You Get a Suite! You Get a Suite! Everybody Gets a Suite! December 2023 Trip Report! (RL Update 10/6!!)

[VAtink]

I can’t wait to hear about your stay at the boardwalk!! I am hoping DH and I can stay there a few nights next year for our 20th anniversary!!

I'm excited about this, I've never stayed on the Villa side before, although I imagine it'll be pretty similar to the hotel side, just a slightly longer walk to Epcot!

I think the Boardwalk was the right choice - a great resort with easy access to Epcot. I loved being able to walk right into Epcot - so easy! Although I know you’ll spend a lot of time at the food booths with your mom, there’s nothing wrong with getting a jump start!

Yeah, that was the big selling factor, being able to walk to Epcot is amazing. I can't wait to start trying the food at F&W, I hope they release the menus soon!

 

[VAtink]

Day 6, Part 2: More Decorations, and the Skyliner!​

We last left off heading to the YC to check out the decorations there!



We arrived at the YC and of course took tons of pictures!





I loved the train set, it was so cute, especially all the little nods to things around the YC and BC.



I also got a quick video of the train.
​

https://flic.kr/p/2pW33oZ

The gingerbread lighthouse was also pretty impressive, although I liked the carousel at the BC better.






Remember when this boat actually existed out in the lake?

After finishing up our pictures at the YC, we decided to do something special for my dad…ride the skyliner!

He really wanted to ride it, and since we had plenty of time, we figured we might as well!





We only took it to Riviera, where I wanted to get off and see the hotel since I’ve never been before!









We took a bunch of pictures around, swung by the bathrooms, then hopped back on the skyliner back to Epcot. On the way back I got the text that our room was ready! Wahoo!

Once we got back to Epcot we made our way to the side “secret” entrance to the BC, and made our way up to our room.

Next up: Our New Room!​

 

[VAtink]

Day 6, Part 3: Our New Room!​

We last left off heading back to the BC to see our new room. We entered through the side entrance and made our way through all the winding halls until we finally got to our room.

The location of the room was pretty amazing, even though we weren’t on the club level floor. We were on the second floor, just a short hall from the elevators, and being on the second floor there was also the stairs directly to the lobby only a 30ish second walk away! You can see our room below, circled in red, just down that short hall from the elevators.



(yes, I drew in the stairs to the lobby! )

We were in a one bedroom suite here, and I was pleasantly surprised that the room was nothing like the rooms I had seen online prior to the trip!













I also put together a video of the room:

The bedroom was massive, had a king bed and a sleeper sofa, then the living room had a murphy bed, and there was a solid door between the two! (The pictures online had a glass door between them). The only thing I didn’t like about the room was there were no tables in the living room, so at night even though there were plugs on the side of the murphy bed, there was no surface to actually put my phone! Oh, and the door in front of the fridge/beverage cooler was lattice, and for some reason the light in the fridge would not turn off, so it was like having a very bright nightlight on all night. I ended up putting my big suitecase up against it to block the light which worked out really well, but still such an odd design choice.

The room also had a MASSIVE balcony!





I feel like we got lucky with this, all the one-bedroom suites above us only had the Julliette balconies, so it was really nice having such a big one.

There was also a fake balcony, which was odd. Like this balcony had the better view, but there was no way to access it unless we crawled over the railings...



After we got settled into the room, we checked out our welcome gifts.



I liked that the BC included water bottles in their welcome gifts, none of the other CLs had done that.

We also tried calling bell services to have our bags brought up, but every time we called the line was busy. So after a few minutes of trying I decided to just run downstairs since it was literally less than a minute from the room. The CMs down there told us they’d be up in a minute with our bags, so back upstairs we went to wait for them.

Sure enough, within 5 minutes they were there with our bags!

Next up: New Future World! (Nope, never going to stop calling it that)​

 

[Wood Nymph]

We only took it to Riviera, where I wanted to get off and see the hotel since I’ve never been before!

The Riviera is impressive. I don't think I'd like to stay there, though.

The bedroom was massive, had a king bed and a sleeper sofa, then the living room had a murphy bed, and there was a solid door between the two!

Your suite was huge. It looks like you had a handicapped room.

The room also had a MASSIVE balcony!

I love the balcony. You were really lucky with this room.

 

[VAtink]

The Riviera is impressive. I don't think I'd like to stay there, though.

I agree, it's nice to visit, but not somewhere I'd want to stay.

Your suite was huge. It looks like you had a handicapped room.

Yeah, it was an accessible room, and that master bedroom was massive! So was the bath. The living room area was pretty tiny though, but for just one night it wasn't a big deal. Plus that balcony was amazing. We ended up spending a lot of time out there!

I love the balcony. You were really lucky with this room.

Right? At first I was a bit disappointed to be on the second floor, but when I saw that meant we got that massive balcony I was 100% ok with it! I could spend days out on that balcony, it was so nice!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

You need to try the bar and the food court at the Riviera. I love taking the Skyliner over from Pop and having a drink and a meal there.

 

[VAtink]

You need to try the bar and the food court at the Riviera. I love taking the Skyliner over from Pop and having a drink and a meal there.

Oh really? I didn't even realize Riviera had a food court! What's good at the bar there? I've been contemplating doing a skyliner bar crawl one of these trips!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I didn't even realize Riviera had a food court!

It is similar to a place like Gasparilla's.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Oh really? I didn't even realize Riviera had a food court! What's good at the bar there? I've been contemplating doing a skyliner bar crawl one of these trips!

Well - you and I drink VERY different drinks so fruity girly drinks probably aren't your style. But they do have some unique drinks there and some yummy appetizers as well. The baked brie and the parmesan fries are 2 amazing dishes. And I probably shouldn't have said food court - the quick service restaurant is what I meant. They have some unique dishes as well. I really enjoy the flat breads there (and the parmesan fries as well.) The bonus is you can sit outside if the weather is nice.

 

[VAtink]

It is similar to a place like Gasparilla's.

Ahhh, got it, thanks!

Well - you and I drink VERY different drinks so fruity girly drinks probably aren't your style. But they do have some unique drinks there and some yummy appetizers as well. The baked brie and the parmesan fries are 2 amazing dishes. And I probably shouldn't have said food court - the quick service restaurant is what I meant. They have some unique dishes as well. I really enjoy the flat breads there (and the parmesan fries as well.) The bonus is you can sit outside if the weather is nice.

Haha, I have been known to occasionally indulge in a fruity girly drink, although you are correct, I'm typically not into the super sweet stuff!

Baked brie sounds amazing, as does the parmesan fries, and now I'm craving cheese

 

[VAtink]

Day 6, Part 4: New Future World! (Nope, never going to stop calling it that)​

We last left off getting into our new room at the Beach Club!

After settling in and resting for a bit, we made our way back upstairs to the lounge to pick up some more snacks and wine, and brought it all back downstairs to enjoy out on our massive balcony.



We ended up spending a lot of time out there, it was a beautiful day and it was so relaxing out on the balcony.

Around 3:00 we got ready for our afternoon plans, and were out the door by 3:15!



Our first stop was the BC where mom wanted to pick up some goodies at the store.



We swung by our room once again to drop everything off, then made our way over to Epcot!


(our stash for later)

We slowly made our way towards the front of the park, it was slow going since WS was packed this afternoon! (Thanks NPH )

When we got to the stage at the entrance to WS, we saw that Joyful was performing, so we stopped to watch them for a little while.

They were so good, I wish we had time to watch them for longer, but we had places to be!

After watching Joyful for a bit, we made our way into the newly opened world celebration area! Of course we took pictures









It’s nice, however I think it was a mistake removing the fountain. I do like the many seating areas though, I hope during Food and Wine they utilize that space for some food booths.

Also, weird aside, I had a dream about Food and Wine last night, and in it Disney finally brought back Party for the Senses, but decided to put it in the new Communicore Hall, which ended up being way too small for the event so there were no tables and we were all squished in and no one was enjoying it. And yeah, that was it. Haha, apparently my subconscious was not very impressed with this new flex space.

Anyways, back to the trip! After checking out the newly opened Future World we made our way over to the Seas to check in for our dinner reservation at the Coral Reef around 3:55.

Next up: Coral Reef for the First Time Since the 90s!​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I love that you plan ahead for nighttime drinks and treats! You are pros!! Agree with you - will always be Future World to me. Just walked through yesterday and it's so nice to have all the walls down and be able to walk straight through. I am, however, pretty underwhelmed with the end product and cannot fathom how what we got took as long as it did. I know there was the pandemic and they had to scale their plans back but still. I wish I could say that Disney would never be so 'dumb' as to try to host PFTS in that space but ...

 

[Wood Nymph]

We ended up spending a lot of time out there, it was a beautiful day and it was so relaxing out on the balcony.

That is a great view. I would have spent a lot of time out there, too.

When we got to the stage at the entrance to WS, we saw that Joyful was performing, so we stopped to watch them for a little while.

I love all the music they have at Epcot. It is hard to catch all of it, though, because there are so many things to do at Christmastime.

It’s nice, however I think it was a mistake removing the fountain

I miss the fountain, too.

 

[VAtink]

I love that you plan ahead for nighttime drinks and treats! You are pros!! Agree with you - will always be Future World to me. Just walked through yesterday and it's so nice to have all the walls down and be able to walk straight through. I am, however, pretty underwhelmed with the end product and cannot fathom how what we got took as long as it did. I know there was the pandemic and they had to scale their plans back but still. I wish I could say that Disney would never be so 'dumb' as to try to host PFTS in that space but ...

Haha, yeah, one of the many reasons we loved club level. Prior to staying in club we would just have a bottle of wine in the room, but it was so nice to just go pick up some glasses to bring back to the room for "free"! Since we knew we liked to have a glass at the end of the night, we definitely made sure to have some glasses waiting for us in the room before we left for the evening.

I can't wait to finally see Epcot without construction walls, although I guess there will probably be walls around TT when we go, but at least we'll finally see the center area wall-less!

I really really hope that they don't try to put PFTS in Communicore Hall, although I can't believe I actually had a dream about it! I do hope they bring it back this year and put it in World Showplace like before. Also hope they bring back some of the other lunches. I really miss all the special events that F&W used to have! At this point I can't imagine why they wouldn't, they had to make money on them, they were always fully booked!

 

[VAtink]

That is a great view. I would have spent a lot of time out there, too.

We loved this view, and got super lucky with the weather as well since it was super comfortable out, so we definitely took advantage of that balcony!

I love all the music they have at Epcot. It is hard to catch all of it, though, because there are so many things to do at Christmastime.

Joyful was amazing, I wish we had time to watch more. I feel like we barely scratched the surface of Festival of the Holidays this trip, so I can't wait to go back next year and really spend a lot of time in Epcot seeing all the festival offerings.

I miss the fountain, too.

Yeah, I'm sad they got rid of it, I feel like they could easily have kept it, or maybe even put a smaller fountain in to their design.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I feel like we barely scratched the surface of Festival of the Holidays this trip, so I can't wait to go back next year and really spend a lot of time in Epcot seeing all the festival offerings.

We are returning in December so that we can see more of the Festival offerings. It will help to have the park hopping restrictions lifted. It was really difficult to see all of the "things" when we couldn't park hop until after 2pm last year.

 

[VAtink]

Day 6, Part 5: Coral Reef for the Frist Time Since the 90s!​

We last left off heading over to Coral Reef for dinner.

We were seated almost immediately after checking in, I was surprised since there were a ton of people checking in who were sent to wait, but I guess they were just super early for their reservations.

We got a pretty good table, on the upper level but on the edge so we had a clear view of the tanks.





We had booked this for the Candlelight Processional Package. We had wanted Biergarten, but the day the reservations opened Biergarten was never available for this night no matter how many times I refreshed, so I booked what I could get.

I’m still a bit salty about this, if they had released the packages at the 60+10 day mark we probably would have gotten what we wanted, but since they didn’t release them until like 45 days before our trip we were competing with SO many people for this date (thanks NPH). Not the first time this has happened either, it seems every time Disney is late to release things that negate our longer trips, we always end up missing out on what we wanted to book whereas if they released things on time we likely would have gotten it. Ugh, stupid Disney.

Anyways, I digress.

After getting seated, we all ordered drinks!





I got the sunset margarita, dad got the pina colava, and mom got something, but I didn’t get a picture nor write it down, oops! I think she may have gotten a margarita as well.

For appetizers I got the artichoke and fish dip, mom got the shrimp cocktail, and dad got the clam chowder.







Mom and dad won this round, both of theirs were better than the artichoke and fish dip. I had considered getting the clam chowder, but being from just outside of Boston, I have little faith in non-New England places being able to make a good one, so I opted for the artichoke and fish dip. Oops! Lesson learned.

For dinner and dessert, we all got the same thing: the mahi-mahi, and then the key lime tart





The food was ok, but I don’t think we would come back unless it was for another dining package and it was the only thing we could get. It’s kinda a bummer, I remember absolutely loving this place in the 90s, but either my tastes have changed, or the quality of the food has gone down (or perhaps both).

It was a nice relaxing meal, until it wasn’t.

While eating, this large family came and got seated at the tables surrounding us, like seriously completely surrounding us. They had the tables directly behind and in front of us, and a table across the aisle. This was a tad annoying being basically in the middle of this family, especially since they all wanted to talk to each other and ended up yelling over us to have their conversations. Not sure why they couldn’t seat us at the end table so this family could sit next to each other rather than having our table in between, but I’ve lost faith in Disney doing logical things over the years!

Crazy enough, these people also had booked the candlelight processional package, but did so accidentally! Like what?!? How the heck do you book it accidentally?!? It was nearly impossible to book intentionally! When the CM came over to explain the pre fixe menu they got really upset saying they didn’t even want to go to the candlelight processional! I felt bad for other families who missed out on the package because families like this didn’t pay attention to what they were booking.

Fortunately, we had already received our entrees when that family arrived, so were about half through dinner, so at least the first half was nice! After dinner we still had a bit of time before we wanted to go wait for the Candlelight Processional, so we decided to go do what I was most looking forward to on this trip: See Living with the Land at night! Yay Christmas light time!!!

Also, random aside, would anyone be interested in a throwback TR? It would mostly be pictures, but my mom has been sending me old photos from past trips, and not only am I loving the old fashion (and omg the 90s angsty/grunge me ), but it’s also kind of fascinating to see how things have changed over the years.

Next up: Living with the Land – Christmas Edition!​

 

[Paulaparm]

Also, random aside, would anyone be interested in a throwback TR? I

Yes!

 

[cassidy57]

Please do the throwback report and pictures. My family has been going every year since 1994 and I am not much of a picture taker. O would love to reminisce with your photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'd love to see your retro pictures! Getting a candlelight package was really hard last year. I wound up at Spice Road Table because that was literally all that was available for John Stamos. Disney is so frustrating in that they basically force us into the early planning with park reservations, dining etc. but then don't follow their own rules and give all the info/tools needed in order to fully plan. For example, we're getting close to 60 days from the start of Food & Wine and know nothing.