Trip Report w/family at BCV

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Hello everyone:

We just got back from a great week at Beach Club Villas.

This report will feature:

• beach club villas for non-swimmers
• visiting with family
• being in the parks over the July 4th holiday

We also took lots and lots of photographs.

This report includes:
ME - 41 y.o. female - also known as Mrs. Mickey's Apprentice. This will be interesting for me. I'm pretty overweight, and have never learned to swim. My nephews really wanted me to go swimming with them. We'll see how that works out. I also spend most Disney trips complaining about my feet.

DH - 44 y.o. male - aka - Mickey's Apprentice. Dh is a real trooper. Our last trip with MY family was a bit of a fiasco. Plus, these people are his IN-LAWS!! Plus, DH would be so happy if each and every Disney trip were at our beloved BWV! Plus, with my feet...Dh has to do alot just to keep me moving in the parks.

DSis - 43 y.o. female - working Mom of 2. She's been known as Ossie since she was 2 weeks old!!

DBil - 42 y.o. male - yep...married to Ossie.

Dnephew12 - sweet kid, bean pole, starts marching band in 2 weeks - he's quite the percussionist.

Dnephew9 - totally sweet kid, and still all kid. He loves video games, collecting pins, and is afraid of a lot of rides.

 

[wdrl]

Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

ok, I hope you guys like this.

Let's see what pre-trip issues did we have?

Ossie, Kevin & the kids went with us 3 years ago. My other sister and her family with us too. We all stayed together. There was a lot of starts and stops, some bickering, and with our best efforts...everybody wanted to pull their hair out.

Towards the end of that trip...me and dh spent an evening with Ossie's family at the Magic Kingdom. It was one of those cool nights when MK wasn't very crowded. We went through all of the fantasyland rides. There was so much pixie dust flying in the air that night. Anyway...after nearly a week...Ossie and family got it. They understood the magic of Disney. I was shocked when they returned on their own the next year, and then wanted to return this year!! They discovered Beach Club and stormalong bay on their last trip and REALLY wanted to stay there and check out that pool!!!

The Disney DDP was a big issue too. Dnephew age 12 eats practically nothing. He weighs less than 70 pounds. Ossie & Kevin discussed trying to make him 9 on the ddp but decided to come clean about it, and paid for him to eat as an adult. I think he overheard the discussions about his eating. He rarely had any complaints about eating off the adult menu, and ate much more than usual.

 

[dvc at last !]

I would like to hear more...
we will be at BCV for the first time in October.
Thanks.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Here we go!

Ossie, Kevin & the boys left NW Alabama about 6:30PM on Friday July 2nd and arrived at our house in Montgomery about 10:30 that night. We had everything set and had as much of our stuff in the car as possible and had cleaned up for the next morning. After blowing up the air mattress and getting settled, we were in bed by 11:30!

We awoke at 3:45 AM the next morning, and were on the road at 5AM!!

We reached the Florida welcome center a little after 7am, and were disappointed that they weren't open. No free OJ for us.

Here's a picture of Ossie at the Welcome Center!

We ate lunch at Steak n Shake in Lake City and got to WDW about 2:30p.m. Not bad when you consider we lost an hour. I had talked Ossie & BIL into staying at POFQ on our 1st night. I admit I like Riverside better. We thought FQ would be better for our budding band member. (Ossie and I both played in h.s. and college - so band is a big thing to us.) As soon as we got down there, it started raining!! We saw a lot of rain over our first few days. So, the kids weren't allowed in the pool. After hanging out in the room for awhile...we decided to go to MK to watch July 4th fireworks.

Here's some pics...

Good huh??

Afterwards, we were very tired. Our plans to go see Bob Jackson at POR turned into listening to Elliott Dyson at FQ for a few minutes. He was very good, but yee haw Bob is more fun! We had our FIRST experience with South American teenagers that night.

The next morning, Sunday July 4th...we got up...moved to BCV...and headed to Epcot. I was very happy to snag a great parking space right next to the villas. This is a very big plus for BCV over BWV.

While at Epcot, we saw Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin, and the Voices of Liberty. The boys bought World Passports as well. They had a lot of fun with that and Kim Possible during the whole week.

I admit that I love Voices of Liberty, and am a real geek when it comes to patriotism and the 4th of July. This was a really neat experience. I really enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we toured parts of World Showcase and started collecting the World Passport stamps and signatures. We all got much more out of World Showcase. It was really neat to see things written in other languages especially Japanese.

Here's a picture of the lady that makes the Japanese candy. Impressive.

I talked Ossie into trying the quick service restaurant in France. It was a big hit. We ate there twice over the week. Yummy!

Finally, our rooms were ready. I think it was about 2pm, which was pretty good. I had made only one request. I said please put us as close as possible. (We had reserved 2 studios.) We were in rooms 260 and 261. I was so glad that Ossie & Kevin got the good view, and a huge balcony. Y'all are going to love this.

Ossie's view - Room 260

Our room - Room 261

Next up -- a great Dinner and a well executed plan!!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

So...here's the plan for Sunday, July 4th

After checking in and getting settled we decided to take the bus to MK, go to the Poly, eat at Ohanas, go to the TTC, watch the MK fireworks, get on the monorail, go to Epcot and watch Illuminations with the July 4th tag.

Got it? Good!

So, Ossie & family start dragging in the room...so ME and Mr. Mickey's Apprentice head out on the bus to MK. At this point, we haven't figured out the best way to get to the bus stop, so we went through the lobby. However, the bus was waiting for us when we got to the stop. After arriving at MK, we took the ferry and walked into the 1st floor of the Poly. Ossie and family were waiting on us. Huh? How did that happen?

Anyway, after a great, great meal we decided to scope out the fireworks. We were all stuffed and needed to walk it off. We had discussed the poly beach. I decided that it might be cool to try to walk to the TTC and scope things out along the way. At this point, all of the adults thought that I had flipped. Truthfully, I just thought that the beach might be less crowded toward the TTC, and that it might be easier to get to Epcot that way.

Anyway, right as we get off Poly property we find ourselves at the TTC, and see the view. Ossie and I are lagging behind talking while our DH's are up ahead. We hear..."Oh wow, this is a no-brainer." Hmmm....what does that mean?? It means that the view from the ferry dock to Cinderella castle is fantastic!!

This picture in no way does this view justice.

The only downside to this location was that the music was not very loud. I did learn a tip though. The boat captains announced a few minutes before the fireworks started that anyone who wanted to see the fireworks from the water, could get on the ferry and that it would stop on the water before proceeding to MK. That must have been awesome!! Since our plans were to go to Epcot...we stayed on shore. I wonder how great that ferry would have been though.

Immediately following the fireworks...we got on the monorail and had plenty of time before the 10pm showing of Illuminations. We stood in a rather large crowd at the entrance of World Showcase Lagoon. We couldn't really see the earth TV barge or whatever they call it. However, the July 4th fireworks tag was primarily up high so it worked out. The very last of the fireworks at Epcot was HUGE!!! My jaw dropped open. Afterwards, we ran into some nice folks from Mobile. They told us that there were some nice patriotic images on the Tv barge thing. Maybe next time. Overall, it was well worth it to make both fireworks. We would do it again.

After a long, long day...we were happy to go back to the room. Tomorrow, Monday...would be all about the animals.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Thanks wdrl and DVC_at_last!

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

This is a fun trip report, thanks for posting! Looking forward to more! We're thinking about trying out BCV next year, so I can't wait to see what you thought of it!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Ok, here we go.

Oops! I said the next day would be about the animals. Nope, sorry. This is Monday. Animals are on Tuesday.

Earlier, I had tried to set everything up using touringplans. It seems that Ossie and I have different ideas about our trips. Dh and I like to get up early, try to make rope drop, and go to the least busy park. Ossie rightly says...Ummm....this is vacation! But then says.. Let's sleep in and do late EMH! So why am I saying all this??? Well, we spent the day on the 4th at Epcot, and our whole day on the 5th at Epcot. Then, after AK on the 6th we were set to go to Epcot. Plus, we had 2 dining reservations for later in the week at Epcot. Are you seeing a pattern here?

So...we head out pretty early (whew!) and head to future world. We got a good bit accomplished, and then went back to Beach Club for the pool. Now, at some point, Ossie, Kevin, & the boys had already gotten in the pool. However, this was my first good chance.

We had gone to Gulf Shores, Alabama with Sis's family last year. I should have bought a swim suit then, but they were very expensive at the plus size store that I shop at the most. I got a deal at Target, and bought a suit.

Anyway, I won't go into detail...but I got caught in the current by myself, and couldn't get out of it without help. It was rather scary. IF you don't swim, but feel that you must go in Stormalong Bay, have someone with you that can swim, or stay in the kiddie section, or in the hot tub. My 12 year old nephew, knew just the spot where I got caught up. He said...that's not that big of a deal...all you do is swim out. That's great information IF YOU CAN SWIM!! Plus, Sis & BIL didn't seem to understand when I told them later. I mean...I got in trouble in the water. No, I never swallowed any water...but I did find myself in a situation that I could not control! Please know that if you cannot swim at all - do not do what I did! IF my brother-in-law had stayed around...it wouldn't have been a big deal.


That night, we went to Cape May. Yummy. We had gone there late on the last trip, and thought it was so so. This time...it was so good. Oh man...the fried Shrimp...was some of the best I had ever had - including from restaurants on the gulf. Very good.

(Can you tell that I forgot to take food pictures??)

Afterwards...we went back to Epcot.

 

[sisaaliyah]

The next morning, Sunday July 4th...we got up...moved to BCV...and headed to Epcot. I was very happy to snag a great parking space right next to the villas. This is a very big plus for BCV over BWV.

Loving your TR! I was wondering how the parking compared at BCV to BWV. We prefer to have a rental car to drive to the parks, and the parking from our villa to the lot at BWV was a huge negative. So I decided next time we'll stay at OKW to park in front of our villa.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We were very lucky. Matter of fact, we chose to skip the bellhops as we left the resort. We were that close.

Beach Club was great, and we loved walking to Epcot, but the Boardwalk is truly our Disney home.

Sis loves Beach Club so much more than Boardwalk. She says that Beach Club is so much more family friendly.

 

[toniosmom]

Loving your trip report!

We are making our first trip to BCV next Spring, for 10 days in a studio, so I'm keeping a list of all of the great things to do in the area. It's only the two of us (me and DS5 -- actually he will be 6 by then), so we won't be crowded.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

How about some Beach Club pictures??

We saw these guys all week! We named them, Donald, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Uncle Scrooge!

We thought about Daffy, but thought that would be completely inappropriate.

Here's just one of the ladies we saw in a bikini top during our trip.

and here are some Epcot pictures

Mission Space

Norway

 

[nursegirl]

I'm totally in! We're going to BCV for the first time for T'giving this year, so I'm loving your TR. And we are all about Epcot, too. Great pics!

 

[dvc at last !]

Great report ! Sometimes it is tough when you are with others -
but it does all work out. Tell me about the problem in the water for
non-swimmers. Was it the lazy river ? How deep was the water ?
Your pics of the resort and SAB are nice. I did hear the tube
rental is $10 per day you can not bring a tube, but you can bring a noodle.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Great report ! Sometimes it is tough when you are with others -
but it does all work out. Tell me about the problem in the water for
non-swimmers. Was it the lazy river ? How deep was the water ?
Your pics of the resort and SAB are nice. I did hear the tube
rental is $10 per day you can not bring a tube, but you can bring a noodle.

No, I had already heard that the lazy river was 6 to 8 feet deep. My BIL actually complained that there wasn't enough current to move you along on that.

I was somewhat near the water slide. The water was between 3 and 4 feet deep, and seemed calmer than a lot of places. I thought I was playing it safe! There is a current most everywhere in the water...but its faster coming out of a curl if that makes sense. I didn't make a picture of the area. I think a noodle, or SOMETHING, would have been great!

Ok, I just went to the Tagrel site. I THINK that I was in the bubbling bay and whirling waters. The water was definitely whirling!!! OK - really...I had no idea!!!

Please tell me if that is close to the bottom of the water slide.

 

[Sammie]

The lazy river ain't lazy, its a swift current and 8 feet deep.

There is also another area, the whirpool area that can catch you up in it.

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Subscribing Really enjoying your TR so far

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

The lazy river ain't lazy, its a swift current and 8 feet deep.

There is also another area, the whirpool area that can catch you up in it.

Thanks Sammie!

It looks like I went straight to the wrong place. I now wonder how I would have enjoyed the rest of Stormalong Bay!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Subscribing Really enjoying your TR so far

Thanks Susan!

It will be tomorrow before you guys gets another update!