12/6-12/14/08 at Wilderness Lodge - Our 1st DVC Experience

[Melissa79]

Well, this is my first attempt at a trip report. I've read many others and thought I'd give it a shot this time around. The plan was to start this when I got home from Disney back in December but, things didn't go as planned. I was really busy right after vacation at work and then with Christmas so I thought for sure I'd be starting the trip report in January. Well, I had a couple of months of extreme tiredness and wasn't feeling well...I'm pregnant with our first baby! Finally I have more energy and I have time to write this report!

We spent December 6-14th at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, our very first trip as DVC members! My husband and I bought into the DVC in 2007, we bought resale because we really wanted to own at the Wilderness Lodge.
We invited my parents along for our first DVC experience and we got a two bedroom villa.

So I should really do an introduction...
First, we have me (Melissa) and my husband (Nick).

We are both 30 years old (we were both still 29 during our vacation). I'm a cash accountant and Nick is an overnight manager. We live in the South Shore of Massachusetts - actually we are 1/2 way between Boston and Cape Cod. We're just a few towns over from Plymouth...you know, where the pilgrims landed. I've been to Disney 6 times including this trip - all since 2001. Nick has been to Disney enough that he isn't sure on the exact number, he believes it to be around 15 times.

Next, we have my parents Bob and Sue.

Mom is a housewife and dad is a clock maker, I know - who makes clocks these days? I must say though that it is quite an art and he is talented! Anyway, before this trip they had only been to Disney once before and that was 2006, with us of course!

 

[onejellyshelly]

I am on board! How was DVC?

 

[Melissa79]

I am on board! How was DVC?

Hi! Thanks for joining me!! We loved DVC, our first experience couldn't have been better!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Hi!
I saw your link on LCAEMoms TR and thought I would join you!! I was there the same time (12/7-14) and we're neighbors!! I actually live in Plymouth!! Looking forward to reading some more....and can't wait to hear more about DVC, it's our dream!!

Congrats on your baby!!! Motherhood is a wonderful thing....best wishes for you!! And glad to hear you're getting your energy back, when are you due?

Looking forward to hearing more!!
Kristen

 

[Lcaemom]

Hi Melissa

Of course, I'm interested in your TR...looking so forward to reading all your details. Your picture of the GF is beautiful!!! Was that part of a photoshoot...or did your parents take it? That came out great! Is the picture of your parents taken at WLV? I'm not sure that I knew you were DVC members back when we were planning our trips...but, how nice that you bought into WL with the resale. I'll have to chat with you soon about that...STILL considering BCV and WLV...just can't officially say yes!?! The girls are begging to go back AGAIN...and it certainly wouldn't take much to get me to say yes...I even have a PIN sitting in an email right now, that I still need to call about. But, after three trips, DVC would be almost paid for, almost in full!

 

[Melissa79]

Hi!
I saw your link on LCAEMoms TR and thought I would join you!! I was there the same time (12/7-14) and we're neighbors!! I actually live in Plymouth!! Looking forward to reading some more....and can't wait to hear more about DVC, it's our dream!!

Congrats on your baby!!! Motherhood is a wonderful thing....best wishes for you!! And glad to hear you're getting your energy back, when are you due?

Looking forward to hearing more!!
Kristen

Hi! Thanks for checking out my report! Funny that you were there the same week as me, wasn't it a great week to be in Disney?! Yay we are neighbors! The baby is due September 30th so I'm about 19 weeks now...we are really excited. I hope you get to join DVC too!

Hi Melissa

Of course, I'm interested in your TR...looking so forward to reading all your details. Your picture of the GF is beautiful!!! Was that part of a photoshoot...or did your parents take it? That came out great! Is the picture of your parents taken at WLV? I'm not sure that I knew you were DVC members back when we were planning our trips...but, how nice that you bought into WL with the resale. I'll have to chat with you soon about that...STILL considering BCV and WLV...just can't officially say yes!?! The girls are begging to go back AGAIN...and it certainly wouldn't take much to get me to say yes...I even have a PIN sitting in an email right now, that I still need to call about. But, after three trips, DVC would be almost paid for, almost in full!

Hello I'm so excited to have you over here! The pic at the GF was taken by my dad, it's one of my favorites now! You are right, the one of my parents was taken at the WLV. Yeah, we bought into DVC because we were spending a lot on our vacations and thought it would pay for itself pretty quickly, especially buying resale. I can answer some questions for you on that if you've got any! Can't wait to hear if you book anything when you call about that PIN!

 

[MEK]

Looking forward to your TR. DH and I are new DVC members too. We visited around the same time you were there, but stayed only 4 nights (SSR). This was our first solo trip without kids! We are staying at AKL this June with the whole family.

Congrats on your baby! 19 weeks is a great time. You feel good...almost like normal. When I was 19 weeks pregnant with my first son I traveled to New Zealand. Still can't believe I did that

Looking forward to ready more!

 

[Melissa79]

Looking forward to your TR. DH and I are new DVC members too. We visited around the same time you were there, but stayed only 4 nights (SSR). This was our first solo trip without kids! We are staying at AKL this June with the whole family.

Congrats on your baby! 19 weeks is a great time. You feel good...almost like normal. When I was 19 weeks pregnant with my first son I traveled to New Zealand. Still can't believe I did that

Welcome! Another new DVC member! You must have had a great time on your solo trip in Dec. June is coming pretty soon, you must be getting excited for your trip! I started to feel better around 16 weeks...and I'm trying not to think about how I'll feel about two months from now!

 

[Melissa79]

We had decided to ask my parents if they would like to join us on our trip to Disney so we asked them in the beginning of Jan 08. I thought maybe they would take a few days to answer but they said yes right then and there. I was planning on telling them they could think about it for a few weeks if they wanted to. I'm not sure we got the whole question out before they said yes.

Because we wanted to stay at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and that is our home resort, we could book 11 months out which is exactly what I planned to do. So, the day came in January that I could call to book and I was planning on driving home on my lunch break to call Disney since I live less than 10 minutes from work. I don't like to make personal phone calls from work - everyone can hear your business, and I think every time I did it in the past, one of the VPs suddenly needed me and they didn't leave my desk until I was off the phone. Of course this day in January ended up being a snowstorm kind of day so I couldn't drive home to make my call, it would have taken too long and the roads were bad. So, what does a girl determined to make reservations do? I made my way out across the huge parking lot in the crazy snow to sit in my freezing car so that I could make my call.

This was my first call to member services and I wasn't sure exactly how my banking and borrowing of points was going to go. There was NO waiting on hold and I spoke to a really nice guy who explained everything. Before I knew it I had booked a two bedroom villa at the WL Dec 6-13! No problems...I just had to walk back through the storm to get back to work.

Sometime in Feb to early March we decided to look at the prices of the flights just to keep an eye on them. Nick found nonstop flights through Delta at a really good price (can't remember now how much they were) but it was one of the better prices Nick had ever paid. So, we booked our flights several months before we had planned, yay one more thing done!

In March Nick kept saying that he would like to add on another day to our vacation and make it 8 nights. We both had taken an extra day off from work at the end of our vacation and my mom doesn't work and my dad works for himself so they could stay another day with no problems too. But we didn't mention it to my parents and we kind of let it drop. On my birthday in March I came home from work and Nick surprised me by telling me that he had added that extra day and we would be staying 8 nights! He took care of everything even changing the flights...which if you know Nick, you know he doesn't make phone calls...ever. I was so surprised!

I made our dinner reservations 6 months out and got everything that we wanted except for Le Cellier in Canada, we still have not gotten a chance to try that one. We were so excited because we had some new (to us) restaurants on our itinerary.

The rest of our 11 month countdown went by without too much going on - we already had our flights and dinners booked. There was of course lots of Disney talk and we really were counting down the days. I think my parents may have been more excited than Nick and I and I wasn't sure that was possible. Everytime I spoke to my dad he told me how many days we had left.

If anyone wants to check it out, here is a link to our video that I made from our 2007 vacation to the Grand Floridian. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w_H9k3gBfc If you watch it in high quality it looks a little better.

 

[Lcaemom]

Great update Melissa!!! That DVC booking sounds too easy...you're really making me consider the pro side of my ongoing DVC debate. It is so interesting to read someone else's experience...who went at the same time, to and from the same place. I didn't find any flights on Delta...that were reasonable...the nonstop flights on Delta were all over $800pp, until the fall of 08...when they finally dropped...from Boston. Didn't you fly out RI?
I remember calling about ADRs...my whole trip was planned around my CRT lunch...thinking that would be my hardest ressie, I called and ended up having my pick of the whole week. Once that was booked, I called back to book the rest and started with LeCellier...I started asking about each day starting with the 7th and everyday was booked until we got to the 13th...lunch at 1pm. We were 20 minutes early for it...and ended up waiting an hour to be seated! That was way harder to get and deal with than CRT!!! Hopefully, on your next trip?!? When is your next trip?!? Any pending before the baby???

 

[wdwgirl03]

Congrats on becoming DVC members! We were there in December too, right after you guys were (we stayed at the Beach Club Villas!). I can't wait to hear more about your trip, we are staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas for the first time in August!

 

[MEK]

I've also had pretty painless experiences calling member services and booking vacations. I think their customer service is really great. I've only booked three trips so far, but each has involved several calls and changes. They are beyond nice.

I think it is so great that your Dad was so excited about the trip. Your parents will probably be coming on alot of your future trips. You are lucky to have them as your future Disney babysitters!

 

[Melissa79]

I didn't find any flights on Delta...that were reasonable...the nonstop flights on Delta were all over $800pp, until the fall of 08...when they finally dropped...from Boston. Didn't you fly out RI?
Hopefully, on your next trip?!? When is your next trip?!? Any pending before the baby???

We flew Delta nonstop out of Logan, we must have found the tickets on the right day - I asked Nick and he said we paid $250 per ticket. I don't know when our next trip will be, maybe Dec 2010? By then the baby would be just over a year. Maybe we'll get to try Le Cellier next time!

Congrats on becoming DVC members! We were there in December too, right after you guys were (we stayed at the Beach Club Villas!). I can't wait to hear more about your trip, we are staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas for the first time in August!

Hi, thanks for joining in! How were the Beach Club Villas? We'd like to try them sometime, and I'd really like to stay at the Boardwalk Villas. I bet you'll like the Wilderness Lodge Villas, it is so nice and quiet there.

I think it is so great that your Dad was so excited about the trip. Your parents will probably be coming on alot of your future trips. You are lucky to have them as your future Disney babysitters!

Funny that you said my parents will be our future Disney babysitters because my dad said last weekend that they'll have to come along because we will need babysitters. I'm sure they'll be joining us in the future, they love Disney and I'm sure it'll be a blast to see their grandchild enjoying it.

 

[khertz]

I'm in! DH and I will be going with our parents around those same dates this year (the 4th-14th) so I'm eager to read about your experience.

And congrats on the little one! September 30th will be here before you know it!

 

[Melissa79]

I always enjoy the night before we leave because once I'm out of work I'm officially on vacation...love that feeling!

Since Nick works nights, he was officially on vacation Friday morning even before I left for work. My day went as usual, I worked until 5:00 and was home by about 5:15. After dinner I did some cleaning, I have to vacuum the house before we go because I can't stand coming home to anything other than a clean house. I called my parents to make sure they were ready for the morning and my mom says that she hurt her back. What? Mom has some back trouble but it had been great for months and she managed to slip a disk (I think that was what happened) while packing for this trip that they have been looking forward to for 11 months! Uh oh. Hopefully some sleep and meds would make it feel a bit better. Plus she was going to Disney in the morning, she was too excited to be worried about that.

I was busy in the evening doing last minute things like charging the camera, video camera, and cell phones, and of course finishing the packing and organizing of the suitcases and carryon.
Here are the suitcases as I was nearing the finish.

The plan was to go to bed around 9:00 because we had to be up at 3:00AM the next morning. I don't think I finished with everything until after 10:00 and I believe we got to bed between 10:30 and 11:00, I was going to be tired in the morning but thats ok because we're going to Disney!

 

[Melissa79]

Our alarm went off at 3:00 AM but we were both already awake just laying there thinking, yay it's finally here! I got up and headed for the shower first. My mom called at 3:30 to tell us that they were awake and also to make sure we were up. While Nick showered I made coffee and had some toast. We finished any last minute packing, unplugging things around the house etc.

Mom and dad showed up around 4:40. Nick met them at the door with this Mickey groom top hat as a joke. In 2006 when my parents came with us for the first time we were wearing our Minnie/Mickey bride/groom ears (from our honeymoon) when they came to the door and I think they were horrified for a minute thinking that we were going to keep them on.

The limo showed up close to 5:00 and off to Boston we go!

We checked into Delta and made it through security pretty quickly. We got some waters and breakfast for Nick and then found our gate. We knew that we had a full flight but there was almost no one at the gate when we got there. Maybe we were just really early!

We spent the time talking and watching the sky getting brighter. I took my meclizine - I've got vertigo issues and my doctor has me take that to try to keep from getting dizzy on the plane. Next thing we know, it is time to board!

Our seats were towards the front of the plane, I like that because it is faster to get off once you land! The plane had just two seats in each row on our side of the plane so Nick and I were together and my parents were together right behind us. It's nice not to have a stranger next to you in the third seat. We sat on the plane for a while and were watching them load the luggage under us. We saw one of mom and dad's suitcases being loaded on. They had to de-ice the wings before we could take off but finally we were ready to go!

The flight was good, it's almost 3 hours exactly from Boston to Orlando. I watched out the window, did some Sudoku, and just enjoyed being on my way to Florida. Nick tried to sleep and my parents read.

We landed around 10:30. We made our way to the Magical Express check in area. There was a pretty long line at the counter, longer than I've ever seen but it moved fairly quickly. A really nice lady checked me in and off I went to find the rest of the family. We got into the Wilderness Lodge line and there was only one family in front of us. I'm not sure how long we waited, it seemed like it was a while but I dont mind waiting at this point because I'm in Florida! The bus driver that we got was pretty funny. He was making jokes that were so bad that you had to laugh. He kept yelling "woo hoo." The bus stopped at the GF and Poly before the WL. We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge at 12:30. We are here!

 

[Lcaemom]

It's all coming back to me now...you were flying out of Boston...not RI but, we figured out that we were in different terminals. But, how funny...we got to the airport at the same time...took off and landed within minutes of each other. Did you check out my ME picture in my TR...do you see yourself??? The line WAS huge!!! I remember being checked in by a woman with a Mickey hand...and lots of cheerleaders!!! But, what a great day!!!

 

[MEK]

Yeah...... You finally made it to Wilderness Lodge. Can't wait to see some Christmas pics!

 

[onejellyshelly]

It always seem like the night before I do not sleep a wink, but always have the most energy. I wish I could wake up on a Monday like that.

 

[wide receiver]

What a great start! I can't wait to here more about DVC!