Laurabearz
I cant load my bobbin!
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2001
- Messages
- 13,634
VWL
WOW what can I say. Wonderful wonderful wonderful! Loved everything about it. Our two bedroom unit was on the second floor overlooking the Mickey topiary. What a nice short walk! The room was ready at 1130am when we checked in. (Sunday) Ahhhh it is good to be home! We spread out, unpack, and hit the main pool.
I was surprised that there was more shady areas at AKL pool than at the main WL pool, but we found a table (with umbrella) near the kiddie pool and set up shop. I hadnt done much research on the Lodge itself, taking the find as we bump into it attitude well much to my surprise we had bumped right into the huge geyser, not 20 feet behind us. How fun! But on the first eruption, most of our stuff got soaked! It was great, Esp. since we had NO CLUE it was right behind us, until it erupted! LOVE IT!
We all thought the pool at WL was way better than the pool at AKL. Maddie said to me, after coming down the slide for the first time Oh mom it gets dark in there just for one second, but it was so much fun to be dark just for one second, Can I go on it again? And she proceeded to go down it 87 zillion more times. I really enjoyed the river side of the pool. Top notch!
We also loved the quiet pool at the Villas. Empty most of the time, and the tickle bubbles were an unexpected surprise. (All the still photos I have seen, show calm water, so who knew?)
We ate at the Whispering canyon Café. Food was plentiful, and tasty. The servers left something to be desired though slow, inconsistent but nothing major. But slow is bad with three little kids. LOL
We also sampled some of the offerings at the to go place I thought the chicken strips had a bit of zing to them. Nice. Next time we will buy the reusable mugs.
Our big adventure at VWL was to take the boat over to FT Wilderness to do Hoop De Doo and the petting zoo/pony rides. It was a great afternoon. Although I did allow too much time for the zoo and rides I say plan on 30-45 tops. We allowed 1.45 hours and were dying in the heat. Hung out at the shop until the bar opened (430 I think) just to get out of the heat.
HOOP DE DOO
In another 5 or 6 year we will go again, and book way in advance. We were too far for the kids to feel involved and they lost interest quickly. I spent most of the show taking them to the bathroom for one reason or another so it was lost on me. Plus we didnt think the food was all that great. Chicken was good, but the ribs? No thanks. And the corn seemed like it had seen better days. Oh well, we know what to expect next time.
MORE PONY RIDES
The next day we head back to FT Wilderness and ride the ponies one more time. This time though, we go ride take the boat back. I also found the lawnmower tree. Cool. We hit the pool on the way back Dinner with Cinderella that night great day.
CINDERELLA DINNER 1900 Park Faire
When we drove up to the GF, My oldest wanted to stay there. Oooh mama . Can we stay here next???? The lobby was very Grand indeed. We arrived quite early and really took in the GF. There was a band on the second floor playing some wonderful jazz that got the girls dancing (and others too) We rode the monorail, danced some more walked up and down the grand staircase, and just relaxed.
Food was good. Cinderella took a lot of breaks, so we ended up waiting for her for close to an hour after we had finished eating (1.45 hours since were seated). If it had been anyone else we could have left, but we cant leave without seeing the Princess herself. So that was kinda of a bummer having to hear over and over where is Cinderella??? I really love corn dogs, everything else was yummy too. We found the soft serve ice cream to be heads above that at China Buffet. LOL If the wait hadnt been so unbearable it would have been great. Other Characters were Perla, Prince Charming, and another mouse (name escapes me now) with the Fairy God Mother in the waiting area.
OTHER MEALS
Chef Mickeys Fun as always. We arrived early so we could ride the monorail around before dinner. There It was Charlies first ride on the Monorail. He was asleep. He seemed to like it though.
The girls loved it too. Esp. when they saw the Castle. Fun ride.
There was a long line at the check in desk, gotta say at least 15-20 parties checking in. The guy in front of me was trying to intimdate the gal (he stood 6'5" and was the size of an out of shape football player) into getting them in early (it was 7 and his PS was for 915) he tapped his huge fingers on the podum, grunted and groaned... it was quite embarassing if you ask me. The CM handled the situation wonderfully but didnt cave on the availibity. He snorted and left. Geez... couldnt the guy see the place was jammed... and he really acted like he should be put in the front of the line.... Sad....
LAST THOUGHTS
Overall this was a great trip. Flying with three kids wasnt as bad as we thought it would be, We discovered the charm of VWL and can check off AKL as a place to go. Had a couple of good meals, swam, took it real slow. Nice. Everyone we talked to was amazed we were doing a no park trip. But when we started listing off everything we did do, they were amazed. I love DVC and I am so grateful it has allowed us the freedom to go to WDW often, in wonderful 2 bedroom villas, and most of all it gives us time to do nothing
We all look forward to our next No Park trip!
BTW I am flashing ahead 5-7 years to when we can add Water Parks and Mini golf into the mix.... Wow... so much to do...
WOW what can I say. Wonderful wonderful wonderful! Loved everything about it. Our two bedroom unit was on the second floor overlooking the Mickey topiary. What a nice short walk! The room was ready at 1130am when we checked in. (Sunday) Ahhhh it is good to be home! We spread out, unpack, and hit the main pool.
I was surprised that there was more shady areas at AKL pool than at the main WL pool, but we found a table (with umbrella) near the kiddie pool and set up shop. I hadnt done much research on the Lodge itself, taking the find as we bump into it attitude well much to my surprise we had bumped right into the huge geyser, not 20 feet behind us. How fun! But on the first eruption, most of our stuff got soaked! It was great, Esp. since we had NO CLUE it was right behind us, until it erupted! LOVE IT!
We all thought the pool at WL was way better than the pool at AKL. Maddie said to me, after coming down the slide for the first time Oh mom it gets dark in there just for one second, but it was so much fun to be dark just for one second, Can I go on it again? And she proceeded to go down it 87 zillion more times. I really enjoyed the river side of the pool. Top notch!
We also loved the quiet pool at the Villas. Empty most of the time, and the tickle bubbles were an unexpected surprise. (All the still photos I have seen, show calm water, so who knew?)
We ate at the Whispering canyon Café. Food was plentiful, and tasty. The servers left something to be desired though slow, inconsistent but nothing major. But slow is bad with three little kids. LOL
We also sampled some of the offerings at the to go place I thought the chicken strips had a bit of zing to them. Nice. Next time we will buy the reusable mugs.
Our big adventure at VWL was to take the boat over to FT Wilderness to do Hoop De Doo and the petting zoo/pony rides. It was a great afternoon. Although I did allow too much time for the zoo and rides I say plan on 30-45 tops. We allowed 1.45 hours and were dying in the heat. Hung out at the shop until the bar opened (430 I think) just to get out of the heat.
HOOP DE DOO
In another 5 or 6 year we will go again, and book way in advance. We were too far for the kids to feel involved and they lost interest quickly. I spent most of the show taking them to the bathroom for one reason or another so it was lost on me. Plus we didnt think the food was all that great. Chicken was good, but the ribs? No thanks. And the corn seemed like it had seen better days. Oh well, we know what to expect next time.
MORE PONY RIDES
The next day we head back to FT Wilderness and ride the ponies one more time. This time though, we go ride take the boat back. I also found the lawnmower tree. Cool. We hit the pool on the way back Dinner with Cinderella that night great day.
CINDERELLA DINNER 1900 Park Faire
When we drove up to the GF, My oldest wanted to stay there. Oooh mama . Can we stay here next???? The lobby was very Grand indeed. We arrived quite early and really took in the GF. There was a band on the second floor playing some wonderful jazz that got the girls dancing (and others too) We rode the monorail, danced some more walked up and down the grand staircase, and just relaxed.
Food was good. Cinderella took a lot of breaks, so we ended up waiting for her for close to an hour after we had finished eating (1.45 hours since were seated). If it had been anyone else we could have left, but we cant leave without seeing the Princess herself. So that was kinda of a bummer having to hear over and over where is Cinderella??? I really love corn dogs, everything else was yummy too. We found the soft serve ice cream to be heads above that at China Buffet. LOL If the wait hadnt been so unbearable it would have been great. Other Characters were Perla, Prince Charming, and another mouse (name escapes me now) with the Fairy God Mother in the waiting area.
OTHER MEALS
Chef Mickeys Fun as always. We arrived early so we could ride the monorail around before dinner. There It was Charlies first ride on the Monorail. He was asleep. He seemed to like it though.
The girls loved it too. Esp. when they saw the Castle. Fun ride. There was a long line at the check in desk, gotta say at least 15-20 parties checking in. The guy in front of me was trying to intimdate the gal (he stood 6'5" and was the size of an out of shape football player) into getting them in early (it was 7 and his PS was for 915) he tapped his huge fingers on the podum, grunted and groaned... it was quite embarassing if you ask me. The CM handled the situation wonderfully but didnt cave on the availibity. He snorted and left. Geez... couldnt the guy see the place was jammed... and he really acted like he should be put in the front of the line.... Sad....
LAST THOUGHTS
Overall this was a great trip. Flying with three kids wasnt as bad as we thought it would be, We discovered the charm of VWL and can check off AKL as a place to go. Had a couple of good meals, swam, took it real slow. Nice. Everyone we talked to was amazed we were doing a no park trip. But when we started listing off everything we did do, they were amazed. I love DVC and I am so grateful it has allowed us the freedom to go to WDW often, in wonderful 2 bedroom villas, and most of all it gives us time to do nothing
We all look forward to our next No Park trip!
BTW I am flashing ahead 5-7 years to when we can add Water Parks and Mini golf into the mix.... Wow... so much to do...
