Walking on the Boardwalk and Snoozing at the Grand!

[kaffinito]

Well we just got back from 3 days at the Boardwalk Inn CL and 4 days at the Grand RPC. It was our annual August trip to celebrate DS 18's birthday. It was me, DS17, and DS10. DS 17 turned 18 the third day of our trip. The boys flew from Texas to Orlando and I picked them up at the airport.

It was a good trip but we did have some problems.

• I blew out my left knee the day before the trip
• My cell phone chargers died - both of them
• My laptop died the week before we left and I lost all of our ADR's and other stuff

So I spent the week in a knee brace, and the last 3 days of the trip with no cell phone. Fortunately we were staying CL this trip so I was able to get all of our ADR's from the IPO.

Losing the cell meant that I couldn't hook up with fellow Disboarder JanetB which made me

I did get to meet CR Resort Fan which was a lot of fun. It's great to finally put a face to a name!

So on to the TR.

We checked into BWI CL on August 24th at 11:30 am. Our room wasn't ready, so we hung out in the lounge for a while. It was ready for us at 2:30 which wasn't bad, and I had some time to catch up with Pete and Linda. I took the boys around the Boardwalk, and DS 10 went over the place. He really loved it there!

There was some bum sleeping in the lobby though...

Some of the pics I had to take with my cell (while I still had battery) since I stupidly once again left my camera in my luggage...

We ended up with the deluxe room 4225, Boardwalk view just a few rooms from the lounge. Great view and great room!

View to the right off of the balcony

View to the left

More later!

 

[jackemail]

Your son sat in the scary chair!!! Brave boy.

Looking forward to more of your TR.

 

[kaffinito]

So there we were in the Innkeepers Lounge hanging out and waiting for our room. And while all appeared calm on the surface, I was having a Cake Crisis unbeknownst to the boys.

I had called WL's cake line on the way down to Orlando so I could find out about ordering a special cake for DS's birthday. I found out that I needed to email Brian at the CR bakery for it, and had done so. Once I got to the Orlando airport to meet the boys, I found out that he could do the cake but that I needed to order it through WL. That's when the trouble started.

The person at WL who does the cake ordering insisted that they couldn't make a red velvet cake (Which I knew) and the I had to get a regular cake from them. Even telling her that I had contacted Brian didn't work.

So once I was at BWI I spoke with JJ on the sly and told him the trouble. He made some calls and kept getting the same person at WL that I had. We were passing notes back and forth in the hallways, and sneaking around like crazy to try to get this stupid cake ordered.

Lorenzo got into the act too, and between the two of them they managed to finally get through to someone who knew the cake ordering process to place the order. Whew! Those two really came through for me!

But the super sneaking wasn't over yet. Once we got the room, we had to arrange a signal that were were going out so that they could put Ben's surprise birthday stuff in the room for him. They didn't have a chance to beforehand.

Here's Ben's birthday surprise:

 

[kaffinito]

Your son sat in the scary chair!!! Brave boy.

Looking forward to more of your TR.

I love those chairs!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I just wanted to say it was great meeting you and I am looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report.

 

[ClareH37]

Great start - I so wish I was back there now, the BWI CMs are the best aren't they

 

[kaffinito]

I just wanted to say it was great meeting you and I am looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report.

It was great meeting you too!

Great start - I so wish I was back there now, the BWI CMs are the best aren't they

They really are! I really enjoy staying there a lot. I have to say though that I was just as impressed with the CM's at GF too.

 

[WAHkoMom]

Great room! We are heading "home" to BWV in 65 days, so the pictures are getting me EXCITED!!!!

 

[kaffinito]

Well as I said earlier we were able to get into the room at around 2:30. I was impressed with the size of the deluxe room! We could have done well with just a standard room too, but I was glad we tried the deluxe!

So here are some room pics:

The sinks

The shower

Dresser and coffee area

Desk with roll out table

"Deluxe" seating area with sleeper sofa

We relaxed in the room for a while, had some appetizers at 5:00 (chicken kebobs and spinach pies) and then walked over to EPCOT for a CS meal at Nine Dragons. I love being able to just walk over there!

 

[ClareH37]

They really are! I really enjoy staying there a lot. I have to say though that I was just as impressed with the CM's at GF too.

That's good to hear about the CMs at the GF too, I didn't have a great time back in 2007 but am looking to return

 

[Janet B]

Hi Karen!
So far, it sounds like you three had a great time in DW, once the cake business was taken care of. I didn’t realize that you injured your knee – what great timing just before a Disney trip. Still can’t believe you drove to Disney. You definitely have to give me some tips there – I’m trying to convince my family to try it – but no luck no far.

Yes, it was a bummer that we couldn’t hook up. We (Sam & I) tend to go last August – before school begins here – maybe an Aug 2011 DISmeet might be in the works.

Your room at BWI looked fabulous – and the views! It makes me want to try the BW some day. BTW – we ate at Nine Dragons this trip too – but we did the TS for lunch. Samantha really enjoyed it (she loves Chinese food). Next time I would like to try Tutto Italia or their new TS - Via Napoli. We stopped by and the pizza looked fabulous!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip. Will be going away for a few days but will check back on Monday. Enjoy the holiday weekend!
Janet

 

[kaffinito]

Hi Karen!
So far, it sounds like you three had a great time in DW, once the cake business was taken care of. I didn’t realize that you injured your knee – what great timing just before a Disney trip. Still can’t believe you drove to Disney. You definitely have to give me some tips there – I’m trying to convince my family to try it – but no luck no far.

Yes, it was a bummer that we couldn’t hook up. We (Sam & I) tend to go last August – before school begins here – maybe an Aug 2011 DISmeet might be in the works.

Your room at BWI looked fabulous – and the views! It makes me want to try the BW some day. BTW – we ate at Nine Dragons this trip too – but we did the TS for lunch. Samantha really enjoyed it (she loves Chinese food). Next time I would like to try Tutto Italia or their new TS - Via Napoli. We stopped by and the pizza looked fabulous!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip. Will be going away for a few days but will check back on Monday. Enjoy the holiday weekend!
Janet

I'll definitely give you tips on driving. I like to drive down. You could go as far as Lorton VA and then do the AutoTrain down - it's not far of a drive from where you are, and you get to ride the train.

Let's definitely plan on next August for a Dismeet! Next time I'll make sure I bring two good chargers, not cheapie ones! Just wait until I get to that story in my TR.

Have a great holiday weekend!

 

[kaffinito]

So the second day of our trip we went over to MK for the morning. DS 10 was jonesing to go and ride POTC so off we went after a quick bite in the lounge. I had my wonderful oatmeal, and DS 10 had his croissant. DS 17 had everything else lol.

MK was a little on the crowded side, but we rode POTC (5 minute wait) and AMCR with no wait. DS 10 was blissfully happy to be back at WDW, even though he was saying for months beforehand that he didn’t like it there anymore. Kids!

View from top of AMCR

Of course I had to stop and smoke on the way around MK, but there are several DSA’s around to use so that wasn’t a problem. DS doesn’t mind it, since he gets tired from all of the walking we do. We stopped at the DSA near Frontierland for a quick one and sat on the bench. Next to us was an older woman, then a boy who looked to be about my older son’s age wearing pink clothes, then a younger woman.

Well their accent fascinated me. I couldn’t tell if it was Scottish or not, so I turned to the older woman and asked. It turns out that they were from Wales, and spoke Welsh in the home and at the school were the older boy went. She told me that Rhys, that’s his name, understood Welsh but didn’t speak it. She said “He’s autistic” Well so that started a long conversation! I told her about Ben and John who are both high functioning, and we and the other lady, his mother, talked about Rhys. Turns out he wears pink clothes because that’s his favorite color. He also only eats familiar foods, so they had to pack a suitcase with just his food, one for his clothes, and then other suitcases for themselves. That’s a lot of luggage!

They were so nice and pleasant that I didn’t want to leave, but DS was itching to go on. So I smiled and waved and wished them a pleasant trip and we were off to HM. We rode HM (5 minute wait), and then saw Philharmagic (no wait). DS10 was hungry, so we stopped for a bite to eat at Columbia Harbour House where he had the clam chowder. Then the crowds started coming in a bit, and we ended up doing TTC and CoP before heading back to the resort. Buzz was a 20 minute wait by the time we left, and the fast pass line was huge!

I never did see the Welsh family again during our trip, which was disappointing. They really were a lovely family. It was nice to watch Rhys enjoying himself so thoroughly.

We got back to the resort and DS17 was nowhere to be found. He also wasn’t answering his phone. I don’t worry about him though; he knows the transportation system better than I do! So DS10 and I went to the quiet pool behind the CL area. We had a nice swim, but DS10 thought the water was too cold. They were doing some repairs on the hot tub, so he pushed for a walk to the main pool.

The main pool wasn’t too crowded, and DS and I had a nice swim. I got a shot of DS getting spit out of the clowns mouth lol.

We found the hot tub, but a family was in it. And I mean family complete with three kids in swim diapers. Yuck! DS didn’t care and he jumped right in, but I was getting a bit snarky (time for my nap I guess) so we went upstairs to get ready for dinner.

As we were walking around the resort DS kept telling me how much he loves it there. He even said he liked it better than the Poly. He liked the light fixtures, the colors, and the music a lot. His says it’s very well decorated, and he likes the fact that “they stuck to the theme” so well.

Like this bit of carpet in the hallway

See the two Mickeys?

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Hey, Karen! Bumpy start to the trip, but sounds like all is going smoothly now. Looking forward to more...love the pics!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Like this bit of carpet in the hallway

See the two Mickeys?

That was something I noticed right away.

 

[kaffinito]

That was something I noticed right away.

See I never noticed that and this was my second trip! DS18 saw the one on the roller coaster.

 

[DLo]

Glad to read you had a great trip and that your dss liked bwi. we are staying there for the 1st time next month (yeah i can finally say that). It will be my dsmom , myself, and ds12. We are staying std cl. I have heard so many great things about the innkeepers club staff. can't wait to meet them. Did you take a pic of the cake?

 

[kaffinito]

Glad to read you had a great trip and that your dss liked bwi. we are staying there for the 1st time next month (yeah i can finally say that). It will be my dsmom , myself, and ds12. We are staying std cl. I have heard so many great things about the innkeepers club staff. can't wait to meet them. Did you take a pic of the cake?

I really like those folks - I'm sure you and your family will have a great stay!

I did take a few pics of the cake, I'll post those when I get to that part.

 

[jackemail]

Enjoying every bit of your reports! Love the picture of the clown spitting out your kid!

 

[kaffinito]

Hey, Karen! Bumpy start to the trip, but sounds like all is going smoothly now. Looking forward to more...love the pics!

Glad to see you on here!