Get out of the pool!! - Nine Nights, Three Resorts, and a Surprise Upgrade, July 2019 TR - Final Update 1/22

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

So cute! And you have to capture those moments when they happen.

From the moment we stepped off the boat we were blown away by Wilderness Lodge. The resort was so gorgeous and DH and Cora now have it at the top of their must-do list. Eventually we will have to make a stay there happen. We actually had it booked for a time for this trip, but ended up changing to BWI.

We love Wilderness Lodge but it has been awhile since we have stayed there.

I love her face, like she isn't sure if it is actually poisonous.

The experience as a whole was really enjoyable and felt special and the kids are begging to go back. However, I’d have a hard time justifying the cost of a repeat visit without free dining. I’m glad we did it once, though.

I feel the same. And looking at all of your pictures, makes me want to go back, it is such a great all together expierence but it was really pricey!!!

It arrived pretty quickly and the cast member driving made a fuss over the kids costumes, which tickled them. Once we pulled up to Bay Lake Tower she turned around and told the kids that this one was on Minnie and comped our ride! That was a great little surprise, as I was feeling a little guilty for the totally unnecessary splurge. I gave her a nice tip.

That was nice!

 

[disny_luvr]

I wanted to let you know that Beach Club rooms opened up for our August dates. Water view is more than we are paying for our water view room at the YC, but if we moved to a standard view room at the BC we’d save about $260. I need to decide if we want to switch. I kind of want to stay at the YC because I love the rooms, but my husband and one son want to switch to the BC. I just hate the standard view room views. If a garden room opens up, I guess we’ll switch.

All that to say, check to see if any BC rooms opened up for your dates.

 

[Djjsperry]

I’m on board glad to find your new thread. I disagree I think Thunder Mountain in WDW blows Disneyland’s out of the water. Now Disney’s version of Space mountain blows WDW out f the water. If we get a large quick serve we still split then we get a quick serve breakfast to split on the trip too!

 

[amberdc1987]

Just found your report and loving it! Your children are precious and about the same age as my girls. Can't wait to hear more about it.

 

[Jfsag123]

I wanted to let you know that Beach Club rooms opened up for our August dates. Water view is more than we are paying for our water view room at the YC, but if we moved to a standard view room at the BC we’d save about $260. I need to decide if we want to switch. I kind of want to stay at the YC because I love the rooms, but my husband and one son want to switch to the BC. I just hate the standard view room views. If a garden room opens up, I guess we’ll switch.

All that to say, check to see if any BC rooms opened up for your dates.

Thanks! I actually did end up getting switched over to Beach Club - woohoo! Ended up with Garden View. However, I lost Polynesian On the last day of free dining I saw a package for the free dining deal at BWV and couldn't pass it up! So now we will be in the Epcot resort area the entire trip. However, seems like that may be helpful with the current state of Hollywood Studios.

I’m on board glad to find your new thread. I disagree I think Thunder Mountain in WDW blows Disneyland’s out of the water. Now Disney’s version of Space mountain blows WDW out f the water.

Welcome! I'm going to have to stick to my guns and say that DL's Big Thunder is better. However, I don't think it wins by much. Now Space Mountain I absolutely agree with you on. And a lot of people say DL's Pirates is better, which I understand, but I still have to go with WDW's version because I just love it.

Just found your report and loving it! Your children are precious and about the same age as my girls. Can't wait to hear more about it.

Welcome and thank you for the kind words!

 

[Jfsag123]

Well despite loving the Magic Kingdom area so much, we won’t be returning to it on this year’s trip. I’d had my heart set on a MK/Epcot resort split, but found BWV with free dining on the last day the offer was available and I couldn’t pass that up! So now we have a BWV/BC split, putting our whole trip in the Crescent Lake area. That area is actually my favorite, though, and I think having easy access to Hollywood Studios for the entire trip will be helpful what with the uncertainty that is planning that park at the moment. We are just about 5 months away and I’m ready to go! Now back to this trip…

Day 6: July 24, Part 1 – Magic Kingdom

It sure is easy to rope drop the Magic Kingdom coming from Bay Lake Tower, so of course, we took advantage of that. I started the day with a picture of the park out the window of the elevator lobby. It was a beautiful day!

This was our first time using the walking path since they put a security checkpoint along it and that was a wonderful upgrade! It made getting to the MK sooo easy. We were able to just walk up and breeze right through - there was never more than one family there at the same time as us. Alex resumed his dancing again as we walked up, but sadly I don’t have pictures this time.

We started in Adventureland immediately after rope drop with Jungle Cruise followed by Pirates. I don’t really have any memory of either ride experience, but I have proof that it happened with the most pointless ride photo ever.

We look so out of it! I mean, I’m all for extra photos, but really, this one makes no sense. At least put it during the drop or something. Next was a classic which now features a slightly less pointless ride photo.

I’m not really sure what’s happening in either picture, but there they are.

I snapped a (bad) pic of the bride at the end, as DH DOES NOT enjoy her, which the kids love teasing him about.

I thought seeing some of the backstory about her on The Imagineering Story would change his mind a bit, but no such luck. P.S. If you have not checked out The Imagineering Story on Disney+, I highly recommend doing so! It is a Disney parks fan’s dream show.

Anywho, we made our way through Fantasyland headed to our first FP+, but the kids wanted to stop by the Sword in the Stone first to give it a go.

Yeah, it wasn’t budging. But just as we were about to leave, the Royal Majesty Makers came out to do their show, so we decided to stick around to watch, as we hadn’t seen it before. The point of the show apparently is to have people try to pull the sword from the stone. They had a couple people come up to up to try with no avail, and then selected one more person from the crowd.

They asked her to show her muscles, which she always enjoys doing.

They had her start pulling

And then this happened. Her face was priceless.

They announced her as Cora, the Hero of Fantasyland and she was thrilled.

Of course, it ended with the male Royal Majesty Maker “accidentally” pushing the sword back down into the stone. Womp womp.

They gave Cora a Hero of Fantasyland sticker and they gave Alex a business card, which I think is actually a better souvenir, as we were able to hang onto it. It’s even more special now that I’ve heard the show has been cancelled. I hate that Disney keeps removing little things like this that make the parks so special. This is a memory my kids will hold onto for life and I’m sure it cost Disney next to nothing. Oh well, I’m glad we had the experience.

Our FP+ had been to meet Tiana and Rapunzel, so it was pretty easy for us to get to after the show, despite the extra unexpected time we had spent along the way. Cora, of course, had to tell Tiana all about what had just happened.

I was wearing my Tiana tank top dress, so I had to get an individual picture. When she saw me she exclaimed “you’re gonna make me cry!” and then talked about how she could use a dress like mine for when she’s cooking. This was a great character meet.

And we got a family pic too.

Rapunzel is one of Alex’s favorites, so he got some special time there.

Because we hit our first FP+ so late in the window, our second window was open by the time we emerged, so we headed straight for it.

Wee! Alex looks like he’s singing.

Next we headed to Tomorrowland to take in a classic. The kids insisted on sitting in the front row, so that’s what we did.

I love that show so hard. And I love making it a one two punch by immediately following it up with a ride on the Peoplemover.

Alex is making his “for the love of God, please stop taking pictures” face. Get over it, kid, it ain’t happening.

Final FP+ time! We split up for this one. Cora loves Space Mountain. Alex will ride it, but doesn’t really like it. Since, as I previously mentioned, I lost any desire to ride WDW’s SM after trying DL’s version, I booked DH and Cora for Space and put Alex and myself on Buzz.

The plan had been to meet outside Cosmic Ray’s for lunch after finishing up our respective rides. Alex and I waited. And waited. And waited. I began to wonder if the ride had broken down and checked my phone. Nope. Finally we saw them sauntering up, DH looking sheepish and Cora shaking her head. He had gone to Tomorrowland Terrace rather than Cosmic Ray’s, then had to be directed by a cast member to find out where to go. Apparently he still has no concept of the layout of the parks because he is happy to just follow me around and rely on my knowledge whenever we are there. Sigh. But Cora has vowed to become my little Disney assistant and has been diligently learning the FP system and helping with planning this time in between trips, so we’ll see what happens going forward.

Anyway, the meal was nothing special. So very surprising for Cosmic Ray’s, right? (Where is that sarcasm font when you need it?) DH and I had chicken sandwiches, Cora had chicken tenders and, of course, Alex got mac and cheese yet again. Cora was content to order from the kids’ menu to get the go-go squeeze and cutie with the assurance that DH and I would share fries with her, which we did. Not a great meal by any stretch of the imagination, but it did the trick and we were sated. As the full heat of the day had come on by this point we decided to go ahead and go back to the resort for a break rather than trying our luck for extra fastpasses. It had been a decently successful morning.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I don't know what is going on with your thread, but I get the menu right in the middle of my screen only on your thread. It's weird...

Cora's face was amazing!!! Gwen wants to be the choosen one one day. And I love that Cora knew they were going the wrong way.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Ok, it went away as soon as I commented, weird.

This is hilarious!

So now we have a BWV/BC split, putting our whole trip in the Crescent Lake area.

So, you got Beach Club for Cora? After I commented about Yacht Club, I went and checked and found a water view for our last 3 days of our trip! I am soooo excitied!!!

We look so out of it! I mean, I’m all for extra photos, but really, this one makes no sense. At least put it during the drop or something. Next was a classic which now features a slightly less pointless ride photo.

Really, there are so many other places they could have put it.

I thought seeing some of the backstory about her on The Imagineering Story would change his mind a bit, but no such luck. P.S. If you have not checked out The Imagineering Story on Disney+, I highly recommend doing so! It is a Disney parks fan’s dream show.

It's because he could be next! I mean she does only go after men...

Still love it!

 

[sheri18]

Those outfits are amazing. You are so fortunate
..they would be astronomical to buy...

 

[buzzrelly]

I’d had my heart set on a MK/Epcot resort split, but found BWV with free dining on the last day the offer was available and I couldn’t pass that up! So now we have a BWV/BC split,

That would be hard to pass up.

That area is actually my favorite, though, and I think having easy access to Hollywood Studios for the entire trip will be helpful what with the uncertainty that is planning that park at the moment.

I'm kind of sad we won't be at the BCV anymore. My DS joined the Army Reserve and announced that he would be gone for basic training starting in May so I stupidly changed us back to BLT in a 1-bedroom thinking we don't really need a 2-bedroom for just four of us. Well, then my DS says he is leaving mid-July now which means he can come with us. Of course, that BCV was snatched up the minute I let it go so BLT it is. Not that I don't love it there, but I was really looking forward to staying over by EPCOT and DHS…not to mention that pool

In any case, I'm glad he can still come (unless he changes his mind and doesn't) and we'll still have a great time at BLT.

It sure is easy to rope drop the Magic Kingdom coming from Bay Lake Tower, so of course, we took advantage of that

Yes

This was our first time using the walking path since they put a security checkpoint along it and that was a wonderful upgrade!

It makes such a huge difference…keep talking, you're making me feel better about my resort change

Next was a classic which now features a slightly less pointless ride photo.

This was a great addition…I love these pics

P.S. If you have not checked out The Imagineering Story on Disney+, I highly recommend doing so! It is a Disney parks fan’s dream show.

And then this happened. Her face was priceless.

They announced her as Cora, the Hero of Fantasyland and she was thrilled.

That's awesome!

They gave Cora a Hero of Fantasyland sticker and they gave Alex a business card, which I think is actually a better souvenir, as we were able to hang onto it. It’s even more special now that I’ve heard the show has been cancelled. I hate that Disney keeps removing little things like this that make the parks so special. This is a memory my kids will hold onto for life and I’m sure it cost Disney next to nothing. Oh well, I’m glad we had the experience.

What? They aren't doing that anymore???

I love that show so hard. And I love making it a one two punch by immediately following it up with a ride on the Peoplemover.

Two of my favorites too

Apparently he still has no concept of the layout of the parks because he is happy to just follow me around and rely on my knowledge whenever we are there.

Sounds like my DH

But Cora has vowed to become my little Disney assistant and has been diligently learning the FP system and helping with planning this time in between trips, so we’ll see what happens going forward.

My Allie is my sounding board for trip planning too and I'm certain that one day she'll be taking it over from me

 

[unwritten01]

Love your trip report! and how awesome to get that pic of Cora's face at that exact moment. Love those jackpots! Looking forward to more!

 

[sparkle78]

First time reading one of your trip reports.very entertaining. Thanks for reminding me how HOT it is in the summer. We go at thanksgiving and the week after. Usually wear shorts most days with sweatshirt in the eve, maybe one or two days of long pants. The missing school for a week and makeup homework can be a pain. I love wilderness Lodge around the holidays and easy boat to magic. Yacht club is great in the spring with the awesome pool and walk to Epcot. You are lucky to have tried so many different resorts. Keep writing

 

[Lesley Wake]

We started in Adventureland immediately after rope drop with Jungle Cruise followed by Pirates. I don’t really have any memory of either ride experience, but I have proof that it happened with the most pointless ride photo ever.

Yeah, I wish they had installed cameras on BTMR instead!

I mean, I’m all for extra photos, but really, this one makes no sense. At least put it during the drop or something.

Yup! At least that is where it is in Paris and Shanghai!

And then this happened. Her face was priceless.

So cute! And an awesome memory!

I was wearing my Tiana tank top dress, so I had to get an individual picture. When she saw me she exclaimed “you’re gonna make me cry!” and then talked about how she could use a dress like mine for when she’s cooking. This was a great character meet.

Very lovely!

Finally we saw them sauntering up, DH looking sheepish and Cora shaking her head. He had gone to Tomorrowland Terrace rather than Cosmic Ray’s, then had to be directed by a cast member to find out where to go. Apparently he still has no concept of the layout of the parks because he is happy to just follow me around and rely on my knowledge whenever we are there. Sigh. But Cora has vowed to become my little Disney assistant and has been diligently learning the FP system and helping with planning this time in between trips, so we’ll see what happens going forward.

Haha, good luck! Be careful or else she'll start questioning your plans!

 

[disny_luvr]

Great morning at MK! The walk from BLT to MK is amazing!

 

[ariane37]

IDK how I got so far behind but it seems to happen quite frequently Love their outfits as always!I have not done Storybook Dining yet as a protest (too little too late lol) for them changing the original and amazing Artist Point, but the character meets certainly make me think since other than Snow they're different from anywhere else.

thought seeing some of the backstory about her on The Imagineering Story would change his mind a bit, but no such luck

This is funny! She's one of my favorite parts and I agree The Imagineering Story is a must-watch

And then this happened. Her face was priceless.

Awesome!

Tomorrowland Terrace rather than Cosmic Ray’s, then had to be directed by a cast member to find out where to go. Apparently he still has no concept of the layout of the parks because he is happy to just follow me around and rely on my knowledge whenever we are there.

OMG this sounds like Steve. After all the times he's been there are little details he does not remember and confuses and I'm like "are you new here??"

 

[Jfsag123]

Cora's face was amazing!!! Gwen wants to be the choosen one one day. And I love that Cora knew they were going the wrong way.

Her face still cracks me up lol. It was definitely a highlight. And yes, she knew! Good sign for her potential as my planning helper.

Ok, it went away as soon as I commented, weird.

Of course it did! Some weird stuff goes around in these parts sometimes.

So, you got Beach Club for Cora? After I commented about Yacht Club, I went and checked and found a water view for our last 3 days of our trip! I am soooo excitied!!!

I did! But I've already changed it slightly. And congrats on getting the water view!!! We're in garden view. The views from water view look absolutely amazing, but I couldn't reconcile the price difference for the view when garden view was available and I don't even know if we'll have a balcony.

It's because he could be next! I mean she does only go after men...

Ha! I will have to tell him this and validate his fears.

Those outfits are amazing. You are so fortunate
..they would be astronomical to buy...

Oh yes, we realize how lucky we are, and have been over the years. The kids are almost out of costume ages now, but have really enjoyed all the fabulous outfits she has created for them over the years. They have led to some amazing interactions and memories.

That would be hard to pass up.

I'm getting more excited about it the more I think about it. We did really enjoy the Boardwalk.

I'm kind of sad we won't be at the BCV anymore. My DS joined the Army Reserve and announced that he would be gone for basic training starting in May so I stupidly changed us back to BLT in a 1-bedroom thinking we don't really need a 2-bedroom for just four of us. Well, then my DS says he is leaving mid-July now which means he can come with us. Of course, that BCV was snatched up the minute I let it go so BLT it is. Not that I don't love it there, but I was really looking forward to staying over by EPCOT and DHS…not to mention that pool
In any case, I'm glad he can still come (unless he changes his mind and doesn't) and we'll still have a great time at BLT.

Aw, yeah that's annoying. But it's good your DS can come and BLT is great and you'll still have the extra bathroom!

It makes such a huge difference…keep talking, you're making me feel better about my resort change

Ha! Yes, and will be an even bigger bonus on the 4th of July, as one of the main things keeping me away from MK on that date is the possible transportation nightmare. No worries about that if you're staying at BLT. I always loved walking back into our room and realizing that many of the people who were leaving the park at the same time as us were probably still waiting for a bus or ferry.

What? They aren't doing that anymore???

I think I remember reading that they got rid of it. I would love to be wrong, though!

Sounds like my DH

Ugh. I have given up hope that he will learn.

My Allie is my sounding board for trip planning too and I'm certain that one day she'll be taking it over from me

I love that it's like passing down an important family tradition lol. But I absolutely feel that way and am so happy that it seems like she may take it on.

Love your trip report! and how awesome to get that pic of Cora's face at that exact moment. Love those jackpots! Looking forward to more!

Thank you! I was so happy that she turned her face in our direction! Those pics are gold to me lol

 

[Jfsag123]

First time reading one of your trip reports.very entertaining. Thanks for reminding me how HOT it is in the summer. We go at thanksgiving and the week after. Usually wear shorts most days with sweatshirt in the eve, maybe one or two days of long pants. The missing school for a week and makeup homework can be a pain. I love wilderness Lodge around the holidays and easy boat to magic. Yacht club is great in the spring with the awesome pool and walk to Epcot. You are lucky to have tried so many different resorts. Keep writing

Thanks and welcome! It is for sure hot, but we love our summer trips. However, we are considering Thanksgiving for next year so I'd love any tips! Wilderness Lodge does seem like it would be a better option over the holidays because of the easy MK access and the decorations look gorgeous. But I know I will struggle to give up my Epcot resort... We are wanting to try as many resorts as we can, though. Hard to do when I keep getting drawn back to the same ones!

Yeah, I wish they had installed cameras on BTMR instead!

There's an idea! That would have been much better.

Yup! At least that is where it is in Paris and Shanghai!

I didn't know that, but it just makes so much more sense.

Haha, good luck! Be careful or else she'll start questioning your plans!

Oh she already has! I'm thrilled to have a helper, but I'm also used to having full control of the plans myself. It has been strange to have someone else's input. I have already made a couple of changes due to her suggestions.

Great morning at MK! The walk from BLT to MK is amazing!

Truly! It's magical.

IDK how I got so far behind but it seems to happen quite frequently. Love their outfits as always!I have not done Storybook Dining yet as a protest (too little too late lol) for them changing the original and amazing Artist Point, but the character meets certainly make me think since other than Snow they're different from anywhere else.

Now you know I am the queen of falling behind. Mostly because I tend to only read the DIS on my iPad, but it sucks for responding, so I tend to only respond on my desktop, which I'm rarely on. And I get the protest avoidance! There's a local restaurant that I didn't go to for years because I was mad about what it replaced. I would say that the meets are good just because it's nice to have a character meal with some different characters, but they weren't off the charts amazing interactions. I'm glad to see any new meal with characters other than Mickey and friends. I mean, I love the mouse, but there are sooooo many more they could be using.

This is funny! She's one of my favorite parts and I agree The Imagineering Story is a must-watch

She's one of my favorites as well!

OMG this sounds like Steve. After all the times he's been there are little details he does not remember and confuses and I'm like "are you new here??"

Seriously! They don't know how lucky they are to have us providing planning services for them. But DH does tell the kids to thank mommy for her planning skills and effort on a regular basis throughout our trips, so I guess it could be worse.

 

[Jfsag123]

CURRENT TRIP UPDATE

I made one more change because I have a serious problem with decision-making. We’re still at BWV with free dining for the first 5 nights, but I made a little change to the last 5 nights at BC. We now have 2 nights YC club level followed by 3 nights BC non-club. I don’t like the idea of moving around that much, but with the announcement of FP+ coming to MMRR we wanted the option of booking the extra CL FP+. Still waiting to see what happens with Ratatouille, but at least now we can add that on if we want to. We picked YC for the CL nights because we’ve never stayed there before and Alex really wanted to, so now we can try it, but we still have access to Stormalong Bay and making the move to BC will be super easy. I think the resorts are finally settled for us at this point (though never say never…). Now just need to finalize dining and park plans. The more info that comes out about the state of rides over the summer (RotR, Rat, Spaceship Earth), the easier that will be.


Day 6: July 24, Part 2 – Hoop-Dee-Doo!

We got back to the resort for our break and I, once again, took a picture of a slate of activities we never ended up doing. In this case, it was their Christmas in July theme scheduled to take place the next day. Oh well.

DH and the kids headed out to the pool shortly after we got back. The little dots in the bottom left corner are them.

While the rest of the family swam I headed over to the Contemporary to do some browsing in the shops without being interrupted by a child every two seconds. It was amazing. Less amazing was the continued impact the humidity was having on my hair, so I stopped in Fantasia Market to pick up some hairspray. I don’t typically use any product in my hair because it’s always really hard for me to get it out later, but I was desperate. Spoiler: the hairspray was no match for the weather and did not help even a little bit. But at least I got a picture of the trivia questions for the day.

After the pool the kids wanted to go back to the community hall. This was in part because they enjoy the community hall, but mostly because they were looking for a specific cast member: Miss Brittany, as the kids call her. They first met her back in 2015 when we stayed at BLT for the first time. We went to the community hall to kill time until our room was ready on our check-in day and they had so much fun making crafts with her. She also hosted pool games while we were there and the kids thought she was the best thing ever. She was a primary reason they listed for wanting to return to BLT and they saw her again when we stayed there on our trip in 2016. By this trip it had been 3 years since we’d been at BLT and I warned the kids that Miss Brittany may no longer be in the same role. However, they were determined to look. Lo and behold…

They were so happy to see her again! Interactions with her are always among the highlights they talk about when they reminisce about past trips. I’m sure she had no idea who we were – I wouldn’t expect her to after 3 years! – but the impact she had on us speaks to how important the cast members are to the magic of WDW. We have sent in cast compliments for her and hope the higher ups recognize the value in having amazing front line cast members.

Anyway, after celebrating our triumph in finding Miss Brittany we were ready to head out to another first for us. We headed back to the boat dock, this time feeling like old pros (haha) to catch a ride to our destination.

We had allowed a generous amount of time to get there, so arrived with plenty of time to spare. We used it to check out the trading post and walk around to explore a bit. However, we couldn’t do too much exploring, as it promptly started raining after we arrived. The kids found a (not so) hidden Mickey on the sidewalk.

Of course, this is why we were there

Hoop-Dee-Doo has been on our Disney bucket list for a while now, so we were excited to get to check it off. The line to be seated for the show was long, but I knew the seating was pre-assigned, so I wasn’t worried about it. As we waited we watched what we thought was a hummingbird checking out the flowers near us. I snapped this picture.

Yeah, that’s not a bird. It was still cool to watch, though. I had booked Category 1 and when we got to the front the cast member looked at our table assignment and said “oh, you’ve got a great table!” I thought that meant we’d be right down front, but we were actually escorted to a table in the center of the room. We settled in and the food started coming pretty quickly, since we’d been toward the back of the check-in line.

Blurry food pics!

I somehow missed getting pictures of the sides. Cora, of course, was all about the meat.

Alex had to be restrained from eating ALL of the bread.

Here was our view of the show. Pretty dang good.

And after a little bit I realized why the cast member said we had such a good table. I hadn’t realized how much movement there was to the show, but there were multiple moments when it came right to us. The most pronounced was this number, for which we actually had to move our chairs back.

At the end of the show they brought around washboards, which DH got super into playing.

We thoroughly enjoyed this show from start to finish. We laughed so hard and Alex is now still in the habit of running up to us, lifting up his shirt and screaming “Hoop-Dee-Doo!!!” For those who haven’t seen it, I promise that makes sense in context. The rest of my family are all begging to see it again this year. Me as the planner is struggling a little bit since our entire trip is in the Epcot resort area and Fort Wilderness is hard to get to from there, but I’m probably going to try to make it work.

Heading back to the boat dock after the show there was a long line for the Magic Kingdom boat, but we were the first ones there for the Contemporary launch, and enjoyed a peaceful ride back.

The kids had to stop for silly topiary pictures on the way back to BLT.

We called it a night early, got showers, and enjoyed watching TV in our pj’s until bed time. We have a few shows that we pretty much exclusively watch at WDW. We watch House Hunters, Say Yes to the Dress, and Everybody Loves Raymond (in addition, of course, to the Mickey cartoon channel). We do not watch those shows at all at home and the kids actually call them our Disney shows. Is that weird? Probably.

 

[disny_luvr]

If it’s any consolation, I feel like I, too, am all over the place with our resorts this trip. Right now we have a YC/Poly split. We’re locked into Poly because we rented DVC points. We keep on going back and forth between YC and BC. Plus, DH would like to add a night or two to our trip and stay at either WL, GDT at CSR or Riviera. So, we will probably also be moving three times, but I guess over a 13-night stay, that isn’t too bad.

I love HDDR! Sadly, I haven’t been since I was a teen with my parents. I want to take my family, but I don’t think my boys will eat much. They don’t like fried chicken or ribs. I hate to pay the price and they leave hungry.

 

[buzzrelly]

we wanted the option of booking the extra CL FP+.

I wish this was an option for DVC members

DH and the kids headed out to the pool shortly after we got back. The little dots in the bottom left corner are them.

Great shot! And just looking at this gets me more excited for BLT

While the rest of the family swam I headed over to the Contemporary to do some browsing in the shops without being interrupted by a child every two seconds. It was amazing.

That is a great feeling. I remember when I first let my kids go alone to Disney Quest and walked around shopping with my mom at DTD…it was pure heaven

Less amazing was the continued impact the humidity was having on my hair,

Oh no. It's going to take a miracle product for mine too…I need to figure this out before our July trip!

After the pool the kids wanted to go back to the community hall. This was in part because they enjoy the community hall, but mostly because they were looking for a specific cast member: Miss Brittany, as the kids call her. They first met her back in 2015 when we stayed at BLT for the first time. We went to the community hall to kill time until our room was ready on our check-in day and they had so much fun making crafts with her. She also hosted pool games while we were there and the kids thought she was the best thing ever. She was a primary reason they listed for wanting to return to BLT and they saw her again when we stayed there on our trip in 2016. By this trip it had been 3 years since we’d been at BLT and I warned the kids that Miss Brittany may no longer be in the same role. However, they were determined to look. Lo and behold…

So sweet

Heading back to the boat dock after the show there was a long line for the Magic Kingdom boat, but we were the first ones there for the Contemporary launch, and enjoyed a peaceful ride back.

Love that view