She's On Top of the World, a September 2018 TR at Copper Creek Villas and Cabins (Completed 12/20)

Seeing photos like this make me really wish I could be motivated enough to get up early on vacation.
Yeah, it really is nice to see the resort and the sunrise without a whole lot of people around. It gets the day off to a great start.

That's alot of luggage. I can see why you ordered bell services.
Yeah, with 6 people and a bunch of stuff it was nice to have them take care of it.

That's too bad. Poor guy.
Yeah, I felt bad because he really did want to ride it, but he' only two so he'll have plenty of opportunity to ride it on future trips.

Is that a photo you took? It looks like a promo shot. (We've never eaten there)
Yes, surprisingly that is one of ours. We went back to double check that it was one we took. We actually took it on the way out, but it is funny how the random people in it look like they were posed there.
It is a fun place to eat, and Allie loved it so much that it is on the list for next year.
 
We had walked through that Cast Member only gate back when the nature trail was still open and came upon the old River Country site. It was pretty cool to see it but a little unnerving to know that we were in the cast only area with cast members working there. No one said anything, though.

As I walked the trail, I could see many trees marked for upcoming construction. We know know that Disney announced a 900 room nature themed hotel project for this site. It was neat to be there before the big construction, and will be something we can watch progress over the next few years. WL will have a big new neighbor.
That was really cool to have seen the trees marked for the new site. Did you realize at the time was the markings were for?


I took it towards the cabins and eventually came to be back side of the "End of Trail" gate by cabin 8026.
Little did you know at the time that the gate you just climbed over would be right by your cabin. :)

I took Allie and the original plan was for her to be able to ride it twice but she was not thrilled with the ride. It scared her and she didn’t wanna ride again. I loved the ride though. It’s super cute and very very well themed.
I didn't like the ride and don't need to ever ride it again. I didn't like the hills and valleys.

We were seated quickly, since they asked us if we were ok with a car where we sit sideways to the screen. This was totally fine with us and worked great for our group.
It looks like you were in a "stretch limo" car. That would be nicer than a regular car. We ate their with our son, grandson and my sister back in June. The kids weren't too impressed with the place but my sister loved it. We had a really good time there.
 
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Your sunrise photos are stunning
Thanks. It is far more the location than the photographer though.

Wow - great job, nice and crisp:thumbsup2. Funny how you double checked.
Yeah, the people just looked like they were posed that way...

We had walked through that Cast Member only gate back when the nature trail was still open and came upon the old River Country site. It was pretty cool to see it but a little unnerving to know that we were in the cast only area with cast members working there. No one said anything, though.
Yeah, I had walked up to them, but never would walk through. This time I got there from the FW side and didn't notice any signs saying I was in a CM area. Soon I expect there will be a construction fence. I vaguely remember River Country from when I was 6, and I think it would be so cool if they pay tribute to it with the pool area at the new resort. Time will tell.

That was really cool to have seen the trees marked for the new site. Did you realize at the time was the markings were for?
We had a pretty good idea, with the rumors about development there having been around for so long. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, and especially to see how it affects Fort Wilderness.

Little did you know at the time that the gate you just climbed over would be right by your cabin. :)
We had high hopes, since we really wanted a cabin in that section. I just knew that the sunrise from the balcony there would be neat, and it lived up to my high hopes.

I didn't like the ride and don't need to ever ride it again. I didn't like the hills and valleys.
I bet you were on the left, or outside of the track. Everything seems to be exaggerated on that side. I was on the right and enjoyed it. I think Allie will give it another try next year. Maybe the hype about it will calm down though and it won't be as hard to get.

It looks like you were in a "stretch limo" car. That would be nicer than a regular car. We ate their with our son, grandson and my sister back in June. The kids weren't too impressed with the place but my sister loved it. We had a really good time there.
Yeah, we liked having a more conventional table for the large group. It was a lot of fun, and the food was fine. We are optimistic that it might get even better since they moved a chef from D-Luxe burger over there, which could improve the burger quality.
 
When we left off, we had left Hollywood Studios en route to WL. We left the park at 2:40, and got to the bus stop at 2:55 (since the walk was just as far as on the way in.) The bus came at 3:04, and got to WL at 3:22. We went through the lobby and headed down to our cabin, where Jon and Brandy were waiting for us. It was on the Geyser Point // Fort Wilderness side, about halfway down. That made it a decent walk to go anywhere, because it was just past the end of the Boulder Ridge Villas building, but it was a beautiful walk.


I hadn't seen the cabins in person before now and walking in was incredible





We checked out our bedroom, which was had the bay window and the little fold down bed for Allie. It was a very nice room, but was of course smaller than the bedroom we had in our other room.



Allie was fine with the smaller bed, it just meant that Marshall would be with us, which he was just fine with as well. Our only issue with the room was that it did not have direct access to the bathroom, so we would have to go out and down the hall to go to the bathroom or shower, which required more planning for getting ready or taking showers.

It's for sure more convenient to have and en suite bath especially when sharing a room with another couple. We made it work though for the 3 days we got to stay there!

The living room though was absolutely amazing and super huge. It felt very homey, and even with the large dining table for 8 people there was room for people and the stroller and plenty of other places to sit at the bar or on the couch and chairs. The color changing pass through fireplace was pretty neat, and the TV mounted above it was massive.



We got settled in and called Bell Services to bring our luggage.

We had a ball just hanging out and playing with all the gadgets. It had more light switches than our house, and lots of different options. The power shades for the big windows to the porch were neat, with two different shade options.

The only thing we couldn't get working was the hot tub. We turned the dial, but it never really turned on the jets. while Brandy and I were trying to figure it out Jon called the front desk and they said they'd send someone down.

It was pretty funny watching Brandy and Paul try and figure out how to fix it while Jon just called.

The guy from Engineering got there just after Bell Services with all our bags. It turned out to not be super simple, and he had to call another guy and they worked on the pumps, which are in a vault between two cabins. They are grouped this way, with the pump equipment for two cabins in one shared location. We were excited to see inside and how everything worked.


They got it working, and we didn't feel bad for not being able to get it working ourselves.


While waiting for the hot tub, we had gotten changed into our swim clothes and decided to head over to the pool. This was Marshall's first chance to swim at a pool for the trip, and he did great. He liked the zero entry section of the new Villas pool, which wasn't far from our cabin.

As we got to the pool it started to sprinkle, but there wasn't lightning so the pool stayed open. It was a unique swimming experience, but we all enjoyed it.




It was crazy swimming in the rain. We discussed dinner a bit while we were at the pool. Our initial plan was to go to Geyser Point but with the ominous weather we decided to try to get into Whispering Canyon

We were able to get a Whispering Canyon ADR for that evening at 7:30, so we went for it. Allie wanted to go over to the big pool and do the slide, so Grandpa and I took her over there for a little bit.


We were able to see the geyser from there, and we think it was the 6:00 one.


While they played at the big pool Marsh and I decided to soak in the hot tub at the room for a bit. There was a lizard on the inside of the screen and I tried to “rescue” it and usher it outside the porch. Well it didn’t want my help and decided to jump in the water and then it bit me and fell in the water again. Finally I got him fished out of the hot tub and decided he probably didn’t need my help. Don’t mess with Florida Wildlife even tiny lizards.

Then we went back to the cabin to join Melissa and Marshall in our now functional hot tub before dinner.


On our way up to dinner we saw the campfire and smores that are on the North side of Geyser Point.


The marshmallows are free, but "smores kits" were $10 which seemed a little steep, but if we had time it would have been a fun activity. We just aren't at the resort very often in the early evening.

Maybe next time we’ll pack chocolate and graham crackers and chocolate. I like chocolate. That wasn't a typo.

We got to WCC on time, but it took over 30 minutes to get our table.


The kids enjoyed playing with the Lincoln Logs while we waited, and Marshall even insisted on bringing a few to the table with us. Guess what's on his birthday list...



Dinner was great though, and I had the ribs and Melissa got the pork. Grandpa did the all you can eat platter, and they kept him full, especially since he, Grandma, and Brandy did the unlimited milkshakes too.




Nikki was our server, and she played along great.


At one time she snuck up on me and surprised me, and then later she made fun of our trying to decide whether to order dessert. It turned in to quite a show with all the waitresses yelling about it. Melissa wound up getting the APPple Pie, which she loved and remembered from being here years before.

This was definitely one of my favorite meals of the trip. My dinner was great and the apple pie cake is soo good. It felt so relaxed.

It was fun, and you can’t beat the location. We should do this one more often than we do.

For sure. For some reason this one doesn’t seem to make the short list. But it should be a staple.

I like that we were able to add it on relatively short notice. After dinner we were all pretty tired, but Grandpa wanted Allie to be able to ride 7DMT again, and it was an extra magic hours night at MK, so we decided to head over there while everyone else went to the room or the bar. We got to the bus stop at 9:11 and a bus came at 9:13, but it then had to go to FW and got to MK at 9:31. We got a text from Melissa saying that she saw a deer on her way to the cabin.

The walk back to the cabin by myself in the dark was a little creepy but the path is very well lit. There was a deer hanging out outside our cabin but he didn’t let me get close. Not that I wanted to be.

We went straight to 7DMT and found the line to be a little long, but we got in it at 9:50 after checking our Magic Bands to show that we were resort guests. Without fastpass people coming in the line moved fairly quickly, and we were off of the ride by 10:23.


Marsh was exhausted from the long day and passed out on the couch. I left him there and watched the EWP from the porch.



I sent the boys pictures of the hot tub party lights.


We then headed out of the park, getting to the bus stop at 10:34.


A bus came at 10:42 and left at 10:46, getting us back to WL at 10:52. It was a bit of an extended evening, but Allie enjoyed her extra ride.


By the time they got back to the room was in bed watching TV.

Once we got back to the room we all went to sleep pretty quickly. I was excited to get to wake up in the cabin in the morning.

Read about our first full cabin day in the next update.
 
We love WCC! I think I will book it for my hubby and my upcoming Sept 2019 trip for arrival night since we are staying at WL. It is one of my hubby's favorite places to eat while there.
 


Yeah, that's neat that you got to see inside the pump equipment. And you wouldn't have if the water jets worked right in the first place, so it turned out for the best!
 
We love WCC! I think I will book it for my hubby and my upcoming Sept 2019 trip for arrival night since we are staying at WL. It is one of my hubby's favorite places to eat while there.
Yeah, it is fun and has that great location too. I still prefer the food at Trail's End over at Fort Wilderness (especially the ribs), but there's certainly room for both.

Yeah, that's neat that you got to see inside the pump equipment. And you wouldn't have if the water jets worked right in the first place, so it turned out for the best!
It definitely added to our trip. That's typical Disney, take something that could be negative and turn it into a positive for the guest. There's more to come about that too.

I'm loving the cabin pics! Staying in one is definitely on my bucket list...
They are awesome accommodations. After seeing one on the tour we knew it was a bucket list thing for us too. We are still amazed that we were able to accomplish it so soon, but it was definitely worth it. We have lots more pics to come, especially sunrise pics from the patio which we knew would be good and didn't disappoint.

That cabin seems heavenly! I would def feel bad not spending time in that!
We left the day free on Thursday so that we wouldn't have to leave if we didn't want to. It's still Disney though, and as expected we wound up heading over to play in the parks, at least for a little bit.
 
Hey guys! I just found your TR and I'm about halfway caught up but I just wanted to pop in and say hello! I am loving your tag-team style writing and the pics are amazing! Beautiful shots of the WL, and I love that pic of Marshall's reflection on the safari truck! That is such a great pic! Really looking forward to the rest of your trip!
 
Absolutely love your trip report! Wilderness Lodge was our honeymoon resort as well...great minds think alike! Your family and friends are awesome and I have enjoyed reading about your trip. Thanks so much for sharing!
 
Hey guys! I just found your TR and I'm about halfway caught up but I just wanted to pop in and say hello! I am loving your tag-team style writing and the pics are amazing! Beautiful shots of the WL, and I love that pic of Marshall's reflection on the safari truck! That is such a great pic! Really looking forward to the rest of your trip!
That’s great, we’re glad that you found it and are enjoying it. It’s a different way of writing the reports but it works for us. Thanks for joining in.

Love the cabin pictures
Thanks, so do we! We have lots more of them we took over the next few days too.

Absolutely love your trip report! Wilderness Lodge was our honeymoon resort as well...great minds think alike! Your family and friends are awesome and I have enjoyed reading about your trip. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks so much! We really feel like we found our perfect resort on our honeymoon and we just love going back. We are glad that you like following along. We have more to come from this trip, and then there’s planning for next year.
 
OMG! The cabin is beautiful! I didn't realize they each had a hot tub inside. That is so neat, and how relaxing after a day in the parks...Do you think you will stay in the cabins again???
 
Wow the cabins are so gorgeous! Although I am surprised there aren't en suite bathrooms. That seems like a miss since I imagine there are larger groups that stay in them!

What a fun way to end your trip in them!
 
:scared1: what I had no idea these cabins had hot tubs what an awesome perk, especially after along day in the parks.

WCC looks yummy.
Yeah, the hot tub on the porch facing the water was a huge selling point of the Cabins. We knew we would enjoy that, and we did. Sometimes it was a little hard to convince the kids that we weren't going to get in the hot tub at random times (like when we were on our way to a park or a meal), but fortunately it was fenced and Marshall couldn't get in on his own.

OMG! The cabin is beautiful! I didn't realize they each had a hot tub inside. That is so neat, and how relaxing after a day in the parks...Do you think you will stay in the cabins again???
Thanks, we all loved it. Brandy would love to have an exact copy of the cabin floorplan for a house at home, and I agree. With the big open living room it would be great for entertaining good sized groups without being a huge house.
We may stay in a cabin again sometime, but it isn't the "must do" that we feared it might be. Since the point cost per night is over double what it is to stay in a two bedroom it gets pretty hard to justify the cost. We loved the two bedroom, and staying twice as long in it is appealing. We could see a situation where we try out a 3 bedroom Grand Villa though, since it is only a few points more than a cabin, and would comfortably accommodate more people. Another drawback of the cabin is that it isn't in the main building of the Lodge, which is something we really appreciate about all other rooms at WL and Copper Creek. It is nice not to have to go outside to get to stuff, especially if it is raining. For next year, we are very excited about staying in a dedicated two bedroom the entire time.

Wow the cabins are so gorgeous! Although I am surprised there aren't en suite bathrooms. That seems like a miss since I imagine there are larger groups that stay in them!

What a fun way to end your trip in them!
They really are beautiful rooms, and the scenery outside is amazing too. Deer and Bay Lake, it is hard to beat that. While the bathroom situation wasn't perfect for us, I totally understand why they did it like that. There are only two bedrooms in the cabin though and if you have more people staying in it there would be people sleeping in the living room so it wouldn't make sense for them to have to go into one of the bedrooms to get to a bathroom. The master does have a large bathroom attached to it (and it even has a TV in the mirror!). It is a fine layout, just not quite optimized for us.

It was a perfect setup for this trip, and we are glad that we did three nights in the cabin to really get a feel for it. It gave us something to look forward to and talk about for a long time.
 
How did the fireplace change colors? I know that the kids were impressed that there were two sides to it.

The villas zero entry pool is really nice but nothing beats the appeal of a slide. :) It would have been nice if Allie could have gone in the kiddie splash pad. That would have been fun, too.

I think Melissa and Marshal made a good choice by going back to the hot tub even if it had a vicious lizard. :)

We try to make it to a resort campfire for marshmallows at least once per trip. We didn’t get to the WL campfire but we did stop at the one at the BC. It was the tail end of the hour and the fire was great for marshmallow roasting. We seem to make it to that one the most often.

It sounds like you had a great time at WCC. It is nice to eat at the resort and not have to worry about transportation to other restaurants. But I agree that Trails End is better.

You make your stay at the cabin sound wonderful. I would love to stay there some time, although it would have to be In the master bedroom. :)
 

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