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

[ArielSRL]

Ariel - I love your 'bipolar weather'. Isn't that the truth! I hope you can get some relief from your current illness.

It truly does seem to be crazy! And thank you. Unfortunately this cough and congestion keeps hanging on. I'm hoping I break free soon.

I'm still in the hospital but am hopeful of being discharged tomorrow afternoon.

I will send pixie dust your way!

Returning to my own bed will be most welcome.

No doubt. Again, pixie dust on the way!

 

[horselover]

I saw a few photos but I'm in purse jail!

Purse jail. Lucky for me this one didn't do anything for me. Sometimes they catch your eye & sometimes they don't. That's actually a good thing. I bought the light blue F&G bag from 2017, but this year I was meh on the F&G bag. Didn't love last year's F&W bag either. Also a good thing as I had purchased the spring bag. Last F&W bag I purchased was the 20th anniversary bag.

Di -

 

[Corinne]

I saw a few photos but I'm in purse jail!

 

[twinklebug]

Purse jail. Lucky for me this one didn't do anything for me. Sometimes they catch your eye & sometimes they don't. That's actually a good thing. I bought the light blue F&G bag from 2017, but this year I was meh on the F&G bag. Didn't love last year's F&W bag either. Also a good thing as I had purchased the spring bag. Last F&W bag I purchased was the 20th anniversary bag.

Di -

I do love Dooney & Bourke bags, but they're so heavy and pricey that the design really has to speak to me too. (I currently make due with just a coach wallet. My shoulder thanks me.) I think if they made more scenes verses repetitive patterns I'd be there. Loved the Bambi design they had out last fall - that one almost roped me in had I not been on a budget.

 

[twokats]

DiznyDi, get well soon. I know Rich is taking good care of you!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks, Kathy, for spending a bit of your time with us this morning! It was nice seeing you! Congratulations on the 10K race.

Thank you Hollis! So nice to visit with you all for a little while at breakfast yesterday and a couple minutes today too! You all scooted out before I finished so please give my best to Toni and Jesse. I was a little tardy this morning and the mouse keeper was knocking on my door when I was putting the last items in my bag. Then in my rush I forgot things in the safe! So another trip up and the kind concierge staff got me back in. I'll just blame it on only a few hours sleep the previous few days. I'm just catching up a bit while waiting for my connection in salt lake. It's been a long day and I'm ready to get some Zzzzzzz's.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you Hollis! So nice to visit with you all for a little while at breakfast yesterday and a couple minutes today too! You all scooted out before I finished so please give my best to Toni and Jesse. I was a little tardy this morning and the mouse keeper was knocking on my door when I was putting the last items in my bag. Then in my rush I forgot things in the safe! So another trip up and the kind concierge staff got me back in. I'll just blame it on only a few hours sleep the previous few days. I'm just catching up a bit while waiting for my connection in salt lake. It's been a long day and I'm ready to get some Zzzzzzz's.

Sounds stressful. Hope your sleep refreshes you.

 

[Corinne]

I do love Dooney & Bourke bags, but they're so heavy and pricey that the design really has to speak to me too. (I currently make due with just a coach wallet. My shoulder thanks me.) I think if they made more scenes verses repetitive patterns I'd be there. Loved the Bambi design they had out last fall - that one almost roped me in had I not been on a budget.

Cindy you are sooooo right about the weight!! I love totes but do tend to get an ouchy shoulder after prolonged use so I try to be mindful of that.

 

[Dizny Dad]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DiznyDi!

 

[ArielSRL]

Cindy you are sooooo right about the weight!! I love totes but do tend to get an ouchy shoulder after prolonged use so I try to be mindful of that.

I always do the totes bc I'm like a boy scout and carry everything but the kitchen sink. My mom always makes fun of me bc of how heavy my purse is but I guess I am just used to it by now!

 

[ArielSRL]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DiznyDi!

Happy Birthday! I hope all your birthday wishes come true!

 

[horselover]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIZNYDI!!!!

 

[DenLo]

So I missed the party for Tea Pot & DisneyNutzy 'cause I was tied up at the local hospital yesterday. DiznyDi has pneumonia and I took her to the ER where she was admitted. She is feeling much better today, but really needs a little while on IV antibiotics & Steroids to help. This really is an exacerbation of her Immune Deficiencies & Bronchiectasis issues. 12 days until blast off for The Lodge! This stay should put DiznyDi on top of things and make for an easy relaxing trip.

Sorry to hear about DiznyDi being in the hospital. It is best to keep on top of pneumonia with her background. I hope she has a very quick recovery and can use your time at the Lodge to fully recuperate.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Sounds stressful. Hope your sleep refreshes you.

Thanks Bobbi! Still need a few more hours catch up sleep but made a good start at it last night! Hopefully better brain function will follow! "Vacationing" can be tough work!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Happy Birthday @DiznyDi !!!
Hope it's a great day and you continue to feel better!


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[KAT4DISNEY]

Happy Birthday @luvvwl !!!
Hope yesterday was a wonderful day!





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[Corinne]

Happy Birthday Di

Hope you’re feeling better!

 

[Granny]

Happy Birthday Di !!!​

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[Granny]

I’m still scrambling around on my post-vacation list of things to do, but I will go ahead and give you my impressions of our overall trip. We started out with three nights in San Francisco…which has nothing to do with DVC but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. After that, we spent 7 nights at Aulani and 2 nights/3 days at the Villas at the Grand Californian resort. To recap our impressions:


AULANI

Quick summary: A gorgeous resort with outstanding CMs. Truly a slice of paradise and highly enjoyable.

Pros:

• The resort layout is lush and even though there are several water/pool areas in the confines between the two wings of Aulani, when you’re on ground level you don’t feel like it is a crowded area with lots of concrete. The vegetation is beautiful and along with the “rock” designs it serves to keep each area (lazy river/pools/hot tubs) separate and somewhat cozy.

• The Cast Members were friendly and seemed genuinely excited to have you at Aulani. They are somewhat laid back which works great in this resort which is not built on supporting theme parks.

• The counter service restaurant…Ulu Café…had a nice variety of food options including Dole Whips and those savory Almond Croissants!

• The room layout for a 1BR is very spacious in the living room area…we liked the layout and theming a lot. And Mrs. Granny thought the rainfall showerhead was the best thing since sliced bread!

• The luau was very nicely done. Our luau was rain-shortened by about 10 minutes but we didn’t miss much…just the last song and closing remarks which I listened to from my balcony overlooking the luau the next night.

Cons:

• The prices of everything are pretty steep. Just a fact of life when almost everything is imported onto an island. But honestly, compared to San Francisco and Anaheim (our two other stops), it wasn’t outrageous.

• Ama Ama. This is the signature restaurant at the resort (the other restaurant is a buffet restaurant which we didn’t patronize). Ama Ama is beautifully designed with a wonderful ocean view and live music being performed to enhance the atmosphere. But our server was underwhelming (zero personality whatsoever) and we found the food to be overpriced and small portions to boot. If you have drinks, a salad and main course you will probably spend $100 per person easily. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. And we happened to visit the restaurant on my birthday, which they were aware of. It is one of those things that kind of sits poorly with me when they ask if you want dessert and when you say no, they say well we will be bringing you out a dessert treat for your birthday. So if we had ordered dessert we would have ended up with a full extra dessert? I just don’t like it when they know they will be giving you a free dessert but try to sell you one anyway. Just a pet peeve I guess. But we were underwhelmed with the service and food quality. As a contrast, we also ate at Roy’s Restaurant at the golf course across the street and their service and food were outstanding for a similar price to Ama Ama. So all in all, we found Ama Ama to be lacking but if we had gotten a more dynamic server it probably would have helped quite a bit.

Bottom line: A wonderful resort that we would return to in a heartbeat!

 

[Granny]

Continuing our thoughts on our recent trip.

Villas at the Grand Californian Resort

Quick summary: VGC is a beautiful resort with great location to the parks.

VGC Pros:

• The only VGC CM we actually interacted with to any extent was the lady who checked us in. She was very chatty, and was quite welcoming. She made up special anniversary pins for Mrs. Granny and I to wear, and she spent a bit of time explaining the resort layout and the quick access to Disney’s California Adventure park.

• The 1BR at VGC is a wonderful villa layout and amenities. A large table off the kitchen that would seat 6 people easily. A sleeper chair and drop down bed in the living room in addition to the sleeper sofa. And the extra full bathroom.

• The lobby of the VGC is along the lines of Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge, as befits a Peter Dominick design. Personally, I found it a little “cold” in design compared to WL or AKL, and I think it is meant to be more contemporary in feel. It is still a beautiful lobby and I loved the piano that played all day (sometimes on its own, and sometimes with a pianist).

VGC Cons:

• We had a ground floor villa and the villa above us had a couple of kids that woke up early running and yelling and laughing. It was quite a noisy villa with that noise in addition to the DCA park noise we could hear in the room. It wasn’t offensive, but if someone likes quiet then these rooms are probably not the best option. Being on the ground floor (we requested upper floor) we were basically looking at a stockade fence wall. If we were on the third floor or higher in the same location we would have been looking at DCA and the World of Color.

• The early access to DCA had a line that went from the park entrance back to the main corridor at VGC and then all the way down past the pool and past the counter service door. There had to be over 200 people in the line, and I have a hard time believing that all of them were staying at VGC. We saw people coming in the main entry doors and heading towards that line which suggests this is some sort of “tip” that has gotten out on the internet to allow people to bypass the longer lines for public access to the park. This didn’t bother us so much since we are not rope drop people, but we would have been irked if we had gotten in that line after our check-in CM told us that entrance is for VGC guests only. We saw the same thing when the park closed and people streamed out through the VGC park exit and then through the lobby and out the front doors. Fortunately, there is no security check on the way out of the parks so this just made it crowded but it still moved along.

• We tend to eat a fair amount of counter food offerings and found the VGC a little lacking in food options. I guess this is the trend at all Disney resort hotels (except Aulani) but we were disappointed in the selection available.

Bottom Line: We only spent 2 nights at this resort but it seems to have good CMs and amenities. Can't beat the location!