VWL Groupies...yes, we love the Lodge, a lot!!

[DiznyDi]

Happy Birthday rfassett's Rebecca! Hope you've enjoyed your day in a most amazing way!

Jimmy Great news about your points and securing the Jamie Deen demo!

Kathy, safe travels as you make the journey to bring Kati home. I'm sure she'll have enough wonderful stories to make the time pass quickly.

luv2sleep DDad and I seldom miss a December stay at the Lodge. It's my most favorite time of the year. Unfortunately the December weather is not very dependable. The holiday decorations, the Candlelight Processional, the Osborne Lights among others make this time of year hard to miss despite any potential inclimate weather.

MariaWhat area of Florida are looking at to re-locate? I keep thinking we need to get out of these cold Ohio winters once retirement comes around. I love the sun!

 

[Muushka]

Got our letter from DVC today, yeahhhhh!!!!!!! BWV here we come(next Oct after the cruise)

Congratulations JB!!!

Next October? 2014 for your cruise?

Maria, a move to FL? Do tell!!

 

[lodge]

Christmas at the Lodge. It's magical I'm not going to lie

You are not kidding!

 

[sleepydog25]

It's early Sunday morning, and it's not raining which is cool (though to be fair, we only had a couple of brief showers yesterday and I managed to golf 18 holes [Ed. note: I sucked]), so I thought posting a few more pics might help folks ease through the day.


"Wishes!" from TOWL (again, forgive the fuzziness; use your imagination )








And since this is the Lodge Groupies thread, here's an obligatory shot of the Lodge at night.

 

[Corinne]

The only winter travel we have done over the last 15+ years is to hockey games, but our son will be graduating in 2014 so this upcoming season will be his last. very bittersweet. One positive note though, we are hoping to finally get back to the Lodge during the holidays next year, it really IS the place to stay at that time of year. We have been there during the holidays since 1999! I'm glad the VWL is our home resort

sleepythanks for the photos, love the shot of you and your bride at the Lodge!

Maria I totally missed your moving to Florida comment, had to go back and re- read! We would like to buy a place to spend the winters ( someday!) but you are going to relocate? How exciting!

 

[rusafee1183]

Great shots Sly!

I swear, I have never seen two people who look like they love each other more than the two of you.

 

[MiaSRN62]

MariaWhat area of Florida are looking at to re-locate? I keep thinking we need to get out of these cold Ohio winters once retirement comes around. I love the sun!

Hi Di, Muushka and Corinne!
Moving to Florida has been a dream of mine since my mid to late 30's. Now I turned 50 and the dream is getting more compelling. When my kids were young we didn't want to pull them out of school and away from friends. Then back around 2001-02 we wanted to go and bring grandmom too. She was totally on-board with the idea. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with cancer in late 2002 and we cared for her in her final months in our home until she passed in 2004. Then it was getting our three kids through college.

Fast forward. Once my daughter's wedding day arrives and the planning and hectic pace subside, my hubby and I will put the planning in to full-steam-ahead mode. We need a new roof and a new windows and some other updates in our home to get it ready for sale. The cost of the wedding is putting all this on the back burner right now. We are well aware we will not be able to command the incomes in FL that we both have here in PA. So we want to get the most for our house in sale. We will most likely downsize in FL to a smaller home to meet our new income budget there. Our timeline is hopefully within 2-3 years after my daughter's wedding (estimating time to rennovate our house). We both want to be close to her. We will bring my youngest daughter with us but I think my son (who is 26) will stay here as his long-time girlfriend and her family are from upstate New York. So right now we like anywhere from the Palm Coast area up to St Augustine (focusing on east coast as most of my family is there).
This is our long-range goal!!!! We may have to give up some vacations to reach this goal


CONGRATS JT!!!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Slydog....that WL shot is just beautiful!!!!

 

[Muushka]

Hi Di, Muushka and Corinne!
Moving to Florida has been a dream of mine since my mid to late 30's. Now I turned 50 and the dream is getting more compelling. When my kids were young we didn't want to pull them out of school and away from friends. Then back around 2001-02 we wanted to go and bring grandmom too. She was totally on-board with the idea. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with cancer in late 2002 and we cared for her in her final months in our home until she passed in 2004. Then it was getting our three kids through college.

Fast forward. Once my daughter's wedding day arrives and the planning and hectic pace subside, my hubby and I will put the planning in to full-steam-ahead mode. We need a new roof and a new windows and some other updates in our home to get it ready for sale. The cost of the wedding is putting all this on the back burner right now. We are well aware we will not be able to command the incomes in FL that we both have here in PA. So we want to get the most for our house in sale. We will most likely downsize in FL to a smaller home to meet our new income budget there. Our timeline is hopefully within 2-3 years after my daughter's wedding (estimating time to rennovate our house). We both want to be close to her. We will bring my youngest daughter with us but I think my son (who is 26) will stay here as his long-time girlfriend and her family are from upstate New York. So right now we like anywhere from the Palm Coast area up to St Augustine (focusing on east coast as most of my family is there).
This is our long-range goal!!!! We may have to give up some vacations to reach this goal


CONGRATS JT!!!!!

How exciting! I think about relocating back to FL, right about November every year!

 

[jimmytammy]

Congratulations JB!!!

Next October? 2014 for your cruise?

Maria, a move to FL? Do tell!!

Yes, Oct 2014, sorry I didnt clarify. One of our groupie members helped us as an agent to get us the cruise and room we were hoping for along with answering a lot of questions for us 1st time cruisers.

 

[luv2sleep]

Thanks for the Xmas advice! I'm definitely going to go then. Paying to fly out to FL in Oct AND Dec does not make sense financially.

Would it be worth it to stay at the lodge the night precruise, take transportation to port, cruise, and then return for a few nights stay at the lodge post cruise? Or is it better to stay at the Hyatt MCO the night before and just stay at the lodge afterwards?

 

[sleepydog25]

Thanks for the Xmas advice! I'm definitely going to go then. Paying to fly out to FL in Oct AND Dec does not make sense financially.

Would it be worth it to stay at the lodge the night precruise, take transportation to port, cruise, and then return for a few nights stay at the lodge post cruise? Or is it better to stay at the Hyatt MCO the night before and just stay at the lodge afterwards?

For me, the more Disney the better. However, it depends on your timing and your mindset. If you arrive relatively early to MCO, then you'd have time for DME and the drive to VWL. A sneak peek at the Lodge before a cruise would be marvelous. On the other hand, if you aren't arriving until evening, I'm not sure the time spent in transit to VWL and dealing with your luggage would be worthwhile. That decision plays to your mindset, in general. Is it worth the extra layer of transportation (to VWL) on your arrival day? That's something only you can answer. Either way, you'll enjoy Christmas!

 

[jimmytammy]

SLY Keep those shots flowing! I too esp. like the shot of you and luv at WL

 

[luv2sleep]

For me, the more Disney the better. However, it depends on your timing and your mindset. If you arrive relatively early to MCO, then you'd have time for DME and the drive to VWL. A sneak peek at the Lodge before a cruise would be marvelous. On the other hand, if you aren't arriving until evening, I'm not sure the time spent in transit to VWL and dealing with your luggage would be worthwhile. That decision plays to your mindset, in general. Is it worth the extra layer of transportation (to VWL) on your arrival day? That's something only you can answer. Either way, you'll enjoy Christmas!

Thank you. Makes sense. We wouldn't get in to MCO until at least 5 pm or so eastern. We will just stay at the Hyatt and book the room afterwards at the lodge.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Had a good time last night attending the Paul Revere & the Raiders concert at Hot August Nights in Reno. We won't be at F&W this year so this was a nice pseudo American Gardens Theatre show. Paul Revere was obviously very ill (mentioned radiation and has lost his hair) but had insisted on making the show and still provided lots of banter between songs - a nice show indeed and I hope he recovers to return for the F&G flower power concerts!

 

[sleepydog25]

SLY Keep those shots flowing! I too esp. like the shot of you and luv at WL

As you like. . .

My stepgranddaughter Alex (sitting), my newest granddaughter Daphne (standing), my oldest daughter Rachel, my youngest daughter Catherine, and some old guy. . .


Perhaps my favorite Disney princess


Missing this place

 

[DiznyDi]

Aw Sly, thanks for the pictures. You and your lovely bride at the Lodge: a perfect ending to a perfect day! Thanks for sharing!

Boy Maria, you surely have busy days/weeks/months ahead of you. A plan is always good! It will all come together. Moose Dust you don't lose your sanity during the tedious process.

 

[SAT887]

Sly - love the pictures of Wishes! I hope to sneak up to he TOWL on our January trip... Is it unheard of to see a kiddo or two up there?

Also... while I do love the pictures of Wishes! Your wedding picture is absolutely beautiful ... Love it! You are making me want to renew our vows in WDW! Also, cute family!

 

[sleepydog25]

Sly - love the pictures of Wishes! I hope to sneak up to he TOWL on our January trip... Is it unheard of to see a kiddo or two up there?

Also... while I do love the pictures of Wishes! Your wedding picture is absolutely beautiful ... Love it! You are making me want to renew our vows in WDW! Also, cute family!

Thanks, Sarah! I wish the fireworks photos were a bit clearer, but at least they show their magnificent scope. Kids are definitely welcome--there were no less than 6-8 younger kids and several tweens and teens, as well. The kids were ensconced in the grandeur of the fireworks. . .I just wish all the parents had been, too. There were two sets of parents talking non-stop to their young children throughout the whole show. An occasional "Did you see that?" or "Wow! Look at that!" is certainly expected, but these folks had a comment for nearly every burst and explosion. Such commentary made it difficult to catch the piped in music and voices. Okay, off my soap box!

You should renew your vows at WDW. Quite a number of people do it, and I can imagine it's just as exciting as doing a wedding. Thanks, too, for the compliments regarding the wedding shot and my family. We stopped at my oldest daughter's house in Melbourne for a few nights before heading to the World. As for the shot of the two of us, Chris and I opted for two photographers for our wedding. Disney provided the one for the ceremony as part of the package (and we actually got the woman we wanted, to boot), but we paid extra for a second shoot the early evening and night before the wedding. We had him begin with daylight shots at the Lodge, headed to the Contemporary for shots of the Castle in the background, and then came back to the Lodge for night time shots which we longed for. Originally, our plan was to stand outside the gates of MK and get a few pictures at the Poly, but we got tired and the time went quickly. I'll post a few more shots later. Thanks again.

 

[Muushka]

Awwwwww Sly, wonderful pictures.

Anyone else receive that awesome DCL email last night?

No more smoking on balconies after some time in November! Yay!!