We're Baaaaack!! **The WLV's groupies & Trivia Thread chapter 3

[wildernessDad]

Inkmahm, have a great trip! I hope the weather holds up!

 

[Muushka]

I'm at the airport ready to board in a few minutes...of course, it is a freakishly warm day in WI today. 71 degrees here in March! That's a rare spring day. Still glad I'm headed to Florida...

At the airport! Next step, VWL!

I didn't even want to mention this, but we're (Me, DW, DS) leaving tomorrow for a three night stay at OKW and a four day conference in the Orlando area. So no WDW parks this trip and most of the time will be spent at this conference.

Muushka, there's no need to count this towards vacation (even though I'm taking vacation time off).

You won't 'see' me for a few days. I am eager to check out OKW as I have never stayed there. DW has and likes it there very much.

We're going to hit Earl of Sandwich tomorrow for a late lunch and we're eating an early dinner at the Turf Club Bar and Grill at SSR on Thursday. If the time permits, I'd like to hit Downtown Disney during the late evening.

First time at OKW! Have a great time, I am sure you will like it there (almost as much as VWL... ).

Happy trails to both of you!

 

[Inkmahm]

We're here! Not at VWL yet though. That's not until Saturday. We're staying concierge AKV until then. We got the same studio as last time we were here, 6406. It is pool view but not a bad view. I was hoping for savanna view this time but no such luck.

We ate at Boma tonight for the first time ever. It was pretty good for a buffet, I'd eat there again. I tried the famed zebra domes for dessert and thought they were really sweet. My favorite new thing was the apple vinegrette (spelling?) dressing for the salad. she-crab soup was pretty good, too!

Tomorrow we are doing the backstage magic tour starting at Epcot. I think it is 7 hours long! Lunch at Whispering Canyon and dinner at Yachtsmen steakhouse.

Weather today was beautiful when we got here. I also hope it holds out.

 

[blossomz]

Ooh! You'll have to tell us all about the backstage magic tour! I've thought about doing it-but never have. How does Kidani look?

 

[horselover]

Inkham - Thanks for the mini update. I'm jealous you're staying at both of my homes this trip! We haven't been able to stay at AKV yet. Not sure when we'll be able to make that happen either. Glad to hear you enjoyed Boma. We love Boma & I am not an adventurous eater. I've had that apple vinaigrette dressing also. It's yummy. They also sometimes have a chicken pepper pot soup that is sooo good. How are things looking over at Kidani? Can't wait to hear all about the tour.

Moose dust to you for a fantastic trip!

 

[DisneyNutzy]

We're here! Not at VWL yet though. That's not until Saturday. We're staying concierge AKV until then. We got the same studio as last time we were here, 6406. It is pool view but not a bad view. I was hoping for savanna view this time but no such luck.

We ate at Boma tonight for the first time ever. It was pretty good for a buffet, I'd eat there again. I tried the famed zebra domes for dessert and thought they were really sweet. My favorite new thing was the apple vinegrette (spelling?) dressing for the salad. she-crab soup was pretty good, too!

Tomorrow we are doing the backstage magic tour starting at Epcot. I think it is 7 hours long! Lunch at Whispering Canyon and dinner at Yachtsmen steakhouse.

Weather today was beautiful when we got here. I also hope it holds out.

Hi Inkmahm,

Have a great time. We LOVE the Yachtsman!

 

[KeepSwimmingDory]

I didn't even want to mention this, but we're (Me, DW, DS) leaving tomorrow for a three night stay at OKW and a four day conference in the Orlando area. So no WDW parks this trip and most of the time will be spent at this conference.

Muushka, there's no need to count this towards vacation (even though I'm taking vacation time off).

You won't 'see' me for a few days. I am eager to check out OKW as I have never stayed there. DW has and likes it there very much.

We're going to hit Earl of Sandwich tomorrow for a late lunch and we're eating an early dinner at the Turf Club Bar and Grill at SSR on Thursday. If the time permits, I'd like to hit Downtown Disney during the late evening.

Enjoy your time in Orlando! Hope you enjoy OKW. There are some positives for sure. The big rooms and having your car parked close are 2 of the good things. It was relaxing....it's not VWL but we did enjoy our time there on 2 different trips. We've stayed on Disney property before for another event and didn't have park tickets. It was nice just to be there and hit downtown Disney and just be in WDW.

We just ate at Earl of Sandwich twice on our last trip. My boys love it and it is a pretty economical meal.

Inkmahm - Have a wonderful time. Hope the tour is fun. I'd love to hear about it too. Have considered doing it but never taken the time.

Here's a few more from last week. I am a weird one who likes to see the lights, signs, etc. so I take pictures of everything. If I post to many somebody yell at me to stop!

I love these lights:

And the flowers:

Even the sign at the bus stop:

The walkway to the bus:

Walkway to the Villas:

And for the sofa lovers:

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Enjoy your time in Orlando! Hope you enjoy OKW. There are some positives for sure. The big rooms and having your car parked close are 2 of the good things. It was relaxing....it's not VWL but we did enjoy our time there on 2 different trips. We've stayed on Disney property before for another event and didn't have park tickets. It was nice just to be there and hit downtown Disney and just be in WDW.

We just ate at Earl of Sandwich twice on our last trip. My boys love it and it is a pretty economical meal.

Inkmahm - Have a wonderful time. Hope the tour is fun. I'd love to hear about it too. Have considered doing it but never taken the time.

Here's a few more from last week. I am a weird one who likes to see the lights, signs, etc. so I take pictures of everything. If I post to many somebody yell at me to stop!

I love these lights:

And the flowers:

Even the sign at the bus stop:

The walkway to the bus:

Walkway to the Villas:

And for the sofa lovers:

Ha! Oh, that pattern is .......! It's all Granny's fault!

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Here's a few more from last week. I am a weird one who likes to see the lights, signs, etc. so I take pictures of everything. If I post to many somebody yell at me to stop!

It's not possible to post too many!!! Keep bringing them on! I am enjoying them!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks for posting the pictures, KeepSwimmingDory! I love the whole WL area, can't see it too much.
I'm looking forward to hearing Inkmahn's review of the tour. I like to do tours and have the Gardens of the World planned next Tuesday with my DCuz. Then we have the two safaris at AKV, concierge for later next week. We don't have a VWL stay until December, but then we're there also, and with the whole family, for the Marathon weekend too. Used up 2 years worth of our VWL points with those two trips.

I enjoy reading about the VWL...this is a great thread!

Bobbi

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Does anyone know if I can get that Moose Spit soap at WL? Or do I have to go into MK?

 

[PirateMel]

Does anyone know if I can get that Moose Spit soap at WL? Or do I have to go into MK?

Canada gift shop in EPCOT has it as well I believe.

 

[blossomz]

Does anyone know if I can get that Moose Spit soap at WL? Or do I have to go into MK?

I've purchased it at the Mercantile..

 

[KeepSwimmingDory]

Does anyone know if I can get that Moose Spit soap at WL? Or do I have to go into MK?

Yes it was there. Sorry I posted the pic from Frontierland because that was where I saw it first. Didn't have the camera in the mercantile at WL but they had the same kind.

 

[Inkmahm]

A beautiful day weatherwise! And we loved the Behind the Scenes Magic Tour. We took a bus to the various locations and then did some walking. Fernando was our guide- he's been with Disney since 1983 and knows quite a bit about it first hand. He told us all about the building of Epcot and the American building in particular. We got to see the mechanics behind the American show- amazing. There's no real floor to the stage, just a log of stuff that moves back and forth, up and down.

We also saw the main employee building where they get their cleaned uniforms and have lockers. There are rows and rows of uniforms. Also they test the carpet there because 5,000 people a day walk on it. If it holds up for the employees then it can get used on stage.

At Hollywood studios we went behind the scenes at Twilight Tower of Terror. They are adding more safety items to it including sensors in the seats so the your butt is back against the back rest, not forward in the seat so the seatbelt is too loose.

We also saw where costumes are designed and made, including costunes for the new MK parade. Very cool.

Lunch was at Whispering Canyon so we were also told some of the details of the WL construction.


At the MK we saw central shop which is a building 3 football fields long. They work on all of the various ride cars, etc. and make the anemitronics (sp?) . There was a section of carpenters doing a lot of wood working, too. Very interesting.

We went to the laundry facility and THAT was cool to see, too! Everything is so automated,they track each garment electronically. They all have bar codes so the computer knows where they are all the time.

The utilidors (the tunnel) is interesting to see, too. We saw it before on Keys to the Kingdom but it is always amazing.

The tour ended with us seeing the new parade at the MK, then busing it back to Epcot. I highly recommend the tour for all Disney Lovers. It made me want to BE a castmember.

Dinner at the Yachtsmen Steakhouse was good but I've had better there. The steak was a little burned on one side and still a bit raw on the other. It tasted fine and was very tender so I didn't accept the offer of a new steak from the waiter. While we were waiting for our table, I saw the hostess turn someone away for not meeting the dress code! The woman had what were probably very expensive jeans purchased complete with rips in them. She was told they weren't acceptable, no ripped or torn jeans allowed. They told her she could purchase new pants at the gift shop if she wanted to be allowed in. I think they left as I didn't see the family get seated while we were there. I've never before seen anyone turned away.

We came back to AKV after dinner and drove over to the Kidani entrance. You can't get very close yet but can see that it looks done from the outside. We walked down the hallway to see what we could see from the public areas at Jambo but it was getting dark already so we couldn't see much. Friday we're doing the afternoon safari though so we should get MUCH closer and see Kidani from the savanna point of view.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I think I'm leaning towards the gift card rather than the fast passes. It's EMH at MK so that should give us a jump on people staying off property. We have all day scheduled for the MK with dinner at California Grill. Time for bed, it's been a long day.

 

[Granny]

And for the sofa lovers:

Why that would be EVERYONE here, right?

That sofa ROCKS!!!!

Way to go, VWL interior decorators!

 

[KeepSwimmingDory]

Why that would be EVERYONE here, right?

That sofa ROCKS!!!!

Way to go, VWL interior decorators!

Good morning groupies! Inkmahm sounds like you are having a wonderful time so far. Thanks for the update! Glad you enjoyed the tour.

Here is the moose elevator.

I posted some other VWL pictures on this thread (post 1319 & 1322). If you have never looked through this thread there are some great pictures over there you might enjoy!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1717127&page=88

 

[Muushka]

Inkmahm, that tour sounds like it would be a lot of fun. 2 questions: do you have to have admission to do it and how much does it cost? Thanks!

Is that sofa in the studios? Fingers crossed that it is in the 1 BR!

Oh, and..............

Happy Birthday Inkmahm!!!!

 

[KeepSwimmingDory]

We were in a studio where I took the sofa picture. Room 1550.

I haven't stayed at VWL before so I didn't know what to expect. It was also our first time in a studio. I missed the kitchen. We usually eat one or two meals a day in the room when we stay at WDW.

Inkmahm -

Have fun on your birthday! Enjoy spending the birthday fun card if that is what you choose. My boys had a blast spending their money and made it last all week somehow. When it is my money they never do that.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We were in a studio where I took the sofa picture. Room 1550.

I haven't stayed at VWL before so I didn't know what to expect. It was also our first time in a studio. I missed the kitchen. We usually eat one or two meals a day in the room when we stay at WDW.

Inkmahm -

Have fun on your birthday! Enjoy spending the birthday fun card if that is what you choose. My boys had a blast spending their money and made it last all week somehow. When it is my money they never do that.

Hi Dory, can you elaborate on your studio stay? We have a studio ressied for 3 days...I know it will be a tad tight, DH, 19yo DS, and me. But its only for 3 nights post a cruise.....how was your location? I requested close to the elevators...