We just finished a visit to WDW at BWV and BLT. Unfortunately, our BWV Boardwalk View reservation couldn't be honored and they bumped us to pool view and gave us a $250 room credit. They told us the renovations were way behind schedule and we saw workers arriving early in the mornings (6AM-ish) and departing late into the evening (9PM-ish).
This was our first WDW visit as empty nesters and thus our first 'adult only' visit to WDW in more years than I care to admit. After a decade of Presidents Week/Easter/Christmas-NYE experiences at WDW I can't recommend visiting the week after Thanksgiving highly enough.
Jollywood Nights was an epic idea with flawed execution. On the positive side, it really felt like an adult evening at Hollywood Studios with some people dressed to the nines - spats, cocktail dresses, etc. - and many others in full on cosplay or Disney Christmas regalia. There were lots of great cocktails to be had and while most of them were too sweet for our tastes we very much enjoyed the Oaxaca Old Fashioned at the ABC Commissary. The Latin inspired dishes were also quite tasty - a pleasant surprise given the Commissary's usual fare. My wife, a costume designer, was pleased to be photographed alongside Edna Mode and the artwork/theming of her photoshoot was inspired. And the ghostly band outside the Hollywood Tower Hotel played some awesome music.
On the negative side, most of the events and entertainments were on Sunset Boulevard with a few in Echo Lake and Commissary Lane and so that area was *packed*. The system to get into Jazzy Holidays Hollywood Brown Derby was impossible to use unless you wanted to enter at party open or were willing to stand around in the scrum around the Derby waiting an hour for a table. And the Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club was just bizarre. You could stand in the 2-3 people deep crowd in front of the band (which we did) which was all they would allow because they had to keep the area behind free to allow for traffic to flow and a queue for the bar. If you choose to stand in that hour long queue for the bar you could then sit/stand where the drinks were served...no where near the band. And there was nothing in Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land, or Grand Avenue.
Lastly, after many years of going to WDW wearing two wristbands - my watch and a MagicBand - I finally bit the bullet and taught my Apple Watch to be a MagicBand. It took three failed tries of falling back on using my phone and a castmember telling me, 'Oh, you need to do this too', but once it worked it was really quite nice (the online instructions really are written for someone who has already gone through the process of setting up their watch to use Apple Pay...which I don't even on my phone). I used my watch for tapping into the park, entering Lighting Lanes, and charging stuff to our room (The only thing it can't do is open resort doors).
This was our first WDW visit as empty nesters and thus our first 'adult only' visit to WDW in more years than I care to admit. After a decade of Presidents Week/Easter/Christmas-NYE experiences at WDW I can't recommend visiting the week after Thanksgiving highly enough.
Jollywood Nights was an epic idea with flawed execution. On the positive side, it really felt like an adult evening at Hollywood Studios with some people dressed to the nines - spats, cocktail dresses, etc. - and many others in full on cosplay or Disney Christmas regalia. There were lots of great cocktails to be had and while most of them were too sweet for our tastes we very much enjoyed the Oaxaca Old Fashioned at the ABC Commissary. The Latin inspired dishes were also quite tasty - a pleasant surprise given the Commissary's usual fare. My wife, a costume designer, was pleased to be photographed alongside Edna Mode and the artwork/theming of her photoshoot was inspired. And the ghostly band outside the Hollywood Tower Hotel played some awesome music.
On the negative side, most of the events and entertainments were on Sunset Boulevard with a few in Echo Lake and Commissary Lane and so that area was *packed*. The system to get into Jazzy Holidays Hollywood Brown Derby was impossible to use unless you wanted to enter at party open or were willing to stand around in the scrum around the Derby waiting an hour for a table. And the Twilight Soirée at the Tip Top Club was just bizarre. You could stand in the 2-3 people deep crowd in front of the band (which we did) which was all they would allow because they had to keep the area behind free to allow for traffic to flow and a queue for the bar. If you choose to stand in that hour long queue for the bar you could then sit/stand where the drinks were served...no where near the band. And there was nothing in Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land, or Grand Avenue.
Lastly, after many years of going to WDW wearing two wristbands - my watch and a MagicBand - I finally bit the bullet and taught my Apple Watch to be a MagicBand. It took three failed tries of falling back on using my phone and a castmember telling me, 'Oh, you need to do this too', but once it worked it was really quite nice (the online instructions really are written for someone who has already gone through the process of setting up their watch to use Apple Pay...which I don't even on my phone). I used my watch for tapping into the park, entering Lighting Lanes, and charging stuff to our room (The only thing it can't do is open resort doors).
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