Winter Weather Escape to WDW and the WL ~ A January 2014 Trip Report

[huggiebear23]

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm here for the latest report! Going back to read.

**Whew, I wasn't too far behind. Nice pic in the intros! I'm sure that you were happy to hear that the boys didn't even miss the three full days of school. We don't have "snow days" here, maybe bad weather days. Oh and, if we have to make up days for anything, it's because our football team made it to the playoff. Yeah, the school is super sports minded.
Looking forward to reading more!

 

[JoBird]

You had some really positive things happen there--- you got a great airline credit to use on your next flight and then the boys didn't miss much school at all. That's just so great! I know that helped them feel better about the whole trip.

Too bad you didn't stick with a moderate.


And if I remember correctly I was in on the whole switcher-oo of the dates of CM's and WCC. Sorry. I'll stay out yo bidness from now on.

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okay we know I won't so let's don't even gonna pretend I will.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm here for the latest report! Going back to read.

**Whew, I wasn't too far behind. Nice pic in the intros! I'm sure that you were happy to hear that the boys didn't even miss the three full days of school. We don't have "snow days" here, maybe bad weather days. Oh and, if we have to make up days for anything, it's because our football team made it to the playoff. Yeah, the school is super sports minded.
Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks! That was the best family pic I had of the trip - with a dang crane behind the castle! We didn't get too many great pics this time.

This winter has been just horrible. With all the make up days I'm not sure we will have any breaks between now and the end of the school year.

You had some really positive things happen there--- you got a great airline credit to use on your next flight and then the boys didn't miss much school at all. That's just so great! I know that helped them feel better about the whole trip.

Yes, that's true!!

Too bad you didn't stick with a moderate.

Again, very true.


And if I remember correctly I was in on the whole switcher-oo of the dates of CM's and WCC. Sorry. I'll stay out yo bidness from now on.

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okay we know I won't so let's don't even gonna pretend I will.

Yes, you were!!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

That's really great about the kids not missing much school.
Can't wait to hear more. We leave in a week our trip is short to only 6 days.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I think it is great that your DH is such a willing victim! I find that is a fairly uncommon thing. Most hubbies seem to be Disney resisters. I think our DHs would get along so well because mine has also been thoroughly converted into a Disney fan!

You really lucked out with your boys not missing much school! I know they were so happy not to have so much make-up work! I am freaking out right now b/c we have already missed 4 snow days. If we miss anymore, I'm afraid they are going to take our winter break for make-up days and that's when we are going on our cruise! AND we have snow in the forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday! All they have to do around here is say the word snow, and school is cancelled. I'm going to flip my lid if they take that break from us!

I'm really bummed for you that the WL didn't work out. I know that was disappointing. It seems like it's been a while since you stayed at POR, maybe that would've been a good choice. We REALLY enjoyed that resort!

I hate you couldn't get an Ohana ressie too. Looks like we won't be getting one either. I've checked and checked and only 9:45 is available. I don't understand why you can never get a ressie at that place.... you'd think they serve awesome food there or something!

So this is off topic, but are you still planning on the Poly for this summer?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm here!! Sorry I'm late - I was away for the weekend and not on the boards.

Speaking of snow days - we have had 5 "cold" days this year and they just announced they are going to make up 2 of them. One is the day after we leave for our spring break trip. Oops, guess we're not going to make that one up! We usually have the Friday before off for conferences and we do ours on one of the earlier evenings so we can get out of town earlier. So we booked flights for Thursday night! Oh well. I think a lot of people will be gone.

Anyway - back to YOUR trip! I'll be curious how the DDP worked out this time! I know the resort wasn't a wonderful experience. So sad about that! It really can set the tone of your trip.

These TA deals sound so good. I might be picking your brain in the near future about such an opportunity. I'm thinking if I start now, I might "retire" from my regular job in about 10 years and just do that and travel!

My hubby is a Disney Enabler!! Definitely! He plans the trips more than I do now! He's the one who first got me to WDW and we were hooked!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Sheree~ As much as y'all travel you should become an agent!

 

[wiigirl]

Sheree~ As much as y'all travel you should become an agent!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Woohoo Shelly! Great start. I love the look of Wilderness Lodge so I'm bummed your stay was kind of "eh". Hopefully the rest of the resort was okay!

Not having to make up as much time as planned is a huge plus for the boys! I'm reading along for sure.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

That's really great about the kids not missing much school.
Can't wait to hear more. We leave in a week our trip is short to only 6 days.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I know!!

Have a great trip!

I think it is great that your DH is such a willing victim! I find that is a fairly uncommon thing. Most hubbies seem to be Disney resisters. I think our DHs would get along so well because mine has also been thoroughly converted into a Disney fan!

Yes, he loves it almost as much as I do!!

You really lucked out with your boys not missing much school! I know they were so happy not to have so much make-up work! I am freaking out right now b/c we have already missed 4 snow days. If we miss anymore, I'm afraid they are going to take our winter break for make-up days and that's when we are going on our cruise! AND we have snow in the forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday! All they have to do around here is say the word snow, and school is cancelled. I'm going to flip my lid if they take that break from us!

Oh that stinks! That's what we are running into here. No more breaks this school year. I'd rather have it that way though than to be tacking days on at the end of the school year.

I'm really bummed for you that the WL didn't work out. I know that was disappointing. It seems like it's been a while since you stayed at POR, maybe that would've been a good choice. We REALLY enjoyed that resort!

We were wishing we had gone to POR!

I hate you couldn't get an Ohana ressie too. Looks like we won't be getting one either. I've checked and checked and only 9:45 is available. I don't understand why you can never get a ressie at that place.... you'd think they serve awesome food there or something!

So this is off topic, but are you still planning on the Poly for this summer?

I will be making an Ohana ADR 180 days out this time!!

Yes, we are staying at the Poly in August. Can't pass it up at $189 a night on our agency special. If it ends up that the pool is closed or Ohana/Capt Cooks we may do a split stay with the BWI.

I'm here!! Sorry I'm late - I was away for the weekend and not on the boards.

Speaking of snow days - we have had 5 "cold" days this year and they just announced they are going to make up 2 of them. One is the day after we leave for our spring break trip. Oops, guess we're not going to make that one up! We usually have the Friday before off for conferences and we do ours on one of the earlier evenings so we can get out of town earlier. So we booked flights for Thursday night! Oh well. I think a lot of people will be gone.

This winter has just been terrible everywhere I think. Definitely good for the TA business though!

Anyway - back to YOUR trip! I'll be curious how the DDP worked out this time! I know the resort wasn't a wonderful experience. So sad about that! It really can set the tone of your trip.

These TA deals sound so good. I might be picking your brain in the near future about such an opportunity. I'm thinking if I start now, I might "retire" from my regular job in about 10 years and just do that and travel!

My hubby is a Disney Enabler!! Definitely! He plans the trips more than I do now! He's the one who first got me to WDW and we were hooked!

The DDP was good. It's just too much food though. It worked out good I guess. Lots of waste though and I definitely wouldn't pay for the DDP at nearly $60 a day per person.

That's funny that it was your DH that got you hooked on Disney!!

 

[danceintherain]

It's probably bad that I tried Ohana for the first time during our last trip. Now I'm going to be struggling for it every time.

It was probably a good idea to skip the 9:45 ADR. We did one of those for BoG last time, and it was awful. It's hard to plan what and when to eat during the day, then everyone was tired. The 2 year old in particular was cranky.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Woohoo Shelly! Great start. I love the look of Wilderness Lodge so I'm bummed your stay was kind of "eh". Hopefully the rest of the resort was okay!

Not having to make up as much time as planned is a huge plus for the boys! I'm reading along for sure.

Thanks Kelli!! Glad you're here!

Yeah, we definitely didn't fall in love with a new resort this time. It can't happen every time I guess!

The kids were actually a bit ahead on some of their school work!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

It's probably bad that I tried Ohana for the first time during our last trip. Now I'm going to be struggling for it every time.

It was probably a good idea to skip the 9:45 ADR. We did one of those for BoG last time, and it was awful. It's hard to plan what and when to eat during the day, then everyone was tired. The 2 year old in particular was cranky.

Yeah, it's a tough one to get if you aren't prepared to get it right at 180 days.

There was no way we were eating at 9:45pm. I'm in my jammies by that time in January!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Saturday January 25

Well, of course we couldn’t have a January trip without an impending snowstorm the weekend we were leaving!! They were calling for several inches the day we left, but luckily most of it came later that day. It was snowing when we got up, but it wasn’t awful yet.

We got up at 5am and left the house just after 6am. We got to the off-site parking lot around 7:15, so it took us about 10 minutes longer than usual. And we were to the airport around 7:30 for our 9:10 flight.

The airport was busy, but not terrible. We were through security and to our gate with plenty of time to spare.

The kids helped themselves to the charging station. You know, the one that is probably needed by working/traveling adults, but gets hogged up by silly teenagers…

On the plane.

Being de-iced. Added an extra 20 minutes onto our flight.

Before we knew it we were at MCO and headed to the ME line. As we were approaching the line a CM was yelling to everyone to get their Magic Bands on. I wasn’t prepared for that. I knew you could wear them on arrival day and use them to get in the ME line, but I didn’t know you had to. They still send the ME booklet with the bar code for them to scan and that’s what I had out and in my hand. The CM saw us approaching with that and told me to “put that booklet away” and get our Magic Bands out. Which was kind of a pain. We were trying to walk and quickly to get in the line, plus rolling luggage and carrying bags. They were in DS14’s backpack, so we had to stop and dig them out.

We were finally were granted permission to get into the line. And good grief what a line it was. I’ve never seen that many people there before. I just checked my texts and I had texted Jodi (JoBird) that I was in the ME line and told her how huge it was at 12:30pm. Our flight was at 9:10, so we technically should have been there long before that. Our first set of fast passes were for 2-3pm. I knew we were going to be pushing it to make them at this rate. So, while we were standing in line I got out the IPad and tried to change the times. We had them for 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5. I wanted to take the 2-3 FP and move it to 5-6pm. No such luck. “No alternative times available”. I couldn’t believe it. I had just seen people on the DIS saying how they changed their FP+’s while in the park for the same day, just a few days ago. As the week went on, I found that we were able to do that as well. Just not on that Saturday!!

So I complained a bit about how we were going to miss/lose our first FP and then decided to forget about it. Pretty soon our line started moving!! And as soon as we got to the front and were about to go through, we were stopped. I knew we were going to be close to the cut off, and we definitely were! We stood there for a minute and the CM came back and said that the bus holds 55 and she had let 50 through. She said that we probably wouldn’t be able to all sit together and asked if we would rather wait on the next bus. No way!! So we loaded onto the bus. DS12 and I ended up being able to sit together and DH and DS14 had to sit with strangers, but were nearby. The bus was making 4 stops and we were 3rd. We went to the Poly first, then GF, and both those stops were super quick. I was so glad we weren’t going to the CR next, it always takes so long to get in and out of there. The WL was the third stop and then the bus was going to the CR last.

I jumped off the bus and headed inside to check in. DH and the boys got the luggage. I noticed that it was very warm when we got off the bus! I didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes to be called to the check in desk. As I was getting checked in I turned around and there was DH and the kids and the luggage. I was surprised, because we are usually greeted by a CM and they take our luggage right away. He said no one greeted him, so he just came on inside.

DS12 came over and helped me get all checked in.

The front desk CM asked for all of our Magic Bands to “activate” them. That was weird, we had them last August and they didn’t have to be activated. So DS ran over and got the rest of them for me and we got that all taken care of. She then informed me that our room was ready!

After we got all checked in we headed up to the room. We got a higher floor, like we had requested. We walked into the room and were immediately underwhelmed. It seems like people really love the WL and think it is super pretty and great. The room was not much different than a moderate.

Continued in next post....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued...


We knew ahead of time that the rooms were the same size as the moderates, but I guess we just expected since it was in the deluxe category that they would be “nicer”. It was okay though, it was only a 5 night stay and it would be okay.

Then I looked out the sliding door. I knew we had a service area view, but didn’t know just how bad until we walked out onto the balcony. It was instant noise as soon as we opened the door. Some sort of loud humming/buzzing sound. We looked down and there were a bunch of HUGE power boxes.

I wasn’t very happy, but I just closed the door and decided I’d deal with it later. We had FP’s to get to!! So we unpacked just a few things and everyone was starved, so we went downstairs to the Roaring Forks food court.

It was a little crowded in there, but not bad.

We got our lunch and quickly ate. We were on the DDP, so we all got desserts and drinks, plus we were given our refillable mugs.

DS14 and I got flatbread pizzas. DS12 got chicken nuggets and DH got some kind of sandwich. I can’t find the receipt to tell you what it was and I can’t tell from the pic!

There was a little old woman CM at a table in the middle of Roaring Forks with a station set up to decorate cookies. She wasn't getting any takers though. She was even approaching guests as they were finishing up their lunch and asking if their kids wanted to come decorate a cookie. No one was interested. I thought she surely wasn’t going to approach us, with the kids being older. But she did!! And we were of course in a hurry. We still had hopes of making it to the park before 3pm and making that first FP+. We declined and told her we had to get going. DH told her that we would be back later in the week and she said that they only did this on Saturdays from 12-3 or something like that. DH caved. Him and DS12 went over and she promised them it wouldn’t take long. DS14 and I bolted!!

This was the day that we were splitting up! DS14 and I were going to AK. We had already decided that we would just leave from there, since we had a longer bus ride to get to AK. DH and DS12 were going to take the refillable mugs and leftovers up to the room before they got on the bus to their destination. And now they would be taking cookies as well!


Up Next: Animal Kingdom

 

[JoBird]

Love, Love, LOVE this update!! I think it's because it's longer than the ones you usually do. Sometimes when I start your updates I'm sad when I finish reading bc I haven't gotten enough of a Disney fix.


First of all, I woke up at 7:30 eastern the day you left and said ohh, I wonder if they are in the parking lot yet? I figured you'd be going thru security so I didn't text. But holy heck--- those pics look like you're in the tundra!!!! What an awful day to have to leave in all of that!!


The whole deal with ME booklet/bands sounds like a huge pain in the butt. If they send both, then they need to tell you which ones you need to get in line, when they send it to you! Just when you thought you were doing the right thing too…

I bet you were so anxious to get to the WL. So close. How did you feel when you pulled up to the Poly? Sad?? I bet it was hard. And did you expect to see me and my crew waiting on you at the GF like last time when you pulled up?? Awwwww.

The pics pulling into the WL look just like pulling up to a National Park out West!! So pretty!
What was not pretty was your view. UGH. How disappointing.
And the pics of the inside of the room were completely underwhelming, like you said. It looks so tiny compared to a normal deluxe accommodation room. Identical to a Mod, as far as layout, yes.
Sigh.

So much food on the DDP!!!! Holy cow. Looked good though!
And so dang funny about your DH decorating cookies w the poor lady who didn't have anyone interested in what she was offering. He's so nice. M would have done the same thing, because he would have felt bad for her.
I'd have been like, she gets paid no matter what, let's go!

Great Great GREAT Update!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I hate that you got over that stinkin' service area~ YUCK!! But I hate even more that you didn't like the WL! We really love it…but, we had been over and seen the rooms before so we knew what they were like… I guess that is why they are the cheapest in the deluxe Category. And it is totally diff from the GF~ which I am not a fan of. I know everyone loves it, but we stayed there a few years back and for what we paid I thought we would have gotten more….but at least there is something for everyones tastes! I think if you are going for a more laid back feel then the WL and their CL is awesome…
The same thing happened to us in Nov for our Magic Bands…we had ours in our luggage!!! that was checked!!!! No one said anything to us before hand and we had the bands and the booklet..we got a very very rude CM and he was very sarcastic and made a comment like, How do you expect to get on the bus folks?!! I said with THIS!! And handed him the booklet. GEEZ!!! And this was way before they made the total transition to Magic Bands..I guess he thought we were all-knowing or something.
I have never seen that cookie lady, but we must have just missed her when we were there before.And golly~your boys are getting older looking!!! Where are all our babies?

 

[mickeyplanner]

Following along...
Did you end up learning how not to lose a FP+? We learned how to last month at MK.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Love, Love, LOVE this update!! I think it's because it's longer than the ones you usually do. Sometimes when I start your updates I'm sad when I finish reading bc I haven't gotten enough of a Disney fix.

Glad you enjoyed it!!

First of all, I woke up at 7:30 eastern the day you left and said ohh, I wonder if they are in the parking lot yet? I figured you'd be going thru security so I didn't text. But holy heck--- those pics look like you're in the tundra!!!! What an awful day to have to leave in all of that!!

It was a nasty, ugly morning!

The whole deal with ME booklet/bands sounds like a huge pain in the butt. If they send both, then they need to tell you which ones you need to get in line, when they send it to you! Just when you thought you were doing the right thing too…

It was stupid. They totally could have let us on with the booklet. People coming in from Canada don't have their Magic Bands. I guess maybe they are trying to get people used to it for the future. IDK. I sure wouldn't want to put it on that morning and wear it to the airport, go through security, travel to MCO, and then hope I still had it on me by then.

I bet you were so anxious to get to the WL. So close. How did you feel when you pulled up to the Poly? Sad?? I bet it was hard. And did you expect to see me and my crew waiting on you at the GF like last time when you pulled up?? Awwwww.

It was a little sad pulling up to the Poly and not getting of there!! And yes, I thought of you guys standing there when we pulled up to the GF. So sad that you weren't there!!

The pics pulling into the WL look just like pulling up to a National Park out West!! So pretty!
What was not pretty was your view. UGH. How disappointing.
And the pics of the inside of the room were completely underwhelming, like you said. It looks so tiny compared to a normal deluxe accommodation room. Identical to a Mod, as far as layout, yes.
Sigh.

The resort itself is very pretty. The room definitely felt like a moderate. It was a bit disappointing. And then the whole balcony/view/noise. Yikes!!

So much food on the DDP!!!! Holy cow. Looked good though!
And so dang funny about your DH decorating cookies w the poor lady who didn't have anyone interested in what she was offering. He's so nice. M would have done the same thing, because he would have felt bad for her.
I'd have been like, she gets paid no matter what, let's go!

Great Great GREAT Update!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a ton of food at each meal.

I knew DH was going to give in to cookie lady!! He said she was very appreciative and thanked him because some other kids ended up coming over too.

I hate that you got over that stinkin' service area~ YUCK!! But I hate even more that you didn't like the WL! We really love it…but, we had been over and seen the rooms before so we knew what they were like… I guess that is why they are the cheapest in the deluxe Category. And it is totally diff from the GF~ which I am not a fan of. I know everyone loves it, but we stayed there a few years back and for what we paid I thought we would have gotten more….but at least there is something for everyones tastes! I think if you are going for a more laid back feel then the WL and their CL is awesome…
The same thing happened to us in Nov for our Magic Bands…we had ours in our luggage!!! that was checked!!!! No one said anything to us before hand and we had the bands and the booklet..we got a very very rude CM and he was very sarcastic and made a comment like, How do you expect to get on the bus folks?!! I said with THIS!! And handed him the booklet. GEEZ!!! And this was way before they made the total transition to Magic Bands..I guess he thought we were all-knowing or something.
I have never seen that cookie lady, but we must have just missed her when we were there before.And golly~your boys are getting older looking!!! Where are all our babies?

That view was awful. I'm still so surprised that they let guests of a deluxe resort see such a thing. We had seen the rooms in pics, so we pretty much knew what to expect I guess. It was just not a step above a moderate at all to us. Maybe we would have ended up feeling differently had we been able to enjoy our balcony without all the noise and mess.

We knew not to have the Magic Bands in the checked luggage, because we knew we would need them to get into the parks. But never anywhere did it ever say that we HAD to have them to get on the bus.

The cookie lady must only be there around lunch time on Saturdays. Maybe you'll see her next time!

I know. No more babies or even little kids. They are growing up.

Following along...
Did you end up learning how not to lose a FP+? We learned how to last month at MK.

Hi

No, I guess we didn't. Tell me more...