Just back! Tampa & BCV

[mericletwins]

Hi all!

We are back from our trip and we are very sad. It was 90 and sunny when we left Orlando and now I am watching a Nor'easter out my window. Anyway, we had a great time in Florida. Both our Tampa experience (first timers) and Disney were great fun. We went with another family, my mom and DBro. Any questions, fire away!

 

[all4fun]

Very cool. Glad you had a great time. What did you do in Tampa?

About the Nor'Easter....just turned on the news and they're saying that this is the biggest one in the last 25yrs! That's crazy. I hope it blows thru quickly.

 

[mericletwins]

Very cool. Glad you had a great time. What did you do in Tampa?

About the Nor'Easter....just turned on the news and they're saying that this is the biggest one in the last 25yrs! That's crazy. I hope it blows thru quickly.

We did Busch Gardens in Tampa and that ended up being it! We got a combo ticket through AAA for Busch Gardens and Adventure Island water park. It was good for ten consecutive days and it was CHEAP! We arrived on Good Friday and got to BG about 5:00. We did a few things and left when they closed about 8:00. On Satuirday we went back about 10 and stayed till about 3:00. We went back to the hotel (about a mile away) and the kids got in the pool. It was chilly while we were in Tampa. The temp was in the 60's. Easter Sunday we did egg hunts and all at the hotel and then went back to BG to finish up the roller coasters. We stayed until 3:00 or so and went back to the hotel for a swim. Monday was out planned Adventure Island water park day since it was supposed to be the first day the temp would be in the 70's! Unfortunately the weather people had it all wrong! It rained ALL DAY and the temp never gout out of the 50's! We tried to go back to BG to see a show or two we didn't see and have the kids repeat their favorite rides, but about 45 minutes after we got there, it started POURING! The guys had gotten up at 5 a.m. to go fishing and they were still chilled from that experience so they weren't interested in standing around in the rain, Frankly, neither were the rest of us. We left and went to lunch. We stayed at the Embassy Suites-USF and I can't say enough great things about this hotel. You get breakfast every a.m. and a manager's cocktail reception every night. Two hours of open bar!We usually did that and then ate in the hotel dining room. We will definitely go back to Tampa again. There is a lot to do there that we didn't do, but since our time was limited, we didn't want to feel rushed knowing that the hustle an d bustle of WDW was coming.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Hi all!

We are back from our trip and we are very sad. It was 90 and sunny when we left Orlando and now I am watching a Nor'easter out my window. Anyway, we had a great time in Florida. Both our Tampa experience (first timers) and Disney were great fun. We went with another family, my mom and DBro. Any questions, fire away!

I feel your pain...we just returned from a week at AKL late last night. We are in southern NJ as well...what a terrible thing to come back to. On the bright side, glad to hear that you had such a fantastic vacation. Now you have to start planning the next one to look forward to! Hahaha...that is what I do to stay sane in between trips!

 

[TheDizMom]

I totally feel your pain. We just got back on the 6th from 8 glorious days of mid to upper 80's. We got off the plane in Minneapolis to 20 some degree temps and lots of cold wind, shortly there after we got snowed on (what you are getting now). It was freezing all week. Talk about temperature shock. If it makes you feel any better we are now in the upper 50's and lower 60's tomorrow so it should be heading your way soon. We had a great time too. What did you do at Disney? Our new things to try this time were the not so speedy boats on the Lagoon and Bay Lake, Everest (which I nearly lost my cookies on toward the end), the Hoop Dee Doo (loved, loved, loved ) and several of the newer attractions like the Nemo ride the Monsters Inc. comedy club thing, and the High School Musical show(my DD 6 loved this one a ton ). We made it onto Soarin, the Test Track, Rockin Rollercoaster and the other scarrier rides our kids were to young for last time. We really had a great time . We also stayed at the Grand Floridian this time which was just phenominal, of course our last trip we were at the AS Sports. What knew things did you do? What things are still just as cool to you every time you go. We did the safari again which was so much better then the first time , I will always love Small World and I will never get enough of the Spcetromagic and Wishes fireworks . We are still totally gung ho on Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and 1900 as were last time too. How about you what are your favorite restaurants?

Looking forward to seeing your responses!

 

[mericletwins]

I feel your pain...we just returned from a week at AKL late last night. We are in southern NJ as well...what a terrible thing to come back to. On the bright side, glad to hear that you had such a fantastic vacation. Now you have to start planning the next one to look forward to! Hahaha...that is what I do to stay sane in between trips!

We already started planning, not one, but two trips. Next June my DD's dance team will dance in Disney so we scouted out CSR as a possible place to stay. My friend that was with us (and her family) her mother owns the dance studio so we did a little recon. My family that went with us and my friend and her family are planning a group trip again at Easter 2009. We are tentatively planning on one of the Universal hotels for a night or two and then a split stay at Disney. My mother wants us to stay concierge so we are debating on GF/Poly stay, Poly/BC, or GF/BC. We love the BC. It has something for everyone in our group and the location is fabulous. Our original thought was GF/Poly split, but as we were at the BC, we weren't sure if we could give it up. None of our group has ever stayed concierge at WDW before so I need to start researching the good, the bad and the ugly about the various concierge floors at the above mentioned resorts.


I will need to do that after I head back out in the nor'easter for a BIRTHDAY PARTY!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We stayed at the Embassy Suites-USF and I can't say enough great things about this hotel. You get breakfast every a.m. and a manager's cocktail reception every night. Two hours of open bar!We usually did that and then ate in the hotel dining room.

I wonder if Embassy Suites is connected to Homewood/Hilton Suites? We stayed at a Homewood/Hilton suites (in NC) a month ago and it sounds exactly like what they offered (breakfast/dinner/bar). Nice and convenient and definitely a good deal. If you don't mind my asking, were the rates for Embassy-USF reasonable?

 

[Marshay]

Hi all!

We are back from our trip and we are very sad. It was 90 and sunny when we left Orlando and now I am watching a Nor'easter out my window. Anyway, we had a great time in Florida. Both our Tampa experience (first timers) and Disney were great fun. We went with another family, my mom and DBro. Any questions, fire away!

Welcome back! Tell me about BCV please. We are going for our first time in September and I can't wait. How long is the walk from BCV to SAB and to Epcot? Can you see Illuminations from BCV?

Any hints on how to make our stay more enjoyable are welcome!

 

[mericletwins]

What did you do at Disney? Our new things to try this time were the not so speedy boats on the Lagoon and Bay Lake, Everest (which I nearly lost my cookies on toward the end), the Hoop Dee Doo (loved, loved, loved ) and several of the newer attractions like the Nemo ride the Monsters Inc. comedy club thing, and the High School Musical show(my DD 6 loved this one a ton ). We made it onto Soarin, the Test Track, Rockin Rollercoaster and the other scarrier rides our kids were to young for last time. We really had a great time . We also stayed at the Grand Floridian this time which was just phenominal, of course our last trip we were at the AS Sports. What knew things did you do? What things are still just as cool to you every time you go. We did the safari again which was so much better then the first time , I will always love Small World and I will never get enough of the Spcetromagic and Wishes fireworks . We are still totally gung ho on Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and 1900 as were last time too. How about you what are your favorite restaurants?

Looking forward to seeing your responses!

As far as new, we did the Monsters Laugh thing, Lights. Motor, Action Stunt Show,the Nemo ride, Snow White's Scary Adventure, the racing car things at MK and renting a surrey bike at Boardwalk (for 9 people). My kids did Primeval Whirl for the first time and were scared witless on the ride, but said that they liked it when we got off. My one DS finally tried Star Tours for the first time and liked it. My kids had not been on POTC since the twins were 9 mos and the youngest in-utero. We all went on that (first time for the adults since it was revamped. )


As far as what we love:

I always love RNR as does DH. My bro and DH talked me into ToT for the first time in about 5 years. It will probably be another few years before I do that again.

We all love always: Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, AK Safari, Test Track, Turtle Talk w/Crush, TTA (MK), Space Mountain (even though it seems hokey after the Busch Gardens coasters).

DH and DBRo went quickly to Everest to get FP for the part of our group that wanted to ride. While there someone gave them two FP to ride right then so they hopped on while waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. They got off and waited for the rest of the group to get there from various locations. I was on the Safari with my three. As we all converged on EE, it broke down. We went to do Primeval Whirl (where the FP machine kept taking my card and they had to pull the machine apart). We went back and it was running again. When we were about 100 feet away we saw the car with people on it get STUCK on the lift hill. We waited about 5 or 10 minutes and they were still stuck. It was the last thing on our list so we left the park early and went back to the pool for the afternoon.


As far as restaurants, we haven't eaten at that many before this trip, because we stay in a villa and ate a lot in the room. This time we did the DDP and it was fabulous! We ate dinner at the Cape May Cafe, Boma, Coral Reef and Le Cellier. I liked all of them and everyone in our party of 11 was pleased with all four places, but everyone preferred some over the others.

In the past we have eaten breakfast at Crystal Palace and dinner at 1900 Park Fare. We were very happy at both. I love strawberry soup and that they have it there is a real draw for me.

I would love to take the kids to Chef Mickey's next time. They have never been there and DH and I haven't done Chef Mickey's since it was in DTD.

DH and I love to try new things, but the rest of our group of 11 is not very adventurous so we dragged them into these "new" restaurants with a bit of trepidation. They were pleased, though I think Boma was the least favorite of theirs, but they still liked it. I want to try a whole new set of restaurants next time, but they are insisting on a return to some of the ones we just tried.

 

[mericletwins]

I wonder if Embassy Suites is connected to Homewood/Hilton Suites? We stayed at a Homewood/Hilton suites (in NC) a month ago and it sounds exactly like what they offered (breakfast/dinner/bar). Nice and convenient and definitely a good deal. If you don't mind my asking, were the rates for Embassy-USF reasonable?

I think our rate was about $229/night. I can't remember exactly. They do offer AAA, AARP and government discounts. The bell services/concierge people were wonderful. They offer a free on-demand shuttle that will take you anywhere in a 5 mile radius. We parked the rental at the hotel and let them ferry us about. We took their recommendation for some place sto eat and they were good.

Although, it was about $229 a night, we figured we saved about $40 a day (at least) on breakfast and saved about $75 (at least) a night on drinks. Makes the price very reasonable when you look at it that way. I think I would go out of my way to look for an Embassy Suites after staying at this one.

 

[mericletwins]

Welcome back! Tell me about BCV please. We are going for our first time in September and I can't wait. How long is the walk from BCV to SAB and to Epcot? Can you see Illuminations from BCV?

Any hints on how to make our stay more enjoyable are welcome!

We were in the farthest room from SAB. Literally, the farthest. It was probably a little over 5 minutes walk to SAB. The pool is so fabulous. The walk to Epcot, and again we were the farthest room from Epcot I think, was probably about 10 minutes, but a very easy, walk. We couldn't see any of Illuminations from our villa this time, but we coulkd see the high fireworks from our villa the last time. You could also go to the bridge between the BC and the Boardwalk and see part of Illuminations.

I'll try and give you hints, but could you give me more info? Flying or driving? Kids? How many? Ages?

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

What knew things did you do? What things are still just as cool to you every time you go. We did the safari again which was so much better then the first time , I will always love Small World and I will never get enough of the Spcetromagic and Wishes fireworks . We are still totally gung ho on Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and 1900 as were last time too. How about you what are your favorite restaurants?

We did the safari as part of a grand gathering a few months ago and we had a great time. Our MUST DO'S are HM, Pirates, Space Mountain, RnRC, TOT, Expedition Everest and Test Track. We would be lost if we went to Disney and did not hit those things. We make sure we see Wishes, Spectromagic and Illuminations. Fantasmic is cute...but not really our cup of tea, so we maybe only make a point to see that every couple of years.

Our favorite restaurants are CG, YS, Boma, Shula's, V&A's, Beaches & Cream and Chef Mickey's.

Our favorite things to enjoy at WDW are the F&W festival, F&G festival, MNSSHP & MVMCP.

We just bought into DVC at AKV...so we are looking forward to our next stay at WDW.

 

[TheDizMom]

How funny we were a group of 11 too. Unlike your group ours is very adventurous. We missed a few of our favorites because they were to tame for everyone else. It definately makes for an interesting time when you are with so many different likes and dislikes.

So it sounds like you never made it onto Everest. I am glad I didn't know it had gotten stuck with people on it or they never would have gotten me or my son on it. I would say you missed an adventure for sure, but I will most likely pass on that one next time. I much prefered RNR, it was great! However, we had to wait 2 hours in line because someone lost something during the ride and they had to shut it down to locate it and then someone else pucked on it and they had to close it again. I hope we weren't in that car, YUCK!! It was however worth the wait more or less. I am not sure any ride it worth a 2 hour wait!

We've done Coral Reef and didn't really like it though I know we are in the minority on that. We were supposed to go to Le Cellier, but we had to cancel our reservation that day. It was booked out to so someone really loved us that day as we freed up 3 tables. Next time I recommend doing Prime Time and Grand Floridian cafe if you are looking for some new ones for your group. We really love Prime Time and the cafe was good too. Next time we have to really try Le Cellier again. I have heard such good things about it. You must go to Chef Mickey's again. It is my kids absolute favorite! My DH loves it to and was mad we only got to go once this time. The DDP is great isn't it. It is so worth it. We were able to do the HDD with it too which was great as for our group it would have been over 500 without tip.

Both you and KeepMovingForward seem to be DVC families, so I have a few questions? Do you like this? How much do you spend annually to be members? Is it really flexable? We are going to really be doing the Disney thing a lot I think and I am wondering if it is something that would fit into the pocketbook of a middle class income and worth really looking into more closely. We are already trying to decide on when to go next and wonder if this would be helpful for future trips. So I would love some input from you families who a clubers. Thanks!

 

[mericletwins]

How funny we were a group of 11 too. Unlike your group ours is very adventurous. We missed a few of our favorites because they were to tame for everyone else. It definately makes for an interesting time when you are with so many different likes and dislikes.

So it sounds like you never made it onto Everest. I am glad I didn't know it had gotten stuck with people on it or they never would have gotten me or my son on it. I would say you missed an adventure for sure, but I will most likely pass on that one next time. I much prefered RNR, it was great! However, we had to wait 2 hours in line because someone lost something during the ride and they had to shut it down to locate it and then someone else pucked on it and they had to close it again. I hope we weren't in that car, YUCK!! It was however worth the wait more or less. I am not sure any ride it worth a 2 hour wait!

We've done Coral Reef and didn't really like it though I know we are in the minority on that. We were supposed to go to Le Cellier, but we had to cancel our reservation that day. It was booked out to so someone really loved us that day as we freed up 3 tables. Next time I recommend doing Prime Time and Grand Floridian cafe if you are looking for some new ones for your group. We really love Prime Time and the cafe was good too. Next time we have to really try Le Cellier again. I have heard such good things about it. You must go to Chef Mickey's again. It is my kids absolute favorite! My DH loves it to and was mad we only got to go once this time. The DDP is great isn't it. It is so worth it. We were able to do the HDD with it too which was great as for our group it would have been over 500 without tip.

Both you and KeepMovingForward seem to be DVC families, so I have a few questions? Do you like this? How much do you spend annually to be members? Is it really flexable? We are going to really be doing the Disney thing a lot I think and I am wondering if it is something that would fit into the pocketbook of a middle class income and worth really looking into more closely. We are already trying to decide on when to go next and wonder if this would be helpful for future trips. So I would love some input from you families who a clubers. Thanks!

I don't own DVC, we pay an exorbitant amount to stay in the villas. My mom pays most of it for our Christmas presents the years we go. It is completely worth it and if we hadn't just bought a house and now putting in a pool, we would buy it in a heartbeat. I am still hoping in another year or two that we can buy it. Even if you go evety three years I think you still come out way ahead. You can also buy DVC through resale and save a little money.


We did get to ride EE last year at Easter so we were ok with missing that. Only one 10 year old in our group missed out. This is her first year on the thrill rides. We took her on RnR and ToT.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Both you and KeepMovingForward seem to be DVC families, so I have a few questions? Do you like this? How much do you spend annually to be members? Is it really flexable? We are going to really be doing the Disney thing a lot I think and I am wondering if it is something that would fit into the pocketbook of a middle class income and worth really looking into more closely. We are already trying to decide on when to go next and wonder if this would be helpful for future trips. So I would love some input from you families who a clubers. Thanks!

We just bought into DVC with the pre-sale for AKV. We go to Disney 3-6 times a year, so it was well worth it for us. We purchased 1,000 points per year since we travel there often and don't like small accomodations. The cost of DVC depends on how many points you buy. The minimum buy in is 160 points for $16,64000 and it goes all the way up to $208K for 2,000 points. Your annual dues are assessed per point. Saratoga Springs pays $4.1229 per point and AKV pays $4.6186 per point. SSR is definitely being pushed by DVC as a more economical choice and you still have the ability to use your points elsewhere on property. So the lowest annual fee (based on 160 points) that you would pay is $659.66 (plus your purchase price) and you could go up to $9,237.20 per year if you were to purchase 2,000 points (again, plus your purchase price). The earlier you buy into a resort, the more years you will get out of your purchase. It is very flexible as far as choosing where you want to stay and the type of accomodations. You can maximize your points i you opt to stay in a studio rather than maybe a 2 bedroom or a villa. It is really up to you.

There are a lot of people out there doing DVC through resale. You don't really get that much of a cut from what Disney is charging, since Disney has the first right of refusal on the resale...rather that if they think you are selling your DVC for too low of a price, they can opt to buy it off of you themselves. This sounds not so great, but if you ever have to sell your DVC...this is a pretty good way to guarantee you won't lose your shirt like you would in a traditional timeshare sale. We did not bother going the resale route for a number of reasons-the main one being that AKV is not something you can find on resale since it is just being built and offered for pre-sale. Disney told us that many people opt to go direct with them because of the financing they offer and rebates/incentives that they sometimes run. Other than that, there isn't a down side to doing resale.

The best thing I could suggest is ordering the DVC video. If you give your phone number, they will call you and follow up. Marty was our contact and she offered to send me the book and pamphlets on DVC and AKV. After that, we were constantly in touch with Randy for any questions and he brought us through the whole sale process. I will say that they are wonderful there at DVC...my first time talking with Randy on the phone, she spoke with me for nearly TWO HOURS and answered all my questions. It was like she had all day and no question was too silly. I probably grilled her more than most because we have owned (and still do own) traditional timeshares outside of DVC and there are definite pitfalls...so I asked her about everything we have encountered and then some. She was always knowledgeable and happy to indulge me.

Once we got the book and pamphlets from Randy in the DVC sales, we called them to get the ball rolling on the paperwork. Everything was done by FedEx and went smoothly and quickly. I can't recommend them enough! Discounts on dining, passes, special events...there are so many perks to buying into DVC. We are glad we did!

 

[Starr W.]

How funny we were a group of 11 too. Unlike your group ours is very adventurous. We missed a few of our favorites because they were to tame for everyone else. It definately makes for an interesting time when you are with so many different likes and dislikes.

So it sounds like you never made it onto Everest. I am glad I didn't know it had gotten stuck with people on it or they never would have gotten me or my son on it. I would say you missed an adventure for sure, but I will most likely pass on that one next time. I much prefered RNR, it was great! However, we had to wait 2 hours in line because someone lost something during the ride and they had to shut it down to locate it and then someone else pucked on it and they had to close it again. I hope we weren't in that car, YUCK!! It was however worth the wait more or less. I am not sure any ride it worth a 2 hour wait!

We've done Coral Reef and didn't really like it though I know we are in the minority on that. We were supposed to go to Le Cellier, but we had to cancel our reservation that day. It was booked out to so someone really loved us that day as we freed up 3 tables. Next time I recommend doing Prime Time and Grand Floridian cafe if you are looking for some new ones for your group. We really love Prime Time and the cafe was good too. Next time we have to really try Le Cellier again. I have heard such good things about it. You must go to Chef Mickey's again. It is my kids absolute favorite! My DH loves it to and was mad we only got to go once this time. The DDP is great isn't it. It is so worth it. We were able to do the HDD with it too which was great as for our group it would have been over 500 without tip.

Both you and KeepMovingForward seem to be DVC families, so I have a few questions? Do you like this? How much do you spend annually to be members? Is it really flexable? We are going to really be doing the Disney thing a lot I think and I am wondering if it is something that would fit into the pocketbook of a middle class income and worth really looking into more closely. We are already trying to decide on when to go next and wonder if this would be helpful for future trips. So I would love some input from you families who a clubers. Thanks!

We're DVC'ers, our first visit was a cash stay at SSR, we really liked it so we bought points, then did an add-on of points at Vero Beach as we want to go there for spring break. We bought directly from DVC, got in on a good promotion for SSR and couldn't find a good contract for VB on resale(it takes forever to go through ROFR and sellers that don't seem that anxious to take your money, then your paperwork gets to DVC and it gets processed after direct sales). We have a trips planned in May to VWL, Thanksgiving at SSR, long MLK weekend(4nts) and spring break at VB(waiting for the 11 month window to open 4/23).

Checkout the DVC message boards here, alot of people who while they love DVC will give you straight answers to your questions. We were lucky that our guide was very straight forward and didn't blow alot of smoke up our behinds. We did the tour while staying at SSR.

 

[Marshay]

We were in the farthest room from SAB. Literally, the farthest. It was probably a little over 5 minutes walk to SAB. The pool is so fabulous. The walk to Epcot, and again we were the farthest room from Epcot I think, was probably about 10 minutes, but a very easy, walk. We couldn't see any of Illuminations from our villa this time, but we coulkd see the high fireworks from our villa the last time. You could also go to the bridge between the BC and the Boardwalk and see part of Illuminations.

I'll try and give you hints, but could you give me more info? Flying or driving? Kids? How many? Ages?

Thanks for the info...in looking at a map it didn't look like the BCV were that close to anything -- sort of an afterthought.

In Sept we'll fly (assuming we can get a cheap price) and rent a car since we just prefer a car on property. We'll have me, DH, DD (she'll be 26 mos then), and my mom and dad (in their active 60s).

Right now I'm planning 3 non-park days during the 8 days we will be there (arrival, mid-week and departure day) so we can enjoy the property, SAB, etc. Are there places to shower/change if our room is not ready or on our departure day? Are there children's activities (esp for small ones)?