One Fab Beach and a Magical Tower June 2013 We leave Friday 6/14! PTR

[AlohaAnnie]

Welcome to One Fab Beach and a Magical Tower!


To View our Daily PTR Plans Click HERE!!!

A June 2013 Pre-Trip Report!

Our Dates are Thursday, June 14 through Saturday, June 28, 2013.

We have previously been to Disney World in 2006, 2008, 2009, twice in 2010 and twice in 2011. In 2010 we became DVC members at Animal Kingdom Villas Kidani.

Our 3 favorite DVC resorts are Animal Kingdom Villas Kidani, Beach Club Villas, and Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary.

In the past, I have started several Pre-Trip Reports and Trip Reports and I have never finished them. I am determined to finish this pre-trip report and a trip report to follow along with a dining report! I know, I am thinking big!!!


Let me introduce you to our family.

First, My name is Tina and my husband is Shawn. We have been married for 17 years. Shawn is my soul mate the love of my life! He is an amazing husband and father. I am a stay at home mom and I run a small home daycare business out of our home. Shawn is a commercial project manager for a security company.

We have two delightful children.

Aaron is our oldest at 16. He is heavily involved in Band at the local high school. It keeps us busy. Aaron is an amazing son. He is smart, funny, loving, responsible, and an all around great guy. He is developing into an extraordinary adult. I expect him to achieve so much in his future. He also keeps us laughing on daily basis. His favorite characters are Stitch and Mickey. I am not sure if he has a favorite ride, I do know that he loves Disney food!


Last but not least is our princess, Allison. She is 11 in 6th grade. She is adorable, smart, a firecracker, she knows what she wants! I love this girl! I am so glad we were blessed with her. She is our Disney lover! Her favorite character is Eeyore and she loves Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Below is a family picture from our December 2011 Christmas Trip:



Now that I have made the introductions, Let's get on with this pre-trip report!!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

IntroductionFamily Pets

Pictures & More Pictures!

Family Movie Nights
Lady & The Tramp

Packing List & Sunscreen

Disney Planner & Countdown Chain

Mickey Mail - Disney Custom Maps

One Fab Beach & A Magical Tower (AKA where we are staying!)

Dining Plans or Nom Noms!

PTR-Plans with more detailed Links!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

How Long is our stay and where are we staying?



Our vacation stay is from June 14 through June 28, 2013. Yes, that is 2 weeks! We are so excited!

On June 14, we will leave Indiana 4-5am and arrive in Orlando around 10pm at night. We are staying at the DTD Hilton Garden Inn. Shawn travels on occasion through work and earns Hilton rewards points. So on the nights of June 14 and June 15, we will be staying at the DTD Hilton Garden Inn.

The rest of our stay will be at Beach Club Villas and Bay Lake Tower.



In November 2012, we were able to book a stay from 6/16 to 6/22/2013 at Beach Club Villas in a one bedroom.


We love Beach Club Resort!

We were able to stay at Beach Club May 2009, The kids loved Storm Along Bay pool and very much want to swim here again.

We love Cape May Cafe and Beaches and Cream. There is also a wonderful 7 layer bar (magic cookie bar) at the Beach Club Marketplace that is to die for.

The Boardwalk resort is just a short walk away. I love to walk over to the Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast or a snack and there are so many amazing eateries on the Boardwalk.

It is also close to one of our favorite parks, EPCOT! The views of the Epcot resort area are amazing!

Photos from Previous Beach Club Stays or Visits:

Family Photo on Beach Club Beach:



Playing at Storm Along Bay:





A week later in November 2012, we were able to book our stay at Bay Lake Tower from June 22 through June 28, 2013 in a one bedroom lake view.

We were able to stay here for our October 2010 trip in a Studio.
We really love how close Bay Lake Tower is to the Magic Kingom.
The monorail convenience and the walkway to the Magic Kingdom really makes Bay Lake Tower a favorite for our family.
We also like the quick service option here, Contempo Cafe and that you can hop on the monorail to eat at Grand Floridan or the Polynesian and you can take a boat to Wilderness Lodge or Ft. Wilderness.

Here are some Photos from our October 2010 trip:

View from Our Balcony:

We get to stay at 2 of our favorite resorts!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Disney came out with a promotion in 2012 for DVC members to buy Premium Annual Passes for $399.

We took advantage of this deal and bought them in December 2012.

 

[Aulika]

Subbing i can't wait to hear all aout your trip.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Subbing i can't wait to hear all aout your trip.

Hi! Thanks for joining me. I may be a little slow with updates plus our trip is so long away. I am glad I have one follower!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Here are our updated ADRs. I have been messing with some of them again!


6/16 - Breakfast Cape May Café
6/16 - Dinner Cape May Cafe
6/17 - Dinner Biergarten
6/18 - Dinner Cape May Cafe
6/19 - Dinner Crystal Palace
6/20 - Dinner Via Napoli
6/21 - Dinner Raglan Road
6/22 - Breakfast Chef Mickeys
6/22 - Garden View Tea - Just the Girls
6/23 - Trail's End Dinner
6/24 - Breakfast Boma
6/24 - Boma Dinner
6/25 - Dinner Ohana
6/26 - Lunch Liberty Tree Tavern
6/27 - Trail's End Dinner
6/28 - Breakfast Crystal Palace

We love our Charcter Breakfasts and Disney Buffets!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Click on each date in red to see a more detailed plan of our trip!!!

Day 1
Friday, June 14, 2013

Driving to Disney from Indiana
Arrive late
Sleep in at the Downtown Disney Hilton Garden Inn

Day 2
Saturday, June 15, 2013

Downtown Disney Afternoon
Lunch at Cooke's of Dublin

Magic Kingdom Evening
Dinner at Casey's Corner
Wishes!

Day 3
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Father's Day

Check-In at Beach Club Villas

Have late morning breakfast at Cape May Cafe

Swim at Storm Along Bay

Lunch at Beaches & Cream

Our dinner plans: Cape May Café

Epcot for Illuminations!

Day 4
Monday, June 17, 2013

Epcot Day

Breakfast - Room

Rope Drop - Epcot

Lunch around World Showcase

Break for a Nap or Swimming at Storm Along Bay

Dinner at Biergarten

Day 5
Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Animal Kingdom Morning

Breakfast - Room

Rope Drop Animal Kingdom

Lunch at AK CS

Swimming at Storm Along Bay

Dinner at Cape May Cafe

Epcot Evening EMH

Day 6
Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Magic Kingdom Day

Breakfast - Room

Lunch - Magic Kingdom

Not sure if we will head back to room for a rest before dinner.

Dinner Crystal Palace

After Dinner back to Beach Club for fun at Storm Along Bay

Day 7
Thursday, June 20, 2013

Magic Kingdom Morning EMH

Breakfast Room

Head to MK for Morning EMH

Lunch at Magic Kingdom

Head back to the room for Storm Along Bay & a Nap

Dinner Via Napoli

? - Not sure what we will do after dinner.

Day 8
Friday, June 21, 2013

Breakfast Room

Hollywood Studios Morning Rope Drop

Lunch Backlot Express

Not sure if we will have a break before Dinner

Dinner at Raglan Road

Swimming at Storm Along Bay & BCV DVC Pool

Our last night at Beach Club Villas

Day 9
Saturday, June 22, 2013

Moving to Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary!

Check-In

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

Tina & Allison - Pool Hopping (we are allowed since we are DVC members)

Shawn & Aaron - water sports

Boys Lunch ?

Girls late Lunch at Garden View Tea

Epcot Evening

Late Dinner at Epcot World Showcase

Alternative Plans

Magic Kingdom Evening

Late Dinner at Magic Kingdom

Day 10
Sunday, June 23, 2013

Breakfast Room

Magic Kingdom Morning

View Magic Kingdom Morning Show

Spend a few hours at Magic Kingdom

Lunch MK CS

Swimming at Bay Lake Tower or Head To Animal Kingdom Park

Dinner at Trail's End

Note sure about our evening plans for this day.

Day 11
Monday, June 24, 2013

Typhoon Lagoon Day

Breakfast at Boma

Typhoon Lagoon

Dinner at Boma

Hollywood Studios Evening EMH

Day 12
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Breakfast Room

Hollywood Studios Morning

Lunch at Backlot Express

Pool Time at Bay Lake Tower or Pool Hop Again

Dinner at Ohana

Epcot Evening EMH

Day 13
Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Last Full Day at Magic Kingdom

Breakfast Room

Lunch Liberty Tree Tavern

I am not sure if we will take a break this day, we will want to soak up what we have left of the Magic Kingdom.

Dinner Magic Kingdom Counter Service

Day 14
Thursday, June 27, 2013

Epcot Last Full Day

Breakfast Room

Lunch at Epcot

Again, I am not sure if we will take a break this day, we will want to soak up what we have left of Epcot.

Dinner at Trail's End

After Dinner head back to Bay Lake Tower, Pack up to leave, and have a last minute fun in the pool.

Day 15
Friday, June 28, 2013

Time to Go Home

Check-Out of Bay Lake Tower! Yay for the family that gets to check in early!

Breakfast at Crystal Palace - Tradition!!!

We are staying at Magic Kingdom until 1pm and then we are getting on the road to head home to Indiana!

​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

 

[AlohaAnnie]

So I am famous for changing our ADR's around.

I have been thinking about our last day and where we will have our traditional last day breakfast before getting on the road to return home.

Since we plan to stay at BLT, we had decided to have Chef Mickey's for breakfast.

My mind has been working over time and now I am thinking.

We could just walk to MK and have an early ADR for Crystal Palace. Say one last Good-Bye to MK.

Some factors to consider:

We haven't had breakfast at Chef Mickey's since 2006, we did enjoy it.
DD & I will be crying because we do not want to leave.
We have had breakfast at Crystal Palace twice and enjoyed it.

The walkway is close.
Chef Mickey's is close.


Hmmmmmm....................​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

My Cute Kiddos! Part 1

The first time we went to Disney World was in June 2006. DD was 4 & DS was 9. I want to post a picture from our first trip and our last trip December 2011. DD was 10 & DS is 15.

Disney World Crystal Palace with Eeyore June 2006

Disney World Crystal Palace with Eeyore December 2011

They have grown so much, so cute!​

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Tina,

just found your ptr and am subbing on...

You have hit on my two favorite WDW resorts... The Beach Club and The Animal Kingdom Lodge...

My last several trips to WDW... we stayed at the AKL ... love it... the decor, the restaurants, the ambiance, the scent all of it... It's awesome...

Ironically we just bought into DVC and we bought points at the Beach Club... we stayed at the Boardwalk years ago and I've always loved that whole area... and we're staying there for a short trip Nov. 29-Dec 3rd...

(My son wants desperately to stay at Bay Lake... so I've promised him that we can for his 12 th birthday (he's 10 now...)

So personally I think your choices are brillant....

My DH wants to go to Vero Beach too... I'm not sure but it looks beautiful... I just don't know... did you feel there was enough to do???

Anyway... I'll look forward to more and I hope your plans all work out...

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Hey Tina,

just found your ptr and am subbing on...

You have hit on my two favorite WDW resorts... The Beach Club and The Animal Kingdom Lodge...

My last several trips to WDW... we stayed at the AKL ... love it... the decor, the restaurants, the ambiance, the scent all of it... It's awesome...

Ironically we just bought into DVC and we bought points at the Beach Club... we stayed at the Boardwalk years ago and I've always loved that whole area... and we're staying there for a short trip Nov. 29-Dec 3rd...

(My son wants desperately to stay at Bay Lake... so I've promised him that we can for his 12 th birthday (he's 10 now...)

So personally I think your choices are brillant....

My DH wants to go to Vero Beach too... I'm not sure but it looks beautiful... I just don't know... did you feel there was enough to do???

Anyway... I'll look forward to more and I hope your plans all work out...

Hi! Thanks for joining me.

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I have been so busy and have not checked the status of my PTR. Shameful

Anyhoo, we have stayed at BLT and we really enjoyed it. What we liked most was the monorail, the pool, the easy access via walkway to MK, the area, we also like the CS here The Contempo Cafe.


We did enjoy the Vero Beach but we get bored easy, so we can only do 3 days/2 night trip to Vero. It is a beautiful resort. We love the beach, sea turtles, shells, the sand, and the ocean sounds. It was just gorgeous.

Sadly, we have decided to not return to Vero Beach during our upcoming trip. We are going to do a split stay. At The Beach Club Villas and Bay Lake Tower.

We will know if we get these choices in November. So long a wait!

Have a Magical day!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I have 7 month window anxiety. It just describes me perfectly.


So currently we are booked at our home resort AKL in Kidani with a 1 bedroom savanna view from 6/16 - 6/28/2013.

Our plan is to do a split stay.

First half at Beach Club Villas in a 1 bedroom from 6/16 - 6/22/2013

So for our 7 month window, we can't call until 11/22 - which is Thanksgiving so we have to call on Black Friday 11/23.

The second half of the trip at BLT in a lake view 1 bedroom from 6/22 - 6/28/2013.

To book the second half we have to wait until 11/28 to call.

I am just about to lose it wondering if we will get what we want or have to be on a waitlist. I have ZERO!! patience.

Honestly, I would be fine to stay at Kidani again but I want to stay at BCV & BLT.​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

So here our my ADR plans. I can't make these ADR's until December 18, 2012 and since we are going for 14 days and 13 nights. I will have to call back for the last day reservation of Crystal Palace for Breakfast. I should be able to make the rest when our window opens for our ADR's.

Here are my plans:

Cape May Clam Bake Dinner - We love Cape May and return every trip for dinner.

Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch - DD loves the Mac & Cheese here and since they serve it for lunch, we have decided to try it for lunch. We loved dinner at LLT but they took away our favorite dessert there in favor of a cranberry dessert. We do not like cranberries and we feel we should pay a high price for dinner if we do not like the dessert.

Ohana Dinner - We really enjoy this dinner. It is one of our favorites. We love the salad, noodles, potstickers, wings, dipping sauce, meats, & dessert. It is worth it to us. We also enjoy the entertainment. We have visited Ohana for every trip since 2006.

Yachtsman Steakhouse Dinner - I wanted to celebrate DS 16th birthday during our trip for one day. He actually turns 16 on 11/13/2012 but it is such a mile stone birthday even for a boy. I wanted to make a big deal about it.
We have never been to Yachtsman but I have heard such good things about it. We are ready to try it.

Be Our Guest - Of course, we have never tried this restaurant. I want to celebrate my 40th birthday during this trip. DH had a huge party for his 40th birthday, I want to celebrate mine at Disney World and eat at Be Our Guest for dinner. This will be my celebration day.

Cape May Cafe Breakfast - Love Cape May - returning for breakfast.

Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian - DD and I always have a girls tea at the Garden View Tea Room. The boys were going to attend with us but have since changed their minds. That is ok, we will still love it as a girls tea only. It has become tradition. We attended the My Girls perfectly princess tea party durning our 2008 trip and ever since then we visit every year.

Crystal Palace Lunch - We love our Lunch ADR's, it will get us out of the heat and allow us to rest for a while. We have never attended lunch at CP but we have for dinner many times. I am sure we will still love it.

Boma Breakfast - Love Boma Breakfast. I also love Boma dinner but the family doesn't like it. So we do not attend for dinner. That is ok with me. There are many other restaurants at Disney world and I still get to go to Boma for breakfast.

Trail's End Dinner - This will be new for us. I like to try new places. I am thinking the pickey eaters in the family will love this place.

and last but not least!

Crystal Palace Breakfast! - We love CP breakfast. We always have breakfast on our last day before we leave. It have become tradition.


I am really looking forward to all of the reservations. We will be using our TIW card and will not have the dining plan. I am also looking forward being able to eat how we want at Disney this upcoming trip.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

We find out Tomorrow if we get the first 1/2 of our stay at BCV! So excited to find out.​

~UPDATE!~
~~WE WERE ABLE TO BOOK THE BEACH CLUB VILLAS - 1 BEDROOM!!!~~

~~6/16-6/22/2013!!~~

~~Magical Pixie Dust!!!~~

​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Now I have to wait until Black Friday to see if we can get BLT 1 bedroom Lake view!

and some more!

Sheesh! I am so excited about the BCV - 1 Bedroom

But now I have to wait a week to see if we get BLT.

I am going to be sick with worry and a little Cray-Cray! ​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I have to get my pictures of the kids we try to take at every vacation during our upcoming trip June 2013. I love these photos of my kiddos. Someday, I hope to add their families to these photos.

We also have this pose several times over the last few years on our trips. I plan to get another pose on our next trip. Above are June 2006, May/June 2008, Christmas 2011.

I love this photo of my kiddos, It was taken during our December 2011 trip on the beach at Beach Club Resort. I love this pose. I also have one of them leaving the international gateway at epcot for a few years in a row holding hands leaving Epcot. I will have to look for those.​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

2 1/2 more days before we find out if we get BLT 1 bedroom lake view for the second half of our trip!​

 

[AlohaAnnie]

It is official!!!

We are staying at BCV-1 bedroom villa for the first half of our holiday 6/16-6/22

&


We are staying at BLT-1 bedroom lake view villa for the second half of our holiday 6/22-6/28

​