First Stay at VGF - Dec 2024 1BD! Plus 1 Night at BRV!

[kgou]

First trip report! We are a family of four (two adults and elementary aged children) and became DVC owners in the spring of 2023 after a few years of annual trips. We own at SSR and VGF, and this was our first stay ever at VGF! I know, I know - the conventional wisdom on this board is to try before you buy, but we bought VGF without ever having stayed there. At the time, we bought primarily to lock in direct points during the VGF fire sale, but now I'm really glad to have home resort advantage here. We LOVED our stay!

We booked a 5 night stay for December 2024 as soon as our 11 month opened ...I was online booking at exactly 8am and was surprised that I snagged a standard view 1BD. Exactly what I wanted! While looking at flights over the summer, it was significantly cheaper to fly in the evening before we had planned to arrive so we decided to tack on an extra night. I waitlisted a studio at BRV and a P/G view BWV and figured there was a decent shot of the waitlist filling. It took maybe 6ish weeks, can't remember, but the BRV room filled!

All was smooth with our flights and we arrived at MCO about 20 minutes earlier than expected. Baggage was quick to come out as it actually arrived on an earlier flight to MCO ..struck me as odd, but it was nice to grab the bag and jump directly into the Mears ride waiting for us. We arrived at the hotel around 10:30pm, dropped our bags at the hotel, and then headed back to the main lobby at WL to enjoy the Christmas decor and fireplace without many people around. From there, it was bedtime for all since it was past all of our normal bedtimes.

In retrospect, I can't decide if I'd spend the points again for a late arrival like this one. It was really fun to immediately head to the resort and be immersed in the Disney bubble, but I can't decide if it was worth the points or not when we could have booked a room at Coronado or another Moderate/Value to save the points. Anyone have any advice or thoughts on this?

Day 1

We slept in a bit and got ready for a breakfast reservation at Whispering Canyon at 9am. I had eaten here once before and really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere, and was looking forward to going again. While our server was great, it took nearly an hour for our food to make its way out to us from the kitchen. Tables that arrived after us were getting their food before we did, so there must have been something off about our order. We enjoyed calling for ketchup and the kids got to do the pony ride around the restaurant.

With breakfast taking longer than expected, by the time we finished up it was time to go back to the room and finish packing up for our move to VGF. We packed our suitcases strategically planning on the split stay, so split stays seem very doable for us though of course moving after just one night is easier than moving after being in a room for several days.

The weather was "chilly" with the high topping out at just 65 degrees. Our plan had been a pool day at the Beach Pool at VGF and the kids were determined to swim despite the temps. We kept our bathing suits separate from the rest of our stuff, and moved our luggage via Minne Van from BRV to VGF. We love the Minnie Vans and budget on utilizing them during our stays, but for a resort transfer like this with bags next time I would use Mears or another car service. We had tickets for MVMCP that evening, so wanted to have the bags at VGF bell services so that we didn't need to retrieve them before/after the party.

The front desk cast members working in the VGF DVC building were lovely. I had no expectation of our room being ready before 4pm. The cast member and I chatted about our plans for the day, magic bands, and the pool and then we were on our way to the pool.

The splash pad was closed that day, as there was a broken tile in the area that needed to be repaired. The pool was also closed when we arrived, not sure why, but opened about 30 minutes after we got there. I was shocked that the kids were swimming as the wind was whipping off the water and I was cold even in the sun with a puffy jacket on. I got the room ready text around 1pm and left the rest of the family at the pool to grab our luggage. Coincidentally, our Instacart order was scheduled to arrive shortly after I got the room ready notification, so I also was able to meet the driver and collect the items in person rather than leaving with bell services.

Regarding Instacart/other delivery services, make sure your last name is included in the delivery address somewhere. Those services likely only have the first initial of your last name showing to them, and bell services won't accept an order without your first and last name. This may be common knowledge but I wanted to share in case this helps someone.

Our room overlooked the Wedding Chapel, the new Poly tower, and the monorail. The room exceeded my expectations in pretty much every way ...VGF feels very deluxe and plush. And the smell of the lobby and hallways ...swoon! Truly lovely.

This is already super long and hasn't even covered day one! I'll be back with our experience at MVMCP and the rest of our trip. Cannot wait to plan another trip!

 

[kgou]

Resuming where I left off!

After retrieving the luggage and Instacart order, I went back down to the pool where we froze for a bit longer rather than eating dinner at MVMCP, we ordered some bites from the Beaches Pool Bar for a late lunch/early dinner. Our server this day, as well as several other times throughout the stay, was so personable and friendly. He was awesome! By mid afternoon the sun had really started to dip and the winds picked up, so we headed to our room for a bit to warm up before heading to the party.

This was our first MVMCP. I had attended the scaled back version of the Christmas party (forget what Disney called this event, it was not MVMCP though) in Dec '21 and we had attended MNSSHP in August '23, so I somewhat knew what to expect but overall the party was great! To avoid crowds to scan in once party guests were allowed into MK, we aimed to arrive a little after 5 o'clock. The line to board the monorail at VGF wasn't bad at all and honestly was one of the lower wait times we experienced for the monorail over the course of the trip.

We scanned in shortly after 5pm and as expected, wait times were low. Of course now I am forgetting what all we rode, and in what order, but I think we did Journey of the Little Mermaid, Dumbo, and hopped in line for Mine Train all before the park closed to day guests at 6pm. Mine Train was posted at a 45 minute wait just before 6 when we jumped in line and the actual wait was more like 20. From there, we did Winnie the Pooh, snack break at Cosmic Ray's, Space Mountain, dance break at Club Tinsel, and then headed down Main Street for the parade.

We kept heading down Main Street to get as close to the bottom of Main Street as possible. People were stacked up on Main Street closer to the castle and the crowds got less thick as we made our way down. We were able to grab a spot right along the curb near the entrance to the confectionary ...facing the big tree in the center island with Tony's to our left. The kids had an awesome viewing spot right up front and we stood back a bit to allow some other kiddos to fill in near our kids. The snoap, the lights, the music, all of it was really well done.

After the parade, we did Big Thunder, Tiana's, and Pirates. Given the cold temps, there was barely a wait for Tiana's. We wore ponchos but still wound up soaking wet somehow. The cold did us in at that point, so we planned to head out after Pirates. Had we not gotten wet, I think we could have rallied and made it for longer.

On the way to Pirates, we found the DVC member "event" and I use the word event loosely. How it was positioned and what it was in actuality were two very different things. The cast members (guides? idk if they were sales people) thanked us for being members and handed us each a plastic light up snowflake necklace. I wouldn't go out of my way to do this again in the future, but if you stumble upon it like I did you might as well do it if you're eligible. While the gesture is appreciated, it was underwhelming. Not complaining but merely elaborating on what this entailed.

We also stopped at several of the cookie and hot chocolate stops and found that none of the spots we visited were offering hot chocolate? Only eggnog at one and apple cider at some others. Hot chocolate would have been welcome on a chilly night, but we do the parties primarily for the low wait times and the entertainment, not the treats. I was under the impression hot chocolate was the beverage offered though I must have been mistaken.

It was so nice to have a quick trip home to VGF. We did the monorail as we were too cold to take the boat or walk, and had no wait for the monorail. The 1BD at VGF is quite large and incredibly comfortable. The shower is GIANT and feels really high end. It was a great first full day at WDW and I'll be back with a recap of what we did with the rest of our time there!

 

[Cfabar1]

Glad you loved your time at the Grand! It is our home resort and we like it.

A couple of things:
1. We like the size of the 1 BR, and can handle the lack of second bathroom in the unit, which I know some dislike.
2. The question of late arrivals - for us, right now, worth the points to be in one place and then done… If I were traveling solo or couple then I would say probably switch the room and save the points…

 

[kgou]

Day 2

The four of us all slept incredibly well our first night at VGF. We have realized that we enjoy vacations more when each kiddo has their own sleeping surface, so sounds like 1BDs that sleep 5, 2BDs (need more points!!) or occasionally studios that sleep 5 are exclusively in our future. On our second day, we all slept in past 8am which is late for us! If you have similarly aged children, you can probably relate! The mattress on the king bed was incredible. A firm mattress is usually my preference, and this one was firm yet plush if that makes sense. It was incredibly comfortable, so much so that I just googled the mattress type. According to a 2022 planDisney article, it's the Sealy Posturepedic® Sayer Prolux LTD Plush Pillowtop. It made for an excellent night sleep.

Prior to joining DVC, I would have either stressed about missing MK rope drop due to sleeping in, or I would have gotten everyone up earlier to be there for rope drop. It was also quite nice to not set an alarm to wake up to book lightning lanes at 7am. I dislike paying for them, but typically we buy LLs. We didn't have any trouble booking our priorities a week ahead of time, and went in to each park day with LL multipass and sometimes LL single pass ...if that's even the correct terminology, still getting used to not calling it Genie+ or FastPass.

Having breakfast items and cold brew in the room is incredibly helpful. I foresee doing a grocery order no matter what sized unit we book. A lighter breakfast and some cold brew from the fridge to ease into the day is fantastic.

We monorailed over to MK and got there around 10 o'clock. Headed to Tomorrowland to do Tron (rider swap), Speedway (consolation for kiddo who couldn't ride Tron) and Buzz Lightyear. Big Thunder, Tiana's, Mine Train, Space. Crowds were fairly light as there was another MVMCP that night. We watched one of the calvacades while in Frontierland. I'm glad they kept these post-reopening. We snacked off and on around MK for lunch. My family really likes the candied bacon in Frontierland, and while there discovered that the jalapeño poppers at Westward Ho are delish. My spouse also had the spring rolls in AK while I and a kiddo got Dole Whips.

My kids tend to tire of theme park food/dining out fairly quickly, so daily we'd toss some uncrustables and bananas into the backpack for them, and definitely recommend bringing lunch items into the park for your kiddos along with healthy-ish snacks throughout the day. Having these items on hand kept them fueled for busy park days.

After some time in the emporium, we ventured back to VGF. My spouse wanted to test out the walking path while the kids wanted to Monorail. Wanted to keep the peace so I took the kiddos and we made it a race. Well, the walking path was quicker. By a lot. It didn't help that the monorail stopped at the Contemporary station for quite awhile, but even if the monorail had moved at it's normal pace my spouse still would have made it back before us. Of course, in the summer heat it could be a very different story!

Midday resort breaks are a must for us, and love spending time at the pool. This afternoon had warmed up a bit from our day prior, but it still felt freezing in the pool. My kiddos weren't deterred and we hung out at the pool for a couple hours. Happened to meet another DVC member while there and chatted with her for a bit about their stay and being members. Love meeting DVC people IRL!

At some point during the day, I had booked a LL for Soarin' as our plan was to hop to Epcot for Via Napoli and to see the Moana attraction at night. Epcot on weekend nights are really packed. I had sort of already lost track of what day of the week it was, and didn't realize how big of a draw the candlelight processional is as well. We may have also been there the last weekend that some tiers of APs can access the parks before the holidays? I could be wrong about that, as I don't know much about the different tiers of APs.

Soarin' was great as always and by the time we were through the attraction we had to speed walk to Via Napoli. The online check-in system was not working on this evening, not sure if that was just Via Napoli or if that was everywhere. There was a massive line outside to check-in with the host. The line moved slowly, but from there everything was pretty quick. We were seated shortly after we finally checked in, and our server was attentive with the food coming out quickly after ordering. Our table was right in front of the pizza ovens, and the kids were certainly entertained watching the pizza line.

World Showcase was elbow to elbow with people, and since we were coming back to Epcot later in the trip we decided to stop by Moana's attraction on the way out. I think this is best walked through at night, as the lighting looks really beautiful then. My spouse had not seen the attraction before and was underwhelmed though he did enjoy seeing the kids interact with the water features. There is sort of a moment of "wait, that's it?" as you get to the end of the walk, but I still enjoy it.

The monorail was our mode of transportation back to VGF. No line at the Epcot station and transfer at TTC was easy. The VGF lobby was also elbow to elbow as we exited the monorail. There were people everywhere. I knew to expect this going into the trip, but had not seen just how crowded it got until this point in the trip as we really hadn't been in the main lobby all that much. Walking back to the original DVC building is such an exhale.

Our plans for the following day were Hollywood Studios to start the day with the rest of the day open ended. We decided sleeping in/relaxed morning rather than rope drop, and enjoyed another good night's sleep at VGF.

 

[Cfabar1]

Beautiful memories... the best thing about DVC and Annual Pass memberships is that you realize you can actually ENJOY the trip... you'll be back...

The funny thing about it is it makes you want to stay for longer... prior to joining DVC I never imagined wanting to stay more than say 2 night.... now I find myself wanting enough points for say 8-9 night stays to have a RELAXING pace of vacation!

I'm glad you like the mattress... Personally, I cannot stand them... before buying DVC I was warned about the mattresses - on this very board... I never sleep especially well sadly, but it does work... I do best at Vero because, despite the unfortunate mattresses, at least there is the ocean area and breeze to lull me to slumber! I much prefer the mattress at Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, but there is nothing like the Grand Floridian! Glad you are enjoying it!

 

[kgou]

Glad you loved your time at the Grand! It is our home resort and we like it.

A couple of things:
1. We like the size of the 1 BR, and can handle the lack of second bathroom in the unit, which I know some dislike.
2. The question of late arrivals - for us, right now, worth the points to be in one place and then done… If I were traveling solo or couple then I would say probably switch the room and save the points…

Thank you! The re-entry to normal life has been dizzying this week. Writing these out has been fun and it's nice to record the notes while things are still relatively fresh!

Agree about the lack of second bathroom. We can handle it too ...at least for now, I could see this being more challenging perhaps when the kids are a lot older.

After I decided to tack on an extra night at the start of the trip, I did see a 1BD standard pop up a few times for the night I needed. At a couple points over the trip I did catch myself thinking it would have been nice to have been in the same room the entire time. It was nice to see BRV at Christmas though. We're trying to stay at as many resorts as possible to figure out which we like best ...so far, no bad choices with where we've stayed!

 

[kgou]

Beautiful memories... the best thing about DVC and Annual Pass memberships is that you realize you can actually ENJOY the trip... you'll be back...

The funny thing about it is it makes you want to stay for longer... prior to joining DVC I never imagined wanting to stay more than say 2 night.... now I find myself wanting enough points for say 8-9 night stays to have a RELAXING pace of vacation!

I'm glad you like the mattress... Personally, I cannot stand them... before buying DVC I was warned about the mattresses - on this very board... I never sleep especially well sadly, but it does work... I do best at Vero because, despite the unfortunate mattresses, at least there is the ocean area and breeze to lull me to slumber! I much prefer the mattress at Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, but there is nothing like the Grand Floridian! Glad you are enjoying it!

I agree! I am finding myself more in that mindset. Longer stays for more resort time/non park days sounds amazing!

I'm shocked I liked the mattress. Maybe my good night's sleep should be attributed to Disney tiredness rather than the mattress ...when I first sat on it I thought "oh no" as it was much plusher than I usually prefer. I'm sorry you don't sleep well while there!!! thanks for reading btw

 

[kgou]

Day 3

We had another leisurely wake up and decided that today we'd check out the bus situation to get to Hollywood Studios. Even though we were headed that way an hour or so after park opening, I do not recommend the bus service from VGF to HS, at least not this time of year. The bus ETA in the app kept getting later and later, and we were at the stop for about thirty minutes before the bus showed up. When it arrived, it was a full bus of folks from the Poly so not many in line were going to make it on. We called an audible and decided to Minnie Van again. All total, it took us about an hour from leaving our room to make it into HS.

I placed a mobile order for some late breakfast snacks from Woody's Lunchbox to coincide with our first LLs of the day in Toy Story Land. We ended up missing our arrival window due to the bus snafu, so I reordered and realized the menu had switched over from breakfast to lunch. We rode Toy Story Mania and Slinky back to back upon getting in the park and then it was time to check in for the Woody's Lunchbox order. I seem to always get lucky after grabbing my food from Woody's. There were no tables when I walked into the mobile pickup line, and a table in the shade opened up at the perfect time. We enjoyed the lunch box tarts (one each of the seasonal hot chocolate lunch box tart and the raspberry), an order of totchos minus the chilli, and some clementines. Woody's is always a hit with the family, and when we saw another family holding trays looking around for a table we flagged them down to let them know we'd be on our way momentarily. Gotta put that good Disney karma forward.

From there, we went to Batuu to ride Smuggler's Run. My kids are scared of ROTR, and while I'd happily do it each visit we skipped it again this time. My spouse and older kiddo were the pilots while the younger kiddo and I were the gunners. Much smoother this ride with an adult also at the helm as a pilot! We wandered through a few stores, saw a couple Storm Troopers, and got some of the popcorn at Kat Saka's. I was excited to realize while in line that this was the spot to get the Cold Brew Black Caf. This has been on my list to try for awhile, and I really enjoyed it despite the fact that I try not to drink caffeine after 12pm. I paid for it dearly that night as it kept me up for quite awhile!

A visit to Muppets 3D was next. This is always a must-do for us, and this was likely our last time enjoying it before the attraction closes. I don't think we'll be back before then. I hope that WDW finds a way for the movie to live on in some form or fashion. It was great as always.

We made our way to ToT and planned for that to be our last ride of the day before heading out for our midday break. Our youngest really doesn't love this ride, but wanted to give it another try in case things had changed since our last visit. Nope, still not her favorite but proud of her for wanting to try again.

By about 2:30pm we were headed to the bus stop. We were one of the first on what was a very crowded bus. A family across from us was unfortunately experiencing an ill child, as he had his head in a giant zip lock bag for the whole trip to VGF. Luckily, he wasn't sick at all during the ride but I was shuddered thinking that this is one way gastrointestinal illnesses spread at WDW! Hopefully he was just motion sick from a ride and was feeling better!

A note about HS this day: we visited the park on a day that had Jollywood Nights that evening. I expected the same sort of lower wait time effect because of the party that happens at MK on MVMCP nights, but the park was definitely very busy regardless.

The daily temps had continued to slight tick up, so we headed back to the pool again. We chatted with the Beach Pool Bar server again, Barry. He was so nice to remember us each day and stopped to chat even if we weren't ordering. He is a gem and we enjoyed our conversations with him.

Gasparilla Island Grill is a great quick service option on property. We mobile ordered a few items to have dinner in our room. Plenty of dining space in the 1BDs.

I had booked a few LLs at MK for the evening, and after checking out the monorail line (nuts!) we opted to take the boat over to MK. It was fun to go right by the new Poly tower and see the bustle of excitement prior to opening. I believe it was cast member previews while we were there as the Tower opened on our check out day.

MK was absolutely bonkers. The most crowded I've seen it in quite awhile. Frankly, it was tough to navigate our way through the park. We ended up bailing on a couple LLs that I had booked, and decided to do the Barnstormer (priority for kiddos), Pirates on the way out, and then cancelled the remaining LL I had ...can't remember which it was. We did a mobile order for some dessert from the confectionary on the way out.

Exiting was wall to wall people. There were cast members everywhere with lighted batons keeping the crowd moving, and we were directed backstage behind the Baby Care area to exit to the front of Main Street. That was pretty cool and not something I had experienced before. My family made their way to the curb near the train station while I nimbly made my way through the crowd to grab our confectionary order. We caught the beginning of the fireworks show and then enjoyed it during our walk back to VGF. For those who can do it, I highly recommend the walking path as a mode of transport this time of year. During the summer I may have second thoughts about recommending it.

We had an early start the next morning for our day at AK, so we all hit the hay soon after we were back at VGF. Stay tuned for our AK/HS day, and our last park day at Epcot/MK!

 

[kgou]

Day 4

This was the first morning I had to set an alarm. On previous trips, the alarm was a daily routine as to be awake before 7am ready to book LLs. Our "early" wake up this day made me appreciate how at least Disney has overhauled that aspect of the LL booking process.

My goal was to be out of the room in a Minnie van headed to AK by 8am at the latest, with a safari LL for 8-9 and a reservation at Tusker for 9:05. Everyone was quick to get ready, and we were in a Minnie van headed to the park by 7:37.

Since we had a bit of extra time upon arrival, we walked straight to the Joffrey's kiosk before the park entrance for some coffee. The main Christmas tree for AK is right by here, so we admired the tree while the Joffrey's line slowly moved. The service was very slow at this kiosk despite a relatively short line. Enjoying the Christmas tree made the wait much more pleasant.

It seemed most people were headed to Pandora, as expected. We walked right up to the safari and got into the LL line. We were on the safari vehicle in no time. The animals were all very active on our safari! It's often recommended to ride the safari either first thing in the morning or as late in the day as possible so as to see the animals more active, and that was definitely true in this case. All three of the new lions were awake and moving around. The new lions are gorgeous! The cheetahs, rhinos, hippos, elephants, and giraffes were all pretty active, too.

We were off the safari earlier than I expected before our Tusker house reservation. We checked in and then crossed the street to check out some of the shops. We had never visited them before. I'm not sure what the names were, but if you have a kiddo that loves Lion King it's a good spot to visit for souvenirs.

Our table at Tusker was ready quickly. The jungle juice was honestly the high point of the meal, as sadly the food was not as good as it had been our last several visits. We've always found Tusker House to be one of the better quality character meals, and there was a noticeable difference in our meals this time. Seeing Mickey and friends in their safari outfits is always fun for the kids though, so if you've never been it's worth a visit at least once. The service was still really good, and it seems that the characters come around quickly (in a good way) compared to other character buffets. I think that after this trip, Tusker House went from a "must do" for us to taking the few next visits off.

Next we headed to Everest. The attention to detail in this ride queue has always interested me going back to the ride first opening, but you miss all of that in the LL line. This was the first time we rode this without needing rider swap, and my youngest is definitely another thrill ride enthusiast because she was loving it.

A brief rain shower came through during our walk from Everest to Pandora. We (intentionally) took the scenic route to get there, though admittedly AK is the park I find to be least intuitive and I often feel like I get turned around in there. Since we had some time between Everest and FOP, we found our way from Asia through Africa and from Africa to Pandora.

FOP was another first time for us as a family of four, and my youngest and oldest had very different reactions for each of their first rides. Oldest = sort of terrified but absolutely wanted to do it, loved it. Youngest = wasn't sure if she wanted to do it but was willing to try and wasn't scared, and loved it. Fun to reminisce about each of their first times on this one. Great memories, and the nostalgia factor is why Disney has me in an absolute choke hold. But I digress.

Na'vi River Journey was up next, and it was running in B mode. The Na'vi animatronic at the end wasn't there and it was just a screen in its place. We've gotten the B mode fairly often on this ride, but when working as intended the Na'vi animatronic is awesome.

After I tapped in at the safari earlier that morning, I started booking rides for HS that evening. We were heading to HS again for dinner at Hollywood & Vine and Fantasmic, and hoped to do a few rides that we missed the day prior. I had Runaway Railway, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and ToT booked for later that day, so we headed back to VGF to enjoy the pool. There was another slight uptick in temps this day, so by now we were in the high 70s by early afternoon.

We took the bus back to the hotel and got ready for the pool. We spent time at both the Beach Pool and Courtyard pool and enjoyed the sunshine. The midday pool breaks are amongst my favorite things about a Disney vacation, so I'm really glad that we got some time in the sunshine.

More to come with part 2 at HS, and our Day 5/Last Park Day!

 

[nephykupo]

The animals were all very active on our safari! It's often recommended to ride the safari either first thing in the morning or as late in the day as possible so as to see the animals more active, and that was definitely true in this case.

My experience as well. We love doing the safari first.

 

[kgou]

My experience as well. We love doing the safari first.

Agree! Love doing it first. We're rarely in AK late enough to catch the last safari of the day, but might need to try it sometime to see how it compares.

 

[kgou]

Day 4 Part 2

We made it to HS by around 4:30pm for our 4:45 Hollywood & Vine reservation. I checked in online, and our table was ready before our actual reservation time. We did a Fantasmic dinner package. I'm not sure that I would spring for this again, but happy to have tried it. We had eaten at Hollywood & Vine a few other times and really enjoyed the food, but similar to Tusker House there was something noticeably off compared to our previous visits. The service was great and the character interactions were fun. We unintentionally wound up with our two character meals on the same day, and on future visits I'll try to space them out more.

After dinner, my spouse and my oldest rode Star Tours via the stanby line and from there we headed to our LL at MMRR. Spotting the hidden Mickey's in the MMRR is so fun for all of us. After we rode MMRR, it was time to make our way over to Fantasmic. We walked in about 30 minutes prior to showtime, and we could have gotten away with getting in there closer to start time. Noted for the next time we enjoy Fantasmic. This isn't a must-do every visit for our family, but it is a fun show.

Exiting Fantasmic with the masses wasn't bad at all, and we walked directly to Rock 'n' Roller for our LLs. Our plan was for my spouse to ride with our oldest first and then we'd do rider swap so I could go with her after. This queue always moves a lot more slowly than I remember, and by the time they exited we were all kind of losing steam. I was sad to miss my last ride on it. This has always been a favorite ride of mine, and we won't be back again prior to the closure. I have high hopes for the refurbishment and will be eager to ride it with the Muppets once it reopens.

Seeing the wintertime projections on ToT and the snoap on Hollywood Blvd is a great addition to HS this time of year. Very fun holiday vibes and I hope this is a mainstay for years to come.

We caught the first few minutes of the new (I think it's new?) Wonderful World of Animation show on the facade of the Chinese theatre. We enjoyed what we saw, but were eager to return home to VGF so we got going. Watching the whole thing is on my list to revisit next time.

Still to come - our last park day at Epcot/MK, and what I'm looking forward to doing next time!

 

[Genie+]

I know, I know - the conventional wisdom on this board is to try before you buy, but we bought VGF without ever having stayed there. At the time, we bought primarily to lock in direct points during the VGF fire sale, but now I'm really glad to have home resort advantage here. We LOVED our stay!

You are not alone. We did the same lol. By that point we had a few stays at Poly and BLT and knew we wanted to buy a ‘7 Seas Lagoon’ resort. Compared to the going resale rates - VGF Direct was by far the best value for us.

We’ve tried it twice since and going back in Feb. Five nights at 90pts total is hard to beat considering how gorgeous the rooms are, what a fantastic resort, location, and $8 dues.

 

[kgou]

You are not alone. We did the same lol. By that point we had a few stays at Poly and BLT and knew we wanted to buy a ‘7 Seas Lagoon’ resort. Compared to the going resale rates - VGF Direct was by far the best value for us.

We’ve tried it twice since and going back in Feb. Five nights at 90pts total is hard to beat considering how gorgeous the rooms are, what a fantastic resort, location, and $8 dues.

My only regret is that I didn't buy more points during the incentives last year. lol.

And agree - the rooms are gorgeous, the resort is the flagship for a reason, location is great with the MK walking path being a stellar option, and the dues aren't awful.

Do you stay at VGF every visit, or do you bop around a bit? Genuinely concerned now if I stay anywhere else I'll be wishing that I was at VGF. Though so far in our DVC ownership, we've loved every resort that we've stayed at and think all of the resorts have their own unique characteristics that make them great!

 

[Chuck96]

I happily bought into VGF (having never stayed there, having not even eaten there) when the resort studios went for sale in early Spring 2022. We walked through it as a family in fall 2021 (to "check it out"; I had been researching DVC direct and resale since 2018...), and my wife seemed non-committal. I thought she'd like it (as Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland are two of her favorite films), but to be fair, we only walked through it for about 15 min. Nonetheless, it ticked a lot of my boxes for DVC (monorail, restaurants, theming), and I felt that once we'd stayed, wife and son would be big fans. So I gambled a bit making that decision, but it felt right at the time.

We had our "Welcome Home" visit the week before Christmas in 2022, and everyone loved it. Glad you are having a great time with your family!

 

[kgou]

Day 5

Our last park day and last full day at VGF I try to stay in the moment but the reality of our last day in the bubble definitely hits me hard on our last full day!

The kids ate breakfast in the room while we got ready to depart for Epcot. We had LLs booked for Frozen, Guardians, Living with the Land, and Spaceship Earth all back to back. We opted to Minnie van in the interest of efficiency, and quickly made it over to Epcot. We had some time before our first LL at Frozen, so we had time to get Starbucks and peruse the Creations shop upon arrival. I think Creations is one of the better large stores on property as it always has a great selection of pretty much everything. We did some browsing and planned to return on our way out of the park to shop.

We breezed through the Frozen LL and by the time we were off the effect of the adults skipping breakfast had really caught up with us. Though it was only about 10:30am at this point, La Cantina de San Angel was open and smelled amazing. This was a first time for us and it definitely delivered. I ordered the Empanadas con Queso and my spouse got Tacos de Barbacoa. We would absolutely eat here again as both of our meals were really great. Next time, we will have to try the churros.

The kids are still of the age where they really enjoy getting their face painted, so we made time to do that after eating. The face painting is located just past the China pavilion at the Outpost. There was no wait, and there were some festive holiday face paint options to choose from. The cast members did a great job and the kids were thrilled.

We wound our way back through the World Showcase to head to Guardians. Our youngest rode it twice previously and didn't love it, but was willing to try it again. This time, loved it! It's really nice to be able (mostly) ride all the rides all together as a family with the days of rider swap (mostly) behind us. Another example of how Disney trips evolve as the kids grow older and taller!

Next up was Living with the Land. The standby wait was about 50 minutes and we got on quickly with the LL. The holiday overlay definitely has a big draw! The overlay was gorgeous and it would have been even more striking had we rode at nighttime. Noted for next time!

We ended up skipping our LL for Spaceship Earth and I began stacking LLs for one last night at MK. Stopped in Creations on the way out to pick up a few holiday gifts and then caught the monorail back to the TTC. We opted to get off at the TTC and walked over to the Poly to visit the lobby and the holiday decor. We've only stayed at the Poly for a night on our points and it's high on the list for another visit. Hopefully we can make it happen soon, either in the longhouses or new Tower.

Before leaving Poly and catching the monorail, I placed a mobile order for Gasparilla Island Grill. We walked right over and ate a late lunch in the restaurant. This is really such a great quick service option! It began raining while we were there, but managed to stay mostly dry and covered on our walk back to the room. We took the opportunity to begin packing up a bit and getting organized before our early departure the next morning. The rain eventually moved out and we had enough time for one last pool visit before heading over to MK. We spent all of our pool time at the Courtyard pool. It's nice to have two great pool options to choose from at VGF!

We monorailed over to MK and the monorail line from the resort really varies whether it's a weekday or a weekend. With it being a weekday, the wait was much less than over the weekends and we were there in no time. We had LLs lined up for Space, Peter Pan, and Big Thunder. We decided to get snacks and dinner before our LLs started. We headed back to Westward Ho for more jalapeno popppers and a cheese stuffed pretzel, and then mobile ordered Pecos Bill for the kids. There was plenty of outdoor seating at Pecos Bill, so we posted up to enjoy our snacks and dinner. I had to get one last Dole Whip while we were in the area, too.

It was time to make our way to Space, and while on the walk got a notification that it was down and we had a LL to use elsewhere. Not much was available, but I refreshed the app a few times and a LL for Tiana's popped up. It perfectly coincided with our Big Thunder plans, and I feel really lucky I was able to grab it. We had a bit of time to kill before we could scan into Peter Pan, so we popped into Hall of Presidents first. We enjoyed Peter Pan, Big Thunder (while fireworks were going off - AMAZING when that happens!!!), and then Tiana's.

We decided to walk back to VGF and caught some of the Electric Water Pageant on the walk. Made me want a lake view at VGF someday! We were all a bit melancholy on the walk back as our trip was coming to a close, but all agreed that VGF was better than we imagined and felt grateful for being able to stay there, for being DVC members, and for enjoying WDW as often as we do!

One more post to come with notes from our departure day as well as what I'm thinking about for our next trip!

 

[kgou]

I happily bought into VGF (having never stayed there, having not even eaten there) when the resort studios went for sale in early Spring 2022. We walked through it as a family in fall 2021 (to "check it out"; I had been researching DVC direct and resale since 2018...), and my wife seemed non-committal. I thought she'd like it (as Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland are two of her favorite films), but to be fair, we only walked through it for about 15 min. Nonetheless, it ticked a lot of my boxes for DVC (monorail, restaurants, theming), and I felt that once we'd stayed, wife and son would be big fans. So I gambled a bit making that decision, but it felt right at the time.

We had our "Welcome Home" visit the week before Christmas in 2022, and everyone loved it. Glad you are having a great time with your family!

That is awesome! I am glad that you all are enjoying your ownership and that everyone in your family is loving VGF as much as you'd hoped!

I am so glad we took the leap and bought direct points here. I'd be kicking myself if we hadn't jumped in when we did!

 

[kgou]

Departure Day

The 5:30 wake up came too quickly. After we were back from MK the previous evening, we finished packing up and had everything in good shape for our departure. Mears private transport was scheduled to pick us up at 6:30 for our 9am flight. Our room overlooked the porte cochere for the building, and I could easily see that he was already there at 6:15. The kids were sad as usually as we departed WDW ...the drive under the WDW sign is a lot more fun when you're coming in than when you're seeing it in the rearview coming out. Until next time, WDW!

We were at the airport just before 7am and certainly had plenty of time. We have TSA precheck, and the line moved quickly though we did pick the line closest to Clear/Precheck ...avoid in favor of other precheck lines as the Clear/Precheck folks are brought to the head of the precheck line closest to their entry. MCO has limited offerings for food and beverage compared to other airports IMO. I had missed seeing the Starbucks in Terminal B on previous visits so that was a welcome surprise. I could have sworn there was not a Starbucks when we were flying out in May, but I must have missed it. All was on time with both of our flights and we were home before we knew it with the post Disney sadness setting in.

 

[kgou]

Thanks to all who have followed along with my trip recap! It was fun to put pen to paper ...er, type words to a screen, and relive the trip as I was recording the details.

As with any trip to WDW, I think it's helpful to temper expectations and be ready to pivot when necessary while going with the flow. This is made easier by being DVC members and that anything one misses on a trip can be done on the next trip. That's helped me change the tempo of our trips in a way that is very positive.

There were a few rides we did not do this go around that I want to prioritize for next time: PeopleMover, Carousel of Progress, Mad Tea Party, the carousel, Haunted Mansion all come to mind. We also tend to not prioritize character meet and greets. With every visit, I'm struck by how quickly my kids are growing up so I think the next visit we'll want to spend more time meeting characters, since it's probably not too much longer that they will be interested in doing so. I also think we're not taking advantage of some of the non-ride attractions. I can't remember the last time I did the Tiki Room for example and the rest of my family has never done it. Will have a list of attractions we want to visit for our next trip. Any recommendations of your favorites?

I went into the trip with at least one sit down dining option booked per day, and as you saw from my report I cancelled most of them as we did four sit down dining meals during our trip. Some of my old standbys, like Tusker House and Hollywood and Vine, missed the mark a bit this time. This has inspired me to try some new-to-us options on the next trip and change things up a bit. What is everyone's favorite restaurant in the World Showcase, for example?

The changes to the LL system between my last visit in May and this visit made me uneasy ahead of time. Ultimately, I really liked not having to wake up to book LLs at 7am and felt like we got a good value out of the system for our visit. I dislike having to pay for something that used to be free, though I foresee us continuing to purchase it going forward. Premier Pass is intriguing in concept but the price makes it absolutely a no-go for us.

VGF was absolutely amazing and exceeded my expectations in every way. So much so that I'm afraid it's ruined me on all other DVC resorts. So far in our DVC ownership we have stayed at BRV, Poly, BWV, and now VGF. We also own at SSR, which we've never stayed at and bought primarily as SAP. I'm booking our November 2025 stay using the SSR points, and initially planned to try to swap somewhere else at the 7 month mark. Now I feel like maybe I should just stay at SSR and see how we like the resort, and if we truly don't like it plan to sell in favor of purchasing elsewhere, or keep and plan to only use as SAP. I bought the SSR points based on the room remodel, which looks fantastic, and also because the 1BD sleeps 5 which is pretty important to us. I'm booking our SSR November 2025 stay in small chunks so as to (in theory) have an easier time swapping elsewhere at 7 months. Stay tuned for where we end up!

 

[aka Charles]

VGF was absolutely amazing and exceeded my expectations in every way. So much so that I'm afraid it's ruined me on all other DVC resorts. So far in our DVC ownership we have stayed at BRV, Poly, BWV, and now VGF. We also own at SSR, which we've never stayed at and bought primarily as SAP. I'm booking our November 2025 stay using the SSR points, and initially planned to try to swap somewhere else at the 7 month mark. Now I feel like maybe I should just stay at SSR and see how we like the resort, and if we truly don't like it plan to sell in favor of purchasing elsewhere, or keep and plan to only use as SAP. I bought the SSR points based on the room remodel, which looks fantastic, and also because the 1BD sleeps 5 which is pretty important to us. I'm booking our SSR November 2025 stay in small chunks so as to (in theory) have an easier time swapping elsewhere at 7 months. Stay tuned for where we end up!

I am glad you and your family enjoyed staying at VGF! I started my DVC with a SSR contract, but bought VGF direct when it went on sale back in 2022. I love VGF. My son and I have tried some of the other DVC resorts and like them as well, but when we tried AKV with a savanna view my son fell in love. I have since sold my SSR points and bought AKV to have the 11 month booking window there as well. We don't mind the bus transport from AKV at all, as it is dedicated (not shared) and we have never had to wait too long for the next bus. However, it would also be a good candidate for Minnie Van service when desired. We now alternate between VGF and AKV for our two main trips to WDW each year. We sometimes will add a weekend trip or two into the mix and will book something new or what is available. We have not been disappointed yet.
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ETA: FYI, The 1BR villas at AKV have some differences depending on which ones you book. The main difference is that the ones at Jambo house have one bathroom while the ones at Kidani Village have two bathrooms. Also, AKV will be starting a hard goods refurbishment in October, 2025, running through 2026.
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