Here is part 2 of my mini trip report - the trip itself.
We got up at 2:45am on Friday, Mar 24th and found a very crowded Midway airport at 5 am in the morning. It was spring break for most of the suburban school districts. And to add to the chaos, we had a high school marching band on our flight. We landed in Orlando at 9:08am and the Magical Express made the Wilderness Lodge its first stop of the route. That was the first time we didn't stop at the Poly and GF first. It was a pleasant change.
We arrived at the WL around 10:30am but unfortunately, we did not get the usual "Welcome Home" greeting that we have received from a CM on our past trips. That was the first time no one greeted us outside the resort. We did see CM's greeting guests later in the day, and through out our trip, though.
There wasn't a line to check in and a friendly CM greeted us warmly. She answered all our questions and told us approximately where our rooms would be and that we had connecting rooms with my sister. We dropped our stuff off and headed to Disney Springs. We had wanted to go back to Wolfgang Puck express for lunch for several trips now, but this was the first time that it worked out well. We also wanted to get a hot fudge sundae at Ghriradelli's. Both meals were delicious. Just about the time that we decided to head back to the WL we received the text that our room was ready. We didn't have to wait long for the bus back to our resort. The DS bus shares with the Contemporary and sometimes gets very full with people trying to get to and from the MK from DS. This time the bus wasn't too crowded and it was a quick trip back with WL being the first stop. Since we had been awake since 2:24 am we decided to take a nap and explore the resort later.
We had originally intended to visit Geyser Point for a drink and then head to Epcot for food and the concert, but that didn't happen. Once we arrived at Geyser Point we couldn't seem to drag ourselves away. There was a cool breeze off Bay Lake and Geyser Point provides blankets to guests who ask for them. I was cozy and warm and loving the view. We decided to stay at the resort and eat dinner there instead of going to Epcot. Unfortunately, our meal at Whispering Canyon Cafe, a last minute reservation, was not good at all.
Our food arrived cold and we had to wait for hot food. We wished we had just gone to Territory Lounge for some pulled pork nachos instead. It was the only bad meal of the trip.
We ate breakfast at Geyser Point every morning except once, when we grabbed something at Territory Lounge. My husband got the breakfast burrito at Territory Lounge and said that it was really good. Our morning buses to the parks, Epcot and DHS, went non stop. It was nice not to have to share a bus with another resort in the morning. The afternoon and evening buses stopped at a second resort, but that was fine.
We had dinner at Raglan Road on Sunday moght, a first time for DH and I. We had prime seats, right on the main floor, and we didn't even ask for them. It was a lovely evening. But our bus ride back to the WL was a bit crazy. The bus was full of people trying to get to the MK from the Contemporary, and when we got to the WL the crowd wouldn't let us off. They just stood there. The bus driver called back to ask if anyone was getting aff at the WL and I frantically waved to get his attention. Finally, after a bit a yelling at people to move out of the way, we made it off the bus. One other family made it off behind us. I think we must have paved the way for them.
We also went to another restaurant for the first time, Boma at AKL. We had planned to take a bus to MK and then catch the AKL bus from the depot. That usually works great except that the MK bus didn't arrive for 22 minutes, and then it went to the Settlement stop at FW first. We had a nice bus ride there and back, just the four of us, and the bus driver slowed down so that we see some deer. But it did put us a little later at AKL than we had hoped to be. Dinner was delicious and well worth the trip. And we decided to take a taxi back to WL, which made it even better.
I went down to Geyser Point to watch the MK fireworks two nights of the trip. The movie on the beach is now the movie in the grass, but it is right there next to Geyser Point and you can watch both the fireworks and movie at the same time.
They pipe in the music from Wishes and its not a bad view. There is a much better fireworks view from the hallway windows closest to the north wing elevators, but no music.
We really enjoyed Geyser Point and DH had a delicious bison burger for lunch one day. He didn't like the plum sauce though, and would skip it next time. I think we relaxed with drinks every afternoon and we roasted marshmallows at the campfire twice. It was a very nice trip.
We plan to return to Geyser Point when we are at the BC in May. We always seem to visit the BC when we stay at WL, and visit WL when we stay at the BC. We love them both.
First time staying here and checking in on Tues. CSR will have to wait another trip!
