DH and I just returned from a 2-night stay in a studio at BWV 7/21-7/23. This was our "secret" trip. We left the kids with my parents and told them we were going to Chicago for a couple days.
My parents knew where we really were of course!
We upgraded to business class on the flight down, which was uneventful. Our ME driver was a total dud. He didn't talk at all on the trip. We were the 2nd or 3rd stop, I wasn't paying real close attention because I was Dis'ing on my phone!
We arrived at the Boardwalk around noon. Our room was ready. We were travelling with just carry-ons, so we put our luggage in our room and headed for MK.
We got a fast pass for Buzz, then had lunch as Cosmic Rays. I got the BBQ pork and light lemonade, and found out that if you get just the sandwich and skip the side that comes with it, it will save you $1.80. DH got a burger and fries with sweet tea.
We went on Buzz, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and saw the Hall of Presidents and the Country Bears. I don't know how we managed to miss Philharmagic. I guess the heat must have gotten to us! The waits weren't as bad as I expected. Splash was 50 minutes, and we decided to pass because we were going to the DVC presentation at BLT at 7pm.
We headed for BLT around 6. We stood in line for a few minutes as the didn't start checking people in til 6:30 and the doors didn't open til 6:45. We were assigned to group 1.
We enjoyed the presentation. It was very similar to the event we attended at Doorway to Dreams in Feb, but not exactly the same. We got our picture taken with Mickey, ate some finger sandwiches and Mickey ice cream sandwich, and then went on the tour.
They took us into a grand villa on the 15th floor. The laundry room was amazing! I don't particularly care for the decor at BLT, but it's very nice accomodations of course. I was shocked to see the TV in the master bathroom!
We exited the villa on the 16th floor. (One thing I didn't like about the set-up is that kids could leave via the exit on the 16th floor while their parents were sleeping on the 15th floor. I understand the need for the exit in case of fire, but we won't be staying in a 2-story villa!) We went to the fireworks viewing area and member lounge. We did get to stay and view Wishes from the balcony, but they didn't have the music piped in yet. We could slightly hear the music coming from the roof of the Contemporary. I don't know how the balcony on the roof of the Contemporary is built, but we could see the people over there all the way down to their feet, so I'm assuming it's glass or railings. At BLT, it's a concrete wall that's approx. 3 1/2-4 feet tall, so kids can't see over it at all unless they are lifted up. I'm afraid it won't be long before there's some sort of tragedy there. Another thing we didn't like was the distance from BLT to the monorail. At least it's all indoors or covered, but it's quite a distance! We did each get a card good for 3 instant FP for talking to a guide.
MK was open til 12, but by the time Wishes was over, we were ready for bed. We'd been up since 4am FL time. We headed back to BWV and went to bed around 11:30.
We got up at 6am on Wed. and headed to AK for EMH. We got there right at 8 and went on K. Safari. The animals were very active! Then we ate breakfast at Pizzafari. We saw Lion King (DH's favorite) and Nemo, then rode EE with an instant FP.
We headed back to the Boardwalk because we wanted to go to Welcome Home Wednesday. We had trouble finding somewhere to eat lunch when we got there, but ended up at Big River Grill and split a pulled pork sandwich and mashed potatoes, which was very good. I ended up getting to be a contestant at WHW, and got an umbrella and royal blue DVC hat, and then everybody got red DVC hats as we left, so we're pretty well set on hats for awhile!
We swam and relaxed in the room for a little while. When we got hungry, we headed to DHS and had dinner at the Studio Catering Co. We both got the hot Italian sandwich and chips. We were really tired and overheated. There were lots of tour groups around (at all the parks), and we decided we'd have more fun at DTD, so we headed over there.
The new balloon ride wasn't flying because there was some lightning, but we decided we'd like to try it when we go in Nov. Now that both the kids are adults by Disney standards, it will cost $64 for the 4 of us to ride it!
We did some shopping, picked up some mouse ears for the kids (and told them they were a gift from our DVC guide who we visited in Chicago), made a new tag for the dog with our updated phone numbers, and DH looked at some watches, but decided to wait and buy one next time. We knew we couldn't buy much or the kids would be able to figure out where we were! We thought about some ice cream from Ghiardelli, but the menu gave us sticker shock, so we got a snack at McDonalds instead!
We headed back to the room around 9:30 and it started pouring! It always seemed like we waited quite a while for a bus, but it probably wasn't ever over 20 minutes, like we could have just missed the last bus.
Thurs. morning we were way too early getting to Epcot thanks to no lines at the Airline check-in desk! We also left our carry-ons with luggage services, and just had to get them from the valet before our ME pick-up.
After sitting on a bench for an hour or so, we were finally let into Epcot, and it was the first time we've seen the opening ceremony there. Our plan was to get a FP for Soarin', ride it, eat b-fast, then ride again with the FP. This turned out to be a bad plan because only 1 side was operating, so even though we went straight there at rope drop, it was a full hour before our ride was done. We were starving and crabby by that point and didn't know how long it would take to ride again even with the FP, so after we ate we gave the FP away and headed to Mousegears to do a little shopping.
Then we headed over to DHS. DH went to get a FP for RRC, then we met up at TSM. We got a instant FP for TSM and rode it right away. Then we got a cold drink, and went to see Muppets. We thought it would do us some good to sit in the AC for awhile, but the darkness about put us to sleep, and we felt worse afterward! Then we rode TSM again with another instant FP! DH ended up getting a blister on his finger from pulling the rope.
I told him you're supposed to hold onto the ball, not hold the rope like a cigarette, but his score is better than mine, so whatever! We went to the bakery and got a kids meal (DH had the uncrustable and I had the grapes and applesauce), and I got a fruit tartlet, and DH got a CC cookie. It was still only around 2, and our FP time for RRC was 2:40, so we gave the FP to a couple of very appreciative tween girls. We went back to the Epcot resort area to relax before heading to the airport. I found a Mickey sunglass case at the Swan gift shop, and we had a snack at the Beach Club.
Our ME bus came at 4:50. There were some thunderstorms in the area. They didn't seem too bad to us, but evidentally they were worse in the Atlanta area and things had been backed up there all day.
After breezing through security, we proceeded to get on the wrong train. We got off the train and didn't recognize any of the shops, and couldn't figure out what we did wrong!
We got back on the train and saw that the train we wanted was kind of hidden behind some temporary walls. Once we got where we needed to be, we had dinner at Outback. I got a chicken, bacon, and cheese sandwich, fries, and a pecan blue cheese salad, but I substituted honey mustard dressing for the blue cheese vinagarette. I couldn't even tell you what DH had. I guess I was really into my food! I hadn't had a green vegetable in days, and I devoured my salad!
We boarded our plane on time, but had some delays leaving the gate because planes were still backed up from the storm. We were supposed to have a 30-minute layover in Atlanta, but our plane landed right around the time our other plane was probably taking off. We were hoping it was delayed and ran the 2 miles or so from the D concourse to the C concourse, but the plane was long gone. The Airtran people were not very nice about it. They shoved a pink slip of paper at us and told us to call the 1-800# for a discounted hotel room that we had to pay for out of pocket. We ended up at a Holiday Inn at a rate of $62, but it came to $70 after tax. It was clean and all, but our room seemed to be designed as a HA room even though it had standard furnishings. There was only a shower with no tub, the toilet was in a separate room with no door on it, but the bed was normal height. I was too tired to worry about it. It was after 12 by time we got to the room, and we set the alarm for 5:30am. Too bad they don't charge by the hour!
We got on the 6:30am shuttle to the airport for our 10:15 flight. I wasn't going to take any chances on missing this one! We had breakfast at the airport, and I bought an apple from Rockey Mountain Chocolate because I knew that would make me feel better! Airtran wouldn't upgrade us to business class for our inconvenience (I asked 3 different people who all looked at me like I had horns!), so we ended up paying to upgrade. I did get them to change our Nov. flight without penalty because we were going to be in the exact same situation, so now we'll have a 90 minute layover instead of 30 minute. Hopefully that will be enough! Many of the other people on the plane were supposed to have been on the flight the night before, so I wondered how many people actually ended up on that one.
We were about 30 minutes late leaving the airport, but landed only 10 minutes behind schedule. We were supposed to have picked the dog up by 11am, and didn't get there til 11:30, but we explained our situation and they waived the extra day fee for us, thank goodness!
All in all, it was a decent trip. I'm working on blocking out the whole ordeal of missing our flight! I hate for that memory to ruin the good memories of the trip. We normally don't go to FL in the summer, so it was a lot hotter than we're used to. I was surprised that the crowds weren't worse. We did see a 210 min. wait posted for TSM, but most other rides were less than an hour. I really expected them to be at more like 90 minutes. If the crowds aren't any worse than that over Thanksgiving weekend, I think we'll be OK!
My parents knew where we really were of course!We upgraded to business class on the flight down, which was uneventful. Our ME driver was a total dud. He didn't talk at all on the trip. We were the 2nd or 3rd stop, I wasn't paying real close attention because I was Dis'ing on my phone!
We arrived at the Boardwalk around noon. Our room was ready. We were travelling with just carry-ons, so we put our luggage in our room and headed for MK.
We got a fast pass for Buzz, then had lunch as Cosmic Rays. I got the BBQ pork and light lemonade, and found out that if you get just the sandwich and skip the side that comes with it, it will save you $1.80. DH got a burger and fries with sweet tea.
We went on Buzz, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and saw the Hall of Presidents and the Country Bears. I don't know how we managed to miss Philharmagic. I guess the heat must have gotten to us! The waits weren't as bad as I expected. Splash was 50 minutes, and we decided to pass because we were going to the DVC presentation at BLT at 7pm.
We headed for BLT around 6. We stood in line for a few minutes as the didn't start checking people in til 6:30 and the doors didn't open til 6:45. We were assigned to group 1.
We enjoyed the presentation. It was very similar to the event we attended at Doorway to Dreams in Feb, but not exactly the same. We got our picture taken with Mickey, ate some finger sandwiches and Mickey ice cream sandwich, and then went on the tour.
They took us into a grand villa on the 15th floor. The laundry room was amazing! I don't particularly care for the decor at BLT, but it's very nice accomodations of course. I was shocked to see the TV in the master bathroom!
We exited the villa on the 16th floor. (One thing I didn't like about the set-up is that kids could leave via the exit on the 16th floor while their parents were sleeping on the 15th floor. I understand the need for the exit in case of fire, but we won't be staying in a 2-story villa!) We went to the fireworks viewing area and member lounge. We did get to stay and view Wishes from the balcony, but they didn't have the music piped in yet. We could slightly hear the music coming from the roof of the Contemporary. I don't know how the balcony on the roof of the Contemporary is built, but we could see the people over there all the way down to their feet, so I'm assuming it's glass or railings. At BLT, it's a concrete wall that's approx. 3 1/2-4 feet tall, so kids can't see over it at all unless they are lifted up. I'm afraid it won't be long before there's some sort of tragedy there. Another thing we didn't like was the distance from BLT to the monorail. At least it's all indoors or covered, but it's quite a distance! We did each get a card good for 3 instant FP for talking to a guide.
MK was open til 12, but by the time Wishes was over, we were ready for bed. We'd been up since 4am FL time. We headed back to BWV and went to bed around 11:30.
We got up at 6am on Wed. and headed to AK for EMH. We got there right at 8 and went on K. Safari. The animals were very active! Then we ate breakfast at Pizzafari. We saw Lion King (DH's favorite) and Nemo, then rode EE with an instant FP.
We headed back to the Boardwalk because we wanted to go to Welcome Home Wednesday. We had trouble finding somewhere to eat lunch when we got there, but ended up at Big River Grill and split a pulled pork sandwich and mashed potatoes, which was very good. I ended up getting to be a contestant at WHW, and got an umbrella and royal blue DVC hat, and then everybody got red DVC hats as we left, so we're pretty well set on hats for awhile!
We swam and relaxed in the room for a little while. When we got hungry, we headed to DHS and had dinner at the Studio Catering Co. We both got the hot Italian sandwich and chips. We were really tired and overheated. There were lots of tour groups around (at all the parks), and we decided we'd have more fun at DTD, so we headed over there.
The new balloon ride wasn't flying because there was some lightning, but we decided we'd like to try it when we go in Nov. Now that both the kids are adults by Disney standards, it will cost $64 for the 4 of us to ride it!
We did some shopping, picked up some mouse ears for the kids (and told them they were a gift from our DVC guide who we visited in Chicago), made a new tag for the dog with our updated phone numbers, and DH looked at some watches, but decided to wait and buy one next time. We knew we couldn't buy much or the kids would be able to figure out where we were! We thought about some ice cream from Ghiardelli, but the menu gave us sticker shock, so we got a snack at McDonalds instead!
We headed back to the room around 9:30 and it started pouring! It always seemed like we waited quite a while for a bus, but it probably wasn't ever over 20 minutes, like we could have just missed the last bus.
Thurs. morning we were way too early getting to Epcot thanks to no lines at the Airline check-in desk! We also left our carry-ons with luggage services, and just had to get them from the valet before our ME pick-up.
After sitting on a bench for an hour or so, we were finally let into Epcot, and it was the first time we've seen the opening ceremony there. Our plan was to get a FP for Soarin', ride it, eat b-fast, then ride again with the FP. This turned out to be a bad plan because only 1 side was operating, so even though we went straight there at rope drop, it was a full hour before our ride was done. We were starving and crabby by that point and didn't know how long it would take to ride again even with the FP, so after we ate we gave the FP away and headed to Mousegears to do a little shopping.
Then we headed over to DHS. DH went to get a FP for RRC, then we met up at TSM. We got a instant FP for TSM and rode it right away. Then we got a cold drink, and went to see Muppets. We thought it would do us some good to sit in the AC for awhile, but the darkness about put us to sleep, and we felt worse afterward! Then we rode TSM again with another instant FP! DH ended up getting a blister on his finger from pulling the rope.
I told him you're supposed to hold onto the ball, not hold the rope like a cigarette, but his score is better than mine, so whatever! We went to the bakery and got a kids meal (DH had the uncrustable and I had the grapes and applesauce), and I got a fruit tartlet, and DH got a CC cookie. It was still only around 2, and our FP time for RRC was 2:40, so we gave the FP to a couple of very appreciative tween girls. We went back to the Epcot resort area to relax before heading to the airport. I found a Mickey sunglass case at the Swan gift shop, and we had a snack at the Beach Club. Our ME bus came at 4:50. There were some thunderstorms in the area. They didn't seem too bad to us, but evidentally they were worse in the Atlanta area and things had been backed up there all day.
After breezing through security, we proceeded to get on the wrong train. We got off the train and didn't recognize any of the shops, and couldn't figure out what we did wrong!
We got back on the train and saw that the train we wanted was kind of hidden behind some temporary walls. Once we got where we needed to be, we had dinner at Outback. I got a chicken, bacon, and cheese sandwich, fries, and a pecan blue cheese salad, but I substituted honey mustard dressing for the blue cheese vinagarette. I couldn't even tell you what DH had. I guess I was really into my food! I hadn't had a green vegetable in days, and I devoured my salad!We boarded our plane on time, but had some delays leaving the gate because planes were still backed up from the storm. We were supposed to have a 30-minute layover in Atlanta, but our plane landed right around the time our other plane was probably taking off. We were hoping it was delayed and ran the 2 miles or so from the D concourse to the C concourse, but the plane was long gone. The Airtran people were not very nice about it. They shoved a pink slip of paper at us and told us to call the 1-800# for a discounted hotel room that we had to pay for out of pocket. We ended up at a Holiday Inn at a rate of $62, but it came to $70 after tax. It was clean and all, but our room seemed to be designed as a HA room even though it had standard furnishings. There was only a shower with no tub, the toilet was in a separate room with no door on it, but the bed was normal height. I was too tired to worry about it. It was after 12 by time we got to the room, and we set the alarm for 5:30am. Too bad they don't charge by the hour!
We got on the 6:30am shuttle to the airport for our 10:15 flight. I wasn't going to take any chances on missing this one! We had breakfast at the airport, and I bought an apple from Rockey Mountain Chocolate because I knew that would make me feel better! Airtran wouldn't upgrade us to business class for our inconvenience (I asked 3 different people who all looked at me like I had horns!), so we ended up paying to upgrade. I did get them to change our Nov. flight without penalty because we were going to be in the exact same situation, so now we'll have a 90 minute layover instead of 30 minute. Hopefully that will be enough! Many of the other people on the plane were supposed to have been on the flight the night before, so I wondered how many people actually ended up on that one.
We were about 30 minutes late leaving the airport, but landed only 10 minutes behind schedule. We were supposed to have picked the dog up by 11am, and didn't get there til 11:30, but we explained our situation and they waived the extra day fee for us, thank goodness!All in all, it was a decent trip. I'm working on blocking out the whole ordeal of missing our flight! I hate for that memory to ruin the good memories of the trip. We normally don't go to FL in the summer, so it was a lot hotter than we're used to. I was surprised that the crowds weren't worse. We did see a 210 min. wait posted for TSM, but most other rides were less than an hour. I really expected them to be at more like 90 minutes. If the crowds aren't any worse than that over Thanksgiving weekend, I think we'll be OK!
). We are driving and going to other parts of Florida, and decided to do F & W Festival. We also will only be there for 3 days 2 nites, but I can't wait.
