She's Adding All The Extras, a January 2022 Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge Split Stay Trip Report (Updated 4/24)

[Wood Nymph]

As we got to the boat dock there was a big boat still there, and we hopped on instead of heading back to the room for more clothes.

We would have jumped on the boat, too. It takes so long to run back to the room that you might have missed two boats by then.

He was freezing and I was freezing so we got more souveniers! Marshall got an Encanto sweater jacket thing and I got a sweatshirt.

It looks like Marshall will fit in the jacket for awhile. Melissa's sweatshirt should have a picture of Wilderness Lodge instead of the castle, because WL feels like home.

He was my ride buddy on this one again, he said he wanted to drive but then let me do it from the passenger seat.

The kids need someone to push the gas pedal. The Speedway is a lot of fun for kids.

 

[AliceNDinah]

I sound like a broken record by now, but your pictures are truly to die for. Such a fun trip, sad to see it's coming to a close. Forgive me because you've probably said it, but are you planning to go back anytime soon? We are doing the Beach Club Villas in August, and I'm seriously counting down, ha ha.

 

[rdkeim]

Brrrrr you were troopers with the cold temps. But, how could you skip MK on your last day? The artwork looks great in your house! Thanks for sharing. Nice to have a new home with more wall space I've really enjoyed following along - hope your trip home went well.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We would have jumped on the boat, too. It takes so long to run back to the room that you might have missed two boats by then.

Yeah, we couldn't believe our luck to walk up to a boat, so we had to take advantage of it.

It looks like Marshall will fit in the jacket for awhile. Melissa's sweatshirt should have a picture of Wilderness Lodge instead of the castle, because WL feels like home.

Yeah, our choices in jackets that would fit Marshall (or even be close) were pretty slim, but fortunately we found one he liked and it should be around for a while.

The kids need someone to push the gas pedal. The Speedway is a lot of fun for kids.

Our parental duty is to "floor it" so they can focus on steering it, or not....

I sound like a broken record by now, but your pictures are truly to die for. Such a fun trip, sad to see it's coming to a close. Forgive me because you've probably said it, but are you planning to go back anytime soon? We are doing the Beach Club Villas in August, and I'm seriously counting down, ha ha.

Thanks so much. Some of the pictures get repetitive too, but they are each a little different, and different people prefer different ones. They are all fun to share.

We don't currently have another WDW trip on the calendar yet, but we are tentatively planning for Fall of 2023. That should give us time to get tings in place at work to be able to take some time with both of us off again. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Nancy are going to WL in December 2022 for their 50th anniversary, but I don't think we can make it for that one.

We are going to Hawaii next week though for a freiend's wedding, and were able to extend the trip to spend a few days at Aulani. We are looking forward to that.

Brrrrr you were troopers with the cold temps. But, how could you skip MK on your last day? The artwork looks great in your house! Thanks for sharing. Nice to have a new home with more wall space I've really enjoyed following along - hope your trip home went well.

Thanks. The cold temps were fine, we just didn't leave the room as prepared as we should have. It was nice to squeeze in some rides, even if we didn't make Mine Train. We enjoyed the chance to hang out at MK before saying bye for a little bit.

We love having the artwork at home, and anyone who comes over knows that we are into Disney. that's fine with us, it brings a little bit of vacation into our everyday.

We'll post the rest of the day soon, and share our WL departure and flight home. It wasn't perfect, but we all made it without much problem at all.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Wishing you a fun Hawaii trip! I hope there will be a trip report for that one, also!

 

[MikeWsGirl]

We definitely want to show the artwork in its spot at home, so why not now. Great idea!

The rainy day castle is in our front room:



The Mickey and Minnie coffee moved around a couple of times but found a home in the living room.


The Woah Botz have a special shelf in the living room too. (Note that the ray gun is no longer a lonely single item... We bought a true woah bot to keep him company once we got home.)


The Lego Mickey and Minnie are in our entry way. (Finally, as of Yesterday...)


The Larry Dotson Fort Wilderness and Beach Club prints were added to our Dotson wall...


The other castles are by the back door.


And finally the Noah Mickey roadster (that we bought on Shop Disney from WL) is in our hallway.

Thank you for posting all the art in your house. I was curious about how it all looked together. Are you running out of wall space?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Wishing you a fun Hawaii trip! I hope there will be a trip report for that one, also!

We will have to write something up. It isn't all Disney, since the first three nights are at a different resort, but we will have to share our take on a whole new time zone of Disney fun.

Thank you for posting all the art in your house. I was curious about how it all looked together. Are you running out of wall space?

No problem, thanks for your interest. We went from under 1000 sq ft to over 2000, so we felt like we had a lot of wall space to fill, but we like how we have done it so far. There aren't many bare spots, and now we are rearranging and moving some stuff around, but overall we love it.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We left the park at 10:09, and we were headed towards the buses when we saw a red flag boat at the dock. We got on it qat 10:13, and discussed bringing back the Blue Fl;ag boats with the boat driver. He emphasized his opinion that they will only be brought back by guests requesting them from Disney however they could.


We really missed the Blue Flag boats this trip. He said to write letters, put it in surveys, and to make phone calls to encourage Disney to bring them back.

We had the boat to ourselves, arriving back to WL at 10:24.


We then went up to our room, where we soaked it in for a few more minutes.


We called Bell Services to come get our bags. This worked out great, since we were able to have them bring them straight to the car when our driver arrived, and we didn't have to deal with them for the next hour or so.

Once we were moved out of our room and free from our bags we decided to get some lunch.


We followed the kids down to Roaring Fork via the 2nd floor and the stairs by the waterfall. We got there a few minutes before lunch started, so we couldn't do a mobile order yet. Instead I waited in line and placed the order at 10:58, which the CM warned us would cause a bit of delay, but it was still quicker than waiting to mobile order.

The wait was fine. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and it was so so good.

While we waited I saw another guest had a WL sweatshirt that I had never seen before. With that, my e-Bay mission was in place. (Spoiler alert, I found one a few weeks later, stalked it, and bought it a few weeks after that...)

Once we got our food, I was pretty disaponted in my burger. It was just a very typical theme park burger, with nothing to make it special. It was my least favorite burger, and meal, of the trip.


I have loved Roaring Fork in the past, and Melissa's pulled pork and the fries were still good, but this burger wasn't what it used to be for me.

I felt bad but really enjoyed my sandwich.

No problem, it was a good sandwich.

After we finished up lunch we headed up to the lobby to wait for our car.


We didn't have to pick up our bags like we usually do for the bus, since we knew the car would wait for Bell Services. We took a few last pics, then made a potty stop with the kids. At 11:45 we got a text saying that our car was ready for us and waiting at WL.

It was so much more relaxing having the car pick us up. I always feel the pressure like we’re gonna miss the bus.

Yes! That was always one of the high stress points of the trip, and this was so easy. The car was a black suburban, and the driver had an ipad with our name on it.


Bell services brought our bags to the car, and we hopped in. The kids rode in the third row and we sat in the second row.


We left WL at 12:02, and arrived at the airport at 12:33, meaning the car was a huge time saver too.


She even offered to help us with checking our bags with a sky cap outside when we got to the airport but we had some shuffling to do with our carryons so we drug our own bags inside.


We also had quite a bit of extra time, as we had gotten a text sayign that our plane was delayed, so we had plenty of time to kill at the airport. Once we were ready we dropped off our two checked bags, the stroller, and also checked one of our carry ons for free. After dropping the bags, we checked out the area of the airport outside of security, including both Disney stores.


Paul is a pushover and Allie talked him into a new set of earings from the Disney Store.


She hadn't gotten any earrings all trip, and I am the ultimate sucker.

Its ok, he likes to spoil both his girls.

We sat outside of security for a while, then went inside and had no trouble at all going through security.


We got some seats near the gate, and Allie got out her homework.


At 3:15 I went and got us Starbucks, and made it back with it by 3:35.


We just had a LOT of waiting at the airport which was unplanned because they kept pushing our flight back.

After we were properly caffeinated, I went and got some food at 4:15 from Nathan's hot dogs.


We had chili dogs, ALlie had chili fries, and Marshall had chicken, and the total was only $25, which seemed like a great deal. It's funny how Disney makes even the airport food seem cheap.

It was the perfect airport dinner.

Before long it was time to get on the plane.

Our flight began boarding at 5:02, and we made it on at 5:27.


We sat there on the plane until after 6, but then finally were on our way.


I made Paul play Tic Tac Toe with me on the plane.


And then Allie joined us for a word scramble game. It was fun.

I also worked on the iPad and looked at pictures and took notes from the trip.

I appearently also took lots of pictures of the map on the in flight entertainment system.

We made it to LAX without any problems and all of our bags made it intact. The next challenge was to make sure our car didn’t get towed.

We parked in a portion of the parking garage that was still open, but a lot of it was under construction. When we got back, most of the garage was empty. Fortunately our car was still there.


It was the only one left on that floor which was really eerie.

Yeah, I'm thinking that garage probably isn't even there anymore.

Lol probably not.

The drive home was uneventful, and we made it to bed shortly after midnight.

And thus ends our latest Disney World trip.

Fortunately we have another Disney adveture coming up very soon, as we are getting ready to head to Hawaii, including three nights at Aulani. It isn't a full Disney trip, but will definitely have hints of the mouse.

Thanks for following along! We really enjoyed sharing and reliving our trip with everyone.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I like your sunset picture out the plane window, and also Melissa's "Feels good to be home" sweatshirt. Paul, do you have a picture of your new WL sweatshirt that you bought on eBay?

I'm so glad you plan to do some kind of a write-up of your upcoming Hawaii trip! It's always fun reading about your family's adventures. No problem that the first part of that trip won't be Disney. Lately a lot of us have started exploring more other types of destinations anyway.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

Can you share the details of the car service you used?

 

[Wood Nymph]

We left the park at 10:09, and we were headed towards the buses when we saw a red flag boat at the dock.

You really got a lot done in a very short time.

I hope they bring the blue flag boats back soon. They are so convenient.

It was so much more relaxing having the car pick us up. I always feel the pressure like we’re gonna miss the bus.

It is stressful to go to a park and then try to get back to the resort in time for the bus. I think a lot of people are going to be moving to a car service now that the bus is no longer free.

We also had quite a bit of extra time, as we had gotten a text saying that our plane was delayed, so we had plenty of time to kill at the airport.

What was your original departure time?

Paul is a pushover and Allie talked him into a new set of earrings from the Disney Store.

Earrings are very small and easy to pack.

We had chili dogs, ALlie had chili fries, and Marshall had chicken, and the total was only $25, which seemed like a great deal. It's funny how Disney makes even the airport food seem cheap.

Disney prices also make hotel rooms in other locations seem cheap.

We parked in a portion of the parking garage that was still open, but a lot of it was under construction. When we got back, most of the garage was empty. Fortunately our car was still there.

That would have been a real mess if your car had been towed somewhere else.

Fortunately we have another Disney adventure coming up very soon, as we are getting ready to head to Hawaii, including three nights at Aulani. It isn't a full Disney trip, but will definitely have hints of the mouse.

I hope you can report back about your trip to Hawaii, even if it is just a short one. I hope you have a great trip.

 

[princessbelle2015]

I really enjoyed your trip report. I hope you love Hawaii. It's beautiful!

 

[AliceNDinah]

Thanks---such a great report! I love Marshall's face in the Roaring Fork picture, ha! I don't follow a whole lot of people here, but always make sure to take the time for your wonderful reports!!! I still say you'd be such a fun, awesome gang to do a trip with, Brandy and Jon included. Hope your Hawaii trip is great also, can't wait to hear about it. Thank you again, so fun to follow along!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I like your sunset picture out the plane window, and also Melissa's "Feels good to be home" sweatshirt. Paul, do you have a picture of your new WL sweatshirt that you bought on eBay?

I'm so glad you plan to do some kind of a write-up of your upcoming Hawaii trip! It's always fun reading about your family's adventures. No problem that the first part of that trip won't be Disney. Lately a lot of us have started exploring more other types of destinations anyway.

I had taken a picture of the other guy wearing the sweatshirt at Roaring Fork, but I guess Melissa thought it would be too weird to use that one. Here's the one that I bought:



We are glad that you'd be interested in reading about our Hawaii adventures. We'll figure out where to put them and post a link.

Can you share the details of the car service you used?

Yes, we used Black Diamond transportation, the same company we used for the limo for our arrival. They were great, and the price for the car was $133 one way. We just recommended them to my parents for their December trip, and feel that it is worth the cost over Mears because of the huge amount of time it saves. A rideshare might be cheaper, but it is nice to have a sure thing.

You really got a lot done in a very short time.

It was a productive morning.

I hope they bring the blue flag boats back soon. They are so convenient.

They really are, and add a lot of value to WL for us by making it so easy to get around. Now the CR is a bit of a trek requiring two modes of transportation...

It is stressful to go to a park and then try to get back to the resort in time for the bus. I think a lot of people are going to be moving to a car service now that the bus is no longer free.

Yeah, we didn't like going to parks on our departure day for a while, but from WL it isn't too bad. The car service relieved a lot of that stress, especially in regards to picking up the bags from bell services.

What was your original departure time?

I think our original departure time was 3:00 our 3:30, and we didn't want to cut it close so we got picked up at noon. It wound up being almost 6 by the time the flight took off. Oh well, it is a nice airport.

Earrings are very small and easy to pack.

Yes, at least it wasn't a giant stuffed animal...

Disney prices also make hotel rooms in other locations seem cheap.

Yeah, we will test that theory this week in Hawaii... We will see...

That would have been a real mess if your car had been towed somewhere else.

We were careful to park where there were no signs, but it was weird and we had been there for quite some time.

I hope you can report back about your trip to Hawaii, even if it is just a short one. I hope you have a great trip.

Thanks, we are looking forward to it, and will share what Aulani is like.

I really enjoyed your trip report. I hope you love Hawaii. It's beautiful!

Thank you so much! We have never been and are really looking forward to it.

Thanks---such a great report! I love Marshall's face in the Roaring Fork picture, ha! I don't follow a whole lot of people here, but always make sure to take the time for your wonderful reports!!! I still say you'd be such a fun, awesome gang to do a trip with, Brandy and Jon included. Hope your Hawaii trip is great also, can't wait to hear about it. Thank you again, so fun to follow along! yt

Thank you for following along and for your kind words. We are amazed and flattered that people enjoy following our reports. We do have a lot of fun!

 

[suse66]

We really missed the Blue Flag boats this trip. He said to write letters, put it in surveys, and to make phone calls to encourage Disney to bring them back.

I really missed them last trip as well. I will write to Disney too. Also, I have to say I love your sweatshirt, Melissa!

Fortunately we have another Disney adveture coming up very soon, as we are getting ready to head to Hawaii, including three nights at Aulani. It isn't a full Disney trip, but will definitely have hints of the mouse.

I am excited to follow along! We are hoping to go to Aulani next year.

 

[nascargirl]

Looking forward to hearing about your Hawaii trip. We are going the end of May.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I really missed them last trip as well. I will write to Disney too. Also, I have to say I love your sweatshirt, Melissa!

I am excited to follow along! We are hoping to go to Aulani next year.

Let’s keep the pressure on for Blue Flag boats. The sweatshirt was one she has been eyeing all trip, but helped keep her warm that last morning.

We will have to do a full report on Hawaii and Aulani. We are here now and it is a beautiful (and large) resort. It is an excellent place to stay, and Oahu has so much to see and do, it is a great time.

Looking forward to hearing about your Hawaii trip. We are going the end of May.

Cool! Hopefully we get some of it written up in time for you, but we do have some quick suggestions. Don’t over schedule trying to cram everything in, since much like Disneyworld you just can’t do it all in a short timeframe, but you can run yourself ragged trying. We loved having our own car, and how it let us see less visited areas of the island. Also we completely agree with going to Monkeypod, see below.

YES! Go to Monkeypod lol. It's one of the restaurants in the nearby shopping center, it is walking distance. It was a top highlight of our trip. We also really enjoyed renting DVDs from the community room and just lounging on the couch in the evenings with the patio doors open seeing the sunset and the waves and watching movies (not a ton of night life). The shave ice with condensed milk sounds weird- it is great. Poke bowls were what my partner ate every day for lunch. We also did a car service one day to drive around the whole island, which was pretty cool to see so many spots. Stopped for lunch at Turtle Bay which we loved too. All in all, we loved Aulani, BUT we also love Hawaii in general so we were easy to please. Do you know about the secret beach to see turtles at just past the four seasons?

Thanks again for this great advice. We went to Monkeypod for a late lunch yesterday and really enjoyed it. It is nice to have something else so close to the resort. We too are loving Hawaii and all there is to see and do. Aulani is definitely a first class resort and adds to the Hawaii must-dos.
The shave ice was great (and probably will be again today…). We didn’t hike over to the secret beach yet, but may go check it out today.

 

[kkediana]

Hi, I just started reading your trip reports, they are very entertaining and I like the way you guys all get along and bring your friends with you as well. I read your very first trip report , then one in the middle and then this recent one and it’s funny to see how your tastes have changed. You went from liking the food court at Pop ( or one of the other discount resorts) to oysters Rockefeller, lol!
I’m jealous that you live in California, I’m in Connecticut and the weather is so cold for half of the year. Although we are spoiled that we can go to Boston, New York City or the shoreline on a day trip, I have to keep reminding myself of that because we are having a very cold spring. Rain doesn’t seem to bother you as much in Florida as it would us.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi, I just started reading your trip reports, they are very entertaining and I like the way you guys all get along and bring your friends with you as well. I read your very first trip report , then one in the middle and then this recent one and it’s funny to see how your tastes have changed. You went from liking the food court at Pop ( or one of the other discount resorts) to oysters Rockefeller, lol!
I’m jealous that you live in California, I’m in Connecticut and the weather is so cold for half of the year. Although we are spoiled that we can go to Boston, New York City or the shoreline on a day trip, I have to keep reminding myself of that because we are having a very cold spring. Rain doesn’t seem to bother you as much in Florida as it would us.

That’s great, we are glad that you enjoy all of the reports from over the years. It is funny how we’ve all grown up, but we still would enjoy a good meal at the Pop food court, or at least some tie dye cheesecake. We have been able to expand our culinary horizons with our Disney trips, and Allie has grown into quite a foodie.

We were broken in to rain in Florida on our honeymoon trip, and most of the trips since. We still love going in September, and rain is just part of the fun then. At least it cools things off a bit. Either way you can’t do anything about the weather, so we just go with it. Plus rain is a novelty to us from Southern California.

 

[rdkeim]

As always, loved following along on your latest Disney adventure! Glad you make it home OK and your car was still there. Even with some of the negative changes Disney has made, it's still a fun place and I'm looking forward to going back sometime next year. Hoping they will re-think some of the things that are clearly not working. Have a great time in Hawaii - looking forward to reading about it!