[DisneyTeacher]

Cast

Me—the planner who is trying not to plan this trip
Mike—my husband
Nathan—my son—6 years old

Karen—friend and co-worker
Lloyd—Karen’s husband and the Veteran in our group who made staying at SoG possible

Gary—Mike’s principal/friend
Linda—Gary’s wife
Kendra—Bio/pre-med major—daughter to Gary and Linda
Melanie—6 year old Granddaughter of Gary & Linda (not Kendra’s daughter)




Pre-trip

This trip wasn’t really a planned trip; we went last summer and were not planning to return until summer 2005. One day at work a co-worker/friend asked if we would like to go to WDW with her husband another family. They had 3 rooms at Shades of Green and offered one to us. The price was great but I had to say thanks, but we already have a vacation planned and will have to pass. A few weeks later my husband said we could go but it would have to be a short trip, we could only stay 4 days. I jumped on it; a quick trip is better than no trip.

We met several time over the months leading up to the trip to plan some meals and a rough plan as to what we wanted to do. We decided on one PS per day and everyone agreed on where we wanted to eat. The others in our group had not been to WDW since 1997 so I let them make all the decisions they wanted to make. I made some suggestions and gave them lots of information but tried not to make any decisions.

As spring went on the trip got longer and better; we were up to a week at WDW. Our original plan was to arrive in Orlando and get a cheap room off site of at the All Stars if codes came out. After waiting until a few weeks out and no codes we were given a great opportunity from our good friends. They gave us some of their points to stay at BCV!! We now had two days at Disney’s Beach Club Villas as a scouting mission for our trip next summer. What started as a 4 day dirt cheap Disney trip is looking like a full week long vacation at great resorts.

[DisneyTeacher]

Thursday

We hit the road at 2:45 pm for our 17 hour drive to WDW. We have plans to meet the rest of the group at WDW Saturday night so it’s just my little family and I love it. We are so excited, we chat for hours about everything while Nathan watched movies in the back seat. Our plan is to drive all night and hit WDW first thing in the morning, the back up is to stop and rest if we get too tired. The drive is uneventful and goes very easily until about 4 am when we get really tired. We decide to stop for an early breakfast to wake us up. We hit Denny’s in Valdosta, GA for a Big Slam breakfast. We walk in and the place feels like the tundra, it is so cold we cram our breakfast in and run for the parking lot with Nathan still wrapped in his blanket but awake.

Breakfast didn’t do the trick and wake us up since we ate so fast and ran out before we turned in to human Popsicles so we are still tired but getting more excited by the minute. Nathan and Mike start getting pumped up by doing some kind of guy thing yelling back and forth to each other. It works and we are wide awake as we roll through the gates to WDW. It is 8:30 am on my birthday and we are at WDW—life couldn’t be any better.

[DisneyTeacher]

It’s a beautiful day as we pull in to the Beach Club and we are impressed just walking in to the lobby. The fist magical moment comes when Art welcomes us to the resort and is so nice to my son. He took the time to talk to us and my son, what a great guy. The lobby is packed and so noisy, there are people every where, some eating breakfast at the little seating areas.

Check in goes smoothly but so different from Wilderness Lodge last summer. I almost had to yell to give my information to the CM while checking in. Our room is not ready at 9 am, no surprise there so we look around the lobby and head out to check out the pool I have read so much about. After that we look around the gift shop and decide to buy Nathan a pin lanyard so he can try his hand at pin trading. I brought 4 or 5 pins from home that I really didn’t want and the lanyard came with 4 pins so he has a few pins to try trading. Nathan’s first trade was with Art in the lobby, he had been so nice earlier so I knew he would be a great CM to start with.

The pin trade went well and my son is hooked. He traded a starter Buzz & Woody pin for a Who Wants to be a Millionaire 100 pin. He loves the pin and Art was so nice to him, he was patient while my son looked over all the pins before deciding on just the right pin.

[DisneyTeacher]

Nate and Art doing a little pin trading.

[DisneyTeacher]

Here is the first pin Nathan traded for:

[tinkerbell]

steph .. I have already got tears in my eyes!!! if the rest is this good I am gonna have to buy a large box of tissues to read the rest of your TR!!!
I love the picture of Nate and Art pin trading !!!!

[roxie]

That just makes me wish I was there!! My seven year old DS and I LOVE to trade pins. Very sweet.

[DisneyTeacher]

After the pin trade my husband shows me the 5 pins he and Nate picked out for me. They bought me a birthday pin with Mickey, and anniversary pin (for tomorrow) a BCV pin to remember the trip by, a stars and stripes Mickey pin, and a Minnie teacher pin. What a great birthday, if this is it I would be so happy. I love my family and spending time with them at WDW is so magical.

We call and the room is still not ready (no surprise, it’s still not noon yet) so we decide to head to Downtown Disney for lunch. We head for the bus stop and the DD bus come in a matter of minutes. We have the best ride!! Our bus driver, Sammy, is a riot, he starts out asking us where we are all from. After 5 or 6 people told him where they were from a lady from New Jersey spoke up and Sammy teased her about living in NJ. After that he has us singing songs, we sang I’m a little Teapot and several Disney songs then Sammy told us some bad but very funny jokes. The bus ride is the best I have ever had at WDW, what a blast.

We decide to get Nate a Happy Meal from McDonald’s first. What can I say, it’s nuggets and fries just like at home. Now it’s our turn, we head to Earl of Sandwich for our lunch. I can’t say enough about this place, the sandwiches are great. I have the Earl’s Club and Mike has the Caribbean Jerk Chicken sandwich. Mine is great but Mike’s is better. If you are looking for a good place to eat for very little money this is the place to go, we really enjoy this place and the price is right--$4.95 for each sandwich.

We decide to skip any shopping and head right back to the wonderful pool at BC. It takes a little talking but we get Nate out of there w/o going to the Lego store. We hop on the first bus back and change into out suits in the bathroom and get our wrist bands, and rent a locker and an inner tube. We hit the pool and are not disappointed, it is wonderful. We played in the sand, relaxed in the lazy river and enjoyed some great family time.

[mickaholic4077]

Let me get this straight--you have to RENT an inner tube?????????????

[DisneyTeacher]

After an hour or so of playing together Mike and Nathan hit the slides and I head for the beach. I have been looking forward to the sun and today is beautiful, it’s about 95 and very sunny. I find a chair on the beach and stretch out for some rays. There are 6 or 7 lounge chairs and the same number of beach chairs and there are 6 or 7 of us enjoying this beautiful afternoon. As I am sunning myself a young teenager comes over with a basket of chicken strips and chips. All of the sudden there are birds everywhere, all of them headed toward the young lady with the food. The next thing I know the lead bird takes flight and goes right for the strip in her hand. There is lots of screaming and chicken is flying everywhere. It was quick and over before she ever knew what hit her, the bird won and enjoy a great lunch.

While I am lying in the sun enjoying my birthday my wonderful husband brings me a Pina Colada. After watching the bird attack the young lady with the chicken strips I was a little worried about the fruit in my cup. The birds take note of my drink but seemed a little more cautious this time. As I lay there the birds begin to circle but don’t seem to be getting closer. I decide to take a chance and quickly eat the yummy pineapple before they have time to call in reinforcements.

While sitting on the beach looking across at the BW I talked to a couple of friends and my mother on my cell phone. It is the perfect spot, so relaxing and sunny. It has not gotten above 75 for 3 weeks at home and I have missed the warm sun. I soak up all I can before I rejoin my guys at the slides. My sweet husband disappears again only to return with another frozen drink, I don’t remember the name but it’s as good as the first.

[DisneyTeacher]

Here is my view from the beach at Yacht and Beach Club beach. It doesn't get any better than this.

[DisneyTeacher]

This has to be trip 50 down the slide for Nathan.

[DisneyTeacher]

At about 6 pm we finally get out of the pool and call to get our room number. We finally find our room, room 260, and it is great. It’s so big and it’s just a studio, I can’t imagine how nice the one and two bedrooms are. I snap a few pictures before I allow the family to move in. Mike runs out to get the bags, we are moving to another resort so we only have a couple of over night bags so we don’t worry about bell services.

I hop in a quick shower and the others follow. We decided on Beaches and Cream for dinner before we left home and are sticking to that plan. I almost changed our plans as we walked by Cape May on our way back from the pool, it looked and smelled so good I was almost at the podium asking how soon we could get a table.

We are back down to the pool area and checked in to B&C in less than an hour. We hop over to the arcade for a few games while we wait. My son, bless his heart, was set on winning me a prize for my birthday. He plays several games and can’t win, he looks so sad while he hangs his head and says “Mommy, I am sorry I failed to win you a birthday present.” My heart swells and tears well in my eyes as I tell him I have already gotten the best birthday present; a day with my family at the happiest place on Earth. That helps a little but he is still set on willing me a present. Mike decides to take him over to the gumball like machines and he buys me a little Daisy Duck figurine and proudly presents it to me.

We finally get our table and order dinner. I decide on the hamburger, fries for Nathan (he really doesn’t eat meat) and a grilled chicken sandwich for Mike. The food is good and the restaurant is fun. I am not sure I would go out of my way to eat here but if you are already at BC it’s good. My husband has wanted to try the Kitchen Sink for a couple of years but we are so tired, we drove all night and haven’t been to bed to we decide on a smaller one scoop sundae instead. I wanted to take a few pictures with our new camera at night so I pop out to the pool/beach area while the guys wait on the ice cream. They meet me outside with the ice cream (the biggest one scoop sundae I have ever seen) and we head back up to the room ready for bed. We are all so tired that I think we are asleep before our heads hit the pillows.

[cincibar]

I stayed at BCV last year -- you trip report's bringing back great memories for me!!

[tinkerbell]

wow ... I felt as if I was there with you !! that was a very wonderful first day :)