Finally!

[Tashinwdw]

After many months of trying to get a DVC transfer or rent out points, with no luck, today we finally got our accommodation booked. That ends the accommodation in Orlando worries, just las vegas etc to worry about now. It was a little more than what we wanted to pay but DH really wanted BLT and there didnt seem to be the points available now as there was before christmas (which didnt help as it was outside the 7 month window) but now I can breathe a little and focus on other parts of our trip.

So far our itinerary is

6 nights las vegas or surrounding areas - still not decided if we will have vegas as a home point and venture out from there or travel around a bit.

6 nights Cabana Bay orlando
6 nights TheWilderness Lodge
4 nights BLT
4 night Bahamas Cruise
7 nights Boardwalk
3 nights Anaheim
home

 

[BecBennett]

Sounds like an awesome trip. Where are you planning on going to around vegas?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Yay! Good for you!

Those plans sound great. I'm particularly jealous of The Wilderness Lodge. It's top of my WDW resort wishlist (along with a return to my much loved Animal Kingdom Lodge).

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congratulations. Looks like a lovely set of accommodations.

 

[Tashinwdw]

Sounds like an awesome trip. Where are you planning on going to around vegas?

we want to do Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Death Valley, Calico ghost town and a few other places.

Yay! Good for you!

Those plans sound great. I'm particularly jealous of The Wilderness Lodge. It's top of my WDW resort wishlist (along with a return to my much loved Animal Kingdom Lodge).

I really wanted to do Animal Kingdom but DH really wanted BLT and as I had chosen Wilderness I really didnt want to push my luck. I was sort of hoping that we wouldnt be able to get it and I would be able to get plan B into action which would be 4 nights Animal kingdom, then 6 nights Wilderness then cruise but id didnt work out that way. I will put it down for the next trip if I ever get to go back.

 

[Pumpkin meme]

After many months of trying to get a DVC transfer or rent out points, with no luck, today we finally got our accommodation booked. That ends the accommodation in Orlando worries, just las vegas etc to worry about now. It was a little more than what we wanted to pay but DH really wanted BLT and there didnt seem to be the points available now as there was before christmas (which didnt help as it was outside the 7 month window) but now I can breathe a little and focus on other parts of our trip.

So far our itinerary is

6 nights las vegas or surrounding areas - still not decided if we will have vegas as a home point and venture out from there or travel around a bit.

6 nights Cabana Bay orlando
6 nights TheWilderness Lodge
4 nights BLT
4 night Bahamas Cruise
7 nights Boardwalk
3 nights Anaheim
home

sounds fantastic.....we love BLT ...also WL...oh and boardwalk

BTW...what dates???
we too are BLT, BCV & Dream bahamas......in 6mths

 

[Tashinwdw]

sounds fantastic.....we love BLT ...also WL...oh and boardwalk

BTW...what dates???
we too are BLT, BCV & Dream bahamas......in 6mths

We will be at blt on the 10TH TO 14 TH then on bahamas cruise until 18th then a week at boardwalk
What are your dates

 

[gogo65]

Sounds amazing, that is some serious Disney time!

 

[lffam]

We stayed at The Wilderness Lodge in Oct/Nov 2013. I couldn't recommend it highly enough to anyone. Th lodge itself has just such a great feel about it, really made us feel like we were in another world. We were going to be staying at Caribbean Beach Resort but we decided to upgrade and are so glad we did.

here are some photos from the lodge from our stay. Wilderness Lodge

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We stayed at The Wilderness Lodge in Oct/Nov 2013. I couldn't recommend it highly enough to anyone. Th lodge itself has just such a great feel about it, really made us feel like we were in another world. We were going to be staying at Caribbean Beach Resort but we decided to upgrade and are so glad we did. here are some photos from the lodge from our stay. Wilderness Lodge

What great pics

I understand what you mean about the 'great feel'. I got the same feeling at the AKL. I think it's something to do with the big towering lobbies and the beautiful wooden architecture. They feel spacious, yet cosy at the same time. In saying that, I love the rustic look. Modern architecture does nothing for me.
I'm staying in the original Wilderness Lodge (Old Faithful Inn) on this upcoming trip and I can't wait. It makes me all warm and cosy just thinking about it.

 

[Tashinwdw]

here are some photos from the lodge from our stay. Wilderness Lodge

The photos are amazing, I think I just got even more excited about my trip - didnt know that was possible. I cant wait to show my DH, he isnt that keen on Wilderness, he doesnt understand why I want to stay there. If he had his way we would spend the whole time at Boardwalk - except the few nights at BLT and he really only wants to stay there because he wants to do the para sailing there. He was not well enough to do it last time and it was such fun he really wants to do it, but with his anxiety and health problems he wants to be able to just walk downstairs and do it, not have to travel to get to it etc.

Can anyone access the roof for viewing and photos or only the family that is picked to raise the flag?

 

[lffam]

The photos are amazing, I think I just got even more excited about my trip - didnt know that was possible. I cant wait to show my DH, he isnt that keen on Wilderness, he doesnt understand why I want to stay there. If he had his way we would spend the whole time at Boardwalk - except the few nights at BLT and he really only wants to stay there because he wants to do the para sailing there. He was not well enough to do it last time and it was such fun he really wants to do it, but with his anxiety and health problems he wants to be able to just walk downstairs and do it, not have to travel to get to it etc.

Can anyone access the roof for viewing and photos or only the family that is picked to raise the flag?

There were a few reasons why WL was such a great resort for us. When we looked at the pictures from various posts when we were planning, they always reminded us of the Grand Californian. This was our first Disney experience in 2010 and such an amazing one. We had read all about the Disney experience , the "pixie dust" and while very excited and were sure it wold be a great holiday, we just couldn't imagine how magical the experience was. I know those have experienced it will know what I mean, and those that are anticipating it well, its just one of those things you have to experience and see what it does to/for you...see its made me get off replying to you! I mean we don't live int the country so a Lodge/wilderness isn't "home" for us, but just walking into the foyer, was just a feeling of all the cares in the world were left behind and felt like we really had entered a different world.

I can understand getting even more excited than you may already be, that certainly happened for us also. If you want a bit more of an peek into our experience, here is a blog that my son wrote while we were away. Travel Blog by 10yo. I am still writing mine, turning it more into a tip/hits/misses rather than a day by day, given its so far after our actual trip

I do not believe that you can access the roof other than when you are doing the flag family experience, but of course, no one at WL is going to be offended if you ask. One particularly helpful concierge we dealt with with Terri. She was fantastic I must say.

I'm excited for you!! feel free to ask any q's you might like either here or PM, happy to help if I can.

 

[Tashinwdw]

I'm excited for you!! feel free to ask any q's you might like either here or PM, happy to help if I can.

Thansk Iffam, I have looked at heaps of photos and watched many youtube clips of the wilderness and read many reviews of the resort, Your photos were some of the best I have seen. They were very clear, lots of photos of inside the wilderness seem dark but yours were very bright. One of the many reasons I really wanted to stay there is because of the Grandness of it. Like nothing I have seen or experienced here. Somehow talking to someone who has stayed there does make it seem more real.

One of the favourite things my DH liked to do each morning while we stayed at the Boardwalk was to go downstairs and sit on a park bench on the boardwalk see the sunrise and watch the disney workers do their stuff before most ppl were up and about. It was really peaceful and a wonderful way to start the day (even if most days it was to early for me and he would go on his own) I have told him there would be somewhere he could do that at the wilderness but I really have no idea, I just wanted to stay there so had to sell it to him somehow Is there somewhere like that there?

 

[lffam]

Thansk Iffam, I have looked at heaps of photos and watched many youtube clips of the wilderness and read many reviews of the resort, Your photos were some of the best I have seen. They were very clear, lots of photos of inside the wilderness seem dark but yours were very bright. One of the many reasons I really wanted to stay there is because of the Grandness of it. Like nothing I have seen or experienced here. Somehow talking to someone who has stayed there does make it seem more real.

One of the favourite things my DH liked to do each morning while we stayed at the Boardwalk was to go downstairs and sit on a park bench on the boardwalk see the sunrise and watch the disney workers do their stuff before most ppl were up and about. It was really peaceful and a wonderful way to start the day (even if most days it was to early for me and he would go on his own) I have told him there would be somewhere he could do that at the wilderness but I really have no idea, I just wanted to stay there so had to sell it to him somehow Is there somewhere like that there?

Grandness is a great way to describe the place. I wish we did the lodge tour i think that would have been awesome. I think we got alot of the info that is given about the lodge from the ranger when we did the flag family, but I'm sure it still would have been great.

well we didn't see too many sunrises! always slept in a little bit. While i know many go from park opening all day, but we preferred to take it a bit easier. The photos i took of the outside was taken one morning when the rest of the fam slept and i got up early for a walk. It certainly was peaceful especially down near the lake and the "beach"

thanks for the comment on the pics. I had seen lots of WL pics also prior and i loved them but I did wan to try and take some from perspectives that I hadn't seen or with different framing /lighting etc, so I am very pleased at your comments.

 

[Pumpkin meme]

We will be at blt on the 10TH TO 14 TH then on bahamas cruise until 18th then a week at boardwalk
What are your dates

we are
bcv 21-25 sept
25-2 oct DCL dream
2-8 BLT oct
then home

so looks like we overlap 21-24th? at bcv/bwv


i do love hearing aussie/kiwi accents echoing across the lake

 

[Tashinwdw]

we are
bcv 21-25 sept
25-2 oct DCL dream
2-8 BLT oct
then home

so looks like we overlap 21-24th? at bcv/bwv


i do love hearing aussie/kiwi accents echoing across the lake

You will be all new and excited and I will be probably pulling my hair out and wanting to give away my children by then.

 

[gogo65]

You will be all new and excited and I will be probably pulling my hair out and wanting to give away my children by then.