Oddball TR-- Solo Resort-hopping, Budget, non-foodie, DVCs/off-site month long

[mecllap]

On our last trip, my daughter and grandson really enjoyed the Crush N Gusher coasters but we were afraid for me to try it because of my creaky hip and back issues. This trip I went for it. I did say to the attendant that I wasn't sure I could climb the steps carrying the raft, and he let me use the elevator (I am 68 after all) -- I went down 3 times and loved it!



I only rode the family raft ride once at BB (as part of a group with one couple, and one triple) -- it has some hard bumps on the bottom and wasn't as much fun with that many strangers as I remembered.



My favorite thing at both is still the Lazy Rivers -- really like the addition of the square "noodles" to rest my neck on at Blizzard Beach (except for the folks who think they need to have a constant battle going with them -- pounding each other and the water near other people who are trying to enjoy a ride along the river).

 

[glaserjm]

We haven't tried any of the water parks yet...but it's on the agenda for an upcoming trip. I haven't been to any waterpark since I was little, but I'm assuming Disney likely does them at a whole other level than our local one from when I was a kid!

VWL look really nice, DH really loves the look of WL and I think it will be one of our chosen resorts in the not too distant future. Even though it's not a monorail resort, the boat to MK and its proximity to all of the other MK resorts is awesome!

 

[mecllap]

The Vero Beach Resort is charming, but I'm not likely to return there. I made the mistake of heading down the turnpike to Vero Beach to get there, and that is the wrong way to go. VBR is actually 8 or so miles north of VB proper, and you can't get back up there on Hiway A1A (on the coast). I spent Mother's Day weekend there, and it was rather stormy, and we had a late night fire alarm in the Inn building. I had a great view and liked my room. Not much to do in the area. I guess I'm spoiled by the Grand Cayman beaches, didn't care much for the beach there, altho there was some fun shelling.

 

[mecllap]

Earlier in the trip one of my day trips included a short visit to the Disney Wilderness Preserve (got rained out, but didn't appear to be much there; it's a site under restoration) and to Lake Wales to the Bok Tower Gardens, National Historic Landmark. I visited McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach, which is a pleasant place.

Bok Tower is well worth the visit for those interested in a lovely garden with an interesting history; there is also an interesting house to visit on the site. The Tower is beautiful, and the story of Edward Bok, an advocate of world peace, is well worth learning. http://boktowergardens.org/tower-gardens

 

[mecllap]

Back to WDW for a split stay at BWV -- first in a Boardwalk view -- which ended up being Room 2047, an accessible room right over the Screen Door, which really only had a view if I stood on my tippy-toes to peer over the high railing. Brian the Magician performed right under that area, tho; that was fun.

My second room was a "preferred" pool/garden view 4106 which was almost totally blocked by a tree, straight over the quiet pool with a glimpse of the Tower of Terror off to the left, and the Swan off to the right. Oh well, guess I'll just go with standard rooms if/when I stay at BWV, which I enjoy overall in spite of the bad parking and lack of back entry elevator.

So, to compare the regular room with accessible room (which I did not request) -- the HA room has no closet, and much more floor space. No counter space in the bathroom, and of course, no tub. Sink is in the same room with toilet and shower (no counter). And at least in this room and its next door neighbor, a virtually useless balcony.





I did like the location of the rooms in the resort, and it was great that they were able to put me in the second room as soon as I checked out of the first. I think the Boardwalk is my favorite location at WDW and I think it has the best pool slide (no problem for me with the fun clown pool).

 

[mecllap]

It took me several days into the trip before I made it to DHS. Went one day to catch my fave attractions (no TOT or RRNC for me). Made it to rope drop three days for Star Wars Weekend. Looked like some filming for a new commercial was going on -- "You can put your hands in Michael J. Fox's handprints!" The car driver character was enthusiastic about my blue hair streaks (as were most of the talking characters). I asked a passing Photopass photog if she had a moment to snap a shot with my camera at the umbrella, which was actually working, so I got the "Singin' in the Rain" pic captured.



I walked from BWV to DHS one Star Wars morning before the boats started, because a maintenance guy "lied" to me that they weren't starting in time (he wanted to work in the dock area). Got some nice photos because the water was so still. One of my earliest Disneyland memories is of the Monsanto House of the Future, so it was fun to see it in one of the exhibits, since I have no photos of that early trip. And the bottom photo of the entry is just my last view from the tram as I was leaving on my last day -- I had been the only person on my incoming tram (the guy on the mike even commented on it), and I was one of 5 on the tram leaving that Star Wars morning (had parked close enough to walk, I guess).

 

[mecllap]

I am an Original Series Star Trek fan, and not so much a Star Wars fan (except for Han Solo and Chewbacca) -- but the SWW event is really a lot of fun, and I had a great time, even with the two-hour wait for Chewie that a bunch of us suffered through the first day. Had a really fun R2D2 experience (thanks to his handler (in the hat and shorts off to the side)), and got lots of really fun photos. Rope drop, being able to do two weekends, and learning where to be when was pretty essential, and I don't even try to do the autographs.

 

[quinnc19]

You are an inspiration! I hope I am doing as well when the time comes.

 

[mecllap]

This one of my premade pages ended up being pretty much a "fail." I had good intentions of actually "pool-hopping" during my DVC stays, but I didn't even manage to get into the pools at every place I stayed (most, but not all). I did visit some other resorts to check them out, tho. I now have stayed at all the DVCs (except Aulani) -- some just for one night in a studio, and looked at (and stayed at a few) other resorts, except for All Star Music and Sports (have stayed at Movies, and Pop Century, back in the day). Love the look of Art of Animation -- it's worth a visit just to see it. And if I ever need to stay in a moderate again, Caribbean Beach is calling to me.



I actually played a few holes of golf at Oak Trail; it was my first time on a real course in several years, so I just used the junior tees. It was kind of jammed up with groups, so I quit after 5 or 6 holes, since it didn't cost much with the PAP. Even kept it in the fairway a couple of times!



My skill level is much higher at mini-golf, and gotta love those decorations. A passing CM helped me get the good photo of Chernabog by stomping on the pad that activates his projection (one of my fave villains -- 2nd to Maleficent). Fantasia is my all-time favorite film -- best use of celluloid ever!
I was disappointed that my favorite hole with Bacchus was undergoing refurb! But glad that the course was not closed.

 

[mecllap]

Since this was a solo trip, without my grandson along, and I am now almost THIN for the first time in many years, I had a lot of fun with character photos that he would never consider, so pardon my indulging in more "selfies." The teal blue streaks I had in each side of the front of my hair made for lots of fun conversations with characters and CMs -- and made it easy for them to remember me if they saw me again (I did duplicates if I had a different outfit, or didn't like the way something turned out, since I had plenty of time, and wouldn't have a chance to do this again). Got a rare disapproving face from someone about my hair from other people (even a couple of little girls, who just weren't sure that it was okay for an old lady, I guess) -- but most people smiled, and isn't that why we're all at WDW?

 

[mecllap]

This isn't my final post, but this is the end of my overview scrapbook. I did a page for fireworks, and then didn't really take many photos for it. I LOVE fireworks, and watched them a lot, but have taken way too many photos over the years. I did take photos of the barges as they were coming into the lagoon for set-up at Epcot. Interesting to see up close how they are set to go.



On the way home, I added another National Park to my check-off list (I'm getting to as many of them as I can, altho about 9-10 of them are extremely difficult to get to, so I can't do them all). My stop at Congaree NP in South Carolina was much too brief, but it's close enough to home that I can make another trip there to see more of it. I used to work in Environmental Education and used a slightly different Pogo cartoon with the same message -- it was interesting to see it in an NPS display: "We have met the enemy and he is us." Walt Kelly, about littering and trashing our environment.

 

[longneckthree]

Congrads on the weight loss and the extended trip. I really enjoyed your doing things differently than other people - gets me more excited for my upcoming trip in Nov.