(Updated 3/24) A'Questing We Will Go! - Jan 2026 TR

[Araminta18]

You guys and your Del Taco tradition Looking forward to your report!

LOL right? I dunno what it is but I love those things!!

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Araminta18]

Joining in once again. We were at the Boardwalk 1/10-1/17 staying on the Villa side for the first time. We alway stay on the Inn side CL but most of our favorite CM have retired.

yay! Thank you for reading!! Aw, we just missed you! How'd you like the villa side? Also, how is the club level? We've never done club level at the Boardwalk but I'd love to try it!

 

[Araminta18]

Joining in! We really love staying at BWI especially since the refurbishment!
We were down for FArts this year and hit some historical cold days in Orlando! We were down the end of January
Excited to hear about your trip!

yay!! thank you for reading! BWI is the best for sure

wasn't it just crazy cold this year? We had some super chilly days too - crazy, but also a bit of a novel experience

 

[Araminta18]

You had me at "super extra with the photos!" Looking forward to it!

LOL thanks for reading!! This actually will be a slightly lighter on photos TR (compared to some of my earlier ones like the Tokyo one or the Disneyland one) but still a bunch

 

[Araminta18]

Yay!! Can’t wait for the cookies…and pictures!

us? cookies?! nooooooooooooooooooooo This one even has bonus, non-Gideon's cookies in addition to the Gideon's cookies thank you for reading!!!

 

[Araminta18]

Awesome! We are staying at BWI for the first time this May. Very excited to try it out.

oooh yay!! I hope you have an awesome time - we really love it. Are you splurging for a water view?

 

[dizneedoll]

oooh yay!! I hope you have an awesome time - we really love it. Are you splurging for a water view?

I booked it on a bouncebook rate and the only thing available was resort view but I keep checking in case a better option opens up.

 

[Araminta18]

I booked it on a bouncebook rate and the only thing available was resort view but I keep checking in case a better option opens up.

resort view is still awesome. And stuff does open up - I originally had our first two nights booked as a resort view and about a week beforehand a water view opened up. good luck!!!

 

[nascargirl]

yay! Thank you for reading!! Aw, we just missed you! How'd you like the villa side? Also, how is the club level? We've never done club level at the Boardwalk but I'd love to try it!

I was hesitant at first but the Villa side grew on us. I loved having the extra room. I usually don't do wash on vacation but it was so handy and it was nice going home with clean clothes. Club Level is really nice, but I haven't been since a good friend of mine retired from the Innkeepers. Since then we have been staying off site at the Drury on Hotel Blvd. Friends of ours are DVC and had points to use so that is how we got stay on the Villa side.

 

[Noreen411]

Looking forward to reading and seeing (via your pictures) all about your trip

 

[alohamom]

Im a little late but I'm here and following!

 

[Araminta18]

I was hesitant at first but the Villa side grew on us. I loved having the extra room. I usually don't do wash on vacation but it was so handy and it was nice going home with clean clothes. Club Level is really nice, but I haven't been since a good friend of mine retired from the Innkeepers. Since then we have been staying off site at the Drury on Hotel Blvd. Friends of ours are DVC and had points to use so that is how we got stay on the Villa side.

Did you stay in a one bedroom or two bedroom? We've only ever stayed in studios when we do DVC and they don't come with a washer/dryer though I can see how that would be super handy. Nice that you were able to try out the villas! We've never stayed offsite - i feel like we should try it some time but then I get sucked in by the Disney hotels lol

 

[Araminta18]

Looking forward to reading and seeing (via your pictures) all about your trip

yay! thank you for reading!!

 

[Araminta18]

Im a little late but I'm here and following!

not late!!! thanks for joining in

 

[Araminta18]

It's Almost Like We've Done This Before - Saturday Jan 17, 2026 (part 2)​

The bus to Disney Springs was suuuuuper crowded - every seat full and lots of us standing in the aisles. I ended up right at the part where the stairs are up to the couple seats there at the end. I gave up standing after a few minutes and just sat down on the stairs. #sorrynotsorry

Trevor is wearing his glowing Baymax!

Anyways, we were at Disney Springs and decided to split up. Trevor went to Gideon's to get in line (cause we had no idea if they were doing a virtual queue or if the line was long), while I went over to the Marketplace to look through the shops there quickly. Gideon's was not doing a virtual queue, just the regular standby. Once he got there though the line didn't look too bad:


Fun menu for January.

Trevor sent me the picture of the line and I guessed that with the line down by Morimoto Asia, it was a 40 minute wait. Would I be right?! I ended up looking inside the blind box shop and sending Trevor pictures but didn't buy anything. My plan was to look at the pin shop and then look at the Art store there by Rainforest Cafe - gotta start with art despite being there for the Festival

25 min later Trevor was inside Gideon's! I managed to run over there and join him just in time -- though he did let a couple groups go in ahead of him... We got some a cookies and cream cake slice, a dark coffee cake cookie, and then two banana box pie cookies. Not a lot for us!

It was about 8:15, and we had an hour until our Wine Bar George dinner reservation (I know, we should really branch out but we don't want to. ), so a bit more shopping! We split up a bit: I ran over to Goofy's Candy Company and got our rice krispy treats (one with oreo crumbs, one with m&ms and one with mini chocolate chips ), while Trevor was looking in the Marvel and Star Wars shops down by Disney Style. Then I went to Pandora to look at my Sleeping Beauty ring -I ended up getting sucked in and buying the ring there though pro tip: don't buy from Pandora at Disney Springs if you have an annual pass. You only get 10% off there but if you buy something from Pandora in the parks you get the 20% AP discount. Oh well!

We met back up by Wine Bar George at about 9 pm, but they couldn't seat us right away, so Trevor got comfy outside watching the concert:

They were playing "Sweet Caroline" (bum bum buuuuum).

I headed over to the Ganachery to get some chocolates and there was weirdly enough a long line, but it turns out the line wasn't super long it was just people waiting for their smores in the way, but the CMs didn't ask them to move. *sigh*

But eventually I got my chocolate covered marshmallows and then I bought a raspberry truffle cause it looked good. The CM helping me noticed my anniversary button and asked where my husband was, so I told him he was waiting for me over by Wine Bar George and the CM gave me a free truffle for Trevor! But of course I couldn't get my tap to pay to work (I'd swapped phones with Trevor and I couldn't figure out tap to pay on an android under pressure! And no I don't remember why I'd swapped phones with him), so I had to quickly run over, get my phone, and then run back to pay. But I made it! And then, time to eat!

We got seated in our favorite spot - upstairs on the balcony. Such a lovely view.



Food time! We ordered the Frozen Hot Cocoa, the Cherry Smash, and then they didn't have the Orgeat Lemonade on the menu but we asked about it and they still made it for us!

The Frozen hot cocoa was more creamy and thicker than it was last November. Yum.

We got the 5 onion dip again:

Just as delicious.

Then the mac and cheese bites:

Trevor likes this - not my favorite but he likes it.

 

[Araminta18]

Cookies! - Saturday Jan 17, 2026 (part 3)​

We also got the Miso Roasted Onion:

This was a bit of a bust - I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't my favorite. Interesting enough though that I was glad to have tried it.

Finally, my burrata!

I love the burrata - so light and fresh and yummy.

We finished up around 10:15 - such a delicious dinner! But we had one more stop to make: Trevor wanted to get some cookies from Summer House on the Lake! They closed at 11 so off we went. We ended up getting sucked in - we got an almond cookie:

The Pink Frosted one:


Wild Thai Banana:


And finally lemon:

The CM said we got an AP discount but I think we must have been overcharged or something - the four cookies should have been $21.90 + tax (without an AP discount) but we were charged $25.74. I thought about going back but by this time we were tired so we just headed out.

By 10:25 we were on the bus! As always seems to be the case, the bus stop was not on the first row of bus stops so we had to walk all the way around but at least it was the first stop in the second row. Could have been worse. And we saw a Boardwalk bus pulling around slowly so we luckily didn't have to wait - got right on the bus.

By 10:50ish we were back at the Boardwalk, and greeted by this super cute water art of Lady!

I've never seen water art at the resorts, or of Lady, so that was neat.

Then, up to our room! We luckily weren't too far down the hallways (those Boardwalk halls can feel like they go on forever!), and I forgot how cute the little hallway lamps are:

Love the Fab Five with their cute little hats!

Our room was 5265:

The room itself was lovely, with cute artwork:

(picture limit!)

 

[Araminta18]

Not Quite The View We Hoped For - Saturday Jan 17, 2026 (part 4)​

I do love the cute art in these refurbished rooms.

Ok, now for the view. Keep in mind this is categorized as a water view:

This is the view directly out the window. It's not bad, but I wouldn't call it a water view. If you turn to the right, this is the view:


So like there is absolutely a water view, but you have to be turned to the right and then you have the other balconies and such in your line of sight, which is mostly fine but a little weird if you're trying to enjoy the water view and then you're essentially watching and being watched by other folks out on their balconies too. I'm pretty sure the Villa rooms across the way are categorized as courtyard view, and I wish these were too - then anyone who got them would be pleasantly surprised, vs booking a water view and being disappointed. Again, I realize this is #firstworldproblems but it's a lot of money to pay to not really get the view. I was glad I spoke up and that we'd be switching rooms tomorrow.

But first, sleep! We were waking up a little bit early to switch rooms, return the rental car, and rope drop the Lorcana cards quest at Epcot. A busy first day, but delightful too.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 11265 steps (4.3 miles)
Ride count: 0
Annual Pass Savings: $25.80