Nono's trip report BWV 2/4-2/10

[nono]

Here's the "cliffnotes" version:

"It's free."
Welcome Home
Brrrrrrr....
"Where are you guys at now?"
Brrrrrr.....
Yummy!
"Tigger!!!"
Brrrrr.....
"Do you have the Photopass card?"
Brrrrrr......
Yes, a 2 year old can walk World Showcase...
Welcome Home
and
EVEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

I will post a non-cliffnotes version in this same thread soon!

[Stimpy]

:hahahaha: :hahahaha: :hahahaha:

I was wondering how you had time to post a trip report already!!

[AmyBeth68]

:howudoin: Welcome back NONO. You had me laughing with that one! :D

Soooo.....am I too guess that Florida was chilly? Or was the AC way too cold at BWV :scratchch .

[athenna]

Welcome back, Nono!:howudoin:
Gee, was it cold there?:hahahaha:

[Rozzie]

you forgot...

Brrrrrrrrrr.....Bartender another round! :beer: :beer: ;)

[nono]

Rozzie (or RaRa, as my daughter is referring to you now!),

Oh yeah. That too!

:laughing:

[nono]

Random notes from our trip:

Complainers in the long line at the Magical Express. Truly. Did they really think a free service to WDW on a late Saturday morning would be empty except for just them????

Our bus ride was great and our driver (Ms. Shaw, I think) had our bus cheering several times, including when we drove under the Welcome to WDW sign. It was fun! :bouncingm

We seemed to have a pre-assigned room at BWV, which was ready at check in (12:55 p.m.) We were booked in a standard view 1 br., and had made zero requests. It had a double-balcony, with the bedroom side having a tree in front of it, and the living room basically looks out to the bus stop. Very nice. Yes, we saw some of the high fireworks of Illuminations. Note to people who arrive in WINTER – spring for the points for preferred view. We were on the sunrise side of the building which meant almost no use of the balcony unless we wrapped ourselves in blankets. :brrrrrr: I envied those on the other side of the building with sunshine on the balcony in the afternoon, which is when we tend to try to sit out.

Groceries delivery went well. (Gardengrocer.com). I ordered 3 weeks earlier via the web, and everything was accurately delivered. The person called me to tell me he was delivering, and since I had paid via paypal, we didn’t have to be around when it was delivered to bell services. :handshake

Cast lanyards were full of junk pins. Apparently, it is now part of the “uniform” to have a Kodak 2004 pin on each lanyard in the park. :tsktsk: Did buy the Chinese New Years pin with Pluto, which is just darn cute. Some other limited editions too were added to the collection.

Received several “Welcome Homes!” I did see a parking attendant offer a “Welcome Home” to a family arriving at the BoardWalk and he received the weirdest look from the parents. Guess they were for the other side of the resort.

Have I mentioned it was cold yet? :brrrrrr: OMgoodness! It was cold enough for us to wear hats and gloves at night. And, um, we’re from NJ…not FL. It was cold. We did 4 layers on top so we could let our knees see the sun. At night, forget it.

All meals good: Artist’s Point, Chefs de France (lunch), Teppanyaki, Brown Derby, Nine Dragons and ESPN club. Cancelled a few ADRs too, esp. at lunch. Our pacing was just off because of the weather and NO SWIMMING, so we just made it up as we went along, and freed up some space for those who might need it.

I still marvel that a corkscrew isn’t standard issue in a villa. But, it is nice that one can be delivered. We found out that the villas do indeed have heat in them. Another thing to marvel at for us!

Ride count: Rode Everest once, Tricera TopSpin four times, Safari once, Aladin’s Magic Carpets four times, Peter Pan twice, Small World once, Carousel once, Buzz twice, Carousel of Progress once, TTA once, Journey into Imagination four times, Spaceship Earth twice, Living with the Land once, Talk Turtle with Crush once, El Rio del Tiempo twice, and saw the Little Mermaid. We also danced at the end of an Off Kilter show. Not bad for traveling with a two year old! Basically, any ride we went on was met with “MORE” from my daughter after we were done. Husband and daughter did spend some extra time at the MK doing other rides one day while I was returning a rental car.

We socialized with Rozzie and her husband three times. :beer: :margarita :ale: :fresh: Went off property twice to visit two different sets of friends. Melissa at the National Rental desk at the Dolphin was a delight!

Character interaction was super. We met Pinocchio, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip & Dale (twice), Donald, Mr.& Mrs. Incredible, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Aurora and Jasmine. Many more were around, but we were trying not to overexpose the 2 year old. Yeah, I know, read the list again… :magnify:

I guess that’s it. Any questions?

[jaysue]

thanks for sharing!

cheers
jaysue

[DarthGoofy]

Thanks for the report nono.

What did you think of Everest? Also, what time did you get to the airport, and how long did you have to wait before you were on your bus?

[nono]

Hi DG! :howudoin:

Everest. I can't wait to ride it again in the fall. I went to get fastpasses for the safari while I sent my husband over with the baby to "check out the mountain." I told him we'd meet there. I figured he'd be sitting in the observation area, but he was in line and already had the baby swap fast pass. Line was moving quickly and we barely had time to talk and suddenly he veered off out of line and I was in the inside queue. HEY! I hadn't even really eaten breakfast and only had 1/2 cup of coffee! I just started giggling and basically almost went blank. I do remember I got the back seat by myself, and the castmembers were really having fun with everyone. I do remember a REALLY steep uphill, etc. I just kept giggling and then screaming as the ride progressed. It was a smooth, but wild ride. I'm sure I missed 90% of it, but if you ride it and only soak up 10% like I did, it's still a good ride. :lovestruc

On the Magical Express piece, we landed at the airport around 11:45 a.m., if I'm recalling correctly. The line was probably 20-25 minutes to get through, but then we were loaded directly onto the bus, with no wait, and zip we were on our way. All stations were open with castmembers checking people in, so things moved along. Line would have easily been 5 min. less wait if people would have listened or used their eyes when they got to the front of the queue. All of the castmembers had a hard time getting people to step up to the desk to actually check in. :headbrick

Personally, I'd use ME again. Our luggage was in our room within 1.5 hours of our check-in. And, the return trip was really smooth and easy. I loved being able to check in our luggage in the morning, go to the park for the day, and then get on the bus. :)

[DarthGoofy]

Thanks alot for the info. nono. I am really excited about Everest.:jumpingbe

[mssparrrow]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!!!

[jnrrt]

Thanks for the report, nono!

[nono]

Hey, so no one liked my "World" and Peace joke, eh? That's as good as it gets folks, I'm not a paid professional. :crackedup

DarthGoofy, Everest is impressive and imposing. We rode that on our second full day, and at that point everything else we do for the next year on our APs is pure bonus!!!

[PoohsPal]

Liked both you rreports nono, but you seem to have missed teh Pooh ride. TELL ME YOU DIDN"T SKIP THE POOH RIDE!!!!! :jawdroppi ;)

BTW, thanks for chatting with us. That was too cool!

[brandip22]

Thanks for the report Nono! I got the World and Peace thing, but just read it, so I'm too late!! LOL- Glad you liked Everest- can't wait to go myself!

[nono]

Carrie,

We played in the Pooh playground, and DID NOT ride Pooh's ride. :bugeyed: We had fastpasses, but never got around to getting back to the ride. Since she rode that ride in June in Disneyland, we figured she could last until October before riding it again.

On the plus side, she did double her collection of Pooh pins by trading out some of Mama's traders (seriously!). She didn't spend 1 dollar of her budget ($42 from Chinese New Year), but she came back with 3 Eeyores, 2 Poohs and 2 Tiggers that she chose off of CM lanyards.

[PoohsPal]

Carrie,

We played in the Pooh playground, and DID NOT ride Pooh's ride. :bugeyed: We had fastpasses, but never got around to getting back to the ride. Since she rode that ride in June in Disneyland, we figured she could last until October before riding it again.

On the plus side, she did double her collection of Pooh pins by trading out some of Mama's traders (seriously!). She didn't spend 1 dollar of her budget ($42 from Chinese New Year), but she came back with 3 Eeyores, 2 Poohs and 2 Tiggers that she chose off of CM lanyards.
I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. :jawdroppi Wasted FPs no less. Oh my...

Cool about the pins, though!

[lllovell]

It is SO COOL when little ones love the parks and the characters. We went last year with my then two year old niece (and are about to go again spring break with them) and she is TERRIFIED of the characters and many rides. Even Pooh was too much for her. It took us forever to talk her into IASM! (I have to really think through rides now when they are with us because the boys are afraid of nothing and I forget about the scary stuff sometimes!)

I am glad you had a great trip!

Laura

[withdisneyspirit]

I must have been in a big hurry the day I visited your trip report, nono! I really enjoyed reading it:magnify: :blueflowe

[idratherbeinwdw]

Very enjoyable reading, thanks for sharing!

And ITA regarding pins Nono. I got very few decent trades this trip, even first thing in the morning when i was there for park openings. Seems to me that decent pins for trade were slimmer than ever, and I did notice an overabundance of those silly Kodak pins that no one wants. It used to be if you got there early there'd be a plethora of nice pins to trade, not lately though. :boohoohoo