DeeCee735
"How Do You Know of the Key?"
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2001
Good morning
My DH and I arrived on this past Sunday. We flew out of JFK on JetBlue. Surprisingly so our flight was delayed by 50 minutes for no apparent reason. I say surprised because it's the first time for me with JB for a delay with no reason, i.e. storm somewhere. Right off the bat I was disappointed, but still happy to be coming down to BWV.
We took a car service for a quick, very quick stop at Publix and got here before the ME bus. Thank goodness, or I fear we'd still be on the check in line!
I did online check in and fastpass + on the magic bands. Check in still took 45 minutes because there was a glitch with our bands ( I had no problem with it last month at AKV) I don't usually complain, but I must say that I find a tremendous lack of communication between employes across the board at DW. And that I just don't get. Disney is on the cutting edge and a top notch resort destination, so what's up with one speaking to another and relaying info? Horrible....
They stood there staring at the computer screen, did not, upon asking, explain what the problem was. I was ready to go with just a key card and our plastic card tickets, but was worried about losing our FP times in the parks. So we waited. The girl at the desk, very nice, called an assistant front desk manager, Chris, over. He said he would work on it, we should check in and stop back later. How he could work on it without our bands or park tickets is beyond me. Apparently he couldn't, didn't...both, because when we stopped back after unpacking he went home, she went home and no one at the front desk knew anything about it! So we had to start over with a nice young man, also a FD assistant manager., named Luke. He explained the glitch, apparently the system picked up two of me as there was an old icon attached to my name from before mydisneyexperience, but from one of the Disney sites. ( I guess they're moving closer with getting all of that connected into MDE
). My MB was somehow attached to my DH's but not to me and he had his on his MB as well. So, Luke fixed everything....or so we thought! We headed over to big river grille for dinner. We couldn't charge with the bands, so we paid cash and went back to the front desk to reset our pins which apparently needed to be done after the glitch was fixed. That was the end of that, but all in all it killed 2 hours, and as we all know, time is precious on any vacation.
I had only one request on the room....that it be mid hall or closer to elevators. We are at the end. Okay, we totally understand requests are not a guarantee. So not a complaint, just a mention. That being said, room is lovely - a 1 Bdr, immaculate. The drain in sink by tub was clogged, we called and it was fixed immediately. Coffee maker is horrible, doesn't make coffee hot, only warm. I nuke it for a few seconds to heat it better. I will call for a replacement when I have time to wait.
Okay enough of the bad and ugly
On to the good. We headed over to BLT after getting settled and relaxing on the BW, which is alive and bubbling with activity. We met up with friends, also DVC members and went up to TOTW lounge to watch the fireworks and have a drink. We love this lounge, and we especially love hanging with friends here. I, for one, am very happy it's not a full service. To us, it's perfect for just what it is. A meeting place for members and guests for a view and for a cocktail. It hasn't disappointed yet and I've been there a few times.
End of day one and very happy to be here!
Day two: Up early, cleaned Jacuzzi and jumped in! Awesome! Relaxed and ready to go. Made some breakfast in room, and walked over to EPCOT. Rode our FP rides (TT was down again, of course), but we went back later and we were able to ride it. My DH loved the new TT. Headed over for a late lunch to Seasons. We had a couple of appetizers at WS from F&W so we weren't hungry at regular lunchtime. We rode Soarin, our last FP and came "home" for some R&R before heading back to meet our friends for dinner and illuminations.
We ate in La Hacienda for dinner, first time. In short, small portions, high prices and only okay food(the corn ice cream, however, was amazing!...and service was excellent), but we still prefer the restaurant inside the pyramid
Then we walked around toward International Gateway and watched Illuminations (always awesome ) before coming home for the night. The park was very crowded, not too hot and very manageable. That said, one of my fantasies is to have the park and a golf cart or two with some friends all to ourselves.
I'm sure I don't stand alone in that dream
It was a good day.
Day three: I'm the one
sitting on the balcony with my iPad writing my TR
.....to be continued after another day at Disney.
Should we blow off MK and head to Ghiradelli in DTD, the spa or the pool? Oh, decisions decisions! We really are blessed!
Have a magicial day!
My DH and I arrived on this past Sunday. We flew out of JFK on JetBlue. Surprisingly so our flight was delayed by 50 minutes for no apparent reason. I say surprised because it's the first time for me with JB for a delay with no reason, i.e. storm somewhere. Right off the bat I was disappointed, but still happy to be coming down to BWV.
We took a car service for a quick, very quick stop at Publix and got here before the ME bus. Thank goodness, or I fear we'd still be on the check in line!
I did online check in and fastpass + on the magic bands. Check in still took 45 minutes because there was a glitch with our bands ( I had no problem with it last month at AKV) I don't usually complain, but I must say that I find a tremendous lack of communication between employes across the board at DW. And that I just don't get. Disney is on the cutting edge and a top notch resort destination, so what's up with one speaking to another and relaying info? Horrible....
They stood there staring at the computer screen, did not, upon asking, explain what the problem was. I was ready to go with just a key card and our plastic card tickets, but was worried about losing our FP times in the parks. So we waited. The girl at the desk, very nice, called an assistant front desk manager, Chris, over. He said he would work on it, we should check in and stop back later. How he could work on it without our bands or park tickets is beyond me. Apparently he couldn't, didn't...both, because when we stopped back after unpacking he went home, she went home and no one at the front desk knew anything about it! So we had to start over with a nice young man, also a FD assistant manager., named Luke. He explained the glitch, apparently the system picked up two of me as there was an old icon attached to my name from before mydisneyexperience, but from one of the Disney sites. ( I guess they're moving closer with getting all of that connected into MDE
). My MB was somehow attached to my DH's but not to me and he had his on his MB as well. So, Luke fixed everything....or so we thought! We headed over to big river grille for dinner. We couldn't charge with the bands, so we paid cash and went back to the front desk to reset our pins which apparently needed to be done after the glitch was fixed. That was the end of that, but all in all it killed 2 hours, and as we all know, time is precious on any vacation. I had only one request on the room....that it be mid hall or closer to elevators. We are at the end. Okay, we totally understand requests are not a guarantee. So not a complaint, just a mention. That being said, room is lovely - a 1 Bdr, immaculate. The drain in sink by tub was clogged, we called and it was fixed immediately. Coffee maker is horrible, doesn't make coffee hot, only warm. I nuke it for a few seconds to heat it better. I will call for a replacement when I have time to wait.
Okay enough of the bad and ugly
On to the good. We headed over to BLT after getting settled and relaxing on the BW, which is alive and bubbling with activity. We met up with friends, also DVC members and went up to TOTW lounge to watch the fireworks and have a drink. We love this lounge, and we especially love hanging with friends here. I, for one, am very happy it's not a full service. To us, it's perfect for just what it is. A meeting place for members and guests for a view and for a cocktail. It hasn't disappointed yet and I've been there a few times.
End of day one and very happy to be here!
Day two: Up early, cleaned Jacuzzi and jumped in! Awesome! Relaxed and ready to go. Made some breakfast in room, and walked over to EPCOT. Rode our FP rides (TT was down again, of course), but we went back later and we were able to ride it. My DH loved the new TT. Headed over for a late lunch to Seasons. We had a couple of appetizers at WS from F&W so we weren't hungry at regular lunchtime. We rode Soarin, our last FP and came "home" for some R&R before heading back to meet our friends for dinner and illuminations.
We ate in La Hacienda for dinner, first time. In short, small portions, high prices and only okay food(the corn ice cream, however, was amazing!...and service was excellent), but we still prefer the restaurant inside the pyramid
Then we walked around toward International Gateway and watched Illuminations (always awesome ) before coming home for the night. The park was very crowded, not too hot and very manageable. That said, one of my fantasies is to have the park and a golf cart or two with some friends all to ourselves.
I'm sure I don't stand alone in that dreamIt was a good day.
Day three: I'm the one
sitting on the balcony with my iPad writing my TR.....to be continued after another day at Disney. Should we blow off MK and head to Ghiradelli in DTD, the spa or the pool? Oh, decisions decisions! We really are blessed!
Have a magicial day!
What a blast! And the grounds were gorgeous too! Really super fun! I'd do it again in a heartbeat! We finished up about 2 hours later and headed over to Trails End for a hearty yummy lunch and then on the boat to MK. This is where we parted ways with our friends, as they were leaving in the late afternoon and had to head back to catch ME. 
Christmas decorations abound and as always, the castle was gorgeous. We had MB's but for AKP. I went over to the times board and a lovely CM walked me through the 
