Just got back from our first VWL stay...

[JESW]

...and absolutely LOVED it!!!!! What a wonderful resort! Loved everything about it...the theming...the colors..the location. Can't wait to go back!

Jill

 

[bobbiwoz]

We must have overlapped, because we arrived home yesterday from an especially satisfying stay at VWL!!!
Glad you enjoyed yourselves, too!!!

Bobbi

 

[wildernessDad]

...and absolutely LOVED it!!!!! What a wonderful resort! Loved everything about it...the theming...the colors..the location. Can't wait to go back!

Jill

We must have overlapped, because we arrived home yesterday from an especially satisfying stay at VWL!!!
Glad you enjoyed yourselves, too!!!

Bobbi

Welcome back to the both of you! I am glad that you had a great time at our beloved lodge!

 

[JESW]

Bobbi - where were you? We were in rooms 3536 & 3538 - great location!

Jill

 

[bobbiwoz]

Bobbi - where were you? We were in rooms 3536 & 3538 - great location!

Jill

We were 4556, a dedicated 2 bedroom and then the dedicated studio next to us. That studio was the next to the last room down the hall.

Bobbi

 

[Corinne]

Glad you had a great trip, Jill!! Welcome back to you & Bobbi! Will there be any trip reports ladies??????

 

[jimmytammy]

Glad you enjoyed it! We are sorta partial to it ourselves

 

[bobbiwoz]

Glad you had a great trip, Jill!! Welcome back to you & Bobbi! Will there be any trip reports ladies??????

Honestly?....it was a whirlwind...3 nights at VWL, with 3 wonderful DGC. We did go to early magic hour on Thursday at MK and then we were at opening on Friday at MK and between the two mornings, we did most of what the DGC wanted. Spectro parade was cancelled on Friday night, but oldest DGD (5) enjoyed her first show of Wishes with her dad. The rest of us went to the villa, to beds!!! Friday was a late night Magic hour at MK and it was crowded with people pouring in at 9:30 as we were leaving.

We used both pools at the resort, but we never felt crowded.

Some of us ate at Artist Point...very delicious meal, one had the Copper River Salmon, and other 2 ate the Scallops.

Salads made at Roaring Forks were delicious. We do wish they sold Mac and Cheese there for the children. Also they didn't sell boxes of Mac and Cheese in the Mercantile, so we need to bring more from outside the resort!

We did the Magic cookie decoration, and that seemed to be more successful than eating the cookie, only 1 out of 3 children liked it enough to eat. They also made the bear masks at the cub den and enjoyed that craft.

Our villa was in tip top shape...and most importantly, it didn't feel like a let down after the 3 nights in the VB Beach Cottage for the same 7 people we just experienced earlier in the week. We all love VWL....the only on site resort this young family has been to. We'll be at BCV in November, and see what they think of that!

Bobbi

 

[JESW]

I thought it was a very "funny" week. The crowds were certainly there but we did manage to do a lot. Since we are fortunate to be able to go often we never feel the need to get it all done each trip. And my son has different issues so dh & I split up a lot and take one kid each. Ds13 loves the lego store in DTD and went there 3x this trip. Dd9 & I love the parks and spent A LOT of time in them all. We love to shop in World Showcase so one afternoon we did just that and I took her picture in every country....those are memories I will treasure forever.

The new Toy Story Mania ride in DHS is a blast and we rode it 4x. It is very popular tho so get there early as the fp's go....fast! (The line to get in is very well themed)

Lots of tour groups so we "avoided the flags" all week. Rain just about every day and there was at least one night we didn't go out due to rain. The worst was the day dd & I got stuck in AK with lots of thunder & lightning about. It did clear out some of the rides and we were able to walk on Dinosaur 3x in a row with no wait.

Our last day, sat. the 28th, dd & I didn't make it to the MK until right before 10. We took the boat over and I was shocked to see the amount of people arriving from the buses, monorail and ferry - it was PACKED! I told dd that we could go in and walk around but I doubted that we would be able to do anything since there were so many people. We made our way over to BTMR (her favorite ride) and got a fp which was only an hour away - I expected it to be for much later. We then got in line and the wait was only 10 minutes! We got off and rode it again with the same wait time - and then did it again! We took a break and then rode it with our fast pass. By then it was close to 11:30 and the line was much longer - didn't notice the wait time. That was a real surprise! We also pretty much walked on Pirates and could have done the same with HM but we walked by. Where did all the people go that we saw at the front of the park??? Well, we walked through Fantasy Land and saw them! You could hardly move in there! We were glad we had no interest in any of those rides. We ate lunch at Cosmic Rays and there were no seats inside so we ate outside.

We ate at a lot of different places and my favorite was the pork chop at Artist Point! I also loved the tuna sandwich at Roaring Forks.

Oh, here's a different story not VWL related... Our first night, 6/21 was our 21st anniversary and I booked us a room at the GF in Sugar Loaf (concierge). When we got there we were told that we were upgraded to the main building - nice! All 4 of us had dinner at the California Grill. Our table was decorated with Mickey head confetti and for dessert they gave us a bar of chocolate with Happy Anniversary on it. We went to the MK for a while and on our way back to the GF ds asked if we could ride in the front of the monorail for our anniversary - and we could! It was in the light blue monorail, my favorite color. It was a nice long, fun ride. When we got back to our room there was an card from the resort, an autographed photo card from Cinderella & Prince Charming, a single pink rose, and a chilled bottle of champagne! Way cool! It was a real nice start to our week.

One of my "magical memories". As you folks know, in the villas there are some nooks and crannies where you can grab a chair and sit around. We especially liked the place where there are board games on the tables. Several nights we would go down there and dh & dd would play checkers while ds & I sat in the rocking chairs in front of the fire. Ds would sketch and I would just sit and think about what a wonderful moment it was and how fortunate we are to be able to come down to Disney as a family.

We saw lots of bunnies and ducks...loved the animal paw prints in the walkways! On our second to last day we finally saw the geyser erupt! We did manage to spend some time in both pools.

I came home to my 87 year old Dad (88 on the 4th) in the hospital due to stomach issues and then his AFIB was out of whack...so that has thrown me off a bit. It was still a good week, especially since this was a "bonus" trip due to incentive points for when we bought into DVC last august. We are booked for SSR for august (another bonus trip) and I am REALLY tempted to try to change it to VWL...

Jill....who still has laundry to do..

 

[zalansky]

Thanks for the great reports ladies. We've got a dedicated 2 bedroom reserved for Labor Day weekend and are taking our friends with us. Its our first stay there and we are looking forward to it.

Bobbi - you will love BCV. Be prepared.

 

[hannah's dad]

I We are booked for SSR for august (another bonus trip) and I am REALLY tempted to try to change it to VWL...

Jill....who still has laundry to do..

When we bought into SSR in 2006, we took a "bonus" trip that June and stayed at SSR and enjoyed it. However, when we went in August 2007 we tried VWL for the first time and absolutely loved it...so much so that we stayed there again in a two bedroom with six of us this past March. I may never stay at my home resort again (unless "forced" to due to the 11/7 month booking window!!)

 

[bobbiwoz]

...

Bobbi - you will love BCV. Be prepared.

I do love BCV, but when we were at VWL, swimming, the thoughts of some others here, about the size and difficulties of keeping eyes on children at SAB did come to my mind. I asked the family if I should try to change to VWL for November, and they said they wanted to try BCV. Our DGC are 3 1/2, 4 1/2 and 5 1/2, with the 4 1/2 being the best swimmer, or the most daring. All of a sudden I panicked and wondered if Chrisi (sp?) is right.

Well, we're giving it a try...the kids have until November 16th to work on swimming and listening skills!

Bobbi

 

[eliza61]

...and absolutely LOVED it!!!!! What a wonderful resort! Loved everything about it...the theming...the colors..the location. Can't wait to go back!

Jill

It's a favorite of mine also. Come say hello to the WL groupies over on our thread.
Glad you had a great vacation.

 

[Corinne]

Bobbi & Jill~

Thanks for the trip reports! Sounds like you both had great vacations!