triple split- SSR, BWV and HHI...updated today 8/23

[lovin'fl]

SOOOO excited...we start our trip 4 weeks from today...cannot wait!!!

When and where: Aug 11- my mom, DDs and I hit the road from MD. We stop for one night near Savannah, GA and then check in at SSR on Aug 12...then we switch over to BWV on Aug 15...then we check out on Aug 17 and head up to HHI to meet up with the fellas for 5 nights there. We have a 1BR at SSR, a studio at BWV (should be interesting) and then a 2BR at HHI and my mom and her BF have their own condo in Shelter Cove Marina.

Who: Me-41...mom-66...twin DDs-15 for the WDW part and then we'll add DH-41...DS-17 and mom's BF-65 for the HHI part of the trip.

I made ADRs for every night and wanted to try new places so we have: Raglan Road, BOG, Via Napoli and Akershus. I also have Beaches and Cream which was requested by my DDs and is new to my mom (we have brought her on 2 other WDW trips)...booked for early lunch on resort switch day (day we check into BWV). I originally booked a 4 night trip but then added a 5th and decided to book the Luau as a surprise to my DDs (we have been one other time and they liked it...my mom has never been). I have TIW card AND over $500 on a Disney Rewards Redemption card to use towards dining.

I have made FP+ selections and tweaked them MANY times. I had a tough time as I am trying to please my mom (no big thrill rides for her) and my teen DDs (love the big thrill rides). Also, I likely am the only one of the four of us who will be up at 7am...the others are late risers and slow movers. To top all that off, my mom has a bad knee and also has some edema issues...so it will need to be a slower paced trip (thankfully DH isn't with us for the WDW part or he'd be pushing commando style on us). So, I am going with low expectations and we might not make our FP+, we may change things up a lot...who knows but I plan to roll with the punches. At least I am going into the trip well aware of the situation.

My DDs and I have new PAPs we have to activate and we got my mom 4 day park hoppers plus (may add a night when we get there to make it 5 day hoppers). Just got e-mail that first set of MBs have been shipped. I think we are well set for the trip. I have been collecting stuff in a pile that I'll need to pack. I wish these 4 weeks would hurry up already!!!

 

[lovin'fl]

Here is a pic of our last (and only) trip to HHI in 2009. I was several pounds heavier then (thank you Weight Watchers) and my DDs now tower over me (they are 5'8" and growing). I hope to try and remember taking a picture just like this to compare then and now.

 

[lovin'fl]

My DH and DDs are on the road to Oklahoma for their softball national tournament...so I am home with nothing to do. I thought I'd post a little more PTR.

Almost down to 3 weeks to go...

I just found out the HS does not have late EMH, as I thought, on our arrival day...HS closes at 10pm instead. I had booked a FP+ for Fantasmic (for me and DDs...my mom needs to add another day to her park hoppers) and then hoped to get some rides in. We also have dinner at Raglan Road that night. Maybe you all can help tweak our plans. Here are the current plans (keep in mind that my mom has a bad knee):

A- Wake up at hotel in Savannah, GA and drive to WDW...hopefully leaving hotel between 8-9am.

B- Stop at grocery for breakfast items and drinks for the week.

C- Check into SSR by 2pm or so.

D- not sure...chill or pool or water park or Downtown Dis????

E- dinner at Raglan Road at 6pm...should we change time to later (if we do water park before dinner)????

F- still go to HS for Fantasmic but that's all we might have time for and we'd need to add a day to mom's park hoppers in order to do this????

**if we do water park and then dinner at RR (getting a later ADR) then we'd take a pass on HS...likewise, if we plan to go to HS that night we will skip the water park...and neither DDs or my mom seem thrilled with going to water park or HS (they just shrug when asked what they want to do). I wish we could just wing it...sigh!

 

[lovin'fl]

Bad day...found out our dog has tumor that needs surgery and DD broke her hand. Boo!

 

[lovin'fl]

Our dog has lymphoma so they don't want to remove the tumor (it's a rectal tumor). She's been pretty sick lately so I think our time is limited. I was not ready for this. Not sure how we can kennel her for our trip coming up...don't think we can.

My daughter broke her hand pretty good. My DH is with her, in OK, and he didn't tell me how bad it was. They arrived in OK, for their softball Nationals that began today and had a scrimmage yesterday where she was tagging a girl out at home and the player slid hard into her glove hand (DD is a pitcher). Turns out they needed to give DD a local and set the bones and cast it...if that didn't work they were going to have to do surgery and put in pins. Luckily they set it and she has a nice blue cast on (with thumb spike????). I told DH to ask for waterproof...but he did not. I wish I was there with her. She won't play in ANY of the Nationals that they drove 18 hours to play in...but my other DD will so it's not a complete wash (and they had fun driving out there...stopping in all the cities like Nashville, Memphis...). Not sure what this means for our trip coming up. She will be in cast for @6 weeks which is all during our trip...no beach fun for her. WDW should be do-able, right?

Stinky day yesterday!!!!

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

I am so sorry to hear the news of your daughter's injury and your dog's illness. How sad! I think your daughter could handle Disney okay. I think most activities would still be possible. Perhaps a close family member or friend could care for your dog, if needed?

I hope that things get better soon... We spent our honeymoon in Hilton Head and Savannah (& Charleston). It was lovely. Wise to put it at the end of your vacation. It will feel good to relax after the parks.

 

[lovin'fl]

So...a week from today and we'll be at DtD having just eaten at Raglan Road.

My DD with the broken thumb is healing nicely in her cast...been for 2 re-checks and she'll get the cast off the Monday after we get back from vacation.

My sweet dog is hanging in. Long long story but she is on prednisone. We have her set to do a medical boarding at a vet by our house.

Got lots to do to get ready for the trip. Hope it all goes well. I will post the TR here in just a few days!!!!

 

[lovin'fl]

A little about the upcoming trip. A few changes have been made to both the WDW leg of the trip and the HHI leg.

WDW leg:
First, due to DD's cast, we won't be doing the water parks...nobody was really interested anyway. And since my mom has a bad knee and is a late riser and slow mover, I planned 1 park per day. I initially planned to hop to 2 parks per day but gave that up. Here are the new plans.....

Leave home and drive to Savannah GA for the night.

Day 1- head out from GA and arrive at SSR around 2pm...check in and chill...go to grocery store...check out resort or head over to DtD...dinner at Raglan Road...hang at DtD

Day 2- lunch at SSR or DtD CS...MK for FP+ in afternoon and then head to Poly for Luau dinner and Wishes from Poly beach

Day 3- AK in morning (not too early) for FP+ and lunch somewhere (Y&Y CS or maybe over to AKV for Sanaa)...dinner ADR at BOG (only day we'll hit 2 parks and this is just for BOG ADR).

Day 4- get up and switch resorts (to BWV) early lunch ADR at Beaches and Cream...HS FP+ for afternoon and dinner ADR at Mama Melrose (cancelled the Via Napoli...so sad but wanted to just do 1 park)...then hope to see Fantasmic (looking to get 4th FP+)

Day 5- Epcot morning for FP+ and lunch CS somewhere... hope to get 4th for TT...dinner ADR at Akershus

Day 6- up and out and drive to HHI to meet the guys around 2pm

Now the HHI changes are that I invited DS's GF. So, if she can come, she will drive down with DH, DS and my mom's BF to meet us girls in HHI. We have 5 nights in a 2BR and my mom and her BF had a condo in the Shelter Cove marina booked for 4 nights. So, we may cancel the 5th night and leave with my mom and her BF...we will only have 2 regular vehicles (that seat 5) so with DS's GF we will have 6 and someone will need to ride with my mom...plus I'd like to get back to my kenneled dogs. DH wants to do ride by colleges in NC as well. Not sure how the HHI trip will end up...we shall see.

If we cancel a night at HHI, we will have 41 holding points. I am not sure what we'll do with those. I have thought about cancelling the 2 nights at BWV (studio) and combining those plus the 41 points to book those 2 nights in a 1BR at SSR (so we'd be in a 1BR at SSR all 5 nights). But my 2 DDs each chose a resort (one picked SSR and the other picked BWV...though my mom stayed at BWV with us before) and I planned the schedule based on the resort hop. I guess the only problem would be the 11:05am Beaches and Cream ADR on day 4.

 

[lovin'fl]

48 hours from now we should be well on our way to Savannah. I am cleaning and doing laundry and will be all packed up by this time tomorrow. I am super excited!!!

I got a text from my mom yesterday...she asked 'are we going to Harry Potter?'. I told her 'wrong park silly' and she replied 'it's not at Disney???'.

DS's GF is coming to HHI. We shall see how that changes things. We did not cancel the 5th night at HHI (or change any of our WDW resort rooms). Someone will have to ride back a day early, with my mom. It's looking like maybe I will and I am fine with that.

Next up....the trip report...........see ya real soon!!!

 

[lovin'fl]

Good morning from Springhill Suites off 95 near Savannah GA. I am having breakfast while the other 3 sleeping beauties are...well...sleeping. We left around 9 am yesterday and got to the hotel around 8:45 pm. We hit some traffic, construction and an accident back up along the DC through Richmond mess and so it was a little slow going at first. Then it was smooth sailing until we hit rain...off and on from 3 to 6. Not fun. Stopped around 6.30 for dinner at Cracker Barrel and then drove the last hour to the hotel. We were out cold by 10:30. Hoped to be on road around 9am but that's not looking good with the others still snoring away as I type this.

 

[saintstickets]

Subbed in and looking forward to your TR!

 

[lovin'fl]

So we got on the road around 9:17 yesterday and got into SSR around 2:30 after stopping for lunch at Steak 'n Shake (had never been there and it was good). We drove through rain off and on but once at SSR it was sunny and nice the rest of the day. I really like SSR...we have only ever stayed here one other 2 and that was just for 2 nights. We checking in quickly and got room 1345 in Congress Park with a nice view of Fultons and DtD...though under construction. The new CP bridge looks to be complete but is not open yet, though we were told it will be this week.

After checking in we unloaded the car and settled in a little...not unpacking too much since we move to BWV in a few days. Then we hit DtD. It was a nice walk but my mom wasn't liking it. DtD seemed very crowded and it may be from all the construction walls mashing folks all together. I don't know. My mom and I went to get a drink while the girls went off...one DD wanted to shop and the other wanted to try Disney Quest.

My mom and I went to the outdoor bar at Cooks and tried to get a drink but couldn't get service so we left. Turned out to be a good thing as we ended up in Paradiso with AC and nice cold drinks...frozen sangria was good. We had trouble paying for some reason. I used TIW card and then Disney Rewards card and the guy was trying and trying o run it and took forever. He came back and told me it went through but we couldn't get receipt. I was worried what was taken off my rewards card that had $200 on it but we later used it at Raglan Road and it was correct.

We met my girls at Raglan Road and were seated at a nice high top with a good view of the dancers who were dancing as we were seated. This was our first time at RR and I loved it. The food was so good and our waiter was really good. We weren't needing to move fast with ordering and wanted to look over the menu really well and he gave us plenty of time to do that. My DDs liked the nom nom wings and I thought the bread and dip was super good. I got the braised beef and DD got Kevin's ham and other DD got chicken and my mom got fish and chips. I also liked the pear beer (forget what it's called). We got bread pudding and chocolate kiss for dessert to share. We all rolled out of there so full.

We walked back to the room where my DDs had something to watch at 8pm. My mom and I ran over to Goodings...what a pain getting in and out of there. We got some breakfast items and came back to crash for the night...after hearing loud fireworks and going out on balcony to see them over DtD which I had no idea they had fireworks.

Nice start so far. It's not terribly hot like I expected it to be so we are happy about that. I like the resort and room (except the toilet flushes really really loudly...and the pull out sofa is like patio cushions on top of a platform that my poor DDs had to sleep on). Next up is MK today and I wish we could get earlier FP+...I made later ones so we could go over to Poly from MK for our Luau dinner at 8:15. I could move my other FP+ resies up but there is NOTHING for 7DMT and mine for that is at 3:45. We are all up and moving slowly.

Trying to add pictures but not sure how to from my DDs laptop...my usual way is not working (copy location from Facebook).

Here's the pics....
Drive down...we are excited!!!

Yay...we're here!!!!

Introducing...DD-girly...DD-tomboy...My mom

View from our room- #1345

Okay...wanted to mention the patio cushion style sleeper sofa at SSR...was a tad shocked but my DDs never complained about sleeping on it (except that they had to share).

Day 1 at Paradiso for drinks with mom while DDs shopped

Me and James

Our view from our perfect little table at RR

Walking back from DtD

That's it for day 1.

 

[lovin'fl]

Subbed in and looking forward to your TR!

Thanks for following along!!!

 

[castle1]

Following along...I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Raglan Road. We haven't been there, but have it on our to-do list. Hope you are enjoying your trip

 

[lovin'fl]

We are at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort now. Will do full TR when I get home...with pics. We had 3 nights at SSR and 2 at BWV. ..I do get folks complaints about the BWV needing updating....what is with the antiquated AC thermostat? But we liked BWV much more than SSR. LOCATION....LOCATION...LOCATION. We had some long bus experiences while at SSR...crowded buses too. And crowds...I thought later in Aug would be less crowded at WDW due to school starting in some places but I was wrong and it was pretty crowded...but not Easter or July 4th or Xmas Eve crowded....just not Oct or Jan or Sept low crowds like we prefer. It wasn't too hot...could have been so that was nice. It rained briefly almost every day.

And I did see some things I had never seen before...things that I read about in other threads but never witnessed myself in a dozen trips to WDW. We saw them all this trip. One was a boy peeing in a bottle in IASW line...another was a mom smacking her kid real good on the bus to SSR after constantly and loudly threatening to smack the $#!+ out of her kids...another was a 20 - something girl throwing up in bushes in Epcot outside of Maelstrom line. All classy.

We got to HHI 2 days ago. Requested close to pool and got right on the pool with our balcony overlooking the slide. Wake to screaming kids at 8am...which is fine for me as I am up anyway but the two 17 year old kiddos aren't too happy. And DH had to work yesterday and wasn't pleased with the noise. Guess we should have asked to be down near main building. My mom is in a condo in Shelter Cove Marina that she rented and it's the 2nd building when you walk over from the Disney resort so being near the main building would have put us closer to my mom. I thought the 4 teens would want to run down to pool and food counter a lot but they don't and they say they're bored...boo, because I like it here.

And i will say that I was planning another split stay for next Aug...with 3 nights at AKV and 3 at BWV and then 2 at Universal but now I am just going for all the WDW at BWV...maybe 5 and then 2 at US HRH. Doing the move from SSR to BWV was a tad harder than I expected...I will talk about that in the TR but we went over to BWV at 10 am to check in and didn't get room until 2.30pm. May have been more difficult more because of my 66 year old mom and the difficulties that came with that...will talk about that in my TR too.

 

[PA DVC]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report-what did you think of the refurbished villas?
Hope you have a relaxing stay. ��

 

[lovin'fl]

Day 2...MK day and Luau for dinner
Went to MK for CS lunch and FP+ and then back to SSR. Freshened up and drove over to Poly for late Luau. Had valet park car (TIW get valet for free). Luau was nice show but food is just meh...the DDs and I missed Ohana which is our usual must-do and we will go back to that. It was very hot while we waited to go in for the show. We took the picture but never saw it (they never came around to the tables). The show was really long too...went till 10:30 so we missed MK fireworks that I hoped to watch from the Poly beach.

7DMT...was cute but over in the blink of an eye...way too short

Luau...surprised the girls with this dinner (me with crazy look because my mom had trouble using my phone to take the picture and I was frustrated with her...lol)

 

[lovin'fl]

Day 3 at AK and then MK for dinner:
DDs went right to EE and used our 4 FP+ resies for it while my mom and I waited...then they hit the single rider line and rode it 2 more times...so the 5th time I went with them and when we got off my mom told us she wanted to do it. We were very surprised...here is us in line and me asking her if she was sure...she didn't look all that sure.

And I had to buy the ride pic...was fantastic:

Noticed this...another thing to mention was that was saw construction in every park and every resort we went to and Downtown Disney as well and none of it was too hidden...kind of shocked me. In the 11 years we have been doing WDW, I have never seen so much construction.

Lunch at Yak and Yeti...walked in (no ADR)

Mom and I on Kali RR...DDs didn't want to get wet and DD-girly has cast and can't get it wet anyway. Mom and I got soaked!!!!~

We walked the path that has the giant bats. The bird house was hopping...the birds were very active and flying at us. We were hoping to dry off during the walk but we were still pretty wet.

A storm was coming in so we hightailed it back to SSR.
It was an early finish of AK so we went back to SSR and got cleaned up while DDs went to Disney Quest...the bridge had opened the day before and they were boating folks from it to the other end by Disney Quest...DDs texted for me to look out window and we see the 2 of them on a boat all by themselves...in the back

When DDs came back to shower for dinner, mom and I shot over to outside bar of Rainforest Cafe for a drink and used the new bridge

Dinner at BOG

Cream puff- tropical

Watched Wishes from center area near park exit so we could hurry to bus after

 

[lovin'fl]

That's the end of our stay at SSR so here are some pros and cons:1BR villa (#1345) was super nice...3rd floor view of DtD from balcony...nobody above us. It was quiet and a quick walk to marketplace...plus the bridge opened the 2nd day we were there and it shortens the walk a little bit. We did MK and AK while at SSR and the buses were a pain...crowded, always a wait for a bus, many stops and long rides. I really prefer walking to the parks. And we never made it to the main building or pool... I wanted to but it never happened. Nice resort and villas are kept up nicely...resort is just too spread out. Parking was nice too.

Meals-
Raglan Road...excellent dinner...fun time and great waiter (I think his name was Christopher...he was wonderful). Food was yummy!!!!

CS at MK in the place...forget what it's called...the place with the different terminals that have different food...was crowded and expensive and meh food. Hate those lines at the CS places...so tough when crowded...cattle call esque (felt this many times...will mention below).

Luau at Poly- late seating...was very hot. Show was nice but long...we hoped to see 10pm Wishes from beach but show went to 10.30. Great show...meh food. Will stick with Ohana in the future.

Yak and Yeti- we walked up for a lunch which we do most of our trips...was very good...server was great here too. Yak Attack was yummy.

Be Our Guest- first time here...dinner. SIL raves about this place and it didn't do it for me. We arrive 25 minutes early as a big storm is rolling in. We get in long check in line that is slowly moving and when I get up there they tell me I am too early and to come back 15 minutes before our ADR...I thought they always tell us to arrive 30 minutes before the ADR time??? I go back and now it's raining...she hands me pager and says to wait on bridge and that they are running 20 minutes behind. We Wait About 5 Minutes When they come out and tell us all to come in the lobby to wait...if we have an ADR. So we go in and they are shoving us between some ropes and yelling for us to move all the way forward. Cattle call again. We went about 30 minutes past our ADR and got seated in the music box room...not the good rooms. And most of that room had empty tables so why the long wait? Service here was slow and in attentive. Folks next to us were very unhappy about their long wait for their meals...heard them complain. It was slow BUT the food was very good. It was way expensive though and I see this place becoming a signature. I have no need to go back.

Cattle call...hated this. We felt it everywhere. We even had to wait for SSR bus at MK one night and there was a CM who kept walking up and down the line shouting for us to push all the way forward as far as we could. The line was going way out of the poles (line guide poles) and folks had been waiting a long time for a bus. The guy just kept yelling for us to cram forward...annoying...how about a bus coming quicker instead???????

 

[lovin'fl]

Day 4- left SSR (stopping into carriage house to be sure to check out 1st) and headed to BWV arriving around 10am. Checked in and headed over to BC for our 11:05 ADR at Beaches and Cream...by boat (mom complaining about walk to boat...she hated all the walking and her feet were swollen and knee was hurting her so we went very very slowly...everywhere). Luckily it was not too hot, not like it could have been for August (was hot but not ungodly) but I felt like we were getting to places a lot more than we were doing 'stuff' if that makes sense. We, my mom and I, did 2-3 attractions in each park and that was about it. The girls did more as I would let them run off as much as I could.

So, B&C....yummo

After we ate, the girls went over to Epcot and my mom and I made our way over slowly. We made it to the UK and sat while I drank a Magners pear...mmmm. Then we slowly made our way to where WS dumps into FW (refreshment port area) and sat to watch ducks and wait for girls to meet up with us...they went to Norway for iced coffees. We then walked out...mom and I heading to BWV to see if room was ready and DDs going over to HS to ride RnRC single rider (no FP+ for that). Mom and I sat in BW lobby waiting in AC for room to be ready and we got text at 2:30 so we went down to room #1085.

We pulled up car and had bell hop bring stuff down to our room...all went pretty quickly. Then we headed out to HS for FP+ and dinner at MM. And we hoped to walk in to Fantasmic. Our room was located where it seemed a quick shot to walk to HS so I drug my mom off that way and she hated that walk. But we got to our 1st FP just in time...TSM (then ST and Indiana Jones)


MM dinner

We were heading to Fantasmic an hour before show time...but it took us 30 minutes to get there with mom going slow and DDs stopping to watch Jedi Training (so cute!!!). As we walked up, there was an announcement telling us it was now standing room only...so we passed on it and sat while girls did RnRC single rider again. Mom and I were tired so we decided to go back to BWV and my DDs wanted to stay for Frozen party and fireworks. We took boat back to BWV and made drinks and got in hot tub/pool for a bit until the girls came back.