CarolynK
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2000
- Messages
- 1,106
Our trip was June 4-12. We are DVC members and usually stay in a 1-BR at BWV, occasionally BCV. We dont usually use our points for the first night, so we stayed at the Swan, rate of $169. We had dinner and Karaoke at Kimonos, fun as usual.
Weather:
We used the heat and humidity as an excuse to take it easy. We went to the pools a lot, stayed in our room one day all day and rested (it rained pretty hard and we watched a couple of movies from Community Hall) until dinner at Flying Fish, drove to Millenia Mall once and browsed in the coolness, then ate lunch at P.F. Changs.
One day was overcast but not raining, the sun never peeked out, and luckily this was our MK day. It wasnt even that hot, without the sun! We did everything we wanted in a reasonable amount of time.
Restaurants/Food:
We had a 1-BR at BWV, so we ate in our room a lot. Always ate breakfast in the room (OK, we did go to BW Bakery once). Our meals out included:
--Lunch at Coral Reef on Sunday the 4th to take a break from browsing the F&G displays; we opted for a late dining time of 2:50 and practically had the place to ourselves. Good, friendly service and yummy Lobster Bisque. We sat right next to the aquarium and the big turtle entertained us a bit.
--Yachtsman Steakhouse, one of our perennial favorites (we called for a PS the day of, no problem). It smells so good in there, I love the roasted garlic and their pull-apart onion bread (spread a garlic clove on a piece of bread, then sprinkle a bit of salt over the garlic it really brings out the flavor!). We have a better steakhouse at home, but the filet is still good! Service was good.
--Character dinner at Gullivers Grill at the Swan. My brother, SIL and my 2-year-old niece were vacationing in Tampa the same week, and made the 2-hour drive to visit us. We thought my niece would enjoy seeing characters, though she was a bit scared of Goofy and Pluto at first. Dinner was average, not crowded, and we got to show off our DVC accommodations!
--We went back to Kimonos after Illuminations one night for a late sushi snack, and so my kids could sing some more.
--Columbia Harbour House at MK for lunch. Love the fried fish and the view from the second floor! Cool and relaxing.
--Lunch at 50s Prime Time on our last day. We decided to brave MGM for Star Wars weekend. It was very crowded (never saw MGM so packed) and sunny and HOT. I made a PS for 2:30 the day before. They were turning people away who didnt have a PS. We had never eaten there before, I have to admit, we were nervous about being embarrassed, so had never tried it before. It was fun. Our waitress was nice, and not too abusive
I had the fish sandwich, which I thought was delicious, my husband had the chicken sandwich, and the four of us split Dads Sundae for dessert. I thought the atmosphere was great, the food and service good, and Im glad we tried it.
--Dinner for my husband and me at Flying Fish. We asked for our favorite waiter. Instead of getting a bottle of wine, with each course he brought us different glasses of wine to taste. We had a wonderful meal. We had the cheese plate, the vegetable napoleon was SOOO good, my husband had the tuna and I had the mahi mahi. I had the happiest celebration dessert and husband had the fruit soup. Everything was excellent!
Our standard view 1-bedroom at BWV:
We checked in at about 10 am on Sunday morning, and a room was ready for us! First time this has happened to us in a long time. Third floor corner, but we asked the very nice CM (Sheila) if we could have a first floor room, since we would be at the pool a lot and would like easy access outside. She checked in her computer and was able to switch us to a first floor room close to the quiet pool (standard view). This room was ALSO ready! It was a wonderful location - as well as being close to the quiet pool, we were able to walk out the patio doors and be in the parking lot quickly. There arent any bushes or landscaping in front of this villa. One day, I went to sit outside on the patio, and there were 2 male ducks that came quacking up to me, begging for food.
The condition of the villa was very good. No mold in the shower, gleaming s/s kitchen sink.
The parks:
We visited MK, Epcot and MGM. We didnt even try AK, knowing it would just be too hot. We tried a water park for the first time Typhoon Lagoon. We upgraded our APs to PAPs thanks to the DVC discount. We enjoyed TL, arriving at 9 am, found a parking spot close to the entrance in the shade. We left at noon, when it was getting really hot and crowded.
Misc.:
We rented a car for the week from National, $117 including tax for 8 days. This is the cheapest rate we have ever gotten from EA. It was a full-size car, too, the only car left on the aisle. We refueled at the Hess close to BWV, and the gauge still showed full when we got to the airport. For us, this beats trying to find gas by the airport.
We did lots of pin trading this trip, always fun.
This was my daughters last trip as a kid. Next trip is in October, and she will be 10.
Were hoping for cooler weather then, though you never know .
Weather:
We used the heat and humidity as an excuse to take it easy. We went to the pools a lot, stayed in our room one day all day and rested (it rained pretty hard and we watched a couple of movies from Community Hall) until dinner at Flying Fish, drove to Millenia Mall once and browsed in the coolness, then ate lunch at P.F. Changs.
One day was overcast but not raining, the sun never peeked out, and luckily this was our MK day. It wasnt even that hot, without the sun! We did everything we wanted in a reasonable amount of time.
Restaurants/Food:
We had a 1-BR at BWV, so we ate in our room a lot. Always ate breakfast in the room (OK, we did go to BW Bakery once). Our meals out included:
--Lunch at Coral Reef on Sunday the 4th to take a break from browsing the F&G displays; we opted for a late dining time of 2:50 and practically had the place to ourselves. Good, friendly service and yummy Lobster Bisque. We sat right next to the aquarium and the big turtle entertained us a bit.
--Yachtsman Steakhouse, one of our perennial favorites (we called for a PS the day of, no problem). It smells so good in there, I love the roasted garlic and their pull-apart onion bread (spread a garlic clove on a piece of bread, then sprinkle a bit of salt over the garlic it really brings out the flavor!). We have a better steakhouse at home, but the filet is still good! Service was good.
--Character dinner at Gullivers Grill at the Swan. My brother, SIL and my 2-year-old niece were vacationing in Tampa the same week, and made the 2-hour drive to visit us. We thought my niece would enjoy seeing characters, though she was a bit scared of Goofy and Pluto at first. Dinner was average, not crowded, and we got to show off our DVC accommodations!
--We went back to Kimonos after Illuminations one night for a late sushi snack, and so my kids could sing some more.
--Columbia Harbour House at MK for lunch. Love the fried fish and the view from the second floor! Cool and relaxing.
--Lunch at 50s Prime Time on our last day. We decided to brave MGM for Star Wars weekend. It was very crowded (never saw MGM so packed) and sunny and HOT. I made a PS for 2:30 the day before. They were turning people away who didnt have a PS. We had never eaten there before, I have to admit, we were nervous about being embarrassed, so had never tried it before. It was fun. Our waitress was nice, and not too abusive
I had the fish sandwich, which I thought was delicious, my husband had the chicken sandwich, and the four of us split Dads Sundae for dessert. I thought the atmosphere was great, the food and service good, and Im glad we tried it.--Dinner for my husband and me at Flying Fish. We asked for our favorite waiter. Instead of getting a bottle of wine, with each course he brought us different glasses of wine to taste. We had a wonderful meal. We had the cheese plate, the vegetable napoleon was SOOO good, my husband had the tuna and I had the mahi mahi. I had the happiest celebration dessert and husband had the fruit soup. Everything was excellent!
Our standard view 1-bedroom at BWV:
We checked in at about 10 am on Sunday morning, and a room was ready for us! First time this has happened to us in a long time. Third floor corner, but we asked the very nice CM (Sheila) if we could have a first floor room, since we would be at the pool a lot and would like easy access outside. She checked in her computer and was able to switch us to a first floor room close to the quiet pool (standard view). This room was ALSO ready! It was a wonderful location - as well as being close to the quiet pool, we were able to walk out the patio doors and be in the parking lot quickly. There arent any bushes or landscaping in front of this villa. One day, I went to sit outside on the patio, and there were 2 male ducks that came quacking up to me, begging for food.
The condition of the villa was very good. No mold in the shower, gleaming s/s kitchen sink.
The parks:
We visited MK, Epcot and MGM. We didnt even try AK, knowing it would just be too hot. We tried a water park for the first time Typhoon Lagoon. We upgraded our APs to PAPs thanks to the DVC discount. We enjoyed TL, arriving at 9 am, found a parking spot close to the entrance in the shade. We left at noon, when it was getting really hot and crowded.
Misc.:
We rented a car for the week from National, $117 including tax for 8 days. This is the cheapest rate we have ever gotten from EA. It was a full-size car, too, the only car left on the aisle. We refueled at the Hess close to BWV, and the gauge still showed full when we got to the airport. For us, this beats trying to find gas by the airport.
We did lots of pin trading this trip, always fun.
This was my daughters last trip as a kid. Next trip is in October, and she will be 10.
Were hoping for cooler weather then, though you never know .
