Hotel Royal Plaza, BCV and beyond!

[x5x5x5x5x5]

Me, Disney Fanatic, 30
DH, WDW really starting to grow on him
June 29 – July 5




Day One – the arrival
We decided to stay at Hotel Royal Plaza for a couple of nights because the Beach Club Villas didn’t open until July 1. We checked in late Saturday afternoon – we had driven this time and the drive wasn’t bad at all! It had started to rain so we valet parked and checked out our room. I had reserved a deluxe tower room with a Jacuzzi tub and boy was it worth it! The room was huge and we had a marvelous view of Downtown Disney. The hotel was very clean and comfortable – and the staff was great (with the exception of the lady in the gift shop, but hey, everyone is entitled to a bad day). We hung around the hotel for a little while and then decided we would go to Pleasure Island. We had to get our annual passes going so we headed to the Ticket and Transportation Center . . . their office was closed so we monorailed over to the Magic Kingdom. DH had to drag me away from the park as we activated our passes and did the finger thing. From here we monorailed to the Contemporary and decided to grab a bite at the California Grill before PI. We had been here for cocktails before but this was the first time we had ever tried the menu. Wow. Very tasty!! We decided to stay in the lounge area and dine as opposed to waiting for a table. I highly recommend doing this if you are iffy about waiting. I had a glass of Riesling and DH had a mixed drink and we admired the view. The rain had stopped and the skies were getting clearer. We ordered a mixed greens salad, a sushi sampler and a ravioli appetizer. Light dinner before a long night out. I have to say, it was really really good. I am not a pushover when it comes to dining out and I was pretty impressed. The ravioli was especially tasty. After dinner we headed out to find a bus to PI. We were at the waiting area when DH realized that he had left his wallet! He dashed to the elevator and up to the restaurant - of course, there it was. Safe and sound. How wonderful it is to be at Disney!! The family who took our table brought the wallet to the hostess. On with our adventure! We bussed to PI and went through the turnstiles. This is the first time we bought premium annual passes and I’m afraid to say, they have spoiled us! We stopped at the “welcome” cart next to the entrance and had a toast, then started to explore the clubs. Our first stop had to be Adventurers Club – I’ve heard so much about it and had only been there once – many years ago. It is the coolest!! I love the theming – it’s right up my alley. And the actors were very funny . . . as were the shows. The décor is wonderful. So much fun. Antiques and rich colors everywhere. The mask room was a hoot – the hostess even made fun of my outfit! As we sat at the bar, I noticed the bar surface getting higher and higher – I was on a sinking barstool! It was hilarious. We chatted with some folks and saw the “Colonel” do his act – the “Colonel is an automatron that looks real!! He was hysterical – very racy. I loved it! So did DH. I begrudgingly left to explore further – but made a mental note to return. We checked out 8-Trax and also Mannequins. They were both pretty quiet (it was early) so we went to the Beach Club instead. There was a pretty good crowd there – I have to say though – some of those girls dancing looked VERY young. I guess I’m just getting older . . . Anyway, we hung out here for some time until DH talked me into dancing for a bit. It was a lot of fun but I really wanted to go back to Mannequins so we left and headed there. It was crowded when we arrived. We had a drink and went straight to the dance floor. We must have danced for an hour or two. What fun!! I hadn’t had that much fun on a night out in a while. We left feeling invigorated and happy. Back at the hotel, I took advantage of the Jacuzzi tub and collapsed into bed. What a night!

Day two – Celebration and more PI

We took our time getting up this morning. DH is a big believer the NO RUSHING on vacation. I am a chronic early bird so I have to fight my instincts to get up and GO. We lounged and decided that this would be the day we hit Celebration. Celebration is a town about 15 minutes from the World that is a planned unit development and imho, very pretty. It reminds me of Seaside in Florida. It was quite hot today so we rambled around and tried to stay in the shade. We visited the hotel briefly – it is lovely – then we toured some homes. Most of them were larger than met the eye. They were pretty – some with pools. We took lots of pictures and people watched. Most of the people in the town seemed very content to sip their coffee at the cafes outside and read the paper. Seemed very relaxed. After a stroll through the last model home, we left and went back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped at Goodings across from the “hotel row” and picked up a couple of necessities and dropped the pictures to get developed. Back at the hotel we wanted to go to Typhoon Lagoon but the rain had started. It was pouring and we waited a while for it to slow down . . . never did. We decided to explore anyway so we drove to Typhoon Lagoon – it was still raining and people were leaving so we drove to Downtown Disney and went to DisneyQuest instead. Apparently we were not the only ones with that idea! We entered the turnstiles and were whisked into an elevator that took us to the main floor of the DQ. There was a little show in the elevator about it being struck by lightening or something but I didn’t pay attention b/c I was excited about what lay beyond! This place is huge! There is so much to do and we only scratched the surface. The first thing we did was design our own roller coaster. Then we grabbed a bite (rotisserie chicken and Caesar salad – HUGE portion – we split one order and were STUFFED). We then hit the floor with all of the video games and played for a couple of hours. What fun it is to just play and play – never having to worry about quarters! The rain was starting to let up so we left and drove back to the hotel to get ready to go to PI again tonight. We relaxed and got cleaned up and headed over. We went to the Comedy Warehouse and saw an improv show that was hilarious. I’m so glad we went to it – I definitely recommend it. We meandered through the clubs we had been to the night before and headed back to the hotel – exhausted and ready for sleep. Tomorrow we were checking in to the Beach Club Villas!!

Day Three – Typhoon and Beach Club Villas

I was ready to go when I woke up this morning! I was so excited about the Beach Club that I left DH sleeping and went to check in. I figured I wouldn’t get the room this early but I wanted all the paperwork over with as soon as possible. I drove to BC and checked in at the front desk. I was immediately accosted by a Pluto and another character I didn’t recognize. He is a very large cat or fox – sort of unfriendly (in a friendly way - I suppose he is a villain) with a large hat on his head. He nudged me out of the way when I was checking in but Pluto came to my rescue and then gave me a kiss. What a wonderful way to start the day. The room would not be ready until 10 or 11 so I drove back to the Hotel Royal Plaza to wake DH and get him moving. We decided after breakfast that we would take the morning to go to Typhoon Lagoon. We checked out without a hitch and headed over the TL. What fun!! The theming is so detailed and wonderful here. The first thing we did was swim with the sharks and the coral reef. We then went down the water slides. Played in the wave pool and floated on the tubes. Then we layed out a bit and headed back to the BC to get our room. It wasn’t ready yet so I showered and changed in the spa area. A lady who was off duty at the time finally came to our rescue. By now it was 3 or 4 PM and she couldn’t figure out why we didn’t have our room yet. She handled it in only a matter of minutes – put us on the top floor with a view of Epcot. We had requested this when we made our reservation but our original room was on the fourth floor. A word of caution here – we had a great view but lower floors on the same “stack” cannot see over the trees. We set off to explore the hotel and had a toast to our new “home.” BCV is very bright and airy. It has a quiet pool in the back that is just that – most people tend to go to SAB. We decided to have dinner at Le Cellier in Epcot so we set off walking. On the way, we caught a bit of the Beatles band at England. I love to catch these guys. I had never been to Le Cellier and was eagerly anticipating it. We each had a salad – a wonderful mixed greens salad with chunks of blue cheese and we split an “eggroll” appetizer. We split the surf and turf. Wonderful. We went back to the hotel to explore further and sit in the hot tub at the quiet pool. We then took a nap and what a surprise . . . we go to watch the Epcot fireworks from bed! Fantastic. We then caught a late night snack at Beaches and Cream – which was packed . . . but very tasty. Off to bed!

Day 4 – MGM and relaxation

Our goal during this trip was to have fun and be relaxed! Today we awoke and DH had to take care of some business in Orlando so I went shopping at Epcot! I toured around the countries until DH called and said he was back. We had a drink together and then headed to MGM. The very first thing we did was grab a fast pass for RRC and headed to the Brown Derby for lunch. I had Cobb Salad and DH had a chicken Caesar salad. We split a ravioi/turnover appetizer. We then headed to my favorite thing – the movie relics at the end of the Backstage tour. There were costumes of famous actresses on display – I took my time and read every little bit. After that we went to Muppets – it was raining again. I tried to find the key under the mat – but I couldn’t find the mat!! I know it must be at the entrance – I guess we missed it. After Muppets we stopped in Tune-In Lounge, I believe it’s called. This place always makes me feel nostalgic. It’s sort of a custom for us whenever we come to MGM. We watched a bit of Leave it to Beaver and had a drink. Then on to RRC. This is probably my favorite roller coaster of all time. Maybe DH’s too! We then headed back to the resort to hit the hot tubs again and swim in StormAlong. We went down the slide that crosses over the walk-way. Fun! We splashed around here for an hour or two – perfect way to cool down and relax. This pool is something else!! We grabbed a bite at Cape May Café – clam bake. This is also something I had always wanted to do. We got there pretty late – I would say that it was so-so. Perhaps if we’d gone earlier, it would have been better. But I was definitely satisfied. Night was falling and it is at this time that the Boardwalk area seems so magical so we took a stroll and people watched. The lights were sparkling all over the Boardwalk and it was the perfect ending to a relaxing day!

Day 5 – Today we were going to (surprise!) take it easy and take in a little of Epcot. We lounged a bit and made our way around the lake outside of the Beach Club and into Epcot. We walked through the countries as we have done a hundred times (but somehow I never get tired of it) and grabbed a bite at Electric Umbrella. Then we checked out the AP lounge in the Land. We had to enter a special code into the elevator next to the host stand at the Land restaurant that took us to the top floor. The lounge was pretty neat – a nice place to relax. They have newspapers and televisions there – along with characters. Western Mickey was there along with Pluto. They were looking for kids to play with but, alas, there was only us adults. They played around with us instead. Very cute. I hope Disney keeps these types of things open. As we left, the receptionist gave us seating passes to Shockwave (sort of like Blast) in Epcot. We left the lounge and made our way back to the hotel to swim. On the way we stopped at Mexico and shopped a bit and rode the ride. I really love this ride. I know it’s not big but the set is so intricate! There is nothing like walking through the heat and sun and then walking in to the cool nightscape in Mexico. Beautiful. Back at the hotel, we donned our swimsuits. It is so nice to relax during the heat of the day in the pool and SAB is wonderful. We swam and relaxed and layed out in the sun for a couple of hours. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and take a quick nap. At around 4 PM we got up and raced off to catch Shockwave. This show was fantastic! They do an hysterical rendition of a Queen song in the middle of the show. Hilarious. After the show we dropped by Germany and had a taste of some of the liqueurs they offer. I really like the apple one. We decided to have dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant – yet another little something that I’d always wanted to do. The interior of this restaurant was recently renovated and it is truly lovely. The tilework and colors are blue and green – beautiful and tranquil. And the view of the fish is marvelous. We even saw divers swimming around. We had the scallop appetizer, mixed greens salad, lobster bisque, grilled shrimp entrée and the ravioli appetizer. Review: I’d say our dinner here was less than astonishing. It has the potential to be a destination restaurant – the décor and ambiance is outstanding. The service was superb BUT most of the food was lackluster. I am surprised because this seems like a perfect place to really make a diner’s restaurant but I suppose they cater to families desiring a quick satisfactory meal. Maybe it was just an off day but I have to say that I was disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high because I had read that a new chef had taken the helm and it was much improved. Next time I’ll try lunch – but I won’t spend the bucks for dinner until I know it’s changed. Such a pretty place though . . . After dinner, we took the monorail to the Polynesian to have our token drink at the bar there. We always do this to remind us of our honeymoon – where we went to the Polynesian practically every other night for a drink. DH had a Mai Tai and I had a Midori drink. Then we each had a cosmopolitan. Yum. Off to the Magic Kingdom, in very good spirits I might add. I have to say that nighttime is the best time to take in MK. We went to Thunder Mountain, then hit Jungle Cruise – where is started to rain – which added to the fun imo. After that we caught a bit of SpectroMagic (very pretty!) and hit Space Mountain. So much fun!! I wanted to go to Pirates but there wasn’t time before the fireworks. In all the times I had gone to MK, I’d never seen the fireworks. They were very nice – but Tinkerbell didn’t fly!!!! That was what I wanted to see more than ever. I don’t know when I’ll be back to try to catch them again because we usually don’t spend a lot of time in MK when there are fireworks. I suppose we’ll have to make time though – Tinkerbell is a must in my book. As we filed out, a HUGE frog jumped out of the bushes and brushed my leg. It caused a quite a stir as the lady next to me squealed. Maybe he was escaping from Conservation Station at the Animal Kingdom!! We watched cartoons in the theatre off Main Street while people headed for the exits. We bussed back to Boardwalk to grab some pizza but everything was closed so we strolled back to BCV (again - all lit up along the Boardwalk) and ordered in. Around midnight we caught some more fireworks off the balcony but were not sure where they were from. Pretty though. Off to sleep.

Our last day – Epcot, MK

We awoke and took it easy this morning again. We wanted to head back to MK today to shop a bit and do Pirates of the Caribbean. We had pizza for breakfast (we had ordered it the night before) and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Along the way we did our customary tour around the countries of Epcot. We then took the monorail toward MK and stopped at the Polynesian and explored further. I really love the vegetation here – plush and green. We’ve never stayed here because we really enjoy Epcot and like to stay around there but I think we’ll have to at some point. We again visited O’Hana and had a drink and took in the scene. More people were milling around than yesterday – I’m assuming because today is July 4! We hit MK – it was raining just a bit – and went to Pirates. We stopped at Casey’s to grab a dog and they had run out! How funny. That should have given me an idea as to the magnitude of the crowds! They were expecting more in the next 10 to 15 minutes but we decided to head to Pirates anyway. The line was LONG! That was going to be the theme of the day. I suppose I have been spoiled in my last few visits because I’m not really used to these lines. We passed on the ride (we’ve ridden it several times before – but it is my favorite) and grabbed a taco instead. We then headed to my favorite store – the Tinkerbell store in Fantasyland but I have to tell you – it was so crowded we skipped it and headed back to Epcot! Back in Epcot we stopped at the Coke exhibit (Israeli and Mexican Coke are my favorites) and tried the Living Seas – but guess what? LONG line again. Wow. We headed back to the hotel to nap and took in the countries along the way. I didn’t really mind the lines – we had seen it all before and I was glad to see so many people enjoying their time. We napped and went back to the World Showcase to have dinner. Okay. Should have learned my lesson!! No priority seating arrangements = waits everywhere. We tried Germany and after waiting forty minutes or so they seated us in between a toddler in a high chair and two adults. I understand the seating in Germany – we’ve had lunch and dinner there several times, but I have to say – I think it would have been a little uncomfortable to be crammed at the table like that. So, we passed on dinner there and made our way back to BC and dined at Beaches and Cream. Yum! After dinner we went back to the room and showered and watched the fireworks – they were beautiful – they had special ones in honor of the 4th. I suppose it was sort of an anti-climactic way to spend the evening but I sure didn’t mind. Off to sleep!!!

The Departure

Not much to say here. We jumped in the car and headed home. I know we’ll be back soon. I like this DVC thing!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Sounds like a wonderful vacation (if a little crowded). Thanks for sharing.

 

[Poohshoney]

Thanks for the report! You're so lucky to live close enough to WDW to drive there. Hope you get to drive there again and write another report soon!