skylynx
DIS Sponsor in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Messages
- 1,280
Just back from ten great days that began with a Wonder cruise and concluded with our first stay as DVC members at VWL. Although our family has stayed several times before in regular rooms at Wilderness Lodge, the Villas were a new experience. Our family of four fit quite nicely in the studio. We had room 1546 which is a handicapped room, and I think that made it even bigger (ample room for my DS' air bed). I didn't care for the gym locker room feel of the handicapped shower, or the sliding bathroom door that we couldn't lock, but it was a fair enough trade for the extra space and for not having to lug our stuff off the first floor. We managed to avoid the dumpster view and had a lovely look at the woods.
We checked in on a Thursday after disembarking Wonder. It was only 10:30 a.m. so we did not expect our room to be ready, and it wasn't. So we headed over to Magic Kingdom to let the kids (DS 12 and DD15) have their inaugural run on Space Mountain. Up until this year though they've been to WDW 10 or more times, they've not been crazy about the "thrill" rides. Last year they went on Test Track for the first time and then wanted to go on it again and again. Now they love Space Mountain. So that's progress!
After a couple of hours I called the WL number and got our room assignment just about the time the regularly scheduled afternoon thunderstorm was about to blow. We headed back on the resort launch and checked in. Our studio was really lovely and immaculately clean. No diapers behind the drapes (as we found at SSR on our last visit). I love the wood furnishings, the paneled doors, the rich brick red colors and the amber mica lights (we were lucky enough to purchase a set of the original lodge room buffalo bedside wall lamps from Mousesurplus a year or so ago which will grace our own log home when we build it on our land in Colorado in a few years.) It will be so cool to have a piece of Wilderness Lodge in our own wilderness lodge!
Seems like every night the pool area just outside the Villas was "closed for maintenance" but then re-opened a bit later. Two nights the sign saying it was closed was at one entrance but not the other, and so the pool had folks in it, anyway. Despite some evening thunderstorms, we managed to get in the main pool at some point every night to swim (with the ducks). We were delighted to be able to enjoy the hot tubs...on our last couple of visits to WL and AKL each evening (even late at night) the hot tubs were filled with small children jumping in and out like it was a swimming pool-not very relaxing.
One night we just happened to be walking outside just as the water pageant was about to start and so watched that from the beach. Serendipity!
We used our DVC discount to rent two Sea Raycers as this was the first year my son was old enough to drive one. We let both kids drive; DH and I acted as the ballast to make sure they couldn't go too fast ;-) What fun that was to zip over to Magic Kingdom and the Polynesian and take a glance at the wedding chapel. It always surprises me how far you can actually go in just a half hour rental!
Our wedding anniversary was the 28th and we spent the morning at Epcot and the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios so my son could get to experience a Star Wars weekend. It was horrifically hot, and I think the studios don't handle the crowds as well as the other parks as the walkways are much narrower, there's less shade, and way fewer air conditioned places to escape the heat. I felt so sorry for the characters in heavy Rebel Alliance robes and Jedi costumes walking around.
We'd done the Fantasmic dining package as I long ago lost the patience to wait on line to (maybe) get a seat at Fantasmic. We had the buffet at Hollywood and Vine, which was very underwhelming for the $28.99 a head price. We could have eaten a fabulous meal at the California Grill or Artist's Point for that...but oh well. That was the price for not waiting on line at Fantasmic. What did perturb me a bit was when we got our bill for the buffet, the suggested gratuities were either 15 or 18 percent...I'm sorry, but our server brought us each one soda, and cleared the two adult plates away once. I'm not tipping $20 for that. I understand why Disney suggests gratuity amounts at table service venues for those guests from countries where tipping is uncommon, but buffets aren't the same level of service.
Fantasmic is always a great show, but every mosquito in Orange County showed up for the 9pm all you can eat sweaty sticky tourist buffet.
In keeping with our family tradition of squeezing every last moment out of a Disney vacation, after we checked out we spent most of the day at Typhoon Lagoon. It took a little planning to have our airport clothes ready to change into, but we managed. Our plane back to Chicago wasn't until 6, and it was pretty much too hot to do almost anything else outdoors other than float around in a tube.
We arrived home happy and tired with what we call "theme park feet" and already looking forward to the next trip.
We own at SSR and AKV (a very close second) but WL has always been our favorite resort (even before DVC) and this visit was no exception!
We checked in on a Thursday after disembarking Wonder. It was only 10:30 a.m. so we did not expect our room to be ready, and it wasn't. So we headed over to Magic Kingdom to let the kids (DS 12 and DD15) have their inaugural run on Space Mountain. Up until this year though they've been to WDW 10 or more times, they've not been crazy about the "thrill" rides. Last year they went on Test Track for the first time and then wanted to go on it again and again. Now they love Space Mountain. So that's progress!
After a couple of hours I called the WL number and got our room assignment just about the time the regularly scheduled afternoon thunderstorm was about to blow. We headed back on the resort launch and checked in. Our studio was really lovely and immaculately clean. No diapers behind the drapes (as we found at SSR on our last visit). I love the wood furnishings, the paneled doors, the rich brick red colors and the amber mica lights (we were lucky enough to purchase a set of the original lodge room buffalo bedside wall lamps from Mousesurplus a year or so ago which will grace our own log home when we build it on our land in Colorado in a few years.) It will be so cool to have a piece of Wilderness Lodge in our own wilderness lodge!
Seems like every night the pool area just outside the Villas was "closed for maintenance" but then re-opened a bit later. Two nights the sign saying it was closed was at one entrance but not the other, and so the pool had folks in it, anyway. Despite some evening thunderstorms, we managed to get in the main pool at some point every night to swim (with the ducks). We were delighted to be able to enjoy the hot tubs...on our last couple of visits to WL and AKL each evening (even late at night) the hot tubs were filled with small children jumping in and out like it was a swimming pool-not very relaxing.
One night we just happened to be walking outside just as the water pageant was about to start and so watched that from the beach. Serendipity!
We used our DVC discount to rent two Sea Raycers as this was the first year my son was old enough to drive one. We let both kids drive; DH and I acted as the ballast to make sure they couldn't go too fast ;-) What fun that was to zip over to Magic Kingdom and the Polynesian and take a glance at the wedding chapel. It always surprises me how far you can actually go in just a half hour rental!
Our wedding anniversary was the 28th and we spent the morning at Epcot and the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios so my son could get to experience a Star Wars weekend. It was horrifically hot, and I think the studios don't handle the crowds as well as the other parks as the walkways are much narrower, there's less shade, and way fewer air conditioned places to escape the heat. I felt so sorry for the characters in heavy Rebel Alliance robes and Jedi costumes walking around.
We'd done the Fantasmic dining package as I long ago lost the patience to wait on line to (maybe) get a seat at Fantasmic. We had the buffet at Hollywood and Vine, which was very underwhelming for the $28.99 a head price. We could have eaten a fabulous meal at the California Grill or Artist's Point for that...but oh well. That was the price for not waiting on line at Fantasmic. What did perturb me a bit was when we got our bill for the buffet, the suggested gratuities were either 15 or 18 percent...I'm sorry, but our server brought us each one soda, and cleared the two adult plates away once. I'm not tipping $20 for that. I understand why Disney suggests gratuity amounts at table service venues for those guests from countries where tipping is uncommon, but buffets aren't the same level of service.
Fantasmic is always a great show, but every mosquito in Orange County showed up for the 9pm all you can eat sweaty sticky tourist buffet.
In keeping with our family tradition of squeezing every last moment out of a Disney vacation, after we checked out we spent most of the day at Typhoon Lagoon. It took a little planning to have our airport clothes ready to change into, but we managed. Our plane back to Chicago wasn't until 6, and it was pretty much too hot to do almost anything else outdoors other than float around in a tube.
We arrived home happy and tired with what we call "theme park feet" and already looking forward to the next trip.
We own at SSR and AKV (a very close second) but WL has always been our favorite resort (even before DVC) and this visit was no exception!
....OP...that cracked me up
Glad to hear the studios are very comfortable.
