I know I have yet to do a cruise trippie, but I wanted to do a little report on my after cruise trip. The day we got off the ship, we went to Orlando. We stayed at the Omni. It's a great hotel with a fun lazy river, but a bit too far from Disney to stay at if you want to hit the parks. Since we weren't hitting the parks, we were fine.
But we did attend a "Vacation as You Wish" show for DVC at the Contemporary. It was a presentation about DVC with a tour of the Bay Lake Grand Villa. Now that you have the background, here's the story with pictures and maybe even a video or two.
We just got off the cruise, my family and our two travel buddy families. After relaxing at the Omni, we decide to head over to the Contemporary for our 3 p.m. presentation. On the way, we realize the invite says not to park at the Contemporary! We had to park at the Magic Kingdom. Well, we didn't take that into our trip time planning. We had to park at MK, take the tram to the TTC, then get on a monorail to the resort. Of course, the Contemporary is the last resort on the line. We get there just at 3 and start rushing to find the presentation. We get there sign us in (group 18), sign the kids into the kids club area, and sit down in the already in progress presentation. It's a big "Rah Rah We love DVC" show, complete with a "Wishmeister." The "Wishmeister" comes out every so often and grants gifts to the audience, like DVC binoculars, rice krispy treats, and other little things. But at the end, there was a drawing for a 7-day World Passport collection vacation. We didn't win. The person who did was a little too unexcited for my taste. They should have taken the prize away from them and given it to me who would have whooped it up over that prize.
When the presentation finished, it was time for a DVC style dance party. We were all surprised when the doors opened up behind us and Mickey, Chip and Dale came out to usher us into the party. It was a Disney fanatics dream. There were little sandwiches and fruit kabobs on the tables, lemonade and ice tea, and freezers FULLLLLLLL of Mickey bars, Kadoozies, Mickey ice cream sandwiches, and other cool treats you find at the parks.
We all enjoyed as many as we could stomach.
At first, Mickey stood for pictures while Chip and Dale hit the dance floor. Slowly, the groups were being called in order to tour the Grand Villa. We realized that we would be the last group to go, which meant we had lots of time to enjoy the party! By the end, our group of 13 was about all that was left. About half way through the party, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto took over for Mickey, Chip and Dale. Then at the end, before we left, they switched again. But not before our group got to dance with all 6 of them!
DD3 learning the Cha Cha slide from Dale
Dancing with Minnie and Pluto
One on one with Minnie - priceless
Another video of our group dancing with Minnie to "Mickey"
Now the dance party was amazing, but we still had the tour to look forward to. They took us from the Contemporary across the bridge that connects to the new Bay Lake Towers. We went straight up the elevator to the top where the 3-bedroom Grand Villa's are located. Since our group likes to travel together, we really wanted to see it. We saw the studio and 1 bedroom at the mock BLT at Saratoga (for tours.) But those had fake views. Nothing could beat the real view. Here are some pictures of the villa.
The dining room/kitchen
A picture of me taking a picture of the view of Epcot (this was a Bay Lake view room, not one of the rare MK view rooms - still amazing)
The living room area
Master bedroom
2nd bedroom
The Views
The Art (I want it all!)
Top of the World Lounge - This is a lounge at the top for DVC members staying at Bay Lake Towers only. So renters and DVC members staying elsewhere can not go.
So now you see why I haven't done my cruise trip yet. If this one event took this long, imagine how long I'll take for a 4 day cruise!
I put in my request for personal days for my trip. Denied. Apparently, unknown to me, my nurse will be out for a state meeting. Even though there are 4 of us, unless there is an emergency, two of us cannot have a sub at the same time. Oh well, dh was kind enough to move money out of savings for us all to go when I wanted to in December. Good news: no personal days to beg for then. . .
) that I am absolutely addicted to.....Tropicana Peach Orchard Punch over crushed ice.....Can't. Get. Enough.
WOW. You don't really realize how high these are until you're looking waaay down on the garden wings!
