She's Raising The Bar, a June 2025 Copper Creek Trip Report (Updated 6/20)

[nascargirl]

What a great start to your trip report. Our family loves to eat at the Boat house for our last day evening meal. Those sliders are so good. The fries even better.

 

[kclark9830]

Joining in! Your pics of WL are stunning. As an aside, I also have a 15 year old daughter who just finished freshman year .

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Love the report! we are staying at WL for the first time in August 2 nights before our BWV. We have nothing planned but hanging at the resort. Then our park days will be attached to boardwalk with a rest day there too.

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Curious about the amphicar rain ponchos. Do you have a picture that shows more of the image?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

That sounds like the perfect way to spend the first morning.

It was nice and relaxing.

We always mobile order from Roaring Fork, even if we plan to eat in. It is the most efficient way to do it.

The only issue is not all the items are available for mobile order, like the Magic cookie bars and the soup can only be ordered in person.

I am seeing more ducks in Jeeps now in our town. The trend is spreading.

Ducks are fun, and super popular with Jeeps

I always stop at Vera's. This time I found a purse or 50% off which I had to have.

Nice!

These are my favorite - and a huge bargain.

Boathouse can be a great deal for an excellent meal.

Wow

It was kinda crazy. We had never seen the static like that in person.

Thank goodness they fixed the shipping. That was a fiasco last year.

It was the most un-Disney thing, and now they made it nice and easy again.

She looks super cute in those ears.

Aww thanks. She has so many pairs now.

What a great start to your trip report. Our family loves to eat at the Boat house for our last day evening meal. Those sliders are so good. The fries even better.

We love Boathouse and it can be an easy last minute lunch.

Joining in! Your pics of WL are stunning. As an aside, I also have a 15 year old daughter who just finished freshman year .

Thanks so much, WL is so easy to take nice pictures of.
Isn’t 15 such a fun age? Good luck to us all.

Love the report! we are staying at WL for the first time in August 2 nights before our BWV. We have nothing planned but hanging at the resort. Then our park days will be attached to boardwalk with a rest day there too.

Sounds great. While at WL the boats are so neat, even if you aren’t going to a park. After 3:30 they run the blue flag boats between WL, CR and Fort Wilderness and they are a neat way to check out the neighborhood. (And we do in the next update…)

Following

Thanks for joining in.

Curious about the amphicar rain ponchos. Do you have a picture that shows more of the image?

I looked through some pics and it appears to be a small boat the duck is in and not an amphicar. Oh well they are still cute and kept us dry.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The only issue is not all the items are available for mobile order, like the Magic cookie bars and the soup can only be ordered in person.

I will often mobile order a Magic Cookie bar when we visit Geyser Point from a different resort. It is ready for pickup by the time I walk to Roaring Fork. It is listed as a snack on the app.

 

[AliceNDinah]

I love your mic drop moment with the ornament episode--so glad it went better than your last trip I so love Disney Springs, it's awesome to see it again via your beautiful pictures!! Am excited for more report

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I will often mobile order a Magic Cookie bar when we visit Geyser Point from a different resort. It is ready for pickup by the time I walk to Roaring Fork. It is listed as a snack on the app.

We just had this debate in person. I know there were times I couldn't get a Magic Cookie Bar mobile order so I went and got one in person. Melissa pointed out that we have ordered them before though. I like your plan to order one while at Geyser Point and then go get it.

I love your mic drop moment with the ornament episode--so glad it went better than your last trip I so love Disney Springs, it's awesome to see it again via your beautiful pictures!! Am excited for more report

We love Disney Springs, and being able to ship the ornament directly like the good old days is great. We love it there and shopped a lot more this trip.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we left off, we were heading back to the Lodge from Disney Springs. We got to the car at 3:45, and were in the parking lot at WL by 4:02. We headed up to the room for a bit.


We had time to hang out because our next agenda item was the after hours party at Hollywood Studios, and we couldn't get in the park until 7:00. I had a mission in mind though, but first we relaxed in the room and cooled off.

Paul has been wanting to trek over to Ft. Wilderness for a while and today we were going to make that happen. He made it over last year but I haven’t been in a couple years. We knew Marshall would have fun on the playground and the strawberry shortcake at Trails End is so yummy so it made it worth the trip.

We left the room at 4:55, and despite it sprinkling we walked down to the transportation dock. We timed it perfectly to catch a selfie with the Geyser on the way to the boat.


We got on a blue flag boat at 5:03 and it went directly to Fort Wilderness. It gave me a chance to get some more pictures of the Lakeshore Lodge construction, and it surprised me how close it was to the Pioneer Hall building.



I am really excited about this new resort. It seems like it is very much our vibe and will hopefully have new restaurants and shopping to try in addition to more DVC room stay opportunities.


We did some shopping at the Settlement Trading Post and the kids checked out the pins for trading. The only thing we bought was a gift card for Allie.

We had given the kids electronic gift cards for souveniers of their choice, but we didn't have a physical card for her so we got one so she could have her money to spend without needing our approval. It also lets us not have to deal with them asking for as many things, because we can say if you want it, use your gift card. They then think about it a little more.

This really cut down on all the little purchases this year. Allie has pretty much grown out of this but Marshall will still want little stuff all the time. By telling him that he had to use his gift card for it cut that way back.

The Settlement Trading post is always a fun little store. They have unique FW items, but we didn't need anythig this time.


We then went out to the playground where Marshall enjoyed running around.


He made friends with one younger boy and they played for a bit.

He had a great time on the playground playing hide and seek. While we were supervising a carriage horse came up. He was super cute.


They had two supervisors watching the driver, who was doing a great job with the horse. It is such a neat enviroment, Fort Wilderness is its own little world. After a while at the playground we headed over to Trail's End to get some dessert. This used to be our very favorite table service restaurant, and part of every trip until it closed durng COVID. I really like how they reimagined it as a Quick serve though, with many of the same food choices.

I hadn’t been in the Trails End building since before COVID but it really felt like the transition to quick service made sense. There are great family meal options and snacks.



Today we were just doing desserts though, and we got a brownie, a trail mix cookie, a carrot cake cupcake, and the strawberry shortcake that Melissa came for. All were decent, but I will say once again that I miss the soft serve ice cream. Yes they have scooped ice cream, but it isn't the same. Also the cookie was nowhere near as good as a magic cookie bar, but I might just have been turned off by the raisins.


Allie did not like her brownie, and decided she wanted to share Marshalls cupcake which he did not want to share.

The trail mix cookie was just ok, I think it had too many ingredients.

It was still a nice visit though, and when we were done we walked through the arcade and over to the boat dock. We got to the dock at 6:31 and on a boat at 6:38. It was going straight to WL, and we got there at 6:43. I love having the blue flag boats back.


It was a fun little side quest for a snack.

We headed up to the room for a quick stop to grab our stuff before heading to Hollywood Studios. It was time to finally make our first park visit of the trip. We were in the car at 7:12, and pulled into the HS parking lot at 7:24.


We really got great parking and were able to just walk to the entrance.


I don't think we had ever parked at HS before, but it worked out great that they were backfilling the rows up near the front of the lot. I was concerend about making sure we used our party tickets for admission instead of one of our multi-day park tickets which were valid as well. Fortunately my fears were not founded, and they had a special park entrance for party people.


It worked out perfectly and we got super fancy wristbands.

We stopped into one of the shops for some AC on the way over to Backlot Express for dinner. About mid way through the shop Marshall announced he needed a bathroom so we headed over there.

We didn't know of any closer ones, so we went down the street towards Tower of Terror. After the detour we headed back towards Backlot Express in search of dinner. We got there just after 8:00 and got a table, but couldn't place a mobile order.


When I went to go order in person, I saw they had just closed.

We just barely missed it. I was a little sad to miss out on a Wookie Cookie but we did a quick pivot and realized that Docking Bay 7 would be available for the party so they should be open for us to have dinner.

That was one of the options available for mobile order, so we placed an order for there. A Ronto Wrap sounded really good anyway. As we walked over to where I thought it was, I realized that it wasn't the outside place that sells them, it was inside and a little further back, so it would be a new dining location for me.


It was fun to eat somewhere new and the Ronto Wraps were great.


They also com with Yuca fries here which I was very much not a fan of.


The fries were very different, but I really enjoyed the Ronto Wrap, even more than I remembered. It was also really nice to get to sit down and eat inside. I had tried for Sci Fi Drive in for this night but it was already fully booked when I made our ADRs. This was a very enjoyable alternative, and the whole meal was only $80.

As we ate we were watching wait times for rides and trying to make a plan and prioritize what was important. The goal was to ride as much as we could with the minimum amount of walking and waiting.

See how we did in our next update, as we get the party started.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I am really excited about this new resort. It seems like it is very much our vibe and will hopefully have new restaurants and shopping to try in addition to more DVC room stay opportunities.

I'm excited about the new DVC resort, too. I think it will be a fun place to explore. Bay Lake is lovely, and the views will be great. And maybe they will reopen the nature trail between WL and Ft W.

But a lot of people who love Fort Wilderness are very unhappy.

We then went out to the playground where Marshall enjoyed running around.

I'm glad that they still have a playground.

I hadn’t been in the Trails End building since before COVID but it really felt like the transition to quick service made sense. There are great family meal options and snacks.

We loved the old Trail's End, too. We always ate there when staying at the WL.

don't think we had ever parked at HS before, but it worked out great that they were backfilling the rows up near the front of the lot. I was concerend about making sure we used our party tickets for admission instead of one of our multi-day park tickets which were valid as well. Fortunately my fears were not founded, and they had a special park entrance for party people.

I would think that there is always a fear that you would be placed far back in the parking lot if you arrived later in the day.

We made the mistake of going to HS after dinner on a party day. I didn't do my homework. The entry was mobbed.

When I went to go order in person, I saw they had just closed.

We just barely missed it. I was a little sad to miss out on a Wookie Cookie but we did a quick pivot and realized that Docking Bay 7 would be available for the party so they should be open for us to have dinner.

The Backlot Express is one of our "go to" places to eat. At least you had an air-conditioned alternative.

 

[AliceNDinah]

Look at Allie's fun face in your geyser photo, lol! Also love the dessert detour: I'm a big strawberry shortcake fan, now I want one, ha ha. What would each of you say is your favorite "Disney Dessert"? (Can be from anywhere in the World)

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I'm excited about the new DVC resort, too. I think it will be a fun place to explore. Bay Lake is lovely, and the views will be great. And maybe they will reopen the nature trail between WL and Ft W.

But a lot of people who love Fort Wilderness are very unhappy.

Yeah, change is hard, especially when there is such significant development in a beautiful rural area. I bet there was concern when WL was being planned and built, and it all turned out ok. I do think having Lakeside Lodge done will greatly increase the chance of the nature trail reopening. It would be a nice way to tie the lodges together with a beautiful nature path, and it should fit the themes quite well. My fingers are crossed.

I'm glad that they still have a playground.

We were so glad to see that they moved and upgraded the playground rather than removing it like so many others. It fits the vibe of Fort Wilderness and hopefully it will stay that way.

We loved the old Trail's End, too. We always ate there when staying at the WL.

I am coming to the conclusion that the find is not all that different now. You can still go over there and have a very similar meal, although it won't be all you can eat, it still has the great food and atmosphere. We have yet to test this theory completely, but it sounds good to me. Someone needs to try it out and compare to the glorious Trail's End prior to Covid.

I would think that there is always a fear that you would be placed far back in the parking lot if you arrived later in the day.

We made the mistake of going to HS after dinner on a party day. I didn't do my homework. The entry was mobbed.

Yeah, we got lucky with our arrival time and the fact they had started re-filling the front rows. We have never done a party before, but have seen the similar crowds as people come in and get ready for them.

The Backlot Express is one of our "go to" places to eat. At least you had an air-conditioned alternative.

Melissa and Allie ate there during their Surprise trip in 2021, but the rest of us have never been there. It looked nice, but we definitely needed a place that was serving food since we were all hungry.

Look at Allie's fun face in your geyser photo, lol!

This is exactly why I was looking to bribe Allie to smile for pictures. I came up with a plan though, I just had to compete for it, but that is yet to come.

Also love the dessert detour: I'm a big strawberry shortcake fan, now I want one, ha ha. What would each of you say is your favorite "Disney Dessert"? (Can be from anywhere in the World)

Great question, and it led to some interesting discussion today. Over the years there have been some wonderful desserts, but it gets a little tougher when we limit it to desserts that are currently available. Melissa and I both jumped to Yak and Yeti, where she loves the Mango Pie and I enjoy the Cream Cheese Wontons. Allie on the other hand immediately went with the Tiramisu Creme Brûlée from Topolino's (which, spoiler alert, we would have in a few days). Marshall thought about it a bit and chose the chocolate cake from Topolino's, so it was a meal that made an impression. The infamous Magic Cookie Bar from WL is a true favorite as well, and is a true classic. If we consider desserts from the past, there used to be some awesome cupcakes at Sunshine Seasons and Gaspirilla's Grill at the Grand Floridian, but we just didn't see them this time. Finally, I have to mention the lost soft serve that used to be at WL, Trail's End, and the Contemporary. It was simple and delightful, and as of this trip it is gone from all three locations. Ahh nostalgia.