Our dilemma this year is our DD11 is starting middle school this September. Almost every WDW trip we have made since 2006, we have gone down in October for multiple reasons:
· F&W Festival
· Lower Crowds – although it seems to get busier every year at this time
· Extend our summer since we live in Upstate NY
I did not feel comfortable taking our daughter out of school this year, so with Labor Day being late this year, we decided to go during this time, hoping the crowds would be low since most states have already gone back to school. We also decided to surprise our DD and not tell her we were going this year. It was hard to keep it a secret, as she would bring it up from time to time that she was bummed we were not going this year, and we almost slipped a few times, but it was worth keeping it a secret. Unfortunately, in the days leading up to our vacation, we were keeping an eye on hurricane/tropical storm Ericka, and hoping it would fall apart, and thankfully – it did!
Sunday 8/30
We woke up at 5:30, and DD was under the impression we were going to visit family on the Cape that day. So, we had her pack her bag the night before so she would be ready, and we left the house at 6am, as I pulled up to the airport, our DD asked why we were stopping, and what a blast it was to tell her we were going to WDW, she lit up!!
Plane left at 8:05 and we landed in Orlando right around 11 am. I had done the early check-in, and as we walked down to the Magic Express area it felt like we were in for a great week. As we were on the Magic Express heading to our resort, I got a text saying our room was not ready, but to check back shortly. We arrived at BWV around 12:30; we checked our bags and hopped a bus to DTD for lunch. As is customary for us, we always try to go to the Earl of Sandwich on our first day to kick off our vacation. We had a great lunch, walked around a bit, and the skies began to get dark, so we figured we would grab a bus and get back to the resort. We got our text around 2:00 that our room (2117) was ready. It poured heavily for about 20 minutes, but I know that is typical for the time of year, and once the rain ended, the rest of the day was beautiful. We checked into our room (not refurbished unfortunately), and had a nice view of the water fountain next to the bridge as you enter the resort.
We hit the pool and spent the rest of the afternoon there. The evening lead us out to the Boardwalk for some entertainment (bummed that Brian was not there for the week – not sure if he is still doing the Boardwalk, but we always liked his act the best). We went to Beaches and Cream for ice cream, and sat on the beach to watch Frozen Sunday night.
Monday 8/31
We had watched the weather, and Monday looked like a crummy day due to tropical storm Ericka. We decided we would take another down day, so we walked over to Fantasia Gardens to play some miniature golf. We played Fantasia Fairways and had a blast, it was great. We walked back over to BWVs and had a little lunch. We rented a surrey bike (1/2 hour) and rode around bay lake a few times. We spent most of the afternoon at the pool, and went back to the room for dinner. We ordered some groceries for the trip (Cold cuts, snacks, water, frozen pizza, and breakfast items). We had a frozen pizza around 5:30, and walked down to the Boardwalk. By about 6:30, the skies grew cloudy and we got some steady rain for the rest of the evening. We sat out on the patio at the back of check-in area and watched the rain for a while, and my DD asked if we could go back in the pool. Well, it was still hot, and no thunder or lightening, so why not. We swam some more and got back to the room early (9:30) to get ready for our first park day.
Tuesday 9/1 – EPCOT
My favorite park!! I had done our Fast Passes ahead of time, and got Mission Space, Soarin and Spaceship Earth. They also had extra magic hours from 8-9am, so we got in and went right to Test Track first thing to get it in, and were able to ride it twice. We did that because the way the FP works, I think you could only pick either Soarin or Test Track, and my wife loves Soarin. Then we shot over and did Soarin once before the park opened.
So, we got the big guys in before the park even opened. We really didn’t need the FP except for Soarin, and even then the waits were only listed at around 20 minutes. This was definitely a good week to go!
We got all our rides done by noon, walked around the World Showcase once. I got fish and chips, the wife stopped in Canada for Cheddar Cheese soup (I love it too – but much too hot for soup if you ask me). Unfortunately, they don’t serve this unless you are sitting down for lunch, I guess we are so used to F&W festival, seems like they could make extra $$$ serving this to go. We then went back to the room to spend the afternoon at the pool; it was in the 90’s all week, so this was a great decision for us. The pool was not overly crowded, making for a pleasant and relaxing afternoon. We headed back to the park around 5:00, and went over to Innovations to do Sum of all thrills, and the storm exhibit. We stopped and tried the Coca-Cola drinks from the different countries. We then went over to Nine Dragons in China for dinner, and I thought the food was excellent. I had skewers of chicken and beef, my wife and daughter shared the pork tenderloin over fried rice. We had a great dinner, walked around a few more times to hear the music, watch the chain-saw thing in Canada (please bring back Off-Kilter), and stayed for Illuminations! Got back to the room around 10:00, and hit the sack knowing we had a big day again.
Wednesday 9/2 – Animal Kingdom / Hollywood Studios
I for one love AK, and could spend the day wandering. But, to get the most out of our vacation, we decided to split the parks on this day with a Park Hopper. AK had 8-9 early magic hours, so we got over around 8:10, did Everest 2x, and went and did the Safari ride. Once park hours opened, we hit Dinosaur 3x (my wife’s favorite ride, and no wait whatsoever), and then went and did the Kali River Rapids where we might have waited 20 minutes. We did not get any fast passes, we saved them for HS. We walked through the newer sections (new food area), and wife and I both agree that Avatar (AK) and Star Wars (HS) are badly needed for us Disney regulars. I love the animals, and as I said, could easily spend the day exploring. But, these parks do need some new attractions. Again, we went back to BWV for lunch and pool time. We walked to HS from BWV’s (I get why people love the location) and had FPs for Tower of Terror, Star Tours and Rockin’ Rollercoaster. Again, ToT, and Star Tours you did not need FP. We rode Star Tours 5x in a row (hoping to get the winter scene, but never did), and did ToT and Aerosmith 2x. HS is my least favorite park, but I love those 3 rides. I don’t get why Star Tours is not a bigger attraction, it is a great ride. We stayed for the Frozen Fireworks – and it was really something. What a great job Disney did on that fireworks display.
Thursday 9/3 – Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom was open until 11:00. We decided not to get up early (they did have Extra Magic from 8-9). So we slept in (I was still up around 7:00). I went for a morning walk around Bay Lake, and they were filming what appeared to be resort commercial with a bunch of kids on the beach and in front of the Beach Club hotel. It looked like a big production with dancing and singing, pretty cool to see. I picked up coffee and pastries on the Boardwalk and brought them back to the room. We went over to DTD around 11:00 to walk around a bit more and grab lunch. We decided on the Earl of Sandwich again, I guess we are creatures of habit, but we love the place.
We came back to the room and bought our tickets for MK. I was bummed that the Seven Dwarves FP were already gone, but we got FP for the 3 mountains. I promised my daughter I would watch the Disney App and try to get her over to the Seven Dwarves when the line was short. We hit the big rides, along with Tea Cups, speedway, Monsters Inc.… Haunted Mansion (I did it 3x). Finally, just before the parade the app showed the ride at 20 minutes. My wife and daughter went over and did the roller coaster. We watched the wishes fireworks, then hit Big Thunder one more time and called it a night around 10:30.
Friday 9/4 – Leaving
I’m always surprised how quickly time flies. Could not believe we were boarding the DME at 8:15 to catch our 11:00 flight, it felt like we had just gotten off that bus. But, still a great vacation, and loved the resort.
I do have to say that I thought the bus service was a little slow at BWV. I actually walked over to Beach Club twice to get a bus because I thought the waits were too long. Other than that, it was just great, and as usual Disney does things so well.
The one thing I was bummed about is that I usually do more exploring, head over to other resorts. I always enjoy spending time at Ft Wilderness just walking around, but I didn’t have a chance to do that this time. We fit just about everything we could in for our stay, and as always, looking forward to the next one. We will need to get creative, and we will be watching the school calendar for any breaks where we might be able to get away. I was not crazy about going in August, but we made the best of it. Summers are so nice here in NY, and we loved going to Florida in the fall to extend our summer a bit. But, we will be back soon!!
As I prepare to go back to work tomorrow, my PDD (Post Disney Depression) is starting to set in, just seems you can never get enough vacation!!
· F&W Festival
· Lower Crowds – although it seems to get busier every year at this time
· Extend our summer since we live in Upstate NY
I did not feel comfortable taking our daughter out of school this year, so with Labor Day being late this year, we decided to go during this time, hoping the crowds would be low since most states have already gone back to school. We also decided to surprise our DD and not tell her we were going this year. It was hard to keep it a secret, as she would bring it up from time to time that she was bummed we were not going this year, and we almost slipped a few times, but it was worth keeping it a secret. Unfortunately, in the days leading up to our vacation, we were keeping an eye on hurricane/tropical storm Ericka, and hoping it would fall apart, and thankfully – it did!
Sunday 8/30
We woke up at 5:30, and DD was under the impression we were going to visit family on the Cape that day. So, we had her pack her bag the night before so she would be ready, and we left the house at 6am, as I pulled up to the airport, our DD asked why we were stopping, and what a blast it was to tell her we were going to WDW, she lit up!!
Plane left at 8:05 and we landed in Orlando right around 11 am. I had done the early check-in, and as we walked down to the Magic Express area it felt like we were in for a great week. As we were on the Magic Express heading to our resort, I got a text saying our room was not ready, but to check back shortly. We arrived at BWV around 12:30; we checked our bags and hopped a bus to DTD for lunch. As is customary for us, we always try to go to the Earl of Sandwich on our first day to kick off our vacation. We had a great lunch, walked around a bit, and the skies began to get dark, so we figured we would grab a bus and get back to the resort. We got our text around 2:00 that our room (2117) was ready. It poured heavily for about 20 minutes, but I know that is typical for the time of year, and once the rain ended, the rest of the day was beautiful. We checked into our room (not refurbished unfortunately), and had a nice view of the water fountain next to the bridge as you enter the resort.
We hit the pool and spent the rest of the afternoon there. The evening lead us out to the Boardwalk for some entertainment (bummed that Brian was not there for the week – not sure if he is still doing the Boardwalk, but we always liked his act the best). We went to Beaches and Cream for ice cream, and sat on the beach to watch Frozen Sunday night.
Monday 8/31
We had watched the weather, and Monday looked like a crummy day due to tropical storm Ericka. We decided we would take another down day, so we walked over to Fantasia Gardens to play some miniature golf. We played Fantasia Fairways and had a blast, it was great. We walked back over to BWVs and had a little lunch. We rented a surrey bike (1/2 hour) and rode around bay lake a few times. We spent most of the afternoon at the pool, and went back to the room for dinner. We ordered some groceries for the trip (Cold cuts, snacks, water, frozen pizza, and breakfast items). We had a frozen pizza around 5:30, and walked down to the Boardwalk. By about 6:30, the skies grew cloudy and we got some steady rain for the rest of the evening. We sat out on the patio at the back of check-in area and watched the rain for a while, and my DD asked if we could go back in the pool. Well, it was still hot, and no thunder or lightening, so why not. We swam some more and got back to the room early (9:30) to get ready for our first park day.
Tuesday 9/1 – EPCOT
My favorite park!! I had done our Fast Passes ahead of time, and got Mission Space, Soarin and Spaceship Earth. They also had extra magic hours from 8-9am, so we got in and went right to Test Track first thing to get it in, and were able to ride it twice. We did that because the way the FP works, I think you could only pick either Soarin or Test Track, and my wife loves Soarin. Then we shot over and did Soarin once before the park opened.
So, we got the big guys in before the park even opened. We really didn’t need the FP except for Soarin, and even then the waits were only listed at around 20 minutes. This was definitely a good week to go!
We got all our rides done by noon, walked around the World Showcase once. I got fish and chips, the wife stopped in Canada for Cheddar Cheese soup (I love it too – but much too hot for soup if you ask me). Unfortunately, they don’t serve this unless you are sitting down for lunch, I guess we are so used to F&W festival, seems like they could make extra $$$ serving this to go. We then went back to the room to spend the afternoon at the pool; it was in the 90’s all week, so this was a great decision for us. The pool was not overly crowded, making for a pleasant and relaxing afternoon. We headed back to the park around 5:00, and went over to Innovations to do Sum of all thrills, and the storm exhibit. We stopped and tried the Coca-Cola drinks from the different countries. We then went over to Nine Dragons in China for dinner, and I thought the food was excellent. I had skewers of chicken and beef, my wife and daughter shared the pork tenderloin over fried rice. We had a great dinner, walked around a few more times to hear the music, watch the chain-saw thing in Canada (please bring back Off-Kilter), and stayed for Illuminations! Got back to the room around 10:00, and hit the sack knowing we had a big day again.
Wednesday 9/2 – Animal Kingdom / Hollywood Studios
I for one love AK, and could spend the day wandering. But, to get the most out of our vacation, we decided to split the parks on this day with a Park Hopper. AK had 8-9 early magic hours, so we got over around 8:10, did Everest 2x, and went and did the Safari ride. Once park hours opened, we hit Dinosaur 3x (my wife’s favorite ride, and no wait whatsoever), and then went and did the Kali River Rapids where we might have waited 20 minutes. We did not get any fast passes, we saved them for HS. We walked through the newer sections (new food area), and wife and I both agree that Avatar (AK) and Star Wars (HS) are badly needed for us Disney regulars. I love the animals, and as I said, could easily spend the day exploring. But, these parks do need some new attractions. Again, we went back to BWV for lunch and pool time. We walked to HS from BWV’s (I get why people love the location) and had FPs for Tower of Terror, Star Tours and Rockin’ Rollercoaster. Again, ToT, and Star Tours you did not need FP. We rode Star Tours 5x in a row (hoping to get the winter scene, but never did), and did ToT and Aerosmith 2x. HS is my least favorite park, but I love those 3 rides. I don’t get why Star Tours is not a bigger attraction, it is a great ride. We stayed for the Frozen Fireworks – and it was really something. What a great job Disney did on that fireworks display.
Thursday 9/3 – Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom was open until 11:00. We decided not to get up early (they did have Extra Magic from 8-9). So we slept in (I was still up around 7:00). I went for a morning walk around Bay Lake, and they were filming what appeared to be resort commercial with a bunch of kids on the beach and in front of the Beach Club hotel. It looked like a big production with dancing and singing, pretty cool to see. I picked up coffee and pastries on the Boardwalk and brought them back to the room. We went over to DTD around 11:00 to walk around a bit more and grab lunch. We decided on the Earl of Sandwich again, I guess we are creatures of habit, but we love the place.
We came back to the room and bought our tickets for MK. I was bummed that the Seven Dwarves FP were already gone, but we got FP for the 3 mountains. I promised my daughter I would watch the Disney App and try to get her over to the Seven Dwarves when the line was short. We hit the big rides, along with Tea Cups, speedway, Monsters Inc.… Haunted Mansion (I did it 3x). Finally, just before the parade the app showed the ride at 20 minutes. My wife and daughter went over and did the roller coaster. We watched the wishes fireworks, then hit Big Thunder one more time and called it a night around 10:30.
Friday 9/4 – Leaving
I’m always surprised how quickly time flies. Could not believe we were boarding the DME at 8:15 to catch our 11:00 flight, it felt like we had just gotten off that bus. But, still a great vacation, and loved the resort.
I do have to say that I thought the bus service was a little slow at BWV. I actually walked over to Beach Club twice to get a bus because I thought the waits were too long. Other than that, it was just great, and as usual Disney does things so well.
The one thing I was bummed about is that I usually do more exploring, head over to other resorts. I always enjoy spending time at Ft Wilderness just walking around, but I didn’t have a chance to do that this time. We fit just about everything we could in for our stay, and as always, looking forward to the next one. We will need to get creative, and we will be watching the school calendar for any breaks where we might be able to get away. I was not crazy about going in August, but we made the best of it. Summers are so nice here in NY, and we loved going to Florida in the fall to extend our summer a bit. But, we will be back soon!!
As I prepare to go back to work tomorrow, my PDD (Post Disney Depression) is starting to set in, just seems you can never get enough vacation!!
