Escape from Irene...just in time!

[DMKEDM]

Arrived at BWV around 1:30 this afternoon (Sat)...left Washington, DC at 10:10 (within five minutes of on time leaving and arriving)...got a "perfect" villa (SV studio), which was ready when I checked in, too!...it's right next to the door out to the quiet pool on one side of the hallway, and right next to the door out to the bus stop on the other side of the hallway...ground floor request granted, too...couldn't be happier...room is in great shape...

My traveling companions ("almost daughter" and 2 "almost grandkids"-- hereinafter called DD and DGD (8) and DGS (5) for simplicity sake!) took a 12:50 flight out of Baltimore, and theirs was the last flight to leave...every other flight out after that one was canceled...talk about cutting it close!

It started thunder-storming here about 30 minutes after I got settled in my room--but it's not "Irene rain;" it's just normal August afternoon t-storms in FL...it's over now, delightfully cool (which should last for 15 minutes or so!) and we're SO happy to be here.

DD and kids are settling in now...not sure what we'll do next...talking about ambling over to Epcot to eat at France and visit the World Showcase...a good place to be while Irene is pounding the heck out of the home front!

We're here for 6 glorious days...SO happy...will check in periodically...happy to answer any questions and if I could post pix I would, but I don't know how! Gotta learn how to do that...TRs w/out pix are nowhere near as much fun as the ones that have pix!

 

[MrsBanks]

We just left BCV last night after a 9 day trip, made it home (to Jersey) at about 2 am. House, inside & out, is secure. Picked up a little food and supplies this morning. Now just waiting to ride out the storm.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[spiceycat]

your vacation will be fine - it is always returning home that is the problem....

have a great time.

you know you can post to this boards (I think)
http://www.wdwinfo.com/pictures.htm

 

[jgdsoarin]

Glad your flight made it out okay. I'd sure like to be in Orlando today! We're in Central Virginia and the weather today has been frightful! Heavy rain and lots of strong wind gusts all day. It's supposed to kick up even harder this evening. This is one huge storm!! Lots of trees down and power outages. Everyone stay safe!

 

[Disney Princess]

Glad you made it out before the delays. I hope you enjoy your time away!

 

[BUDDYBEAR]

HAVE A GREAT TIME

 

[jekjones1558]

OP, sounds like all the stars are lining up for you on this trip. Have a magical time!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I'm glad you made it and are having a great time!

DH traveled home from TX today, I'm happy he wasn't flying in the area of the storm.

 

[DizDays]

It sounds like this is going to be a great trip for you! Enjoy every minute. To all the other posters at home and in the effects of Irene, stay safe and be careful. Irene is nothing to mess with.

 

[DMKEDM]

Happy Sunday morning to all...looks like NYC (and points north of DC) are getting their turn with Irene pummeling this morning...our thoughts & prayers are with you!

Haven't heard about how the house & dog fared during the worst of the storm overnight last night at home...and am thinking "no news is good news." I'm sure there's no power at my house...I have gotten email from some neighbors who used their cell phones to report power outages...but am presuming (hoping) that no cell phone call or email from the folks staying at my house w/my dog would have called had a tree fallen on the house or something worse than the widespread no power happened...so I'm deciding to put a hold on worry and just get out and enjoy WDW...

DD and the kids just woke up about 30 minutes ago...they will text when they're ready to start the day...no idea what they're going to want to do--but I'll be it'll be Magic Kingdom (the kids are 8 and 5 and can talk about nothing but Toy Story (we're too late for that--fast passes over there will be for late afternoon by now, I'm sure) or Buzz Lightyear...so, we'll see...

Everything here at the Boardwalk is just great...had a refreshing hour-long exercise swim in the quiet pool this morning...strolled the Boardwalk (and got a cinnamin roll, thereby "killing" the dietetic benefit of the swim!) for 30 minutes, and am now just waiting for Christie & the kids to be ready...should be any minute now...

Happy day to all...and thoughts & prayers to the folks along the eastern seaboard, whether in "clean-up mode" in DC south or in "coping/riding it out mode" from Baltimore on north...

Dani

 

[ajf1007]

Good Morning! Glad you made it out in the nick of time. We're here in PA and they were canceling all afternoon flights out. Made it through the storm, it was a long night as they were also calling for tornado warnings too. Thankfully, all went well, now we just have quite a bit of debris to pick up on the lawn!

Enjoy your vacation and I hope you have a great time! Nothing like waking up in WDW and wondering what to do and where to go! Atleast your swim compensated for your cinnamon bun, I always think, I go to the gym so I can eat a cinnamon bun when I want!

Have a great day with the family!

 

[DMKEDM]

I'm so excited! This might actually be worth its own thread--I just found an amazing shortcut from the "furthest reaches" down those loooong hallways at the BWV!!

The very last villa (closest to the Studios) is 1136...at about 1121/1123 there are two doors on either side of the hallway...one goes out to the front of the Boardwalk; the other to the far end (closest to the Studios) of the side where the quiet pool and community hall are.

The "front door" puts you on a (short) path to the front of the resort, directly across the road from the bus stop (the park buses)...it cuts the walk from the bus stop back to the villa by at least half--maybe more!

I cannot believe how many times I've been to BWV (including in villas on that wing) and hadn't discovered this short cut til now...and had never read about it before either.

Hope it is useful to anyone/everyone down that wing.

Of course, it's not all that helpful for those on the 4th floor (unless they don't mind stairs) as it's quite far (about as far as you can get!) from the elevators! But if you're on the ground floor or second floor (or if you don't mind stairs), it's a much shorter walk to/from the buses!!

We're having a great time...spent today at Epcot...rode Soarin, Nemo, did Turtle Talk, Spaceship Earth and Innoventions...ate at Four Seasons...then came back for some pool time and then headed to Downtown Disney for Wolfgang Puck Express, checking out the new Legos store (it's great), and our 8-year-old princess adored Little Mismatched!

Now, I'm pleasantly tired...heard from the folks back home and the worry level is now waaaay down...there was minimal hurricane damage...one big downed tree limb, but it fell on the driveway rather than on the house (and one of my neighbors, bless him, dragged it to the curb for me)...lost power for 12 hours, but half of that was overnight (it went out, they told me, around 1:30 a.m. and was restored at 1:35 p.m.)...not so bad...my dog is fine, being showered w/love from various neighbors, friends and his new "dog nanny"...

All is well in my world...I'm one happy camper! And still have 4 glorious days at WDW ahead of me. Life is good.

Hope Irene treated everyone else here as lightly as it treated us! And hope our Dis friends benefit from the short cut as we have done. (Of course, you all may have known about it "forever"...but for me, it's an amazing "find"...I'm really excited to have found it!)

Dani