Bay Lake Tower

We took quite a few pictures of the construction and room mock-ups.

The rooms are superb! Can’t wait to stay there.

Tower Looking Good!

 

The one bedroom and larger Tower rooms have a main area full bath and a Master bath which is really necessary when there’s more than two of you. The walk through kitchen is beautiful and spacious.

walk through kitchen

 

Master Bedroom

 The photos don’t do it justice. 

 The studio is a bit smaller, but the galley kitchen is worth it.

Studio Galley Kitchen

  Mock-ups are available for viewing if you take the DVC Tour or if you are a member from 5-7p over at the Saratoga Springs old movie theater. Don’t miss these. They are down the ‘hall’ from the Kidani Village mock-ups which are incredible as well. Everything DVC is doing these days tops the charts.

Right Now at the Magic Kingdom

MK Front Entrance

                                   

  These are some pictures from the Magic Kingdom we just took this weekend.

            The weather was very pleasant and it was not

            overcrowded. We are excited to return for our

            Halloween Party on October 20th. Our granddaughter has her Aurora

                                             gown and is all set for trick or treating. What a fabulous time of year!

This Weekend

Michael’s birthday is today and we are driving up tomorrow morning, staying at All Star Music Saturday night, returning Sunday night. Will be taking lots of pix to share of the new developments and the autumn entrance to the Magic Kingdom. Am contemplating getting a FL resident after 2p water park pass next year. Pretty economical and I still like the lazy river and family tube ride. Why not?  Loving the nice weather we are having down here and gearing up for all the DW fun in the next 3 to 6 months. Life is good! Have you checked out their website at http://www.lifeisgood.com/ ?  Stuff is very cool.

DVC

We received our bound booklet from DVC yesterday. ‘Welcome to Your Palace Next to the Castle.’  It’s quite a fancy piece of advertising material. We already knew the Bay Lake Tower would sell out fast, but Disney is making sure all the true fans and members are getting hyped. Actually, we probably won’t buy anymore points for awhile, but we are anxious to see the room mock-ups and make reservations for late next year. It is pretty remarkable that there is a vacation club right next to the Magic Kingdom., right on the monorail. DVC is just so exciting. Have any questions or concerns? Just email us we’ll give you the whole, honest scoop.

One Free Pass on Your BD

We printed out our free birthday passes Thursday. DVC sent us an email to sign up and we also found links at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/orl-disney-free-tickets-birthday-091808,0,3040162.story and at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index  [click on 'What will you celebrate?'].  We think it’s a nice gesture not just another advertising gimmick. Annual passholders will get a gift card. It’s never been done before and is a definite perk.

We also watched the Travel Channel Thursday night as they talked up the new and old of the Disney Vacation Club.  Finally got to see the Bay Lake Tower rooms which are sure to sell out quickly. We have been watching the construction carefully and will have pictures up by 9/30 as we are doing DW for Michael’s birthday September 26th. So DVC will have the Bay Lake Tower, Animal Kingdom’s Kidani Village, Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villas, and the new wing of the Grand Californian at Disneyland all for sale at the same time. 2009 will be quite a year! We know the new cruise ships will go into service in 2011 and 2012, plus the Hawaii resort hopefully will be open in 2011. Am sure DVC has plans for something to open in 2010 as there is never a dull year. Good reason to watch my cholesterol and exercise. Oh the e-word! Will keep our Disney ears and eyes open for anything new to share.

It’s the Holiday Season!

There is nothing like DW during the holidays. Usually there are fewer guests after school starts until Christmas week. Thanksgiving is fairly full, but not overwhelmingly so. We will be

Disney Horticulture

visiting a lot in Oct/Nov/Dec and hope to bring everyone some great pictures. We saw some good pix of the first Halloween Party online and can hardly wait to get our own pix at the 10/19 party. Our granddaughter will be Princess Aurora dress, wig, shoes, and all. 

The Magic Kingdom actually looks like fall with leaf garland, painted pumpkins, and hay stacks. It should start cooling off as we approach the end of September. Of course, cooling off in Florida means the mid 80’s during the day and mid to high 70’s at night. Autumn hits in late November here and we do have leaves floating around. Port Orleans Riverside is particularly colorful in the fall for anyone who wants the feel of being farther north.

Please send us an email if you’d like more info on anything in particular and we’ll post it for everyone.

Disney Resort Tips~mugs & Photo Pass

Never looked better~wish I lived there!

Invest in a refillable mug. Our resort mug collection spans across the tops of our kitchen cabinets pretty much all around the kitchen. We saw on ebay recently that 2 Wilderness Lodge mugs from about 5 years ago went for $49+, not a bad investment.  We don’t think the new mugs will ever fetch that much, but Disney used to make a different mug for each resort and those old ones are definitely collector’s items now. The new mugs you can take to any Disney resort and get refills. For resort hoppers, it’s a great deal. The Beach Club has apple juice, Port Orleans Riverside has Hi-C, Pop Century has slurpees, the Crew’s Cup at the Yacht Club has ginger ale and then there is Powerade nearly everywhere.  Really, there are so many reasons to go to DW besides the theme parks.

Buy your disposable cameras at home or better yet bring your compact digital with a 2GB memory card. Cameras and film processing are not inexpensive at DW. Photo Pass is a great way to get some really good DW park shots. You can customize your pictures online, but you get the most choices from editing in the park and taking the pictures with you. If you are concerned about finances or about damage, just wait till you get home and enter your photo pass card number online. Pictures arrive quickly and are packaged well. Plus, you have 30 days or more to choose which photos you want and play with borders and other editing options. Another perk is that Photo Pass will email your vacation photos to friends and family. Just watch out because the images cannot be held past the expiration date and cannot be saved without purchasing. Sometimes if you have a lot of photo opps and pix with characters, a CD of your vacation is the way to go. Try and not get more than one or two Photo Pass cards if you can help it. Just use the same one for your entire visit. Photo Pass is really terrific during the holiday times like during Halloween and Christmas parties. There are special photo opps that are only available during those party times. We have one in front of Cinderella’s castle last year with the family and another with the hitch-hiking ghosts that are priceless.

Theme Park Dining

Wow are there choices for in-park dining anytime of day or night. The must do is Cinderella’s Castle when you have the money. Breakfast is nice with children. Also in the Magic Kingdom are the Crystal Palace and the Liberty Tree Tavern both really good but very different atmospheres. On the run, then grab a turkey leg or hit Pecos Bill for a yummy salad bowl or chicken wrap.

Epcot is tough because of expense and the restuarants can be hit or miss. Sometimes food is great and other times disappointing at the countries. Am eager to try the reopening of the Nine Dragons. They used to have a great all-you-can-eat lunch but as good things go, they changed it much too soon. 

Animal Kingdom has some new places we haven’t tried yet and we especially want to see the new revamped Tusker House. Haven’t had them in awhile, but Camp Minnie Mickey had the very best ever waffle cones. At Hollywood Studios, we love the Prime Time Cafe and everyone seems to like the somewhat creepy Sci-Fi-Dine-In. The ice cream by the Tower of Terror is also really good. Brown Derby is not all that. Planet Pizza is fun for the family. Hope to give Mama Melrose another try soon. Overall though, you may enjoy eating at your resort, if it’s Disney, better and relaxing a bit.

Disney Resorts~Food Courts

All the Disney World Resorts have a fast food counter and/or a food court.  Some food court meals are not only excellent in taste and quality, but are reasonably priced as well.  Our favorite is the Port Orleans Riverside court. It has undergone some changes as nothing Disney stays the same forever, but it still has good options and a pleasant atmosphere. The pasta and carving stations are nice additions. Riverside has its own bakery and ice cream window and there are many choices for children’s meals. Next on our list is Coronado Springs[CS].  CS has quite a few dining options from the very casual, take-out counter to the sit-down food court and then the Mayan Grill restaurant. The new counter area is very appealing. We did a walk through over Labor Day weekend and loved the whole area. The sit-down food court has gotten more expensive, but still has many food options and great quality. They add a 10% gratuity to your bill here, which is a bit annoying, but they do clear your table and clean it up for the next guest.

Of the value resorts, Pop Century has a nice food court as does All Star Movies. They are shaped differently and have a more comfortable feel to them than All Star Sports or All Star Music which are older and rectangular. Pop Century has a slurpee machine, yeah! We like the taco salad, chicken penne alfredo, and the stirfry at Pop Century.

In general, the deluxe resorts have counter service which is so-so, the moderates and Pop Century have good food courts, and the remaining value resorts have good fast food. Next time we’ll look at dining inside the parks where there is more to choose from all the time.

Disney Dining~Resort Breakfasts

We liked it as the Yacht Club Galley!

The best is Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge because you can get an omelet, cereal, fruit, pastries, meats, well you can get just about everything in this buffet. We like to get a priority seating at 10:45a and make it brunch. The carving station usually has pork loin and ham. You get a really delicious mango combination juice and the usual other drinks included in your price. Boma is only open for breakfast and dinner and it is especially nice during a quiet time, which is right at the end of the breakfast serving time. They keep the buffet open as long as there are customers. We often will eat leisurely and not finish till 12:30p or so.

Next is the character breakfast at Cape May Cafe in the Beach Club. Goofy, Minnie and the gang keep you going with traditional breakfast foods. Another buffet, of course, but this time have your camera ready. The character breakfast at 1900 Park Fair at the Grand Floridian is also very good as is the buffet at the Mayan Grill at Coronado Springs. The Captain’s Grill at the Yacht Club has a nice smaller buffet, but costs as much as the bigger ones. 

The one breakfast everyone with kids has to do is at the Magic Kingdom in Cinderella’s castle. It’s an event by itself. No, it’s not at a resort but we still have to mention it. Have heard O’Hana’s for breakfast at the Polynesian is good as well, but it’s hard for us to get up early enough for breakfast these days. We stay up late on our weekend jaunts and then rise just in time to check out. We like to do lunch everyday and then get a food court snack or Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney late in the evening. Since we live in Florida, we have the Disney Dining Experience card and save money that way. I have been tempted to get the Disney Dining Plan, but I figured out we just don’t eat enough to make it the best option. We think it is great for families staying a few days, as it simplifies the whole eating process. Next time it’s the food courts. They can be fun, they serve continually, and they do have some good eating options.