a tween at 11 and a teen at 15. All days were at Disney with the exception of the last which was spent at Aquatica. I utilized Tour Mike to schedule which parks for which days and then Ridemax to plan our day. You will see as the TR goes on, we had NO LONG WAITS and were usually ahead of schedule. When we go again will purchase both again for scheduling. Quick positive side note: Had no issues at all with rude people or people with scooters or strollers (you can read some horror stories on here but am glad to report we ran into none of them).
Left Minneapolis MN at 6:45am (CST) with a quick stop in Atlanta arrived at Orlando at 2:45pm (EST). Flew with Airtran and, as always in the past, had no issues with them at all. Excellent customer service and on-time arrivals. Upgraded to business class at the 24 hour mark. Business class you are able to check 2 bags free of charge so the upgrade really only cost me $19 per ticket. If you count a free glass of wine in flight it only cost me $13, for me anyway lol ..
Had booked magical express but ultimately decided to use FL Tours again for ground transportation. They were always on time and very professional, we had them booked for the trip to/from Aquatica as well as the return to the airport. Now dont flame me for this, but I did have our luggage go with magical express even though we did not take the bus. No problems with this, I told them at check-in and was told this is actually quite common. Bags were waiting in our room when we got back from Epcot around 7:30pm. Also ordered food and drinks from Garden Grocers. It was delivered to the bell station and I called for it once we got back. Was brought up by a wonderful bell employee who was tipped well do to all the cases of pop and water lol
Checked in on-line. One of their questions was what time we would be arriving. When we got out of the towncar we were greeted by name (arrival time along with description of party???? I am guessing that is how they knew who we were) escorted directly to the front desk and all checked-in in under 5 minutes. Room request of ground floor was not available but did receive a full balcony on the 3rd floor over-looking the quiet pool with the lake in the background. I dont think doing the on-line check in had anything to do with not getting our request. I called a couple of days prior to leaving and checked on it and was told there was none available for our date of arrival but that we did have a full balcony so they do assign rooms prior to the day of check-in. We had 2 queen beds but there was not a day bed in our room. Room was overall in excellent condition but did look a little worn with the furniture. The alarm clock does have a complete docking station for an I-pod.
Plan was to tour resort, had ADR for Cape May, and then go play mini-golf but once the kids saw the short walk-way to Epcot they wanted to go. I told them I didnt have a plan for Epcot that night but they insisted. Before going to Epcot went to the seafood buffet at Cape May. I am not a huge seafood fan but wanted something in the hotel. Excellent ribs and salad buffet!!!! The kids said the crab legs were wonderful, I dont eat them but they looked huge so if that is good they looked excellent. The buffet was a little short on side vegetables. Once I saw people coming back with plates piled high with mussels and clams I figured out why, lol . Dessert bar was excellent and service was excellent. Off to Epcot now.
Epcot crowds were not too bad. When we got there we went straight to the land and the wait was 110 minutes, I told the kids that is why we only go to the parks with a plan (had length of stay tickets so did not waste a day going this night). Looked around and did The Land with no wait. Walked over to Test Track and the line was 90 minutes so went and did The Universe of Energy with no wait, in fact once everyone was seated it was over half empty. Came out and checked Test Track again and the wait was 80 minutes, even the single rider line was over an hour. The girls wanted to wait saying it is worth it I said no way knowing I had a plan and would not have a wait on our scheduled days. The girls waited it out and I headed back to our resort. The girls have been to Disney multiple times, knew their way around, and I felt comfortable letting them walk back to the resort alone with their cell phones.
I returned to the resort, unpacked and organized the room. Spent the remaining part of the evening relaxing around the quiet pool and reading. Checked-in with the girls multiple times on the cell phone. After they completed test track they went on Space Ship earth with a 5 minute wait. They were back at the resort by 10pm and I sent them off to bed as we had rope drop at HS the next day.
Kind of a boring first day. Please let me know any recommendations for what you would like to see in the coming days (this is my first trip report). The days are as follows if you want to jump around after reading this: Day 2 HS along with Pizza Planet Arcade and Sci Fi reviews, 3 AK with Tamu Tamu and Chef Mickey reviews, 4 Epcot with Sunshine Factory and Coral Reef reviews, 5 MK with Crystal palace, Cosmic rays, and Dessert Party reviews, 6 Blizzard Beach for the girls and the Spa at the Dolphin for me, not Disney dining reservations that day (ordered in Pizza Hut which is one of the approved pizza deliveries for the resort along with Dominos), 7 Epcot with Beach Club Marketplace and room service reviews, 8 HS with Beaches and Cream review, 9 MK and DTD with Pecos Bills and T-Rex reviews (also parasailing at the Contemporary), 10 Aquatica at Sea World room service again at BCR so will not do another review (not pleased with the food selections available at the private cabanas but you will have to read about that, 11 travel day back with excitement, tornados and diversion of our plan to a different airport. 11 days at a Disney deluxe resort and the return plane ride is probably what the kids will remember the most lol Send those recommendations for what you want to hear about and I will talk to you again tomorrow!
Cast includes myself 37, a tween at 11 and a teen at 15. All days were at Disney with the exception of the last which was spent at Aquatica. I utilized Tour Mike to schedule which parks for which days and then Ridemax to plan our day. You will see as the TR goes on, we had NO LONG WAITS and were usually ahead of schedule. When we go again will purchase both again for scheduling. Quick positive side note: Had no issues at all with rude people or people with scooters or strollers (you can read some horror stories on here but am glad to report we ran into none of them).
Left Minneapolis MN at 6:45am (CST) with a quick stop in Atlanta arrived at Orlando at 2:45pm (EST). Flew with Airtran and, as always in the past, had no issues with them at all. Excellent customer service and on-time arrivals. Upgraded to business class at the 24 hour mark. Business class you are able to check 2 bags free of charge so the upgrade really only cost me $19 per ticket. If you count a free glass of wine in flight it only cost me $13, for me anyway lol ..
Had booked magical express but ultimately decided to use FL Tours again for ground transportation. They were always on time and very professional, we had them booked for the trip to/from Aquatica as well as the return to the airport. Now dont flame me for this, but I did have our luggage go with magical express even though we did not take the bus. No problems with this, I told them at check-in and was told this is actually quite common. Bags were waiting in our room when we got back from Epcot around 7:30pm. Also ordered food and drinks from Garden Grocers. It was delivered to the bell station and I called for it once we got back. Was brought up by a wonderful bell employee who was tipped well do to all the cases of pop and water lol
Checked in on-line. One of their questions was what time we would be arriving. When we got out of the towncar we were greeted by name (arrival time along with description of party???? I am guessing that is how they knew who we were) escorted directly to the front desk and all checked-in in under 5 minutes. Room request of ground floor was not available but did receive a full balcony on the 3rd floor over-looking the quiet pool with the lake in the background. I dont think doing the on-line check in had anything to do with not getting our request. I called a couple of days prior to leaving and checked on it and was told there was none available for our date of arrival but that we did have a full balcony so they do assign rooms prior to the day of check-in. We had 2 queen beds but there was not a day bed in our room. Room was overall in excellent condition but did look a little worn with the furniture. The alarm clock does have a complete docking station for an I-pod.
Plan was to tour resort, had ADR for Cape May, and then go play mini-golf but once the kids saw the short walk-way to Epcot they wanted to go. I told them I didnt have a plan for Epcot that night but they insisted. Before going to Epcot went to the seafood buffet at Cape May. I am not a huge seafood fan but wanted something in the hotel. Excellent ribs and salad buffet!!!! The kids said the crab legs were wonderful, I dont eat them but they looked huge so if that is good they looked excellent. The buffet was a little short on side vegetables. Once I saw people coming back with plates piled high with mussels and clams I figured out why, lol . Dessert bar was excellent and service was excellent. Off to Epcot now.
Epcot crowds were not too bad. When we got there we went straight to the land and the wait was 110 minutes, I told the kids that is why we only go to the parks with a plan (had length of stay tickets so did not waste a day going this night). Looked around and did The Land with no wait. Walked over to Test Track and the line was 90 minutes so went and did The Universe of Energy with no wait, in fact once everyone was seated it was over half empty. Came out and checked Test Track again and the wait was 80 minutes, even the single rider line was over an hour. The girls wanted to wait saying it is worth it I said no way knowing I had a plan and would not have a wait on our scheduled days. The girls waited it out and I headed back to our resort. The girls have been to Disney multiple times, knew their way around, and I felt comfortable letting them walk back to the resort alone with their cell phones.
I returned to the resort, unpacked and organized the room. Spent the remaining part of the evening relaxing around the quiet pool and reading. Checked-in with the girls multiple times on the cell phone. After they completed test track they went on Space Ship earth with a 5 minute wait. They were back at the resort by 10pm and I sent them off to bed as we had rope drop at HS the next day.
Kind of a boring first day. Please let me know any recommendations for what you would like to see in the coming days (this is my first trip report). The days are as follows if you want to jump around after reading this: Day 2 HS along with Pizza Planet Arcade and Sci Fi reviews, 3 AK with Tamu Tamu and Chef Mickey reviews, 4 Epcot with Sunshine Factory and Coral Reef reviews, 5 MK with Crystal palace, Cosmic rays, and Dessert Party reviews, 6 Blizzard Beach for the girls and the Spa at the Dolphin for me, not Disney dining reservations that day (ordered in Pizza Hut which is one of the approved pizza deliveries for the resort along with Dominos), 7 Epcot with Beach Club Marketplace and room service reviews, 8 HS with Beaches and Cream review, 9 MK and DTD with Pecos Bills and T-Rex reviews (also parasailing at the Contemporary), 10 Aquatica at Sea World room service again at BCR so will not do another review (not pleased with the food selections available at the private cabanas but you will have to read about that, 11 travel day back with excitement, tornados and diversion of our plan to a different airport. 11 days at a Disney deluxe resort and the return plane ride is probably what the kids will remember the most lol Send those recommendations for what you want to hear about and I will talk to you again tomorrow!