Orlando vacation: Lake Buena Vista Resort & Spa

Hey peeps.  The weekend is almost here!  I wanted to go back a touch and give a little more info from my previous post of our little getaway with the kiddos.

If you are looking for a romantic getaway for two...this is not your spot.  If you are looking for a family spot with more room than a hotel, keep reading.  I did lots of research and decided this was a good spot to try.  It's not at Disney, but it's nearby.

 I believe they said there are seven buildings.  Some have pirate pool views, some have views of Disney fireworks.  We were on the east side of the complex and have a smaller pool as our view.

 

There is a combination of covered parking and pull-up parking outside your building.

It's fairly secure.  You have to have a room key to get into any building.  

Bonus: parking is complimentary.  I didn't see any valet though.

We got a 3/2 with a little more than 1400 square feet.  

These are the resort's online photos but our room was exactly the same.

The main benefit of a resort setup like this is bringing your food and enjoying more of a home/condo getaway with all the home essentials versus a swanky hotel.  We ate dinner out but packed snacks, drinks, breakfast, and some desserts.

 

The sofa in the living room has a pull out bed.  Linens of course are provided.

Bowls, flatware, glasses, coffee maker, tea pitchers, dishwasher (and detergent), and fridge are all there for you in the room.  

Bed #2.  The kids loved the telephones since they are used to only cell phones.

Bed #3 

 

Master bedroom with tub, shower, and walk-in closet

Our balcony

 

The amenity center is where it's at.  The kids were in heaven.  Towels were provided.

 

It's so big, it's almost hard to take in.  The pirate ship is huge.

Full bar and restaurant with covered seating

Lots of areas to rest with many cabanas for the family to hang together.

Upstairs roof deck overlooking the pool

No timeshare tours to make, no upselling at check-in, free parking......it was great.  You gotta check it out next time you (or family) come to Orlando.  If you are looking for nightlife, wrong part of town.  Perhaps you can find some fun at Downtown Disney but you are 20+ minutes from International Drive and 25+ minutes to downtown Orlando.  

Have fun!  We will be back for sure. 

Weekday getaway

After having a tough weekend, I took Monday off and had an overnight stay with my nieces and nephews.  We tried a new spot and it deserves a post of it's own but here are a few photos from our little getaway.  We enjoyed it so much we are already looking for another time to go before the kids go back to school but definitely plan to stay two nights instead of one.

We started with family night at Farris and Foster's Chocolate Factory.  The kids LOVED it.

 

We packed up after family night and checked into Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa.  We got a 3/2 with more than 1,400 square feet plus a family room and kitchen.  Amazing.  Perfection for our little herd.  We are definitely headed back soon.  

This place is a gem....and we got it for less than $200 in SUMMER.   Check it out.

I am feeling much better after my weekend.  Got the garage door fixed yesterday, got my car dropped off for repairs and got my rental.  Hoping to get some good news on repairs today or tomorrow and get back to normal.  Hope you are off to a great week.  Cheers!

Catching up....Destin trip

Playing a little catch-up since Memorial Day weekend.  I was home just a couple days before heading out on a 4-day work retreat.
My work has an annual manager meeting in Destin, Florida and it was the perfect way to kick off sumer. We had a little rain but still got lots of sunshine.  We stayed at Emerald Grande and it really is the perfect location if you want to walk to everything.

View from my room

We had lunch at The Back Porch

Crab Island

I didn't take any pictures of the inside of the condo but here are some from my stay last year.  The water was still a touch cool but with the sun out, it was perfect.

I am hoping to do a couple long weekends, one with Simon and one with the kids.  The little ones are out of school and have already hit us up for a summer vaca.  We have a tradition of taking them on trips when they are on breaks from school and it's something they always look forward to.
Some friends of ours just stayed at South Seas Resort in Captiva Island (they own a timeshare there) and they said it was great so we check that out this summer.

That's it for now friends...I made a couple purchases I'd like to share with you.  Hopefully I get caught up this week and can hop online.  Don't forget to cheer on the ladies in the women's World cup this week.  USA! USA! USA!

Disney's Fort Wilderness: Cabin Tour

My first post from our trip to Fort Wilderness highlighted some of the areas around the resort.  As I shared, we stayed in one of the 300+ cabins on property.  Each cabin is numbered.  We stayed in the 2600 block in cabin #2695 on Moccasin Trail.  This is a great block to stay on.  There is a bus stop right in front and a pool plus laundry directly across the street.  We read online that the higher numbers are newer cabins but we only saw ours so we cannot say for sure.  

One thing we learned quick, you cannot drive your vehicle around the resort.  Well, you can drive it around BUT you cannot park it anywhere. You have to rent a golf cart or take the bus.  The golf carts go fast.  They are booked up to a year in advance.  Seriously.  

We didn't know that so my kids had to take the bus around. It's no charge to ride the bus and although some online reviews complained of a long wait, we never waited more than five minutes for the next bus.  Plus, if it's cold or rainy out, you are protected from the elements when you ride the bus. 

 

Home sweet home.  From this angle, the bedroom is on the left, bathroom is in the middle and the kitchen/family room/murphy bed are on the right.

You pull right up to your cabin.  You can unload and lock the keys inside.  

     

A BBQ grill is outside BUT there is no charcoal.  You can have it delivered for less than $10.00.  There is a vast grocery list of anything you can want or need.

There is inside dining plus this picnic table outside on the front porch.

 

 Our backyard view and a peek from the family room into the kitchen.

The kitchen is STOCKED!  Plates, glasses, flatware, mugs, saucers, paper towels...everything!

Had we known, we would have taken the time to get meals to cook at the cabin, especially breakfast and dinner.  The kids were so tired from playing at the pool all day and having dinner there (we grabbed pizza to go) would have been perfect.  And, who wants to get up early and get all these kids ready?!  I wish we brought breakfast supplies.  We will next time for sure.

A murphy bed pulls down for even more room to sleep.  There are nightstands, lamps and outlets too.

Yes, a bathroom is included.  And the vanity is FULLY stocked with towels.

Four to six can sleep on this side of the cabin.  The bunks are oversized and two toddlers easily slept in each bed.  We had plenty of pillows too.

There is a hanging closet, baby play pin, changing table, iron and lots of drawers for storage.

Our pool right across the street from the 2600 block.  This isn't as adventurous as the main pool that has slides and fountains but it's also not as busy so that was nice.  

We didn't see any towels at either pool so pack some or grab them from your cabin.

Walking to our bus stop.  There are colored loops so you know where your bus is going.  The kids loved running onto the bus and grabbing their seats.  The bus was ice cold inside, perfect for ducking out of the hot sun and cooling off in between stops.