VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.5) updated 2 February 2025

[Corinne]

Happy May Groupies! Jimmy your view is fabulous! Hope you have a wonderful vacation! Suzabella 10 days on HHI! Lucky!
Granny safe travels today!
Please report early/often!

 

[Beachmom0317]

Honestly, I just had the "card" in my apple wallet. I just brought it up, clicked on the 3 dots in the right hand corner and it shows the barcode, and DVC, Y. Probably easier than me digging around for a physical card. That's all they are looking for. No one took my phone, they aren't scanning anything. We didn't encounter one CM during our visit that hassled us in any way. Sometimes I just said DVC and they said that's fine. We had also just run the race and many offered us a race discount (Chef Art Smith's), said it was better than DVC.

I'd call them now and get it straightened out before you go (if you have time to waste on the phone). It will just be frustrating when you get there.

Also read this morning (I think on a DVC Facebook page) that the boat to FW is supposed to return in May when Hoop De Doo returns. I sure it was top notch bus driver intel!

We just got back a few days ago and had to show our card for the discount each time. I had a screen shot of my old expired blue card but one CM showed me the apple wallet QR code that you described from the 3 dots and said that's the method they use now

 

[jimmytammy]

 

[sleepydog25]

Yes, it's often wine o'clock for me. . .

 

[Corinne]

View attachment 666186View attachment 666187View attachment 666188

Jimmy! Your littles are getting so big! Looks like such fun!

 

[Corinne]

Yes, it's often wine o'clock for me. . .

Ditto. Or Cosmo o’clock, or sangria o’clock. You get the idea.

 

[sleepydog25]

Ditto. Or Cosmo o’clock, or sangria o’clock. You get the idea.

Well, and jimmytammy will support me on this, perhaps the best one is Paper Plane O'Clock.

 

[Corinne]

Well, and jimmytammy will support me on this, perhaps the best one is Paper Plane O'Clock.

Hmmmm

 

[jimmytammy]

Paper Plane is very tasty though Sleepydog makes it a lot better than me

 

[Corinne]

Paper Plane is very tasty though Sleepydog makes it a lot better than me

I never heard of this cocktail, so I googled the recipe. Suffice to say, I would not be able to drink it, as much as I love a good cocktail, I am the definition of a lightweight

 

[jimmytammy]

I never heard of this cocktail, so I googled the recipe. Suffice to say, I would not be able to drink it, as much as I love a good cocktail, I am the definition of a lightweight

Me too Corinne
Patrick made me one and before I knew it I was singing Disney tunes and swimming with his pet alligator

 

[sleepydog25]

I never heard of this cocktail, so I googled the recipe. Suffice to say, I would not be able to drink it, as much as I love a good cocktail, I am the definition of a lightweight

For those of you wondering about the recipe for the Paper Plane (as I understand, a fairly new entry into the pantheon of drinks, circa 2008), here it is:
Equal parts of the following (single serving is 3/4 oz of each) into a shaker with ice:
Bourbon
Aperol (an aperitif)
Amaro Nonino (or a similar substitute such as Cardamaro, also an aperitif)
Lemon juice
Pour into martini or coupe glass which has been chilled, ideally. Take the zest of a small peel of either a lemon or an orange (I prefer orange) and squeeze over the drink, then toss the peel in the drink. That's it. It looks gorgeous (dark orange) and while it may look overly fruity, it is not. On the other hand, it isn't bitter, either. Here's a pic:

 

[Granny]

Granny safe travels today!
Please report early/often!

Well, I have been remiss and haven't reported early nor often!

We have been here since Sunday and had a good (uneventful) trip in. The Mears service from the airport was problem free. We ended up on a small shuttle van with three other couples and were the last to be dropped off. Still, it didn't take all that long and was comfortable and easy.

We are staying at BWV in a Standard View villa with a nice view of the pond/bridge and the gondolas passing by. Our room was clean and so far everything has been in good working order.

We had a bit of an issue when we went to activate our Gold Annual Passes that we purchased a couple of years ago. The CM in the park Guest Services at first said that the Gold passes were not available and was confused on how to activate (she had never seen one). After a while, she went to her supervisor who said they can't activate the Gold Pass so they converted it to a Sorcerer Pass. They did waive the $138 per person upcharge for the cost of that pass. It doesn't include Photopass like the Gold pass did, but that's no big deal to us. The whole process did take a while (over 30 minutes) at the Guest Relations at International Gateway.

The parks have been moderately crowded but the crowds seem to be growing each day. We have met up with DiznyDad and DiznyDI (you old timers on the thread will remember them) a couple of times and will be sharing a couple of meals with them as our trips are overlapped.

So far we have not spent much time in the parks. We think that until our grandchildren are older, we just won't be spending a lot of time with the attractions in the parks. We don't have any of the current pay-for-FastPass thing and wait times seem to be high (over 75 minutes for Frozen ride and Ratatouille ride.

We have been enjoying a relaxing trip with plenty of resort time and unhurried wandering around. We went to Disney Springs yesterday and I think it is safe to say the crowds have returned to WDW.

Overall a very pleasant trip thus far. It would be decidedly less fun if we worried about going on rides.

 

[Granny]

Here's our room view at BWV:

 

[Corinne]

Me too Corinne
Patrick made me one and before I knew it I was singing Disney tunes and swimming with his pet alligator

Oh man! Good stuff!

 

[Corinne]

Well, I have been remiss and haven't reported early nor often!

We have been here since Sunday and had a good (uneventful) trip in. The Mears service from the airport was problem free. We ended up on a small shuttle van with three other couples and were the last to be dropped off. Still, it didn't take all that long and was comfortable and easy.

We are staying at BWV in a Standard View villa with a nice view of the pond/bridge and the gondolas passing by. Our room was clean and so far everything has been in good working order.

We had a bit of an issue when we went to activate our Gold Annual Passes that we purchased a couple of years ago. The CM in the park Guest Services at first said that the Gold passes were not available and was confused on how to activate (she had never seen one). After a while, she went to her supervisor who said they can't activate the Gold Pass so they converted it to a Sorcerer Pass. They did waive the $138 per person upcharge for the cost of that pass. It doesn't include Photopass like the Gold pass did, but that's no big deal to us. The whole process did take a while (over 30 minutes) at the Guest Relations at International Gateway.

The parks have been moderately crowded but the crowds seem to be growing each day. We have met up with DiznyDad and DiznyDI (you old timers on the thread will remember them) a couple of times and will be sharing a couple of meals with them as our trips are overlapped.

So far we have not spent much time in the parks. We think that until our grandchildren are older, we just won't be spending a lot of time with the attractions in the parks. We don't have any of the current pay-for-FastPass thing and wait times seem to be high (over 75 minutes for Frozen ride and Ratatouille ride.

We have been enjoying a relaxing trip with plenty of resort time and unhurried wandering around. We went to Disney Springs yesterday and I think it is safe to say the crowds have returned to WDW.

Overall a very pleasant trip thus far. It would be decidedly less fun if we worried about going on rides.

Dizny Di and Dad! How I miss them! Send them our best please! As you know, Dana and I are much like you and Mrs. Granny when it comes to our visits to WDW. Glad you are enjoying a nice relaxing stay!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Well, I have been remiss and haven't reported early nor often!

We have been here since Sunday and had a good (uneventful) trip in. The Mears service from the airport was problem free. We ended up on a small shuttle van with three other couples and were the last to be dropped off. Still, it didn't take all that long and was comfortable and easy.

We are staying at BWV in a Standard View villa with a nice view of the pond/bridge and the gondolas passing by. Our room was clean and so far everything has been in good working order.

We had a bit of an issue when we went to activate our Gold Annual Passes that we purchased a couple of years ago. The CM in the park Guest Services at first said that the Gold passes were not available and was confused on how to activate (she had never seen one). After a while, she went to her supervisor who said they can't activate the Gold Pass so they converted it to a Sorcerer Pass. They did waive the $138 per person upcharge for the cost of that pass. It doesn't include Photopass like the Gold pass did, but that's no big deal to us. The whole process did take a while (over 30 minutes) at the Guest Relations at International Gateway.

The parks have been moderately crowded but the crowds seem to be growing each day. We have met up with DiznyDad and DiznyDI (you old timers on the thread will remember them) a couple of times and will be sharing a couple of meals with them as our trips are overlapped.

So far we have not spent much time in the parks. We think that until our grandchildren are older, we just won't be spending a lot of time with the attractions in the parks. We don't have any of the current pay-for-FastPass thing and wait times seem to be high (over 75 minutes for Frozen ride and Ratatouille ride.

We have been enjoying a relaxing trip with plenty of resort time and unhurried wandering around. We went to Disney Springs yesterday and I think it is safe to say the crowds have returned to WDW.

Overall a very pleasant trip thus far. It would be decidedly less fun if we worried about going on rides.

Glad you are having such a nice time. Looks like you have a nice view from your room. Please tell DiznyDad and Di hello from me!!!!! Tell them we miss them. Hope you continue to have a great trip.

 

[Granny]

Dizny Di and Dad! How I miss them! Send them our best please! As you know, Dana and I are much like you and Mrs. Granny when it comes to our visits to WDW. Glad you are enjoying a nice relaxing stay!

Corinne...I'll be sure to pass your greeting to them. We are meeting up with them later today at Geyser Point...our first visit to the Lodge this trip.

And we have talked about future trips with minimal park excursions. It seems we end up doing more eating or shopping in parks than anything else these days. It has been relaxing, which is the point of vacations anyway, right?

 

[Granny]

Glad you are having such a nice time. Looks like you have a nice view from your room. Please tell DiznyDad and Di hello from me!!!!! Tell them we miss them. Hope you continue to have a great trip.

DLI...I'll be sure to pass along your greetings as well. It is taking a little time for us to get in the Disney World "mode" but we are having a very nice time. Thanks for your kind words.

 

[TCRAIG]

Corinne...I'll be sure to pass your greeting to them. We are meeting up with them later today at Geyser Point...our first visit to the Lodge this trip.

And we have talked about future trips with minimal park excursions. It seems we end up doing more eating or shopping in parks than anything else these days. It has been relaxing, which is the point of vacations anyway, right?

Hello and say Hi to Di and Dad from the other J+T (Jerry and Tricia that is)