VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[Granny]

Hi all! Been trying to find out which studio(s) at BRV does not have a balcony. I can’t really find the room number online and would like to avoid that room since we will have 5 in our room. Figured I might turn to you knowledgeable folks.
Any Ideas? TIA!

I believe the only villa at VWL (or BRV, if you insist) without a balcony is the studio #4533.

I don't know how to put in a request that would avoid being assigned that room other than asking for a lower floor, or an even number room (those rooms all face the woods/bus stop area).

Enjoy your trip!

 

[twinklebug]

Hi all! Been trying to find out which studio(s) at BRV does not have a balcony. I can’t really find the room number online and would like to avoid that room since we will have 5 in our room. Figured I might turn to you knowledgeable folks.
Any Ideas? TIA!

Four or more in a studio gets tight and you need that balcony to step out on. I've been fortunate never to be stuck in that no-balcony room.
Even better, ask for a studio on the first floor. With so many in the room, it makes for an easy walk to get to the lobby & the Carolwood Pacific room and all those comfy chairs just to find peace to think, and with a patio we've had bunnies and deer right outside our door.

 

[BaymaxForever]

I believe the only villa at VWL (or BRV, if you insist) without a balcony is the studio #4533.

I don't know how to put in a request that would avoid being assigned that room other than asking for a lower floor, or an even number room (those rooms all face the woods/bus stop area).

Enjoy your trip!

I've had 4 in a studio, it gets tight and you need that balcony to step out on. I've been fortunate never to be stuck in that no-balcony room.
Even better, ask for a studio on the first floor. With so many in the room, it makes for an easy walk to get to the lobby & the Carolwood Pacific room and all those comfy chairs just to find peace to think, and with a patio we've had bunnies and deer right outside our door.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Just have to wait until September!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Should have been on a plane right now headed to Orlando. It's gonna be a tough week thinking about all the the should have beens. Just glad I still have the trip to look forward to at least.

 

[bluecastle]

My daughter and I started planning our 2/2022 trip today, making shared files like Dining, Ride/Attraction priorities for my granddaughter, and AKL/Kidani info. And one of my daughter's main requests? That we eat at the WL so that we make sure of a visit there. This is going to be a resort-centric trip with a few park visits focused on what we think my granddaughter will enjoy. I hope we get to stay at Kidani, non-DVC, or that 2 rooms at the AKL will even be bookable! My order of resort preferences for this trip: Kidani 2 BR, AKL 1 BR plus Studio; 2 rooms AKL; and if we can't book any of them, we will try for our beloved lodge. I just really want her to see the animals and for us to relax in a totally new to us resort.
Daydreaming, for now.

 

[jimmytammy]

Groupie meet 09
Below is the very 1st groupie meet we attended. It may very well be the first groupie meet ever. As you can see, its in the former Iron Spike Room, now known as the Carolewood Pacific Room in the lobby area of VWL.



Below is a gift that DiznyDi made for each of our families that to this day we still cherish as it is displayed in our kitchen

The cake was shared by Horselover and her DH in celebration of their Anniversary

From L to R: TammyNC, jimmytammy, Larry(Horselovers DH), Horselover(Julie), DiznyDI(Diane) and DiznyDad(Rich). I think our DD took the photo. If you see kids in the top photo, that's Casey(CaptainD) our DS, and Kristian, our DD

 

[jimmytammy]

We were cleaning out a room yesterday to get ready to renovate and ran across pictures from a 09 trip and lo and behold, we found our good friend Ranger Stan. He was just before retiring at this time and we felt this may be our last time seeing him, so we spent some teary eyed moments with him. Fortunately, he continued to come back to visit the Lodge and even showed up at some of our groupie meets with his DW.

 

[Granny]

Jimmy...thanks for posting the pictures. Hard to believe they were taken 12 years ago! It makes me look forward to future Groupie meets with so many of the good people who have frequented this thread over the past many years.

In fact, I just realized the this year we can celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the VWL Groupies thread! Holy smokes! Can you all believe that our thread has been around for so long? I know that not everyone has been here that entire time, but it is a strong testament to the attraction of our beloved Lodge and VWL. So many amazing memories!

 

[Granny]

Jimmy, your Groupie meet picture got me thinking of when we first attended a Groupie meet. That would be 2010, the following year that your first meet happened. Here's a picture from that meet, in front of the Iron Spike room fireplace.





And of course Jimmy, Tammy & company were part of this one as well. I daresay that JT has been at more of these than anyone.

Funny that you should mention finding the picture when cleaning out a room. We are doing the same with a room in our basement and yesterday I came across the WL music CDs that you sent to me all those years ago. Since I don't listen to CDs very much with the advent of streaming music, I had put them aside a few years ago. It was great to get them out and I have been listening to them the past couple of days. It is impossible to listen to Aaron Copland and not think of our beloved Lodge! So many amazing memories, and Groupies have been part of them for so many years.

Thanks to all of you who I have been blessed to meet, and I look forward to meeting more of you in the future!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Love the pictures of the past meets. So glad I was able to be part of one of them in the past. It has me thinking of a couple of past members that I haven't seen on here in a while. Muushka and Eliza. I hope they are both doing well.

 

[bobbiwoz]

December 2016!
TOTW Lounge

I miss you all, and look forward to future meets!

 

[suse66]

When was your last trip to WDW? When you go on your next trip, how long will it have been?

My last trip was December 2019.....a very quick 3 nighter to take in all the Christmas festivities. I have a trip planned for August to celebrate my oldest son's 21st birthday. Then my DH and I are planning a Christmas trip from the 18-22 of December. We are Canadian though and unsure of what will happen with border closures, quarantine requirements etc. IF we get to travel in August it will have been 1 year and 8 months. If we don't get to travel until December it will have been 2 years. I am cautiously optimistic but am not sure if any 2021 travel will be possible. We will see. We may end up totally splashing out for March Break 2022!

 

[Granny]

Love the pictures of the past meets. So glad I was able to be part of one of them in the past. It has me thinking of a couple of past members that I haven't seen on here in a while. Muushka and Eliza. I hope they are both doing well.

DLI...wow, that's eerie! I was just thinking today when I posted my first Groupie meet how much I wish Muushka, Mia (Maria) and Eliza were still hanging out here. Muushka has made a few appearances in the past few years, but Eliza moved on completely. Mia is, well, MIA.

For those of you who don't know Eliza, well here is her first post on the Groupies thread shortly after it started:

I think I'm way beyond groupie stage. It was my family's first time last August when I we stayed at the VWL and we were blown away. I think my friends are going to gag me if I recommend it one more time. My family is trying to figure out if the start calling me a disciple would that be sacrilegious. ​

​

And probably my all time favorite post by Eliza (eliza61 was actually her user name)...

So we arrived at the WL yesterday around 12:00 pm. Now my home resort is the BCV's which we love so I was little nervous about venturing to a new resort . This is our first time ever at the lodge and my first reaction was, "Where have you been all my life, you big handsome man". While I love the soft, soothing colors of the beach club and its understated charm. The wilderness lodge is theming at it's best. this is big, bold, if you can't run with the big dogs-stay the heck on the porch, jaw dropping details. I think we may have found a new favorite​

​

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

DLI...wow, that's eerie! I was just thinking today when I posted my first Groupie meet how much I wish Muushka, Mia (Maria) and Eliza were still hanging out here. Muushka has made a few appearances in the past few years, but Eliza moved on completely. Mia is, well, MIA.

For those of you who don't know Eliza, well here is her first post on the Groupies thread shortly after it started:

I think I'm way beyond groupie stage. It was my family's first time last August when I we stayed at the VWL and we were blown away. I think my friends are going to gag me if I recommend it one more time. My family is trying to figure out if the start calling me a disciple would that be sacrilegious. ​

​

And probably my all time favorite post by Eliza (eliza61 was actually her user name)...

So we arrived at the WL yesterday around 12:00 pm. Now my home resort is the BCV's which we love so I was little nervous about venturing to a new resort . This is our first time ever at the lodge and my first reaction was, "Where have you been all my life, you big handsome man". While I love the soft, soothing colors of the beach club and its understated charm. The wilderness lodge is theming at it's best. this is big, bold, if you can't run with the big dogs-stay the heck on the porch, jaw dropping details. I think we may have found a new favorite​

​

Oh I feel bad that I left Mia out! OMG. I miss her too. Eliza had quite a way with words. LOL I wish they all would come back. They were such a big part of the groupies. I have been MIA a lot myself but even when I was I thought about you guys a lot. It was just really hard for me to come on here and read about everyone's trips when I couldn't go myself. I have to get over that. You guys always welcome us wayward groupies back with open arms though and we feel like we never left.

 

[Granny]

Don't look now, Groupies, but we're closing in on 1,000 pages of this latest edition of our thread! That number and our longevity speaks to our closeness as an extended family--thanks to each of you for making this thread a place where we come and feel at "home." I've long said it, and I believe it: this is the friendliest, most genuine group on the DIS.

Sleepy...I never paid attention but it is amazing to think of 1,000 pages on this thread! Remember when they used to shut down a thread after 150 pages? No wonder this is the 8th version of this thread!

I also see that we are almost at 19,000 replies on this thread. And amazingly, we are almost at 1,000,000 viewers! Yes...one meeellion (said in Dr. Evil's voice with pinky on teeth).

Lots of nostalgia this week, eh?

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

So maybe this has been covered before but I missed it somehow. I just watched a vlog about the Lodge by a guy named Kyle Pallo. In it he talks about how he thinks they are redoing the rooms in the villas. He goes down a hall and at the end of it you can see that the carpet, doors, walls and lights have all changed. Has anyone seen this? I love the carpet but I don't like the rest. It seems like they are removing all the character. I love the lights they have now and I'm sad if they are going. Everything seems to be more bland. The area he was showing is around room 1556 and 1558.

 

[Starwind]

So maybe this has been covered before but I missed it somehow. I just watched a vlog about the Lodge by a guy named Kyle Pallo. In it he talks about how he thinks they are redoing the rooms in the villas. He goes down a hall and at the end of it you can see that the carpet, doors, walls and lights have all changed. Has anyone seen this? I love the carpet but I don't like the rest. It seems like they are removing all the character. I love the lights they have now and I'm sad if they are going. Everything seems to be more bland. The area he was showing is around room 1556 and 1558.

His video is here, posted 24 Jan 2021 :

(btw nice walking tour of the resort... wow so empty !!)

At about 6:19 he explains he just ran into one of his old coworkers who explained what is happening and then goes on to explain about WL hotel side opening June 6. Then, at 6:30 he explains, 'speaking of Boulder Ridge" and explains that before Disney does a refurbishment they like to test out their rooms and so there is somewhere in BR where the have installed a new test of what the rooms are going to look like and the walkway.

12:55 is where he starts showing BR and talking more about the refurbishment.

14:09 is where the carpet transition takes place from the existing to the possible new [if it is approved].

Carpet, walls, doors, lights are changed. Hall lighting is brighter.

He did a comparative screenshot of the two halls at 14:49.

 

[sleepydog25]

So maybe this has been covered before but I missed it somehow. I just watched a vlog about the Lodge by a guy named Kyle Pallo. In it he talks about how he thinks they are redoing the rooms in the villas. He goes down a hall and at the end of it you can see that the carpet, doors, walls and lights have all changed. Has anyone seen this? I love the carpet but I don't like the rest. It seems like they are removing all the character. I love the lights they have now and I'm sad if they are going. Everything seems to be more bland. The area he was showing is around room 1556 and 1558.

Agree with your assessment, DLI. I actually think the carpet is a nice touch (though it sure seems as if it would show dirt and grime more easily); however, the walls are bland and the light fixture overhead just as blah. Not a fan of either. I remember when they first refurbished the VWL rooms years ago and was so unimpressed by them. Cleaner lines? I suppose. Lacking theming of the original? Definitely. I feel quite certain we'll get another wave of bland and boring in the next round of updates, as well.

(btw nice walking tour of the resort... wow so empty !!)

He did a comparative screenshot of the two halls at 14:49.

Thanks for the link to the video!

 

[jimmytammy]

The carpet is getting a bit worn, so I can see them having to change it. Its much brighter for sure. I dont like the lights or the paint scheme, they need to keep it darker and the lights seem a bit industrial looking to me.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

His video is here, posted 24 Jan 2021 :

(btw nice walking tour of the resort... wow so empty !!)

At about 6:19 he explains he just ran into one of his old coworkers who explained what is happening and then goes on to explain about WL hotel side opening June 6. Then, at 6:30 he explains, 'speaking of Boulder Ridge" and explains that before Disney does a refurbishment they like to test out their rooms and so there is somewhere in BR where the have installed a new test of what the rooms are going to look like and the walkway.

12:55 is where he starts showing BR and talking more about the refurbishment.

14:09 is where the carpet transition takes place from the existing to the possible new [if it is approved].

Carpet, walls, doors, lights are changed. Hall lighting is brighter.

He did a comparative screenshot of the two halls at 14:49.

Thank you for posting the video and explaining it in more detail.