We got back late Friday night from a 7 day trip. We have never seen it so crowded, and we were there in 2002 from Christmas to New Years.
We arrived Sat about 7 p.m., took advantage of the teacher's rate and stayed at the Swan. It was cool that evening. We didn't go to any of the parks, we just had a bite to eat at Beaches & Cream. We had to wait about 45 minutes, used the Q&C vouchers, so it was totally worth it. After dinner we walked around a little bit, then went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Like the Dolphin, the bedding is just heavenly. I almost didn't want to move to the BWV the next morning. I am going to ask on the Swan/Dolphin thread what they use, because I have to get it for my own house. It is the most luxurious bedding I have ever slept on. The BWV should take a lesson and get some of those pillows!
We checked into the BWV Sun about 11. Our room was not ready, but she said we got 2 of our 3 requests. We got non-smoking, and 5th floor, but it really wasn't all that close to the elevators. It was a preferred 1BR #5024. We had a view of Luna Park pool, and the canal if you looked to the right. It had a double balcony but no awning or any type of covering, so you really couldn't sit out on it in the blazing sun. We never heard any noise from the neighbors, but it was a little annoying to be hearing kids screaming every night in the pool at 11:20 p.m.
We went to Epcot and had lunch at Le Cellier on the Premium Lunch voucher. They cost $30 each, but lunch came out to about $85, so it worked out well for us. We knew this was a very popular week, so rides were not our main objective. We went to all the outside shows that we used to never have time for before DVC. We saw the British Invasion, Off kilter, the Japanese drummers, etc. We walked through any gardens we came across. We had a great day. No pressure. Later that evening we saw Illuminations and walked back to our room. No fighting the crowds to get out of the park.
Monday we went to the pool for awhile then took the boat over to MGM about 4p.m. There were no fast passes for RNR or TOT or LM, so we just strolled over to our Fantasmic dinner at Mama Melrose. Kevin, our waiter, was excellent. We got to our reserved Fantasmic seats at 7:45 for the 8:30 show, and it looked like the entire seating arena was already filled to capacity. I never saw it so crowded, so early. Leaving the show, we couldn't believe how many people were in line for the 10p.m. show. The line went halfway down the street. It was a sea of humanity. It's rough without the reserved seats.
Tuesday we went to AK. Had breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe. It was excellent. We've eaten there before, and I thought it was okay, but this time, it was really very good. Since AK is not a favorite of ours, we just went on the Safari and then IABL with our fast pass. We went back to the pool after that. For dinner, we went to Cinderella's Castle. This was our first foray into MK this week. My goodness, you couldn't even walk, it was so mobbed. After dinner, at 5 to 9 (Spectro time) the wait time was 55 minutes for Haunted Mansion. We couldn't believe it. There was a line out the door for Small World. It was incredible. I don't think we went on anything that evening, but we did get a great spot for Spectro and Wishes was fabulous as usual.
Wed morning we had breakfast at Crystal Palace. There was not much hope for rides. Timekeeper had a four hour delay for fastpass. Buzz was a 60 minute wait, Peter Pan was 80. It was crazy! We walked around dumbfounded, but the greatest thing was we kept saying to each other, "We went on that in Feb., we'll just wait till we come back in Oct." The DVC changes your whole perspective. I really felt bad for people who were experiencing WDW for the first time. I can't imagine they could have gotten on too many rides, and I felt bad that they may not come away with the same love for it that we have. We just went on COP and TTA then went back to the pool, again. That evening we went to Brown Derby and had a great dinner. One interesting thing that happened as we were checking in was a woman came up and said she had reservations for 14. They had no record of it. She said she called that morning. They said they had nothing. She quietly walked away. If it was me and I really did have PS's, I'd be loud. She had no confirm number or anything. How she thought they were going to squeeze in 14, I'll never know. All week long, every place we went, we heard them tell people, "Sorry, no walk-ins."
Thursday we finally got to sleep in, when we got up, we went to the pool. I forgot to mention that they had a CM going around checking room keys at the pool. While my DH was on the balcony, he saw a couple evicted. We were asked 2 different days for our room key. We spent most of the afternoon at the pool, then got dressed up for our last night's dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. We had the chateaubriand...to die for.
Friday we had an interesting thing happen also. The housekeeper came to the door about 10:30. I personally handed her the tip because she did a wonderful job on T&T day, and told her we would be out shortly. About 11 o'clock, I called for the bellman and was told, "It will be at least 45 minutes to an hour. Just tell the housekeeper you are waiting for the bellman." And we did wait for 50 minutes. That never happened before, and we have checked out on several Fridays.
We spent that day in Epcot. We had a late lunch at Yakitori then got picked up by FL Tours and headed home. We had a great trip. Very relaxing, and just what we needed.
We arrived Sat about 7 p.m., took advantage of the teacher's rate and stayed at the Swan. It was cool that evening. We didn't go to any of the parks, we just had a bite to eat at Beaches & Cream. We had to wait about 45 minutes, used the Q&C vouchers, so it was totally worth it. After dinner we walked around a little bit, then went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Like the Dolphin, the bedding is just heavenly. I almost didn't want to move to the BWV the next morning. I am going to ask on the Swan/Dolphin thread what they use, because I have to get it for my own house. It is the most luxurious bedding I have ever slept on. The BWV should take a lesson and get some of those pillows!
We checked into the BWV Sun about 11. Our room was not ready, but she said we got 2 of our 3 requests. We got non-smoking, and 5th floor, but it really wasn't all that close to the elevators. It was a preferred 1BR #5024. We had a view of Luna Park pool, and the canal if you looked to the right. It had a double balcony but no awning or any type of covering, so you really couldn't sit out on it in the blazing sun. We never heard any noise from the neighbors, but it was a little annoying to be hearing kids screaming every night in the pool at 11:20 p.m.
We went to Epcot and had lunch at Le Cellier on the Premium Lunch voucher. They cost $30 each, but lunch came out to about $85, so it worked out well for us. We knew this was a very popular week, so rides were not our main objective. We went to all the outside shows that we used to never have time for before DVC. We saw the British Invasion, Off kilter, the Japanese drummers, etc. We walked through any gardens we came across. We had a great day. No pressure. Later that evening we saw Illuminations and walked back to our room. No fighting the crowds to get out of the park.
Monday we went to the pool for awhile then took the boat over to MGM about 4p.m. There were no fast passes for RNR or TOT or LM, so we just strolled over to our Fantasmic dinner at Mama Melrose. Kevin, our waiter, was excellent. We got to our reserved Fantasmic seats at 7:45 for the 8:30 show, and it looked like the entire seating arena was already filled to capacity. I never saw it so crowded, so early. Leaving the show, we couldn't believe how many people were in line for the 10p.m. show. The line went halfway down the street. It was a sea of humanity. It's rough without the reserved seats.
Tuesday we went to AK. Had breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe. It was excellent. We've eaten there before, and I thought it was okay, but this time, it was really very good. Since AK is not a favorite of ours, we just went on the Safari and then IABL with our fast pass. We went back to the pool after that. For dinner, we went to Cinderella's Castle. This was our first foray into MK this week. My goodness, you couldn't even walk, it was so mobbed. After dinner, at 5 to 9 (Spectro time) the wait time was 55 minutes for Haunted Mansion. We couldn't believe it. There was a line out the door for Small World. It was incredible. I don't think we went on anything that evening, but we did get a great spot for Spectro and Wishes was fabulous as usual.
Wed morning we had breakfast at Crystal Palace. There was not much hope for rides. Timekeeper had a four hour delay for fastpass. Buzz was a 60 minute wait, Peter Pan was 80. It was crazy! We walked around dumbfounded, but the greatest thing was we kept saying to each other, "We went on that in Feb., we'll just wait till we come back in Oct." The DVC changes your whole perspective. I really felt bad for people who were experiencing WDW for the first time. I can't imagine they could have gotten on too many rides, and I felt bad that they may not come away with the same love for it that we have. We just went on COP and TTA then went back to the pool, again. That evening we went to Brown Derby and had a great dinner. One interesting thing that happened as we were checking in was a woman came up and said she had reservations for 14. They had no record of it. She said she called that morning. They said they had nothing. She quietly walked away. If it was me and I really did have PS's, I'd be loud. She had no confirm number or anything. How she thought they were going to squeeze in 14, I'll never know. All week long, every place we went, we heard them tell people, "Sorry, no walk-ins."
Thursday we finally got to sleep in, when we got up, we went to the pool. I forgot to mention that they had a CM going around checking room keys at the pool. While my DH was on the balcony, he saw a couple evicted. We were asked 2 different days for our room key. We spent most of the afternoon at the pool, then got dressed up for our last night's dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. We had the chateaubriand...to die for.
Friday we had an interesting thing happen also. The housekeeper came to the door about 10:30. I personally handed her the tip because she did a wonderful job on T&T day, and told her we would be out shortly. About 11 o'clock, I called for the bellman and was told, "It will be at least 45 minutes to an hour. Just tell the housekeeper you are waiting for the bellman." And we did wait for 50 minutes. That never happened before, and we have checked out on several Fridays.
We spent that day in Epcot. We had a late lunch at Yakitori then got picked up by FL Tours and headed home. We had a great trip. Very relaxing, and just what we needed.
