VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[Suzabella]

We just got back last night from our trip to HHI. Being at DHHIR made me so excited for our September trip. Was able to book our MNSSHP tickets this am and got our tickets/reservations for our other days. It's saving me from that post vacation slump.

Anxious to be back at our beloved Lodge! Let the countdown begin....

TCRAIG, those first year of holidays after losing a parent are rough. I get it even if you know she's at peace.

Hope everyone is doing well! Have a wonderful day.

 

[Seth Paridon]

Good morning all. Does anyone know if the BBQ grills outside BR are working? Last year they were not. Heading to The Lodge in 23 days and wanted to do some outdoor cooking. Thanks!

Seth

 

[Suzabella]

Good morning all. Does anyone know if the BBQ grills outside BR are working? Last year they were not. Heading to The Lodge in 23 days and wanted to do some outdoor cooking. Thanks!

Seth

I honestly have no idea. We didn't try to cook out the last time we were there. It was hotter than the surface of the sun so the thought of grill heat wasn't appealing. ;-)

Maybe call the resort and ask if you don't get any responses.

 

[Granny]

We are back from a rather lengthy 10 day stay at BWV. Overall, we enjoyed the trip and especially the chance to catch up with DDad and Di.

One thing that I wasn't aware of at all is this new hotel that sprung up since our last trip over two years ago...




Really? The Swan Reserve hotel? As you can see it behind the Boardwalk Dance Hall, it is tall and very visible from World Showcase in EPCOT. DW & I found it to be quite ugly but heard a couple of other guests marveling at how nice it looked.

A modern looking hotel with absolutely zero theming...at least the Swan & Dolphin hotels have a little theming to them.

This is probably old news to many people, but for us it was a shock when we first drove past it and then saw it throughout our stay.

Overall, we did enjoy our trip. 10 days and only went to a handful of attractions due to the long lines and our unwillingness to pay for Lightning Lane pass to go on rides we have already been on a hundred times.

 

[Corinne]

Hi Granny,

Welcome back! Glad you had a nice stay, and happy to hear you were able to spend time catching up with DDi and DDad! We saw the monstrosity hotel last year…we feel the same way you and Cindy feel (gee, I am sure you are surprised by that ).

Dana and I are headed there 3 weeks from tomorrow for a birthday visit. I don’t have huge expectations.

Did you happen to hear when TOWL may be reopening?

 

[Granny]

Hi Granny,

Welcome back! Glad you had a nice stay, and happy to hear you were able to spend time catching up with DDi and DDad! We saw the monstrosity hotel last year…we feel the same way you and Cindy feel (gee, I am sure you are surprised by that ).

Dana and I are headed there 3 weeks from tomorrow for a birthday visit. I don’t have huge expectations.

Did you happen to hear when TOWL may be reopening?

All they said about TOWL was that it would be opening “soon”. I hope that it opens in time for your upcoming birthday trip.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

We are back from a rather lengthy 10 day stay at BWV. Overall, we enjoyed the trip and especially the chance to catch up with DDad and Di.

One thing that I wasn't aware of at all is this new hotel that sprung up since our last trip over two years ago...

View attachment 668913


Really? The Swan Reserve hotel? As you can see it behind the Boardwalk Dance Hall, it is tall and very visible from World Showcase in EPCOT. DW & I found it to be quite ugly but heard a couple of other guests marveling at how nice it looked.

A modern looking hotel with absolutely zero theming...at least the Swan & Dolphin hotels have a little theming to them.

This is probably old news to many people, but for us it was a shock when we first drove past it and then saw it throughout our stay.

Overall, we did enjoy our trip. 10 days and only went to a handful of attractions due to the long lines and our unwillingness to pay for Lightning Lane pass to go on rides we have already been on a hundred times.

Yeah the only good thing is that it sits back far enough that it isn't all that noticable. It is pretty boring compared to everything else around there. No character. How was your BWV stay? Where was your room?

 

[Corinne]

Happy Saturday Groupies! We will be experiencing summer weather here in MA this weekend, so I am feeling happy, hope you all have a great weekend!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Love it! Great picture!

It sure is a great picture of great folks!

 

[jimmytammy]

Granny
The last time we stayed at BWV, they were clearing that area at S&D for the future construction. It is a bit modernist IMO and doesn't fit the area, being this is the 1st time for me to see it in pictures. It wouldn't detract from me staying at BWV but it is a sham(e) you can see it so clearly from Epcot.
Glad you folks had a great trip, got to meet up with Dad and Di and spend some quality time together.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Happy Saturday Groupies! We will be experiencing summer weather here in MA this weekend, so I am feeling happy, hope you all have a great weekend!

Gonna be 104 here today and 106 tomorrow. Yuck

 

[Granny]

How was your BWV stay? Where was your room?

We really enjoyed staying at BWV again...it is one of our home resorts and we hadn't stayed there for 5 years. We especially like staying there during Flower & Garden Festival or Food & Wine Festival times.

We had room 4117 which is a dedicated 1BR near the corner by the pond. I think I posted the picture of our room view but here it is again.



This is one of the minority BWV Standard View villas that isn't blocked in some way by a tree. Looking to the left we had a clear view of BWI and the nightly fireworks from EPCOT. It was easy to use the stairs and take the walking path shown above as a shortcut to the bus stop.

The Boardwalk itself is pretty empty during the day. But in the evening it was definitely back to the hustle and bustle we were familiar with, especially after the nightly fireworks show at EPCOT (can you tell I don't know what the show is called?). While Ample Hills Creamery is no longer there, in its place is an unbranded ice cream place which was always popular during our stay.

Overall, we were happy to be at BWV for this stay. We did visit Wilderness Lodge a couple of times and it was as wonderful as ever. And we may have sat with DDad and Di at Geyser Point for a few hours a couple of times during our stay.

Overall, we were very pleased with the DVC portion of this trip.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

We really enjoyed staying at BWV again...it is one of our home resorts and we hadn't stayed there for 5 years. We especially like staying there during Flower & Garden Festival or Food & Wine Festival times.

We had room 4117 which is a dedicated 1BR near the corner by the pond. I think I posted the picture of our room view but here it is again.

View attachment 669539

This is one of the minority BWV Standard View villas that isn't blocked in some way by a tree. Looking to the left we had a clear view of BWI and the nightly fireworks from EPCOT. It was easy to use the stairs and take the walking path shown above as a shortcut to the bus stop.

The Boardwalk itself is pretty empty during the day. But in the evening it was definitely back to the hustle and bustle we were familiar with, especially after the nightly fireworks show at EPCOT (can you tell I don't know what the show is called?). While Ample Hills Creamery is no longer there, in its place is an unbranded ice cream place which was always popular during our stay.

Overall, we were happy to be at BWV for this stay. We did visit Wilderness Lodge a couple of times and it was as wonderful as ever. And we may have sat with DDad and Di at Geyser Point for a few hours a couple of times during our stay.

Overall, we were very pleased with the DVC portion of this trip.

I think we were more to the right of where you were and we were on the first floor. Liked being able to see the water fowl in the pond but otherwise being on the first floor didn't give us the best view.

 

[TimbertopNJ]

Updating on a previous item I asked about on here…

I asked a boat captain during my stay at Copper Creek about the Contemporary-Fort Wilderness-WL boat route. He wasn’t able to speak with certainty, but he was under the assumption that this boat route has stayed suspended due to two reasons:

1. Hoop-dee-do Revue currently not running
2. A large number of Contemporary rooms being off-line due to the Incredibles Re-theme of the hotel rooms

The aforementioned captain believes that with the Contemporary re-theming done (or nearly done), and the Revue slated to return this summer, the boat route will return to absorb the anticipated interest in the Revue.

If anyone has heard differently, I’ll stand corrected. But it’s nice to see more amenities return to normal. I know I yearned for easy access to California Grill during my stay at WL last week.

 

[jimmytammy]

Updating on a previous item I asked about on here…

I asked a boat captain during my stay at Copper Creek about the Contemporary-Fort Wilderness-WL boat route. He wasn’t able to speak with certainty, but he was under the assumption that this boat route has stayed suspended due to two reasons:

1. Hoop-dee-do Revue currently not running
2. A large number of Contemporary rooms being off-line due to the Incredibles Re-theme of the hotel rooms

The aforementioned captain believes that with the Contemporary re-theming done (or nearly done), and the Revue slated to return this summer, the boat route will return to absorb the anticipated interest in the Revue.

If anyone has heard differently, I’ll stand corrected. But it’s nice to see more amenities return to normal. I know I yearned for easy access to California Grill during my stay at WL last week.

I sure hope this is true. It makes sense that the HDDR return will prompt return of boats. I just enjoy hoping the boats and taking a grand tour of Bay Lake and checking out the resorts. To me, those little "Steamboat Willies" are like catching a ride on the train at MK. Nothing overly exciting about them, but, they sure are relaxing.

 

[Granny]

Updating on a previous item I asked about on here…

I asked a boat captain during my stay at Copper Creek about the Contemporary-Fort Wilderness-WL boat route. He wasn’t able to speak with certainty, but he was under the assumption that this boat route has stayed suspended due to two reasons:

1. Hoop-dee-do Revue currently not running
2. A large number of Contemporary rooms being off-line due to the Incredibles Re-theme of the hotel rooms

The aforementioned captain believes that with the Contemporary re-theming done (or nearly done), and the Revue slated to return this summer, the boat route will return to absorb the anticipated interest in the Revue.

If anyone has heard differently, I’ll stand corrected. But it’s nice to see more amenities return to normal. I know I yearned for easy access to California Grill during my stay at WL last week.

Thanks for the update...I think boat captains rate well above the bus drivers as far as inside scoops!

Seriously, what the captain told you makes sense. FW-WL already have a dedicated bus so I can see where the Contemporary would drive user need. Hopefully CR remodeling, Hoop de Doo Revue and Top of the World Lounge will all come back online relatively soon. If so, hopefully the boats will be brought out of dry dock.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Hey guys. Got some really awful news today. Our 12 year old corgi Kaya has cancer in her spleen. We will have to send her off to the rainbow bridge tomorrow. I'm so devastated. I have dreaded this for so long but I knew the day would come when I would no longer have my corgis. I hate this so bad. It's so unfair that we have to make these kind of decisions. Prayers and pixie dust for her journey are appreciated.

 

[CarolynFH]

Hey guys. Got some really awful news today. Our 12 year old corgi Kaya has cancer in her spleen. We will have to send her off to the rainbow bridge tomorrow. I'm so devastated. I have dreaded this for so long but I knew the day would come when I would no longer have my corgis. I hate this so bad. It's so unfair that we have to make these kind of decisions. Prayers and pixie dust for her journey are appreciated.

So sorry - BTDT. I know it’s not much comfort, but you’ll be sending her off peacefully and sparing her much pain. Prayers for you.

 

[jimmytammy]

Hey guys. Got some really awful news today. Our 12 year old corgi Kaya has cancer in her spleen. We will have to send her off to the rainbow bridge tomorrow. I'm so devastated. I have dreaded this for so long but I knew the day would come when I would no longer have my corgis. I hate this so bad. It's so unfair that we have to make these kind of decisions. Prayers and pixie dust for her journey are appreciated.

Im so sorry. Prayers for you folks. I truly believe God has a special place in Heaven for our little ones and we will be reunited with them someday.

 

[Corinne]

So sorry DLI praying for you