DVC Trip # 2 - BLT and BWV Split Stay(Critters and Final comments added)

[Sandisw]

Definitely sounds like such a great day...and, I know have that same Margarita tradition on my list of things to do!!!

Being at BLT does make those late MK hours great for the teens--we loved it last year!!

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

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

Thoroughly enjoying your trip report. However, it is making me really homesick to my BLT!!

 

[franandaj]

Love all the pictures! Keep them coming!

Edited to add: we always stop at the margarita stand outside Mexico. I always get the Patron margarita, I'm a sucker for blue drinks!

 

[cz4ever]

Loving it -- can't wait for the next installment. Sounds like a fun crew!

 

[DVC_Dreamer]

Love all the pictures! Keep them coming!

Edited to add: we always stop at the margarita stand outside Mexico. I always get the Patron margarita, I'm a sucker for blue drinks!

I can understand your passion for blue drinks.

We've tried other flavors but have gravitated back to the traditional lime margarita. It's yummy and potent.

 

[DVC_Dreamer]

"Good Morning, Good Morning, It's fun to stay out late."

That's what the song says at MK park opening. That line is so appropriate for day 3. Our big kids stayed till 2am at MK. They were not moving at 6am as DW and I prepared for MK.

No problem, more fun for DW and I.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

I didn't see Goofy too much so I sometimes have to play the role.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

As you can see, we made rope drop. It's another gorgeous day with low heat, cool breeze and clear skies. I was able to video the entire opening. Our plan is to play in FantasyLand before the kids get there. Now, you can see by the pictures, we had the correct strategy. We walk on easy to all the rides. Amazing how fast you can work the parks with just two people.

I snap a ton of pictures as we make our way through to FantasyLand.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Looking back at Main Street from the Castle steps.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Look how much room we have to play at 9am in FantasyLand. We ride PP and have trouble finding Pooh. The FP distribution is no where near the ride. I'm laughing at our confusion. We find Pooh and ride easy.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Wall of progress happening. I was surprised to see that the new construction extends the entire back side of the park. It goes from behind the race track all the way behind Small World and up to the Haunted Mansion. Can you stand the wait till this expansion is complete?

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28



I zoomed in on this new Castle from the Tea Cups I believe. I couldn't believe how cool this shot looked when I was reviewing it yesterday.
What do you think? What a teaser to us onlookers. It looks like a scale model but I assure you it's the real deal.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Believe it or not, this is our first Tea Cup ride. We enjoyed it and of course giggle the whole ride. No extra spinning, please.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Can two young lovers have more fun? Only bad thing about our first Dumbo ride was that there were so few people in the park that we didn't get a chance to experience the new interactive queue. Oh well, next trip.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

There's a new water feature for kids to play in this area and a bathroom. We skip the water play area but do take advantage of new bathroom. By this time, DSIL calls us to meet her at Small World. Let's go.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Can you believe the crowds now? What a difference a couple hours make?

We ride Small World and at 11am we're hungry. I wanted to eat at Peter Pan Haus but not in mood for flat bread pizza. We settle on Tortuga and a taco salad. We've never eaten here before so that cool to try something new.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

I love watching Capt. Jack's pirate training show with the little kids.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

We ride Pirates, get a FP for Jungle Cruise and go for ice cream on Main Street. Waffle cone sundae.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

On JC, we laugh and take notice of signs while getting on JC. It's great to take in all the little details of the parks and resorts.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

Can we survive the jungle cruise? These guys "lost their heads". We had one of the funniest cruise boat drivers ever. I love the corny jokes.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

We meet up with our sleepy kids at Tortuga and get FP's for Splash. We head over to TomorrowLand and ride Carousel of Progress, Monster, Inc. and Stitch.
We make our FP times all week because we're afraid CM's will turn us away if we're late. Matter of fact, a lady was acting a bit disturbed as she blocked our rush to the FP line. I think she was denied. We get on no problem and beat a huge, over an hour wait line. All week, the FP was awesome.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

After Splash, we split up again and DW and I are alone. We ride HM and back to room to chill a bit before dinner.
I catch a quick picture with this guy on the way out of park. I apologize that my toe nails are not painted and exposed.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

If your following this day closely, notice how we've not left the MK area and how much fun we're having. No buses, no waiting in line and just fun at every turn. Man, I love my BLT and DVC !!!
To that point, for dinner, we grab the monorail at CR and head over to check out GF.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

It's cool to check out the resort and grab a few pictures. DVC here will be cool.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

I order the Italian sandwich at the GF counter service. After ordering, I notice they have a steak sandwich. Bummer, I would have liked to try that. Oh well, the Italian sandwich is fine and I like it with some salad dressing sauce. The chips are to die for. Chips are my favorite junk food and I go for them all week as much as I can.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

I catch a shot of the GF floor art on the way out to the monorail.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-28

On the monorail, DW informs me that dinner cost us $44. I add up in my head what we ordered and it seems to me that we were over charged. Later, back at the room, she finds the receipt and it was $28 for 4 of us. Weird and relieved.
We laugh.
At this time, kids tell us they were cold last night sleeping. DW calls housekeeping for some extra blankets. Did you ever see the Adam Sandler movie, "Mr. Deeds"? Adam has a butler that continues to show up immediately as called and out of nowhere. We call housekeeping and it seems before we hang up the phone, someone knocks on our door and gives us the blankets. We laugh hysterically. We get a similar experience when we call down for some help with the DVC player. The maintenance guy shows up immediately and fixes the issue. The staff at BLT was AWESOME !!!
We're a little sad to begin packing because we're moving to BWV in the morning.

New adventure and location begins tomorrow. Stay tuned....

 

[disney212]

I'm in. Looks like you are having a fantastic trip!

 

[mrsswat]

you guys were having the perfect trip!! Getting me prepped for a DH and I trip leaving Sunday for 5 days! Isn't it great when the kids are old enough to do their own thing but still enjoy doing it as a family? Just on their own time frame of course! DH and I are also morning people and love that time at DW! Also love that walk to MK - something special about not having to hop a monorail or bus! How were the new flip flops working out?

 

[jakenjess]

Excellent report! You're making me want to get back to BLT soon! Looking forward to more!

 

[dizney4us]

Thanks for the trip report! I love following along. Your pictures are wonderful and you have a beautiful family!! We're hoping to try BLT next spring if possible. We'll be at BWV in October for F&W and this report is really getting me excited about that trip! Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

 

[DVC_Dreamer]

Thanks for the trip report! I love following along. Your pictures are wonderful and you have a beautiful family!! We're hoping to try BLT next spring if possible. We'll be at BWV in October for F&W and this report is really getting me excited about that trip! Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

Glad I can spread the good vibes.
I feel the pictures tell the story. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[taaren]

Had to tune in since we have a BLT/BWV split stay coming up in 5 months for our first trip to the World as DVC members!

The pictures are fantastic, and I'm looking forward to reading about your compare and contrast portion of the TR ...

 

[DVC_Dreamer]

Had to tune in since we have a BLT/BWV split stay coming up in 5 months for our first trip to the World as DVC members!

The pictures are fantastic, and I'm looking forward to reading about your compare and contrast portion of the TR ...

This trip report is so for you!

It wasn't long ago that I was in your shoes. Only difference is that we stayed 8 nights last August at BLT for our first DVC trip. We had this split stay to compare the two locations. I do the most pictures I can so you can get the best coverage of the locations you can. And... see all the food we ate...

Keep in mind that when I compare the resorts it will be my personal opinion. What's important to me may not be what's important to you and I'll be sure to point out my bias. I say that because I was discouraged by the somewhat negative opinions about BLT. I can tell you, I'm in the opposite camp on that debate.

Enjoy and please ask me any questions you like.

 

[DVC_Dreamer]

I'm writing today's report on a Saturday and I have lots of pictures to share. Day 4 was an eventful day including our transition to BWV from BLT. This day requires 2 posts! I need to share resort(s), AK, Sanaa and Boardwalk and BWV. Settle in.

DW and I got everybody up early to pack and get ready for the move. We rush around packing 14 bags and tidying up. All in all, we make good time.

I made a point to snap pictures of our 2 bedroom, lake view room. Our room is on the very farthest, north side of the building on the 5th floor.

Master bedroom - I love the king sized bed, mattress, comforter and pillows. I sleep like a baby in this bed. We have so much room and it's amazingly comfortable. I love the two-headed shower including rain and one from the wall. Yes, I could live here easily.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Second view of master looking at master bath.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Living room and kitchen area - This layout and design is great and practical. The chair is a nice pull out bed as well as the couch. I like the kitchen island set up too.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Studio bedroom - Two queens beds is really great and plenty of room. Full bathroom here and there's another in between which give you 3 bathrooms. We never had bathroom challenges in this suite even with a girl to boy ratio of 6:2.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Here's a view from one balcony looking right at Bay Lake.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

I spin around and look left and here's a cheater's view of MK. This view could be described as half MK, half Lake View. The straight ahead shot is mostly trees in front of the lake. If you look carefully, you can see Space Mtn and Castle in background.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We lug our 14 bags of stuff over to CR. I snap a couple shots of this walk and scenery. Sad... I really love this place. Exciting too, I like the adventure of checking out the next resort. Notice the monorail coming from CR. WDW is hopping early in the am. Love it.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Sky bridge, BLT and CR from below the sky bridge.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We learn from a CM after dragging our 14 bags down to bell services that we could have called bell services to bring bags. Oh well, I'm used to doing things myself. I guess it's a tough habit to break. No worries, we check our bags and they tag them for BWV transfer.

We wait for bus to AK and I take my last shot of BLT. Wow, does 3 days of BLT and WDW go fast or what? I swear the clocks run faster at WDW compared to at work.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We don't make rope drop but we're close to it. It's another beautiful day.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We make our way over to Everest. Tell me, is there any more amazing sites than the pictures you get from many angles of Everest and the Tree of Life at AK? Amazing details created by Imagineers !

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

I took my camera on Everest and got this shot up near the top of the ride. Now this shot is beautiful, but a little farther up the track, some Yeti ripped the entire track apart and we had to then ride backwards. (Sick as a dog) I will write a very stern letter to management about this issue. Only consolation is that the newbie teens and young adults in our group actually liked this "problem" and found it exciting. I had to have a light breakfast.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

My group is all smiles despite the rugged train ride up and down the mountain of Everest and surviving the Yeti attack. My stomach, not so happy.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

As if the encounter with a Yeti wasn't enough terror for one day, we travel back in time with Dinosaur's. Here's our horrifying evidence. Consolation was that we did bring back a small dinosaur as requested by tour guide.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Another major goal was attained when we stumbled upon some Pooh characters as we made our way looking for some breakfast. Our friend's favorite character was glad to see us and the feeling was likewise. Tigger is her favorite.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

I got into the fun, too. Tough guys.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We eat breakfast at Pizzafari. All DW and I have are a chocolate mousse and parfait. I'm saving myself for our 2pm late lunch at Sanaa.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We mix with the Bugs. I really got "stung" by the hornets right in the back. All in good fun.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

I love the Birds of Wonder show. I really wanted to be the guy sitting on the wood stump to get the picture of the low flying bird as he makes his way from back to front. You can see that I still got a good picture but a little early. You can see part of his wing on the right.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Against DS's will, we do Lion King show. It's hard to please everybody. I'm not a big fan at first but admit I did enjoy the show.

What's a trip to AK without a picture of the Tree of Life?

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

We begin making our way to AKL for our meal at Sanaa. We say that we'll come back to finish AK but we never do come back. Sad that we miss water rapids, Safari and Gorillas. Next time....

Sanaa is located at Kidani Village which is part of the DVC area of AKL. The restaurant is on the savannah side on the lower level. We have time to tour around before our meal. It's not crowded at all at this 2pm ressie.

Arriving at Kidani.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

Checking in at Sanaa.

By dvc_dreamer at 2012-06-30

I've got a ton of pictures of this area so I'll continue with a new post....

 

[disney1474]

I can't wait any longer!!!!! More pictures!!!!

 

[DVC_Dreamer]

I can't wait any longer!!!!! More pictures!!!!

Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can.

It takes a couple hours to pick, upload pictures and create a trip report. Covering this 4th day may need 3 posts.

P.S. While getting a flat tire repaired this morning, I downloaded the Disboards iPhone app. It's very nice and a great way to review my pictures. Kudos to the Disboards team for this app and user experience.

 

[jekjones1558]

Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can.

It takes a couple hours to pick, upload pictures and create a trip report. Covering this 4th day may need 3 posts.

P.S. While getting a flat tire repaired this morning, I downloaded the Disboards iPhone app. It's very nice and a great way to review my pictures. Kudos to the Disboards team for this app and user experience.

Are you using Disney wifi to upload photos? I had a terrible time and ended up buying 4G data for my iPad because I just couldn't get photos to upload.

 

[Splashboat]

It takes a couple hours to pick, upload pictures and create a trip report. Covering this 4th day may need 3 posts.

As someone who has never taken the time to write a TR, thank you! I really like to read them and see all the pictures. Your TRs are wonderful - the pictures do tell most of the story and you supplement perfectly - enough info... but not too much - if you know what I mean.

 

[debbieandroo]

Loving your TR!

I'm planning to stay at BLT for the first time next spring and your pictures are getting me so excited to do that.

Glad to get a good review of Garden Grill - definitely want to try that some time.

Looking forward to your lunch at Sanaa - that's one of my absolute favorites.

All eight of you were in that two bedroom - pretty impressive!

Your pictures are great - what kind of camera do you have? I'm looking to upgrade soon.

 

[nolanboys]

Glad you had such a good time. DH and I have gone twice without the kids and loved it. You mentioned how much easier it is to get around when it was just you and DW - and I concur. You had a lovely view at BLT. Can't wait for the rest of your TR at BWV.