iankh
It's never done till it's overdone
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2005
- Messages
- 7,181
Well. It was a lot of planning and anticipation, and now it's over. It was a trip of firsts; our first stay at VWL as members and my first time turning fifty.
It started about a year ago, when right before my 49th birthday I attended a conference in WDW. Standing outside of the Dolphin, waiting for the shuttle I had the brilliant idea that it would be great to celebrate my 50th birthday day in WDW. With that the planning began.
Invitations went out to friends inviting them to help me celebrate my 50th in WDW. My birthday dinner would be on me, my treat. I was going to pop for a birthday party anyway, so what difference would it make if it were in Chicago or in Fantasyland?
We had stayed at WDW many times over the years, ranging from off-site, to CB and POFQ, but our absolute favorite and the winner of the resort we stayed at the most was the Wilderness Lodge.
I should make a side comment that our last trip to WDW had been in 2000. I went through a few pretty rough years, first dealing with my elderly father getting sick and having a leg amputated, then moving him to Chicago, him having another leg amputated, the trauma of placing him in a nursing home, him passing away, and then me getting laid-off 3 weeks later during a 2000 employee staff reduction at the company I worked for. Using free time for vacations during this whole 3-year period was simply not a very high priority.
So, to return to the story, when it came to planning where we would be staying we naturally thought about, WL again. I was however surprised at how much the room prices had jumped in just a few years. Nevertheless, it was our favorite resort, so I booked it.
In planning the trip I started to look at DVC again. I did take a tour back sometime in the 90's. I think that BWV was being sold then. However, the other half was dead set against it. So, I never did anything about it. I had been so out of touch that BCV was built and so was VWL.
In looking at buying I called DVC and was very surprised to get a call back from Julie, who had been my guide when I first looked into it years ago (apparently Disney has a very long memory).
I also discovered DIS and learned about buying resale. DVC was pushing SSR, but as so many people said here, when responding to my postings, Buy where you want to stay. I bought a VWL 200 point resale in late February, closed in early March, and then promptly added on 37 points directly through DVC. I called member services and booked a 1 bedroom.
We opted for Magical Express, which I must say worked like a charm. There was nearly no waiting for a bus and it was great to not have to wait for luggage, schlep the luggage to a rental car, drive to the resort. Maybe it's because we're from Chicago and use public transportation so much, but my idea of transport is something that picks me up, drops me off, then goes away. However, we did also want to have a car, so I used an Avis voucher I had for what would be a free rental. We picked it up on our first day at the Hilton near DTD and dropped it off on our next to last day. That worked out very nicely and made the return day very relaxing, taking advantage of Magical Express to check our luggage in at the hotel.
We got to WL at about 2:30 PM and got a room right away. It was great to be back at the WL! There's nothing quite like walking into its lobby. The low entry way, and then suddenly the space opening up to a great expanse in front of you soaring upwards.
All of my requests had been met as well; we got a high floor not facing the pool. It was a room with the dormer style ceilings and the balconies with the high sides and low sloping overhang, a very enclosed cozy feeling; our favorite type of balcony at the WL. The room we stayed in was 5530 and was in great shape. We were very happy we had decided to buy into DVC. It was much more space and far more comfortable than a typical hotel room.
Some observations on VWL:
We did celebrate another birthday while we were down there. My friend Tim's 51st birthday was 2 days before mine. He had wanted to go to Wolfgang Puck Upstairs for his birthday. The meal was very nice. I had ordered and paid for a birthday cake in advance. After a great meal, the cake was a bit of a let down. However, we were all pleasantly surprised, because Tim and his other half treated us all to dinner.
My birthday was 2 days later. I had chosen Jiko's for my birthday celebration. After a day at the Magic Kingdom we headed over to AKL. I was very happy that I had opted for the car. More friends who stayed at the Pop Century met us.
This was my first time at AKL. Beautiful resort! I thought that some of the layout was even better than the WL, with the restaurants being on the levels below the lobby.
First we stopped for drinks at Victoria Falls. This was a very thirsty bunch of people. The bar was great, very well laid out and very comfortable. The theming was very well done. We had not had a very good experience the night before at the Polynesian. We were all up for something with a tiki motif and felt the bar at the Polynesian was a real let down. We all felt that Victoria Falls was very well planned.
A few drinks later, we went down to Jiko's. Stunning décor. Fabulous menu. We ordered appetizers for the whole table, the duck and port firecracker and a couple of the flatbreads. We were not let down. Another round of cocktails and then a couple of bottles of the gamekeeper reserve wine. A red wine, very good. Apparently only sold at the vineyard and AKL. Needless to say we were all very cozy and perhaps a bit loud too.
The entrees were nothing short of excellent. I think it was the one time the table fell silent. Everyone was too busy concentrating on their food to talk
I had ordered a birthday cake. The Jiko's celebration cake (apparently only offered at that restaurant). It was while chocolate mousse, dark chocolate mousse, sponge, praline filling and whipped cream frosting. The funny thing was when they brought the cake, the put it down in front of one of my friends (I guess I don't look like I'd be celebrating fifty). The cake was really fabulous.
It really worked out to be a perfect time. Much better than a big birthday bash would have been at home. Cost-wise, it really worked out about the same or less than a party at home would have cost.
Most of my friends left on Monday morning, but we stayed on an additional 4 days. We could not believe the heat. I understand from the weather reports that it was record-breaking temperatures. It really put a damper on things and cut our days rather short, opting for not going back out to the parks in the evening. We felt so completely drained from the sun, in spite of the fact that we kept hydrating and trying to find shade. MGM seemed the worse with great-unshaded expanses; MK and AK seemed like the best. I think that we will stick to our usual October through December timeframe for future visits.
I guess the highlight of the trip was the food. I cant really say we had a bad meal while we were down there. We had thought Jikos was so outstanding that we returned to AKL for dinner at Boma. It turned out to be a real highlight. One of the best buffets I've been to.
It was over all a great vacation, and a memorable birthday.
It started about a year ago, when right before my 49th birthday I attended a conference in WDW. Standing outside of the Dolphin, waiting for the shuttle I had the brilliant idea that it would be great to celebrate my 50th birthday day in WDW. With that the planning began.
Invitations went out to friends inviting them to help me celebrate my 50th in WDW. My birthday dinner would be on me, my treat. I was going to pop for a birthday party anyway, so what difference would it make if it were in Chicago or in Fantasyland?
We had stayed at WDW many times over the years, ranging from off-site, to CB and POFQ, but our absolute favorite and the winner of the resort we stayed at the most was the Wilderness Lodge.
I should make a side comment that our last trip to WDW had been in 2000. I went through a few pretty rough years, first dealing with my elderly father getting sick and having a leg amputated, then moving him to Chicago, him having another leg amputated, the trauma of placing him in a nursing home, him passing away, and then me getting laid-off 3 weeks later during a 2000 employee staff reduction at the company I worked for. Using free time for vacations during this whole 3-year period was simply not a very high priority.
So, to return to the story, when it came to planning where we would be staying we naturally thought about, WL again. I was however surprised at how much the room prices had jumped in just a few years. Nevertheless, it was our favorite resort, so I booked it.
In planning the trip I started to look at DVC again. I did take a tour back sometime in the 90's. I think that BWV was being sold then. However, the other half was dead set against it. So, I never did anything about it. I had been so out of touch that BCV was built and so was VWL.
In looking at buying I called DVC and was very surprised to get a call back from Julie, who had been my guide when I first looked into it years ago (apparently Disney has a very long memory).
I also discovered DIS and learned about buying resale. DVC was pushing SSR, but as so many people said here, when responding to my postings, Buy where you want to stay. I bought a VWL 200 point resale in late February, closed in early March, and then promptly added on 37 points directly through DVC. I called member services and booked a 1 bedroom.
We opted for Magical Express, which I must say worked like a charm. There was nearly no waiting for a bus and it was great to not have to wait for luggage, schlep the luggage to a rental car, drive to the resort. Maybe it's because we're from Chicago and use public transportation so much, but my idea of transport is something that picks me up, drops me off, then goes away. However, we did also want to have a car, so I used an Avis voucher I had for what would be a free rental. We picked it up on our first day at the Hilton near DTD and dropped it off on our next to last day. That worked out very nicely and made the return day very relaxing, taking advantage of Magical Express to check our luggage in at the hotel.
We got to WL at about 2:30 PM and got a room right away. It was great to be back at the WL! There's nothing quite like walking into its lobby. The low entry way, and then suddenly the space opening up to a great expanse in front of you soaring upwards.
All of my requests had been met as well; we got a high floor not facing the pool. It was a room with the dormer style ceilings and the balconies with the high sides and low sloping overhang, a very enclosed cozy feeling; our favorite type of balcony at the WL. The room we stayed in was 5530 and was in great shape. We were very happy we had decided to buy into DVC. It was much more space and far more comfortable than a typical hotel room.
Some observations on VWL:
- I had read comments on the décor of VWL being too dark. I don't quite understand that. It fits with the theming of the resort and did not seem dark to us at all. We loved the colors and found it very soothing and relaxing.
- WL feeling so removed. It's funny, because that's exactly what we love about it. It's great after a frenetic day at the parks to get back and feel like we've left everything behind. We loved feeling like we were isolated. We rented a boat one day and went out on the lake. We were once again surprised once out on the water at exactly how close WL is to the Contemporary. I guess because we have a house in Chicago, with the El (elevated) running behind us in the alley, and dozens of restaurants a few doors away, we like feeling removed when we're on holiday. We both agreed that SSR wouldn't have suited us. With DTD being so close, it would have been a little too much like being home.
- Loved being able to rent a boat and also go out on the nature trails. Got very excited by first hearing then seeing a woodpecker, in a tree, actually hammering away at the bark. Never saw one before.
- Parking did not seem far away at all. Again, maybe it's a matter of perspective. I have to walk 3 blocks in the morning to get to an El station, and then about 5 blocks to get to my office. The walk from VWL to our car did not seem bad at all.
- Loved being able to cook breakfast. It wasn't so much a matter of saving money, but rather that waking up and making a pot of coffee and some eggs without leaving the room was much better than having to get dressed and go find food.
- First time cooking using an electric stove (if you can believe that). How in the world do you do it?
- What's the big deal about Welcome Home? No one said it to us and we couldn't have cared less. But we did have great, efficient and friendly service throughout our stay.
- The sofa bed apparently was not too bad. We had a friend sleeping on the sofa bed. He's not petit either. He said it wasn't as comfortable as his own bed, but it wasn't bad either.
- I have never seen so many doors in my life. It was a little like a British farce the first day. I never thought I could get lost in a one-bedroom apartment! Our first night I woke up, and went looking for the bathroom, sans contact lenses or glasses, and only partially awake. I found opened a door and stepped in, only to realize I was in the walk-in closet. I did eventually find the toilet.
- We will never pack a lot of clothing ever again. We simply did not realize how easy it would be to do laundry. We packed way too much clothing! I think in the future it will be just a few shirts, a couple of pairs of shorts, a few pairs of socks and a bathing suit will be all that we need. My advice is, take advantage of the washer and dryer! Having them was great!
We did celebrate another birthday while we were down there. My friend Tim's 51st birthday was 2 days before mine. He had wanted to go to Wolfgang Puck Upstairs for his birthday. The meal was very nice. I had ordered and paid for a birthday cake in advance. After a great meal, the cake was a bit of a let down. However, we were all pleasantly surprised, because Tim and his other half treated us all to dinner.
My birthday was 2 days later. I had chosen Jiko's for my birthday celebration. After a day at the Magic Kingdom we headed over to AKL. I was very happy that I had opted for the car. More friends who stayed at the Pop Century met us.
This was my first time at AKL. Beautiful resort! I thought that some of the layout was even better than the WL, with the restaurants being on the levels below the lobby.
First we stopped for drinks at Victoria Falls. This was a very thirsty bunch of people. The bar was great, very well laid out and very comfortable. The theming was very well done. We had not had a very good experience the night before at the Polynesian. We were all up for something with a tiki motif and felt the bar at the Polynesian was a real let down. We all felt that Victoria Falls was very well planned.
A few drinks later, we went down to Jiko's. Stunning décor. Fabulous menu. We ordered appetizers for the whole table, the duck and port firecracker and a couple of the flatbreads. We were not let down. Another round of cocktails and then a couple of bottles of the gamekeeper reserve wine. A red wine, very good. Apparently only sold at the vineyard and AKL. Needless to say we were all very cozy and perhaps a bit loud too.
The entrees were nothing short of excellent. I think it was the one time the table fell silent. Everyone was too busy concentrating on their food to talk
I had ordered a birthday cake. The Jiko's celebration cake (apparently only offered at that restaurant). It was while chocolate mousse, dark chocolate mousse, sponge, praline filling and whipped cream frosting. The funny thing was when they brought the cake, the put it down in front of one of my friends (I guess I don't look like I'd be celebrating fifty). The cake was really fabulous.
It really worked out to be a perfect time. Much better than a big birthday bash would have been at home. Cost-wise, it really worked out about the same or less than a party at home would have cost.
Most of my friends left on Monday morning, but we stayed on an additional 4 days. We could not believe the heat. I understand from the weather reports that it was record-breaking temperatures. It really put a damper on things and cut our days rather short, opting for not going back out to the parks in the evening. We felt so completely drained from the sun, in spite of the fact that we kept hydrating and trying to find shade. MGM seemed the worse with great-unshaded expanses; MK and AK seemed like the best. I think that we will stick to our usual October through December timeframe for future visits.
I guess the highlight of the trip was the food. I cant really say we had a bad meal while we were down there. We had thought Jikos was so outstanding that we returned to AKL for dinner at Boma. It turned out to be a real highlight. One of the best buffets I've been to.
It was over all a great vacation, and a memorable birthday.
)
