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

[yaksack]

Dang. I stayed with two of my three daughter's at a cabin in FW back in November. It would have been nice to take the other daughter and my wife on a bike tour.

 

[twinklebug]

Bit of a surprise, I just saw the news that Disney is closing the Galactic StarCruiser Hotel this fall. I had heard about the discounts going out and thought they'd turn attendance around. Guess not.

Can't say I wanted to go, I'm a GenX Star Wars nerd but this hotel hit all the wrong notes for me.

 

[Corinne]

If I recall, the price for staying there was pretty exorbitant, not surprised they’re closing it.

 

[twinklebug]

If I recall, the price for staying there was pretty exorbitant, not surprised they’re closing it.

Yes, the price was out of range for many people, myself included, but also the opening time frame and the financial worries that plagues the country post pandemic may have played a factor.

The audience is very limited too. How many Star Wars fans x Role Play fans WITH that money exist? I think they burned through that pool fast. ... none of it aligned to make it work.

I love the imagineers, but this whole Starcruiser experience felt more like an "if we make it, they will come" marketing thing than well thought out.

From my point of view: I'd much rather add on 25 points than stay at GSC.

 

[jimmytammy]

We are 100 days out until our trip! We were dazzled a few years back by a quick 3 night stay and always said we wanted a full week at Boulder Ridge. We were lucky enough to snag a studio to celebrate my husbands retirement from the army For our upcoming stay. This trip will be kicking off a ton of changes in our life and we can’t wait! We will be moving to our land in Tennessee to start building our forever home after this trip so I’m sure we will have tons of inspiration from our stay.

Welcome to the groupies McMonsters!
And what a grand way to start a "new life" together. And a big THANK YOU for you and your husbands sacrifice and service to our country.

 

[Granny]

Hello @Granny!! I may have missed it if you did post it...but what type of villa is this one and what's the villa #?

We were in a 1BR villa. Pretty sure it was 5533. Any of the fifth floor villas on the lake side should have a similar view.

In a few years we will be back to the trees blocking most of the view of the lake. That’s how it was when we started out, so it won’t bother me. Some people will really miss the kind of view we saw in my picture.

 

[MsChristy12]

We were in a 1BR villa. Pretty sure it was 5533. Any of the fifth floor villas on the lake side should have a similar view.

In a few years we will be back to the trees blocking most of the view of the lake. That’s how it was when we started out, so it won’t bother me. Some people will really miss the kind of view we saw in my picture.

Yeah I really like that view! Hopefully if enough members voice that, they'll trim them down a little sooner!

 

[McMonsters]

I will admit that I am a coffee snob so I always bring my own coffee. I need to start my day with a decent cuppa joe, otherwise my day just doesn't feel quite right! Joffrey is alright, but when we stayed in SSR couple months ago, the amount of water the package says to use seemed too much for a small bag of coffee, so we put about half the water it suggests, and it still tasted too weak!
Personally, I prefer single serving pour over coffee when we travel. I can usually find pretty decent ones locally.

We are also coffee snobs and I pack our pour over for every trip we stay so that we can function properly. Nothing worse than being stuck with kcups on vacation! I love getting up and enjoying the quiet before all the hustle of the theme parks. Ending the night with a glass of wine on the balcony while the kids shower and waking up early with my coffee are some of the best parts of my vacation!

 

[McMonsters]

Welcome to the groupies McMonsters!
And what a grand way to start a "new life" together. And a big THANK YOU for you and your husbands sacrifice and service to our country.

Thank you, it’s certainly been a long time coming and feels like everything is being drawn out even more now! We have done our 100 day Disney countdowns in the past and know how quickly they fly by so I’m hoping that will help with the retirement timeline since they are right there together. Knowing we will be there soon with Bay Lake in the distance and those lovey boat horns as background music makes it all the more special.

 

[MsChristy12]

We are also coffee snobs and I pack our pour over for every trip we stay so that we can function properly. Nothing worse than being stuck with kcups on vacation! I love getting up and enjoying the quiet before all the hustle of the theme parks. Ending the night with a glass of wine on the balcony while the kids shower and waking up early with my coffee are some of the best parts of my vacation!

This is exactly why we love DVC and bought in! When I was younger, I enjoyed the hustle and bustle, always go go go from rope drop to park closes....Yeah I can't do that anymore.... Even if I wanted to, my body doesn't allow me to do so. I enjoy the more leisure pace travel now for sure!

 

[MsChristy12]

Thank you, it’s certainly been a long time coming and feels like everything is being drawn out even more now! We have done our 100 day Disney countdowns in the past and know how quickly they fly by so I’m hoping that will help with the retirement timeline since they are right there together. Knowing we will be there soon with Bay Lake in the distance and those lovey boat horns as background music makes it all the more special.

I just read your previous post, congratulations to your husband!! That's a huge milestone and glad you guys are able to plan a trip to celebrate!

 

[Granny]

Yeah I really like that view! Hopefully if enough members voice that, they'll trim them down a little sooner!

Well, not to stir things up but I always liked the view of the trees. It fit in perfectly with the Great Northwest lodge theme of the resort. So it won't but me if they let the trees grow.

Another benefit of the trees all around is that it reduces the disappointments we have seen from some people who see views like we had and then are disappointed when they mostly see trees. Basically, when it was all trees for virtually all views, then view requests were pretty straightforward.

But I can definitely see the appeal of the lake view. Good thing that CCV and BLT both have a lot of villas with great views of Bay Lake. So we do have options even though it is at the 7 month mark for most of us.

 

[MsChristy12]

Well, not to stir things up but I always liked the view of the trees. It fit in perfectly with the Great Northwest lodge theme of the resort. So it won't but me if they let the trees grow.

Another benefit of the trees all around is that it reduces the disappointments we have seen from some people who see views like we had and then are disappointed when they mostly see trees. Basically, when it was all trees for virtually all views, then view requests were pretty straightforward.

But I can definitely see the appeal of the lake view. Good thing that CCV and BLT both have a lot of villas with great views of Bay Lake. So we do have options even though it is at the 7 month mark for most of us.

Don't get me wrong I love the trees too! But I don't want them to get ignored to the point you can't see any water. I like both in my view

 

[sleepydog25]

If I recall, the price for staying there was pretty exorbitant, not surprised they’re closing it.

Yes, well over $4K for two people for 2 nights/3 days. Granted, it included meals and some other things, but holy moly! I knew the manager, Jerome, as he was GM at DHHIR when I worked there. Great guy, and I'm sure he put everything into the hotel to make it a success. However, as others have said, it was a miscalculation to think they could sustain enough guests to make the concept viable--not at that price. Several things they could do with the building including letting it sit empty, use it for special paid events, making parts of it an addition to the Star Wars section of DHS, or perhaps attempt to convert it into a themed resort. Most of those cost money (especially the latter), so I don't think that's the option they'll choose. Who knows?

 

[twinklebug]

Yes, well over $4K for two people for 2 nights/3 days. Granted, it included meals and some other things, but holy moly! I knew the manager, Jerome, as he was GM at DHHIR when I worked there. Great guy, and I'm sure he put everything into the hotel to make it a success. However, as others have said, it was a miscalculation to think they could sustain enough guests to make the concept viable--not at that price. Several things they could do with the building including letting it sit empty, use it for special paid events, making parts of it an addition to the Star Wars section of DHS, or perhaps attempt to convert it into a themed resort. Most of those cost money (especially the latter), so I don't think that's the option they'll choose. Who knows?

I like the idea of using the resort as part of the Star Wars area of DHS, but I don't know how they could include it, it's located on the other side of the parking lot, hence why the hotel guests were shuttled in a fully enclosed, but themed, van so as not to break the illusion as they traversed over and back.

I would love the chance to hop over and experience it for a few hours.

 

[Granny]

Several things they could do with the building including letting it sit empty, use it for special paid events, making parts of it an addition to the Star Wars section of DHS, or perhaps attempt to convert it into a themed resort. Most of those cost money (especially the latter), so I don't think that's the option they'll choose. Who knows?

Look for the announcement of a new DVC resort...Disney's Villas at Galaxy Edge! Hey, DVC buyers have shown that we'll buy pretty much anything they are selling at WDW!

And converting hotel rooms experiencing occupancy issues seems to be a favorite ploy of Disney these days.

 

[bluecastle]

Yes, well over $4K for two people for 2 nights/3 days. Granted, it included meals and some other things, but holy moly! I knew the manager, Jerome, as he was GM at DHHIR when I worked there. Great guy, and I'm sure he put everything into the hotel to make it a success.

Do you not work at HH anymore?

 

[yaksack]

This is exactly why we love DVC and bought in! When I was younger, I enjoyed the hustle and bustle, always go go go from rope drop to park closes....Yeah I can't do that anymore.... Even if I wanted to, my body doesn't allow me to do so. I enjoy the more leisure pace travel now for sure!

When we were in WDW in 11/22, my two daughters just wanted to go one ride and the MK and walk around the AKP! The rest of the time was hanging at the hotel. Now we try to do two park days and on the third a break.

 

[MsChristy12]

When we were in WDW in 11/22, my two daughters just wanted to go one ride and the MK and walk around the AKP! The rest of the time was hanging at the hotel. Now we try to do two park days and on the third a break.

That's exactly what we did last trip. 2 park days then rest day. One of our future WDW trips, we are going to spend 2-3 nights at the CCV cabins with our friends, no parks, just hang out, bbq/cook up a feast, have some pool time, watch the fireworks in our pjs and the comfort of our "home". Thinking about that is very exciting! Without DVC I'm not sure if I would even consider doing it.

 

[sleepydog25]

Do you not work at HH anymore?

No. Moved back to the mountains of Virginia. Loved many aspects of HHI and the low country vibe, but I did miss my mountains.