Saturday, September 15

Moving day! Today we were switching resorts, moving from the Contemporary to the BoardWalk Inn to stay club level for the last eight nights of our trip. We got up around 7:30, which gave us time to get ready and do a little packing before our 8:15 a.m. breakfast at The Wave.  We check in a bit early for breakfast, which isn’t a problem at all – the restaurant is nearly empty. It’s a bit eerie, in fact. And sad.  Also, for a new(ish) restaurant, the decor is very 1998, and suffers from a lack of natural lighting. It’s kind of like eating in a reception room at the Rotary Club, but a really nice Rotary Club.

In any case, the buffet is very good – the sweet potato pancakes with maple pecan butter and the cheesy bacon grits are especially tasty – and the press pot of coffee is a welcome change from the typical Disney Nescafe crap.  Our server also asks us if she can get us some coffee to go, a thoughtful gesture we’re happy to accept.  It’s a quick meal, but a good one – we will definitely be back to The Wave for breakfast.

Content, we head up to our room to finish packing, take some final Contemporary pictures, and to make a Stitch pressed penny on the 4th floor. It’s only 10am, but we decide to check out and get on with our day. Feeling a bit homeless, we stow our luggage in the Camry and drive over to Downtown Disney to do some shopping and pin trading. We browse World of Disney, and then to Tren-D where I find (and pay too much for) what I think is the only nail polish sold on property. I also spot these ladies, who I have never seen before:

Hey ladies!

After scoping out the pin store, we decide we need to get serious about using our snack credits. Not finding anything to our liking at DTD, we head over to Epcot to put our snack credits to good use.

We drive over to Epcot and park in Discovery 12. We hop on a waiting tram and are at the entrance in no time. Since we’re bagless we get in quickly; in a tense and then funny moment, the security guard stops us at the entrance with a stern look on his face, but it’s only to tease CP about her Orange Bird ears. We do a little pin trading at the Epcot pin kiosk, where a manager is tickled at our catalog of pin photos on our iPhones and how organized we are.  Now hungry and still with snack credits to burn, we walk over to the Land pavilion to check out the offerings at Sunshine Seasons. The Land is MOBBED, even LWTL has a significant line.

Not pictured: screaming children, angry ECV drivers, and that weird smell that always hangs in the air at the Land.

When the crowds make me want to hyperventilate, I try to find something shiny to focus on. Shiny!

Nothing  at Sunshine Seasons speaks to us, so we decide maybe what we really want is ice cream. We walk back to the center of Future World and head into Fountainview, the bakery-turned-ice cream shop (and soon-to-be Starbucks) that was my work location while I was on the College Program. CP gets a coffee float (mocha coffee/chocolate ice cream) and I get a classic Coke float. We people watch and relax, and then head out to see if we can check in early at the BoardWalk.

People-watching at the Fountainview. I can’t wait to people watch here with a Starbucks in my hand (sorry, haters!).

Gratuitous picture of Orange Bird ears! (And CP, too, of course.)

After a short drive to the Epcot resort area, we give our name at the BoardWalk security checkpoint, and it was everything a club level check-in should be. Finally! You may remember our last two club level check-in experiences have been a bit…underwhelming? But here, the guard radios ahead, and we’re subsequently greeted by name at the port cochere. Joe escorts us into the building and up to the 4th floor, where club level Cast Member Jackie is as lovely as can be.  She proclaims us “easy” and agreeable, which is nice. Our room is ready but unfortunately isn’t a BoardWalk view like we requested. We decide to check it out, and Jackie assures us we can move the next day if we want to try again for a better view.  We are assigned room 4211, which is nearly at the end of the CL hall. The room only has an adjoining room on one side, so I’m hopeful it’s quiet. The room overlooks a Cast Member-only area behind ESPN – with road noise and some dumpsters, it’s anything but glamorous – but in the distance we can see France and Morocco at Epcot. I console myself with the idea of a choice IllumiNations view, and decide it’s not worth moving rooms the next day – we’ll make due.

We head back out to park the car, and then come back in by way of the club level lounge to grab soda. And it’s then I realize…the walk to our room is absolutely killer. From the parking lot to the main BoardWalk entrance, to the 4th floor to the club level lounge, and then all the way to our room – I’m not kidding, it must have been at least a half mile walk. And thus began our eight-night tradition of proclaiming “only 12 more miles” once we parked our car at the BoardWalk.  Let me tell you now, if I had it to do over again, we absolutely would have changed rooms.  I now see with complete clarity why people on the Interwebz complain about the long hallways at the BoardWalk. Oy.

Multiply this by a factor of 70 and you’ll have an idea of how long the walk was to our room.

Anyway, we unpack and settle in, rest a bit, and then decide to go to our DVC tour early to see if they can fit us in. The sky looks ominous as we navigate over to Saratoga Springs. The Cast Members at the DVC preview center are very nice; we’re ushered in and offered refreshments while we wait for our guide. It’s an interesting mix of people, some who clearly look like they can afford to buy into DVC, and others who – and I realize I’m outright judging here – look like they may just be there to get some free FastPasses. In any case, our guide is Bill, and he is awesome. He’s patient, funny, knowledgable, and answers all of our questions without trying to gloss over anything.  And we asked him a lot of questions.  His deft handling of our concerns and objections actually sells us on DVC more so than either of us thought it would, and we leave practically giddy at the idea of buying in the next 1-2 years.  It was fun to see some of the model rooms, even though we had to walk through the pouring rain to see them. (We even got a sneak peak at the Grand Floridian DVC hallway interiors – call TMZ!)  I still maintain that DVC may not be a good financial deal for many people, but for us – people who visit often and who always stay Deluxe – it could really be a good investment.  (As we mull this over, we’ll be making a stay at Bay Lake Tower this January to check it out and see if that’s where we might want to buy in.)

Satisfied, we head over to Downtown Disney to browse Goofy’s Candy company to try and use our last snack credits. We’re minorly successful (CP gets some gummy worms), and then we head out to pin trade and browse the toy store.  We then head back to the BoardWalk to make a hail Mary attempt at using credits at one of the BW stores, so we pop into the Bakery and Seashore Sweets. Still no snack credit luck! A bit frustrated, we go back to our room and relax a bit before our last dining plan dinner.

At around 6:40, we walk to Epcot via the International Gateway. Epcot is fairly busy, likely with drinking locals and lots of bachelorette parties.  It’s also humid as all getout thanks to some earlier rain, so we swim our way to Germany, a pre-dinner destination where we hope to finally – finally! use up these stubborn snack credits.

On the plus side, the camera fogging from the 100% humidity made this picture of France turn out pretty well.

We pop in the Karamel Kuche and decide to get more gummy worms (notice a theme?), a dark chocolate sea salt caramel, and a piece of chocolate carmel fudge. Snack credits used!  It’s then 7:20, so we head to Tutto Italia to check in for dinner.

Tutto is a madhouse, but we’re seated immediately in the dining room just to the left of the lobby. It’s a long narrow room, which feels kind of awkward but at least  offers some quiet. Our server is Giovanni; he’s quite suave but very friendly. He brings us delicious foccacia and breadsticks, and CP gets an Aranciata while I order a glass of Montepulciano at Giovanni’s suggestion. For our apps, we order the proscuitto and the mozzarella fiore di latte. Both are delicious. For entrees, CP gets the fettuccine, and I the gnochetti. Both are good; maybe not gourmet, but very comforting and hearty. CP gets tiramisu and cappuccino for dessert, I get the torta di somethingorother, and impress Giovanni with my Italian pronounciation. The desserts are good, the meal is swift and enjoyable, and we leave pleased. I’d definitely eat here again, dining plan or no.

It’s about 8:30 when we leave, so we decide to beat the crowds and walk back to the BoardWalk. We gird our loins for the 12 mile walk back to the room, stop in the lounge for soda, and then head to the room, where I’m giddy to discover that we can see IllumiNations (and a hair of Wishes) from our balcony. I watch that, and then we both shower and fall asleep almost immediately. One key to a long trip is pacing, so I was happy we didn’t push ourselves today. We have eight more days of walking, and two days of backstage tours coming up!

Sunrise from our room the next morning. When you got a whiff of the cigarette smoke from the CM break area below, you could almost believe you were really in Paris! (Not really.)