Just got back around midnight last night, and I'm sorry to hear about your MIL Kim, but happy to hear that all appears to be going well and she is well on her way to recovery!
The Lodge was beautiful, and oh so peaceful after a long, busy day. It was full (I know because I tried to add onto our reservation since we didn't leave for MCO until after 4pm yesterday, we wanted to keep a room just in case) and wasn't able to do it, nothing at all available! It did not feel crowded at all. Roaring Forks had lines at times but they moved fairly quickly. They seemed to have added a lot of boats over the weekend as yesterday you could actually see several on the water at the same time.
We had room 5026 overlooking the otter pond with a view of Cinderella's Castle in the background and the monorail in the foreground. We could see fireworks from our balcony but I went up to the end of the 6th floor to watch because the view is unobstructed from there and we would have had to look through some trees from our room.
After we checked in last Sunday night we quickly dropped everything in our room and went over to MGM. Upon returning we found the gift box I had ordered from feralpeg in our room for DD (it was absolutely perfect!), along with some happy birthday balloons and a signed photo of Minnie Mouse made out to DD...very nice touch, except it wasn't her birthday, LOL. She's only two though, and didn't know what the balloons said, she was just happy to have them, LOL.
There was also a message for us from Dharma, the CM who checked us in, welcoming us 'Home' and letting us know that if we needed anything to just call down, VERY nice.
The lobby is very beautiful and DD loved the bridge over the water. She only tried to climb in once.
It is very similar to AKL of course, but I must admit I did miss the AKL 'smell' every time I entered the lobby. The courtyard area is drop-dead gorgeous. I loved, loved, loved it out there. It felt like having two vacations in one. I didn't swim, but DD did, every day. She preferred the baby pool and that was fine with me. The water in there was warmer than in the big pool and it was easy to keep an eye on her. She found lots of little friends to play with, though a couple of times I think there were kids in there who were way too old and should have been in the big pool. Everything everywhere, inside and out, was impeccably neat and tidy...very clean! Some things, I think, could use a refurbishment and are showing their age, but everything was as clean as it could possibly be.
Our lodgekeeper stopped me in the hallway one day, early in the trip, to inquire if the money left on the vanity was supposed to be for her. I assured her that it was and she thanked me repeatedly, and continued to do so every time we passed! Unbelieveable! She seemed truly appreciative of that daily $5 tip, and with a 2-year-old I think she was earning it, LOL. The CMs here are the friendliest I've come across anywhere, I think! We requested turn down service and it was very nice also. One night we were in the room when the CM came and I told her we would pass that night, as we were spread out all over the beds with our dinner...she gave me a huge handful of candies anway!
I found transportation to be a bit slow, compared to AKL last year. I guess it was because AKL had direct busing with no sharing, and WL seemed to always have another stop before we got to where we were going. We would stop at either FW, the Poly, and/or the GF. I also seemed to always wait about 15 minutes for my bus, sometimes 20, whereas at AKL I never waited more than 10 (and then went straight to my destination.) I thoroughly enjoyed the boats, though they also were not what I would consider fast. They were very relaxing, if sometimes overcrowded. I especially liked sitting up front feeling the breeze and listening to the sounds of the water and birds! I think I could spend a day (if I had one to spare
) just riding the boat around in circles.
DD enjoyed playing in the sand and on the little playground. It was never crowded. We also walked the path over to FW. The nature trail has some rough spots if you're using a stroller, LOL, but we made it through. We took the paved path back.
The parks were a good deal more crowded than at this time last year, but we still were able to do most of what we had planned.
I'm still unpacking and such, but if anyone has a question, fire away and I'll do my best to answer!
I was wondering, was your room a "woodsview" or a "courtyard view" room? Did you have bunkbeds? We have a woodsview room booked for mid-March and are wondering what to request! 
We were thinking about re 
(but I'm sure we are gonna LOVE AKL!!)
