Thoughts and comments from a DVC 1st timer(long)

[ErinC]

We started our 1st DVC vacation with a 4 day cruise. The wonder was great. We had really never cruised before (DH and I did a 2 Carnival cruise in March, yuck, yuck, yuck). I was nervous about cruising, and wasn't sure it would be for us. We loved the cruise. It was me, DH, DD6, DD2. There was so much family activity on the ship. My only complaint was the weather (which Disney cannot control), it rained on us everyday. Castaway Cay was a total wash, it never stopped raining the entire day. I was dissappointed, no one's fault of course, I had just looked forward to it for so long. Only our family could go to the Bahamas for 3 days and it rain everyday. We had a great time anyway, and I would love to go back sometime in the next few years. We got off the ship Thursday and headed toward Orlando. We stopped at what appeared to be a new Super Target somewhere in the area, and got a few groceries, and some film developed. We arrived at VWL around 11:00. I went in and checked in, our room was not ready, we had noted it on the reservation so that maybe we could check in early, but it was not to be. ( I wasn't upset, just hoping.) I was welcomed home and the cast member was very nice that checked me in. We purchased ultimate park hoppers dropping the first and last day with no problem. I went back out to the car, and we went on to DD to get some lunch. We ate at Fulton's. I tried to check on the DI project, but saw what looked like, they were doing repairs on the villas. The villas were empty, but it looked as though they were replacing hand rails on the balconys. Strange. Even the cast member thought that is was weird. After lunch I called to check on the room, still not available, so we went shopping at the Bass pro Center on international Drive. (What an awesome place) We left there around 4:00 and proceeded back to VWL. I began to think about the charges for my tickets, and thought that they were not correct so I called the front desk again, and sure enough I had not received my DVC discount (which amounted to $45) on the tickets. She refunded the difference. We walked toward the villas and were greeted with another welcome home from the lady at the desk in the villas. My DH is not the Disney freak that I am, so I was really hoping that this was going to be a good experience for him. He made a comment about her saying Welcome Home, at first I thought he was being sarcastic, but he said "no, this is really awesome."We arrived to a studio room (rm 4543) with views of the trees and pool if you looked to the left. I was impressed with the size of the studio. We have stayed at most of the moderates prior to DVC so the studio seemed large to us. When we opened the balcony door and stepped out, we were looking a 2 deer outside our room. My two DD's were so excited. We loved VWL and had a great 4 day stay. My only other complaint was that the frame on the sofa bed was bent. It was really hard to open and close. I called and reported it, and a maintenence man came up pretty quickly. He said that it would have to be replaced, and commented that this was a common problem with this brand of sofabed. He said the new ones that they were replacing them with were more heavy duty. It was never replaced during our stay. We were supposed to receive our trash and towel on Sunday. I called on Friday to request it for Saturday instead, and the lady at housekeeping said she would make a note of it. We arrived back in the room Saturday around 4:30, no trash and towel. I called and someone came after we left the room again to take care of it. Then housekeeping showed up before we left the room Sunday morning to do our trash and towel. These were minor complaints and nothing that upset our stay. We had a great time. I thought the crowds were really heavy (Memorial Day weekend), which we are not used to, but now that we have a school aged child, we will have to for the majority of our visits. We would have really used early entry this visit if it were still available. I think that disney will have to rethink this whole issue in the near future if park attendance continues through the summer. I think they should offer some generic Fast passes for your group at check in when you are staying at their hotels. Some sort of plus for being a disney guest. I just refuse to wait 70 minutes to ride anything without a FP. All and all the service we received was great, my DH was impressed with DVC and I am happy that maybe I have "Disneyfied" him a little more! Now I am just thorougly depressed that it's probably going to be over a year until we can make a trip again. On an end note, we drove over to look at BCV, and thought they looked really pretty from the outside. I don't think the views will be that great, but I liked the look of the villas. We didn't get out of our car, we just drove around them. They looked to fairly complete. Sorry this is so long. I just wanted to share my thoughts with the people that make up this great board. I wouldn't know half of what I know without you! Thanks, Erin

 

[KNWVIKING]

Glad to hear you had a great time. Also glad you didn't let the little problems become big issues, it's just not worth the anxiety.

 

[DoeWDW]

Your trip sounds lovely! I'm glad the family had a good time!

I understand about "Disneyfying" the hubby. My husband used to just tolerate my Disney habit - now HE'S the one saying "We really need a Disney trip soon!"

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[nydizfan]

glad you had a great time... I had to disneyfy my wife... so I understand the feeling.....dave

 

[Doctor P]

Glad you had a great trip!

 

[ohiominnie]

Sounds like a great trip!
We returned about 1 1/2 weeks ago and had also stayed at VWL. We had maintenance issues when we first arrived too. Our two balcony doors in our 1 br would not lock. The top security lock would, but not the bottom lock. Also the bathroom fan seemed to not work and there was some mold above the shower. I wanted to let them know that so the mold didn't get worse. Maintenance came up that day and fixed the locks. Don't know about the fan....it never "seemed" to work, but maybe it's one of those silent things. (shrug)
Glad to hear you just rolled with the punches on the minor mishaps on your vacation....much better than getting all stressed out and letting it eat at you.

 

[ErinC]

We don't let little issues like that get in the way of a good time. I only reported the problem with the bed because I thought that someone needed to tell them or they might not know. It was also tearing holes in the sheets because they were getting caught when you folded the bed up. We had to many wonderful things about the trip to let little things get in the way. My DH was thrilled with the valets. He went down one evening to retrieve our car key because his cel phone was dying, and the only charger he had was in the car. The valet said not to worry, he had plenty of chargers there, he took my DH's phone, charged it up and left a message at the room to let him know he had it ready, all so DH didn't have to walk out to the car. DH thought it was great. Little things like that are what make a vacation so relaxing. We had a great time, my only real complaint is that 4 days was not long enough!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Erin, We call those little touches like your cell phone experience, "Disney Magic"! We always try to count the Disney magic things on our return trip home.

I reccomend you tell someone at the resort how nice this was. That will encourage them to continue to offer these touches.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks so much ErinC. My DH isn't nearly as much the Disney-holic as me, bought at VWL on my recommendation after I took the tour on a solo trip. He's never seen them, we're going in 2 1/2 weeks, and I'm really getting nervous-the pressure's on me for him to be pleased! Reports like yours make me think he'll be happy.

 

[Lyndarella]

We were at the VWL two weeks ago, and I was equally nervous about DH liking it. He was reluctant to purchase, as he is only luke warm about WDW. Also, we live in northern Minnesota, with many log buildings and trees, so I was afraid he would think the VWL was a cheap imitation. Anyway, he loved it! He was crazy about the natural look, the lake activities, the lodge, the restaurant, the refillable mugs; he even went on and on about the rooms (which is not like him at all!) And he had to admit he was moved by the CMs who said "Welcome Home." It was only 2 weeks ago, and seems like 6 months! I think he is ready to go again. . .

 

[jjohns]

Your family is the same as ours and we are considering a cruise.

What room category did you stay in on the boat, and did you find it crowded? We've been looking at the ship plans and most of the rooms say they sleep 3 and some sleep 4 - did you have to request anything special to get a room for 4?

TIA, Jeff

 

[ErinC]

Since we only have 170 points, we were cruise cheapo's(ha). We did the cat. 11 and found the room just fine. Sure a verandah would have been nice, but for me not worth the points. Disney will automatically put you in a room that will fit your family. The room was fine for us. We had the queen bed for us, and then there is a sofa and coffee table in the room. While we were gone to dinner each night, our stateroom host would come in and arrange the room for sleeping. The back of the couch folds forward and has a twin bed on the backside of it. Then a bunk bed folds down out of the ceiling, and then it looks like bunk beds. When we would leave in the morning the beds would hidden away by our stateroom host, so you had your couch during the day. My DD's 6 and 2 loved the beds. One thing I liked about the TV was that you can always see the view from the bridge on the TV. This made it nice for us since we had the inside room, you could see what it looked like outside.

 

[lodgelady]

We had the same problem with the fold out in the studio. Glad they are going to replace them since we had to fight with ours every morning!
Also glad you had a good overall trip. Sorry about the rain! We are thinking of cruising next May to the eastern caribbean. I didn't think the rainy season started til June.
Thanks for posting your thoughts