She's Sleeping on the Top Bunk: An August 2017 WL TR with a Party of 10 (Updated 10/18)

[GrandCalifornian]

Hello and welcome to another one of our multi-perspective trip reports. We just got back from another 10 days at Wilderness Lodge, and of course we had a wonderful time.

A wonderful time? It was amazing!

For those of you who are just joining in, we'll write about our trip from both of our perspectives, with me, Paul, writing in blue and Melissa writing in orange.

Well let's kick this thing off!
First lets go over the who of the trip.

I'm Paul, a 37 year old Daddy, Mechanical Engineer, and car guy who first came to WDW when I was 6, then returned again on our honeymoon in 2007. My favorite Disney character is Mater, and my favorite movie ever is Cars (although Cars 3 proved to be a worthy successor). My favorite park is Epcot, my favorite ride is Test Track, and my favorite roller coaster is Expedition Everest (Although Rockin' Roller Coaster is right up there...).

I'm Melissa, I am master of all things in the office at my family's elevator company. My first trip to WDW was our honeymoon in 2007 and I was hooked. My favorite disney characters are Stitch and Perry the Platypus. I love Epcot and Animal Kingdom.


Allison is the original star of our trip reports, and now she's 7 years old and starting second grade. She has been immersed in Disney all of her life, and her current favorite character is Stitch and she says her favorite princess is Ariel, although she is pretty close with Belle and has a stuffed Eyeore that she has slept with since she was tiny.


She really enjoyed Mine Train this trip, and her favorite park is Magic Kingdom.

This is Marshall, he turned 20 months old on the day we left for this trip but he's really practicing hard at being two already. He loves Mickey Mouse and anything that has wheels. His favorite rides this trip was anything that was a boat and the People Mover.


He definitely likes to go. He was pretty fond of riding the buses too, unless it was at night with the lights off. Mickey and the Roadster Racers is has favorite show (like father like son...) but he tends to be more adventurous and fearless than his Dad or sister.

This year we were again joined by our friends Brandy and Jon, who came along with us last year and must have had enough fun because they were eager to come back.


We love having them along and they are pretty much family so they have to put up with our crazy antics.

We were also joined for much of the trip by some more mutual friends of the group, David and Megan. They have two boys, ages 5 and 2 and it was their first WDW trip. They were on our flights and stayed at our resort, but planned their own days and meals so we didn't always have a massive group.


It worked out well to have our family vacations side by side but not together. The kids loved the time they got to hang out together.

We stayed at Wilderness Lodge again this year. It is by far our favorite resort and we love our time there. It was really nice that the majority of the construction was completed and we got to enjoy the new Geyser Point Bar and Grill along with the new pool and open Lobby elevators.


WL is my favorite building anywhere, and I have become slightly obsessed with it. I spend quite a bit of time on the great WL FAQ thread on the DIS that @WDWKOOK has put together and I pretty much had the original floorplan memorized, so there was lots for me to learn and see this trip.

Obsessed doesn't begin to cover it.

Yeah, I might have a problem. One of my favorite things to do during vacation there is to get up early and go take pictures of the lodge. I really enjoy the views of Bay Lake, the gorgeous lobby, and all the little sitting areas throughout the resort. I was afraid the Copper Creek conversion would mess it up, and was glad to see that it is better than ever.


We stayed here last year during the middle of the construction and had a great time, but missed having access to the entire building. Now with Geyser Point, the Boulder Ridge Cove pool, and the cabins being completed, it is an even more amazing resort.


I really enjoyed the Geyser Point addition even though the beach is gone. I do wish they would add some play equipment somewhere but that's a minor thing.

For the When part of the trip, we got to spend 10 days at WDW from August 11-20, 2017. It was our first time visiting in August after many great stays in September.

We really liked not having to worry about homework on this trip.

We will post updates here as we get them written, and as always we'll be sure to include plenty of pictures.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Table of Contents:
Welcome to the Lodge
Off to a Roaring Start
From Meeting Mickey to The Trail's End
A Makeover and a Magic Kingdom Morning
A Three Hour Lunch (Not quite, but close...)
Life Update: DLR Half Marathon Weekend 10K
Gorilla Regurgitation and Hangry Kids
"Well Hoop De Doo"
Breakfast in the Hundred Acre Wood
"Lasagna Just Like my Mamma Make"
Touring DVC and the MK Solo With Kids
Marshall's Crash and Dinner With The Beast
When in Japan, Get the Filet
Work, Wet Studios, and a Spontaneous Springs Trip
Breakfast and Boating on Bay Lake
Nav'i River Journey and Blue Van Rides
Another Beautiful Morning and MK
Exploring Bay Lake Tower before an Epcot Evening
Last Morning Tasks and Visiting MK
Touring the Monorail Loop and Crossing the Country


Prior Reports:
She's free before she's three, touring the world with a toddler: September 2012 Trip Report
She turned 3, but the DDP's Free, a WL Bounceback PTR: September 2013
She's a Princess, a Superhero, and a Rockstar -a September 2013 Trip Report
She's Turning Five at Disney World - a September 2014 PTR
She's Five at Riverside - September 2014 Trip Report
She's Going to Show Him The World - September 2016 PTR
She's a big sister and an expedition leader: A Party of 8 with a 9 month old September 2016 TR

 

[AliceNDinah]

Joining in! WOW, love the WL, so cool. And you have gorgeous kids, so cute Can't wait to read the rest---we head down on Sunday, yay!!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

Joining in too! I love family vacations where you still have separate time to enjoy individual things. Wilderness Lodge is so gorgeous! We have never visited it or stay there so it may have to be on our next list of places to stay.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm looking forward to reading your trip report. You always do a great job with it.

I love the last picture you posted with Marshall getting a lot of attention from the kids. It looks like a fun group to travel with.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Joining in! WOW, love the WL, so cool. And you have gorgeous kids, so cute Can't wait to read the rest---we head down on Sunday, yay!!!!

Welcome! Our first follower this year! Thanks for joining in, and we should have our first update posted before long.

Joining in too! I love family vacations where you still have separate time to enjoy individual things. Wilderness Lodge is so gorgeous! We have never visited it or stay there so it may have to be on our next list of places to stay.

Thanks for joining in. WL really is beautiful, and totally worth the boat ride over from MK or CR to visit, even if you aren't staying there. Fair warning though, after seeing it there is a good chance you will want to stay there too.
The trip worked out great to have friends there but our own schedules. Group inertial can be an issue, and if we all tried to do everything together nobody would get what they wanted. We found the balance though, which is a big part of what made this trip great.

I'm looking forward to reading your trip report. You always do a great job with it.

I love the last picture you posted with Marshall getting a lot of attention from the kids. It looks like a fun group to travel with.

Welcome back, and thanks for joining in again. We had such a great time at WL, and it was amazing to see it all done and opened up. It is our home there. We'll have lots of pictures to share, especially of the Lodge, but some cute kids ones too!

 

[dnllmz]

Hi I'm following! Can't wait to hear about your trip. Your kids got so much bigger since your last trip report!

 

[Stasieki]

Joining in! Love your trip reports. We are about to embark on what may be our last September trip as DD11 is already worried about make-up work. Looking forward to hearing your perspective on the difference of a September trip versus trip when school isn't in session trip.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi I'm following! Can't wait to hear about your trip. Your kids got so much bigger since your last trip report!

Welcome, we're glad to have you here again. It is amazing how fast they are growing. It hasn't even been a year since the last trip, but they are soo much bigger.

Joining in! Love your trip reports. We are about to embark on what may be our last September trip as DD11 is already worried about make-up work. Looking forward to hearing your perspective on the difference of a September trip versus trip when school isn't in session trip.

Thanks! We're glad to have you following along. It was really nice not having to do homework, but there were some drawbacks as well. We'll go over them as we go, since our opinions about August vs September varied as we went through the trip.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We started our travel day with both of us awake before the 4:00 AM alarm. Diesel, our now 10 year old Great Dane woke us up shaking his head because his ears were irritated. We gave him his ear drops, but were pretty much too excited to go back to sleep. We waited in bed for the 4:00 alarm to go off.


Yes Diesel gave us all kinds of fits the week before we left, we were kinda afraid he wasn't going to make it until we got home but he ended up doing just fine.

Yeah, he got sick the week before we left and wasn't doing well at all, but when we had to make decisions about what to do for him he bounced back and made it clear he was going to be around for a while. We were concerned about leaving him, but he was doing very well by the time we left, and elissa's brother was again staying at our house with the dogs, so he could take care of whatever needed to be done. But enough about the dogs, we had other things to worry about, like getting to the airport.

Air travel is always stressful but we had scheduled a shuttle to pick us up at our house along with Jon and Brandy. It's a neat way to get to LAX and not deal with the insanity that can be California traffic at one of the busiest airports.

We used the same company last year and loved it, but I still always have a fear that they aren't going to show up. When they weren't there at the scheduled time of 5:30 I started making plans to drive, but fortunately they showed up a couple minutes later.

There was plenty of room in the van, since my parents were not joining us on this year's trip like they had last year. We'd miss them, and we had agreed to send them lots of pictures.

The drive into LA was fairly uneventful and we made it to the airport and through security with no problems.

That was when I felt a great sense of relief, and I could finally relax. We made it to our terminal, and met up with Dave and Megan and their kids, and everyone was excited to be heading to WDW.


It was their first trip, so we sat and told them about how neat it was. We also grabbed breakfast from Shake Shack, which was really good.

Their sausage breakfast sandwich was really really good. Like it's a shame it's in the airport good.

The terminal was busy, but our flight was on time. We got texts saying that it was boarding just after 7:30 AM, and we walked to the gate and were among the first people on the plane.


It was our first time on a 757, and we had 200 other people on the plane with us, but the interior was really nice. It was a Delta plane that had recently been remodeled with nice big overhead bins and newer seat back entertainment.

We wound up gate checking our second stroller, a Baby Jogger City Tour that we had bought just for this trip because it folds super small. Marshall is big enough that he would be hard to carry through the airport, and we didn't want to deal with pushing our larger double stroller through the airport.

It was a pretty easy flight, Marshall did great and slept some. Allie loved the rear seat entertainment and was able to watch two movies that she hasn't seen yet but had been bugging me to see.

We steered around a storm over Georgia, and had a bit of turbulence, but we arrived in Orlando pretty much on time. Marshall made his own use of the seat back entertainment, sticking his rubber "squigs" toys to it and each other, but it kept him happy.


We navigated our way through the airport and rode the tram for the first ride of the trip.


We made our way down to the Magical Express bus and for the first time EVER, Wilderness Lodge was our first stop so we got to start the party early.


With 10 of us we made up a significant portion of the bus, so we were all happy. As we got to the resort we picked up our bags and headed into the big pretty lobby.

We were all starving but decided to drop stuff off at the rooms before heading down to Roarin Fork for dinner. When we opened the door we were in for a big surprise (which shouldn't have been a surprise because Paul basically has the layout of the lodge memorized but I'm glad he missed it because it made it that much more fun when we opened the door.)

Ahh yes. We had been texted our room numbers, and from that I knew we were all in rooms that opened to the lobby on the 4th floor, directly above Whispering Canyon. What I didn't even consider was whether they were bunk bed rooms.


Upon opening the door we were super excited to see the bunks. Bunk bed rooms are a bookable category for the nicer view levels of WL, and we had only booked Standard View so I didn't even think about getting them. Allie was thrilled!

We could see the others out on their balconies, just down the hall.


She tried the bottom out, then the top. Then we headed to dinner.

We were very glad that Roaring Fork had reopened in time for our trip, because it is a staple of our trips to the Lodge. We were excited to see the changes and what was on the menu. I ordered the brisket burger.


I ordered the pepperoni and sausage flatbread. I was a little disappointed my favorite roast beef and bluecheese sandwich is no longer on the menu but the flatbread was a great replacement.

I was quite happy with the burger.


It had plenty of meaty flavor, and the potato barrels (tater tots) were very good. (Nothing like I remembered from school cafeterias...) I liked the flatbread too, and appreciated its sophisticated flavor. We also got a cupcake and a magic cookie bar for dessert, by substituting them for our drinks since we were using our resort mugs.

One change to the dining plan this year was that you no longer automatically get dessert with QS meals, but instead you get an extra snack credit each day. This was a very positive change, because you could choose to save the dessert you would have gotten with a meal for something else later. It also meant that we had 54 snack credits for the trip, which was really nice.

I really liked having all the extra credits and the flexiblilty of sharing desserts and saving for later.

After dinner we wanted to go explore the resort, but the kids were tired so we went back up to the rooms.

We put on some TV and called bell services to see if they could deliver our water we ordered from Garden Grocer.

We were all glad to catch up on the Stacy channel, and were re-introduced to our WDW Must Dos. They brought up the Garden Grocer order, but our DME bags weren't there yet. I decided I couldn't wait any more, and I went to check out the resort. My first stop was Geyser Point.



I was super excited at how well it fit into the resort and what a nice addition it was. With its waterfront location, I knew the views would be awesome from there. I also caught a glimpse of the new Boulder Ridge Cove pool, which was really pretty as well.



Then I headed back to the room just as the Bell Services guy was arriving with our bags.


As the kids were falling asleep, we unpacked. It is nice to get everything out of the suitcases and settle in for the duration. Allie couldn't figure out if she wanted to sleep on the top bunk or the bottom bunk and kept switching but eventually settled in on the top. Marsh is in bed with us still.

We settled into bed about 11:00, excited to finally be back at Disney World.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Marshall made his own use of the seat back entertainment, sticking his rubber "squigs" toys to it and each other, but it kept him happy.

I've never seen those toys before. It looks like he had a lot o fun with them.

We made our way down to the Magical Express bus and for the first time EVER, Wilderness Lodge was our first stop so we got to start the party early.

That was lucky. I really hate going to the Poly and GF. It always seems forever to pick up and drop off there.

Ahh yes. We had been texted our room numbers, and from that I knew we were all in rooms that opened to the lobby on the 4th floor, directly above Whispering Canyon. What I didn't even consider was whether they were bunk bed rooms.

They probably look for families with grade schools kids for those rooms. I bet Allie really enjoyed it. We had bunk beds for our kids for a few years and they had fun with them.

One change to the dining plan this year was that you no longer automatically get dessert with QS meals, but instead you get an extra snack credit each day. This was a very positive change, because you could choose to save the dessert you would have gotten with a meal for something else later. It also meant that we had 54 snack credits for the trip, which was really nice.

I really liked having all the extra credits and the flexiblilty of sharing desserts and saving for later.

I think that was a really good change. It is a lot better to have the credit to use later.

I was super excited at how well it fit into the resort and what a nice addition it was. With its waterfront location, I knew the views would be awesome from there. I also caught a glimpse of the new Boulder RIdge Cove pool, which was really pretty as well.

I'm surprised at how empty Geyser Point is. You must have been there after the fireworks and Electric Water Parade.

We like to totally unpack into the room, too. It is one of the first things we do once we get our suitcases. did you find that you had a little extra room with the bunkbed?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I've never seen those toys before. It looks like he had a lot o fun with them.

Yeah, they are basically shapes with suction cups on them, and Melissa had bought some to be something new and fun for the plane and it worked out.

They probably look for families with grade schools kids for those rooms. I bet Allie really enjoyed it. We had bunk beds for our kids for a few years and they had fun with them.

Yes, both us and Dave and Megan got the bunk bed rooms with Standard view reservations. I'm sure it is a temporary situation, but what a neat way to give guests a little something special.

I think that was a really good change. It is a lot better to have the credit to use later.

Yes, it really increases the flexibility of the dining plan. We got to do a lot of different snacks throughout the trip, and even brought a few things home to extend the trip a little longer.

I'm surprised at how empty Geyser Point is. You must have been there after the fireworks and Electric Water Parade.

Yes, this night it was about 10:00, so the parade had gone by. Later in the trip we were there for fireworks, and there were more people, but it wasn't full. It was hard to get a table at lunch time though.

We like to totally unpack into the room, too. It is one of the first things we do once we get our suitcases. did you find that you had a little extra room with the bunkbed?

Absolutely. The room felt nice and big. We already enjoy the size of the WL rooms compared to POR, and having the bunk gave us a noticeable amount of extra floor space. We had two strollers, and were able to easily park them both without them being in the way in the room. We also got all of the suitcases put away in the closet, so we didn't have to deal with them all week.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I woke up at 3:40 AM on Saturday all excited about being at the Lodge. I did get back to sleep, but then got up at 6:15. Then I took a shower and went out to watch the sunrise and explore the resort. My first stop was Roaring Fork for a mug refill.


Then I went by the waterfall:


I went out to Geyser Point, and found that watching the sunrise from there is amazing.


I really love Bay Lake, and view from there is just perfect. It is definitely worth getting up early for.

I also explored around the main building of the resort, and was happy to find that everyone can access the South side of the 7th floor in the lobby, so there is a great view across from the new CL lounge. It gives a neat different perspective to be looking down on that beautiful lobby.



I was also glad to find that on the fourth floor the access to the large balcony near the port cochiere has been restored, and this is a neat quiet spot to check out on the West side of the resort.


During all of this I was sleeping.

I got back to the room about 7:45 and we started getting the kids up. It was a little slow with the time difference, but by 8:45 we were on our way fown to Roaring Fork for breakfast.


The first full day at Disney is so exciting. It feels like there are so many opportunities for fun.

We had already been warned about the lack of our usual Mickey Waffles with whipped cream and strawberries, so we got a breakfast platter and some plain mickey waffles.

The change is disappointing but honestly I didn't miss the strawberries and whipped cream that much and we ended up having the breakfast platter most mornings which has more protien which I think made for a less cranky Allison for the trip. She seems to have better days when she starts with some protien.

After breakfast we were all eager to walk around, so we walked over by Geyser Point and the Boulder Ridge Cove pool.


Everyone was impressed.



Then we headed up to the bus stop to head for Epcot, but not before a quick run back to the room to pick up Allie's Magic Band.

The new additions fit perfectly with the resort and you can't really tell that they haven't been there all along. At least Allie figured out she didnt have her magic band before we got on the bus.

Thanks to the bus times board we figired we had enough time to make it, since the bus was due at 9:52.


We made it back in time, and the bus left at 9:54 with us and only 5 other people on it. It went directly to Epcot, not stopping to pick up at any other resort, and arrived at 10:12. This was the begining of some great transportation luck during the trip.

Our first stop once we made it through security was not into the park... What is a WDW vacation without a stop at Guest Services?


We wanted to make sure that the 2 days of park hopper tickets we had to buy with our packages weren't being used, and instead our admission on our Magic Bands was tied to our APs. We thought about doing this the night before at MK, but had gone to bed early instead. They handled it no problem, and let us know that this is simple enough that it could have been done at any ticket window. We were hesitant though, because the Premier APs seem to require Guest Services for pretty much anything.

Plus the AC coming out of the window at Guest Services just feels colder.

We got into the park at 10:32, then went right to Spaceship Earth to ride it with a Fastpass. This has become one of Allie's favorite rides.


This was also our first introduction to the World in August. Normally in September this ride is pretty much a walk on but today the line was probably about 20-30 minutes long. Not terrible considering the length of some of the other ride lines but I was glad to have a Fastpass for it.

It was also pretty hot and humid. (Imagine that, in Florida...) We walked around the art store to cool off a bit before making the trip over to the Land. When we got inside we got another introduction to August crowds, as the boat ride had a 30 minute wait. We hadn't even considered fastpasses for it, and we had time to kill before Soarin so we waited in the line.


It is a great ride and worth the wait for me. Marshall really enjoyed the boat ride and as usual Allie did too.


On the exit of the greenhouse portion we saw a Florida native lizard helping out with pest control.


Next, Allie, Jon, Brandy and I rode Soarin while Melissa waited with Marshall, and we got a baby swap pass. It was only Allie's second or third time with the new show, and she said it had too much scary stuff in it. She loved the old version, but oh well.

Marshall and I waited in the "baby pit" at the rides exit. It's a decent large area with lots of seating and places to plug in phones. We talked to the sweetest cast member while we waited for everyone else to get off. She was in the college program and was working on finding a job in medical sales. I really enjoy chatting with the cast members while we are there, they come from all over the place.

By now we were ready for lunch, and what better place for it than Sunshine Seasons. This has kind of become a first day tradition for us. We got Mongolian Beef, Pork, and a Quinoa salad.

I don't tend to eat healthy at Disney, I consider it vacation so I indulge myself. The quinoa salad at Sunshine Seasons is the exception to this. It is crazy delicious and I totally wish I could have it for lunch today. It's delicious.

We shared everything and I didn't love the salad, but my first bite from it was a big old piece of Brussels Sprout, so that didn't start it off great. The rest of it does have decent flavor. What I was most impressed with was the pork. It was juicy and tender and I really liked the barbecue sauce they used.

Allie was not feeling the kids menu but she really enjoyed the adult pork chop.

It's nice that the dining plan is flexible for quick service meals and she could order what she wanted.

Yeah, she is getting to the point where she often prefers the adult entre or dessert options, which is fine for Quick Serve meals, but did pose a couple of issues with table service mealso on the dining plan. We are proud of her and her willingness to eat real food. Marshall was also willing to eat anything he could get his hands on.


Marshall eats just about as much as his sister at this point.

Find out what we did next in the next update.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I went out to Geyser Point, and found that watching the sunrise from there is amazing.

When we stayed at the WL in March we ate breakfast every morning at Geyser Point because Roaring Forks was closed for remodeling. Bay Lake is really beautiful in the morning.

The change is disappointing but honestly I didn't miss the strawberries and whipped cream that much and we ended up having the breakfast platter most mornings which has more protien which I think made for a less cranky Allison for the trip. She seems to have better days when she starts with some protien.

I remember how much you loved the waffles with strawberries. I'm glad that you weren't too disappointed. We usually split the breakfast platter.

After breakfast we were all eager to walk around, so we walked over by Geyser Point and the Boulder Ridge Cove pool.

We saw the new pool in July and I was really impressed with how nice the cabanas were. The pool looks a lot bigger than the old Hidden Springs pool.

Thanks to the bus times board we figired we had enough time to make it, since the bus was due at 9:52.

The bus times board came in handy when I had to run back to our room for something. Even though the arrival times change it is a nice addition to the resort bus stops.

We made it back in time, and the bus left at 9:54 with us and only 5 other people on it. It went directly to Epcot, not stopping to pick up at any other resort, and arrived at 10:12. This was the begining of some great transportation luck during the trip.

I was really surprised when the park buses went directly to the parks in the morning. It was great.

We got into the park at 10:32, then went right to Spaceship Earth to ride it with a Fastpass. This has become one of Allie's favorite rides.

It is one of my husband's favorite rides, too.

I really enjoy chatting with the cast members while we are there, they come from all over the place.

I think the cast members enjoy chatting with the guests, too. It is especially nice to have someone to talk to when you are waiting around for someone to finish a ride.

It's nice that the dining plan is flexible for quick service meals and she could order what she wanted.

So they let you buy an adult entree with a children's credit? That's really nice since the kids portions can be very small.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we stayed at the WL in March we ate breakfast every morning at Geyser Point because Roaring Forks was closed for remodeling. Bay Lake is really beautiful in the morning.

I remember how much you loved the waffles with strawberries. I'm glad that you weren't too disappointed. We usually split the breakfast platter

Geyser Point is such a perfect addition to WL, and a great sunrise spot. It gives a nice spot to enjoy the lake.

We weren't disappointed with Roaring Fork either, and still got breakfast there most days. We also had a lunch and a dinner there and they were great. Sometimes being inside is nice.

We saw the new pool in July and I was really impressed with how nice the cabanas were. The pool looks a lot bigger than the old Hidden Springs pool.

We really liked the new pool. The zero entry part and overlapping edges were nice. The theming was really impressive too. We heard that it is as big as the main pool, and it has to be close, just no slide.

The bus times board came in handy when I had to run back to our room for something. Even though the arrival times change it is a nice addition to the resort bus stops.

I was really surprised when the park buses went directly to the parks in the morning. It was great.

The times board helps people know what to expect, and prevents some of the complaining about other buses coming first.
I think they really do try to keep guests happy with bus service, and not having to stop goes a long way. That also do a great job of getting a second bus if a bus leaves a pickup without having room for everyone at the bus stop.

I think the cast members enjoy chatting with the guests, too. It is especially nice to have someone to talk to when you are waiting around for someone to finish a ride.

In this case the CM wasn't even working, she was just waiting for someone else too. In chatting Melissa found out she was a CM who would be working at AK later in the day.

So they let you buy an adult entree with a children's credit? That's really nice since the kids portions can be very small.

Now on Quick Service meals on the dining plan there is no distinction between adult and kids meals. There still is a difference in table service meals, which Allie wasn't always fond of but it worked out.

 

[ArielSRL]

Great start! Loving all the WL photos. You may remember from the WL thread that we stayed at Boulder Ridge in June and fell in love and are in the process of buying a DVC contract there. Our next trip will be 4 nights but only 1 park day. We really want to spend as much time as possible exploring the resort now that the construction is done.

Glad to hear you enjoyed breakfast at RF. We are definitely planning to try it for a few meals in June.

The kids look so much more grown up in just one years time!

Looking forward to more!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Great start! Loving all the WL photos. You may remember from the WL thread that we stayed at Boulder Ridge in June and fell in love and are in the process of buying a DVC contract there. Our next trip will be 4 nights but only 1 park day. We really want to spend as much time as possible exploring the resort now that the construction is done.

Glad to hear you enjoyed breakfast at RF. We are definitely planning to try it for a few meals in June.

The kids look so much more grown up in just one years time!

Looking forward to more!

Thanks! Congratulations on your DVC purchase. We did some DVC consideration this trip as well, but we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves in the trip report. Stay tuned. We totally could see spending multiple non-park days at WL.

We are still very happy with Roaring Fork and Geyser Point. All we're missing is waffle toppings, but that's a minor inconvenience. Overall now WL seems to be able to better keep up the demand for QS food.

It is amazing how fast the kids are growing up. Allie started second grade today, and Marshall is catching up in size to some of the kindergartners.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

After lunch, we had Fastpasses for the character spot, so Marshall got to meet some characters.

I'm so glad that so many lines are in the AC at WDW or we might have melted. Marshall REALLY enjoyed meeting all of the characters and gave lots of hugs and kisses. Allie at this age would have run screaming so it's fun to have a kid who's into them.





Next we headed off to World Showcase to get Allie's face painted while Jon and Brandy went on Ellen's energy adventure one last time, because it was set to close the next day.

I didn't think Marshall would want to sit through an attraction that long so we headed in seperate directions.

We had to wait for face paint behind some college age kids where a guy was trying way too hard to impress the girl he was with. We're pretty sure it wasn't working.


Allie was super happy with her face paint though.


Maybe after they made their way drinking around the world she'd notice the dragon on his face less.

From the fact he was getting the dragon on his face I assumed they had already hit a few pavillions.

We shopped in Germany and China, checking out tiaras and fans. The things Marshall and I put up with...



Then made our way to Mouse Gear where we met back up with Jon and Brandy. On the way to Mouse Gear I got an ice cream, and it was really good. I have no explanation for the look on my face in the picture Melissa got of me...


I'm pretty sure that expression is "Why haven't I got ice cream here before?" because it was that good.


In Mouse Gear Brandy and I admired the jewelry display case, which had a gear that was cut from a large chunk of aluminum using a waterjet. As a machinist Brandy knows how stuff is done, and I appreciate it. We had our dork moment there checking it out.


It was pretty funny watching them oogle over the kids jewelry display.

After Mouse Gear we decided to make our way out of the park. Originally we planned to park hop to Magic Kingdom, but it was getting closer to our dinner ADR so we decided to head back to WL on the way. At the bus stop Jon took this cute shot of us.


Aww look at us! We had our 10 year anniversary this year, time flies!

Ahh yes, that was our celebration of the trip this time, and we had it noted on the reservation. We'd have to wait to see if anything else special happened because of it, but we were just super glad to be back at WDW 10 years after our honeymoon trip.
Back at the hotel we stopped by the room for a few minutes, and Allie expressed her love for the bunk bed.



Before long it was time to head over to Ft. Wilderness for dinner at Trails End.


It started sprinkling as we got off the boat.

We were fortunate to catch a combined Red/Green flag big boat that was headed to Fort Wilderness, so we were able to sit inside.


When we arrived, we walked to the porch outside Trail's End and caught up with Dave and Megan, who had arrived just ahead of us.



We were able to stay out of the drizzle on the porch until our pager went off.

Marshall was holding the pager when it went off and cried when I took it away from him. Buster, the nice CM who was seating us noticed this and dropped off another pager at our table, and even made it go off so it would light up and vibrate for Marshall. He said it makes him feel bad when they take them away from kids, who just want to play with them. What a fantastically nice caring CM, who gets the concept of taking exceptional care of guests.

He would come by and check on Marshall and kept it buzzing and blinking throughout our dinner.

He insisted that we not make a big deal out of it when we turned the pager back in, because he didn't want to get in trouble for doing it. In our opinion this was one of the best CM interactions of the trip. We also loved the food, which is just great comfort food to start the trip with. I had plenty of ribs, pulled pork, and cobbler a la mode for dessert.

The pulled pork and brisket was amazing. I had strawberry shortcake for dessert along with lots of other goodies. I'm a sucker for good shortcake though and this did not disappoint.

After dinner we walked over to the gift shop and looked around. Marshall found a Goofy toy airplane candy container with a light up spinning propeller that he had to have.


We sat on the porch and watched the kids run and play on the grass outside. It was probably my favorite moments of the trip. It was simple and the kids were having a ball and most importantly I didn't have work looming over me.

Marshall played on the grass outside the gift store running back and forth with his toy, and even put up with his sister for a little bit.



It was super relaxing, and nice to be able to enjoy not having anything we needed to rush off to do. We eventually walked to the bus stop to take a bus back to the lodge. We got on the bus at 7:58 and got to WL at 8:01. We walked through the mercantile before heading up to the room to get ready to swim. We changed into our swim clothes and got back downstairs by 8:40, but the pools were closed due to lightning in the area.

We had many afternoon thunderstorms during the trip that ended up closing the pools. Since it was so close to Firework time we headed down to Geyser Point and watched them from there.

The view was slightly obstructed by trees in the transportation boat dock area, but it was really neat that they played the music. It definitely was a nice area to watch them from. We got mug refills and headed up to the room since the pools were still closed.

They even pipe the music to the courtyard of the hotel now so as we were leaving Geyser Point we got to walk up to the room to the exit music from the show. It made it a pretty epic end for the night.

We went up to the room and gave the kids a bath, then settled in bed to go to sleep.

It was everything a first day at Disney World should be and we were so glad to be settling into our vacation schedule.

Next up! Allie has her annual appointment with a Fairy Godmother in Training. Would we make it in time and awake?

 

[Lesley Wake]

Loving your trip report! I read your previous one earlier this year, and then went back recently and read the old ones. Definitely helps as I'm also a DL local/AP and heading to WDW for the first time in under 2 weeks!

Marshall REALLY enjoyed meeting all of the characters and gave lots of hugs and kisses. Allie at this age would have run screaming so it's fun to have a kid who's into them

Probably helped that he could see his older sister being brave and interacting with them!

In Mouse Gear Brandy and I admired the jewelry display case, which had a gear that was cut from a large chunk of aluminum using a waterjet. As a machinist Brandy knows how stuff is done, and I appreciate it. We had our dork moment there checking it out

I totally get it. I'm a fire protection engineer, so always notice things in buildings, like the sprinkler systems and exit lights. My sister has instituted a 5 per day policy and when I go over it she starts to punch me in the shoulder! But even she thought it was cool when I could point out the sprinklers going thru the X-Wing in the Star Traders in Tomorrowland (if you look at the ship, you'll see some small squares that stick out in a few locations; they actually had to drop sprinkler piping through the X-wing, because it was too big and blocking the ones on the ceiling!

Back at the hotel we stopped by the room for a few minutes, and Allie expressed her love for the bunk bed

When I was her age I sooo wanted a bunk bed, but never got one! If my parents had ever gotten us a hotel room with a bunk bed I would have been so excited!

Marshall was holding the pager when it went off and cried when I took it away from him. Buster, the nice CM who was seating us noticed this and dropped off another pager at our table, and even made it go off so it would light up and vibrate for Marshall. He said it makes him feel bad when they take them away from kids, who just want to play with them. What a fantastically nice caring CM, who gets the concept of taking exceptional care of guests

Adorable! And so nice!

The view was slightly obstructed by trees in the transportation boat dock area, but it was really neat that they played the music.

That is good to know. I almost booked us at WL, but decided to stick with POFQ, as I don't know how much time we would be spending at the resort and didn't want to waste the deluxe. Maybe next time...

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Loving your trip report! I read your previous one earlier this year, and then went back recently and read the old ones. Definitely helps as I'm also a DL local/AP and heading to WDW for the first time in under 2 weeks!

Congratulations! WDW is just amazing, especially for someone who is used to how much Disney can do with significant space constraints. At WDW, everything is huge and spread out. The most amazing thing to us is the distance between things. Rather than walking from park to park, you travel for extended periods at freeway speeds on buses. It is cool. You've probably heard this elsewhere too, but MK will feel strange at first because some things aren't in the right spot (like they are at DL). It takes some getting used to. Epcot is just amazing though, and AK is something completely different. HS has some DCA similarities, but is neat too, and ever changing.

Feel free to ask any questions that you come up with here, we'll be glad to help you plan however we can.

Probably helped that he could see his older sister being brave and interacting with them!

Yes, he follows her anywhere, but in general he is more adventurous than she is. The boy seems to have no fear...

I totally get it. I'm a fire protection engineer, so always notice things in buildings, like the sprinkler systems and exit lights. My sister has instituted a 5 per day policy and when I go over it she starts to punch me in the shoulder! But even she thought it was cool when I could point out the sprinklers going thru the X-Wing in the Star Traders in Tomorrowland (if you look at the ship, you'll see some small squares that stick out in a few locations; they actually had to drop sprinkler piping through the X-wing, because it was too big and blocking the ones on the ceiling!

Yep, I totally get it. Sometimes how things are done (and hidden in plain sight) is really cool. And sometimes normal people just don't appreciate it...

When I was her age I sooo wanted a bunk bed, but never got one! If my parents had ever gotten us a hotel room with a bunk bed I would have been so excited!

Me too. I didn't have any siblings, but it would have made the coolest fort. This was definitely the first time I had ever been in a hotel room with bunk beds, and I was into it too.

That is good to know. I almost booked us at WL, but decided to stick with POFQ, as I don't know how much time we would be spending at the resort and didn't want to waste the deluxe. Maybe next time...

We really like the Port Orleans resorts. We even visited POFQ one evening later in this trip. For your first trip you are going to be so fascinated with exploring the parks that you likely won't spend a huge amount of time at your resort. You can also use all the Disney transportation buses and boats to check out any resort you want, not just the one you're staying at, so you can go check out other resorts that you might want to consider for next trip, because you will want to make a return trip. Having the boat to Disney Springs is great, and Disney Springs really is big too. Their World of Disney store puts ours to shame, and they have a huge number of regular retail stores now.