A Dawson Early Spring Break March 2010 Beach Club

[dawz1026]

Travel dates:Feb.28-March 7
Travel method:Avis Jeep Cherokee Rental-(missed our mini van due to blizzard)
Resort:Beach Club
Accommodations:Standard Courtyard (semi water view) main floor Room 1581
Ages Represented in Group:Mike-41-,Me-Kathy-42-DD-Alexis-14.Michael age 3Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group:We have been Beach Club fanatics from the start due to our love of the proximity to Epcot and DHS. Our love of the theming and food and all around activity makes it a favorite. This trip we did some exploring of other resorts and have a few new favorites as you will read later on.
Comments:The week was awesome for crowds but we did get unseasonably cold temps a few days. All in all an awesome trip and one of our best ones yet. We tried new things and finally made it to some attractions we never got to ride before. Enjoyable and memorable!
Cast of characters:Mike-driver and the one responsible for introducing me to WDW in 1999 that caused my need to be with the mouse. Me-Kathy-Planner,researcher complete and utter Dis lover. DD-Alexis-Goofy and nothing but Goofy. DS-Michael-Already an experienced diser this being trip 3 for him..oh yeah-future Power Ranger after this trip as well.

Now shall we get started!

February 28 Arrival Day
Our trip down from NY was rather smooth sailing. We actually left NY with 2 feet of snow on the ground after getting hit with a blizzard the day prior to our departure. With nothing stopping us we headed to Avis a day early for our rental and unfortunately we had to opt for a smaller vehicle (Jeep Cherokee) than the mini van we had reserved earlier as it was not going to be available until the next day. It was a tight ride with all the luggage,dvds,toys,food...well you get my drift. We drove 15 hours and got a room. After a night in Jacksonville we hit the road for our destination-Disneys Beach Club Resort!
After a quick stop at Walmart for a cheapo stroller we were entering the magical Walt Disney World sign...oh the feeling! We arrived at the Beach Club at approximately 1230pm and at check in they actually gave me a room choice when I got there and opted for main floor Room 1581-awesome location! Close to the lobby and quiet pool with a courtyard/side water view and patio. Perfect and the new room decor is fab! We had planned to head to MK and we were on the bus at 138pm! With the Castle in sight and our stomachs jumping we were on the magic soil and running lolol! DS has been wanting to ride Buzz Lightyear and we made it a priority to ride Buzz first and we walked on the ride and got fp for later.I must say I am rather good at winning this one every time and not to pat myself on the back or anything but.... We came off the ride and Buzz was signing autographs so we jumped on it and got some great pics as well. We were starved and had to have a turkey leg so we stopped for the ever famous legs in future world and man the first few bites are heavenly and then you get closer to the bone and start saying to yourself what have I done?? . My arteries are just getting back to normal now lol. A nice TTA ride always works after a meal so around we went. This is a all time favorite ride for me as it gives you time to soak it all in. Then we checked Space Mountain which had a 45 min wait which is not bad at all but we wanted to get a few rides in before our dinner at Chef Mickeys so ended up walking on-Snow White,Small World, Peter Pan (love the pixie dusting when you load) and Haunted Mansion..ran to Pirates and 5 minute wait Awesome!!! By this time I was like uh oh we better go our ressie was 625 at Chef Mickeys and it was 540 and I was new to monorail travel for dinner so we jetted over to the monorail and cruised over and made it right on time.This was a first time for us to eat here and I must say you all were right on with your reviews. Awesome character interaction and the food well...mediocre (sp) It was ok..of course we purchased the photo so I thing we dropped about $200.00 there..worth it hhmm..I will review it. After I overdosed on shrimp we headed back on the monorail just as the fireworks began..it was freeeeezing! The wind and cold were horrible. DH ended up buying sweatshirts on main street so we could bear it. We rode Grand Prix Racers after the fireworks and could only browse shops a bit before we decided to head back as it was just cold. Well early adr with Goofy so we were off to bed..bus was waiting!

[relaaxedwheniamthere]

hey ! i am from the BOLD NEW CITY OF THE SOUTH where did you stay{ jax}

[dawz1026]

crowne plaza formerly Holiday Inn...its a pretty nice place and I like the coffee lol

[TinaMouse]

Awesome! Glad to see this one on the boards. Bummer about the Jeep vs minivan....

[dawz1026]

It was what looked like a beautiful day upon our 745am wake up. We were suppossed to put in a wake up call the night before so we would have time to get ready for our 820am breakfast at Cape May oops ....You should have seen 4 us getting ready in 30 minutes lolol...I dont think the paint was dry before I sat down to eat lololol I literally felt dampness on my back from the shower when at the check in counter HA! We were seated in an area I had no idea existed in my 9 years of BC stays. You enter and go to the right..we were the first table on the left and had wonderful interaction with all characters several times due to this seating location. The food was pretty darn good IMO. I was so happy to be there they could have served wood as toast and I would have been pleased . After much enjoyment and pics we started our walk to the Friendship Boats! YAAAY! ds was soooo excited to ride the boats and the rest us were bummed ...just kidding It was a beautiful 70 degrees already and we knew it was going to be a great day..We arrived at the park at 945 and went right to Toy Story Mania as we heard this was a hot one and alas we walked on with maybe a 10 minute wait in the queue (which is by the way a great queue). LOVED THE RIDE! We had gotten FP before riding and when we got off they were already good to use so we rode again lol..after the ride we came out to find the soldiers lining kids up so my ds was picked and got in line...great show. I have never seen this one before and glad I did. Very comical and great for the kids. After the show we of course grabbed more Fp for Toy Story Mania again as we now have a new favorite!

The time had come for the big meeting. My son and The Cars...could it be are they really here????? yes! We approached Luigis garage with much anticipation and what did we see.........Lightning McQueen and Mater!!! My son jumped out of his stroller and ran to the hills..he was so excited that I knew the trip was worth every cent. We met and took pics and as we were coming out had to purchase yet another Car toy. I believe it was Mean Guys Truck...its already in the mix with the thousand other Car items..lol

Muppet Vision 3d was next. I have not been in this show since 2001 on my honeymoon so it was like a new show for us all. My son enjoyed it quite well and tried to reach out and grab what he was seeing..so cute. I had forgotten all about the Muppet who actually walks out in the theatre.Really cool. We were glad we went in and always enjoyed the shop they have at the exit.
When we came out we could hear Power Rangers so my dd who used to love them (esp. Pink one) wanted to check it out so we caught the tail end of what was going to become a new thrill for my youngest. They were just loaded into the car and my son was amazed to say the least so we knew to come back later.

The Great Movie Ride was next and my ultimate must do on every trip. The ride is and was as always one of my favorites at the park. The little guy was a tad nrevous during the shootout and bad witch scenes but made it through like a champ..a true diser lol. Now I was hungry and it was already about 1200 so I decided to go off of the menus I read online and try Fairfax Faire. I ordered the half chicken with beans and slaw and dd had the chili dog. The menu clearly stated the sides are included but I had to have the manager agree as the server was telling me it wasnt ...I win after a few minutes of debate and pointing to the menu on the wall lol..My chicken was terrible..it was hard and brown on the outside and cold on the inside and overcooked..beans and slaw were awesome and dd loved her chili dog. I should have opted for another item but was trying to eat a bit healthier this trip and regretted going here. I did notice alot of stands that were not on the menu list later on that offerred pretty good and yummy healthy otions.At least I know next time. Oh and Dh had the chicken as well and said eh...yep just eh...

FP TIME...yet another Toy Story Mania ride and a great one for DD and I at least. I had no idea my ds cried the entire ride because he did not get the blue gun ..Dh had a look when we got off and I was like um are u ok...he said your son..ha now he's"MY" son ..screamed the whole ride ..Whatever we are at Disney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!he was fine 5 minutes later!!

DH decided to take ds into the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area and dd and I took a break at seating outside for the cs was closed..cant remember the name of the cs...anyway afterthat we realized we missed the stunt shows and were not going to make the final shows do to adr at 520 at Cape May. We went into the shops for a while and checked out the street performers and decided to go back and rest and change before dinner...It was Epcot tonite!

[dawz1026]

We had a 520pm at Cape May and to say the least we were excited for this meal. I went ahead to check in with the kids while dh had a few moments to recoup lol..we took our buzzer at waited patiently and 5 minutes later we were in! To our surprise we were the Family of the Day! What a surprise! They sat us at the table near the entrance and it was a bit fancier with a blue tablecloth and lighthouse lit in the middle and we all recieved buttons saying What do you celebrate? Family of the Day at Cape May! We ate and ate.....and ate and all the food was quite good. I heard the ribs were awesome and clams. I had more peel and eat shrimp than I could count and mad that I forgot to eat the clam chowder but we all enjoyed it!

We then proceeded to Epcot as I was determined to ride The Land as this was a ride I have never been on in my 9 years of coming to WDW. When we got there it was closing! We just missed it as it was 7pm ...now I knew when I had to come so I was hoping I would make it on this trip...we shall see...
Off to Nemo with no wait..what a long queue..a reaaallly long queue...will we ever get there I thought and alas! The ride..Enjoyable as usual. This is one ride I wish was alot longer. It is a relaxing and interesting experience. We then hit Spaceship Earth (love the upgrades) and then yeah baby Test Track no wait!!! I rode with dd and came off to find my son in the showroom with dh sitting in the cars loving life acting like a racecar driver yelling at people through the window...lol hysterical and it was a great time to switch off and have him go on Test Track with dd so she got the best outta the deal. (did they upgrade this as well-it seemed faster and different to me??) Then off to Mexico for the boat ride and Maelstrom (yeah! It was on my to do list with TT) and it was not at all what I had remerembered as I had not rode since 2001 but pretty cool and short?. We found a viewing spot between Mexico and Canada to view Illuminations as it was that time already. We were pretty tired by this point so dh and I opted for coffee. I turned to look and saw dh pouring creamer into the garbage and said what r u doing???He was like oh man I am tired haha..I think we needed to sleep after the show..Show was intense and ds was not thrilled but handled the noise and I ended up putting him to sleep and working off my new laptop in the room using the in room internet which I found easily thanks to MP help! DH went to the gameroom to play some games but was back shortly saying he was tired...off to bed..Tomorrow AK

[TinaMouse]

Keep it coming, Kathy!

[dawz1026]

This was to be AK day and I pretty much look forward to this park the most. We started out in the Marketplace for breakfast. The muffins are heavenly in there and I could eat one everyday! DS had cereal and a bananna until he saw my muffin so dh had to go back and get him one too lol...dd had a muffin and cereal and dh a bagel as usual with coffee and fruit. The options are fine and work well when we are on the run in the morning. This was the morning I spilled a cup of coffee all over the counter by the creamer ...oopsie the girls were very nice after I apologized up and down.We then took the bus with a minimal wait and this day was suppossed to rain but ended up very windy but sunny and warm thankfully. Arrival at AK and Baloo was awaiting! He played a fun game with dd and ds because he was scared of her pins lol..it was sooo adorable and my son was loving it. After entering the park we always head to Dinosaur as it is a favorite and sure enough we had no wait. Ds and dh went over to Dinoland and rode the Flying dinosaurs while I rode with dd and as usual we walked off saying WOW a great ride! We swapped out so dd got the better deal getting to ride everything twice. I ended up on the flying dinos this time and played some games..We then headed over to Everest and there was NO WAIT?????AWESOME!!!!!! Needless to say um..I went right on! This one gets me ..oh the tight tummy lolol great ride..dh opted out..chicken ..Then we took pics all around of the monkeys and such and decided to do Pangani Trail as we love seeing those bats and tigers..then we ate Yak n Yeti...We all had the honey chicken and we all did not like it..the rice was on the bottom and mushy and the chicken was really gooey and well yucky..I should have tried the lo mein...Yuk n yeti lollol..so dumb of me to pass on Flametree ugh..so mad..anyway the day went on so we went over to Africa walked right on the safari (they even said you did not have to get off as they were giving second rides)and then off to the gorillas..we saw the 11 week old baby gorilla and the mommy and took some pics and then it was time to wait for the parade...to be cont'd

[dawz1026]

cont'd

One of my favorite parades is Jungle Jammin and I think its because its so colorful and original. We found a great spot across from Turker House and gracce a brownie and some coffee which tasted like tea eh-The parade came through and the kids loved it and we managed to get it on dvd so I can recapture it from my house! After the parade it looked really cloudy and started misting a bit. The sound of the bamboo trees in the wind was so cool in AK. We stopped at the shops and I found several sweatshirts that I liked and I ended up with a zipper front grey hoodie that had Mickey across the front.Love it! We started to head out at this point as we were a tad tired and wanted to go to Epcot that night. We had a short wait for the bus and instead of getting off at Beach we got off at the Swan to take a look and see if we liked it. This is a nice hotel but feels more lke a city place. Very modern and different. We would stay if we had a great deal but not a first choice. We headed through the Yacht next and it was packed with business people all on cell phones and laptops and even though we had stayed here before we prefer the beachy feel instead. It is more formal feeling for sure at times. We revamped at the room and headed to Epcot. Without decsion we walked straight to Germany for dinner. It was VERY cold and windy this night and we were glad to be inside when we got there..We sat with soem nice couples from North Dakota and ? I forgot the other couples location..my bad lol..anyway we all enjoed ourselves here as usual. The potato leek soup is insane!!! I filled up on sausage and salad...mmm good spatzle is great stuff too. After dinner we went out to hit up some shops and it was brutal outside. We managed to ride Mexico Boat Ride,Maelstrom and Spaceship Earth but we could not take the wind and ended up leaving during the start of Illuminations...brrrr back to BC good night!

[dawz1026]

This is the day we picked to rest our legs and take a ridce to Clearwater Beach and visit Great Grandma. I will keep this entry brief as it is non dis day. We actually woke at around 730 and headed to the IHOP for breakfast. It was nice to eat here for a change as I love the French Vanilla Coffe mmm good! We went for a short ride around the area first checking out houses and shopping malls and hit I4 towards Tampa..it was another cold day so we mainly did not have any beach or fishing as we liked so we roide around and took in some scenery. We went by the Hogans house then right across the roide is Grandmas Rehab. We had a visit and then went to Shepherds Resort for one amazing all you can eat buffet! Wish it were warmer ....we hit the road back around 630pm and went to DTD that evening to be cont'd

[TinaMouse]

I've not heard a ton of good things about Yak & Yeti. It's one of those places where it started off better than it has recently been. If it makes you feel any better, our last TWO meals at Flame Tree were "eh." I hope I just hit it wrong as it used to be our go-to spot at AK. We're trying it again next trip....but for now, I'll keep Y&Y off our list.

[arnoldvb]

My wife and I ate at Yak & Yeti in Dec 2009 and enjoyed it, as we have before. One of us had the honey chicken and the other the sweet & sour chicken. Don't remember who had which because we went the other way the year before.

[TinaMouse]

Thanks, Arnold! That's pretty recent! I'll start a thread over on the "good eats" and see if my info is old....

[FortWilderness IsHome]

Kathy,

Great trip report so far, sounds like everyone had a great time!
-I have to chime in and agree with Arnold, the Yak & Yeti has been great the two times that we have eaten there!!! In fact, it is Jimmys FAVORITE restaurant on property, and one of mine as well!!! That being said, your meal sounded terrible for sure. Hopefully they are back on track when we go in a few weeks!! Heidi Commerford

[dawz1026]

Just to verify it was the counter and not the sit down....I think the sit down looks much better..

[dawz1026]

The ride from Tampa was clear on traffic so we made DTD in abot an hour and a half. It was about 8pm and we decided lets fill up this trip with things we never usually get to and one of them being DTD. It was however pretty cold. Ds was wrapped up in the stroller but dd who is 14 and never listens decided she wanted to look good instead of being warm wore her hollister denims shorts because she 14.....long story short 30 dollars later and she has some Minnie leggings from Trend D..anyway....So we walked around and checked out World of Disney which is not exactly a ten minute walkthrough and then it happenned....TREND D!!! I lost my mind shopping in there..Dh said I had a look in my eye lolollol .I love this store!! Ds ended up in the Toy store there with Dh and walked or should I say strolled away with some Power Rangers! We had to get Ghiaradelli as I hear so much about it but instead of the Fountain Ice Cream side brrrrrrr we ended up on the hOt chocolate side and they were handing out free chocolates and free croissants ...I was a fat cow now and needed to walk some more ao we checked out the views and took some pics..Stictch just missed me by about two inches thankfully I did not get wet because I was frozen already. We went in the art store and decided we want to collect the ride posters next trip and ended up meeting a wonderful cast member from NY who we had a wonderful long conersation with all about dis..afterwards it was already pushing 11??? whoa back to the resort and warmm blankets...

[arnoldvb]

Just to verify it was the counter and not the sit down....I think the sit down looks much better..

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Our Yak & Yeti meal in Decembers 2009 and 2008 were at the sit down section, not the counter service. We haven't eaten at the counter service.

[dawz1026]

I almost forgot to finish this! Silly old reality gets in the way lol..I'll look for my notes

[dawz1026]

This was a very anticipated trip back to MK on this day as it is a very special park to visit. We opted for our own wake up which was at 730 am. A good time to rise a nd grab a quick bite at the Marketplace and take lots of BC photos of the decor and art around the lobby as well as a couple of family pics! We had a 10 minute wait for the bus and experienced some rather rude guests trying to cut in front of us when the bus got there...it did not happen lol...anyhoo we were off to a magical day...We were kind of kicking ourselves for not waking up earlier for rope drop as we missed the ceremony..next time. We started out on Buzz Lightyear as it is one of our favorites and I finally got to ride the Carousel of Progress! Loved it! As I knew I would. I like to enjoy the original rides and hear dh mention how he rode these as a child where I did not. I never even went to WDW till I was 34! Now I am a true addict! We rode TTA and did Buzz another round. We then walked over to Toon Town sadly thinking we may never see this part of the park again and introduced ds to Goofy's Barnstormer! He was not thrilled lol...it was his first offiial coaster.TOO SCARY...next time..We saw the railroad pulling in so we jumped on for a ride around the park as we missed this last trip. We jumped off by Big Thunder and I grabbed FP and took some pics in the area.DD and myself went to ride Big Thunder while dh and ds met up with Woody and Jesse. Then it was time for Country Bears ans we just could not miss this! Something about the one big tired bear that gets ya every time.

Lunch time already? Time flies when you are here and we decided to eat at Pecos Bill.It was close and we were hungry. I ordered the chicken wrap and wished I hadn't moments later.It was just not what I wanted especially seeing the burger and beef that my family was eating ughhh. bad choice on my part but it was good. The toppings helped!

We went back on Big Thunder and then it was time for the parade. I love this version. I love the colors and excitement and I was happy to see Kermit and Miss Piggy! I had to get the popcorn in the big jug while we watched and glad I did that jug is in use daily at my house.It helps me with portion control as well since I lost weight.

Time to try some more rides at this point and it was not going to be HM-looong line. However Pirates was a walk on as well as the Jungle Cruise and finally we tried to get my ds on Dumbo and dd said I'll wait with him..magical words as they waited for Dumbo. My 14 year old is a trooper and waited 25 minutes with my anxious 3 year old but it was a first time ride for him and a great one! After they rode we split up because dd and myself wanted to ride Pooh and ds and dh wanted to do grand prix so we split and I must say Pooh rocks! After enjoying our day we were pretty excited for our adr at OHANA! Till dinner....

[TinaMouse]

Yay! Another day. thanks!

[dawz1026]

Dinner at Ohana has been a long awaited experience for us. I almost cancelled this ressie because it was so late at night and we thought the little guy may not make it but we kept it and glad we did! We drove over from the BC at 745 for an 845 ressie. I like looking around the resort and shopping of course in what I consider one of the best gift shops at WDW. I am glad we did get there early because we were seated by 810! I was shocked just how many empty tables there were. It bothers me when I see an empty place after waiting for an opening to eat there.Anyway..the FOOD....the endless amounts of FOOD. We couls barely speak we were in out glory. Ds aged 3 did not want to leave the table to dance he just sat and waved and enjoyed his meal lololol. We all did. My husband was nit the same since . A definite for next time! When we finished we walked around some more but it was freeeeezing! So we dove back to the BC as it was after 10 at this point and I had to work..blah blah clah..DS crashed in bed and dh and dd went off to the Boardwalk for some fun and games. A great meal enjoyed by all!

[dawz1026]

Day 6 turned out to be our last day-
My dd decided she was too nervous about a test at school and we thought it best to leave a day early and drive home. This was now our last day at the world so we decided to check out some resorts again.We headed over to Riverside for breakfast. It was quite crowded..I opted for a muffin and coffee and the kids had some egg platters with bacon. Dh had french toast. It was pretty good..no complaints. Our last trip we fell in love with the resort and said we need to do the second trip to verify our feelings and well...hhhmm. Alligator Bayou..tooo creepy and dark. Oak Manor and Magnolia Bend are doable all else seemed to far to consider. I did snoop in an empty room and found them quite small as compared to a deluxe. Alot smaller actually than the pics look. If I stayed it would have to be closer to the bridge near the food court. On to Wilderness Lodge...we loved it...we rented a bike and rode to the stables..saw armadillo and had a great laugh or two or three..we ran our camera over but thankfully were able to retreive the photos and video we had taken...R.I.P. poor camera..anyway what a blast! We almost rented a boat but it was a bit windy that day. We waited for a long time to see the geyser but no luck. I did however find the hidden mickey! Then we did Power Ranger poses on the dock like idiots haha and walked some more. Really enjoyed it and could not believe how it felt like we were VT back by the stables...so nice! We left and then took a ride to BLT but opted not to even look..Just not our thing..we then noticed all the offices and or factory buildings belonging to Disney behind the resorts which we never saw before and then we hit DTD one last time had had some lunch at Rainforest Cafe and more shopping. It was along fun day before we hit the road at 5pm.

[EJ4Disney]

Kathy,

I am so excited that you finished your trip report. I was really enjoying it. Thanks so much for taking the time.

Ellen