Celebrating 20 years at WDW - Bonus features, A few posts from May, Updated 9/11

[franandaj]

I find this ironic. Just as I am starting to get the suitcases out and begin the process of packing up to go home, I am about to tell you about our arrival at Disney.

When I last left you we were mid flight.

We landed without incident. As soon as I turned my phone off airplane mode, I got the text about the room being ready. I was pretty sure we were in the exact same room as three years ago. We got on the Fake o rail back to the main terminal.









We took a spin through the Disney store at the airport before heading down to DME





We waited about 20 minutes or so at DME before boarding our Motorcoach. Pretty soon we were seeing this:



There were two stops before us CBR, and the Boardwalk. We pretty much had our own private delivery at BCV. As I suspected it was the same room we had three years ago.





Looking back into the entry way.

















There was something else though that I was totally bummed when my suspicions were confirmed. On the BCV thread it appeared that they had replaced the jacuzzi with a soaker tub.



Since we weren't resort switching, I was stuck with this tub for the whole week. At least there was a jacuzzi outside, it just wasn't open at the most common times I like to take a bath.

The bedroom.







I was astonished to find a washer/dryer all in the same unit. I can see why this might be good for them, but it means you can only do one load at a time.







Our view out the bedroom window.



We decided to head directly out for dinner.


[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]


We had tried something new that started on our Alaskan trip. Some of you might have heard of “Tiles”, they are little Bluetooth enabled trackers that you can use to find things. There was a case in the media where a stalker actually used it to find a girl that he fancied in a bar by dropping it in her purse, but we have much less nefarious designs on this kind of software.

We had placed these “tiles” in each of our suitcases, and they were labeled appropriately. When we were on the Magical Express bus I started to try and track our suitcases, but the tracking icon just kept doing that annoying circle like on windows when something is refreshing. This was not easing my mind as to where our bags were.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for some “Breakfast treats” according to Fran. I wondered what the bacon and eggs, corn flakes, yogurt and muffin mix were considered.



But we ended up with a Cinnamon Roll,



Sticky Bun,



Chocolate Croissant



And some Jersey Coffee Cake



Fran noticed this stand and inquired as to how late they were open nightly.



Then we went a few doors down the Boardwalk to….



We checked in at the Trattoria and were seated almost immediately.





We decided to get two appetizers and split an entree. In hindsight we could have each ordered our own entree and skipped dessert, but it worked out fine the way we did it.







Bread



Caprese Salad, really tasty! The mozzarella is made daily in house and it was so fresh and good, the tomatoes weren’t bad either!



Mushroom soup special, while it wasn’t the normal cream soup we are used to it was a very good soup.



Split order of Linguine a la Vongole. I thought it was pretty small at first but after sopping up the sauce with bread, I was still ready for a dessert.









Then we each chose a (small) dessert. We were both good. I got Tiramisu. What is with Tiramisu these days? Doesn't anyone make a traditional one?



Fran got the cannoli. Two were chocolate and another pistachio.



After dinner we went back to room and found that our bags had magically appeared in the room. Upon further inspection of the room we found that WDW is taking mosquito preparedness very seriously.



We called Bell Services for our groceries and owners locker around 10:30PM. They showed up a few minutes later with the groceries and said they couldn't find the owner's locker. I was like, “what????” before we even boarded our plane, I had received an email that it had been delivered. So I unpacked the groceries, put away the ones that needed to be refrigerated, and organized the kitchen.

Eventually they found the owner's locker and delivered it.

Even though I was severely disappointed not to have a jacuzzi tub in the room, I still used the soaker tub before going to bed.

I was too tired to deal with unpacking any suitcases, but I did need my special pillow out of the Owner’s Locker, so I found a knife to cut the Zip ties and got my pillow. I went to bed watching Jimmy Kimmel.

 

[ljcrochet]

I hadn't thought about putting a tile in the suitcase. I have one in my one in my kindle case. Just have to make sure to keep kindle with the case.

Your dinner looked amazing.

 

[skier_pete]

That Caprese salad looks wonderful! DW would be drooling...

Those one-bedrooms look so spacious. I wish we had the points to get a 1-bedroom regularly - except we would become so spoiled!

And we didn't have bug spray in our room. Probably no bugs at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 

[dgbg100106]

I find this ironic. Just as I am starting to get the suitcases out and begin the process of packing up to go home, I am about to tell you about our arrival at Disney.

When I last left you we were mid flight.

I hate packing up and I hate doing it a day early.

We landed without incident. As soon as I turned my phone off airplane mode, I got the text about the room being ready. I was pretty sure we were in the exact same room as three years ago. We got on the Fake o rail back to the main terminal.

We took a spin through the Disney store at the airport before heading down to DME

At least the room was ready, that was nice. Find anything in the store you could not live without?

We waited about 20 minutes or so at DME before boarding our Motorcoach. Pretty soon we were seeing this:

the excitement of getting on DME always makes me happy and ready for my vacatioin, to me that makes everything real!

There were two stops before us CBR, and the Boardwalk. We pretty much had our own private delivery at BCV. As I suspected it was the same room we had three years ago.

did you like the room before, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Looking back into the entry way.

There was something else though that I was totally bummed when my suspicions were confirmed. On the BCV thread it appeared that they had replaced the jacuzzi with a soaker tub.
Since we weren't resort switching, I was stuck with this tub for the whole week. At least there was a jacuzzi outside, it just wasn't open at the most common times I like to take a bath.

I think the jacuzzi's were very hard to keep clean, I heard some serious stories about them being gross inside the jets. I know you always cleaned your before use, so it was not an issue for you.

I was astonished to find a washer/dryer all in the same unit. I can see why this might be good for them, but it means you can only do one load at a time.

oh I do not like that at all, I like to have a load drying while I am washing a second load.

[Continued from Previous Post]

We had tried something new that started on our Alaskan trip. Some of you might have heard of “Tiles”, they are little Bluetooth enabled GPS trackers that you can use to find things. There was a case in the media where a stalker actually used it to find a girl that he fancied in a bar by dropping it in her purse, but we have much less nefarious designs on this kind of software.

people are always trying to find unlawful ways to use things. It is a sad state we are in, but I kind of like being able to find my luggage.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for some “Breakfast treats” according to Fran. I wondered what the bacon and eggs, corn flakes, yogurt and muffin mix were considered.

But we ended up with a Cinnamon Roll,

Sticky Bun,


Chocolate Croissant
And some Jersey Coffee Cake

All of these breakfast items look lovely.

Fran noticed this stand and inquired as to how late they were open nightly.

Margaritas are always good. How late are they open?

Then we went a few doors down the Boardwalk to….
We checked in at the Trattoria and were seated almost immediately.
We decided to get two appetizers and split an entree. In hindsight we could have each ordered our own entree and skipped dessert, but it worked out fine the way we did it.
Bread
Caprese Salad, really tasty! The mozzarella is made daily in house and it was so fresh and good, the tomatoes weren’t bad either!
Mushroom soup special, while it wasn’t the normal cream soup we are used to it was a very good soup.
Split order of Linguine a la Vongole. I thought it was pretty small at first but after sopping up the sauce with bread, I was still ready for a dessert.Then we each chose a (small) dessert. We were both good. I got Tiramisu. What is with Tiramisu these days? Doesn't anyone make a traditional one? Fran got the cannoli. Two were chocolate and another pistachio.

all of the food looks lovely, and I think I would have skipped the dessert also, but hindsight is always 20/20.
That pistachio cannoli looks wonderful!

After dinner we went back to room and found that our bags had magically appeared in the room. Upon further inspection of the room we found that WDW is taking mosquito preparedness very seriously.
We called Bell Services for our groceries and owners locker around 10:30PM. They showed up a few minutes later with the groceries and said they couldn't find the owner's locker. I was like, “what????” before we even boarded our plane, I had received an email that it had been delivered. So I unpacked the groceries, put away the ones that needed to be refrigerated, and organized the kitchen.

Eventually they found the owner's locker and delivered it.

Even though I was severely disappointed not to have a jacuzzi tub in the room, I still used the soaker tub before going to bed.

I was too tired to deal with unpacking any suitcases, but I did need my special pillow out of the Owner’s Locker, so I found a knife to cut the Zip ties and got my pillow. I went to bed watching Jimmy Kimmel.

Glad that the luggage was magically delivered, and that they found your locker.

 

[dizneeat]

I just wanted to say - oh, that looks different to what I remember and then I saw the next picture ......

and remembered that this must be an accessible room.

I was astonished to find a washer/dryer all in the same unit. I can see why this might be good for them, but it means you can only do one load at a time.

Wow! Again something new - looks stylish, but I liked the individual washer and dryer more - lets me do more laundry in shorter time.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for some “Breakfast treats” according to Fran. I wondered what the bacon and eggs, corn flakes, yogurt and muffin mix were considered.

I am with Fran ...... on vacation you need that "extra" breakfast treat - and the BW Bakery has some great ones.

aprese Salad, really tasty! The mozzarella is made daily in house and it was so fresh and good, the tomatoes weren’t bad either!

Then we each chose a (small) dessert. We were both good. I got Tiramisu. What is with Tiramisu these days? Doesn't anyone make a traditional one?

Yeah, I know I had that same "Tiramisu" in March .....

Upon further inspection of the room we found that WDW is taking mosquito preparedness very seriously.

They started handing them out while we were there in the summer. Good to know they care!

LOVE your TR so far and everything else you posted on social media! Thanks!

 

[Steppesister]

Hi Alison!

By now, you're getting ready to head off to other adventures, but I am caught up for now.

Your Trattoria dinner looked fabulous; small, but yummy! Sounds like you got just enough, and that's a good thing.

I'm not sure how Bell Services loses stuff, but I can attest to the fact that it DOES happen. Strange.

I've never even heard of a 2 in 1 washer/dryer unit. Weird. I do not think I'd like one for the same reason... one load at a time. Not good.

BOOOO! for now jacuzzi. But I'm sure you made good use of the soaker tub.

As for Fran's "goodies" from the bakery.... Hmmmm..... Makes making muffins sort of anti-climactic.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I find this ironic. Just as I am starting to get the suitcases out and begin the process of packing up to go home, I am about to tell you about our arrival at Disney.

I can't believe that it is that time already. Time really has flown.

As soon as I turned my phone off airplane mode, I got the text about the room being ready.

That was perfect.

There was something else though that I was totally bummed when my suspicions were confirmed. On the BCV thread it appeared that they had replaced the jacuzzi with a soaker tub.

That is a real shame. I loved the jacuzzi when we stayed one night at a one bedroom villa at Old Key West.

I was astonished to find a washer/dryer all in the same unit.

That would have been another big disappointment for me. I am not overly keen on washer-dryers. Maybe the ones in the USA are more efficient, but we had one for a while and it was useless.

Some of you might have heard of “Tiles”, they are little Bluetooth enabled GPS trackers that you can use to find things.

I may have to invest in some of those. We are forever looking for stuff.

Fran got the cannoli. Two were chocolate and another pistachio.

I was pretty much getting ready to cancel our reservation there. As we now have a car for the duration of the trip, Graham would rather go offsite to eat. However, seeing the cannoli, I think maybe I should hang on to that particular reservation.

Corinna

 

[kid-at-heart]

Ahhh, you needed your owner's locker for your pillow. I always order our locker to be delivered immediately upon arrival - just so we can start celebrating with the bottle of wine we always leave in it. Often when we arrive it is either late or we are too tired to go anywhere that first evening. I keep a bottle of wine, my pillow, a small goose down duvet and a Brita pitcher/filter in our locker along with all the other "necessities".

Have a safe trip home.

Kate

 

[pkondz]

See now I know that's a Canadian legend because if it were a So Cal legend the officer would have been a A CHP officer.

And his name was Erik Estrada.


Nobody remembers the other guy.
But he was such a trooper!

We don't have troopers or troupers.

What about trompe l'oeil's?

Did you get a chance?

nope

Huh. I guess I missed that one....yeah, that whole birding thing, probably not my idea of a good time.

Ditto.
A little bird told me I'd be bored.

Well as long as you don't travel at peak times, it's only mildly congested. Like between 2AM and 4AM, on weekdays.

But it's warm year round.

As long as it's warm between 2 and 4am.

Somehow it doesn't have the same rin to it.

Rin Tin Tin you mean?

 

[pkondz]

I find this ironic. Just as I am starting to get the suitcases out and begin the process of packing up to go home, I am about to tell you about our arrival at Disney.

That is. And a little unnerving.

Someone's going to Disney!

We took a spin through the Disney store at the airport before heading down to DME

You did?!?!? Wow! I'm always in such a rush to get my bag and get to DME that I don't stop for nuthin'!

On the BCV thread it appeared that they had replaced the jacuzzi with a soaker tub.

Wouldn't be so bad if it was an overflow tub.
Otherwise.... well, that sucks.

I was astonished to find a washer/dryer all in the same unit. I can see why this might be good for them, but it means you can only do one load at a time.

I didn't even know that existed! Or was even possible!

Some of you might have heard of “Tiles”, they are little Bluetooth enabled GPS trackers that you can use to find things. There was a case in the media where a stalker actually used it to find a girl that he fancied in a bar by dropping it in her purse, but we have much less nefarious designs on this kind of software.

Huh. Hadn't heard of them, although I think I may... may have seen an ad at the bottom of the DISboards for them or something similar.

When we were on the Magical Express bus I started to try and track our suitcases, but the tracking icon just kept doing that annoying circle like on windows when something is refreshing. This was not easing my mind as to where our bags were.

So... totally useless.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for some “Breakfast treats” according to Fran. I wondered what the bacon and eggs, corn flakes, yogurt and muffin mix were considered.

Appetizers.

Fran noticed this stand and inquired as to how late they were open nightly.

#Priorities

We checked in at the Trattoria and were seated almost immediately.

Did you have an ADR? Or did you walk up?

The mozzarella is made daily in house

Really! Impressive.

I got Tiramisu. What is with Tiramisu these days? Doesn't anyone make a traditional one?

What the heck is that? Where's the tiramisu?

We called Bell Services for our groceries and owners locker around 10:30PM. They showed up a few minutes later with the groceries and said they couldn't find the owner's locker. I was like, “what????” before we even boarded our plane, I had received an email that it had been delivered. So I unpacked the groceries, put away the ones that needed to be refrigerated, and organized the kitchen.

Eventually they found the owner's locker and delivered it.

You must've been a tad worried? I would've been.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I find this ironic. Just as I am starting to get the suitcases out and begin the process of packing up to go home, I am about to tell you about our arrival at Disney.

I find it amazing that you can work on a TR while still on the trip!

Pretty soon we were seeing this:

Hooray!

On the BCV thread it appeared that they had replaced the jacuzzi with a soaker tub.

Well, that's disappointing.

I was astonished to find a washer/dryer all in the same unit. I can see why this might be good for them, but it means you can only do one load at a time.

Man, this place is full of surprises. I can see where that would be annoying as well.

Some of you might have heard of “Tiles”, they are little Bluetooth enabled GPS trackers that you can use to find things.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for some “Breakfast treats” according to Fran. I wondered what the bacon and eggs, corn flakes, yogurt and muffin mix were considered.

Well, that's breakfast. These are the breakfast treats.

Hey, I like that place!

Then we each chose a (small) dessert. We were both good. I got Tiramisu. What is with Tiramisu these days? Doesn't anyone make a traditional one?

That is by far the weirdest looking tiramisu I've ever seen.

So you didn't want the 3 bites of donut that we had there?

 

[afwdwfan]

Thanks once again for the trip down memory lane. Either I've completely forgotten or I didn't realize that Fran was having so many health issues that you went so long between trips a few years ago. I'm glad that you're both able to enjoy taking somewhat frequent trips together once again... you know, pending whatever happens after the next 28 months....

The tile thing seems like a great idea. Too bad it didn't seem to work for you when you looked. Sounds like you maybe ought to try sticking one in that owner's locker for next time!

 

[franandaj]

Hope you have a great day in WDW today. Any day at WDW is better than a day in Pittsburgh!

I haven't ever been to Pittsburgh, but I don't think I can argue with that!

 

[dhorner233]

Nice suite! I love the kitchen and what a cool washer/dryer combo!

We had placed these “tiles” in each of our suitcases, and they were labeled appropriately. When we were on the Magical Express bus I started to try and track our suitcases, but the tracking icon just kept doing that annoying circle like on windows when something is refreshing. This was not easing my mind as to where our bags were.

So, did the tiles ever work? I would love to be able to track my bag all day!!!!

What the heck is that? Where's the tiramisu?

That's what I was thinking!

 

[franandaj]

I hadn't thought about putting a tile in the suitcase. I have one in my one in my kindle case. Just have to make sure to keep kindle with the case.

Your dinner looked amazing.

That was one of the main things on the advertisement that we read. I'm not sure what other use I would have for them. They are not specific enought to say find keys inside the house, but if you have something where someone might steal it, that would be a good way to track it.

That Caprese salad looks wonderful! DW would be drooling...

It was very good the mozzarella was fantastic!

Those one-bedrooms look so spacious. I wish we had the points to get a 1-bedroom regularly - except we would become so spoiled!

I'm so glad we stay in the one bedrooms, we spend a fair amount of time in the room and I really appreciate the jacuzzi tub and the kitchen. I made good use of the kitchen and wish the tub had been a jacuzzi!

And we didn't have bug spray in our room. Probably no bugs at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Same for either All Stars or Pop Century. I wonder if was the bodies of water outside the resort that made them choose to leave it.

I hate packing up and I hate doing it a day early.

I do too, but I also hate being frantic that last day. When I'm down to the last two days, I can usually determine what I won't need and I'd rather have a lot of it done so there is less scrambling the final day.

At least the room was ready, that was nice. Find anything in the store you could not live without?

No. Fran doesn't understand that the Disney Store stopped catering to adults years ago. So we keep looking, but they never have stuff adults want. Only kid focused items.

the excitement of getting on DME always makes me happy and ready for my vacatioin, to me that makes everything real!

I'm usually so worn out from the plane ride that I just want to get on the bus and just get there!

did you like the room before, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

I guess it was good. On the first floor we never had to take an elevator so it was quick access. It was perfect on our last trip as we did a picnic by the pool and the room was right there for getting last minute stuff together.

I think the jacuzzi's were very hard to keep clean, I heard some serious stories about them being gross inside the jets. I know you always cleaned your before use, so it was not an issue for you.

I followed a few threads on the DIS about how gross they were, which is why I always clean them with bleach. I would imagine maintenance of the hardware became an issue too.

oh I do not like that at all, I like to have a load drying while I am washing a second load.

Exactly.

people are always trying to find unlawful ways to use things. It is a sad state we are in, but I kind of like being able to find my luggage.

When it works the theory is a great idea!

All of these breakfast items look lovely.

I ended up not eating any, just way too much sugar for me.

Margaritas are always good. How late are they open?

They were open until midnight, and we never made it there!

all of the food looks lovely, and I think I would have skipped the dessert also, but hindsight is always 20/20.
That pistachio cannoli looks wonderful!

We learned.

Glad that the luggage was magically delivered, and that they found your locker.

In the end it was all good, but rather annoying that they couldn't find it in the first place.

 

[ljcrochet]

They are not specific enough to say find keys inside the house, but if you have something where someone might steal it, that would be a good way to track it.

I use the tile on my keys to find them at least twice a week, since my keys could be in a few different places. I just have to make it play a sound.
I want to attach a tile to my daughters flute case, but haven't yet.

 

[franandaj]

I just wanted to say - oh, that looks different to what I remember and then I saw the next picture ......

What looks different? they changed the configuration of the kitchenette a little bit, but I didn't find it tremendously different.

and remembered that this must be an accessible room.

Wow! Again something new - looks stylish, but I liked the individual washer and dryer more - lets me do more laundry in shorter time.

Yeah, I didn't like it at all, but that's for later.

I am with Fran ...... on vacation you need that "extra" breakfast treat - and the BW Bakery has some great ones.

I am finding out that I am in the minority.

I love that smiley!

Yeah, I know I had that same "Tiramisu" in March .....

It was good, but certainly not what I expected.

They started handing them out while we were there in the summer. Good to know they care!

I did appreciate that they were concerned for us. But mosquitoes don't like me. Not sure why?

LOVE your TR so far and everything else you posted on social media! Thanks!

And now it's over and will live on in the TR.

Hi Alison!

By now, you're getting ready to head off to other adventures, but I am caught up for now.

Yes, but first I need to catch up on what I missed yesterday with the power being off.

Your Trattoria dinner looked fabulous; small, but yummy! Sounds like you got just enough, and that's a

It was actually perfect since it filled me up but not overly.

I'm not sure how Bell Services loses stuff, but I can attest to the fact that it DOES happen. Strange.

I hope you got your stuff back!

I've never even heard of a 2 in 1 washer/dryer unit. Weird. I do not think I'd like one for the same reason... one load at a time. Not good.

We got new machines 2 years ago and I remember seeing them when we were looking online. Fran poopoo'ed them before I even gave it a second thought. Maybe in an apartment in New York where space is limited, but I have plenty of room in my house.

BOOOO! for no jacuzzi. But I'm sure you made good use of the soaker tub.

I did indeed.

As for Fran's "goodies" from the bakery.... Hmmmm..... Makes making muffins sort of anti-climactic.

I know, doesn't it?

I can't believe that it is that time already. Time really has flown.

Time flies when you're having fun! Next thing you know, I'll be in Palm Springs and then that will be over.

That was perfect.

I would have expected nothing less, we didn't land until 6PM!

That is a real shame. I loved the jacuzzi when we stayed one night at a one bedroom villa at Old Key West.

I hope that it was only the beach club. That OKW tub was heavenly!

That would have been another big disappointment for me. I am not overly keen on washer-dryers. Maybe the ones in the USA are more efficient, but we had one for a while and it was useless.

It performed OK, but I didn't like having to wait for the one load to dry to start another washing.

I may have to invest in some of those. We are forever looking for stuff.

I need to figure out how to make them chirp...they did that when I activated them, but I didn't realize you could make them make noise. I'm putting one on Fran's car keys!

I was pretty much getting ready to cancel our reservation there. As we now have a car for the duration of the trip, Graham would rather go offsite to eat. However, seeing the cannoli, I think maybe I should hang on to that particular reservation.

The food there was also very good. I really enjoyed the place, the server even admitted to us that the desserts were tiny.

 

[KBOhio]

I am following along - and loving it!
I hope you get everything done quickly so you can continue your travels...for selfish reason though - I love your trip reports.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm sorry about your jacuzzi tub the rest of the refurb looks very nice though, I'm quite impressed. Well, aside from the washer/dryer combo. That's not helpful on vacation.

I like being on the ground floor, no wait for elevators at the end of a long day is always a plus. Mom prefers a view.

Those breakfast treats look mighty delicious!

I've already told mom I must take her to that restaurant