Just back from BWV & the year of a million people!

[WDWorld2003]

and they were all there this week!

Myself and daughter (16) and her friend arrived home from BWV yesterday - depressing to return to windchills of 0 degrees today!

It was an interesting trip. We arrived late Thursday evening and used Magical Express both ways and it was very efficient - love this service!

Some Highlights:

Nice studio Boardwalk view in the Wave building on 2nd floor. Long walk but same level as lobby so it was nice. Room was clean and in good condition.

Staff at the Boardwalk was wonderful from front desk to concierge to the Screen Door and Bellvue Room and Bell Services.

DDP first half of trip. We enjoyed it and would do this again if splitting reservations but it would be too much after 3-4 days. Tried Spoodles and loved our waiter and the food.

The beautiful flowers and topiaries at Epcot. The Flower festival had not opened yet but I saw several of the displays and I want to return for this!

Soarin' - love that ride!

Lows:

Daughter developed an extreme allergic reaction to sunscreen on day 2 (major facial swelling and hives - could barely open her eyes) - even called Disney paramedics based on the Doctors on Call advise. They advised us to give her Benadryl and Advil and she should improve. The Boardwalk even double rinsed the sheets and towels in case it was the detergent which we thought was really nice.

She didn't improve in the next day and half and was just doped up from the Benadryl. We went to Celebration hospital which was another adventure. I should of gone by mother's instinct and done this right away and she would have been so much better and enjoyed the trip. They gave her a steroid shot and perscription and she was back to normal in 24 hours but then we only had a day left She was a trooper and did go to the parks swollen and miserable as she said it was better than just sitting there itching - I felt so bad for her.

I knew it before we left but wow the parks were packed! Wait time at Soarin was 2 1/2 hours on our last day. I talked to some first time guests that thought the parks were always crowded like that. Hopefully I convinced them to try another time of year.

Moved to 1 bedroom 2051 which was supposed to be a Boardwalk view. It looked over the Village Green and a small section of the Boardwalk. This did not qualify as a Boardwalk view to me. We did have a really large balcony but the furniture, railings, patio and windows were very dirty. I did report it to housekeeping twice but it stayed the same the four days and since we were dealing with other issues this just didn't seem that important. The furniture in this room was pretty beat up. We did love the new sleeper sofas and how they fold out though.

I attended the Member's meeting on Wednesday. I received a hat but I thought the presentation was over the top and hokey - not my cup of tea at all. I thought they would let you ask questions and provide information. I probably will not attend again unless they change the format.

We loved the warm weather and getting away and I would probably go again at Easter but only if I had to because of school schedules. We might go to a quieter resort at that time. The heat made it seem even more crowded. We still had a nice trip - just not our best. We never did make it to Animal Kingdom or a water park so we have to return! The Boardwalk is still my favorite so it was nice to be back and look forward to many future trips there!

 

[MEM]

Yikes! Sorry about your daughter! do you remember what brand of sunscreen it was? DD and I are very sensitive, too.

 

[WDWorld2003]

It was Aveeno Continuous Protection 45. Usually we used Neutrogena or Clinique but since we love Aveeno lotion I thought we would try this.... She's had a slight rash from sunscreen before but never like this. I think we have to stay away from high SPF's or just nothing at all.

 

[papabear4]

Thanks for the report on BWV. We're going to be staying there for the first time on our next trip...very much looking forward to it.

Our younger son, who was 3 at the time, developed an awful rash on his face last time we were at WDW. We thought it was from the wind (it was unusually chilly and windy when we were there in Feb. last year), but maybe it was the sunscreen. Thanks for the heads-up...we'll have to test some on him before we go next time. We, too, spent time dealing with doctors, which wasn't really much fun for the little guy.

You mentioned that the DDP would have been too much after three or four days. Could you elaborate on that a little? We're planning to use it on our 7-night trip.

Thanks!

 

[WDWorld2003]

We had a split stay - 3 days in a studio and 4 in a 1 bdrm. so we just applied it to the 1st half of our stay. You cannot apply it to only half of a reservation so if you're spending 7 days in one room you have to purchase it for all 7.

We enjoyed it and would use it again. It is a lot of food though! I did notice that the menus have become more standardized because of it... if that continues I probably would not be too happy. I would rather pay more for great food than less for just medicore. We love going out to eat at Disney World because of the unique restaurants.

Testing sunscreens is a good idea - wish we would have. My daughter didn't even remotely resemble the 16 year beautiful girl she is.

Have fun at the Boardwalk - we love it!

 

[mom2rb]

My sons and I have terrible reactions to most sunscreens. We also burn in about 15 min. without sunscreen. So we have tried everything. We finally found one that we all can use on our faces and our bodies ( different brands would work on one or the other ). It is Banana Boat Kids Tear Free SPF 50.

Sorry about your DD. I had the same thing happen to me when I was younger, right down to the steroid shot. But I wasn't at DW at the time.

 

[Sammie]

yep very busy this week, even had to close the MK to guests for a while.

 

[jekjones1558]

I agree regarding room 2051--not a BW view to me. Some folks love this room for the huge balcony, but I want to be able to see all the activity on the BW and Spaceship Earth and this room just doesn't cut it. Same for 3051 and 4051. There is also a tree blocking a view of the BW. Maybe now that you and I have had our turns in these rooms, we will be luckier for a while. Or maybe these are the designated MN rooms??

 

[loribell]

Sorry to hear your DD had to go through that. My DS - 15 just went through it during his spring break from exposure to poison. He woke up on Saturday morning and his face was swollen so bad he could barely open his eyes. Even with the shot and steriods it took all week for the swelling to go down. I know he was miserable, I bet she was too!

Glad to hear she is all better now. You might try sunscreen from Arbonne's baby line. All of their products are great for people with alergies. You can get it from www.arbonne.com.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Jean - hopefully you're right and we took our turn. I love a view of the whole boardwalk and this should not be a boardwalk view room. It would make a great preferred view room. The room also seemed dark to me because of the enclosed balcony in the living room area. We still enjoyed having a larger room and not being on top of each other. Wish I was there right now

loribell - thanks for the link. We are also going to see an allergist so we can possibly prevent this from happening in the future! How did your son get poisoned!

Sammie - I had heard they closed MK on one of the days we were there. We left because of the crowds but did get to do a few things and came back at night and saw Wishes and the late Spectro.

 

[abk96]

I'm glad to hear you had a great trip. Sorry your daughter had some troubles dealing with an allergic reaction. That's always rough especially when you are in Disney.

About this 1 bedroom that's supposed to be a boardwalk view. We are splitting our stay in July and have a 1 bedroom boardwalk view booked and now I'm nervous that we'll end up with this room. I want to be able to see the boardwalk and all. If they tell me the room number at check in can I ask for another room if it is 2051 or 3051 or 4051? Or do we have no choice at that point? Thanks.

 

[jekjones1558]

If they tell me the room number at check in can I ask for another room if it is 2051 or 3051 or 4051? Or do we have no choice at that point? Thanks.

Sure, you can ask. Then hope that there is another 1 bedroom BW view available. Checking in earlier versus later may help with options. Both times we got these rooms there was no other available.

Also you might call MS and ask for "far from elevator" to be added to your request. These -051 rooms are the closest BW view rooms to the elevator. (And the "far from elevator" BW view rooms have the best views of fireworks, too!)

 

[loribell]

Jean - hopefully you're right and we took our turn. I love a view of the whole boardwalk and this should not be a boardwalk view room. It would make a great preferred view room. The room also seemed dark to me because of the enclosed balcony in the living room area. We still enjoyed having a larger room and not being on top of each other. Wish I was there right now

loribell - thanks for the link. We are also going to see an allergist so we can possibly prevent this from happening in the future! How did your son get poisoned!

Sammie - I had heard they closed MK on one of the days we were there. We left because of the crowds but did get to do a few things and came back at night and saw Wishes and the late Spectro.

WDWorld2003 - You are most welcome for the link. Arbonne's products are wonderful. I have always had terrible problems with excezma and other alergic reactions to lotions. I can use Arbonne's lotions with no problems and they have even completely cleared up my excezma.

Poison sumac is a plant that we have around here, it is similar to poison ivy if you are familiar with that. Poison ivy is much more prevalent around here and everyone knows what it looks like and to avoid it. Poison sumac is not as well known so it is not recognized when seen usually. Unfortunately the reaction to poison sumac is much, much worse. Poison ivy is usually just a itchy rash that can spread and he has had it before. His reaction to poison sumac was unbelievable. His face & neck were swollen terrible but he never had trouble swallowing. It was also down both arms and all over his chest.

He thinks he probably came in contact with it at his baseball game when he had to go after a homerun ball that had been hit back behind the field in a creek. He never even knew he had come in contact with it. At least not until he woke up Saturday morning.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed in 5051 one time and thought it was "borderline boardwalk view". It does sound better than the lower floors though. It was nice to be fairly close to the elevators.

Here's a couple pictures:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4cc30b3127cce9dcfec6c492000000036108AZOGTFq4ZtJ

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4cc30b3127cce9dcfec44490800000026108AZOGTFq4ZtJ

 

[Boston5602]

thanks for the report , sorry your daughter had such a terrible reaction.

 

[CherCrazy]

Regarding your comment about too much food...I agree! We spent four nights in a 2br with the DDP, then switched to 4 nts in a 1br as our guests left. The DDP was way too much food for us....BUT...and this is a big BUT here... The cost of the food without the DDP was horribly expensive. Our last day we had lunch at Rain Forest. OK, yes I know, it's not on the DDP, but it cost us $120 for 4 people to have cheeseburgers and sodas for lunch. That was pretty much the cost of the DDP for the whole day.

I think next time, we'll go for the DDP. Maybe we can take leftovers back to the room.

BTW...my DS25 was just pining away for the chicken wings from O'hana last night. mmmmmm chicken wings I'm ready to go back!!

 

[abk96]

Sure, you can ask. Then hope that there is another 1 bedroom BW view available. Checking in earlier versus later may help with options. Both times we got these rooms there was no other available.

Also you might call MS and ask for "far from elevator" to be added to your request. These -051 rooms are the closest BW view rooms to the elevator. (And the "far from elevator" BW view rooms have the best views of fireworks, too!)

We'll be checking in early so I hope we'll have good luck. Thanks.