Trip Report: BLT 12/18-12/23

[SD Price]

Wanted to give a quick trip report on our stay at BLT 12/18-12/23.

In short, WDW does the Christmas environment very well.

Day 1 Arrival, EPCOT, Candlelight Processional

The Good: Décor and music fit the parks and resorts. Great check-in folks, very helpful.

The Bad: EPCOT was a little messy, we noticed more trash on the ground, but it may have been due to the misty rain.

Bad #2: I made a midnight run to buy perishable groceries. We will have them delivered next time. The nearest grocery stores closed by midnight, only the Albertson’s stayed open that late. I was way too tired to make that run anyway. We live close enough to Orlando that we brought food with us, so we brought too much.

Meals: We had an early dinner at the Coral Reef in conjunction with the Candlelight Processional. Dinner was nice but not spectacular. The portions were not as plentiful as I recalled from earlier trips. Still, it was a nice meal in a beautiful setting.

Other: We’re DVC members and our home resort is Bay Lake Tower. I knew to check in at the Contemporary, which was a little odd, but not bad by any means.

Enjoyed the Candlelight Processional service, though it was a little more production and less of a service for my taste. Thomas Gibson narrated and did a fine job.
The crowd level was less than I expected, so we took the opportunity to ride some rides in Future World and got in the World Showcase to pick up some information for my son’s school work

Day 2 Magic Kingdom, Resort day, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

The Good: I use a program that optimizes wait and walk times to navigate the parks. It again worked so well that we hit all of the rides we wanted and repeated several favorites an hour ahead of our scheduled time.

The Good # 2: the folks who befriended my kids while we waited for the MVMCP late parade.

The Good # 3: the MK park was much cleaner than EPCOT was the day before. I guess the rain had affected the constant clean up effort.

The Bad: Man, it was cold at the MVMCP.

Bad # 2: The Tea Cups. My kids love them, my stomach doesn’t.

Bad # 3: Some of the Recreation Cast Members at the BLT resort were more interested in their upcoming work schedule than helping resort guests. This wasn’t universal, but it was noticeable and less than I expected. I also noticed many Cast Members checking their smart phones throughout our trip. Just a little peek here and there and then the phone was slipped back into a pocket.

Meals: All meals in the room

Other: Noticed that we could see Cinderella’s castle, Space Mountain and the fireworks from our living room and balcony. We stayed in a Lake View room but had great views of the MK too.

Day 3 EPCOT Future World in the morning, Animal Kingdom in the afternoon.

The Good: The beauty of the Animal Kingdom. We did so well with our park planning software in the other parks, we decided to skip a return to the MK add on an unplanned visit to the AK. Brother had a couple of extra FPs for the Safari ride so I got FPs for Everest and we got the highlights of the park in.

The Bad: Shouldn’t have slept in. Even with the optimized plan we had for the morning, losing that extra time in the morning is a big mistake if you want to ride. Big crowds arrived between 11:00 and 12:00.

Bad # 2: Rude electric scooter drivers. I know I’m treading on sensitive ground here, so let me give my point-of-reference first. I have two disabled kids. My son was born deaf and he now hears with a cochlear implant. My daughter lost almost all of her vision from an inoperable brain tumor a couple of years ago and has some other issues that make it very difficult for her to walk, especially in crowds. But, she does fine and she wants to do fine on her own. The folks who cut us off in those electric scooters then hop off to charge over to get a Mickey bar get under my skin. That’s not all I have to say about that, but that’s all I will.

Meals: Lunched at the Flame Tree, WDW ran a discount program for certain counter service meals at certain times of the day. It was an unexpected blessing and a great benefit to us. Breakfast and evening meals in the room. Cocoa and cookies at MVMCP (Lots of cocoa).

Other: Met with my brother’s family and his in-laws at AK.

Day 4 Disney’s Hollywood Studio

The Best: Osborne Family Lights, being surrounded by that much light is just short of dazzling.

The Bad: Can’t think of anything--beautiful weather, beautiful park, great time.

Meals: Ate at the Commissary, and at the Back Lot Express on the discount offer. I always find interesting menu items at the Commissary and I enjoyed the curried chicken.

Other: The kids got me selected to star in the Indiana Jones stunt show. I was apparently the only person in the theatre who didn’t know that one of the selectees was a ringer and I chatted him up the whole time we were on stage.

Day 5 Resort Hopping, Welcome Home Wednesday

The Best: Décor at the Wilderness Lodge. Man, Disney did that resort right.

The Good: Key Lime pie cups at Old Key West.

The Good #2: Meeting one of the Beach Club bakery chefs who spent time with my kids and hinted to the location of the last two Hidden Mickeys on the carousel.

The Bad: Four pedal surrey bike ride at Old Key West with 3 ½ peddlers.

Meals: All in room.

Other: Met friends at the Grand Floridian. Beautiful place, the bathrooms are nicer than my living room.

The Welcome Home Wednesday for DVC members was less than I hoped for, won’t need to attend another.

We visited all three of the EPCOT resorts and I had to explain to my son how Mickey and Minnie were at all three resorts in different costumes each time we arrived.

Day 6 Checkout, Outlet Shopping, Merry Mixer

The Good: Just enjoyed being around the Disney environment.

The Bad: Outlet mobs.

Meals: Breakfast in the room, lunch and dinner out of the parks.

Other: The Merry Mixer for DVC members was less than I had hoped, but it was OK. The kids danced with Goofy and Pluto and Wife made to the final round of Simon Says before getting bounced out of the contest. We did enjoy a conversation with CM Steven who is the Disney pin marketing manager and he showed us some upcoming pins and taught us a little about the pin trading experience.

[faline]

Thanks for an enjoyable read! Even though there were some glitches, sounds like you had a wonderful stay at Bay Lake Tower as well as fun park time! Too funny - not knowing about the Indiana Jones audience plant! Must have been quite a surprise to you - especially since you were on stage!!

[SD Price]

We did have a blast and glitches were to be expected.

Overall, a really good experience. I'm glad we went.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[WDWCrazyKaren]

Thank you for taking the time to report. It sounds liek you had a good time, and I hope the good outweighed the bad!

[KylesMom]

My favorite Good - "Osborne Family Lights, being surrounded by that much light is just short of dazzling"

My favorite "Bad" - "The Tea Cups. My kids love them, my stomach doesn’t." You had me cracking up on this one.

All in all, a very magical time with your family. Thanks for sharing all of it - both the good and the bad!

[clausjo]

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip, thanks for reporting. If you don't mind my asking, what is the "program that optimizes wait and walk times"?

[SD Price]

I don't know if it is permissible for me to mention the software company's name on this board since they are not a sponsor. If anyone is interested in reading my opnion or my on-the-fly comparison to other planning tools, shoot me a PM and I will gush appropriately.

SD Price

[clausjo]

Thanks for the PM, SD! I'm definately going to check this out!

[PrettyMinnie]

I really enjoyed reading your report! Thanks for taking the time to share. It sounds like you had a good stay at BLT and an overall good trip to WDW!