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

[KAT4DISNEY]

I noticed this right away, too. I found this picture which shows part of a tall cabinet to the left of the dresser and desk. I'm guessing this is a wardrobe in lieu of a built-in closet.

Ah - I see the edge of that and it explains the very long furniture along the wall better with the desk on one end, the dresser and then the wardrobe.

Those pictures were also the best quality I've seen elsewhere and showed me a few other things I thought appeared to be nice in the room designs. But biggest of all - I just noticed there are side tables on each side of the bed in the studios!!!! Finally!!!!

Also, I like the artwork in the studios and I see there's the much aligned barn door to close off the sink area of the bathroom although I like them. I wonder if the geode design in the master bedroom still opens up to the bathroom? It's a stand out. And the headboard in the master is pretty spectacular.

On the other hand it seems off to not have hefty ironwork handles on the dressers - not the little pulls or as shown in the living area no pulls at all which are too modern in design. And the rugs. They don't bug me as badly as that rug they brought into VWL but they appear generic too. And that rounded coffee table in the 1BR and GV?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am pretty happy with what I see and the point costs. Now hoping for more trees!

 

[horselover]

Kat - I noticed the blurb about the cabanas. Only a matter of time (short amount of time) before they start charging. They already do at Poly. No way they'll turn away an opportunity to make $.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Or they know the Wilderness customer...but based on the lodge's lower occupancy and rates, DVC somehow thought they needed to appeal to non-Wilderness customers?

Well, you could be right. But, I think hotel guests staying in the MK area really want the monorail access as part of their experience. I think that's the biggest reason for high hotel vacancy which led to the CCVC resort annexation of 1/2 of the lodge. I think folks that like Wilderness DVC choices are not as concerned about the monorail, and in fact "enjoy the journey" of the boats. To each their own. As I've often said, not being on the monorail is a strength, not a weakness of the Wilderness Lodge Resort.

 

[rkstocke5609]

I need to come up with a I miss trees & hate boulders song for the singalong.

OK, now I want you all to sing along -- and I know you know the lyrics, even if you won't admit it, so, loud & proud....

http://www.rollingstone.com/country...deo-watch-magical-medley-come-to-life-w441288

 

[nvrenoughdisney]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a little advice. We are staying at the VWL next weekend for two nights before our cruise. We've never stayed here before. We are not planning on doing any parks and we will have a car. We arrive early Friday morning and will leave Sunday morning for the cruise. We are planning on spending most of our time by the pool. From what I can tell, there is only one pool, which is located by the resort portion. Is that a far walk from the villas? Is there anything of interest in the villa portion besides the rooms? Since we arrive so early I'm thinking of just requesting the first available room. We are a family of 5 staying in a studio. From what I can tell everything we are interested in, pool, food, etc., is located at the resort. I guess I'm wondering if there is any type of request I should make or any advice that might make our stay more enjoyable. Thanks!

 

[rkstocke5609]

Closer to the elevators is always nice. First time at the lodge must do's : Do the lobby guided tour if available while you are there. Walk the entire grounds from the Spring in the main lobby, outside follow the stream to the waterfall, follow the steps down, and watch it turn into the pool, watch geyser go off on the hour. Absolutely awesome. Must do the new Geyser Pointe at least for the EWP at night. Walk the grounds at night and watch the lanterns flicker! Take the boat over to Contemporary or better yet Fort Wilderness (do a carriage ride!). Enjoy the nightly movie (last I heard it's still in the villas lobby due to construction, check with guest services). Grab a beverage and sit in front of the fireplace in either the main lobby or the villas lobby, even bring a book! Play checkers (There's a spot in the villas, Carolwood Pacific Room). Relax breathe deep. Everything about the lodge is special. Please forgive anything I forgot -- oh, dining shenanigans at Whispering Canyon ( grab a chocolate malt, yummy!)

 

[horselover]

OK, now I want you all to sing along -- and I know you know the lyrics, even if you won't admit it, so, loud & proud....

http://www.rollingstone.com/country...deo-watch-magical-medley-come-to-life-w441288

That was awesome! Never heard (or saw) that before.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a little advice. We are staying at the VWL next weekend for two nights before our cruise. We've never stayed here before. We are not planning on doing any parks and we will have a car. We arrive early Friday morning and will leave Sunday morning for the cruise. We are planning on spending most of our time by the pool. From what I can tell, there is only one pool, which is located by the resort portion. Is that a far walk from the villas? Is there anything of interest in the villa portion besides the rooms? Since we arrive so early I'm thinking of just requesting the first available room. We are a family of 5 staying in a studio. From what I can tell everything we are interested in, pool, food, etc., is located at the resort. I guess I'm wondering if there is any type of request I should make or any advice that might make our stay more enjoyable. Thanks!

Here's an overhead view of the resort - the Green roof building is Wilderness lodge (the main building) and the red roof is VWL so there are rooms that are closer but nothing is more than a couple minutes.

The workout room is actually over in VWL if that is of interest and there are nice sitting areas there too. At this time to get to all the other amenities you will have to go thru the main building though.

 

[rkstocke5609]

That was awesome! Never heard (or saw) that before.

Glad you enjoyed it! I actually think it fits the lodge rather well...."Take me home..."

 

[rkstocke5609]

Ah - I see the edge of that and it explains the very long furniture along the wall better with the desk on one end, the dresser and then the wardrobe.

Those pictures were also the best quality I've seen elsewhere and showed me a few other things I thought appeared to be nice in the room designs. But biggest of all - I just noticed there are side tables on each side of the bed in the studios!!!! Finally!!!!

Also, I like the artwork in the studios and I see there's the much aligned barn door to close off the sink area of the bathroom although I like them. I wonder if the geode design in the master bedroom still opens up to the bathroom? It's a stand out. And the headboard in the master is pretty spectacular.

On the other hand it seems off to not have hefty ironwork handles on the dressers - not the little pulls or as shown in the living area no pulls at all which are too modern in design. And the rugs. They don't bug me as badly as that rug they brought into VWL but they appear generic too. And that rounded coffee table in the 1BR and GV?

Thanks so much for these pictures! I am utterly shocked that the studios have night stands on both sides of the bed! Yeah!!

Is it just me or are those Grand Villas looking crazy nice? Are they the biggest ones in DVC, did anyone confirm that rumour?

Also, is it just me or are the Cabins looking far & away better than the Bungalows? They look so awesome!!, I need to find someone that can't use or rent their points that's willing to gift them to me just so they won't go unused.....

 

[jimmytammy]

Happy Friday All!!!!
Our weekend consists of work(for the WDW/DVC obsession)and going to a baby reveal tomorrow for our DD and DSIL, which has to do with an AR15 shooting into a box that says boy or girl filled with a blue or pink powder that none of us knows what it isThings sure are different when we used to just tell our parents, hey, you are going to be grandparents

 

[TCRAIG]

Happy Friday All!!!!
Our weekend consists of work(for the WDW/DVC obsession)and going to a baby reveal tomorrow for our DD and DSIL, which has to do with an AR15 shooting into a box that says boy or girl filled with a blue or pink powder that none of us knows what it isThings sure are different when we used to just tell our parents, hey, you are going to be grandparents

Happy Friday back Atcha!
We had our Reveal for our first grand last month - it was a cake filled with pink or blue icing - we got my favorite color - PINK!!

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

Happy Friday All!!!!
Our weekend consists of work(for the WDW/DVC obsession)and going to a baby reveal tomorrow for our DD and DSIL, which has to do with an AR15 shooting into a box that says boy or girl filled with a blue or pink powder that none of us knows what it isThings sure are different when we used to just tell our parents, hey, you are going to be grandparents

That's awesome Jimmy! I hope everybody sees the color they are hoping for!!

Also, I think we should incorporate something like this into the "harass-the-newbies-plan" when they start moving in this summer! We'll have to leave the AR15s at home of course, but maybe the water balloon slingshot can be our powder catalyst.

 

[sleepydog25]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a little advice. We are staying at the VWL next weekend for two nights before our cruise. We've never stayed here before. We are not planning on doing any parks and we will have a car. We arrive early Friday morning and will leave Sunday morning for the cruise. We are planning on spending most of our time by the pool. From what I can tell, there is only one pool, which is located by the resort portion. Is that a far walk from the villas? Is there anything of interest in the villa portion besides the rooms? Since we arrive so early I'm thinking of just requesting the first available room. We are a family of 5 staying in a studio. From what I can tell everything we are interested in, pool, food, etc., is located at the resort. I guess I'm wondering if there is any type of request I should make or any advice that might make our stay more enjoyable. Thanks!

First, welcome to the Groupies thread! We're glad you could drop by! Second, Ron gave you some great things to do while staying at the Lodge. I would add grabbing a Hidden Mickey hint sheet at the customer service desk. It will have you exploring a great deal of the Lodge and Villas. You can walk to FW along the paved path, as well; it's just under a mile one way, and we enjoy making that walk in the morning to hit the breakfast buffet at Trail's End, one of the best bargains on Disney property. We've seen all manner of wildlife such as rabbits, turtles, deer, and even a hawk sitting on the ground with its prey in its talons. Despite missing too many trees and all the new construction, the Lodge and VWL are still pretty special places.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I have to agree with several people that the decor in the studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms is just off. The grand villa and cabin look beautiful but there is something not right with the others. Maybe it's the cream walls, maybe it's the hardwoods/laminates (although I like hardwoods), maybe it's the cream furniture or the various contemporary/mixed wood furniture, or the lack of any wilderness theme what so ever. Perhaps it's a combination of those things but it feels boring and sterile, not cozy and rustic like I would have expected. The plus side is that can be changed and I hope it will. I would love to purchase a CCV add on in the future but since our budget won't allow points to buy for grand villas and cabins, I would have to choose many other resorts over this for decor reasons alone. Good thing we are satisfied with our VWL contract for now

Happy Friday! P.S. I have some serious plans to eat at a local restaurant here this weekend that has a bananas foster french toast for a special right now (special shout out to George for this). It helps my bitterness over the Roaring Forks closure and anxiety over whether my bananas foster mickey waffles will return.

 

[Granny]

Enough with the Golden Oaks. It'll be more like Aluminum Oaks for me. Oh, by the way, I'm taking the job!

Hollis...CONGRATULATIONS! Keep us up to date on your transition!

 

[Granny]

Hey Groupies! I've been out of pocket for the past couple of weeks as I was out of town. Looking forward to catching up on about 15 pages of Groupie news!

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

Welcome back Granny, we missed you! Lots of news about the "neighborhood" development.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Hey Groupies! I've been out of pocket for the past couple of weeks as I was out of town. Looking forward to catching up on about 15 pages of Groupie news!

Welcome back Granny!