Land and Sea - Yippee! September 2013 -TR updated 02/11/2014 - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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That's a STANDARD room? WOW. I've never been to Vegas, but they say you don't spend much time in your room. I think I'd make an exception for that space!
It was so nice and quiet. We asked for a "high floor, strip view" but we were willing to take the next available room. It was nice to come back to after "touring" Vegas
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great room in the Venetian! I remember the first time we went to Vegas, we were shocked at the size of the standard rooms too.
Right! This was REALLY "deluxe", lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great room at the Venetian!!
The whole resort was lovely...
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Sounds like a great weekend in Vegas, loved the pictures.
I wished I would've taken more pictures!
************
contined:
Thursday Sept 5, day 2
I woke up at 8:00 after a good night's sleep. I did some unpacking and straightening up. Dh got up and decided to go check out the fitness room. I made breakfast (eggs, bacon, donuts, coffee). I had to wake the boys up - it was 10am! They both said it was the "best sleep EVER!"
Enjoying the traditional "Disney only" coffee...
We had originally planned to go to DTD and let the kids go to Disney Quest. As usual, our "plans" went by the wayside and we ended up going to play mini-golf instead. Judging by the map, Fantasia Gardens was within walking distance. Weeellll... yes, it is technically within walking distance, but either we got weird directions from a CM or we didn't follow them right (this one), we ended up walking the long way around past the Yacht Club, past the Dolphin and finally down the path to the Gardens. It was a beautiful day but hot! By the time we got there, we were already tired and sweaty, but none of us wanted to go back. We had never played mini-golf and I kind of half expected it to be easy. Well it wasn't! It was pretty challenging but in the end, I won, and tried not to gloat, lol. We found the correct way back to the Beach Club, but by the time we got back, Dh was feeling the effects of the heat. He went back to the room for some cold water and a rest, while me and the kids picked up lunch at the Marketplace. Judging by the so-so reviews on the internet, I wasn't expecting too much, but I was pleasantly surprised - the food was good and fresh. We got our lunch to go and went back to the room to eat and relax. (No golf pictures, sigh. Max's battery was acting weird )
Ham and Swiss sandwich with housemade chips. Yes, half the sandwiches are gone before I thought to snap a pic - too hungry!
Turkey sandwich with bacon, brie and cranberry spread (Yum!)
After a nap (me and Dh), it was time to hit the pool. I'm telling you right now, this pool really made Dh a fan, which is surprising, considering he thought nothing could compare to Animal Kingdom Lodge. The funny thing is that he only ended up getting in it once the whole trip, but was still sold on the Beach Club!
From Stormalong Bay:
No pics of me of course
Dinner tonight was at the ESPN Club over at the Boardwalk. It was "Football Night in America" so we showed our team spirit and dressed in our Washington Redskins colors. Except for Dh, who sported his Baltimore/Ray Lewis jersey. Yes, we confused a lot of folks. Dh is a diehard Redskins fan, but likes Ray Lewis, go figure. We got great seats just in time for it to start pouring down rain!
Dinner was good, solid, American food, tasty and filling. Except for dessert...
Me - Chicken Caesar Salad
Max - Philly Cheesesteak
Titus - "ESPN Dingers" Chicken nuggets, these are barbecue flavored.
Dh - Tailgate Pulled Pork with coleslaw and cucumber salad
shared cheesecake - good
shared pineapple upside-down cake - not good (frozen!)
The guests eating were in the "show", and got to participate in sports trivia games with a real sportscaster.
Both Max and Dad won a tee shirt! (Max got the #1 answer, yay!)
When we left, t had slowed down raining but we put on ponchos anyway. By the time we reached the bridge, the rain had stopped.
I thought it would be fun to play some board games or rent a movie for the kids while dad watched the game, but when we stopped by the Solarium to ask about it, we were told we had to go back to the Boardwalk Villas for them. Apparently, there's no "community center" at the Beach Club . It was okay - we spent a nice quiet evening, just chilling.
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Another wonderful vacation day. There's so much to do right in the area. I never realized that BCV doesn't have a Community House. Is that the only DVC resort without one?
Such a nice relaxing day - I love the idea of playing a board game. I might have to steal that and pack cards or something for the "down" day I'm hoping to do on our next trip.
What a fun day, glad you enjoyed Fantasia Gardens. I will tell you the first time we went we walked the long way too
Glad you missed most of the rain while at dinner. Loved the pictures of the boys at the pool, glad DH fell in love with the resort.
Mini golf was really fun! We were on the "easy" side, the other side looked pretty serious!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sounds like a lovely relaxing day.
It felt like we were enjoying being in Florida, not just Disney World. (While trying not to think about all the people going to the parks!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Another wonderful vacation day. There's so much to do right in the area. I never realized that BCV doesn't have a Community House. Is that the only DVC resort without one?
I'm not sure, I'll have to check it out - we just assumed that there was one. The Solarium is a nice place to relax with a TV and I saw someone playing the Wii there, but I don't know what else they do in there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Sounds like a nice day of mini golf, pool and football!
Sports day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
What a nice, relaxing day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great day!!
Ah yes, just what we needed...
Quote:
Originally Posted by kdkdmac
Please tell me about the ESPN Club Football Night ... It sounds like something my son would enjoy!
Well "Football Night in America" is really a pre-game show on Sunday nights on NBC I think. The NFL has games on Thursday nights, so when I was down there in vacation mode, I kept thinking it was "Sunday night football tonight!" I wrote that in my notes, sorry
While we were there, they were "taping" a "live" podcast with a sportscaster. We participated in a game show where the guests were challenged with trivia. A camera crew and interviewer went around the restaurant asking questions and if you knew the answer you could win a prize (like a tee shirt). The guys were cracking jokes all the time (especially if you were from New Jersey ) and it was a really fun dinner. They really knew their sports stuff! I got the sense that the "show" happens periodically every night, but I can't remember how often. We tried to look up the podcast but couldn't find it - we think it was just for fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a great, relaxing day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
Such a nice relaxing day - I love the idea of playing a board game. I might have to steal that and pack cards or something for the "down" day I'm hoping to do on our next trip.
Yes! I liked not running around having to be somewhere all the time. It was a nice change of pace. The kids had their electronic games, but a board game is nice on a rainy night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Fun day! I really need to get to Fantasia Gardens! I bet my nephews would love it.
Oh yes they would, especially if they're competitive!
******
Friday Sept 6
This morning we cleaned up a bit and had leftover sandwiches for breakfast. It was finally Disney Quest day! I'm sure I've mentioned that they've wanted to go there for like, 3 years? They were really excited While Dh and the boys headed to Downtown Disney, I took some time to finish the fish extender gifts for the cruise. (You wouldn't believe how heavy my bag was! Candy is heavy...) I got all the gifts organized by room. An awesome woman on the facebook page who organized the group, sent us a map of the rooms on the ship. I would later get a really good workout making deliveries!
When I was done, I realized that I was finally alone! It was weird getting on the bus and going somewhere by myself. I decided to leave my giant camera in the room so I could just mosey along and window shop without being weighed down. I spent a really nice afternoon just wandering around in all the shops, spending lots of time in the ones I hardly ever get to go in. I bought some small gifts for other folks, but I didn't spend too much money. I remembered that I've always wanted to try something from Babycakes, so I headed there for a snack. They had nice, pretty things, but I decided on a coconut donut that I had heard was good. I tried paying with my magic band, but this was the only place it didn't work. Luckily, I could pay at the smoothie kiosk next to Babycakes. I took my donut to find a nice place to sit, but it was very sunny and warm at the time, so it took a while to find somewhere in the shade. I finally found a nice spot near the dock of the Characters in Flight balloon. I sat and watched while they secured the (huge!) balloon and ate my very nice donut. The view of the water was nice and once in a while, there was a nice breeze.
After a while, I got a call from Dh, saying they were done for now. I walked over to Disney Quest and met up with them. Boy were they excited!
While they were talking my ears off, we were walking back to find something for a late lunch. It seemed that almost suddenly, black clouds rolled in and it started really raining. We made it all the way to the Harley Davidson store before the clouds seriously opened up on us! Yes. Our ponchos where nice and dry back in the room .
Hiding from the rain in the Harley store.
They cracked me up with how serious they were.
Finally, hunger drove us from our hiding place and we ventured outside. It was still raining pretty good, but the thunder had slowed down. Hot good food from Ireland sounded great right then, so we headed to Cookes. I don't know why there are no pics of our very nice lunch, but I know I took several with Dhs camera. I guess they got lost in cellphone cameraland I asked the CM for suggestions and he said they were famous for their fish and chips, so I got that. Titus got the kid's meal version. Dex got the chicken pot pie and Max got the beef one. Everything was delicious (the chicken pot pie was a little on the dry side.) And next time, I'm getting the kid's size fish and chips, it was the same size as mine! We would have stayed there longer, but the A/C was blasting and we were still wet - brrr! We braved the rain and headed back to the buses. (It was freezing on the bus too! ) Back in the room we dried off and warmed up. We had some down time and laundry to do before it was time to go back to DQ for round 2. It was only lightly drizzling that night, so we left the ponchos again. This time, while they played, I took Max's camera and got some shots of DTD at night.
I thought the trees were decorated with something until I looked closer - birds!
A sign on one of the construction walls.
He's holding a frog shaped piece of glass.
Rain stopped, back in business!
Never made it here, maybe next time
The weather today was... hot and sunny, then thunderstorms
The best thing today was... the kids finally getting to go to Disney Quest, 3 hours of shopping solo
The worst thing today was... being wet and cold in the A/C
Today we tried... Cookes of Dublin - Good quick service option, especially if tired of the normal stuff.
The most magical moment today was... watching the glass sculptor at Arribras Brothers.
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I remember the first time we went to Vegas, we were shocked at the size of the standard rooms too. 
and we ended up going to play mini-golf instead. Judging by the map, Fantasia Gardens was within walking distance. Weeellll... yes, it is technically within walking distance, but either we got weird directions from a CM or we didn't follow them right (this one), we ended up walking the long way around past the Yacht Club, past the Dolphin and finally down the path to the Gardens. 
It was a beautiful day but hot! By the time we got there, we were already tired and sweaty, but none of us wanted to go back. We had never played mini-golf and I kind of half expected it to be easy. Well it wasn't! It was pretty challenging but in the end, I won, and tried not to gloat, lol. 
We found the correct way back to the Beach Club, but by the time we got back, Dh was feeling the effects of the heat. 
He went back to the room for some cold water and a rest, while me and the kids picked up lunch at the Marketplace. Judging by the so-so reviews on the internet, I wasn't expecting too much, but I was pleasantly surprised - the food was good and fresh. We got our lunch to go and went back to the room to eat and relax. (No golf pictures, sigh. Max's battery was acting weird 
)
. It was okay - we spent a nice quiet evening, just chilling.
PassPorter Guide Author
Holly: 
Yes. Our ponchos where nice and dry back in the room 
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