Mackflava99
07-13-2011, 09:00 AM
Day 3 - Non Park Day
I will preface this by saying, each year our extended vacation at the Disney Resorts serves many purposes, relaxation, a relief from work/school, time for us to bond as a family, but I do truly value the time I get to spend with my twins exploring and doing things together that at times is not as easy to do at home. We had a lot of crazy family issues and drama this year, so I was anxious for some “Daddy’ time.
On the ride down we were discussing some things we wanted to do, and one was to break our record of going to 5 different pools in the same day. I took it one step further and said why not try to do it without using a car.
We normally try to separate our vacation into park and non-park days. Today was a non-park day, so we decided to attempt our pool quest. I am going to make this trip report a little disjointed, but you will understand later.
We got up early, my wife was going to go to the pool, read and relax, and we started to fulfill our quest. We had a few time constraints, but we think we had worked this out.
Here was our tentative plan for the day:
1.) Try to hit these 5 different pools: Ft Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge, Wilderness Lodge Villas, Contemporary and then bay lake. We figured out this was very do-able. (DVC can pool-hop)
2.) Get in a good bike ride (we love to ride)
3.) Get back in time for the girls to attend a tie dye shirt class at the Bay Lake Community room ( a terrific place)
4.) Get to our ADR dinner reservation at Trails End
5.) The girls also wanted to go to the marshmallow cook-out and movie on the Beach
6.) Go to the top-of the world lounge to see the fireworks.
That was what they proposed, I had no issue, but my wife thought we were a little aggressive. She actually was laughing at us because she knows that we always seem to get into some type of nutty situation.
Here is what we actually did:
1.) We took the boat from Contemporary to the Wilderness lodge around 8:45 am.
2.) We rented bikes and rode the trails over to Fort Wilderness.
3.) Then we stopped at the Trading post for a water and they each bought a pin
4.) Next we proceeded to ride through the Ft Wilderness bike trails and had a great time exploring.
5.) When we started getting tired, we stopped by the Ft Wilderness pool, took a quick dip and rode the waterslide 2 times. Jumped back on our bikes and rode back to Wilderness lodge, but stopped to see the horses at the stable and some deer that appeared in front of us on the trail
6.) Dropped off the bikes. Jumped in the Villas Quiet pool – a nice pool with jet geysers, then went to the main Wilderness lodge Pool, went down the waterslide a few times. This is a small but well themed pool; I love the way the stream ‘flows” into the pool.
7.) Met my wife at Roaring Forks, grabbed a quick lunch
8.) Took the boat back to the Contemporary and walked to the BLT.
9.) The Girls went to the Community room, they had signed up for a tie-dye shirt class. They had a lot of fun creating a die-dyed shirt with a Mickey on the front. Yes it did cost some $$, but the entire activity was well run, very organized and the people doing it were very nice. I would recommend it to everyone. The staff at the BLT Community room are tremendous.
10.) Next we took the boat over to Ft Wilderness (ok yes poor planning, we were huffing it back and forth.) We had dinner at Trails End. It was a good dinner, not as good as our last meal there. What they had was good (chicken, ribs, and roast beef) but some of the other items were a little strange. Regardless, we all got something we liked, and the desserts were excellent. The waitress was wonderful, she had twins so she was very attentive to ours.
11.) Went back on the boat, and stopped by the Contemporary pool, swam for a while, went on the waterslide, and eventually we went over to the Bay lake pool and hit the slide there. (There is more to this story)
12.) We then hustled to the Contemporary fire-pit and we toasted marshmallows. Yummm. The staff working there was very nice, there was a girl who lived near us in NJ so we bonded , but actually the entire staff was just so friendly, helping us with pictures and getting everyone involved.
13.) We then went to the movie on the Beach- Bambi, we stayed for about ˝ of it, because the girls really wanted to go to the top of the world lounge and watch the fireworks.
14.) We had a great time watching “Wishes” at the lounge, I must say the view was incredible.
15.) We passed out about 20 minutes after the fireworks ended….it was a FULL day. i myself regretted going to the gym in the AM because i was sore....i guess i am getting old.
Objective – 5 pools, no cars – Achieved !!!
Ok now for some Detail:
A CaddyShack Moment
(* Note- this may be difficult for the squeamish to read…( just kidding, but it is hilarious.))
This is totally true, I cannot make this up. I guess we are magnets for this stuff.
After Dinner, when we stopped by the Contemporary pool, it was pretty empty. We swam for a while and we were having fun playing hide and seek in the pool. Actually, Taylor used an abandoned life vest as camouflage one time and we really did not know where she was. I almost had that parental panic moment when you get a feeling that your child is gone… But I must say she was pretty innovative. Suddenly about 8 ducks landed in the pool, and the lifeguards tried to get them to leave. Then the lifeguard said we had to get out because one or 2 of the ducks had pooped in the pool. No Joke !! It was pretty funny , but the pool ended up closing for over an hour.
We ran right over to Bay lake Pool and while swimming, (my kids wear swim goggles) they heard some kid say that he saw poop on the bottom of the pool. Of course they thought it was a joke and went to investigate. “Dad, I think there really is poop in the pool” I said “ guys, stop it, we just came from the other pool, you guys are joking with me”
I asked a young man who had a snorkel and mask to investigate. He said “ I think your kids are right. Either that or else it looks exactly like it.” We told the life guard, she said “ oh it’s probably just leaves” But the guy said “ no, it is not leaves, you need to look” The lifeguard could not leave her post, but she called another CM to come look.
Then everyone was asked to leave the pool and it was shut down for the night.
This was a true CaddyShack moment !!!!:D
My wife talked with the lifeguard the next day, and yes it actually was poop. It seems like a diaper didn’t hold it in very well. – Gross.
Top of the World Lounge
One of the benefits to staying at the BLT is that you have access to the ‘top of the world lounge” , you also must be a DVC member. It is a circular lounge at the top of the resort, it has incredible views of the fireworks at the magic kingdom and also at the surrounding areas, including the electric light Pageant.
We went up, got a great seat and had some snacks ( Hot pretzels and some chicken sliders) My wife and I got rumrunners and my kids got Shirley temples.
They pipe in the Wishes music, dim the lights and you get a fabulous view. Better than California grill in my opinion.
The view outside the lounge is even better, but sitting in comfortable chairs is the best way to enjoy Wishes.. I have a feeling we will be in this lounge a few times..
Fort Wilderness Bike Trails
In the AM, when the twins and I went for a bike ride and went over to Fort Wilderness, we went through all the bike trails and had a very cool time exploring FW. It really has some beautiful areas that the casual Disney tourist would not see. There are some places that you actually have no idea that you are on the Disney property. We went so far we saw some abandoned shack, and a portion of the lake that I had never seen before. The bike shop has a great map to use that outlines the trails.
Bay Lake TowersI am really getting to Love our room. It is so roomy, and very quiet. Plus the views are great. The community room is a great place for kids ( and me too) they have some very creative activites that are trully Disney.
Tommorrow – Animal Kingdom
I will preface this by saying, each year our extended vacation at the Disney Resorts serves many purposes, relaxation, a relief from work/school, time for us to bond as a family, but I do truly value the time I get to spend with my twins exploring and doing things together that at times is not as easy to do at home. We had a lot of crazy family issues and drama this year, so I was anxious for some “Daddy’ time.
On the ride down we were discussing some things we wanted to do, and one was to break our record of going to 5 different pools in the same day. I took it one step further and said why not try to do it without using a car.
We normally try to separate our vacation into park and non-park days. Today was a non-park day, so we decided to attempt our pool quest. I am going to make this trip report a little disjointed, but you will understand later.
We got up early, my wife was going to go to the pool, read and relax, and we started to fulfill our quest. We had a few time constraints, but we think we had worked this out.
Here was our tentative plan for the day:
1.) Try to hit these 5 different pools: Ft Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge, Wilderness Lodge Villas, Contemporary and then bay lake. We figured out this was very do-able. (DVC can pool-hop)
2.) Get in a good bike ride (we love to ride)
3.) Get back in time for the girls to attend a tie dye shirt class at the Bay Lake Community room ( a terrific place)
4.) Get to our ADR dinner reservation at Trails End
5.) The girls also wanted to go to the marshmallow cook-out and movie on the Beach
6.) Go to the top-of the world lounge to see the fireworks.
That was what they proposed, I had no issue, but my wife thought we were a little aggressive. She actually was laughing at us because she knows that we always seem to get into some type of nutty situation.
Here is what we actually did:
1.) We took the boat from Contemporary to the Wilderness lodge around 8:45 am.
2.) We rented bikes and rode the trails over to Fort Wilderness.
3.) Then we stopped at the Trading post for a water and they each bought a pin
4.) Next we proceeded to ride through the Ft Wilderness bike trails and had a great time exploring.
5.) When we started getting tired, we stopped by the Ft Wilderness pool, took a quick dip and rode the waterslide 2 times. Jumped back on our bikes and rode back to Wilderness lodge, but stopped to see the horses at the stable and some deer that appeared in front of us on the trail
6.) Dropped off the bikes. Jumped in the Villas Quiet pool – a nice pool with jet geysers, then went to the main Wilderness lodge Pool, went down the waterslide a few times. This is a small but well themed pool; I love the way the stream ‘flows” into the pool.
7.) Met my wife at Roaring Forks, grabbed a quick lunch
8.) Took the boat back to the Contemporary and walked to the BLT.
9.) The Girls went to the Community room, they had signed up for a tie-dye shirt class. They had a lot of fun creating a die-dyed shirt with a Mickey on the front. Yes it did cost some $$, but the entire activity was well run, very organized and the people doing it were very nice. I would recommend it to everyone. The staff at the BLT Community room are tremendous.
10.) Next we took the boat over to Ft Wilderness (ok yes poor planning, we were huffing it back and forth.) We had dinner at Trails End. It was a good dinner, not as good as our last meal there. What they had was good (chicken, ribs, and roast beef) but some of the other items were a little strange. Regardless, we all got something we liked, and the desserts were excellent. The waitress was wonderful, she had twins so she was very attentive to ours.
11.) Went back on the boat, and stopped by the Contemporary pool, swam for a while, went on the waterslide, and eventually we went over to the Bay lake pool and hit the slide there. (There is more to this story)
12.) We then hustled to the Contemporary fire-pit and we toasted marshmallows. Yummm. The staff working there was very nice, there was a girl who lived near us in NJ so we bonded , but actually the entire staff was just so friendly, helping us with pictures and getting everyone involved.
13.) We then went to the movie on the Beach- Bambi, we stayed for about ˝ of it, because the girls really wanted to go to the top of the world lounge and watch the fireworks.
14.) We had a great time watching “Wishes” at the lounge, I must say the view was incredible.
15.) We passed out about 20 minutes after the fireworks ended….it was a FULL day. i myself regretted going to the gym in the AM because i was sore....i guess i am getting old.
Objective – 5 pools, no cars – Achieved !!!
Ok now for some Detail:
A CaddyShack Moment
(* Note- this may be difficult for the squeamish to read…( just kidding, but it is hilarious.))
This is totally true, I cannot make this up. I guess we are magnets for this stuff.
After Dinner, when we stopped by the Contemporary pool, it was pretty empty. We swam for a while and we were having fun playing hide and seek in the pool. Actually, Taylor used an abandoned life vest as camouflage one time and we really did not know where she was. I almost had that parental panic moment when you get a feeling that your child is gone… But I must say she was pretty innovative. Suddenly about 8 ducks landed in the pool, and the lifeguards tried to get them to leave. Then the lifeguard said we had to get out because one or 2 of the ducks had pooped in the pool. No Joke !! It was pretty funny , but the pool ended up closing for over an hour.
We ran right over to Bay lake Pool and while swimming, (my kids wear swim goggles) they heard some kid say that he saw poop on the bottom of the pool. Of course they thought it was a joke and went to investigate. “Dad, I think there really is poop in the pool” I said “ guys, stop it, we just came from the other pool, you guys are joking with me”
I asked a young man who had a snorkel and mask to investigate. He said “ I think your kids are right. Either that or else it looks exactly like it.” We told the life guard, she said “ oh it’s probably just leaves” But the guy said “ no, it is not leaves, you need to look” The lifeguard could not leave her post, but she called another CM to come look.
Then everyone was asked to leave the pool and it was shut down for the night.
This was a true CaddyShack moment !!!!:D
My wife talked with the lifeguard the next day, and yes it actually was poop. It seems like a diaper didn’t hold it in very well. – Gross.
Top of the World Lounge
One of the benefits to staying at the BLT is that you have access to the ‘top of the world lounge” , you also must be a DVC member. It is a circular lounge at the top of the resort, it has incredible views of the fireworks at the magic kingdom and also at the surrounding areas, including the electric light Pageant.
We went up, got a great seat and had some snacks ( Hot pretzels and some chicken sliders) My wife and I got rumrunners and my kids got Shirley temples.
They pipe in the Wishes music, dim the lights and you get a fabulous view. Better than California grill in my opinion.
The view outside the lounge is even better, but sitting in comfortable chairs is the best way to enjoy Wishes.. I have a feeling we will be in this lounge a few times..
Fort Wilderness Bike Trails
In the AM, when the twins and I went for a bike ride and went over to Fort Wilderness, we went through all the bike trails and had a very cool time exploring FW. It really has some beautiful areas that the casual Disney tourist would not see. There are some places that you actually have no idea that you are on the Disney property. We went so far we saw some abandoned shack, and a portion of the lake that I had never seen before. The bike shop has a great map to use that outlines the trails.
Bay Lake TowersI am really getting to Love our room. It is so roomy, and very quiet. Plus the views are great. The community room is a great place for kids ( and me too) they have some very creative activites that are trully Disney.
Tommorrow – Animal Kingdom