Jacksmom99
<font color=0099FF>Meredith's mom too!!<font color
- Joined
- May 29, 2001
- Messages
- 1,024
The trip started off with strands of "Holiday Road" repeating continously in my head, but it turned out to be a GREAT time! If anyone noticed, I posted 2 hours before we hit the road last Wednesday night. We were leaving a day early in order to time our arrival between the two storms. I was VERY stressed about driving into the storm systems with my children, and worried that my parents, DB, and SIL would not be able to fly into Orlando on Saturday. We had reservations at the Travelodge Maingate East (booked here through Dreams Unlimited) for Fri and Sat nights @ $35.00 a night. I called Wed afternoon and was able to add Thurs. night for $39 before they made the decision to evacuate Tampa. Thank goodness I did that. When we arrived at 11 pm on Thurs the entire Tampa area had decended on Orlando and were trying to find hotel rooms. (A note about the Travelodge for those of us trying to save our weekend points...it's OK, but it's what you'd expect for $35-50 a night. The rooms were clean, but very run down. I'd stay there again to save the points, but not during a hurricane!)
Friday during the hurricane, my parents flight was cancelled. This trip was getting sketchy....They called me again after the storm and were able to book Airtran for double the price for Sat night. Not ideal, but they got there by 11pm on Sat. Of course DH and I had to find a new hotel for Saturday night as the Travelodge and most of 192 had no electricity, that was not working in Orlando in August! Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites right outside of the Hotel Blvd entrance. Nice place, free breakfast, close to WDW when we needed to pack up and move in on Sunday!
OK, now the important part.....Sunday we checked in to the BCV at 10:00am. A very nice CM, Georgette, checked us in and we received Welcome Homes at the desk and guard house. Not that it's something I really care about, but that little touch was very nice...I was starting to feel the Pixie dust at this point! I hadn't made any really specific room requests. I didn't care which type of 2bdrm I got. I wanted rooms near each other (we had a 2bdrm and studio), N/S, upper floor, and non-accessible. Georgette said the 2bdrm would be ready in 1-2 hours, but the studio wouldn't be ready until 4pm. No problem, we were headed for the pool and figured we could hang out in the 2bdrm as soon as it was ready. I did ask her before we signed anything, if the room was HC b/c of my 2yo DD, we wanted things out of her reach and needed the tub. She very nicely checked for us and assured us it wasn't. The 2 bedroom was ready around 2pm. We were in 558/560 lockoff, N/S,overlooking the pool. The studio was 561 across the hall and with an Epcot view. DB and SIL loved that!!! Both they and my parents watched the children for me on different nights and really enjoyed Illuminations from the balcony after the children were tucked into bed just across the hall! The rooms were in great condition, all my requests and hopes were met, I was getting into the Pixie Dust now!!!! The rooms were right near the pool elevator and we could hear it from our room when the TV was off, but it wasn't anything that bothered me, or that kept me awake.
My dad, DB, and SIL had never stayed on property before. Once they figured out the lay of the land, they really enjoyed being in the Epcot and Boardwalk area. My dad went on these "walk abouts" in the morning around the lake. He got coffee at the Boardwalk, met the mechanic for the boats at the YC, and enjoyed his quiet time before we headed to the parks. It was really nice to see him enjoying the resort as he is a fishing/hunting type person who is more at home deep in the woods. He even complimented me on the rooms, and the resort. This was huge for him to say...he's really a man of few words. DH and I took my parents over to Artist Point for dinner one night, and arrived a little early so we could show off our home resort. As we entered the lobby, both of my parents stopped in their tracks and gazed around in awe. I turned to my mom and said, "that's exactly how I felt the first time I walked in here, do you see why we love it so much?" My mom then started talking about the next time they come with us, they would really like to try the VWL. For people who reluctantly agreed to an August WDW vacation, they are already planning their next trip, isn't DVC great??!!
All in all, the trip was great. It started out very rocky, and I wasn't able to get excited about it until everyone arrived safe and sound. DD (2) did get sick Wed night (we knew it was coming, we'd taken her to the drs twice before we left) with an ear infection. Went to the walk-in near hotel blvd, dropped $130 for 30 seconds with the dr, walked out with a prescription. That was really the only problem with the trip, and it was fixed very easily. My favorite part of the trip was Sunday the 15th at the HDDR. If anyone was there that night for the 7:15 show, we were the family dressed in red, and my quiet reserved dad got picked on to sing the "toot-toot" song with the red-headed actress. I loved every minute of it, and he turned as red as his shirt! If anyone wants any other info let me know, I'm now off to start planning the next vacation!
Kim
Friday during the hurricane, my parents flight was cancelled. This trip was getting sketchy....They called me again after the storm and were able to book Airtran for double the price for Sat night. Not ideal, but they got there by 11pm on Sat. Of course DH and I had to find a new hotel for Saturday night as the Travelodge and most of 192 had no electricity, that was not working in Orlando in August! Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites right outside of the Hotel Blvd entrance. Nice place, free breakfast, close to WDW when we needed to pack up and move in on Sunday!
OK, now the important part.....Sunday we checked in to the BCV at 10:00am. A very nice CM, Georgette, checked us in and we received Welcome Homes at the desk and guard house. Not that it's something I really care about, but that little touch was very nice...I was starting to feel the Pixie dust at this point! I hadn't made any really specific room requests. I didn't care which type of 2bdrm I got. I wanted rooms near each other (we had a 2bdrm and studio), N/S, upper floor, and non-accessible. Georgette said the 2bdrm would be ready in 1-2 hours, but the studio wouldn't be ready until 4pm. No problem, we were headed for the pool and figured we could hang out in the 2bdrm as soon as it was ready. I did ask her before we signed anything, if the room was HC b/c of my 2yo DD, we wanted things out of her reach and needed the tub. She very nicely checked for us and assured us it wasn't. The 2 bedroom was ready around 2pm. We were in 558/560 lockoff, N/S,overlooking the pool. The studio was 561 across the hall and with an Epcot view. DB and SIL loved that!!! Both they and my parents watched the children for me on different nights and really enjoyed Illuminations from the balcony after the children were tucked into bed just across the hall! The rooms were in great condition, all my requests and hopes were met, I was getting into the Pixie Dust now!!!! The rooms were right near the pool elevator and we could hear it from our room when the TV was off, but it wasn't anything that bothered me, or that kept me awake.
My dad, DB, and SIL had never stayed on property before. Once they figured out the lay of the land, they really enjoyed being in the Epcot and Boardwalk area. My dad went on these "walk abouts" in the morning around the lake. He got coffee at the Boardwalk, met the mechanic for the boats at the YC, and enjoyed his quiet time before we headed to the parks. It was really nice to see him enjoying the resort as he is a fishing/hunting type person who is more at home deep in the woods. He even complimented me on the rooms, and the resort. This was huge for him to say...he's really a man of few words. DH and I took my parents over to Artist Point for dinner one night, and arrived a little early so we could show off our home resort. As we entered the lobby, both of my parents stopped in their tracks and gazed around in awe. I turned to my mom and said, "that's exactly how I felt the first time I walked in here, do you see why we love it so much?" My mom then started talking about the next time they come with us, they would really like to try the VWL. For people who reluctantly agreed to an August WDW vacation, they are already planning their next trip, isn't DVC great??!!
All in all, the trip was great. It started out very rocky, and I wasn't able to get excited about it until everyone arrived safe and sound. DD (2) did get sick Wed night (we knew it was coming, we'd taken her to the drs twice before we left) with an ear infection. Went to the walk-in near hotel blvd, dropped $130 for 30 seconds with the dr, walked out with a prescription. That was really the only problem with the trip, and it was fixed very easily. My favorite part of the trip was Sunday the 15th at the HDDR. If anyone was there that night for the 7:15 show, we were the family dressed in red, and my quiet reserved dad got picked on to sing the "toot-toot" song with the red-headed actress. I loved every minute of it, and he turned as red as his shirt! If anyone wants any other info let me know, I'm now off to start planning the next vacation!
Kim
).
