Live from the VWL. "The morons" trip report.

[eliza61]

Well fellow dissers,
When last we met, I was on the verge of murdering a family member for lousing up a well planned vacation. I am happy to say "all's well that ends well". Due to the really great folks from members service, I was able to downgrade from my grand villa to a 2 bedroom villa at the VWL. So my sprinkle of pixie dust goes out to the fine folks at MS.

So we arrived at the WL yesterday around 12:00 pm. Now my home resort is the BCV's which we love so I was little nervous about venturing to a new resort . This is our first time ever at the lodge and my first reaction was, "Where have you been all my life, you big handsome man". While I love the soft, soothing colors of the beach club and its understated charm. The wilderness lodge is themeing at it's best. this is big, bold, if you can't run with the big dogs-stay the heck on the porch, jaw dropping details. I think we may have found a new favorite. Unfortunately our room was not ready so we decided to catch the ferry over to MK. What to do first? Eat lunch or do a ride. In my family, that is a stupid question. I have teenage sons, they live in 2 states- sleeping and perpetual starvation. Ok lunch it is.
We hit tony's town square for a great lunch and then it's onto the rides. The MK is relatively empty, we only had to wait 20 mins for all rides, never bothered with fast pass. Life is good. Gotta go now, my crew is ready to eat. I'll update daily so any questions just drop me a line. Park for today. Epcot.

 

[Olaf]

Wish I were there. Glad it worked out Eliza.

 

[VMS]

Thanks for your report -- keep them coming. We are headed down this weekend for a 6 night stay and doing the reverse of you -- our home is the VWL and we are for the first time staying elsewhere -- at BCV! And like you I also will have 2 teenage sons with me (and a DD9), in fact one of them becomes a teenager on Saturday -- the day we go down!

That is encouraging that the park was not too crowded. The posts here for the past few weeks have made the parks sounded unusaully crowded for August because of the free dining. Our kids go back after Labor Day, so we go as late in August as possible to have less crowds. Hoping we do not get stuck there extra days due to a hurricane like we did 2 years ago!

 

[Granny]

The wilderness lodge is themeing at it's best.

Glad that you gave it a whirl and are enjoying it so much. I think it is the heavy theming that polarizes people about WL/VWL. If you don't like the theme, it is very difficult to like the resort.

Other DVC resorts are certainly well themed, but not in as much of an "in your face" manner as WL/VWL.

Now imagine that resort decorated for Christmas, and some future possible trips.


Can you say....."add on"?

It's nice to hear that the crowds are light enough to make your trip even more enjoyable. Have a great remainder of your trip!

 

[DiznEeyore]

The wilderness lodge is themeing at it's best. this is big, bold, if you can't run with the big dogs-stay the heck on the porch, jaw dropping details. I think we may have found a new favorite.

Love that!!

Glad to know everything worked out for you, too. Have a wonderful time!!

 

[conciergekelly]

Wish I were there too. I know what you mean about the theme. It is jaw dropping. We stayed at X-mas and it was even better!
Glad to hear everything worked out for you! Keep havin' fun!

 

[tomandrobin]

How exciting for you and your stay at VWL!

VWL is on my "I must stay there list". Have not done it yet, visited once. We were like you, just LOVED IT! We are going to be in Disney at New Years and plan on making at stop there just to see the Christmas decor.

We have a 12, 14 and 20 year old and can relate very well to the whole slepping and eating thing. They actually make the dining plan work for us, when we take them.

Have a fun trip!

 

[Muushka]

This is our first time ever at the lodge and my first reaction was, "Where have you been all my life, you big handsome man". While I love the soft, soothing colors of the beach club and its understated charm. The wilderness lodge is themeing at it's best. this is big, bold, if you can't run with the big dogs-stay the heck on the porch, jaw dropping details.

How funny you are!! I have never heard the Lodge described quite like that!

Yes, as was mentioned, keep up the reports. You have a great writing style .

 

[DisneyDreamingAubrey]

I can't wait to hear more!! Sounds like things are going to be just great for you. I really want to try and stay there sometime. It sounds wonderful.

 

[jimmytammy]

What a great way to describe the place that brings me and my family so much happiness! Glad you like it so much and glad all worked out in the end for you.

One thing that you can take advantage of is sleeping in at VWL. Because of its dark decor, you can close the blinds really well, and the room will tend to stay dark just a little longer than some of the brighter rooms. I know, I know, we are on vacation, we are at WDW, we gotta go, go, go. But it really is a nice little feature to take advantage of if you want too

We like BCV, and cant wait to try it in May so we can finally plunge into Stormalong Bay. Back in Jan, it was just a little cold, so didnt set foot in that pool. But it looked cool

 

[lsutigger2]

Please keep the reports coming. DH and I are treating my DB and family to a stay at VWL in Nov. Hope they have the same reaction that you did, or there may be some "verge of murdering" going on.

We love it and actually that is the place my DB picked out to stay.

Enjoy the rest of your stay and keep those fellows well fed.

( Yes, I know the dancing dog has nothing to do with well fed children, but I just found him and he's so cute!!)

 

[Valentine]

Glad to hear you love the VWL.... I will joining you there on Sunday Perhaps we will see you at the pool.

I switched my ressie over the VWL to a 1 bedroom.... I was booked in a studio at the BCV.. but decided with 3 of us I wanted more room. BCV is not available.. surprise surprise.. but VWL was... so.. I chose there... I am hoping I love it as much as you

Have a great trip!

Kathy

 

[SFLTIGGER]

Us to! We will be checking in on Sunday

Now for sure; "I'm too excited to sleep!!!!!"

See ya'll there! Look for the LGMHs

 

[MiaSRN62]

The MK is relatively empty, we only had to wait 20 mins for all rides, never bothered with fast pass. Life is good.

Wow...what happened since we left on the 17th ? All the parks were packed our entire stay, especially the 13th on. I figured it was because of the free dining plan which had kicked in. The only 20 min waits we encountered at any of the parks were between the hours of 9 and 11 am. After that, it was FP or bust ! IN fact, we did EMH (morning) at Epcot on 8/15 and the standby line for both Soarin' and TT was 45 min long by 8:30 am It continued like that for the rest of the day. It sounds like night and day from what we encountered last week.

The posts here for the past few weeks have made the parks sounded unusaully crowded for August because of the free dining.

We found it this way---particularily 8/13 to 8/17.

We love the VWL---it's our favorite after OKW. Have a wonderful stay and hope the crowds continue to stay low for you.

 

[iankh]

Please do take advantage of some of the things to do around the lodge:

- Rent bikes and take a ride through the woods to FW. There's a petting zoo there. We love riding over for lunch.

- Rent a water craft and go out on the water. Fantastic!

- I also think they still have rubber duck races in the lobby of WL, though I can't remember which day.

- Take a guided tour of the lodge with a "park ranger."

- If you can, find out if you can be a flag family

 

[RichieGraciemom]

Well fellow dissers,
When last we met, I was on the verge of murdering a family member for lousing up a well planned vacation. I am happy to say "all's well that ends well". Due to the really great folks from members service, I was able to downgrade from my grand villa to a 2 bedroom villa at the VWL. So my sprinkle of pixie dust goes out to the fine folks at MS.

So we arrived at the WL yesterday around 12:00 pm. Now my home resort is the BCV's which we love so I was little nervous about venturing to a new resort . This is our first time ever at the lodge and my first reaction was, "Where have you been all my life, you big handsome man". While I love the soft, soothing colors of the beach club and its understated charm. The wilderness lodge is themeing at it's best. this is big, bold, if you can't run with the big dogs-stay the heck on the porch, jaw dropping details. I think we may have found a new favorite. Unfortunately our room was not ready so we decided to catch the ferry over to MK. What to do first? Eat lunch or do a ride. In my family, that is a stupid question. I have teenage sons, they live in 2 states- sleeping and perpetual starvation. Ok lunch it is.
We hit tony's town square for a great lunch and then it's onto the rides. The MK is relatively empty, we only had to wait 20 mins for all rides, never bothered with fast pass. Life is good. Gotta go now, my crew is ready to eat. I'll update daily so any questions just drop me a line. Park for today. Epcot.

have fun leaving in four hours and also heard it was not croweded there right now. lets hope it keeps up

 

[jpeka65844]

I'm watching your thread with bated breath! DH, DS 1 1/2 will be there for our first trip "home" in March! I'm getting misty and excited just reading about how wonderful it is!

We were debating holding out for BWV but decided it was best to buy NOW and went with VWL. I'm so happy to hear we won't be disappointed!!!! We've never even visited; we bought sight unseen!!!!



Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[MINNIEBOWSER]

I am sooo glad everything worked out for you. I have never stayed at VWL but I do love to visit it and I loved your description of it. Have a GREAT trip!!! I look forward to reading about it.