My first trip *home*

tink'smom2B

Chasing Tinkerbell Full Time
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Mar 1, 2004
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452
I will skip the unpleasant transportation problems at the airline and car rental places. Easter is not a good time to travel! We finally arrived at OKW at 10:00 pm Friday for two nights. Much to my amazement the receptionist informed me that I had been upgraded to a 1-bedroom at no extra charge!!! Hooray, it was the first pleasant words I had heard all day!! And what a beautiful place Old Key West is!! Aside from the fact that you need to take a bus to get to the pool, it was absolutely perfect! And huge rooms!! We went swimming on Saturday and the new pool. The kids loved it. I thought the new waterslide was great (although it is all new to me) and having the sand playground right next to the kiddie pool was wonderful. We had so much fun! The next morning they had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. The recreation director had just as much fun as the kids! There were plenty of eggs everywhere for everyone. Then we were off to Cinderella's Castle for the Princess breakfast. We got to the MK just in time for Cinderellabration. What a nice way to begin the day. It is lovely and my girls were so happy to see all their princesses together. Breakfast was good and afterwards we had all the princesses visit our table. My 2 y/o had the biggest grin I've ever seen!
We moved into the Wilderness Lodge that afternoon for an 8 night stay. The rooms are much smaller than at OKW. We also had a 1-bedroom. We were on the 5th floor and much to my dismay had the wall for a balcony. I couldn't believe I've only stayed their twice and both times I had a wall. So I asked for a room change. We were moved the next day two floors below us. The front desk was very accomodating and tried to be as helpful as possible. I found it interesting that she said my room was one of the most requested rooms. I have read the thread about having a wall instead of a railing on the balcony but I find it hard to believe anyone would request it. My 2 y/o was caught Sunday night standing on the little table trying to look over the wall. Anyway, we moved and spent the next 7 nights in a perfect room on the 2nd floor facing the courtyard and quiet pool. It was heaven. The rest of our vacation was uneventful except on two separate days a huge black snake made it's way into the large pool. The first day we were swimming in the quiet pool when someone came running over excitedly telling her story of the snake she got on film swimming in the pool. I was very happy not to have been there! But on Friday, my son and daughter were swimming in the lodge pool when sure enough another snake came swimming under the bridge and made it's way into the pool right where they were!!! The snake seemed harmless but kept trying to swim toward my kids and anything that moved. My son (12) was totally tramatized by the whole thing and wouldn't swim after that. He kept looking for snakes the rest of the trip. We've been staying in the campground every year for nearly 17 years and I have never seen a snake. There are plenty of armadillos, rabbits, squirrels, and lizards, but I've never seen a snake. Two in one week was a real surprise! I asked a worker I saw on Monday if he'd seen many snakes and he said they are around but he had never heard of them in the pool. I'm going to have to do some creative convincing to get my son to swim there again. But it was a wonderful trip and I still love the Wilderness Lodge. I'm ready to go back as soon as I can! We spent the last two hours rocking on the porch just enjoying the peace and quiet. It was heaven!
 
OMG!! I would have drowned!! I know there are snakes in FL. but please don't tell me they are in the pools!!

I may need some convincing now to get in the pool myself!

I look forward to seeing Cinderellabration and all the new attractions!
 
Much to my amazement the receptionist informed me that I had been upgraded to a 1-bedroom at no extra charge!!!
Wow! Was that night booked on points though? Or cash through CRO?? Just curious as I have yet to hear of an upgrade on points for no particular reason :scratchin
 
Well, VWL was on my list to try, but I'll be chalking THAT one off of my list. ::yes::

Snakes, oh my....
 

We have a 1 bed booked at VWL this May. I think I will check that I have a regular balcony while still at the front desk. DD (nearly 2) will go NUTS with frustration if she cannot see out!

Trying to block out the snake info......

Mandy ::MinnieMo
 
Scoootch said:
Wow! Was that night booked on points though? Or cash through CRO?? Just curious as I have yet to hear of an upgrade on points for no particular reason :scratchin
People here have reported the occasional upgrade on point stays...usually when there are repairs or something that limits the number of smaller units for that time period.

And wtpclc....normally I am excited by people who don't want to go to VWL because it makes it easier for me to get reservations! ;) But I think you would be poorly served if this ONE report of a snake in the last several years kept you from trying out this wonderful resort. I guess you can't stay at BCV or OKW either because of the alligators?

Serioiusly, I wouldn't let that change your mind. But hey, that's just me. :)
 
Granny - I know I'm being rash. Quite honestly, gators turn me off too! Guess that's why I like MI. As dh says,"I'd rather have frost bite than a gator bite." I'll apply that to snakes too. I have a hard enough time with teh ocassional garter sighting around the house. I'll stick to SSR and BWV for now. (Please don't tell me if anything's been sighted in these places! I think SSR's new enough that I shoud be ok.)

Thinking about it, tink's mom is probably just tryin gto keep others away from VWL. She con'd me goood! ;)
 
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People here have reported the occasional upgrade on point stays...usually when there are repairs or something that limits the number of smaller units for that time period.
That's exactly why I'm curious to know if it was a points stay or not;) I have yet to hear of an upgrade on points that wasn't because of something having gone wrong.
 
OK, I'm not kidding and I'm not trying to keep people away from VWL. I love that part of Disney. I've stayed there for 20 years because I love the quiet and peacefulness of the area. Everywhere we went this last week was noisy and crowded and congested. It was wonderful to go *home* to the VWL and enjoy the peace. Except for the excitement around the pool a couple of days (yes it happened twice) there was nothing that wasn't heavenly. You're in Florida, there is wildlife. I think it says in the campgrounds that if you see an alligator, please notify the front desk immediately! You bet I would!!! But would it keep me away?? Never!!
As for our OKW reservation, we paid cash. It was cheaper to pay cash than it was to rent points. Then, to get upgraded to a 1 bedroom, WOW! Does anyone know if you receive the same discount all year round for a cash reservation? I was thinking of renting points, but the cash discount really made it worth while. Please don't let my story keep you away. It probably will never happen again! I love my VWL!! :love:
 
As for our OKW reservation, we paid cash. It was cheaper to pay cash than it was to rent points. Then, to get upgraded to a 1 bedroom, WOW! Does anyone know if you receive the same discount all year round for a cash reservation? I was thinking of renting points, but the cash discount really made it worth while.
So you paid cash through DVC with the member discount then?? Very cool! ;)

As to your question, the member discount is generally 25% off rack rate but they only make it available if and when they think that they won't be able to book the rooms on points, so it's not always available. So sometimes it's available, sometimes not. They also don't make it available very far out from the date you're looking for for the same reason...sometimes you can book with the member discount a few months in advance if they think if won't get booked because it's a slow time of year ....sometimes more like 60 days out around the same time they realease rooms to CRO. You really just have to call and see what they have and how much.

HTH's:)
 
Hey, we eat snakes and alligators here. Tastes like chicken!

Enjoyed the trip report by the way!
 



















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