I'm really terrible at trip reports 
so here are a few random notes from our stay last week at the BoardWalk:
* We drove down from Ohio. Had a "check engine" light come on as we were a couple hours away, and the car started acting up a bit. Upon arrival we decided to try Disney's Car Care Center near the Magic Kingdom. They had us all repaired within 2-3 hours. Original quote was upward of $300. After my wife mentioned we were AAA members, DVC members and batted her eyes, they re-wrote the estimate several times. Ended up paying $250.
* We stayed the first night (and unexpectedly the last night--more on that later) at the Royal Plaza near Downtown Disney. I can't think of a bad thing to say about this hotel. Got a great rate with the MouseSavers code on a newly-renovated room that slept 5 comfortably. Beds were soft. Bathroom was very nice with large corner tub. Staff was very friendly. Lobby restaurant had a nice breakfast buffet and kids were free.
* I drove over to the BoardWalk on Sunday between 8-9am to check-in. No wait at the front desk, but the room wasn't ready yet.
* Got into the room around 1pm. Reservation was for a Standard View 2B with requests being upper floor close to MGM (or DHS.) We did get the 5th floor, but our view was the entrance drive. No biggie.
* Room was in pristine condition. No complaints whatsoever. No calls to housekeeping or maintenance were necessary. It even smelled clean when we entered with a slight odor of cleaning solution in the air.
* Valet parking was disappointing more often than not. One morning we arrived to find they had mis-placed our keys the night before. They searched for 15 minutes before offering to retrieve the car with our spare set. The originals turned-up later in the day. Another time we stood waiting 15-20 minutes for the car while there was just one other party ahead of us.
I will say this: unlike other reports I've read, we did not have any valet parking charges appear on our bill.
* HSIA is still not free. And for the benefit of those who have chosen not to pay the fee in the past, be sure to temper your expectations once it is offered--the service is not exactly blazing fast. Even the in-room materials describe it as being only 5x dial-up speed. That's quite poor compared to what most of us have in our homes and workplaces today.
* There was a ton of BoardWalk logo merchandise available (same for Beach Club), but DVC logo stuff was almost completely absent. I wasn't looking to buy anything, but thought that info may be of interest to others.
* We had our Owner's Locker delivered for the first time this stay. Service was great. I got an email after it had arrived at the resort. The bell staff even did a great job by leaving a voice mail in the room while we were out, reporting that "our big purple storage box" had arrived.
A couple hours after we departed we got a follow-up email from our locker stating that it had arrived back home at the storage facility.
* I made trips to get photos of the Contemporary (lobby and 4th floor are really looking impressive), AKV (Kidani) and even stopped by the AKV model rooms at SSR. I think I got some good, close images of Kidani using my 310mm zoom lens. Not sure what sort of details might be evident, though. They are still very much in the framing stages.
I'll have to post the photos on my website later this week.
* The waterparks are quickly becoming fixtures in our annual trips. We were at Typhoon Lagoon at opening (love that 10am opening vs. the 9am at theme parks) and did EVERYTHING multiple times without any waits. All of the slides, raft rides, Crush N Gusher...we never waited more than a couple minutes walking up the stairs. By the time we left around 1pm things were getting noticably busier.
BTW, they have photopass photographers actually IN the wave pool at TL. He/she will take one party for each wave. They snap a couple photos before the wave, more as the wave is rushing foward, and then a final shot as you're getting crushed from behind.
Great perk!
* We did the late night EMH at both Animal Kingdom and DHS. What fun it was to be in DAK at night!!! Lines were non-existent and it was really great to be in that park after dark. Even Dinoland is kinda cool all lit up after the sun goes down.
At DHS we walked into the late Fantasmic about 15 minutes ahead of time and still got great seats. There were still empty seats on the ends at showtime. We steered-clear of ToT and RnR, and the rest of the park rarely had any waits.
* On another night we rode the Great Movie Ride and finally got to see the cowboy version. First time in well over a dozen viewings.
* Lots of little "warm fuzzies" for the kids on this trip. Our two kids (son 6 and daughter 4) each received about two dozen stickers from CMs. Our daughter was given one of those pin sets from YOAMD where you give one pin away and keep the other. Lots of pin trading with CMs and character autographs.
One morning my son and I were the first to ride on Buzz at the MK (while DD was getting her hair done at the boutique.) After we got off they presented us with a certificate as the first riders of the day and we got a free on-ride photo (which came out quite well.)
* Went to the Braves / Phillies game at Wide World of Sports. Awesome facility! No charges for parking. Dozens of CMs all around directing traffic and helping folks get into the stadium. Believe it or not, concession prices were nearly HALF what we paid the next day at the Cleveland Indians' park.
Of course, I'm not sure which of the two spring games my son liked better. The Indians' stadium is a dump (they are moving to Arizona next year), but one of the ushers gave my son a game-used ball. DS will probably cherish the ball more than the $2.75 foot-long hot dogs at WWoS.
* With the winter storms bearing down on the east, we decided to extend our trip by a day. Went back to the Royal Plaza after checking-out of BWV. While I wouldn't have scheduled 3 resorts in 7 nights, it was relatively painless to move. On 48-hours notice I got a $105 rate at the Plaza for this past Friday night.
With our park tickets virtually paid for (DW and I have APs and Disney charged only $3 per child to add an extra day to their passes), the extra night was a no-brainer.
All-in-all it was a wonderful 8-day winter getwaway. If you have any questions, please ask!
Tim
so here are a few random notes from our stay last week at the BoardWalk:* We drove down from Ohio. Had a "check engine" light come on as we were a couple hours away, and the car started acting up a bit. Upon arrival we decided to try Disney's Car Care Center near the Magic Kingdom. They had us all repaired within 2-3 hours. Original quote was upward of $300. After my wife mentioned we were AAA members, DVC members and batted her eyes, they re-wrote the estimate several times. Ended up paying $250.
* We stayed the first night (and unexpectedly the last night--more on that later) at the Royal Plaza near Downtown Disney. I can't think of a bad thing to say about this hotel. Got a great rate with the MouseSavers code on a newly-renovated room that slept 5 comfortably. Beds were soft. Bathroom was very nice with large corner tub. Staff was very friendly. Lobby restaurant had a nice breakfast buffet and kids were free.
* I drove over to the BoardWalk on Sunday between 8-9am to check-in. No wait at the front desk, but the room wasn't ready yet.
* Got into the room around 1pm. Reservation was for a Standard View 2B with requests being upper floor close to MGM (or DHS.) We did get the 5th floor, but our view was the entrance drive. No biggie.
* Room was in pristine condition. No complaints whatsoever. No calls to housekeeping or maintenance were necessary. It even smelled clean when we entered with a slight odor of cleaning solution in the air.
* Valet parking was disappointing more often than not. One morning we arrived to find they had mis-placed our keys the night before. They searched for 15 minutes before offering to retrieve the car with our spare set. The originals turned-up later in the day. Another time we stood waiting 15-20 minutes for the car while there was just one other party ahead of us.
I will say this: unlike other reports I've read, we did not have any valet parking charges appear on our bill.
* HSIA is still not free. And for the benefit of those who have chosen not to pay the fee in the past, be sure to temper your expectations once it is offered--the service is not exactly blazing fast. Even the in-room materials describe it as being only 5x dial-up speed. That's quite poor compared to what most of us have in our homes and workplaces today.
* There was a ton of BoardWalk logo merchandise available (same for Beach Club), but DVC logo stuff was almost completely absent. I wasn't looking to buy anything, but thought that info may be of interest to others.
* We had our Owner's Locker delivered for the first time this stay. Service was great. I got an email after it had arrived at the resort. The bell staff even did a great job by leaving a voice mail in the room while we were out, reporting that "our big purple storage box" had arrived.
A couple hours after we departed we got a follow-up email from our locker stating that it had arrived back home at the storage facility.
* I made trips to get photos of the Contemporary (lobby and 4th floor are really looking impressive), AKV (Kidani) and even stopped by the AKV model rooms at SSR. I think I got some good, close images of Kidani using my 310mm zoom lens. Not sure what sort of details might be evident, though. They are still very much in the framing stages.
I'll have to post the photos on my website later this week.
* The waterparks are quickly becoming fixtures in our annual trips. We were at Typhoon Lagoon at opening (love that 10am opening vs. the 9am at theme parks) and did EVERYTHING multiple times without any waits. All of the slides, raft rides, Crush N Gusher...we never waited more than a couple minutes walking up the stairs. By the time we left around 1pm things were getting noticably busier.
BTW, they have photopass photographers actually IN the wave pool at TL. He/she will take one party for each wave. They snap a couple photos before the wave, more as the wave is rushing foward, and then a final shot as you're getting crushed from behind.
Great perk!* We did the late night EMH at both Animal Kingdom and DHS. What fun it was to be in DAK at night!!! Lines were non-existent and it was really great to be in that park after dark. Even Dinoland is kinda cool all lit up after the sun goes down.
At DHS we walked into the late Fantasmic about 15 minutes ahead of time and still got great seats. There were still empty seats on the ends at showtime. We steered-clear of ToT and RnR, and the rest of the park rarely had any waits.
* On another night we rode the Great Movie Ride and finally got to see the cowboy version. First time in well over a dozen viewings.
* Lots of little "warm fuzzies" for the kids on this trip. Our two kids (son 6 and daughter 4) each received about two dozen stickers from CMs. Our daughter was given one of those pin sets from YOAMD where you give one pin away and keep the other. Lots of pin trading with CMs and character autographs.
One morning my son and I were the first to ride on Buzz at the MK (while DD was getting her hair done at the boutique.) After we got off they presented us with a certificate as the first riders of the day and we got a free on-ride photo (which came out quite well.)
* Went to the Braves / Phillies game at Wide World of Sports. Awesome facility! No charges for parking. Dozens of CMs all around directing traffic and helping folks get into the stadium. Believe it or not, concession prices were nearly HALF what we paid the next day at the Cleveland Indians' park.
Of course, I'm not sure which of the two spring games my son liked better. The Indians' stadium is a dump (they are moving to Arizona next year), but one of the ushers gave my son a game-used ball. DS will probably cherish the ball more than the $2.75 foot-long hot dogs at WWoS.
* With the winter storms bearing down on the east, we decided to extend our trip by a day. Went back to the Royal Plaza after checking-out of BWV. While I wouldn't have scheduled 3 resorts in 7 nights, it was relatively painless to move. On 48-hours notice I got a $105 rate at the Plaza for this past Friday night.
With our park tickets virtually paid for (DW and I have APs and Disney charged only $3 per child to add an extra day to their passes), the extra night was a no-brainer. All-in-all it was a wonderful 8-day winter getwaway. If you have any questions, please ask!
Tim
Let us know when pics are available.
