More upgrades…
Just back from yet another trip to the villa (they seem to becoming more frequent!), and a few more upgrades to report.
The first is the new large tv in the family room. The old TV has found a new home in another villa and been replaced by the new 55″ internet enabled tv which brings Netflix to Eeyores Escape 
We have used DVD players for the past few years, then added a Blu-ray player last year, but Netflix definitely seems a better option than both. The internet is fast enough to handle the real time streaming, and it now means there are thousands of movies and tv episodes available on demand.
As usual, we will see how the service works in practice and it worked well while we were out at the villa, but we are already looking to expanding it into the bedrooms so there are dvd players and netflix available throughout if it works out to be popular. If you are staying in the villa in the next few months please let us know if you liked it, or not!
Other upgrades include a new TV in the mickey room. We only changed the tv a couple of years ago but were not happy with the picture quality so we have upgraded it to an LED model. The old tv is now stored as a spare.
We did the usual paint touch ups, replaced some towels and sheets etc to maintain the villa to the ‘as new’ quality we aim for, and had nice sunny vacation at the same time.
Sometimes work isn’t all bad!
Andy
A Quick Update
Just a quick update!
We have just returned from the villa, and slowly getting over the jet lag!
Ive just updated the family room photos page (photo link) to add photos on the new furniture.
The new sofas are even larger than the old ones (which we thought would be impossible!) and we added a recliner chair and new tables to complete the room.
The old sofa was collected by the salvation army which was nice as there was a lot more life in it and it is good to know that although we are probably replacing furniture too soon to maintain the ‘as new’ feel to the villa, the old items do not end up in landfill and will find new homes.
We also added a larger wine cellar to the kitchen. There are pictures at the bottom of the kitchen photos page of the new cellar / fridge and its a great place to store soft drinks, beer and even wine and helps keep the main fridge freezer clear for, dare I say it, food!
Finally, the last major upgrade would be the TVs. All the bedrooms now have flat screen tvs, although we did keep the pooh bear tv in the eeyore room as we couldnt part with that one so the flat screen in that room is linked to the playstation!
We did lots of other little things just to make sure everything is kept in tip-top shape, and had a great holiday too!
Thats all for now!
Andy
Bellavida Internet Speed
Since the resort went ‘digital’ we upgraded to the faster 15mbps service, but until now we could only listen to guest reports of how fast it actually was.
Well we now have a speedtest report for the connection in the villa, and the answer is fast!
Im quite used to having a ’20 mbps’ service at home in the UK, which actually ends up at around 6 mbps, so its nice to see here in the villa the 15mbps advertised speed actually means just about that!
With or without a hyphen? Bellavida-Villa.com
We have finally managed to secure both versions of the domain name, Bellavida-villa.com and Bellavidavilla.com (ie. with and without the hyphen!).
When we bought our home we registered the bellavida-villa.com domain but the thought of registering without the hyphen never entered our minds. Obviously it did to another owner and ever since we have heard people saying they went to our website but it was a yellow house, not ours!
Anyway, we have now managed to secure the domain without the hypen so our website can now found on either domain name and hopefully this will put an end to any confusion!
Andy
Disney, Fox and James Cameron to bring AVATAR to life at Disney Parks
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide is joining forces with visionary filmmaker James Cameron and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the world of AVATAR to life at Disney parks. Through an exclusive agreement announced today by Disney, Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Fox, Disney will partner with Cameron and producing partner Jon Landau to create themed lands that will give theme park guests the opportunity to explore the mysterious universe of AVATAR first hand. Disney plans to build the first AVATAR themed land at Walt Disney World, within the Animal Kingdom park. With its emphasis on living in harmony with nature, Animal Kingdom is a natural fit for the AVATAR stories, which share the same philosophy.
Villa website updates
Im just winding down the main ‘day job’ for our summer holiday and in pops an email from Nick Cates to let us know an update for the theme used for this website is now available – perfect timing!
So four hours later the publish button has been pressed and hopefully the website is a little easier to use!
The main change seems to be the sub menus now stay open, which is a good thing (especially on the photo pages!).
I’m sure there will be other changes that mean some things work in this browser and don’t in another, but overall it seems to progress. Just contact us if you seem to have any problems!
Andy
New bowling alley coming to Downtown Disney!
Downtown Disney is to get a new bowling alley!
Disney have said the construction of the new 50,000 sq ft Splitsville (link) centre, bowling, billiards, dining, music and nightlife, will start in the autumn.
The new centre will be located on the ‘West Side’ where the Virgin Megastore used to be, close to the cinema.
So, how long before I can book a lane
Andy
The DIBB – Disney with a British Accent
We have just renewed our advertising with ‘The DIBB’, a UK based website with a british perspective on making the most of your visit to the sunshine state.
This will be our 5th year advertising with the DIBB and with the rise of todays social networks and interactive internet it is more relevant than ever as it’s no longer good enough to simply hide behind an anonymous email address, guests expect and should be able to contact the owners and talk to other guests about their experiences.
Unlike traditional advertising locations (which we also use!), locations such as the Dibb give us as owners nowhere to hide! We can upload our advert in the same way as everywhere else, but we cannot control the feedback, good or bad!
Guests renting a villa have the freedom to browse or search the forums and look for comments about the villa, so any villas advertised on the DIBB have to meet a standard or they almost certainly won’t be renewing the following year! The site also has strict rules for owners, for example they check ownership of the home to make sure it genuinely exists and if an owner puts their property up for sale they must notify the DIBB. There are very few sites that do this and we can think of nothing worse than staying in a villa with a ‘for sale’ sign in the window, or worse still not even existing.
You can see our advert on the DIBB here, and if you scroll to the bottom you can see when our advert was first posted, our status on the forum (currently Platinum!). We also have guest reviews on the site.
If our home is not available, or perhaps a little larger than you need the DIBB is an excellent location to find a home that you know the owners care about. You can see how long they have listed on the forum and their status on the forum. Personally we would look at villas that have been on the DIBB for over a year, and have a gold or platinum listing status to ensure the owner is active on the forum, and has been through at least one renewal cycle.
Its not just for the british either or just for villa information, the forum is a great source of information and we hope you find it useful!
