My first TR - Bay Lake Tower

[DVC BLT]

Our 2nd BLT trip took place Nov24 - Dec 1. We arrived Sat around 3 and our room was ready. First, I have to say the CM there was amazing, guy was making my girls laugh hysterical with his Mickey and other Dis character impressions. Check in over all was flawless, but the poor guy looked exhausted. I asked him if he had a long day and he basically admitted to being beat up all day long at check-in. I honestly cannot understand people beating up on the front desk personnel.

Bell services brought up our Garden Grocer order 15min after we called up. I gave the guy a $10 and he almost fell over saying no one was tipping lately - again - what is up with people?

Tried to bring the DD's (5 & 3) to the Rainforest Cafe in DTD but unfortunately was jammed. Luckily we ran into Wolfgang puck express and boy was that a hit, short line and the kids loved the pizza. Turkey club is huge, but tasted great.

While in DTD we picked up our DVC PAP's. Weather was perfect.

We head back to our 1bedroom to put the kids down and I sat outside and caught a few pics:

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Next morning it was to MK to check out the Fantasyland. Caught this pic of the contemporary on the walk over, no Mickey ears up, as they went up on Thursday night:

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We went straight for the new Belle attraction with just about everyone else at rope drop...

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Fantasyland walls:

Belle queue:

More Belle:

These were shot while on line for Belle:

Inside Belle:

The detail in the Fantasyland expansion is exceptional, streets, lights, landscape, amazingly detailed and themed the way it should be. I will be posting more pics of the area at night, but I was very impressed. Its still obvious there is alot of construction going on on the Snow White ride, but it didnt take away from our experience. I will be posting some great night shots at some point.

Snapped this on the way out:

 

[DVC BLT]

After the Belle attraction (which moved quite slow) we took off for a look at the rest of the fantasyland:

Wish they sold beer

Then it was over to the Little Mermaid:

 

[DVC BLT]

Jumped the Monorail and caught a few pics of the new GF DVC:

Love this thing:

Hello BLT:

 

[browniemtb]

Thank you for the pictures...awesome. Looks as though the new Fantasy Land will be great to see....did you and the kids enjoy it? We have friends heading down in April to BLT and want us to go. We've never stayed anywhere beside our home, BWV. As of now there is no availability at BWV but there is at BLT. Maybe worth the trip just to see the new park addition and your pictures are driving me to book it..

 

[nickspace]

Thanks for the awesome pictures! Have a great time!!!

 

[DVC BLT]

Thank you for the pictures...awesome. Looks as though the new Fantasy Land will be great to see....did you and the kids enjoy it? We have friends heading down in April to BLT and want us to go. We've never stayed anywhere beside our home, BWV. As of now there is no availability at BWV but there is at BLT. Maybe worth the trip just to see the new park addition and your pictures are driving me to book it..

We loved it, if you have not yet had the opportunity to stay at BLT, go for it...

The walk to MK is insane (as in easy). To be honest, we love the monorail, its so easy to and from Epcot.

 

[DVC BLT]

Next day it was up early and out to Epcot.

We had a 8AM reservation at Akershus. Stayed till after lunch and spent the day at the BLT pool...we were back to Epcot for dinner though - needed to get the via nappoli fix

Quick shot on the way out:

 

[DVC BLT]

Overall I have to say that Disney runs things right. We didnt experience a problem or anything frustrating at all. You spend time reading these boards and you wonder if your trip is going to be miserable, but the place is so well run you would have to actually be looking for something to go wrong.

Anyhow, some more of my amateurish pictures. I'm still learning to operate a DSLR, which is quite foreign to me. I wont allow myself to use the auto mode, cause if I did I figured I would have just kept my point and shoot camera.

The next evening, we spend some time in MK to check out the fireworks. It was one of the few opportunities to check out MK fireworks without having to go to the xmas party. Dont get me wrong, we love the xmas part and did it last year, but didnt feel the need to do it again this year. Its an every other year event for us.

This fountain rocks, i'm looking forward to seeing how the area fills out once the construction walls are down form the mine train.

Quick shot of the castle from the Fantasyland expansion area:

The castle really looks great and blends in well with the new outer walls

This was our Main Street location for the fireworks, I didnt get many shots of the show as I was holdling my 5 year and with the 3 year old over my shoulders. The new projection show is really magnificent, its amazing what they can do with those projectors.

Quick shot of castle, good night

 

[catherines_mama]

Sounds like a great trip. I'm (way in advance) planning to go after Thanksgiving 2014 and love hearing how that week is. Thank you for postknf

 

[SusieBea]

You did a really nice job with your pictures. We arrived the day you left. It's a great time of year to visit WDW!

 

[DVC BLT]

Sounds like a great trip. I'm (way in advance) planning to go after Thanksgiving 2014 and love hearing how that week is. Thank you for postknf

That week is amazing, is the 2nd time in a row that we've went that week and we love it.

You did a really nice job with your pictures. We arrived the day you left. It's a great time of year to visit WDW!

Thank you - I am trying to learn, its a lot more difficult than I thought.

View from our room

Headed to EPCOT for the night

Waiting on line for princesses, just taking some pics:

Had to talk to crush:

Rockin to xmas music:

Illuminations, what else can you say...

 

[Cee]

Thank you for all the beautiful photos! It doesn't look like it was too crowded.

 

[NJdadof2]

Really enjoying the pics!
Makes me want to do Disney during the Holidays. Maybe some day.

We are heading to BLT in July, first time there.

 

[DVC BLT]

Thank you for all the beautiful photos! It doesn't look like it was too crowded.

Seriously, its a great week to go. The crowds were a joke. One thing we noticed, the ride lines were all walk on (10min average). However, it was still busy through the parks, we were definitely not alone. With that said, there is something about going to the parks in Jeans and a hoodie in the morning that we just love.

Really enjoying the pics!
Makes me want to do Disney during the Holidays. Maybe some day.

We are heading to BLT in July, first time there.

Hey, i'm from NJ myself. We are booked for NJ week in '13. Let me know how July goes in terms of heat. We are a little concerned our 2 princesses might be too hot to enjoy it, and too tired to stay up late to enjoy the parks when its a little cooler. Honestly, there is no place better to stay then BLT when doing MK + EPCOT. Love the place. The check in in the BLT lobby is a major upgrade. Any questions - let me know...

 

[DVC BLT]

OK the safari is unreal, love it.

What a view

Beautiful...

I mean com'on...does Disney know how to theme or what?

Just a few more of EPCOT:

There were like 10 kids just loving the lights. I had a really hard time landing this shot, but you can get the idea of what I was going after. I notice people just charging past little details like this on the mad rush to Soarin' and I really feel bad for them...my girls still talk about "the lights!"

One last shot of illuminations...

Overall the trip was a total blast, the kids loved it and really started to get "Disney" this year. I cant say how happy we are with our DVC at this point, great fun and memories to look forward to every year.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

[franandaj]

Great pictures so far! I'll have to come back and catch up from my computer, those large images are crashing my phone browser!