BLT and me! Trip report 8/21-8/25!

[work2play]

Thanks to all of the great trip reports that I have read, I decided that it is my turn to post! Welcome to my first trip report! Be patient with me, it may take me a while to get it all posted, and I decided to start while sitting on my balcony at BLT!! I can’t wait to share!!

Background:

We recently became DVC members by buying a small resale contract at BWV. I don’t think it had actually closed before we were adding on in a big way at BLT. The webcast deal was too good to pass up so we jumped on it.

Anyway, back to the trip. This is the trip that was not supposed to be. In June when our DVC resale finally closed (it took forever to pass ROFR and it took approx 90 days to complete), we found ourselves with 25 points that were going to expire the end of August. At first I was OK with that, what can you do with 25 points with approximately 6 weeks to use them? I decided to call MS to see if there was anything available in August, my birthday is the 22nd, and since we have APs, I knew there would be a $79 gift card waiting for me if I showed up on my birthday! I figured a long weekend would be fun and my new BLT points were beginning to burn a hole in my pocket. Southwest was even cooperating, offering $49 fares from Baltimore to Orlando!

MS was able to confirm a standard view studio at BLT for August 21-23 and a studio for August 24 at VWL, so I booked it and waitlisted for the last night at BLT. About a week later the waitlist came through for BLT for the last night!

Deciding to be thrifty this trip, I booked ME figuring I would really be spending most of my time at the resort, so who needs a car!


By the time August 21st rolled around, I could not believe how excited I was to be staying at BLT! I think it was all of the really great trip reports and photos of BLT!!

I’ll continue in the next post, my fingers need a break!

 

[dizfan]

Belated happy birthday!!!

Hope the rest of your birthday vacation is great!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report.

 

[work2play]

First, let me say I am an early bird! I am usually up between 5 and 5:30am on weekdays! I woke up on the morning of the 21st around 10 minutes before the alarm went off! OK, so that was 4:45am, but what the heck, I’m going to Disney World! I have to admit that since this was an extra unplanned trip, that I booked the 7am Southwest flight to get the $49 airfare! No need to repeat here what my 17 year old teenage son thought of that plan! My husband needs to work today, so he is going to drop us off at the airport, and then catch the 5:40pm flight later tonight. It is nice to live 20 minutes from the airport!

Since we were using ME, we also used the bag tags to send our bags directly to our room. I was interested to see how that would work, because the only other time that I used the bag tags, we arrived late and it took forever to get our bags! I did take a carryon bag with bathing suits and things that I thought we might need before our room would be available, since our flight was arriving at 9:00am…




The flight was totally uneventful! It left at 7am and arrived at 9:05am, right on schedule! We headed off to B side level 1 to find the ME check-in area. I have seen some horror stories about ME, especially during the summer, so I was expecting a long line….

Where are the crowds? It is around 9:15am on a Friday morning in August and there is no one here! Bonus! We get in the line that says CR, GF, Poly and WL.

We get on the bus with about 15 other people and depart the airport at 9:30am.

At 10:05 am, we arrive at the Poly, 2 couples get off.
At 10:15 am, we arrive at the GF, a party of 6 gets off.
At 10:25 am, we arrive at the WL, 1 couple gets off….

Are we ever going to get there! My son thinks we should have gotten off at the Poly and ridden the monorail!.. I say relax! We are on vacation!!

At 10:35 am we pull into the Contemporary! BLT looks beautiful as we drive in! We are here!!

Welcome Home!!

 

[DenLo]

Thanks for starting your trip report while sitting on your balcony! How cool is that! Great photos too. Happy belated birthday to you as well. Looking forward to more posts.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm looking forward to reading more. Happy Belated Birthday from me, as well.

Bobbi

 

[DVCJones]

I'm hooked...can't wait to read more.

Happy belated birthday!!!!

 

[work2play]

Now for checking in at the CR! I walked into the lobby, and frankly it seemed a little disorganized!

There is a Greeter at checkin, that will point you to the next available station. The Greeter said there used to be ropes, but that they did away with them.. I would bring the ropes back… Where are you supposed to stand??

It took about 5 minutes to get checked in, it is about 10:45am, so no surprise that the room is not ready and has not been assigned… I did mention that it was my first stay and that I was really excited to be a DVC member. Maybe they would have pity on me and give me a lake view room, you know there are a lot more of those than standard view… OK, she will see what she can do… I gave here my cell number, and she told me I would get a call when my room was ready. No need to come back to the from desk, I have my keys and they will work everything at BLT now..

Off we head to BLT. Here is a view of the walkway that goes past the bus stop over to BLT.

OK, here we are at BLT! You do need your room key to open the front sliding doors!

What to do until the room is ready??? So much to explore!!

I’ll update you on my next post…

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

Thanks for posting - looking forward to the rest of your report. Hope you had a great Birthday!

 

[work2play]

OK WE ARE IN!!


Although small, the lobby is beautiful. The view to the fountain and pool was great! I loved the chandelier!

Let’s go check out the pool and the pool bar. There are nice tables out there and restrooms to change, maybe a dip in the pool is in order?

That was wonderful!! What is this? I have a voicemail message… It is now 11:45am, who could it be??

It is Disney! Our room is ready!! What is the room number??

(You may be aware that I started the thread on BLT views with maps of BLT with room locations and expected views, so knowing the room number is going to give me a pretty good idea of what to expect!)

Is it even or odd, what floor??

Your room number is XXXX, OMG!! That should be a great room!! No way that could be standard view! (could it?) (upgrade?)

Stay tuned!!

 

[Krissy04]

I can't stand the suspense!!!

 

[fitzpa]

More please

 

[Muhlenberg]

***Pacing back and forth, alternating with sitting on edge of seat***

 

[Cee]

LOL! This is wonderful! I can't wait to hear what room you have been assigned!

 

[DenLo]

I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear your room number! What an exciting trip report. BTW, great pics.

 

[magicmommy]

Loving your trip report so far!!!

 

[work2play]

OK, just a quick trip up the elevator and we are there!

This room faces north and is on the outer ring.

Here is the first look at the view!

Tennis courts off a little to the left.. I will post a few more in the next post!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thanks for the balcony and view pics!!! Did you request a lake view or standard view? Which level are you on?

 

[work2play]

A little farther to the left is Space Mountain!

And a little farther you can see the tip of the castle (look closely above the trees). There is a crane just to the right of the tip of the castle.

More room photos to come!!

 

[Muhlenberg]

Thanks for the pictures! According to your first post, that's a standard view room? Or did they upgrade you?

 

[work2play]

My reservation was for a standard view studio. I did mention that I was waitlisted for a lake view, but it did not come through. The room is on the third floor. I would definitely consider it to be a lake view room. I don't know if I got a free upgrade, but I will check at the front desk...