She Dodged a Hurricane, Skipped School, and Adopted a Porg, a September 2019 TR at Copper Creek Villas at WL (Completed 12/18)

[GrandCalifornian]

Looks like a lot of fun was had at Disney springs! My sister owns DVC at Copper Creek too because that’s where she and her husband honeymooned so I love seeing all your pictures of it!

We honeymooned at WL in 2007 and fell in love with it. It is definitely our favorite resort, and likely my favorite building anywhere. We're glad you enjoy seeing the pics.

What a great evening! You got to ride the amphicar and watch the Halloween fireworks. I hadn't even known they would allow more than three passengers in one amphicar. It must have been OK because one was a child. It would have been really tight with three adults in the back seat.

Yeah, it would have been tight with any bigger people, but they seemed fine with four people as long as we could fit in the back. It was totally worth it.

Joining in!
I am hoping to someday be able to stay at Wilderness Lodge... it looks like a fantastic resort!!!
Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

Thanks for joining in! We found WL because we liked its similar style to the Grand Californian, and like its quiet woodsy feel despite being located so close to MK. One of our favorite things about it is that it is one of the most economical Deluxe resorts, especially if you go with a standard view room (which is what we always booked when staying on the hotel side). Even if you aren't staying at WL, it is so close to MK that you can come over and check it out some time. It is nice to come over and take a break there to get away from the busy parks, and maybe grab a bite to eat at Whispering Canyon, Artist Point, or even just Roaring Fork or Geyser Point.
We'll be glad to share our trip, and there's lots more WL pics to come.

That was a quick trip. You must have been relieved to have the timing work out for your ADR.

Yeah, we allowed an extra half an hour, but since we didn't need it for transportation we started our shopping early.

We usually get lost in Disney Springs now that it has been redesigned. But I do know the way from the bus depot to Wolfgang Puck Express.
The boat looks like fun but it must have felt strange to sit so low in the water. Did you get wet?

We feel we have the old Marketplace section of Disney Springs figured out, and are learning more and more about the new stuff. Eventually with enough practice it will become familiar.
We only got splashed a little bit as it went into the water. The captain did a great job avoiding the wakes from other boats, so the ride was calm and dry.

I never would have thought that Disney would refuse to put a restriction like that on the ornament. If you had known this ahead of time would you have come up with something that they would have accepted?

We have had issues with this in the past. One year they wouldn't let us put anything but the year on it, but usually they let us list some sort of celebration for the trip. They do take it very seriously, and the lady at the ornament shop said that they often have people trying to sneak in unapproved personalizations like memorials or references to negative events. She kind of scolded us for wanting to mention Dorian, because it was a natural disaster and people died, but it was still part of our trip. Now we can look at the personalization and remember the whole story. Some people take their jobs very seriously, and she was one of them...

I think you lucked out because it was a party night and no one would be going to MK via the CR bus. On any other night it would have been packed.

Yeah, the overall crowd levels were still quite low, so it worked out well.

She looks very grown up with the towel on her head - just like a teenager. I love the way the 2 bedroom villa is so homey, with a real living room and bedroom.

Yes, she is growing up so fast. The room was absolutely perfect for us, and we love having so much space. The big bathroom in the second bedroom was great for us, and having the common livign room between the two bedrooms gave us a place to hang out with everyone while still having our separate space when we wanted it. I can't imagine a better room set up for us.

I love watching the fireworks from WL.

Me too, and I wanted to capture the view in some pictures. It is slightly obstructed, but still a very nice experience, especially with the piped in music at Geyser Point. The view from the bend in the North wing hallway (by room 6034) is less obstructed, but having the music is neat.

 

[Stasieki]

I had no idea they were so strict with personalization. We get one every year too. We just aren't very creative so always only put our last name and the year.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Sounds like a fun night at Disney Springs! The Boathouse has never been on my radar because DBF doesn't eat seafood but it sounds like the other options are good too.

The Amphicar looks like a lot of fun!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I had no idea they were so strict with personalization. We get one every year too. We just aren't very creative so always only put our last name and the year.

Yeah, you wouldn't think it was a big deal, but I suppose they have to draw the line somewhere. We love our ornament collection though, and each one is special.

Sounds like a fun night at Disney Springs! The Boathouse has never been on my radar because DBF doesn't eat seafood but it sounds like the other options are good too.

The Amphicar looks like a lot of fun!

I would highly recommend Boathouse to anyone. I wasn't too excited about it the first time, thinking it was an overpriced steak / seafood place but their variety and quality truly impresses me. The pulled pork was the best we have ever had, and I love their burger, and both are really reasonable. The atmosphere is great, and it feels fancy for the cost. We did enjoy the amphicar, and you get a discount by having dined at the restaurant.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

On Saturday, I got one of the latest starts of the trip, getting up at 6:45 and leaving the room just after 7AM. I still was able to take a few pictures around WL, this time with the sun a little higher in the sky.





My plan for the morning was to take advantage of being up early and bring back breakfast burritos from Fort Wilderness to everyone else in the room. I did this last year and it was my first chance to see Reflections construction before the details of the project had been announced. This year I knew there would be more to see.

I went to the transportation boat dock at 7:45 and got on a Blue Flag boat for Fort Wilderness. I got some nice pictures from the lake on the way.





I got to Fort Wilderness at 7:52. I was surprised to see that everything West of the road leading to Pioneer Hall (except the building itself) was in the fenced off construction area. This includes the old horse barn and the pony ride area. I walked over to the fence between Pioneer Hall and the beach and got some pictures.




I'm sure this area will look a lot different in a few years.

I went to order breakfast and was surprised to see that the burritos were no longer on the menu! I then checked on my phone and saw that they don't have them at Contempo Cafe either, so I decided to go with breakfast sandwiches.


I got two of the pork belly sandwiches and two of the chicken sandwiches, plus a bounty breakfast for the kids to share.

I got on a boat at 8:25 headed to the CR. It got there at 8:32, and then arrived at WL at 8:38.


I took the breakfast up to the room, and arrived there at 8:45.

I was asleep the entire time this happened. It felt good to sleep in a bit though.

When I got to the room Melissa and the kids were still sleeping, so I woke her up and then went and started eating with Jon and Brandy.

I liked both of the types of breakfast sandwiches, although they weren't as good as the burritos were.

My favorite was the pork belly sandwich. It was tasty but I missed the breakfast burrito.

The kids slowly got up and ready as we ate. We took our time getting ready, didn't rush anybody too much, and finally left the room about 9:40.

On the way we saw that they were moving furniture back into the main part of the lobby.


We got down to the bus stop at 9:47, and the sign showed 9:55 for an Epcot bus. It arrived at 9:56 and left at 10:00, going straight to Epcot and arrived at 10:11.

Allie tried on some France Minnie Ears at the entrance gateway. We didn't end up buying them on the trip but I think they'd make a cute Christmas gift.


On the way into the park we saw our first proposal of the trip right in front of the fountain. It was really sweet and she was really excited.



At Epcot we had fastpasses for Mission Space. We have never ridden this before, so we figured it was finally time. Jon decided to sit it out, and stayed in the play area with the kids while Melissa, Brandy and I rode it. We chose the easy green version because we weren't sure what we were getting into.

Brandy had ridden it before and we all got wayy to into "flying" our mission. It was a ton of fun and absolutely no problem at all, I'm kinda excited to try the orange side next time.

It really wasn't bad at all, and I'm looking forward to riding it again.

I was impressed with the playground at the exit of mission space. It's a great way to have kiddos let off some steam in the AC. After mission space we had a little time to kill so we decided to go say goodbye to Club Cool.

I confirmed that I definitely don't like Beverly, and from the look on his face Marshall agrees with me.

Melissa and Brandy actually enjoy it. It was fun to kill some time there while waiting for our Test Track fastpasses. On the way over, we checked out Mouse Gear for the first time of the trip. This is one of our favorite gift shops, and we wonder what is in store as it gets re-imagined.

We did kinda get lost and lost Jon and Brandy on the way out of the store because they had stuff so blocked off with walls. We found them eventually and after a potty stop we headed over to Test Track.

We convinced Allie to give it another try, since she was scared of it last time she rode Test Track.

It was alot of fun this time to all be able to ride it together. Both kids enjoyed building their cars and then riding the ride.



The wait for the ride was longer than we expected, but totally worth it.


Then we checked out the dump shop that will forever be known as "After Market" to me. Allie really wanted a drivers license, and figured out that you can not pay for them using a Magic band, but scanning it will upload the photo to your account.


Ah Oh is that what happened.




Marshall liked sitting in some new cars, but we had to get going because we had our annual trek across World Showcase to attempt to make it to Teppan Edo on time.

We always seem to be rushing to Teppan Edo. This year was no exception.

Find out if our rushed trip across World Showcase was successful in the next update...

 

[Wood Nymph]

I got some nice pictures from the lake on the way.

It is nice to see so many of the trees have grown tall again now that all the construction is finished.

I was surprised to see that everything West of the road leading to Pioneer Hall (except the building itself) was in the fenced off construction area. This includes the old horse barn and the pony ride area. I walked over to the fence between Pioneer Hall and the beach and got some pictures.

We rode over to FT Wilderness and I never expected to see the construction so close to Pioneer Hall and Trail's End. It makes me worried about what it will look like when Reflections is finished. I thought that the new resort would be a lot closer to WL and not quite so close to Ft Wilderness.

I liked both of the types of breakfast sandwiches, although they weren't as good as the burritos were.

Do they have breakfast sandwiches at Roaring Forks?

I was impressed with the playground at the exit of mission space. It's a great way to have kiddos let off some steam in the AC. After mission space we had a little time to kill so we decided to go say goodbye to Club Cool.

We spent some time here and I agree that it is a great play area. It is especially nice for the young kids to have something fun to do.

Allie really wanted a drivers license, and figured out that you can not pay for them using a Magic band, but scanning it will upload the photo to your account.

The picture of Allie is really cute.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

We did enjoy the amphicar, and you get a discount by having dined at the restaurant.

Did they let you stack your Annual Passholder discount with your Boathouse diner discount, and use both for the Amphicar ride? Or did you have to choose just one of these discounts?

 

[Mickey.MAC]

We just got home from another amazing 10 day trip to Disney World, and that means it is time to start another Trip Report! Just as we have with our prior reports, I will share my thoughts in Blue and Melissa will chime in in Orange.

This trip was another one for the record books. I really love watching the kids enjoy these vacations at each stage and it's magical at every age. We packed a ton of fun into our trip and we can't wait to share it!

For anyone who might be just joining in for the first time, let's start with introductions, I'm Paul, a not quite yet 40 year old Dad, Engineer, Car Guy, and lover of all things Wilderness Lodge.


My favorite park is Epcot, my favorite ride is Test Track, my favorite Disney Movie is Cars, and my favorite Disney character is Tow Mater.

I'm Melissa my family owns an Elevator company, it has it's ups and downs.


I love Epcot although Magic Kingdom is starting to grow on me. I'm loving all of the new Live action remakes of the Disney Classics, my favorite so far is Beauty and the Beast.

Allison is 9 (about to turn 10 this week) and has been to Disney World 7 times.


Her favorites are Eeyore and Belle, and she enjoys cute snuggly park souveniers.


She is a great big sister and all over good kid. We pulled her out of school for the week and she did great getting her homework done before she went back this week.

Marshall is 3 and lives it up well.


He's super outgoing and really enjoyed the trip this year. He's a daredevil and enjoyed rides that his sister wouldn't get on until this year.


He also loves anything that goes and can be fixed, including cars and trains. He makes a habit out of making friends with anyone who will chat with him, particularly college age girls...

Our friends Jon and Brandy once again joined us on this trip. They are as Disney obssessed as we are, and bought into DVC to share in the craziness with us on our trips.


We stayed in a two bedroom villa at Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge.



We absolutely love the Lodge and it's our home away from home. This room type is perfect for our party of six and gives us a great amount of space and amenities.


We fell in love with the Copper Creek dedicated 2 bedroom when we did a split stay with a cabin last year, and we really enjoyed getting to stay in the same room for the whole trip this time. For our group it is perfect, with a seperate bedrrrom for each family and a common living room in the middle.

Our trip was September 5-14, 2019. This is the fourth time we have been to Disney World this same week, and we really enjoy it. The crowds tend to be very low, and that was even more true this year since we closely followed Hurricane Dorian.

Weather this year was interesting, normally on our September trips we have rain in the afternoons but this year we didn't get rain until the day we left which made for a really hot and humid trip. This changed up our style slightly with more trips back to the resort to cool off. Despite the heat we still had a fantastic time


So, now that we've covered the basics, let's get on with our trip...

what an awesome trip report title! I love the WL too!

 

[suse66]

What a fabulous first day! You got so much accomplished at MK and then a great night at Disney Springs. I love your 2 bdrm unit at CCV. We stayed there for the first time in July and were lucky enough to get an alternate layout studio. Looking forward to reading more!

 

[goodeats]

Does the construction block the path between WL and FW? Even on a hot day that was a nice walk.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

It is nice to see so many of the trees have grown tall again now that all the construction is finished.
We rode over to FT Wilderness and I never expected to see the construction so close to Pioneer Hall and Trail's End. It makes me worried about what it will look like when Reflections is finished. I thought that the new resort would be a lot closer to WL and not quite so close to Ft Wilderness.

Yeah, we are happy with the post construction trees and surroundings. We are glad that Pioneer Hall was saved from Reflections, but the area will definitely change. At least they kept the row of tall trees along the water between Reflections and WL.

Do they have breakfast sandwiches at Roaring Forks?

We didn’t see any, and they didn’t have burritos either but it was fun to get something different from FW.

We spent some time here and I agree that it is a great play area. It is especially nice for the young kids to have something fun to do.
The picture of Allie is really cute.

Thanks! We love that Disney does stuff like this to make it fun for everyone.

Did they let you stack your Annual Passholder discount with your Boathouse diner discount, and use both for the Amphicar ride? Or did you have to choose just one of these discounts?

Unfortunately no, we asked and you can use either discount but not both. The discount for eating there is a little better than the DVC or AP one. The total worked out to $106 with the discount and tax.

what an awesome trip report title! I love the WL too!

Thanks! We always have trouble coming up with a title, but we like to mention what was unique about the trip. This was our first ever Galaxy’s Edge visit, and finding a Porg was a must for Allie...

What a fabulous first day! You got so much accomplished at MK and then a great night at Disney Springs. I love your 2 bdrm unit at CCV. We stayed there for the first time in July and were lucky enough to get an alternate layout studio. Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks! It was the first time we have done DS on the first day, and it worked out well for us. We will do it again in February. We love the COpper Creek rooms, especially the dedicated two bedroom. Next trip we are going with a lock off to try for the alternate configuration, we’ll see how we do.

Does the construction block the path between WL and FW? Even on a hot day that was a nice walk.

Yes, unfortunately the construction blocks everything from the cabins to Pioneer Hall. Even the Disney Buses and cast members are not allowed through. The buses go the long way around through the Outpost area of Fort Wilderness, so the boats are great for getting over to Trail’s End or Hoop De Doo. We are confident that the path will reopen once Reflections construction is done.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we left off, we had started the usual hot rushed walk to Teppan Edo, but we knew that a great meal was waiting for us.

We were a couple minutes late but it was not a problem at all and our pager went off as soon as we got it.

We went right upstairs and were led to a table where two people were already seated. They were a Mom and daughter from Georgia on a trip celebrating the daughter's 16th birthday. They were really nice and fun to chat with during the meal.


It also made Allie decide that we are having a girls trip for her 16th birthday.

Which sounded like a great idea to me until I realized that it's just 6 years away!

Jon and I split the filet and scallops because neither he nor I could decide which we wanted. We also split a Volcano Roll. It was delicious and super fun. If you like sushi at all you should try it.


I knew that I wanted the filet, and was really looking forward to it. I was worried that it wouldn't retain its title as my favorite meal of the year, but fortunately it did not disappoint.


Marshall was all over the noodles.


I think they are his favorite, but him and Allie both did well eating the chicken this time too.

We were once again not disappointed with our meal. We opted not to have dessert even though it was hard to turn down green tea icecream.

Without the dessert the meal was even more economical, and while it wasn't the cheapest meal, it was one of the best food bargains of the trip and still probably my favorite meal. It had some strong competition though, so there's more to look forward to.

After lunch we headed downstairs to check out the Japan store.


I don't think we bought anything, but we enjoyed hanging out in the air conditioning and enjoyed the museum-like area at the far end of the store. We learned that the rocks in the large zen garden thing are glued down, so we weren't as scared about Marshall messing it up.


Marshall was kind of a nut inside the store so I figured chilling in the museum might be safer.

We then moved on towards France, where Allie saw another color of the dress she got last year. We didn't get it for her, yet, but time will tell if she wound up with it...


She also enjoyed chatting with a Cast member at the funstop booth in France.


It was getting pretty crowded and was still hot in Epcot, so we decided to escape out the International Gateway entrance and head to the Boardwalk. We caught our first glimpse of skyliner cabs.


We still hadn't had dessert yet, so we were headed for Boardwalk Bakery via the friendship boats.

We thought about just walking, but Brandy made the profound statement that "Boats are always better." In this case it worked out ok, as we got on the boat at 3:00 and made it to Boardwalk at 3:06.


We really should have put that on our Christmas ornament but alas it was too late. We got our mugs refilled and realized my brand new mug was expired so I borrowed Marshalls until I could get mine fixed.

We hadn't noticed until now because the mug readers at WL were turned off so that any mug worked. I figured we'd deal with that back at Roaring Fork with the receipt later.


We orderd an Orange cupcake and a Cheesecake brownie. Both were really good.


They really were good. I particularly liked the orange cupcake. I'm learning that I like citrus cupcakes, which is something I didn't realize about myself...


He particularly likes lemon cupcakes...

That I knew, and I have been looking for the one from Sunshine Seasons from years ago...

After our snack we walked over to the Wyland gallery.


The gallery is a neat place, and despite it being fancy they are always so nice to us and the kids.


Brandy had a couple Wyland pieces and its always fun to look. I fell in love with a dining room table but alas it wouldn't fit in our house so I had to leave it there.

Jon almost bought a ring, but in the end we headed out without buying anything. Our transportation plan was to catch a bus from Boardwalk to MK to get back to WL. We got to the bus stop at 3:57, and it showed a MK bus at 4:07. We were surprised at the small bus stop area for Boardwalk, and it was fairly crowded with people going to other parks and DIsney Springs. It also stood out to us that they don't have buses to Epcot or HS, and we know they have boats but we really like that WL has multiple options.



Overall I don't think Boardwalk is on our short list of likely places we'd stay next.

I'd say it would be nice to visit, but if we had the choice we'd all prefer Beach Club for an Epcot area stay since we'd get to visit Stormalong Bay. The bus arrived at 4:09 and went directly to MK, arriving at 4:21. There we walked to the WL bus stop and waited for a bus until 4:38.


They did a driver swap, and it left at 4:43 and then arrived at WL at 4:48. It was another example of how you just can't get from resort to resort quickly when you need to use multiple modes of transportation.

On the way up we stopped at the Mercantile, and I got a new Wilderness Lodge Polo. Allie talked me into buying her an egg shaped rock that I had avoided buying in the past, but finally gave in since I am a pushover.

She can really get whatever she wants for the most part out of him, not that I'm complaining because I do too.

Once we were back at the resort it was time for the pool!

After getting to the room about 5:00, we changed into our swim clothes and went to the main pool.

When we got to the pool Allie went to get in line for the slide to get in the pool the first time. As we went in the steps, we saw a boy struggling near the outlet of the slide.

As soon as I realized this kid was having an issue the lifeguard blew her whistle and was in the pool.

It was impressive, and she was fast. The poor little boy was so scared, and told her "Thank You". She was so great about it though, not making him feel bad at all. She took him to the side of the pool and made sure he was ok, then another lifeguard got him a life jacket so that he could enjoy the rest of his afternoon at the pool. While his parents were not particularly appreciative, we sure were and the kid knew that she had saved him. Then she got a towel, dried off, and returned to her post so that they could restart the slide. We've seen and commented on the professionalism of Disney lifeguards before, but this was another great example.

Paul wrote an email to the hotel duty manager to commend her on her professionalism and skill in recognizing the kid was in trouble and she emailed back saying that the lifeguard would be recognized.

I figured I had to write and say something because this lifeguard, who's name was Jade, had done her job absolutely perfectly and was left without being properly thanked for saving this boy. She knew she had done well, but I wanted to make sure that her management knew she was appreciated too.

The rest of our swim was pretty uneventful, the kids had a ball with the slide.

We also went over to the Boulder Ridge Cove pool before heading up to the room. Melissa got to enjoy a few minutes in the hot tub there, which was nice.

My ankle really enjoyed the hot tub. I really did great walking on the trip but the hot water felt really good.

We got up to the room about 6:00, and saw that maintenance was there working on the door to the master bathroom, which wouldn't latch. It wasn't going well, and the poor tech had to bring in extra help, but they got it figured out eventually.

Dinner for the night was room service pizza! We really enjoyed this last trip when we were staying in the cabin.


This worked out so well! It was fairly quick, and only $65 for two large pizzas, which was dinner for the 6 of us. It was one of our cheapest meals of the trip, and it was neat to get to enjoy it in the room.


We really enjoyed the pizza and this will likely be put in our normal meal rotation.

Our plan for the rest of the evening was a Happily Ever After fireworks cruise from WL. We left the room about 7:40 to go to the boat rental dock and head out for our ride.

We'll cover this in the next update, because we have a whole bunch of pictures to include. Fortunately we have them ready to go, so scroll down for the double update!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we left off, we were headed out for a Fireworks Cruise from WL. This was a first for us, having done an Illuminations cruise last trip, so we figured we'd try it from our resort this time.

When we got down to the marina they were ready and waiting for us.


They suggested we make one last potty stop, so I took Marshall to the restroom, and I'm glad I did, since I had to go again by the time we got back. We signed the waivers and got the kids life jackets then met our Captain, Shawn.



We were early which was nice because we got a longer tour of both Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon.

When we got on the boat it had a basket of snacks which included rice crispy treats, which the kids loved.



The towels were even laid out in a hidden Mickey, so I had to take a picture of it.


They also include an ice chest of drinks on these cruises which include coke products and water. It really feels special.

As we left the resort I got some sunset pictures of WL, with the 8:00 Geyser erupting.



We started out with a clockwise circle of Bay Lake. We went over by the Contemporary, then headed toward Discovery Island.



Allie loved that he talked about the Island's former use as an animal park prior to AK, and we even pulled up to the dock on the island which he lit up with a spot light for us.

Shawn was a great captain and was super animated. He did a great job making the tour fun and interesting.

He told us a cute story about his daughter living in a shed on the island, and he even used his actual daughter's name. Allie got into it...

From the island we went past the shoe tree and over to what was River Country. He slowed and pointed out the Reflections construction, although we pretty much had the same view from the transportation boats. Then we made our way across the water bridge to the Seven Seas Lagoon.

We went colckwise around there too, hanging out by the Poly bungalos and then by the main beach.



He mentioned how when he was growing up his grandparents lived across the street from the King who performs at the Spirit of Aloha show, who is also a martial arts instructor. He's just the kind of guy with lots of interesting stores, and a fun way of telling them.

We saw some of the Electrical Water Parade, then made our way to the area in front of the transportation boat dock, with a clear view of the castle. Unlike with the Illuminations cruise, here the baots are all free floating, so the Captain has a lot of control over exactly what you see and where the boat is. Shawn did an amazing job at this too. We always had the castle in clear view. They played the soundtrack from the show over the boat's speakers, and it was an amazing experience.


Marshall was kind of all over the place before the fireworks show but once the fireworks started he sat down to watch and then fell asleep.


He had a lot of fun before then though, and was doing everything he could think of to stay awake.

I loved the experience, and getting to shoot some neat pictures with the new camera. I look a lot more than this, but I wanted to share some of my favorites.









This was hands down the best way to watch fireworks. I absolutely loved the fireworks cruise.

When the fireworks were over we made our way back across the water bridge and headed towards the WL dock. We were all so happy, it was a great time. This was the best "extra" experience we have ever done at Disney, and in my opinion was well worth the $286.60 with the DVC Discount (plus a nice tip for Shawn).


I enjoyed this fireworks cruise more than the Illuminations cruise but I would hands down recommend both. We also found during the trip that they do cruises for the party fireworks.

Yeah, we had scheduled this to avoid a party night, and it worked out well since the regular fireworks are earlier, but it would have been possible to do it for Halloween Party fireworks too.

When we got back to the dock I rushed up to the restroom, having had too many mug refills before the trip. That is the only thing I would do differently, I'd make sure to drink a little less before heading out on the two hour boat ride.

That evening I walked around back at WL and took some more pictures, including this one of the waterfall with the moon over our room. I love this place!


We then headed up to the room and went to bed fairly early, since we knew we had a breakfast ADR coming up the next morning...

 

[Eeyore daily]

I love the wyland gallery, it's so hard to not buy anything when I walk through there. The photos you got on the fireworks cruise are amazing!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Love all of your photos!

I'm glad you commended the lifeguard, I can't believe the parents weren't more appreciative. I feel like people like that would be the first to complain if the lifeguard hadn't done her job!

I feel like I need to reconsider the fireworks cruise for MK now! Looks like it was a fabulous time!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We were once again not disappointed with our meal. We opted not to have dessert even though it was hard to turn down green tea icecream.

Do you find yourself saying "no" to dessert when you aren't on the dining plan?

I don't think we bought anything, but we enjoyed hanging out in the air conditioning and enjoyed the museum-like area at the far end of the store.

The store is always interesting and we enjoy going through it. The museum section is nice, too.

We caught our first glimpse of skyliner cabs.

I can't wait to ride these in just a few days.

Brandy made the profound statement that "Boats are always better."

Boats are better, especially when the boat is ready to go and you are getting off at the first stop.

Cheesecake brownie

I love the cheesecake brownie. We will often get dessert here when we stay at the BC.

They did a driver swap, and it left at 4:43 and then arrived at WL at 4:48. It was another example of how you just can't get from resort to resort quickly when you need to use multiple modes of transportation.

We've had some very long trips via Disney buses when going resort to resort. One time we had dinner at Cape May and decided to take the MK bus to get back to the WL. It was a MNSSHP night and we ended up being the only ones on the bus. I was really tempted to ask the bus driver if he would drop us off at the WL, especially when the bus dropped us off at the depot that was farthest from the WL bus stop.

I figured I had to write and say something because this lifeguard, who's name was Jade, had done her job absolutely perfectly and was left without being properly thanked for saving this boy. She knew she had done well, but I wanted to make sure that her management knew she was appreciated too.

That was really nice of you. I've heard that management does a great job of acknowledging the CM who gets these kind of compliments.

Dinner for the night was room service pizza! We really enjoyed this last trip when we were staying in the cabin.

You might as well take advantage of the full kitchen. And eating in the villa would save a lot of time.

As we left the resort I got some sunset pictures of WL, with the 8:00 Geyser erupting.

Those are nice pictures.

Allie loved that he talked about the Island's former use as an animal park prior to AK, and we even pulled up to the dock on the island which he lit up with a spot light for us.

We took our kids on Discovery Island when it was open. It wasn't very big and it didn't take long to explore it. But it was fun to take a boat to an island in a lake in WDW.

We always had the castle in clear view. They played the soundtrack from the show over the boat's speakers, and it was an amazing experience.

The captain did a nice job of lining you up so that the castle was in the center of the fireworks.

I loved the experience, and getting to shoot some neat pictures with the new camera. I look a lot more than this, but I wanted to share some of my favorites.

Love the pictures.

we had scheduled this to avoid a party night, and it worked out well since the regular fireworks are earlier, but it would have been possible to do it for Halloween Party fireworks too.

I would love to see the party fireworks but 10:15 pm is too late for us.

 

[Nohal]

I'm enjoying your trip report. We were there the same time as you and boy was it hot! Teppan Edo is also one of our favorite restaurants.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Wow I knew Fort Wilderness would be affected by the Reflections construction but I didn't realize how close it was to Pioneer Hall!

That fireworks cruise from WL sounds great and not a bad price for a private cruise!

 

[DLo]

Hopping aboard a little late. Looks like a great start to the trip. The fireworks cruise looks amazing. What a scary situation at the pool but sounds like it was handled the best way possible. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I love the wyland gallery, it's so hard to not buy anything when I walk through there. The photos you got on the fireworks cruise are amazing!

We really enjoy visiting the gallery. It is a nice cool, quiet alternative to the parks. Thanks, we loved how the pictures turned out too.

Love all of your photos!

I'm glad you commended the lifeguard, I can't believe the parents weren't more appreciative. I feel like people like that would be the first to complain if the lifeguard hadn't done her job!

I feel like I need to reconsider the fireworks cruise for MK now! Looks like it was a fabulous time!

Thanks! We have always been impressed with Disney lifeguards and how seriously they take their job compared to other places we visit, and in this case it really made a difference for a little boy. I'm glad the manager appreciated the e-mail, and I hope Jade feels good about the recognition. I agree that the parents might not have been the most pleasant people, but perhaps they were just embarrassed by the whole situation as well. At least they didn't have anything to complain about, and were able to go on with their day.
We didn't even consider a fireworks cruise for years because of the high cost, but when you consider that it's one total price for everybody it really isn't that bad by Disney standards. We enjoyed the Illuminations one too, but did prefer this one because of the longer boat ride. It made it a nice long event, and it was so easy to do from WL rather than migrating over to an Epcot resort.

Do you find yourself saying "no" to dessert when you aren't on the dining plan?

We do love our desserts, but it was nice to have hte flexibility to have dessert elsewhere later, like we did with Teppan Edo and Boardwalk Bakery. We also tended to share desserts more not being on the plan.

The store is always interesting and we enjoy going through it. The museum section is nice, too.

Yeah, it is just so unique, and one of our favorite places in World Showcase. We find stuff there that you just can't find anywhere else, at least anywhere besides Japan...

I can't wait to ride these in just a few days.

Yay! They have grown on us, and we are more excited about them now than we were during the initial construction. Understanding how the three lines work with the hub at COronado SPrings makes sense, and hopefully they turn out to be an effective transportation option. We will definitely ride them to Riviera in February, and will be more likely to make it back to Pop and Art of Animation now too.

Boats are better, especially when the boat is ready to go and you are getting off at the first stop.

Yeah, it might have been a different deal if we had to wait too long for the boat, or were going to Beach club. Then we'd probably walk and hop in the AC as soon as possible. We did that later in the trip.

I love the cheesecake brownie. We will often get dessert here when we stay at the BC.

We have gotten it before and it is a favorite. We really like that we can fill our mugs at Boardwalk Bakery too.

We've had some very long trips via Disney buses when going resort to resort. One time we had dinner at Cape May and decided to take the MK bus to get back to the WL. It was a MNSSHP night and we ended up being the only ones on the bus. I was really tempted to ask the bus driver if he would drop us off at the WL, especially when the bus dropped us off at the depot that was farthest from the WL bus stop.

Ugh yeah. We were really hoping that our bus from Boardwalk would become a bus to WL, so we wouldn't have to get off and migrate to find the other bus stop, but we weren't quite that lucky. Later on we used Minnie Vans for resort to resort transportation, and that sure was nice.

That was really nice of you. I've heard that management does a great job of acknowledging the CM who gets these kind of compliments.

I'm glad that our interaction with WL management was to compliment a CM. I'm sure they get tired of only hearing about the negative, so it is fun for everybody when a guest is made happy and chooses to share the experience.

You might as well take advantage of the full kitchen. And eating in the villa would save a lot of time.

Our issue is that it is still a pain to cook, especially for 6 people, and one of our favorite things about WDW is the food. The pizza was a great alternative though, and allowed us to enjoy eating in the room without anyone having to really cook.

Those are nice pictures.
We took our kids on Discovery Island when it was open. It wasn't very big and it didn't take long to explore it. But it was fun to take a boat to an island in a lake in WDW.
The captain did a nice job of lining you up so that the castle was in the center of the fireworks.
Love the pictures.
I would love to see the party fireworks but 10:15 pm is too late for us.

Thanks, it was fin to get to take so many pictures from the fireworks cruise. When we rent a boat I don't get to take as many since I'm driving. ALso it was so cool to be on the water at sunset, which you can't do with a boat rental.
We saw way more of the castle than we expected to, and a lot of that was because of Shawn's skill and experience. It just worked out perfectly.

I'm enjoying your trip report. We were there the same time as you and boy was it hot! Teppan Edo is also one of our favorite restaurants.

We're glad that you are enjoying it. It did feel particularly warm this trip, especially without the usual afternoon rain to cool things off. Teppan Edo is one that just continues to impress us, despite having heard some so-so review comments, like "it's just like Benihanna, you can do that at home." We really enjoy the show and the interaction, and I'll still put that steak up against any I've had at WDW. It is great!

Wow I knew Fort Wilderness would be affected by the Reflections construction but I didn't realize how close it was to Pioneer Hall!

Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise for us too. I knew they ahd debated whether the existing buildings would be removed or not, and now I see why. I think once the construction is done most of the resort buildings will be a little further away, with parking and other areas between FW and Reflections, except for along the shoreline where the rooms will get really close to the existing beach.

That fireworks cruise from WL sounds great and not a bad price for a private cruise!

That's what we've come to realize. It doesn't matter if you have enough people to fill the boat, the experience of being out on the water with your friends and family and getting a great view for the show it totally worth it.

Hopping aboard a little late. Looks like a great start to the trip. The fireworks cruise looks amazing. What a scary situation at the pool but sounds like it was handled the best way possible. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures.

We're glad that you found us, and we're really just getting started. We had an awesome couple of days to kick things off, and there are more great days to come. The pool thing was impressive because the lifeguard's diligence and professionalism kept it from being a big deal, and that's what was so impressive about it.
We've got lots more to share coming up soon.