We're Back! A Quick Review of Disney World May 2017 Trip

Apologies for the delay; we've been battling head colds that put us both down with a fever and the need for lots of rest. My plan to stay healthy this trip (mostly) worked but we were no match for the climate change and the larger-than-expected crowds that descended upon the parks during our vacation. I'll do my best to provide a summary of our experience in this post and write more detailed reviews in the near future.

Vacation Dates
You may recall that we chose the first week of May for its historically low crowd levels, pleasant weather, and access to Flower & Garden Festival. If this year was any indication, the days of low crowds are gone. We knew there would be a cheerleading competition on-site for some of the days during out trip but we weren't prepared for the families that would plan their vacations with it. Of the few cheerleading families I know through various Disney planning sites, I was under the impression that the cheerleading competition had a strict schedule that would not allow for much park time. I must have been mistaken because there were large school-age groups in all parks during our visit and, like with most children's groups, there were a few bad apples in the bunch that largely affected our overall opinion of this visit. While I won't completely mark May off the list of vacation options, I will be looking to plan our next Disney World trip the second week of December or sometime in late January in an effort to avoid large athletic groups.

Boardwalk Inn
We did not get the exact room we requested but we were assigned to a King bed room with a decent view so there are no complaints on this point. The resort was beautiful and impeccably maintained but there was a wedding scheduled almost every day of our trip and that usually caused traffic jams in the common areas as photographers tried to get wedding parties organized for pictures. We loved this resort's proximity to the Boardwalk (duh) and it's probably the only reason we would return for another stay.

Dining
There aren't any downright negative reviews for the dining options we selected this trip but we certainly had our favorites:

Best - Via Napoli, Rosie's All-American Cafe, PizzeRizzo, Ample Hills Creamery, Lowtide Lou's
Worst - Big River Grille and Brewery

We will go into more detail on these locations in a future post.

DVC
A memorable moment on this trip was signing up for Disney Vacation Club! We are now Disney property owners! While this wasn't a planned purchase, we are very happy with the decision and are already calculating how to use our points for the next trip. I will be sure to make a dedicated post for DVC to explain how it works so that you can make an informed decision on how this timeshare option could work for you! (hint: it's a lot cheaper than paying for a deluxe resort every year!)

Final Thoughts
We finally unlocked the secret to avoiding blisters (switch to different shoes midday) and realized that we enjoyed some quick service dining options just as much, if not more, than some table service locations. We had a lot of 'firsts' on this trip - using Disney's Magical Express to/from the airport, experiencing a Disney water park, getting magic shots from PhotoPass photographers, and ordering a cake from the private dining service - and I can't wait to share it all with you! Stay tuned :)