BrerGnat
01-03-2012, 09:17 AM
Cast:
Me
DH
DS7 Max
DS5 Lucas
Dates 12/15-12/22
Resort: Beach Club, Club Level
Day 1: Thursday, 12/15/11
We awoke a bit earlier than normal today. Our flight out of Washington Dulles was scheduled for 11:05am, but I was up around 6. As usual, I didn’t sleep well the night before. I get that way when I travel. I think I fell asleep around 2 or so. DH and I had coffee and breakfast, and the kids woke up around 7:15. We fed them breakfast, loaded up the car, and took care of the last few things around the house and were off a bit ahead of schedule at 8:30. We arrived at the airport and made the LONG walk from the parking garage to the terminal. I was grateful to have two boys who were finally on foot power, and carrying backpacks of their own! The boys were pumped. They get very anxious before traveling, but once the day hits, they are ready to go! We breezed through luggage check in and security, noticing how empty the airport was. We had about 45 min to wait in the gate before boarding, so I took the boys to the news shop to buy bottled water for their thermoses. We all had a snack in the gate while waiting, and it was soon time to board our Jet Blue flight. We took off on time, and had a rather nice, short 2 hour flight (MUCH better than the 6 hour flights from CA we used to take!). We all ate lunch on the plane (minus Lucas, who just won’t eat while flying, although he did have snacks). We landed in Orlando just after 1pm, and headed straight to the Magical Express.
We had a rather long wait in the line for the bus. I’d say it was around 20 minutes. The boys just parked it on the floor and I did the same, as I was starting to feel really tired. Once onboard, we had another short wait and we were off. Max was getting anxious to get to “the blue hotel”, and was a bit bothered with the stop at POR. We assured him we would be next, and we were. Actually, the ENTIRE rest of the bus was getting off at BC. Wow. Glad we were staying Club Level. I’d hate to be at the end of that check in line. A family ahead of us was also doing Club Level check in, so the CM waiting for the bus took them. I flagged down another CM and mentioned we were staying CL, and he quickly radioed for another CM to take us up. She was very nice and tried to ask our boys a few questions, but they were SO not ready to socialize…they were overloaded with everything they were seeing. She understood. We stopped in the lobby for a couple minutes to take in the decorations and the chocolate carousel, which was nice, but I was more impressed by the gingerbread Cinderella Castle! Very cool.
We were taken up to the 5th floor, and a CM named Carrie checked us in. I remember her from our last trip, and I have to say, while she was very kind and helpful, she NEVER really smiled. At all. All week. I found it kind of odd. She just has this look like she is sad all the time. I asked her if we had gotten the daybed we requested, and she confirmed we did. That was good. Our boys don’t sleep well in the same bed, or, I should say, they don’t sleep at ALL when they have to share a bed.
While I was checking in, DH took the boys to the lounge to get some snacks. We had our share of yummy homemade potato chips and dip, cookies, and gummy fish. DH grabbed a soda and I had some lemonade. It was nice and warm in Orlando, and I was feeling hot in my jeans and sweatshirt. ;) Keys in hand, we made our way to the room, which was only a few doors down from the lounge (nice!). Our room was a standard view, #5660. Upon walking in, I found it to be larger than our last room at the BC last year (which had been a lagoon view). We had a HUGE balcony with a door, not a slider. Seriously, the balcony could have fit 10 people easy. Our room was located just above the triangle roof of the port cochere. Our view was actually quite lovely. We had the BC villas off to our right, with Spaceship Earth peeking over the top. To the left was the rest of the resort, bus stop, and fountains. Pretty nice, for a “standard view”. At least we didn’t have a rooftop right below us.
After only a couple minutes in the room, we heard this horribly loud, shrill noise. It sounded like drilling. DH mentioned that he saw some workers entering the rooms across the hall. Sure enough, the ENTIRE other side of the hallway had rooms with doors propped open, and workers coming in and out. They were doing some SERIOUS heavy work in there. I’m talking jackhammer type noises, banging, drilling, etc. A few times, I saw them working on the climate control units. Seems like they were being completely replaced, drywall and everything. This noise continued all week, but only during the daytime hours (never early in the morning or late at night). Luckily, we are not “nap” people (our kids don’t do naps unless they are sick), so this wasn’t an issue. So, I made no mention of it, although I do have to question why they wouldn’t block off the whole wing if they had to do work like that.
We had planned on maybe hitting the pool, but it was just a bit chilly for that today. It was breezy, and neither DH nor I had the energy to hit the pool, so we discussed what to do, and decided to head over to the Boardwalk to let the boys run off some energy at the playground there. When we arrived, the boys had a ball playing in the completely empty playground (there was only one person at the pool too, so it was very quiet over here). DH and I parked it on some loungers to watch the boys and finally RELAX! Ahh, it felt so nice!
We had dinner ADRs at Captain’s Grille, but we were feeling hungry already, and it was only 4:15. We decided to go to the Big River Grille for dinner, as we had enjoyed that place last year, and knew that they don’t take ADRs. We figured we’d let the boys play until 5pm and then walk over there. We did just that. Lucas was starving by this point, and I was happy that there was no wait for a table inside. It had gotten cloudy and we had left our sweatshirts in the room, so I didn’t want to chance eating outside. Our server here was excellent. DH is really into beer, and she was extremely knowledgeable about it. She was also kind enough to make a couple substitutions for our very picky eaters, and I wanted the ribs, but not the whole rack, and she was very accommodating when I asked if I could order a half rack (which ended up costing half of what the dinner price was for the full rack). DH ordered the BBQ burger. Our food arrived very quickly, which was great. Everything was quite good, although the ribs were definitely not smoked or super tender. They were sort of overcooked and tough, but honestly, that’s how I like pork (might be a Puerto Rican thing…I grew up eating oven baked pork chops that resembled jerky…and which I now make myself at home). So, I enjoyed ripping dry shreds of sauce laden pork off the bone, and I really liked my dinner. However, if you like your ribs tender, this is NOT the place to get them. DH’s burger was excellent, and perfectly medium rare. We sort of shared the burger and ribs. The boys cleaned their plates in record time. Max had mac and cheese, salad, and chocolate cake. Lucas had the kids burgers, NO sides (he won’t eat grapes, carrots, or salad, and they didn’t have fries), and chocolate cake as well. I had brought some applesauce (the kind in pouches) for Lucas and he had one of those. On a side note, these are the best invention for kids EVER! Lucas is exceptionally picky, and will only eat apples (sauce, or raw) pears, melon, and banana. I packed 4 boxes of these applesauce pouches, and they came in very handy when the sides offered were things he wouldn’t eat. This way, I was sure to keep him eating SOME healthy food all week and they were very easy to carry in my bag to the parks. I always had one in there, and he ate about 2 a day.
After dinner, we were starting to lag. We walked back around the lake, stopping in at Yacht Club to check out the decorations and stop by the podium to cancel our ADR (had been for 6:45). The boys enjoyed seeing the train in here, but it didn’t move, so that was disappointing. I forgot to mention that we went into the Boardwalk Inn lobby to see the gingerbread house, but it wasn’t that interesting to us, since Stitch is NOT one of our favorites. My boys MUCH preferred looking at the model of the roller coaster there. DH commented that he didn’t like the feel of that resort, and that he never wanted to stay there. I sort of agree with him. I used to say that, then I stayed there in May with my sister to try it out, and my feelings were confirmed. I really don’t like it either. Something about the décor just rubs me the wrong way and makes me feel uncomfortable.
When we returned to our room, I was happy to see our bags waiting for us. I got busy unpacking while the boys played with some of the toys they brought from home. Once I was done organizing and putting things away, we got the boys bathed and into PJ’s. Bedtime at home is usually around 8pm, and they were getting tired at the “usual” time, so we decided to make it an early night. Our plan for Friday was to hit MK first, then go to Epcot, and maybe DHS for the Osborn Lights. The boys were in bed and asleep by about 9pm, and DH and I followed shortly after. Unfortunately, right as predicted, Max woke up in the middle of the night, and was up for a good 2 hours. Lucas too, kept tossing and turning. Those sheets are LOUD in the middle of the night (he was in the other queen bed, while Max was in the daybed). Seems like everyone slept fitfully this night, which is par for the course for the first night in a hotel for our family.
Me
DH
DS7 Max
DS5 Lucas
Dates 12/15-12/22
Resort: Beach Club, Club Level
Day 1: Thursday, 12/15/11
We awoke a bit earlier than normal today. Our flight out of Washington Dulles was scheduled for 11:05am, but I was up around 6. As usual, I didn’t sleep well the night before. I get that way when I travel. I think I fell asleep around 2 or so. DH and I had coffee and breakfast, and the kids woke up around 7:15. We fed them breakfast, loaded up the car, and took care of the last few things around the house and were off a bit ahead of schedule at 8:30. We arrived at the airport and made the LONG walk from the parking garage to the terminal. I was grateful to have two boys who were finally on foot power, and carrying backpacks of their own! The boys were pumped. They get very anxious before traveling, but once the day hits, they are ready to go! We breezed through luggage check in and security, noticing how empty the airport was. We had about 45 min to wait in the gate before boarding, so I took the boys to the news shop to buy bottled water for their thermoses. We all had a snack in the gate while waiting, and it was soon time to board our Jet Blue flight. We took off on time, and had a rather nice, short 2 hour flight (MUCH better than the 6 hour flights from CA we used to take!). We all ate lunch on the plane (minus Lucas, who just won’t eat while flying, although he did have snacks). We landed in Orlando just after 1pm, and headed straight to the Magical Express.
We had a rather long wait in the line for the bus. I’d say it was around 20 minutes. The boys just parked it on the floor and I did the same, as I was starting to feel really tired. Once onboard, we had another short wait and we were off. Max was getting anxious to get to “the blue hotel”, and was a bit bothered with the stop at POR. We assured him we would be next, and we were. Actually, the ENTIRE rest of the bus was getting off at BC. Wow. Glad we were staying Club Level. I’d hate to be at the end of that check in line. A family ahead of us was also doing Club Level check in, so the CM waiting for the bus took them. I flagged down another CM and mentioned we were staying CL, and he quickly radioed for another CM to take us up. She was very nice and tried to ask our boys a few questions, but they were SO not ready to socialize…they were overloaded with everything they were seeing. She understood. We stopped in the lobby for a couple minutes to take in the decorations and the chocolate carousel, which was nice, but I was more impressed by the gingerbread Cinderella Castle! Very cool.
We were taken up to the 5th floor, and a CM named Carrie checked us in. I remember her from our last trip, and I have to say, while she was very kind and helpful, she NEVER really smiled. At all. All week. I found it kind of odd. She just has this look like she is sad all the time. I asked her if we had gotten the daybed we requested, and she confirmed we did. That was good. Our boys don’t sleep well in the same bed, or, I should say, they don’t sleep at ALL when they have to share a bed.
While I was checking in, DH took the boys to the lounge to get some snacks. We had our share of yummy homemade potato chips and dip, cookies, and gummy fish. DH grabbed a soda and I had some lemonade. It was nice and warm in Orlando, and I was feeling hot in my jeans and sweatshirt. ;) Keys in hand, we made our way to the room, which was only a few doors down from the lounge (nice!). Our room was a standard view, #5660. Upon walking in, I found it to be larger than our last room at the BC last year (which had been a lagoon view). We had a HUGE balcony with a door, not a slider. Seriously, the balcony could have fit 10 people easy. Our room was located just above the triangle roof of the port cochere. Our view was actually quite lovely. We had the BC villas off to our right, with Spaceship Earth peeking over the top. To the left was the rest of the resort, bus stop, and fountains. Pretty nice, for a “standard view”. At least we didn’t have a rooftop right below us.
After only a couple minutes in the room, we heard this horribly loud, shrill noise. It sounded like drilling. DH mentioned that he saw some workers entering the rooms across the hall. Sure enough, the ENTIRE other side of the hallway had rooms with doors propped open, and workers coming in and out. They were doing some SERIOUS heavy work in there. I’m talking jackhammer type noises, banging, drilling, etc. A few times, I saw them working on the climate control units. Seems like they were being completely replaced, drywall and everything. This noise continued all week, but only during the daytime hours (never early in the morning or late at night). Luckily, we are not “nap” people (our kids don’t do naps unless they are sick), so this wasn’t an issue. So, I made no mention of it, although I do have to question why they wouldn’t block off the whole wing if they had to do work like that.
We had planned on maybe hitting the pool, but it was just a bit chilly for that today. It was breezy, and neither DH nor I had the energy to hit the pool, so we discussed what to do, and decided to head over to the Boardwalk to let the boys run off some energy at the playground there. When we arrived, the boys had a ball playing in the completely empty playground (there was only one person at the pool too, so it was very quiet over here). DH and I parked it on some loungers to watch the boys and finally RELAX! Ahh, it felt so nice!
We had dinner ADRs at Captain’s Grille, but we were feeling hungry already, and it was only 4:15. We decided to go to the Big River Grille for dinner, as we had enjoyed that place last year, and knew that they don’t take ADRs. We figured we’d let the boys play until 5pm and then walk over there. We did just that. Lucas was starving by this point, and I was happy that there was no wait for a table inside. It had gotten cloudy and we had left our sweatshirts in the room, so I didn’t want to chance eating outside. Our server here was excellent. DH is really into beer, and she was extremely knowledgeable about it. She was also kind enough to make a couple substitutions for our very picky eaters, and I wanted the ribs, but not the whole rack, and she was very accommodating when I asked if I could order a half rack (which ended up costing half of what the dinner price was for the full rack). DH ordered the BBQ burger. Our food arrived very quickly, which was great. Everything was quite good, although the ribs were definitely not smoked or super tender. They were sort of overcooked and tough, but honestly, that’s how I like pork (might be a Puerto Rican thing…I grew up eating oven baked pork chops that resembled jerky…and which I now make myself at home). So, I enjoyed ripping dry shreds of sauce laden pork off the bone, and I really liked my dinner. However, if you like your ribs tender, this is NOT the place to get them. DH’s burger was excellent, and perfectly medium rare. We sort of shared the burger and ribs. The boys cleaned their plates in record time. Max had mac and cheese, salad, and chocolate cake. Lucas had the kids burgers, NO sides (he won’t eat grapes, carrots, or salad, and they didn’t have fries), and chocolate cake as well. I had brought some applesauce (the kind in pouches) for Lucas and he had one of those. On a side note, these are the best invention for kids EVER! Lucas is exceptionally picky, and will only eat apples (sauce, or raw) pears, melon, and banana. I packed 4 boxes of these applesauce pouches, and they came in very handy when the sides offered were things he wouldn’t eat. This way, I was sure to keep him eating SOME healthy food all week and they were very easy to carry in my bag to the parks. I always had one in there, and he ate about 2 a day.
After dinner, we were starting to lag. We walked back around the lake, stopping in at Yacht Club to check out the decorations and stop by the podium to cancel our ADR (had been for 6:45). The boys enjoyed seeing the train in here, but it didn’t move, so that was disappointing. I forgot to mention that we went into the Boardwalk Inn lobby to see the gingerbread house, but it wasn’t that interesting to us, since Stitch is NOT one of our favorites. My boys MUCH preferred looking at the model of the roller coaster there. DH commented that he didn’t like the feel of that resort, and that he never wanted to stay there. I sort of agree with him. I used to say that, then I stayed there in May with my sister to try it out, and my feelings were confirmed. I really don’t like it either. Something about the décor just rubs me the wrong way and makes me feel uncomfortable.
When we returned to our room, I was happy to see our bags waiting for us. I got busy unpacking while the boys played with some of the toys they brought from home. Once I was done organizing and putting things away, we got the boys bathed and into PJ’s. Bedtime at home is usually around 8pm, and they were getting tired at the “usual” time, so we decided to make it an early night. Our plan for Friday was to hit MK first, then go to Epcot, and maybe DHS for the Osborn Lights. The boys were in bed and asleep by about 9pm, and DH and I followed shortly after. Unfortunately, right as predicted, Max woke up in the middle of the night, and was up for a good 2 hours. Lucas too, kept tossing and turning. Those sheets are LOUD in the middle of the night (he was in the other queen bed, while Max was in the daybed). Seems like everyone slept fitfully this night, which is par for the course for the first night in a hotel for our family.