You can spit on Space Mountain from here! An April '13 TR UPDATED 10/19 p. 28

[wdwgirl03]

Very cool video! That is a great view.

Did you find it noisy when you were trying to sleep?

Glad you enjoyed the video!

No, I really didn't find it noisy at all. Like my dad said, I was pretty tired at the end of each day!

aewsome ,but i wonder what that large clearing is gonna be across from the parking lot

I was wondering the same thing. I have no idea what's going on.

That view is so awesome. That is it .... I'm booking one next year !!

haha, do it!

I didn't hear anything when I was trying to sleep. Closing the balcony door seems to block the noise out. Plus, I was pretty tired by the end of our busy days.

Same here.

If your mission was to make me homesick, then you have succeeded my friend.

But really. Best resort ever.

Aww, I'm sorry. But atleast you get to go back to WDW in a few weeks!

It really was a great resort and my opinion of the Contemporary has definitely changed!

Enjoying your trip Report. I check into BLT one bedroom lake view on May 5th ! Can't wait !

Woo hoo, how exciting!

What an awesome video of your view!!! It is really amazing how much you could see from your balcony!

Yes it was! I loved it. Wish I was there now (especially since it still seems to be winter here in Wisconsin. Ugh!).

If you've never stayed there, the hallways by the elevators of BLT have large windows with views toward both the MK and the lake. Both views are magnificent.

Agreed! So even if you don't stay in a theme park view room you can get some great pictures!

I always enjoy your reports. Also from SE Wisc

Aww, thank you! I love hearing from fellow Wisconsinites, so thanks for your comment.

 

[cmbpanda]

I'm enjoying reading & following along. I'm from the UK & we stayed in a TPV room at CR for 2 weeks from EAster until 11 April, so we were there same time as you. It was our first trip to Florida & we loved it. The view was amazing. I loved watching the fireworks from the balcony & my Son loved watching the monorails. I will now be reliving it all through TRs & all our pics

 

[wdwgirl03]

I'm enjoying reading & following along. I'm from the UK & we stayed in a TPV room at CR for 2 weeks from EAster until 11 April, so we were there same time as you. It was our first trip to Florida & we loved it. The view was amazing. I loved watching the fireworks from the balcony & my Son loved watching the monorails. I will now be reliving it all through TRs & all our pics

Welcome! How exciting that you just took your first trip, and at the Contemporary with a theme park view nonetheless! I hope my TR can help you relive some of your memories.

 

[wdwgirl03]

OK, now that photobucket seems to be working (atleast for the moment), I can finally post my update! YAY!

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013 cont'd (part 2)

One of the obvious perks of staying at the Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower is the ability to walk to the Magic Kingdom. So there was really no question that we would have to start off our trip with a quick visit there! Plus, there were still a few hours before Emma's shift ended so we had some time to kill before she arrived at BLT.

The walk to the MK is pretty nice. There is a walkway and you have to cross the street once before the walkway continues. I would say it takes about 10 minutes or so (maybe shorter if you walk fast) to get from the resort to the park entrance.

It was so nice to finall be going through the Disney turnstiles again (oh, and also getting some more use out of my annual pass!) and walking down Main Street.

We didn't really have any plans for the evening as far as rides go (after all, we'd be back nice and early the next morning for EMH!). Originally, I had talked about doing the Little Mermaid ride but apparently Dad talked to Emma a couple days earlier and he said she wanted to be there for my first visit to New Fantasyland. Maybe she thought I was going to freak out or something--I have no idea.

So we started off heading toward Adventureland and Frontierland because then I got the idea of riding Thunder Mountain in the dark if it wasn't too crazy. See, BTMRR was closed during our trip last April and I was dying to ride it again. Yeah, that idea didn't work out too well. As we got closer to Frontierland I realized that I hadn't heard a single scream coming from Splash Mountain. For some reason it wasn't even running-and there wasn't any water coming down the mountain. So that made the wait time for Thunder Mountain even worse than I might have expected Sadly Thunder Mountain was just going to have to wait until the morning.

We then backtracked toward Fantasyland where I got my first glimpse of the new Rapunzel bathroom/rest area. I had seen a lot of pictures and since I love Tangled, I couldn't wait to see it in person. Oh my god, it is gorgeous! The amount of detail for a BATHROOM is sort of mind-boggling. And the lights! So pretty.

Once I got my couple pictures of the Rapunzel area, we continued on through Fantasyland. Yeah, the place was pretty packed. Even it's a small world had a line-a sure sign that it's busy! Eventually we reached the gates to New Fantasyland. Dad asked me if I wanted to go in. I was torn because part of me wanted to but I also wanted to wait until morning when Emma was there and I could see it in all its glory. So...believe it or not I decided against going in. Atleast for the time being... Instead we went to Storybook Circus. Last April we had seen some of the area after Dumbo was partially open so it wasn't completely new. Though I did love seeing the completed project. At night it's all lit up and even cuter, if that's possible.

One of my goals for the trip was to meet all of the newer characters, including the ones at Pete's Silly Side Show. I had quite a few on my list, so I figured if I could meet a couple of them right away I'd be off to a good start.

Because I'm one of the last people in the DIS universe to actually see New Fantasyland, this probably is old news to most of you. But the way Pete's Silly Side Show is set up is that Minnie and Daisy are on one side, while Goofy and Donald are on the other. Both sides had similar wait times but the Minnie/Daisy side was a little shorter. So we chose them. The wait was about 15 minutes before we got our pictures!

How adorable are Minnie and Daisy in their circus outfits?! I love it.

After meeting the characters we headed back through Storybook Circus and took a quick walk through New Fantasyland. The Little Mermaid only had a 30 minute wait, which was tempting but once again I decided to wait until morning. At some point I peeked through the little window they have on the construction walls for the mine train ride and tried to get a picture of that. Some guy noticed that I was looking through there and was then curious as to what was behind those walls. He seemed disgusted when he realized it was just construction. haha

When we got back to Main Street, the parade was just about to start so we stopped to watch. Sorry for the ppor quality of some of these pictures, but we were a couple rows back and I was still trying to figure out how to use some of the settings on my new camera!

Then, knowing we'd be back in a few short hours, we walked back to the Contemporary so we could get our breakfast for the week. If you've read any of my other TRs, you might know that my family always likes to get a few groceries to keep in our room. We like to eat breakfast before going to the parks, not to mention it saves us money. We got our typical cereal, muffins, and orange juice. I also had to get a Mickey ice cream sandwich. YUM.

(blurry picture! This is what happens when you're walking and trying to operate a camera at the same time)

The cool thing about leaving when we did was that we got back to our room in time to watch Wishes from our balcony!!!

Can you tell I was quickly becoming obsessed with the view???

It may not be the same as watching it on Main Street (in fact, I should just mention it now...we never even saw Wishes from Main Street on this trip. Not once. I know, maybe I'm crazy, but when you can see the fireworks from your room every night, I don't feel the need to go see it. The same thing happened last year at the Boardwalk-never once did we go see Illuminations at Epcot! Something must be wrong with me).

Anyway...

When Wishes was over I took a quick shower, put on my pajamas, and made myself comfortable. In case you are wondering, here is what the studios at BLT look like:

Towel Mickey!

I wish I could just move in there, or atleast make my bedroom look like this. The artwork (in fact, ALL of the artwork around BLT) was awesome. Actually, in one of my random ebay searches, I came across a few auctions for the Mickey print that is hanging above the bed! It was apparently a giveaway before BLT opened. I am so tempted to buy one because I LOVE IT.

Emma would be over soon! Around 11:15 I heard a little knock on our door. She made it!!!!! It was so nice seeing her again after three months and we had some Easter/birthday/random goodies for her that we didn't mail. The only bad thing was that she seemed pretty tired (her shifts at work are pretty crazy) and she was also a little bit sick. But atleast she was with us and I couldn't wait to hang out with her during the week!

 

[marDgreen88]

Oh dang, too bad everything was so busy! At least you still got to go have fun at MK! Ahhhh. The new character area looks so adorable! That's the one thing I'm allowing myself to look at pictures of (mostly because I saw Storybook Circus incomplete last August). SO CUTE!

There is absolutely NOTHING that can compare to watching Wishes from your own private balcony. NOTHING. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I'm surrounded by people next time.

Yay for seeing Emma!!!

 

[rachel09985]

I am in!!

I hate those messages from my mom that say "Call me". They make me sooo worried.

I noticed you have those Skechers Go Walks. Are they comfortable?

 

[caralyn817]

I have done that to with the fireworks. The view is amazing and I would be out there every night. Could you hear the wishes music to go with the fireworks? I'm known for spending more time on the balcony watching the animals when we stay at AKL.

 

[MEK]

Subbing. Love the title. I too have completed my mission of staying at all the east coast DVC resorts. The west coast will need to wait. Looking forward to more

 

[jwwi]

I will start off by saying that I loved that you and your Dad wore your Brewers gear to MK. It was opening day, wasn't it? It would have been hard to take a bus or monorail to another park, with the MK right there for you. You made a great choice.
I stayed with my sister at BLT in 2011, we had a lake view room, I think it was on the 12th floor. We really loved watching the boats move across the lake. At night, and in the morning the large boat that carries people from the TTC to MK and back is "put away" for the night. That was cool to watch too! Our view faced the CR pool/boat landing and WL.
I too fell in love with all the artwork at the BLT, it was cool that each floor had a different picture outside of the elevator too. Your view from your room is so amazing, it really is perfect for fireworks viewing. Don't feel bad that you didn't want to be in the MK with the crush of all the other people!
I am also getting close to staying at all DVC resorts. Just Boardwalk and SSR to go.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh dang, too bad everything was so busy! At least you still got to go have fun at MK! Ahhhh. The new character area looks so adorable! That's the one thing I'm allowing myself to look at pictures of (mostly because I saw Storybook Circus incomplete last August). SO CUTE!

There is absolutely NOTHING that can compare to watching Wishes from your own private balcony. NOTHING. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I'm surrounded by people next time.

Yay for seeing Emma!!!

Yeah, it was a bummer but really not too surprising. OK, I'm glad I didn't spoil anything for you. I will warn you now that the next update might have some new Fantasyland pictures. So I'll have to put a big warning in that post too.

haha, the one thing that is nice about Main Street is that you can hear the music a lot better. And I think it's a little more emotional.

It was great seeing her again!

I am in!!

I hate those messages from my mom that say "Call me". They make me sooo worried.

I noticed you have those Skechers Go Walks. Are they comfortable?

Yay, welcome!

It was definitely not something we wanted to hear but atleast the car got fixed.

Yes, the Go Walks are really comfortable! They are also so lightweight! I only wore them a couple of times in the parks but they worked out pretty well.

I have done that to with the fireworks. The view is amazing and I would be out there every night. Could you hear the wishes music to go with the fireworks? I'm known for spending more time on the balcony watching the animals when we stay at AKL.

Oh, we were out there pretty much every night. It's hard not to when you're right there! And yes, we could hear the music though some nights it was easier to hear than others depending on the wind. Ohhhh, animal watching at AKL is AWESOME! I could spend all day just doing that!

Subbing. Love the title. I too have completed my mission of staying at all the east coast DVC resorts. The west coast will need to wait. Looking forward to more

Welcome! Yay for staying at all of the DVC resorts! Do you have a favorite in WDW? Dad and I have talked about it and it's really hard for us to pick a favorite because they're all so different. But staying at the Boardwalk Villas and Bay Lake Tower on my last two trips was pretty awesome! I really hope to get back to Disneyland some day to stay at the Grand Californian, and once the Grand Floridian Villas are done I'll have to stay there!

I will start off by saying that I loved that you and your Dad wore your Brewers gear to MK. It was opening day, wasn't it? It would have been hard to take a bus or monorail to another park, with the MK right there for you. You made a great choice.
I stayed with my sister at BLT in 2011, we had a lake view room, I think it was on the 12th floor. We really loved watching the boats move across the lake. At night, and in the morning the large boat that carries people from the TTC to MK and back is "put away" for the night. That was cool to watch too! Our view faced the CR pool/boat landing and WL.
I too fell in love with all the artwork at the BLT, it was cool that each floor had a different picture outside of the elevator too. Your view from your room is so amazing, it really is perfect for fireworks viewing. Don't feel bad that you didn't want to be in the MK with the crush of all the other people!
I am also getting close to staying at all DVC resorts. Just Boardwalk and SSR to go.

Yes it was opening day! Dad tried watching the game on his iPad with the Wi-Fi on the plane but it didn't work too well. Though I think he did listen on the radio.

Oh, that is cool about the boat! Where do they put it away?

Yeah, the artwork by the elevators was really cool. I think the one on our floor was Peter Pan. I wish I would have seen more of the pictures.

I hope you can stay at the BWV and SSR soon! You know I loved the Boardwalk, and SSR is great too (but then again I am biased because it is our official "home" ).

 

[Bridora]

Love love love that view! I really want to stay there again!

I noticed you're wearing those new shoes in your pics with Daisy and Minnie - they are cute; were they comfy?

I won't be seeing New Fantasyland for another month, so at least you're not THE LAST the see it!

 

[deannaf87]

Subbing! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[FancyNancy]

Great update! You actually are not the last person to see the new FL Expansion. I am! 5 more days though! Aaaah I can't wait.

 

[MEK]

Welcome! Yay for staying at all of the DVC resorts! Do you have a favorite in WDW? Dad and I have talked about it and it's really hard for us to pick a favorite because they're all so different. But staying at the Boardwalk Villas and Bay Lake Tower on my last two trips was pretty awesome! I really hope to get back to Disneyland some day to stay at the Grand Californian, and once the Grand Floridian Villas are done I'll have to stay there!



.

Right now I think my favorite is the BWV. I had the most awesome room view there in October. I just fell in love.

As far as non WDW - I just back from HHI and I love it there. Great resort.

Love your room view. No wonder you quickly got obsessed with it. Just lovely. Despite not going into Fantasyland I think you had a great start to your trip.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love love love that view! I really want to stay there again!

I noticed you're wearing those new shoes in your pics with Daisy and Minnie - they are cute; were they comfy?

I won't be seeing New Fantasyland for another month, so at least you're not THE LAST the see it!

ME TOO! Though I don't think that will be happening for a while. The only downside to some of the other DVC resorts is that they use a lot more points than SSR!

Yes, the shoes were very comfortable. In a way they're similar to crocs because they're so lightweight.

haha, well, you are going to LOVE New Fantasyland! It's amazing!

Subbing! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Welcome!

Great update! You actually are not the last person to see the new FL Expansion. I am! 5 more days though! Aaaah I can't wait.

Woo hoo, getting so close! I wish I could go again.

Right now I think my favorite is the BWV. I had the most awesome room view there in October. I just fell in love.

As far as non WDW - I just back from HHI and I love it there. Great resort.

Love your room view. No wonder you quickly got obsessed with it. Just lovely. Despite not going into Fantasyland I think you had a great start to your trip.

We had an amazing view at the BWV last year too. Did you have a Boardwalk view?

I would love to try Hilton Head sometime. But really, which of the DVC resorts do I NOT want to try?

We did technically walk through New Fantasyland on our way out but we didn't do anything there. It was a little bit hard but I knew I'd get to see it in the morning!

 

[MEK]

We had an amazing view at the BWV last year too. Did you have a Boardwalk view?

No better (IMHO)



5th floor studio pool/garden view. Loved it.

I would love to try Hilton Head sometime. But really, which of the DVC resorts do I NOT want to try?

It's really a great resort. I hope you are able to visit it some day.

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm in and all caught up

Oh my gosh that view is just amazing After the BWV view and now the MK view you must be spoiled!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Nermel9]

Sorry I'm so late but I'm here!

Yay for finally being back in Disney I know you've waited a long time for this trip!

Wow your view from BLT is amazing! If we had that view, maybe I would have liked BLT a little more!

Going to MK that night was a great idea, since you could see it from your balcony! I don't know how you had the self restraint to not see New Fantasyland though!

OMG the Tangled bathrooms are so cute! I can't believe I can't wait to go back to Disney to see bathrooms!

 

[wdwgirl03]

No better (IMHO)



5th floor studio pool/garden view. Loved it.



It's really a great resort. I hope you are able to visit it some day.

Oh wow, that is a great view! Dad and I had a Boardwalk view which we loved!

But if I ever get back to the Boardwalk I might have to try a room with that view! So cool.

I hope I can get to HHI too!

I'm in and all caught up

Oh my gosh that view is just amazing After the BWV view and now the MK view you must be spoiled!

Looking forward to reading more!

Hi Dawn! Welcome!

haha yes, I have been VERY spoiled on these last couple trips!

Sorry I'm so late but I'm here!

Yay for finally being back in Disney I know you've waited a long time for this trip!

Wow your view from BLT is amazing! If we had that view, maybe I would have liked BLT a little more!

Going to MK that night was a great idea, since you could see it from your balcony! I don't know how you had the self restraint to not see New Fantasyland though!

OMG the Tangled bathrooms are so cute! I can't believe I can't wait to go back to Disney to see bathrooms!

No worries! Glad you are here now.

Yes it was a long (and sometimes hard) wait but somehow I survived.

Yeah, the view was pretty incredible. We could not have asked for more! Man, I wish I could go back.

OMG the bathrooms were adorable. I can't believe there was that much detail in a bathroom area. It really felt like you walked right into Tangled!

 

[wdwgirl03]

OK everyone, so this next update is going to be posted in two parts. I know there are some people who have yet to see New Fantasyland (cough...Marissa...cough) and do not want to see pictures. The first update will be New Fantasyland-free, other than a few Storybook Circus pictures. The second update will include pictures of New Fantasyland. I will give you another warning at the end of this post.

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

After a pretty good night's sleep (considering it was our first night-I don't usually sleep very well on our first night of vacation but the bed was so comfy!) it was time for 7 AM Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom!

If you've read any of my other spring break trip reports, you know that my dad and I LOVE those early early openings. We are usually able to get so much done because for the first couple of hours the park is pretty much dead. Needless to say when the park hours came out for our trip, I geeked out when they were showing 7 AM openings for our trip (of course that also means that they're expecting big crowds but oh well...it is so EXCITING to be waking up with the park. I love it!).

But anyway...

Dad was up before Emma and I were, getting ready for the day. I think I finally got out of bed around 6:00 and ate a poptart for breakfast. It was nice "sleeping in" for 7 AM EMH because normally we'd be leaving around 6:00 to get a bus. But since we could just walk over to the Magic Kingdom...

Like I mentioned, Emma seemed pretty tired when she got to our room the night before (and really, who can blame her? Most shifts she works until midnight or later) so she didn't get up until 6:20. When she did finally get up she realized that in attempting to put stuff together to bring over, she forgot a jacket. It can be pretty chilly that early in the morning before the sun rises, so I let her borrow my extra sweatshirt. Then at 6:40 or so we started our walk over to the Magic Kingdom for the welcome show!

As we got closer to the entrance/bag check I noticed there seemed to be a lot more people there already as compared to what we've experienced in the past. I'm not going to lie, that kind of annoyed me. Maybe word has gotten out about the greatness of 7 AM EMH (or maybe more people read my TRs than I thought...) because I really was kind of surprised. I'm not saying it was packed but there were definitely more people than I had expected.

And then we weren't even through the bag check yet when the music started for the opening show! GAH! OK, so we didn't miss a ton of it but we are rarely late for the opening show. Maybe we were a little too relaxed in leaving our room that morning. So the only picture I have of the welcome show is from outside the turnstiles. Oh well. Atleast we didn't have to wait too long to get in!

Good morning Cinderella Castle! Can you tell it was a little foggy that morning?

Before the trip, I was trying to figure out if we should go to Tomorrowland first like we always do, or head for Fantasyland. Well, tradition won out.

As badly as I wanted to get into New Fantasyland, I just could not imagine starting our first morning at the Magic Kingdom with something other than Space Mountain. Such a classic!

From there we went to Buzz Lightyear. Emma rode by herself, and Dad and I rode together. As usual, Dad beat me. It looks like Dad scored 297,300. It is probably a good thing you can't see my score. I'm going to blame it on my laser...

Now that we had our traditional first rides out of the way it was finally time for NEW FANTASYLAND!!!!!! I had been looking forward to this (especially the Little Mermaid ride) for months and I was finally getting closer to experiencing it all for the first time!

We made a quick stop in Storybook Circus to ride Dumbo because there wasn't much of a wait (we just bypassed the Big Top, but it did look cute).

And then...as we continued walking...

(HERE COMES THE NEW FANTASYLAND PART!!!!!!)