IndianaDVCMember
Boardwalk Villas
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 233
We had a 4 night stay in a 2 bedroom villa at VWL followed by a 2-night stay at AKL in a Savannah View with bunk beds. Weather was perfect for the entire week.
Our check-in was on Monday, March 28 at VWL. This was our first stay at the lodge (BWV is our home resort), and we loved everything about it. We spent a couple of hours getting ourselves acquainted with the resort and then had dinner at Whispering Canyon. Our trip did not have an auspicious beginning. Two of our three daughters got sick around dinner time, and we didn't get to enjoy the typical fun for this restaurant. Our 4-year old spiked a fever of 103, and our 3-year old had some tummy problems. We had to cancel any pool or park activities for the evening, and we were concerned that we would not be able to go to our CRT reservation the next morning. Our 3-year old got sick in the room. I cleaned it up as best as possible and let innkeeping know about the problem. They promptly sent someone up to scrub and deodorize the area. I know this isn't a pleasant topic to hear about, but I thought some members would like to know that situations like this are handled well by the VWL staff.
After a very rough night, we decided to attend the breakfast. 4-year olds fever was down, and all three of our daughters were really looking forward to the breakfast, so we decided to give it a go. Magic Kingdom opened at 7 am all week. We got there around 7:30 with no crowds and rode Dumbo twice and the carousel once before breakfast. The breakfast was very good, with Cindy, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Mary Poppins all making visits. 3 year-old still didn't feel well and didn't want to eat, and the restaurant didn't charge us for her meal (Given the breakfasts popularity, I was very pleased by this gesture). After breakfast, we were able to hit a few attractions before the crowds hit. By 10:30, the park was complete gridlock. We picked up fastpasses for Stitch (6-year old had this at the top of her list) for a 2:50-3:50 time slot. We didn't make it that far with the crowds taking too much of a toll. 4 year-old and 3 year-old both fell asleep in the boat. Boat and bus service was generally slow for the week, which was expected. After naps, we did a very nice carriage ride at Fort Wilderness before our 7:30 Hoop-Dee-Doo show. The hurricanes really took a toll on the trees in this area of Disney World. We sat in a front row table, and the performers put me on the spot a couple of times (Nothing I couldn't handle). I would highly recommend this show for families with younger children. The food is above average, and the performance is tons of fun.
Tuesday morning we got to sleep in...hurray! We arrived at the Studios relatively late, but it wasn't all that crowded. We did Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast before a noon lunch at Brown Derby for the famous cobb salad. Yum! 3 year-old slept through lunch so we headed back to VWL.
We did some swimming once she woke up. We really liked the pool at this resort. Wife and I had some excellent daquiris. Kids were recovered well enough to have Mickey shaped ice cream bars. We washed up to go to Epcot for dinner at Teppanyaki. Dinner was wonderful. Wife and I both had the fillet and it was the most tender cut of beef we'd ever had. The kids really enjoyed watching the chef. I asked for the DDE discount without realizing that this restaurant doesn't offer it (It doesn't hurt to ask). After dinner, we did Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Spaceship Earth with no lines at all. The kids ran out of gas, so we didn't stay for Illuminations.
We went back to Magic Kindom for another crowd battle. For spring break, we thought the only really crowded park was Magic Kindom. Lunch was at Liberty Tree Tavern, and I must say that this is a very underrated restaurant for lunch. I had a roast beek sandwich and soup. The portions were huge. Lunch ended just in time for us to walk right out and see the parade. After the parade, we'd had enough of the crowds and headed back to VWL for an afternoon craft. The girls all made crowns and the CM at the Cubs Den was very good with our kids. We rented a surry for a leisurly ride to Fort Wilderness and back. Dinner was at Artists Point and it was amazing. We went back to MK for Spectromagic (absolutely amazing) and Wishes. We watched Wishes from next to Plaza Ice Cream. The view had tree obstructions, but we had access to a little known back exit that bi-passes Main Street for a quick exit. The boat ride was delayed by the Electric Light Pageant, but we did get a good view of the pageant. We slept in late to counclude our VWL stay. We will definitely stay here again
The luggage transfer to AKL was painless. We spent a couple hours at Animal Kindom with no crowds before check-in. Our room wasn't ready until late, but we did some animal viewing and shopping in the mean time. Dinner at Boma was excellent with amazing desserts. We sampled all of them, and the zebra domes were our favorite. We had breakfast two days in a row at Boma, and this breakfast alone makes a stay at AKL worth it.
It cooled off on Saturday. We spent all day at Animal Kindom and once again had very little crowds. The Jammin Jungle Parade is underrated. The singers at Tarzan Rocks have much better voices than Phil Collins. Our last dinner of the trip was at Jiko, and we absolutely loved it. If DVC were to build at AKL, we would be first in line to buy.
Overall, it was a great trip in spite of a few setbacks.
Our check-in was on Monday, March 28 at VWL. This was our first stay at the lodge (BWV is our home resort), and we loved everything about it. We spent a couple of hours getting ourselves acquainted with the resort and then had dinner at Whispering Canyon. Our trip did not have an auspicious beginning. Two of our three daughters got sick around dinner time, and we didn't get to enjoy the typical fun for this restaurant. Our 4-year old spiked a fever of 103, and our 3-year old had some tummy problems. We had to cancel any pool or park activities for the evening, and we were concerned that we would not be able to go to our CRT reservation the next morning. Our 3-year old got sick in the room. I cleaned it up as best as possible and let innkeeping know about the problem. They promptly sent someone up to scrub and deodorize the area. I know this isn't a pleasant topic to hear about, but I thought some members would like to know that situations like this are handled well by the VWL staff.
After a very rough night, we decided to attend the breakfast. 4-year olds fever was down, and all three of our daughters were really looking forward to the breakfast, so we decided to give it a go. Magic Kingdom opened at 7 am all week. We got there around 7:30 with no crowds and rode Dumbo twice and the carousel once before breakfast. The breakfast was very good, with Cindy, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Mary Poppins all making visits. 3 year-old still didn't feel well and didn't want to eat, and the restaurant didn't charge us for her meal (Given the breakfasts popularity, I was very pleased by this gesture). After breakfast, we were able to hit a few attractions before the crowds hit. By 10:30, the park was complete gridlock. We picked up fastpasses for Stitch (6-year old had this at the top of her list) for a 2:50-3:50 time slot. We didn't make it that far with the crowds taking too much of a toll. 4 year-old and 3 year-old both fell asleep in the boat. Boat and bus service was generally slow for the week, which was expected. After naps, we did a very nice carriage ride at Fort Wilderness before our 7:30 Hoop-Dee-Doo show. The hurricanes really took a toll on the trees in this area of Disney World. We sat in a front row table, and the performers put me on the spot a couple of times (Nothing I couldn't handle). I would highly recommend this show for families with younger children. The food is above average, and the performance is tons of fun.
Tuesday morning we got to sleep in...hurray! We arrived at the Studios relatively late, but it wasn't all that crowded. We did Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast before a noon lunch at Brown Derby for the famous cobb salad. Yum! 3 year-old slept through lunch so we headed back to VWL.
We did some swimming once she woke up. We really liked the pool at this resort. Wife and I had some excellent daquiris. Kids were recovered well enough to have Mickey shaped ice cream bars. We washed up to go to Epcot for dinner at Teppanyaki. Dinner was wonderful. Wife and I both had the fillet and it was the most tender cut of beef we'd ever had. The kids really enjoyed watching the chef. I asked for the DDE discount without realizing that this restaurant doesn't offer it (It doesn't hurt to ask). After dinner, we did Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Spaceship Earth with no lines at all. The kids ran out of gas, so we didn't stay for Illuminations.
We went back to Magic Kindom for another crowd battle. For spring break, we thought the only really crowded park was Magic Kindom. Lunch was at Liberty Tree Tavern, and I must say that this is a very underrated restaurant for lunch. I had a roast beek sandwich and soup. The portions were huge. Lunch ended just in time for us to walk right out and see the parade. After the parade, we'd had enough of the crowds and headed back to VWL for an afternoon craft. The girls all made crowns and the CM at the Cubs Den was very good with our kids. We rented a surry for a leisurly ride to Fort Wilderness and back. Dinner was at Artists Point and it was amazing. We went back to MK for Spectromagic (absolutely amazing) and Wishes. We watched Wishes from next to Plaza Ice Cream. The view had tree obstructions, but we had access to a little known back exit that bi-passes Main Street for a quick exit. The boat ride was delayed by the Electric Light Pageant, but we did get a good view of the pageant. We slept in late to counclude our VWL stay. We will definitely stay here again
The luggage transfer to AKL was painless. We spent a couple hours at Animal Kindom with no crowds before check-in. Our room wasn't ready until late, but we did some animal viewing and shopping in the mean time. Dinner at Boma was excellent with amazing desserts. We sampled all of them, and the zebra domes were our favorite. We had breakfast two days in a row at Boma, and this breakfast alone makes a stay at AKL worth it.
It cooled off on Saturday. We spent all day at Animal Kindom and once again had very little crowds. The Jammin Jungle Parade is underrated. The singers at Tarzan Rocks have much better voices than Phil Collins. Our last dinner of the trip was at Jiko, and we absolutely loved it. If DVC were to build at AKL, we would be first in line to buy.
Overall, it was a great trip in spite of a few setbacks.
