July 2010 BCV Trip Report

[GoofyGirl68]

Enjoying your trip report. We are from Oldham County, KY and we always like to hear reports from other KY DVCers. Where in KY do you live? Sounds like you are having a great time even if it is hot, but it has not been exactly cool here. Almost as hot as FL. Looking for more of you report.

We're in Lexington. Next day's report coming up.

 

[GoofyGirl68]

Our plan for Day 4 began with an 8:25AM ADR at Donald's Safari Breakfast in AK. We thought this would work nicely. We planned to get into the park early and finish breakfast just as the park had opened. Well, it was a good plan. We made sure to get to the bus stop early so we'd have plenty of time to make it to AK and back into Africa. A bus came shortly and we were on our way. We checked in at the entrance and journeyed back to Tusker House for breakfast. It was a little after 8AM when we checked in. So we sat down to wait. Hey, we were early. We didn't expect to get a seat right away. As we waited, we noticed a couple of tour groups seated. Hmmm, we wondered if they were doing something special. We watched as they went into Tusker House. We waited and our 8:25AM time came. We waited and our 8:25AM time went. We waited some more. I checked at the host station to see how much longer it would be. DH checked on how long it would be. At 9:15AM we were finally called. It was ridiculous. I don't expect to be seated exactly at my ADR time, but 50 minutes later??? Anyway, we tried to forget about it and enjoy the rest of our day. We posed with Donald and headed into the dining area.

This is the "after" picture. When we entered just a few minutes earlier, this room was packed.

We had a nice breakfast. Got pics with the characters in their safari outfits, my favorites. Then it was off for some park time. I had grabbed a FP for KS while waiting so we hopped onto it. Got onto EE with little wait. DH had to do some work so he went back to the room while the girls and I watched Flights of Wonder, rode EE again and walked some of the animal trails. We also watched this gibbon family (Dad, Mom, big sis and baby). Interesting.

Then back to the room for some rest. For dinner, we made pizzas in the room. We enjoyed cooking and eating in the room. It was relaxing.

Our plan for the evening was to take in HS for Fantasmic and a few rides. The park was packed so as usual for late afternoon/evening in HS, FP's were out for TSM, ToT and RRC and wait times were longer than we cared to wait. We did Star Tours twice and Great Movie Ride. We went to Fantasmic at 8PM and it was at capacity. We should have known when we'd seen all the tour groups sitting around Sunset Blvd. earlier. We were bummed since we came to HS that night for Fantasmic. Oh well. We went back to BCV, had fun swimming and made a trip to Beaches and Cream. Ice Cream makes everything all better. Actually it was a nice low-key night. Just wish we'd skipped HS altogether for the night.

The day had its disappointments but we still had fun just differently than planned.

 

[yekcoh_99]

I like how you're able to roll with the punches and make the best of whatever hand you're dealt. I hope the stars align for the rest of your trip!

 

[Raysplus1]

Great report, keep it coming.

 

[adminjedi]

While I was reading your TR I was thinking now Disney would be a great place to celebrate a birthday.

Our oldest daughter has a July 1 bday, and she has been able to celebrate many a bday on our family trips to the world or DL. Our other 4 kids are crying foul, so when they are all out of college we will need to do a September trip (3 bdays) and an April trip for their sakes!

 

[GoofyGirl68]

Our plan for this morning was to return to AK for EMH and finish AK for this trip. We fixed breakfast in the room (eggs, bacon, sweet rolls). We were dragging and didn't make it to the park until 8:40. At the entrance, there was a problem with the ticket scanners so we had to wait 5-10 minutes for everything to get resolved as the lines backed up.

We started out in Dinoland. DH and the girls did Primeval Whirl while I went for FP's to EE and KRR. DD14 didn't want to ride KRR. DD9 had KKR as a "must do" but didn't want to do EE. So I got 2 FP's for each. By the time I made it back to Dinoland, they were riding. As soon as they got off, we all went back on for another "whirl." Then over to Dinosaur and squeezed in another "whirl" before heading to other parts of the park. I really enjoy the trails of AK so we went to see some animals. We saw a baby gorilla who was so cute. I find it intriguing to watch gorillas.

We completed our morning with FLK and then splitting up - DH and DD9 for KRR and DD14 and me for EE. Then it was off to AKV to visit our home resort and have lunch at Sanaa. DH commented that he sort of wished we hadn't gone "home" because it made him wish we were staying there (not that he wasn't enjoying BCV). We arrived at the resort about an hour before our ADR. We watched the animals some and rested in the library before checking in for lunch. This was my favorite ADR of the week. I love the decor and being able to look out at the savanna. We had a table right by the window which was a nice bonus. DH and I shared the bread service and a sampler appetizer. It was all delicious. Another plus, we received a 10% DVC discount. Back to the room after lunch.

While the girls napped, DH and I went to our first Welcome Home Wednesday. We didn't know what to expect but thought this would be a good time to check it out especially since we were staying so close to Atlantic Dance Hall. DH was hoping he could snap a free DVC cap. We had fun. We got to see Dee Vee Cee in person. She was the host for a Jeopardy-style game with DVC topics. It was a lot of fun. One of the players from NJ was really entertaining. He would give Dee Vee compliments and she would give him more points. In the end, the players were all magically tied and all received prizes. In addition to the game, someone spoke about D23 and several gifts were given. When we left, everyone received a hat. Yeah!!!! Mission accomplished.

We spent the evening at the resort. Leftovers for dinner, pooltime and into bed at a decent hour.

 

[GoofyGirl68]

With a good night's sleep, we were up and out early this morning, at the bus stop by 7:10AM and on the way to MK. DH wanted to see the opening show at MK RD. We packed the rides and shows into the AM starting in Tomorrowland with Buzz's SRS twice, Stitch's GE, a relaxing ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority ("Mr. Morrow, paging Mr. Tom Morrow"), back to Frontierland for BTMRR and SM, Adventureland for the Tiki Room and Swiss Family Treehouse, Fantasyland for It's a Small World and SWSA and finishing up with Space Mtn. using FP from earlier. We determined a lot of what we did today by our "must do" list that we made months before our trip and we did a great job of getting lots done on it. At 1:30PM, we were back to the room for lunch and rest. Around 4:30PM, we ventured over to HS for another shot at Fantasmic. This time, we took the boat for a relaxing trip. Once there, we went to the Indiana Jones show and Little Mermaid and at 7PM we got in line on Sunset Blvd. for Fantasmic, right amid the tour groups. We didn't really want to wait 2 hours but we hadn't seen the show in a few years and if we were going to see it this trip, this was our last shot. We spent most of our time waiting in our seats which wasn't too bad. I brought a crossword puzzle book to pass the time and we had a few snacks. Then there was people watching with the Brazilian tour groups. I actually sat beside the leader for one of the groups. She was nice. The groups got into some chanting and started some touting Brazil over the US (soccer). CM's would politely try to calm them down from time to time with little response. Finally, a CM approached one group and sternly told the leader if they chanted once more, they were out. That leader made sure his group remained seated and calm for the rest of the time. Eventually the show began and we enjoyed it along with a few thousand of our Brazilian friends. A nice end to another great day.

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

 

[wilma-bride]

Loving this trip report. We are staying at BWV in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to being in such close proximity to Hollywood Studios and Epcot - oh, and Beaches and Cream of course

 

[Live4Surf]

Great report. More please.

 

[GoofyGirl68]

We took advantage of EMH in HS this AM. We went straight to TSM (if you consider “straight” following the path the CM’s direct you on) along with the mob. This ride’s lines are crazy. At 8:05 there’s a long winding line for the FP’s. We rode standby and at the end grabbed FP’s for later with a return time of 11:45AM. Then we went to RRC and ToT where waits were already 30-40 minutes. DH had to work again so he headed back to the room leaving DD14, DD9 and me to take in some more of HS. We went over to Art of Animation. I think it must have been 10 years since I’d done this attraction and that was back when the animators worked here. I think DD14 did it when she was 3 1/2 and DD9 had never done it. I thought it would be something nice for a change of pace. We watched the introductory presentation and then proceeded to the next area where we could do activities, meet characters or go to the Animation Academy. The girls did a few of the activities. Then I asked if they wanted to do the Animation Academy. DD9 gave me an enthusiastic “yes”. DD14 wasn’t interested. I decided we'd do it. We waited about 20 minutes for the next class. I really enjoyed this class. As we decided what character to draw, the instructor polled the room seeing who had attended before and what characters they’d drawn. A number of the group had been to previous classes numerous times. Then we got down to voting for who we wanted to draw. Stitch won out. He’s a favorite for us so I was excited. The instructor took us step by step and at the end we each had our very own Stitch. DD9 wasn’t pleased with hers and wanted to throw it away. I didn’t allow that. I’m glad we did this class; it was a lot of fun.

Next we did the Back Lot Tour, another one we hadn’t done recently. By this time, our FP window for TSM had opened so we rode it. Before we left the park, I wanted to walk through One Man’s Dream. The girls weren’t really interested but didn’t put up a fuss. Once inside, they actually found displays that interested them and DD9 even wanted to stay for the film. Once we got out, it was getting time to get back to the room. As we came out of One Man’s Dream, we found cloudy skies threatening rain. We got moving for our walk back to the resort luckily not getting wet.

After lunch and rest, we hit the pool. We had yet to try the tubes so rented a couple and hit the lazy river. The tubes weren’t as comfortable as I’d expected. DD9 had a hard time getting situated. DH was taking some pictures while the girls and I were swept along the river. I told him to catch a shot of the dark clouds approaching. A few minutes later we were in a downpour. Pool time was over. Didn’t get very long in our tubes but at least we tried them. Back in the room, we ate an early dinner and then caught the bus to MK. The rain had passed by now. We had just a few “must do’s” to mark off our MK list. We rode Peter Pan’s Flight with a 40 minute wait and then went to Toon Town to walk through Mickey and Minnie’s houses and ride Goofy’s Barnstormer although we’re really a little old for it. DD9 insisted though. On our way out, we grabbed some cool treats. We hadn’t had any Mickey ice cream treats all week. Oh, but first there was a little dance time in Tomorrowland with Chip and Dale and Stitch. We stayed around for a while dancing the “Cupid Shuffle” and thoroughly embarrassing DD14. With treats eaten, we said farewell to MK for this trip. We got back to BCV a little after 8:30PM and rather than going to the room, we took the IG into Epcot to watch Illuminations. After the show, we exited the park. Our 2010 park time in WDW was over. Wow, how fast the week went by!