The Great Baboo
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2004
- Messages
- 271
Well, we started out on 8/25 at SSR to check out the new place, and took a side trip to SeaWorld. Little did we know...............
On the 29th, we came over to BCV and started to make the rounds of the parks. By 9/1, we decided to strike pre-emptively and changed our flight from Saturday night (9/4) to Monday. We also booked a room at Boardwalk for Saturday & Sunday night.
When things started getting really hairy by Thursday, we checked at the front desk at BCV to make sure they could get our bags (and us!) from BCV to the Boardwalk on Saturday morning. We also wanted to ask why they couldn't just let us stay in our DVC studio unit, because we were positive there would be cancellations. No, we were told---the DVC units were all filled up. They said we would have no trouble getting our stuff over there, so not to worry.
By dumb luck, we overheard the people at the counter next to us being offered a room at the Yacht Club for $199 per night to extend their stay----the same rate we had been offered for Boardwalk. We were a little annoyed that we weren't offered that option the whole time we were standing at the counter, since by staying at the Yacht Club (contiguous with BCV) we could just walk over to our new room and be closer to all the shops & restaurants in the BC/BCV/Yacht Club complex. We insisted they apply our room deposit for Boardwalk to a Yacht Club room, and it was done.
Very smooth transfer, and I have to say that the cast members have outdone themselves (even by Disney standards) in helping everyone weather the storm. There has been a live jazz band in the lobby at the Yacht Club all day, and a guy making the most wonderful balloon animals & creations you have ever seen. His cast member name is "Andy Mation," and he made my daughter Shannon an Ariel hairpiece out of balloons------and mermaid fins to place around her legs, if you can imagine that! He made a T-Rex for my son (special order), and made Mickey, Donald, Pluto and other Disney characters in cartoon-quality renderings.
Stormalong Bay was open until early afternoon, when some of the rain started. The quiet pools stayed open until 3 or 4 o'clock.
The Yachtsman Steakhouse was closed, but the Galley (and Cape May at BCV) stayed open for lunch and dinner. Box meals of turkey, ham, PBJ with fruit, beverage, & M&M's have been available all day throughout the resorts ($5.00).
The lobbies are swarming with cast members asking if anyone needs help of any kind, or just stopping you to chat. Bulletins about the weather and operating plans have been delivered to our rooms several times, and over the past 24 hours we have received 3 pre-recorded messages from the General Manager of the Yacht Club, Sam Pensula, about the state of affairs at the resort.
We had dinner at the Galley just a few hours ago, and our waitress was a little inexperienced and overwhelmed. She forgot part of our order, and took forever to get us the check. When she did, she charged us for one of the kids (who did not eat anything-----he got a PBJ box meal.) We didn't really vocalize any complaint at all, but I guess a gentleman seated with his family next to us must have taken note of it. He approached our table and said: "Hi, I'm Sam--- the General Manager here. I can take care of that problem with your check." I said that I recognized his voice from the messages, and thanked him for his efforts and all the hard work of the cast members. We had a nice chat, and he went back to finish dinner with his family----all the while being paged and called about stuff going on at the resort. In fact, he had to leave to take a conference call shortly thereafter. I was very impressed with the fact that he would take such a personal interest in such a minor matter, with everything else going on at the time.
All in all, we are very impressed with the way Disney has handled the situation. Let's hope everyone in Florida stays safe and secure and gets through the weekend unscathed.
No really high winds or steady rain just yet (9 PM Saturday). I will post updates.
Anybody else down here still?
On the 29th, we came over to BCV and started to make the rounds of the parks. By 9/1, we decided to strike pre-emptively and changed our flight from Saturday night (9/4) to Monday. We also booked a room at Boardwalk for Saturday & Sunday night.
When things started getting really hairy by Thursday, we checked at the front desk at BCV to make sure they could get our bags (and us!) from BCV to the Boardwalk on Saturday morning. We also wanted to ask why they couldn't just let us stay in our DVC studio unit, because we were positive there would be cancellations. No, we were told---the DVC units were all filled up. They said we would have no trouble getting our stuff over there, so not to worry.
By dumb luck, we overheard the people at the counter next to us being offered a room at the Yacht Club for $199 per night to extend their stay----the same rate we had been offered for Boardwalk. We were a little annoyed that we weren't offered that option the whole time we were standing at the counter, since by staying at the Yacht Club (contiguous with BCV) we could just walk over to our new room and be closer to all the shops & restaurants in the BC/BCV/Yacht Club complex. We insisted they apply our room deposit for Boardwalk to a Yacht Club room, and it was done.
Very smooth transfer, and I have to say that the cast members have outdone themselves (even by Disney standards) in helping everyone weather the storm. There has been a live jazz band in the lobby at the Yacht Club all day, and a guy making the most wonderful balloon animals & creations you have ever seen. His cast member name is "Andy Mation," and he made my daughter Shannon an Ariel hairpiece out of balloons------and mermaid fins to place around her legs, if you can imagine that! He made a T-Rex for my son (special order), and made Mickey, Donald, Pluto and other Disney characters in cartoon-quality renderings.
Stormalong Bay was open until early afternoon, when some of the rain started. The quiet pools stayed open until 3 or 4 o'clock.
The Yachtsman Steakhouse was closed, but the Galley (and Cape May at BCV) stayed open for lunch and dinner. Box meals of turkey, ham, PBJ with fruit, beverage, & M&M's have been available all day throughout the resorts ($5.00).
The lobbies are swarming with cast members asking if anyone needs help of any kind, or just stopping you to chat. Bulletins about the weather and operating plans have been delivered to our rooms several times, and over the past 24 hours we have received 3 pre-recorded messages from the General Manager of the Yacht Club, Sam Pensula, about the state of affairs at the resort.
We had dinner at the Galley just a few hours ago, and our waitress was a little inexperienced and overwhelmed. She forgot part of our order, and took forever to get us the check. When she did, she charged us for one of the kids (who did not eat anything-----he got a PBJ box meal.) We didn't really vocalize any complaint at all, but I guess a gentleman seated with his family next to us must have taken note of it. He approached our table and said: "Hi, I'm Sam--- the General Manager here. I can take care of that problem with your check." I said that I recognized his voice from the messages, and thanked him for his efforts and all the hard work of the cast members. We had a nice chat, and he went back to finish dinner with his family----all the while being paged and called about stuff going on at the resort. In fact, he had to leave to take a conference call shortly thereafter. I was very impressed with the fact that he would take such a personal interest in such a minor matter, with everything else going on at the time.
All in all, we are very impressed with the way Disney has handled the situation. Let's hope everyone in Florida stays safe and secure and gets through the weekend unscathed.
No really high winds or steady rain just yet (9 PM Saturday). I will post updates.
Anybody else down here still?
