I Can See Epcot From Here! ~ A November Trip and Dining Report ~

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm in! Great start so far Shelly!

I'm with you, Captain EO was BORING. I seriously was suffering through it in September.

Can't wait to read more.

Welcome!

Sorry you had to suffer through Captain EO too. And it was so long!!

Great report today!

We are picking up our copy of Epic Mickey today as well. Should be a lot of fun. There is a ton of advertising out here (billboards, bus wraps, newspaper ads) promoting the game as well as in DL and DTD. Some of these games are making as much money as full feature movies. No wonder Disney is promoting it so heavily.

What! No love for Captain EO and Figment? Glad the meds help you through the pain -

Turtle Talk with Crush is a blast. Glad you liked it. Cool snow globe too.

That crowd shot was crazy - so busy!

Love the pics of your resort. Keep it coming!

Sea

Thanks Sea!

Let me know how Epic Mickey is!! Or are you waiting until Christmas to play it?

Sorry, no love for Captain EO here. I remembered that you liked it, that's why I added the 'no offence to anyone who likes it' in there, that was for you. Didn't want you to get mad at me!! Figment is okay, just a bit boring.

Glad you are enjoying the report!

 

[Nermel9]

I know what you mean, I hate waiting around to get settled in the room, I feel like I can't relax until that is done!

That crowd picture is pretty much what Epcot looked like the 2nd night we went for the Food and Wine festival...crazy!

Ohhhh, your pictures of the walk to BWI are making me want to stay at the Beach Club again!!! We stayed there for 5 nights on our Disneymoon in May and I'm guessing unless we get a 40% off pin again, it will be a once in a lifetime thing! I love that whole area over there...and walking to Epcot is a definite plus!

Can't wait to see your room pics!

 

[rusafee1183]

I knew you had to have started your TR by now! I haven't been on the Dis much lately, but I needed to find you and get caught up! Glad you haven't gotten too far.

We were there on the 1st weekend of the F&WF and our crowds were very similar to your crowd picture and so were the wait times. Maybe it's just the 1st and ast weekend and wouldn't be so bad in the middle of the F&WF. We said that we would never go again during it either though. The food and drinks were good - but yeah it was CRAZY packed.

We liked Captain EO.... it was strange definitely, but we liked it way more than HISTA. We always got so bored in that show, and no matter what we never time it right and always end up waiting what feels like forever to go in and sit down.

You would think with how amazing Philharmagic is, they would be able to come up with an awesome 3D movie at Epcot

 

[Pluto_fan]

Ooh, Shelly, the pictures are gone!
Although it sounds like the picture of the crowds is scary.

I've seen Epic Mickey advertised, but what's the game about? Not sure if my boys would be interested. But I'm always trying to slip a little Disney into the house...

 

[pwdebbie]

I jumped on here hoping to see your TR pictures but alas, your bandwidth has been exceeded.

We were there from Nov. 2 - 12. Nov. 2, 3, 4 were rainy days and then Nov. 5, 6, and 7 were cold. We made the mistake of going to Epcot on 11/6 and it was ridiculously crowded. Never again will I go to the F&WF on a Saturday night.

Eagerly awaiting your pictures when you get the bandwidth problem resolved.

 

[GuardMusic]

Great TR! So sad I can see your pix! Keep getting graphics that show "Bandwidth Exceeded - Upgrade to PhotoBucket Pro Today!" Weird - this has never happened before?

 

[Trackey79]

I'm really enjoying your trip report! And love all the pics. I was sorry we did not spend more time at Epcot while we were there, but from the looks and sound of it, it was good thing we didn't!! I'm subscribed and can't wait to read more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh no! I came over to get read your latest installment and the pictures show bandwidth exceeded. You may have to do like I did and open up multiple photobucket accounts......'cause I wanna see!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Good morning everyone!

I think I have the picture thing fixed. Sorry about that! Apparently you can only have so many views in a month's time, and it was exceeded.

It's been quite the morning here. We got a record amount of rainfall yesterday. Nearly tripled the record. DH went to work early this morning and couldn't get through. The road his building is on was flooded out. So he is home and waiting to see if he can work tomorrow.

The rain has turned to snow today.

So DH and I went into the school this morning and worked at Santa's Workshop! And now I'm getting ready to go to work. I got called in to sub for the second half of the day.

I do have an update ready, so I will get it posted up here in a minute!

I will be back to respond to everyone later! Have a great day!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

For those of you who read my BWI review ( http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2598242 ), you already know what's coming next.

Here I was so excited because our room was 5283, so I knew we got a top floor room just like I requested. I had also requested a full balcony. When I booked I was told by 2 different CM's at 2 separate times that ALL the rooms at the BWI had balconies (or patios if on the 1st floor). I was even told by one CM that she was “pretty sure” that they all had the full balconies with 2 chairs and a little table. None of those standing only tiny balconies. So there was no question in my mind that we were getting a balcony, I just wasn't certain what the size of it would be. And I was so happy to have gotten a top floor room and I knew that with an odd room number there was a possibility of a partial BW view, even though we booked a standard room.

We took the elevator to the 5th floor and turned right and the room was right there on the left. Okay, great – no long walk down a long dark hallway like I had read about all over the DIS! I opened the door and there it was – a window. No balcony. I couldn't believe my eyes. I said to DH and the kids – stay here and watch Stacy on TV for a minute, I am going to the front desk. I went down and told them that I was told that I would have a balcony when I booked this room 11 months ago! And that if I wasn't going to have one I would have stayed at a moderate. The CM told me that they were booked full and there was no way he could change our room. I asked for a manager. Manager Richard came out and I explained to him what I had just told the front desk CM. He said - “we do have a FEW rooms that do not have balconies”. A few. And I got one. Unbelievable. He told me the same as the other CM, that they were fully booked. He said he could move us the next day and give us a room with a view of IllumiNations and put a $50 credit on our account (which he never did) for our inconvenience. Which would be fine if we could in fact get up and move our stuff to another room the next day. But I knew that wouldn't be the case. And I was right. We would have to unpack for the night, repack in the morning, and store our luggage again and wait for another call that our new room was ready.

He said to call the room assigner and let her know if we still wanted the room change later because a lot of people decide it's too much of a hassle and keep the original room. I went back upstairs and told DH – who was never thrilled with the idea of staying at a deluxe in the first place and I could sense his displeasure. He knew I was upset and wouldn't feel settled until we had a new room and were unpacked. I said why don't we just call and see if the YC or BC have a room with a balcony and then we can get all settled in tonight and be done with it and we would roughly be in the same area. He called and was put on hold for a bit. They came back and told him that the YC and BC were fully booked and the only opening was at the Poly. We couldn't decide what to do then. We had always wanted to stay at the Poly, but when choosing a deluxe we chose the BWI because of it's location and proximity to Epcot and DHS – our favorite parks. We thought about it for awhile and almost moved to the Poly but ended up deciding that all of our plans were based on staying in the BW area and we would just tough it out for the night and pack back up in the morning and store our luggage again and wait for the call about the new room.

The room was nice and had an excellent view of the area between the Inn and the Villas and part of Cresent Lake – from the window. I didn't take any rooms pics (I will have lots of pics of our second room later!), I was too mad! But I took some pics from the window. There was a wedding going on and I got some pictures of the wedding party from our window.

My memory is a little fuzzy on exactly how things went next. I just remember being very upset. Then I remember seeing DH laying on the bed and saying he didn't feel so well. He was really cold. Which was strange, our room was plenty warm. DS9 had a little cold still hanging on from the previous week when he was sick. I was hoping DH wasn't getting that. He rested a bit and the kids watched TV, while I tried to only unpack the things that we needed for the night and the next morning. What a pain since the stuff was scattered about in 7 bags!!


Up Next: Dinner at Big River Grille and exploring the BWI

 

[mickeystoontown]

Now I can see the pictures and comment.

Wait, I forgot to say that I remember Leif Garrett. He was so adorable at the time as was Scott Baio and the guy from the Blue Lagoon. Ahhhhh memories!

Now, back to the trip report installment. Your pictures from Spaceship Earth are too cute. I can never get good pictures of the screens and they turn out all blurry.

I love the snowglobe from Epcot.

Holy smokes at the people at Epcot! I have been to Disney during some pretty busy times but those crowds are scary!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I did read your review of the BWI and I remember how upset you were that you didn't get a balcony. What bum luck that you were assigned one of the "few" rooms that didn't even have a darn balcony at all!

 

[sjs314]

Hey Shelly - We are getting the rain you had yesterday, but at least no snow here!

We are going Oct 23-29 unless a discount comes out and we add a day or two, maybe the crowds at F&W will not be as bad, at least I hope not, that crowd pic reminded me of 2009 and spring break perhaps even a bit worse

I am sure the boys will love the Epic Disney Game for Wii, DH stopped dead in his tracks a couple of weeks ago as we walked into Walmart to read poster about the game

That movie thing in SpaceShip Earth must be something new, we passed up going in it last visit the line was too long , another "must do" for next trip

Love the Epcot snowglobe, My oldest son has collected snowglobes since he was a small boy, infact I picked up a small steamboat willie one for him this year for Christmas

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I know what you mean, I hate waiting around to get settled in the room, I feel like I can't relax until that is done!

That crowd picture is pretty much what Epcot looked like the 2nd night we went for the Food and Wine festival...crazy!

Ohhhh, your pictures of the walk to BWI are making me want to stay at the Beach Club again!!! We stayed there for 5 nights on our Disneymoon in May and I'm guessing unless we get a 40% off pin again, it will be a once in a lifetime thing! I love that whole area over there...and walking to Epcot is a definite plus!

Can't wait to see your room pics!

I know, for some reason knowing that my luggage is being stored makes me uneasy!! I just want it all unpacked safely in my room and then I'm ready to start vacation!

I think Epcot looked like that pretty much most of our trip unfortunately.

Yeah, the deluxes are out of the question for us unless we have a 40% off PIN. They are just way overpriced!

I knew you had to have started your TR by now! I haven't been on the Dis much lately, but I needed to find you and get caught up! Glad you haven't gotten too far.

We were there on the 1st weekend of the F&WF and our crowds were very similar to your crowd picture and so were the wait times. Maybe it's just the 1st and ast weekend and wouldn't be so bad in the middle of the F&WF. We said that we would never go again during it either though. The food and drinks were good - but yeah it was CRAZY packed.

We liked Captain EO.... it was strange definitely, but we liked it way more than HISTA. We always got so bored in that show, and no matter what we never time it right and always end up waiting what feels like forever to go in and sit down.

You would think with how amazing Philharmagic is, they would be able to come up with an awesome 3D movie at Epcot

Welcome! Haven't seen you around in awhile. Glad you are here!

Good grief, I'm starting to wonder if Epcot looks like that the entire time the F&WF is going on. We were considering an October trip next year, but I think we are reconsidering now.

How about those lines for the food booths??? That was crazy!!

You are right, Philharmagic is so awesome, you would think they could come up with something similar in Epcot! Too bad no one is asking our opinions.

Ooh, Shelly, the pictures are gone!
Although it sounds like the picture of the crowds is scary.

I've seen Epic Mickey advertised, but what's the game about? Not sure if my boys would be interested. But I'm always trying to slip a little Disney into the house...

Well, I'm not exactly sure what Epic Mickey is all about. I watched a little of it online and I think Mickey is fighting some villains, but then there is some painting. I don't know! Hopefully it is very cool and the kids will get a lot of use out of it!

I will be sure to let you know what the boys think after they play it.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I jumped on here hoping to see your TR pictures but alas, your bandwidth has been exceeded.

We were there from Nov. 2 - 12. Nov. 2, 3, 4 were rainy days and then Nov. 5, 6, and 7 were cold. We made the mistake of going to Epcot on 11/6 and it was ridiculously crowded. Never again will I go to the F&WF on a Saturday night.

Eagerly awaiting your pictures when you get the bandwidth problem resolved.

Welcome!

Sorry about the pics. They are back up now!!

We arrived on the 6th and you are right, it was definitely cold. Same with the 7th. That crowd pic is from the 6th at Epcot. Crazy.

Great TR! So sad I can see your pix! Keep getting graphics that show "Bandwidth Exceeded - Upgrade to PhotoBucket Pro Today!" Weird - this has never happened before?

Welcome!

Got the pics all fixed, hope you enjoy!

I'm really enjoying your trip report! And love all the pics. I was sorry we did not spend more time at Epcot while we were there, but from the looks and sound of it, it was good thing we didn't!! I'm subscribed and can't wait to read more!

Welcome! So glad you are enjoying the TR and pics!

Yeah, you were probably best to stay away from Epcot, especially on the weekends. Luckily one of our Epcot days was a weekday and we got there for rope drop and were able to hit the good rides right away!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Now I can see the pictures and comment.

Wait, I forgot to say that I remember Leif Garrett. He was so adorable at the time as was Scott Baio and the guy from the Blue Lagoon. Ahhhhh memories!

Now, back to the trip report installment. Your pictures from Spaceship Earth are too cute. I can never get good pictures of the screens and they turn out all blurry.

I love the snowglobe from Epcot.

Holy smokes at the people at Epcot! I have been to Disney during some pretty busy times but those crowds are scary!

How does everybody but me know who Leif Garrett is???

Thanks, glad you are enjoying the pics. If I turn off the flash my camera takes pretty good pictures of the screens.

I did read your review of the BWI and I remember how upset you were that you didn't get a balcony. What bum luck that you were assigned one of the "few" rooms that didn't even have a darn balcony at all!

Yeah, that was pretty crappy luck.

Hey Shelly - We are getting the rain you had yesterday, but at least no snow here!

We are going Oct 23-29 unless a discount comes out and we add a day or two, maybe the crowds at F&W will not be as bad, at least I hope not, that crowd pic reminded me of 2009 and spring break perhaps even a bit worse

I am sure the boys will love the Epic Disney Game for Wii, DH stopped dead in his tracks a couple of weeks ago as we walked into Walmart to read poster about the game

That movie thing in SpaceShip Earth must be something new, we passed up going in it last visit the line was too long , another "must do" for next trip

Love the Epcot snowglobe, My oldest son has collected snowglobes since he was a small boy, infact I picked up a small steamboat willie one for him this year for Christmas

I hope you don't run into too many crowds with the F&WF next year. That thing is way more popular than I ever thought!

Spaceship Earth was redone a few years ago or so and that's when they added the video thing. It is really neat. You definitely have to check it out!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Yes, we do have Game Stops here to...I will have to check 'em out! Thanks!!

 

[Nermel9]

Ugh that's so annoying that you got a room with no balcony! When I stayed in BC, that was one of my must haves, a balcony, and unfortunately, there's no guarantee that you get one, you just have to request it and hope you get lucky!

I wish we got some snow today...it rained all day, but no snow, it's almost 60 degrees here in CT, on the first day of December! Ugh!

 

[sjs314]

How does everybody but me know who Leif Garrett is???

Thanks, glad you are enjoying the pics. If I turn off the flash my camera takes pretty good pictures of the screens.



Yeah, that was pretty crappy luck.



I hope you don't run into too many crowds with the F&WF next year. That thing is way more popular than I ever thought!Spaceship Earth was redone a few years ago or so and that's when they added the video thing. It is really neat. You definitely have to check it out!

Don't laugh but your crowd pic got me just a lil bit paranoid so I seeked out a couple of TR of people who were there late Oct of this year and the scenes of Epcot do not look bad as far as crowds at all ..............whewwwww I was starting to second guess our choice of dates, but I think it should be ok

 

[pinkxray]

I never knew that there were rooms at BWI with no balconies. Why would the CM say they all had them? We are staying a few days in BCV and I heard that all the studios have balconies, but I'm wondering if that is actually true

The pictures from the wedding are beautiful. I can't imagine how awesome it must be to have a wedding there. I should start saving now so I can convince my DD6 to have her wedding there.

I ordered Epic Mickey from Amazon and it shipped Tues. I was hoping it would be waiting for me last night when I got home but it didn't come yet. Hopefully it will come today. I can't wait to play it and will let you know how we like it when we get it.