Disney done differently, (BOG dining updates pages 202 and 203)

I don't recall which building, but we were on the 2nd floor and facing the parking lot. I know we had neighbors next to us and below us. We were directly across from the lobby area. Glad that the pool was bug-free! :goodvibes

We didn't notice any odors when we were there. Maybe they changed their cleansers to something a bit stronger? Still, it's not fun to have to put up with a chemical smell during your stay!

We were facing the parking lot too. Next time we'll get a king 1 BR that way we'll have a different room and maybe a different scent, lol.

Goofy really like it there. Especially the proximity to WDW. It was closer to DHS than several WDW resorts! And it was so nice not driving back and forth every day from home for SWW!
 
We were facing the parking lot too. Next time we'll get a king 1 BR that way we'll have a different room and maybe a different scent, lol.

Goofy really like it there. Especially the proximity to WDW. It was closer to DHS than several WDW resorts! And it was so nice not driving back and forth every day from home for SWW!

That's really great Tink! We agree, it was very close to WDW. We went to DTD a few times when we stayed. :thumbsup2
 
your room looks good, sorry about the smell and noise....I always pack ear plugs when we travel....bonus for being close to wdw and the $$.


Congratulations to Grumpy!!! hope he enjoys his upcoming classes!
 
That's really great Tink! We agree, it was very close to WDW. We went to DTD a few times when we stayed. :thumbsup2

I hope you got a trip into DTD that wasn't crowded! I remember the one time you went the day before me and it was crowded, but empty when we went.

your room looks good, sorry about the smell and noise....I always pack ear plugs when we travel....bonus for being close to wdw and the $$.


Congratulations to Grumpy!!! hope he enjoys his upcoming classes!

We always pack a noise machine for Anakin, it's the Conair soothing sounds. Put it to rain and it does drown out most noises.
 

Grumpy graduates on Friday!!! He is all registered for his fall college classes too. We are going to order Anakin's school books today.

CONGRATULATIONS TO GRUMPY!!! I know you are PROUD!!!


We loved the Palms, the place wasn't dirty or noisy for us; however we were in the building directly in front of the office and our unit was different. The kids loved the pool, no bugs and I have one that is repulsed by bugs, especially spiders. You are used to all of the beauty of a Disney resort and I have NEVER had the pleasure of staying on site yet...I tend to be bothered by hotels and paper thin walls, but we were on the end unit and the children had neighbors beside them that were noise...but every hotel I have stayed at has that problem. The walls definitely weren't soundproof, unfortunately. The big question...would the reduced cost entice you to stay there again??? We sure would!
 
CONGRATULATIONS TO GRUMPY!!! I know you are PROUD!!!


We loved the Palms, the place wasn't dirty or noisy for us; however we were in the building directly in front of the office and our unit was different. The kids loved the pool, no bugs and I have one that is repulsed by bugs, especially spiders. You are used to all of the beauty of a Disney resort and I have NEVER had the pleasure of staying on site yet...I tend to be bothered by hotels and paper thin walls, but we were on the end unit and the children had neighbors beside them that were noise...but every hotel I have stayed at has that problem. The walls definitely weren't soundproof, unfortunately. The big question...would the reduced cost entice you to stay there again??? We sure would!

Yes! Absolutely we'd stay there again.
 
Since The Palms has the same AAA rating as Disney's value resorts and we stay at Pop century the most I thought I'd make some comparisons.

1. The smallest villas at the Palms Hotel and Villas are 585 sq ft. Pop is 260 sq ft.

2. Full size refrigerator vs mini fridge.

3. All rooms are within a close proximity to the office and the pool vs some rooms are quite a hike.

4. Both you hear people walking past the room.

5. Eco bath products vs H2O bath products

6. Towels at pool vs bring your room towels to pool.

7. Delayed upkeep vs continuous upkeep

8. Free continental breakfast vs food court for breakfast, lunch and supper $$

9. Complimentary coffee/tea throughout day vs complimentary refills with purchased mug.

10. Excellent customer service vs excellent customer service

11. Timed shuttle to the parks vs continous bus service to the parks.

12. Theme park tickets to Disney, Sea World, Universal sold at motel vs Disney theme park tickets only.

13. Asked to go to a time share presentation vs DVC stand in lobby

14. House keeping knocking on the door before check out time vs housekeeping knocking on the door before check out time. (This is a HUGE pet peeve of Goofy)

15. Free parking pass required vs free parking pass required

16. Wristbands required for pool and breakfast, fee if they are lost vs 3 pools available for swimming

17. Not themed vs Disney themed
 
/
Sounds like you were close to the fire.:scared1: Not fun.



I am always sensitive to smells so that would have bugged me a little. A little trick I learned though I carry dryer sheets in a ziploc. There are a few reasons why I do. 1. Is that they work as a mosquito repellent in a pinch. 2. If there are only chemical toilets at a bicycle race it helps a whole lot to have a dryer sheet to mask that. 3. Basically the same as the last reason but I put it in hotel drawers for the cleaner smells. It works wonders.


I like your list. It really points out the nice points. Honestly the main things I like about staying onsite is the theming and that I can get anything I buy delivered back to the hotel. Simple but oh so expensive.
 
Sounds like you were close to the fire.:scared1: Not fun.



I am always sensitive to smells so that would have bugged me a little. A little trick I learned though I carry dryer sheets in a ziploc. There are a few reasons why I do. 1. Is that they work as a mosquito repellent in a pinch. 2. If there are only chemical toilets at a bicycle race it helps a whole lot to have a dryer sheet to mask that. 3. Basically the same as the last reason but I put it in hotel drawers for the cleaner smells. It works wonders.


I like your list. It really points out the nice points. Honestly the main things I like about staying onsite is the theming and that I can get anything I buy delivered back to the hotel. Simple but oh so expensive.

I use to carry dryer sheets too!! But Anakin gets a skin rash from them so we don't use them anymore. He is fine with liquid fabric softener.

If we were to stay this weekend, which we are not, it would cost $104 weekdays with the AP and $127 weekends with AP at POP for a standard room. To stay at the Palms it would cost us $67, HUGE difference.
 
I use to carry dryer sheets too!! But Anakin gets a skin rash from them so we don't use them anymore. He is fine with liquid fabric softener.

If we were to stay this weekend, which we are not, it would cost $104 weekdays with the AP and $127 weekends with AP at POP for a standard room. To stay at the Palms it would cost us $67, HUGE difference.


My son Loren has an allergy to the perfume sent of the clothes soap. It will cause his to have horrible mood swings. He is normally the most gentle person but if he is around something with a huge perfume smell for any length of time he reacts. So I am careful with him. Another great use for dryer sheets is they make great dust clothes!


That is a huge difference!!
 
The photopass pictures from SWW are so awesome!!! I can't wait to get the CD!

Here's a recap of what we have done.

Week 1

Friday
1. M&G with Commander Cody
2. Behind the Force

Saturday
didn't get there

Sunday
1. Darth Mall shopping
2. Hyperspace Hoopla


Week 2

Friday
1. Queen Amadala M&G
2. Cantina Musicians "M&G"
3. Hyperspace Hoopla

Saturday
1. Stars of the Saga
2. Anakin M&G
3. Clone Trooper "M&G"
4. Ahsoka Tanno M&G
5. Hyperspace Hoopla

Sunday
1. Boba Fett M&G
2. Aurra Sing "M&G"
3. Darth Maul M&G
4. Stars of the Saga
5. Luke Skywalker M&G
6. Minnie Leia M&G
7. Trooper Donald M&G

We completely missed the Visit to the Maul show :( It will not be offered weeks 3 or 4

We missed the Obi-Wan and Beyond show, but that should be offered weeks 3 and 4.

We also didn't see the Star Wars Celebrity Motorcade or the Celebrity Welcome at the Sorcerer Hat Stage.

It's been very difficult to get much in especially with the heat and trying to keep him cool. He has also cat napped here and there because of his lowered endurance.

Characters left to see:

1. Darth Vader (his line has been consistently an hour or longer)
2. Chewbacca and Ewok (another very high demand character)
3. Princess Leia
4. C3PO
5. R2D2
6. Shaak Ti
7. Kit Fisto
8. Asajj Ventress
9. Captain Rex
10. Jango Fett
11. Darth Goofy
12. Jedi Mickey
Street Roamers
13. Gamorrian Guard
14. Storm Troopers
15. Tuskan Raiders
16. Zam Wessel
 
Of course Chewbacca and the Ewoks are under great demand. They are the cutest. This from someone who has never seen a single Star Wars movie.:confused3
 
My son Loren has an allergy to the perfume sent of the clothes soap. It will cause his to have horrible mood swings. He is normally the most gentle person but if he is around something with a huge perfume smell for any length of time he reacts. So I am careful with him. Another great use for dryer sheets is they make great dust clothes!


That is a huge difference!!

What detergent can you use? Anakin won't wear freshly washed clothing because it smells funny. After a couple days of hanging in his closet he is ok with them.

Congrats to Grumpy!

Thanks!!
 
Of course Chewbacca and the Ewoks are under great demand. They are the cutest. This from someone who has never seen a single Star Wars movie.:confused3

They are cute!! You have never seen a single Star Wars movie?! If you ever feel inclined to check one out, I would suggest Episode I The Phantom Menace. It introduces you to a young Anakin Skywalker who will one day become Darth Vader.
 

There were some guests dressed up. They were heading the same direction as us. When they came to the Fetts, they just popped in and quickly had their own little M&G. All the people waiting the 30 minutes to see the Fetts just kind of watched as this group went ahead of them all. Even the cm looked stunned, but didn't say anything. (I don't think they were a MAW group, they didn't have any buttons, didn't show anything, just walked right up to the character.)

Goofy declared quietly, "Looks like they discovered how to avoid the wait."


How strange.:confused:

Goofy has wanted a Star Wars costume for as long as I can remember. He is determined to be in costume for C6. Today a package arrived in the mail...







costumes.jpg


I love that picture!! They look awesome!

.

We were quite satisfied with the room when we got there. We were placed in building 7. This is the only building with an interior entrance for the rooms and an elevator.

The room was very spacious.

Lr2.jpg


Lr1.jpg


Kit.jpg


Kittvbr.jpg


Bathroom1.jpg


Bathroom2.jpg


Closet.jpg


Some exterior pictures

Gazebo.jpg


Sand.jpg


Palmspool.jpg


The pros and cons

The pros:

1. The staff was very friendly. Disney could take lessons from them on friendliness. I was truely surprised by how wonderful they all were.

2. It was very clean. There wasn't a spec of dust or fingerprint to be found on any of the surfaces, except the dishwasher which was very clean on the inside, but not so clean on the outside. All the drawers were immaculate inside.

3. There is a garbage disposal!

4. The bathroom is large.

5. The living area has comfortable seating.

6. The full size refrigerator with full size freezer!!

7. Free continental breakfast and coffee/tea through out the day. Breakfast included waffles, premade eggs, bagels, muffins, packets of hot cereal, cold cereal in dispensers, flavored creamers, canned fruit salad no fresh fruit, bread for toast, toasters, microwave, apple juice, orange juice, lemonade, packets of syrup, pats of butter and margarine, packets of jelly, packs of cream cheese.

8. The kitchen has pots/pans, utensils, sharp knife, cutting board, glasses, mugs, plates, ice cube tray, 1 "flipper/spatula".

9. Plenty of towels. Also they had their own towels for the pool at the pool.

10. Parking is near the room

11. Convenient to I-4.

12. Eating places near by, Charlies Steak and Sea Food, Wendy's, Subway, Golden Corale, Kobe, Boston Lobster Fest.

Cons:

1. Only 2 very small trash cans in the room with the only large trash can I could find being the one at the pool.

2. You could hear passing traffic on I-4, the rooms were not sound proof and you could hear all your neighbors. The windows are single pain, so you could hear anyone outside talking, even in normal voices. We were in the furthest building and could still hear the people in the pool. We were on the first floor and could hear any foot traffic above us as the ceiling made creaking noises.

3. There was an odd smell through the air vents. It wasn't mold. It smelled almost like CLR cleaning products and stale coffee.

4. You must wear your wristband to swim in the pool or eat breakfast. If you lose your wristband you must pay for it.

5. Upkeep of wear and tear on furniture and fixtures wasn't as good as Disney. For example, the window upstairs above our room had a crack in it. Our TV cabinet had a huge chunk of wood missing from the side. Sidewalks weren't swept clean like Disney does daily.

6. Twice housekeeping knocked on our door around 10:40am on check out day to see if we left yet. We still had the do not disturb magnet on the door, but they disturbed.


The room looks quite nice. So much bigger than most of the rooms on property!

I like your pros and con list
Since The Palms has the same AAA rating as Disney's value resorts and we stay at Pop century the most I thought I'd make some comparisons.

1. The smallest villas at the Palms Hotel and Villas are 585 sq ft. Pop is 260 sq ft.

2. Full size refrigerator vs mini fridge.

3. All rooms are within a close proximity to the office and the pool vs some rooms are quite a hike.

4. Both you hear people walking past the room.

5. Eco bath products vs H2O bath products

6. Towels at pool vs bring your room towels to pool.

7. Delayed upkeep vs continuous upkeep

8. Free continental breakfast vs food court for breakfast, lunch and supper $$

9. Complimentary coffee/tea throughout day vs complimentary refills with purchased mug.

10. Excellent customer service vs excellent customer service

11. Timed shuttle to the parks vs continous bus service to the parks.

12. Theme park tickets to Disney, Sea World, Universal sold at motel vs Disney theme park tickets only.

13. Asked to go to a time share presentation vs DVC stand in lobby

14. House keeping knocking on the door before check out time vs housekeeping knocking on the door before check out time. (This is a HUGE pet peeve of Goofy)

15. Free parking pass required vs free parking pass required

16. Wristbands required for pool and breakfast, fee if they are lost vs 3 pools available for swimming

17. Not themed vs Disney themed

I like this comparison as well. :thumbsup2


BTW, I am very lucky to have a little princess to enjoy all the princess stuff Disney has to offer... but all the SWW stuff... I totally get left out of. Looks like a lot of fun for your guys!
 
He's taking a humanities elective (some kind of history maybe late Roman?), speech, etc. The history class had college comp as a PR, good thing he took that this spring for free as a dual enrollment class!!

We are continuing with Abeka. If you order from a meeting it's free shipping. It's a bit of a drive, but shipping is 10% of book costs so it's a saving. As he finishes that curriculum, we add supplemental material from other curriculums.

He is far ahead in math and science, but will need to really brush up on writing and reading over summer.

Several museums in the area have homeschool classes, so he will be going to a class or two a week.

I used A Beka in the 80s and loved that curriculum. It gave my four kids an excellent foundation. I'm sure it is an even better program today. Glad to see you are using it.
 
What detergent can you use? Anakin won't wear freshly washed clothing because it smells funny. After a couple days of hanging in his closet he is ok with them.



Thanks!!


I use fresh and clear detergents. All has a good one and so does Purex. I like the new Purex one that comes in the little baggy that you just throw in the washer. Then the kids don't use too much soap. I understand not liking that smell, and honestly since we started using detergent that doesn't smell I totally dislike going down the detergent aisle at the store. It really overwhelms me.

They are cute!! You have never seen a single Star Wars movie?! If you ever feel inclined to check one out, I would suggest Episode I The Phantom Menace. It introduces you to a young Anakin Skywalker who will one day become Darth Vader.

Never! I didn't see the first ones because I was a teenager when they started and well my interests were elsewhere. By the time I might have been interested I was so far behind I was afraid to start.:rotfl: Do you ever watch Big Bang Theory? The snobbery of Star Trek versus Star Wars is hilarious to me.
 
How strange.:confused:

It was strange, lol. So many people don't notice that queue because it goes around the building, maybe they just missed it.


I love that picture!! They look awesome!

Thanks!!




The room looks quite nice. So much bigger than most of the rooms on property!

It was a nice big room!

I like your pros and con list

Thanks!


I like this comparison as well. :thumbsup2

Thanks!


BTW, I am very lucky to have a little princess to enjoy all the princess stuff Disney has to offer... but all the SWW stuff... I totally get left out of. Looks like a lot of fun for your guys!

You are blessed indeed!

SWW stuff is great because it's something we can all do as a family. I'm as much of a fan as they.

I used A Beka in the 80s and loved that curriculum. It gave my four kids an excellent foundation. I'm sure it is an even better program today. Glad to see you are using it.

Did you use Abeka all the way through 12th?

I like the phonics based reading. Our public schools use more of a whole word approach.

Congratulations to the graduate!!!!!

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Thanks!! He is excited! Instead of a party, he opted to go to his grandparents for a visit. Which actually means fishing every day and ends with a giant fish fry, though much of the fish gets smoked or baked too. It's a drop in type of thing where friends and family pop in through out the day. It's alot of fun, we were there the last 2 years, but it was just too much stimulation for Anakin all day. He ended up inside with me watching the Disney channel to get away from all the people.

I use fresh and clear detergents. All has a good one and so does Purex. I like the new Purex one that comes in the little baggy that you just throw in the washer. Then the kids don't use too much soap. I understand not liking that smell, and honestly since we started using detergent that doesn't smell I totally dislike going down the detergent aisle at the store. It really overwhelms me.

Anakin too. He hates that isle and gets a headache instantly!



Never! I didn't see the first ones because I was a teenager when they started and well my interests were elsewhere. By the time I might have been interested I was so far behind I was afraid to start.:rotfl: Do you ever watch Big Bang Theory? The snobbery of Star Trek versus Star Wars is hilarious to me.

I have never seen the Big Bang Theory. Maybe I'll have to check it out. And it is true there is that snobbery at SWW too. I saw a couple Trekkies who were braving it with Star Trek shirts. I like both Star Wars and Star Trek.
 













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