anabelle
Did I say that out loud?
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2003
My family and I went to WDW at Thanksgiving this year. I am usually a hyper-planner, but it seems lately I have been too busy to focus on our vacations. I started the trip last Christmas , walking our reservation. I didn't want to chance missing out on our first trip to our home resort, so I walked it. I know it is controversial to walk a ressie. Apparently it is becoming common practice for VGF.
It is kind of hard planning a vacation 11 months out. I am not used to that, but if I want a studio at my home resort, I will have to get used to it.
I booked a lake view studio for the five of us. It was my hubby and I and three grown children, 22, 21 and 18. Too crowded for a studio you say, maybe it is. But we had to try it.
Thanksgiving week airfare was crazy, so we drove. We rented a bigger vehicle to stretch out. It actually worked out pretty well having to drive south to pick the boys up at Liberty University. We drove 5 hours after picking up the boys, then stopped in Sumter, SC for the night. The total driving time was about 15 hours. We got to WDW about 3 PM. We didn't make any park plans for our check in day.
Check in, if you can call it that, took 10 seconds. The concierge met me outside and confirmed all our info on his ipad, since we had checked in already. We walked in he handed me my paperwork and poof- done. I had asked for a room ending in 14 on a high floor, hoping to get a look at fireworks. We got 5104. I really couldn't any fireworks from our room. But, our view was amazing. I would get up before everyone make some tea and sit out on the balcony to watch the sun come up. So beautiful and relaxing. I even saw a few weddings.
I know what you are thinking, how did you fit? Believe it or not my 6 ft son chose the Murphy bed to sleep. He said it was very comfortable. The two other kids slept on the pull out. They are much smaller in size and they fit on the bed fine. Our queen bed was also comfy. We didn't bring suitcases, we brought large duffels with packing cubes. My daughter took the closet and her things fit fine. Hubby and I used the bed drawers, with cubes both drawers worked fine. The boys used the space by the lockout door to place their bags. We had two pop up hampers that we set up in the bathrooms.
We made sure to put the beds away every day to give us room to sit everyday. But we honestly didn't spend much time in the room. We put all the shoes in a giant bag that fit under the bed. The empty duffels went folded in the closet. The key not feeling like a room is too small is to keep it clean. I did laundry every morning. I know laundry on vacation you say, that's crazy. I would still get up early. So I did it every morning at 6 AM. I just couldn't sleep any longer. So it wasn't that bad. I loved the "Me" time. Disney uses the laundry app so you can see when your stuff is done. The washers and dryers worked well. I did however turn the heat to medium. It defaults to high. I think since there are so few studios that there is no real demand for the laundry room. I never saw anyone there in the morning.
The Grand Floridian is beautiful for Christmas. I loved the gingerbread house. We would sit and listen to the piano every night. My son, who is quite the dancer, even gave me some dance lessons in the lobby while the band played.
You have a great view of the fireworks by the marina. They pipe in the Wishes music. I recommend you sit by a speaker to be able to hear it well.
They played Christmas music all the time. You could hear it if you sat out on your balcony. It was too cold to swim, but the pools looked nice.
The parks were SUPER crowded but with fastpass they were fine. We actually love the magic bands. I made touring the parks easy.
I loved staying on the monorail. My ONLY complaint was the bus service to the Studios. It took forever each time. Sometimes it was over an hour wait. We just should have drove there.
The villas are great, you really feel like part of the regular hotel. Everything is within a five minute walk. We are definitely glad we bought here.
Already booked for a split stay GCF/BCV for next year. We are going Veteran's Day week and it will be just the two of us. My girl will be at college. So our empty nest time begins.
Ana
It is kind of hard planning a vacation 11 months out. I am not used to that, but if I want a studio at my home resort, I will have to get used to it.
I booked a lake view studio for the five of us. It was my hubby and I and three grown children, 22, 21 and 18. Too crowded for a studio you say, maybe it is. But we had to try it.
Thanksgiving week airfare was crazy, so we drove. We rented a bigger vehicle to stretch out. It actually worked out pretty well having to drive south to pick the boys up at Liberty University. We drove 5 hours after picking up the boys, then stopped in Sumter, SC for the night. The total driving time was about 15 hours. We got to WDW about 3 PM. We didn't make any park plans for our check in day.
Check in, if you can call it that, took 10 seconds. The concierge met me outside and confirmed all our info on his ipad, since we had checked in already. We walked in he handed me my paperwork and poof- done. I had asked for a room ending in 14 on a high floor, hoping to get a look at fireworks. We got 5104. I really couldn't any fireworks from our room. But, our view was amazing. I would get up before everyone make some tea and sit out on the balcony to watch the sun come up. So beautiful and relaxing. I even saw a few weddings.
I know what you are thinking, how did you fit? Believe it or not my 6 ft son chose the Murphy bed to sleep. He said it was very comfortable. The two other kids slept on the pull out. They are much smaller in size and they fit on the bed fine. Our queen bed was also comfy. We didn't bring suitcases, we brought large duffels with packing cubes. My daughter took the closet and her things fit fine. Hubby and I used the bed drawers, with cubes both drawers worked fine. The boys used the space by the lockout door to place their bags. We had two pop up hampers that we set up in the bathrooms.
We made sure to put the beds away every day to give us room to sit everyday. But we honestly didn't spend much time in the room. We put all the shoes in a giant bag that fit under the bed. The empty duffels went folded in the closet. The key not feeling like a room is too small is to keep it clean. I did laundry every morning. I know laundry on vacation you say, that's crazy. I would still get up early. So I did it every morning at 6 AM. I just couldn't sleep any longer. So it wasn't that bad. I loved the "Me" time. Disney uses the laundry app so you can see when your stuff is done. The washers and dryers worked well. I did however turn the heat to medium. It defaults to high. I think since there are so few studios that there is no real demand for the laundry room. I never saw anyone there in the morning.
The Grand Floridian is beautiful for Christmas. I loved the gingerbread house. We would sit and listen to the piano every night. My son, who is quite the dancer, even gave me some dance lessons in the lobby while the band played.
You have a great view of the fireworks by the marina. They pipe in the Wishes music. I recommend you sit by a speaker to be able to hear it well.
They played Christmas music all the time. You could hear it if you sat out on your balcony. It was too cold to swim, but the pools looked nice.
The parks were SUPER crowded but with fastpass they were fine. We actually love the magic bands. I made touring the parks easy.
I loved staying on the monorail. My ONLY complaint was the bus service to the Studios. It took forever each time. Sometimes it was over an hour wait. We just should have drove there.
The villas are great, you really feel like part of the regular hotel. Everything is within a five minute walk. We are definitely glad we bought here.
Already booked for a split stay GCF/BCV for next year. We are going Veteran's Day week and it will be just the two of us. My girl will be at college. So our empty nest time begins.
Ana
