This can't be where I REALLY live!! Im back in the real world......

[LIFERBABE]

after a 4 week stay in WDW. Im wondering where Bell Services is and why Mousekeeping hasnt showed up yet! LOL! The landscaping needs attention too!

Well, I have to say, despite all the logistics of being at WDW for a month, it was well worth it, a vacation of a lifetime, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but under better circumstances. I am rested and relaxed and ready to face real world issues. This was an opportunity only afforded by owning DVC and a true testament to the flexibility of the program.

It really went quickly and I was not ready return.

Our highlights:

Receiving a hug from Dolores at Beaches & Cream on our first of many visits this trip. She always recognizes us and commented on how much the boys have grown. I cant believe how little they were when we first started dining there. B&C is our favorite place.

Soarin and Turtle Talk with Crush at EPCOT

DS (6) refused to wear his swim vest this trip and worked really hard at swimming so that he didnt have to. Before we left, he was confident enough to swim in the 5 ft section of the Congress Park pool. Both my DS's learned to swim at WDW.

Shuffle Board at SSR. Our new family past time. I didnt have the heart to tell my boys that SB is for old people! (No offense old people )
They loved it! They wanted rematches and tournaments. It was alot of fun and now we are ready for a lifetime of cruising.

Fort Desoto Beach in St Pete. Awesome day at the beach and we have a new saying "step on a cactus, break your momma's bactus"

The community hall at SSR. It really was like a community and while the boys made friends playing video games and ping pong, I met really nice members too. The Cm's were great and had time to visit with us which was nice. Cute cards to color on Father's Day.

Grilling in Congress Park. What a great place to grill. Everything is right there. The pool, the playground, DTD view and the boats passing. Loved the covered picnic area with ceiling fans and lights. We grilled twice, once on Father's Day.

DTD View at SSR. On 6/18, PI had Special extended fireworks. AWESOME!! and LOUD!! I thought a barge blew up! LOL! They were heard out by Sea World. We were also able to see the EPCOT firework tests for the 4th from the CP area. I liked that the CP pool and spa are lit at night. We had great late night visits to the spa and pool.

My sister from NY visited us for 3 days, and took the DVC tour. She is retired military, a world traveler (goes to Rome on a whim), and now a flight attendant. She was really impressed with SSR and DVC. She just wanted to chill out, so we didnt do parks, but now she "gets" why and how we could spend so much time at WDW.
My quide couldnt have been more patient and the new presentation area in the Chapel bldg. is really COOL! She did say a restaurant and pools would be added to SSR so that is good news.
The newest pricing is $98 ppt with a $8 credit towards downpayment. You get points right away. I cant believe how much prices have gone up in just the last few years.
Great trip and can't wait to return.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wow! What a nice report, and what a great vacation you had. I love the mentions to grilling, someday, I really want to spend a few weeks and let DVC be my home for an extended period like you did.

Bobbi

 

[WDWLVR]

Crystal - sounds like you had a great time. I didn't realize you were going to be there at the same time as us. Wish you could have joined us for the pre-cruise meet at the Member Update on the 22nd.

We're the fireworks they have planned for the 4th awesome! Well worth being woke up at 1 am for!

 

[princess mom]

wow 4 weeks at WDW! We'll be heading to SSr in a few months for the first time....nice to hear you had a great time! Missy

 

[wdwstar]

Nice trip report and it sounds like you still really like SSR. that is great! Since you have been gone so long you will be going thru WDW withdraw, you can just come back to the dvc -disboard and we will bring you back to reality.
But knowing you girl, you probably have your next 4 vacations planned, did you do another add on while you were there, come on, confess..... i pmed you

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Great report!

Ms. Sparrow aka Allison

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Zounds a month at WDW I am Lime Green with envy! Sounds like you had a blast, glad to hear it.

BTW doncha love it when CM's remember you? When I was a regular at the Poly I knew many of the CM's there. And there's a waitress at Chef Mickey's that we visit every year, Becca is her name. My older daughter is Becky and we struck up a conversation over 10 years ago regarding their names being similar. We've asked for her every trip since, and like the CM you mentioned, she always comments on my girls growth and change in maturity level.

Glad you enjoyed Community Hall so much. We love the one at BWV and have found it to be exactly what you said--A great place to hang out and meet other DVC-ers.

It must be SO hard to get back to reality after a month of fantasy.

Mar'

 

[MiaSRN62]

Wow ! A whole month in WDW ! You lucky duck ! I can only dream about ever doing that ! I'll have to wait until I'm retired though

Shuffle Board at SSR. Our new family past time. I didnt have the heart to tell my boys that SB is for old people! (No offense old people )

lol.....well, they have this on the Disney Magic. My kids loved playing it as well this past November on our cruise. In fact, people were waiting in the wings to play---and none of them were "old people" (no offense either)!

Glad u had a fun time. Good luck getting used to good 'ole reality
Thanks for the TR.

 

[Cruelladeville]

did you notice that not one of your best memories had to do with the parks, every part was family-oriented? You just posted the perfect reasons why we all love having our DVC! That's exactly why we could all spend a month in WDW, and be happy never visiting a park. Good job!

 

[LIFERBABE]

did you notice that not one of your best memories had to do with the parks, every part was family-oriented? You just posted the perfect reasons why we all love having our DVC! That's exactly why we could all spend a month in WDW, and be happy never visiting a park. Good job!

Totally agree! We have US/IOA AP's that don't expire until next month, but we went 3 days the first week we were there and didnt go back. There was just so much to do outside of the parks.

I loved having my WDW AP (expired on 6/13/05) and was ready to renew, but with the changes to room discounts and my families touring style, I decided the 10 day MYW pass would probably last us the next 3 years! LOL!
I had 2 AP vouchers from my DVC add-on, so I used those as credit towards our 10 day MYW's.

In addition to our 10 day MYW, we have Annual Disney Quest and Water Park tickets because that is what we use almost daily when we are there. So MYW really allowed us to customize our ticket options.

The EMH were great (albeit crowded) and it really increased the value of the MYW tickets. We only visited the Theme Parks 2 days our entire stay but we really enjoyed our days and saved some new attractions for next trip. One day we did early morning hour at MGM and had lunch at Sci Fi. We took a break from 3 to 9pm and then went to MK for evening hours until 1am. We saw Wishes and Spectro!

Our second park day we did early hour at Epcot (Soarin and Test Track) had lunch at Garden Grill (Im on the fence about the new fixed menu) took a break and then went to MK for evening hours. The direct bus service from SSR was great (we had a car) and sure beat parking at the TTC then crossing over to MK. We did have a bit of a wait from MK at 1am, because the first bus filled up as we were getting in line and the next one took about 25 min. to pick us up. I will say our bus was packed, but everyone scootched over, or held kids on their laps so as many people and ladies could have seats.

We didnt ride the busses at BCV so I cant comment.



wdwstar:
No add-on this time! My sister is seriously considering joining though. Yes, we really like SSR. We loved our BCV stay too and that will always be our first home but I am relieved to love both places so much, because it takes some of the pressure off of planning right at 11 months.

Mary:
I had totally planned to attend the Member Update last Wednesday, but that was the afternoon my sister took the tour and when I looked up it was past 4pm. I would have loved to have been a part of the meet.

Bobbi:
About the grilling, it was one of those things that you always say would be nice to do and then never get around to, so Im glad we were able to. I just knew Fathers Day would be a busy grill day, but we were the only one's! LOL! Winn Dixie had the sweetest corn on the cob and my boys really enjoyed it, so we grilled again.

For those wondering about the studio accomodations for that length of time, it was great. I had lots of organizational items like pop up hampers and the shoe pocket hanger and everything had a place. Next time I will not pack so much now that I know what we will need (with the rain factored in) and know how to find all the stores I like offsite.

Any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

 

[ErinC]

I've been wondering if you were ever coming back!!! I think I posted on your last thread about all your great ideas for studio organization! We love the pop up hampers. I'm sad to hear you say you still didn't want to come home after a month. I kept thinking that if I could get DH to agree to a 2 week trip that maybe I would feel like I had had enough time at the world. But if a month didn't do it, than I might never get "enough" time. Oh well, I'll just keep trying to extend our trips each time and work my way up to a couple of weeks. Glad you had such a great time!

 

[eporter66]

Wow - 4 weeks in WDW.

 

[wdwstar]

i didnt realize wdw had a 10 day park passes, we had bought 2 7 day 4 or 5 day water park and we can hop. we bought them the first day that disney changed their tickets and you build your own tickets before the free dining.
Hmm, i may have to upgrade our tickets to the 10 day. i agree, getting aps for the waterparks. we could spend everyday there. this time we did not opt for the aps, we are going back at christmas/new years for a few days then onto the Magic cruise and then we will be at DLH for Easter/spring break. so buying the waterpark APs would have not worked for us. maybe next time.
Welcome (reality) Home..

 

[LIFERBABE]

i didnt realize wdw had a 10 day park passes, we had bought 2 7 day 4 or 5 day water park and we can hop. we bought them the first day that disney changed their tickets and you build your own tickets before the free dining.
Hmm, i may have to upgrade our tickets to the 10 day. i agree, getting aps for the waterparks. we could spend everyday there. this time we did not opt for the aps, we are going back at christmas/new years for a few days then onto the Magic cruise and then we will be at DLH for Easter/spring break. so buying the waterpark APs would have not worked for us. maybe next time.
Welcome (reality) Home..

You know, I thought it was so strange, but WDW does not have the 10 day listed on any of their price lists or MYW promos. I asked why at GR @ Epcot and he said that they recommend the AP over the 10 day because they are similarly priced, so basically they don't tell the guests that the 10 day is even an option. Thank goodness for these boards!

Initially our passes will cost more than AP's, the way we have set ours up, but we will be able to get multiple years worth of trips out of the 10 days and renew our WP and DQ every other year. It is much easier to break even on a DQ/WP AP for us because we are at 1 or the other daily, if only for a few hours. We rarely visit a park for just a few hours so I prefer to have unlimited access to DQ/WP and park hopper days at the parks.

Thanks for the Welcome Back!

 

[lllovell]

I am glad you had such a wonderful time. I suspect that all of us here are GREEN with envy.

I could use some chilling out time and can't think of anywhere I would rather chill out than WDW.

 

[TW1]

4 Weeks Thatsalota Hanname!

 

[ErinC]

You know, I thought it was so strange, but WDW does not have the 10 day listed on any of their price lists or MYW promos. I asked why at GR @ Epcot and he said that they recommend the AP over the 10 day because they are similarly priced, so basically they don't tell the guests that the 10 day is even an option. Thank goodness for these boards!

Initially our passes will cost more than AP's, the way we have set ours up, but we will be able to get multiple years worth of trips out of the 10 days and renew our WP and DQ every other year. It is much easier to break even on a DQ/WP AP for us because we are at 1 or the other daily, if only for a few hours. We rarely visit a park for just a few hours so I prefer to have unlimited access to DQ/WP and park hopper days at the parks.

Thanks for the Welcome Back!

Liferbabe, what does an annual waterpark pass cost, I'm not sure that I've seen that advertised anywhere? Did you try out the new stuff at TL?

We also choose the 10 MYW hopper tickets. I bought ours in January from ticketmania. We've had 2 trips on them so far and have 2 days left. We still have several plusses off old hopper tickets that need to be used for the waterparks. The only great thing about having an AP would be just slipping into the parks for a meal or a show, and not feeling like you've blown a day on your pass. But for now, they work better for us, as we just don't have enough vacation time each year to really make them valuable for us. Hopefully in the next few years vacation time will be longer or maybe I'll take the kids in the summer by myself. (yeah right, I'm sure DH will go for that)

Maybe I missed it, but did you cook much, or do you guys eat out most of the time? I want to try grilling out one of these days. I do think that SSR has one of the best spots for grilling. My kids loved the playground area, and what a great place to enjoy the scenery while your cooking out.

 

[lllovell]

I thought at some point there were 14 day passes available as well, but since our original 5 day pass we purchased a while back that we immediately turned into AP's, we haven't had anything except AP's (especially now with the DVC AP discount and DDE).

Was I dreaming up the 14 day MYW pass?

 

[LIFERBABE]

Liferbabe, what does an annual waterpark pass cost, I'm not sure that I've seen that advertised anywhere? Did you try out the new stuff at TL?

Maybe I missed it, but did you cook much, or do you guys eat out most of the time? I want to try grilling out one of these days. I do think that SSR has one of the best spots for grilling. My kids loved the playground area, and what a great place to enjoy the scenery while your cooking out.

Hi Erin:

The DQ/WP Annual is $137 A and $105 C, It came to less than $400 for Dh and the 2 boys. Last year Dh and the boys purchased DQ only AP's for $85 A and $65 C. Those passes went up $5 this year and there is no renewal discount on DQ or WP AP's. We still have old hopper plus days, but DQ is not included, and they went to DQ at least 20 times while we were there, most times for a couple of hours so for us it was worth it because none of the MYW options gives you unlimited DQ or WP access. We'd have to purchase PAP's and even with the DVC discount and multiple trips, we couldnt break even on the park days.

We did visit TL and rode CnGusher. There are 3 slides to choose from and you ride on a raft. My youngest (6) wasnt tall enough so Dh and DS8 went first. I then went with DS8. I dont remember much, but I whacked my head pretty good on the last dip of the enclosed slide. That was enough for me, so we stuck to the wave pool after that. I did let a lifeguard know, who offered me medical attention, which I declined but they may need to lessen the drop, because I rode in the back, so DS dropped first which caused me to whip more.

The first 12 nights we stayed at BCV in a studio and it rained alot, so we did more dining in. I normally make a hot breakfast of mickey waffles and eggs (on my Mickey Waffle Maker). I did try an electric skillet this time, but it was too much hassle so I abandoned it after using it twice. I'll keep my Mickey Waffle maker, because that's about all the cooking I want to do.

Grilling was fun and not what I considered KP duty plus Dh always moves me out of the way and takes over We grilled extra hot dogs and chicken for the micro too. Being in a studio in Cong Park, we were able to do laundry, grill, playground and swim so it was a great down day. The people passing on the boats would wave at us! We liked the CP pool area so much, we didnt go to the main pool much at all.

We used meal vouchers (8) for B&C and Pepper Market and DDE for Garden Grill (new menu most likely will not do again), SCI FI, Sassagoula Floatworks @ POR (very good ribs) and Trails End Buffet. Trails end was very good and a great selection. With the DDE it was $40 for the 4 of us plus tip.

We have a Sam's Club membership so we ordered their Pizza's 2 at a time and would have pizza for dinner and Ziploc the leftovers for snacks or lunch. Their pizza is a good deal (if you have transportation) $8 each and cooked to order.

I finally learned my way around offsite and I found my favorite places all on 192. Sams Club, Dollar Tree, Target, CVS and Winn Dixie and Albertson.

Offsite we did Chick Fil A and McDonalds. When we went to Tampa, we tried PF Changs. It was pretty good and I would definitely get the lo mein and egg rolls again.

I didnt make alot of PS's this trip and the only PS we couldnt get "day of" was Chef Mickeys which was booked solid for 2 weeks.

We will definitely eat at HOB next trip. Everytime we passed by (its right across from DQ) it smelled so good!

 

[mommystieg]

Welcome back Wow, maybe if we stayed a month we could finally figure out our way around offsite--so far we can only find the Winn Dixie DH does a great job of driving in the World but once we go outside the gates we lose all sense of direction....