"It was the time of our lives!" WL Jan 10-15 2010 NEW: 5/17 PTR LINK UP!! PG 44

[ladybugmom]

Hey my friend!! I knew you'd probably not be online tonight b/c of the game but I just wanted to congratulate you on the Saints win!! How exciting!!! I didn't realize that this is the very 1st time for the Saints to make it to the Super Bowl--wow!!!

 

[Nichellebelle]

Katie your TR is so good! I am enjoying it so much. It looks like it was really cold there, but I am glad you got to see Pirates.

 

[DWGal210]

Looks like you had a great day at MK! It was cold, wasn't it? Brr! But Disney didn't miss a beat - at least when we were there, they had all the sweaters, hats and gloves right at the front of the stores!

I can't wait to hear about your room at WL - I bet it was amazing!

 

[aharbin88]

Also, as most of you know, they switched ALL of the WDW strollers?! I simply can not stand the new design. It was sooo much smaller. I understand that the Disney people may want smaller strollers so that they will not get in the way while walking or navigating the stores. But...it was so tiny.

Um, I didn't know this! When did they change the strollers?? We were there in October '08; has it been since then? That really throws a wrench in our plans. Hmmm... I guess I'll have to rethink things. My kids would fit in that stroller by themselves just fine still, but I was planning to split the cost with my SIL. I was going to bring my small umbrella stroller for my youngest, and then she and I were going to rent a Disney stroller for my oldest (3) and her youngest (5). I'm not sure she will want to use it if her kids won't fit. I may just have to rent a double for my girls.

Hey my friend!! I knew you'd probably not be online tonight b/c of the game but I just wanted to congratulate you on the Saints win!! How exciting!!! I didn't realize that this is the very 1st time for the Saints to make it to the Super Bowl--wow!!!

Katie- Are you a Saints fan? Congratulations! I am a Dallas fan myself (back from the Troy Aikman days- he still makes me swoon. ), but I like Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and Sean Payton. I think they seem like great guys. I will be pulling for the Colts in the Super Bowl, though. DH is a Colts fan (because of Johnny U. and Jim Harbaugh- so he's been a fan for a long time), and I like them because, well, Peyton is considered one of US! Even if he graduated 13 years ago! Wow. I didn't realize it had been that long ago. Now I feel old!

 

[*dreamit*doit*]

Thanks for reading The WL is AMAZING!! I keep raving over and over about it to my friends. It will be VERY hard to stay anywhere else! I loved that you went to WDW in Feb. and December. We are going again in December as well. How did you like it? I am curious what week you went. We will either be there the day before Thanksgiving for 5 days, or the third week in December. Glad to have you on board

We were there December 16-21, so I guess maybe around the time you are thinking of going? It was a Wednesday-Monday; crowded in some places and at times, not too bad in others, keeping in mind the time of year it was. I'm starting a TR soon and I'll have pics up of WL decorated for Christmas!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi Katie,
I just loved your MK updates! That stinks that the strollers are so small now. Back when they had the old style ones we always rented a double so Kaylee could ride with Thomas when she needed a break. Even though she was 7 at the time it was super hot out and you get so much more done if the kids can rest a bit in the stroller . Your pics are great too, even with the stars on your faces. I totally understand. You got quite a bit done for and afternoon in MK. Looking forward to more

Nichole

 

[BippityBoo]

Great update! Katie,
the pictures are so beautiful...such a clear day...I love the sunset pictures such a beautiful ending.

thanks! for all the info on the stroller I know now that we will be renting from the orlando stroller rental when we go in Nov/Dec.

Connie

It WAS such a beautiful day---despite the cold!!! I would totally rent from Orlando! I am looking into it for our next trip as well! Oh and WHO DAT BABY!!!!

Hi Katie!

Loved the update. Too bad how cold it was on your 1st day in the MK! Hopefully it warmed up before you left, although as I recall your trip was smack dab in the middle of the cold spell, wasn't it?

Definitely do the non-Disney stroller rental next time. My 6 yr old (who is also quite tall) fit in fine along with my 4 yr old. And the double jogger that I rented definitely reclined. I have used both Orlando Stroller rentals and Baby's Best Friend, but my preference was Baby's Best Friend, both for the stroller itself (more of a true jogger) and slightly cheaper rate.

Looking forward to seeing your room! I take it the resort Christmas decorations were down during your stay? At least if you liked it so much during the non-Christmas time, I am sure you will be in love in December with the decorations. I hear it is one of the most popular resorts (if not the most popular) for Christmas decorations.

Can't wait for your next update!

Hello!!! This was our only really cold day. Luckily, we got there right when the cold was leaving OH and thanks so much for letting me know about the other rental company!! I think we will def. rent from a company next time we go.

I was hoping to update about our room already, but I have had no time!! Yes, the WL took the Christmas decor down...I was so bummed!!! But I know that it is amazing..cant wait!!!

Hey my friend!! I knew you'd probably not be online tonight b/c of the game but I just wanted to congratulate you on the Saints win!! How exciting!!! I didn't realize that this is the very 1st time for the Saints to make it to the Super Bowl--wow!!!

THANKS SO MUCH!!!! That was so sweet of you! Yes, we were at the neighbors until late lastnight. Everything is so crazy around here. The fact that we have not gone to a Super Bowl is why everyone is going nuts!! A lot of our grandparents who passed away have always wanted to see a Saints Super Bowl, so it is quite emotional for a lot of people. It was a great night though!!!

Katie your TR is so good! I am enjoying it so much. It looks like it was really cold there, but I am glad you got to see Pirates.

THANK YOU!!!! So happy to have you along!!! I am watching Batchelor as we speak!!!

Looks like you had a great day at MK! It was cold, wasn't it? Brr! But Disney didn't miss a beat - at least when we were there, they had all the sweaters, hats and gloves right at the front of the stores!

I can't wait to hear about your room at WL - I bet it was amazing!

It was cold!!! But, it does warm up the following days. They did have all of their warm wear out for all of us to purchase!!! Luckily, I had enough time to prepare before we got there. I hope to update about our room tomorrow!!

Um, I didn't know this! When did they change the strollers?? We were there in October '08; has it been since then? That really throws a wrench in our plans. Hmmm... I guess I'll have to rethink things. My kids would fit in that stroller by themselves just fine still, but I was planning to split the cost with my SIL. I was going to bring my small umbrella stroller for my youngest, and then she and I were going to rent a Disney stroller for my oldest (3) and her youngest (5). I'm not sure she will want to use it if her kids won't fit. I may just have to rent a double for my girls.


Katie- Are you a Saints fan? Congratulations! I am a Dallas fan myself (back from the Troy Aikman days- he still makes me swoon. ), but I like Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and Sean Payton. I think they seem like great guys. I will be pulling for the Colts in the Super Bowl, though. DH is a Colts fan (because of Johnny U. and Jim Harbaugh- so he's been a fan for a long time), and I like them because, well, Peyton is considered one of US! Even if he graduated 13 years ago! Wow. I didn't realize it had been that long ago. Now I feel old!

UGH yes, we had fallen in love with their strollers when we went in 08. Then, last year, they changed all of them!!! Not sure why...these are really terrible. I think we will most likely rent a double from a company. Sounds like it would work for you and your SIL too!!

YES!!! We are all SO excited about the SAINTS!! Such a great team with very nice players and coaches. Sean Peyton actually lives in my city and goes to my church. He and his family are very down to earth. I loved Dallas as well because I lived by Texas when I was younger. I followed during the Troy Aikman days and loved him as well!!!

We were there December 16-21, so I guess maybe around the time you are thinking of going? It was a Wednesday-Monday; crowded in some places and at times, not too bad in others, keeping in mind the time of year it was. I'm starting a TR soon and I'll have pics up of WL decorated for Christmas!

Yes, we were thinking around 12th-15th. I would LOVE to read your TR!!! Please let me know when you start it!! I am dying to see the WL pics. The crowd levels seem really varied, so we will just have to fight through it!!

Hi Katie,
I just loved your MK updates! That stinks that the strollers are so small now. Back when they had the old style ones we always rented a double so Kaylee could ride with Thomas when she needed a break. Even though she was 7 at the time it was super hot out and you get so much more done if the kids can rest a bit in the stroller . Your pics are great too, even with the stars on your faces. I totally understand. You got quite a bit done for and afternoon in MK. Looking forward to more

Nichole

I know!!! The old strollers rocked!! I am so happy you posted that b/c we wanted to try to not rent the double when we went back. Abby will be 7. It is just so much easier to have the stroller to help her with preventing her from getting tired. I think we may rent from a company. We'll see.

HAHA thanks!! I think our star faces are quite cute! We did try to jam pack a lot into the MK afternoon. Stay tuned for my 9am-9pm MK day!!!

 

[tractortippin]

Hi Katie! Just found your new report and wanted to say hi! Love the blanket! cant wait to read more!

 

[Charlefours]

I just wanted to say I am really enjoying your TR!! Great photos I LOVE seeing pictures of Disney.

 

[xDisneyAngelx]

Great Pics Im glad you guys had fun...thats the most important part in going to Disney World. My mom left the same day as you guys did and she said the weather was nice. Can't wait to hear more about your trip

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I know!!! You were there for all the crazy cold!!! It gets much warmer for us the next day. What did you do about jackets?! Did you have to buy new ones?? I should post about our room tonight!!!

It was cold for us ALL week unfortunately I was thisclose to buying us a big sweatshirt or coat or something but never did. We both had 2 light weight jackets each so we ended up layering both of our jackets most of the time. Thankfully I had packed a scarf as well and so that helped...a little.

I'm glad to hear you got some better weather the next day!!!

 

[BippityBoo]

Hi Katie! Just found your new report and wanted to say hi! Love the blanket! cant wait to read more!

Thank you so much for reading!! We use the blanket all the time now!!

I just wanted to say I am really enjoying your TR!! Great photos I LOVE seeing pictures of Disney.

I appreciate all of the kind words!! I love to look at the pics too. It helps to pretend I am still there! hehe

Great Pics Im glad you guys had fun...thats the most important part in going to Disney World. My mom left the same day as you guys did and she said the weather was nice. Can't wait to hear more about your trip

The weather was nice!! We got extremely lucky. Thanks so much for reading--updating very soon!!

It was cold for us ALL week unfortunately I was thisclose to buying us a big sweatshirt or coat or something but never did. We both had 2 light weight jackets each so we ended up layering both of our jackets most of the time. Thankfully I had packed a scarf as well and so that helped...a little.

I'm glad to hear you got some better weather the next day!!!

We just layered as well. It was a pain to drag all of the accessories with us...but it is better than HOT weather at Disney (yuck!). I should update about our next day soon!

 

[BippityBoo]

We finally found our way back into the warmth of the Wilderness Lodge! I can not tell you how extremely happy I was that we chose the WL. The cozy atmosphere, rocking chairs by the fire, the smell of home cooked food from the Whispering Canyon...it was heavenly.

We decided it would be best to check into our room and then grab a bite to eat at Roaring Forks Counter Service downstairs. I had requested a room on the 4th floor or above. I read in some of the planning books that there is a better chance you could get a MK/Castle view on these floors, even though you booked a Standard Room. So, I was eager to see what our view was when we got the text that our room was 6064!

Secretly, I was hoping for an upgrade to a pool view. But to be honest with you, it really did not matter once we got back to the Resort. We were just happy to be staying at such an amazing place!

After getting to the 6th floor, we found our room and used our room keys given to us during check in earlier that morning. No upgrade

I was a little surprised at the room's size. It was a little bigger than I was expecting. It was in no way as big as our lovely Grand Floridian room that we had on a previous trip, but it was comfortable for a family of 4. Here are a few pics!

I had heard from some friends and from the DIS that the rooms were a little dark. I brought two extra lights from home to help with the darkness of the room. I really never used them, though. I felt that the room was bright during the day and that the bathroom area provided plenty of light to do makeup, etc.

As for our view...there were positives and negatives. We were SO thrilled that we got a peak of the Castle through the trees and a direct view of Space Mountain and the Contemporary!! However, we were directly over the restaurant "loading" area that is posted about a lot on the boards. The trucks come in and out all night delivering food and picking up stuff. Luckily, I had the DIS so I brought a white noise sound machine for the room. We used it during the night and never heard any noise from below. If we would not have had the machine, though, the noise would have been a huge factor and would have disrupted our sleep constantly.

With that being said, when we go back in December we will book a lobby view or pool view room. Our main goal this trip was not to pay too much for lodging because we knew we would be back in December. We got an amazing deal on the Standard room with our 40% off pin code that I got. So, it was worth putting up with some small negatives

We decided to head down to Roaring Forks for dinner. Just before we left, we got a knock at the door. My DH answered it and it ended up being a lovely Disney bag from our amazing travel agent, Angela!! Here are a few pics..

We were just saying that we needed a new bag, so it was such a nice surprise! If anyone wants a wonderful travel agent who is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in all things Disney, PM me. I do not think that I can put her information on the DIS boards but I would be more than happy to give you her info. She was referred to me by ladybugmom (Becky). She will make ADRs for you, book your room, pretty much everything and she is FREE! It is nice to have someone to ask questions to when planning.

We made our way to Roaring Forks...attempting NOT to take 100 pictures along the way. The WL has so many photo opportunities!! I took more pictures of the restaurant later on in the trip. This is the snack/ordering area compliments of Allears.net.

I was so pleasantly surprised with the food selection and the atmosphere of Roaring Forks. I ended up getting the roasted veggie sandwich with chips, my DH got a roast beef sandwich, and the kids got chicken nuggets with applesauce and grapes. The food was so fresh and the CMs were amazing. We were shocked at the dessert selection that was included with the meal. Huge brownies, cakes, muffins, etc. The kids also got cookies with their meal. We are not big dessert eaters, but we could not resist!

I got our re-fillable mugs from the check out counter. These would come in handy later on for breakfast. We went back to the room to bathe the kids and I gathered laundry that we already accumulated and headed down to the laundry room. YES, that is right. Laundry on the first day of vacation!! We needed our thermals, so there was no way around it.

While my laundry was going, I unpacked our room. There was plenty of closet space and drawer space. Wondering what I did with my rubbermaid boxes? They fit perfectly in these spaces below the sink in the bathroom.

Then, we got another fabulous surprise. Despite the fact that we were over the loading area, we got a GREAT view of WISHES!! We turned down the lights and enjoyed the view. I was so happy that we could experience the fireworks because we had to miss the show due to the freezing weather. Such a nice treat

The kids went right to sleep and I finally got to bed around midnight...dreaming of a fabulous day at EPCOT that was to come!

UP NEXT: Would we get to Soarin' in time to beat the crowd? Does the frigid cold finally go away? Stay tuned!

 

[SoonerGirl]

How cool that you could see Wishes from your room!!

I love all the little details in your room, Disney is so awesome at the little things that make a stay there special.

 

[mom2mek]

Yay! Glad you posted the update about your room - it looks fabulous!! That is amazing that you were able to see WIshes from your room!

So did they unload your car when you got there and then hold your stuff for you at Bell Services - bringing it up when you called, or did you just wait and unload your car when you went back to get into your room and bring it all up yourself? How did the bins do getting to the room? (Can you tell I'm in the packing stage and am trying to figure out logisitics and how much to try and bring and/or leave home?)

Can't wait to hear about your Epcot morning!

Sara

 

[DisneyJo]

I'm so pleased your room ended up having a fantastic view of Wishes

 

[BippityBoo]

How cool that you could see Wishes from your room!!

I love all the little details in your room, Disney is so awesome at the little things that make a stay there special.

YES!! I love the details! Its what makes Disney so special!!!

Yay! Glad you posted the update about your room - it looks fabulous!! That is amazing that you were able to see WIshes from your room!

So did they unload your car when you got there and then hold your stuff for you at Bell Services - bringing it up when you called, or did you just wait and unload your car when you went back to get into your room and bring it all up yourself? How did the bins do getting to the room? (Can you tell I'm in the packing stage and am trying to figure out logisitics and how much to try and bring and/or leave home?)

Can't wait to hear about your Epcot morning!

Sara

Hey girl!!! UGH totally forgot to post about that!! So sorry...I know people had asked me about it. OK, here is the deal. We decided to wait and keep the things in the car. This was because we got there at 10 am and I knew the room would most likely not be ready. We just checked in (had already pre-registered online), went to the bathroom and headed right to the MK! So, all I brought was our park bag with me at first.

When we got back from MK, my DH drove the car around and the CM unloaded it all and brought it up to the room. He left to go get the bags, and he was back 10 minutes later...bags came 5 minutes after him.

SO---it was not a pain. In December, we are planning on hanging out at the Resort on check in day. We will probably have them hold our bags and bring them in during check in. We will go eat at a restaurant and hang out and then, when our room is ready, we will just get the CM to bring it up to the room while we still relax.

Does that all make sense?

Now---onto the boxes. They were SO helpful in the room. I loved having all of the items seperated by "theme" so it was really easy to find the stuff I needed. Saved me lots of time and headaches. It was, however, a pain to travel with. They would fall off of the vallet cart and they kind of slid around in the trunk. I decided that in December, I will use my larger box and seperate all of my items in big ziplocks. I will put all of the ziplocks into the large box for traveling. I will still bring my smaller boxes, but will not pack anything in them. I will just stack them on top of eachother and put them in a bag. When I get to the resort, I will take out the ziplocks with the items and THEN put them in the smaller boxes. Again, are you following this info HTH!

I'm so pleased your room ended up having a fantastic view of Wishes

Thank you so much Jo!!! My kids LOVED it as we did not have a park hopper. So, they got to see wishes every night, even though we were not in the MK!

 

[dmoore718]

Love this cartoon.

 

[ladybugmom]

YAY!! Great update, Katie!! (BTW--Ally is loving all of your WL pics--she's super excited that we'll be staying there in Dec!!) So sorry to hear that you had so much noise in your room--I really need to research all of this more so I know what to request!! Did Aiden sleep with Abby or in a pack-n-play? I'm thinking by Dec. that Claire SHOULD be able to share a bed with Ally. I noticed you had TWO sinks!! That's great!! We only had one in the room we had at the Poly last May. YAY for the bag from Angela--how nice!! She is the greatest, isn't she?! That is awesome that you were able to watch Wishes from your room!! How magical!!! Praying we get to stay at the WL TOGETHER!!

 

[YoungChuck72]

awesome trip report!
also i loooooove the pirates of the carribean ride
its awesome!!