Back from VWL

[disney0210]

Hi everyone!

We are finally back from 5 days at VWL and 3 days camping about 3 hours from home. VWL rocks! DH has been raving about the tranquility and the rustic feel of the place. I catch him going out to the balcony on his own sometimes, just drinking coffee and looking over the woods. Although we did get our requested woods view, we did not get 3543 (suggested by BWV Dreamin') which would have been nice. We are at the VEEEERRRRRRRRYYYYYY end of the hallway, 3561, but we just wanted a room so bad because we were so tired. We arrived at VWL around 11AM, was told the room was not ready yet so we had lunch at Roaring Forks. Then around 12noon, I thought I'd try again, and was delighted that the room was ready. Glad to report the room was clean and everything was in good working condition.

Sigh. We fell in love with the Lodge and will try to stay there as often as we could. Love the ability to go to MK by boat. Beats having to wait for the bus. Although I'd say bus service has improved vastly on this trip over our October 2008 trip. With the exception of 1 wait for an Epcot bus that took around 30 minutes, everything else was there in under 5 minutes. The boat service is awesome, I don't think we ever had to wait for more than 10 minutes. Usually it is under 5 minutes, if we even had to wait at all. A lot of times the boat is already there. Maybe we were really lucky.

Also, not sure if this was discussed in here before, but we did not have to check in at the Magical Express counters upon arrival at MCO. We were just told to head straight to the lines leading to the buses. A real time-saver!

Also on this trip we tried checking our luggage at the resort (flew Jetblue). That was great as well, no hitches at all and when we got to the airport and saw the long line for checking in, we decided that on all our future trips, we would be flying only with a participating airline. Nothing can beat not having to run to the gates and pushing a stroller and pulling your carry-on luggage so the plane does not leave without you.

I'll try to post pictures as soon as I can.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

The VWL magic has also fallen on my DH. So glad you had a great trip. We are still missing VWL. Next visit we will do the searaycers on the lake!

 

[DVC Mike]

Glad to hear you enjoyed VWL! We'll be back home at the lodge this January.

 

[disney0210]

OK, let me test how this photo thing works.

If I did it correctly, you'll see a pic of DH's surprise birthday cake delivered to our room. I ordered it just a couple of days before arrival. Chocolate cake with dark chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache.

Needless to say, it was yummy.

 

[Cyndibear]

Nice to hear you had a wonderful time at VWL! It is a very peaceful resort. The WL was our first Deluxe resort we stayed at and we fell in love with it, that was before DVC. We just love it too!

Cyndi

 

[disney0210]

don't know what i did wrong, I don't see the photos

 

[DiznyDi]

Ahh ... VWL

 

[dvcbecker]

We've always loved WLV. Love the whole atmosphere. We stayed there last December and it was especially beautiful with all the Christmas decorations!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

don't know what i did wrong, I don't see the photos

I justed tried Flickr myself and couldn't get the link to work for posting. What I finally did was right click on the photo, copied the address and then pasted it as an image in the message. Seems like there should be an easier way but at least it works!

 

[DVC Mike]

Ahh ... VWL

Exactly!

 

[jimmytammy]

Ahh ... VWL

Couldnt have said it any better myself

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

Never stayed in the Villas, only the lodge. But will be staying for our first time in 40 days!!!!!!!!!!

 

[theww228]

I am looking forward to hearing more about your stay. We just bought a resale for VWL and are so excited to be staying there. Every trip we take to WDW we take time to go to WL and hang out in the lobby and walk around. We love the atmosphere and theme, it feels so warm and homey. Staying at POP and CBR resort worked okay when it was just my DW and myself. We were comando all the way, we would be at the first park that openned and would close down the park that had EMH. Last September we were blessed with with our first DD now we will enjoy staying close to the MK.

It always felt like the magic was lost when we would get on the bus to go back to the resort. We are looking forward to the boat rides for afternoon breaks and the trip home after a long day at the MK (our favorite park even before DD). We are always looking for TRs for VWL , but there aren't many.. maybe due to the small size.

 

[Muushka]

From the looks of this thread, there are at least 2 potential Groupies!
There is a VWL lovers thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2045682

with lots of people who think of nothing other than VWL!

Kind of sick, right? Nah! Nicest bunch of people on the DIS. Come on over and pull up a rocker and join us!

 

[disney0210]

Here's DH's surprise bday cake again (thanks, kat!).

All I did was call VWL directly and asked to be transferred to in-room dining. Left a message and someone called me back within minutes to take my order.

 

[disney0210]

Didn't realize we didn't have too many pictures without the family, but I'll post the pics that we did have of just the resort.

Upon arrival, I thought the place was just like AKV, our home resort, due to the dark lobby. But no, VWL really was different. The feel was different. I liked the geyser erupting every hour, it was not only nice to look at, it was also my way of telling how long we've been in the pool. I liked it that when I was relaxing by the hot spa, I face the lodge and feel that rustic, homey sensation. I can't explain it. Maybe for people that were house-searching and find their house and just know that that's it, that's my feeling with VWL. It feels like home. I miss it already. Heck, I missed it even when I was still there.

 

[disney0210]

Coming back from MK one day via boat...

And ahhhh the beach... It's so quiet in here... Yes, even if we hear the horns from the boats sometimes, it does not seem like noise. For some weird reason, to us, it seems the horns contribute to the whole feel of the resort. Again, I can't explain it... You just, uhmmm, feel it.

 

[disney0210]

This was a surprise trip for DD. I've been so good in keeping it a secret from her, she thought we were only going camping (which we were, but not until after we've arrived back home). When the shuttle from the parking lot to the airport arrived, I told her to leave her pillow in the van. I noticed she was crying quietly in the shuttle and when I asked her, she said "because you said I could bring my pillow to camping and now I had to leave it". Before checking in at the airport, I knew I had to tell her already. I took out the Magical Express luggage tags (which as a compulsive planner, I had to endure not to attach to the actual luggage weeks before the trip) and asked her where we go if we put those tags onto the luggage. She goes "DISNEY?" and when I said yes, she started to smile. Then she started to be happy and she was back her old self again. Pillow? What pillow?

Our first night was EMH at MK. When we got back to the resort, she started crying again. Oh what can it be now? I knew she was already tired, even though we had napped that first day in the room. I asked her what was wrong and to this she replied, "Because the fun day is over and I don't want this day to end." Awwwww. I knew the trip really made her happy. We go on many trips throughout the year, but I know Disney is, well, different.

On day 2, we were at Epcot, and out of the blue, she says to me and DH, "I thought yesterday was a dream, and I was hoping it wasn't, so I told myself I was going to pinch myself when I wake up today, so I did, but it hurt, so I know it wasn't a dream. I woke up and I was still in the hotel so I knew I was reaaaaaaaaally in Disney."

This was our 2nd trip as owners, but our first just by ourselves. How glorious! I mean we loved that we were able to take family back in October, but what a difference it makes - going with just 3 people against going with 14. We only worried about ourselves, when we got hungry, we ate. When we got tired, we stopped. When we wanted to go swimming, we did. Rent a movie, just stay in, nap, go to the Mercantile, just sit by the pool, go back out and do EMH - we did all that. In October, we are sharing our points again with friends, but for April of next year, we will be on our own again.

I was so anxious about July weather and crowds, but you know what, even at 28 degrees, when you are directly under the sun, it's hot. So when it was 33 and it was too hot, then we looked for shade. Or went swimming, or just stayed in the cool room. Then we napped and went back out, say at 5 or 6pm, and stayed in the parks until about 11pm. The cooler breeze does help. When everyone zigs, we zag. For example, because we've seen Spectromagic many times, while everyone was busy trying to find a spot to watch the parade, we were in Tomorrowland basically just walking on our favorite rides. We've never had that happen to us. This trip, we got on Toy Story at least twice, we saw American Idol (this was really cool, by the way), got to go on Soarin' (which we never got to do last year) and had DD able to join us on Mission Space and Test Track. We also did indoor stuff at Innoventions which DD loved. I feel we were able to do more things in 5 days with just the three of us than back in October when we did 10 days with 14 of us.

Will we go back to VWL? DEFINITELY! Maybe even try to find a resale there, who knows?

Will we go back again in July? Yes we will. DH is actually looking into whether we can do 2 full weeks every July for when we can't pull DD from school out anymore.... Hey, no problem with me.

 

[Muushka]

Yes, even if we hear the horns from the boats sometimes, it does not seem like noise. For some weird reason, to us, it seems the horns contribute to the whole feel of the resort. Again, I can't explain it... You just, uhmmm, feel it.

Spoken like a true Groupie!

Thank you for posting and pictures! I feel like I am there.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Glad you had a nice trip! Thanks for the report and pictures! My DH got me a cake for my b-day in January when we stayed a BWV. It was so good. Your pictures make me want to order another one when we are down there just for so!