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[dsteiny23]

Originally Posted by honeybee723

So you're coming to Baltimore? Just as a tourist or do you have family here?

Just a tourist. We love the Inner Harbor and haven't taken my 5 year old with us yet. We did do a big Disney trip 2 years ago for my 40th b-day and my 10th anniversary and for the second half of the trip my mother and my in-laws joined us. This should be a fun trip. We're planning on doing the Duck tour. Never have. We do have friends in Columbia that we're hoping to see.

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

1 month from today!!!

I know!!! I can't wait!!!

Originally Posted by countrykid

My mom & dad lived in FL way before having me. They were there the day SpaceMountain opened!!! AWESOME!!! They took my younger sister & me in 1989. If I am right, that is the year MGM now Hollywood studios opened!! Awesome yet again!! My husband & I took our kids Christmas 2002 we visited all 4 parks! That is the only time I have ever been to all the parks. In Aug 2004 my BFF & I took my kids to MK 1 day & HS 1 day. It was great! Her uncle works there so we got free tickets!! Again awesome!!! There is so much I have never done in the World, but I read about it all the time! I am sure I will have tons to share with my mom & kids!! Maybe one day I can work for Disney!! They could just put a phone line in my house & I will help sell trips to people!! Or maybe I can be on the mom's panel one day!! lol!!
I am looking forward to your trip report Melissa!! I know you'll have a wonderful time!! There is just something about free tickets!!

Free tickets are the best!!! Anything free is good to me. So you still have lots to see and do when you visit WDW. You're going to have so much fun!

Originally Posted by dsteiny23

Just a tourist. We love the Inner Harbor and haven't taken my 5 year old with us yet. We did do a big Disney trip 2 years ago for my 40th b-day and my 10th anniversary and for the second half of the trip my mother and my in-laws joined us. This should be a fun trip. We're planning on doing the Duck tour. Never have. We do have friends in Columbia that we're hoping to see.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they got rid of the Duck tours here. Apparently in some other state where they had them a couple of people got killed during the actual boat portion so they stopped running them everywhere. Since I work in the city we used to see them everywhere and it was sad to see them go since they were such a hit here.

[countrykid]

O & we will be in Disney at the same time!!! Well I leave the same day I won't be in the parks until Sept 25 If you are like me it's getting more & more exciting as the days pass!!! My kids have a count down chain & everyday remind me how many days till we leave!! I love that they love Disney!!

[dsteiny23]

Originally Posted by honeybee723

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they got rid of the Duck tours here. Apparently in some other state where they had them a couple of people got killed during the actual boat portion so they stopped running them everywhere. Since I work in the city we used to see them everywhere and it was sad to see them go since they were such a hit here.

Oh, well. At least we know now instead of finding out when we get there. Actually, I remember hearing about it and being the nervous mother that I am, thinking "maybe we won't ride the ducks" But then figured, what are the odds? I was just going to put my boys in life jackets and strap them to me!
There is so much fun stuff to do there anyway. And we haven't been to the zoo in about 7 years either.
Thanks for the info.

[Wolfy6688]

I went to school in Baltimore! Just for one semester, then I had to come home due to family problems. I LOVE the Inner Harbor though, I can't wait to go back. I miss Baltimore very, very much.

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by countrykid

O & we will be in Disney at the same time!!! Well I leave the same day I won't be in the parks until Sept 25 If you are like me it's getting more & more exciting as the days pass!!! My kids have a count down chain & everyday remind me how many days till we leave!! I love that they love Disney!!

So you'll be there at the same time too? That's great! Hope is too little to understand the whole countdown thing but you'll see in an upcoming part of the report what I did for my friend's girls.

Originally Posted by dsteiny23

Oh, well. At least we know now instead of finding out when we get there. Actually, I remember hearing about it and being the nervous mother that I am, thinking "maybe we won't ride the ducks" But then figured, what are the odds? I was just going to put my boys in life jackets and strap them to me!
There is so much fun stuff to do there anyway. And we haven't been to the zoo in about 7 years either.
Thanks for the info.

No problem. I actually didn't know about it until one of my co-workers told me that was the reason why. You're right, there is still plenty to do around here to keep you busy!

Originally Posted by Wolfy6688

I went to school in Baltimore! Just for one semester, then I had to come home due to family problems. I LOVE the Inner Harbor though, I can't wait to go back. I miss Baltimore very, very much.

Where did you go to school? The inner harbor is a very nice place, but sadly, it's not as safe as it used to be...really, neither is Baltimore. That's why I only work in the city and live in the country.

[scdisneyfan]

I girls only trips My mother and I haven't gotten to travel together in years but I am hoping in the next year or two we can finally go to Disney together! Your daughter is just too cute too This sounds like a great trip!
I'm like you....I can go to Disney multiple times within the year and still want to go back...my DBF on the other hand is fine with one visit a year for now

[doccoc2002]

Joining in...since we will be there at about the same time...we have daughters' around the same age mine just turned 14months yesterday! My mom LOVES Baltimore...sadly I've never gone but she wants to take the family sometime...
Can't wait to read more of your plans! Sorry you had a bad experience at CM's but free tickets are great! DISNEY is great! My mom and I are pretty close too...She's coming along with us again this year!

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by scdisneyfan

I girls only trips My mother and I haven't gotten to travel together in years but I am hoping in the next year or two we can finally go to Disney together! Your daughter is just too cute too This sounds like a great trip!
I'm like you....I can go to Disney multiple times within the year and still want to go back...my DBF on the other hand is fine with one visit a year for now

I keep trying to get him to go with me more than once a year, but it only happened once, and that was before we got married...hmmm? I guess he knew what he was doing. Keep working on your BF, hopefully he'll come around quicker than my DH is. BTW, I've been lurking on your TR, maybe I should take my own advice and say hello!

Originally Posted by doccoc2002

Joining in...since we will be there at about the same time...we have daughters' around the same age mine just turned 14months yesterday! My mom LOVES Baltimore...sadly I've never gone but she wants to take the family sometime...
Can't wait to read more of your plans! Sorry you had a bad experience at CM's but free tickets are great! DISNEY is great! My mom and I are pretty close too...She's coming along with us again this year!

Hi! I saw on your TR that our daughter's were about the same age and traveling at the same time! It seems a lot of PPer's are going around the same time. Too bad we're all going to be in different places. I guess from living here all my life I don't think there's that much to do, but from an outsiders point-of-view, there is a lot of history and things to see in Baltimore. And moms make the best travel buddies don't they?

[lissybri]

Great start Melissa. Can't wait to read about your trip. I'm so happy for you that you get to go back so soon. You have a beautiful family. BTW, the duck boat accident was here in Philly. One of the attorneys I work for is a correspondent on Fox 29 news and did a whole story on it.

[poohbr2015]

Liz beat me to it, I was going to say that the accident was in philly not that long ago, the boat stalled and a barge ran into it. We were in Baltimore one year when it became pretty windy and one of the boats flipped over in the harbour. We like the aquarium and the zoo but yes after dark the city can be a little scary especially if you are walking around! There is a childrens museum there too that I eventually want to take Sam to.

I agree on saving the money, so even though I would love to go in May around our anniversary, I am seriously thinking of trying to do something in April the week before Sam turns 3! I have to weigh out the options, since April takes more points for dvc, I don't know which is better, using more points or buying a childrens pass!

[scrappyjae]

Jumping on here as well. Living through others as we aren't taking a trip anywhere this year. I am trying to squeeze something out next year for the big 40 B-day.

I've been to Baltimore several times, but like others say, it is getting a little unsafe. Plus, it's almost 3 hrs away from me. We do DC more often, parking at a Metro station and using Metro to travel around. A lot more convinent.

Hoping you have a great trip. Can't wait to see where you decide to stay.

[scdisneyfan]

Well you definitely should just say hello I love to read TR's but sometimes I just dont have time to read all the ones I want to. But, lately I am able to do so at work and right before I go to bed so its been nice
DBF might come around who knows right? But, I can always go multiple times. In fact I thought about trying to go back in december but I dont think that is going to work

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by lissybri

Great start Melissa. Can't wait to read about your trip. I'm so happy for you that you get to go back so soon. You have a beautiful family. BTW, the duck boat accident was here in Philly. One of the attorneys I work for is a correspondent on Fox 29 news and did a whole story on it.

Thank you so much! Wow! I didn't know it was that close to us, and at first I had just thought it was because they weren't pulling in enough business to keep it going. How sad.

Originally Posted by poohbr2015

Liz beat me to it, I was going to say that the accident was in philly not that long ago, the boat stalled and a barge ran into it. We were in Baltimore one year when it became pretty windy and one of the boats flipped over in the harbour. We like the aquarium and the zoo but yes after dark the city can be a little scary especially if you are walking around! There is a childrens museum there too that I eventually want to take Sam to.

I agree on saving the money, so even though I would love to go in May around our anniversary, I am seriously thinking of trying to do something in April the week before Sam turns 3! I have to weigh out the options, since April takes more points for dvc, I don't know which is better, using more points or buying a childrens pass!

The children's museum is Port Discovery, and I've heard great things about it. When Hope gets older we will definitely be taking her there. They even used to have a balloon ride like they do at DTD now, but they got rid of it because people got stuck during high winds and they had to be rescued.

Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to save money, but you're right, it's definitely more points in April so you'll have to calculate what works best. Let me know what you come up with.

Originally Posted by scrappyjae

Jumping on here as well. Living through others as we aren't taking a trip anywhere this year. I am trying to squeeze something out next year for the big 40 B-day.

I've been to Baltimore several times, but like others say, it is getting a little unsafe. Plus, it's almost 3 hrs away from me. We do DC more often, parking at a Metro station and using Metro to travel around. A lot more convinent.

Hoping you have a great trip. Can't wait to see where you decide to stay.

Hi and thanks for joining in! After this trip that's what I'll be doing...living through other trip reports. I just heard on the news this morning that Baltimore is in the top 5 of the worst cities in the nation. There's no place like home right?

Originally Posted by scdisneyfan

Well you definitely should just say hello I love to read TR's but sometimes I just dont have time to read all the ones I want to. But, lately I am able to do so at work and right before I go to bed so its been nice
DBF might come around who knows right? But, I can always go multiple times. In fact I thought about trying to go back in december but I dont think that is going to work

I'm hopping over to your PTR on my lunch break. I usually try to get on the boards in the morning when I get here and during my lunch break, but I seem to be on here more than that...it's an addiction really. Plus, I'm a little slower than normal so I have more free time. Fingers crossed that you'll be able to go in December, but if not, at least you're going at the end of September...we'll just miss each other.

[honeybee723]

We knew we were only going to two parks while we were there because the passes that were given to us weren’t hopper passes. That would have been the bestest gift from that CM, but alas it was only 2 regular 2-day passes. So the plan was to pick what two parks that would be and then figuring out the hotel from that decision.

Our favorite park is Epcot, so that was a no-brainer. I could probably spend my whole vacation in this park, that’s how much I it, but we couldn’t do that to poor little Hope, so for her sake we opted for the second park to be Magic Kingdom. Plus, if you don’t see the castle then is it really a vacation to Disney World? The other great things that came along with visiting the MK was that the Electrical Light Parade would still be running and I get to see my favorite show…Wishes. Some of you know that last time I wasn’t able to see it because Hope fell asleep during SpectroMagic and I didn’t want to wake her up to the sound of fireworks. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I get to enjoy Wishes this time without having a sleeping baby to worry about.

So the parks had been decided and that left us with where to stay. My friends were staying at the WL, and as much as I like WL, I didn’t want to stay there this time. It was between BLT or the BCV. I’ve always wanted to stay at the Beach Club. The proximity to Epcot is the just wonderful, plus I’ve been wanting to go swimming in Stormalong Bay, and now that I have a child who loves the water I thought that would be perfect. However, the ultimate reason to stay there is this little piece of heaven…

It doesn’t look like much but it is fantabulous!!! A vanilla milkshake from Beaches and Cream. Need I say more?!?

Okay, now ever since I was a child I have never had the desire to stay at the Contemporary. I know I know, some of you are going to be shocked to hear this, but it just doesn’t look that welcoming, and it wasn’t on my bucket list. However, staying on the monorail line is something that I’ve only gotten to do once when we stayed at the Grand Floridian, and it was something that I would love to do again. With going to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, staying at the Bay Lake Towers would seem like the best option, but I just couldn’t get past that cold feel of the Contemporary.

I asked my mom what she wanted to do, and she was leaning towards the BCV just like me, but we both knew it wasn’t in our hands at all. We were booking this trip a little late, so it was all dependent upon the availability at the resorts. So we called DVC member services with our dates (coming up in the next installment) and waited to hear what was available for us. Just so you know, I have only gotten my first resort choice once, and that was on our last vacation when we stayed at the Boardwalk Villas, so I wasn’t sure what was going to happen this time, and I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to stay yet. I kept going back and forth between BLT and the BCV, so it was a 50/50 shot that I would be happy. The CM told me that only one of those resorts were available for the dates we would be there, and it ended up being….wait for it….(this is my drum roll by the way)
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The Beach Club Villas!!!

Secretly I had hoped it would be this resort, but then again, I wouldn’t have been upset if it had ended up being BLT. Maybe one day I will get to stay there, and maybe one day it will help me see the Contemporary in a different light, but that ain’t happening this time.

I finally get to swim here:


And I will get to have my little taste of heaven any time I would like from this wonderful place:


So all in all it ended up being a very successful call to member services. Next time we go we want to stay at AKL Club Level and I’ve heard it’s very hard to get it through the DVC, so maybe since we’ve gotten our 1st choice resort twice in a row, the third time will be the charm! All you need is a little pixie dust.

Up Next: Very Important Dates