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

[DiznyDi]

Hi Everyone ~ some thoughts on our stay in May, and a question. We stayed in a studio 4 nights earlier this month. Although it's just my DH and I, we usually stay in a 1 bedroom. We are used to a king bed, and I am sometimes restless at night so having a separate living area is a nice perk. We have been trying studios to save points, but have to say it has hurt the quality of our stays. I LOVED the murphy bed they have added to the VWL studio rooms!! One restless night I just moved to the murphy bed and ended up sleeping there quite comfortably. Made me wonder if these beds have been added to the 1 bedroom units? Have a ladies trip coming up in September, and having a murphy bed in the living room would be great.

Loved our stay at VWL, always do, one of our favorite resorts. Only one complaint; mid trip we were at typhoon lagoon and returned to our room late afternoon to find all our towels on the floor and the bath a mess. They had installed new hardware in the bathroom (towel rods, hooks, etc.) which are nice, but no one cleaned up after maintenance, and we needed to shower and get to a dinner ADR. They worked with us, but this oversight was inconvenient and disappointing.

BTW - does anyone else wish they offered some studio rooms with king beds? This would be a total hit with us, and they could still have a sleeper chair / murphy bed for one or two small children...

We've recently returned home too. Our experience was similar to yours only they didn't swap out all the hardware - only some of it. While the new black is nice, there's still plenty of chrome left. Seemed rather redundant to me. If you're gonna swap - do it all not just some of it. Maintenance left a large screw on the floor, fortunately we found it before we stepped on it in our bare feet. What drew our attention - other than finding the screw - was the debris from drilling the walls around the fixtures. And we had an obviously used/dirty towel hung nice and pretty ready for use.

Ahh Corinne You should be smiling! Have a great trip!

Wishing bobbiwoz a very Happy Anniversary!

 

[Granny]

Happy Anniversary Bobbi!!

 

[blossomz]

happy anniversary bobbi!!!

 

[ottawagreg]

Sunday night, and the Blackhawks are on the TV. My countdown clock says 23 days, 3 hours 42 minutes. The last few weeks are the hardest part of waiting for vacation. All winter I kept thinking about June and WDW. Kinda kept me going.

Fellow Groupies probably recognize this tree. Anyone know where it is? I have been watching it for a few years now. I live on a wooded lot and know when a tree is is trouble. This one has been hanging on. I wonder if it is still standing.



Have a blessed and happy week everybody.

greg

 

[Granny]

Is that tree on Discovery Island in Bay Lake?

Happy June, everyone!!

 

[twokats]

Happy Anniversary, Bobbi!!

 

[jimmytammy]

I was watching a DVC member website video on a greeter at GF named Richard. He reminded me of Ranger Stan. Has anyone ever met Richard? We are thinking if time allows in Aug. we may head over after breakfast at The Wave and meet him. He seems like a really nice gentleman.

Speaking of Stan, I was watching another video yesterday about our beloved home on Youtube, Great Hotels with Samantha Brown featuring Wilderness Lodge. Really close to the beginning of the show, she walked into the lobby and I caught a glimpse of Stan over beside the bellhop station.

Hope all have a great week!

 

[digiMom]

Hi! I have another quick question. When we move from BWV into VWL, we're planning on having bell services move our luggage and going to the parks. After we check in (probably after 3 or 4) can we just go to bell services and pick up our bags, or do we have to wait for them to be delivered to our room? I'm kind of a do-it-myself kind of person that just likes to get things done and move on. Thanks

 

[jimmytammy]

Hi! I have another quick question. When we move from BWV into VWL, we're planning on having bell services move our luggage and going to the parks. After we check in (probably after 3 or 4) can we just go to bell services and pick up our bags, or do we have to wait for them to be delivered to our room? I'm kind of a do-it-myself kind of person that just likes to get things done and move on. Thanks

We have never got our bags from bell services before, but if you go there, I imagine they will let you wait for it. Usually, bell services at VWL is pretty quick, within 15-20 mins they will be there.

 

[sleepydog25]

We have never got our bags from bell services before, but if you go there, I imagine they will let you wait for it. Usually, bell services at VWL is pretty quick, within 15-20 mins they will be there.

We have had to access our bags before, and the bell services desk has always been happy to oblige. Keep in mind, they may be busy and may take 10-20 minutes to get your bags even if you're at the desk waiting for them. Beyond that, shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Granny]

I was watching a DVC member website video on a greeter at GF named Richard. He reminded me of Ranger Stan. Has anyone ever met Richard? We are thinking if time allows in Aug. we may head over after breakfast at The Wave and meet him. He seems like a really nice gentleman.

Jimmy...we wanted to check out VGF last month during our visit so we took the monorail over to GF. Down at the front entrance by the curb was Richard Gerth. He is indeed a kindly gentleman but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to do more than say hello and shake his hand. He had a smile and I remember remarking to my wife that he is pretty old to have a job that requires him to stand so much. I didn't know he is 87 years old!

He clearly is out of the same mold as Ranger Stan and Art the Greeter (BC). I'll look forward to viewing that video.

 

[jimmytammy]

Jimmy...we wanted to check out VGF last month during our visit so we took the monorail over to GF. Down at the front entrance by the curb was Richard Gerth. He is indeed a kindly gentleman but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to do more than say hello and shake his hand. He had a smile and I remember remarking to my wife that he is pretty old to have a job that requires him to stand so much. I didn't know he is 87 years old!

He clearly is out of the same mold as Ranger Stan and Art the Greeter (BC). I'll look forward to viewing that video.

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to meeting him

 

[MiaSRN62]

dreamlinda...

As for the king bed in the studio, I don't see that. Even with the sleeper chair that would take the official capacity of the villa down to 3 and that would cause issues with point redistributions or other repurcussions.

Maria...I understand the desire for 2 regular bed studios but it would create yet another classification within the studios (in addition to HA) and we'd hear about people complaining that they didn't want the second bed which takes up too much room, or they really needed the second bed but didn't get it. I've heard the same suggestion for two queen beds in the master bedroom of the 1BR/2BR villas. It would make sense for some but others would be put out if they didn't get the king bed.

In a resort such as VWL with so few villas it might be hard to do. In other resorts such as OKW, SSR and AKV they might have plenty of villas that they could split into a new classification.

Just my 2 cents.

I can't argue with your logic Granny.
Not sure if would be a new classification though? Because right now BLT's 2 bedrooms have 2 requests. I requested the second bedroom with 2 real beds vs the one bed and pull out. It is based on a request/first-come-first-serve? The fact that OKW is booked way before SSR (despite no elevators predominately) tells me there is a desire for the 2 beds in the studio.

 

[Lisann]

I can't argue with your logic Granny.
Not sure if would be a new classification though? Because right now BLT's 2 bedrooms have 2 requests. I requested the second bedroom with 2 real beds vs the one bed and pull out. It is based on a request/first-come-first-serve? The fact that OKW is booked way before SSR (despite no elevators predominately) tells me there is a desire for the 2 beds in the studio.

There is so a desire for 2-bed studios! Not enough of them at all.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

My wish for room configurations is for King beds in the studios. All of them. And I think it would be nice for some other resort(s) besides OKW to have 2 beds in the studios but agree it would difficult to do in any of the small resorts due to creating new booking categories that would make it even more difficult to book than it already can be at those locations.

I can't argue with your logic Granny.
Not sure if would be a new classification though? Because right now BLT's 2 bedrooms have 2 requests. I requested the second bedroom with 2 real beds vs the one bed and pull out. It is based on a request/first-come-first-serve? The fact that OKW is booked way before SSR (despite no elevators predominately) tells me there is a desire for the 2 beds in the studio.

All the Dedicated 2BR's at BLT have 2 beds in the second bedroom and the lockoffs have only the queen and the sleeper sofa so they are actual booking categories and no worries about what you'll get.

I wonder if the size of the rooms in the resorts with the layout design that was standard for VWL, BWV, BCV and SSR are large enough for 2 beds? Just thinking about the fact that at BCV they even felt that some of the dedicated 2BR's couldn't get the 2 beds in the second bedroom due to a design flaw that didn't leave enough room. (Although couldn't they have done a queen and a double?) Funny how things done in the past all seemed to point towards encouraging families towards larger villas and now DVC is making the studios sleep 5.

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . . . . Speaking of Stan, I was watching another video yesterday about our beloved home on Youtube, Great Hotels with Samantha Brown featuring Wilderness Lodge. Really close to the beginning of the show, she walked into the lobby and I caught a glimpse of Stan over beside the bellhop station. . . . . . . . .

I see Stan every time I walk into that wonderful lobby at The Lodge.

Once he became part of the Lodge experience for us, our memories of him just keep lurking around every corner. And can't you feel him when you get the opportunity to raise the flags on top of The Lodge?!?

Thanks Stan; we miss you.

 

[BandontheRun]

We were lucky enough to have Stan give us the Lodge tour back in the early 2000s.

 

[BandontheRun]

We were lucky enough to have Stan give us the Lodge tour back in the early 2000s

 

[npcougar]

I posted this question in the rehab thread but thought it would be more visible here. With the recent referb, did they do much to the shower/showerhead? In the past, they were hung very low. It was difficult to wash my hair. Thanks for any replies.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I posted this question in the rehab thread but thought it would be more visible here. With the recent referb, did they do much to the shower/showerhead? In the past, they were hung very low. It was difficult to wash my hair. Thanks for any replies.

They did not change the wall tile in the bathrooms so they are still at the same height. Ours looked like it was the same fixtures too.