She's Adding All The Extras, a January 2022 Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge Split Stay Trip Report (Updated 4/24)

On my birthday I woke up at 5:00 and decided to purchase Genie + for our group. It was $15 a person plus tax, making it almost $96, but I made the decision to give it a try. I then got up just before 6AM and went out to explore and take more pictures.
$96!!!! Yikes! And that's without any ILLs.
Then I made my way down to the water and got some pictures from the other side of the lake.
As always, your photos are spectacular.
I made it back to Beach Club before 7, and sat outside the marketplace to make our first Genie + selections for our planned day at Epcot.
Did you find Genie+ worth it for Epcot? We are planning on it for our HS/MK day.
I wound up with Soarin for 11:10 AM, since the first Test Track I could get was for 5PM. I also thought about a paid Lightning Lane for Remy, but the best I could do was 4PM for $11 a person. This was not fun. I was up early and willing to pay what it took to make it a great day, and the times just weren't going to work. Feeling like I wasted $96, I headed back to the room knowing that at least we would get to ride Soarin. Our approach for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure would be to take full advantage of the extra half hour for resort guests, and our resort's proximity to the ride.
So frustrating! And very expensive.....
I know their stuff is yummy, but there was no way I was going to wait in that line. Allie was lucky that there was almost nobody in the shop, and she found a French dress just like her other two from previous years in a size that was big enough for her.
I would wear that dress if they made it in adult sizes. So pretty for summer!
It is his favorite ride, which is another way in which he is just like his Mother.
My favourite too. :)
Also while we were in line I was able to grab another Lightning Lane for Spaceship Earth in just a few minutes.
Perfect!
Teppan Edo is just a solid choice every time for us.
I haven't dined there in many years but your positive reviews make me want to try it again.
 
A stressful start to your day but seems things turned around. I just hate the whole Genie+ thing. I liked outlining my day with fast passes from the comfort of home. With thousands of people getting on MDE at 7 am is a recipe for frustrations. Glad to hear it did save you time on Soarin and Spaceship Earth. Maybe by end of day you felt like it was worth the $$? Your lunch looks so good - I am putting that on my dining list for our next trip!
 
We are visiting Aulani in April for the first time and are looking forward to it.
That will be a lot of fun, and warm, too. :) I am jealous of the west coast people who can fly to Hawaii so easily. It is a really long flight from Chicago. We were last there in 2008 and the way they have cut the luxuries, including food service from the 11 hour non-stop flight has made it a lot less appealing of a trip. Is this your first trip to Hawaii?
We all enjoyed the ride, especially the kids. Brandy said it was identical to the one in France, which they got to experience a couple of years ago.
I heard that Remy was the most popular ride in France. It is nice to hear that they made it the same in Epcot. :)
Also while we were in line I was able to grab another Lightning Lane for Spaceship Earth in just a few minutes.
This is probably the best feature of Genie+, being able to grab a ride with just a few minutes of wait time. I like that you are able to use Genie+ in multiple parks. :) But we haven't bought Genie+ yet and I'm not sure we will.
So I bought some dry toe socks and shoved my foot in the bag in my shoe and Ta Da, it was almost instant relief.
This is a brilliant idea! We got rained on during our last trip and if I had known about this trick I would have gone back into the park later that night.
And I of course got the Filet as well. This was my clear meal of choice for my birthday, and it didn't disapoint.
Of course you are going to have your favorite meal on your birthday. I love your hat, by the way. I've seen people walking around Epcot with that hat. I thought they bought them but maybe not. :)
 
You should have an excellent time. You will be amazed at what Disney can do with an almost unlimited about of land. You may find MK to be a little odd since stuff is in different places than Disneyland, but that's ok. The other three parks are unique and amazing.
We are visiting Aulani in April for the first time and are looking forward to it. Do you have any Aulani tips for us?


YES! Go to Monkeypod lol. It's one of the restaurants in the nearby shopping center, it is walking distance. It was a top highlight of our trip. We also really enjoyed renting DVDs from the community room and just lounging on the couch in the evenings with the patio doors open seeing the sunset and the waves and watching movies (not a ton of night life). The shave ice with condensed milk sounds weird- it is great. Poke bowls were what my partner ate every day for lunch. We also did a car service one day to drive around the whole island, which was pretty cool to see so many spots. Stopped for lunch at Turtle Bay which we loved too. All in all, we loved Aulani, BUT we also love Hawaii in general so we were easy to please. Do you know about the secret beach to see turtles at just past the four seasons?
 
You call her Boots, and I call her Lt. Uhura. I think it's fitting that they included the communications officer in the ride about the history of communication.

"Wallcot" is an apt description, and will resonate for everyone who has been there in the past year or so.

Glad you got to celebrate your birthday at Teppan Edo! What flavor ice cream was it?
Yes, Disney was quite clever in setting up Spaceship Earth, and I hope they don’t change it too much. We all feel the communications officer is the star of the show.
The walls still feel strange, and you can’t walk straight through the middle, but the theming of the Guardians of the Galaxy ride is coming along nicely and hides that giant building.
The ice cream was regular vanilla soft serve, which I enjoyed. I have tried the green tea flavor before and didn’t love it. Sometimes simple vanilla is great.

$96!!!! Yikes! And that's without any ILLs.
Yeah, the problem is the six people, but we weren’t going to only do it for some of us. Also they say it is $15 a person, but tax makes it close to $16 so it adds up.

As always, your photos are spectacular.
Aww, thanks. It was pretty dark and overcast that morning but I had fun.

Did you find Genie+ worth it for Epcot? We are planning on it for our HS/MK day.
So frustrating! And very expensive.....
We did not feel
It was worth the cost for our Epcot day, but with better luck it might have been. Our problem is we do t spend all day in the parks, which limits the value we get from Genie +.

I would wear that dress if they made it in adult sizes. So pretty for summer!
Yes! Allie may have to make her own bigger one someday, or convince Mom to.

I haven't dined there in many years but your positive reviews make me want to try it again.
It gets mediocre reviews online, but often from people who order the standard steak or maybe chicken. I will still put that filet up against any other on property. Mmmmm and that sauce.

A stressful start to your day but seems things turned around. I just hate the whole Genie+ thing. I liked outlining my day with fast passes from the comfort of home. With thousands of people getting on MDE at 7 am is a recipe for frustrations. Glad to hear it did save you time on Soarin and Spaceship Earth. Maybe by end of day you felt like it was worth the $$? Your lunch looks so good - I am putting that on my dining list for our next trip!
Yeah, it is frustrating to have a mad rush for getting “fast passes” and not being able to schedule it out like we would have preferred. It was not worth the cost for us, but it isn’t designed for people who do parks the way we do.
Teppan Edo is consistently great for us, especially since I started ordering the better steak.

That will be a lot of fun, and warm, too. :) I am jealous of the west coast people who can fly to Hawaii so easily. It is a really long flight from Chicago. We were last there in 2008 and the way they have cut the luxuries, including food service from the 11 hour non-stop flight has made it a lot less appealing of a trip. Is this your first trip to Hawaii?
Yeah, it will be a shorter flight than Disney is for us, although we will still have to deal with LAX. It is our first time in Hawaii for any of us, so it will be a new experience.

I heard that Remy was the most popular ride in France. It is nice to hear that they made it the same in Epcot. :)
It is the busiest ride right now in Epcot too. It is a nice ride, but the hype should die down a bit.

This is probably the best feature of Genie+, being able to grab a ride with just a few minutes of wait time. I like that you are able to use Genie+ in multiple parks. :) But we haven't bought Genie+ yet and I'm not sure we will.
Yeah, we were optimistic about being able to get things spontaneously, but the more popular rides booked up really early in the day

This is a brilliant idea! We got rained on during our last trip and if I had known about this trick I would have gone back into the park later that night.
Melissa came up with a great plan and it worked perfectly.

Of course you are going to have your favorite meal on your birthday. I love your hat, by the way. I've seen people walking around Epcot with that hat. I thought they bought them but maybe not. :)
It was a great meal and I’m glad we got it on my birthday. The hat was cute, and people thought it was a Remy inspired hat and asked me where Remy was. It kind of made me wosh I had bought the RC one like Marshall’s Emille.

YES! Go to Monkeypod lol. It's one of the restaurants in the nearby shopping center, it is walking distance. It was a top highlight of our trip. We also really enjoyed renting DVDs from the community room and just lounging on the couch in the evenings with the patio doors open seeing the sunset and the waves and watching movies (not a ton of night life). The shave ice with condensed milk sounds weird- it is great. Poke bowls were what my partner ate every day for lunch. We also did a car service one day to drive around the whole island, which was pretty cool to see so many spots. Stopped for lunch at Turtle Bay which we loved too. All in all, we loved Aulani, BUT we also love Hawaii in general so we were easy to please. Do you know about the secret beach to see turtles at just past the four seasons?
Thanks for all the great tips. We will definitely try Monkeypod. We will have a car for the whole time, so we are looking forward to doing some exploring around the island besides Aulani. We will also look into to the beach past the four seasons. Very cool stuff, thanks!
 
Ooof, sorry to hear G+ wasn't so stressful but it sounds like the day got better from there. Glad to hear Remy wasn't too bad during early entry. That's probably where we'll put it, too.

I know WL is your home, but Crescent Lake in the early hours is really something!
 
Those crescent lake photos are just gorgeous. I’ve read your other reports and your WL pictures are always amazing so no surprise these are so pretty.

I love the Epcot resorts but my issue has always been the QS food options especially at breakfast. We always do a grocery order and eat breakfast in our rooms to save us the long walks to the food early in the morning.
 
Yes, Disney was quite clever in setting up Spaceship Earth, and I hope they don’t change it too much. We all feel the communications officer is the star of the show.
...
Yeah, it will be a shorter flight than Disney is for us, although we will still have to deal with LAX. It is our first time in Hawaii for any of us, so it will be a new experience.
So do I!

Looking forward to your future Aulani trip report!
 
Your photos are second to none, I love the early morning shots. You are one heck of a photographer!! Food question: would you get that cheesecake again? It looks very....cheesy, ha ha. I'm a sucker for a good cheesecake though, and the Remy one looks very cute! Can't wait to read more; I've said it before, but your group looks like so much fun---I want to come with next time :)
 
Hi from Australia, I love your TRs! It's going to be ages until I can go back to WDW so will live vicariously through yours. Amazing pics of the boardwalk area. Your kids are very lucky :D
 
Ooof, sorry to hear G+ wasn't so stressful but it sounds like the day got better from there. Glad to hear Remy wasn't too bad during early entry. That's probably where we'll put it, too.

I know WL is your home, but Crescent Lake in the early hours is really something!
It is a great location, and it was really fun to be there at times like early in the morning an late at night when we had never been around there before.

Those crescent lake photos are just gorgeous. I’ve read your other reports and your WL pictures are always amazing so no surprise these are so pretty.

I love the Epcot resorts but my issue has always been the QS food options especially at breakfast. We always do a grocery order and eat breakfast in our rooms to save us the long walks to the food early in the morning.
We were worried about the QS options too, but found them to be fine, as long as they weren't too crowded and you got a spot for a mobile order. In practice it wasn't much different than WL and Roaring Fork for breakfast for us, as we were able to get Beach Club Marketplace breakfast on other days.

So do I!

Looking forward to your future Aulani trip report!
Ahh, we hope to have this one done by then, we'll see. We hadn't thought about doing one, but can probably put something together.

Your photos are second to none, I love the early morning shots. You are one heck of a photographer!! Food question: would you get that cheesecake again? It looks very....cheesy, ha ha. I'm a sucker for a good cheesecake though, and the Remy one looks very cute! Can't wait to read more; I've said it before, but your group looks like so much fun---I want to come with next time :)
Aww, that is truly flattering. Thank you so much.

As for the cheesecake, we would definitely order it again, but don't go into it expecting a regular cheesecake. It is more fluffy and like a regular cake that looks like cheese. Still yummy though.

We are fortunate to have great friends who enjoy our kids. :)

Yeah, same here! If you guys ever plan a group tour open to the public, I think a lot of us would like to join!
Lol, that is so funny. I figure our trips would actually bore most people since we don't make it to all the rides and do all the things, but we do enjoy ourselves. We do think we are fun though, and always have a good time.

Hi from Australia, I love your TRs! It's going to be ages until I can go back to WDW so will live vicariously through yours. Amazing pics of the boardwalk area. Your kids are very lucky :D
Hello there. We are happy to share to give you whatever sense of WDW we can from so far away. Someday you will be back.
Our kids are very lucky, and hopefully they know it. We work hard to get to play like this, but we do want them to appreciate it, and feel that they do. It is something we all can really enjoy together.
 
After lunch we decied to make the trek back across the lagoon to check out the new Creations Shop.


Jon and Brandy headed out the gate to the resort.

I don’t know why the dropped the MouseGears name. It was much better, I’m not sure what we’re creating in this shop except credit card debt.

Lol, true!

Anyway, we took the boat back across because it was still a little wet.

The boat timing worked out well again, and left us in a good position to look for Tim Rogerson who we heard was in a booth near Canada.


We were still kinda searching for that one piece to bring home from the trip but we didn’t see anything that we couldn’t live without yet.

We saw Minnie Mouse on the way, she was looking super cute.


They didn't have the Mickey Loves Minnie print like we saw him paint a couple of years ago, so we continued on. On our way to the Creations shop, Marshall fell asleep in the stroller.


The Creations Shop had some big (and small) shoes to fill for us, since we loved Mouse Gear and were not imporessed with last year's temporary replacement.


The design of the shop is stunning, I’ll give it that.



It was big and pretty and overall I was happy with it. Allie took the chance to explore it on her own since she now has a cell phone and we were comfortable letting her have a little more freedom.

I was done shopping, and was in need of a potty break so I went off to the restroom while I left Paul to check out and collect Allie with the plan to meet up outside the store in just a minute.

I bought a bag of cookies (which were soft and surprisingly good) and then went out the exit by Club Cool and around to the restrooms. As we got there Allie mentioned that Marshall only had one shoe on.


I got the text as I was heading back to the shop and I can’t type the word that went through my head.

For our new friends Marshall became obsessed with Mickey Crocs a couple years ago, they are literally the ONLY shoes he will wear, and I’ve just stopped buying him other shoes.

They are also the ONLY shoes we brought for him to wear on the trip.


He wore them in Melissa's sister's wedding, and they are just what he wears for shoes. He's had at least four pairs of them, but we had noticed this trip that they were no longer in stores.

As a matter of fact we had noticed that there were no shoes in his size in any of the stores we’d been in so far.

It was pretty much a nuclear emergency.


We knew he fell asleep shortly before the shop, so he most likely lost it in the store. Allie and I had searched the store though and didn't see it anywhere.

I saw a group of cast members, turns out they were in training, like first day training, and I asked if someone had turned in a shoe.

I saw a group of cast members, turns out they were in training, like first day training, and I asked if someone had turned in a shoe.


The lead used it as a training opportunity and they headed off to check.

By some miracle someone had found that stinky croc and turned it in. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see it.


That was great news, and Marshall slept through the whole ordeal, which ws far better for everyone involved because he would not have been cool with it being gone.

Next we walked towards Test Track. The Lightning Lane distribution had ended for the day, and the wait time was 80 minutes, so we just walked in to check out the dump shop.

This is still my favorite store, and this time I found a Corvette travel coffee mug (that I use almost every day now) and since Marshall woke up in the store we got him an RC corvette.



Also, can we talk about this. You’re now a coffee drinker.

Like from 0 to need his coffee in the morning.


I think we covered it in last year's report, but yes we brought home some Mickey coffee last year and I started drinking it. Now we both have our coffee in the morning. It doesn't replace my Diet Coke, but it is nice to have something warm in the morning.

After our shopping we headed out towards International Gateway via Canada.


On the way we stopped to admire Ted Rogerson painting a super cute Orange Bird.


It was cute. We then went back to the room to relax and the kids worked on a little homework. Well, ALlie did and Marshall played with his Emille.


We had the fireworks cruise a little later so we wanted a bit of a snack before.

Jon and Brandy had wound up at Ale and Compass, and had taken advantage of our recommendation to try the Parker House rolls. We wanted some too, so I headed that way. On the way, I saw an almost empty Stormalong Bay.


A couple weeks before the trip I had ordered some cupcakes and balloons with a cute ear hat from Disney Floral to be delivered as a birthday surprise. I was a little surprised when we got to the room it wasn’t there, and we didn’t have a message on the phone in the room.

So after Paul left I called because it was after 5 and we still hadn’t gotten it.


When I got over there I found the bar was pretty busy, so I did a mobile order for the rolls, but the window wouldn't open for 45 minutes, so I had time to kill. I wound up walking back over to Boardwalk and checking out their gift shop.


While over there I got a call saying that we had a package to pick up at the front desk.


I must have been on the phone at the exact same time because while I was telling the front desk to bring it up, you were telling them you’d come get it.

Only I had no idea what it was.

I tried to play it cool like I didn’t either.

I got back to get the rolls, and it took about another 10 minutes for them to be ready.


They were worth the wait though.

I got the rolls and then stopped by the Beach Club front desk to get the item, which turned out to be balloons and cupcakes. My arms were pretty full for the final leg of the trek back to the room.

Happy Birthday

It was cute, and they came with a nice big glass plate.


It was not the surprise I hoped it would be.

Aww, it was neat, and I got a special pair of mouse ears. The timing was nice too as we all had cupcakes before heading out to the fireworks cruise.



We also had the balloons for the rest of the trip. They provided some comic relief later in the trip.

We left the room about 7:30 and made it to the Yacht club boat dock right at 7:45, where they were getting the boats ready for us.


It was a chilly night but they had plenty of blankets and we’d dressed with lots of layers.

It was cold enough that the lagoon was steaming, but we were bundled up. Marshall chose a seat right by the snacks, which he had been looking forward to.


His first choice was popcorn.


We did our little cruise which goes over to Hollywood Studios. Waving at the people heading out of the park is always fun.


Our guide had a little difficulty, since he never got the baloons for the boat, and also had left the docking lights on and had transportation boats flashing their lights at him.

He was also not on the correct radio frequency to get approval to go by the Friendship boats.

He had some interesting stories though, and we were on a boat for fireworks so we were all pretty happy.

He missed the tie up location, but we wound up near where we were supposed to be in plenty of time for the show.


Yeah overall he was kinda odd but like you said fireworks on the boat are always amazing. We were all snuggly in our blankets eating some yummy snacks.


I took a bunch of pictures during the show, and some of them turned out pretty nice.

411 pictures actually.

Yeah, so to get a couple of good ones it was worth it... But thanks to picture count they will have to be in the next post....
 
We didn't make you wait long forth though. Here are our pictures of Harmonious!








I did notice that partway through the show the big arms stopped moving. It was a bit of a bummer, but we were glad that the rest of the show went on as planned.





At least we don’t have to pay for developing.

We then headed back to the dock and then walked to the room.

Stormalong Bay was still open, but we didn't see anyone swimming in the cold.



Those poor lifeguards were in parkas and beanies.


It was my turn to be scared in the hallway. Brandy was the instigator and we’re all very glad that I didn’t have 2 cokes on the boat.


He got you good. You did well not screaming to wake anyone up.


Back at the room we sat on the couch and played online, looking up Disney Springs transportation options for brunch the next morning.

I gave him the phone number to call to schedule a cab.

At 10:45 I called Mears and scheduled a cab for 9:10 the next morning.

I wasn't sure how it would work but it wound up being a great decision to listen to my wife.

Then we headed to bed at 11:00, ending a great birthday day.

Next up a much anticipated brunch, some time at the Lego store and so much more.

 
As we got there Allie mentioned that Marshall only had one shoe on.
It was a good thing that Allie has a sharp eye. It could have taken a lot longer to find the shoe if you had traveled through more of the park.
By some miracle someone had found that stinky croc and turned it in. I cannot tell you how happy I was to see it.
That was really lucky. And it was nice that he slept through the missing shoe incident.
This is still my favorite store, and this time I found a Corvette travel coffee mug (that I use almost every day now)
The Corvette mug is really cool. Coffee is very addictive and very delicious. :)
Marshall played with his Emille.
Emille is adorable and definitely more fun than homework. :)
It was not the surprise I hoped it would be.
It is a very nice gift but it is too bad they didn't deliver it to the room. Was it a Covid thing or just a miscommunication?
It was a chilly night but they had plenty of blankets and we’d dressed with lots of layers.
The blankets were a good idea. I remember when Geyser Point first opened they had blankets for the cold weather during one of our January trips.
Yeah overall he was kinda odd but like you said fireworks on the boat are always amazing. We were all snuggly in our blankets eating some yummy snacks.
It sounds like it was his first time doing the fireworks cruise. At least he got it right in the end.
Here are our pictures of Harmonious!
That is a great viewpoint and also the same view if you are standing on the bridge. Was this the first time you had watched Harmonious? Your pictures are gorgeous. I think Harmonious is more photogenic than Illuminations were.

I don't think that the arms were working right when we saw the fireworks two weeks ago.
What did you think of Harmonious? I like it. :)

I love the way the Yacht Club looks in your picture. :)

Those poor lifeguards were in parkas and beanies.
They were wearing those clothes every night of our trip, too. But people were still in the pool in spite of the cold.
 
What a wonderful end to your birthday! A cruise would be a great way to see the fireworks. You got some awesome pictures. Too bad your birthday surprise didn't work out as planned but still fun. Sometimes at Disney an Uber or taxi is the way to go and worth the cost - anxious to hear about your brunch!
 
I got the text as I was heading back to the shop and I can’t type the word that went through my head. :rotfl2:

Ha ha ha ha, this made me laugh so hard! Glad you found the beloved shoe :) Looks to be a great birthday in the world's best place!! Give us some more vacation when you get a chance :flower1:
 
What a wonderful end to your birthday! A cruise would be a great way to see the fireworks. You got some awesome pictures. Too bad your birthday surprise didn't work out as planned but still fun. Sometimes at Disney an Uber or taxi is the way to go and worth the cost - anxious to hear about your brunch!
Yes it was a fun birthday, even if the birthday surprise required a little more manual work than expected. The fireworks cruise was great, and is our favorite extra thing at Disney.
The brunch was excellent, and we'll cover that here shortly...

Sounds like a great birthday!
It was a great day, and part of an awesome trip.

I got the text as I was heading back to the shop and I can’t type the word that went through my head. :rotfl2:

Ha ha ha ha, this made me laugh so hard! Glad you found the beloved shoe :) Looks to be a great birthday in the world's best place!! Give us some more vacation when you get a chance :flower1:
Seriously, loosing that shoe for any extended period of time would not have been good at all... It all worked out though. We have been busy with work and life, but have another update ready to go now.

Following along! We checked into BWV the day you left, the 29th. Looks like you’ve had a great trip!
Welcome and thanks for joining in. We hope you had as good of a time there as we did.
 

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