We Stuffed our Faces and Searched for the Tronorail, It's Trip Report Time! *11/3

[Bridora]

WOW! Those are great pics of BLT! Makes me want to go there! Can't wait to see the view from your room! So exciting!!

Thanks! We really liked it there!

 

[mickeystoontown]

You were really lucky that a bus came quickly (or was already there) when you decided to go to DTD. No wonder your bus driver was great....she was from Louisiana so what do you expect. Seriously though, I like it when you get a friendly bus driver. I remember one time we had a driver who was cracking jokes and acting all silly and had all of us laughing even though we were dog tired.

I am sooooo glad that you posted a picture of the pizza sandwich. I've searched all over the restaurant boards looking for a picture. We want to eat at Earl of Sandwich but Hunter doesn't like sandwiches. He loves pizza though so I was trying to see if I thought it would be something he liked.

Hunter thought he would get into pin trading this year but he never wanted to trade anything. He wanted to keep them all even though they were some that I bought off ebay before we left.

Shopping at Downtown Disney......ahhhhh! I love it!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

I LOVE DTD!!! It is always a checkin day must for us as well! It's a nice place to take in the "I'm at DW atmosphere", but without the hustle and bustle of a park... KWIM? and EOS is devine!!! Your pictures are making me hungry and we aren't going until sept lol DH normally gets the one your DH got, and I normally get either turkey or tuna, however, yours looked oh so yummy, I might have to try it next time lol Can't wait to hear... er... read more esp about your room!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

I love road trips - even if they are short ones and esp when they end up in WDW! Loved the pics of driving past all the signs - I got goosebumps just seeing those (they always put me in that Disney mood)!

That keychain was adorable - I hope they still have it when we get there (well probably not since it won't be til the end of November but I still want to try to find it!).

Now I really hope you win the lottery so you can share with the great bus driver! It always makes your day when the driver is fun and she definitely was (of course, if I hit the lottery, I'll remember you PLUS your bus driver )

Can't wait to see your view!!

 

[taymacsmom]

I'm here!! Loving it so far! We love EOS. Went there on our last day in 2009 and took our sandwiches to the airport! My kids are still talking about them. In fact, my 16 year old DD just said the other day that next year we need to go more than once. I am thinking the first and the last day! My DS, who eats almost nothing by the way, also had the pizza sandwich and ate the entire thing! None of us could believe it! Looking forward to more!

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, I still feel weird taking food pictures. When Weird and I go to our local sushi place, I take pics most of the time, but I think now they're used to it. Because I do it in "real life," doing it at Disney is actually a little easier! It takes some getting used to! But woohoo because now you can share them with us! I especially like the posed meal!

Love the Lego wall shots! I was curious to know how Weird would photograph it, but my dad rushed us out of DTD so fast that we never even made it to that store.

That keychain is great! Haha, we never made it to WoD either!!! I wanted to explore all the stores I've never been to before (Christmas, TrenD, scrapbooking, art). That'd be a cute keychain to put on the zipper pull of my bag. I have a penguin on it now that's getting a little tired of hanging there.

Ooo, I like the sign of the Disney Bus Transportation. Shows me how easy it is to know where to go in case Weird and I ever stay on property and do the bus thing.

 

[Bridora]

We left Downtown Disney for the Contemporary, hoping that our room was ready.

…..and it was!






It was not, however, top floor. Max was very disappointed by this. I was still trying to keep that Disney spirit while hoping that the room and view would not be a disaster once we peeked out the windows. Max had been on the DIS checking out a Bay Lake Tower thread. He pretty much knew where you wanted to be for the best Magic Kingdom View. Room 7526 was not where he wanted to be. Room 7526 is on the 5th floor and just a bit closer to the Contemporary than to Magic Kingdom. We had walked right down that hallway, right past room 7526 on our exploring tour earlier that day because it is on the same level as the sky bridge. Don’t worry about us, though, we came to appreciate not having to go on the elevator after returning from late night Monorail trips. By that time, you are glad your room is right around the corner, and you don’t have to stop again to wait for an elevator. The first thing we did when we walked through the door of Room 7526 that day was go straight to the windows to see our view.

Room 7526 is a prime spot for Monorail watching. I never got tired of it. I don’t think any of us did. We watched Monorails going in and out of the Contemporary and around to Magic Kingdom all the time while we were in our room. We’d call out the color as it went, remarking on if we’d seen it yet or not that day. I took multiple pictures of Monorails passing every day. At night, I could lie in the bed and still see them going past. From our balcony, you could even watch as a Monorail made its way to the barn after being taken “off” for the night. We noticed a Monorail sleeping in the Contemporary, and one day we even saw one that looked like it was pushing something, headed toward Magic Kingdom. I got spoiled to seeing this sight every day.

I miss it.


We ran through the room, exploring every cabinet and closet. We exclaimed over the dishes, the cabinet space, and the “window” over the whirlpool tub that opened up into the bedroom. And lots of other things, too. I didn’t take any pictures of the room that day. But you guys don’t mind, right? I did take a few shots of our view from the balcony:

Looking to the right--that’s our Magic Kingdom view!

Looking almost straight out, but with your head turned ever so slightly to the left…

And the Sky Bridge, looking out to the left…


After that we went down to the car, parked in a great spot just in front of the main doors to Bay Lake Tower, and brought up all our luggage.

After that the kids wanted to swim, so we let them. We had an ADR at the Wave later that evening. I had left my calendar where I had written everything down, at home. Somehow it was just not in my purse. Luckily, I had transferred all our ADRs to my phone’s calendar, too! I checked to see what time our ADR was: 7:45. In order to give the kids more time to swim, Max & I did not swim. That way I didn’t have to take a shower and re do my hair and make-up. Not that it takes me that long to do those things, but an extra 30 minutes in the pool is like forever to kids! They had fun at the pool. They mostly went down the slide the whole time. Luke found a little kiddie slide and the kids tried it out, it barley had a slope at all and it was so funny watching them go down the slide, creeping inch by inch! But the little kids at the pool seemed to really enjoy it. I thought it was nice for them to have their own little slide.

Pretty soon it was time to head back up to the room to get ready for our dinner at The Wave! It was our first time to dine there and we were excited. Luke really liked the entrance hallway.

I didn’t get a picture of the entrance by itself, but I found some great shots of it here.


They did not look busy inside, which was lucky for us. We walked up to the desk and gave them our names to check-in. We heard those ominous words “could it be under another name?” And we said no. It was no problem, though, they just penciled our names in and we didn’t wait long at all to be seated. Max & I were exchanging “uh-oh” looks and doubting the computer system there at the Contemporary. I had just checked our ADRs online that very week to make sure they were all still there. They were. What was up?

It was very pretty inside and the room, which didn’t seem just real real big, had a calming feel to it. The dimly lit room plus the two ladies seated next to us who seemed to be enjoying their coffee and dessert in a very proper, dainty way, were the reasons I didn’t take any pictures until Max convinced me it was O.K. at dessert. Our waiter was awesome and explained the Dining Plan to us. It was our first Table Service, so we asked!

The bread….I love bread!

I did not write down what meals we had, but I know I had the “Today’s Sustainable Fish” I just can’t remember what the fish was that day…And I can’t even jog my memory as to what the rest of my family had by looking at the menu on allearsnet.com. Oh well, on to dessert!

Max’s choice: (from allearsnet.com) Decadent Flavors - Blueberry Compote with Yogurt Gelato, Lemon Cornbread with Vanilla Panna Cotta, Chocolate Mousse with Salted Caramel Sauce

My choice: (from allearsnet.com) Freshly Crafted Sorbets - Lemon-basil, Pineapple Strawberry

Max’s was pretty good! That lemon cornbread was a bit strange…And my sorbets were great! The lemon was too lemon-y for me, though so Max ate that while I finished up his chocolate mouuse. I think the kids just had ice cream and I must not have wanted to risk the stares for a picture of theirs!

We finished up there with plenty of time to go up to the rooftop to watch Wishes, which was at 10:00 that night. Yes! I love Wishes, and what could be better than going up to the Bay Lake Tower roof to watch them? When we crossed the Sky Bridge over to BLT we noticed they were watching the movie “Earth”.

We did stop to watch from the Sky Bridge for just a few minutes.


We went downstairs to check-in and then down the hall to the elevator that would take us up up up!


The view from the roof was amazing! Max went to get a drink and the kids & I stood looking out. Luke was just a bit too short to see over the wall they’ve got up there, though, so I picked him up. We started noticing a few drops of rain here & there just about then. I had our video camera out for Wishes, but put it up when the rain started picking up. We decided to just go back to our room and watch Wishes from our own balcony. Luke would be able to see it from there, and we would be dry!

Back on our balcony…


The kids both got their cameras out for Wishes as well. They both have little digital cameras that can also take video, which is what they both did. Well, Allison did. Luke’s mom showed him how to switch his camera (which used to be mine) over to video mode, but forgot to tell him he had to push the shutter button to start taking video. It wasn’t until after Wishes was over when he wanted to watch his video that we found out the big mistake. He was very upset. Allison tried to console him by telling him that it was ok, she’d taken video of it too. He said, “but you didn’t get what I got!” He eventually got over it and went on to take lots of battery-eating videos the rest of the trip. Here are my Wishes pictures:

A wonderful ending to our check-in day!

 

[Bridora]

I did take pictures of our room later on in the week. I’m just going to go off my timeline and post them now!

Mickey! And the little shelf we put our keys on every night…

Looking out our big window...the couch on the left folds out into a bed

Standing between the kitchen and the table looking straight out the windows

On your left standing in the same spot as above, is the washer/dryer combo. To their left & behind in the picture is a small closet with a high chair, laundry basket, vacuum cleaner and the door to the adjoining room.

Standing in the living room area looking out

The chair in front of the window folds out into a bed

Still looking out the window…but zoomed up on some Ferry Boats!

I finally turned around and got the table! The door on the left goes into the bedroom…and then around the corner, where that silver bar is, is the other bathroom, then on its right is the door to the hallway

A closer look at the art behind the table

And there’s the TV

Masterbedroom…

Masterbath…Looks like I didn’t get the tub in the picture…which is on the left...or the shower/potty area, which was in a separate room….to the right...


Looks like I also missed a picture of the other bathroom, too.

Looking out on the balcony from the Masterbedroom...along the left is the dresser/tv and the desk

The balcony

Kitchen!


And now for some Monorail shots:

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my goodness! I know you were initially disppointed with your room assignment but it looks like it turned out to be a fabulous location. What I wouldn't give to look out my window and see the monorail right now! All I see is courthouse employee cars. Yuck!

I have never eaten at The Wave but we thought about trying it next trip. Was it as good as you expected it to be?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oops, you and I were posting at the same time.

The room is gorgeous! I love all of the Mickey and Disney touches in without making the room cartoony. It still has that elegant contemporary look to it.

 

[Bridora]

You were really lucky that a bus came quickly (or was already there) when you decided to go to DTD. No wonder your bus driver was great....she was from Louisiana so what do you expect. Seriously though, I like it when you get a friendly bus driver. I remember one time we had a driver who was cracking jokes and acting all silly and had all of us laughing even though we were dog tired.

I am sooooo glad that you posted a picture of the pizza sandwich. I've searched all over the restaurant boards looking for a picture. We want to eat at Earl of Sandwich but Hunter doesn't like sandwiches. He loves pizza though so I was trying to see if I thought it would be something he liked.

Hunter thought he would get into pin trading this year but he never wanted to trade anything. He wanted to keep them all even though they were some that I bought off ebay before we left.

Shopping at Downtown Disney......ahhhhh! I love it!

It's always more fun with a friendly bus driver!

Luke loves pizza sandwiches, he gets them anywhere they are offered!

about Hunter & his pins...I don't think Luke ever traded one either!

I LOVE DTD!!! It is always a checkin day must for us as well! It's a nice place to take in the "I'm at DW atmosphere", but without the hustle and bustle of a park... KWIM? and EOS is devine!!! Your pictures are making me hungry and we aren't going until sept lol DH normally gets the one your DH got, and I normally get either turkey or tuna, however, yours looked oh so yummy, I might have to try it next time lol Can't wait to hear... er... read more esp about your room!!!

I know exactly what you mean--we feel the same way about DTD!

I love road trips - even if they are short ones and esp when they end up in WDW! Loved the pics of driving past all the signs - I got goosebumps just seeing those (they always put me in that Disney mood)!

That keychain was adorable - I hope they still have it when we get there (well probably not since it won't be til the end of November but I still want to try to find it!).

Now I really hope you win the lottery so you can share with the great bus driver! It always makes your day when the driver is fun and she definitely was (of course, if I hit the lottery, I'll remember you PLUS your bus driver )

Can't wait to see your view!!

We are a road trip family for sure!

I hope they have the keychain when you go! I can't remember exactly where it was, but I think we were walking through the middle part somewhere, anyway, it's with a bunch of other keychains, so it should be easy to spot them...

Sounds good to me--and if you win the lottery you'll know right where to find me! She was great!

I'm here!! Loving it so far! We love EOS. Went there on our last day in 2009 and took our sandwiches to the airport! My kids are still talking about them. In fact, my 16 year old DD just said the other day that next year we need to go more than once. I am thinking the first and the last day! My DS, who eats almost nothing by the way, also had the pizza sandwich and ate the entire thing! None of us could believe it! Looking forward to more!

Taking your sandwiches with you to the airport sounds like a great idea! They've definitely got enough sandwiches for you to eat there twice without have the same sandwich twice!

Haha, I still feel weird taking food pictures. When Weird and I go to our local sushi place, I take pics most of the time, but I think now they're used to it. Because I do it in "real life," doing it at Disney is actually a little easier! It takes some getting used to! But woohoo because now you can share them with us! I especially like the posed meal!

Love the Lego wall shots! I was curious to know how Weird would photograph it, but my dad rushed us out of DTD so fast that we never even made it to that store.

That keychain is great! Haha, we never made it to WoD either!!! I wanted to explore all the stores I've never been to before (Christmas, TrenD, scrapbooking, art). That'd be a cute keychain to put on the zipper pull of my bag. I have a penguin on it now that's getting a little tired of hanging there.

Ooo, I like the sign of the Disney Bus Transportation. Shows me how easy it is to know where to go in case Weird and I ever stay on property and do the bus thing.

Thanks! Taking food pictures takes some getting used to for sure...

Weird would have loved taking photos in the Lego store....and I would have loved to see the pictures he would have gotten as well! That's too bad you guys didn't get to spend much time there...but there's always next time, right?

I really did mean to go back and get that keychain...it would make a perfect zipper pull!

And the bus system is very easy to use. They've got signs at all the parks to let you know where to go to catch a bus back to your resort!

 

[Bridora]

Oh my goodness! I know you were initially disppointed with your room assignment but it looks like it turned out to be a fabulous location. What I wouldn't give to look out my window and see the monorail right now! All I see is courthouse employee cars. Yuck!

I have never eaten at The Wave but we thought about trying it next trip. Was it as good as you expected it to be?

Oh yeah, much better than my view right now, too! I have to go out of my office to even see outside...

We thought The Wave was very good! I'd go back...

Oops, you and I were posting at the same time.

The room is gorgeous! I love all of the Mickey and Disney touches in without making the room cartoony. It still has that elegant contemporary look to it.

And we were posting at the same time again, too!

I loved that about the room decor!

 

[wdwgirl03]

I love all your BLT pictures. My dad and I are kind of in the same boat in that we usually like the resorts with more "theme" but all your pictures really make me want to stay there. I'm sure we'll make it over there eventually as we try to get into all the DVC resorts. I love those ones with the fireworks over the MK. What a view!

 

[RachelNinja]

What an excellent view! I'd be so drawn to watching the monorail during any off time. Monorail = Disney!

I love the eating area. I find indoor benches/booths fascinating when they're in houses/apts/etc. Oh cool! I also love the Space Mountain artwork! All the artwork gives the space a splash of color while still keeping the clean, modern look. Love it!

I think I'd like to LIVE in the room you guys were in!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

You room is out of this world!!! How exciting to see the monorail that much!! and your view of MK and the fireworks? Do they pipe in the music on the rooftop? That's amazing that you had this experience, can't wait to read more!!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Great update, B! Thanks for posting such wonderful pics of BLT. We are staying there this October in a studio for a Thursday-Sunday stay. We are looking forward to it.

We love the monorail. Our entire trip, we were looking for the Tron Monorail. Everytime we would see it we would say TRON!!! Love your view of the Monorail coming out of the Grand Canyon Station. I believe that is the express monorail to the Magic Kingdom, Correct?

We like Earl of Sandwich, we ate there on our last night but I do not think I took any pics. I will have to look. We take pics of our food too, the kids are like, Take a picture quick so I can eat. We had a few people looking at us crazy when were were taking food pics too.

Poor Luke, did not get his video! Too cute that he feels his video would be different than his sisters.

I really liked your view at BLT. What a nice day, DTD, Swimming, Dinner at The Wave, and Wishes! All in one day!

Looking forward to more.

 

[amyrella]

awesome view from your room!! i love seeing the monorail! i'd probably watch it all the time also, as my daughter too for she loves that sort of thing (ex. trains)

 

[Brave teacher]

We get so excited driving up to the welcome signs as well. We drive it enough to know which landmarks are getting close.

How cute that there is a kid’s check in book at the CR. I would have flipped out if I was under the impression that they could not find my reservation. You are so much more patient/calm that I. Great pictures of BLT.

We LOVE Earl of Sandwich! You are right…you get to pick a side or a dessert. We love that little chocolate pudding dessert you had a picture of. A first day at DTD seemed so lovely. I so did not see that keychain. I would have definitely bought it!

Totally understand what you mean about giving the kids extra time at the pool. The boys will take every single second I give them.

We hope to try to The Wave one day. We just keep pushing it off every time. Great pictures of Wishes from the room. I would not have been disappointed with the room location.

 

[ladybugmom]

WOW! Love your room and your view!! And watching Wishes from the roof--how fun!!

 

[lledman]

I love all your photos - your room and view are awesome.