lenshanem
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2002
- Messages
- 8,930
OK, Im finally getting around to a trip report!
7/17 - 7/25/04
VacationEars - Me, my girls - 6 and 3 1/2, my Mom, Dad and younger brother (Hubby stayed home and worked.)
First night drove straight down in two cars from Atlanta. Made terrible time, my Dad was slow Stayed at Holiday Nikki Bird. My Dad works for Holiday Inn and we got an employee rate of $29 a night. Older hotel, rooms were decent, location so close! We decided to drive over that night to DTD and eat at Wolfgang Puck Express. This time I remembered to use my DVC discount! Lasagna is very good there.
Next, four nights at BCV -
Ill start with the bad, then end on the good
After starting a new autograph book at Chef Mickeys breakfast, my youngest then promptly lost it while we were unloading our car at BC. She left it on a bench and then it vanished. It was never turned in. UGH, but for a 3 year old she handled it well.
(Putting on flame retardant suit .) We had two studios that I booked eleven months out. My only request was for them to be close. Although our rooms werent ready (Id say it was around noon.) the CM assured us we were on the same hall very near each other. After a jaunt to MGM we came back and discovered our studios were on different halls, each near the end. Not close at all! I am sure we were bumped. My Dad was angry, which got me a little upset. He is sensitive to this kind of stuff since he has worked in the hotel industry since I was a baby. I called down and was put on hold for THIRTY minutes, only for them to come back and say they couldnt do anything. Oh, well. I know requests arent guaranteed, but the CM told us we were very close. Guess it could have been further. It just would have been nice to have Mom close by to help with the girls. Once I got into the room I was stuck. Lesson learned, even if I have to borrow points get the two bedroom with them. Moving on
I was in 261, dedicated and very close to the service road and that mysterious oval??? Road noise never bothered us, though. Disappointing view after we just got back from a BW view the month before. The girls sat on the balcony every day at BWV, never once at BCV. Only things that needed attention to in my room were a light cover missing over the bathroom sink area in the ceiling, a hole in the carpet by the door and the coffee table paint was peeling around the edges.
My family was in a lockoff with a larger balcony and a view of some water pipes. Entry area was also larger with a mirror. Their room was definitely more worn in, both the coffee table and bed table looked TERRIBLE. I cant believe they havent pulled them out. Paint peeling or worn off on the top of each of them.
EDIT TO ADD - Both studios were non smoking and non handicap accessible.
CMs arent as wonderful as they are at BWV in my opinion. It seemed like many needed an attitude booster. For instance, one night my Mom went to guest services to pick up Luau tickets. The CM told her he didnt want to give them to her cause she would just lose them! Course, Mom took offense and then had to go back again the very next morning to pick them up for that night. And where is Art the greeter? I always hear about him and see him on shows, but after two trips there we still have yet to meet him. Is he still there?
BUSES! EGADS!!! Just go ahead and shoot me! Always a long wait, HOT and crowded, usually standing room only. I saw one man FLIP OUT cause they had been waiting at BB with a crying baby for an hour before a bus came and then it was too full to take hardly anyone. Why did we even go there then? Bus driver was not apologetic, either. Might be a deluxe hotel, but not deluxe service. Weve had much better transportation at the values and mods. Add some buses or get some dedicated ones. Ridiculous! We did see a woman with a clipboard a couple mornings. Gosh, I hope they get it fixed cause we heard lots of complaining by everyone.
We took our own tubes to SAB. I bought 36 inch translucent tubes at Target. We were told we couldnt use them, but the entire trip kept seeing people with all kinds of floats. Oh, well again. (A nice CM did let us borrow a noodle and keep a float rental out for a few hours for the one hour price.) Never was asked to show resort IDs. Are they not doing this anymore?
Beaches and Cream, why dont they expand it into the arcade? It is just too busy. I also got a little attitude when I asked for fruit instead of a cookie for my daughter who is allergic to nuts. Told me theyd do it that time, but never again. OK
On to the GOOD, GOOD, GOOD
I thought BCV was actually in beautiful shape. They must really be working on it. I saw painters in the hall every day. The building looked good, grounds and quiet pool looked very nice. My room with the few exceptions looked very clean and well maintained. It must have been freshened up recently. No marks on the walls or anything. Everything was stocked correctly and trash and towel day went off without a hitch, as was my familys room. Their room looked clean, but just maybe hadnt been attended to yet as far as paint, etc.
I thought the BC side looked worse. We noticed a beer bottle in a walkway and a few days later it was still lying there. BCV is really pretty and we had a great time at SAB. My oldest must have gone down the big slide fifty times at least. I went down it twice, I was surprised at how fast it goes! We had some rainy days, but went anyway. (Very odd weather first few days, rainy and NOT hot!) Where else can you swim in a sandy bottom pool watching fireworks every night? (Hint - you can see the high Illuminations fireworks over by the waterfall near the lazy river.) Love that whole Epcot resort atmosphere. Just so nice. Love how we can park our cars so close to the villas. It made getting to the other resorts much easier for PSs. (Forget taking a bus!) I really love VWL, love BWV, but I must admit my home resort at BCV is pretty darn nice, too despite the troubles. Even though a couple things irritated me, we had a lovely time there.
PSs
Chef Mickeys breakfast - Good as always, chefs always super accommodating and understanding of my daughters peanut allergy. They even had chocolate soy milk for my other daughter who is mildly allergic to milk. This has become a tradition for us, we always either start or end our trip here.
Magical Fireworks Voyage - FAB, FAB, FAB!!! I hooked up with pooh.kim, another DISer to meet the required minimum of eight. (Thank you Kim!) Her family was very nice and her daughter very cute! I had been worried about the weather and it started off a little rocky - they were unprepared for my daughter and had nothing safe there for her to eat at the dessert buffet. (I had called so many times before, too ) Finally, a cute girl went over to Chef Mickeys and brought back ice cream and some donuts. By this point, it was time to leave for the boat ride anyway. Great pirate guide, saw Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes, both with music piped in. We sang songs, played trivia and he gave away prizes to all the kids. Wishes was beautiful from the lake. We got to see Captain Hook and Mr. Smee during dessert and then Peter Pan was waiting for us back at the dock after Wishes! Wonderful time. We even got cool trading pins and the girls got books. TWO BIG THUMBS UP.
Cape May Café Clam Bake - I was a little worried about this one. They would never return my messages when I tried to call about all my familys food allergies. (We have numerous ones besides my daughters.) I was worried for nothing. EXCELLENT meal. Staff friendly, chefs accommodating, food great. They even went and got my daughters a popsicle.
Spirit of Aloha Polynesian Luau - We had a problem on the way walking in (Ill mention that later.), but it was handled very well. Food was good, chef was helpful since my Dad couldnt eat the prepared food due to mushrooms and show was nice. I think my family liked it better than me. I didnt care for the new modern twist they have put on it. I remember the old show and liked it better. Still, my daughters enjoyed it and the fire twirler was incredible. Hoop Dee Doo much better in my opinion.
Teppanyaki lunch - Nice service, food was good, but we lacked a fun chef. He cooked and was then quickly on his merry way. He was nice, but just didnt do anything special. Unfortunately the table beside us had a really entertaining chef and that was disappointing to my daughters. Probably wont go here again, we have more fun at the two Japanese steakhouses by our house and for less money.
Hoop Dee Doo - After we had already checked out of BCV and were staying back at Holiday Inn Nikki Bird we decided last minute to call and see if we could get into Hoop Dee Doo for our last night in Orlando. We must have got a cancellation cause there was an opening for the middle show, less than two hours away. We quickly went over and my girls promptly got picked to open the show and they gave us a photo. Our table was down front. Weve done this show before and as always enjoyed it. Food is pretty good and my oldest laughed so hard I thought she was going to cry. This was a great age for her to see it. Nice ending to our trip. Afterwards we walked down to the dock and watched the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes while my youngest played in the sand.
And now the ODDS and ends
I guess the big odd was on the way to the Luau. My Mom was holding my youngest and tripped on the sidewalk at the Poly. Hard fall, dropping my daughter on the back of the head and then falling on top of her. Very traumatic. Nice big THUD. A lifeguard was walking by and took us into the lifeguard office, helping us out. My Mom was hysterical. We decided to call the paramedics. They came very quickly and assured us she would be fine, although to call that night if I saw any problems. It is AMAZING she didnt have a concussion. Turns out my Mom was much worse off, but we were so worried about my daughter. My Mom hurt her chin, arms and knees. They brought both my daughters big stuffed Mickeys and then gave us a ride in a golf cart up to the Luau where we arrived just in time. Afterwards they picked us up in the cart to take us back to our car, stopping on the sidewalk to let us watch Wishes. (That is a really nice view from there.) The Poly staff were very kind, Im sure they have to be cause of our sue happy society.
Last day I left my hubbys NICE camera and my sunglasses in the hanging bag on Dinosaur. I was so amazed my youngest wanted to ride it a second time that I just totally forgot about it! (Meanwhile, my oldest is scared to even be in the gift shop! Go figure! Thank goodness for child swap!) As soon as I walked out the shop I remembered it and my heart sunk. I ran back and was told Id have to wait, there are sixteen vehicles running. It took two hours before a kind soul turned it in. I was so worried about my film, which was only short a couple pics and telling hubby I lost his camera! The park was about to close and I thought I was going to have to send my family away while I waited for them to make a run through the ride and wait for items to be turned into guest services, basically an hour after park closing. Geez, while I was panicking I heard two other people reporting lost items. Must happen ALOT. One was a camcorder, the other a purse. I wonder why they dont remind you to take your valuables like they do on other rides?
We spent three nights back at the Holiday Inn Nikki Bird after checking out of BCV, both rooms again for $29 a night and this time it showed. The rooms were awful. We must have been in a newer section before. Still, cant beat $29! We slept, swam and went to Sea World. We were very impressed. The park was very clean and beautifully landscaped. Shows were fabulous, but you can easily do this park in one day, despite the free second day ticket you can get at their ticket window. (We had planned to come back, but had done everything by the end of the day.) They have a new night show. It was nice, but not Disney for sure. Looked like a mix of Wishes, IllumiNations and Fantasmic, but not quite as grand. Still, pretty nice though. So on that extra day we slept in, swam and then drove over to Celebration. Drove and drove and drove. Wow, some very beautiful houses in there! We really liked it!
Girls had a nice time with their Nana, Papa and uncle. Got to get another hair wrap and Papa bought them each a charm bracelet so they can add charms on it each time we visit WDW. I thought that was a really cute idea instead of buying junk every trip.
And copying from part of another post
We have a guest room where we keep all our Disney collectibles in. It is mostly older stuff that we accumulated before we had kids and we keep the door locked to keep them out as most is breakable.
I went to go put away a few things from our trip and three shelves had fallen while I was gone, breaking everything on them. I'm talking thousands and thousands of dollars. Things not replaceable such as snow globes we bought on our honeymoon at Disneyland Paris, etc. I could go on and on...
One odd thing is we had a really nice Alice print hanging next to the shelves and water from the snow globes managed to get inside it and ruin it and the wall. The shelves actually sliced the wall itself, too.
A bed is underneath the shelves and I'm pretty sure I'll just have to toss out all the bedding, there is so much glass. Plus, I had been sorting out some scrapbooks and they were laid out on the bed. Most are ruined. Hours of work!
I locked the door again and haven't been back in. It is heartbreaking. I know it sounds silly, but I'm sure many of you can relate unlike others.
THEN-
Turns out two rolls of my film got over developed from our trip. A little funny, cause I was so upset about the film when I left the camera on the Dinosaur ride. Oh, well!
Overall a nice trip, but very tiring. My oldest starts school next week and now hubby and I are trying to figure out a way to get a quick trip in with our AP ALONE. I dont think I can wait until our tenth anniversary trip in February. My youngest is a handful and Ive yet to be away from her. I think I really need a small break. Well see
Heres some pics...
My girls opening Hoop Dee Doo -
My oldest and I dancing away like dorks -
Mission Space Video
Me, Pirate "Patch", Mom and my girls on Magical Fireworks Voyage
Awesome BWV sunset picture, good for desktop!
7/17 - 7/25/04
VacationEars - Me, my girls - 6 and 3 1/2, my Mom, Dad and younger brother (Hubby stayed home and worked.)
First night drove straight down in two cars from Atlanta. Made terrible time, my Dad was slow Stayed at Holiday Nikki Bird. My Dad works for Holiday Inn and we got an employee rate of $29 a night. Older hotel, rooms were decent, location so close! We decided to drive over that night to DTD and eat at Wolfgang Puck Express. This time I remembered to use my DVC discount! Lasagna is very good there.
Next, four nights at BCV -
Ill start with the bad, then end on the good
After starting a new autograph book at Chef Mickeys breakfast, my youngest then promptly lost it while we were unloading our car at BC. She left it on a bench and then it vanished. It was never turned in. UGH, but for a 3 year old she handled it well.
(Putting on flame retardant suit .) We had two studios that I booked eleven months out. My only request was for them to be close. Although our rooms werent ready (Id say it was around noon.) the CM assured us we were on the same hall very near each other. After a jaunt to MGM we came back and discovered our studios were on different halls, each near the end. Not close at all! I am sure we were bumped. My Dad was angry, which got me a little upset. He is sensitive to this kind of stuff since he has worked in the hotel industry since I was a baby. I called down and was put on hold for THIRTY minutes, only for them to come back and say they couldnt do anything. Oh, well. I know requests arent guaranteed, but the CM told us we were very close. Guess it could have been further. It just would have been nice to have Mom close by to help with the girls. Once I got into the room I was stuck. Lesson learned, even if I have to borrow points get the two bedroom with them. Moving on
I was in 261, dedicated and very close to the service road and that mysterious oval??? Road noise never bothered us, though. Disappointing view after we just got back from a BW view the month before. The girls sat on the balcony every day at BWV, never once at BCV. Only things that needed attention to in my room were a light cover missing over the bathroom sink area in the ceiling, a hole in the carpet by the door and the coffee table paint was peeling around the edges.
My family was in a lockoff with a larger balcony and a view of some water pipes. Entry area was also larger with a mirror. Their room was definitely more worn in, both the coffee table and bed table looked TERRIBLE. I cant believe they havent pulled them out. Paint peeling or worn off on the top of each of them.
EDIT TO ADD - Both studios were non smoking and non handicap accessible.
CMs arent as wonderful as they are at BWV in my opinion. It seemed like many needed an attitude booster. For instance, one night my Mom went to guest services to pick up Luau tickets. The CM told her he didnt want to give them to her cause she would just lose them! Course, Mom took offense and then had to go back again the very next morning to pick them up for that night. And where is Art the greeter? I always hear about him and see him on shows, but after two trips there we still have yet to meet him. Is he still there?
BUSES! EGADS!!! Just go ahead and shoot me! Always a long wait, HOT and crowded, usually standing room only. I saw one man FLIP OUT cause they had been waiting at BB with a crying baby for an hour before a bus came and then it was too full to take hardly anyone. Why did we even go there then? Bus driver was not apologetic, either. Might be a deluxe hotel, but not deluxe service. Weve had much better transportation at the values and mods. Add some buses or get some dedicated ones. Ridiculous! We did see a woman with a clipboard a couple mornings. Gosh, I hope they get it fixed cause we heard lots of complaining by everyone.
We took our own tubes to SAB. I bought 36 inch translucent tubes at Target. We were told we couldnt use them, but the entire trip kept seeing people with all kinds of floats. Oh, well again. (A nice CM did let us borrow a noodle and keep a float rental out for a few hours for the one hour price.) Never was asked to show resort IDs. Are they not doing this anymore?
Beaches and Cream, why dont they expand it into the arcade? It is just too busy. I also got a little attitude when I asked for fruit instead of a cookie for my daughter who is allergic to nuts. Told me theyd do it that time, but never again. OK
On to the GOOD, GOOD, GOOD
I thought BCV was actually in beautiful shape. They must really be working on it. I saw painters in the hall every day. The building looked good, grounds and quiet pool looked very nice. My room with the few exceptions looked very clean and well maintained. It must have been freshened up recently. No marks on the walls or anything. Everything was stocked correctly and trash and towel day went off without a hitch, as was my familys room. Their room looked clean, but just maybe hadnt been attended to yet as far as paint, etc.
I thought the BC side looked worse. We noticed a beer bottle in a walkway and a few days later it was still lying there. BCV is really pretty and we had a great time at SAB. My oldest must have gone down the big slide fifty times at least. I went down it twice, I was surprised at how fast it goes! We had some rainy days, but went anyway. (Very odd weather first few days, rainy and NOT hot!) Where else can you swim in a sandy bottom pool watching fireworks every night? (Hint - you can see the high Illuminations fireworks over by the waterfall near the lazy river.) Love that whole Epcot resort atmosphere. Just so nice. Love how we can park our cars so close to the villas. It made getting to the other resorts much easier for PSs. (Forget taking a bus!) I really love VWL, love BWV, but I must admit my home resort at BCV is pretty darn nice, too despite the troubles. Even though a couple things irritated me, we had a lovely time there.
PSs
Chef Mickeys breakfast - Good as always, chefs always super accommodating and understanding of my daughters peanut allergy. They even had chocolate soy milk for my other daughter who is mildly allergic to milk. This has become a tradition for us, we always either start or end our trip here.
Magical Fireworks Voyage - FAB, FAB, FAB!!! I hooked up with pooh.kim, another DISer to meet the required minimum of eight. (Thank you Kim!) Her family was very nice and her daughter very cute! I had been worried about the weather and it started off a little rocky - they were unprepared for my daughter and had nothing safe there for her to eat at the dessert buffet. (I had called so many times before, too ) Finally, a cute girl went over to Chef Mickeys and brought back ice cream and some donuts. By this point, it was time to leave for the boat ride anyway. Great pirate guide, saw Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes, both with music piped in. We sang songs, played trivia and he gave away prizes to all the kids. Wishes was beautiful from the lake. We got to see Captain Hook and Mr. Smee during dessert and then Peter Pan was waiting for us back at the dock after Wishes! Wonderful time. We even got cool trading pins and the girls got books. TWO BIG THUMBS UP.
Cape May Café Clam Bake - I was a little worried about this one. They would never return my messages when I tried to call about all my familys food allergies. (We have numerous ones besides my daughters.) I was worried for nothing. EXCELLENT meal. Staff friendly, chefs accommodating, food great. They even went and got my daughters a popsicle.
Spirit of Aloha Polynesian Luau - We had a problem on the way walking in (Ill mention that later.), but it was handled very well. Food was good, chef was helpful since my Dad couldnt eat the prepared food due to mushrooms and show was nice. I think my family liked it better than me. I didnt care for the new modern twist they have put on it. I remember the old show and liked it better. Still, my daughters enjoyed it and the fire twirler was incredible. Hoop Dee Doo much better in my opinion.
Teppanyaki lunch - Nice service, food was good, but we lacked a fun chef. He cooked and was then quickly on his merry way. He was nice, but just didnt do anything special. Unfortunately the table beside us had a really entertaining chef and that was disappointing to my daughters. Probably wont go here again, we have more fun at the two Japanese steakhouses by our house and for less money.
Hoop Dee Doo - After we had already checked out of BCV and were staying back at Holiday Inn Nikki Bird we decided last minute to call and see if we could get into Hoop Dee Doo for our last night in Orlando. We must have got a cancellation cause there was an opening for the middle show, less than two hours away. We quickly went over and my girls promptly got picked to open the show and they gave us a photo. Our table was down front. Weve done this show before and as always enjoyed it. Food is pretty good and my oldest laughed so hard I thought she was going to cry. This was a great age for her to see it. Nice ending to our trip. Afterwards we walked down to the dock and watched the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes while my youngest played in the sand.
And now the ODDS and ends
I guess the big odd was on the way to the Luau. My Mom was holding my youngest and tripped on the sidewalk at the Poly. Hard fall, dropping my daughter on the back of the head and then falling on top of her. Very traumatic. Nice big THUD. A lifeguard was walking by and took us into the lifeguard office, helping us out. My Mom was hysterical. We decided to call the paramedics. They came very quickly and assured us she would be fine, although to call that night if I saw any problems. It is AMAZING she didnt have a concussion. Turns out my Mom was much worse off, but we were so worried about my daughter. My Mom hurt her chin, arms and knees. They brought both my daughters big stuffed Mickeys and then gave us a ride in a golf cart up to the Luau where we arrived just in time. Afterwards they picked us up in the cart to take us back to our car, stopping on the sidewalk to let us watch Wishes. (That is a really nice view from there.) The Poly staff were very kind, Im sure they have to be cause of our sue happy society.
Last day I left my hubbys NICE camera and my sunglasses in the hanging bag on Dinosaur. I was so amazed my youngest wanted to ride it a second time that I just totally forgot about it! (Meanwhile, my oldest is scared to even be in the gift shop! Go figure! Thank goodness for child swap!) As soon as I walked out the shop I remembered it and my heart sunk. I ran back and was told Id have to wait, there are sixteen vehicles running. It took two hours before a kind soul turned it in. I was so worried about my film, which was only short a couple pics and telling hubby I lost his camera! The park was about to close and I thought I was going to have to send my family away while I waited for them to make a run through the ride and wait for items to be turned into guest services, basically an hour after park closing. Geez, while I was panicking I heard two other people reporting lost items. Must happen ALOT. One was a camcorder, the other a purse. I wonder why they dont remind you to take your valuables like they do on other rides?
We spent three nights back at the Holiday Inn Nikki Bird after checking out of BCV, both rooms again for $29 a night and this time it showed. The rooms were awful. We must have been in a newer section before. Still, cant beat $29! We slept, swam and went to Sea World. We were very impressed. The park was very clean and beautifully landscaped. Shows were fabulous, but you can easily do this park in one day, despite the free second day ticket you can get at their ticket window. (We had planned to come back, but had done everything by the end of the day.) They have a new night show. It was nice, but not Disney for sure. Looked like a mix of Wishes, IllumiNations and Fantasmic, but not quite as grand. Still, pretty nice though. So on that extra day we slept in, swam and then drove over to Celebration. Drove and drove and drove. Wow, some very beautiful houses in there! We really liked it!
Girls had a nice time with their Nana, Papa and uncle. Got to get another hair wrap and Papa bought them each a charm bracelet so they can add charms on it each time we visit WDW. I thought that was a really cute idea instead of buying junk every trip.
And copying from part of another post
We have a guest room where we keep all our Disney collectibles in. It is mostly older stuff that we accumulated before we had kids and we keep the door locked to keep them out as most is breakable.
I went to go put away a few things from our trip and three shelves had fallen while I was gone, breaking everything on them. I'm talking thousands and thousands of dollars. Things not replaceable such as snow globes we bought on our honeymoon at Disneyland Paris, etc. I could go on and on...
One odd thing is we had a really nice Alice print hanging next to the shelves and water from the snow globes managed to get inside it and ruin it and the wall. The shelves actually sliced the wall itself, too.
A bed is underneath the shelves and I'm pretty sure I'll just have to toss out all the bedding, there is so much glass. Plus, I had been sorting out some scrapbooks and they were laid out on the bed. Most are ruined. Hours of work!
I locked the door again and haven't been back in. It is heartbreaking. I know it sounds silly, but I'm sure many of you can relate unlike others.
THEN-
Turns out two rolls of my film got over developed from our trip. A little funny, cause I was so upset about the film when I left the camera on the Dinosaur ride. Oh, well!
Overall a nice trip, but very tiring. My oldest starts school next week and now hubby and I are trying to figure out a way to get a quick trip in with our AP ALONE. I dont think I can wait until our tenth anniversary trip in February. My youngest is a handful and Ive yet to be away from her. I think I really need a small break. Well see
Heres some pics...
My girls opening Hoop Dee Doo -
My oldest and I dancing away like dorks -
Mission Space Video
Me, Pirate "Patch", Mom and my girls on Magical Fireworks Voyage
Awesome BWV sunset picture, good for desktop!
I surely hope your Mom is feeling better from her fall
