Hi All! Here's info about my wonderful trip!
The room: The room was wonderful--#4530--in its own little corner with about a 25-foot long private patio. (Yes, I measured!) We had no neighbors in view. We had three chairs and a table and enough room to do laps while overlooking the woods and the tops of some World Showcase buildings. The fireworks were great! I had booked a standard room with 2 queens and a daybed and I do not know if #4530 was standard or not. I can't seem to access the link with the floor plans to see. In my request fax to BC, I had asked for a full balcony with "a bit of a nice view' because I knew the kids and I were going to be hanging around the room a lot, since this trip was as much about healing (from a divorce) as about fun. The trip was very much about family, just a different configuration of family. I certainly did not expect the gift of privacy and beauty that we were given and it really made a big difference to us all. Needless to say, I am extremely grateful to the room assigner who handled our reservation.
The swimming: SAB was great once we were able to figure out the lay of the land! We were able to get a nice table with an umbrella on each day that we tried around 11:00. If you waited until 1:00, even getting a lounge chair became risky. And something new! People don't seem to leave just towels on the chairs anymore--I noticed that most chairs were "staked out" with personal items such as magazines, flipflops, swim coverups, etc., stuff I wouldn't be comfortable touching. The lifeguards were very thorough with the writstband checks--once I left my key in the room, and was refused entry. No excuses! I had to get another key. I saw quite a few pool crashers, some rather bold, but the lifeguards did not budge. That cannot be an easy job but the lifeguards were always polite and friendly it seemed.
The bonding: I think the bonding trouble came because of the size of the hotel--it really is big! We kept getting lost and finding ourselves going in circles, especially around an enclosed courtyard on the way to our room. Our room was way over on the Epcot side, but we finally figured out where we were going. Also, because we are from the northeast and have visited Cape Cod many times, the theming did not "hit us over the heads" if that makes any sense. Our last trip was to WL, and entering that lobby--well, you are plunged into something really different. The beauty of BC is more subtle, I came to find, and doesn't hit you over the head but creeps up on you. Kind of like Cape Cod does, so in that way the theming is really quite excellent. We realized this after a trip to AKL to eat at Boma. AKL had the same effect on us that WL did--exotic and busy and WOW! When we came back to BC, though, we felt like we were "home."
The transportation: Our only disappointment with BC was the bus transportation. So crowded! It seemed kind of silly for BC to have to share with Swan/Dolphin, YC, and BW. The waits for the busses could go to 25 minutes, and then additional time if you couldn't squeeze behind the yellow line of the bus. I would think it would make more sense to put these five resorts on two different bus routes. Good news! From these boards I had learned that an early bus heads to the early-entry park between 7:00-7:10 and I am pleased to announce that this was the case for our trips to AKL and MK. The CMs (we asked 3) told us that the busses started to run about 7:30, but both times the first bus came at 7:05. And we were there to get on! Thanks, guys!
The food: Oh, where do I begin? I suppose with the dinner I really didn't want to go to but did, because of Fantasmic--Mama Melrose's. Well, this turned out to be one of the best dinners we had, and was a surprisingly good value. I had the filet with porcini dust (I kept saying pixie dust!) and it was wonderful. Two of my kids had a chicken alfredo-y dish and the other had chicken parm. The meal came with a family salad, our choice of flatbread, and a choice of dessert. Really good cheesecake, by the way. Fantasmic was packed, so I was really glad not only for that meal, but for the back way in to the show. We also ate at Boma (wonderful, but no smoked tomato soup anymore--the CM said it's off the menu). My son tried oxtail soup, but I couldn't face it. We will definitely go back there again. The House of Blues in Downtown Disney was also a hit. We loved the folk-artsy atmosphere and the NY strip steak was one of the best I've had. They also do this nice grilled chicken dish with andouille sausage cornbread. Yum. We were not impressed with the Big River Brewing Company on the Boardwalk (not sure about the name). Not worth the money to us, though the Gadzooks beer was nice. We did the character breakfast at Cape May (Mickey waffles! How do they not get soggy????), lunch at Tangerine Cafe in Morocco, and the cantina counter-serve restaurant at Mexico, Tusker House at AKL (very good), Hurricane Hanna's, and Beaches and Cream. We did not attempt the Kitchen Sink, but contented ourselves with the incredibly delicious "No Way Jose" sundae, a combination of peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, and peanut butter and chocolate chips. And tons of whipped cream. My son asked for a special malted that he "invented,", kind of a variation of the No Way Jose sundae, and they made it for him! It was delicious! I also got the chance to sneak in my Dole Whip....
The parks: We went early, left early, then went back in the evening. We also did an e-night. We used Fast Pass extensively and really did manage to get everything in without too much trouble. In some spots, people who were not going to use their fast passes were giving them out to other people--we managed our first ride on Rock 'n Roller Coaster this way. I thought this was nice, and when we decided we couldn't take the heat another minute, we went back to Splash Mountain to give away our fast passes to another family. I don't understand why everybody doesn't use Fast Pass. The only time I saw a Fast Pass sold out was at Kali River Rapids--at around 2:00 one afternoon when we were trying to stick it out for the parade (but failed to do so--too humid!).
And in summary: A great trip. Oh, did I say we've already got $20 in the Disney jar for our next trip? Never to soon to start planning!!!!!! Thanks to evrybody for all their help in putting together this trip. Sorry I've gone on so, but it's my lunch time at work, and I'm enjoying this break of reliving my trip. Back to work!