The VWL Groupies & Trivia Thread

[bobbiwoz]

Did I mistype something. I didn't mean to imply that I took a boat to RC. You're right, that's the dock I was talking about. It looks completely abandoned. So, is there anyway to walk from FW to RC? I'm not that familiar with FW.

Hi, I was trying to say that what may now look like a dock is a boardwalk. You probably aren't allowed to walk into RC now...but if you took a boat to the dock at FW, with your back to the lake, look in about the 2 o'clock position...that's the direction that RC is in.

It has been a few years and maybe Mickey's Backyard Barbeque is in a different place now, but if you had your back to the lake and walked in a about 1 o'clock position, there would be a pavillion there that the Barbeque was held in and RC was close to that. As I say these things I admit that I'm not real good with directions, and I'm thinking that the Trails End Buffeteria is more or less at noon position from the dock area.

Bobbi

 

[bpmorley]

Hi, I was trying to say that what may now look like a dock is a boardwalk. You probably aren't allowed to walk into RC now...but if you took a boat to the dock at FW, with your back to the lake, look in about the 2 o'clock position...that's the direction that RC is in.

It has been a few years and maybe Mickey's Backyard Barbeque is in a different place now, but if you had your back to the lake and walked in a about 1 o'clock position, there would be a pavillion there that the Barbeque was held in and RC was close to that. As I say these things I admit that I'm not real good with directions, and I'm thinking that the Trails End Buffeteria is more or less at noon position from the dock area.

Bobbi

Gotcha. I appreciate the info. I just assumed that it was a dock. I know this is off topic, but I'd like to know if anything is going to be done with the land. Another water park, especially by VWL, would rock

 

[bobbiwoz]

Maria...great photos! And if you look on the other side of one of those carving poles, you'll see a great "hidden Mickey".

Oh, I missed the explanation "other side" of the carving poles, I went round and round last week, trying to find the little mouse!!!! Well, that's something to do the next time!
Bobbi

 

[Granny]

Oh, I missed the explanation "other side" of the carving poles, I went round and round last week, trying to find the little mouse!!!! Well, that's something to do the next time!
Bobbi

As usual, the devil's in the details!!

The "hidden Mickey" is in a post near the VWL atrium fireplace. You can see the big carved snake on the post...that will make it easy to find!

Has anybody here ever witnessed or had kids participate in the afternoon duck races at WL? Are those a hoot or what?

 

[keliblue]

As usual, the devil's in the details!!

The "hidden Mickey" is in a post near the VWL atrium fireplace. You can see the big carved snake on the post...that will make it easy to find!

Has anybody here ever witnessed or had kids participate in the afternoon duck races at WL? Are those a hoot or what?

Do you have to be a kid to participate

 

[blossomz]

I LOVE those duck races! So much fun!!

 

[Granny]

Do you have to be a kid to participate

Kid At Heart qualifies too!

Though it might be embarrassing to be up on the bridge rooting on your duck along with the little ones.

 

[bobbiwoz]

You don't have to be a kid to participate in the Decorating Cookie activity that they have. Last week, it was in Roaring Forks 4-5 Daily. We weren't "home" at the time, I had booked Behind the Seeds tour.

Bobbi

 

[keliblue]

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Kid At Heart qualifies too!

Though it might be embarrassing to be up on the bridge rooting on your duck along with the little ones.

Ahhhhhhhh naaaaaaaaa.. I can handle it

QUAKE..QUAKE..

 

[MaryJ]

Just wanted to jump in and say that we're going home in November! I get to celebrate my birthday at VWL! There will be six of us there....DH and myself, DD and her DH, and our friends from IL, Lee and Jane. Lee and Jane came with us for the F&WF a few years ago, and when we asked if they'd like to come again, Jane said "Wild horses couldn't keep me away!"

The only down side is that we are waitlisted for two days of our trip. DH is a bit worried about that, but I told him that the waitlist has come through for us in the past, and I'm confident that it will again.

 

[Muushka]

How fun will that be? Birthday at VWL!! I hope you get those last 2 days!!!!

 

[diznyfanatic]

Hi and WELCOME HOME to all the new Groupies!!! We're excited you've joined us!

We leave tonight and will spend our first two nights at SSR and then will be back home at our beloved Lodge on Sunday.

I'll try to take a lot of pictures but I don't think any of mine will compare to the awesome ones here!

Anyway, I'll see you all when we get back!

 

[mwmuntz]

On a completely unrelated note, we finally met Ranger Stan on this trip. What a delightful gentleman who truly enjoys his job! He has been with WL since it's opening and is a fixture there.
__________________
Granny

Granny
Glad you got to meet Ranger Stan. He is a great guy. He reminds me of one of an Uncle of mine that has passed on.
Last time we went up with him on the roof, my parents were with us. He asked my kids, "you know who your best friends in the world are?" Then he pointed to me, DW and my parents and told them to always remember that, and they would have friends forever. Bout made me and my dad burst out in tears. It was a magical moment for sure!
We saw him as we were heading out the door to leave on this last trip, and he remembered us. What a great guy!

Ranger Stan is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. My wife & I have known him for, oh, about 15 years now. We met him when he was a bus driver at Fort Wilderness. We were always on the last bus for the night & Stan was almost always the driver. We were usually the only ones on the bus at that time, so he would pull over & we would talk. When we go back home, we wrote a letter to him, and addressed to "Stan the Silver Bus Route Driver, WDW, etc....", and to our surprise,... he wrote back! VERY nice man. We always try to get to WL to catch up with him whenever we are at WDW.

 

[bobbiwoz]

As usual, the devil's in the details!!

The "hidden Mickey" is in a post near the VWL atrium fireplace. You can see the big carved snake on the post...that will make it easy to find!

Has anybody here ever witnessed or had kids participate in the afternoon duck races at WL? Are those a hoot or what?

Oh,...I have read your post for about the 10th time, and now I think I understand. Besides walking around on the levels and looking down, I also was walking round and round the circle on the ground floor looking up at the logs that make up the atrium, along the back, not in the circle. BUT...it's not in the atrium, it's near the fireplace and the snake is a landmark....Is that it???
Bobbi
PS. Dense people ARE ALLOWED to be Groupies, you have all assured me of that, right???!!

 

[Granny]

Oh,...I have read your post for about the 10th time, and now I think I understand. Besides walking around on the levels and looking down, I also was walking round and round the circle on the ground floor looking up at the logs that make up the atrium, along the back, not in the circle. BUT...it's not in the atrium, it's near the fireplace and the snake is a landmark....Is that it???
Bobbi
PS. Dense people ARE ALLOWED to be Groupies, you have all assured me of that, right???!!

Aw, you're not dense. It's just not something that is particularly easy to spot. That's why they call them "hidden".

Here's the easiest way to find it. Stand in front of the VWL atrium fireplace facing it. Turn to your right and the first or second post has the Mickey in it. From the middle of the atrium you would look at the post and only see the snake. You have to go "behind" the part you can normally see and it will be there.

If this doesn't work, there's only one solution. We'll just have to meet up at VWL at some point so I can show you!!


MaryJ....that sounds great to be at VWL during your birthday. Here's some Moose Dust for those waitlist days. I think you'll be okay since you got on the waitlist before any of the 7 month non-home owners could get on it.

mwmuntz...I couldn't agree more about Ranger Stan. I hope his health allows him to continue on as long as he wants.

 

[jimmytammy]

Ranger Stan is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. My wife & I have known him for, oh, about 15 years now. We met him when he was a bus driver at Fort Wilderness. We were always on the last bus for the night & Stan was almost always the driver. We were usually the only ones on the bus at that time, so he would pull over & we would talk. When we go back home, we wrote a letter to him, and addressed to "Stan the Silver Bus Route Driver, WDW, etc....", and to our surprise,... he wrote back! VERY nice man. We always try to get to WL to catch up with him whenever we are at WDW.

Thanks for sharing that with us. And I agree, he is as nice a fellow as you would ever want to meet. We felt sorta honored he would remember us.

 

[4Pluto]

Has anybody here ever witnessed or had kids participate in the afternoon duck races at WL? Are those a hoot or what?

I am taking the family "home" for the first time in 6 weeks (can't wait). My niece is 3. Would the duck races be "age appropriate" at 3? If so, when and where do we sign up?

Thanks

 

[Granny]

I am taking the family "home" for the first time in 6 weeks (can't wait). My niece is 3. Would the duck races be "age appropriate" at 3? If so, when and where do we sign up?

Thanks

We go in the summer, so I can only assume that the duck races are year round. They take place in the mid-afternoon (2:00?). And yes, your niece is very age appropriate.

Basically, they take those carnival "duck pond" plastic ducks with numbers on the bottom of them. They hand out numbers to the kids who show up that correspond to the number on a duck. Then they have all the plastic ducks in the stream that flows out from the spring in the lobby and release them. As the ducks float down the stream, the kids are encouraged to scream for their duck just like people at the horse races..."C'mon #5!!!"

The first duck down to a predetermined "finish line" is plucked from the stream and that child wins a prize. My recollection is that they gave out about 3-4 prizes per day. But the most fun was just watching and listening to the kids as they rooted on their duck!

So even a child with little knowledge of what is going on will enjoy it. And parents are with the child if need be...if your niece is intimidated by the other children you can just hold her and she can still enjoy it.

 

[gppnj]

Hi, everybody!

I haven't been very active on these boards for about the last six months. I've been back lately, partly because I have a trip coming up and partly because I wanted to hear about the Animal Kingdom Villas.

Anyway, yesterday I came across this thread. I can't tell you what a nice afternoon I had reading through it. (I haven't quite finished yet, actually. Just a few more screens to go.) I want to thank everyone who contributed to it. (And a special thanks to the person who recommended Balsam Cedar candles from Yankee Candle; I placed an order for a few yesterday.)

Every DVC resort has its fans. However, it really seems like VWL devotees are the most passionate, doesn't it? I love Wilderness Lodge so much. It's wonderful to be among others who love it as much as I do.

I have a VWL story to share. I posted a version of this about a year and a half ago, so a few of you might have read it already.

I joined DVC in July 2005 (I can't believe it's that long ago already). When I was thinking about buying into DVC, SSR was the only resort for sale. My guide told me that all the other resorts were "completely sold out." I had no reason to think that I wouldn't like SSR. However, I knew that I *loved* Wilderness Lodge, and although I hadn't seen the VWL part, I was sure I'd love it just as much.

I knew that in theory I could stay at VWL sometimes if I bought at SSR. However, I also knew my personality and temperament, and I knew this was a recipe for disaster. If I booked at SSR and then was unsuccessful in trying to switch to VWL at the seven-month mark, I'd take it in stride the first time. However, if I happened to be unsuccessful two or more times, I know I'd start to get very angry about it. Also, in the four months between when I booked SSR and when I could try to switch to VWL, I'd be stressing the whole time about whether or not I'd be able to switch. As everyonre reading this undoubtedly knows, DVC is not cheap. I really didn't need to spend all the money just to be angry and stressed all the time. Clearly, I needed to own at VWL. I didn't (and still don't) need to stay at VWL every time, but to have peace of mind, I needed to know that I could stay there when I really wanted to.

It's only from these boards that I knew that "sold out" doesn't necessarily mean sold out. I called back my guide and explained to him that I was only willing to buy at VWL. If no VWL points were available, I told him I'd like to be put on a waiting list, but I would not buy at SSR. He put me on hold for a few minutes, and suddenly there was a VWL contract available. Yay!

Since joining DVC, I've only visited WDW once. Some things happened that prevented me from traveling, so I rented out some of my surplus 2005 and 2006 points. I went on that WDW trip in February of last year. When I booked that trip, I thought I was going to need as many points as possible for my own trips, so I booked a BWV standard view studio to save points. However, when I was there, naturally I went to Wilderness Lodge to look around. I had stayed at the hotel part of Wilderness Lodge before, but I had never even seen the villas part.

I can still remember so clearly the feeling I got when I walked up to the lodge and then stepped into the lobby. I remembered all over again how much I loved the place. Everything was so wonderful. When I thought about how I now owned a little piece of that, I actually started crying a little bit because I was so happy. I was also happy when I saw the villas part and liked that as well. Needless to say, holding out and buying at VWL was definitely the right thing for me.

So anyway, my first actual stay at VWL is finally coming up soon. In general, I tend to need smaller accommodations, but for this trip, I'm going with several friends, so I've got a two-bedroom unit for a week. I can't wait. I do want to visit the parks, but I have a feeling I'm going to want to spend a lot of time right at Wilderness Lodge. (But since I'll be there for a whole week, I'll have time to do both.)

 

[bobbiwoz]

Hi, everybody!

I haven't been very active on these boards for about the last six months. I've been back lately, partly because I have a trip coming up and partly because I wanted to hear about the Animal Kingdom Villas.

Anyway, yesterday I came across this thread. I can't tell you what a nice afternoon I had reading through it. (I haven't quite finished yet, actually. Just a few more screens to go.) I want to thank everyone who contributed to it. (And a special thanks to the person who recommended Balsam Cedar candles from Yankee Candle; I placed an order for a few yesterday.)

Every DVC resort has its fans. However, it really seems like VWL devotees are the most passionate, doesn't it? I love Wilderness Lodge so much. It's wonderful to be among others who love it as much as I do.

I have a VWL story to share. I posted a version of this about a year and a half ago, so a few of you might have read it already.

I joined DVC in July 2005 (I can't believe it's that long ago already). When I was thinking about buying into DVC, SSR was the only resort for sale. My guide told me that all the other resorts were "completely sold out." I had no reason to think that I wouldn't like SSR. However, I knew that I *loved* Wilderness Lodge, and although I hadn't seen the VWL part, I was sure I'd love it just as much.

I knew that in theory I could stay at VWL sometimes if I bought at SSR. However, I also knew my personality and temperament, and I knew this was a recipe for disaster. If I booked at SSR and then was unsuccessful in trying to switch to VWL at the seven-month mark, I'd take it in stride the first time. However, if I happened to be unsuccessful two or more times, I know I'd start to get very angry about it. Also, in the four months between when I booked SSR and when I could try to switch to VWL, I'd be stressing the whole time about whether or not I'd be able to switch. As everyonre reading this undoubtedly knows, DVC is not cheap. I really didn't need to spend all the money just to be angry and stressed all the time. Clearly, I needed to own at VWL. I didn't (and still don't) need to stay at VWL every time, but to have peace of mind, I needed to know that I could stay there when I really wanted to.

It's only from these boards that I knew that "sold out" doesn't necessarily mean sold out. I called back my guide and explained to him that I was only willing to buy at VWL. If no VWL points were available, I told him I'd like to be put on a waiting list, but I would not buy at SSR. He put me on hold for a few minutes, and suddenly there was a VWL contract available. Yay!

Since joining DVC, I've only visited WDW once. Some things happened that prevented me from traveling, so I rented out some of my surplus 2005 and 2006 points. I went on that WDW trip in February of last year. When I booked that trip, I thought I was going to need as many points as possible for my own trips, so I booked a BWV standard view studio to save points. However, when I was there, naturally I went to Wilderness Lodge to look around. I had stayed at the hotel part of Wilderness Lodge before, but I had never even seen the villas part.

I can still remember so clearly the feeling I got when I walked up to the lodge and then stepped into the lobby. I remembered all over again how much I loved the place. Everything was so wonderful. When I thought about how I now owned a little piece of that, I actually started crying a little bit because I was so happy. I was also happy when I saw the villas part and liked that as well. Needless to say, holding out and buying at VWL was definitely the right thing for me.

So anyway, my first actual stay at VWL is finally coming up soon. In general, I tend to need smaller accommodations, but for this trip, I'm going with several friends, so I've got a two-bedroom unit for a week. I can't wait. I do want to visit the parks, but I have a feeling I'm going to want to spend a lot of time right at Wilderness Lodge. (But since I'll be there for a whole week, I'll have time to do both.)

Thanks for sharing your story!!! I bet that you will spend lots of time right at the resort, we do too!

Bobbi