Trip Report No rain, no lines, no crowds, no ADR's, no fastpasses, lots of fun and pool time.

OK, so I am starting my very first trip report. We went Sept. 7-15 and stayed offsite the first night then 7 nights in a one bedroom at Bay Lake Tower. This was an anniversary trip...she has tolerated me for 31 years of marriage now...something that still amazes me.
The first day we arrived around lunch time after driving through masses of lovebugs. We got there during what I understand is the beginning of the fall lovebug season. Wife's new car, white with lots of front bumper space, was covered in the little pains in the you-know-what. We stopped at a couple of gas stations just to top off the tank and try to clean them off a bit (felt we should add a bit of gas since we were using their window cleaner and water and paper towels).
Arrived at DTD, which has become our traditional first stop, and enjoyed the afternoon. Later went to the offsite room, checked in, freshened up a bit then back to DTD for the evening.
Ate at Earl of Sandwich a couple of times on this trip. Walked around, did some shopping, looked at the construction, or I should say at this point construction preparation and deconstruction, and back to the room early after a long day.

The cast of characters for this trip are Mr. and Mrs. epcotisbest, seen here at Epcot last Wednesday with a couple of other suspicious looking characters:
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We are hopeful for the changes coming to DTD, but hope it does not become too much of a shopping mall. Time will tell.
We like Rainforest Cafe and saw the remodeled volcano for the first time. It seems to me a company that talks about the environment a lot is not very environmentally friendly with all the gas used in the eruptions...just sayin'.

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We have gone to WDW and not carried a camera, we have so many pics already, but decided to take my wife's little Canon point and shoot this trip. Left the Nikon DSLR at home. Quit carrying it a long time ago. The Canon did OK.

Plenty more to come, a little at a time.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This trip was not long after the Labor Day holiday and little ones are back in school. Touring plans had the crowd levels at ones to threes for the whole time we were there and they were right. Being blessed with wonderful weather, though still a bit hot and humid, was nice. I said no rain in the thread title, but come to think of it, it did rain for about 15 minutes one afternoon. I expected more afternoon showers.

We lingered at DTD for awhile. A gentle breeze had the balloon swaying a little, but not enough for them to park it.

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epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The plan was to just stop by the front desk then hang out at the pool until time to check in, but they had our room ready early. Yeah. We had a lake view, which to me seems preferable to MK view as during the day MK view is parking lot view with MK in the background.
A couple of issues with BLT...we did not get room request. We just wanted something on the outside of the semi-circle building but was told nothing was available, even though we made the request months earlier, then a couple of weeks before arrival as well. I knew from visiting that inside the semi-circle rooms got lots of noise from the pool. We still got inside, but was up high, 9th floor, but the noise from the pool was simply awful. Of course, if I had been outside lake view on the side with the boats, I'm sure I would be complaining about the noise from the boat captains who are so happy with the horns.
The noise at the pool at BLT makes it unusable for old folks like us from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. The activities people use a p.a. system cranked up to 11 and play music that is not Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Deep Purple and many other classic rock tunes I can tolerate. Instead it is a constant barrage of stuff that appeals to a younger crowd. Even if they played Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here even occasionally, it would still be too loud for me at a pool setting. Pink Floyd too loud? First time I have ever said that.

The rooms at BLT are nice, but showing some age, and there were some maintenance issues, but nothing that a simple repair would not cure. Dining area:

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Kitchen:

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Living room area:

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epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@epcotisbest This sure is different than when we were there in June! what a lovely place to spend your anniversary.
Wish that I saw those princess ornaments when we were there. Oh well!
Looking forward to the rest of your trip!
Thank you. Sept. is dramatically different from June, but I am an old fogey who goes out of his way to avoid crowds. Yes the ornaments are lovely. Check out these:

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epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The bedroom was equally lovely, as were both bathrooms. Yes, two full baths in the one bedroom. This is a nice touch and would come in very handy if you had others staying on the sleeper sofa. I bet it is ideal for people with children. For just a couple, it seemed to me the extra bathroom and laundry room took up a lot of space that could be used for living area, but I suppose there are trade offs to every design.
Here is the bedroom:

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Another angle:

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MouseDreaming

Well-Known Member
The noise at the pool at BLT makes it unusable for old folks like us from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. The activities people use a p.a. system cranked up to 11 and play music that is not Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Deep Purple and many other classic rock tunes I can tolerate. Instead it is a constant barrage of stuff that appeals to a younger crowd. Even if they played Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here even occasionally, it would still be too loud for me at a pool setting. Pink Floyd too loud? First time I have ever said that.
Aren't those pool parties something else? My kids didn't want anything to do with them. My 10 year old DD was OK with the music, but thought the activities weren't great. My DS (14 on the trip) would have preferred different music. Pink Floyd and Deep Purple are a little too new fangled for him. If they were blasting Glen Miller and Louis Armstrong, we wouldn't have gotten him to leave!

Because of the obnoxious pool parties, we really loved the quiet pools at POR last trip.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Aren't those pool parties something else? My kids didn't want anything to do with them. My 10 year old DD was OK with the music, but thought the activities weren't great. My DS (14 on the trip) would have preferred different music. Pink Floyd and Deep Purple are a little too new fangled for him. If they were blasting Glen Miller and Louis Armstrong, we wouldn't have gotten him to leave!

Because of the obnoxious pool parties, we really loved the quiet pools at POR last trip.
Because you can visit other pools with DVC, we spent time at several different pools on property. My favorite of all is the quiet pool at VWL, a little piece of bubbly heaven in the middle of Florida. We have been going for many years, but the pool parties at BLT were just unreal how loud. Of course, a lot of people seemed to be having fun and I am sure more people go there to have fun than to have peace and quiet with an interesting book. I'll take the peace and quiet.
Your DS sounds like an interesting character. Perhaps a little "What a Wonderful World" would have been nice now that you mention it.
 

MouseDreaming

Well-Known Member
Because you can visit other pools with DVC, we spent time at several different pools on property. My favorite of all is the quiet pool at VWL, a little piece of bubbly heaven in the middle of Florida. We have been going for many years, but the pool parties at BLT were just unreal how loud. Of course, a lot of people seemed to be having fun and I am sure more people go there to have fun than to have peace and quiet with an interesting book. I'll take the peace and quiet.
Your DS sounds like an interesting character. Perhaps a little "What a Wonderful World" would have been nice now that you mention it.
He actually tells me that is his least favorite Satchmo song. He would rather hear Sunny Side of the Street. I think What a Wonderful World is a little too "new" for him. He is a boy in love with his trumpet, that's for sure.
 

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