YES, touring Cinderella’s Dream Suite was Amazing!+14 Other Magical Days* Dismeet & Wrap

[emmysmommy]

All caught up! Your trip seems to be off to a great start! I love the Wilderness Lodge. I stayed there one Christmas and it is extra special at that time of the year, I think. Although it was before the rooms were rehabbed and they are definitely looking much better now!!

Love, love, love the Territory Lounge. One of my favorites, I think!

I hope I stop by WL in December to see for myself. Oh good, a fellow TL fan!

I'm trying to decide where Devin & I should stay in Feb and you're not making it easier! Looks like it'll be just us for the WDW portion of our trip & Brad will meet us at the end for our cruise. Hmmm....

Hi Denise! Decisions, decisions! Sorry I'm not helping. How exciting to have a land/sea vacation. We've not done that since 2006 and I'm way overdue.

Subscribing!! Ahh, I just got back from a trip at the WL and just loved it! We had pretty poor service at the Territory Lounge, unfortunately. The Trout Pass pool bar was waaaay too good to us, though!

Hi Kylie! Welcome back from WL!! That's too bad about the TL service. At least you found consolation in the pool bar! Hmmmm.. do you have stories to tell??

Brenda, I love your room. I've reasons I don't want to stay at WL, but your room is beautiful. I had NEVER seen the bathroom tiles...that might be reason enough to make me change my mind...just love those tiles.

If that's how you look after an all day travel day, I'd hate to see what you look like after an all nighter; you look great.

Have to watch Stacy at least once on the television...although she annoys the heck out of my husband. Maybe that's why I put her on.

Hi Kathy! It's the creepy critters on the bed posts right?? You don't like to be watched while you sleep?? Ok, not it I'm sure but there's always OKW for you two.

Ha ha! Thanks you're kind but good thing I'm too old to do any all nighters!

Stacey... sure I can see that. Not that you would do anything intentionally to annoy Mark. I'm staying out of that one!!

WL is definitely on our list....fantastic room! ,...and that view, makes it hard to leave sometimes doesn't it?

Hi Jacquie! Ahhh yes, that view was pretty fabulous! Very perceptive of you since perhaps that was our issue with my next TR installment coming up... we couldn't get our butts out the door.

Wilderness Lodge is SO pretty. It's a great lobby to just grab a rocking chair and sit for a while.

I love that you guys got a checking-in photo, too cute!

THE CHARACTERS IN THE SHOWER. I AM MELTING. That is so cute!!

I fully support Rob/Stacey. They could one day do a "Must Do Disney" video on Disney weddings and honeymoons.

WL is definitely one of the most immersive hotels. The little touches everywhere are just amazing.

I'd love to do a split stay for our July trip, but as there's 7 of us going it may be a hassle to get everybody willing to move around! You're making it sound amazing though!

Hi Courtney! So many adorable details for the rooms and the resort in general but I forgot about the rocking chairs in the lobby. We ignored them this trip but last summer we spent some time rocking after dinner at Artist Point one night. I felt like I'd traveled back in time it was so peaceful and rustic.

I'm sure you are not going to get any objections from Rob for a "Must Do Disney" with Stacey.

Yeah, you kinda have to have everyone agree to pack up move and unpack during the same trip to make that split stay work.

Thanks for the little photo tour of WL

I simply LOVE this resort, it's hands down our fave which I am sure I have repeated many times!

Argh, can't wait to check in ourselves in December.

Hi Linda! I remember that you are a WL lover. Is it the lodge or the villas that you prefer? Whichever one, I know that your counter must be around 70 something days before you arrive!!

I'm here! Finally... I was slightly preoccupied!!

Needless to say I'm excited to read through the 18 pages you have already have to help with my post Disney depression!!

Hi Sarah! Welcome back! Have you started a TR yet?? I've gotta get caught up with you.

Of course, I keep going back and forth from your TR to you DR. You make your TR's and DR's very interesting that I keep looking for updates!!!

Well thank you. Sorry that there's nothing exciting yet to write about!

Your trip is next week it looks like. How exciting is that?!!

I'm all caught up now. Thanks for the WL photos. I just love that place!

Thrilled to hear about your son!

Thanks Annie! And especially thank you about my son. I'm beyond excited!

Great photos from the WL... I love that hotel!

Thanks Amy! It's pretty spectacular. I think you've stayed at all the deluxes right?

Yeaaaa, for the ME mojo!!

Yeaaaa for pictures of the gateway of joy!!

Yeaaaaa, for the beautiful resort. It's one of the few deluxe resorts I've not been to. Hoping to remedy that on my next trip.
Mackenzie is my partner in crime when it comes to trying new things when we are in WDW, I bet she'd love visiting and then going to Hoop Dee Doo.
I need to make that happen for her on our next trip, she's asked to go twice now and I've yet to make it happen.

Hi Camille! You get around - Disney that is!! That's great that you've been to most of the deluxes.

Hoop Dee Doo sounds like my kind of show and dinner too! Unfortunately, my DD isn't on the same page.

Great picture of the welcome sign! You can never have too many of them.

Thanks for the pictures of the WL rooms. I haven’t stayed there since they were renovated a couple of years ago. They look nice and the improvements are great. How cute to have Chip N’ Dale in the shower tile. Nice view for a standard room.

Thanks for the information about the Territory Lounge, I didn’t know that. It’s always good to have options in addition to the counter service.

Hi Christine. You are one of several people who have noted that WL really needed that refurb. I wonder if the woodland critters in the shower were a more recent addition?

I would rather dine at TL than Artist Point. ok, I publically admitted that! Never tried the CS option there.

Great pics!

thanks wii!!

I am loving the Lodge! If I could pick any deluxe to visit next it'd probably be WL so I'm so happy to see all your awesome pictures. I love that you guys took a check-in picture too. It looks cool to have all the expansive lobby behind you. Maybe I'll steal a page out of your book and do that on our next trip.

Can't wait to hear about your next day/resort!

Hi Emily! I'll definitely include more photos of WL in my next update so you can feast your eyes on the beautiful resort!!

Ok. Just got all caught up.

Wow 15 days!!

Nice that you got your 6th floor request.

We have never stayed there yet but have visited a few times. I do want to try it someday.

Hi Doreen! Thanks for reading and getting caught up. (this is moving so slow, can't say that that is hard to do! )

I was glad about the 6th floor to since it was my only request it was nice to see.

WL was on our "one day" list... I know my DH would love this resort so I see another stay in our future.

Love the Wilderness Lodge. If we can't get in at the Beach Club Villas we will be staying there (in the villas) for our honeymoon in May. I haven't stayed at WL since I was 10 or 11 so it would be a nice treat. I always thought that if I stayed there now I would just want to take a book and read in front of one of the lobby fireplaces all day.

P.S. I took the plunge and cut my hair

Oh, you have a Dismoon in your future. Awesome! Either resort would be lovely.

You are so BOLD to cut your hair. I'm sure it is adorable! Em just cut her hair again Sunday - she wanted to go even shorter.

Looks like they have updated the bedding at the WL...last time we stayed there on the resort side it was nasty bedspreads. The white is so much brighter!!!!!!!!!!! I do not remember those tiles in the bath, so cute.

Hi Cynthia! I saw some photos that were shared and I have to agree - ugly bedding for sure! Ok, so the tiles were there before. Now that question has been answered.

I'm caught up on your arrival day!

I haven't done any reading on the Magic Band stuff, just the info people post on the Yacht & Beach Club board, but I think you can use them to check in to your DME ride. I see you had your voucher booklet out.

That may be new for DME but overall I really liked the bands.

on the front row score! Great arch pictures.

Thanks!

Really cute room at the Lodge. Not a bad view at all!
Agreed!

I enjoyed your review of your meal at the Territory Lounge. I haven't had meals at any of the Disney lounges, but from what I have heard, they are really hidden gems- nice relaxing places to get some excellent food. Like you discovered at the Territory, and I know from the YC lounges, some of the food comes from the nearby signature restaurants.

I'll get to that later in my report but the lounges are a great way to dine on Signature food without committing to an ADR!

The fondue looks awesome, the flatbread looks like an arugula patch (I see a lot was left behind) and the wings/nuggets/lollipops look interesting.

That's so funny Dee! An arugula patch! Yeah, a little heavy on the greens.

All caught up!

I really like the new ME check-in desks. Getting a front row seat on the ME bus is the best! You get a good pic of the sign and you are one of the first people to get to check-in.

Ahhh! I love the Wilderness Lodge photos. It has me itching to go to WDW right now. I joked with Drew that when we check-in to the WL I'm going to dress Jonah up in a flannel shirt and a coonskin cap for the occasion. I might not have been actually joking though.

Can't forget to pay homage to Queen Stacey.

Hi Ashley! Jonah did have those adorable overalls so I can picture him in flannel too! The coonskin cap would just put it over the top!!

Wonderful so far can't wait to read the rest!

Hi thee Kamickey! Thank you for joining and reading along! And welcome to the DisBoards!

Oh yes! I still love CoP but I think they need to make some progress on updating it. But I am a fan of the originals, for sure!!!

I'm a fan too. It's such an iconic part of Disney history!

 

[emmysmommy]

OMG! You two have to be some of the luckiest Disers around! I'm SO jealous!

Thanks Rebecca! We've just been at the right place at the right time!

Yay on front of the bus seats! And yay for not answering to Fort Wilderness!

Beautiful! Love the room pictures. I've only stayed at the Wilderness Lodge once. And we're DVC, so the rooms are different. I love seeing the other rooms.

Donald Duck cartoons! Um, hello, obviously they are the best! (I have all of them on DVD pretty much.....I'm sure that's not surprising).

I have to unpack too. I wouldn't consider myself a neat freak or anything, but when I arrive on a trip, I absolutely have to get unpacked and done. Otherwise it feels incomplete.

Hi Dani!! That's so awesome that you own DVC. Perhaps one day I'll take the plunge!!

Ha, yes I would imagine you may be a Donald Duck lover!!

See? We're simpatico! You get the need to unpack. My DD not so much. I think she's still not unpacked from our trip!

 

[emmysmommy]

Saturday August 17, 2013: Day 2, Part 1



I know, you guys were starting to wonder if we ever made it into a park....

As much as I was obsessed with the freezing temps in my February/March TR, this was an opposite problem. At 6:45am it was already 78 degrees. And HUMID!!! Welcome to Florida right? Despite my camera lens fogging up, I did manage to get some photos of the view from our balcony looking out towards Bay Lake. Lovely wouldn't you say?

​

We had an 8:30am breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café which meant no boat, bus or monorail to transport us to breakfast. Anyone interested in my dining review that is on the dining boards heres the link. One note that I must share since it would be a disservice not to... they have changed their waffles from the plain, boring version to MICKEY shaped waffles. Ok, well, I was pretty excited about that!

More photos of the lodge before we had to depart:

Again, it's the details people!!

Last photos before leaving our room:

Following breakfast we arranged to have bell service transfer our luggage to our new resort AKL. After taking a few photos of the courtyard area we headed towards the dock to take a boat to MK. We passed by firerock geyser and waited for it to erupt. Of course when the boat had pulled away we heard the explosion! Timing is everything!

We took the boat to MK and entered the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy by 11am. Our first order of business was to redeem the photopass+ voucher at the camera shop by the Town Square Theater. (It sure would be a time saver to just send the photopass card in the mail.)

I can feel a photo coming on..

And now the photopass version:​

It was HOT, we were melting, and we were sporting some cool Magic Bands that needed to test the FP+ reservations that we had made. I shouldn't admit that we dilly dallied too much at WL and missed 2 of our 4 Fast Pass reservations including one for Peter Pan! Argh! Because we had missed our window we had some time to spare before our noon FP+ reservation.

We ducked into the first A/C attraction we could find which happened to be Hall of Presidents. Twenty three minutes of cool comfort  works for me. Plus we got to watch roll call being taken for the 43 Presidents. Interesting factoid: (The film used in the show was shot in 70mm format using a special process created by Disney Legend Ub Iwerks. (wikipedia reference) And interestingly enough, I had paused to take a photo of a window on Main Street just 20 minutes earlier that coincidently was dedicated to Ub Iwerks. (Its the window on the left.)

Continued Next Post​

 

[Alysa]

Love the wilderness lodge pics! And that is a pretty girl you have there! Wonderful early morning shots of you both!

 

[francis6306]

See… THAT is why I don't like the FP reservations! I don't want to be on a timetable for EVERYTHING at Disney! I'm fine with grabbing my FP's on the fly around the park!

 

[annie170]

I can never get enough of WL photos.

Your bag and top match perfectly! You have the cutest clothes!

I tend to notice details. You changed tops (or outfits) after breakfast, didn't you? I've noticed this in a few of your other trip reports.

For everyone who loves that bag, TJ Maxx has the RL Pocket Shopper in the fall colors for only $99!

 

[LMN]

I'm jumping in to follow your awesome trip report- looks like I'm just in time for your 1st park day!

First of all, I have to say- I have my own Emily (or Em or Mims, as she is called). She is my oldest daughter and will be 14 next month. All 3 of my kids share my love for all things Disney!!

We are a family of 5, so there are too many of us to stay in one of the WL rooms, unfortunately. Hopefully after my 16 yr old son goes off to college in a few years we can enjoy a room at the WL. I just love the lodge. We have eaten at Whispering Canyon for dinner once- but after seeing your breakfast photos, I think we need to eat there for breakfast!

Oh, and the CPA in me LOVES your color-coded spreadsheet!

Looking forward to the rest of your TR!!

 

[amitrat]

Hoping on board and can't wait to read more

 

[MEK]

Nice pictures from HoP. It's been so long since I've been in there and its actually one attraction where I have no pictures.

Love Em's shirt and is that a little Mickey head on your skirt?

Breakfast looks yummy. I have always wanted to try breakfast there and now that I know they have Mickey waffles I am totally in!

Did you notice if they still have the lodge tour? We did it in 2010 and it was awesome. They explained the significance of all those details you mentioned. I wish they had in depth tours of all the resorts because I found it incredibly interesting.

I have FP plus for my AKL stay but that's at the end of my trip. Bummer! No FP Plus for the BWV.

 

[chattadisser]

Love all the WL photos! It is one of my favorite resorts, along with your next resort AKL.

For such a hot and humid day, you both look wonderful in your photos. No one melting yet.

Bummer about missing some of your FP+. I agree, as much as I like planning, I think FP+ takes it a little too far. I want to have things planned but have flexibility to change plans on the fly. I do like the magic bands though, so nice to not have to dig around for keys and cards.

Did you hear that they are linking the photopass to the magic bands so all you have to do now is get your magic band touched by the photopass photographer? I like this, now I don't have to keep up with all those cards and hope that none get lost. I assume that photopass+ will work the same way.

Christine

 

[pattiken]

Nice update..woohoo magic kingdom..sad for you to have to leave that resort.. However I think you'll be back and you still have lots days left yummy big Mickey waffle.


Is that a hidden Mickey on your skirt? Love it
Interested to hear about magic bands more.

 

[Wood Nymph]

[
We had an 8:30am breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café which meant no boat, bus or monorail to transport us to breakfast. Anyone interested in my dining review that is on the dining boards heres the link. One note that I must share since it would be a disservice not to... they have changed their waffles from the plain, boring version to MICKEY shaped waffles. Ok, well, I was pretty excited about that!

They gave you a huge portion of scrambled eggs!

We ate breakfast at WCC when we stayed at the WL in February. I had a gluten free Mickey waffle and it was delicious.
The waiter was really nice, too. He had plenty of time to chat, since the dining room was almost deserted.

I checked out your dining review of the Territory Lounge because we plan to eat dinner there one of the nights of our December trip. I warned my DH about the flatbread. I wonder if the onion soup is good there.

We went to WDW in August one time, and we will never go in the hot summer again. It was too hot and humid even for us, and we are used to humidity in the summer.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Em's outfit is adorable.

Are you wearing a mickey skirt? How cute! I have to ask, where did you get it?

That's really interesting about the Hall of Presidents. Did you learn that on your KTTK tour? My other theory is that you're secretly related to Walt.

 

[foodrocksluver]

I did the double cut about two years ago. Got it cut short and went back a few weeks later and went even shorter. I would maybe do that now but I want to make sure it has time to grow out again before the wedding.

Love all you WL pictures. Especially the one of you and the Mickey waffle. I do just love those things SO MUCH!!

And I noticed you in the MK. Does this mean there is a Mark sighting in the near future?

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

You know, I was just starting to wonder if you ever made it into a park...

Haha, has anybody ever seen the geyser erupt?

You know I really love Em's shirt. I am always such a fan of the simpler designs.

Yay Magic Kingdom!! I am so very interetsed in hearing about FP+ as you roll along. Obviously it hasn't started well, but I'm anxious to see how it went overall. I'm like a lot of people in that I really don't like it in principle, so I'm curious to see how it well it worked or didn't work as the case may be.

And I swear the two of you NEVER take a bad photo.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Loved the update!

Waiting for the camera lens to unfog lost countless photo ops for me. Even just going from the busses sometimes had it fogged back up again-and the lens was capped and inside my camera bag.

Cute outfits for today! Love your little Mickey touch on your skirt. Had to laugh at your HOP stop to cool off. DD and I did the same during trip 2.

 

[Miss Potts]

Funny story about HOP....

A few years ago my DH (then DBF) and I were in WDW... He hadn't been to the world in a few years and wanted to see the Hall of Presidents. Snooozeville if you ask me... So I decided to tell him it was closed for refurbishment when it wasn't. I figured he'd catch on when we walked by and it was open AND when people were pouring out the exit, but he didn't!!! The trip went on and I forgot all about it (and so did he!).

Eventually I confused and now I have to show proof of any refurbishments! But when we finally did go see HOP, DH had the nerve to say as we were walking out... "I just took a great nap!" Ugh!!!

 

[KatMark]

Brenda, beautiful pictures around the WL...it truly is a stunning resort.

I love Em's t-shirt and your top.

Great photopass pictures.

We've not done Hall of Presidents the last two trips and I'm not sure why...Mark enjoys doing that (it would have been a good place to get out of the heat or the rain).

Did you use a flash for your pictures in tehre?

 

[khaleesi]

Hi Khaleesi! Glad that we timed our next WDW trip so perfectly!! You didn't have to wait long. ha ha!!

I'm sorry about your diagnosis. I hope you are able to manage it through meds and other medical treatments.

If the bus driver has a big fat head it's probably better to sit on the passenger side!!

Thanks!! It's supposed to be highly controllable through meds, so I've got my fingers crossed.

LOL... I seem to always get stuck behind people with fat heads. Passenger side it is!

 

[Mom2m&k]

Enjoying your report as usual! You two always look like you are having so much fun!!