We decided to add one extra night, so we checked into standard view BWV studio 4095 on Friday March 2. The room was in great shape, but a little noisy location. It's at the end of the first hallway and it seemed like everyone stopped in front of it to discuss which way to go. We went over to Epcot for a short while before heading to our ADR's at Bistro de Paris. We did not take the dining plan for the one night, but we did have the DDE. Dinner came to about $120. The food and service were excellent. Stayed to see the fireworks then headed back to the room.
Next morning we checked out of the studio and into a 1 BR standard view at 8:15 a.m. We couldn't believe our room was ready! It was a great location, room 5075, four doors from the elevators. My sister, niece and 10 year-old great-nephew came over from the Shades and their room was also ready at 8:45. They were in the adjoining studio, 5073. I could have saved points if I had booked a 2BR but they were leaving a day early. After their luggage arrived, we headed over to our ADR at 1900 Park Fare. It was great, plenty to eat and lots of interaction with the characters. After breakfast, we headed off to MGM. The park was pretty crowded with lots of ESPN weekend stuff going on. Later that evening we went to Teppanyaki for dinner. We had Tomo as our chef. He was excellent and showed us some new tricks we hadn't seen before. We watched Illuminations from the restaurant's balcony, spectacular as always.
Sunday morning we spent in AK. It was too cool for KRR so we skipped it this trip. DH and sister did EE and really enjoyed it. Nephew and I took that time to shop. Later in the day we headed over to MGM for the Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose's. Food was good, service was spotty. We got our appetizers, plates were never cleared, then a server shows up with the dinners and she says, "We'll have to play musical plates. Be careful they're hot." We were incredulous. My sister and niece tried juggling the dishes. We were about to refuse when our waiter showed up and cleared the rest of the appetizer plates. Very poor!
Fantasmic was superb. The rest of the theater filled up about 6:55 but there were seats in the far dining section.
Monday morning I had a magical moment happen to me. While DH, DN and sister were off getting fast passes for RNR, DGN and I headed over to Star Tours. I was hoping to be on one of the first rides and possibly win a Dream Fast Pass. Alas, no such luck, the ride was down due to technical difficulties so we went off to breakfast at ABC commissary. As I was picking up my food, a bell rang and the person behind the counter said, "Oh, it's a magical moment, you get a free dessert." I received a free danish, definitely not as exciting as a Dream Fast Pass, but still fun. Breakfast was just okay. All week we had difficulty finding decent places to use our counter service options.
We went on a bunch of rides then decided to go back to the room to rest up a bit for the Pirates and Princess Party. We drove over to Chef Mickey's about 4:30 p.m., had dinner, which was very nice, then headed over to the party. We had to park the car over in TTC, so we met up with the group on Main Street. As we start walking down Main Street against the traffic leaving the park, we notice DN & DGN have bracelets on. Apparently we were supposed to receive one as we entered, but we didn't and had to go back to the entry to get one. That was kind of annoying since the person right by the turnstiles was supposed to have given it to us. Oh well...
The party was fabulous! The highlight for me was meeting Jack Sparrow after waiting in line for over an hour. He was so worth it. Great Personality! The pirate tutorial was also a lot of fun. Mac was hysterical, especially when he was singing into some woman's video camera telling her that this was the year of a million dreams and he was making her dream come true right now by singing to her. Too funny! It was really a great night. I would do it again in a minute! It was, however, very exhausting but a great time was had by all. No waits for any of the rides, just for Jack. We left at midnight.
Tuesday morning getting up for that Cape May Cafe breakfast was rough. Food was great, characters were good. Everyone did their own thing today with the three going to Sci-Fi for dinner (they didn't care for it), and DH and I going to Marrakesh. It wasn't my cup of tea, but DH said it was the best lamb he had ever eaten and he definitely wants to return.
Wednesday we headed over to Epcot early enough to get fast passes for Soarin. We had been shut out twice before. What a great ride! Still really popular and really crowded. Spent the day in Epcot then I came back to go to the Welcome Home Wednesday at the Atlantic Dance Hall. Thank goodness I didn't make DH come. It was actually rather boring. There were a total of 8 decent prizes and a couple of pins given out. Four people were chosen from the audience to play a trivia game. When all was said and done, they were all given the same score and won the same prize, a very nice DVC folding seat. I wonder why they don't sell that kind of stuff anywhere... Anyhow, they dragged the game on and on to the point of boredom. At the end they raffled off four other prizes and that was it, fifty minutes later. Everyone got a DVC hat upon exiting. I was kind of disappointed in the whole thing.
Later that evening we used two coupons for dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Again, excellent food and excellent service. Outstanding! Later discovered we could see the higher fireworks from Illuminations from our room. That was fun too.
Thursday we slept in finally, ate breakfast from the bakery and just had a relaxing day. Met up later at Coral Reef for dinner. It was very nice. We loved watching the fish in the tank. There were two separate sets of divers in the tank while we were there. They were right on the floor so I imagine you need to be scuba certified for that, but it looked like great fun. Food and service were pretty good.
Friday morning DSis, DN & DGN checked out. DH, DSis and I spent the day at Epcot while DGN & DN spent it at the pool. We met up for lunch at the Fish & Chips place in England, then we said our goodbyes and they went back to the cold of Pennsylvania. Later that evening DH & I went to the Flying Fish for dinner. It was truly excellent. We watched the fireworks from our room and packed up for tomorrow.
We got up early on Saturday, picked up a breakfast sandwich for DH at the bakery and wanted to take out two sandwiches for lunch. They had no lunch sandwiches until 11:00, so we had two counter service options left over. Called housekeeping at 9:00 a.m. and let them know we were leaving. Hopefully someone was able to get into the room early.
We had a great trip. Home only a day and I already want to go back. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Next morning we checked out of the studio and into a 1 BR standard view at 8:15 a.m. We couldn't believe our room was ready! It was a great location, room 5075, four doors from the elevators. My sister, niece and 10 year-old great-nephew came over from the Shades and their room was also ready at 8:45. They were in the adjoining studio, 5073. I could have saved points if I had booked a 2BR but they were leaving a day early. After their luggage arrived, we headed over to our ADR at 1900 Park Fare. It was great, plenty to eat and lots of interaction with the characters. After breakfast, we headed off to MGM. The park was pretty crowded with lots of ESPN weekend stuff going on. Later that evening we went to Teppanyaki for dinner. We had Tomo as our chef. He was excellent and showed us some new tricks we hadn't seen before. We watched Illuminations from the restaurant's balcony, spectacular as always.
Sunday morning we spent in AK. It was too cool for KRR so we skipped it this trip. DH and sister did EE and really enjoyed it. Nephew and I took that time to shop. Later in the day we headed over to MGM for the Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose's. Food was good, service was spotty. We got our appetizers, plates were never cleared, then a server shows up with the dinners and she says, "We'll have to play musical plates. Be careful they're hot." We were incredulous. My sister and niece tried juggling the dishes. We were about to refuse when our waiter showed up and cleared the rest of the appetizer plates. Very poor!
Fantasmic was superb. The rest of the theater filled up about 6:55 but there were seats in the far dining section.
Monday morning I had a magical moment happen to me. While DH, DN and sister were off getting fast passes for RNR, DGN and I headed over to Star Tours. I was hoping to be on one of the first rides and possibly win a Dream Fast Pass. Alas, no such luck, the ride was down due to technical difficulties so we went off to breakfast at ABC commissary. As I was picking up my food, a bell rang and the person behind the counter said, "Oh, it's a magical moment, you get a free dessert." I received a free danish, definitely not as exciting as a Dream Fast Pass, but still fun. Breakfast was just okay. All week we had difficulty finding decent places to use our counter service options.
We went on a bunch of rides then decided to go back to the room to rest up a bit for the Pirates and Princess Party. We drove over to Chef Mickey's about 4:30 p.m., had dinner, which was very nice, then headed over to the party. We had to park the car over in TTC, so we met up with the group on Main Street. As we start walking down Main Street against the traffic leaving the park, we notice DN & DGN have bracelets on. Apparently we were supposed to receive one as we entered, but we didn't and had to go back to the entry to get one. That was kind of annoying since the person right by the turnstiles was supposed to have given it to us. Oh well...
The party was fabulous! The highlight for me was meeting Jack Sparrow after waiting in line for over an hour. He was so worth it. Great Personality! The pirate tutorial was also a lot of fun. Mac was hysterical, especially when he was singing into some woman's video camera telling her that this was the year of a million dreams and he was making her dream come true right now by singing to her. Too funny! It was really a great night. I would do it again in a minute! It was, however, very exhausting but a great time was had by all. No waits for any of the rides, just for Jack. We left at midnight.
Tuesday morning getting up for that Cape May Cafe breakfast was rough. Food was great, characters were good. Everyone did their own thing today with the three going to Sci-Fi for dinner (they didn't care for it), and DH and I going to Marrakesh. It wasn't my cup of tea, but DH said it was the best lamb he had ever eaten and he definitely wants to return.
Wednesday we headed over to Epcot early enough to get fast passes for Soarin. We had been shut out twice before. What a great ride! Still really popular and really crowded. Spent the day in Epcot then I came back to go to the Welcome Home Wednesday at the Atlantic Dance Hall. Thank goodness I didn't make DH come. It was actually rather boring. There were a total of 8 decent prizes and a couple of pins given out. Four people were chosen from the audience to play a trivia game. When all was said and done, they were all given the same score and won the same prize, a very nice DVC folding seat. I wonder why they don't sell that kind of stuff anywhere... Anyhow, they dragged the game on and on to the point of boredom. At the end they raffled off four other prizes and that was it, fifty minutes later. Everyone got a DVC hat upon exiting. I was kind of disappointed in the whole thing.
Later that evening we used two coupons for dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Again, excellent food and excellent service. Outstanding! Later discovered we could see the higher fireworks from Illuminations from our room. That was fun too.
Thursday we slept in finally, ate breakfast from the bakery and just had a relaxing day. Met up later at Coral Reef for dinner. It was very nice. We loved watching the fish in the tank. There were two separate sets of divers in the tank while we were there. They were right on the floor so I imagine you need to be scuba certified for that, but it looked like great fun. Food and service were pretty good.
Friday morning DSis, DN & DGN checked out. DH, DSis and I spent the day at Epcot while DGN & DN spent it at the pool. We met up for lunch at the Fish & Chips place in England, then we said our goodbyes and they went back to the cold of Pennsylvania. Later that evening DH & I went to the Flying Fish for dinner. It was truly excellent. We watched the fireworks from our room and packed up for tomorrow.
We got up early on Saturday, picked up a breakfast sandwich for DH at the bakery and wanted to take out two sandwiches for lunch. They had no lunch sandwiches until 11:00, so we had two counter service options left over. Called housekeeping at 9:00 a.m. and let them know we were leaving. Hopefully someone was able to get into the room early.
We had a great trip. Home only a day and I already want to go back. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
