baseballmickey
DDC #644
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2008
We eventually forced ourselves to leave the balcony. We could have enjoyed that view for hours more, but we were hungry and we knew we'd be back to our room later. We got changed so we could get food and hit up the pool.
This was the view of the BLT pool from a window down the hall as we went to the elevator. This was the only view we ever got of that pool.
BLT doesn't really have it's own dining options, so we headed down and then over to the Contemporary where we got seats near the pool and the Sand Bar, which has some basic offerings.
I got the 1/3 angus burger and fries (with bacon, of course!):
This is the kind of burger I would expect to get at any counter service location in WDW. It's not going to garner any awards, but it certainly hit the spot.
Lisa chose the turkey BLT (which also has bacon):
Again, not going to blow you away, but it looks decent and fresh. Lisa was satisfied.
We were paying out of pocket for food this trip. At one point in the planning process we went through our meals and actually looked up menus and tried to add up what it would cost, then compare it to the dining plan/TIW options. In the end, it looked like a wash with the dining plan, and we weren't eating at enough TIW locations to justify it. So we opted to do cash for food. I had also considered purchasing gift cards in advance and using those to save a little money, but I started collecting them too late and couldn't buy enough. The gift cards went toward the cruise and the remainder went toward souvenirs.
After eating, we relocated to the pool and got our swim on. Bella's never had swimming lessons, and she's had some success using swimmies or other flotation devices. I was pleased to see they had life jackets for guests to use at the pool. Bella was more than willing to wear one, and that meant I could concentrate on Jackson and not have to worry as much about Bella.
Jackson enjoyed pushing my head into the water. He got a kick out of that. He did it once or twice himself, but mostly he would just grab the back of my head and push my face into the pool.
There was some poolside entertainment with CMs doing trivia, music, and dancing. We tried to convince Bella to dance, but she was too shy. Before too long, it was time to get out of the pool and go change so we could partake of another resort activity. Bella was upset at leaving the pool, and issued what was to be her vacation mantra. "Uhhhhahhuhhhh" I swear, we would be sick of hearing that out of her mouth very soon.
We went back to the room and changed into some dry clothes, took the bridge across to the CR, and browsed the gift shop. Jackson saw a large Mickey:
This of course, was nothing compared to the large Mickey he'd be seeing tomorrow. And separating him from this Mickey would prove to be a lot easier as well. After browsing, we headed downstairs and back outside for some fun with marshmallows...
A CM loaded with giant sticks and jumbo marshmallows was there with a small crowd when we arrived. The fire was already going and all we had to do was pick a stick and marshmallow, and toast them up. Bella loved it, and Jackson, well, he just liked running up and down the sand.
the twilight made for some good picture taking conditions.
the walkway between CR and BLT, as viewed from the little beach area where we had our marshamallow roast.
Next we headed back up inside CR to grab some real dessert. Marshmallows are nice and all, but not a worthy dessert for what was coming. You see, we had to make up for the fact that in 2010, we had booked the Wishes dessert party on our arrival day, but because we never made it to WDW that day, we missed out. It was time to make up for that.
I browsed the gift shop while Lisa went to hit up Contempo Cafe for cupcakes.
I also stepped outside to the observation area to take in the view. I never knew they had a small amount of seats out there for watching fireworks. We didn't need to worry about that, though. We had our own VIP spot waiting for us.
The sun was setting on our first day, and it was time to head back to our room:
In the room, we got settled, enjoyed our cupcakes with a nighttime view of MK.
We were able to watch the Water Pageant while we waited for Wishes to begin.
We tuned the TV to the channel for the music for Wishes, and we got set up to watch. From the angle we had, the fireworks actually appear over Space Mountain, and we had to make sure we were on the left half of our balcony to make sure we saw it all. Still a great view. This was one of the better shots I was able to get:
Wishes over, we got the kids in bed followed suit shortly after. We had to be up early for Day 2.
I think you will all agree that this trip was off to a fantastic start. This was hands down the best first day we've ever had at WDW.