10 Nights WL Concierge August 13-23rd

[Alicnwondrln]

Hi everyone we are home and had a great trip. We had done extensive pre planning with the IPO office about our trip and somethings we wanted and I feel that developing that relationship with them really helped my trip even more magical.

This trip was alot of work and planning. DS7 fractured his leg in feb and was in a body cast for 3 months and then we had to move for DH job as his company moved to a new location out of state. It was a crazy 6 months.

I had originally booked us at the poly for 7 nights GVC and then 3 nights at the swan or dolphin as we won a free trip there and some gifts from them.
the more we thought about this we didnt wanna switch. We want to stay at the swan but didnt wanna lose ME or the dining plan. When we first booked the dining plan wasnt free but we were getting it anyway. Dh called one day and said I dont wannt do the swan get all 10 nights at the poly, well you can guess what happened. The poly didnt have it now and it was free dining so there was nothing. We didnt wanna do a spilt stay as then we would have had to do a 1 day ticket to do the dining so....

We switched everything to the Boardwalk concierge for all 10 nights. I was gettng great advice from KerryCm the boardwalk queen. ( thanks Kerry ) We even spoke by phone about it. I was getting great pre planning from the poly staff expecially Brandon so I was scared to switch. When I had spoken with Kerry I still had no heard from the BW IPO when we were on the phone they called me. I spoke with Maryjo who was nice but I didnt get the same feeling, within the next 48 hours I never heard back from them about anything and wasnt comfortable about that. I was also waiting to hear back from them about dining. I never did. I ended up calling dining and they had made none of my changes so I did many myself.

By the next day I called and switched everything to the WL for all 10 nights. I sent the WL an email and to my surprise Brandon repsonded, I guess the poly and wl IPO offices are together. I was very happy about this and immediatley felt better about my decision.

The next months were great the kids got little packets from brandon and treats in the mail from the staff. They were excited and looking for to the stay. I had everything in order and we really just had to wait.

We left our house August 13th Sunday and went off to logan airport we had no issues getting thru security and it was quick and easy. This was 3 days after all the stuff in London so Dh was nervous and I cut back from 5 bags to 3 all checked with one bag for carry on for the baby thats it. We got on the plane and then off as the AC wasnt working, 5 min later we were back on and the plane was all set.

We get to MCO easily and off we to ME. We used this last year and found it easy. It was easy again and we were the 3rd stop after Poly and GF. We arrived and I let the valet know we were concierge guests. They called upstairs and Brandon from the IPO office met us there and escorted us to our room. It was amazing room 7042 we had a bunkbed room newly remodeled and a view of cinderellas castle. Brandon and the staff met our requests and exceeded them.

The beds were full of gifts for the kids and our bed had a gift basket from the IPO staff as well. It was a great way to start our trip there. DS7 is a jack freak there were some gifts I knew about and some that I didnt. Brandon really went above and beyond for Shawn. A jack clock, bag, shirt , hat, they both had a bucket full of candy and snacks and ds2 had a large Donald stuffed animal on his bed. We got checked in grabbed a snack and headed over to the MK for some rides. We walked on POC, SM and a few others before heading over to the Concourse Steakhouse at the CR for dinner. We were on the free dining. Dinner was very good, excellent service and it was all good. I had the salmon, Dh the steak and the kids shared food together and the apps. After that we went back to MK and did more rides, we didnt returned to the room til almost midnight as MK was open to 1am.

It was a great first night and we were all tired. I got the kids ready fro bed Dh took a shower. they had stocked the fridge for us with soda, water and juice boxes and there was a plate of treats and 2 beers in there. WOO HOO.
Chris and I put the kids to bed and then sat on the balcony with our treats and watched the castle change colors.

It was a great end of the day.... Pictures of first day to follow

 

[Alicnwondrln]

the view from the balcony

the gift basket on our bed

Shawn and all the treats he got from Brandon and the staffs

the new beds

the room

the view again

 

[Alicnwondrln]

the wallpaper

the new rugs

 

[Tracy Savage]

I may be stupid but whats the IPO?

 

[Alicnwondrln]

IPO is itinerary planning office
they help you and do all the bookings and stuff when you are staying concierge

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Mk evening hours that first night
shawn gets down at POC

anty at MK

Shawn and anty on small world

 

[TeresaMc]

We are leaving for our first stay at WL Concierge in 5 days!!! I am loving your report so far, it is making me even more anxious. MORE, MORE, MORE!!!!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

today we slept in late after 830 we are usually up at 6am everyday. We got dressed and went down to the lounge and ate some breakfast.
Then we headed off to DTD. It was great the place was dead. We went to all the stores we wanted and walked around. We bought Shawn a slush at the candy store and one of those make your own mugs. Then we walked over to virgin and bought a gift card fro Brandon for all the nice things he did for us. I had spoken with Daisy and she said she would make sure he got it. We know he did as he called us the next day thanking us. He is wonderful!!

Pics from DTD

We then headed over to Earl of sanwhich for lunch which was good and we stopped at Mcdonalds for the kids. Dh had bever eaten at earl and we were full after, and it was good.

Then we took the bus back to the resort and got ready to go to MGM for the night. We had 4pm ressies at Momma Melrose. We got there early and then went over did star tours and muppets and some other rides and then checked in for dinner. It was ok, nothing special and we wouldnt eat there again. The place was not that busy. We spent the rest of the night going on rides, and having fun. fantasmic was so packed we left as people were trying to get in even though it was standing room only and they were turning people away.

We decided to hit some rides again that ds7 loves and we left after 10pm it was an evening magic hours night. We caught the first bus back and found our room all turned down and some desserts and beers in the fridge again.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

We are leaving for our first stay at WL Concierge in 5 days!!! I am loving your report so far, it is making me even more anxious. MORE, MORE, MORE!!!!

it was great
you will love it
Lisa and Gerianne are great
if you see lisa tell her anthony russo says hi
he loved her and asked for her by name daily
she was amazing with our kids

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Ok today we went to Epcot for the morning and we were there til around 230 then we were all tired and wiped. We had breakfast in the lounge and then lunch at the american adventure we were all hugury and it really hit the spot.

We walked around WS and took some pics and watched some shows. None of us were really hungury but we had a ressie for ohana at 410pm
we went to the poly but decided to cancel and it must have been fate as there was a family of 4 trying to get a table for 4. We gave them our name as the host said she just couldnt give them our table. Whatever....

We went back to the WL and went to the pool for awhile and DH took shawn to the aracade. there was something wrong with the games as they were all free so the boys spent most of the night there. Shawn wasnt going anywhere. I walked around the lodge taking pics and interacting with the concierge staff. Lisa, Gerianne and Theresa were all great. I enjoyed speaking with them and Lisa was great with ds2 anthony.

We had had some snaks at 8pm beer for DH wine for me and cookies and brownies for the kids. We got the kids cleaned up and we all watched wishes. Dh and kids went to bed, I went and did laundry. I spoke with several nice ladies while I was down there and it really helped pass the time.

Wl needs to get a bigger laundry room. It is toooo small. There was a line to do laundry everytime I went there.

 

[lookingforward]

I am enjoying your trip reports. I was wondering if you think my daughter and I (mom and daughter trip) will like the WL concierge? We love AKL but want to try something different. How is the bus service?

 

[TeresaMc]

Kelly,
Is Miller Lite your beer of choice?? My DH favors Bud Light, not sure if Miller has the rights in WDW the same as Coke does. I myself am not a beer connoisseur so a glass of wine or cordial is more my style.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

they had several beers
heineken, bud light and 4 bottles of wine out everynight

i loved the lounge and found it very relaxing especially at breakfast and lunch
the view is great out to the pool and bay lake
you can watch the electric water parade from there
i did this more than one night with ds 2

 

[Alicnwondrln]

we had no issues with the bus service i never waited mroe than 10 min for a bus
and we only had to stand once
it was easy and I wont rent a car again
but i think it depends on the resort

 

[Lives4Disney]

Kelly, I enjoyed your report and pics. Glad you had a wonderful stay. I have to say I am really happy for you that the IPO team came thru for you. I had my doubts because I don't understand why they (Brandon and a few others) dropped the ball totally on me (lost CC info and all request info etc) and have turned us off to the Poly for a llong time to come. Glad it did work out for you and yours. Hope they remain consistant with their new and improved service. The WL room looks lovely & your view is gorgeous. I didn't realize you could see the castle from WL.

Lives4Disney

 

[Alicnwondrln]

thanks channing
i only 7 more days to write up LOL
the view was spectacular and the service was great I will never stay non concierge again
LOL
We are thinking AKL, CR poly or GF for our next visit
i am planning that now

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Today is day 4 of our journey we are going to Animal Kingdom
we love AK and are feeling good to go after taking our time getting up and heading over to the lounge for breakfast and then down to the bus. I dont know what it was but this place was pakced already and it was 9am.

It is hot today, and it always seems hotter at AK.
We get our stroller and hit the trails and meet some characters. I go get in line for FP for the safari. Funny a HUGE line to just get FP. We hit tough to be a bug and some other stuff. Shawn wanted Mcdonalds so I waited in line for 30 minutes to get that and then we did the safari again. We missed alot here this year. We didnt do everest, lion king or many of the other things we had planned.

Finally we left and went back to the Lodge. This was the only time we stood on the bus all week. It was pakced. We went back to the room and took showers and naps. We woke up later hit the lounge, pool and aracade.

We really wanted to take our time this trip thats another reason we did the 10 nights instead of the 7 we usually do.

You will love this part. We get down and pick 2 chairs over by the kids pool. there is nothing on them. I start to get the baby ready to go in when a woman comes up taps me on the shoulder and says that one of those chairs is hers. I am sorry but I hate that atttiude like thats mine. Its a chair. I said im sorry i didnt know that and only put my stuff down here as there was NOTHING on the chair. Shw proceeds to tell me its her chair and her Dh will need it and before I can take my stuff off it she throws some stuff down on it and walks away. I wanted to slap this lady. They werent using the chair, she and her 2 adult kids were in the pool the Dh was no where to be seen. She kept staring at me and to be honest it really made me uncomfortable. They never used the chairs the whole time we were there and the DH came by with his camera and then went to the bar. This left a bad taste in my mouth as the way she approached me was RUDE and there was a better wayt o handle this. If you want the chair claim it lady i am not a mind reader and no idea the chair was yours. Please.

We watched the electric water pageant and just chilled the rest of the night. Then we went over to MK for alittle and did POC and some smaller rides for the Ds2. It was a nice night.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

today we got up early the first time since arrived and went to blizzard beach. we had never done the water parks and DH doesnt really like them but ds7 does. I was impressed. I really like it and we all had fun. We all did the family slide and Dh took ds7 around while I stayed in tikes peak with ds2. He had a blast running around and jumping in hte fountains. We had a great time!! Around 1230 the baby was tired so I took him back to the lodge while Dh and Shawn ( ds7) stayed and played.

The bus seemed to take forever to come as I watched others come and go numnerous times. The bus wasnt full but there were people on it. the bus driver was jerk. I had to get ds2 out of the carriage and carry him and the stroller on the bus. I had no even sat down when the driver started yelling at me to fold up the carriage. I was like I will I have to put the baby down to do it. Sorry what a grouch a nice person folded the stroller up for me and I appreciated there help. the same family carried it off the bus for me when we arrived at the lodge as well. Thanks again

I stopped at the lounge and got some snacks and other stuff and brought it back to the room and got ds2 settled. He fell asleep I made some calls and did some work. then I took a shower and took a nap to. Chris and Shawn returned around 3pm. They laid down to we all over slept and had to RUN and I am not kidding you we RAN to mak our 545 Kona ressies. We just made it. We checked in and waited for 10 min. The host staff was great as ds2 was fussy about all the rushing and they were talking and playing with him. He does high five and fisty alot and they all got a kick outta this.

sandy was our server and she was great. The food was good and she interacted alot with the kids. We really liked her. Kona is one of our favs.

After dinner we went over to MK and did some rides and got some dessert as we didnt have any at kona. I love MK at night, I got some great pics and the kids rode small world, buzz, stitch, sm, btmrr, sm and shawn even did Space mountain which blew me away. Over the course of this trip we would go there to ride the big 3 and then back to the WL.

We went back to the lounge grabbed a drink and got the kids settled, watched king of queens I love that show and went to bed.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

This morning Chris and Shawn left and went to typhoon lagoon. I decided not to go as ds2 was to tired and sunny last night, i think the water park really wore him out.

Ds2 and I went to MK and then did a loop of the monorail resorts. It was great. I met a CM on the boat named phil who was from malden ma where my parents live and we had a nice conversation about the everett ma fire department and stuff like that. My gramps was an everett fireman his whole life so it was nice chatting with this man.

ds2 went to MK we went thru toon town and walked around got a snack took some pics. I knew chris and shawn wouldnt be back so I decided to go over to the Gf and look for alice stuff. I love alice stuff and have a nice little collection going. I always find something cute at the GF. There was nothing. I wasnt happy. I did get to watch the rose sing alittle at the tea party and that was cute. I took some pics and decided to go over to the CR and look around. I did and i like CR Ithink that is where our stay will be next year. Dh wants AKL or monorail resort. We have no interest in the epcot resorts with ds2 we are an MK family til hes older so it just makes more sense for us now. I think the CR has some of the best shops but they had nothing either. Oh well. I went back to mK and took the boat back to the WL
this way I didnt have to take ds2 outta the stroller and hold him and fold the stroller up by myself.

anty and i at MK that morning

the castle

the boat back from MK

 

[BeautyNBeast]

I am loving the TR!
Your DS's are very cute! Cannot wait to read more