I’m ridiculous and love Club Villain! (Feb - March 2016 Trip Report) update 7/27

[purplegirl1818]

Hello! I’m a little behind starting this trip report but I am seriously homesick and need to relive my trip to get me over the PDD (Post Disney Depression)!

A little background about us: us is comprised of myself and my husband. We are a young couple approaching our 2nd wedding anniversary. It is currently just the two of us and my husband has to stop me from checking flight prices to MCO about once a week (if I’m honest, it’s more like twice a week... he just doesn’t know about it ).

This is us:

My favorite ride is Splash Mountain, favorite character is Stitch, favorite princess is Anna, and I will run to Pecos Bill for their Southwest Salad. Hubby loves any ride that makes me happy and holds a slight edge in the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin series (although I he has never been the Galactic Hero that I once was!), he loves finding rare characters and making me have awkward encounters with them. And villains. He loves villains. He will not run for the Southwest Salad, but only because he knows I ordered him one too when I took off sprinting to Frontierland.

Accidental Disney addicts, I planned a trip to Disney in 2013 where we got engaged and left feeling a little underwhelmed about staying on site (I know, I know, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t get the value of moderates. We stayed at POR and it felt like an amazingly themed value resort. At that point I’d rather have stayed at a value. This point is important in this trip report). So we were engaged, and started planning a wedding. I had 2 dream wedding venues. Michigan Stadium (I’m an alum - Go Blue!) or Disney, and we ended up getting married through Disney Fairy Tale Weddings in Disney World. Words fail me when I try to explain how amazing the wedding was. DFTW is an amazing group and does a fantastic job. So on the same day a year after being engaged, we were married (April 2014). It was on this trip I became a deluxe snob. I rented DVC points so we stayed at the Boardwalk for most of our wedding/honeymoon stay, plus one night with a theme park view at the Grand and I fell in love.

Now, with the wedding package came an annual pass for my husband and I (they no longer do this :-() so in the year after our wedding we took another trip in September (our first MNNSHP) and January (never again, too many Brazilians). Needless to say, I had fallen in love with this amazing place. All in all, including our 2013 engagement trip, we’ve been to property 8 times - although one of those trips was a 36 hour whirlwind for our wedding planning session and menu tasting where we didn’t enter a park - and last fall we broke down and purchased DVC at the Poly. Even though my heart is at the Boardwalk, Poly was what they were selling and the fact that it’s on the monorail loop got us, so the Poly is home.

Okay! Hopefully that is enough background on us as Disney people. Onto the trip this report is about! Dates! Feb 27th - March 2nd. This trip was planned 10 days in advance. In case you haven’t been as crazy as we are and planned a trip in a week and a half, it’s the minimum time required to make sure you get a seat on ME. It was the end of winter and everyone I knew was moaning and groaning about needing a mental health day or two - myself included - and I knew my husband was itching to go to the Villains Club in HS, so I looked at hubby with my most pitiful puppy face and said “how bad do you want to go to Club Villain?” And he was on board.

We fly Spirit because I can play the Spirit game so they don’t nickle and dime us and I get to MCO cheap and fast. After playing around with some dates, we found decently priced flights and we already had purchased an AP for the year so no tickets needed. We have a September trip planned for our DVC points so we would pay out of pocket, and POFQ looked like a winner price wise. After we both checked with work, I booked our “mental health break” and dove into ADRs, FP+, and a Garden Grocer Order!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Table of Contents:

Planning... Can we plan this in less than 10 days?!

Day 1
The airport
POR - are we really home?
YC - Now we're home! And onto HS!
Club Villain part 1 - drinks
Club Villain part 2 - food
Club Villain part 3 - experience pt 1
Club Villain part 4 - experience pt 2
Club Villain part 5 - The last part!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Planning:

Disclosure: The first few entries won’t have many photos. Unless of course you want the photo I took in the parking garage so I would know where I parked!

So here we are, 10 days from our trip, and I have no FP+ and no ADRs planned. I planned the Club Villain first because that was the most important to us. Then I pulled up the handy dandy crowd calendars and EMH information to put together our FP+ game plan. Our initial plan:


Arrival day (Feb 27): MK
Feb 28: HS
Feb 29: AK/EP w/EMH for both FP at AK
March 1: MK
Departure day (March 2): HS w/EMH


We generally do early EMH then sync up our FP + in the late morning at the same park, grab lunch, then go back to the hotel to relax and pick another park for the evening. Of course there were no TSM or 7DMTR FP available but that didn’t matter to us. I only ever get RnR FP when there is no TSM and I love RnR, so nabbed that for HS tier 1.


For ADRs we managed to get Morimoto Asia for lunch and Teppan Edo for dinner on 2/29, and Club Villain on 3/1 for the 7:45PM show. That’s all we really wanted in terms of ADRs. I knew my 180 ADR window for our September trip would open soon after we got back so I wasn’t worried about anything but Club Villain.


We all know there are monkey wrenches thrown in when planning Disney trips. I’m here to tell you that you can plan the whole thing in under 10 days and be totally flexible because you’ll be back in 6 months, and there will still be crazy strange changes you have to make. First change was pretty easy. Rumor at the time was that Sadness and Joy would be moving to Character Spot by late February, so I had to switch all our AK fast passes from 2/29 to EP FP and we would go with no AK FP this trip. This was a pretty easy switch but it’s stressful when you’re 2-3 days from leaving and you need to make these changes. There was only one Character Spot FP left so I scheduled the day around it. And we all know Joy and Sadness JUST MOVED to the Character Spot and we are in April. Grumbles.

Second small wrench was at the last moment POR was cheaper than POFQ, so I switched resorts, meaning our ME tags would be wrong. I was told I could write the correct resort on the tag, so I did. I figured the two resorts were super close so if the luggage went to the wrong place it would be pretty close by anyway.

But the real wrench was the night before we left. I get a call from Disney Events. Our date/time of Club Villain was canceled. I start a small freak out because that was the ONE event that cinched our trip. Without Club Villain we probably wouldn’t have booked the trip and saved the money. Thankfully, I could switch to the 4:15pm show on the original date or change to 7:45 show on 2/27 (our arrival date). If you haven’t read about Club Villain, it’s all you care to drink alcohol, so the 4:15PM show was out in my mind. I have no interest in drinking that much midday. I’d rather get my fill and go to bed! So we switched to the 7:45 showing on our arrival day with the contingency that I could call Disney Events back and change again if our flight gets delayed for any reason. I will admit that I asked for a few extra Fast Passes here - we had planned on being in MK on our arrival day so I had to reschedule everything less than 24 hours before the fact. I asked for 3 extra FP on our arrival date so we could do SOMETHING fastpass wise on arrival day. I wasn’t going to argue if they said no, but they gave them to us with no pushback at all. They also threw in 3 extra FP for the following day (2/28), which I didn’t ask for. For the stress it caused, the extra FP really made up for it and I really appreciated that Disney did something for the next day too.


So our final pre-trip plan was:

Arrival day (Feb 27): HS w/Club Villain
Feb 28: HS w/EMH - chose afternoon park when we’re there
Feb 29: AK/EP w/EMH for both FP at AK, Morimoto lunch at DS and Teppan Edo dinner
March 1:MK - chose afternoon park when we’re there
Departure day (March 2): HS w/EMH, maybe MK if time

 

[purplegirl1818]

Departure day!

I’m only a morning person on days I’m going to Disney! We managed to get our ME tags and I updated them to POR with a permanent marker. We only use one suitcase because it’s just the two of us, so we loaded up and headed out around 6:30am for our 8:45 flight. We live about 30 minutes from the airport and I have to drive past it every morning to get to work - we actually ended up leaving pretty dang close to my normal time I leave every morning so I was on my normal “go to work” schedule but this morning I would be taking the exit I wish I could take every day! We got to the parking garage and were parked at 7:00 am on the dot. Bag drop and security we’re easy and we walked to the gate around 7:45am. Since we go to MCO so often, we have an airport routine based on what time we leave and where our gate is. If you ever fly out of the North Terminal at DTW (Detroit), at the very southern end there is a food stall called the Mediterranean Grill. First off, DTW is right outside Dearborn which has the high density of middle eastern immigrants - meaning the mediterranean/middle eastern food is delicious, even at the airport. But our routine has nothing to do with middle eastern food, we go here because the breakfast sandwiches they make are amazing. Hubby loves them. So I sent him off for his sandwich and ducked into a c-store to grab us some drinks. I picked up some snacks as well as a book (½ priced! Who knew the airport could have a good book sale?!), and sat with hubby as he ate his breakfast sandwich, then headed to the gate for boarding.

I will almost always pay extra with Spirit to book a seat before hand. I don’t care for the stress of not knowing and it’s worth extra $$ to not have it. On the way there all the “Big Front Seat” (Spirit’s version of first class) were gone, as were the emergency exit seats, so I opted for seats as close to the front of the plane as possible and we were in row 4. I always get the window seat while hubby gets the aisle. This flight we usually have someone between us, and this time we did. A nice lady sat between us and chatted with me about puppies, beaches and timeshares for the last half hour of the flight. The flight was uneventful and we landed on time around 11:30am.

I have a running joke with hubby about keeping up with me through MCO. ME magically whisked our luggage away so just a straight(ish) shot to the ME loading area! Being in row 4, we exiting the plane quickly (so with the extra $$!) and I took off! Hubby got stuck behind a wheelchair parade after the fake monorail as they squeeze you past security so I waited for him to catch up, then continued my sprint down the stairs to level 1!

Nothing could have prepared me for the wall of people we ran into around ME. We had never arrived at noon on a Saturday before and holy heck that was the exact same time as EVERYONE else. I know Disney is a lot of hurry up and wait, but don’t you wish they had a “seasoned traveler” lane like they do in some airports? Just shout a lane at me as I scan my MB on the way by! I got this! I’m mostly kidding, of course. And to their credit, it wasn’t long before some nice CM was pointing us toward the line to POR and shortly after that, onto a bus!

We were among the last on the bus and made our way to the back. At this time, Fuller House season 1 had been on Netflix for a few days, so I loaded up an episode and husband and I watched it all the way to our resort!

Up next: But you said you didn't love moderate resorts! Why are you at POR?

 

[purplegirl1818]

POR

As we clamoured off the Magical Express, a wave of nostalgia washed over me. This was our first Disney resort! The last time I had been at POR we left giggling at a man who had walked up to us and started telling us about a Disneyanna group local to our home, completely unprompted (we had been wearing Univ. of Michigan gear and the gentleman was local SE Michigan). And now, here I was, just as much of a Disney freak as the man we giggled at (#NoShame).

We made our way to resort check in (we don’t ever do online check in. No idea why, we just don’t) and were informed our room was ready. We had requested to be near a bus depot and that had been granted - we were on the first floor Magnolia Terrace, all the way in the back, near the East Depot. On our previous trip we had been in building 34, which was equally as long of a hike, so I expected the room to be far away, but my heart was already wishing to be back at the Boardwalk. The hallway may be long, but not as far away as Magnolia Terrace. I’d be almost to Epcot if I walked the distance from the lobby to Magnolia Terrace. But this trip is on a budget! I’m in Disney World so no grumpy faces!

I had to make a pit stop at the concierge desk because the check in CM couldn’t figure out my MB (it was a custom one from a previous trip), but after about a half hour we were off to find our room. We had left 15 degree weather in favor of 70 degrees, it was sunny, and I was in Disney! Yay! My inlaws had graciously gifted me a new Nikon DSLR for Christmas and I was DYING to use it, so I started by snapping photos on the walk to our room. The closer we got to the room, to be perfectly honest, the more disappointed I got. To get to the room, we had to go through construction and really dark hallways - and it was just really throwing off the Disney magic feeling. I thought I had prepared myself for large the resort is, but I didn’t like it. Then we got to the room, and it was just so dark. Don’t get me wrong, the resort is beautiful, but I just wasn’t digging it.

Some photos of the walk and room:

This is when my mind first wanders to changing resorts. I already know Yacht Club is the cheapest resort among those I would want to switch to, and there is availability. But no, I told myself, I refuse to be THAT ridiculous. Stop being crazy and relax. So I call bell services and get our Garden Grocer delivery (love them. Even for a short visit we make an order because we would spend $300 on soda/water alone without it).

As we’re waiting for bell services, I’m stewing. I’m wondering if/how we could change resorts, then I finally call the resorts line - just to ask what the process is - but there is a 60 min + wait. After our groceries are delivered, I go back to the lobby to ask my questions. The concierge CM that helped me was an absolute angel. I specifically spoke with the resort manager after I finished working with this CM because she was so wonderful. She answered my questions, got me rebooked at the Yacht Club, pre-checked me in and updated my MB to our new room, AND got me a taxi voucher - all with a smile. Here is where the title of my review comes in. I know, I know, I’m ridiculous, but I’ve been converted to a Deluxe Snob. I think I’m more of a “Crescent Lake” snob and it just so happens that all the resorts around Crescent Lake are deluxe more than I’m a Deluxe Snob. I value my vacation time and would rather pay extra to be able to walk to parks than be unhappy and waiting for busses. Please don’t think I’m a crazy entitled person based on this! I know perfectly well how crazy I am doing doing this and I still have some guilt 2 months later! I have no idea what the guilt is for either - I have the money to pay the difference, but I guess I just feel… ridiculous.

Moving on! After the room switch, I run (literally, I was skipping!) back to our POR room to grab our things, we grab a taxi and head to where my heart is. Crescent Lake.

Up next: Now I feel home!

 

[Mamanemo]

Good for you for switching resorts. We also felt the exact same way about POR. All I can say is that the rooms were kinda depressing and buildings felt old. Rather stay at a value resort. Give us the Beach Club or Poly any day. We are not resort snobs having stayed at the ASMovie many times but there are certain times of the year when that won't work because of the crowds.

 

[chunkymonkey]

My DH and I were there on the same days as you (Feb 27 to March 5) coincidentally staying at the Poly in a rented DVC studio. (It's sooo awesome you will love it). Wow that is amazing planning on such short notice! I'd totally do that someday if I could time off of work that quickly but I usually have to give a bit of notice. I would totally splurge and stay at deluxe resorts now. Before that I was always hesitant. But it works out now that you can rent DVC points which is what we do.

It was my birthday on Feb 27th, the day we arrived at WDW from our cruise on the Disney Fantasy. We went to MK that night so I could watch Wishes on my birthday...wasn't it FREEZING that day? We were soooo cold but we braved it because we were having so much fun. I will be starting my TR shortly too...I'm almost done with my cruise TR, and it's taken me about a month to write almost 7 days worth of stuff...so not bad, but WDW TRS are so much longer to write, at least for me.

You both are the cutest couple and would love to see more pics of your DFTW. I told my sister she NEEDS to do it and she's totally on board and loves Disney except for one very minor detail...she has no boyfriend or significant other to become her groom!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Good for you for switching resorts. We also felt the exact same way about POR. All I can say is that the rooms were kinda depressing and buildings felt old. Rather stay at a value resort. Give us the Beach Club or Poly any day. We are not resort snobs having stayed at the ASMovie many times but there are certain times of the year when that won't work because of the crowds.

I'm super glad I'm not alone here! We've stayed value many times too and I guess we just don't see the value in moderates. To us, they feel a lot like the values (just extra beautiful values!). Maybe I've learned my lesson now!

My DH and I were there on the same days as you (Feb 27 to March 5) coincidentally staying at the Poly in a rented DVC studio. (It's sooo awesome you will love it). Wow that is amazing planning on such short notice! I'd totally do that someday if I could time off of work that quickly but I usually have to give a bit of notice. I would totally splurge and stay at deluxe resorts now. Before that I was always hesitant. But it works out now that you can rent DVC points which is what we do.
It was my birthday on Feb 27th, the day we arrived at WDW from our cruise on the Disney Fantasy. We went to MK that night so I could watch Wishes on my birthday...wasn't it FREEZING that day? We were soooo cold but we braved it because we were having so much fun. I will be starting my TR shortly too...I'm almost done with my cruise TR, and it's taken me about a month to write almost 7 days worth of stuff...so not bad, but WDW TRS are so much longer to write, at least for me.
You both are the cutest couple and would love to see more pics of your DFTW. I told my sister she NEEDS to do it and she's totally on board and loves Disney except for one very minor detail...she has no boyfriend or significant other to become her groom!

Awesome! That's sooo cool we were there on the same days! We stayed at the Poly once in a studio and I will NEVER get over those bathrooms. Seriously spoiled now. I hope you all had an absolute BLAST!
Happy late birthday! It sounds like you had the perfect birthday set up! I'm so happy for you! We had come from snow so it wasn't FREEZING, but it was chilly! I didn't pack pants, so I know exactly what you're saying! We had to stand outside waiting for Club Villain to open and I was shivering. I'd LOVE to read your TR too!
And thank you so much! Our DFTW was amazing. Disney does weddings right! I have tons of photos up on my facebook page if you want I can PM you a link. And not having a groom is only a minor detail! Might as well start planning now! That way she will be totally ready when the time is right!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Quick life update: I had foot surgery on Friday so I'm now stuck on my butt all day. Thankfully, this means tons of time for updates here!


YC & HS:

Having had my wedding reception at the Beach Club, I still get teary eyed when I walk in and take a deep breath of the Beach/Yacht Club smell. It takes me back to my wedding day and all the happy memories. We had just switched resorts from POR to Yacht Club and the amazing Cast Member that helped us out at POR had already checked us into our room at the Yacht Club so we headed right up to our new room. It was a standard view room that looked out on the room and a partial view of the pool! No complaints here! I neglected to take a photo of the room but I took one of the view:

We get settled in and it’s now a little after 3PM. We had been in Orlando for almost 4 hours and I was getting restless to make it to a park! Because of the Club Villain snafu, we had our 3 Fastpasses to use today plus an additional 3 Disney had given us and I was ready to get moving! We caught a Friendship boat outside of the Yacht Club and were on our way!


Once we arrived at HS, we took a few PhotoPass photos (none of which I liked which is why there are none provided here). This was our first trip through bag check with heightened security and metal detectors so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We usually either don’t bring a bag or bring a drawstring bag when there are actually things we will need. Since I brought my DSLR for Club Villain tonight, we had the drawstring bag so bag check it was. This was the only strange bag check I had the entire time we were there - I have a neoprene case for my camera (much like this: http://cheesycam.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/neoprene-nikon-dslr-case.JPG). It fits flush and as soon as you open the top you can tell there is nothing else in there. The CM asked me to open the top, then asked if he could see under the camera. I kinda looked at him like “No, there’s nothing there… meaning there’s no space there so you really can’t see under the camera unless I remove it. It’s kinda impossible” - I didn’t say that, but I offered to remove the camera because that’s really the only way he could see under it. He declined my offer to remove the camera and instead thrust his fingers under the camera and returned it to me. I am in total support of the increased security so I wouldn’t have minded removing the camera… it was just a really weird interaction. And the only time anyone had a problem with the case the entire time we were there. So I was a little perplexed about the new process, THEN, I was randomly chosen to go through the metal detectors. That process was easy and only took about 20 extra seconds and we were headed to the entrance scanners!

Then hit up more photopass photographers!

We had only eaten a snack since our arrival so we headed to my favorite places to eat in HS - Starring Roles! We love their Turkey Sandwiches and they’re so big we can split a meal unless we are REALLY hungry. This time we just got one and planned on getting a cupcake but the family in front of us got the LAST Darth Vader Chocolate-Peanut Butter cupcake. After a brief 5 second pout, I remembered all the desserts we would be eating that evening at Club Villain and quickly moved on. The sandwich was amazing, as usual and we were so hungry I didn’t even have a chance to grab a photo.


Since we had 3 bonus FP+ ressies, we headed right toward TSM first. This was a few days before they opened the new line so half the standby line was covered by construction walls. I am in love with this ride. It’s so much fun and so immersive. Hubby and I have ridden it enough times that we’re trying to learn what triggers the bonus in each level. I have a lead in the TSMM series but it’s always a close game. This round was no exception and I won by a hair. When we popped back out, we see Sorcerer Mickey has a very short line. At the time Mickey was meeting where the old Pirates attraction was a few years back.


We had a very nice family waiting in front of us from New England. They had very thick New England accents and the cutest little girl with them. I love making friends in line at Disney - I know all the stimuli doesn’t always bring out the best in people, but I have met some of the nicest and most fun people in line, this family included. There were at least 3 generations on a family trip and watching every generation meet Sorcerer Mickey was a treat - even grammy was excited! Soon it was our turn - we don’t usually interact with character too long, just a quick hello and photo.

It was now about 4:30PM and our RnR FP had just opened. Since we had two more “freebie” FP to burn, we used one more TSMM (I was victorious again! Should I let the husband win once or twice?!) then headed toward Sunset Blvd. We didn’t want to criss cross the park again so we knew we would be hanging out on this side of the park for the remainder of the night. We were headed through downtown LA in our Limo at 4:58 PM. We’ve gotten enough “normal” ride photos so we try to make faces now. This was me trying to keep a straight face. As you can see, husband did an awesome job, but my scowl broke and we ended up with this gem:

RnR was followed up with our final “Freebie” FP at ToT and our 2nd “Planned” FP also at ToT. Unfortunately the ToT photopass photos did not link to my account (a pattern for this trip :-() and I haven’t called to find them yet, so you’ll just have to imagine me being a goof in our elevator until I call and find them! Our 3rd “Planned” FP had been Star Tours but we passed on it because of the hike over to the ride and because I will only usually ride it once a trip. I get motion sickness from it :-(. This put us around 7PM, when we could check in for Club Villain! So we headed to the entrance right around the RnR line entrance and waited for them to open the doors!


Up next: Club Villain… was it worth planning and entire trip to do?!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That's great you were able to get this trip in to go to Club Villian - the review I've read and video's I've seen make it look amazing! That kinda stinks that they concealed the Club Villains you were planning to go to but it is good you got some bonus FP .... so it kinda worked out for the best in the end.


I am glad you were able to switch resorts - everyone has the right to spend their money on what they want ... and life is too short to be unhappy on vacation if you can do something about it.


Seems like a really productive time in DHS and looking forward to your Club Villain review

 

[chunkymonkey]

Awesome! That's sooo cool we were there on the same days! We stayed at the Poly once in a studio and I will NEVER get over those bathrooms. Seriously spoiled now. I hope you all had an absolute BLAST!

Thank you! We sure did! It was an amazing trip!

Happy late birthday! It sounds like you had the perfect birthday set up! I'm so happy for you! We had come from snow so it wasn't FREEZING, but it was chilly! I didn't pack pants, so I know exactly what you're saying! We had to stand outside waiting for Club Villain to open and I was shivering. I'd LOVE to read your TR too!

Thank you! I was surprised at how cold it was at night but the days were really nice, weren't they? I loved the weather.
I'm gonna start my TR shortly!

And thank you so much! Our DFTW was amazing. Disney does weddings right! I have tons of photos up on my facebook page if you want I can PM you a link. And not having a groom is only a minor detail! Might as well start planning now! That way she will be totally ready when the time is right!

Oh yes please do! I'd love to see more of your amazing pictures! Thanks! I'll use it to tempt my sister to join mouse mingle or something! LOL

 

[chunkymonkey]

Sorry about your foot! I hope it heals quickly!

I didn't actually experience any long lines even with the extra security. I was expecting them but was pleasantly surprised. I think they did a good job there. Although we did get randomly selected a few times for the extra screening.

Me and my DH were also researching how to trigger the bonuses in TSMM! we got a few of them but they are really hard to get! We got an army tank that popped up and then we got the big machine at the end where you do the ring toss. It was fun but tough!

What a funny RnRC picture! I totally would have broken my pose...I never am able to do anything other than a scrunched up face when the ride starts...3...2...1...wheeee!

 

[purplegirl1818]

That's great you were able to get this trip in to go to Club Villian - the review I've read and video's I've seen make it look amazing! That kinda stinks that they concealed the Club Villains you were planning to go to but it is good you got some bonus FP .... so it kinda worked out for the best in the end.
I am glad you were able to switch resorts - everyone has the right to spend their money on what they want ... and life is too short to be unhappy on vacation if you can do something about it.
Seems like a really productive time in DHS and looking forward to your Club Villain review

Yep - it ended up being a great way to start the trip instead of coming home hungover! So not too bad for a little extra stress!

Sorry about your foot! I hope it heals quickly!

I didn't actually experience any long lines even with the extra security. I was expecting them but was pleasantly surprised. I think they did a good job there. Although we did get randomly selected a few times for the extra screening.
Me and my DH were also researching how to trigger the bonuses in TSMM! we got a few of them but they are really hard to get! We got an army tank that popped up and then we got the big machine at the end where you do the ring toss. It was fun but tough!
What a funny RnRC picture! I totally would have broken my pose...I never am able to do anything other than a scrunched up face when the ride starts...3...2...1...wheeee!

I'm happy about the extra security, but we did see some LOONG lines. I have a small rant in a few days about a horrible group of high school boys that wouldn't get up to let a little girl to sit in a monorail - well they tried to skip the huge bag check line and got sent to the end. It felt good to see after I was so angry with them. Thankfully we don't need much in the parks anymore!
The TSMM bonuses are so difficult! Next time I'm going to study them harder before we leave! And we have the at home game so we might have to practice lol. The army tank one is super tough! We haven't gotten that one to work yet!

 

[lynnirene]

Loving the report so far! I'm not a deluxe snob (yet...haven't had enough experience with them, hah) but I want wasn't that impressed with POR. It was pretty, and I probably would choose it over an All Star, but it was kinda meh.

Love your photos, and can't wait to hear about Club Villain since I'm going in a month!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Club Villain!


Check in for Club Villain began at about 7:15PM and we were led into the courtyard area outside the Club Villain building. They handed us each a glass of champagne and a booklet that had our table number and times to meet the villains. I didn’t take a good photo that evening of the booklet so here is one taken fresh today:

Front/back:

inside:

We were to sit at table 16 and were to meet the Evil Queen and Queen of Hearts at 8:20PM and Cruella/Maleficent at 9:25PM. We weren’t sure about the timing there, since the two times were so far apart and 8:20 seemed like a long time away! Everything on the Menu sounded amazing by this time. We hadn’t really eaten much that whole day. We had the breakfast sandwich that morning at the airport and shared a sandwich at Starring Roles, so we were ready!

As I mentioned, I had a new DSLR I was dying to use, so there will be some random photos that I took just for practice. I had borrowed a Gorillapod (mini tripod) from my Father in law for this event. Because of the low light, the shutter to the camera would need to be open for longer than I could stay still. I had packed the Gorilla Pod in my packed luggage and didn't switch it to my carry on when the date of our Villains Club party changed, so I didn't have it with me But I did my best! I was pretty happy with some of the photos for this being my first time with the new camera!

Champagne flute on our table. The blue light in the back left is ToT.

ToT:

We were able to get a high top table near the entrance to the building. There was a beautiful view of ToT, but the downside to the next half hour was that the sun had gone down and it was chilly. I tipped back my champagne hoping drinking it on an empty stomach would help me warm up quickly (it didn’t, but I did feel it!). We had about a half hour before they let us in at 7:45PM so we chatted with a great couple at the table next to us. They had also just flown in from Cali and were as hungry, chilly and excited as we were! CMs were also passing out bottled water during this time. They kept missing our area so I ended up chasing a CM down to get one. Fantasmic was at 7 (Which really meant more like 7:20? Not sure why but it started super late) so we were able to listen and watch the higher fireworks.


When Fantasmic was really going, I had one of those moments. Those teary-eyed, my life is perfect right now moments. You know? Like when you first hit Main Street and you see the Castle at the end? When your heart feels like it is swelling with happiness? There I stood, next to the love of my life, about to go into this amazing event in my favorite place in the world, Fantasmic booming, and everyone around me singing along to it, just like me. It was one of those perfect moments where I had to take a step back and REALLY be in the moment.


Fantasmic came to an end and it was time to go inside. The room the Club is in is beautiful. As a prior Disney Bride all I could think was "wow, they're so using this for receptions eventually." Hanging from the center of the room was a beautiful poisoned apple disco ball:

Husband and I made a plan: find the table. He gets the food, I get the drinks. We found the table quickly - we were in the outer circle of tables in the far, back right corner, near the Queen of Hearts area. We broke apart for step two and I headed to get the first set of drinks. I hit the right side (stage left) bar first where they were serving the Evil Queen’s Poisoned Cinnamon Apple and the Queen of Heart’s Bleeding Heart Sangria, getting one of each, plus a Coke for hubby.

I took those back to the table then back to the left side bar where I got Cruella’s Devious Dalmatian and Maleficent’s Cursed Violet and headed back to our table.


Hubby had already gotten a little bit of everything and met our table mates (another couple, older than us, but very nice. They only stayed a short while). I started by tasting the drinks. I was determined to get my money’s worth in drinks alone this evening (it was the $129/person price point when we went so I had a high bar to pass) so I wanted to eliminate drinks I didn’t want first. I started with Cruella’s Devious Dalmatian - White Chocolate Liqueur, milk, coconut milk, pineapple juice and boba pearls. This drink looked the coolest - the chefs did amazing with the theme. But I don’t like chocolate liqueur or boba pearls, so this was a no for me. However, it wasn’t a bad drink! I just didn’t like what was in it!

Next was the Cursed Violet - Citrus vodka, creme de Cassis, blackcurrant syrup and lemonade. This was my favorite of the drinks. It had just enough Vodka and lemonade so it was a real drink (because these events tend to water down their drinks - not a problem this evening) and still sweet enough to be good. I would pay for this drink any day.

The third drink I tried was the Poisoned Cinnamon Apple. Disclaimer - I don’t like cider. I KILLS me that I don’t like cider. We’re talking with alcohol or without! I want to like it so badly, but I don’t. Even though I didn’t like this drink, it was pretty good. I would imagine this would be a hit with most people. It tasted like fall - if that makes any sense whatsoever? It would be a good tailgating drink.

Last was my second favorite drink - the Bleeding Heart Sangria. Beso del Sol Sangria, Peach Schnapps, and pineapple juice. Now this felt a little light on the alcohol, but still had enough to make me happy. It was a very good, solid sangria. Nothing super special but very tasty - as you can see I drank most of the first glass before I bothered to take a photo!

Okay, I’m going to pause here and continue with the food review in the next update!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

ah, I love those moments ad Disney when you have a minute to just take it all in and realize that things are pretty darn good! Glad you got that even before the event started!

Seems like a good plan you guys had and makes sense to try all the drinks first to see which you liked best. Of the way the are described I think the two you liked the best are the ones I would want to drink the most of, if that makes sense - but they all seem pretty good which is nice!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm happy about the extra security, but we did see some LOONG lines. I have a small rant in a few days about a horrible group of high school boys that wouldn't get up to let a little girl to sit in a monorail - well they tried to skip the huge bag check line and got sent to the end. It felt good to see after I was so angry with them. Thankfully we don't need much in the parks anymore!
The TSMM bonuses are so difficult! Next time I'm going to study them harder before we leave! And we have the at home game so we might have to practice lol. The army tank one is super tough! We haven't gotten that one to work yet!

That's super mean about the boys not getting up! I'm glad they got what was coming...being sent to the back of the line LOL.
I didn't know there was a home game of TSMM???

Champagne flute on our table. The blue light in the back left is ToT.

Nice picture!!

When Fantasmic was really going, I had one of those moments. Those teary-eyed, my life is perfect right now moments. You know? Like when you first hit Main Street and you see the Castle at the end? When your heart feels like it is swelling with happiness? There I stood, next to the love of my life, about to go into this amazing event in my favorite place in the world, Fantasmic booming, and everyone around me singing along to it, just like me. It was one of those perfect moments where I had to take a step back and REALLY be in the moment.

OMG too funny because I had the exact same feeling on the exact same night!! It was my birthday night and I was watching Wishes in front of the castle with my DH and everything just felt perfect at that moment ya know?

OMG Everything that you have described sounds sooo good, especially all the different drinks! And that disco ball! I kinda wish I did this now, but we only had one saturday night on our trip and I was determined to go to MK and watch Wishes on my birthday, just so I could get a picture in front of the castle! I hope they are still offering this the next time I go!

 

[ariane37]

Joining in! DH and I attended the very first Club Villain back in January and had the BEST time EVER I actually wrote a TR and included a review of our night at CV. At the time I figured lots of people would write reviews, but yours is the first TR I've found with a Club Villain review besides mine so I'm anxious to read more

We were seated a little bit closer to the Evil Queen so more towards the front. My favorite drink was the sangria followed by the Cursed Violet. I'm so glad they keep extending this and I'm hopeful it eventually becomes permanent. I think it's the best "extra" event they've done!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Loving the report so far! I'm not a deluxe snob (yet...haven't had enough experience with them, hah) but I want wasn't that impressed with POR. It was pretty, and I probably would choose it over an All Star, but it was kinda meh.
Love your photos, and can't wait to hear about Club Villain since I'm going in a month!

Welcome! I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks that about POR! So many people LOVE it and it's just meh to me. I'd take the $ savings and stay at All Star if I had the choice between the two! Yay you're going to Club Villain! You will have a BLAST!

ah, I love those moments ad Disney when you have a minute to just take it all in and realize that things are pretty darn good! Glad you got that even before the event started!
Seems like a good plan you guys had and makes sense to try all the drinks first to see which you liked best. Of the way the are described I think the two you liked the best are the ones I would want to drink the most of, if that makes sense - but they all seem pretty good which is nice!

I'm glad you understood the feeling I was trying to portray. It's so difficult to put such a great feeling into words unless the reader has felt it.
I needed to get drinking to get my $$ worth! All the themes to the drinks were great though!

That's super mean about the boys not getting up! I'm glad they got what was coming...being sent to the back of the line LOL.
I didn't know there was a home game of TSMM???

OMG too funny because I had the exact same feeling on the exact same night!! It was my birthday night and I was watching Wishes in front of the castle with my DH and everything just felt perfect at that moment ya know?

OMG Everything that you have described sounds sooo good, especially all the different drinks! And that disco ball! I kinda wish I did this now, but we only had one saturday night on our trip and I was determined to go to MK and watch Wishes on my birthday, just so I could get a picture in front of the castle! I hope they are still offering this the next time I go!

Yes! We have it on PS3 I think! I can never beat hubby at the PS3 version but kick his butt at the real thing!
Ugh, that feeling! I'm so glad I could describe it well enough for people to understand. The crazy non-Disney people just don't get it!
I'm hoping Club Villain is extended! I'd go again in a heartbeat. My only overall advice would be to have the later show be adults only. I understand we're in Disney, but if you want adults out there dancing, we gonna need the kids to clear the dance floor! LOL and we were there till almost midnight, those toddlers were up wayyyy late!

Joining in! DH and I attended the very first Club Villain back in January and had the BEST time EVER I actually wrote a TR and included a review of our night at CV. At the time I figured lots of people would write reviews, but yours is the first TR I've found with a Club Villain review besides mine so I'm anxious to read more
We were seated a little bit closer to the Evil Queen so more towards the front. My favorite drink was the sangria followed by the Cursed Violet. I'm so glad they keep extending this and I'm hopeful it eventually becomes permanent. I think it's the best "extra" event they've done!

Welcome! I'd love to read your review, so you'll probably see me over there shortly!
I really hope it become permanent! I'd go there every trip!

 

[purplegirl1818]

Club Villain - the food


Whew! Now that we have tried the drinks, on to the food! Each villain had her own desserts, then there was “real” food at sautee, carving, and cast iron stations. Starting with the “real” food - the Sauteed Station had Creamy Polenta with fire kissed corn, shrimp sauteed with spicy andouille sausage, tomato, okra and onions, and rosemary crisp. When I originally read through the menu I thought those would all be different things, but it was all one dish. One delicious, heaven made, dish. It was basically corn polenta with a few shrimp and a crisp on top served in a mini Dutch Oven. But oh my, it was amazing. This was my favorite dish the entire night. The shrimp was spot on and the polenta was perfectly creamy. I wish I would have slowed down on the desserts (aka not “real” food) so I could have had more of this. Probably around 6 of these were consumed by my husband and I this evening.

Next was the carving station. They were serving chilled Haricot Verts with Muffuletta Vinaigrette, Bourbon bread pudding “beignet”, herb de Province Rubbed Striploin of Beef carved on aromatic black iron herbs and garlic, and a wild mushroom demi. Is it me or does Disney really have fun naming their dishes? Seriously. I didn’t know any of the following words: Haricot Verts with Muffuletta Vinaigrette. Well, I got vinaigrette, but haricot verts? Muffuletta? No idea.Jjust googled it to figure out what exactly it meant - Green beans. It means green beans! Just say green beans, Disney!

Now I slacked here (and with the next station) and didn’t take photos. But from what I can remember, it was basically a piece of meat with dressing, green beans and a beignet. The meat was okay, but I wasn’t in love after my polenta. Green beans were good. No complaints there (other than the crazy name). I did NOT like the beignet. It felt out of place and unneeded on the plate. It didn’t make sense to have an additional sweet when there were so many desserts and I didn’t think it tasted great.


Last was the Cast Iron Station serving vegetarian kale and collard slaw with watermelon vinaigrette, vegetarian dirty rice, vegetarian black eyed peas, cajun chicken thigh gumbo, and voodoo sticky pig wings with citrus gremolata. Again, no photo. Bad trip reporter. If you didn’t get this vegetarian, it was kinda stew on one side (the gumbo) rice on the other. Then the Voodoo Sticky Pig Wings were separate. I didn’t care for the gumbo, but I’m not a gumbo fan. Husband really enjoyed it though, it was probably his favorite food this evening. I did try the kale and collard slaw… about a bite of it. It was okay as far as healthy, green stuff goes, but there was so much more to be eaten! The pig wings were also good! A little fatty, but I really enjoyed them. Still, nothing compared to my polenta and shrimp. I could bathe in that stuff.


Before I move into the desserts, I want to take a step back to describe the room. The club was in one giant room. The center of the room was the dance floor, and at the head of the dance floor was the DJ and a stage that lined the entire far wall. The Villains were at the four corners of the room (not exactly in the corners, but for sake of description it was essentially the corner) and food stations lined each of the left and right walls between the villain areas. The two bar set ups were on either side of the stage. A video screen lined all four walls - this screen generally had the same thing playing all the way around the room. Then the DJ had another screen behind him at the head of the room. The room was gorgeous and despite there being at least 150-200 people in there, it never felt busy. The lines for the characters were nice and short due to the provided times, food was plentiful, quick and hot, AND the bar was even pretty quick! I may have waited 5 minutes at MOST and people were ordering 4 and 5 drinks at a time!


Okay - moving on to the desserts! Now we’ve been to a lot of dessert parties - Wishes, Illuminations, MVMCP, Osborne Spectacle of Lights, and the disastrous Sinister Soiree. We even hosted our own dessert party for our wedding (don’t even get me started on how freaking amazing that was). I know this wasn’t technically a dessert party, but it’s pretty much what we were expecting - something between a standard dessert party and the Sinister Soiree. But it was so much better. I expected rice krispie treats and cupcakes - but Disney went above and beyond here. Let’s start with Cruella’s desserts - a white panna cotta with black chocolate sauce and mint white dog bones AND a chocolate tart with paw prints. The panna cotta was… weird. Not bad! Just odd. I ate one to try it. Hubby liked those a lot more than I did. The chocolate tarts were okay. Some of the other desserts were much better so we didn’t get seconds here.

Next was Maleficent’s desserts - you’ll see her purple angel food cupcake with horns in the photo above. It was very good for an angel food cake and I appreciated the irony. Her second dessert was a cheesecake pushup with dark cherry gel. I had to eat the pushup right away because there was no room on our table to set it down, so I didn’t get a photo - but again - this one was weird! I don’t like cheesecake or cherry was a dud for me, but it was so creative! It was really a push pop with a layer of cheesecake and the cherry gel topping. It was too big for one bite, but there was no other way to eat it. Still, I give it props for being so unique.


The Evil Queen’s desserts both go the “cool but weird” category the pushup was in. First was a green and red truffle. It was a green truffle with a red gel and served in a spoon. Again, no photo because I couldn’t really set it down and had to eat it right away. It was good but I feel there would have been a better way to present it than a spoon. I give props for creativity, but I really would like to set my desserts down and not need to eat is as soon as I get it. And again, it was too big for one bite, making eating it awkward. The second dessert was a green apple mousse with green glitter glaze and as bizarre as it sounds. It was a thick green gel and cold. I couldn’t deal with the texture and hubby finished it off. Also - I know i’ve been pointing out the downsides of the past few desserts but don’t get me wrong, I still loved them all. The theming was amazing and they tasted good even if they weren’t my cup of tea. Disney was on their game here!


The last two desserts belonged to the Queen of Hearts. These were my favorites! A red velvet cupcake and heart shaped French macarons. The red velvet cupcake was moist and delicious, but the macarons were my favorites! They’ve started an obsession with me and I’ve made 4 batches since we’ve been home.

Incase you wanted to see my new obsession, here are chocolate macarons with peanut butter mousse and raspberry buttercream fillings:

Whew! That’s the end of the food review! Even though I touched on a few points that could be improved on, it was wonderful. All the food was! Anything I didn’t like was more a personal preference rather than bad food. Reviewing all the food has made me want to go back!


Up next: Characters and the show!