OLD THREAD: 2012 Beach and Yacht FAQ, Part 2- May, June and July DON'T POST HERE!

[natebenma]

Hi All
After lurking for 2 years I'm going to jump in. My family stayed at the Beach Club in May 2010 for our first family vacation celebrating the adoption of our 2 little ones. We are going back in August for another family vacation and we're staying club level
We'll be there August 9-16 with the DXDP.... I know,too much food along with the club level but 2 of my 3 kids are very adventurous eaters.
Thanks for all the great info I've gotten from this thread!
Sammy aka 2bpooh

Thanks for delurking!

I'll add you to the Be Our Guest list on Page 1

 

[Me!Thatswho]

I was so excited I did all the reservations myself instead of letting the IPO do them. The only thing I've asked for help is reserving a beachcomber's shack at Typhoon Lagoon. We are pale pasty Irish.
Sammy aka 2bpooh

It's nice to see another person from central MA! Cheers and have a great trip!

 

[Feckless]

Cruise versus Royal Pacific = IMO cruise wins hands down!

I can't weigh in on To Cruise or Not To Cruise, having never done it. (I get motion sick just going on the boat from the Beach Club to Disney's Hollywood Studios.)

But I have stayed at both the Royal Pacific and the Hard Rock over at Universal. If you're staying there for convenience to the Universal Parks, go for the Hard Rock. It's a much, much shorter walk to the theme parks. It felt like it took forever to walk from the Royal Pacific to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. And the wait for a boat was extremely long.

I'm staying at Portofino Bay for the first time next month, so I can't comment on that one yet. But I think the commute to the theme parks is even longer from there. (I'm going for a conference, so distance won't matter to me.)

I think the Yacht Club and Beach Club are much nicer than the Royal Pacific and the Hard Rock.

Hey, Teena, I KNOW that a cruise is better, but my kids had SO much fun on the Dark Side that I know I'm not getting away without a visit there. It just seems so much easier staying on site rather than getting the taxis and traipsing all over the park. Plus the cruise is so expensive... Although I could sacrifice another of my BC days to go to the dark side and keep the cruise. What to do, what to do.... In two years.

Best Aunt, thanks for the advice about the Hard Rock! We are going for convenience so I will surely check it out.

We were caught in that one at Epcot Thankfully we were almost to the IG area and ducked into the locker area the lightening was scary! And that rain - wow. It was quite a sight and now that it is safely over is a memory we won't soon forget.

The side entrance into the BC worked great and made the trip back a bit less soggy

All this talk of lightning reminds me of the time that a lightning storm hit when we just arrived at Aquatica in August 2009 - the kids were in the children's play area, and I had gone to get a drink. They announced that the park was closing immediately and to go to a sheltered area. I was rushing back to get the kids when I saw them coming towards me, HOLDING HANDS. Not something I've seen before or since! We hid in the locker area and we could see the lightning strikes nearby. We were all terrified - we get a lot of rain here but it is rarely warm enough when it rains for lightning! We are SO not used to it.

Thanks Jen. I saw this yesterday but you have to allow up to 14 days prior to you vacation beginning to receive the stuff for it I the mail

And well, look at my ticker. So yeah we are doing this and we'll probably have to pay full price.... Boo

Anyway, thanks

Boo, yes, but YAY!!!! LOL 3 more days!!!

I've been trying to figure this out ...what does IPO stand for? (I assume it's not Initial Public Offering )

I thought the same thing at first!

 

[kelleigh1]

Me, too! Everyone got to choose a "must-have" ADR on the trip, and this was mine.

I did some research on the Candlelight Processional after IPO said that Rose and Crown probably wasn't available yet due to that. It sounded really great, so DH and I decided we'd try for that with R&C! Sent them a request tonight...we shall see!

Too bad I won't be there when Gary Sinise is doing it.

When we went in 2007, hubby was really hoping we'd get to see Gary Sinise, but it was not to be. I think he's always right around Christmas and we were there the week after Thanksgiving. Neil Patrick Harris was our narrator and he was fantastic!

 

[kelleigh1]

It's nice to see another person from central MA! Cheers and have a great trip!

I grew up in Central MA - Uxbridge!!

 

[BCV23]

When we went in 2007, hubby was really hoping we'd get to see Gary Sinise, but it was not to be. I think he's always right around Christmas and we were there the week after Thanksgiving. Neil Patrick Harris was our narrator and he was fantastic!

Doesn't Neil Patrick Harris do a great job? We've been lucky to enjoy his narration twice.

Robyn, I see you've changed to CL. So happy for you as I know how much you enjoy it.

 

[kelleigh1]

Doesn't Neil Patrick Harris do a great job? We've been lucky to enjoy his narration twice.

I have to admit, we weren't jumping for joy when we found out he would be our narrator, but at the end, we were so glad we'd had him. He was fantastic! Fell in love with him that night.

 

[TeenaS]

Candlelight: We've seen most of them and Whoopi is one of my favorites. Trace Atkins does a really good job too. Only one I did not enjoy lots was Susan Lucci (she messed up big time last year so I figured she'd never be invited back and I'm not a fan on top of that) and Marlee Matlin (it was very distracting for us to watch her but hear a man's voice). Gary does a great job too.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Doesn't Neil Patrick Harris do a great job? We've been lucky to enjoy his narration twice.

Robyn, I see you've changed to CL. So happy for you as I know how much you enjoy it.

Thank you! Although I was just so happy to be going back to BC (at first I thought we were going to have to stay at the Dolphin) but in my heart I really missed CL. I was so lucky that when we were able to upgrade to CL they had an opening. Unfortunately they changed it so that families of 5 cannot book a gv cl room, just sv cl or deluxe cl. While I LOVED our deluxe cl room that year it definitely wasn't in our budget this time. So I'm praying that we get one of the better sv rooms - but at least we're back to CL!!!!


Feckless - We are venturing over to the "dark side" for three nights. We're staying at Royal Pacific so I'll let you know how it goes! The other two times we went to US we stayed at HRH so I'm a little leery. The kids really want to see Harry Potter world and run some crazy roller coasters. However given the choice I'd dump it in a second for a chance for a cruise!

Best Aunt - now you've got me nervous. When we stayed at HRH it was a quick walk to US. I thought that RPR was closes to IOA - how long of a walk are we talking? Longer than from BC to DHS, because we do that one all the time! Now I'm thinking of switching over to HRH if it's a big difference. Kids picked RPR.

 

[gwynne]

Candlelight: We've seen most of them and Whoopi is one of my favorites. Trace Atkins does a really good job too. Only one I did not enjoy lots was Susan Lucci (she messed up big time last year so I figured she'd never be invited back and I'm not a fan on top of that) and Marlee Matlin (it was very distracting for us to watch her but hear a man's voice). Gary does a great job too.

I would love to go to this one year. Whoopi, Trace, Gary, all would be great. That is true about Marlee. I've norticed that when she's interviewed...I do get used to it after a bit, but it's just not what you expect at first.

I am getting so excited about our YC stay. Can't wait!

 

[333disneymom]

When we went in 2007, hubby was really hoping we'd get to see Gary Sinise, but it was not to be. I think he's always right around Christmas and we were there the week after Thanksgiving. Neil Patrick Harris was our narrator and he was fantastic!

We saw a small portion of his performance last year and it was great! Unfortunately, it was packed and I was outvoted to leave.

Hopefully, I will get to see the whole show this year. So far Jodi Benson is narrarating our week.

 

[kelleigh1]

Question about transportation for pre-opening ADR.

We've got an 8:05 ADR at CRT on a day that MK opens at 9am. What would be our best option for getting to the Magic Kingdom. We'll have a car, but will the monorails be running before 8am?

Would we be better off taking a bus? I thought I'd heard that the buses actually drop at MK and not at the TTC. Is this true? And what time can we catch the bus to get there early?

Anyone know what time they would start letting us into MK for an 8:05? We'd love to get some pics on an empty Main Street, of course.

 

[TeenaS]

Question about transportation for pre-opening ADR.

We've got an 8:05 ADR at CRT on a day that MK opens at 9am. What would be our best option for getting to the Magic Kingdom. We'll have a car, but will the trams be running before 8am?

Would we be better off taking a bus? I thought I'd heard that the buses actually drop at MK and not at the TTC. Is this true? And what time can we catch the bus to get there early?

Anyone know what time they would start letting us into MK for an 8:05? We'd love to get some pics on an empty Main Street, of course.

Yes, the bus takes you to MK, not TTC. You can walk from the bus stop to the Contemporary. The early breakfast bus should get you there in time but honestly, I'd drive and park right at the Contemporary.

 

[kelleigh1]

Yes, the bus takes you to MK, not TTC. You can walk from the bus stop to the Contemporary. The early breakfast bus should get you there in time but honestly, I'd drive and park right at the Contemporary.

But we're not dining at the Contemporary. We're at Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT) in the castle inside Magic Kingdom.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Question about transportation for pre-opening ADR.

We've got an 8:05 ADR at CRT on a day that MK opens at 9am. What would be our best option for getting to the Magic Kingdom. We'll have a car, but will the monorails be running before 8am?

Would we be better off taking a bus? I thought I'd heard that the buses actually drop at MK and not at the TTC. Is this true? And what time can we catch the bus to get there early?

Anyone know what time they would start letting us into MK for an 8:05? We'd love to get some pics on an empty Main Street, of course.

We've always taken the bus when we had 8:00 ADRs for DP or CRT.

If it looks like the bus is running behind I would take a cab to CR (not TTC) and walk to MK. That's always my back up plan. We have an 8:05 for CP next month so I'll let you know if there are any problems.

 

[kelleigh1]

We've always taken the bus when we had 8:00 ADRs for DP or CRT.

If it looks like the bus is running behind I would take a cab to CR (not TTC) and walk to MK. That's always my back up plan. We have an 8:05 for CP next month so I'll let you know if there are any problems.

Great, thanks!

 

[333disneymom]

Anyone know what time they would start letting us into MK for an 8:05? We'd love to get some pics on an empty Main Street, of course.

We were let in around 7:50 for our 8:05. Plenty of time to take a few pics. There was a dedicated line to the left for people with reservations to walk in early.

Just so you know though - Main Street will not be empty. There are quite a few people with 8:05 ADRs at both CRT and CP. But, it will be much emptier than later and if you angle your picture right, it might look like you have the park all to yourself. Have fun!

 

[kelleigh1]

We were let in around 7:50 for our 8:05. Plenty of time to take a few pics. There was a dedicated line to the left for people with reservations to walk in early.

Just so you know though - Main Street will not be empty. There are quite a few people with 8:05 ADRs at both CRT and CP. But, it will be much emptier than later and if you angle your picture right, it might look like you have the park all to yourself. Have fun!

Thanks for the info. I am hoping to angle it right, but I won't be too upset if others are in the background. As you said, definitely less people than we'll have later on in the day.

My Dad was a photographer, so I know a few tricks. Hubby on the other hand...not the best at taking photos. He hasn't figured out how to work angles. We were in Chicago last week and I took a pic of him along the river and then he took one of me. The one I took came out nice with the river and the city behind him. The one of me...I think he was more focused on getting the entire building, so I'm further away in the photo and almost unrecognizable. But at least I'm in some pics. It used to be that every trip was him and scenery. People used to ask if I was actually on the trip too because there were never any photos of me.

 

[TeenaS]

But we're not dining at the Contemporary. We're at Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT) in the castle inside Magic Kingdom.

Sorry. Definitely take the breakfast bus. You'll have no problem getting there in time.

 

[2dogmom]

I wanted to add a congrats to you!!!

Thanks!