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DVC_Don · 05-12-2002, 11:45 PM

The Lefebvre's hit the Water Parks trip.

Who? The Lefebvre family. Don AKA Disnydad, Nancy, Jason (11) & Ashley (10).

When? April 15 to 18, 2002

Where? Disneys Villas at the Wilderness Lodge.

Well it is time to start on the Trip Report from our April 2002 Water Park Trip. I have been busy getting the yard going for spring.

The night before I set everyone’s alarm clocks. Mine for 4:40 AM and Jason’s & Ashley are for 4:45 AM as a backup. I got up when mine went off and jumped right into the shower. Everyone else had showered the night before. By the time I got out, everyone else was dressed. We were on the road for the Albany County Airport (Albany International Airport is stretching it) at 5:15 AM. In 25 minutes we had driven to the airport and parked in the parking garage. The one good thing of these early morning departure times is no traffic at all. We breezed through check in and security and stopped at the McD’s counter. We bought breakfast and took it down to the Southwest gate. It was another hour and a half till the flight, but the line had already started. I got into the line while the rest of the family had their breakfast. Nancy came and traded with me when they were done so I could eat mine. We wound up in the first boarding group. Boarding was uneventful and we arrived in Orlando 15 minutes early.

Things kept running early as our bags came out first. Usually we have to wait for at least one bag. We hauled our stuff down to the Budget counter. There was only about a 10-minute wait to get to the counter. I had reserved a Ford F-150 Super Crew truck. Budget had an Internet special. For less than 5 days, the truck is regularly $49.99 a day. We needed 4 days. The special was $34.99 a day. I had problems in the past loading our luggage into “full size” cars before so I figured the pickup bed with a locking cover would take care of that problem. Besides, I have been thinking of trading our Ford F-250SD for this model F-150 and figured this would be a nice way to have an extended test-drive. Just before we left on vacation, BJ’s Wholesale Club sent us a coupon for $15 off a Budget rental. I was not sure if they would allow more money off, so I stapled the $15 coupon to my printout. Well, they accepted the coupon and took another $15 off! Total rental for 4 days came to $157.11 with taxes and fees added in. This was one great rental! Room for 6 and more luggage than we have ever taken.

Off on the last leg of our journey. Out the south exit to Route 417 and we were at the Wilderness Lodge to check in to the Villas in about 30 minutes at 11:30 AM. We used the valet service. As Disney Vacation Club members there was no charge, just the tip. We checked in but, the computers went down and we could not get our room keys/resort ID’s at the time. Not much of a problem as the room was not ready anyway. We ate lunch at Roaring Forks ($26.21) and checked with the front desk again. Nope, computers still down.

Now this was supposed to be a Disney Water Parks trip. Our original plan was to hit River Country on this afternoon. As RC is not opening this year, we substituted Disney Quest as our first activity. We arrived at DQ at 12:30 PM. Admission for the 4 of us was $92.84 after our DVC discount. The kids and I did DQ for the first time in January, but this was Nancy’s first visit here. We played hard till 4:30. Our favorites are the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Pirates of the Caribbean.

We zipped back to the VWL and low and behold ……. We got our room keys/resort ID’s!! We called for the bags and almost ran to our room. You gotta remember, this is our first stay at our “home” DVC resort. We had room 1555, a studio on the first floor with a woods view. We did not stay long though. As soon as the bags came, we off to Epcot.

We got over to Epcot about 5:30 or so. It started to sprinkle when we got through the turnstiles and we went to the Electric Umbrella for dinner. Just as we got inside it started to pour! I lost the receipt for this meal, but it was in the $20’s. For part of the time there seemed to be quite a few drunken college aged people of both sex’s there. One young woman was passed out with her head in her food. Things quieted down as they left to “Party”. The rain had lightened up some after dinner, but we went into the Mouse Gear store and picked up some ponchos. “I asked the CM if the 100 years ponchos worked better than the 25 year ponchos. He looked at me like I had 2 heads. Oh well, some people are not ready for me yet. We ducked into Inoventions East for a bit. The kids played the hid and seek game and then we went outside. The rain had stopped.

We wanted to show Nancy the spot where we had watched the Tapestry of Dreams parade last January at Germany. We got out there about 7:30 and snagged the bench that looks directly at the gate the parade comes out of and into. We spread out the ponchos on the wet bench and sat down to people watch till the 8:10 parade. It started to sprinkle again so we had to put on the ponchos after a short while. During our people watching we saw more gaggles of drunken young folks. After a career in law enforcement I’ve more than my share of these folks. I’ve never seen these many at WDW before. Sure, I’ve seen an occasional drunk there, but tonight I saw hundreds! They did not hassle us, but it takes away from the usual experience. I just hoped they were not driving around WDW during our trip back to the VWL.

Back to the ToD parade. It was great. This has got to be the best spot to watch this. 2 parades for the price of one. There are way more interactions with the CM’s here. Several times some even sat on our bench with us. How they could stand up again with all that stuff on them is amazing. By the time the second parade was gone the rain had started up again, so we did not stay for the fireworks. Besides, it had been a long day.

We got back to the VWL without spotting any obvious drunks on the road. Temps for the day were in the mid 80’s with mostly cloudy skies. Showers and heavy rain at times in the evening.
[img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img]

05-12-2002, 11:45 PM	#9 (permalink)
DVC_Don Community Rank: Explorer Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Empire State Posts: 9,026	We hit the Water Parks! The Lefebvre's hit the Water Parks trip. Who? The Lefebvre family. Don AKA Disnydad, Nancy, Jason (11) & Ashley (10). When? April 15 to 18, 2002 Where? Disneys Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. Well it is time to start on the Trip Report from our April 2002 Water Park Trip. I have been busy getting the yard going for spring. The night before I set everyone’s alarm clocks. Mine for 4:40 AM and Jason’s & Ashley are for 4:45 AM as a backup. I got up when mine went off and jumped right into the shower. Everyone else had showered the night before. By the time I got out, everyone else was dressed. We were on the road for the Albany County Airport (Albany International Airport is stretching it) at 5:15 AM. In 25 minutes we had driven to the airport and parked in the parking garage. The one good thing of these early morning departure times is no traffic at all. We breezed through check in and security and stopped at the McD’s counter. We bought breakfast and took it down to the Southwest gate. It was another hour and a half till the flight, but the line had already started. I got into the line while the rest of the family had their breakfast. Nancy came and traded with me when they were done so I could eat mine. We wound up in the first boarding group. Boarding was uneventful and we arrived in Orlando 15 minutes early. Things kept running early as our bags came out first. Usually we have to wait for at least one bag. We hauled our stuff down to the Budget counter. There was only about a 10-minute wait to get to the counter. I had reserved a Ford F-150 Super Crew truck. Budget had an Internet special. For less than 5 days, the truck is regularly $49.99 a day. We needed 4 days. The special was $34.99 a day. I had problems in the past loading our luggage into “full size” cars before so I figured the pickup bed with a locking cover would take care of that problem. Besides, I have been thinking of trading our Ford F-250SD for this model F-150 and figured this would be a nice way to have an extended test-drive. Just before we left on vacation, BJ’s Wholesale Club sent us a coupon for $15 off a Budget rental. I was not sure if they would allow more money off, so I stapled the $15 coupon to my printout. Well, they accepted the coupon and took another $15 off! Total rental for 4 days came to $157.11 with taxes and fees added in. This was one great rental! Room for 6 and more luggage than we have ever taken. Off on the last leg of our journey. Out the south exit to Route 417 and we were at the Wilderness Lodge to check in to the Villas in about 30 minutes at 11:30 AM. We used the valet service. As Disney Vacation Club members there was no charge, just the tip. We checked in but, the computers went down and we could not get our room keys/resort ID’s at the time. Not much of a problem as the room was not ready anyway. We ate lunch at Roaring Forks ($26.21) and checked with the front desk again. Nope, computers still down. Now this was supposed to be a Disney Water Parks trip. Our original plan was to hit River Country on this afternoon. As RC is not opening this year, we substituted Disney Quest as our first activity. We arrived at DQ at 12:30 PM. Admission for the 4 of us was $92.84 after our DVC discount. The kids and I did DQ for the first time in January, but this was Nancy’s first visit here. We played hard till 4:30. Our favorites are the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Pirates of the Caribbean. We zipped back to the VWL and low and behold ……. We got our room keys/resort ID’s!! We called for the bags and almost ran to our room. You gotta remember, this is our first stay at our “home” DVC resort. We had room 1555, a studio on the first floor with a woods view. We did not stay long though. As soon as the bags came, we off to Epcot. We got over to Epcot about 5:30 or so. It started to sprinkle when we got through the turnstiles and we went to the Electric Umbrella for dinner. Just as we got inside it started to pour! I lost the receipt for this meal, but it was in the $20’s. For part of the time there seemed to be quite a few drunken college aged people of both sex’s there. One young woman was passed out with her head in her food. Things quieted down as they left to “Party”. The rain had lightened up some after dinner, but we went into the Mouse Gear store and picked up some ponchos. “I asked the CM if the 100 years ponchos worked better than the 25 year ponchos. He looked at me like I had 2 heads. Oh well, some people are not ready for me yet. We ducked into Inoventions East for a bit. The kids played the hid and seek game and then we went outside. The rain had stopped. We wanted to show Nancy the spot where we had watched the Tapestry of Dreams parade last January at Germany. We got out there about 7:30 and snagged the bench that looks directly at the gate the parade comes out of and into. We spread out the ponchos on the wet bench and sat down to people watch till the 8:10 parade. It started to sprinkle again so we had to put on the ponchos after a short while. During our people watching we saw more gaggles of drunken young folks. After a career in law enforcement I’ve more than my share of these folks. I’ve never seen these many at WDW before. Sure, I’ve seen an occasional drunk there, but tonight I saw hundreds! They did not hassle us, but it takes away from the usual experience. I just hoped they were not driving around WDW during our trip back to the VWL. Back to the ToD parade. It was great. This has got to be the best spot to watch this. 2 parades for the price of one. There are way more interactions with the CM’s here. Several times some even sat on our bench with us. How they could stand up again with all that stuff on them is amazing. By the time the second parade was gone the rain had started up again, so we did not stay for the fireworks. Besides, it had been a long day. We got back to the VWL without spotting any obvious drunks on the road. Temps for the day were in the mid 80’s with mostly cloudy skies. Showers and heavy rain at times in the evening. [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img]