(moving from competed trip since the trip just started)
Planned a week in AKV with the freshman, this weekend joined by dw and our 11yo, who have to return to school work Monday evening, at which point the freshmans s/o and my sista from another mista will come out to finish the rest of the week.
Day 1: the AKV trip was booked from Saturday to Friday, but we wound up getting better flight options on Friday 3/10 so me dw and dd landed a night at BWV. Really glad we did!
<non-disney complaint section>
Trip had a rough start. Jetblue says they bought Spirit, but starting to think it was the other way around. Flight was significantly delayed, at the last minute, prompted by dd asking the agent about boarding time, it was announced that the flight was going out of a different gate causing a mass exodus. Once on flight some karen started harassing dw for putting our backpack in the storage bin. Mind you, the backpack was her carry on, not a personal item, so there was no question as to whether we were permitted to do so, but the fussing was enough to get a flight attendant over, where we had to explain it was her carry on and then, get this, show him our tickets, as though what, we snuck on the plane?
About an hour into the flight, dw noticed we had not made any progress in terms of the flights remaining duration, and also that we were headed east instead of south. I assured her the pilots knew what they were doing. A little while later we made a u-turn then finally started making progress, so turns out I was wrong...
Last thing I'll say in this part is that I'm never renting a car from MCO again.
</end rant>
At this point we're 4 hours behind schedule but we were able to move reservation at Bluezoo back to 8:30. Meanwhile, the lovely staff at Boardwalk were really helpful in securing us a room relatively close to the lobby. In a previous trip we had a room a good quarter mile from the lobby, and with DW recovering from knee surgery this accommodation was a huge relief.
Room was perfect. DD had never been here and she was so impressed, from the lobby's fireplace with the creepy chairs to the hallway light fixtures with character outlines to the midway theming of the pool and even (maybe especially) the pullout under the TV with the beautiful Dumbo wallpaper. To be clear, DD is not too big on Disney. She's team Universal 100%, but this one night stay at BWV chipped away at that.
Bluezoo was amazing. DW had the pumpkin nudi (outstanding) while me and DD shared the Butler steak (perfectly fine). What really popped though were the sides, starting with delicious bread & rosemary butter, and then the elote loco and risotto tots which we had as apps. I could've been competed satisfied with just that. Served with our steak we had the Mac & Cheese - im not too big on the stuff in general but dw & dd are connoisseurs and they gave it big thumbs up.
We paired with cocktails. I think mine was called a zooberry, DW had some kind of smoky sangria. Both delicious. DD had a Swedish fish mocktail. She loved it.
We were all very impressed by the service and the aesthetic of Bluezoo. DW and I had been before but this overall experience surpassed those, and to be clear we've never had anything less than a great time here.
And now, the pixie dust!
When I think of Swan & Dolphin, I don't think pixie dust. I really like the resort, but if anything is it's practically a haven from magical overload. So maybe it made it that much more of a surprise to find a sprinkling on the walk to the ferry. Not sure if it's a new thing or if I just never noticed, but while walking along the path between the hotels lined with palmettos, A Whole New World started playing, and the palmettos delivered a complimentary light show. DDs teen angst, which had already been chipped away upon checking into the Boardwalk, was completely gone for a few minutes and it was magical to see her face light up like a child again. Pretty sure my face was right there with hers, while DW was just having the time of her life, just in awe that it was all accompanied by her favorite song, though if were being honest every song from the 90s animated features are her favorite song lol.
The ferry home was also great, with the boatswain delivering some killer dad jokes and the captain chatting to us about their journey to Disney. Overall a great day despite the rough start.
Day 2 report coming online later.
Planned a week in AKV with the freshman, this weekend joined by dw and our 11yo, who have to return to school work Monday evening, at which point the freshmans s/o and my sista from another mista will come out to finish the rest of the week.
Day 1: the AKV trip was booked from Saturday to Friday, but we wound up getting better flight options on Friday 3/10 so me dw and dd landed a night at BWV. Really glad we did!
<non-disney complaint section>
Trip had a rough start. Jetblue says they bought Spirit, but starting to think it was the other way around. Flight was significantly delayed, at the last minute, prompted by dd asking the agent about boarding time, it was announced that the flight was going out of a different gate causing a mass exodus. Once on flight some karen started harassing dw for putting our backpack in the storage bin. Mind you, the backpack was her carry on, not a personal item, so there was no question as to whether we were permitted to do so, but the fussing was enough to get a flight attendant over, where we had to explain it was her carry on and then, get this, show him our tickets, as though what, we snuck on the plane?
About an hour into the flight, dw noticed we had not made any progress in terms of the flights remaining duration, and also that we were headed east instead of south. I assured her the pilots knew what they were doing. A little while later we made a u-turn then finally started making progress, so turns out I was wrong...
Last thing I'll say in this part is that I'm never renting a car from MCO again.
</end rant>
At this point we're 4 hours behind schedule but we were able to move reservation at Bluezoo back to 8:30. Meanwhile, the lovely staff at Boardwalk were really helpful in securing us a room relatively close to the lobby. In a previous trip we had a room a good quarter mile from the lobby, and with DW recovering from knee surgery this accommodation was a huge relief.
Room was perfect. DD had never been here and she was so impressed, from the lobby's fireplace with the creepy chairs to the hallway light fixtures with character outlines to the midway theming of the pool and even (maybe especially) the pullout under the TV with the beautiful Dumbo wallpaper. To be clear, DD is not too big on Disney. She's team Universal 100%, but this one night stay at BWV chipped away at that.
Bluezoo was amazing. DW had the pumpkin nudi (outstanding) while me and DD shared the Butler steak (perfectly fine). What really popped though were the sides, starting with delicious bread & rosemary butter, and then the elote loco and risotto tots which we had as apps. I could've been competed satisfied with just that. Served with our steak we had the Mac & Cheese - im not too big on the stuff in general but dw & dd are connoisseurs and they gave it big thumbs up.
We paired with cocktails. I think mine was called a zooberry, DW had some kind of smoky sangria. Both delicious. DD had a Swedish fish mocktail. She loved it.
We were all very impressed by the service and the aesthetic of Bluezoo. DW and I had been before but this overall experience surpassed those, and to be clear we've never had anything less than a great time here.
And now, the pixie dust!
When I think of Swan & Dolphin, I don't think pixie dust. I really like the resort, but if anything is it's practically a haven from magical overload. So maybe it made it that much more of a surprise to find a sprinkling on the walk to the ferry. Not sure if it's a new thing or if I just never noticed, but while walking along the path between the hotels lined with palmettos, A Whole New World started playing, and the palmettos delivered a complimentary light show. DDs teen angst, which had already been chipped away upon checking into the Boardwalk, was completely gone for a few minutes and it was magical to see her face light up like a child again. Pretty sure my face was right there with hers, while DW was just having the time of her life, just in awe that it was all accompanied by her favorite song, though if were being honest every song from the 90s animated features are her favorite song lol.
The ferry home was also great, with the boatswain delivering some killer dad jokes and the captain chatting to us about their journey to Disney. Overall a great day despite the rough start.
Day 2 report coming online later.
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