Just back from WL

[*Fantasia*]

Just got back from our first time ever from the Disney cruise. After the cruise, we stayed at WL for one night. The place is beautiful! We enjoyed our stay one night/ full day stay there. We stayed on the 6th floor courtyard view. Breathtaking!! We spent some time on the balcony enjoying the beauty of this place. We enjoyed the hot tub and walking around the ground.

The room/bathroom was very clean. I love the room decor, actually I love everything about this resort! We had 2 queen beds.

Roaring Forks- not much selections. I prefer Pop and the All Stars-more selections and the food is definintely better.

Room service- ordered roasted chicken with mashed potato, ceasar salad and grilled cheese with fries and two cans of pop. The total came to $62 plus tip.
The food was very good. The guy gave us a couple of brownies (no charge) which was nice of him. The service was promt.

The weather was cold and cloudy. It wasn't a good day to wear shorts/shirts. We were wearing our pants and sweatshirts.

We didn't do any parks, we were too tired from our Disney cruise, so I can't comment on the transportation.

We saw the water parade, it was cute, but it was too short. Nothing to brag about. It was shown about 9:40pm. We saw the fireworks from our balcony, well part of the fireworks. The roof was in the way a little bit.

Before my husband died, we were going to stay here on our 7th year anniversary. We were staying at the ASMo and were going to switch to WL. But he died so sudden, we didn't get the chance to stay at WL. Well I just celebrated our 10th anniversary with our children and I thought what a great way to celebrate it and making new memories by sailing away on the Disney cruise and staying at WL where we were suppose to stay back in 2001. Gary would have liked WL.

For those of you who are Disney nut like me...You guys have to do the Disney cruise if you guys haven't yet. There's so much to do, so much activities going on and the boat is just huge!! The "Wonder" is just beautiful!!
If you can't stay away from WDW parks, then I would suggest to split the stay. All those times I go to WDW, I have never ever met Cinderella, get her picture taken and her autograph...but guess what...on the Disney cruise, you will meet her, get her picture taken and her autograph. My daughter was soooo happy that her dream has finally came true! We have pictures of Cinderella and her as well as her autograph! Anyways... I will write a trip report on our first time cruise with Disney on the other board.

Any questions?

 

[STEPHILL]

I really admire your strength and courage. I was at the ASMo the week you were there in 2001. God Bless You and I'm glad you had a really good time with your children on the cruise and WL.

 

[fun & fancy free]

Sounds Wounderful. We will be going in May and staying at the WL for the first time. I am sorry your dearly departed was not able to be with you on your trip but I'm sure he was there in spirit. Thanks for sharing.

 

[DemonLlama]

We've been considering including a cruise on our next trip, but were uncertain about how cruising in December would compete. Were there things you couldn't do because of the cooler temperatures?

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thanks fun & fancy free and STEPHILL.

DemonLlama, it was cold and windy and it was cloudy when we were at Castaway Cay. We didn't get the chance to be in the water, so we skipped the snorkeling or doing other exursion. The weather is nicer at Nassau. I don't know if I would want to do the cruising in December again. I would hate to miss out on a lot of things. The pool at the ship was cold though I am sure it is heated, but it was still cold. The kids did swim in the pool, but I only went in the hot tub.

On the other hand..at WL, it is nice to go in December, it is very nice decorated, you can just feel the Holiday spirit there...very warm and cozy and very welcoming. I would like to stay here again. I think it is definitely worth it to stay in the courtyard view. The view is just breathtaking!!

 

[DemonLlama]

That's kind of what we were figuring. I think we'll just save the cruise for a better time of year. Darn, just one more Disney vacation to plan!

 

[Pig Pen]

I really admire your strength and courage. I was at the ASMo the week you were there in 2001. God Bless You and I'm glad you had a really good time with your children on the cruise and WL.

Fantasia - I was also at ASMO the week you were there in December 2001. I have been following your story ever since and I am sitting here with tears streaming thinking about you celebrating your anniversary at WL.

I am sure that somehow Gary was with you the whole time.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Thank you Pig Pen, it was kind of emotional, but at the same time I was having a wonderful time with my children. When we were sailing away from Port Canaveral, they had a farewell singing dancing on the deck and there was this one song they sang that made me get really teary. I thought I felt his spirit surrounding us as if he was there just watching us. And I am sure he was watching the kids very closely, he was a very loving protective dad. My kids and I made a toast in honor of their dad when we had our breakfast.

I even felt his presence even more when we stayed at WL. Like I said earlier, this was the resort we were going to stay at on Dec 2001 for our 7th year anniversary, but he didn't make it and we didn't get a chance to stay there. I told him as I was praying that I will have this very last celebration of our marriage at this resort that we were supposedely have stayed at. I think he is glad that I did this, even though he is no longer here, I celebrated our 10th year anniversary anyway. The kids and I made lots of wonderful memories on this trip and it is our to cherish forever.

While we were also there at WL, as I was standing there from the 6th floor looking down at the beautiful decorated lobby, I was also thinking about our departed DIS friend FloridaCat, I guess this was his favorite resort. This resort will be my favorite too as well.

 

[currycook]

Thanks for the report both of the cruise and the lodge. I have done two cruises and many many stays and the resorts. I admire your staying power and think you picked a great resort to stay at. I also have had several very positive stays at the WL so reading this one is nice especially so since I will be there in just a few days. best to you.

 

[*Fantasia*]

currycook, thank you. I was talking to this gentleman at the hot tub and he lives in Ft Lauderdale and he said WL is his favorite resort, he stays there every time. He likes four season and likes the cooler climate. So this resort fits him well. He likes the Northwest theme.

Enjoy your trip and I know you will have a wonderful stay at WL. Actually, right after I checked in at WL, I changed my ressies from CSR to WL for our Feb trip.

BTW...my kids enjoyed watching the geyser spits out water. And they enjoyed looking out from the balocony just watching people The value nor the moderate does not have balconies...I love my balcony!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

So glad you had a nice trip!

 

[susy]

Glad you got to fulfill the dream you both had! I also LOVE the WL- Dh only likes it. I had just settled on CSR for my May trip-might have to reconsider....

 

[Mermaid02]

I'm glad you had a wonderful time. I don't know your story- but I'm sure your husband is very proud of you for remembering him and honoring him by continuing to live your life with your children the way you do. What a wonderful idea to celebrate your anniversary with your kids.

We are going to WDW in December 2005 and I want to visit WL to see the decorations. We are from Maine so I want to stay someplace with a more "tropical" feel if you know what I mean!

 

[Martha7]

Fantasia~
We also loved the WL. It's so different from the other resorts! I loved the smokey smell of the fireplace, (or at least that's what I thought was making the lobby so smokey-smelling!) I agree that the fast food options weren't that great, but the shopping more than made up for it! The CMs at the little pin kiosk were so nice, and one of them turned to me and said, "Did you get your limited edition Thanksgiving pin yet?" I was thrilled, because I didn't even know there was one! I was allowed to buy two. Anyway, we didn't know much about this resort before we went, and we loved it as well! What a great Mom you are!!!