Just returned from a fabulous trip. As we arrived at the Dolphin on Valentine's night, the traffic was backed up for quite a ways. Knowing that there was no light there, I wondered what the problem was. As we inched our way to the entrance, I could see that there were 2 valets standing in the pouring rain directing cars either past the entrance (to another parking lot I assume) or allowing them into the main entrance. We were directed in, but it was a good 10 minutes until we got to the dropoff point. Upon checking in, I asked the CM what was going on. She told me that there were two functions going on, the restaurants were packed for Valentine's Day and the resort was "oversold." That last remark had me a bit worried, but we were checked in with no problem whatsoever. We had the most wonderful room on the 14th floor. We must have been upgraded to a junior suite because we have stayed there before and always had a standard room. This room had a massive king size bed (it protruded past the mounted headboard), a sleeper sofa, 2 armchairs, a table and 2 chairs, a desk and a chair, etc. It was an incredible room. By now we were hungry, but since it was pouring, we opted to eat downstairs at Tubbi's. We must have been on line for about 30 minutes. It was endless, and to top it off, we did not care for the dinner at all (don't get the pot roast), but we did go back in the a.m. for a quick breakfast.
After breakfast, we had our luggage sent to be transferred over to the BWV and we walked on over. We checked in, got a "Welcome Home" and were told that our room was ready. It was only about 11:30 so that was a very pleasant surprise. We were in room 4103, a standard 1BR four doors down in the second hallway from the elevator. The room was in excellent condition. Everything was clean and sparkling. We looked out on the drive up entrance to the hotel. We were so pleased with everything that we just sat out there for about an hour discussing how buying the DVC was such a great move and how there really is no reason to go running off to the parks and how excited we were to be back home again. We hated to leave the room, but finally had to go to make our lunch PS at Le Cellier. Excellent lunch. We had the $30 lunch vouchers from Connections, but we were allowed to choose any appetizer, entree and dessert, and the bill came to $101. After lunch, we traipsed around the park for a little while, then went back to the room to get our luggage sent up. In perusing our itinerary I noticed we had Rainforest Cafe scheduled for breakfast, but since we're not really big AK enthusiasts, we canceled our PS and planned to sleep in instead. Without DVC, that would not have been an option. Later that evening we watched Illuminations then strolled back to room.
Monday we slept in as planned then we went to MGM for awhile. We came back to the room to put our feet up then took a cab to the Contemporary for dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse. The dinner was excelllent, the only problem was getting out of there in time for Spectro. At 6:50 we ordered dessert. By the time we got the check and got over to MK, it was 8:02. That was bad, but we made our way through the mobs of people, watched the parade, then stayed for Wishes. I have to say that I love Illuminations, and Fantasmic was my favorite, but Wishes really took my breath away. The fireworks were awesome, and combined with the music and narration, it was an incredible experience. Do not miss it, but be prepared for massive amounts of people. Going back to BWV the bus only stopped at the Swan and Dolphin first. That was a welcome change, but the later in the week it again stopped at all 5 resorts.
Tuesday we again ate breakfast in the room. That is such a perk. Later in the afternoon we headed over to MGm for a 4:50 Fantasmic dinner at Mama Melrose. (We couldn't get Brown Derby, nor was I able to get it for April's trip.) Finished just in time to saunter over to Oscar's to be let in at 6:30. It was a cool evening, but the show was great as always. After the show we walked right on to the Movie ride and didn't even see the whole preshow movie. A great time to go.
Wednesday we had breakfast at Crystal Palace. By the time we finished eating, only Tigger had bopped on by, so now I see why these breakfasts are so time-consuming when you want the pictures. We fast passed everthing we could, but you could see the crowds getting larger and the lines getting longer as the day went on. When we had enough, we went back to the room and chilled. Dinner that night was at Shula's since we were using it as our Valentine's dinner. The meal was delicious, the service was excellent but the price was steep. It cost $200 for just the two of us! We jotted down notes on how we can save a few bucks when we go again sometime in the distant future.
Thursday was our last full day. Ate breakfast in our room then took the boat to Epcot. The driver said he had never seen such a crowded week. I asked him how long he worked here and he said 4 months so he was here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Interesting. Changed our Rose and Crown PS for Chefs de France. Saw the British Invasion, Off Kilter, all things we never did pre-DVC.
Friday we woke up early, went to MGM for things we missed, then came back to the BW and called member services from the pay phone to check on availability for October. We absolutely did not want to leave. Since our AP's are good till Nov, I just had to squeeze in one more trip. It's amazing what happens when you are actually there. This was supposed to be our last trip until 11/05. We bought a house so we tried renting our April trip points but we couldn't because they were borrowed, and now we are going to book October on Monday. Gotta love that DVC.
Two observations: 1. People were turned away from restaurants left and right. We saw people walking up to podiums wanting to get in and not once were they successful. We saw this at Mama Melrose, Chefs de France and Spoodles, so definitely get PS's before you go. 2. We noticed something new this time for the first time ever. Escorts, with regular looking families, escorting their group to reserved seating (first 2 rows) in both Beauty & the Beast and Indiana Jones. Also a group or two bypassed the entire line at the Movie ride and were escorted right up to the doors where you enter the ride. What's up with that?
Any questions?
After breakfast, we had our luggage sent to be transferred over to the BWV and we walked on over. We checked in, got a "Welcome Home" and were told that our room was ready. It was only about 11:30 so that was a very pleasant surprise. We were in room 4103, a standard 1BR four doors down in the second hallway from the elevator. The room was in excellent condition. Everything was clean and sparkling. We looked out on the drive up entrance to the hotel. We were so pleased with everything that we just sat out there for about an hour discussing how buying the DVC was such a great move and how there really is no reason to go running off to the parks and how excited we were to be back home again. We hated to leave the room, but finally had to go to make our lunch PS at Le Cellier. Excellent lunch. We had the $30 lunch vouchers from Connections, but we were allowed to choose any appetizer, entree and dessert, and the bill came to $101. After lunch, we traipsed around the park for a little while, then went back to the room to get our luggage sent up. In perusing our itinerary I noticed we had Rainforest Cafe scheduled for breakfast, but since we're not really big AK enthusiasts, we canceled our PS and planned to sleep in instead. Without DVC, that would not have been an option. Later that evening we watched Illuminations then strolled back to room.
Monday we slept in as planned then we went to MGM for awhile. We came back to the room to put our feet up then took a cab to the Contemporary for dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse. The dinner was excelllent, the only problem was getting out of there in time for Spectro. At 6:50 we ordered dessert. By the time we got the check and got over to MK, it was 8:02. That was bad, but we made our way through the mobs of people, watched the parade, then stayed for Wishes. I have to say that I love Illuminations, and Fantasmic was my favorite, but Wishes really took my breath away. The fireworks were awesome, and combined with the music and narration, it was an incredible experience. Do not miss it, but be prepared for massive amounts of people. Going back to BWV the bus only stopped at the Swan and Dolphin first. That was a welcome change, but the later in the week it again stopped at all 5 resorts.
Tuesday we again ate breakfast in the room. That is such a perk. Later in the afternoon we headed over to MGm for a 4:50 Fantasmic dinner at Mama Melrose. (We couldn't get Brown Derby, nor was I able to get it for April's trip.) Finished just in time to saunter over to Oscar's to be let in at 6:30. It was a cool evening, but the show was great as always. After the show we walked right on to the Movie ride and didn't even see the whole preshow movie. A great time to go.
Wednesday we had breakfast at Crystal Palace. By the time we finished eating, only Tigger had bopped on by, so now I see why these breakfasts are so time-consuming when you want the pictures. We fast passed everthing we could, but you could see the crowds getting larger and the lines getting longer as the day went on. When we had enough, we went back to the room and chilled. Dinner that night was at Shula's since we were using it as our Valentine's dinner. The meal was delicious, the service was excellent but the price was steep. It cost $200 for just the two of us! We jotted down notes on how we can save a few bucks when we go again sometime in the distant future.
Thursday was our last full day. Ate breakfast in our room then took the boat to Epcot. The driver said he had never seen such a crowded week. I asked him how long he worked here and he said 4 months so he was here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Interesting. Changed our Rose and Crown PS for Chefs de France. Saw the British Invasion, Off Kilter, all things we never did pre-DVC.
Friday we woke up early, went to MGM for things we missed, then came back to the BW and called member services from the pay phone to check on availability for October. We absolutely did not want to leave. Since our AP's are good till Nov, I just had to squeeze in one more trip. It's amazing what happens when you are actually there. This was supposed to be our last trip until 11/05. We bought a house so we tried renting our April trip points but we couldn't because they were borrowed, and now we are going to book October on Monday. Gotta love that DVC.
Two observations: 1. People were turned away from restaurants left and right. We saw people walking up to podiums wanting to get in and not once were they successful. We saw this at Mama Melrose, Chefs de France and Spoodles, so definitely get PS's before you go. 2. We noticed something new this time for the first time ever. Escorts, with regular looking families, escorting their group to reserved seating (first 2 rows) in both Beauty & the Beast and Indiana Jones. Also a group or two bypassed the entire line at the Movie ride and were escorted right up to the doors where you enter the ride. What's up with that?
Any questions?
