Sand and Sun ~ Trip Number Ten Was Lots of Fun! Clearwater Beach & YC, August 2013

[rusafee1183]

Yay yay yay!!! So excited you're going to give the Wilderness a shot! We absolutely adore it there. We went in January, and it did seem like the perfect time to be there. It was an absolutely gorgeous resort to stroll and soak it all in.

I can't remember if you guys have ever been over there for ADR's or to look around, but the lobby is spectacular. The pictures online don't do it justice at all. The resort (rooms especially) looks boring, and... "flat" I guess. But there's something magical about being there.

We arrived at 5:00ish in the evening, and when we walked into the lobby my sister's (who had never been there before) mouth dropped open in amazement. We walked down the path to the Villas, and through the lobby with a little fireplace and to our room. The view was nothing special, but it was so peaceful and beautiful that we fell in love.

I think what really was the most amazing part was when we were on our way to the boat to MK. It was dusk, laterns were flickering everywhere and they were roasting marshmallows on the beach. Crickets were singing, and you literally felt like you were miles away from anything - let alone a 10 minute boat ride to MK.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Awe, we love WL and I hope you do, too. It is totally different from the Poly. DH and I stayed there one year in November before kids and once in December with kids. I, too, feel like it is more of a winter resort (if that makes sense). The resort and grounds are beautiful though. We especially liked it in December when everything was decorated for Christmas. The WL is my DH's favorite resort and he is always bugging to go back. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.

congrats on the WL!! We stayed there last November and it was fantastic!! My dd and DH actually wanted to go back for this trip, but the deal I got was for the YC and I missed being over on that side of the action! LOL.. If you ever consider CL, this is a great one to do...that is the only time we have done it and it was worth it...we ate breakfast there, came back some days and did snax there and every night the kids got dessert...it was very relaxing and on a couple of days that dh had to stay back for a while and work, it was great for him too~food access and the couches and computer hookups were great... I think you will enjoy it! Next time, I would like to do the fishing excursion...we watched a family do it and they had a blast!!! And we never waited long for the boat...maybe 10 minutes one time...

Yay yay yay!!! So excited you're going to give the Wilderness a shot! We absolutely adore it there. We went in January, and it did seem like the perfect time to be there. It was an absolutely gorgeous resort to stroll and soak it all in.

I can't remember if you guys have ever been over there for ADR's or to look around, but the lobby is spectacular. The pictures online don't do it justice at all. The resort (rooms especially) looks boring, and... "flat" I guess. But there's something magical about being there.

We arrived at 5:00ish in the evening, and when we walked into the lobby my sister's (who had never been there before) mouth dropped open in amazement. We walked down the path to the Villas, and through the lobby with a little fireplace and to our room. The view was nothing special, but it was so peaceful and beautiful that we fell in love.

I think what really was the most amazing part was when we were on our way to the boat to MK. It was dusk, laterns were flickering everywhere and they were roasting marshmallows on the beach. Crickets were singing, and you literally felt like you were miles away from anything - let alone a 10 minute boat ride to MK.

Wow it's so great to hear all the great things about the WL!! Thanks so much!! Now I'm getting pretty excited about the place! Sounds wonderful.

Honestly I've never been too excited about the place. I'm not really a 'lodge' type of girl. Really enjoy a more tropical feel. Plus the rooms aren't any bigger than the moderates. But, for some reason I have grown interested in it a little. We have been there once, back in 2009 maybe.... We had dinner at WCC. Didn't love WCC, but thought the WL was beautiful. I planned to go visit the WL last December, but never made it.

So, with the PIN it's nearly FD since the DDP & tix are at the child's price. And when doing FD (and not a room discount) it is better financially to do a moderate, since you are paying rack rate on the room. So, we thought about doing POR since it is our second favorite moderate and since we've stayed at CBR 3 times. But then the WL crossed my mind and I mentioned it to DH, who barely remembers being there for dinner that one time. He asked to see pics and LOVED it!! So, that's where we landed.... For now!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I think you will be glad you picked the WL... we did the room with the bunk beds and it was pretty neat! We had a cool location too~if you choose CL, ours was the very first room to the left when you leave that area and the little Concierge desk... loved it!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Your resort looked really nice - I can see not wanting to be out on the beach when it's super hot midday! We use the baby powder trick too. Works like a charm and you smell nice too!

Wildnerness! I'd like to stay there sometime soon. I can't believe you get to go back so soon! LUCKY!!
I had another person ask me for disney trip advice the other day. I really should have become an agent.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I think you will be glad you picked the WL... we did the room with the bunk beds and it was pretty neat! We had a cool location too~if you choose CL, ours was the very first room to the left when you leave that area and the little Concierge desk... loved it!

I hope so! Right now we are just booked standard view. I'd like to maybe change to courtyard view, I'd like to have a view of the inner courtyard - right outside the back door. I've heard their CL is really nice, but I doubt we will upgrade to that since we will have the DDP.

Your resort looked really nice - I can see not wanting to be out on the beach when it's super hot midday! We use the baby powder trick too. Works like a charm and you smell nice too!

Wildnerness! I'd like to stay there sometime soon. I can't believe you get to go back so soon! LUCKY!!
I had another person ask me for disney trip advice the other day. I really should have become an agent.

It was pretty nice! But yeah, the afternoon sun & heat was a killer!!

Well I'll be sure to tell you all about the WL! Hopefully it will be a great experience.

Maybe you should become a TA too!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We were taking the kids to Surf Style indoor surfing!! www.surfstyle.com

It was nearly a mile down the street and it was so hot, so we had the concierge call Florida Free Ride (company works solely off of tips) to take us there.

While we were waiting....

And we arrived with only about 5 minutes to spare before the kids scheduled time! You could schedule 30 minutes or an hour, I had scheduled them for 30 minutes. I wasn't sure how long they would want to spend falling off of surf boards, plus it was $20 per person for 30 minutes!

Surf Style has a live streaming camera that is playing on their website. So I had told Jodi about it and the kids had told a few of their friends, and they were watching!! The kids felt like rock stars!

Continued in next post....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued...


There were about 8 people in their group and they would just go in order, each taking a turn over and over. Whenever you fell you got shot up the hill and out! Right around the end of their half hour they both finally got it and were able to “surf” for a few minutes without holding onto the rope!!

After they got done and dried up we did a little shopping. Lots of cool beachy stuff in there. We got the kids some shirts, my dad a shirt, DH got a hat, and we got some other little trinkets.

When we were done in there we decided to walk back to our resort. We got a little bit down the street and it started to sprinkle. Okay, no problem. We were going to be ducking in and out of shops along the way, so it would be okay. We got a little further and it started to rain. And then pour!!! We were running looking for shelter. We finally came across a parking garage so we jumped in there for a bit. It didn't appear to be letting up, so we decided to go into a pizza shop and get something to eat and wait out the rain. So, off we went to Jaqx Pizzeria. And surprisingly it was very good!! We felt pretty disgusting from being wet and then going into the air conditioning, but at least the pizza was good.

Up Next: Our Last Evening on the Beach

 

[ddluvsdisney]

That looks so cool!! Isn't that just like the surfing they have on cruises ( I've seen them in pics).

My DS's would probably love to try that. Maybe they have one in the Orlando area?? I'll have to look into it.

And only $20 that's pretty reasonable.

I was just looking at some offsite restaurants to try when we're in FL, I was looking at the Celebration Town Tavern again. I still haven't made it there. Did you end up eating there? I can't remember. Anyway the menu looks awesome so we are going to get there in Oct.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Shelly that surfing looks really cool! We did something similar to that when we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge (theirs is much smaller though). DH and DD loved it! I was too chicken to try! Looks like your boys really enjoyed it! So glad they got to do something unique like that while at the beach.

 

[JoBird]

Oh my gosh I swear this was the funnest (I know it isn't a word but that's how I would describe it!) thing I've seen in a looooong time!! I told M as we were watching it that I want to move back to Carolina and open one up at Folly Beach!!!
LOVE it!!

And the boys were having the best time! We were so impressed how quickly they took to it.
Awesome that you found it there and were able to go.

Next stop Surf City USA!!!

 

[mickeyplanner]

Congratulations on the January trip. What are your dates? I missed that somewhere along the way.

I am glad you were able to find shells at the beach. Our kids did not find any shells on our beach trip this year.

 

[mickeystoontown]

How very neat that the boys were able to take the surf lesson. I'm betting that you were the coolest Mom evvvvver for surprising them with the lessons.

Oh and yay for booking another trip to Disney so soon! I subscribe to the WL thread and saw that you were asking questions. Like you, we're more tropically kinda folka but have thought about giving WL a try.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I was just looking at some offsite restaurants to try when we're in FL, I was looking at the Celebration Town Tavern again. I still haven't made it there. Did you end up eating there? I can't remember. Anyway the menu looks awesome so we are going to get there in Oct.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I've eaten at Celebration Town Tavern and we really liked it! It was reasonably priced too! We were there in October 2012 and sat outside and ate. Super nice service and good food!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

That looks so cool!! Isn't that just like the surfing they have on cruises ( I've seen them in pics).

My DS's would probably love to try that. Maybe they have one in the Orlando area?? I'll have to look into it.

And only $20 that's pretty reasonable.

I was just looking at some offsite restaurants to try when we're in FL, I was looking at the Celebration Town Tavern again. I still haven't made it there. Did you end up eating there? I can't remember. Anyway the menu looks awesome so we are going to get there in Oct.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

They had a blast!! It might be like what they do on cruise ships, I'm not sure...

I don't know of any others down there, but there could be. Let me know if you find any. I'm sure my boys would love to do it again sometime!

Nope, never made it to Celebration Town Tavern. We had planned to go that day we went to Legoland in May 2012, but we were too hot & sweaty and gross! We thought about stopping on the way back from the beach on this trip, but everyone was way too excited to get to Disney, so we didn't make any side trips!

Shelly that surfing looks really cool! We did something similar to that when we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge (theirs is much smaller though). DH and DD loved it! I was too chicken to try! Looks like your boys really enjoyed it! So glad they got to do something unique like that while at the beach.

It was really neat! I didn't know Great Wolf Lodge had that. That's cool!

I would have liked to have done it, but it sure looked like it hurt when you fell and got shot up the hill! The kids said it didn't hurt, but you know how things hurt when you are an adult that didn't hurt when you were a kid!!

Oh my gosh I swear this was the funnest (I know it isn't a word but that's how I would describe it!) thing I've seen in a looooong time!! I told M as we were watching it that I want to move back to Carolina and open one up at Folly Beach!!!
LOVE it!!

And the boys were having the best time! We were so impressed how quickly they took to it.
Awesome that you found it there and were able to go.

Next stop Surf City USA!!!

They were so excited when I told them you were watching!! They were even waving to the camera!

I think every beach should have one!!

How about that big guy that went before my kids every round?!! The kids were mad that he kept hogging up all the time!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Congratulations on the January trip. What are your dates? I missed that somewhere along the way.

I am glad you were able to find shells at the beach. Our kids did not find any shells on our beach trip this year.

Thanks! Our dates are Jan 25-30. Just a quickie!!

Yep, there were lots of shells on the beach!

How very neat that the boys were able to take the surf lesson. I'm betting that you were the coolest Mom evvvvver for surprising them with the lessons.

Oh and yay for booking another trip to Disney so soon! I subscribe to the WL thread and saw that you were asking questions. Like you, we're more tropically kinda folka but have thought about giving WL a try.

Yeah, I think I did get some 'cool mom' points for that one!! And those are hard to come by these days!

Thanks! I've been over on the WL thread trying to find out all that I can. I know very little about the place. So it will be a good learning experience for the TA business too! Are you thinking about staying there next May instead of CBR?

I've eaten at Celebration Town Tavern and we really liked it! It was reasonably priced too! We were there in October 2012 and sat outside and ate. Super nice service and good food!

Someday I'll get there!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks! Our dates are Jan 25-30. Just a quickie!!

Yep, there were lots of shells on the beach!



Yeah, I think I did get some 'cool mom' points for that one!! And those are hard to come by these days!

Thanks! I've been over on the WL thread trying to find out all that I can. I know very little about the place. So it will be a good learning experience for the TA business too! Are you thinking about staying there next May instead of CBR?




Someday I'll get there!!!

We actually had the WL booked a couple of years ago but changed back to the CBR when we found out that Mama was going with us. She wants her own room so it was out of her price range. We're pondering it again. I like the fact that there's still a beach if we start missing the beaches at the CBR. Next trip, Lacey, Jesse and his parents might join us and, if so, we'll be at the CBR. That's where we are booked right now. If not in May, 2014, then possibly May, 2015.

 

[disny_luvr]

Wow! The indoor surfing looks great! I bet your boys had a lot of fun (and you could tell they enjoyed it from your pictures). Too bad about the downpour on the way back to your hotel. Hopefully the rain cooled things off a little bit.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We actually had the WL booked a couple of years ago but changed back to the CBR when we found out that Mama was going with us. She wants her own room so it was out of her price range. We're pondering it again. I like the fact that there's still a beach if we start missing the beaches at the CBR. Next trip, Lacey, Jesse and his parents might join us and, if so, we'll be at the CBR. That's where we are booked right now. If not in May, 2014, then possibly May, 2015.

I like the fact that there is a beach too. Who knows, maybe we'll end up loving it!

Wow that sounds like a fun family trip!!

Wow! The indoor surfing looks great! I bet your boys had a lot of fun (and you could tell they enjoyed it from your pictures). Too bad about the downpour on the way back to your hotel. Hopefully the rain cooled things off a little bit.

It was a lot of fun for them!!

The worst part about all the rain we got on this trip is that it never seemed to cool it off much.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

The rain let up a bit after we had our pizza so we headed back to the resort, shopping along the way. The kids and I rested & watched some TV, and DH went to the gym for a it. After awhile the kids and I headed outside and sort of to the right of the pool. We had saw earlier that they had games set up on the grounds. We played around a bit and waited for DH to get back and shower and meet us out on the beach.

Once DH got there we walked down the beach towards the Pier. It is called Pier 60 and every evening they have things set up, sort of like the BW at Disney. Performers, entertainment, food vendors, games, etc. We slowly made our way down there.

Continued in next post....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued...

When we got to the Pier, there wasn't a whole lot going on. It was still raining on and off and I think that kept a lot of the vendors away. So we just walked out on the pier and then back.

My hair is crazy here – from being wet on and off!!

There was really nothing to do. This was our planned entertainment for the evening, so we just slowly made our way back towards our resort. On the way back we walked up the street, instead of the beach. We did some more shopping and then stopped for the best cookies ever at this place!!

They were huge and delicious!

We took them back to the room and just relaxed the rest of the night and went to bed early so we could get up and off to WDW in the morning!!


Up Next: We're Finally Going to Disney!!!