Our resort only 1 night, no wait, 1 night 1 park, no wait, 2 night 1 park, no wait 2 park 2 night...

Our resort only 1 night, no wait, 1 night 1 park, no wait, 2 night 1 park, no wait 2 park 2 night...oh good grief trip report!

Hi all!

So we can get this out of the way...on the count of three...one, two, three....I told you so! That is what all of you are currently screaming at computer screens!

Here's the history....the DH and I are visiting my parents on Hilton Head and to get away (we lived there for 2 1/2 years so yes, getting off the island is necessary) we decided to head to WDW for one night/2 days and we are staying at Beach Club and since we had so little time at the resort back in September, we decided to do a resort only trip. I was very excited, love the YC/BC pool and made dining ADR's for Cape May to see some characters and get that fix. and we got a great rate - Lagoon View - with a AAA discount. So it was settled...one night, two days at a resort. Ahhh....bring on the lazy river.

Well....my amazing DH surprised me 4 days ago and told me that we are going into a park! I was shocked! He told me I could pick the one and of course, I "NEED" to see the new Fantasy Land so I picked Magic Kingdom. So it was settled...again. One night, two days at resort and one park. Yeah!!!! Get to see Fantasy Land!

Well....my amazing DH suggested, we are going to be so tired so why don't we stay at like Art of Animation or some where if we can get a great rate. So I hopped on the computer, took a look see and got a great rate at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room. So it was settled...again. Two nights, three days, at resort and one park. Whew! I'm really just shocked with how this has changed and yes...very excited!

Well...after a bit of a ruckus, a ker-fluffal if you will, which included getting locked out of our room, with every bit of ID and proof we were who we are locked in the room, b/c they deactivated our keys and spending almost an hour with the concierge getting everything sorted out...we got comped tickets to a park ... for an evening. Like the old school half day tickets or the convention tickets you can buy. So....you guessed is....We went into a park...to Epcot...tonight! So there you have it....2 parks, 2 resorts, 2 nights, 3 days, totally random and spontaneous "resort only" trip.

 

[sam_disney]

lol awesome xx

 

[disneygirl76]

We are leaving Disney today and heading back to HHI. I will start the detailed trip report then!! Details on True Love week, BC, AOA, Epcot and MK to follow!! Oh - and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

 

[KappleB2]

I had a feeling you couldn't resist : )

 

[93boomer]

Yay stay Carey!! Have a magical stay!! Happy Vakentine's Day to you too! Keep us updated!!

 

[Poofiesdream]

You got some of that Disney Magic!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

haha I love it!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I can't wait to read your report. I fell in love with you guys in your last report. I mean this in a totally non creepy way.

 

[disneysince71]

Love it.... !

 

[EaglesfanNJ]

Our resort only 1 night, no wait, 1 night 1 park, no wait, 2 night 1 park, no wait 2 park 2 night...oh good grief trip report!

Hi all!

So we can get this out of the way...on the count of three...one, two, three....I told you so! That is what all of you are currently screaming at computer screens!

Here's the history....the DH and I are visiting my parents on Hilton Head and to get away (we lived there for 2 1/2 years so yes, getting off the island is necessary) we decided to head to WDW for one night/2 days and we are staying at Beach Club and since we had so little time at the resort back in September, we decided to do a resort only trip. I was very excited, love the YC/BC pool and made dining ADR's for Cape May to see some characters and get that fix. and we got a great rate - Lagoon View - with a AAA discount. So it was settled...one night, two days at a resort. Ahhh....bring on the lazy river.

Well....my amazing DH surprised me 4 days ago and told me that we are going into a park! I was shocked! He told me I could pick the one and of course, I "NEED" to see the new Fantasy Land so I picked Magic Kingdom. So it was settled...again. One night, two days at resort and one park. Yeah!!!! Get to see Fantasy Land!

Well....my amazing DH suggested, we are going to be so tired so why don't we stay at like Art of Animation or some where if we can get a great rate. So I hopped on the computer, took a look see and got a great rate at Art of Animation in a Little Mermaid room. So it was settled...again. Two nights, three days, at resort and one park. Whew! I'm really just shocked with how this has changed and yes...very excited!

Well...after a bit of a ruckus, a ker-fluffal if you will, which included getting locked out of our room, with every bit of ID and proof we were who we are locked in the room, b/c they deactivated our keys and spending almost an hour with the concierge getting everything sorted out...we got comped tickets to a park ... for an evening. Like the old school half day tickets or the convention tickets you can buy. So....you guessed is....We went into a park...to Epcot...tonight! So there you have it....2 parks, 2 resorts, 2 nights, 3 days, totally random and spontaneous "resort only" trip.

Yes!! Sign me up! Have fun and lets go trip report!

 

[disneygirl76]

And here we go!!

So as I said above, my DH and I were planning a Resort only trip for one night which morphed into 3 days and 2 parks. Here is how that happened!

We were headed to Hilton Head to see my mom and dad and we left on Saturday, the 9th. Its an easy drive down I 95 - get on, drive 477 miles and get off on exit 8. Are we ready for our road trip or what!!

We stayed at mom and dads and of course, had to get a quick pre-Disney fix and did drop in at the Hilton Head Disney Vacation Resort. This got us so excited to go to WDW!!

We stayed on HHI until Tuesday a.m. and hit the road at 6 a.m. Its about a 4.5 hour drive to WDW from HHI.

Around 11 a.m., we arrived!!

Is anything better then this sight?

And then we made our way home.

We did online check in and requested an upper floor room that was ready for early check in. Just in case, we wore our bathing suits. I was in a maxi dress that matched my swim suit so it looked like a dress and my DH was in board shorts and a t-shirt. This way, we could do both swim or lunch!

When we checked in - our room was ready!! They first had us on a first floor room but were easily able to switch it to a 3rd floor room. We paid for a lagoon view and our room was perfect!!

Our room number!

Mickey on bed!

Loved the theme of this room!

Like Minnie Mouse, i'm a sucker for a good bow!

We had 2 queen beds - I totally forgot to ask for 1 king! HA!

There is some debate on whether or not the Deluxe rooms are worth the added cost. But I say YES! The added amenities - we got a shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, soap, and hand lotion. The towels are extra fluffy and even the toilet paper is softer then found at a other resorts.

We didn't have a full balcony, but we had a little one.

Our view!

Here are some other shots of the room:

The lamp from the room - with a little throw back vintage style!

 

[disneygirl76]

Here are some other resort pics!

Loved the details of the carpet!

Elevators!

This was the solarium - basically, a nice quiet place to sit and watch TV

Lobby!

Here is the resort from the outside!

And the amazing beautiful my absolute favorite pool!

 

[disneygirl76]

Headed to the pirate ship water slide!

The beach!

Please note that yes, the tootsie toes are already in bad shape from one day of flip flops! Sheesh!This is a sign of things to come!!

Fire Pit

View of the Boardwalk


After exploring the resort and getting settled into our room, off to lunch at Beaches and Cream!!!

 

[ImagineerDude]

Love Beaches and Cream! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[soarin]

I love your trip reports! So glad you went back and also went to the parks!!! I hope to some day stay at the Beach Club, but for now it is value or moderate(when it is just the hubby and I). Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

 

[disneygirl76]

So after we got into our room, we headed to Beaches and Cream! We had never been before and I will say - the best milk shake I have had in a very very very long time!!!

We walked right in and had no trouble getting a spot to eat. We decided to eat at the counter!

Oh dear me! I went with the black and white shake. Its a chocolate shake made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. It is amazing!!!

This girl back there - she makes magic happen with that ice cream!! My DH isn't a fan of chocolate shakes, and he nearly fell on the floor bc it was SO good!

We decided to split a burger. And it was great! It wasn't the best burger I have ever had - but it was tasty.

After lunch, we hit the pool! I don't have any pictures but we spent about 2 hours, floating on the lazy river, rented a tub for two, going down the water slide, and just enjoying the sandy bottom pool! Around 3 ish - we decided to head back to the room and get ready to explore DTD and the Boardwalk and we hit the pool at night.

This is when the ruckus began. Again, no pics but here is what happened. Sit back, pour a drink and let the shinanigans begin.

So DH and I headed to the concierge desk. As I stated originally, my DH surprised me by saying that he thinks we should go to any park on Wednesday. And I picked the MK to see the new Fantasy Land. So our intention of going to the concierge desk was to buy these tickets. We were going to buy a 1 day MYW ticket by charging them to the room key. Pretty straight forward. Pretty simple. As we approached the desk we just had the feeling that this wasn't going to go well. We have all done this - where you judge a book by its cover - but the girl at the concierge desk just didn't convey confidence so I distractedly lingered around the desk waiting for another person to become available and then it happened - I made eye contact. So now I was sucked in. Now let me say....she was so nice and sweet. And what happened we said could have happened to anyone.

Oh, I should state....we only had one room key - no other ID, proof of existence, or proof we were staying there at the Beach Club.

So she scanned our KTTW card with the RFID reader at the desk. She asked to confirm the room number. We did. And she said "oh, we have you in a first floor room." I said no, that was the first room we were given but they moved us to a third floor. We gave her the number and she said "ma'am, that shows it is to someone else." I told her that I didn't know why b/c all of our stuff was in that 3rd floor room and we had been in and out several times. After a few clicks of a button, she said she sees the room as vacant but we were in the first floor room. At this time, another girl came available and came over to see what was happening. The first girl picked up the phone to deal with the room number issue and the second girl was handling the tickets. She said that if we didn't mind, we could just charge with a separate card the tickets and they can issue us separate tickets. I really didn't care either way so I said that we would go up to the room and we will be right back. So up we headed, leaving one girl on the phone and another girl waiting for us to return. We got to our room...locked out.

So we headed back down and explained we were locked out.

The girl was on the phone still and started to deal with us being locked out. And while we were waiting - ie. determining if security would have to be called since we had no proof of anything - and while I was waiting I said to the girl helping us with the tickets, "can we take advantage of convention ticket prices?" While standing there, they were moving things out of the way, one item being a placement looking item with convention ticket prices on them. You could tell that she wanted to and said that she would check once we got the key situation all set. So we stood there...and stood there...making chit chat...talking about pinterest and my manicure...and stood there. Finally, the girl hung up the phone, reissued us keys with the correct room number and now everything was all set so we could charge the tickets to the room key. Total time standing there - over an hour. The 2nd girl then picked up the phone and asked OZ - who I named the person on the phone since they were magical and knew all - if we could buy convention tickets. OZ said that due to very specific codes with those tickets and needing to be associated with a convention code resort confirmation number. Since we had none, she said no we couldn't buy the convention tickets. HOWEVER...and this nearly knocked my happy butt to the ground...she said they have something else they can do for us. Since we were going to buy the 1 day MYW ticket, OZ said to buy a 2 day. I said that was beyond our budget. Oh, but OZ said...we will credit their account the amount of the 2nd day tickets for almost the whole amount. We ended up getting a better deal then the convention tickets - by a large margin, a better deal. After OZ was off the phone, I was so thankful and kept going on and on and was so happy and I asked...my DH has no idea why I asked this...I asked them why did they do that for us! And the 2nd girl who was helping us said that they wanted to help us because we were patient and kind and never once got upset or even irritated that all of this was happening. That they did it bc we had been standing there patiently for over an hour of our limited time there and they just wanted to help out. I could have cried!!!

So DH and I dashed back up to our room, changed clothes, and 30 minutes later, we were entering Epcot through the International Gateway! We were stunned! For the first hour, we just kept asking, What just happened! How did we get here!!!! See Magical Wishes do come true at Walt Disney World!!!

Our very spontaneous Epcot adventure is up next!

 

[disneygirl76]

As we entered the International Gateway, we were stunned! Just SO excited! The sights and sounds! First we saw Mary Poppins and Alice! Then there we were in the UK!

We wanted to head to Future World first because we love the countries at night. We were hoping to hop on Soarin' and we wanted to try the new Test Track since it was under refurb in September.

First stop, The Land. Soarin' fast passes were gone for the day and the wait over an hour that we decided skip it and ride Living with the Land. We have a joke about how they grow Neem. So we had to go check on how the Neem was growing!

Next stop, The Sea for Nemo!

And then - Test Track! We grabbed "und pretzel and beer" near Innoventions and headed to Test Track! Love the single rider line! The wait was over an hour, fast passes gone, and only a 20 min wait for single rider! So we hopped on and got to experience the new Test Track! As I remember it, it was pretty much the same. Definitely the theme was a bit different and the new fancy shmacy cars, but as for the tests and the speed, it was similar to before as far as I remember.

With single rider, they said that we would be separated but hey, look who was my back seat driver!

It was time to enjoy the countries at night so off we headed, walking from Mexico to the UK since that this where we wanted to have dinner.

I need to say - this was so weird for me. I was shocked to be in Epcot! And normally I have everything planned from dining ADR's to pre purchased photopass plus! But this - was so spontaneous and I have to say - I loved it! I mean, really, we know our way around, and no what we like. But it was a nice way to spend the evening and not have everything planned out!!

We had a wander through the countries!

China

The countries - playing with panaramic on my phone

Germany

We had to stop in France - Paris is the city of love and it is Valentine's Day after all!

The new bakery was all finished and love the new layout! This makes SO much more sense! We were tempted to eat here but I needed a hard cider and scotch egg!

UK - here we come!

 

[disneygirl76]

And now we were home!

And we were so excited that we were able to get a seat in the Rose and Crown Pub right away! And we got to sing with the Hat Lady!

DH enjoying a Scotch Flight

mmmm....my hard cider!

Slainte!!


Oh...hello beautiful!

I could seriously eat this every day. I would die of heart disease but I would go happy!

DH had fish and chips! Not sure what I was thinking not taking a picture. I am going with being drunk and or deliriously happy!


I have to say, this is one of my most favorite times of year to come. The crowds were light to manageable. And we were there with a loads of happy fun loving Louisianians! Every one who lives in New Orleans leaves town for Mardi Gras and many headed to WDW! So for several days, we say gold, green and purple and many happy smiling people!! The hat lady was singing some great songs for Mardi Gras and our friends from LA! Both my DH and I commented on how it was so much nicer then in September when we were battling the flag waving, tshirt wearing groups we encountered. Also, we had never been there at this time of year before and I get what people have said that it is convention season! It really is! At the Rose and Crown, we spend hours chatting away with folks who were there for a convention! It was so much fun!!!

We still were hoping to get in an evening swim so we decided to leave the UK around 8:30 and headed to BC. Since this Illuminations is not our favorite - we like the pre-millineum version - we left Epcot through the IG. But then we decided to hit the Boardwalk instead.

To the Boardwalk!!

 

[s&k'smom]

THANK YOU for such a wonderful report, we had a hard day (lost heat again a lot of running around but all set now thanks to wonderful neighbors) and your report is just the PD I needed.

 

[disneygirl76]

Oh thank you! There is more to come! I hope your day ended well!!!