"We Will Not Be Braking for Pedestrians!" "Oh my God DUUUCKKKS!"-An October 2011

[natebenma]

Great series of updates!

I love the pictures from your meet & greets with Mickey and Minnie and the princesses. It looks like a lot of fun.

I think the Cape May breakfast is my favorite character meal. The food is great and I love seeing the characters in their beachwear. But it is sad that Chip and Dale are no longer there!

Sounds like you had a nice trip to Downtown Disney. I'm glad you didn't find the ride there or back to be too miserable.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Great series of updates!

I love the pictures from your meet & greets with Mickey and Minnie and the princesses. It looks like a lot of fun.

I think the Cape May breakfast is my favorite character meal. The food is great and I love seeing the characters in their beachwear. But it is sad that Chip and Dale are no longer there!

Sounds like you had a nice trip to Downtown Disney. I'm glad you didn't find the ride there or back to be too miserable.

One of the things I'm most looking forward to about the CP is collecting character autographs and photos! I really want to meet Marie the cat and Thumper and Ms. Bunny.

Cape May was nice, but I think I prefer Crystal Palace. Though I did like seeing Minnie's swimming outfit from my childhood videos!

Nope, the trip was not anywhere near as bad as everyone over on the Y&BC thread makes it out to be. I could see how it would be worse if the buses were crowded though.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Upon returning to the resort we picked up the noodles from Bell Services and then took a seat in the Solarium to eat our lunch from Earl’s.
The last time we went we ordered "The Original 1762" (Roast beef, cheddar, and horseradish) with a side of coleslaw and this time was no different.

The meal was just okay and not as good as I remembered. The coleslaw was dated the day prior (don't know if that actually meant anything) and seemed to be mostly cabbage. The sandwich was tasty, but the meat was very fatty. The whole thing was kind of a let down; next time we'll probably visit Wolfgang Puck Express instead.

I went to fill up our mugs and Mom took some pictures of our view and surroundings.

We ate pretty quickly and then headed out to the pool so we could swim for a bit before Magical Express came to pick us up. We had heard that the changing rooms in the health club are much better than the ones at the pool so that’s where we went. We did have to ask where the changing room was once we entered the club, but the friendly CM showed us there with no problem. After we had changed and put our stuff in one of the fancy lockers we went to get our wristbands. They were orange again today, so now I had two orange, a blue and a pink. I know I went down the slide once again and we spent some time in the whirlpool area.

That’s me with the Noodle family.

We spent about 45 minutes at the pool and then it was time to go change. I took a quick shower in the locker room (it was a really nice locker room) and then we went to Bell Services again to leave the noodles for the next person and pick up our own bags. I had a moment of panic when I couldn’t find my ID, but it did turn up in one of my other bags. Our bus showed up promptly at 4:10, and it was a cruise bus. There were already some people on it, but after our stop we headed right to the airport!

For whatever reason, Mom’s boarding pass had shown up under our door but it said they weren’t able to print mine and I would have to do it at the airport. Well that made me understandably nervous, but it was no problem at all. We did Early Bird Check In for this flight, but our numbers were the lowest we’ve ever had-B3 & B4. We put the suitcase on the scale and it was 4.5 pounds overweight, so we chose to redistribute amongst the carry ons. Then we headed to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, because I had heard so many people rave about it. Every other time we’ve eaten at the airport it’s been at McDonald’s since it’s at our airside terminal. I gave Mom the choice between the Chicken Sandwich or the Nuggets and she chose the nuggets. We opted for the meal deal and an extra drink.

Honestly, we were kind of disappointed. The fries were delicious, but we didn't care for the chicken. We determined it was the breading that we disliked, possibly because it's fried in peanut oil. After that, we shared a soft serve vanilla with sprinkles in a waffle cone from Carvel. We don't have those around our house anymore, so we had forgotten how delicious the ice cream is and how colorful the sprinkles are!

After we finished eating, we pulled out our quart sized bags of liquid, the laptop and the bags of medications and headed for security. The wait was really short, like 5 minutes, and then we were boarding the faux monorail over to our terminal. We arrived over there with nearly an hour to spare, so Mom did some homework and I did some DISing. Our gate was the one closest to the monorail, so we didn’t have to walk all the way down the terminal! It didn’t seem like there were a lot of people waiting until they announced it was time to board. The flight was completely full. We managed to get two seats together in the fourth row from the back on the right side. There was a mom and daughter who, for whatever reason, didn’t take advantage of family boarding and so couldn’t sit together. The mom was pitching a fit and we couldn’t take off for 15 minutes until they finally agreed to sit across the aisle from each other.

As the flight attendant was giving the safety spiel about the oxygen masks, she gave us a bit of comic relief. We were told to “pull the mask over your mouth and breathe like you’ve never breathed before.” Then she went on to say, “You’ll be sucking in helium….no, that’s no right, oxygen!” I love the Southwest crews.

Our flights down are always fine; it’s the flights back that are always no good. This flight was full of screaming children because it was a 7:15pm departure. The kid in front of me was sitting next to his dad and he spent the whole flight screaming for his mom while dad ignored him, and flopping against his seat so my whole tray was moving. We did experience a bit of turbulence, but still landed 15 minutes early-on top of the 15 minute late take off! After a bathroom stop we went down to baggage claim and then outside. The shuttle stop was right there and in no time at all we were back at our car. When we got home I took some more food photos.
Mom chose a caramel roll, chocolate fudge with nuts (for Grandma) and chocolate peanut butter for herself from Goofy’s. She said the chocolate peanut butter fudge was very good and the caramel roll just okay.

My pretzels: All 3 are dipped in milk chocolate and drizzled in white chocolate, and individually dipped in mini m&ms, crushed Oreos, and crushed Butterfingers.

And finally, my pumpkin fudge from the previous night.

I sat down to do some reviews on allears and Unofficial Guide and fell asleep right in the middle of them! When I woke up the next morning I opened my computer to find the UG survey still up on the screen, but I had no memory of falling asleep or closing the computer!

 

[Lizziedog]

Great trip report!!! I was wondering how comfortable the pullout was? We will be there in July and my mother was going to sleep on the pullout...What do you think about it? Did you sleep well? Thanks!!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Great trip report!!! I was wondering how comfortable the pullout was? We will be there in July and my mother was going to sleep on the pullout...What do you think about it? Did you sleep well? Thanks!!

I'm always the one to sleep on the pullout! I slept on the one at Kidani Village for 11 nights, and this one for 4, and I've never had any problems with either. The mattresses are not super thick, of course, but they are comfortable enough; I don't recall feeling the bars or anything. Also, I tend to tire myself out so much that I'll fall asleep anywhere!

 

[bellebookworm9]

For the final wrap up sad2 I have a few general reviews and notes for everyone!

Beach Club/Villas
•Check In: Check in was very easy, cast members were friendly and there was no wait. It would have been nice if the room was ready, but of course, we weren’t really expecting it to be at 10am.
•Cast Members: The CMs throughout the resort were pleasant. There was only one grumpy one, a mousekeeper, who we saw nearly every day in the seating area near the Marketplace. Grace at the front desk stands out in particular, for being so helpful and patient when I lost my park ticket.
•Villa: We really liked our room; it was bright and cheery. The view was lovely. I enjoyed the large foyer area. I loved that the pullout sofa was an all in one deal as opposed to Kidani, where the cushions needed to be stored elsewhere every night. We had enough room to move around even with the couch pulled out. We didn’t really use the kitchenette, but the fridge was nice to have. For the bathroom, I wish there was a little more counter space. I disliked the shower head as I felt it was a little too low, and I also didn’t particularly care for the “energy saving” light that started out extremely dim and slowly grew brighter. The room seemed very well soundproofed, to both the hallway and outside.
•Pools: Since we didn’t use the Dunes Cove (villas) pool, I can’t comment on that. I enjoyed Stormalong Bay, but to me, water is water, and I’d be happy with pretty much any pool. There were plenty of lounge chairs readily available every time I went to the pool.
•Transportation: I had heard some horror stories about transportation here, but we had no problems. Studios boat had no wait and we didn’t feel the ride was too long at all. The bus back from Magic Kingdom was waiting for us, and no one had to stand. Buses to and from Downtown Disney were adequate, and actually made the return trip more quickly than I expected.
•Location: The location was very nice. We loved being able to walk to Epcot and the short ride to the Studios. It was also great to be able to walk over to the Boardwalk and take advantage of the recreation over there.
•Restaurants: We recommend Beaches and Cream the most. Cape May was pretty good, but a bit expensive. The Marketplace was fine for breakfast and snacks.
•Public Areas: The Solarium was a nice place to eat lunch on our last day. It was never full when I walked through, although occasionally there were some families playing Wii on the big TV. The Drawing Room and the Breezeway were both lovely places to relax as well. The villas laundry room on the fourth floor was convenient, if a little chilly. The lobby was busy, but very cheery. The locker room and showers at the health club were clean and pleasant.

Overall, I highly recommend this resort. We had no serious issues on our trip, and while it didn't quite have the same "homey" feeling that Kidani Village offers, I would easily stay here again.

Food & Wine Festival
The F&WF was great! When I was younger it didn’t really appeal to me much (same with the Flower and Garden Festival) but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more interested in visiting during these special events. We shared everything which kept costs down and also allowed us to eat more. I wish we could have gotten to more booths, but the weather prevented that. I would like to take advantage of some of the special events during the festival in the future.

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
The party was pretty fun. I think it was worth the price; it’s cheaper than a one day ticket for nearly the same amount of hours if you enter at 4pm. Of course, our experience entering that early wasn’t really a positive one. But the rides that we were able to do during the party had no wait which was really nice. The fireworks and parades were great, the ambience and costumes were awesome, and the characters were some of the best I’ve ever met. I recommend watching the fireworks from Main Street, as well as the second parade. The second parade is less crowded to begin with, but it seemed that a lot of people were watching it in Liberty Square and Frontierland.

Magical Express
As always, we had no problems with ME. It was almost exactly one hour from the time we arrived at the queuing are to the time we pulled up to the Beach Club, with stops at two other resorts. Our driver was friendly and the bus was not crowded. Our luggage was waiting for us in the room. On the return trip, the bus showed up right on time, still wasn’t crowded, went directly to the airport, and got us there with nearly two hours to spare.

Future Plans/Trips
As you all know, I will be doing the Disney College Program beginning January 11th! I will be flying down by myself on the 10th and staying in a studio at Old Key West for the night. I already have the Magical Express tags and booklet! I don’t really have any plans for that day, but I know that I will be meeting up with my roommate in Downtown Disney in the evening (she’s staying at Pop Century). I plan to take a lot of pictures of the resort though and will post a review on the DIS.

Mom is coming to visit me from February 9th-12th. Right now we are booked at Pop Century; we will probably still be staying there after I re-book with my Cast Member discount, but may upgrade to Port Orleans French Quarter depending on the price. Mom wants to visit Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, but she (and I) are disappointed that Big Thunder Mountain will be closed the entire time I’m there! We will also visit the Studios for a bit. We have ADRs at three places we’ve never tried before: Coral Reef (dinner), Sci-Fi (lunch), and the Plaza (dinner).

The link to my blog is in my signature; I’m posting any and all relevant content to the program there, so follow along! I also plan on doing a running dining review because there are so many places I want to try! Link for that is in my signature as well. If you plan on being in Disney between January 11th and May 11th, let me know; I’d love to meet my fellow DISers! Thanks for reading along and I’ll see you all real soon (literally)!

 

[lovethattink]

I am coming in late from your fb link. I've read the first few pages. Your poor mom looked so tired from her plane meds. Love the pics from the plane!

The Beach Club is the first WDW resort we stayed at, and we got hooked on Disney! You were very smart to share the hamburger. They are big. The No Way Jose looks great! YUM! Wish I could eat chocolate!

The food at the Cape May Cafe looks great!

 

[natebenma]

Last afternoon-

You made great use of your last day, with the visit to DTD and hanging out at the resort. Your lunch looked good, sorry it was a bit disappointing.

Thanks for your review of the locker room and showers. I haven't been in there but I had the misfortune to change into my swimsuit in one of the nasty poolside bathrooms one night. Yuck.

I finally added the picture of you and the noodles to the BC thread. BTW- a little backstory for some of your readers who not be familiar with the Noodle Family-

In June, one of the guests and frequent contributors to the Beach and Yacht Club FAQ thread, Marlton Mom, shipped 4 extra large noodles to the resort before her trip there. On the thread, we started a "Noodle Swap", much like the fridge swaps at some of the value resorts. Families sign up to use the noodles during their trips and then either hand them off to the next series of visitors or to Bell Services. The original 4 have been joined by a few smaller noodles and beach toys, but one of the 4 (Pastina, the mom) mysteriously disappeared and may or may not have come back from a stay in India studying yoga in a much skinnier form. The noodles have their own DIS account and occasionally post on the thread.

Some of the more demented posters on that thread have played "dress up" with the noodles, and if you haven't been over there recently, the noodles recently showed up on the thread again with heatherbabydoll1 (page 28).

Wrap Up-

I appreciate your great summary!!! Loved your thorough review of the villas, Food & Wine and the Halloween party, none of which I have experienced.

Thanks for sharing your trip and pictures with us!

I'll check in with you before the scheduled trip in June with my teenager. Hopefully you will still be around!

 

[GrammyJudy]

I loved your report and love that you and your mom are so close. My DD and I will be at ASMo from Jan 21-28 with her 2 sons. What will you be doing at disney for the college program? Have fun with it and maybe we will see you there!

 

[Lizziedog]

I'm always the one to sleep on the pullout! I slept on the one at Kidani Village for 11 nights, and this one for 4, and I've never had any problems with either. The mattresses are not super thick, of course, but they are comfortable enough; I don't recall feeling the bars or anything. Also, I tend to tire myself out so much that I'll fall asleep anywhere!

Thanks! She'll be sleeping on this for 9 nights! If she gets uncomfortable I'll switch out a bed for her. Thanks again for the TR it was very useful and makes me want to be there tomorrow!!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I am coming in late from your fb link. I've read the first few pages. Your poor mom looked so tired from her plane meds. Love the pics from the plane!

The Beach Club is the first WDW resort we stayed at, and we got hooked on Disney! You were very smart to share the hamburger. They are big. The No Way Jose looks great! YUM! Wish I could eat chocolate!

The food at the Cape May Cafe looks great!

Better late than never! Yeah, Mom learned the hard way that mixing Ativan, Benydryl, and Dramamine is a terrible idea.

Last afternoon-

You made great use of your last day, with the visit to DTD and hanging out at the resort. Your lunch looked good, sorry it was a bit disappointing.

Thanks for your review of the locker room and showers. I haven't been in there but I had the misfortune to change into my swimsuit in one of the nasty poolside bathrooms one night. Yuck.

The locker rooms were very nice; they were carpeted and the lockers were a nice wood finish with an electronic lock. The shower stalls were a little small, about the size of a communal dorm shower. I did change in one of the bathrooms near Beaches & Cream on the first day, and that restroom was clean, if not as plush as the changing room.

I finally added the picture of you and the noodles to the BC thread. BTW- a little backstory for some of your readers who not be familiar with the Noodle Family-

Yay! I'm famous!

Wrap Up-

I appreciate your great summary!!! Loved your thorough review of the villas, Food & Wine and the Halloween party, none of which I have experienced.

Thanks for sharing your trip and pictures with us!

I'll check in with you before the scheduled trip in June with my teenager. Hopefully you will still be around!

I hope you get to try the F&WF and MNSSHP sometime!

I loved your report and love that you and your mom are so close. My DD and I will be at ASMo from Jan 21-28 with her 2 sons. What will you be doing at disney for the college program? Have fun with it and maybe we will see you there!

I will be working Main Entrance Operations, which could be any number of things from working turnstiles or parking lot to selling tickets at the water parks to ushering at Cirque du Soleil. I've put in a request for the parking lots, but I won't know for certain until I check in on the 11th. I'm sure I'll have fun regardless. I've never stayed at ASMo but I'd like to!

Thanks! She'll be sleeping on this for 9 nights! If she gets uncomfortable I'll switch out a bed for her. Thanks again for the TR it was very useful and makes me want to be there tomorrow!!

No problem! That's the one bad thing about reading trip reports-I always want to be there right now!

 

[tlenzendorf]

I will be working Main Entrance Operations, which could be any number of things from working turnstiles or parking lot to selling tickets at the water parks to ushering at Cirque du Soleil. I've put in a request for the parking lots, but I won't know for certain until I check in on the 11th. I'm sure I'll have fun regardless. I've never stayed at ASMo but I'd like to!

If you get the parking lot gig don't yell at people who don't want to drive over the cones! lol I had a guy totally yell at me to turn and I refused to drive over it and he finally stopped yelling, picked up the cone and THREW it in disgust!

And definitely come back and DIS while you are gone. I'd be up for a meet when we are there in February.