Here is a photo of the picnic table and grill behind the marina office:
I also took this from my iPhone this morning on my way back from jogging... and taking photos of River Country - more on that to come - stay tuned
. You can see the green tarp covering the roof repair. The repair is behind schedule, but was originally due to re-open next week.
Hey there everyone. I am hoping you guys can give me some advice. I am booking the Wilderness Lodge as a surprise to my mother. We have always stayed in the villas while at the lodge but every time she has visited with us she has said she would love to stay in the actual lodge some time. I am trying to decide which view to book and what to request. We will definitely have to have a balcony. She will love sitting out enjoying the scenery. Any suggestions on what to book with scenery being the most important factor?
Thanks for your help!
Lori
What a wonderful surprise for your mother. You must be her favorite child
. I think an inner courtyard view is the best view because you can see Bay Lake and the geyser and the courtyard. You can see the EWP from your balcony, too. The Otter Pond is a wonderful Woods View. I would recommend requesting floor five and below so that you will have a balcony without a solid railing so that Mom can see through the railing while seated.
Good morning, when I was there in February, I spoke with Mike who said they were getting a very special carpet in the entry by the elevators. If you see him, ask about the carpet.
Is this the carpet of which you speak?
Any details on the larger lounge area? You are so right when they are full it is hard to get around in the lounge.
I knew you were going to switch to WL for summer. We are also going in August, booked bounceback when we were there last.
Make sure you look at the bounceback. I think it starts on August 8. We got a fantastic deal. We usually go the end of July but could not pass this up. Besides with the renovations it will all be updated and new when we arrive. :
I meant that the Old Faithful Club has a larger lounge and more seating than the Atrium Club. The WL lounge will not be changing.
Actually, we are so very lucky to be able to book the military room only 40% discount
. If you knew I was going to switch to WL, why didn't you just tell me?
. I mentioned your screen name to Randy when I told him what a wonderful advocate you are for WL and that you had just been here a few weeks ago. He mentioned a "real name," but since I don't know yours, I didn't know if he was right. Maybe we'll get to meet-up in August.
You are too sweet to me!!!! As I read your post about a "home" resort...I closed the passholder website. I changed Pop to BWI yesterday, and added CL to Poly. I actully was pricing out WL & CR (guess I was in a Bay Lake state of mind, I still am
) We were chatting about SWW, and voila....thanks fo the update on the construction. Sea Raycers....very cool
So back to "home", as much as I love GF. our family's home is Poly
we always end up visiting Poly, and I have NEVER seen DH happier than with a Lapu Lapu in hand...it's time I finally let them stay there...
I will stophijacking the thread
......and it says SO much about CL @ WL that you love it more than BWI. So I suppose no more split stay this summer???? The Kooksters will hae one of those refurbed CL rooms
Threadjack? Never! You're welcome anytime and we shall not judge you and your many changes! Amazing that even on vacation, I managed to not fall too far behind in your changes
. I like your Poly/BWI split. I know your family loves the Poly and this will be a first for BWI, right? Woohoo!
Thanks for all the updates Kook! Just curious, when they mentioned the carpeting in the South Wing they meant in the lodge right, not the villas? If you have a chance, can you confirm that the villas are not scheduled as part of this rehab? Thanks! I am hoping we get to do the sea raycers this August also. I would just love taking pictures from that perspective-especially the moss on the trees. It sounds like you're having a wonderful time and thanks again for taking precious vacation time to report here.
Yes, only WL, not VWL will be rehabbed this year. DVC rehabs are a whole other animal.
One recommendation for the Sea Raycers is to put as few people in one as possible. They are very s-l-o-w when heavily weighted and it's so much more fun to go fast so DD and I get our own (while DH naps
). Since she's over 12 she can go alone.
OK, I need someone to talk me down from a slight panic attack. Just saw the summer discounts, (noticing that our beloved WL is not in the list), and realized that if I had waited I could have had a much less expensive vacation. I have already bought my tickets and we are not dining plan or package people (I like having the 5 day out cancellation from room-only) so I know that in practice this offer would not be for me. But I can't help the nagging feeling that I have, knowing that these discounts are out there, that we could have had a much cheaper trip. Luckily, I do all the planning and research so no one in my group knows about this except me. Is it so wrong to pay so much extra to have what you want? This trip was my choice of what I wanted to do the year I had to face turning 60, so part of me is like a pouting child saying "It's my birthday, I should do what I want!" but another part of me (the one that pays the bills and is a grown-up) is saying that this is not the wisest choice when cheaper options are available. Sorry about the ranting and rambling. Even if I could change everything, I think the part of me that wants what it wants is going to get its way no matter what!
Stop fretting and keep everything as is. Yes, it might cost more, but you already accepted the cost based on your preferred dates, right? I think you should be there on your 60th, even if it does cost a little more. There will ALWAYS be cheaper "options;" you can always go for fewer days; you can always bring sack lunches to the parks, but for the love of all things Disney, who wants to do that? When you're finally there, you won't be thinking about the money you could have saved, you'll be thinking about how happy you are and how you can't wait to return
Glad you got this room and it sounds wonderful. We will be there in about 2 weeks
Please let me know what request you may have noted, if any. Is it a 2 queen bedded room by chance?
I did not request any particular view/room this time only for bunk bed but would consider two queens for this room maybe
Cant wait to try CL this time.
If you get a chance when you return, would you post a pix of the balcony and the view. Thanks and enjoy the WL
This room does not have a bunk it has two queens. Did you request an inner courtyard view? Here is a fresh photo of what the balcony looks like from the seated perspective:
First, I would like to say THANK YOU for this thread. It has been my addiction since booking my June vacation to WL! Now, question for you all!
My husband is opening his own Physical Therapy practice at the end of June. This trip is our last big splurge before we live off of peanuts until loans are paid off. My daughter will also have her 2nd birthday on June 20th. (We are going June 1st to save on having to buy her an airline ticket.)
I would like to have a "SURPRISE" set up in the room for the both of them. I was thinking a good ol' Disney Cake for my husband because he looooooooooves cake! For my daughter, I am at a loss. Really she'd be ecstatic with some balloons and a Mickey Mouse but I'm not sure what IPO can and cannot set up. Is there a list of availabilities hiding out on DIS somewhere? Anyone want to come up with some suggestions for me? =) Also, what Bakery does WL use? Thanks so much!
I'm so glad you've found the thread useful and welcome! I've never done an in-room gift, but I believe they now have to be ordered directly from Disney:
http://www.disneyflorist.com/
You can order cakes from Disney. This site has a lot of info:
http://disneytravelbabble.com/how-to/order-cake/
Hi KOOK
. You're right that WL CL is cheaper than the CR. We are booked for CR TPV and WL CL is coming in at $50 cheaper a night....not a whole lot less, but enough that it's making me wonder if I should change
. We do love the WL and I have thought of how nice it would be to sit on the 7th floor looking down into the lobby at all the gorgeous Christmas decorations
. Of course, this is after I have become very excited about the CR when I always thought I'd never stay there as the theme/decor has no appeal to me. We aren't staying CL at the CR as the holiday rates are enough to swallow that I just can't go one step further and add CL......so getting CL at the WL is appealing as it IS cheaper, but also because we have experienced it once before so we know how great it is.
I had a feeling you would be going back to the WL this summer
. How did you like BWI CL? Or did you write a little review on the BWI thread? I'm curious to know what you liked and didn't like and how you compare it to the WL.
We've only stayed at the Poly once, but that was enough to get us hooked
. I've stayed at the GF on two girls trips, but only once as a family, and although my DH and both DSs liked the GF and would stay there again, their first resort choice is the Poly (as is mine
). But with that said, if it was a choice between GF RPC and Poly, I would have to go with the GF....there's just something about RPC. I hope you will report back on Poly CL as I have always wanted to try it, but can't bring myself to do it....and I'm always looking for reviews on their CL
.
I don't think the WL is outrageously priced to begin with, which is one of the many things I love about it. To me, getting a discount at the WL is just an extra perk as I would pay rack rate if that's where I wanted to stay and there weren't any discounts. With that said, if the WL is exactly where you want to be, I say go with it and have a great time. I priced out the YC and WL for a possible short trip in July under the summer discount and the WL was only showing about a 10% discount vs 25% at the YC and the difference in price wasn't that much.....so I think you're getting an amazing resort in the WL, even if it is without a discount).
I didn't post a review of BWI yet. But, I think you can tell that we didn't like it as much as we thought we would. We couldn't stop comparing it with WL/CL. It's very different to be at an Epcot resort and it does have some notable advantages such as walking to both DHS and Epcot, however, for us, the advantages stopped there. I'll try to post more details soon. It's almost time to get over to FW and eat at Trails End - a first!
Miss you
. We are having a great time, especially since we're back at WL/CL
in the dryer now.
. You're right that WL CL is cheaper than the CR. We are booked for CR TPV and WL CL is coming in at $50 cheaper a night....not a whole lot less, but enough that it's making me wonder if I should change 
. We aren't staying CL at the CR as the holiday rates are enough to swallow that I just can't go one step further and add CL......so getting CL at the WL is appealing as it IS cheaper, but also because we have experienced it once before so we know how great it is 
