Here at Beach Club Villas!

[Denise L]

Hello,

We arrived late last night after a long day flying from CA. The resort looks great, and I am pleased with the nicer carpet and sofa beds in our 2 bedroom lockoff. Last time we were here in 2006, everything was very worn and soiled. It looks much better now . Glad to see my dues are going toward making this place nicer.

Check-in is NEVER pleasant here, however . Do they ever say Welcome Home anymore ? CM at the front desk was not friendly at all, not even smiling. No one came to help us with our luggage as we got off of the Magical Express bus, so we just lugged it all to our villa. We are on the 3rd floor, overlooking the main road. Not my favorite location, but it's okay.

Weather is nice today, 70 and warm. It is supposed to be warmer tomorrow, yay! My daughter, who has anxiety disorder, among other developmental issues, would not go on any attractions today, though she at least entered EPCOT through the International Gateway & went to Japan with me to look for Pokemon items. I was hoping to get her on the Living Seas with Nemo attraction, but she would not try it today. Maybe tomorrow.

Stormalong Bay was looking good today! Once the sun goes down, it may be too cold to go in....we'll see.

 

[DeniseM]

Have a WONDERFUL time!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Ah, Denise, 70 degrees is perfect! We are going to be there December 5th. Looking so forward to seeing the Christmas lights. Rick is thinking we are going to stay at the resort more this time, but no way! No relaxing while on vacation! We are staying at Marriott Grande Vista.

Beach Club Villas sound nice. I have seen them, when Josie (TUG member and Foxrun Yahoo Group member) was there last year and we went to see her 2 bedroom villa.

My favorite so far was Wilderness Lodge Villas. We had a one bedroom for two consecutive weeks.

 

[Amy]

I'm glad the resort is looking great for you! Too bad about your check-in experience. We have been fortunate to have nice CMs during each of our past visits to BVC; let's hope my luck continues for our upcoming trip in less than 3 weeks! I am sooo looking forward to weather in the 70s -- or even in the 60s. We've had a cold November -- highs just in the 30s all last week and today it warmed up to the mid-40s (joy).

 

[Denise L]

Illuminations & Wishes

We can see BOTH fireworks from our villa balconies ! Who would have thought? Illuminations is especially close and we can hear the music through the trees. What a nice treat!

The pastry chefs were decorating homemade gingerbread houses in the Beach Club lobby yesterday...apparently they do this twice a day! It's quite fun to watch. The CMs are much nicer during the day than in the wee hours of the night. We had an engineer come change a lightbulb and swap out the DVD player remote. Very nice.

Today is supposed to be mid-high 70s!

I went to MK with my 6-year-old and rode Peter Pan, Small World, Thunder Mountain, and Pirates! MK was open until 2:00AM! Great for us West Coasters .

 

[littlestar]

I wish I was there. We were at Hilton Head last week and we froze. 70's temperatures sound great.

 

[refumpcpa]

It was cold for us too

We were at the Boardwalk last week. Temperature was 85 degrees when my wife was looking for soap opera stars on Saturday. We went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on Sunday and the temperature got down to 40 degrees. Sure made the hot chocolate enjoyable.

 

[moonlightgraham]

Denise,
Just taking a midday break from EPCOT and will return soon for dinner and Illuminations. We're staying at Bonnet Creek this time, in the newest building and must say it is a very nice unit. We're on a high floor (12) so we can see both MK and EPCOT fireworks at the same time. Nice treat! Anyway, I know its Thanksgiving week but was hoping with the economy it might be slower but the parks seem as busy as ever! Well, better get back to the show.
Tom

 

[Denise L]

Denise,
Just taking a midday break from EPCOT and will return soon for dinner and Illuminations. We're staying at Bonnet Creek this time, in the newest building and must say it is a very nice unit. We're on a high floor (12) so we can see both MK and EPCOT fireworks at the same time. Nice treat! Anyway, I know its Thanksgiving week but was hoping with the economy it might be slower but the parks seem as busy as ever! Well, better get back to the show.
Tom

I hope that you are having a great week. The parks are packed! We were at Hollywood Studios on Tuesday and it was hard to walk. Today, we went to Animal Kingdom and it was pretty crowded, too. Great weather, though. Tonight we will go to Illuminations since it is just a 5-minute walk from the Beach Club. Happy Thanksgiving !

 

[tomandrobin]

Have a great time Denise!

Has it really been two years since you to WDW?

How are the crowds in the parks?

Are you going to see the Christmas Parade and Osborne Festival of lights?

We love all of the decorations at this time of year. We are going for NYE again this year.

Does your duaghter like the meet-n-greats?

Have you seen the Castle lighting ceremony yet? Last year they added the new lights on the castle. They are amazing!!

 

[Denise L]

Have a great time Denise!

Has it really been two years since you to WDW?

How are the crowds in the parks?

Are you going to see the Christmas Parade and Osborne Festival of lights?

We love all of the decorations at this time of year. We are going for NYE again this year.

Does your duaghter like the meet-n-greats?

Have you seen the Castle lighting ceremony yet? Last year they added the new lights on the castle. They are amazing!!

Yes, it has really been two whole years! Being on the West Coast, it's a looong way to FL, and the airfare (purchased in April) was quite high. I don't think we could afford that every year, though it would be nice if we could.

Crowds are heavy, you wouldn't know that the economy is in the tank at all! My daughter isn't interested in the meet-n-greets, and I was lucky to get her on the Safari attraction at AK yesterday. Today we will try for the Nemo attraction at EPCOT!

We saw Spectro-Magic at MK and then were amazed to see the beautiful colors on the castle. We watched it change colors for a very long time. Amazing what they can do with properly placed lights! We saw the parade at AK yesterday, nothing too spectacular, but festive.

Today is our last day . IF we ever come back, I will probably stay longer...maybe at least 8 nights. This was 6, which gives us time to get home, celebrate a belated Thanksgiving with my family, and prepare for school on Monday. Back to the old grind, ugh!

Happy Thanksgiving !

 

[tomandrobin]

Glad you got to see the Castle Lights. Those lights are so beautiful, as they change colors. We were amazed last year when we saw them

Osborne Lights at Hollywood Studios is really amazing. Especially when they are set to music (every 15 minutes) and dance. Just a terrific effect and leaves you feeling really festive.

Enjoy your last day and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

[JAKEANDERIC]

GAC

Hi- I don't know if you are still there, but since your daughter has special needs, you can obtain a Guest Assistance Card for her. This will enable her and the rest of your party to wait for rides separate from the herd. If a ride has a handicap entrance, you can wait there , and it might cut down on the anxiety during your visit.

 

[GrayFal]

Denise - I know you are home now - but hope you had a Magical Trip!

 

[Amy]

Denise - I know you are home now - but hope you had a Magical Trip!

Just wanted to say the same! Also, did you find the love again for WDW?

 

[Denise L]

Hi- I don't know if you are still there, but since your daughter has special needs, you can obtain a Guest Assistance Card for her. This will enable her and the rest of your party to wait for rides separate from the herd. If a ride has a handicap entrance, you can wait there , and it might cut down on the anxiety during your visit.

Yep, we have been able to obtain a GAC for our visits to WDW. It helps a lot, especially when we know we only have one shot to getting her to visit an attraction. The longer the wait, the more anxious she becomes. In 2005, we could only get her on the Safari ride. In 2006, we added Nemo and Fantasmic. This year, we repeated Safari and Nemo. I was hoping for Peter Pan, but at least we saw some shows at Hollywood Studios this time...the Indiana Jones show and the Lights, Camera, Action Stunt show.

 

[Denise L]

Denise - I know you are home now - but hope you had a Magical Trip!

Thanks !

I certainly enjoyed being away from home. I think my husband and I needed the break more than the kids. The weather was great and everything was just so festive. I didn't log onto Interval all week .

Just wanted to say the same! Also, did you find the love again for WDW?

Pretty much . Everything was as lovely as I remember it. I love being so close to EPCOT .

The 3rd floor villa was noisy, though....I could hear water running very loudly every morning above my head, and it woke me up *every* time and I could not go back to sleep for an hour. It would run, stop, run, stop, run stop. Really loud every time it stopped.

And I've never really had a freezer there that actually keeps anything frozen. I can't wait until they replace those 15 year old refrigerators!

Other than that, it was great. We ate at Beaches and Cream for Thanksgiving! Just perfect .

 

[Twinkstarr]

Thanks !

I certainly enjoyed being away from home. I think my husband and I needed the break more than the kids. The weather was great and everything was just so festive. I didn't log onto Interval all week .




Pretty much . Everything was as lovely as I remember it. I love being so close to EPCOT .

The 3rd floor villa was noisy, though....I could hear water running very loudly every morning above my head, and it woke me up *every* time and I could not go back to sleep for an hour. It would run, stop, run, stop, run stop. Really loud every time it stopped.

And I've never really had a freezer there that actually keeps anything frozen. I can't wait until they replace those 15 year old refrigerators!

Other than that, it was great. We ate at Beaches and Cream for Thanksgiving! Just perfect .

We were over at Saratoga Springs, last week. I've found out with Bell Services you need to go and tell them you need help. When we've stayed at BCV or VWL, we just take our bags with us(carry-on types). Now at SSR, we had a grocery delivery waiting and luckily got my requested area checking in at 10pm.

We stayed at BCV last Jan, and you could hear the toliet flushing, shower running from above and next door. It was the only DVC I've stayed in that I have noticed that(we've been to VWL,BCV,SSR and VB).

 

[clsmit]

Denise -- Glad you got home safely! Sorry we couldn't meet up in person during the week, but it was great talking to you on the phone! Maybe next time...

 

[Denise L]

Denise -- Glad you got home safely! Sorry we couldn't meet up in person during the week, but it was great talking to you on the phone! Maybe next time...

Hi Carol, so sorry we weren't able to get together. I hope that you had a great trip and that you were able to get a photo with the TUG banner .

 

[icydog]

We're here at Saratoga Springs in a one Bedroom

We're here at SSR using an exchanged week rather than our DVC points. All I can say is it is FREEZING. We know what Orlando is like in the winter but this week is exceptionally cold. Luckily having been here so many times taught us to pack for anything. So we layered up and we wear a shirt, a sweater, a vest and a light coat. This seems to work. We went to the Candlelight Processional last night. It was superb as usual. This is the one thing we always do at Walt Disney World during Christmas. What a lovely, non commercial, presentation this was. I wish it was out on DVD because I would buy it. Our narrator was Neil Patrick Harris, aka Douggie Houser. He did a great job and so did the High School choir that sung yesterday, the orchestra, and the paid Disney singers.

 

[Twinkstarr]

We're here at SSR using an exchanged week rather than our DVC points. All I can say is it is FREEZING. We know what Orlando is like in the winter but this week is exceptionally cold. Luckily having been here so many times taught us to pack for anything. So we layered up and we wear a shirt, a sweater, a vest and a light coat. This seems to work. We went to the Candlelight Processional last night. It was superb as usual. This is the one thing we always do at Walt Disney World during Christmas. What a lovely, non commercial, presentation this was. I wish it was out on DVD because I would buy it. Our narrator was Neil Patrick Harris, aka Douggie Houser. He did a great job and so did the High School choir that sung yesterday, the orchestra, and the paid Disney singers.

We came home last Friday and it looks like the local weather people were right for a change. Kept thinking of all the 1st 2 weeks of Dec folks freezing their bums off this week.

We went with our long underwear, hats and gloves and luckily didn't need them for our trip.

Cool you got to see Douggie Houser! my sister loves his show on CBS(don't know the name because I don't watch it).

 

[Denise L]

We were at WDW during Thanksgiving in 2006 and Orlando was having record lows. It was SO cold. We had the kids in three layers of whatever clothes we happened to bring, and also wrapped them in blankets from the resort at night. We debated whether to bring winter jackets for this year's trip, but we took our chances with just sweatshirts.

We were delighted to have near perfect weather last week and to miss the rain and wind and cold.

Have a great week!

 

[Amy]

It is 25 degrees and snowing at home right now. The 10-day forecast for Orlando has highs in the high 60s and low 70s. I hope that stays true for our trip -- we depart on the 12th -- as I really need a break from this cold weather! I'll even be happy with the 50s; that would feel positively balmy.

 

[icydog]

Today was better, in the 70s. But still cool at night I suspect. My hubby is on the balcony reading so it must be warm outside.