Sorry Gaston, They are MUCH More Interesting Than You!*6/8* NEW Trip Report Link p154

[Disney9.9.10]

It's a little late, but I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

I am loving your pictures from WL! Although, it is too bad about your room not being ready, and the lack of storage space.

I'm excited that the trip is finally getting "started", and it looks like it is going to be a good one! Can't wait to read more

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Thanks for the VWL pics! I'd like to try staying there sometime - preferably on a December trip, but who knows when that will happen??
Clever girl, rearranging the furniture!!

Nice way to start the trip with a rita and a DISer!!
Good thing Cynthia got there in time for dinner!
I love the "bar"!! - ours is usually just piles of snack food. Next time, I'm bringing something a bit, um, stronger...

 

[jecskc]

When we purchased DVC, I wondered what we would do with it when the kids got older and wouldn't come with us as often. Now I know !! Girls trip !! Sounds like so much fun. Ahhh. One day I will meet someone at The Ditch and not worry about having the kids in tow.

Looks like you have plenty of rum there, but not enough vodka.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[eandesmom]

The problem with the accessible bathroom was there was NO storage at all in the bathroom.

I kept wondering how two girls were going to survive in a bathroom with no storage space.

My solution - I decided to put the coffee table in there. Now we had a place to put our cosmetic bags. Problem solved and the BR was so big the table fit with no problem.

It was a brilliant solution! You had texted me that it was a HA room and you hoped/through it would be ok but I had no idea what you meant by that. The really funny part is I didn't even notice the table missing in the room, it fit in so well in the bathroom that I assumed it had already been there!

I actually quite like the decor of the room, it's not nearly as dark as the main lodge rooms are.

I would have loved a bay lake view, but I was just happy to be off the ground floor.

It was a good location, not really on the view side but not horrible either. I got excited as I was walking toward it thinking it would have a lake view and then realized we were on the wrong side of the hallway. Oh well.

I decided to hang at the villa pool

I didn't spend all that much time at the pool because it was already starting to get very shaded around the villa pool. All those trees that are planted at the WL create a lot of shade and I was running out of a good sun spot. Bummer!

So pretty back there but SO shady in the late afternoon. It's probably better in the morning.

And you are not going to believe this, but I carried my camera without its bag so I didn't have to go through bag check. Score!

I decided to order the cucumber margarita (in honor of Danielle's drunk little cucumber)

And it did not disappoint! Loved it. It was very much like the jalapeño (but instead of jalapeño bits in the bottom of the glass there were drunk little cucumber remnants).

When Cynthia arrived I'm not even sure if she had time for a drink. It was great to see her. Sorry - no pictures of the three of us. We kind of gathered everything up and made our way over to our dinner ADR. I wished that Pat was going to join us, but we told her we would be back in Epcot tomorrow and we would text her to meet up.

So dinner is really a blur to me and I don't remember being especially hungry (I swear its those margaritas - they fill me up)

We did not see Illuminations because we were eating during the show. I don't think I had anything else with dinner, except, perhaps a glass of wine. Sorry my memory is so bad.

I was very impressed you were bagless! I didn't have a drink at the Ditch. There wasn't a ton of time before our ADR and I didn't want to drink it fast since I knew I wanted a glass of wine with dinner so I just waited. I think you did have wine with dinner but can't recall. It may or may not show up in my pics. I'll look at those today and hopefully get an update up.

Back at the room I think Cynthia was probably still wide away from being on West Coast time. She decided to fix a drink and I joined her. I think we went out and walked around the resort and sat on the beach for a little while just catching up.

Here are our liquor stores for the week

The volume of rum was mind boggling on that shelf. Not happy with that allears recipie, I think it steered us wrong for sure. I was pretty wide awake, we did each make a drink and sat down at the beach just chatting and catching up. It was fun! Though I did get a couple of bug bites on the ankles, shocker I know. Thanks for staying up with me

 

[eandesmom]

I arrived at the Villa at 6:38. Our dinner ressies were for 8:30 so I figured I'd be ok. On my agenda was changing clothes and getting the heck out of dodge. As I'd done DME on my checked bag, it wasn't there yet. First off, I checked out the view

It was, the woods. Not bad, not good, just the woods. And a service road. And actually if you peeked around the corner you could see the bus lane but it was pretty well hidden. Ok, I wasn't on this trip for coffee on the verandah and wouldn't be spending much time on it anyway so no biggie. Plus it was about the view I’d been expecting, knowing that most of the villas have a similar “territorial” view. It was a nice high floor and not horribly far from the elevator, all good things.

I noticed a goodie bag with my name on it on the bed. I thought about waiting to open it but figured Mary Ellen wouldn't have put it there if she didn't want me to open it. So I did!

Thank you! I had wanted one of the glass stoppers for a while so was excited to get one! I have used it quite a bit since the trip. The soccer bracelet was for Kendall and the dangler, for my car which is where it's hanging right now!

With that I got changed and headed out the door. By now Mary Ellen and Pat were already at the Ditch and the plan was to meet them there. I had one stop I needed to make first so was going to be cutting it a little close. I debated boat/monorail versus bus and was swayed to take the bus by Mary Ellen and Pat. I'm not sure it was any faster but at least it is direct. I did wait about 10 minutes for the bus I think and like Mary Ellen’s bus, it went by the Fort first. I have a major soft spot for the Fort so that was kind of fun even though it seemed to take a while. Arriving at Epcot I texted that I was there and was going to run my errand and asked if I should meet them at the Ditch or at Les Chefs. The Ditch was the plan so I took of for…the Festival Center! We had a culinary seminar booked for the following day and if I picked up the tickets now, we would have a little more time and not worry about running late. At the Festival Center I learned I could only pick up tomorrows tickets, not the ones for the other seminar we were booked at later in the week. Bummer. Tickets in hand I booked it to the Ditch and found Pat and Mary Ellen right away. They were finishing up their drink and chatting away like they’d known each other forever! It was great to meet Pat and I think we maybe had 10 minutes there before we headed over to dinner and parted ways for the night. Like Mary Ellen, I didn't take many pictures. In fact, I was so hungry I just dug into my food before realizing I hadn't taken a picture!

I had

French Onion Soup, with a lovely glass of Sancerre (If memory serves)
Soupe a l'oignon Gratinee - the classic onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese $7.99

and

Lasagnes de legumes du soleil a l'huile d'olive au thym - Zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onions and bell peppers baked into thin layers of pasta $19.99

This was an interesting one. For some reason it just sounded good at the moment. It didn’t sound particularly “French” but it sounded good. And it was. I may have had a 2nd glass of wine, not sure. I do remember Mary Ellen used her TIW card and that was nice. Basically it covers tip plus a little but every little bit helps that’s for sure! We did see a little bit of Illuminations from the table and had a nice walk out, seeing all the kiosks. As nothing was open late that night we did head straight back to the resort. Which, with WL still takes a bit.

As I'd hoped, my bag had arrived while we were at dinner so I unpacked and got settled. Still, with the time difference I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep quite yet so we made a drink, which was a bit entertaining in and of itself. We had, as you've seen, quite a bit of rum. We'd purchased the ingredients to make Turtle Krawl's. A drink we both really like that they sell at the Gurgling Suitcase. It calls for 4 different rums (though in retrospect we could have easily eliminated at least 1) and as a result, we were not short on options. It also called for different juices, pineapple being one of them. I'd ordered giant cans as they were quite a bit cheaper, but hadn't really thought about the logistics of opening and pouring from them. We didn't have a can opener that would just punch the holes in it so we could pour out of it. Nope, we had to open it partially and pour through a "slit" hoping not to make a huge mess. It did make shaking the juice a bit of a challenge as well, through thankfully I did think to shake it before we opened it the first time. It was pretty funny. I don't think we attempted the actual recipe that night, instead just went with some dark rum and pineapple juice and honestly, it was darn tasty, a perfect dessert by the beach and just enough to help me wind down and adjust to the time so I could hit the hay and actually get to sleep.

Which I did!

 

[dizneeat]

You've finally made it to the WL!!

I think your view was not too bad, you could also have had one of the multicoloured cars of America. (Have been waiting to use that term for a long time now. - this was what I was told was one of the "view" options for WL)

You dinner at Les Chef looks nice, even though the "lasagna" doesn't really look French at all, but at least it was yummy.
for having a TiW handy. We love ours and would not travel to WDW without it.

You know, I could just picture the two of you making those cocktails. It sounds pretty yummy, even though you only used one kind of rum. Sounds like a fun nightcup!

 

[MEK]

Yay for getting your room before your bags got TOO annoying!!! It looks really pretty, and the balcony view looks so peaceful!

I know - I did get it right before my bags were about to get too annoying. It was a nice room and it was very roomy. I liked that aspect of it.

Hahaha I need to start taking more "time" pictures. I NEVER can remember what happened when in my trips!

I needed to take more of them on this trip because I serious have forgotten so much. I don't know what happened to my attention. Oh - wait - yes I do and its called food & WINE!

Yay for the Drunk Little Cucumber! I had really wanted to try it, but it wasn't listed on the La Hacienda menu!

When I ate at La Hacienda last December they did tell me they could make any of the ritas that they had at the Ditch. I'm pretty sure they said that and I said "Good to Know". It really is a great rita!

Joining in!! We stayed at WL last year before we were DVC and we LOVED RF! I think we ate there at least once per day...they always have good stuff.

disneydancer! Thanks for joining in. RF is a great QS area. I really did enjoy my sandwich - it was totally yummy!

I am very interested to try the cucumber drink...and the jalepeno drink! I am disappointed in myself that I have NOT discovered these on my many tours of Epcot...guess I need to travel with more people interested in drinking around the world...

Oh yeah - It wasn't until I went on my first girl's trip that I discovered how much fun drinking around the world could be. And once I discovered the Ditch - well - all I can say is they make the BEST margaritas I have ever tasted. I will never drink a crappy frozen rita again. And that plastic glass is a "to go" glass. Both the jalapeno and the cucumber as SO good. They are a little pricey for a drink, but its really like getting two drinks in one glass. So, if you look at it that way - its a bargain.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

It's crazy, so get ready.

Joining in! Off to a great start!

Amy! Thanks for joining in! It was such a fun trip!

Oh I can't believe how much your pictures make me long for WL. We stayed there last december and I didn't realize just how much I loved it. I still think I like the epcot deluxe resorts better... but RF is is such a good cs location.

It really is a great resort. I have a reservation there for next November and I think I am going to keep that reservation. I am going to switch the early part of it to BWV or BCV for the F&W access. That Epcot access is hard to bet. It's just so darn convenient, but in terms of a stunningly beautiful resort - WL has it!

I think that I have decided on a benefit to my long travel day from west coast out... my room is always ready. Course, my bags often come in the middle of the night...so maybe it isn't a benefit.

I hate that late night bag delivery. I have had that experience with late flights. Not fun! I am sure your West Coast travel day can not be fun, although I am surprised at how easy Cynthia rolls with it.

Super cool you got to have a dismeet while you waited for Cynthia to arrive. I have never been to the Ditch, but someday I want to try a margarita there!!!

I was thrilled to meet with Pat! She is great! Oh - you must try a Ditch rita - there is seriously nothing better. SO good!

I really didn't like that WL shared a bus to Epcot with FW. There were days when we went that the bus was so crowded we were squished and standing.

I am not crazy about how all the deluxe resorts (well except for AKL) seem to share buses. Fortunately, we used mostly the boat and the monorail while we stayed at VWL.

Lots of booze for some yummy boozy drinks! Love the creamer up there too! You gals had your beverages covered!

We were trying to follow a recipe that one of us found for the Turtle Crawl at OKW. I think our recipe was wrong because our drinks tasted nothing like the drink at the Gurgling suitcase. Oh well.

I notice you were wearing a wristlet with your phone. I JUST got one for Christmas. How do you like yours? Do you then just have that in the parks? I usually have my phone in my pocket. Not sure that is any better... but somehow it dangling from my wrist makes me a tad nervous.

Tracy gave me that a few years ago. I love it. It is completely safe and completely convenient. I don't normally use it for regular day to day use, but I always take it on every vacation. I like having just the few cards I need with me and my phone. I hope you love yours.

Merry Christmas!

Same to you. Hope you had a great day!

 

[MEK]

Trip is off to a very good start. Still haven't been to the La Cava for a margarita. Suppose that will change at some point, but probably not on my upcoming trip! I'm so glad you got along so well with Pat. Meeting people on here is always such a fun experience. And, for the record, I'm not sure there are pictures of us meeting up....except for pictures of me making an *** of myself with a certain someone who I won't name yet.

The trip started well and ended well. You definitely have to get a rita from the Ditch. There is nothing like them! Amazing!

Meeting Pat was a blast! She is awesome and I hope we get to meet up again on a future trip.

Yum - Yes there ARE pictures of you meeting up with a certain someone. I just edited them today!

Hope that you had a wonderful Christmas!

I did and I hope you and your family had a great day as well. You must be getting so excited for your upcoming trip. I am so JEALOUS, because the weather here is SO YUCKY! I would kill to be going to Florida now. Anywhere in Florida. It doesn't even have to be Disney!

Ahh you're pictures from WL are making me want to stay there again! Except I'm not letting myself repeat any resorts from now on, so the WL will have to wait a while! It's just so pretty and peaceful, and I love how close to MK it is! Although I feel like when I stay in BLT this Feb. I'm never going to want to stay anywhere else!

BLT really spoils you in terms of location, but, honestly, I prefer the Epcot resorts over BLT. Still, I did love walking to the MK. I just don't care for the theming all that much. So many of the other resorts are so much prettier. Still, you are going to LOVE it!

Yay, Epcot! Yay for a 'rita at the ditch! Yum! Although, I have to say, I'm not sure I'm brave enough for a cucumber margarita...I don't like cucumbers so I'm guessing I wouldn't want one in a drink! But it's pretty to look at!

Well, it doesn't taste a bit like cucumbers, but if you don't love cucumbers than you probably don't want them hanging at the bottom of your drink. Try the jalapeño - it is only very slightly hot and Oh SO Yummy.

I love how you guys bring your own liquor for drinks at the resort! Maybe Brandon and I should try that on our next trip!

I always bring a bottle of something. I just bubble wrap it really good and then wrap it in my Mickey towel. We were actually hoping to make our own Turtle Crawls, but they didn't turn out so well.

It's a little late, but I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Thank you! I had a great Christmas! I hope you did too!

I am loving your pictures from WL! Although, it is too bad about your room not being ready, and the lack of storage space.

The WL is a pretty awesome resort. Everything turned out great with the room. The arrangement was a little odd, but the whole villa seemed huge and we made out fine with the bathroom.

I'm excited that the trip is finally getting "started", and it looks like it is going to be a good one! Can't wait to read more

It was a great trip. It's so funny how little of it I remember until I see the pictures, so I am really reliving it through this TR!

Thanks for the VWL pics! I'd like to try staying there sometime - preferably on a December trip, but who knows when that will happen??

I can't wait to stay there when its decorated for Christmas. It's such a perfect holiday resort! I don't love the rooms as much as AKL, but I do love the whole resort.

Clever girl, rearranging the furniture!!

I thought it was pretty bright! I was so worried Cynthia would hate the room that I really put my thinking cap on!

Nice way to start the trip with a rita and a DISer!!
Good thing Cynthia got there in time for dinner!

I wish I could start every Disney trip with a rita at the Ditch! Love it! And Cynthia got there in plenty of time, which was wonderful. It was a really nice evening.

I love the "bar"!! - ours is usually just piles of snack food. Next time, I'm bringing something a bit, um, stronger...

Yes - I think you should!

When we purchased DVC, I wondered what we would do with it when the kids got older and wouldn't come with us as often. Now I know !! Girls trip !! Sounds like so much fun. Ahhh. One day I will meet someone at The Ditch and not worry about having the kids in tow.

Girls trips and couples trips are what you do when your kids don't want to go anymore. Both are equally fun, so enjoys all the DVC years you have left!

I did see a couple kids in the Ditch with their parents. You gotta love Disney. Most places like that wouldn't allow kids, but this place is perfect. They have a few munchie items on the menu as well.

Looks like you have plenty of rum there, but not enough vodka.

We were trying to make a drink called the Turtle Crawl. They serve them at OKW at the Gurgling Suitcase and they are SO good. However, our recipe did not really turn out so well. It called for 4 types of rum and I think really all it needed was two types. Oh well.

Looking forward to reading more.

I wish I could update as fast as you, but I think between the two of us there should always be updates.

 

[MEK]

It was a brilliant solution! You had texted me that it was a HA room and you hoped/through it would be ok but I had no idea what you meant by that. The really funny part is I didn't even notice the table missing in the room, it fit in so well in the bathroom that I assumed it had already been there!

That's too funny! Well, I always think the coffee table is a little silly in a villa room. I mean, really, who sits on the couch and has a drink or something to eat. It just doesn't happen that much, so why put a coffee table there?

I actually quite like the decor of the room, it's not nearly as dark as the main lodge rooms are.

Really? That's interesting. I would love to see a main lodge room sometime. Just to compete.

It was a good location, not really on the view side but not horrible either. I got excited as I was walking toward it thinking it would have a lake view and then realized we were on the wrong side of the hallway. Oh well.

I know me too. But in my heart I knew we wouldn't be that lucky. We had a similar view the last time we stayed there. Well, it really isn't a view. In fact, most of the rooms don't have real views, except those high rooms on the lake side. I am requesting one for my next stay!

So pretty back there but SO shady in the late afternoon. It's probably better in the morning.

Too shady. It's probably great in the summer when its blazing hot, but not so much for October.

I was very impressed you were bagless! I didn't have a drink at the Ditch. There wasn't a ton of time before our ADR and I didn't want to drink it fast since I knew I wanted a glass of wine with dinner so I just waited. I think you did have wine with dinner but can't recall. It may or may not show up in my pics. I'll look at those today and hopefully get an update up.

I really did not want any bags that night. Bags got on my nerves in June, so I was taking a new approach - well at least for the first night.

I think I probably had a glass of wine with dinner. It would just seem wrong if I didn't.

The volume of rum was mind boggling on that shelf. Not happy with that allears recipie, I think it steered us wrong for sure. I was pretty wide awake, we did each make a drink and sat down at the beach just chatting and catching up. It was fun! Though I did get a couple of bug bites on the ankles, shocker I know. Thanks for staying up with me

Yeah - that recipe was weird. I would love to get the real recipe someday because its such a good drink. There has to be something we totally missed. Something with coconut. It has to be made with a coconut rum.

I enjoyed sitting up and talking. It was a nice way to end the evening and I love sitting on the beach at WL. It's so peaceful.

I had

French Onion Soup, with a lovely glass of Sancerre (If memory serves)
Soupe a l'oignon Gratinee - the classic onion soup topped with Gruyere cheese $7.99

and

Lasagnes de legumes du soleil a l'huile d'olive au thym - Zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onions and bell peppers baked into thin layers of pasta $19.99

Yum! I totally forgot what you had to eat. That looks relish!

It was such a great first night dinner.

Great update Cynthia!

You've finally made it to the WL!!

I was so happy that both Cynthia and I had uneventful travel days. I was glad she arrived in plenty of time for our dinner ADR.

I think your view was not too bad, you could also have had one of the multicoloured cars of America. (Have been waiting to use that term for a long time now. - this was what I was told was one of the "view" options for WL)

What? Really? Now that is a strange term, for sure. We really didn't spend any time on the balcony and the villas (at least most of them) don't have much in the way of a view. They try so hard to create this sense that you are in the middle of a forest. That sort of nixes the view.

You dinner at Les Chef looks nice, even though the "lasagna" doesn't really look French at all, but at least it was yummy.

Did mine? Doesn't matter, it was yummy!

for having a TiW handy. We love ours and would not travel to WDW without it.

My TIW got plenty of use during this trip. We used it more than we even anticipated. I am going to get a new one in June but I am upset that they price was jacked up to $100. That's a lot.

You know, I could just picture the two of you making those cocktails. It sounds pretty yummy, even though you only used one kind of rum. Sounds like a fun nightcup!

We were so excited that we found a recipe for the infamous Turtle Crawl and then the realization hit that our drinks were not going to be anything close to a Turtle Crawl!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

It looks like you ladies had a great first night, and probably a really fun trip! It is nice that you were able to do this together. I'm not liking the sounds of transportation at WL though!

 

[eandesmom]

Joining in! Off to a great start!

Hi Amy,

Trip is off to a very good start. Still haven't been to the La Cava for a margarita. Suppose that will change at some point, but probably not on my upcoming trip! I'm so glad you got along so well with Pat. Meeting people on here is always such a fun experience. And, for the record, I'm not sure there are pictures of us meeting up....except for pictures of me making an *** of myself with a certain someone who I won't name yet.

Hope that you had a wonderful Christmas!

I know Mary Ellen has a picture of some sort, and not sure what you might have...but oh it was fun!

Ahh you're pictures from WL are making me want to stay there again! Except I'm not letting myself repeat any resorts from now on, so the WL will have to wait a while! It's just so pretty and peaceful, and I love how close to MK it is! Although I feel like when I stay in BLT this Feb. I'm never going to want to stay anywhere else!

Yay, Epcot! Yay for a 'rita at the ditch! Yum! Although, I have to say, I'm not sure I'm brave enough for a cucumber margarita...I don't like cucumbers so I'm guessing I wouldn't want one in a drink! But it's pretty to look at!

I love how you guys bring your own liquor for drinks at the resort! Maybe Brandon and I should try that on our next trip!

It saves a LOT of money on pool drinks that is for sure! I love the WL for MK visits and MK resort dining. Don't love it so much to get anywhere else so it does work quite well for a split stay if you focus your travel accordingly.

Thanks for the VWL pics! I'd like to try staying there sometime - preferably on a December trip, but who knows when that will happen??
Clever girl, rearranging the furniture!!

Nice way to start the trip with a rita and a DISer!!
Good thing Cynthia got there in time for dinner!
I love the "bar"!! - ours is usually just piles of snack food. Next time, I'm bringing something a bit, um, stronger...

WL in Dec would be very cool! Although as the kids have gotten older we spend more time in the Epcot area so the transportation would get to me. It works really well for a split stay I think.

When we purchased DVC, I wondered what we would do with it when the kids got older and wouldn't come with us as often. Now I know !! Girls trip !! Sounds like so much fun. Ahhh. One day I will meet someone at The Ditch and not worry about having the kids in tow.

Looks like you have plenty of rum there, but not enough vodka.

Looking forward to reading more.

Girls trips are the best!!! It's going to be years before I have leftover points to use for them but someday.

You've finally made it to the WL!!

I think your view was not too bad, you could also have had one of the multicoloured cars of America. (Have been waiting to use that term for a long time now. - this was what I was told was one of the "view" options for WL)

Yeah, I think in the main lodge that is what you will get with the standard view. Roof and parking lot.

You dinner at Les Chef looks nice, even though the "lasagna" doesn't really look French at all, but at least it was yummy.
for having a TiW handy. We love ours and would not travel to WDW without it.

You know, I could just picture the two of you making those cocktails. It sounds pretty yummy, even though you only used one kind of rum. Sounds like a fun nightcup!

It was yummy, and in a way it was kind of french. I joked with Mary Ellen that it was ratatouille lasagna...and it really was!

I think we'd both have been happy just having 2 of the 4 rums, skipping the silvers entirely.

I know - I did get it right before my bags were about to get too annoying. It was a nice room and it was very roomy. I liked that aspect of it.

I needed to take more of them on this trip because I serious have forgotten so much. I don't know what happened to my attention. Oh - wait - yes I do and its called food & WINE!

I did such a good job taking notes on my summer trip. This trip? Not a one!

I hate that late night bag delivery. I have had that experience with late flights. Not fun! I am sure your West Coast travel day can not be fun, although I am surprised at how easy Cynthia rolls with it.

If we have late night arrival, we do not DME our bags, that works better for us. Still I try to get in as early as possible, it really does help.

I am not crazy about how all the deluxe resorts (well except for AKL) seem to share buses. Fortunately, we used mostly the boat and the monorail while we stayed at VWL.

Love the boat ride (well except for one night...we were on that dock forever!) and I think WL is great for a split stay and focus MK time while there and MK resort dining.

Tracy gave me that a few years ago. I love it. It is completely safe and completely convenient. I don't normally use it for regular day to day use, but I always take it on every vacation. I like having just the few cards I need with me and my phone. I hope you love yours.
Same to you. Hope you had a great day!

I have one that Tracy gave me too, it's my official vacation wallet and I love it. It really does feel safe, surprisingly so.

Really? That's interesting. I would love to see a main lodge room sometime. Just to compete.


I know me too. But in my heart I knew we wouldn't be that lucky. We had a similar view the last time we stayed there. Well, it really isn't a view. In fact, most of the rooms don't have real views, except those high rooms on the lake side. I am requesting one for my next stay!

Yeah, I wasn't expecting a view so it was find. I did a horrible job taking pictures of the main lodge room when we stayed there, this is all I have and it's really just the tops of the headboard. Which is HUGE

I think it's the gigantor headboard that made the whole room seem dark. Plus they are a bit small/narrow with really big furniture and everything seemed brown. When we moved to YC is seems SO much bigger. Part of what helped our villa studio was the spaciousness I am sure but there was also red and blue in the decor so overall it seemed lighter to me.

I did find this shot

because its such a good drink. There has to be something we totally missed. Something with coconut. It has to be made with a coconut rum.

I enjoyed sitting up and talking. It was a nice way to end the evening and I love sitting on the beach at WL. It's so peaceful.

Well we had coconut but the proportions were weird. As the trip went on we gave up on the recipe...and used up all the coconut and dark rums. LOL! I skipped the grenadine and can't imagine that would make that huge of a difference but the fact that we had regular lime juice instead of "key lime" might have been a small factor as well.

It looks like you ladies had a great first night, and probably a really fun trip! It is nice that you were able to do this together. I'm not liking the sounds of transportation at WL though!

The boat is wonderful for MK or MK resort dining, just love it. The rest...takes a while. But it's the same anywhere. At BWV it will take longer to get to MK or AK. No matter where you are there will be some spot that takes a while which can make resort dining a challenge to be sure.

 

[Poolrat]

Once again it was so great to meet both of you. That 'rita was great and I look forward to trying a Turtle Krawl in 15 days !!!!

I think whatever you ended up mixing up was great. I have tried them at home and well since I really don't know what the OKW one tastes like, I just have to go with what I got.

I believe I did stay for IllumiNations and then walked back "home"

 

[KatMark]

Cynthia has arrived. Loved the little goodie bag MEK left for you. Glad you made it to the Ditch and a short visit with Pat. I loved that soup at Chefs this month when we went for lunch.

I just love that you girls are trying to recreate the Turtle Crawl. Thanks to MEK, I had two of those in September. So yummy.

 

[MEK]

It looks like you ladies had a great first night, and probably a really fun trip! It is nice that you were able to do this together. I'm not liking the sounds of transportation at WL though!

It was a great first night!

The transportation really wasn't terrible, although we did have one long boat wait one night (spoiler alert), but overall I enjoyed using a combination of different transportation modes.

I did a horrible job taking pictures of the main lodge room when we stayed there, this is all I have and it's really just the tops of the headboard. Which is HUGE

I think it's the gigantor headboard that made the whole room seem dark. Plus they are a bit small/narrow with really big furniture and everything seemed brown. When we moved to YC is seems SO much bigger. Part of what helped our villa studio was the spaciousness I am sure but there was also red and blue in the decor so overall it seemed lighter to me.

I did find this shot

Thanks for posting these Cynthia. It really does help me visualize the differences between the villas and the lodge room. All those browns would make it seem pretty dark and two dimensional.

Once again it was so great to meet both of you. That 'rita was great and I look forward to trying a Turtle Krawl in 15 days !!!!

15 days - nice! I am so jealous! The weather here is totally bumming me out. I need some sunshine. Have a Turtle Crawl for me, please!

I think whatever you ended up mixing up was great. I have tried them at home and well since I really don't know what the OKW one tastes like, I just have to go with what I got.

You will love them. So good. Just the perfect amount of everything! Our recipe did not work that well.

I believe I did stay for IllumiNations and then walked back "home"

I remember being so jealous that night that I couldn't just walk out the international gateway and be "home". sigh!

Cynthia has arrived. Loved the little goodie bag MEK left for you. Glad you made it to the Ditch and a short visit with Pat. I loved that soup at Chefs this month when we went for lunch.

We had so much fun meeting with Pat off and on for the rest of the week!

I'm glad you made it Les Chefs. Isn't that a new restaurant for you?

I just love that you girls are trying to recreate the Turtle Crawl. Thanks to MEK, I had two of those in September. So yummy.

Best. Tropical Drink. Ever! Now if we could just find the correct recipe!

 

[eandesmom]

Once again it was so great to meet both of you. That 'rita was great and I look forward to trying a Turtle Krawl in 15 days !!!!

It really is yummy, I tried it for the first time this summer on MEK's recommendation and just loved it. Actually I just loved everything about OKW. I could move in there.

I think whatever you ended up mixing up was great. I have tried them at home and well since I really don't know what the OKW one tastes like, I just have to go with what I got.

I believe I did stay for IllumiNations and then walked back "home"

There has to be a better recipe out there, we will find it. The fact that it called for 2 different silver rums was wierd and the proportions of the different ones seemed off.

Cynthia has arrived. Loved the little goodie bag MEK left for you. Glad you made it to the Ditch and a short visit with Pat. I loved that soup at Chefs this month when we went for lunch.

I really love French onion soup, I could go for a bowl right now!

I just love that you girls are trying to recreate the Turtle Crawl. Thanks to MEK, I had two of those in September. So yummy.

It is very yummy! MEK introduced them to me as well and thanks to her I tried it for the 1st time in August.

 

[amandaw]

Sorry I'm late but I'm joining in now! Sounds like the trip was off to a great start for y'all!

 

[Moira222]

What is inside the fountain decorating it? I can't tell.


For some reason, "multi quote" is not working for me today. sigh. Now I have to remember everything and I've not even had coffee yet!

First I didn't realize you had eaten dinner at Les Chefs until I saw Cynthia's French Onion soup. the lasagne especially threw me till you described it as a ratatoulle lasagne. now I get it!

LOVE the goody bag on Cynthia's bed. that wine stopper is very cute. I rarely need a stopper ..... i just finish the bottle. (Though that has changed for me now. It takes a lot longer to finish a drink and I can only drink a few sips of an alcoholic beverage right now. )


Recreating the turtle crawl explains all the different rum. That had me a bit perplexed. Its funny that you didn't have a can opener for the big juice can. Sounds like something I would (and have!) done. And yup, I've just taken the whole top off instead.

Tina -- your comment makes me very curious about this mysterious photo

What a great way to finish the night - drinks & chatting on the beach.
Did you catch the Water Parade? its one of my favorite parts of staying at WL


Mary Ellen hope you got some good post-Christmas deals. I was at the mall with Katie yesterday. UGH! We went to build a bear, Claire's, and the Deb shop. Guess this is why they call her age level the start of the "tween" years -- little girl and big girl all rolled into one. Starting with building a stuffed German shepherd plush and ending with strutting in 4 1/2" sparkling blue heels.

 

[afwdwfan]

It calls for 4 different rums (though in retrospect we could have easily eliminated at least 1) and as a result, we were not short on options.

You can never have too much rum!

I'd have had a hard time debating between taking the bus or the boat/monorail. I know the bus is the quicker way to go, but there's just something about riding the monorail into EPCOT through Future World that I absolutely love. I'm glad you had a nice evening and a few drinks to help you relax and adjust to the time difference.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

No Mary Ellen, frankly I don't think that that is enough liquor for 2 svelte ladies... really don't you think you needed to double that...?

I love the Wilderness Lodge... and I get into all the back stories of everything so the decor makes sense in that context... and I really love the architecture and the common spaces... it is a little more isolated... but there is also something cool about that... (It's the way I feel about the AKL...but for different reasons...)

I do have to say the Boardwalk area hotels... just can't be beat for locations though...


I agree about the ritas... I think next time I'm going to just graze when I have one of those... felt filling to me too before a meal...


Your food in Chefs looks really good...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Cynthia's bottle topper... I think I need one of those... Where pray tell did that come from???

 

[natebenma]

I'm a bit late with the Christmas wishes, but I hope you both had wonderful holidays with your families!!!

Loving the start to your trip!

Mary Ellen, great solution to the counter space problem. Really, a coffee table is just a tripping hazard, so you solved two problems.

What a thoughtful goody bag for Cynthia!

The Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful! My DH and I have wanted to visit there just to look around, but the boys are not interested.

I think starting out your trip meeting a new friend at The Ditch is an appropriate start to a trip dedicated to having fun with the gals. I'm glad that Cynthia was able to meet up with you two in time for your dinner plans. The food looked good.

A nightcap by the beach was the perfect way to end your first day!