"I"m Only Going Because My Teacher Told Me To" Nov. 2016 PTR * update 12/2 TRIP REPORT STARTED! *

[ArielSRL]

Well the rumor is the rooms on the south side are being converted to DVC so it would be nice to get one of those and just be in the main lodge but who knows when they will be done. Ugh on the no umbrella tables. Me, no likey!

 

[Jfsag123]

OMG your room view was amazing! And WL looks soooo gorgeous. I'm going to have to put my foot down about staying there at some point. Loved your description of the first day. It sounds amazing, yellow dress/black panties and all.

BTW, we have a Gaylord here too - the Gaylord Texan. The ice displays are swapped out between the two - we get it one year, they get it the next. We stay one night there every year in December to look at the decorations and go see ICE. It is absolutely stunning inside. Outside of the Palms looks similar to ours so I imagine they have a lot in common, though ours has many Texan accents.

 

[ariane37]

OK guys, I started my dining report! Don't have the link in my signature yet because I always forget how to do that so I need Steve to help me, but it's called, "But I Don't Like Peas and Mushrooms!" Do not feel like you have to take a look - I appreciate all of you following along with me here and putting up with my extra trip reporting, and it's such a busy time of year with school being back so I know we're all busy. I will say though, we had some really good food.........

 

[ariane37]

Well the rumor is the rooms on the south side are being converted to DVC so it would be nice to get one of those and just be in the main lodge but who knows when they will be done. Ugh on the no umbrella tables. Me, no likey!

Ah, ok, I wasn't quite clear on exactly what they were doing over on the south side but that makes sense. I hope you do get a room there because the main lodge is great! But yeah, just not sure when it's all scheduled to be done.
There may indeed be umbrella tables on the side of the main pool near the kid area.....I can't remember if there's a fence separating the 2 areas though So sorry!

OMG your room view was amazing! And WL looks soooo gorgeous. I'm going to have to put my foot down about staying there at some point. Loved your description of the first day. It sounds amazing, yellow dress/black panties and all.

BTW, we have a Gaylord here too - the Gaylord Texan. The ice displays are swapped out between the two - we get it one year, they get it the next. We stay one night there every year in December to look at the decorations and go see ICE. It is absolutely stunning inside. Outside of the Palms looks similar to ours so I imagine they have a lot in common, though ours has many Texan accents.

LOL, I just kept pestering Steve about staying there until a deal came up that was really too good for him to pass over! However we do usually go with what the kids want when we take them......such is the life of a parent Very good first day, even though I showed my booty a little more than a 45 year old should!

I had no idea there was another Gaylord anywhere let alone that it swapped the ice displays with the Orlando one, that is so cool! I've heard how lovely the displays are so you're lucky you go so often. If the Gaylord Texan has the displays this year and you haven't finished your TR by then, you should post pics!

 

[ArielSRL]

Ah, ok, I wasn't quite clear on exactly what they were doing over on the south side but that makes sense. I hope you do get a room there because the main lodge is great! But yeah, just not sure when it's all scheduled to be done.
There may indeed be umbrella tables on the side of the main pool near the kid area.....I can't remember if there's a fence separating the 2 areas though So sorry!

I'm fairly certain there is a fence. Maybe I just bring my own umbrella and a rubber band and set it up on a chair...lol. I am so fair skinned, I can feel myself burning out in the summer sun!

 

[Jfsag123]

I had no idea there was another Gaylord anywhere let alone that it swapped the ice displays with the Orlando one, that is so cool! I've heard how lovely the displays are so you're lucky you go so often. If the Gaylord Texan has the displays this year and you haven't finished your TR by then, you should post pics!

We do feel very fortunate! The displays are gorgeous and the decorations on the inside and outside of the resort are amazing. One of our favorite holiday traditions! If I am done with my TR by December I will probably be doing a PTR for next year's trip by that point, as it will be dining booking time, so I can throw the Gaylord in there. I attached a few pics to give you a bit of an idea here. The past 3 years displays were The Nutcracker, Frosty the Snowman, and Holidays Around the World. This year's will be Santa Claus is Comin' to town.

 

[ariane37]

We do feel very fortunate! The displays are gorgeous and the decorations on the inside and outside of the resort are amazing. One of our favorite holiday traditions! If I am done with my TR by December I will probably be doing a PTR for next year's trip by that point, as it will be dining booking time, so I can throw the Gaylord in there. I attached a few pics to give you a bit of an idea here. The past 3 years displays were The Nutcracker, Frosty the Snowman, and Holidays Around the World. This year's will be Santa Claus is Comin' to town.

OMG that is 1000x cooler than I ever imagined! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Saphire5742]

Because this was our view looking straight out!!!!

Can't beat that view!

I'm still planning to start a dining report so I'll save the pictures and descriptions for that,

Eagerly anticipating that.

I know they aren't the greatest fireworks pictures but you get the idea.

I could never get decent fireworks photos myself so I don't even try anymore. But how wonderful to get to see them from your room balcony!

And on another note I just realized that I forgot to mention in my previous reply how much I love the nostalgia photos you've shared.

 

[buzzrelly]

Oh my gosh…I had lost track of your pre-TR and I just (finally!) caught up! Also, I started this post yesterday and had a lot of your updates multi-quoted so I could remember what I wanted to comment on, but then I went to work for 12 hours and didn't et back on the computer last night and now I am heading off for another 12 hours so I don't really have the time to go back and quote…phew! Sorry for the long-winded explanation!

Anyway, first I have to tell you that BDL is my home airport…I live 30 minutes South of there…Small World! It's really such a nice, small airport to get around and for me, I just can't beat the convenience.

Second, your room view was awesome! So happy you got that view…and for a "standard" price! Amazing!

I can't remember if the Stephen King conversation was in here or another thread, but I love Stephen King, as well! The Stand is my all-time favorite book EVER! But I also loved It, The Shining, Misery, Needful Things, etc. Oddly, I never read Pet Cemetery because I saw the movie first and didn't like it.

And finally, still loving your whole pre-TR…the ugly disney shirt (that should be a thing, no?), showing off your 45 year-old butt! HaHa! Trust me, I can relate!

When I have a second I'll pop over to find your dining report…sounds fun!

 

[kittylady1972]

So happy to read your TR installments. I cannot wait until they have more DVC rooms at Wilderness Lodge for sure because I definitely want to stay there again in the future!

Glad your ticket upgrade went well since that will be me in another two months or so! I can't wait to have those APs again and be able to plan more trips! Of course, I don't know where I'm going to get the points for these trips yet!

 

[Smposchman]

HI!

So Jealous that you got to go in August! We stayed at WL 2 years ago and it was so nice. We did club level but the room we had was so far away from the club lounge! It cut down on how much we could actually use it. I'm so happy to hear that when you went last year for Thanksgiving that it wasn't as busy as you feared! That is my only concern about our trip.

I can't believe how close we are to 60 days!

 

[ariane37]

I could never get decent fireworks photos myself so I don't even try anymore. But how wonderful to get to see them from your room balcony!

And on another note I just realized that I forgot to mention in my previous reply how much I love the nostalgia photos you've shared.

Aw thanks, I'm glad you've enjoyed my old photos I've seen others post older ones in their TR's and I've always enjoyed them, too! It's nice to see other peoples' memories. I just wish I could find the pictures from when I was a toddler and went with my parents!

I was going to tell you I started my dining report but I noticed you found it Thanks for taking the time to hop over there, too!

Oh my gosh…I had lost track of your pre-TR and I just (finally!) caught up! Also, I started this post yesterday and had a lot of your updates multi-quoted so I could remember what I wanted to comment on, but then I went to work for 12 hours and didn't et back on the computer last night and now I am heading off for another 12 hours so I don't really have the time to go back and quote…phew! Sorry for the long-winded explanation!

Anyway, first I have to tell you that BDL is my home airport…I live 30 minutes South of there…Small World! It's really such a nice, small airport to get around and for me, I just can't beat the convenience.

Second, your room view was awesome! So happy you got that view…and for a "standard" price! Amazing!

I can't remember if the Stephen King conversation was in here or another thread, but I love Stephen King, as well! The Stand is my all-time favorite book EVER! But I also loved It, The Shining, Misery, Needful Things, etc. Oddly, I never read Pet Cemetery because I saw the movie first and didn't like it.

And finally, still loving your whole pre-TR…the ugly disney shirt (that should be a thing, no?), showing off your 45 year-old butt! HaHa! Trust me, I can relate!

When I have a second I'll pop over to find your dining report…sounds fun!

Holy moly 12 hour shifts Poor you! I hope you have a few days off coming up! Not that it's the same but since the boys started back to school today I'll be in full swing with PTA stuff REALLY soon, so I need to get caught up on everything here because my time isn't going to be so much my own anymore!

We really liked BDL and will definitely fly out of there again if the price is right. Of course Stewart and Westchester will be our 1st 2 choices since they're less than an hour away, but BDL is an excellent alternative.

I couldn't believe our good luck with the room view! We're not normally lucky people lol!

I think SK is on another TR I am proud to say I've read all of his books! You should try reading Pet Semetary sometime, I think the book is better than the movie. If I can fine my picture of his house from when my parents took me there I'll post it!

So happy to read your TR installments. I cannot wait until they have more DVC rooms at Wilderness Lodge for sure because I definitely want to stay there again in the future!

Glad your ticket upgrade went well since that will be me in another two months or so! I can't wait to have those APs again and be able to plan more trips! Of course, I don't know where I'm going to get the points for these trips yet!

Lol, I'm already trying to figure out when our next trip after November will be AP's are a dangerous thing!

HI!

So Jealous that you got to go in August! We stayed at WL 2 years ago and it was so nice. We did club level but the room we had was so far away from the club lounge! It cut down on how much we could actually use it. I'm so happy to hear that when you went last year for Thanksgiving that it wasn't as busy as you feared! That is my only concern about our trip.

I can't believe how close we are to 60 days!

I know, I need to get working on my FP's! I feel like once you hit double digits time goes faster.
I've read some stuff on the WL thread about the club lounge and that it'll be moved after the construction is done (I think?) But that stinks it wasn't convenient for you to use, seems that's a big reason to even stay CL!

Don't be too concerned about the crowds Thanksgivng week I can't say it wasn't crowded but definitely not the way I thought it would be. We got everything done that we wanted and then some, and because I listened to my kids we didn't even do many RD's! That's changing this year though lol. It was a great trip and the amount of people didn't make it uncomfortable at all.

 

[ariane37]

**Hi all, one quick real-life update before I get back to the good stuff. I am happy and excited to announce that I have recently become a travel agent!! Or to be more specific, a "travel planner specializing in Disney Destinations" I've been wanting to do this for awhile and finally got off my butt and did something about it last month. I don't have any clients yet but I'm looking forward to helping lots of people plan their way to magical Disney vacations!!**

Okay, now back to the fun -

Day 2
​

We were up kind of late by Disney standards for a 9a.m. breakfast at Trail's End over at Ft. Wilderness. Stopped for a quick picture at the cool totem pole in the lobby - not the best picture and sorry it's not the whole pole lol.



We'd been over to the Fort once for HDDR but never eaten at TE and I love breakfast so I was excited! Even more exciting was that Kari @kastoney had a 10a.m. ADR so there was a possibility we'd run into each other. We took the boat over from WL (see? Convenience!) ate our breakfast and sadly missed Kari since her kind like to run fashionably late Now we were finally headed to a park!!

We bussed up to the front of FW and found that the bus stops are by Tri-Circle D Ranch. I'd never been there before so it was cool - some people were riding ponies and a couple horses were grazing. I could have gone into the stables but 1. I was anxious to get to a park and 2. It smelled pretty ripe out there in the summer heat! The first bus that came along wasn't ours, it was for AK and I noticed the sign rotated between saying AK and this:



While there I also noticed the FW busses that came to WL flashed "Howdy" and MK busses flashed, "My other ride is a Magic Carpet". Neat! Didn't do this in January but some of you who have been between then and now may have known this already.

We were quickly on our way to Epcot. Our FP's were for our 2nd park of the day and our plan for here was pretty lose with only one real goal: riding an attraction neither of us had ever ridden that supposedly won't be around much longer:



Yup, but it would have to wait because we noticed on the app that FEA was only a 45 min SB. Neither of us had any real strong desire to ride this but I do like to try anything new; it was about 11:00, we had nobody pestering us and weren't in a rush so we figured what the hell! The queue is done very well. We ended up only waiting 23 minutes which was awesome because to be honest, I wouldn't want to wait any longer. I have no doubt Frozen fans will love it but not being a Frozen fan 23 minutes was just right for us!

My pictures didn't come out that great so I'll just post a couple:



This is in the queue. The picture of Olaf disappears and then it's like he's on the other side drawing through the frost.






The animatronics are very well done and Olaf & Sven are adorable; I just think there's lots of empty space and I expected more.
After Frozen we were both a tad parched and decided to get a beverage. Steve was going for our beloved Grey Goose Slush in France but we were soooooo far away I couldn't make it and opted for trying some Moroccan sangria. It was so good! And nice to try something different especially on a hot day.
Did I mention it was hot?
We took our drinks with us while we shopped for the boys in Japan where I forgot to have them send our bag back to the resort, so Steve had something to carry for the rest of our time at Epcot

Something we try not to do with the kids is backtrack in the parks; but hey, there weren't here! So after getting our drinks and shopping we went back to Ellen. I........guess I'm glad we did it? So when it's gone and some people are upset I at least know what they're talking about? But if it stays I don't need to do it again. I love Ellen and Jamie Lee Curtis. And the dinosaur part was cool. Done.
We rode LWTL & headed BACK to WS for some ice-cream and entertainment in France and UK.



I know it's the same band but I swear the members are different than January........

After their set we went BACK to Future World to get the bus so we could chill and change at our resort before going to AK for the night. We had another chance to possibly meet up with Kari, plus negative reviews or not I wanted to see the JB show! We only had one really bad "storm" during our trip and then a few shorter spurts of rain. And, lucky for us it seemed like every time the rain was coming we were heading either out of a park or in to a restaurant. One of those times was as we were leaving EPCOT and I took this shot which I love while waiting at the bus stop:



Oh, and here's a lesson I learned as we left that I should have learned a LONG time ago: don't blindly follow your husband. He checked the bus board and told me WL was at loading zone #1 so I followed him there. We struck up a conversation with a lovely older woman and her husband and eventually she asked us what we thought of Coronado Springs......we told her we'd stayed there back in 2014, liked it and were staying again in Nov. She asked what section we were in now - huh? Steve just looked confused, I looked up and to the right and realized he'd led us to loading zone #3 Uh-huh, luckily we hadn't missed an actual WILDERNESS LODGE bus, and I did the navigating for the rest of the trip.

UP NEXT: WILL DIS-MEET HAPPEN? AND ANIMAL KINGDOM

 

[ariane37]

Good news guys! We got an email yesterday from the person we're renting points from, and she got us Beach Club for our whole stay!! Now we don't have to switch to Coronado for the last 3 nights Not that we minded remember, but after our stay at WL we were a little sadder that we weren't going to be so close to a park/parks for our entire stay. I'm really surprised we were able to get those nights because I know a few others who have wait-lists and they haven't come through yet.

 

[buzzrelly]

Congratulations on becoming a Disney Travel Planner!! I have thought about doing that myself…in fact, everyone asks me all the time why I don't do it. I honestly just don't have extra time and if I do have extra time I pick up extra hours at work which helps to pay for my Disney obsession so I can't really give that up YOu'll be GREAT at it!

I haven't been on Universe of Energy either, but it gets such bad reviews that I just never cared to. I am not sad that it will be going away….EPCOT needs some SERIOUS Disney love…or pixie dust!

LOL about blindly following your husband. Thank goodness that nice lady brought that up or you would have ended up at the wrong resort!

And congratulations about getting the Beach Club for the whole stay! It's a beautiful resort

 

[Karabear15]

Congrats on becoming a Travel Planner!! That is also something I have always wanted to do...mainly for cruising, but Disney would be just as fun! Please share how you went about it...maybe I will get my butt in gear!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

That view from your room is just . The fireworks, OMG!

Congratulations on becoming a Disney travel planner!

I am loving the rotating messages on the buses.

I've heard consistently good thigns about the FEA wait times but also consistently lukewarm reactions to the ride itself, so it seems your experience is spot on with others'.

Off to read our dining report now!

 

[Carathryn]

I am really behind on commenting and trip reporting but I had to stop by to check your PTR and I am glad I did! I am so glad you enjoyed Wilderness Lodge as I just booked it for a couple nights when Trevor comes to visit me during my birthday. I am still a little upset that I was not working at Epcot while you guys were there but I will track you down in November.

I am happy and excited to announce that I have recently become a travel agent!! Or to be more specific, a "travel planner specializing in Disney Destinations"

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You will be an amazing travel agent! If I wasn't already an obsessive Disney planner myself I would totally enlist you to plan for me.

The animatronics are very well done and Olaf & Sven are adorable; I just think there's lots of empty space and I expected more.

This is my feeling on the ride. Except I am not a fan of the animatronic since if you look at them from the side you can see where the projections and the animatronic face line up, which isn't a problem on SDMT since the dwarves' beards cover it up. I feel like the ride feels more like an empty warehouse than a journey through Arendelle with how empty it all is.

We got an email yesterday from the person we're renting points from, and she got us Beach Club for our whole stay!!

YAY!!! I went to Cape May for breakfast the other day and was thinking about how beautiful the Beach Club area is, I bet not having to change hotels is also a nice plus.

 

[ariane37]

Congratulations on becoming a Disney Travel Planner!! I have thought about doing that myself…in fact, everyone asks me all the time why I don't do it. I honestly just don't have extra time and if I do have extra time I pick up extra hours at work which helps to pay for my Disney obsession so I can't really give that up YOu'll be GREAT at it!

I haven't been on Universe of Energy either, but it gets such bad reviews that I just never cared to. I am not sad that it will be going away….EPCOT needs some SERIOUS Disney love…or pixie dust!

LOL about blindly following your husband. Thank goodness that nice lady brought that up or you would have ended up at the wrong resort!

And congratulations about getting the Beach Club for the whole stay! It's a beautiful resort

Thank you! I would get the same thing as far as people asking me why I didn't just become a TA and my answer was always that it's so easy to do it yourself, TA's aren't necessary. But all those saying this to me were people I was helping! Ha, and paying for my Disney obsession is really the main reason I decided to go ahead and do it!

You really aren't missing anything as far as Ellen unfortunately, and as much as I love Epcot I completely agree it needs lots of TLC right now. Not sure yet how I feel about Guardians of the Galaxy going there (which is the rumor) but I am on board with replacing Ellen and like the idea of an indoor roller coaster

I can't wait to stay at BC! All week means more time at SAB! Steve and I went over to the BW area to eat last month and although we were totally in love with WL we still adore that area and are anxious to try something other than BWV.

Congrats on becoming a Travel Planner!! That is also something I have always wanted to do...mainly for cruising, but Disney would be just as fun! Please share how you went about it...maybe I will get my butt in gear!

I'm actually doing all things Disney, so WDW, DL, Disney cruises, Aulani and Adventures by Disney, even though what I know like the back of my hand of course is WDW Once I put my mind to it I just looked up some agencies online and applied - to one, the one I'm working for lol! I did that one and got sidetracked and before I knew it they'd contacted me. From there it was easy, speaking with the owner and getting set up. The applying part is easy because most agencies - mine and the couple other "applications" I looked at aren't looking for past employment and such, just your basic info. and Disney experience. There are some out there that want prior TA experience though. The hard part is deciding which agencies to apply to because there's so many! And figuring out, as far as what they offer, what is standard and isn't. But pretty much all those questions can be answered online. You should apply!

That view from your room is just . The fireworks, OMG!

Congratulations on becoming a Disney travel planner!

I am loving the rotating messages on the buses.

I've heard consistently good thigns about the FEA wait times but also consistently lukewarm reactions to the ride itself, so it seems your experience is spot on with others'.

Off to read our dining report now!

Thanks so much! Now I just need to round up some clients lol! Which means bugging friends, friends of friends, etc. who are either planning first trips or who hate the booking process. I'm not the greatest on social media and that's where the highest percentage of clients come from; luckily there are 5 or 6 teachers at Christophers school who go regularly and I've already got them for their next trips. However most of them already traveled this year and since they're teachers won't travel till next summer, so that means waiting awhile to book.....

I'm hoping for more rotating messages on the busses in Nov. It's those silly little things there that make me happy!

 

[ariane37]

I am really behind on commenting and trip reporting but I had to stop by to check your PTR and I am glad I did! I am so glad you enjoyed Wilderness Lodge as I just booked it for a couple nights when Trevor comes to visit me during my birthday. I am still a little upset that I was not working at Epcot while you guys were there but I will track you down in November.


CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You will be an amazing travel agent! If I wasn't already an obsessive Disney planner myself I would totally enlist you to plan for me.


This is my feeling on the ride. Except I am not a fan of the animatronic since if you look at them from the side you can see where the projections and the animatronic face line up, which isn't a problem on SDMT since the dwarves' beards cover it up. I feel like the ride feels more like an empty warehouse than a journey through Arendelle with how empty it all is.


YAY!!! I went to Cape May for breakfast the other day and was thinking about how beautiful the Beach Club area is, I bet not having to change hotels is also a nice plus.

Hey Cara!! Thank you for dropping in! You have a perfectly good excuse for being behind and I hope all is going well down there I'm bummed we missed each other too but it won't happen in Nov. Since we'll be so close to Epcot at BCV, even if you aren't working any days we're actually spending at Epcot I will make it a point to come over and meet!

Thank you on the congrats. Yes Disboards friends aren't going to be the best clients lol! We'd most likely all be better agents!

I didn't even notice about the animatronic face line up on Frozen but of course now I'll be looking for that if we ride again in Nov. I agree about the warehouse feel, you hit it right on the head with that description unfortunately

Yay for booking WL! When is your birthday?