Trip Reports

Monday, February 1st - Sunday, February 7th

Background

Before you delve into our trip report, a little WDW background on the two of us might help you enjoy this report a bit more. Here goes!

Before we were married, Anne and I had been to WDW once together with my parents on a spur-of-the-moment trip and had a great time. The seed had been planted. As most of you know, visiting WDW as an adult is a completely different experience than when you went with mom n’ dad as a youngster. We were hooked. So hooked, in fact, that we changed our wedding plans and got married at the Wedding Pavilion in May of 1996 (honeymoon @ WDW, of course). In all, we have visited WDW together 7 times in three years (can you say addicted?)

The most important thing to know when reading about our trip is that we are NOT, I repeat, NOT WDW “commandos” when on vacation. We are so far opposite of that kind of mentality and that’s what I think feeds our addiction & love of WDW. Even after all of our trips, there is still TONS that we have not seen & done. “We’ll save that for next time...” is our mantra when on vacation. I think I summed our attitude in WDW best in an older trip report of our a while back (from our Sept. 97 Trip Report): "You must understand that my wife and I do NOT wait in lines. Any lines. We feel that there is so much other stuff to do (walking around holding hands, eating, drinking, just soaking up the atmosphere, eating, drinking, etc.) that we refuse to just stand in line...and wait. As a result, we will never, ever, ever go during the summer or any of the busier seasons. You couldn't pay us to go during the busy seasons (well...maybe you could). We also never feel the need to "do everything." We always like to leave things to do the next time we come back. As a result, even thought we have been to the park 5 times in the last 2 years, there is still LOTS we have not done together"

Ok, back to the present day. With all our WDW history out of the way...let’s get to the trip report!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1st

Took off from Midway Airport (Chicago) today and left some pretty crappy weather (windy/rainy/cold -- aka “Chicago in February”). In short, a great day to leave for WDW! Now, we have never been to WDW in February before. We’ve gone on May a couple of times (because it’s our anniversary) and in September but never February. We were very curious to visit when it’s much “colder” out than in the months we’ve gone before. I was really excited as the only thing I would ever change about our previous WDW trip was the heat. Everything else could be perfect but if it’s humid/hot...

Flight to Orlando was fine (ATA...always cheap) Some clouds upon arrival in Orlando but as soon as we walked out of the plane and you get that little glimpse/feel of the weather...it was so nice! No giant wave of humidity to welcome you to Orlando. What a change! We were met by Ken from Florida Towncar service (we always use them) and Ken is always fun to have. He has a collection of Disney tapes in his car and will play them on the way out to WDW. Makes the drive a lot of fun (as if it’s not fun enough!) It goes without saying that we actually pay him NOT to play any WDW music on the way home...it would be too emotional!

Arrived at Disney’s Boardwalk and checked in to the Villa side. We stayed @ the Boardwalk Inn last May and had a GREAT time so we thought we’d try out the Villas (we got a great deal on a one-bedroom). Very smooth check-in (the hotel seemed really empty at this time) and we again requested a Boardwalk view (I had called room control a few days prior). They informed us that they could give a Boardwalk view -- Tomorrow night. Hmmmmmmm....do we really want to move rooms? We told him we would call after we got into our room and let them know if we want to change the next day. Our first room was fifth floor (as we requested) and overlooked the Luna Park Pool area. Now, let’s just get the whole view issue out of the way and then we’ll talk about the room itself. We are BIG fans of rooms with great views/balconies and will happily pay extra for them. We love waking up in the morning, throwing open the drapes and going “Ahhhhhhh” as we overlook all the WDW beauty. Well, our view was of the Luna Park pool and as cute as it is...it’s just not our cup of tea. Hey, I love clowns/circus atmosphere as much as the next guy but I don’t want a giant clown head staring at me as I sit on my balcony drinking my coffee (in addition to big squirting elephants, etc.) Very cute but not for us (at least until we have kids...then I bet we will be asking for a pool view!) Called the front desk and told them that we would like to change tomorrow. No problem.

Onto the room itself. Wow. What a room (actually two rooms!) I won’t go into that much of a description as I’m sure a lot of you know what they look like but they really are great! You have a full kitchen complete with glasses, plates, microwave, full-sized fridge, breakfast bar -- two stools, stove, etc. All white and very nice. The living room comes complete with a sofa bed, TV/VCR, coffee table, etc. We didn’t think we would really use this “extra” room but we did! It’s was great to hang out of the couch in the morning/evening and not have to watch TV in your bed. The bathroom was my favorite. A huge separate shower and whirlpool tub (with shutters you can open into the master bedroom). The bathroom can be entered through either the living room or the bedroom. Great theming throughout. Someone told me it would be hard to imagine staying in a “regular” room after staying in their one-bedroom. I’m sure we could “manage” but I would miss it!

Put on the WDW channel and unpacked (as much as we could knowing we would be changing rooms the next day) and headed down to the BW for lunch at Big River Grill. This is quickly becoming a tradition for us when we check in at the BW. They’ve got great food (love the tuna sandwich) and we’re always able to get a couple of seats in the bar area right next to the window (perfect for that first day people watching fix!) You know, there really is no better feeling that after you’ve checked in to your hotel and having lunch looking out the window at WDW discussing what to do next...that’s one of our favorite things about being on vacation...the big decisions are “What do you want for lunch/dinner” and/or “What park do you want to go to tonight?” Very difficult decisions. It’s tough but we manage...

We had created a loose pre-trip outline before we left so we knew we wanted to spend some time at AK before they closed for the night. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “They said they weren’t commandos and they have an outline of what they’re going to do!?!” As some of you know, the best way to avoid being a commando is at least to map out your dinner plans/reservations and your park days (to avoid the busiest days/etc). A little bit of planning goes a LONG way when it comes to avoiding stress & crowds!

On the way down to the busses at BW, it hit us both like a brick...we’re in WDW! Over lunch, we were talking about how sometimes it seems to take a while before you really realize that you’re in WDW. The craziness of the departures and airports slowly fade away then it hits you...I’M REALLY HERE!!! All the trip report/RADP reading has come to fruition. I’ve arrived! What a great feeling...

We decided to go to AK because first, we love the park, and secondly, it is a GREAT place to visit the last couple of hours before it closes. During our week, the park closed at 6:00PM so we arrived around 4:00PM. No lines whatsoever. You kind of feel like salmon swimming upstream for a while but after all the people clear out it’s great. I defiantly agree with people who say that AK feels a lot more crowded even if it’s not. The paths are not very wide so you’re thinking the whole time “God, this place is a zoo” when in actuality, you get to a ride (CTX/KJS) and there is no line whatsoever! That’s where we went first....Countdown to Extinction. What a great ride. My wife does not do ANY kind of rollercoaster/thrill ride except this one (no Splash/Space/BTMR). It’s her favorite in all of WDW. Just a lot of fun. It also looks like they’ve added some more effects, too. We would love to be able to just ride the ride again without having to watch the pre-show film, though.

After CTX, we headed over to the Dawa Bar in Harrambe for a couple of Safari Amber beers. This time of night it’s a really nice place to just sit/relax and have a drink. The atmosphere and bartenders are really great. Time for the safari! What a blast. In my opinion, it’s kind of fun to have to “work” and actually look for the animals (I’m sure there are some people don’t like that...they prefer to have all their entertainment trotted out in front of them) but that’s one of the things we really like about AK. It changes everytime you come. Again, no line for the safari whatsoever. We always laugh walking through that looooooong cue just thinking about what it must be like to actually have to wait through that! We’ve heard horror stories of the safari line stretching all the way back to the bridge at Harrambe...unthinkable.

Following KJS, we headed over to Asia as we heard they were having a “sneak preview” of their Jungle Trek until 5:15PM today. Wahooo! It was 4:45PM...just made it. In short, the trek is AMAZING! Again, I think it was made a lot better because there was no one on the trail with us (again, GO TO AK LATE!) but it really was fantastic. The theming of Asia itself is terrific. So many details (that’s why we love WDW). The Rapids Ride looks really cool (not open, though). The Trek is a walking tour of kimodo dragons, fruit bats -- wow! soooooo cool! Tigers -- amazing play area for the tigers...like an old temple -- and some other animals. It’s just so beautiful to walk around. You truly forget, even more than in the safari, that you are in WDW. In short, we loved it (enough to come back later on in the week).

Well, AK was getting ready to close up for the night so we found a trusty bus and headed home (I wish that was my home!) When it comes to busses and the BW, we think that there is no better resort on property for many reasons. First, the busses for the BW come very frequently (we’ve never waited more than 10 minutes), secondly (and most importantly) if you don’t want to wait for a BW bus, you can get on one for the Swan/Dolphin/Yacht/Beach and then just walk to the BW (which is what we did most of the time...whichever one came first!)

Got refreshed back at the room (took another look at the Giant Crazy Clown Head and knew we made the right choice) and then headed out to Epcot for a quick bite in Mexico and just walk around (no better place to be on your first night than Epcot if you ask us!) Another little thing we love (as you’ll notice, we have a lot of ‘little’ things we love in WDW!) is walking to Epcot from the BW. They’ve really made such a great/wide/scenic walkway.

Upon entering Epcot, we were really shocked to see how “good” the park looked! I don’t know if it was the new lights around World Showcase, the fact that it was our first night, or the Bass beers we had in the UK, but Epcot looked great that night! It was around 7:30PM and we were quite hungry so we went to Mexico to get some fundido (one of the only foods on earth that I actually get cravings for). Got seated right away in a newly remodled area right next to the bathrooms! How long has this been done? As you know, the area down by the bathrooms used to be all couches, etc. Well, now they’ve got tables! It was fine (not as nice as sitting in the main room but when you’ve got to have a hit of fundido, anything will do!) The food, as always, was great (they’ve got great chips) and we rolled ourselves back to the hotel to beat the mob.

Back at the hotel, we stocked up some food/drinks at the Screendoor (overpriced, of course) and headed upstairs to crash for the night. Pulled the curtains shut tight so the Giant Crazy Clown Head couldn’t get me and hit the sheets. In all, a great first day (but isn’t even the “worst” day in WDW better than your “best” day at home?)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd (Downtown Disney/MK)

Ahhhhhhh. No better feeling than waking up in WDW on your first full day (yet another one of the little things we love). Said good morning to Giant Crazy Clown Head, had some pop-tarts/donuts in our “living room” and packed up everything for bell services to hold while our “new” room was getting made up. Today was our Downtown Disney day. Shopping, eating, walking around, etc. Took a DD bus (right on time) and got off at the Marketplace stop. After some shopping (Budget? What budget?!) it was time to eat. Planet Hollywood has become yet another “tradition” for us @ WDW. In short, we really like their food. We just get the Margaritta Pizza and the Cap’n Crunch Chicken Fingers with some beer and we’re set. This is also where we had a fun rehearsal dinner the night before we got married so it’s holds a special meaning for us.

I called the BW front desk from PH to check on the status of our “new” room and it was ready! Got on a YC/BC bus from the Pleasure Island bus stop and headed back to the front desk for our new room keys! Room 5001. As we got off the elevator on floor 5, the first sign I saw was one saying “5001 - 5063” so I said “Hey, our room is right here! Great!” Upon reaching the first door, the number was “5063.” Whoops! Looks like we’ve got a walk ahead of us! And what a walk it was. Actually, it wasn’t too bad (there are worse things in the world that having a little hike to your one-bedroom villa in WDW) but it was a walk on some days. However, it could have been soooo much worse upon seeing that some of the BWV rooms go a lot farther down than ours did.

We put the key in and...WOW! Now we’re talking! This was what we were hoping/praying for all these months. First of all, the view was stunning. Right when you walk in you see The Ball/The Beach Club/The BW...it was fantastic. Hands down, the best view we have ever had (or most likely, ever will have!) Even our bellman said it’s the best view you can get. “It’s a walk...but well worth it!” he said. What and understatement! The room layout was switched from our previous room and we liked this layout a lot better (they could have a cot on the floor and I would have been happy due to that view!) Put on the WDW channel and unpacked for real this time (lots of storage space) and just relaxed on our balcony for while as tonight was E-Ticket night at MK and dinner at the California Grill!

Once ready, we walked through Epcot to the monorail to the TTC. Got off and walked over to the Poly to watch the fireworks from their beach. As I’ve said in previous trip reports, there is no better way to watch MK fireworks than to get a a couple of drinks from the pool bar, walk down the beach and find a couple of beach chairs....perfect. The fireworks were great (even better than the last time) and walking by the Wedding Pavilion afterwards just made the night even better. Their luau was going on and they were playing some romantic song as we strolled by. This is exactly why we come to WDW. It’s not the rides, etc. It’s moments like this, walking hand in hand toward the Grand Floridian, not another soul in sight after you’ve watched fireworks from the beach go off above Cinderella’s Castle.

At the GF, we boarded the monorail and headed for the MK. By this time it was around 7:45PM (the park closed at 7:00PM) and most people were heading toward the exits. We got in line at City Hall for our wristband and headed out down main street. It really didn’t hit us until around 8:15PM how completely empty this park was! It took about an hour for people to leave who weren’t doing E-Night but once they did....it was one of the best/coolest things we have ever done @ WDW. I mean, walking around Tomorrow land seeing 4-5 characters just standing around because no one is there was very cool. We laughed and kept saying that we felt like we were going to get arrested -- like we snuck in after closing! I’m so glad I brought the camcorder to record...nobody at the MK!

As you by now know, we aren’t big “ride” people but we did really want to do Buzz Lightyear. No wait (of course) and it was a blast! It really takes one trip just to figure out what to do but it’s very, very fun (my wife kept pressing the “spin” lever when I was beating her and we would just spin and spin and spin....so much fun. We did this one twice.

After Buzz, we walked over to Adventureland, stopping at the Castle which just looks fantastic with all the new lights. I could just sit and watch it change colors all night (come to think of it...that’s what I did!) It looks so great now with the moat filled in with water and the lights and the music...and especially with no people around! Adventureland was really eerie being so empty (with the torches/ music/etc.) We just did Pirates. Jungle Cruise not open because “it’s takes too many people to run it and it’s not worth it when there are so few people in the park” according to the Jungle Cruise CM. I don’t know how they made enough money to pay the electric bill that night judging by the lack of people! Pirates is still a blast. It’s just one of those rides that you’ve “got to do” each trip.

Leaving Pirates, we heard the howl of the wolf from the Haunted Mansion and headed over that way. The Riverboat at night looked so beautiful. The combination of the music, lack of crowds, great weather, was just great. The HM really is cooler to do at night (even though the whole ride is inside). Just walking up to the mansion (especially with no one around!) adds a little extra something. On the way out of the MK (I warned you that we weren’t big “ride” people), we spent a lot time just looking at the castle. It really does look great. After the “25th” edition, it’s so nice to have it back looking better than ever. While my wife shopped on main street, I just stood out in the middle of the street with my camcorder and taped...nothing in particular, just the way it felt to be standing in the middle of main street watching the castle change colors with no one in the way. If this was during normal park hours, I would have no doubt been wounded in seconds by a member of the Stroller-Army rushing towards Fantasyland! It was really something we’ll never forget.

Took a left out of the MK and walked toward the Contemporary for our dinner at the California Grill. Again, another “tradition” for us. Dinner at the California Grill. We had reservations around 10:00PM but arrived closer to 9:30PM and were seated right away at a window seat. Dinner, as always, was fantastic. We had a really great waiter who really spent a lot of time with us discussing the food & wine (even though we knew we were his last table of the night). We both had the BBQ Beef Filet (terrific) and the eggrolls were a great appetizer, too. Really good wine as always. On a side note, we thought we would try out a later dining time, hoping there would be a more “adult” atmosphere in the restaurant. We were correct. While we have no problems with kids at ANY Disney restaurant, sometimes (especially when you’re paying over $125 for dinner) you want to be in a more adult and sedate/relaxed setting. This was just what we were looking for. Very nice.

Hopped a cab back to the BW...yikes! Beware of cabs in WDW! From the Contemporary to the BW it was close to $16.00! I work in Chicago and take cabs quite a bit and this was almost comical how fast and frequent the rates changed while we were in the car! In 10 seconds (and going less that 150 feet) the rate would go up another dollar! I guess it’s true that EVERYTHING costs more in WDW! We didn’t care, however. It was late and the last thing we thought of doing was taking a bus to PI and then getting a BW bus...thanks, but no. Sat out on our balcony for while, said goodnight to The Ball and crashed. Mmmmmm...sleep.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd

Woke up with no real plans and just decided to spend some time at Epcot this afternoon. Walked over and were hit by a desire to do “Ellen’s Energy Adventure” (another thing we have never done in all of trips). Why not? We’ve got nothing to do this afternoon...let’s do it. Our verdict? This one should have stayed in the “Things We Have Yet To Do” pile. Again, this is our opinion (as some of you may actually enjoy it)...we really, really hated it. It was soooooooooo long and sooooooo boring. I remember the older version and yes, this is a BIG improvement over the old one. However, watching movies about energy for 40 minutes is NOT our idea of having a good time! Watch a movie. Sit down. Watch another film. See dinosaurs. Watch ANOTHER movie. My God. I wasn’t even tired when we walked in but after it was done I was ready for a big ol’ nap! Ok, I’ll stop. Rest assured, this one will not be ridden until we have kids who beg us to go on it (even then, I still might forbid them from even going near it!)

Pinched ourselves to wake up after ‘Ellen’ and saw that Test Track wasn’t open (how’s that for a shocker!) This thing was supposed to be open TWO YEARS ago. There were some people lingering around waiting for it to open. We walked up and asked the CM what the status was and they gave us the standard spiel. Walking away, we laughed and tried to imagine that job. Telling thousands & thousands of people all day long that the ride that was supposed to open years ago still wasn’t ready. Did a quick tour of World Showcase (rode Norway; Eggrolls in China -- the best anywhere! -- misc. shopping) and decided it was lunch time.

Left the park and walked over to the Crew’s Cup Lounge at the Yacht Club. For those of you looking for a GREAT place in the middle of the day for really good food/great drink specials (especially those big schooners of beer!) and a nice/quiet atmosphere...this is the place for you. It’s never crowded in the middle of the day and the atmosphere is all dark wood/big booths/etc. We split the steak sandwich (great) and an order of their pizza bread. This is now my favorite pizza in all of WDW. Sooooo good! Add this pizza to my “Lists of Food I Crave From WDW!”) Mix the food with a couple of their schooners of beer (one of the best drink deals in WDW) and we were ready for a nap (I love vacation!) Rolled ourselves back to our room. Now, it’s times like these that our walk to the room seems realllllly long. It was now officially nap time.

Our plan upon waking up was to take the boat over to MGM for “Fantasmic!” Well, we got on the boat around 6:00PM and on the way to MGM...rain. Big sheets of rain. Needless to say, we did not get off and just sat and took the boat back. No big deal. We’re on vacation! We’ll just do something else! It did surprise us, however, the number of people who were taking their kids off the boat to go see the show. I mean it was POURING rain. The need that some people have to do EVERYTHING in WDW no matter what amazes me sometimes. Oh well, to each his own.

Back at the BW, it stopped raining once we got off the boat (someone was watching out for us) but we decided that we just felt like “hanging out” that night. So we headed back to our room (not so far of a walk this time!) and ordered a pizza from room service. We had a great time. We drank some wine we got at Epcot earlier that day, sat on our balcony and just had a really good night. The pizza was really good and we watched “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” during dinner (the only show we actually “make time” to watch each week). Needless to say, it seemed even better watching it in WDW with our curtains open to The Ball at night! Following watching Illuminations from our balcony (a perfect view!) we called it a night. A great end to yet another great day.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4th (Epcot/AK/BW)

This was going to be a very exciting day for us as two of our best friends from home were going to join us for the day/night here in WDW! They’re married and have always been somewhat “amazed” at our love of WDW and why we kept returning year after year so we were excited to be able to show them how we do WDW and try our best to convert them! Their vacation style is very similar to ours (we’ve vacationed together in the past) so we knew our “relaxed” style of WDW vacation would fit them perfectly.

They arrived from their resort outside of Disney property around 10:15AM and we met them in the lobby. Took them to our room to drop off their bags/show them the room/etc. and when we arrived at the room their jaws dropped (just like we hoped!) They couldn’t believe it! The size/decorating/view just blew them away. With our first injection of WDW Magic complete, we headed over to Epcot.

It’s really fun showing people WDW who don’t really know anything about (or are skeptical towards it). We arrived at World Showcase right at 11:00AM and decided to take them on the Norway boat ride (no wait - that was our main plan, take them on things with no wait to show them that a WDW vacation is not about waiting in line for “rides”). Had lunch in Mexico (right next to the water...someone really is watching out for us!). The only problem with lunch in Mexico was that they are not serving fundido at lunch! What?!?! This was such a disappointment for us. It really was the only thing we eat at Mexico. We got something else that was fine but, unfortunately, they lost two very loyal lunch customers (not that they’re lacking any customers).

Since our plan was to visit World Showcase at night (concluding with Illuminations @ UK) we did The Ball on the way out of the park to the monorail. No line and the ride was great but it stopped/stalled no less than four times during the ride! I know it slows down/stops for various reasons but four times! Of course it stopped right before reaching the top so you heard the “...aboard this, our Spaceship Earth!” narration before you reached the top. Can you say anticlimactic? The ride is still a must do every trip, though and our friends seemed to like it (but couldn’t imagine anyone waiting in those cue lines outside the ride, though!)

Hopped the monorail to the TTC to show our friends some of the MK Resorts. The monorail over to the TTC is great to show people the size of WDW. Walked over to the Poly from the TTC and got a couple of drinks at their pool bar (the pool was really crowded so the resort wasn’t quite as “pretty” and “alluring” that it is at night with all the torches and deserted beaches/pools. Walked past the wedding pavilion to show them the actual place they know about in our wedding pictures/video and continued over to the Grand Floridian. It was actually pretty warm today (around 80) so the AC at the GF was quite nice. People are always in awe of the GF lobby...so pretty. Took the bus over to the AK around 3:00PM (as we always do!) and arrived at just the conclusion of the March of the Art-imals parade. Avoided all the exiting masses by cutting through the gift shops and took them on CTX (which they loved) and then over to the Dawa bar (I think you’re probably seeing an AK touring pattern here!) for some drinks. They had a live band so the place was hopping. Most people were clearing out of the park at this time (as always) so we did KJS. Another great safari. Not as many animals in the past but still a great tour for the first timer to experience.

We had told them all about the giant fruit bats in Asia so we walked over to the Jungle Trek (they have a patch that goes from Africa behind the Tree of Life that leads right into Asia. Really nice) and got in right before they closed it for the night. The theming in Asia is so great. There are so many “out of the way” sitting areas and quiet spots. With the addition of the Rapids ride, Asia will only get better.

On the tour, the bat exhibit is very, very cool. Parts of it are totally open (with no cage/netting between you and the giant bats) which might freak some people out (like our friend). The rest of the tour is just beautiful. I really think it’s the best themed area on WDW property. You can really forget you are in Florida at some portions of the tour. It really is a magnificent tour. Again, just be sure to do it right before closing and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it A LOT more.

Picked up a foam CTX dino for our nephew on the way out and snagged a Swan/Dolphin bus (it was the first one) and did the loooooonnng walk back to the room. After resting for a while, we headed out to World Showcase. Got some wine @ France and shopped/strolled all around. We could really tell our injection of WDW in our friends was working (and we couldn’t be happier, of course!) We had PS at Rose & Crown @ 8:00PM so we walked over...and got seated at an outside table right next to the water! I was now convinced we HAD to have someone watching out for us after this coup! The show was fantastic! Easily the best I’ve ever seen. Everything just came together perfectly (I do miss the individual countries anthems, however). As our friends are big firework fans, this was just icing on the cake for them!

Now this where the story takes a somewhat somber turn. After getting back to the room and heading to Jellyrolls, upon sitting down, I notice that a rather large chunk of our money was missing. Needless to say, this put a small damper on the evening for about an hour (as it was my fault I felt really bad -- I still don’t know where it went!). However, it was vacation and worse things could have happened. Moving on. By then, none of us were really in a Jellyrolls mood anymore so we just decided to get some drinks and hang out in our room (I told you we get good mileage out of our premium view!) The girls were pretty tuckered out and went to bed so my friend and I had such a blast sitting out on our balcony ALL NIGHT watching people on the BW. The BW really provides great (and free!) entertainment with all its assortment of people late at night. We stayed outside until after 2:00AM (when Jelly’s closed...and we got a whole new assortment of drunks to laugh at!) Just watching them/listening to them....it was all too much fun. We still laugh about it! However, it makes me wonder if anyone staying in #5001 has made fun of me when I’ve stumbled out of Jelly’s after a long night...I’ve gotta watch myself!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5th

After the big night last night, a Spoodle’s breakfast was in order. While it’s pretty pricy, the food really is good (and the coffee is served in BIG cups, which I love). Saw our friends off (who I think were a little sad leaving the BW for their resort!) and went back to the room for a while. With no real plans in order, we decided to take a bus over to Coronado Springs to walk around and maybe size up the resort for a possible “cheaper” vacation down the road.

In short, we didn’t like it. First of all, it’s WAY too big and spread out! The walk from those rooms by the pool to the main building...ouch! Another thing we didn’t care for is the number of convention people at the hotel. I know...it’s a convention hotel. However, when I’m on vacation, I don’t want to see people running around with name tags on...working! I don’t want any reminders of the “real world” while on vacation (especially in WDW) so this was a BIG negative for us. If we ever stay at a moderate again (and it will be so hard after our last couple of trips!) the Dixie/PO resorts are still our favorite (we’ve yet to try out Caribbean Beach).

Took a bus from Coronado over to MGM to have something to eat and maybe stick around for “Fantasmic!” As Anne was feeling a little sick today (the beginning of what would be a two week flu for the both of us!) we didn’t spend a lot of time at MGM. Went on the Great Movie Ride and had lunch at Mama Melrose (which was deserted but the food was really good....great sangria!) then left. Back at the room, my wife took some medication but just didn’t feel up to snuff. She laughed and said that whenever she would read WDW trip reports where people got sick on vacation she would feel so bad for them and now it was happening to her! As she rested on the couch, I set out to get “Mulan” for her to watch that night. What a journey that turned out to be! They were out of it at the BW, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Swan...finally got on at the Dolphin! Wound up watching less than 1/2 hour of the movie before going to bed (not before I ordered a great burger from room service, though -- along with some chicken soup for my wife to have the next day)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6th

Today was a day of rest for the two of us. By the morning, we were both feeling under the weather so we woke up late, had left-over room service for lunch and just lounged around (which was nice to do with a separate living room). Feeling a little better in the afternoon, we decided to call our friends to see if they wanted to join us for dinner later on that night. It turns out that they had already left their resort to come back to Epcot for the day (It worked! It worked!) so we hung around outside on the BW to see if we could catch them. Sure enough, we caught them on their way through and we all decided to hook up around 8:00PM for dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. They went off to Epcot for the day and we went back to the room for some more R&R. Around 6:00PM we decided to head back down but not before picking up some Vacation Club materials to read through while we wait.

You should probably get a little history of our dealings with the Vacation Club. We were all set to join (and actually did) following our Sept. 97 Trip @ the Poly. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, to the portion of the trip report that summed up our DVC experience back then:

**So.....we decided to go for it! (insert wild cheers and applause) We used their new plan to have the cost of your current stay put toward the cost of the DVC. Good deal but make sure you do it before you check out! Sure, some people don't like the DVC because you can't "sell" it or "don't get anything out of it when it expires in 45 years." Well, you know what...who cares! We're going to get 45 years of great Disney vacations for us, our families, our friends, our kids, etc....all for the price of the annual dues. It will save us BIG, BIG money (again, because we are very frequent WDW visitors!). Ok, I could go on, and on talking about it...let's move on!**

Cut to a couple weeks after this meeting. We got back home, everything was signed and all set...and then we found a house! We just fell in love with the house and knew that our “permanent” home should come before our “vacation home” so we had to back out of the club before we were official members (cue sad music). But, with our house all settled now, we were once again bit by the DVC bug as I was calling around on Saturday afternoon to check rates for an October trip. Again, the rates shocked & jolted us back into what a deal the DVC would be for us so we got some additional materials down at the welcome center and read through them down on the BW.

At 8:00PM, our friends showed up (bearing gifts and stories of what a great time they both had!) and we headed over to the Yachtsman for dinner. We checked in, got some drinks at the Crew’s Cup and were seated for dinner. Dinner, as our previous dinner here last year, was great. In all, another great meal.

Following dinner, we decided to have our fortunes read on the BW (actually, the women did...the guys just watched -- filled with skepticism, of course). While I still think it’s all a crock, it was a fun thing to do on vacation (it’s nothing we would do at home, but on vacation...why not?) Got some drinks and hit the balcony for another night of people watching. After spending so many nights on our balcony, I don’t think the DVC Member Center realizes what fun their funhouse mirrors and balloons provide to all the people coming out of Jelly’s provides! These people could not be more entertained by a balloon or a wacky funhouse mirror! Very funny. We closed up shop around 2:00AM again and hit the sack. You know, don’t you just hate going to bed on your last night...all you can think about is “Man, this time tomorrow I’ll be home!” Yuck.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7th

Waking up on your last day in WDW. Is there anything worse? Well, Florida Town Car was meeting us around 12:00PM so we just packed up, called bell services, and walked over to the Beach Club & Beaches & Cream. It wasn’t open yet (it opens at 11:00AM) so we walked around the resort for a while. FYI -- The Yacht & Beach Club pool is closed for refurbishment now. It’s completely drained and they’ve got big cranes and major construction going on (don’t know when it was supposed to be completed). Lunch was great as always. They really have good burgers. The place is so small, however, that I can just imagine what a zoo it must be like in the summer months!

Took our last walk back to the resort (saying goodbye to our room from the BW. We’ll always call it “our room” as it’s so easy to pick out everytime we look at the BW. On a side note, the weather these last two days was PERFECT. So nice. Mid 70’s and not a cloud in the sky...making it even harder to leave! Couldn’t it have been cold and rainy right before we left? Ken was outside right at noon and everything else (airport/plane ride/return home) was uneventful. Very sad, mind you, but uneventful.

SUMMARY

Overall, this really was one of the best WDW trips we’ve had. It’s hard to believe but each one really does seem to get better than the last one! Here’s some random closing thoughts: The Boardwalk is our favorite resort area of all WDW resorts. The location just can’t be beat. Transportation is a breeze. Food options are plentiful. In all, our favorite place to stay. The villas were a real surprise. While I’m sure the two of us would have been fine in a studio. the one-bedroom was a real treat (not to mention that view...I will miss that forever!) The crowd were minimal, weather was great (so nice, in fact, that we have vowed never to return again when it is hot in Florida...our trips will be limited to late fall and winter from now on...who needs the heat/humidity!) In addition, having our once “Anti-Disney” friends have a really great time also helped make this trip so special. They still talk about how nice everything was and I think a return WDW visit from the two of them is in the near future.

Needless to say, WDW is our favorite place in the world to vacation! We’ve been all over (Aruba/Las Vegas/St. Thomas/etc.) and they are all great places to visit but we don’t come away and leave with that “longing” to return like we do with WDW! I mean, it takes days/weeks to get over that feeling that “I can’t believe it’s over...I’d give anything to be back!”

Finally, in between trips, it really helps to have a site like Brian’s to help make the “dry period” between trips A LOT more bearable! Brian’s site is among the first I check each morning (for new trip reports to print out and read on the way home from work then share with my wife!) Thanks for all your hard work & dedication, Brian! Of course, a special thanks goes out to all of you who contribute YOUR WDW reports to Brian’s site!

Well, thanks for taking the time to read this report. I hope it helps make YOUR “dry period” between trips a little more bearable!

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions/comments/free WDW trips/etc...

All the best,

Derek DeBoer

Adu219@aol.com

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