"Look at all these sunny balls!" - WDW/Uni TR Feb 17-26th 2018 (6/18 Wrap-up and DVC review)

[skier_pete]

Boardwalk is definitely on my list. I have done BC but I have always liked the Boardwalk.

Festival of Arts looks like a great time. It starts right after I leave from Marathon Weekend.

I have always enjoyed Via Napoli too.

I really wish we had had more time to check out Festival of the Arts. Perhaps some future February trip we can get there early enough to spend some time at Epcot and check out more of it. Too bad Universal tore us away.

I'll talk about it a little more later in the TR - but I find I prefer Boardwalk to BC. Probably with little kids I would prefer Beach Club, but going with older kids or adults only, I just really enjoyed the easy access to the Boardwalk, and the pool, while not a entertaining definitely worked for me.

This is our second time at Via Napoli, and enjoyed it very much both times. And after being to Italy, the pizza actually seems pretty authentic to what you get over there.

 

[YodasMom]

I really wish we had had more time to check out Festival of the Arts. Perhaps some future February trip we can get there early enough to spend some time at Epcot and check out more of it. Too bad Universal tore us away.

I'll talk about it a little more later in the TR - but I find I prefer Boardwalk to BC. Probably with little kids I would prefer Beach Club, but going with older kids or adults only, I just really enjoyed the easy access to the Boardwalk, and the pool, while not a entertaining definitely worked for me.

This is our second time at Via Napoli, and enjoyed it very much both times. And after being to Italy, the pizza actually seems pretty authentic to what you get over there.

I love the Boardwalk!! I bought at both BWV and AKV. At first, I questioned myself about Boardwalk and thought I might have been happier with BCV, but that was not the case. Like you said, Boardwalk it great for adults and older children. I know some people may think its not quiet, but the opposite has been true for me and it has always been quiet and peaceful when I have been there no matter what location I am in.

One of the more experienced servers at Via Napoli told me a while ago that they get all or most of their ingredients from Italy, even including water I think.

Enjoying your TR!

 

[khertz]

Finally made it!

I'm sorry your Universal days were so frustrating. Not the way you want to start a vacation! Meanwhile, we just booked our return trip to use up our APs so hopefully it goes well. lol We are staying at HRH this time but really loved the space of those deluxe rooms at PBH.

I can sympathize with your DW on the hungry/hangry thing (and you and DH could likely commiserate together about the two of us!) so I totally know what a moment like that can look like and it's no fun. We were walking around Venice this year on Good Friday (no meet and fasting) and there were a few tense moments until we found something to eat that was ok. lol

Boardwalk looks really beautiful lit up at night! Ready to get to the Disney part of your trip!

 

[skier_pete]

I love the Boardwalk!! I bought at both BWV and AKV. At first, I questioned myself about Boardwalk and thought I might have been happier with BCV, but that was not the case. Like you said, Boardwalk it great for adults and older children. I know some people may think its not quiet, but the opposite has been true for me and it has always been quiet and peaceful when I have been there no matter what location I am in.

One of the more experienced servers at Via Napoli told me a while ago that they get all or most of their ingredients from Italy, even including water I think.

Enjoying your TR!

Thanks for the comments. We own at AKV and BWV too, and we bought BWV without actually staying there. (Only 75 points though.) DW is so excited at the idea of doing F&W from a local location...honestly when we stayed at BCV I was not super impressed with it. Admittedly it was before the refresh, but it was the worst room we've been in for DVC, and while the location was fantastic I mostly thought the pool for how large it was was too crowded. So happy we are owners (and neighbors) at Boardwalk.

Finally made it!

I'm sorry your Universal days were so frustrating. Not the way you want to start a vacation! Meanwhile, we just booked our return trip to use up our APs so hopefully it goes well. lol We are staying at HRH this time but really loved the space of those deluxe rooms at PBH.

I can sympathize with your DW on the hungry/hangry thing (and you and DH could likely commiserate together about the two of us!) so I totally know what a moment like that can look like and it's no fun. We were walking around Venice this year on Good Friday (no meet and fasting) and there were a few tense moments until we found something to eat that was ok. lol

Boardwalk looks really beautiful lit up at night! Ready to get to the Disney part of your trip!

Universal wasn't bad - just not the place for us. I could easily go 5 years without returning to Universal - but more than 12 months away from Disney gives me the jitters. I just thoroughly enjoy the on-site experience so much more. DVC has made it super nice too - just so not used to staying at such nice resorts.

DW was having a bit of a rough trip. I didn't talk too much about it on the trip report, but she was having a hard time with the heat. (I know that must seem like a joke to you as it was in probably the mid-eighties and not THAT humid - but us Northerners can't switch from 20 degrees to 85 so easily.) I had such a great time with the rest of the trip though! Can't wait to share the rest. (Day 4 is already written, working on Day 5.)

 

[skier_pete]

Day 4 - A Tour of Boardwalk and everyone's favorite burger/ice cream shop!

So, knowing all the moving around we would be doing up to this point, we purposefully designed today to be a morning R&R day. In fact, DW decided that she would spend the morning doing laundry. I personally didn’t need it since I brought enough clothes, but whatever that was her option. I just wanted to spend a bit of time exploring the Boardwalk Inn. While we’ve walked around Boardwalk before we hadn’t really explored it much.

A still morning from our balcony – looked like we would be getting a full day of that sunny ball.

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One nice thing about our room was not only it looked out over the Boardwalk, but it was just opposite the pool, so we had to walk about 20 feet from our room, down a flight of stairs, and we were at the main pool area – called the Luna Park Pool.

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This is the pool with the creepy clown face – but don’t let that fool you. This is actually a GREAT pool slide. It’s pretty long, and I especially like that it does a right turning 360 and then switches to a left turn, giving you the littlest bit of thrill before dropping you in the pool. I would say it must be one of the longer pool slides at Disney – and great as long as you don’t look back at that clown…shudder.

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Part of our decision to get a drink mug was that you could do refills here at the pool. This was the most convenient location, and though it is only open until 8 PM, we decided we would splurge and get one mug.

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The shop off the lobby:

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And some fun lobby fixtures that I took while we stopped to get a map of the Boardwalk area. (We never went to the front desk when we checked in.)

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The amazing Jumbo!
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I was trying to figure out why I like Boardwalk theming more than Beach Club. I think the reason is the whole sort of Carnival theme to the area. Beach Club is very much just New England Beach-y, and while Boardwalk is New Jersey Beach-y, it’s got that sideshow/carny element to it that to me makes it a little more charming.

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One thing about some of the deluxes is that they really have a limited selection of QS food options. Boardwalk is somewhat different in that you have the Boardwalk itself, but really internal to the building, the only option is the Belle Vue Lounge, which is next to the lobby on the hotel side of the resort. They have a drink refill location (when it’s open) and some food selection for breakfast as well as in the evening. Not really a great place to eat though.

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We then went out to the Boardwalk itself.

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We were too early to get ice cream – but I really wanted to try this.

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The closest Boardwalk has to a QS location is the Boardwalk Bakery. This was my first time checking it out. They actually have a pretty decent selection, but there is absolutely nowhere to in fact sit down, so you better be ready to take your food to go.

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We got our resort mug at this point, and we did a little bit of window shopping at the gift shop. We headed back up to the room, and while DW continued working on laundry, DD and I headed down to the pool for a while. Not a huge pool, but it was uncrowded enough at 11 AM that it wasn’t a problem. DW eventually joined us for a relaxing dip. (This was the only time we went down to the pool here on this trip.)

We went back to the room and dried off and changed – Still quiet on the Boardwalk. This shot below shows the angle that you would watch illuminations. From this angle, the fireworks would be seen just above the boat dock.

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We couldn’t spend all day in the room – we had a lunch reservation to get to! It was a maybe 15 minute walk over to everyone’s favorite ice cream shop…

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They gave us a pager when we arrived, but that seemed pointless as it went off about 2 minutes after they gave it to us. Beaches and Cream is SOOO small. I wonder when they built it if they even really thought there would be any demand here. If there’s 15 tables/booths inside that’s a lot – probably what makes this such a hard get.

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Hey, get off your phones!

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Very standard fare here at B&C.

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DD got the chicken / bacon / ranch sandwich. This is her favorite Subway sandwich, too bad she won’t eat the veggies.

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DW and I both had burgers. She Disney-fied hers.

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And what would a stop at B&C be without dessert. After last time, I convinced the family we should share a single sundae. We got a one with the oreos and brownie. It was just right for the 3 of us to split.

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Several people around us ordered the Kitchen Sink. This may be the grossest food ever known to man. I just find all that stuff mixed together and so sweet really is a turn-off. Especially as it turns into a bowl of ice cream soup.

Next up - hey aren't there theme parks around here someplace?

 

[rteetz]

I have never eaten a meal at Becahes and Cream but have had ice cream several times including the Kitchen Sink. We split it as a family of 5. There is a ton of whip cream on it. It was enjoyable though. I really enjoy the no way jose.

 

[skier_pete]

I have never eaten a meal at Becahes and Cream but have had ice cream several times including the Kitchen Sink. We split it as a family of 5. There is a ton of whip cream on it. It was enjoyable though. I really enjoy the no way jose.

Well, as I said, I don't really like a sundae covered with all that stuff - so the Kitchen Sink just seems sort of gross to me. It's clearly popular. The food besides the ice cream is good but obviously simple stuff. No complaints eating there, that's for sure! Truthfully, wasn't the best ice cream I had on the trip though...

 

[skier_pete]

Day 4 Continued.

Hey everyone, thanks so much for everyone that has been reading along. I notice I'm seeing about 800 views every time I make a post, and that is awesome. But, I'm only getting like 1-2 comments from the same DIS friends, so I just wanted to say please go ahead a keep reading, but also don't be afraid to make a comment or two!

So now 2 PM, and it was about time we headed for a park, and what park can you cover completely getting there after 2 PM? Why, Hollywood Studios of course! We headed out to the boat and it was already there, so we didn’t even have to wait. (Up to our 11th boat ride of the trip – and no buses so far!)
The future Gondola station…

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Crossroads of the (Disney) World!

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First up, Indiana Jones! We had a FP to get a seat and we got seated pretty low down. It was really hot out at this point so we were happy to be in the shade. Every time I try to get some good pictures here – and they never seem to come out that well, but I think I did a little better than most:

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After the show – we had decided to see MuppetVision before our next FP for StarTours.

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DD decide she would absolutely not sit through Muppet Vision because its 3D. (This is a 14 year old.) So we were going to sit her down in PizzaRizzo until we found out it closes at 4 PM. (HuH -what's up with that?) While doing this, DW went into the bathroom, and believe it or not, we ran into some friends from home. I mean, they are more friends of friends, but friends enough that they’ve been to our house. We didn't know they were going to be at WDW, probably hadn't seen them for a year or more. Still an almost staggering coincidence we didn’t even know they were here. As it happens, there FP+ for Star Tours was coming up, so we rode together. It doesn’t seem that I got any pictures, though. We hung out for a few minutes. They were down visiting family, and the husbands parents paid for them to go to Disney World. They were here for like 4 days staying off site, but had never been before. We tried to help them out with a few pointers, and even offered to meet up the next day if they wanted. (We eventually did see them when we saved a spot for the MK fireworks, but they ended up not staying with us. Long story, but by that point they had that vacant stare of being beaten by WDW heat and crowds for 3 straight days.)

Anyways, because we ran into them we never got around to doing Muppet Vision 3D. We still had some time before our TSM passes, and I wanted to check out the Star Wars Launch Bay – mostly to do a meet and greet – but we sat through the propaganda movie anyways.

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Then we went on to meet the biggest celebrity from the new movies…BB-8!

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It was time for our Toy Story FastPass. TSMM is all ripped up inside and out in preparation for Toy Story land, but we were fortunate that our FP got us through the line pretty quick.

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Unfortunately, my gun stopped working before the last scene, which DD enjoyed to no end. It also meant she beat me;

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I was not at all happy.

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We got off the ride, and I mentioned to the CM that the gun had stopped working partway through the ride. They asked if I wanted to go again, and I (stupidly said) “No, I just wanted to let you know.” But they asked again, and after DW smacked me (metaphorically) we of course went again. A great example of Disney going above expectations to make the guest experience wonderful. (Are you listening Universal?)

MUCH happier was I …
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The ride stopped for about 5 minutes in the middle, but it gave me additional practice time. I also did something different and practiced using my left hand as my firing hand, I then started alternating which hand I was using to pull the string - allowing me to have a bit of a break during parts of the game. The result was perhaps my best score to date.

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At this point we were getting a little bit hungry even though we had had a late lunch. So we went over to ABC Commissary. What used to be the worst restaurant on property has improved quite a bit. While DD got the chicken strips, DW and I got some nice Mediterranean salads. She got chicken, while I asked for plain. Instead, they gave me Salmon and charged me for it. I HATE salmon, so I brought it back to the counter. I said that I had ordered plain and was charged for salmon and I would just like to correct it. Well, they gave me my meal for free! Again, I really wasn’t asking for or expecting this, but it was nice that they did it. We hung around for a while as we really had only one more thing to do – we wanted to see the projection shows – both the “Movie Magic” one which ran at like 8:00 PM and the Star Wars one which went at 8:15 PM. I think it’s funny that they have two shows. We went out about 20 minutes before the first show and easily snagged a good spot. We were actually directly behind the wheelchair/ECV section which was perfect because no one stood up in front of us.

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Disney Movie Magic was not our main reason for staying, but it was a pretty nifty show.
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One thing I noticed that perhaps they are doing on purpose, whereas Magic Kingdom’s projection stuff focus on animation, the stuff here is entirely live action. For instance – live action Beauty and the Beast represented here.

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Poppins…

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Pirates….

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The Star Wars show I ended up videotaping, so no pictures. It was also really fun. I actually was thinking all these projection shows are a little tiring, but now that they removed the stage, this is a pretty good area to watch a show. Combine with a few fireworks it was a lot of fun.

We actually booked out of there right before the finale, and while DD whined about us hustling through the crowds, we said “there’s a good reason”. The good reason was when we got to the boat dock and we got on the boat that was there. Turned around and there were about 200 people waiting in line behind us when the boat left. “And that’s why you hustle out of there!”

Came back to the room and tried to put DD to bed. Cause DW and I could no longer resist the siren call of our favorite place at WDW – Jellyroll’s. Anyone that’s followed our TRs before knows it’s not a Disney trip without at least one stop at Jellyroll’s – the non-stop sing-a-long dueling piano bar. We had a pretty early start planned the next morning, so we went down from about 9:30 PM and only stayed until around midnight.

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This says it all for what we KNEW we would love about the Boardwalk – our favorite hangout and our room for the night both in the same shot. What more could you ask for?

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Well, what was less than impressive is we got back to the room and DD was still awake! She was having problems falling asleep but didn’t know what to do. Somehow she didn’t get the memo that we had our phones on us and could come back up at a moments notice! Well, we settled her down and all got to sleep. We actually had a rope drop day planned the next day – or so we thought!!

Two days down – only two rides ridden!

Next time - Just when you think you are a Disney Know-it-all...my big screw up of the trip!!!!

 

[tammy]

Hi! Coming outta lurking. Great report and beautiful pictures. In your last installment, was that a smile from your DD? LOL!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We are staying at BWV next trip for the first time and I'm very much looking forward to it. Great pics of the area!

 

[skier_pete]

Hi! Coming outta lurking. Great report and beautiful pictures. In your last installment, was that a smile from your DD? LOL!!

Hey, thanks for reading along! Yes, every once and awhile we got a smile. In fact, she was quite pleasant much of the trip - occasionally even dare I say carefree. But mostly when the camera came out - she became very grouchy. Mostly didn't even want to be in pictures, but occasionally we persuaded her as you can see.

We are staying at BWV next trip for the first time and I'm very much looking forward to it. Great pics of the area!

Oh, I hope you love it as much as we do. We'd spent some time there in the past but never stayed there. I bought a small DVC contract there last year having never even stayed there - and I am now completely happy I did - can't wait to go back in October. (I think we will miss eachother by about a week based on your ticket - we are just a few days outside six months.)

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Hey, thanks for reading along! Yes, every once and awhile we got a smile. In fact, she was quite pleasant much of the trip - occasionally even dare I say carefree. But mostly when the camera came out - she became very grouchy. Mostly didn't even want to be in pictures, but occasionally we persuaded her as you can see.



Oh, I hope you love it as much as we do. We'd spent some time there in the past but never stayed there. I bought a small DVC contract there last year having never even stayed there - and I am now completely happy I did - can't wait to go back in October. (I think we will miss eachother by about a week based on your ticket - we are just a few days outside six months.)

We are going Jersey Week and rented points from a wonderful Dis member. I'm sure we will love it! We did BC before and just fell in love with the Epcot area resorts.

 

[amiskell28]

Hello! What a great trip report so far! Newer member of disboards, have been lurking since about February. We just booked our 1st trip back to WDW since 2009 (2 park days) followed by a Disney cruise. So - by no means a Disney expert! And, I've seen lots has changed since our stay at POR back then!

Anyway - you said you wanted some of us to come out of lurkdom, so here I am! I'm really enjoying your take on everything, thank you for all the work you've put in.

 

[skier_pete]

Hello! What a great trip report so far! Newer member of disboards, have been lurking since about February. We just booked our 1st trip back to WDW since 2009 (2 park days) followed by a Disney cruise. So - by no means a Disney expert! And, I've seen lots has changed since our stay at POR back then!

Anyway - you said you wanted some of us to come out of lurkdom, so here I am! I'm really enjoying your take on everything, thank you for all the work you've put in.

Thanks for speaking up and joining in! If you have any questions feel free to pipe up and ask!

 

[carejo]

Really enjoying your report. Seeing all those sunny balls would make me happy too! i obsessively check the weather reports before any trip and to see the sun for a week would be fabulous.Your pictures are beautiful!. We are DVC owners at Boardwalk, and always try to score a standard view . It really saves on points. i actually enjoy the parking lot view, sitting on the balcony watching everyone head back from the buses at the end of a day in the parks. The only location I didn't like was 2nd floor the room closest to the elevator. The balcony was right over the luggage kiosk and nothing to look at. i now ask for a higher floor

 

[skier_pete]

Really enjoying your report. Seeing all those sunny balls would make me happy too! i obsessively check the weather reports before any trip and to see the sun for a week would be fabulous.Your pictures are beautiful!. We are DVC owners at Boardwalk, and always try to score a standard view . It really saves on points. i actually enjoy the parking lot view, sitting on the balcony watching everyone head back from the buses at the end of a day in the parks. The only location I didn't like was 2nd floor the room closest to the elevator. The balcony was right over the luggage kiosk and nothing to look at. i now ask for a higher floor

Whoa cool! Thanks for the kind words. Yes, this was only the second trip we've had where we did not have one bit of rain. It was a little warmer some days than we would have liked, but overall it was hard to complain when we sit here two months later and have finally hit 50 degrees again!

Thanks for the comments on the standard view - you may be fighting us for those rooms, though we only have 75 points. I was able to swing the Boardwalk view and it was great - though moreso because of the location of the room in the resort than that the view was that important. We have booked standard view for our 4 nights in October, because I want to do the comparison.

 

[MeetingMickeyin2006]

Following! Really enjoying your review, your pics are awesome!

 

[Majordis]

Love your honesty. We've all had those moments on family vacations where someone's hot or tired or hungry. And then everything works out and the fun resumes. I want to stay at the Boardwalk now. The lack of QS and that freaky clown have been holding me back. Non-ride park day sounds perfect -especially if it's Epcot

 

[skier_pete]

Following! Really enjoying your review, your pics are awesome!

Thank you, and thanks for joining in.

Love your honesty. We've all had those moments on family vacations where someone's hot or tired or hungry. And then everything works out and the fun resumes. I want to stay at the Boardwalk now. The lack of QS and that freaky clown have been holding me back. Non-ride park day sounds perfect -especially if it's Epcot

As a child I was terrified of clowns, and the clown slide find rather disturbing, but mostly i just dont look at it. The lack of QS didn't bother me as much as I thought - really boardwalk bakery is the QS and it really not that far to get there!

My wife would probably kill me if she knew I aired our dirty laundry, but I do think it is a pretty common occurrence at disney. People spend a lot of money and they are hot and tired. My wife and i deal poorly with the heat, but in florida I know it's just part of the deal. She was really bothered by it this trip. It also really messes up her hair with humidity which i know gets her all upset. I try to be patient. Nothing like a cool alcohol slushies to make all the adults feel better!

 

[buteraa]

Really enjoying your trip report!

I think the Boardwalk is totally under rated. Ample Hills Ice Cream = YUM! Can't wait to go back in November.