bfrosty
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
- Messages
- 459
Greeting fellow Dis'ers!
Our family (DVC Owners since 2007) have finally made our annual trip return to our home resort VWL. The last time we were there they were working on the pool. It was closed completely for the DVC owners. That was kind of a bummer, but we enjoy the main pool that year. This year we spent lots of time in the pool. More so than ever before. It was very relaxing and warmer than typically October's in the past. We also hit the "Trout pass" bar a bit more than usual. It was a good thing! I want to give you a day-by-day write up with some interesting items near the end of this trip report. So be sure to read it all to the end. Enjoy! We sure did!
We wanted to let you know that we used "Online CheckIn", "Standard Dining Plan" and "Disney's Magical Express" this trip. It all worked out well, except the DDP is too much food. I'll explain a bit later.
Thursday 10-21
Hollywood Studios High 90F Sunny!
Arrived at Airport about 11am - Hotel about 12:50pm. Our bus stopped at the Poly 1st and GF 2nd, then VWL. So, it did take a while to get to our resort. Once there we ate lunch at Whispering Canyon Café (Skillet, MapleGlazed Trout and Pulled Pork Sandwich) very UMMMM! Good! The folks at Whispering Canyon were fairly tame no big show or anything. It was very quiet lunch crowd. HS was busy but we were able to do most things. TSM was busy! 110min wait .all others were about 10-20min. Our DS11 lost his tooth today and the tooth fairy brought him Sasquatch Soap via VWL Gift Shop. It actually smells really good believe it or not. This trip we utilized Online Check-In and our room was ready and everything was in order. They gave us room 4533 (lake view next to elevators). We didn't have a balcony and the windows did not open. It was a Great location, but heard everyone in the morning leaving for the parks and boat horns starting before 7am! Ugh! On the brightside, we were able to hear/see a bit of the Light Parade on the lake at 9:35pm each night.
Friday 10-22
Animal Kingdom / High 90F Sunny!
Rented surrey bike for 4 and rode to Ft. Wilderness and our DD5 rode a pony..LEVI was his name...not too pricey at $5 bucks per ride. This attraction actually had a height limitation. You had to be under 48in. Animal Kingdom for us is typically a half-day park. We spent some time in the boneyard, rode Everest, Dinosaur, Chesters Swirl and headed back to the room. For Dinner we had "Flame Tree BBQ" (St. Louis Ribs, Chicken, Pulled Pork Sandwich) Yummy! After arriving back at our resort, we just made it in time to watch the new "Prince Of Persia" movie down on the beach at VWL. I think we got bit by mosquitos...but we had fun.
Saturday 10-23
Magic Kingdom / Sunny 90F
Today, we decided to go a bit early and had breakfast at Crystal Palace. It is sooo good. I highly recommend eating here at least once for any meal. You won't be dissappointed at all.
So, we rode the rides and stayed till about 3pm. Headed back to the resort for an hour or two snooze. Then, rose up and headed back to the Magic Kingdom from 6pm - 3am. How fun....we had a blast and rode most everything that night/morning. Of course, we stopped at the infamous "Main St. Bakery" and had to have a cinnamon roll at 3 AM!
Sunday 10-24
Hollywood Studios / Sunny 90F
Late start day...see trip report for 10/23! =)) Today, was HS and we had a great time...took it easy and did something we never tried before. The Animation drawing Session over by the Disney Playhouse Theater. I'm not sure what it's called exactly sorry!. We entered the room and sat in rows of 8-10 facing an animator with a huge overhead projector. The began to draw quickly. We sketched out a Disney Character...this time it was "Dopey" from Snow White. It was so fun and we all surprised each other with how good we drew him. We went back later in the week and drew "Jack Skellington" from "A Nightmare Before Christmas".
Monday 10-25
Magic Kingdom / Sunny 90F
We enjoyed Breakfast at Cape May Café and rented two sea racers. We were able to take the sea racers around the lake and over to HS. We just had to make way for the big Disney boats! Haha. Our DD5 lost her blanket at breakfast time. We figured that out by the time we were in Downtown Disney about 20min later. We called Cape May Cafe and they searched for it. 10min later they called back and said we will send it to your resort gift shop. It should be there in 2hrs. It was!! How cool.
Tuesday 10-26 DD6TH BIRTHDAY
EPCOT / Sunny 90F
My In-Laws surprised our DD6 at the Wilderness Lodge. They sat by the fireplace as we walked into the lobby our DD6 was like "Who is that over there?" She was very delighted to see them.
Lunch was at Germany Biergarten of course, it was the 200th year celebration of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany this year. So, the band crowned a audience member the "Bergermeister". He was given a sash, hat and beer to start the 200th year celebration as his "Magic Moment". Later that night we all sampled items for dinner: Canadian cheese soup, smoked duck, beef, ham. Fishermans Pie, Baileys Irish Lava cake from Ireland, Norweigen, furta-fieney Almond Pretzel and Schoolbread,
Earlier in the day we did the "Behind the seeds tour" and "StormStruck" with the INLAWS at Innoventions East.
Wednesday 10-27
Epcot / Sunny 90F
The In-Laws visited in the late morning/early afternoon for a swim/drinks by the pool and a relaxing time at the beach at VWL. We ended up burying our DS11 up to his head in the sand. Our total pool time today was over 3hrs and had a couple drinks Raspberry Pina Colada Ultimate Long Island Iced Tea .Berry Cooler. We liked the RaspPinaColada the best!!!!
We ended the day with a trip to Epcot and did "Soarin", "Test Track", "Mission Space" and the countries. It was open till midnight tonight...so we stayed the entire time. The evening was very warm and humid for some reason it never really cooled off like previous nights.
Thursday 10-28
Hollywood Studios / Sunny 90F (Set A Record High in Orlando)
We spent the morning having a late lunch and swimming at the resort pool. Arriving about 4pm at HS we decided to give TSM a ride and did the Animation drawing and this time it was "Jack Skellington" from "A nightmare before Christmas) for dinner that night we stopped at Hollywood and Vine for the dinner buffet...it was delicious. No "Fantansmic" scheduled for tonight...so we headed back to the resort at 9pm. Hollywood and Vine did have this huge model of "The Haunted Mansion" which was made completely out of Gingerbread. It was sooo coool.
Friday 10-29
Magic Kingdom / Sunny 80F and no humidity
We enjoyed a quick breakfast in our room after visiting the "Roaring Fork" cafe. Wow, was it busy! Called Bell Services to pickup our bags and hold our carry-ons. We made it to the boat launch and at MK about 10am. It wasn't very crowded. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz lightyear multiple times with just a 10min wait....and it really wasn't even 10min. Stopped by the "Main St. Bakery" again for lunch and one last cinnamon roll. Hit the boat launch for the resort and did some last minute shopping in the gift shop. About 2pm sat outside and waited for our ME bus. So sad...to leave our favorite resort. The good thing is we get to call MS on Nov. 21st to scheduled our BCV Oct. 2011 trip! Yahooo!
Inspirations/Enlightenments during this Trip!!!
DW Acquired some new decorating ideas, Cashed in on some "bonus Disney buys". The famous spend $50 and get this for $15 (Disney Handbag, Disney Rolling Duffle bag/carryon)
DS11 Lost his tooth, enjoyed the buffet thoroughly, developed interesting body oders (puberty), He became a Ping pong champion (Forrest Gump), and became a fan of the infamous "skillet" dish at Whispering Canyon Cafe.
DD6 she was walking more lost her blanket at cape may cafe did really well at drawing/animation sessions became a hugh splash mountain fan!!!
DH Drawing/Animation Session and became a huge "Werther's Caramel" store FAN in Germany/EPCOT!!!
Interesting viewpoints:
Our family (DVC Owners since 2007) have finally made our annual trip return to our home resort VWL. The last time we were there they were working on the pool. It was closed completely for the DVC owners. That was kind of a bummer, but we enjoy the main pool that year. This year we spent lots of time in the pool. More so than ever before. It was very relaxing and warmer than typically October's in the past. We also hit the "Trout pass" bar a bit more than usual. It was a good thing! I want to give you a day-by-day write up with some interesting items near the end of this trip report. So be sure to read it all to the end. Enjoy! We sure did!
We wanted to let you know that we used "Online CheckIn", "Standard Dining Plan" and "Disney's Magical Express" this trip. It all worked out well, except the DDP is too much food. I'll explain a bit later.
Thursday 10-21
Hollywood Studios High 90F Sunny!
Arrived at Airport about 11am - Hotel about 12:50pm. Our bus stopped at the Poly 1st and GF 2nd, then VWL. So, it did take a while to get to our resort. Once there we ate lunch at Whispering Canyon Café (Skillet, MapleGlazed Trout and Pulled Pork Sandwich) very UMMMM! Good! The folks at Whispering Canyon were fairly tame no big show or anything. It was very quiet lunch crowd. HS was busy but we were able to do most things. TSM was busy! 110min wait .all others were about 10-20min. Our DS11 lost his tooth today and the tooth fairy brought him Sasquatch Soap via VWL Gift Shop. It actually smells really good believe it or not. This trip we utilized Online Check-In and our room was ready and everything was in order. They gave us room 4533 (lake view next to elevators). We didn't have a balcony and the windows did not open. It was a Great location, but heard everyone in the morning leaving for the parks and boat horns starting before 7am! Ugh! On the brightside, we were able to hear/see a bit of the Light Parade on the lake at 9:35pm each night.
Friday 10-22
Animal Kingdom / High 90F Sunny!
Rented surrey bike for 4 and rode to Ft. Wilderness and our DD5 rode a pony..LEVI was his name...not too pricey at $5 bucks per ride. This attraction actually had a height limitation. You had to be under 48in. Animal Kingdom for us is typically a half-day park. We spent some time in the boneyard, rode Everest, Dinosaur, Chesters Swirl and headed back to the room. For Dinner we had "Flame Tree BBQ" (St. Louis Ribs, Chicken, Pulled Pork Sandwich) Yummy! After arriving back at our resort, we just made it in time to watch the new "Prince Of Persia" movie down on the beach at VWL. I think we got bit by mosquitos...but we had fun.
Saturday 10-23
Magic Kingdom / Sunny 90F
Today, we decided to go a bit early and had breakfast at Crystal Palace. It is sooo good. I highly recommend eating here at least once for any meal. You won't be dissappointed at all.
So, we rode the rides and stayed till about 3pm. Headed back to the resort for an hour or two snooze. Then, rose up and headed back to the Magic Kingdom from 6pm - 3am. How fun....we had a blast and rode most everything that night/morning. Of course, we stopped at the infamous "Main St. Bakery" and had to have a cinnamon roll at 3 AM!
Sunday 10-24
Hollywood Studios / Sunny 90F
Late start day...see trip report for 10/23! =)) Today, was HS and we had a great time...took it easy and did something we never tried before. The Animation drawing Session over by the Disney Playhouse Theater. I'm not sure what it's called exactly sorry!. We entered the room and sat in rows of 8-10 facing an animator with a huge overhead projector. The began to draw quickly. We sketched out a Disney Character...this time it was "Dopey" from Snow White. It was so fun and we all surprised each other with how good we drew him. We went back later in the week and drew "Jack Skellington" from "A Nightmare Before Christmas".
Monday 10-25
Magic Kingdom / Sunny 90F
We enjoyed Breakfast at Cape May Café and rented two sea racers. We were able to take the sea racers around the lake and over to HS. We just had to make way for the big Disney boats! Haha. Our DD5 lost her blanket at breakfast time. We figured that out by the time we were in Downtown Disney about 20min later. We called Cape May Cafe and they searched for it. 10min later they called back and said we will send it to your resort gift shop. It should be there in 2hrs. It was!! How cool.
Tuesday 10-26 DD6TH BIRTHDAY
EPCOT / Sunny 90F
My In-Laws surprised our DD6 at the Wilderness Lodge. They sat by the fireplace as we walked into the lobby our DD6 was like "Who is that over there?" She was very delighted to see them.
Lunch was at Germany Biergarten of course, it was the 200th year celebration of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany this year. So, the band crowned a audience member the "Bergermeister". He was given a sash, hat and beer to start the 200th year celebration as his "Magic Moment". Later that night we all sampled items for dinner: Canadian cheese soup, smoked duck, beef, ham. Fishermans Pie, Baileys Irish Lava cake from Ireland, Norweigen, furta-fieney Almond Pretzel and Schoolbread,
Earlier in the day we did the "Behind the seeds tour" and "StormStruck" with the INLAWS at Innoventions East.
Wednesday 10-27
Epcot / Sunny 90F
The In-Laws visited in the late morning/early afternoon for a swim/drinks by the pool and a relaxing time at the beach at VWL. We ended up burying our DS11 up to his head in the sand. Our total pool time today was over 3hrs and had a couple drinks Raspberry Pina Colada Ultimate Long Island Iced Tea .Berry Cooler. We liked the RaspPinaColada the best!!!!
We ended the day with a trip to Epcot and did "Soarin", "Test Track", "Mission Space" and the countries. It was open till midnight tonight...so we stayed the entire time. The evening was very warm and humid for some reason it never really cooled off like previous nights.
Thursday 10-28
Hollywood Studios / Sunny 90F (Set A Record High in Orlando)
We spent the morning having a late lunch and swimming at the resort pool. Arriving about 4pm at HS we decided to give TSM a ride and did the Animation drawing and this time it was "Jack Skellington" from "A nightmare before Christmas) for dinner that night we stopped at Hollywood and Vine for the dinner buffet...it was delicious. No "Fantansmic" scheduled for tonight...so we headed back to the resort at 9pm. Hollywood and Vine did have this huge model of "The Haunted Mansion" which was made completely out of Gingerbread. It was sooo coool.
Friday 10-29
Magic Kingdom / Sunny 80F and no humidity
We enjoyed a quick breakfast in our room after visiting the "Roaring Fork" cafe. Wow, was it busy! Called Bell Services to pickup our bags and hold our carry-ons. We made it to the boat launch and at MK about 10am. It wasn't very crowded. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz lightyear multiple times with just a 10min wait....and it really wasn't even 10min. Stopped by the "Main St. Bakery" again for lunch and one last cinnamon roll. Hit the boat launch for the resort and did some last minute shopping in the gift shop. About 2pm sat outside and waited for our ME bus. So sad...to leave our favorite resort. The good thing is we get to call MS on Nov. 21st to scheduled our BCV Oct. 2011 trip! Yahooo!
Inspirations/Enlightenments during this Trip!!!
DW Acquired some new decorating ideas, Cashed in on some "bonus Disney buys". The famous spend $50 and get this for $15 (Disney Handbag, Disney Rolling Duffle bag/carryon)
DS11 Lost his tooth, enjoyed the buffet thoroughly, developed interesting body oders (puberty), He became a Ping pong champion (Forrest Gump), and became a fan of the infamous "skillet" dish at Whispering Canyon Cafe.
DD6 she was walking more lost her blanket at cape may cafe did really well at drawing/animation sessions became a hugh splash mountain fan!!!
DH Drawing/Animation Session and became a huge "Werther's Caramel" store FAN in Germany/EPCOT!!!
Interesting viewpoints:
- Cavemen/Cavewomen - Not to be mean, but I noticed some visitors looked like they just step out of a cave after 30yrs in isolation. It was hillarious...I just don't get it...you know...those folks that make you wonder how they ever found the disney parks, let alone Orlando, FL. =)) I'm just joking...don't flame me...don't worry be happy.
- Almost all water/drinking fountains were warm not cold. Only at the bus stop at VWL was the water cold.
- At our pool we had 8-9 folks weighing at least 350-400lbs get in the pool. They were super nice, but we did notice when they mentioned they had been on 15 cruises. We made a note to self...cruises may make you large!
- Smelly Swamp Gas water at resort/theme parks/water fountains was hit/miss.
- Smelly LifeJackets near VWL boat rental house
- No more monorail riding in front.
- We will probably "Rent a car" next trip. The buses just took too long.
- No more Studio 1bed min possibly a two-bed.
- No Dining Plan, especially if we do AKL DP might be changing though we will have to see.
- Awesome haunted mansion gingerbread house at Hollywood and vine
- Under construction: teacups, B&B, Ariels grotto, Winnie the pooh, stuff around Tomorrowland, Main St. Tonys, Caseys
- Country Bears sucked! Bigtime! And Stitchs Great Escape!!!
- We missed our concierge level that we had in May at AKL. =))
- Found the paint brush on Tom Sawyers Island Choice of fastpass BTM or SM.
- Buzzlight Year mastered at 999,999 point twice! Galactic Hero!!!
- Was best in car for TSM twice 176,000pts
- $50/each gift card for the kids....kept them from begging to buy them something.
- Found out that VWL is not all sold out Disney still has Villa rooms as normal guest rooms.
- Made use of Internet Connection, uploaded photos to Costco done by the time we returned home and somewhat filtered the bad ones out.
- Your "Free" Internet connection for DVC guests? Well, no one said it was fast. I was hittin' about 1.5mb down and .5mb up....so it was a bit slowww.
