Just returned from 10 days at VWL. Wonderful trip... too bad one has to return to reality!
Our family (me, dh, 2 sons aged 6 and 7, one daughter age 2) treated my BIL, SIL and their 2 yr old to accommodations at VWL. They have heard us rave and rave about DVC, so I was verrryy nervous (if we got the "garbage view" room, I'm sure we'd never live it down!!) We had room #4507, a dedicated 2 br... and quite frankly, it was perfect. View of pool and bay and surrounding woods, and much more spacious than I had imagined. (I had braced myself for let-down after always staying at generous OKW). Definitely smaller kitchen relative to OKW, but not a big deal. BIL/SIL were definitely "wowed" by it all!!
A brief as possible outline of the stay:
Sunday: arrived, unpacked, did Dance of Joy... Swam, relaxed. DH did not like having to use bell services for our luggage (he prefers pulling right up at OKW!) but he got over it. Front Desk refused to let BIL/SIL in (despite me making arrangements at front desk 2 hours prior). Probably confusion around reservation name or villas versus lodge -- who knows. They waited for an hour until I finally returned to room and called down to desk to see if they had checked in yet. In the end it all worked out -- Not a biggie. Didn't bring child bedrails (which we had requested on ressie and at check-in) until we made a 2nd call to housekeeping -- but again, once resolved, not a biggie, and we moved on! Ate dinner in (spaghetti, salad, and a bottle of merlot!)
Monday: AK. Missed bus by seconds, waited 20 minutes for next bus. Loooong trip... we were at bus stop at 8 but didn't get to AK until about 9:15, thanks to FWL and BB stops. Very upset when one of our passes didn't work at gate due to desk person error in setting up passes, but guest services at AK fixed matter promptly. Left AK @ 5 (trip back MUCH quicker -- back well before 6). Dinner in room -- awesome french dip sandwiches ala crock pot.
Tuesday: MK. Quick boat ride (very prompt); arrived 15 mins prior to opening; covered most of park by 1 p.m.! Lines not too bad. Left our dhs and older boys to enjoy the "faster" rides; SIL and I took small fries to room for rest. All met in Epcot at 4:30. Dinner at Coral Reef. I ordered catch of day (tuna) but rec'd the blackened catfish. Not a big deal -- I like 'em both. Very good. Dh had mahi-mahi -- very tasty. Pinot Gris wine was very crisp and light. Kids were well-entertained by the fishies, and divers came through the tank while we ate. Stayed in Epcot until Illuminations... HOWEVER -- it was so humid, the smoke did not lift, and with each firework, it got worse and worse! After just 3 "bangs", we saw nuthin! Just smoke. Very disappointing -- that's my favorite show. SIL and Bil looked at me like I was nuts. Transportation back was prompt but crowded.
Wed: Our do-nothing day. I went to Wal-Mart early in a.m. to stock up for rest of week; nice store, not crowded, well-stocked. We all went to Marketplace in late am; transport was a bit disappointing. Had to pick up GF and Carribean folks, due to a bus failure. Took well over an hour, easily. Transport back was slightly better but still long. Swam in pm; Chef Mickey's for dinner. THis is my dh's new favorite -- he loved it. Food was quite good, actually, despite being buffet. Took boat back to WL and swam again. I should note that Mousekeeping did a fantastic job on room while we were out -- very clean, and creative. We especially liked how she arranged my dd's Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet animals together on the bed!
Thurs: MGM. We were like people possessed and covered SO MUCH TURF this day! One downer -- Muppet 3d was NOT in 3d. One camera was not working for our show. THis is my favorite show at MGM (HUGE Muppet fan here!!), but oh well -- my actual favorite part is the pre-show stuff and all the props / gags, so I at least got that!
Dinner in Sci-Fi -- overall very good. Dd enjoyed her Mickey Pasta, boys were entranced per usual by movie clips. Dh got shrimp pasta; I got a salad and the spring rolls, saving room for a chocolate milkshake as "dessert". Personally, it was a lot like a wendy's frosty -- not bad, mind you, just nothing to write home about. Went to Fantasmic for seats at 7:40 -- no problem getting a seat. Sat 10 rows back, near center. Some pre-bought toys and a few snacks diverted the kids while we waited (as did several rounds of "the wave"!) Show was really good (my first viewing) but..... I still prefer Illuminations (sans the humidity)! Our 2 yr olds were not scared at all -- I had heard it would be so scary. Of course, it didn't help that mid-way through the show, 6 yr old son suddenly gets ill...he wanted desperately to see the show, and flatly refused to be taken out of theater, or to even lie down on his dad's lap, so he sat through show with tears coming down his cheeks, trying to see, but obviously in great pain! I just cried for him, the poor little guy! After show, we trudged out (what a hike, especially if you're carrying a child) and caught a bus... some kind souls took pity and let dh sit holding our ill son -- that bus was PACKED. Thank the heavens they went to WL first. At 2 am, same son pitched his cookies big time... I spent night on floor near bathroom with him, comforting him to sleep, all the while in fear that a virus would soon sweep like a plague upon us all! Fortunately, no such event occurred. By a.m., Ryan was Mr. Super-Chipper again, ready to take on the world! AMazing. Must have been the heat, fatigue, and what he ate that day, I guess.
Friday: Our party splits. Dd and I head to Epcot for "girls day out"; dh takes rest of crew over to Typhoon Lagoon. Dd and I attend Storybook B'fast in Norway -- wonderful! Dd just loved the place, and the waiter (Bjorn) treated us very well. We were greeted by Belle, Mary Poppins, Jasmine, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. My dd would point and gasp, "Wook! I see one! I see one! Dere's a pwin-ceth, Mommy!" Food was good -- potatoes with cheese, sausage, bacon, pastries/breads, fruit, etc. We stayed at Epcot for a bit then went to MK at noon via monorail, shared a turkey leg and some fruit in Frontierland during the parade, and had ice cream during the show at the Castle. We returned to room at 7 pm to meet up with the water-weary lagooners. Enter my sister, her dh and their teen girls (DVCers who also hit TL that day and had gotten a studio in VWL for the wkend). Big salads and hot bread for din-din. I had the privelege of "e-ride" with my teen nieces that night from 10 to 1 am. While Splash, BTR, and Buzz were all very cool (and ridden several times over!), be advised -- salad, beer and bread do NOT mix well after 3 rides on Space Mtn and an AstroOrbit! Ughhhhhh..... Got back to Villa at 1:20 am to a bottle of Tylenol and a bed....
Saturday: BIL/SIL and their son went to MK for day. Sister and her fam went to AK and MGM. Our fam of 5 pool-hopped to BW. Boys loved the pool and slide, dd loved the "ell-fants"... I liked it, but I didn't think it was nearly as clean as the VWL pool. Leaves EVERYWHERE, bird doo, and the tiles in pool were yuck-o. Needed a scrub, IMO. Still, had good time, ate a picnic lunch, then treated all to ice cream on boardwalk. Walked down to BCV -- looked very nice, kinda like OKW colors in a VWL room. Did NOT care for the ground floor rooms, though...too many that you can just "look right in" as you walk on sidewalks! Proximity to Epcot and MGM a real plus, as would be SAB and BW pools, for our family. Headed back to VWL -- crock-pot mac&cheese and ham for dinner.
Sunday: Epcot day. Dinner at Garden Grille. Characters gave our kids LOTS of attention. Saw Mickey about 5 times, Chip and Dale at least 4 times, maybe more... PLuto came by at least twice. Food was good -- catfish was surprisingly tasty, not fishy at all, and beef was good. Kids liked the "dirt" dessert. BIL/SIL surprised us by telling waitress it was our anniversary (12 years woo woo). They made us get up and recite our vows and told us they wouldn't let us sit down until we had "locked lips" for 100 seconds (soemthing to do with the 100 year anniversary for Disney -- I can't remember, I was laughing too hard). And they gave us a cake to share with our group -- it served 12 perfectly! Very memorable.
Monday: BIL/SIL checked out, took off in towncar for airport (Cartier car service -- very positive experience, BTW). Went to Marketplace; back to villa for lunch. Sister and her fam came for lunch, then left. We sorta just "hung out" -- took kids to the "free arts/crafts" in bear den, looked for hidden mickeys... then rode boat to MK, hopped monorails for a while, then boated back from contemporary to WL just in time for dinner @ Whispering Canyon. Very fun, kids were well entertained. Our 6 yr old bore the brunt of the waiter's attention... he asked for mustard for his hot dog
, and also would not stay in his seat (which prompted waiter to come back with a HUGE rope to "tie him down"!) My son thought it was so funny. Food was fantastic. DH had pork chops and I had ribs -- far more than we could ever eat. ONly complaint would be the corn -- those yellow short over-done ears of corn-on-cob are just vile, IMO. I'd rather have canned corn, personally, or no corn at all... After dinner had digested, we headed to pool for a final swim, then back to room. Kids got in whirlpool tub, then off to bed for all.
Tuesday: Pack and go. Ugh. OUt @ 11 am and on road.
Wednesday: We're home....time to go to work, time to go to school.... and time to plan our next vacation! (Maybe HH?)
DH and I agree that we will never take less than 7 days again...the 9 to 10 days there was just about perfect, with 2 days to drive down, 2 days to drive back. (Gee, could an add-on be in our near future?!? )
Again, sorry for the length.... any specific ??? , just let me know.
Cindy
Our family (me, dh, 2 sons aged 6 and 7, one daughter age 2) treated my BIL, SIL and their 2 yr old to accommodations at VWL. They have heard us rave and rave about DVC, so I was verrryy nervous (if we got the "garbage view" room, I'm sure we'd never live it down!!) We had room #4507, a dedicated 2 br... and quite frankly, it was perfect. View of pool and bay and surrounding woods, and much more spacious than I had imagined. (I had braced myself for let-down after always staying at generous OKW). Definitely smaller kitchen relative to OKW, but not a big deal. BIL/SIL were definitely "wowed" by it all!!
A brief as possible outline of the stay:
Sunday: arrived, unpacked, did Dance of Joy... Swam, relaxed. DH did not like having to use bell services for our luggage (he prefers pulling right up at OKW!) but he got over it. Front Desk refused to let BIL/SIL in (despite me making arrangements at front desk 2 hours prior). Probably confusion around reservation name or villas versus lodge -- who knows. They waited for an hour until I finally returned to room and called down to desk to see if they had checked in yet. In the end it all worked out -- Not a biggie. Didn't bring child bedrails (which we had requested on ressie and at check-in) until we made a 2nd call to housekeeping -- but again, once resolved, not a biggie, and we moved on! Ate dinner in (spaghetti, salad, and a bottle of merlot!)
Monday: AK. Missed bus by seconds, waited 20 minutes for next bus. Loooong trip... we were at bus stop at 8 but didn't get to AK until about 9:15, thanks to FWL and BB stops. Very upset when one of our passes didn't work at gate due to desk person error in setting up passes, but guest services at AK fixed matter promptly. Left AK @ 5 (trip back MUCH quicker -- back well before 6). Dinner in room -- awesome french dip sandwiches ala crock pot.
Tuesday: MK. Quick boat ride (very prompt); arrived 15 mins prior to opening; covered most of park by 1 p.m.! Lines not too bad. Left our dhs and older boys to enjoy the "faster" rides; SIL and I took small fries to room for rest. All met in Epcot at 4:30. Dinner at Coral Reef. I ordered catch of day (tuna) but rec'd the blackened catfish. Not a big deal -- I like 'em both. Very good. Dh had mahi-mahi -- very tasty. Pinot Gris wine was very crisp and light. Kids were well-entertained by the fishies, and divers came through the tank while we ate. Stayed in Epcot until Illuminations... HOWEVER -- it was so humid, the smoke did not lift, and with each firework, it got worse and worse! After just 3 "bangs", we saw nuthin! Just smoke. Very disappointing -- that's my favorite show. SIL and Bil looked at me like I was nuts. Transportation back was prompt but crowded.
Wed: Our do-nothing day. I went to Wal-Mart early in a.m. to stock up for rest of week; nice store, not crowded, well-stocked. We all went to Marketplace in late am; transport was a bit disappointing. Had to pick up GF and Carribean folks, due to a bus failure. Took well over an hour, easily. Transport back was slightly better but still long. Swam in pm; Chef Mickey's for dinner. THis is my dh's new favorite -- he loved it. Food was quite good, actually, despite being buffet. Took boat back to WL and swam again. I should note that Mousekeeping did a fantastic job on room while we were out -- very clean, and creative. We especially liked how she arranged my dd's Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet animals together on the bed!
Thurs: MGM. We were like people possessed and covered SO MUCH TURF this day! One downer -- Muppet 3d was NOT in 3d. One camera was not working for our show. THis is my favorite show at MGM (HUGE Muppet fan here!!), but oh well -- my actual favorite part is the pre-show stuff and all the props / gags, so I at least got that!
Dinner in Sci-Fi -- overall very good. Dd enjoyed her Mickey Pasta, boys were entranced per usual by movie clips. Dh got shrimp pasta; I got a salad and the spring rolls, saving room for a chocolate milkshake as "dessert". Personally, it was a lot like a wendy's frosty -- not bad, mind you, just nothing to write home about. Went to Fantasmic for seats at 7:40 -- no problem getting a seat. Sat 10 rows back, near center. Some pre-bought toys and a few snacks diverted the kids while we waited (as did several rounds of "the wave"!) Show was really good (my first viewing) but..... I still prefer Illuminations (sans the humidity)! Our 2 yr olds were not scared at all -- I had heard it would be so scary. Of course, it didn't help that mid-way through the show, 6 yr old son suddenly gets ill...he wanted desperately to see the show, and flatly refused to be taken out of theater, or to even lie down on his dad's lap, so he sat through show with tears coming down his cheeks, trying to see, but obviously in great pain! I just cried for him, the poor little guy! After show, we trudged out (what a hike, especially if you're carrying a child) and caught a bus... some kind souls took pity and let dh sit holding our ill son -- that bus was PACKED. Thank the heavens they went to WL first. At 2 am, same son pitched his cookies big time... I spent night on floor near bathroom with him, comforting him to sleep, all the while in fear that a virus would soon sweep like a plague upon us all! Fortunately, no such event occurred. By a.m., Ryan was Mr. Super-Chipper again, ready to take on the world! AMazing. Must have been the heat, fatigue, and what he ate that day, I guess.Friday: Our party splits. Dd and I head to Epcot for "girls day out"; dh takes rest of crew over to Typhoon Lagoon. Dd and I attend Storybook B'fast in Norway -- wonderful! Dd just loved the place, and the waiter (Bjorn) treated us very well. We were greeted by Belle, Mary Poppins, Jasmine, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. My dd would point and gasp, "Wook! I see one! I see one! Dere's a pwin-ceth, Mommy!" Food was good -- potatoes with cheese, sausage, bacon, pastries/breads, fruit, etc. We stayed at Epcot for a bit then went to MK at noon via monorail, shared a turkey leg and some fruit in Frontierland during the parade, and had ice cream during the show at the Castle. We returned to room at 7 pm to meet up with the water-weary lagooners. Enter my sister, her dh and their teen girls (DVCers who also hit TL that day and had gotten a studio in VWL for the wkend). Big salads and hot bread for din-din. I had the privelege of "e-ride" with my teen nieces that night from 10 to 1 am. While Splash, BTR, and Buzz were all very cool (and ridden several times over!), be advised -- salad, beer and bread do NOT mix well after 3 rides on Space Mtn and an AstroOrbit! Ughhhhhh..... Got back to Villa at 1:20 am to a bottle of Tylenol and a bed....
Saturday: BIL/SIL and their son went to MK for day. Sister and her fam went to AK and MGM. Our fam of 5 pool-hopped to BW. Boys loved the pool and slide, dd loved the "ell-fants"... I liked it, but I didn't think it was nearly as clean as the VWL pool. Leaves EVERYWHERE, bird doo, and the tiles in pool were yuck-o. Needed a scrub, IMO. Still, had good time, ate a picnic lunch, then treated all to ice cream on boardwalk. Walked down to BCV -- looked very nice, kinda like OKW colors in a VWL room. Did NOT care for the ground floor rooms, though...too many that you can just "look right in" as you walk on sidewalks! Proximity to Epcot and MGM a real plus, as would be SAB and BW pools, for our family. Headed back to VWL -- crock-pot mac&cheese and ham for dinner.
Sunday: Epcot day. Dinner at Garden Grille. Characters gave our kids LOTS of attention. Saw Mickey about 5 times, Chip and Dale at least 4 times, maybe more... PLuto came by at least twice. Food was good -- catfish was surprisingly tasty, not fishy at all, and beef was good. Kids liked the "dirt" dessert. BIL/SIL surprised us by telling waitress it was our anniversary (12 years woo woo). They made us get up and recite our vows and told us they wouldn't let us sit down until we had "locked lips" for 100 seconds (soemthing to do with the 100 year anniversary for Disney -- I can't remember, I was laughing too hard). And they gave us a cake to share with our group -- it served 12 perfectly! Very memorable.
Monday: BIL/SIL checked out, took off in towncar for airport (Cartier car service -- very positive experience, BTW). Went to Marketplace; back to villa for lunch. Sister and her fam came for lunch, then left. We sorta just "hung out" -- took kids to the "free arts/crafts" in bear den, looked for hidden mickeys... then rode boat to MK, hopped monorails for a while, then boated back from contemporary to WL just in time for dinner @ Whispering Canyon. Very fun, kids were well entertained. Our 6 yr old bore the brunt of the waiter's attention... he asked for mustard for his hot dog
, and also would not stay in his seat (which prompted waiter to come back with a HUGE rope to "tie him down"!) My son thought it was so funny. Food was fantastic. DH had pork chops and I had ribs -- far more than we could ever eat. ONly complaint would be the corn -- those yellow short over-done ears of corn-on-cob are just vile, IMO. I'd rather have canned corn, personally, or no corn at all... After dinner had digested, we headed to pool for a final swim, then back to room. Kids got in whirlpool tub, then off to bed for all.Tuesday: Pack and go. Ugh. OUt @ 11 am and on road.
Wednesday: We're home....time to go to work, time to go to school.... and time to plan our next vacation!
(Maybe HH?)DH and I agree that we will never take less than 7 days again...the 9 to 10 days there was just about perfect, with 2 days to drive down, 2 days to drive back. (Gee, could an add-on be in our near future?!? )
Again, sorry for the length.... any specific ??? , just let me know.
Cindy
