Summer TR at BCV, the theme was RAIN! - Complete 1/23/16

[Pinkocto]

I read this a couple days ago but didn't want to comment in case you were adding more updates.

Life has been so crazy I figured I had to sit down and post something. I thought I could do the whole day but I didn't want to rush.

We play the lizard game too. Last trip we only saw 13 and 11 were on the last day on the way to check in our bags for the airport. The previous trip we saw like 123 of them!

Mom sees them everywhere. And wants me to take pictures of most of them. No, I am not going to take a picture of the lizard that looks exactly like all the other lizards we've seen. We have never counted them though, I'll have to suggest that to her.

We loved our 1 bedroom at SSR. For us it's just the right amount of space. Bummer they didn't give you detergent. I was so thrilled that they have switched to scent free detergent for the washers. Sounds like a relaxing day.

Oh yes, we loved the space of the 1BR. We always love the space! I particularly love having the laundry.

It was a very relaxing day so far.

 

[dolphingirl47]

How wonderful that you managed to add another day and that it it coincided with the DVC party. What a shame you had to move though. The one bedroom villa looks amazing. We still have not managed to stay at Saratoga.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

How wonderful that you managed to add another day and that it coincided with the DVC party.

I was thrilled we were able to add an extra day. It cost a bit in airfare but to me an extra day was worth it. I had the rest of the week off work so it worked out perfectly. The DVC party was a total bonus!

What a shame you had to move though.

The CM was very kind and called BC to see if there was a room available that wasn't showing in inventory but there wasn't. But I thought she went above and beyond calling the resort. I really don't like moving resorts though, it eats up so much time.

The one bedroom villa looks amazing. We still have not managed to stay at Saratoga.

Corinna

I love the fact that you can walk to DTD/Disney Springs from SSR, and the rooms are very nice. But it probably will never be my first choice to stay.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Yeah bonus day with DVC event and scoring a 1 bed at SSR. That is music to my ears. What a nice morning early afternoon enjoying SAB for the last time this vacation. Lovely resort.

That was a nice short bus ride from HS to SSR! Love the room. Shame about detergent and creamer. Soon fixed by two resourceful ladies. The first Muppet Movie is cute. That little pearl in that oyster player waiting to be discovered!

Looking forward to hearing about the DVC event.

 

[Pinkocto]

DVC member event at Typhoon Lagoon





From my recollection we left the room around 7:30 to get a bus to Typhoon Lagoon. We waited and waited for a TL bus and when none came I asked the DTD bus driver, the TL stop used to be connected to the DTD bus. The driver said he thought we needed to get a bus to Epcot and transfer there. WHAT??? As soon as I turned to mom to tell her what he had said I noticed an Epcot bus driving away, it had pulled in ahead of the DTD bus I was talking to. While we waited for another Epcot bus I noticed a sign at the bus stop, that after 2pm to take the Epcot bus to get to TL. How much sense does that make??? This was the middle of summer and the water parks were open until 8pm. And this was at SSR. TL is just around the corner from SSR. We hadn’t even noticed it when we were at Beach Club, but on recollection we did have to get an Epcot bus when going back to the resort. And when we got to Epcot the bus stop for BC was the stop immediately next to it. The SSR stop was nowhere near close. Finally another Epcot bus came and we got on it at 7:54.







At Epcot the TL bus was quite a walk from where we were dropped off but at 8:09 a TL bus was pulling up.







Bad thing is it was as cold as the arctic tundra! Mom wrapped herself up in a very thin wrap she had brought and we huddled together for warmth. Finally at 8:30 we were at Typhoon Lagoon…. The absolute waste of time going to Epcot and then another 20 minutes from Epcot to TL had me very frustrated.



We had to check in before we were allowed in the park. They checked my DVC card and our names. You did have to register for this event, I suppose so they would know how much food/beverages to have on hand. I believe the event officially started at 9pm, but you could get into the park at 7:30 without water park passes. I somehow forgot to write times down so I could be slightly off.







Neither of us had been to TL at night before and thought it was very pretty,











Our first order of business was food. We had not eaten since the fries at SAB earlier that day and I was starving! I knew they had gluten free pizzas at Leaning Palms and thankfully that was one of the restaurants open during the party. The party had not officially started yet but people were asking where the ice cream and cookies were. I overheard several CMs tell people patiently that the treats would be put out at 9:30. They had a special map set up around the park that had the treat station locations, and where the meet and greats were going to be.







Leaning Palms only had a limited menu listed so I asked if they could do the gluten free pizza and the CM had to ask the cooks. No problem they said and I was so pleased! It took probably 15 minutes to come out, which it usually does since they have to cook it special but it’s worth the wait not to have tummy trouble.







And man oh man was that pizza delicious!!! They put so much cheese on it and the crust was just perfect.



At 9:15 I checked us in for our Southwest flight the next evening and then we went to explore the park. We were impressed with the turnout. There were tons of members there and it was really fun to see.







They had a DJ set up at the clock tower by the wave pool. We watched for a little bit and then headed off to find some treats.











They actually had things out before 9:30 and the lines were massive! I completely forgot to get pictures of the items offered, but they had lemonade and water for beverages, an array of chips, Nacho Cheese Doritos, Lays regular, and Lays baked chips, then they had sugar cookies, and of course ice cream. The ice cream was brought out at different times. At first they had Mickey bars, then Mickey ice cream sandwiches, then the strawberry fruit bars. I was excited to have my very first Mickey bar ever. Until I bit into it. Mom was enjoying hers immensely so after a few bites of mine I asked, ‘are these supposed to be icy?’ she took a bite of mine and said I had gotten one that must have melted and been refrozen. She told me to go get another. I didn’t bother, I was disenchanted with the idea of a Mickey bar. For years I’ve been hearing of how magnificent the things are, and the very first one I ever had is icy? What are the chances??? Oh well.







The chips ended up going home with us and we ate them at the pool the next day.



Dinner eaten, flights checked in for, we decided to go have some fun in the water. Sad thing is it was a bit on the chilly side… but we were at a special after hours party and we were going to do at least a few things! First we did a ride down the Storm Slides, they are body slides. Mom hadn’t done them before and they are quite fun. And the dark adds an extra fun touch as well. Then we went in the lazy river, because we LOVE the lazy river. I couldn’t do more than half a lap, I was so cold. At that point we felt like we had a fulfilling experience and were ready to leave. If it had been warmer I’m sure we would have stayed a few more hours.



We passed Lilo and Stitch doing pictures. Neither of us felt the need to have our pictures taken in our bathing suits so we passed on. We had also seen Minnie and Mickey somewhere else in the park. I thought it was a really nice touch that they had characters out.



We left the gates at 10:41. Two hours of fun was worth it in our minds. We praised the event to the CMs that were there. The DVC CMs absolutely glowed when we told them how much fun it was. I hope they have more events like this. I think they only did 4 last summer which I think is a shame. Hopefully the turnout showed them that it was a big success. And it was only for members that were staying onsite, not for members who happen to live in Florida or be in the area. I thought that was interesting.











They had big busses to take us all home. We did not have too long a wait and we were off to OKW first and then the Carriage House. We were at The Springs so had a very short walk and we were back in our room.



This was the bus when it dropped us off at the Carriage House





We were walking up to our building at 11:05



We had a very fun evening and both of us were glad we went. We ended up staying up until the wee hours of the night watching The Village. I forgot to mention that earlier when we got creamer and laundry detergent we also picked up The Village. Mom had never seen it before and loved it. I enjoyed seeing it again as well. We went to sleep a little before 2am.

 

[Pinkocto]

Yeah bonus day with DVC event and scoring a 1 bed at SSR. That is music to my ears. What a nice morning early afternoon enjoying SAB for the last time this vacation. Lovely resort.

We had a very lovely and relaxing day at SAB. I couldn't believe how many hours we were there but when we're reading books time easily flies by.

I was so pleased to have an extra day at WDW that trip.

That was a nice short bus ride from HS to SSR! Love the room. Shame about detergent and creamer. Soon fixed by two resourceful ladies. The first Muppet Movie is cute. That little pearl in that oyster player waiting to be discovered!

I ordered the Muppet Movie shortly after getting home. What a treat that I didn't know existed!

Looking forward to hearing about the DVC event.

It was a lot of fun

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Enjoyed reading about the DVC event thank you. I can't get over the fact they make you take a bus to EPCOT in August for a water park after 2pm! That is too much. Come on DVC. You can put on more buses than that is high season.

The event looks fun shame about the weather. That pizza looks great! We had an icy Mickey bar once too! Jo prefers the cookie sandwich one. Says it's divine.

How nice TL looks at night, how fun. I love that lazy river they have there. Worth park entry alone. Cool re treats they lay out.

We went to the DVC Merrytime Mixer at EPCOT. You did not have to register. We turned up at the time and place and holy moly the line was a mile! Probably 2,000 people attended. It was great. We got an exclusive DVC christmas decoration each, lots of cookies, rice krispie treats, hot chocolate, other drinks. Games, Mickey and Minnie photo, Donald, Lilo and Stitch. Raffle, exclusive DVC store. A disco. Snow! We were blown away by it thought it was a small event like the one at AK. A few people lol.

We like these events! More please!

 

[dolphingirl47]

While we waited for another Epcot bus I noticed a sign at the bus stop, that after 2pm to take the Epcot bus to get to TL.

This is like this from all resorts now.

How much sense does not make???

I wish they would take the location of the resort into account. It does not make any sense at all for people staying at Saratoga Springs, Old Key West or Port Orleans to have to go via Epcot.

Bad thing is it was as cold as the arctic tundra!

What a shame that it was so cold.

Leaning Palms only had a limited menu listed so I asked if they could do the gluten free pizza and the CM had to ask the cooks. No problem they said and I was so pleased!

I am glad that they were able to accommodate you.

People were braver than I would have been. I can't imagine going in the water if it is that cold.

I was excited to have my very first Mickey bar ever.

I had not realised you never had one before.

Until I bit into it. Mom was enjoying hers immensely so after a few bites of mine I asked, ‘are these supposed to be icy?’ she took a bite of mine and said I had gotten one that must have melted and been refrozen.

You have to give the Mickey Bar a second chance. They really normally are heaven on a stick.

We passed Lilo and Stitch doing pictures.

I would not have been able to resist this even in a swim suit.

This looks like a really fun event. I have seen that there will be more this year. Unfortunately there is no Walt Disney World on the horizon for me as I will be concentrating on the more exotic Mouse Houses this year.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

Enjoyed reading about the DVC event thank you. I can't get over the fact they make you take a bus to EPCOT in August for a water park after 2pm! That is too much. Come on DVC. You can put on more buses than that is high season.

I know you know this already, but I forgot to write that I did send in a complaint to DVC about the transportation to/from TL this trip. They were very appreciate of the feedback. It just makes no sense to me at all, it adds so much time.

The event looks fun shame about the weather. That pizza looks great!

As hot as it had been we couldn't believe it was that chilly at night. I wouldn't hesitate to get that pizza again! I had one at AK in December and it wasn't good at all.

We had an icy Mickey bar once too! Jo prefers the cookie sandwich one. Says it's divine.

I've had the cookie sandwich one once before and wasn't impressed, and of course now I can't have them. I just hunt down the soft serve places in the parks

How nice TL looks at night, how fun. I love that lazy river they have there. Worth park entry alone. Cool re treats they lay out.

We love that lazy river! We have gone to the park for a few hours and just done the lazy river. Absolutely luxurious!

We went to the DVC Merrytime Mixer at EPCOT. You did not have to register. We turned up at the time and place and holy moly the line was a mile! Probably 2,000 people attended. It was great. We got an exclusive DVC christmas decoration each, lots of cookies, rice krispie treats, hot chocolate, other drinks. Games, Mickey and Minnie photo, Donald, Lilo and Stitch. Raffle, exclusive DVC store. A disco. Snow! We were blown away by it thought it was a small event like the one at AK. A few people lol.

The Merrytime Mixer sounds fabulous!!! What was the AK event?

We like these events! More please!

Yes indeed!

 

[Pinkocto]

This is like this from all resorts now.

I actually emailed a complaint a few weeks after getting home and someone from transportation called me and talked to me about the issue. They were genuinely appreciative of the feedback.

I wish they would take the location of the resort into account. It does not make any sense at all for people staying at Saratoga Springs, Old Key West or Port Orleans to have to go via Epcot.

The whole thing doesn't seem like they thought about it at all....

What a shame that it was so cold.

It was very strange considering how sweltering hot it had been during the day.

I am glad that they were able to accommodate you.

I was too, it never hurts to ask.

People were braver than I would have been. I can't imagine going in the water if it is that cold.

And there were a lot of them in there!

I had not realised you never had one before.

I'm not sure what has stopped me in the past but I've never been pulled to try one even as much as mom loves them.

You have to give the Mickey Bar a second chance. They really normally are heaven on a stick.

Maybe on the cruise when they're free again.

I would not have been able to resist this even in a swim suit.

We almost did but there was quite a line as well.

This looks like a really fun event. I have seen that there will be more this year. Unfortunately there is no Walt Disney World on the horizon for me as I will be concentrating on the more exotic Mouse Houses this year.

Corinna

I just read that as well. I think it's fabulous they're doing all these extra events. I'm hoping to get to at least one of them. You certainly have a very exciting line up of trips this year

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

The AK event occured every week on a set day and time when we stayed a couple of years ago. It was a guide , snacks, games and drinks. About 15 -20 people attended. It was nice we got chatting to other members. It was at Kidani. I have no idea if they still do it. The DVC rep on the podium there told us about it.

 

[franandaj]

Other than the bus debacle, it sounds like a nice event. Was it free and you just had to RSVP?

I'm glad you liked that pizza so much!

 

[Pinkocto]

The AK event occured every week on a set day and time when we stayed a couple of years ago. It was a guide , snacks, games and drinks. About 15 -20 people attended. It was nice we got chatting to other members. It was at Kidani. I have no idea if they still do it. The DVC rep on the podium there told us about it.

Yes, I'm having a recollection of this. I didn't manage to go. Thank you for the info

 

[Pinkocto]

Other than the bus debacle, it sounds like a nice event. Was it free and you just had to RSVP?

It really was a nice event, very fun, and it made us feel special to be members. It was free, they just had you RSVP about a week ahead of time.

I'm glad you liked that pizza so much!

I look forward to having it again

 

[Pinkocto]

Hi everyone I figured it was about time I finished this TR. This trip was about 6 months ago and I've been on three other vacations since then. I am in the middle of a blizzard hunkered down at home with my boys so figured it was the perfect day to wrap this up. In 6 days mom and I head on our next big adventure and I definitely needed to have this finished before that trip starts!

 

[Pinkocto]

Day 6, Leaving Day:





Sadly we were at the end of another fabulous vacation. Even though it was a short one it was still chock full of fun and much needed relaxation. We did have a full day before our flight and we intended to make the most of it. Not too early of course, we had been up super late the night before watching The Village.



I snoozed until 9:05 and immediately started packing. Mom was already awake packing up her stuff in the living room. I put one more load of laundry in, no reason not to utilize the washing machine. I had remembered to put the Do Not Disturb sign out the night before. A couple times I have forgotten to do that and have had several knocks before 11am asking if we were still there. That was so annoying I remember to put the sign out now.



I made us some honey and butter toast to use up the remaining bread I had brought. I was happy to have that full kitchen just to have the room. We made good use of our time and at 11:03 we said goodbye to our room.











We took our bags to do airport check-in and saw some geckos on the way. This is the only good picture.







After completing airline check-in we left our carry-ons with Bell Services and were off to Typhoon Lagoon again. It was a super hot day and we felt since we didn’t get to do much with the slides last night at the party we should go back. We took the movie back first. I don’t ever remember seeing this lovely courtyard and fountain.



















And then we were off to TL. It was before 2pm so there was a bus going directly there







Mom brought two of her new friends with her to play in the water.







And proceeded to tie them into a necklace so they wouldn’t get lost.







Look at this HUGE line of people!







I couldn’t believe they were all in the correct lines and I saw I was right when we got closer. Lots of people were waiting to buy tickets so I quickly got us around them and went to the entrance.







It was around noon when we got there and it was packed full of people and HOT! We found some chairs behind the wave pool where we had sat before and first ate the honey and butter toast. Neither of us had had time for breakfast since we had woken up late and needed to pack. After that much needed sustenance we did some laps in the lazy river.













After the lazy river we went to the Storm Slides. The ground was scalding hot and thankfully they had hoses to keep the ground wet. Well kids will be kids and the ones in front of us thought it was funny to aim the spray at each other, not caring or noticing they were spraying the people behind them as well… We only did one slide, but it was great fun and a much different experience than the night before. I’m glad we had a chance to do them in the dark. That was really neat. Then we went back to our chairs and got some snowballs.



Mom had a blue raspberry and pina colada one







And I had a cherry and strawberry one







They were monstrous and so delicious! We will be returning there on future visits that’s for sure.

 

[Pinkocto]

We headed back to the lazy river but made a detour and watched the wave pool from above for a few minutes. I kept seeing trash on the floor and was getting pretty grossed out. I mentioned this to mom and she asked if I wanted to go back to the resort and relax at that pool instead? I really liked this idea and we headed out at that point. Unfortunately it was 2:34 which meant we had to go to Epcot first… It took us an entire hour to get back to SSR from the time we left TL. They made us wait at TL until the bus was full to bursting, and then it took 20 minutes to get to Epcot. We chatted with some people in the bus and they were as unhappy with the bus situation as we were, and they had little kids. Lots of bags, strollers, and children, too much to be transferring buses and waiting extra time. It just sours things. At that point I decided to contact Disney when I got home about how ridiculous the whole thing was.



And then of course at Epcot we had to go find the SSR stop.











Not pleasant.



But we finally made it back to SSR and situated ourselves at The Springs pool. We sat in the sun for a bit but it was sweltering so we moved over to the other side. We ate the chips we had gotten at the DVC event the night before, I wrote in the journal, mom read, and we both alternated going into the water. I’m so glad mom suggested going back to the resort, it was perfect.





Until the storm clouds appeared.







Lighting was spotted and we were all ordered off the pool deck.







That was it, officially we had had rain 6 out of 6 days. Which is to be expected in the summer in Florida but it was amusing. In no way did it negatively impact the trip, we just went with it.



We decided to go get our carry-ons from Bell Services and take advantage of the showers in the gym. After getting cleaned up we went and got some dinner at The Artist’s Palette. The CM who took our order happened to from Maryland, and was going back to school in a few weeks.











He was very kind and included some free sugar cookies in our bag when we went to pick it up.



We got a Greek salad to share, and a gluten free Caprese pizza. We fully intended to eat them while waiting for the MDE to pick us up, but we encountered a very chatty CM who couldn’t see that we were trying to eat. We gave up and just chatted.



We ate our delicious dinner at the airport.











I was sorely tempted to eat one of the cookies since I knew how delicious they were, but I didn’t want any problems on the plane.







We stopped by the Disney store at the airport where I picked up my first Toy Story miniature collector bags. I’d been looking at them for ages and finally decided why not just get one.



Over to the terminal







We stopped at McDonalds for dessert. Me a strawberry milkshake, and for mom a peaches and cream pie.







I excitedly opened my Toy Story bag and these are my first little guys. I have opened up a whole new can of worms with these, but at least they’re not too expensive and they’re fun.







After that it was simply waiting for the plane and getting home, it was very smooth travels. Another magnificent trip on the books.







It took me a few weeks but I did email DVC. DVC forwarded my complaint onto Disney transportation and someone called me personally to talk about my complaint. I was at work when they called and they left a detailed message. I was able to call that person back directly and he seemed genuinely interested in my complaint. He said they don’t know there’s a problem unless they get this feedback. I don’t know how they could have set up the bus transportation like this in the summer without knowing there would be a problem but that’s a side note. I am glad I voiced my concerns and can only hope they change things in the future.


Thank you all for reading

 

[Pinkocto]

Our upcoming trip is as follows:

January 29 - February 9

January 29: VGF deluxe studio lake view

Flight arrives at 3:25

FP+s: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Dumbo, Fireworks viewing area

January 30 - February 6: Disney Fantasy Eastern Caribbean.

3 days at sea, Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay. We only plan on getting off the ship at Tortola and Castaway Cay. For St. Thomas we had booked a full day sail/snorkel excursion but after looking more into it we won't be snorkeling for more than a few hours and it cost $109 per person. We're just going to stay onboard and enjoy the ship. We pretty much booked this cruise to go to Tortola, and will be doing a DCL excursion over to The Baths at Virgin Gorda. There are amazing rock formations right by the ocean that you can walk through. We can't wait. For CC we'll just spend the day at Serenity Bay, no excursions booked. We will definitely be getting the Rainforest Room passes, watching tons of movies, and relaxing.

February 6 - 9 back at VGF deluxe studio lake view again.

February 6: FP+s for TSMM, ToT, and Star Tours. Lunch at 50's Prime Time in between rides. We'll be watching the new Star Wars fireworks that night.

February 7: FP+s for 7DMT, Peter Pan, and Dumbo

February 8: This will be a very special day, I booked us a river tour to swim with the manatees. This is something on both mom and my bucket list. We'll be driving up to Crystal River which is about 2 hours away. We need to be up there at 7am for our 7:30 tour. We could have done an 11am tour but when I called they said the manatees are much more interactive in the morning. I don't know what that means, but we both agreed we can wake up early for that! I booked FP+s for that evening in case we're up for it but of course I can always cancel. Hopefully we'll be going back to HS for TSMM, ToT, and Star Tours again as well as the fireworks. We'll see if we make it.

February 9: FP+s for Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, and 7DMT. Then it's off to the airport.

This will be my first time leaving the boys for so long and I'm a bit anxious, but they'll be with my brother and sister in law who they love so hopefully all will be well.



Other trips for this year include the Eastbound Panama Canal cruise August 26 - September 9, and a 7 night stay at AKV CL December 8-15. I have purposefully not booked too much for this year because I'm hoping to move within the next couple months.

 

[Leshaface]

I wasn’t expecting trash and towel service

I had completely forgotten about trash and towel service too! I had the 'Do Not Disturb" sign up through our whole stay at the Poly and one day I decided to pull it off (mainly cause it kept getting in the way) and when we returned we had news towels! Thank goodness I had pulled it.

I wanted to go here too but never got a chance, it was WAY too busy.

I like the shampoo bars they sell there. Granted I could get them shipped to me, but why do that if the shop is right there. These bars last for ages and are fabulous.

Ooh i'll have to try them. Do they make conditioner bars too? My hair needs conditioner.

We got plenty of exercise that day going back and forth at DTD. Am I supposed to call it Disney Springs? I’m so confused.

Agh me too!

It was an excellent movie, I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it. We both said we could see it again right away. And the cute little pre-movie called Lava was beautiful.

Such a cute movie! DH and I had watery eyes for Bing Bong. And Lava was brilliant.

I love how festive the Queue is compared to DCA's. So boring!

Ooh we got to try these this trip and loved them!

People, these were the most beautiful fireworks I had ever seen. They were so close and absolutely breathtaking. Almost too close though because debris flew on me several times. Mom voiced the exact thing to me later, that she felt they were the most beautiful fireworks she had ever seen as well.

Very interesting considering Wishes is pretty awesome.

We stopped by the Marketplace to get mom a Bucket o’ Aliens she had spied earlier in the trip. These guys have since joined mom on several trips to Georgia, went with me on my two October trips, and are planning on coming on future trips as well. Two or three specially selected aliens are chosen and photos are taken of their adventures as well as our own. It is quite amusing.

Cute idea!

We just let the Muppet Movie play while we packed up. This was the original Muppet Movie and neither of us had ever seen it before. Needless to say I ordered it shortly afterwards, I loved it.

I have all the old Muppet Movies and they are all fantastic!

I just loved the kitchen at SSR!

I’m glad I took my whole wallet because the machine only took credit cards. Creamer, movie, and laundry detergent in hand we headed back to the room.

Haha same here! I for sure thought that they were only going to take cash like regular laundromats,

 

[Leshaface]

At 9:15 I checked us in for our Southwest flight the next evening and then we went to explore the park.

Do you use the SW app to check in? I decided this time to use all 3 phones on us to check us in (mine with the app and the other 2 just through the browser) cause it always seems that I don't check in fast enough and can never get everyone in the same Boarding group. Especially now that DS has his own ticket, it takes forever.

For years I’ve been hearing of how magnificent the things are, and the very first one I ever had is icy? What are the chances??? Oh well.

Aw boo! You need to give it a chance again please!

We left the gates at 10:41. Two hours of fun was worth it in our minds. We praised the event to the CMs that were there. The DVC CMs absolutely glowed when we told them how much fun it was. I hope they have more events like this. I think they only did 4 last summer which I think is a shame. Hopefully the turnout showed them that it was a big success. And it was only for members that were staying onsite, not for members who happen to live in Florida or be in the area. I thought that was interesting.

This sounds like such a fun time.

A couple times I have forgotten to do that and have had several knocks before 11am asking if we were still there. That was so annoying I remember to put the sign out now.

Ugh you're right! In fact, our last morning, on my way to put the sign up around 8:30am, I got a knock on the door

This looks delicious!

We headed back to the lazy river but made a detour and watched the wave pool from above for a few minutes. I kept seeing trash on the floor and was getting pretty grossed out. I mentioned this to mom and she asked if I wanted to go back to the resort and relax at that pool instead? I really liked this idea and we headed out at that point. Unfortunately it was 2:34 which meant we had to go to Epcot first… It took us an entire hour to get back to SSR from the time we left TL. They made us wait at TL until the bus was full to bursting, and then it took 20 minutes to get to Epcot. We chatted with some people in the bus and they were as unhappy with the bus situation as we were, and they had little kids. Lots of bags, strollers, and children, too much to be transferring buses and waiting extra time. It just sours things. At that point I decided to contact Disney when I got home about how ridiculous the whole thing was.

This just doesn't make sense and i'd be so annoyed!

Oh this looks yummy.

I've always seen these but thought they looked dry so never got them. Are they pretty good?

Mr. Pricklepants! He is the cutest! I have a stuffed one of him.

It took me a few weeks but I did email DVC. DVC forwarded my complaint onto Disney transportation and someone called me personally to talk about my complaint. I was at work when they called and they left a detailed message. I was able to call that person back directly and he seemed genuinely interested in my complaint. He said they don’t know there’s a problem unless they get this feedback. I don’t know how they could have set up the bus transportation like this in the summer without knowing there would be a problem but that’s a side note. I am glad I voiced my concerns and can only hope they change things in the future.

Good for you. And you're right, how do they know about problems unless people tell them. So true. I am surprised that they actually wanted to speak with you instead of chatting via email. That's great service actually.

February 8: This will be a very special day, I booked us a river tour to swim with the manatees. This is something on both mom and my bucket list. We'll be driving up to Crystal River which is about 2 hours away.

This sounds AWESOME!!!! I hope you're able to get some pictures of this.

Other trips for this year include the Eastbound Panama Canal cruise August 26 - September 9, and a 7 night stay at AKV CL December 8-15. I have purposefully not booked too much for this year because I'm hoping to move within the next couple months.

So I haven't been around for a while, what's new with the move? Alaska still?