Trip Report Disney in Winter came and went 2015!!

disneypearl · Jan 13, 2015

Three days!?! How exciting! Are you all packed and ready? You have some great dining lined up too. Via Napoli being my very favorite. Is it lunch or dinner at Be Our Guest? I've been for lunch before and have a dinner reservation for April. I'm looking forward to it. Have a great trip!

LowesChevy · Jan 14, 2015

disneypearl said:
Three days!?! How exciting! Are you all packed and ready? You have some great dining lined up too. Via Napoli being my very favorite. Is it lunch or dinner at Be Our Guest? I've been for lunch before and have a dinner reservation for April. I'm looking forward to it. Have a great trip!

thank you very much-thanks for following along! plenty of fun to come

mrdrift · Jan 14, 2015

What an exciting time this trip will be for you. I have dreamed of staying at those resort that you have chosen, just a little out of my price range. I think the park choices are fantastic. The food choices are to die for. Have a wonderful time on the trip and I will be watching for the trip report.

coachwnh · Jan 14, 2015

Have a great time!

LowesChevy · Jan 15, 2015

The holiday corridor was very busy and it seemed like after we returned and I finished my dining and trip report, I was done for a while and then bam the holidays. I think I have decided I will break down and write as much as I can every night on the dining reviews to cut down on going back to notes and missing fine details. I finally have the motivation to bring you the pre trip report you all deserve

My parents Deb & Steve and I are quite a fun bunch. Hopefully nobody needs a cane or wheelchair this year. My mother has fibromyalgia and advanced osteoarthritis in her neck and some joints, so she often needs more breaks and naps. It works out fine because we do like to come back to the room after lunch and gear up for the evening. Depending on the weather, we may take a dip in the pool, but not sure what it will be like here this week. I do want to take a ride on the creepy clown slide at BWVs!

I have just about everything that I am taking laid out. I think we will get the bulk of the packing done tonight. Bathroom bags are the last things to be packed since I still need my razor and special toothpaste in the morning. I think I am covered for cold to warm temperatures- Under armour, cardigans, long sleeves and a couple of pairs of jeans. That is one great thing about the villas-laundry!

I am still selecting which camera lenses and equipment I am taking because I will have a smaller bag and not my whole gear bag. We have never flown Frontier and I am unsure of how strict their carry on policy is, so we are going as light on carry ons as possible. The main thing I am hoping for: sunshine! When we visited in September it was non-existent! My photos were so bland from the cloudiness.

It is almost time to go home for me and by this time tomorrow we will be on the road to Cleveland. I will update you all tomorrow!

cheers

FlaggNL · Jan 16, 2015

What that's close! Just one day left!! Plans look great! Have a more than magical and wonderful time in WDW!! And off course looking forward for the TR!

officialtom · Jan 16, 2015

Just a few days left for us too. Safe travels, and see you there!

LowesChevy · Jan 29, 2015

Had a wonderful time-only a few annoying things, but working on my trip report

LowesChevy · Feb 4, 2015

January 16th Drive to CLE

I worked till 3:30 PM and scooted from work. I had finished the final touches on my carry on and grabbed my hair products. We packed up the car and were off!

The drive to CLE the day before went off without a hitch.

There were no snow showers or accidents along the way, which made it a pleasant drive. Surprisingly there was no wait at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner when we arrived. After dinner we drove to the Sheraton and settled in the room. Dad and I went to have a beverage at the bar, but mom was already relaxing in bed for the evening! The alarm and phone was set for a 4:00 AM wake-up call

…

LowesChevy · Feb 5, 2015

Day 1

January 17th Early AM flight on Frontier (New experience for us)

DTD; Activating APs; Lunch

Check in at BWV; Epcot

On the airport shuttle

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Early dawn came and we were ready to go all within 30 minutes! You can get ready pretty quick when there is so much excitement and anticipation I suppose. The shuttle only has to take you about ¼ of a mile to the airport and no surprise we were the only ones up at this time. The Frontier ticketing line was longish, but it moved quickly. I think it was our clerks first day though as she seemed frazzled-all I need to see are our bags tagged with that MCO sticker and the pressure is off. The security line was rather slow, but it’s not like you have any other options and we had plenty of time to grab a snack after we made it through.
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It was a bit of a surprise that we would need to use the walk up gate outside to board, but the Ft. Lauderdale flight was occupying the other Frontier wing. Needless to say it was a mad dash up the ramp to board and luckily we were among the first few people on so no back up! Immediately as we boarded there was a sense of urgency with the pilot and mechanic-apparently someone didn’t prepare the plane properly the night before and the water lines were frozen! They attempted to fix it a few times while the plane was boarding and about after an hour of waiting, the pilot announced that she was taking us to the other gate so we could de plane and use the restroom since they didn’t know how long it would take.

Lots of grumbling and frustration, but I will say she handled it like a champ. There were no lies to be given, just honesty. She also desperately lobbied with corporate on the phone to see if she could give us some sort of appeasement, but she was denied the ability to offer us any type of reimbursement. We were seated in the second row, so I was privy to all of the ongoing conversations J
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It didn’t take long after we exited the plane that we were called to re board. I grabbed some almonds and a quick charge for my phone since I forgot my power tube! Dummy. Finally we were off and in the air and we landed just before 11 AM. To top off the delay we had to bank around and approach the airport from the south, which is actually kind of cool because you can see most of the land marks on WDW property and why not we are already 3 hours late, what’s another 20 minutes?! I can only laugh about it now.

The original plan was stopping for breakfast at IHOP, but now it was more like lunchtime now. There are plenty of places to grab a bite on International Drive from fancy steakhouses to all u can eat buffets, but the hidden gem for us is Miller’s Ale House. They have a large menu and a huge beer and drink menu to wet your whistle. A round of fresh caught blackened mahi mahi sandwiches was just what I wanted! We may have missed going to Key West this year, but this really hit the spot. I also took the opportunity to change into my shorts and boy it felt good.

Next we headed to Goodings for some provisions like bottled water, laundry detergent, fabric softener, snacks, beer, paper towels, tissues and a few other goodies. I needed some small shampoos since my travel bottle broke when we arrived in Cleveland so instead of having a big mess I ditched the little fellow.

I had made some FP+ reservations for today knowing that the room wouldn’t be ready immediately upon our arrival. It also made it easier to decide what to do having already made plans. There was quite a back up at the security check point at the Boardwalk Inn & Villas, but the fellas were just being extra friendly at the booth! We drove up to the lobby area and parked near the taxi lane, I really wish they made some space for people to come into the lobby quick and check on their room. I realize that people will park everywhere, but why not a 15 minute or less lot close to the building so you don’t have to walk forever to and fro just to see if your room is ready and such?! We don’t really like to leave our things with luggage service because you may need something in your bag etc.

Our room wasn’t ready as expected, so we found a spot to park, way in the back, and made way for Epcot Guest Services. The line was a couple people deep, but eventually we were able to activate our Annual Passes and purchase a new Tables in Wonderland card! Off to enjoy Soarin!

We wandered back through Canada and The United Kingdom, grabbing some green tea from the Tea Caddy, checking out which other goodies we would be buying the next day. Still heartbroken there is no Liverpool merchandise at the Sportsman Shoppe due to their sponsorship deal, but now there is the soccer shop at Westside too! We got as far as France and it was past 4 when I received the text that our room was ready! Woohoo let’s head back to the Boardwalk!

Coming up the room at BWV

Disneygrl · Feb 5, 2015

I was at BWV the same time as you! Haven't been able to start my TR yet. Looking forward to yours!

FlaggNL · Feb 6, 2015

Great start

Following along

LowesChevy · Feb 9, 2015

Disneygrl said:
I was at BWV the same time as you! Haven't been able to start my TR yet. Looking forward to yours!

Nice...it was a lovely time

LowesChevy · Feb 9, 2015

Coming up the room at BWV

This has become a real pet peeve of mine, but when I say I am ready to go to my room now, I want the outside luggage person to hand the luggage off to someone inside right then, not wait for 10 minutes while 5 people try to figure out what is going on. So after a delay in waiting for the luggage- a porter came available to take us to our room. Universal moved to this system as well, but most other resorts we stay at are very quick with the luggage. Maybe I worry too much, but I like to have an eye on my bags-we have started a number of vacations without bags and even finished a couple sans belongings. We got everything back eventually, but it is incredibly stressful!

It is also great to have a host along the way pointing items of interest out, especially if you have never stayed at a property before. Our room was centrally located and not too far from the elevators, but right next to the trash and recycling room. The number was 14087 and was located on the 4th floor. Currently the 5th floor is being renovated completely, which we found out the hard way a couple of days later with noise! Defining noise which we went and complained about-I understand some construction noise, but there is no way they should have rented us this room if it was this bad. Most people may not have noticed it being at the park during the day, but we are mid day breakers. Plus one morning they started working above us at 7 AM and they weren’t supposed to start until 9 AM! We were offered a $100 credit, but we were beyond annoyed the one day. As I said there is no way the room should be occupied with the type of work going on above us-they were using a machine to remove tiles, blah.

Other than the luggage deal and the construction noise everything else was wonderful! Now here is all the good stuff about the Boardwalk Villas

My room-studio lockoff—kitchenette, queen bed and pull out sleeper sofa plus table

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The master bedroom

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The bathroom was huge and had a number of doors so you could block off different sections. I like to shower in the walk stalls in the master, especially with my knee hurting from time to time. It is a lot easier to step in the shower than lifting your leg up in the tub! The stall wasn’t super big and there isn’t a ledge to put your leg up to shave lol, but there is a ledge to place your soaps, shampoos and washes. Hopefully after the re do there will be a more spacious shower and a ledge haha!

The kitchen was very compact, but it did the job. We did a load of dishes the last day to wash anything we used during our stay. I couldn’t find extra garbage bags so we tended to dump the garbage and recycling as often as we needed. There was a loose nail sticking up on the trim between the carpet and the kitchen tile and one morning we alerted the housekeeping staff to have maintenance come check it out so no one got hurt. Lord knows you need your feet a lot at WDW!

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The view: we had a lovely little balcony and a view of the water way. You could see the back of the Tower of Terror and the Tree of Life in the distance. It was chilly at night, so not a lot of hanging on the balcony lol.

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We never did get to the pool, it was either chilly or we were too tired! The grounds are well manicured and fresh flowers were well taken care of. I thought the lobby was outstanding-I love the high ceilings and chandelier.

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After our stay we will definitely be back! Boardwalk 4/5 Stars

Coming up dinner at Le Cellier

FlaggNL · Feb 10, 2015

Love the hotel!

LowesChevy · Feb 11, 2015

FlaggNL said:
Love the hotel!

Totally, looking forward to another stay!

LowesChevy · Feb 11, 2015

Le Cellier seemed like a great for our first evening in WDW. It was close to the BWVs so if we were pinched for time, it wouldn’t take too long to get to Canada!

We arrived on the early side, but there wasn’t a horde of guests waiting to be seated, so we were accommodated within a few minutes. I want LC to be a go to place, but something either food or service is lacking we when dine here. Our server Alicia stopped by the table after a few moments to offer us a drink. Dad went with a Unibroue brew and mom a Torontopolitan, very tasty by the way. The menu makes it difficult to choose as many of the starters look fabulous, but I settled for the charcuterie plate and dug right into a pretzel roll afterward. My parents both a romaine salad, which was like a deconstructed Caesar salad complete with boquerones or white anchovies. Mom opted to hold on the boquerones.

Sorry these are a little blurry. I try to keep to not use auto settings and it is rather dark in the dining room. Using a flash in here is annoying at times, so I try to capture as best I can.

Charcuterie plate-very nice spread. I ate it all myself, but there is plenty for 2 to enjoy. The upper left are crostini, then home made pickles and a brie like cheese. The salamis were mainly game like rabbit. You expect to get that pork sausage taste or dry salami, but the flavors more muted and subtle. The game sausages go well with the jam. The one sausage I thought would be more flavorful was one, on the far right, the bacon and pork one-not heavily seasoned and mild.

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Filet with mushroom risotto-Dad’s was cooked perfectly, but mother’s medium was way too rare and she sent it back. It wasn’t brought out till my father and I were almost done eating and then to boot it was cooked well done. Alicia had the manager come over as we were not very happy with the situation. Totally frustrating for a place that is advertised as a steakhouse to not cook steak to the desired doneness! The manager was apologetic and comp’d the dinner, but it was still a bummer for the first night.
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Strip steak with Yorkshire pudding. Perfectly cooked although I felt it could have been hotter! My steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned simply with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.

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I had to get Le Cellier’s poutine of course as a side. I am a huge curd fan and love fresh cut fries. They could crisp them up a bit more because the red wine reduction sogs them well. The red wine reduction is decadent and rich, but a perfect complement to the meat dishes.
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The meal was great, but would have been excellent had my mother’s steak been prepared correctly the first time. Alicia was very sweet and attentive. The overall time for our meal was pleasant and not excessive. Too stuffed for dessert this time!

Overall 4/5 Food

5/5 Service

3/5 Total experience

A maybe for next trip

FlaggNL · Feb 12, 2015

LowesChevy said:
Totally, looking forward to another stay!

I can imagine

And we consider us lucky to stay in POFQ

LowesChevy · Feb 16, 2015

Day 2

January 18th

Having been up since 4 AM yesterday, it was great to get a full night’s rest! I woke up just after 7, which is when I get up for work, but it was much easier to get out of bed today! It didn’t take long for us all to be ready and off to Trattoria Al Frono for breakfast.

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The restaurant is lovely inside-the stonework is neat. It seems smaller than when it was Spoodles, but still a huge space. It can be a little loud especially with the tall ceilings and wide open spaces, but I love the open kitchen!
We dined here for breakfast two mornings to try out a few items. The menu had some nice selections on it for any taste.

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The cured Italian meats sounded good, but I wanted some carbs and opted for the waffle the first day. It comes with your choice of meat so I picked the chicken sausage and ordered a side of hash browns. The next day I had the frittata with sundried tomatoes and prosciutto. It was served with a whole wheat croissant and hash browns. My parents both had eggs over medium-yawn. The food was interesting, tasty and visual appealing, but none of it was hot! They have some serious expediting problems-they have heating elements where they put the food up for delivery, but it is not enough. Apparently guests tolerate lukewarm warm. The place wasn’t busy either day and the hash browns are already cooked, just heat them through before service.
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Heads up though-they serve Nueske’s bacon so if you are a fan of great bacon it’s worth a visit!

Overall

3/5 Food

3/5 Service (much better the first morning)

3/5 Total Experience

Coming up--off to Hollywood Studios!

Trip Report Disney in Winter came and went 2015!!

disneypearl

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mrdrift

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