TavieP
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2012
My best friend, Steph, and I, just got back from 7 days at Boardwalk Villas, and it was one of our best trips yet.
We've been traveling to WDW together since we were both 14 and my mom used to take her along on our family vacations, and now it's 25 years later and she and I continue to go together every year. Sometimes we go with other family members (her young niece, her mother, mutual friends) but this year it was JUST the two of us, and for 7 whole days - a dazzlingly long time, for us! We usually go for 4 days or so. And boy, did we have fun.
We flew out of Newark on JetBlue, and it was a very easy flight (first row, boarding group A, and not full so we had an empty seat between us, which is very helpful since we're both bigger gals.) We landed at MCO around 11:30 and stopped at Chik-Fil-A for a quick bite before hopping DME over to the Boardwalk Villas. I last stayed there in 2013, and her last visit there was probably at least 10 years ago, so it was interesting to see the refreshed decor inside the one-bedroom. The runner is okay but I kind of miss the bedspreads. Oh well! While checking in, Shelly at the front desk overheard my mentioning our Amazon PrimeNow order, and helpfully offered to call Bell Services to have them send the order up, without our even having to ask! We settled in for the night.
The room looked good - the only issues we had the whole week were the fact that there was no baseboard under the patio door so the seam between the floor and door looked pretty dirty and grungy; the keypad on our door kept falling off; and the dryer was just verrrry weak, we had to dry every load 3 or 4 times to get them fully dry. All very minor inconveniences, not even really worth complaining about to the staff (so we didn't - I did mention them in our post-trip survey, though.)
Sunday, we woke up and Steph cooked us an excellent breakfast, before we headed off to the Magic Kingdom. We were able to take it slow and breezy, since we had a full week - no commando-style for us this trip!
Some fun moments:
-At the Haunted Mansion, Steph noticed that one of the gravestones read "Dearest Dorothea", and is located right behind the "Here lies dear old Fred" gravestone. Fred is my father's name, and Dorothea is my late mother's name - and she LOVED the Haunted Mansion. She died 6 years ago and I miss her so much, and so does Steph (she was like a second mother to her - Steph and I have been friends since first grade.) I wish I'd seen the gravestone in time to get a picture of it, but we were already being ushered into the Mansion, so next time!
-Once inside the Mansion, I noticed the family next to us because the dad kept shining his cellphone flashlight - I peered at him and saw he was actually shining it on a credit card and trying to type the numbers into his phone, while his kids tugged on his sleeves. I don't know what he was buying but I hope he got it done before they reached the doom buggies - such an odd place to be using your cell phone flashlight and waving your credit card around!
-On Peoplemover, we noticed a VERY angry set of duck parents protecting their brood of ducklings - utterly adorable. One little kid tried to chase one and the duck flew away, prompting him to shout in wonder, "I didn't know ducks could fly!" which cracked us up.
-We experienced the Rainy Day Character Cavalcade! In all my obsessive nerdiness, somehow I had NO IDEA that this rainy-day parade existed, so I was utterly delighted and so was Steph. Totally charming! (We didn't mind the rain, and it didn't last long.)
-On CoP, where I notice something ALWAYS goes a little wrong, the song "broke" for one transition and we had to/got to hear the isolated audio track of "John" singing along with the theme song... and he doesn't sound that hot when he's not backed up by the chorus! That made us laugh.
-On the way out of the park, we stopped by Guest Services where Ryan from Hinckley, IL helped fix an issue Steph was having with her MB, and he gave us anytime FP to use when we returned to the park on Thursday. We really appreciated that (and I tweeted about it using the #CastMemberCompliment hashtag to thank him.)
-We headed out around 7:30 PM, originally intending to try to grab a drink at Trader Sam's before heading back to our resort - however, serendipitously, I suggested we go get a drink at "Top of the World" in BLT instead - Steph had never been there, and I hadn't been since 2009. Boy, was I glad we did that - what a perfect evening! We had cocktails and shared a couple flatbreads for dinner, as well as a piece of heavenly 7-layer cake, and then we happened to be there just in time to see Happily Ever After from the balcony - I'd not yet seen the show in full yet. It was great! Also, our waitress, Deborah, happened to be from Staten Island (where Steph lives) so we bonded with her as well. Really a magical evening.
-On the monorail back to MK to get our bus home, a dad was singing Oasis and pole dancing on the handrails. He announced that he was going to get the pole as far between his buttcheeks as possible. When we laughed at him he said “Try it, you might like it!” We didn't try it, but we all enjoyed a good laugh with strangers - one of the joys of a Disney trip!
On Monday, we headed into Epcot via the International Gateway. Shortly after arriving, the strap on one of my Tevas broke - dagnabbit! I immediately ordered a new pair (I am DEVOTED to the Tevas and wear them ALL summer until they literally wear out!) with one-day shipping from Amazon, and the remaining straps got me through most of the day, but I did end up buying a pair of Mickey Crocs at Mousegears. With my DVC discount it wasn't too bad, and I was able to use them later in the trip at Blizzard Beach, so it worked out fine.
An extremely handsome young British cast member named Evan sold me a tea towel in the Twinings shop, and made pleasant chitchat as he rang up my purchase, asking if it was my first trip. I made the mistake of admitting it was my 40th trip (it was! my 40th since 1983 when I was 4 years old) and now I fear he will never fall in love with me. Sigh... I guess my boyfriend will be grateful for that.
More highlights of the day:
-We discovered that weird line of Sanrio egg merch at Mitsukoshi. I'm old so I'd never heard of Gudetama! I was obsessed and took many pictures, although we didn't actually purchase anything except face masks to use later.
-We tried Spice Road Table for the first time. I'd never been and I wish I'd realized (duh!) that we could have asked to be seated indoors, as we were VERY hot and sweaty - but after some mint iced teas and a nice breeze, it was fine and the food was delicious.
-Katie from Grand Rapids over in Heritage Manor reminded us of DVC and Annual Pass discounts after noticing my sliders (I'd forgotten to ask!) and re-rang up my purchase so I'd get my discount - super nice of her. More #CastMemberCompliments to log!
-We discovered, as bigger gals, that the back row of American Adventure is very comfortable.
-We also experienced some "big girl solidarity" on Soarin' - I was seated between Steph and another big gal who was part of the family next to us, and I kept apologizing because we were sort of packed in like sardines - and she said, "Hey, we share the struggle!" and actually linked arms with me for the ride - this total stranger! It was a total hoot and really made the experience fun, and her family was also having such a blast that we couldn't help laugh along with them.
-We indulged in some rather huge cupcakes over dinner at Sunshine Seasons. I tried the Rose Gold cupcake which was just waaaaaay too sweet, pretty though it was - I scraped off most of the icing and just nibbled the cake part.
-After dinner we walked back to Boardwalk, bought vodka for Bloody Mary's, and I was carded, to my utter delight. (Hey, I'm 39 next month.)
-Went swimming at the quiet pool, where Steph told delightful story about farting children she had noticed earlier that day, until real, loud children arrived to drive us away. So much for the "quiet" pool! Went back inside and did Japanese face masks purchased earlier in the day, while watching "Naked and Afraid" (which neither of us had seen before and were utterly fascinated... these people do that and don't even get any cash prize?!) before falling into exhausted sleep.
On Tuesday, we had a leisurely in-room breakfast (featuring aforementioned Bloody Mary's) before heading out to Blizzard Beach.
Thunderclouds ended the fun early so we didn't get to do more than the wave pool - which was plenty fun - but we shared some excellent mini-donuts before Ubering back to the resort to shower before dinner.
Dinner was our first experience at Raglan Road - and we loved it! We shared the "Irish Egg" appetizer and Steph actually "Woo-hoo"-ed when the egg arrived - and then was embarrassed - although after a flight of beer she felt considerably better about it.
After dinner, we visited the Dress Shop. I was tempted but bought nothing. Steph became obsessed with a Princess Leia print at the gallery shop and treated herself.
Wednesday was a late morning spent lounging in the room, and then the afternoon at Animal Kingdom where we enjoyed Tough to Be a Bug, and our EE and Kilimanjaro Safari FPs, before stopping for lunch at Yak & Yeti. We visited the gorillas and then decided to head out early to catch a movie at Disney Springs. On the way out of the park, we saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky. We caught a showing of "Book Club" with audience full of hooting laughing ladies (bachelorette party?) which I think is the ONLY way to see that movie.
We ended the day with a delicious dinner at Frontera Cocina (total serendipity!) featuring most amazing chocolate cake ever. Seriously. We shared the best piece of cake in the history of our friendship. It was all chocolate with a hint of chili spice. We really hit the cake jackpot. This really was a cake-heavy trip. I'm currently detoxing from all that cake.
On Thursday we headed back to the MK. There was sort of an unusually long wait for the bus, but we were visited by a bold and entertaining squirrel which the CM at the bus stop told us visits every single day, looking for handouts.
We had FPs for Peter Pan, and then headed to Country Bears which had an HILARIOUS CM who did intros for Tiki Room and Carousel of Progress before finally reading the Country Bear intro spiel off her leg and getting ejected by another CM. Highlight of the day, that was.
More highlights of the day:
-We saw "Great Moments in American History" with the Muppets at HoP, which neither of us had seen before. I'm a big Muppet fan and enjoyed this immensely.
-Another first in our 25 years of visits together: lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. Holy cow, that Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is no joke. It seems like we ate a HUGE amount of desserts on this trip. And they were all incredible.
-On the Jungle Cruise, I got busted by Skipper Scott for mouthing along with the punchlines .“How many YouTube videos did you watch?” he asked me as I blushed and shrugged and laughed. I tweeted about this later and Skipper Scott actually found my tweet and retweeted it with a "Thanks for putting up with me!"
-After Tiki Room and Steph allowing me a solo trip on Space Mountain (she finds the seats uncomfortable so doesn't ride it anymore, so I hadn't ridden it in some years in solidarity, but I missed it!). We hit up Monsters Laugh Floor and then we headed home early, because we are old and tired.
-Steph wanted to swim but a thunderstorm ruined that plan, so we watched "The Incredibles" until the storm ended, and then went down to Boardwalk Bakery for a light dinner - and, of course, a scoop at Ample Hills. There was a beautiful sunset.
On Friday, we once again enjoyed Bloody Mary's (why did we never think of that before??? so many years of Bloody Mary-free trips!) and one of Steph's scrumptious home-cooked breakfasts, before walking over to Epcot for Frozen Ever After, Three Caballeros, a soda break at DVC Lounge, and Nemo. Back to Resort for a nap, no swim though- another lightning and rainstorm! Poor Steph's swim plans kept getting thwarted, but I was glad that we kept hitting the resort room RIGHT before the thunderstorms hit!
We headed back to Epcot for dinner and decided to take a Friendship boat, as it was still drizzly out. We met a very nice man on the dock who chatted with us about being a retired Navy man from Ohio who traveled the world and now lives in Pensacola with his wife. We thanked him for his service.
Before dinner, we visited France to sniff the parfums and drool over the glacier. We also saw a little of “Alberta Bound” play in Canada - nice, but Steph really misses "Off Kilter". She has a weird obsession with "Off Kilter". Who am I to judge, really.
Dinner was yet ANOTHER first - crazy, after all these years - but we finally had dinner at Le Cellier. It was crazy delicious. CRAZY delicious. That soup. My god. I dream of it still.
We walked home and had a nice swim - for once it didn't rain us out! Came back, packed (sob) and watched Mickey cartoons before falling asleep early.
Saturday was checkout day - but also Studios day! We parked our bags with Bell Services in the morning and headed off to ride Aerosmith R&R and ToT. In between we had a chili cheese-dog, which was very daring considering it was between roller coasters, and also HUGE (I barely managed half of it.) I'm pleased to report there were no issues. We rode ToT with an hilariously terrified group of teens riding it for the first time. Always fun to watch the noobs.
I went to the Muppet Store looking for the new limited edition pin with the piece of the balloon, and Ebony at the Muppet store very helpful giving us directions to try the Dark Room at the beginning of the park - but of course, they were sold out. (I wasn't fast enough! Oh well.)
I rode Star Tours solo (Steph doesn't care for the seating on that one either) and then we serendipitously popped into Frozen Sing-Along for some snow and silliness as our goodbye to the Parks.
DME headed back to MCO that evening was absolutely cram-packed, but the plane ride home was blessedly short and uneventful.
And tomorrow... I return to work. *sob*
We've been traveling to WDW together since we were both 14 and my mom used to take her along on our family vacations, and now it's 25 years later and she and I continue to go together every year. Sometimes we go with other family members (her young niece, her mother, mutual friends) but this year it was JUST the two of us, and for 7 whole days - a dazzlingly long time, for us! We usually go for 4 days or so. And boy, did we have fun.
We flew out of Newark on JetBlue, and it was a very easy flight (first row, boarding group A, and not full so we had an empty seat between us, which is very helpful since we're both bigger gals.) We landed at MCO around 11:30 and stopped at Chik-Fil-A for a quick bite before hopping DME over to the Boardwalk Villas. I last stayed there in 2013, and her last visit there was probably at least 10 years ago, so it was interesting to see the refreshed decor inside the one-bedroom. The runner is okay but I kind of miss the bedspreads. Oh well! While checking in, Shelly at the front desk overheard my mentioning our Amazon PrimeNow order, and helpfully offered to call Bell Services to have them send the order up, without our even having to ask! We settled in for the night.
The room looked good - the only issues we had the whole week were the fact that there was no baseboard under the patio door so the seam between the floor and door looked pretty dirty and grungy; the keypad on our door kept falling off; and the dryer was just verrrry weak, we had to dry every load 3 or 4 times to get them fully dry. All very minor inconveniences, not even really worth complaining about to the staff (so we didn't - I did mention them in our post-trip survey, though.)
Sunday, we woke up and Steph cooked us an excellent breakfast, before we headed off to the Magic Kingdom. We were able to take it slow and breezy, since we had a full week - no commando-style for us this trip!
Some fun moments:
-At the Haunted Mansion, Steph noticed that one of the gravestones read "Dearest Dorothea", and is located right behind the "Here lies dear old Fred" gravestone. Fred is my father's name, and Dorothea is my late mother's name - and she LOVED the Haunted Mansion. She died 6 years ago and I miss her so much, and so does Steph (she was like a second mother to her - Steph and I have been friends since first grade.) I wish I'd seen the gravestone in time to get a picture of it, but we were already being ushered into the Mansion, so next time!
-Once inside the Mansion, I noticed the family next to us because the dad kept shining his cellphone flashlight - I peered at him and saw he was actually shining it on a credit card and trying to type the numbers into his phone, while his kids tugged on his sleeves. I don't know what he was buying but I hope he got it done before they reached the doom buggies - such an odd place to be using your cell phone flashlight and waving your credit card around!
-On Peoplemover, we noticed a VERY angry set of duck parents protecting their brood of ducklings - utterly adorable. One little kid tried to chase one and the duck flew away, prompting him to shout in wonder, "I didn't know ducks could fly!" which cracked us up.
-We experienced the Rainy Day Character Cavalcade! In all my obsessive nerdiness, somehow I had NO IDEA that this rainy-day parade existed, so I was utterly delighted and so was Steph. Totally charming! (We didn't mind the rain, and it didn't last long.)
-On CoP, where I notice something ALWAYS goes a little wrong, the song "broke" for one transition and we had to/got to hear the isolated audio track of "John" singing along with the theme song... and he doesn't sound that hot when he's not backed up by the chorus! That made us laugh.
-On the way out of the park, we stopped by Guest Services where Ryan from Hinckley, IL helped fix an issue Steph was having with her MB, and he gave us anytime FP to use when we returned to the park on Thursday. We really appreciated that (and I tweeted about it using the #CastMemberCompliment hashtag to thank him.)
-We headed out around 7:30 PM, originally intending to try to grab a drink at Trader Sam's before heading back to our resort - however, serendipitously, I suggested we go get a drink at "Top of the World" in BLT instead - Steph had never been there, and I hadn't been since 2009. Boy, was I glad we did that - what a perfect evening! We had cocktails and shared a couple flatbreads for dinner, as well as a piece of heavenly 7-layer cake, and then we happened to be there just in time to see Happily Ever After from the balcony - I'd not yet seen the show in full yet. It was great! Also, our waitress, Deborah, happened to be from Staten Island (where Steph lives) so we bonded with her as well. Really a magical evening.
-On the monorail back to MK to get our bus home, a dad was singing Oasis and pole dancing on the handrails. He announced that he was going to get the pole as far between his buttcheeks as possible. When we laughed at him he said “Try it, you might like it!” We didn't try it, but we all enjoyed a good laugh with strangers - one of the joys of a Disney trip!
On Monday, we headed into Epcot via the International Gateway. Shortly after arriving, the strap on one of my Tevas broke - dagnabbit! I immediately ordered a new pair (I am DEVOTED to the Tevas and wear them ALL summer until they literally wear out!) with one-day shipping from Amazon, and the remaining straps got me through most of the day, but I did end up buying a pair of Mickey Crocs at Mousegears. With my DVC discount it wasn't too bad, and I was able to use them later in the trip at Blizzard Beach, so it worked out fine.
An extremely handsome young British cast member named Evan sold me a tea towel in the Twinings shop, and made pleasant chitchat as he rang up my purchase, asking if it was my first trip. I made the mistake of admitting it was my 40th trip (it was! my 40th since 1983 when I was 4 years old) and now I fear he will never fall in love with me. Sigh... I guess my boyfriend will be grateful for that.
More highlights of the day:
-We discovered that weird line of Sanrio egg merch at Mitsukoshi. I'm old so I'd never heard of Gudetama! I was obsessed and took many pictures, although we didn't actually purchase anything except face masks to use later.
-We tried Spice Road Table for the first time. I'd never been and I wish I'd realized (duh!) that we could have asked to be seated indoors, as we were VERY hot and sweaty - but after some mint iced teas and a nice breeze, it was fine and the food was delicious.
-Katie from Grand Rapids over in Heritage Manor reminded us of DVC and Annual Pass discounts after noticing my sliders (I'd forgotten to ask!) and re-rang up my purchase so I'd get my discount - super nice of her. More #CastMemberCompliments to log!
-We discovered, as bigger gals, that the back row of American Adventure is very comfortable.
-We also experienced some "big girl solidarity" on Soarin' - I was seated between Steph and another big gal who was part of the family next to us, and I kept apologizing because we were sort of packed in like sardines - and she said, "Hey, we share the struggle!" and actually linked arms with me for the ride - this total stranger! It was a total hoot and really made the experience fun, and her family was also having such a blast that we couldn't help laugh along with them.
-We indulged in some rather huge cupcakes over dinner at Sunshine Seasons. I tried the Rose Gold cupcake which was just waaaaaay too sweet, pretty though it was - I scraped off most of the icing and just nibbled the cake part.
-After dinner we walked back to Boardwalk, bought vodka for Bloody Mary's, and I was carded, to my utter delight. (Hey, I'm 39 next month.)
-Went swimming at the quiet pool, where Steph told delightful story about farting children she had noticed earlier that day, until real, loud children arrived to drive us away. So much for the "quiet" pool! Went back inside and did Japanese face masks purchased earlier in the day, while watching "Naked and Afraid" (which neither of us had seen before and were utterly fascinated... these people do that and don't even get any cash prize?!) before falling into exhausted sleep.
On Tuesday, we had a leisurely in-room breakfast (featuring aforementioned Bloody Mary's) before heading out to Blizzard Beach.
Thunderclouds ended the fun early so we didn't get to do more than the wave pool - which was plenty fun - but we shared some excellent mini-donuts before Ubering back to the resort to shower before dinner.
Dinner was our first experience at Raglan Road - and we loved it! We shared the "Irish Egg" appetizer and Steph actually "Woo-hoo"-ed when the egg arrived - and then was embarrassed - although after a flight of beer she felt considerably better about it.
After dinner, we visited the Dress Shop. I was tempted but bought nothing. Steph became obsessed with a Princess Leia print at the gallery shop and treated herself.
Wednesday was a late morning spent lounging in the room, and then the afternoon at Animal Kingdom where we enjoyed Tough to Be a Bug, and our EE and Kilimanjaro Safari FPs, before stopping for lunch at Yak & Yeti. We visited the gorillas and then decided to head out early to catch a movie at Disney Springs. On the way out of the park, we saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky. We caught a showing of "Book Club" with audience full of hooting laughing ladies (bachelorette party?) which I think is the ONLY way to see that movie.
We ended the day with a delicious dinner at Frontera Cocina (total serendipity!) featuring most amazing chocolate cake ever. Seriously. We shared the best piece of cake in the history of our friendship. It was all chocolate with a hint of chili spice. We really hit the cake jackpot. This really was a cake-heavy trip. I'm currently detoxing from all that cake.
On Thursday we headed back to the MK. There was sort of an unusually long wait for the bus, but we were visited by a bold and entertaining squirrel which the CM at the bus stop told us visits every single day, looking for handouts.
We had FPs for Peter Pan, and then headed to Country Bears which had an HILARIOUS CM who did intros for Tiki Room and Carousel of Progress before finally reading the Country Bear intro spiel off her leg and getting ejected by another CM. Highlight of the day, that was.
More highlights of the day:
-We saw "Great Moments in American History" with the Muppets at HoP, which neither of us had seen before. I'm a big Muppet fan and enjoyed this immensely.
-Another first in our 25 years of visits together: lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. Holy cow, that Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is no joke. It seems like we ate a HUGE amount of desserts on this trip. And they were all incredible.
-On the Jungle Cruise, I got busted by Skipper Scott for mouthing along with the punchlines .“How many YouTube videos did you watch?” he asked me as I blushed and shrugged and laughed. I tweeted about this later and Skipper Scott actually found my tweet and retweeted it with a "Thanks for putting up with me!"
-After Tiki Room and Steph allowing me a solo trip on Space Mountain (she finds the seats uncomfortable so doesn't ride it anymore, so I hadn't ridden it in some years in solidarity, but I missed it!). We hit up Monsters Laugh Floor and then we headed home early, because we are old and tired.
-Steph wanted to swim but a thunderstorm ruined that plan, so we watched "The Incredibles" until the storm ended, and then went down to Boardwalk Bakery for a light dinner - and, of course, a scoop at Ample Hills. There was a beautiful sunset.
On Friday, we once again enjoyed Bloody Mary's (why did we never think of that before??? so many years of Bloody Mary-free trips!) and one of Steph's scrumptious home-cooked breakfasts, before walking over to Epcot for Frozen Ever After, Three Caballeros, a soda break at DVC Lounge, and Nemo. Back to Resort for a nap, no swim though- another lightning and rainstorm! Poor Steph's swim plans kept getting thwarted, but I was glad that we kept hitting the resort room RIGHT before the thunderstorms hit!
We headed back to Epcot for dinner and decided to take a Friendship boat, as it was still drizzly out. We met a very nice man on the dock who chatted with us about being a retired Navy man from Ohio who traveled the world and now lives in Pensacola with his wife. We thanked him for his service.
Before dinner, we visited France to sniff the parfums and drool over the glacier. We also saw a little of “Alberta Bound” play in Canada - nice, but Steph really misses "Off Kilter". She has a weird obsession with "Off Kilter". Who am I to judge, really.
Dinner was yet ANOTHER first - crazy, after all these years - but we finally had dinner at Le Cellier. It was crazy delicious. CRAZY delicious. That soup. My god. I dream of it still.
We walked home and had a nice swim - for once it didn't rain us out! Came back, packed (sob) and watched Mickey cartoons before falling asleep early.
Saturday was checkout day - but also Studios day! We parked our bags with Bell Services in the morning and headed off to ride Aerosmith R&R and ToT. In between we had a chili cheese-dog, which was very daring considering it was between roller coasters, and also HUGE (I barely managed half of it.) I'm pleased to report there were no issues. We rode ToT with an hilariously terrified group of teens riding it for the first time. Always fun to watch the noobs.
I went to the Muppet Store looking for the new limited edition pin with the piece of the balloon, and Ebony at the Muppet store very helpful giving us directions to try the Dark Room at the beginning of the park - but of course, they were sold out. (I wasn't fast enough! Oh well.)
I rode Star Tours solo (Steph doesn't care for the seating on that one either) and then we serendipitously popped into Frozen Sing-Along for some snow and silliness as our goodbye to the Parks.
DME headed back to MCO that evening was absolutely cram-packed, but the plane ride home was blessedly short and uneventful.
And tomorrow... I return to work. *sob*
