BLT Opening Week Trip Report

[DoOverDreams]

Ok, I'm going to try and capture all of the fun, wonderful things that happened to us last week. I will need to write this in multiple parts, cause I'm at work today (darn) and will need to write when I have time.

Let me introduce the players. DH is a computer geek originally from Dublin, Ireland. I'm a computer geek from Pittsburgh. We first met at WDW about 7 years ago at a computer conference. One thing led to another and DH moved here to the states and we were married in a wonderful ceremony in the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Our friends and family from around the world were able to watch live via the web, which was so very cool. Did I mention we're both computer geeks?

DH and I are DINKs with a real love of everything Disney. WDW holds a very special place in our hearts!

One of the reasons we bought into DVC in the first place is cause we just got tired of the really bad rooms and service at the Swolphin (Swan/Dolphin) for this computer conference we go to every year. We decided rather then putting up with it anymore we would investigate the possibility of DVC. The rest is history. We own at BWV, SSR, BLT, and VGC. Addonitis really bad, don't you know.

Magic Kingdom is our favorite park, so when word came out about a new DVC at the Comtemporary we knew we wanted it badly. We bought right away and got Founders status. How cool to see our tile last week!

So here was our schedule for opening week:

Day One - Contemporary Resort, standard view. Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage.

Day Two - BLT Grand Opening! Fireworks from the TOWL

Day Three - BLT, fireworks from the TOWL

Day Four - BLT, finally watched the fireworks from our one bedroom MK view!

Day Five - BLT, Wishes Dessert Party

Day Six - Check out of BLT Back country Segway Tour at Fort Wilderness I flew home, DH is still in Orlando on business. Bummer. But he's not on Disney property right now so I am not too jealous.

Lots of details to follow. While you're waiting, here's a couple of links to some pictures we took. http://www.flickr.com/photos/82302932@N00/sets/72157621839512881/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/qtzar/sets/72157621965090080/

Stay tuned for more.

 

[helloconnie]

Awesome! I love the photo of the castle at night. Need more information please!

 

[wdrl]

Thanks for sharing your photos! Which floor were you on at BLT? Was it on the northern half or southern half of BLT's central crescent?

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Love the photos, and I cannot believe the birds sitting on top of the building and on the handrails of some of the villas in that last picture. Hope this is a seasonal thing and that the bird poop won't be an issue.

 

[Tara]

Lots of details to follow. While you're waiting, here's a couple of links to some pictures we took. http://www.flickr.com/photos/82302932@N00/sets/72157621839512881/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/qtzar/sets/72157621965090080/

Stay tuned for more.

Bless you for all those great shots of the little details! I'm looking forward to hearing more and really looking at your photos when I'm not just "peeking" at the boards from work!

 

[5forDiz]

Enjoyed your tr and especially photos My DH is computer geek too ....I told him that's what predisposed him to being a DVC member

 

[DoOverDreams]

So, leading up to our trip....I felt a lot like that little boy from the Year of a Million Dreams add campaign, “I’m too excited to sleep!”

We initially had our reservations for the official opening day (my gods, I can’t remember when it was supposed to be. September?) then when DVC changed the date on us we changed our dates too. Which is fun, because we already had a reservation for August 14-16 for DH’s BD celebration at the VWL. Which we kept. I mean, we couldn't not be there for DH's BD, could we? Oh well, the sacrifices we have to make for our DVC.

(BTW, anyone else notice that the original dates were during the “Adventure” season and the new dates just so happened to fall in the “Magic” season? Coincidence? I don’t think so.)

We then decided that we wanted to be the first to check into BLT, so we thought we would be clever and fly down the day before. Some original idea that was! There were lots and lots of other people that had the same idea, LOL. We didn’t even try to get into a DVC room for the night. We decided that we would use the AP rate at the Comtemporary just so we could be right there for all of the action. We chose a Tower - Bay Lake View. I guess we really wanted to see how that would compare with BLT. We've never stayed there before so this would be a good time to try it!

Ok, enough background info. Now onto the real report.

 

[DoOverDreams]

Awesome! I love the photo of the castle at night. Need more information please!

Thank DH for that one! He's got the good camera. And boy, does he take nice pictures!

Thanks for sharing your photos! Which floor were you on at BLT? Was it on the northern half or southern half of BLT's central crescent?

There's a whole nother story about that one. Initially, room 7320 (3rd floor). Way too low for MK view. Ended up with 7820. Georgous views from there! If you look straight at the building from the front we were to the left of the entrance canopy. Sorry, no idea if that is north, south, east or west. I'm directionally impaired.

Love the photos, and I cannot believe the birds sitting on top of the building and on the handrails of some of the villas in that last picture. Hope this is a seasonal thing and that the bird poop won't be an issue.

The birds were rather scary looking! I would hate to be in one of the rooms were they were all lounging on the balcony.

Bless you for all those great shots of the little details! I'm looking forward to hearing more and really looking at your photos when I'm not just "peeking" at the boards from work!

Work always gets in the way of Disboards. Sigh

Enjoyed your tr and especially photos My DH is computer geek too ....I told him that's what predisposed him to being a DVC member

DVC Geeks Unite!

 

[DVC Mike]

Have fun! Looking forward to more pictures...

 

[Disney Princess]

Thanks for all the great photos!

 

[kato0627]

Great TR so far...

 

[DenLo]

Thanks for sharing your photos! Which floor were you on at BLT? Was it on the northern half or southern half of BLT's central crescent?

There's a whole nother story about that one. Initially, room 7320 (3rd floor). Way too low for MK view. Ended up with 7820. Georgous views from there! If you look straight at the building from the front we were to the left of the entrance canopy. Sorry, no idea if that is north, south, east or west. I'm directionally impaired.

So is room 7820 on the eighth floor (5 floors above 7320)?

Enjoyed the photos thanks.

 

[puntagordabob]

Great report... we were there for opening day too... was quite an experience!

 

[DoOverDreams]

We took the noon flight from Pittsburgh to Orlando, non-stop. Hopped off the plane, went down to the not-so-magical express, found our line to the Contemporary and waited. And waited. Who knew that Monday afternoons were a busy time for ME?

After we finally were on the bus, we did our usual routine. Pull out the iPhone splitter and earbuds, loaded up iTunes, and played Wishes, followed by Spectromagic. Usually this is enough to get us to the resort we’re staying at, but we had to play a few additional tunes this trip. The not-so-ME stopped at the Polynesian and Floridian first. Darn! We were so excited we didn’t want to wait anymore!

So, we got to the Contemp, but our eyes went straight to BLT. Beautiful, and to think in a short time we would be there. We went to the registration desk and checked in. Of course, the first thing we asked was how early we could check into BLT. I wanted to go down at 12:01 and check in, but the folks at the desk said the earliest we could check in was 6:00 am. Bummer. So we went to check out our room in the Contemp, dump stuff, have our Owners Lockers and groceries delivered to the room. We were in 4677, which I think was a great room. Right off the elevators so not a far walk. And a gorgeous view of the lake with Epcot off in the distance. I can’t believe we did not take pictures. Duh. We just weren’t thinking I guess. Too focused on BLT.

After we got all of our stuff delivered we decided enough is enough, it’s time to go snoop at BLT. First we stopped at the registration desk again and asked a different person, what time can we check into BLT? Told the same thing, 6:00 am. Sigh. We’ll ask again, never fear.

So we walked over to BLT and the first thing we noticed were all of the birds hanging out on the building. I've got to admit, it was a little scary. Like they were all there keeping an eye on the place, making sure we didn't get too close. Weird.

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start to your report and excellent photos. I am so excited to read more.

 

[DoOverDreams]

I swear, I'm going to finish this!

Now remember, this is the day before BLT opened, so we really couldn’t get in. We were basically pressing our noses up against the window and oohing and aahing. This next picture is the front lobby. Excuse the flash. I’m photographically challenged at times!

This is what it looks like at dusk from the front of the lobby. Love the peak of Space Mountain there. But does anyone notice anything else about this picture? Look at the cloud formation to the right and what do you see? I’ll give you a moment.

Mickey! Or maybe it’s just us, but I swear I see Mickey there. What a great start!

I tried to capture Mickey again, but not as good this time. Maybe old-style Mickey? Or maybe my imagination is just a bit too, um, Mickeyfied for my own good.

Here’s a better picture of the lobby. Finally figured out how to turn my flash off. Still not a great picture, and there are a lot of them out there now (thank you guys who are showing us those great pictures!) I do love the artwork. I wouldn’t mind having this in my home.

Oh, this one is cool. Tempo Fountain, without the water turned on. We were just dying to see our tile! Even DH with his super nice Nikon can’t get a shot of that from here.

I don’t know why, but this one just about made me tear up! A nice big Welcome Home for us DVC members. That was sooo exciting to see.

Even the rug in front of the door is cool. Disney is welcoming us all over the place.

And finally, the Bay Lake Tower sign over the door. With neon, of course. It IS contemporary.

 

[LisaRN97]

Enjoying your trip report!! Can't wait until we are there!!

 

[DoOverDreams]

Here’s another shot of the artwork on the other side of the lobby entrance. I like this one, cause you can see a reflection of the bridge between BLT and the Contemporary. BTW, everyone probably knows this already, but did you know that the bridge is on the 4th floor at the Contemporary, but connects to the 5th floor at BLT? They’re playing with my mind on that one.

Here’s another interesting dusk shot of the almost empty parking lot. It looks rather ominous, doesn’t it? The monorail track through there is great. DH is passing on through my shot.

We were trying to figure out what would constitute a “Magic Kingdom” view. We were really hoping this wasn’t it! These rooms are so close to the ground I sure hope they are standard view. Actually, they should have another category. Sub-standard view. All you would see from here is the parking lot!

Here’s a shot of the land bridge. One thing DH noticed (that’s him in the way ☺) is that the roof slants down right over the sidewalk area between the Contemporary and BLT. Which means during the rain, anyone walking over would get a nice refreshing surprise! I suppose it makes senses to have it slanted, but why directly over the sidewalk? Go figure.
And funny enough, though you can’t tell by this shot, the other slanted part of the roof is right over the sidewalk that goes around BLT. Who says Disney Imagineers have no sense of humor?

I just loved the sign posts. Look, there’s Bay Lake Tower! As if you could miss it, lol. Um, it’s right there.

Here’s another view of the sign post. I just like them, even if I think they aren’t really necessary. But they look so cool.

Oh wow, I found a picture from our room in the Contemporary. Room #4677. See, it was a nice view. See Epcot? See the rainbow? It's very faint, but it's there!

Oh, and we had rainbows 3 days in a row. That was so fun to see. They looked a lot prettier in person, trust me.

 

[DoOverDreams]

After all this fun, it was time to get ready for our Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise.

I’ve got to tell you, this was a blast! We met up with about 1000 of our new closest friends (slight exaggeration, no idea how many people there really were, but a lot) and signed in about 8:30 or so. We both got these cute little bandanas with the Pirates and Pals Cruise info on them. Too small for an adult to tie around head or neck. Kids, they would fit fine. Here’s a rather wrinkled picture of mine. Sorry, it didn’t survive unscathed during the festivities. It’s a bit wrinkled.

We had a great time talking with Jason, the event manager for this new offering. He is one of the nicest CMs we’ve spoken with! He is so happy and really excited about the Pirates and Pals Cruises. I highly recommend anyone who wants a really nice way of seeing Wishes without having to be on Main Street (or if you can’t get into the TOWL) to go on this cruise. What a blast.

When they opened the rope (first rope drop we’ve ever made, lol) we went in to a nice selection of cold drinks (water, coke, diet coke, sprite) hot drinks (coffee, tea) and assorted snacks (peanuts, cotton candy, cookies, chocolate “gold” coins). All you could eat, if you wanted to, and you could take it with you to the cruise.

There were some great pirate statues placed around the room and some treasure chests and such. For some reason, none of the pictures I took there turned out very good. Here’s one so that you sort of get an idea.

A couple of Pirates came into the room. “Twins” Patch and Patch. They were a hoot. And looked nothing like each other, so that was part of the joke. They were doing their best pirate talk. Very very funny.

Most people have probably read about this cruise already, so I won’t spend a whole lot of time on it. You’re broken up into 2 groups. One group is the Capt Hook group, the other is the Smee group. Basically they divide the group into two boats. Patch and his twin brother Patch (gods, that is funny) are in charge of their own boat. They’re along for entertainment, and let me tell you, they are very funny. I hope you get Patch. He’s much funnier then Patch. LMAO

Capt Hook and Smee are there for a photo opportunity if you like. We of course had to get our photo taken with them

They give you a 10 minute warning before boarding to hit the facilities because there are none on board. When it’s time to go they ask everyone to line up on one side of the room for Capt Hook and one side of the room for Smee. Funny thing on our night, no one seemed to understand or move when they asked that. They then asked all the good looking ones to line up on Capt Hooks side and the other people on Smee’s side. So funny, that one worked. Of course, we were on Capt Hooks side. Lol

We got to board first. The boats themselves are kind of like the open aired transportation boats used to get to/from the parks on steroids. They are quite large and seat a lot of people. No, I don’t know how many! The roof is much higher then the standard transportation boats.

We were in Row 3, which actually was the first row on the left side. Interesting. The ride itself was great, with Patch cracking jokes and asking trivia questions. Very entertaining. When the Electric Water Pageant was getting ready to start we pulled up sideways to it and was able to watch it right there. How nice!

When it was over we headed over to a killer location to pull sideways to watch Wishes. I was so jazzed. The boat turned so that our side was towards Wishes. What a perfect view. And they piped in the music too so DH and I got to sing along. Sincere apologies to our fellow passengers.

After Wishes we started back to the Contemporary. Patch did his pirate thing again, so we had a very fun trip back. When we got back, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell were waiting for us. Well, Peter Pan holding the lantern with Tinker Bell inside. Really. Wink wink.

I tell you what, Peter Pan was fantastic! Completely in character. We were the first out of the boat to follow him, and he bounced and skipped and danced in front of us the whole way back to the Contemporary talking up a complete storm. He was fantastic. Darn, I wish I had a video camera to capture him. Anyone who has seen the movie knows exactly how Peter Pan should be, and this guy was dead on perfect.

If you have an opportunity. Please try this out. It was worth every penny and was so much fun!

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

Don't want to give anything away in your TR, but here are a couple pics from the Wishes Dessert Party...

You two had the best seat in the house! It was wonderful to meet you both and I hope we have a chance to meet up again during the holidays! I'll PM you and let you know where my daughter will be working. She had her 1st training day today!