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

[Granny]

Boy, after reading the latest on the thread, it doesn't sound like we are all ready to gather on the beach and sing Kumbaya yet . . . . . remember, it always gets darkest before the sunrise . . and it will be beautiful; different, but beautiful.

DDad...I agree with you that the end result will most likely be a beautiful resort. As I've said before, if we can fast forward to 2018 and imagine that we are seeing the WL properties for the first time, I'm sure we would still be awestruck with the majesty of the resort. We are just working our way through the various stages of mourning at this point but in the end I'm sure we'll all adjust and still love going home. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

 

[circhead]

Happy Memorial Day to all the groupies - and to those of you that served, Thank you for my freedom.

The Missing Man Table set up includes a small, round bistro table, a white tablecloth, a single place setting, an inverted wine glass, a salt shaker, a slice of lemon on a bread plate with a pile of spilled salt, a bible, a small bud vase with a RED ribbon tied around it containing a single long stem red rose, a lit candle, and an empty chair.

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for our missing men and women. The tablecloth is white symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to duty. The single red rose, displayed in a case, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones and friends who keep the faith, awaiting answers. The vase is tied with a red ribbon, a symbol of our continued determination to account for our missing. A slice of lemon on the bread plate is to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured or missing in a foreign land. The spilled salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers. The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation, under God. The glass in inverted to symbolize their inability to share this day's toast. The chair is empty because they are missing.
Let us now observe a moment of silence to honor America's POW/MIAs and to the success of our efforts to account for them now. Now, you know! Now you can never forget!

 

[Dizny Dad]

Circhead - Thanks. And thank you to those that have served, in all capacities, to sustain this lofty and fragile experiment Of the People, By the People, and For the People.

 

[Granny]

Pat...beautiful sentiment. Thank you for sharing.

 

[horselover]

Thanks for sharing Pat. That was beautiful.

 

[Corinne]

Hi Groupies- hope you all have a great weekend.

DDad- you beat me to the punch regarding club level! I really hope it becomes an option. I for one totally dig CL!

 

[horselover]

Hi Groupies- hope you all have a great weekend.

DDad- you beat me to the punch regarding club level! I really hope it becomes an option. I for one totally dig CL!

CL might be the only thing that gets me on board with the new resort. Of course we wouldn't get 11 mo. window for it but maybe there's a tiny shot at the 7 mo. window. Never tried to book AKL CL so I'm not sure if that's even a possibility at 7 mos.

 

[cindy_k]

Hello!
I'm at VWL on the fifth floor overlooking the construction (and the lake).
.
I am a bit confused about the trees they have saved, it looks to me like that they should be the new water creek area.

Here's a link to the pictures: http://imgur.com/a/6Qckc

They were also repainting the Villa building on Friday, as well as the under side of the walkway.

 

[Granny]

Cindy...thank you for the update. And all the beautiful photos in the attached link.

At this point, we are guessing (that's all we can do) that the tree area they've left (surrounded by yellow tarp) will be a swampy kind of water like in the front of the villas near the covered walkway. Or they might just leave them as a stand of trees. Hard to say but if they were going to just make them treeless ponds like the original plans indicate, they surely would have taken out those trees. I think "waterway" might be a bit of a stretch for this area.

 

[JPDtheJD]

Thank you for the pictures and updates.

 

[Corinne]

CL might be the only thing that gets me on board with the new resort. Of course we wouldn't get 11 mo. window for it but maybe there's a tiny shot at the 7 mo. window. Never tried to book AKL CL so I'm not sure if that's even a possibility at 7 mos.

We wouldn't!??? Why???

 

[horselover]

We wouldn't!??? Why???

Because it will be in the new section. If I'm understanding everything correctly we'll be separate entities & that means no home resort advantage for us to book in the new CCCV section & no home booking advantage for those owners to book at VWL. Not calling it the Boulder resort! I'm actually happy about that. I expect the new point chart to be high like PVB & VGF. I'd rather new owners not be competing with me at 11 mos. for rooms at VWL. If that means I never get to book CL I can live with that.

 

[cindy_k]

What's also interesting about the cabin locations, are the trees and underbrush between the cabins on the right hand side and the water. The cabins on the left side are much closer to the water without all the trees and greenery in the way.
Either Disney is going to be doing some big time brush cleanup or the right hand cabins won't have much of a water view...

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Happy Birthday Liz (sechem32)!!!

 

[DiznyDi]

Happy Birthday Liz!

Thanks cindy_k for the photos! Enjoy your stay at the Lodge. Our favorite is to hear the boat horns on approach first thing in the AM. That tells us we're on vacation.

 

[Corinne]

Because it will be in the new section. If I'm understanding everything correctly we'll be separate entities & that means no home resort advantage for us to book in the new CCCV section & no home booking advantage for those owners to book at VWL. Not calling it the Boulder resort! I'm actually happy about that. I expect the new point chart to be high like PVB & VGF. I'd rather new owners not be competing with me at 11 mos. for rooms at VWL. If that means I never get to book CL I can live with that.

Hmmmm, I didn't know that, and you bring up a valid point. How do we know new owners won't be competing with us for the 11 month window? I can actually see DVC allowing the new owners the benefit, yet not giving us the same reciprocity.

 

[Corinne]

Happy Birthday Liz!

 

[horselover]

Good morning groupie friends. I'm going to lighten things up & share some pictures from my trip. I've mentioned before this was a huge bucket list trip for me & a great opportunity to complete my tourism board training. I'm a huge Tolkien fan & I've been dreaming of visiting New Zealand for years. It did not disaapoint. It was everything I thought it would be & more. If you've ever wanted to visit NZ or AU but are worried about the length of the flight do not let that stop you. Yes it is a very long flight but so worth it once you get there. I can't wait to get back there with the family in Aug. & see more of this incredible country at my own pace. I have not doubt this is a country I will be visiting multiple times despite the distance. Maybe we should retire on the west coast. That would cut 6 hours off the trip.

We started our trip in Auckland then made our way to Queenstown in the south island wrapping up with a whirlwind 2 days in Sydney (no where near enough time here). We did not have the best luck with weather unfortunately. It was cloudy in Auckland & rained pretty much the entire time we were in Queenstown. We had several water activities planned & all were canceled due to rain & wind. We made the best of it anyway. It's still stunning even in the rain.

Off we go!

Auckland - view from Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park. Great place for a picnic. Amazing views all around.



Day 2 we spent on Waiheke Island. It's about 30 min. via ferry from Auckland. It's a wine lovers heaven! The island is filled with boutique wineries. We did the Wild on Waiheke tour. We visited 3 wineries & an olive farm. That was interesting seeing how they press the olives into oil. Again the weather did not cooperate but still managed to grab a couple decent shots. We're planning to visit again in Aug. I hope we get better weather. It must be stunning when the sun is shining.



Welcome to Queenstown! Words can't describe how beautiful this place is. I have no shame in saying when I opened the curtains in our room & saw the view I cried. Yep cried like a baby. It's a very special place. It cleared up briefly on our last night & I was able to grab these shots. All taken from the balcony at our hotel.

Lake Wakatipu with the Remarkables in the background.
View attachment 171941

 

[horselover]

Hmmm, weird stuff going on adding photos. Still getting used to the new way of uploading files vs adding the images from photobucket. Apologies if there's duplicates or strange order.

I don't have any decent photos to share but we did make the long trek from Queenstown to Milford Sound. It's a very long day & probably not the way I'd recommend doing it but Fiordland National Park & Milford Sound is a definite must see. Unfortunately after driving for 4 1/2 hours we arrived at Milford Sound only to have our cruise canceled due to weather conditions. That was a bummer. However, there is a spot along the drive where you come out of this mountain tunnel into a place called the valley of a thousand waterfalls. I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful & amazing in my life. You have to see it for yourself to believe it. Even if the weather had cooperated pictures could never do it justice. This was on instance where the rain actually helped us. The quality & quantity of the waterfalls depends on the amount of rain fall. We had plenty of that! Highly recommend seeing this if you plan a trip to NZ.

The sun did shine briefly as we were leaving Queenstown & working our way through their beautiful farm country. So green & so many sheep! They also have deer farms which was very strange to see. Hundreds & hundreds of deer.

A couple shots from the drive.



Sun coming up over Lake Wakatipu



I'm sure there must be a few Tolkien fans here besides me. We did a Safari of the Scenes tour on our last full day in Queenstown. There are a couple different ones that take you to various film locations plus you get a great tour of the area. I enjoyed it a lot. We're doing a different one in August. Looking forward to that.

Each vehicle is named after a different character.



Some more spectacular scenery. You think it can't possibly get any better but then it does.



This is the backdrop for the Misty Mountains. You can see why it was the perfect location.

 

[horselover]

They forced me to leave Queenstown & we're off to Sydney.

You can tell I'm getting really tired. Bags under my eyes but I'm in Sydney!





This was are one full day in Sydney & it was FULL! We were up early & headed to Taronga Zoo, followed that with a tour of the Sydney Opera House, walking tour of the city, ending with a sunset dinner cruise on the harbor. It was a very busy day.

Our host arranged a surprise for us because he said we had been so good with all the weather cancellations. We got to do the VIP tour at Taronga Zoo. So cool. A lot of backstage stuff plus we got to meet a koala & a kangaroo up close & personal.

This is Kira. I do have a picture of myself with her but I'm not sharing it. I look really, really tired!

Look at that face!


Side by side? Hmmmm, like I said weird things going on with adding pictures!

This is Penny. Kangaroos like to sunbathe.



I put my sunglasses on so I'll share this one!

Kangaroos are super soft.



Kookaburra which posed so nicely for me.



Wallaby



This one was huge for me. I'm petrified of heights but somehow I managed to overcome it & I climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge. V for Victory!!



And my money shot & a great way to end a trip to Sydney.



Hope you enjoyed the pictures & if you have any questions on NZ or Sydney feel free to ask.

Have a great day groupies!