Finally the day arrived when we were to leave. Here is a little background for our trip. This was my DH and I 30th trip! We were leaving our DS who is 17 home due to school, chess tournaments, (they won the South Jersey HS Championship while we were in Disney) and he is on the HS Swim Team so he had to stay home. But don't feel too bad for him, the day before we left he passed his driver's test and the week before that we bought him a new car....so hmmmmmmm....he enjoyed staying home this time! His grand parents live 2 streets over so he went to gramma's to eat and etc.
We did decide a year ago to take our best friend's, Tom and Kathy with us. They had a rough year last year, their son had undergone a stem cell transplant for Non-Hodgekin's and they needed a vacation. He is now in remission and graduating from La Salle in May! So we treated them to the plane fare, their room and some dinners, another one of our friend's bought them a 7 day Plus Hopper, so this trip was affordable to them!
We told them we were staying at the Coronado since we couldn't get a good deal on rooms at the BC. (We secretly did and got 2 rooms with Concierge at the BC!) Thanks to a little help from a special CM! They had been to WDW before but never with a Disney Queen Expert!!! Their description not mine! We began counting down the days in Jan.
Finally......Feb. 7th arrives. We are leaving on Spirit from AC and the days before they predicted we might get a lot of snow on Thursday morning...great!!!! However, it went north and missed us so no delays! We got to the airport 2 1/2 hours early and had a great time sitting and talking waiting to depart. An uneventful smooth flight. We arrived in Orlando to cloudy weather high in the 60's.
Kathy and I went to pick out a car in Emarld Aisle and found a great white Van, a Silhouette, that was perfect! Our guys came with the luggage and off we went. Our rate for 7 dyas was $157.00. Total!!!!
We told our guests that we had to stop at the BC to pick up tickets our friend, the CM, had left for us. When we pulled up we told the guard we weren't checking in, we were staying at the Coronando but we needed to stop at BC so he told us to pull right up. We kept this up all the way until we got inside and then my DH took them on a tour of the BC while I went to check-in, they still did not have a clue! Check-in was smooth, 2 connecting rooms, Concierge, full balconies right by the elevators! Oh, I forgot to mention, I am having a second knee surgery next week so walking was very difficult this trip! I tried to get as close to the elevators as posssible and we did!
By the time I got checked in.....10 minutes total, I went to look for them. Art Link was there, for those of you who watched the Travel Channel on the BC he is the greeter! He remembered us and promptly saluted us! We then told our Tom and Kathy that we had some good news and bad news, first the bad news...we wouldn't be staying at hte Coronado...because we are staying at the BC instead!!!! At this we all started screaming and jumping up and down and hugging each other! It was quite a site but hey, we were in Disney!
Needless to say they were quite impressed with the BC. We had our rooms ready since they knew we were coming and they held our rooms for us..our friend the CM, so no one had them the night before. By now it was 10AM and we started to unpack. THe guys got dressed in their swim suits and high-tailed it to the BC Hottub. However the skies decide to open up right then and there and it POURED!!!! It rained so hard it was funny! They stilled stayed in the hot tub.
We finished unpacking and the temp was now in the mid 70's but muggy and rainy. We decided to go to the Concierge lounge for snacks. We met my sister and her husband who are living in Florida during the winter. They are retired and have a MotorHome that they travel around in. They met us in Concierge at noon. Of course we saw all our old CM's from Conciege who have become our fiends and they all asked where our DS was. We told them this was an adult trip only this time!
After visiting with everyone and having some snacks we donned our yellow Mickey Raincoats and headed off to EPCOT while my DS and her husband stayed behind. We had given them a card to our room and they went to the shops etc.
My DH and I had Annual Pass Vouchers so we exchanged them and got our new 2002 Pass sleeves. We asked specifically to have Minnie on my Pass and Mickey on my DH! Then we went to Norway for the Lunch Buffet. It was great and we used our AP for a 10% lunch Discount. Bu then it was 3 PM and started to turn Windy and cool but it stopped pouring and was only drizzling. We walked around the WS and ended up in Canada and we listened to Off Kilter, they are so good! We made it back to our rooms to change for dinner and drinks in the Concierge. Now, I love the finger foods they have in there and I definetly can make a meal on them. So can Kathy and since we had just eaten a buffet lunch our DH's did too! My sister and her husband came with us to the Conciege and we once again sat and talked and just enjoyed each other's company. But by 6 PM we decided to head back to EPCOT. That is what is so nice about staying at the BC!
It had stoppped raining but now it was windy and cold! We wore jeans and sweatshirts and a jacket! We went to visit the AP lounge in The Land! They let us take in 1 guest each. My sister and her husband did not join us in EPCOT, they left to go back to where they were staying. We really enjoyed the lounge took tons of Pics, will post them on my Yahoo Website soon!
They had a Water Cooler there, great furniture, leather couches and chairs, a special place for children, games to play, TV's, VCR's and FAX Machine and soda dispensers cookies and then the Characters came in! Mickey, Pluto, CHip and Dale! It was a great time to relax!
We then did the Listen to the Land Ride and Food Rocks and then went to Mexico and did the Boat ride and Norway and then we picked out a nice bench in front of Norway to watch TOD Parade. They loved it! Then we went to Italy to find the special viewing area for AP holders. It was to the left and they had benches all along the water and a wrought Iron fench so we sat down and waited. It was very empty that night! They let us bring our fiends in but if it gets crowded they said they wouldn't allow it. So we sat and shivered, it was COLD!!!!! But finally it started and it was great as always! We walked slowly back to the BC enjoying the night and then we went to the Concierge for Cordials and desserts! What a lovely first day.
We got back to the room to find our pillows fluffed up with sheets turned down and chocolates left! It is nice to have triple sheeting and fresh towels each night! We went to sleep dreaming of Mickey that night!
Stay tuned for Day 2!
We did decide a year ago to take our best friend's, Tom and Kathy with us. They had a rough year last year, their son had undergone a stem cell transplant for Non-Hodgekin's and they needed a vacation. He is now in remission and graduating from La Salle in May! So we treated them to the plane fare, their room and some dinners, another one of our friend's bought them a 7 day Plus Hopper, so this trip was affordable to them!
We told them we were staying at the Coronado since we couldn't get a good deal on rooms at the BC. (We secretly did and got 2 rooms with Concierge at the BC!) Thanks to a little help from a special CM! They had been to WDW before but never with a Disney Queen Expert!!! Their description not mine! We began counting down the days in Jan.
Finally......Feb. 7th arrives. We are leaving on Spirit from AC and the days before they predicted we might get a lot of snow on Thursday morning...great!!!! However, it went north and missed us so no delays! We got to the airport 2 1/2 hours early and had a great time sitting and talking waiting to depart. An uneventful smooth flight. We arrived in Orlando to cloudy weather high in the 60's.
Kathy and I went to pick out a car in Emarld Aisle and found a great white Van, a Silhouette, that was perfect! Our guys came with the luggage and off we went. Our rate for 7 dyas was $157.00. Total!!!!
We told our guests that we had to stop at the BC to pick up tickets our friend, the CM, had left for us. When we pulled up we told the guard we weren't checking in, we were staying at the Coronando but we needed to stop at BC so he told us to pull right up. We kept this up all the way until we got inside and then my DH took them on a tour of the BC while I went to check-in, they still did not have a clue! Check-in was smooth, 2 connecting rooms, Concierge, full balconies right by the elevators! Oh, I forgot to mention, I am having a second knee surgery next week so walking was very difficult this trip! I tried to get as close to the elevators as posssible and we did!
By the time I got checked in.....10 minutes total, I went to look for them. Art Link was there, for those of you who watched the Travel Channel on the BC he is the greeter! He remembered us and promptly saluted us! We then told our Tom and Kathy that we had some good news and bad news, first the bad news...we wouldn't be staying at hte Coronado...because we are staying at the BC instead!!!! At this we all started screaming and jumping up and down and hugging each other! It was quite a site but hey, we were in Disney!
Needless to say they were quite impressed with the BC. We had our rooms ready since they knew we were coming and they held our rooms for us..our friend the CM, so no one had them the night before. By now it was 10AM and we started to unpack. THe guys got dressed in their swim suits and high-tailed it to the BC Hottub. However the skies decide to open up right then and there and it POURED!!!! It rained so hard it was funny! They stilled stayed in the hot tub.
We finished unpacking and the temp was now in the mid 70's but muggy and rainy. We decided to go to the Concierge lounge for snacks. We met my sister and her husband who are living in Florida during the winter. They are retired and have a MotorHome that they travel around in. They met us in Concierge at noon. Of course we saw all our old CM's from Conciege who have become our fiends and they all asked where our DS was. We told them this was an adult trip only this time!
After visiting with everyone and having some snacks we donned our yellow Mickey Raincoats and headed off to EPCOT while my DS and her husband stayed behind. We had given them a card to our room and they went to the shops etc.
My DH and I had Annual Pass Vouchers so we exchanged them and got our new 2002 Pass sleeves. We asked specifically to have Minnie on my Pass and Mickey on my DH! Then we went to Norway for the Lunch Buffet. It was great and we used our AP for a 10% lunch Discount. Bu then it was 3 PM and started to turn Windy and cool but it stopped pouring and was only drizzling. We walked around the WS and ended up in Canada and we listened to Off Kilter, they are so good! We made it back to our rooms to change for dinner and drinks in the Concierge. Now, I love the finger foods they have in there and I definetly can make a meal on them. So can Kathy and since we had just eaten a buffet lunch our DH's did too! My sister and her husband came with us to the Conciege and we once again sat and talked and just enjoyed each other's company. But by 6 PM we decided to head back to EPCOT. That is what is so nice about staying at the BC!
It had stoppped raining but now it was windy and cold! We wore jeans and sweatshirts and a jacket! We went to visit the AP lounge in The Land! They let us take in 1 guest each. My sister and her husband did not join us in EPCOT, they left to go back to where they were staying. We really enjoyed the lounge took tons of Pics, will post them on my Yahoo Website soon!
They had a Water Cooler there, great furniture, leather couches and chairs, a special place for children, games to play, TV's, VCR's and FAX Machine and soda dispensers cookies and then the Characters came in! Mickey, Pluto, CHip and Dale! It was a great time to relax!
We then did the Listen to the Land Ride and Food Rocks and then went to Mexico and did the Boat ride and Norway and then we picked out a nice bench in front of Norway to watch TOD Parade. They loved it! Then we went to Italy to find the special viewing area for AP holders. It was to the left and they had benches all along the water and a wrought Iron fench so we sat down and waited. It was very empty that night! They let us bring our fiends in but if it gets crowded they said they wouldn't allow it. So we sat and shivered, it was COLD!!!!! But finally it started and it was great as always! We walked slowly back to the BC enjoying the night and then we went to the Concierge for Cordials and desserts! What a lovely first day.
We got back to the room to find our pillows fluffed up with sheets turned down and chocolates left! It is nice to have triple sheeting and fresh towels each night! We went to sleep dreaming of Mickey that night!
Stay tuned for Day 2!
Question--how did you get such a great rental car rate? I'm embarassed to say what I payed for my 10 day rental through Emerald Aisle. 
