Why wait till September when we can go now? **FINAL THOUGHTS UPDATED 8/23**

[alliebelle3]

We just got back and were there for only 4 days - we decided to not go to DT Disney but you're making me wish we had! Sounds awesome

I love DTD. I love browsing the shops and walking around, and there is always lots of good food to eat. Hope you had a great trip!

HEY!!! I'm joining in - Loving your report so far!!

The Boardwalk looks so pretty! It's so BRIGHT AND CHEERY and I LOVE it. I definitely want to stay there someday.

Nice job polishing off the Kitchen Sink. I keep trying to drag my family over to Beaches and Cream to try it. Maybe I'll have some luck with it this year!

The BW is SO bright & cheery. It has such a happy ambiance! And you definitely have to try the kitchen sink at least once!

I love impromptu trips (I didn't spell that right, did I? ) And I even love BWV even more!! (we have a 2-bedroom boardwalk view reserved for our trip this year and I am beyond excited - esp since it will be my youngest 2 sons' first trip ) The renovated rooms are gorgeous now.

Ouch on the sunburn - esp your first day!! I hope you were able to sleep and enjoy your trip inspite of it

Your trip is going to be so much fun! It'll be a great place for your son's first trip, too. They'll love the pool! The sunburn hurt a lot, and sleeping was uncomfortable for night or two. It's peeling now...ick!

Reading along! I love the Magical Star Cocktail! I had one (or two) at Victoria Falls at AKL in April. So yummy!

They are sooooo good. Glad you've joined in!

just started reading your intro- I'm hooked- be back as soon as I catch up! -Stace

Thanks! Happy you're here

I'm in dutchess county... i'm like hour and a half from albany... and my parents have a house in caroga lake.. i think thats semi close?? idk... lol

Dutchess is kinda close, but I have no idea where Caroga Lake is! Maybe Western NY? idk..LOL

i cant believe you guys finished the kitchen sink!! that looks sooo yummy!!! haha i feel like i should go there just for that!!

It is so yummy. So, so filling, but really delicious!

Hey, Allie! I'm joining in!

Hi Courtney! Happy you're here

 

[tksbaskets]

I am happy I found your most excellent trip report Our first trip Home was to BWV in June a few years ago. HOT was an understatement!

I'm really enjoying your trip and your pictures. Looking forward to more

 

[SimmerBaggins]

You've done a great job picturing a quick, fun vaca we are all wanting for ourselves...especially the kitchen sink! Great job getting the perspective of the guy's shirt behind it to show how huge it really was...did anyone fight over a brownie or cookie??

We stayed at Beach Club Villas about the same timeframe, but didn't stay long enough to enjoy -- ironically, we tried for BWV, first! Maybe next time...!

 

[alliebelle3]

I am happy I found your most excellent trip report Our first trip Home was to BWV in June a few years ago. HOT was an understatement!

I'm really enjoying your trip and your pictures. Looking forward to more

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it! HOT is definitely an understatement. It was so humid and uncomfortable at times!

You've done a great job picturing a quick, fun vaca we are all wanting for ourselves...especially the kitchen sink! Great job getting the perspective of the guy's shirt behind it to show how huge it really was...did anyone fight over a brownie or cookie??

We stayed at Beach Club Villas about the same timeframe, but didn't stay long enough to enjoy -- ironically, we tried for BWV, first! Maybe next time...!

There was no fighting over brownies or cookies...there were several inside, I think we each had a brownie for ourselves! You'll have to try out BWV! When I was booking this, because it was so short notice, I asked member services to just tell me everything that was available and the first person I talked to said SSR or OKW. When I called back later, planning to book SSR, the new lady I talked to said we could do BWV if we didn't mind switching rooms half-way through. I didn't mind at all! I love the Epcot resort area.

 

[alliebelle3]

First, I want to apologize for my photos being all different sizes in my previous posts. They keep changing on me and my computer is being fussy, so I apologize if they're weird. Also, this post might be a bit short on photos. I thought I had uploaded more to my photobucket account, but I didn't. Sorry! On with the TR!

Day #2, 6/11/10 -- Our first day at the parks!

We woke up Friday morning bright and early. Vinnie and I had taken showers the night before, so we "slept in" until 7, and Kiki and Tim got up a bit earlier. We had a few granola bars in the room, as we had planned to use a QS credit for an early lunch.

Our mission today was to hit the highlights at DHS (does anyone else still want to call it MGM? DHS just doesn't seem right to me!) and MK. DHS had EMH that morning, opening at 8, and MK had EMH that night, staying open till 2am! We figured these would be the best parks that day, even though we new DHS would be packed because of Star Wars Weekends. It was the last weekend of the event, I believe, but we weren't interested in doing any of the SWW festivities.

We walked along the waterway from the BWV down to DHS. We had never done this before, but it was a great walk! It was warm, but nice, that morning, and it took us about 10-15 minutes to get there from our room. We were a bit nervous at first because all we could see was a massive crowd of people out front. Luckily, that was for a SWW thing, I think some kind of meet & greet fastpass thing?, so we bypassed it and headed inside. I took all of our tickets and was prepared to dodge the crowds and head to Toy Story Mania for fastpasses. I made my way through the souvie shops on the right, finding a spot in the crowd. It was about 7:50, and I was so anxious!

I had heard about the craziness that ensues at rope drop for TSM, but honestly it wasn't as bad as I was picturing. I made my way to the FP machines and our return time was 9:35-10:35. That gave us plenty of time to hit the biggies, ToT & RnRc! I quickly walked over towards that end of the park, and met up with everyone in front of Starring Rolls.

We waited MAYBE 10 minutes for RnRc. I was so excited for Vinnie's first ride as an adult! Of course, HE LOVED IT. How can you not? It was so fun. I love the music blasting in your ears!!

Next was ToT. A walk-on! This is my favorite ride at DHS, and I was interested in seeing the extra fanciness it was supposed to have for the summertime. Before you drop, they show an image of everyone on the ride. It was kind of cool. Spooky!

Vinnie wanted to do Star Tours next, and I was not looking forward to it. I stopped riding this ride about 10 years ago because for whatever reason it started making me feel quite sick. Since it was his first time on it, I tried to be a good girlfriend and suck it up. The wait said 30 minutes! I was so not happy, but we had no other time to do it, so again, I sucked it up. It was a walk-on!!! That's the good news. The bad news is...I wanted to vomit. Sorry if this is TMI, but I felt awful! It's a good thing I didn't have anything more than a FiberOne bar in my belly! Kiki and Tim felt the same way. I think Vinnie was the only one who liked it, and we all agreed that its a good thing this ride will be getting some refurbishment soon. It needs it!

We walked the streets of America and before we knew it, it was time for TSM! This ride is just the best. I kind of feel bad for Buzz Lightyear over at MK, just cause this ride totally takes the cake and makes Buzz look ancient!

Vinnie is a big video game fan, so of course he had a blast! I don't remember our scores, but I do remember that my prize was a bunny. Haha!

This about wrapped up our DHS plans for the morning. We planned on returning for dinner at Pizza Planet (Vinnie insisted...), the Great Movie Ride, and Indiana Jones later on.

We made our way to the bus stop for the TTC. After waiting for just a few minutes, we were on a bus and on our way! We hopped on the monorail to the MK.

It was Vinnie's first monorail ride (in Disney...airport doesn't count!). Within a few minutes, we were looking at this:

Ahhh. Don't you just love it? I do.

It was now around 10:30. We were making great time! Kiki and Tim ran over to Splash to grab fastpasses. Usually we wait till the afternoon for that, but it was boiling hot. It was so sticky and humid. I couldn't wait to get wet! Vinnie and I strolled through the Emporium and met up with Kiki and Tim at Pirates. I love how Pirates is always a walk-on, if you hit it at the right time of the day. MK had opened at 9, so it was still kinda early. After Pirates we decided that we needed to eat lunch.

Usually we go to Casey's, but it was under construction and a bit of a mess over there, and I wanted a burger, so we went to Pecos Bills. I haven't been here in a looooooooong time, as in, I was probably in elementary school, so I was excited to try a burger and check out the toppings bar I always hear about on podcasts. It was great! My burger had onion rings on it. Delish.

Next was Space Mountain. We waited maybe 5 minutes. Then we hit up the Carousel of Progress, PhilarMagic, and Splash Mountain! A bunch of other things in between had longer wait times, and we were hot, so we decided to head on out for some pool time. But first, we stopped for dole whip floats (AMAZING) we took some pictures.

Aw!

Double Aw!

I stopped at the Town Hall Guest Services to pick up my Visa Rewards card and activated it on the way to the hotel. So convenient!

Up Next: Pool Break? Hmmm...maybe. And how much do we accomplish at EMH at the MK?

There will be more pics, I promise!

 

[tksbaskets]

Yes, it will always be MGM to us I loved your installment. We'd vacation well together because our favs are TSM, RnRC, and TOT. We let our sons go on Star Tours. I don't get but my DH would be done for the day after that.

LOVED the pics in front of the castle. Loved the Binford shirt on DBF. My hubby has the same shirt. 'Wra-huh'?

Where is Pecos Bills? The burger sounds great!

Looking forward to more....

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I will ALWAYS call it MGM. ALWAYS. And nobody can stop me.

You guys got so much done that morning...I'm impressed!

 

[alliebelle3]

Yes, it will always be MGM to us I loved your installment. We'd vacation well together because our favs are TSM, RnRC, and TOT. We let our sons go on Star Tours. I don't get but my DH would be done for the day after that.

LOVED the pics in front of the castle. Loved the Binford shirt on DBF. My hubby has the same shirt. 'Wra-huh'?

Where is Pecos Bills? The burger sounds great!

Looking forward to more....

TSM, RnRC and TOT are the best! I don't blame your DH for sitting out on Star Tours. I don't think I'll ever ride that again!

Everyone loves that Binford shirt. We actually had a guy come up to him during the trip and ask where he got it. I bought it for him a few years ago in that gift shop after the Backlot Tour, but they don't have any Home Improvement merch. anymore. Boo!

Pecos Bills is in Frontierland right near Splash Mountain. If your walking from Splash towards Adventureland, you walk right by it on the left. It's yummy!

I will ALWAYS call it MGM. ALWAYS. And nobody can stop me.

You guys got so much done that morning...I'm impressed!

LOL! We did get a TON of stuff done. We were on a mission!!

 

[alliebelle3]

Another update will be coming soon! I'm realizing now that I don't have many pix from Day 2, so I need to steal some of DBF's.

Once I get them uploaded a new update will be on the way!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Your villa looks so nice! I don't see many villa pictures so I'm always so curious as to what they look like! Thanks for sharing!

 

[alliebelle3]

Finally, an update! I am sorry I have been MIA. The past few weeks have been crazy and chock-full of family events, getting hired at a NEW job (YAY!), and general hectic-ness. Back to the report!

When I last left off, we had just left the Magic Kingdom in search of some pool time. We arrived back at the Boardwalk, exhausted from an early day and the hot temperatures. I layed down on the bed, and before I knew it, I had passed out. I woke up 2 hours later to find that everyone else didn't make it to the pool either! We had all collapsed in bed and taken naps. We felt refreshed and ready to hit up the parks!

Our first stop was DHS, again. DBF was intrigued by the Indiana Jones show that we didn't see earlier in the day, and he wanted to check out a famous spot from his favorite Disney movie, so for dinner we headed to:

I hadn't been here in a while, but it hasn't changed. The food is mediocre, but we enjoy the pizza and I was sufficiently full. I think DBF and Tim could have eaten 3 or 4 of the pizzas! It was just about time for the Indy show, so we went over and grabbed some seats.

I haven't seen this show in YEARS, and I really didn't remember much of it at all. It was really good! I can see this being something I'd do every couple of years, but not every time we go. The guys really liked it, too.

At this point it was around 7:30 I think, and we wanted to get to the MK for EMH. MK was open till 2am that night! We decided to ride the Great Movie Ride before we headed out. The BFs enjoyed. We made our way to the bus stops and hopped on a bus to the Contemporary, because it looked like we just missed the TTC bus. We waited just a few minutes for a bus. We walked from the Contemporary to the MK. I had never done this walk before, but it was very quick. Good to know, since my home resort is Bay Lake Tower!

It was about 8:30, so we decided to grab some snacks and wait for the summer nightastic fireworks at 9. Tim and I got those huge ice cream sandwiches from the Main Street Bakery...can't find my pic, but you know these are HUGE. Such a great use of a snack credit! Kiki got a muffin, and I can't remember about Vinnie...

The fireworks were AMAZING. Illuminations will always be my favorite nighttime show, but these were the best fireworks I've ever seen. Incredible!!!!! If you are going to WDW this summer, these are an ABSOLUTE NOT-MISS. Phenomenal. I got chills!

The MK didn't appear to be too busy, so we decided to check out Buzz Lightyear right after the fireworks. 40 minute wait...I don't think so! I can't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but we rarely stand in line for more than 10-15 minutes. The guys didn't believe us, but when they saw it was really possible, I think they grew a little fonder of WDW! We bypassed Buzz and hit up the Tomorrowland Speedway. This is a classic to me. I just love it. The wait was only 15 minutes, so we went on. Next was the mad tea party.

Kiki in the tea cup.

This was so fun! We used our Peter Pan FPs from earlier in the day, attempted It's a Small World, but it broke down, did the Haunted Mansion and made our way to BTMRR. It was a blast! And about a five minute wait. DBF Vinnie loved it so much he requested another time around right away, so we went. Splash Mountain had a very short wait, so we went for the 2nd time that day. SO FUN! As usual. It was getting close to 1am at this point, so we thought we'd head over to Tomorrowland and see what the wait was like at Space Mtn and Buzz.

We attempted a few shots in front of the castle, but I just think we look like we belong on the Haunted Mansion!

So pretty!

Space Mountain had a 60 minute wait (apparantly this is where everyone in the park was...!) but Buzz was just 5, so we walked on that. Buzz is always fun, but a bit of a let-down after TSM! We decided to head on out of the park. We were tired, and it was STILL really humid, and we got pretty much everything done that we felt the BFs *needed* to see! We came home to this:

I have a new found love for this resort! We went to sleep and were looking forward to sleeping in the next morning. Saturday was a "rest" day, which included hotel-hopping, some yummy food, and a NEW room at the BWV! Stay tuned. I promise it won't be another 2 weeks before my next installment!!

 

[alliebelle3]

Your villa looks so nice! I don't see many villa pictures so I'm always so curious as to what they look like! Thanks for sharing!

Absolutely! I know what you mean. I'm always so curious to see what's so special about the villas, so I had to include pics! They are fabulous.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Congrats on the new job!

It sounds like you had a great time at MK EMH! I'm determined for us to take advantage of more of these on our honeymoon. We did the Epcot EMH one night in January and I felt like the park had a whole different feel. We had so much fun! We were planning on MK but never made it.

I'm excited to see this new room!

 

[BippityBoo]

HI!! I am joining in Looks like you had a great start to your vacation!! I would love to try the kitchen sink...it looks huge! I wanted to ask, what time at night do all of the activities/restaurants on the Boardwalk close? I am planning a trip and want to check it out!

 

[CW4DW]

I just found your TR and am loving it - we had a trip in May and are looking forward to the next one in November. We are thinking about buying DVC but just having done it yet! We are thinking we are going to rent some points in November to see if we like it and then probably go for it after that.

Can't wait for more of your report. Congrats on the new job!

 

[Queenofallthings]

There is nothing better than an afternoon nap to get you refreshed for an evening in the park....we do it as often as we can....everyone is happier when it happens

 

[alliebelle3]

Congrats on the new job!

It sounds like you had a great time at MK EMH! I'm determined for us to take advantage of more of these on our honeymoon. We did the Epcot EMH one night in January and I felt like the park had a whole different feel. We had so much fun! We were planning on MK but never made it.

I'm excited to see this new room!

We did have a great time! I love the parks at night. They're extra magical Definitely panning on a MK EMH on your honeymoon!

Room coming soon. The view is the best!

HI!! I am joining in Looks like you had a great start to your vacation!! I would love to try the kitchen sink...it looks huge! I wanted to ask, what time at night do all of the activities/restaurants on the Boardwalk close? I am planning a trip and want to check it out!

Glad you're joining in!! The activities/restaurants are open pretty late. One night when we got back around 2 from the MK things were still pretty active out there. If you're going during a busy time of the year my guess would be that they're open till at least midnight, if not later!

I just found your TR and am loving it - we had a trip in May and are looking forward to the next one in November. We are thinking about buying DVC but just having done it yet! We are thinking we are going to rent some points in November to see if we like it and then probably go for it after that.

Can't wait for more of your report. Congrats on the new job!

Yay! Renting DVC points sounds like a great idea. I've heard you get all of the perks by doing that. I HIGHLY suggest going on one of the DVC tours over at Saratoga Springs. Once you do that, you'll be in love. I signed up at one of those info stations at DHS I believe. It was about 3 hours long, but you learn a LOT and there isn't any pressure to buy. Of course they offer you great incentives to get you to join...which is how they got me! How could I pass up an extra year of points for free, plus a free cruise on the new ship next year?!

Thanks for the congrats! I'm super excited!

There is nothing better than an afternoon nap to get you refreshed for an evening in the park....we do it as often as we can....everyone is happier when it happens

Naps really DO make everyone happier! We really did need the refresher so we could stay up till 2am!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I know what you mean about Pizza Planet...The food isn't great, but it's PIZZA PLANET, so that makes everything better. Oh, how I love Toy Story!!

I can't wait to see the Nighttastic fireworks!! I like Wishes, but I'm ready for something different. And the fact that everybody keeps raving about them is making me even more excited.

 

[Tracy161]

Just joining in! Great trip so far, and the room pictures look amazing! Hope the new job is going well. Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[mermaid764]

Joining in

The boardwalk looks like a beautiful resort and your room is amazing.

Can't wait to see what your new room looks like