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

[horselover]

OK Groupies, after this posting, I'm packing up the computer.

Julie, we're right there with you - we leave our home at 3:45 AM for an early flight. We will, however, be at the Lodge before noon. Where is Homecomin'? I'm unfamiliar with this place.

See you soon - in the World.

Homecomin' is at Disney Springs. YumO! It's across from Morimoto. Highly recommend for comfort food!

See you soon! Text me if you're around the Lodge Sat. afternoon. I'll be headed to GP at some point.

Horselover It seems our trips are of the same nature, food 1st, then lets do other things

Nothing wrong with that!

I have just a few more photos and couple hours left of the trip so I better finish!

After going to see the CCV models at SSR I had a busy plan for the next 6 hours - AKV, Epcot and my last viewing of Wishes at MK! This gave me a reason to test out the Express bus service they are doing park to park. So I took my car back to VGF and I have to share what my rental wasn't - it wasn't the normal white Chevy Cruz or Black Hyundai. Nope - it was easy to find in the parking lot!.

On to the Express bus service. It's a far better deal if you get it for the week or whatever the longest length is but we'll have a longer stay in Oct so I thought I'd see how it went before we thought about using it for multiple people....ie, was it worth it. I left with mixed thoughts though - they really don't have their ducks in a row yet even though it's been operating for a few months now. Still, it got me around to what I wanted to do.

First, the resort bus to AK where I did a quick ride on Everest and then my Safari FP although the standby line was not long at all. It was late afternoon on a hot day so I wasn't certain how the animal viewing would be but it was a good ride!

\

One of 3 young giraffe we had to wait to cross the road:

The Rhinos were enjoying a "bath"!:

I needed a real camera for the rest though - the Cheetahs were all in view, the male Lion, the Warthogs, the Zebras, an Ostrich etc but my phone pictures were not good of them however here are a couple:

From there I headed over to the Express bus stop at AK which is in the Tusker House/Daiwa Bar area. The CM was having issues with the system which became the theme for this service. She then offered to let them know at Epcot to do my payment there so that I wouldn't miss the bus - very nice! As it turned out I actually could have just done the test for free because when I arrived at Epcot the CM's there knew nothing about it. Then they couldn't take my payment either - problems with the system. They said I'd have to go up to GS which I said I could do but a CM wanted to walk me up - and I learned the reason she did that was to get them to provide me with 3 FP's for the inconvenience. Again, nice and no, I don't normally get the things I got on this day! I had what I figured was just enough time to ride Soarin which I hadn't done yet this trip before I needed to head to the America Gardens theatre for the reason I was there - to see The Orchestra - former members of ELO. I got pulled up to the ride about to go into Soarin so it was next to no wait. That meant I had time to get a few items from the food booths (Canada for the Tenderloin and France for the Onion tart and La Vie en Rose frozen slush) before I found a great seat and waited for the show which I really enjoyed.

After they finished I had another couple of items (Potato pancake with apple sauce - not a favorite - and a warm cheese strudel with berries - which was a favorite! - and picked up a Bubble Tea in Japan) before heading back to the Express bus to MK:

Good night Epcot!

The Express bus drops off back in the old theater area by Buzz Lightyear so I had to head in for a quick ride before I caught up with my cousin's son and family for Wishes. I maxed out my gun so moved over to the second one. Pictures are a must in our family to prove scores when you ride alone! I got a couple of "that's sick" comments back when I sent the picture off.

The Tea Cups looked very pretty so I stopped for a picture:

I found my relatives and we chatted while waiting for the fireworks. They were visiting with friends who had a son celebrating a birthday and were able to get a last minute BOG reservation for 9:15 and they got paged just a minute or two after the fireworks started. Luckily they had a couple more days left on their trip and were able to see Wishes again before they left but this was my last farewell to a show I've enjoyed many times thru the years:

At this point MK was open for another 45 minutes but I had an awful 6 am flight so I headed towards the front of the park - walking past the castle having one of the projection shows:

Made it back to VGF, finished packing all the rest that I could and headed to bed before my 4th early morning wake up alarm! Whew! I needed to get home so I could get some sleep!

Love the car! That cheese strudel is on my list for this trip. I didn't get to it last time.


Speaking of cars we're picking up our new one today. Kat should be well familiar with it. It's a Chevy Cruze! It's a cute little car.

One more sleep which will likely be not much sleep at all. Safe travel to those travel to or from the World soon!

 

[Granny]

Heading to the airport in about 45 minutes. It's hard to believe that in less than 12 hours we'll be sitting in TOTW Lounge meeting up with friends old and new!

@KAT4DISNEY ... I hope your travels were uneventful today. And thank you for all the wonderful photos!

 

[jimmytammy]

Granny
I remember you being a Cav! We are staying in a professors house through Air BNB on Little High St. We checked out the mall(not the kind of mall in most towns, it's old part of town, quaint shops and eats)yesterday. Tonight the show is in John Paul Jones arena. I will be wearing my Wolfpack red

KAT
That car looks very Emma Swanish(from Once Upon A Time)You aren't at WDW investigating by chance are you? Impressed by the score too! That's probably got to be near an all time high score for one, 1,287,199!!

 

[twinklebug]

I missed a birthday!...
Happy Birthday Loribell!

 

[twinklebug]

KAT, you take beautiful photos, even with a phone
Although I hate to mention that I can't see the rental car in your pic. It seems that one of the GIANT Florida BUGS landed right on top of it

... It does look fun to drive! How was it?

 

[wildernessDad]

My final day at work. I'm taking a half day off vacation, but I have my checklist completed and I can officially retire. Woo hoo! Of course, I'm going to work in Orlando for a few or maybe only one more year. We'll see. I think I might go for 3 more years if the job is as good as I think it is.

Oh, we're off to WDW tomorrow with cat in hand, or cat carrier in hand. I can't wait until the cat is settled in Disney's Pet Care area. Woo hoo!

 

[ArielSRL]

Canada for the Tenderloin and France for the Onion tart and La Vie en Rose frozen slush

a warm cheese strudel with berries

Everything I would pick if I was there! Yummy!

I maxed out my gun so moved over to the second one. Pictures are a must in our family to prove scores when you ride alone! I got a couple of "that's sick" comments back when I sent the picture off.

Wow, I bow to your Buzz talent!

The Tea Cups looked very pretty so I stopped for a picture:

That is pretty!

this was my last farewell to a show I've enjoyed many times thru the years:

 

[ArielSRL]

Safe travels to all the groupies traveling in the next few days!

 

[jimmytammy]

WD
What a great way to start retirement, at WDW

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Love the car! That cheese strudel is on my list for this trip. I didn't get to it last time.


Speaking of cars we're picking up our new one today. Kat should be well familiar with it. It's a Chevy Cruze! It's a cute little car.

One more sleep which will likely be not much sleep at all. Safe travel to those travel to or from the World soon!

And what color is the Cruze? lol - it's a good car I have no problems driving and was actually backing out of my space when I saw the little ball of sunshine they had just brought up! I pulled back into my spot and ran over to claim it - the lot attendants got some amusement I think!

Heading to the airport in about 45 minutes. It's hard to believe that in less than 12 hours we'll be sitting in TOTW Lounge meeting up with friends old and new!

@KAT4DISNEY ... I hope your travels were uneventful today. And thank you for all the wonderful photos!

Have a great trip Granny! Photos are always nice.

KAT
That car looks very Emma Swanish(from Once Upon A Time)You aren't at WDW investigating by chance are you? Impressed by the score too! That's probably got to be near an all time high score for one, 1,287,199!!

You know, I've never watched more than snippets of Once Upon a Time. And I don't really know why not!

Buzz is a favorite for my pretty competitive family! TSMM too!

KAT, you take beautiful photos, even with a phone
Although I hate to mention that I can't see the rental car in your pic. It seems that one of the GIANT Florida BUGS landed right on top of it

... It does look fun to drive! How was it?

Thank you twinklebug!

That big bug was actually pretty fun to drive! I had not ridden in one since the 70's! It rode nicely, had good zip and we got a laugh when we'd go out to VGF parking lot and would find it was the ONLY yellow car. We got used to that and got fooled at WWOS when there was a second yellow car in the lot!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Everything I would pick if I was there! Yummy!


Wow, I bow to your Buzz talent!


That is pretty!

Thanks Ariel!

 

[sleepydog25]

Nice pics, KAT! Criminy, that's a high score for TSMM! Sadly, today is our last day at the Mouse, and we'll be verklempt to see the end of The Best Room Ever trip. We didn't do absolutely everything we planned, but we came fairly close. Didn't make 7DMT as the day we had an FP, the weather closed it for awhile, and we didn't feel like hanging around nor coming back later. Didn't get to TSMM, either. Ran out of "want to." There were a handful of other items we didn't check off our list, as well. However, we did manage to have a very relaxing trip.

After hitting Frozen and 1900 PF yesterday morning, we napped before heading to AK later in the afternoon for our dinner at Tiffin's. Lovely restaurant, especially the lounge area. Very relaxing vibe. The dining area is also laid back and speaks of warmth and cheer. Their wine list is good, though it could be a little more expanded. Still, it wasn't difficult to find a couple we liked. Luv had the hamachi appetizer with purple Peruvian mashed potatoes while I opted for the watermelon and feta salad. Both were delicious, with mine being the lighter of the two. It had some pickled rind, micro cilantro, and tart a mild vinaigrette. Refreshing! Luv's was good, as well, with the hamachi perfectly prepped and a quail egg. For dinner, we shared the duck two ways with a small piece of confit and a couple of decently sized slices of duck breast with mini forest mushrooms, parsnip puree, truffle reduction, and a huckleberry compote. Unctuous and filling, it was very good, though the skin on the breast needed more searing to reduce the fat layer and add even more flavor. We'll go back. It's considered a Signature, and the prices matched that designation. Didn't see many children there; perhaps, the menu is too "different" which is one reason we enjoyed it. Not crowded at all. Seems like a great place to grab an adult libation and just hang out. We notice that Pandora was open for a special preview for invited guests which turned out to be CMs only.

On to Rivers of Light after Tiffin's, and we arrived right at 8:30 for our FP. This is not an attraction that particularly needs an FP, though having one allows you to arrive much later than I assume others without them. Our seats were good, pretty much front and center of the show--just a touch off to the right, actually. Again, don't think this matters much. It's a pretty venue, and the show is colorful, I'll admit. To be frank, however, it wasn't terribly exciting. In fact, it's not a show we feel the need to visit again anytime soon. It's vibrant, and the music is inspiring. Still, the effects--mostly images sprayed on water mist "screens"--aren't ground breaking nor very engaging. Once you've seen one lion or tiger, you've seen them all. Also, the theme of "one life" on the planet (the connectivity of people all over the world) is THE only theme, and you're subjected to countless moments and images of animals in the jungle or plains. Cute? Yes. Awesome? Not for us. It's a World of Color style show combined with Fantastic but minus the draw of either (Disney movies in the former, Disney characters in the latter). Given how long in the making and how many delays there were, we thought it would be better.

Today, we've wandered MK and rode PP, watched Philharmonic, and also hit BTMR. Wanted to do POC, but it was temporarily closed. We still have one FP left if we want to use it tonight after TOWL. We zipped over to Coral Reef for lunch which was good and relatively quiet. We wanted to do Soarin' one last time, but our last free FP from our CCVC tour had already disappeared. We didn't feel like arguing the point, especially given we'd ridden it twice a few days ago. Now, we're back "home" to rest before dinner. Will fill you in on other news later!

 

[Dean Marino]

NEWS - the Main Lodge Designated Smoking Location has been eliminated.
Why this matters: There are now TWO DSL's at WL. One outside Bolder Ridge, one next to the Water Tower at Geyser Point. On site observation, 4-25 through 5-3, 2017. Worth noting: Being denied a legitimate DSL, expect most main Hotel People to walk down to the remaining DSL just outside our Villa. Now, I DO smoke - but it's also MY Villa. If this continues, the entire outside area of BRV should be declared a "shared resource", if it is not already classified as such.

MAP - REAL DSLs in RED. ELIMINATED DSL in BLUE:

 

[Lakegirl]

Got the same email today for stay June 18-23. I guess that dashes my hope of the pool being completed for our trip. It's all good anyway, we'll swim in the main pool. This is our first stay HOME for a long while. We seem to always be working around construction at WL. I am pretty tired of planning around WL construction for the last few years. I hope this is the end of it. I am ready to come HOME!

They filled the pool with water today, so you might be in luck.

 

[sleepydog25]

Thanks for posting, Dean. I try to appreciate the delicate position in which smokers find themselves, tied to just a few areas where they can legitimately smoke. That being said, the new area by VWL is just off to the right side of the Villas facing the bus stop, i.e., right next to where many of the rockers are. Unfortunately, the entire week of our stay, cigarette smoke drifted right over to the entrance to the Villas and hung there. I remember walking through the smoke on the way to the Villas when the area was just outside the main Lodge; now, that same effect is in place walking into my "home." And it was a breezy week as Florida goes. I won't lie--it was disappointing. Something as simple as an outdoor fan hung from the overhang ceiling (like those along many ride queues) might help. It is a suggestion I plan to make.

On another note, it was great to finally meet some Groupies tonight! A few had just gotten in today, so Luv and I appreciate the effort made to meet with us. Sadly, we're outta here in the morning, so the meet was short, though the exclamation to the evening was watching one of the final shows of Wishes. It was a fine night talking and laughing with fine people.

 

[Corinne]

I am not a fan of the pool parties either Sleepy.

 

[Granny]

As @sleepydog25 indicated, we had a fun Groupie meet last night at TOTWL. So great to see old friends and to put faces to people we "talk" to all that time. Very much enjoyed our evening together! Here's the fun bunch...



Front row: LuvVWL, TwoKats, Princess Kati, Mrs. Granny, Dizny Di
Back row: Sleepydog, Granny, Teapot, Dizny Dad

Thank you all for the fellowship and laughs!

 

[Corinne]

Kat-fabulous photos and TR as always!

Sleepy-sounds like you had a great trip, thanks for sharing!

BHGM (2) Groupies- hope you had a wonderful time, we were there in spirit! Photos please! I hope you all enjoy your stays!!!

 

[Corinne]

Lol, geez, ask and receive!!!

Great photo, thanks for posting Granny!!!!!

 

[Granny]

So, here's a few pictures from our trip so far.


We have a lake side room, 5th floor. We were so surprised to have a view of....trees!!!!!!










Okay...that was actually a zoom in on the one tree with green on it in front of our villa. Here's a balcony view looking out towards the lake and the pool/Geyser Point...