Adventures at 40"! May 2014 TR *COMPLETE* 9/10 **NEW** Italy ABD TR link posted 9/29

[khertz]

That sand looks so fine and soft! I love how the sand in the gulf is so different from the atlantic sand.

Cute picture with everyone's name.

Too bad dinner was yucky. No wonder you needed dunkin donuts in the morning!

Yay for the WDW entrance , even if it IS in the rain. I remember how excited I was the first time I stayed there, too!

I never realized they were different! I guess I'll have to check out Atlantic sand for myself one day. Florida beaches are really beautiful! I'm not a beach person, but they are really nice.

Thanks My idea, of course.

DD definitely made up for our pitiful dinner the night before! Plus we had some leftover for later in the trip.

It was still a welcome sight, even through the pouring rain! Definitely made Paxton happy to see that after 2 long days in the car.

Aw the beach pictures are cute! Glad you encountered nice people who let DS use their toys !

Yikes that restaurant sounds like a mess! Good thing there was delicious Disney food waiting for you.

AH yay you made it to Disney!

Thanks! That was really so nice of them, and a nice sprinkling of pre-Disney pixie dust.

It was definitely a mess, and the only redeeming thing about it was that it was so close to the room so we were able to walk there and back.

Awesome! You've made it to WL! Can't wait to see the photos of the resort. And something tells me that you have lots and lots and lots of photos to share of the resort.

I am 99% sure that WL is where we will stay for our June 2015 in-law family reunion that I'm planning so would love to see what the resort looks like in all its glorious details!

Hmmm, I wonder what would give you that idea???

Hopefully I can get that up soon! I'm trying to find time to get ahead on uploading pics. Flickr is a great hosting site but it seems like it takes forever to upload.

Oh my gosh, that picture of you and DS holding hands on the beach!!! You should get that framed!

Sorry dinner was disappointing Disney food isn't too far away, though!!

DUNKIN'!!! I'm glad to see southerners enjoying it.

"My face is not dirty!" Your son is the funniest child on the Internet.

That's so sweet that Dream Along With Mickey calmed him down when I get stressed at school, I put on the Splash Mountain or Tomorrowland loop, and it calms me down so much.

WILDERNESS LODGE!!! So excited to see your room!

That's one of my favorites. I'm glad I got to share that moment with him, feeling the water go over his feet for the "first" time since he doesn't remember from when he was a baby.

He really does make us laugh all the time, even when we are trying to correct him!! He's such a ham.

I love that Disney music can be just what we need to relax and unwind. Dream Along With Mickey is definitely a favorite of his, so it was perfect for calming him down in the car! He just can't help but smile when that comes on.

YAY WL! Hopefully I can get that up tonight.

Looks like I showed up right when things are getting good!

Your resort at Destin looks really nice....definitely an overnight stop I could live with.

Love the donut breakfast. I never know if I should eat healthy until I arrive on Disney property to save as many calories as possible OR once "vacation" starts to just go for it.

Can't wait to hear if WL lives up to your expectations. It was our overall family favorite until we stayed at BC in May. Now, I am not so sure but we still really love it!

The great thing about owning Wyndham has been that it has made for some very nice overnight stays when necessary! The bad thing is it has spoiled us so when we have to stay in a regular hotel room, we don't know what to do with ourselves.

We are firmly in the "vacation calories don't count" camp, and that starts the minute we leave home.

Never been inside BC, but from the pictures it does look like a beautiful resort. But I guess because we are not big on Epcot and being in close proximity, WL is the one for us.

Hi! Add me to the list of people trying to come out of lurkdom. I'm so excited to read this trip report - I just found your most recent one and doesn't most of the last few days reading through the links, thinking, yes! My 3yo is just like that!

We went for 2 days this April and also picked MK & DHS! So reading this is totally going to be like reliving that trip!

Also, just wanted to send a big "thank you" to you for your work - my SIL is an inpatient pediatric oncology nurse. And my son was neutropenic for a while, so we spent a lot of time going back and forth to an outpatient pediatric hematology-oncology clinic for about a year, and those nurses were so awesome! So, yeah, thank you.

Welcome!! I think that A LOT when reading other TRs with toddlers of a similar age. It's funny how even when they are raised in all different parts of the world with different parents raising them, they all have VERY similar qualities!

Wow, that really means a lot, and thank you so much!! I definitely LOVE what I do, and never really thought it was the avenue of nursing I would end up taking. But I can't see myself doing anything else anytime soon!

Hi, subbing in! My parents are timeshare owners so our trips are always staying off property. We especially love Bonnet Creek as well! I camped out a few times at Disney in college at Fort Wilderness but my first stay at a Disney hotel was about 3 years ago on a mini trip. We stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside! So I can understand your excitement and getting to stay in Disney hotel! I remember squealing when I got my first Mickey towel!

Bonnet Creek is really beautiful, and I have no qualms about staying "offsite" when we stay there! I had stopped really missing staying onsite because our stays there have been so great. But when presented with the opportunity to stay not only onsite again, but at the WL, I was ecstatic!

Caught up so far. Can't wait to read more!

Welcome!! Thanks so much!

Can't wait to read more about you and your lovely family's trip.

Thanks for joining in!!

 

[khertz]

Day 2 Continued: Friday May 2nd

The time had come! We had finally made it to the WILDERNESS LODGE and we were ready to go check in!! DH parked our car under the overhang and we headed inside without our luggage to get ourselves checked into the room before we came back for everything. As we entered the resort, there were lots of CM's around outside and one gave me a bright smile and said...

"Welcome Home!"​

So excited to hear those words finally!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our stays at Bonnet Creek. LOVE them! But I had kind of gotten to thinking that we probably wouldn't put out the money to stay onsite anymore. Or if we did, that it would be in the cheapest room we could get. Planning a somewhat last minute trip changed that, though, because it meant Bonnet Creek wasn't available for the weekend. So with the help of a spring room discount, Wilderness Lodge suddenly became a real possibility! I have been wanting to stay here since the first time my parents took us there to eat at Whispering Canyon Cafe and I stepped into that lobby. Now, that time had finally come!

The lobby was pretty loud when we walked in. It seemed like the rain had driven people away from the parks, so there was a lot of activity going on inside. But DS wasn't really interested in any of that once he found the little corner with a TV and a rocking chair where he could watch Disney cartoons! (On the way home from daycare today, he said we needed to find our new hotel so he could sit in a rocking chair and watch Donald Duck lol).

02-023 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I had done online check in prior to our trip not thinking it would save much time because a lot of reports on the DIS said the online check in line was longer than the regular line a lot of the time. But there was no one for online check in, so we walked right up! We set up our pin numbers for charging privileges, and got everything else taken care of. We wanted to go check out the room first, then go back for our stuff.

As we approached the elevator, DS quickly abandoned the cartoons when he saw the water feature!

02-024 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-026 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-027 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-030 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

Finally, we were able to drag him away with promises to come back later and let him throw a coin in later so we could head up to check out our room.

Our room was on the top level of the resort of regular rooms, with only the CL rooms above us. We weren't in one of the rooms directly overlooking the lobby, which had kind of been my dream going in, but now with the noise level, I realized it was probably better that we weren't! We were in the very first room around the corner from those rooms though, so still close enough to the action without all of the noise!

02-031 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-032 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-033 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-035 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-036 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-037 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-038 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-039 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-040 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-041 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

The room was absolutely beautiful! The decor is really perfect with just enough Disney touches. Unfortunately, the view was not all that great though...we had a perfect view of the service area! Womp womp.

02-034 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We headed back downstairs to go collect our luggage from the car, but first we found ourselves checking out the gift shop to see what we might want to buy!

02-042 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
The view from the hallway of our floor


02-043 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-044 by disneymom1024, on Flickr



02-045 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-046 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
I got DH to take my picture in these because I desperately want some, but I know I never will because they hurt my head!


02-047 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-048 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
DS got in on the hat-trying-on fun!
​

Spoiler alert: We bought NONE of these things we were trying on!

Continued in next post...

 

[amazingact21]

Aww man, I've been using a different laptop than normal this week and am not used to the settings. I didn't realize my post from your last update never went through. To sum it up very quickly, I'm glad Paxton had such a fun time at the beach. And him with those doughnuts was hilarious.

Also, a lot of the seafood restaurants in Destin cater to tourists, so they aren't always the best spots. If you ever visit again and are willing to drive a little farther, Floyd's and Old Bay Steamer are some of the local favorites.




Wow, your rooms at WL look fantastic. And how awesome to be just a boat ride away from the MK.

As someone who just recently stayed deluxe for the very first time, I can totally understand how exciting that must have been for you. To walk into the WL and know that you had a room waiting just for you!
And my goodness, doesn't Paxton look adorable sitting in that wooden rocking chair? I'd say he was already a fan of the resort!

 

[hokieinpa]

What a fun stop at the beach! Boo to the yucky dinner but doughnuts almost make up for it! Chocolate with sprinkles are always my boys' pick too!

WL is beautiful! It's on my bucket list. I have wild dreams of getting DVC. A time share off site is more likely but a girl can dream!

Can't wait to hear about your time at the parks!

 

[khertz]

Day 2 Continued: Friday May 2nd

After we had the luggage, we brought everything up to the room. I took over suitcase-wheeling duty so DH could take some photos of the lobby from our floor.

02-049 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-050 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-051 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-052 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We unpacked in the room pretty quickly since we didn't have much for such a short trip. Then we had to make good on our promise to throw that coin in the fountain before finding something to eat.

02-053 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-054 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-055 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

He was too quick to get an action shot, but oh well. I just loved watching him ooh and aah over the fountain! He was definitely loving our resort choice based on that alone!

We had talked about maybe going over to Beaches & Cream for dinner, but ultimately we decided to stay close and head to Roaring Fork.

02-056 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Unfortunately at this point, our day started to break down a little. DS was exploding with pent up energy and I don't remember how it happened, but he ended up making me cut my finger open on the zipper of my shorts. So I'm standing there trying to figure out what to order for myself and him while also trying to stop my finger from bleeding! He got fussed at and started coming close to meltdown city. I stood in line on the grill side to order myself a flatbread and DS a kid's pizza while DH got in the line on the sandwich side. I was thinking to myself what could he possibly be getting over there when he comes back with a delicious looking chicken Alfredo pasta. Then I was just annoyed because my finger hurt, DS was driving me nuts, and now I was jealous because his pasta looked so much better than my flatbread!!

We paid for our food and picked up a mug to commemorate our first onsite stay in a long time. We sat down to eat and I realized I was totally right, DH's pasta was way better than my food. DS was misbehaving horribly and refusing to eat. When he finally took a bite, he spit it out on his plate, so I quickly ate the rest of my food and took him out of there. I told DH not to hurry, I was going to just take DS upstairs for a bath and get him ready for bed early. He was happy to oblige because it meant he could take more pics!

02-057 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


02-058 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Once DS and I were upstairs, he finished his apples and milk a little more calmly, and then I gave him his bath and he relaxed in bed watching the Duffy bedtime story on TV.

OH! I totally forgot to mention something kind of crazy that had been going on since the day before. DH realized when we had stopped for lunch on Thursday that he left his tripod at home, and he was REALLY upset about it. He looked into renting one, but kept saying he thought it was too expensive and would be a waste. I spent the rest of the day insisting that if it was going to ruin his trip not having it, he should just put up the money to rent one. So finally that evening he decided to call and see if there was anything available. Luckily, after a few calls back and forth with the owner of the rental company, they were able to set up an early pick up for the next morning so we could still be off in plenty of time for morning EMH!

Just before bed, I checked the weather and saw this.

02-260 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

NOT GOOD! I was worried now about it being chilly, and after debating over and over when packing about bringing jackets, I had decided to leave them at home. And I was absolutely not looking forward to a day FULL of rain! But, there wasn't a thing I could do about it, so we got to bed, ready to hit the day head-on! With only 2 park days, we didn't have time to waste!

UP NEXT: Rain, Rain Go Away!

 

[Dugette]

Aw, how adorable is Paxton in his little rocking chair TV nook?!

Love all the pics of the Wilderness Lodge. We have only spent one night there, but really loved the place. So glad that you got to stay there!!

Sorry that your evening started getting kind-of rotten at dinner. Glad things got better once you headed back to the room. Except for that forecast! Ugh, I hate Disney rain days, especially when you have limited time on a short trip! Hope you are able to make the most of it.

 

[DDuck4Life]

Since DW mentioned this horrible incident. I have to say Kingdom Camera Rentals was a life saver. They were fantastic in working with me. Even at 6 - 7pm they were willing to call/text me to find out exactly what I needed and would work best for me. Most places would be closed at this point but I sent in my request on their site and was able to get a response right away. I mean what other place do you know of where you get the owners phone number to set everything up and make sure you have everything you need. They had no issue working with our schedule since we were looking to make EMH the next day and needed to leave the WL earlier than usual. Since they are Disney fans themselves they completely understood the need to get there early to take full advantage of the early time.

They were able to save the photography side of our(ok really just mine) vacation with first class service. They texted me each time when they were pulling up into the lobby so I could run down and meet them and not be stuck standing around waiting. Since I was not familiar with the tripods they carried, they brought 3 different tripods for me to check out and try out real quick before deciding on which one I preferred. Smooth and easy process for receiving and returning the tripod. I would not hesitate to use them again if I forget something or am just looking to try something out that I can't normally afford to buy out right. This worked out a lot better than trying to drive to a best buy or something similar to purchase a new tripod which I had been thinking of doing.

 

[MEK]

Your room is beautiful, but that service view is just, well, .... a service area. Don't you just wish that none of the room views were like that. I remember my first time staying at the villas. I went out on the balcony with Denny and said, "I can just pretend I am up in Vermont in the mountains". To which he replied, "yeah - If I couldn't hear the service trucks in the background". Mood Killer!

Beautiful pics of the lobby and outside.

Boo to the forgotten tripod.

Ugh to the meltdown. Kids can just turn on a dime. Oh well, they are kids! Glad a nice bath and some TV got him calmed down.

Note to self - pesto pasta!

 

[Imagineer5]

Glad check in was easy!! Paxton being naughty at dinner?! never! He seems so well tempered haha! Sounds like a great way to start the vacation though with a nice evening at the resort. Glad everyone loved the fountain in the lobby - it is beautiful! I'm hungry right now, but i remember the Roaring Fork food being delicious - flatbread AND the alfredo sound amazing!

That is chilly for May! Wow! And we had 90's in SoCal! LOL!

 

[skier_pete]

Oooh - all your pictures make me think I need to try and make Wilderness Lodge a priority on our DVC list. We are actually thinking of doing split stays in 2015 and 2016 to check out as many resorts as possible, but even with four resorts, I didn't think WL would be one of them. Maybe I need to change my mind.

The view? Meh, it wouldn't bother me. How much time would you be spending on your balcony anyways.

I more upset/bummed to hear the whether you seemed to have. For such a short trip, that's definitely a

 

[MaestroTK]

My family loves the Lodge! We got to stay there last summer. It looks like your family enjoyed it too! It's great seeing your son get excited! My little ones were drawn in to the water too! Thank you for posting this TR. Since we are not going to Disney this year, it's nice to live a little through your experience until we can get back ourselves next year. Your writing is excellent too! Very detailed and entertaining!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

"Welcome Home." How could anyone not love that?

Those rooms are lovely. And just enough Disney touches to make it feel like Disney. BTW, is that a balcony?

GAH!!! Look at that lobby view from up above!!!! Gorgeous!

Yeah, the weather forecast does look pretty grim. But it's Florida, so I think they're obligated by law to post "rain" all the time no matter what.

 

[missangelalexis]

Love all the room/lobby pictures! Looks SO beautiful.

I'm sorry the day started to catch up to you at the end though But glad DH was able to rent a tripod!

Booo to rain, but I'm sure you guys made the best of it!! Can't wait to hear about the first park day

 

[KelleyK75]

Yay for getting to WL. The pictures are beautiful. I haven't ever stayed there but it's on the list of must-do's. I'm sorry you had a bad start to your evening. It seems like kids always have their meltdowns when you have 50 things going on. I hope you have a better day the next day and the rain holds off.

 

[courtneybelle]

Bahaha a rocking chair and Donald Duck cartoons. The finer things in life.

That is honestly one of the most gorgeous rooms I've ever seen! I love the Chip and Dale in the shower!

Honestly, I get really bad headaches from most headbands and I've never had a problem with the Minnie ear headbands. I take mine off for shows to have a little break but other than that I wear them all day. Would definitely recommend for your next trip!!

So sorry about DS and the tripod situations on the plus side, things seemed to work out okay on both fronts!

 

[FancyNancy]

I love the pics of DS getting in on the hat trying action. I thought the Duffy bedtime story was so cute when I saw it on my January trip. I had never really noticed it before. My DD and I are usually too busy watching Stacey T.V. I guess!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

ok, little kids in little rocking chairs is just about the cutest thing ever!

The Wilderness Lodge really is lovely - and they have some of the best looking light fixtures - which is saying something for Disney

Never underestimate the joy kids get throwing coins in fountains! The fountain/stream in WL is really great - I am hopeful that they do something like that in the new Poly lobby given they are getting rid of the big waterfall, but not super hopeful based on the last drawings I saw.

Oh, sorry about your son having a melt down and you cutting your finger and then having food jealousy. Hopefully a good nights sleep help everyone

 

[tiggerfan77]

You've got some beautiful shots of the lobby and the room! I absolutely LOVE the tiles in the shower. Bambi was one of my favorite characters as a child and since he's a rare character, I get excited when he pops up on something! WL is in our top 3 resorts that we like to visit. Along with the Poly (my favorite) and AKL (my son's favorite) When I stayed at FW I loved hanging out in the lobby and on the beach there.

 

[Nermel9]

Wow, the Wilderness Lodge rooms are so much more beautiful now! That rug is gorgeous! And I love those little animal tiles! It's such a perfect resort, I love it so much!

I'm sorry you had to deal with your finger getting hurt and DS driving you crazy, none of those annoying real life things should happen in Disney!

 

[afwdwfan]

Every time it did that he would say, "Jumpin' jellyfish!"

We ended up eating at Rick's Sand Trap, and well...it wasn't very good. It had apparently gotten some water from the storm, because there were lots of fans drying parts of the floor, so it felt humid and musty inside. I said it kind of looked like a place you'd see on Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares! But beyond that, the food just wasn't that great either.

So... the name of the place was appropriate?

I forgot to take a picture before we started eating, but this is the oh-so-unnecessary goodness DH came back with.

Um... unless I can't count, I thought there was just 3 of you. How many donuts does he need???

Even though we were not staying at a monorail resort, I was so freaking excited to be staying at a resort in the Magic Kingdom area!!! I apologize now for the excessive amount of rainy sign photos coming your way, but I had to document this momentous occasion!

I completely understand. It's making me think back about the time we stayed at Wilderness Lodge. It was the exact same type of excitement.

Unfortunately, the view was not all that great though...we had a perfect view of the service area! Womp womp.

Unfortunately, there really isn't much of a view unless you're over the courtyard/pool area there.

I told DH not to hurry, I was going to just take DS upstairs for a bath and get him ready for bed early. He was happy to oblige because it meant he could take more pics!

Well that was nice of you. Definitely not the ideal dinner and evening for you, but that was nice that you gave him a little time to explore.

And I was absolutely not looking forward to a day FULL of rain! But, there wasn't a thing I could do about it, so we got to bed, ready to hit the day head-on! With only 2 park days, we didn't have time to waste!

Rain keeps the crowds away. Grab a poncho and go!