niks81
Let's just say I wasn't the 'only one'!<br><font c
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2001
- Messages
- 892
Date: Sunday, April 6th, 2003
Crew: Nikki (me) ~ 6th trip to WDW, DVC member, 21 years old
Mike (my fiancé) ~ 2nd trip to WDW, DVC member, 30 years old
Nora (my mom) ~ 3rd or 4th trip to WDW, 41 years old
Darrell (my stepdad) ~ Not sure how many times hes beenat least 3 times, 51 years old
The wake up call came at 6:30am sharp and UGH!!! We had lost 2 hours with the daylight savings time change and going from CST to EST!!
I accidentally hit mute on the speakerphone so I didn't hear any Mickey! Anyways, I got right up and started getting ready and so did my stepdad. We are early birds like that. Mike and my mom just laid there (I predicted this) I threw on jean shorts and a shirt that is in between a tank and tee sleeve wise...what are these called? LOL! I started trying to pull the other two out of bed because we had to get the stuff packed and checked out of the YC. I like to get checked out and then checked in really early so I get the view and requests I want at the other resort. Finally Mike got up and started getting ready. In the meantime I packed up some things and also got the park backpack ready with the camcorder and other misc items in it. My mom was just whining away...this is very normal so I just laugh. Finally, light years later she rolled out of bed moaning and complaining HAHAHA!!! I had said I wanted express checkout but there was no envelope on my door so I called down and they checked me out over the phone. We got our stuff packed up and my mom didn't even get her makeup on because we had called Bell Services and they were there within seconds! She was freaking out! They took the bags and we headed down to check in at the Beach Club Villas.
The lobby at BC is similar to the YC in design but the decor is much more light and airy, and definitely less formal, but more fun.
I got right up to the desk and had a very nice cast member....female but don't remember her name. I asked her about the room and she said they had me placed on a high floor with a view of Epcot. I asked if I could see the fireworks and she wasn't sure...the description read 'view of Epcot, road, canal'. I didn't like the sound of road, so I asked what else was available. This girl went to odds and ends to find stuff out for me and she told me they do not classify any rooms with views of Illuminations, so that was fine. She had several courtyard views available that second or I could wait for the high floor Epcot room. I went ahead and said we'd wait and I was pleased.
We left and went out to the bus stop to wait for the Magic Kingdom bus. It was there within about two minutes (this pleased my very impatient mother immensely). We hopped on and enjoyed the ride. We got there and got in line to get our bags searched. There weren't really long lines so that was just great! I was curious to see what the crowds would be like considering it was early entry day. We had arrived right around normal opening time though. We went through the main entrance and ahhhhhh the site of Main Street!!
We saw Brer Bear right away...he was there last year too!! As we started to walk down Main Street we saw the castle....great site! We stopped and got our picture taken by the cast members and continued down the street. My stepdad asked where we were going first and I suggested Frontierland. My theory was always that I'd rather wait less time at Splash Mountain because it's outside and really hot, whereas I don't mind waiting for Space Mountain because its inside! So we headed over to Frontierland and looked at the wait for Big Thunder Mountain and it was nada....only 5 minutes! Splash Mountain was the same...it said 5 minutes. So we skipped FP for those and got in line for Splash Mountain. This was the shortest wait of my entire life....we basically walked on the ride....gotta love that! My stepdad had remembered riding this ride but my mom doesn't remember anything in WDW so each trip is like a first time for her! I started to videotape but then decided not to....I hate having to shove my camera in the bag when I think it will get wet! So I sat back and enjoyed the ride! Finally we got to the main drop and I kept my eyes open this time (Never have, always close them) Yikes! My mom screamed bloody murder LOL It was great! Then as we came around the corner waiting to get off our boat stopped at that little waterfall and Mike and Darrell got soaked because the boats stopped moving...they both were laughing pretty good.
We got off and checked out the picture...since I buy most all of them I went ahead and purchased it.
We headed over to Big Thunder Mountain after that and the wait was still only 10 minutes. I can live with that
We got on and I videotaped this one. I actually turned the camera around and I got some really funny shots of my mother screaming like there's no tomorrow.
This was hilarious! I always get to laughing on the part when you just keep going around and I did again this time too!
Next we headed over to Tomorrowland to get the major things hit up over there. We checked the wait times for Alien Encounter, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain and all were under 20 minutes. We were about to get a FP for Space Mountain just so we didn't have to wait at all when some guy comes out and says, 'wait, don't! It's a walk on right now!' Mike had already gotten a FP but that's ok, we went ahead and got in the standby line. The guy was absolutely correct. We did walk on. 5 minutes was probably all we waited....that was unbelieveble to me! We chose the right side but the guy divided us up so my parents were in a completely different car...this ticked me off because there were no lines...we could have had our own car! HELLO! So anyways, Mike and I got in and I tape this one too, but the turnout wasn't as good as my 1999 version because he was in the front....using nightvision you can sure see that track! All I got was the back of his head! But we screamed pretty good! We got off and my mom was like 'That was awful! Truly scary!' but I know she did enjoy it...it was just more intense then she thought LOL.
After Space Mountain we headed over to Buzz Lightyear. Neither of my parents had done this before. The wait was about 10-15 minutes...not too bad. we got in our little cars and took off.
My parents did not get the shooting idea...they were totally like what is this?
Mike on the other hand scored 141,000 pts...I did a measly 3000 (ok, in my own defense I was videotaping!) I think they just thought it was ok. We headed over to Alien Encounter after that....still short waits!! Only 10 minutes, unbelieveable! When you've only been in the summer like me, you are accustomed to at least 45 minutes of waiting!! So we got right into Alien Encounter and neither of my parents remembered this which led me to believe they had never done it. We got seated and the show began. They did change it up a bit, added a few new effects...fine by me! My mom screamed but she was laughing. Its a great show that's for sure.
When we left Alien Encounter it was still only 10:45am, can you believe that? We got most of the major things done! We headed towards Fantasyland to get in line for the Pooh ride. I wanted to try it out since I hadn't before, so this ride was a first for all of us! We waited about 20 minutes which wasn't too bad considering I've heard of some awful waits for this ride. It was cute, very whimsical and kids would love it! My parents made fun of me for taping...ahhh who cares.
From there we went over to Peter Pan and the line looked long but we hopped in. After waiting 20 minutes and still not even close we decided to hop out of line or else we would have missed our lunch reservation at the castle! We got a FP for the ride and went to lunch.
Neither of my parents had ever eaten in the castle before. Mike and I did last year when we took my friend Erika, and we really liked it. It is a great break from the parks and the food is really reasonable in my opinion! We got right in and were seated immediately. I read over the menu and decided to get the Coachman, which is a turkey sandwich. Mike went with Major Domo's favorite pie, which had mashed potatoes, prime rib or something like that...most expensive thing of course! My parents decided to split a Caesar salad since I told them it was huge (I had gotten one last year). My mom also got the beef barley soup. Our food arrived pretty quickly and it was good. Mike looooooved his dish, and he should--it looked reallllly good! Mine was pretty good too. My parents munched on the salad and my mom kept saying how good the soup was.
I think they enjoyed it pretty well! It is a great break from the heat and the atmosphere is just neat!!
After we got done we headed back over to Peter Pan to use our FP. We got right in, the line was still as long as ever!! I love this ride, it is seriously among my favorites. I love Peter Pan for one, but the fact that you are not on a ground track is neat! I'm a nerd, I know My mom was screaming, just being sarcastic like she was scared or something. After Peter Pan we headed over to Liberty Square and got a FP for the Haunted Mansion while we went to the Hall of Presidents. Mike had never seen this before and the last time I saw it I was 10 years old. We got right in and it was surprisingly good. So eerie how the presidents are all perfect replicas...especially George Bush!!!
Enjoyable show! Once we got out of there it was FP time for the Haunted Mansion. The interesting thing with FP for this ride is that you basically just blend in with the regular line, and since there wasn't much of a line it was like we were in standby anyways! My mom loves this attraction so we just enjoyed the ride!
After Hall of Presidents we headed over to Adventureland, which is my favorite land. I don't know why but the theming over there is just so prominent, and I love it! We walked over towards Swiss Family Treehouse and saw Rafiki on the way. My mom had this obsession of getting pictures with these characters, can someone please explain this to me? She makes fun of me for liking Disney movies but she freaks out when she sees a character and MUST get her picture! So we stopped for a picture with him and then went to the treehouse. I love this thing, and i know most are bored with it. I read the book and watched the movie so I guess that I have some interest because of that. Mike had never done that so we all walked through it. I was ticked because my camcorder battery was low (darn it!). After that we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, my fave! I just adore this ride! No line of course so we got right on. No camcorder battery so I didn't get to tape that!
When we exited the ride we started to head out and saw they were roping off for the parade which started in 10 minutes. I had never seen this parade so we decided to stay! I loved it...great music and floats also! It's neat that they pull the kids out there, they feel so important! I was at absolute zero battery life so I only got a few clips of the parade (remind me to buy a better battery!).
After that ended we headed out of Adventureland and back to Main Street. We stopped at the Exposition Hall to check out our shot from entering the MK. All of them were just ok, my mom's eyes were closed in most of them, so we just passed on it. Then we left and caught the bus back to the Beach Club. Time to check out our new room!
We got back to the Beach Club and our room was ready so we went to check it out. The grounds of the Beach Club are very pretty. We found the Beach Club Villas entrance. Very pretty, light and airy. Great lounging areas also!! Hallways are nice! Room 467, so we headed up to the 4th floor. It was also a little bit of a walk but I didn't mind. We got to the door and.....WOW!!!
First of all, I've never gotten a 2BR villa with my points, but I have stayed with my cousins at OKW in one. The Beach Club Villas rooms were by far the most impressive in decor. Everything was top of the line and total class. I am a sucker for the Boardwalk but the rooms at BCV have them beat. They were just beautiful! I will say that Richyams is right about one thing; the rooms at OKW are by far the most spacious that DVC has to offer. However, one thing is for sure--the interior decor is by far the best at BCV hands down. My parents were in awe at how big it was. In all honesty, I thought the BCV were actually smaller than the BWV but I didn't mind.
We checked it out....we had a dedicated 2 bedroom, meaning my parents had a regular second bedroom instead of a connecting one. Therefore, they had extra closet space and no fridge or micro in their unit.
And the view? We had a dead center view of Epcot and it appeared that we would have a view of Illuminations from our room. YESSSSSSSSS!!! Another great view!
I loved how much detail the room had, from the paint on the walls, to the bedspreads,
to the paintings in each room. Just loved it!!
After we gawked at the room we called Bell Services to get our bags sent up to us. They were there in no time once again...impeccable service! We got our stuff out and Mike and Darrell began putting away the food. We were thinking about what to do for dinner when I remembered Spoodles pizza window. I really wanted to try it, and besides, I love the Boardwalk. Any time over there is usually a good time. So we got ready and headed over there to get a bite to eat. I ordered a sausage calzone, Mike got a cheese calzone and my parents split a sausage and mushroom pizza. It started to rain as we were in line, so we went to look for seats. We had this great little nook picked out over at the Boardwalk right next to the stairs that come down from the entrance...it was covered and everything. But then somebody left their table that was also covered that overlooked the Boardwalk so my stepdad grabbed it and we ate there.
The food was good. I was glad we tried it out. The calzones were only 5.50 which I think is extremely reasonable. The rain eventually let up and we got up and walked around the Boardwalk for a bit. Mike loves to feed the ducks, even though the sign says DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS. Plus, there was this poor little duck with a broken foot! It was so sad! Limping and its foot was crushed! We fed that duck almost all the food! Then we took off towards the Beach Club. Ice cream sounded really good at about that time so we decided to stop at Beaches and Cream and get some. We got in the To Go line and I got a hot fudge sundae, Mike got a banana split, my mom just shared Darrell's sundae. Yum, that hit the spot! We got up to go back to the room but we saw it was near 9pm and decided to go to Epcot and watch Illuminations. None of us had ever seen it. Because of the rain it seemed like there weren't many people at all! We got a great view from the bridge crossing from the international gateway over to the France area. I was pleasantly surprised by the show, it was wonderful. The music is awesome! I could see where kids wouldn't like it near as much as Fantasmic or Spectromagic, but at the same time, it was nice to have an adult oriented show. Now if they'd just bring back Tapestry of Dreams!!!
The show ended (which I videotaped of course) and we headed back to the Beach Club. It was a perfect night....70s or so! We got back to our room and I got online for a little bit just to check email and stuff. Mike hopped in the jacuzzi (he uses that thing more than me!) and then we went to bed, and let me tell you--we slept like a rock.
Day Three to come soon!
Crew: Nikki (me) ~ 6th trip to WDW, DVC member, 21 years old
Mike (my fiancé) ~ 2nd trip to WDW, DVC member, 30 years old
Nora (my mom) ~ 3rd or 4th trip to WDW, 41 years old
Darrell (my stepdad) ~ Not sure how many times hes beenat least 3 times, 51 years old
The wake up call came at 6:30am sharp and UGH!!! We had lost 2 hours with the daylight savings time change and going from CST to EST!!
The lobby at BC is similar to the YC in design but the decor is much more light and airy, and definitely less formal, but more fun.
I got right up to the desk and had a very nice cast member....female but don't remember her name. I asked her about the room and she said they had me placed on a high floor with a view of Epcot. I asked if I could see the fireworks and she wasn't sure...the description read 'view of Epcot, road, canal'. I didn't like the sound of road, so I asked what else was available. This girl went to odds and ends to find stuff out for me and she told me they do not classify any rooms with views of Illuminations, so that was fine. She had several courtyard views available that second or I could wait for the high floor Epcot room. I went ahead and said we'd wait and I was pleased.
We left and went out to the bus stop to wait for the Magic Kingdom bus. It was there within about two minutes (this pleased my very impatient mother immensely). We hopped on and enjoyed the ride. We got there and got in line to get our bags searched. There weren't really long lines so that was just great! I was curious to see what the crowds would be like considering it was early entry day. We had arrived right around normal opening time though. We went through the main entrance and ahhhhhh the site of Main Street!!
We saw Brer Bear right away...he was there last year too!! As we started to walk down Main Street we saw the castle....great site! We stopped and got our picture taken by the cast members and continued down the street. My stepdad asked where we were going first and I suggested Frontierland. My theory was always that I'd rather wait less time at Splash Mountain because it's outside and really hot, whereas I don't mind waiting for Space Mountain because its inside! So we headed over to Frontierland and looked at the wait for Big Thunder Mountain and it was nada....only 5 minutes! Splash Mountain was the same...it said 5 minutes. So we skipped FP for those and got in line for Splash Mountain. This was the shortest wait of my entire life....we basically walked on the ride....gotta love that! My stepdad had remembered riding this ride but my mom doesn't remember anything in WDW so each trip is like a first time for her! I started to videotape but then decided not to....I hate having to shove my camera in the bag when I think it will get wet! So I sat back and enjoyed the ride! Finally we got to the main drop and I kept my eyes open this time (Never have, always close them) Yikes! My mom screamed bloody murder LOL It was great! Then as we came around the corner waiting to get off our boat stopped at that little waterfall and Mike and Darrell got soaked because the boats stopped moving...they both were laughing pretty good.
We headed over to Big Thunder Mountain after that and the wait was still only 10 minutes. I can live with that
We got on and I videotaped this one. I actually turned the camera around and I got some really funny shots of my mother screaming like there's no tomorrow.
This was hilarious! I always get to laughing on the part when you just keep going around and I did again this time too!
Next we headed over to Tomorrowland to get the major things hit up over there. We checked the wait times for Alien Encounter, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain and all were under 20 minutes. We were about to get a FP for Space Mountain just so we didn't have to wait at all when some guy comes out and says, 'wait, don't! It's a walk on right now!' Mike had already gotten a FP but that's ok, we went ahead and got in the standby line. The guy was absolutely correct. We did walk on. 5 minutes was probably all we waited....that was unbelieveble to me! We chose the right side but the guy divided us up so my parents were in a completely different car...this ticked me off because there were no lines...we could have had our own car! HELLO! So anyways, Mike and I got in and I tape this one too, but the turnout wasn't as good as my 1999 version because he was in the front....using nightvision you can sure see that track! All I got was the back of his head! But we screamed pretty good! We got off and my mom was like 'That was awful! Truly scary!' but I know she did enjoy it...it was just more intense then she thought LOL.
After Space Mountain we headed over to Buzz Lightyear. Neither of my parents had done this before. The wait was about 10-15 minutes...not too bad. we got in our little cars and took off.
My parents did not get the shooting idea...they were totally like what is this?
When we left Alien Encounter it was still only 10:45am, can you believe that? We got most of the major things done! We headed towards Fantasyland to get in line for the Pooh ride. I wanted to try it out since I hadn't before, so this ride was a first for all of us! We waited about 20 minutes which wasn't too bad considering I've heard of some awful waits for this ride. It was cute, very whimsical and kids would love it! My parents made fun of me for taping...ahhh who cares.
From there we went over to Peter Pan and the line looked long but we hopped in. After waiting 20 minutes and still not even close we decided to hop out of line or else we would have missed our lunch reservation at the castle! We got a FP for the ride and went to lunch.
Neither of my parents had ever eaten in the castle before. Mike and I did last year when we took my friend Erika, and we really liked it. It is a great break from the parks and the food is really reasonable in my opinion! We got right in and were seated immediately. I read over the menu and decided to get the Coachman, which is a turkey sandwich. Mike went with Major Domo's favorite pie, which had mashed potatoes, prime rib or something like that...most expensive thing of course! My parents decided to split a Caesar salad since I told them it was huge (I had gotten one last year). My mom also got the beef barley soup. Our food arrived pretty quickly and it was good. Mike looooooved his dish, and he should--it looked reallllly good! Mine was pretty good too. My parents munched on the salad and my mom kept saying how good the soup was.
After we got done we headed back over to Peter Pan to use our FP. We got right in, the line was still as long as ever!! I love this ride, it is seriously among my favorites. I love Peter Pan for one, but the fact that you are not on a ground track is neat! I'm a nerd, I know
My mom was screaming, just being sarcastic like she was scared or something. After Peter Pan we headed over to Liberty Square and got a FP for the Haunted Mansion while we went to the Hall of Presidents. Mike had never seen this before and the last time I saw it I was 10 years old. We got right in and it was surprisingly good. So eerie how the presidents are all perfect replicas...especially George Bush!!! Enjoyable show! Once we got out of there it was FP time for the Haunted Mansion. The interesting thing with FP for this ride is that you basically just blend in with the regular line, and since there wasn't much of a line it was like we were in standby anyways! My mom loves this attraction so we just enjoyed the ride!
After Hall of Presidents we headed over to Adventureland, which is my favorite land. I don't know why but the theming over there is just so prominent, and I love it! We walked over towards Swiss Family Treehouse and saw Rafiki on the way. My mom had this obsession of getting pictures with these characters, can someone please explain this to me? She makes fun of me for liking Disney movies but she freaks out when she sees a character and MUST get her picture! So we stopped for a picture with him and then went to the treehouse. I love this thing, and i know most are bored with it. I read the book and watched the movie so I guess that I have some interest because of that. Mike had never done that so we all walked through it. I was ticked because my camcorder battery was low (darn it!). After that we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, my fave! I just adore this ride! No line of course so we got right on. No camcorder battery so I didn't get to tape that!
When we exited the ride we started to head out and saw they were roping off for the parade which started in 10 minutes. I had never seen this parade so we decided to stay! I loved it...great music and floats also! It's neat that they pull the kids out there, they feel so important! I was at absolute zero battery life so I only got a few clips of the parade (remind me to buy a better battery!).
After that ended we headed out of Adventureland and back to Main Street. We stopped at the Exposition Hall to check out our shot from entering the MK. All of them were just ok, my mom's eyes were closed in most of them, so we just passed on it. Then we left and caught the bus back to the Beach Club. Time to check out our new room!
We got back to the Beach Club and our room was ready so we went to check it out. The grounds of the Beach Club are very pretty. We found the Beach Club Villas entrance. Very pretty, light and airy. Great lounging areas also!! Hallways are nice! Room 467, so we headed up to the 4th floor. It was also a little bit of a walk but I didn't mind. We got to the door and.....WOW!!!
We checked it out....we had a dedicated 2 bedroom, meaning my parents had a regular second bedroom instead of a connecting one. Therefore, they had extra closet space and no fridge or micro in their unit.
And the view? We had a dead center view of Epcot and it appeared that we would have a view of Illuminations from our room. YESSSSSSSSS!!! Another great view!
I loved how much detail the room had, from the paint on the walls, to the bedspreads,
to the paintings in each room. Just loved it!!
After we gawked at the room we called Bell Services to get our bags sent up to us. They were there in no time once again...impeccable service! We got our stuff out and Mike and Darrell began putting away the food. We were thinking about what to do for dinner when I remembered Spoodles pizza window. I really wanted to try it, and besides, I love the Boardwalk. Any time over there is usually a good time. So we got ready and headed over there to get a bite to eat. I ordered a sausage calzone, Mike got a cheese calzone and my parents split a sausage and mushroom pizza. It started to rain as we were in line, so we went to look for seats. We had this great little nook picked out over at the Boardwalk right next to the stairs that come down from the entrance...it was covered and everything. But then somebody left their table that was also covered that overlooked the Boardwalk so my stepdad grabbed it and we ate there.
The food was good. I was glad we tried it out. The calzones were only 5.50 which I think is extremely reasonable. The rain eventually let up and we got up and walked around the Boardwalk for a bit. Mike loves to feed the ducks, even though the sign says DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS. Plus, there was this poor little duck with a broken foot! It was so sad! Limping and its foot was crushed! We fed that duck almost all the food! Then we took off towards the Beach Club. Ice cream sounded really good at about that time so we decided to stop at Beaches and Cream and get some. We got in the To Go line and I got a hot fudge sundae, Mike got a banana split, my mom just shared Darrell's sundae. Yum, that hit the spot! We got up to go back to the room but we saw it was near 9pm and decided to go to Epcot and watch Illuminations. None of us had ever seen it. Because of the rain it seemed like there weren't many people at all! We got a great view from the bridge crossing from the international gateway over to the France area. I was pleasantly surprised by the show, it was wonderful. The music is awesome! I could see where kids wouldn't like it near as much as Fantasmic or Spectromagic, but at the same time, it was nice to have an adult oriented show. Now if they'd just bring back Tapestry of Dreams!!!
The show ended (which I videotaped of course) and we headed back to the Beach Club. It was a perfect night....70s or so! We got back to our room and I got online for a little bit just to check email and stuff. Mike hopped in the jacuzzi (he uses that thing more than me!) and then we went to bed, and let me tell you--we slept like a rock.
Day Three to come soon!
While there isn't much to do on Main Street, its the one place where I stop and think "I'm here!"
