Lodge-hopping... from the Pacific Northwest to an African Savannah: A July 2009 TR!

[HollyBelle]

Last week we returned from our summer Disney fix so it’s time again for another monster trip report!! This one is sure to dwarf my previous reports in sheer size alone considering it was a 9 night/10 day stay at WDW and all our past trips have ranged from 3-5 night stays. I must say it’s a bit daunting, but I took detailed notes and am ready to relive our adventures (and possibly bore you with all the details)!!

The cast includes myself, Holly; the birthday boy, Brett; his parents, Kathy and Danny; and brother, Derek. Here’s one of the few pictures I have of us all from our December 2008 trip:



The planning stages of this trip went through many variations. So let’s start at the beginning… ever since the “Celebrate” theme was released I wanted to plan a trip for Brett’s birthday. We started putting it into action sometime in early April and not long after we settled on dates and made reservations, Brett’s parents invited us to join them on their summer trip to the Wilderness Lodge Villas. It just so happened to be close to the dates we were already looking at, so we talked about it and decided if we budgeted right we could do a super trip. Woohoo for super trips .

We changed our dates slightly to line up with theirs, and then I cancelled our ADRs and made some new ones. Since we were on a budget we decided a value resort was a must (and we should forego signature dining)… no ifs, ands or buts about it. Or at least that’s what Brett thought… I, however, had other plans! I got it into my head that it would be so cool to surprise him with a deluxe resort so we wouldn’t, you know, be slumming when we left the WL . Once I had my mind set I practically took up a vigil waiting for the AP resort rates to be released. And when they were I snagged a pool view room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for our four night stay! Oh yeah… and we couldn’t possibly celebrate his birthday without some wine and signature dining so I made reservations for Jiko!

To make a long story even longer, Brett called me at work one day and told me his parents had to make a slight change to their dates, which meant we would either have to do the same or lose some days of “our” trip. I was freaking out (and couldn’t tell him) because I just knew the AP rate would no longer be available… and it wasn’t. So I started calling once or twice a day, every day. I can still recite the confirmation number! I was in luck though, because after three weeks of calling the AP rate magically reappeared!!! I guess I’m sharing all this basically to say sometimes it pays to be persistent. Let me just tell you… keeping this secret nearly killed me, but it was totally worth it!

Okay, so now that we've gotten all of that out of the way… let us finally begin.

[HollyBelle]

Day 1, Saturday, July 11: Travel/Epcot

After work on Friday, we packed up and headed to Brett’s parents house, where we tried to get a little bit of sleep before our dark-of-night departure. At 3 am we were off and on our way to Walt Disney World! Nothing too exciting to report about the trip down… other than the fact that Brett and I had to bite our tongues and calm ourselves because what is normally a 6-6.5 hour drive for us always turns into an 8 hour drive with his family because they just LOVE to make stops and take their time. For the two of us we have more of a “we’ve already waited long enough… let’s just get there already” mentality and it’s hard to break!

I will say though, Brett and I were able to rest a little on the way down because we entrusted the driving to our favorite chipmunks… Chip drove while Dale worked the pedals:



After what seemed like forever… we finally traveled through the arch to the Pacific Northwest around 11 am and were welcomed with the sights of sky high trees, bear crossings, geese, bison and the sounds of cowboys blazing a trail through the wild west. I just love the instrumental loop they play in the Wilderness Lodge lobby!



















One of my favorite things about the Wilderness Lodge is that it reveals itself to guests in stages. It really does transport us to another world when we drive onto the property and by the time we get to the lobby many of us are rendered speechless. And this is all before seeing the courtyard. The courtyard, Silver Springs pool, and Bay Lake just take it over the top to complete and total immersion!

[HollyBelle]

I’m usually the planner/organizer/keeper of the info for Brett and I’s trips (by choice of course because I’m a complete and utter control freak), but I do admit it was nice to leave all that to someone else and wander around the resort taking pictures while Kathy got us checked in and squared away. Luckily for us one of our two studio rooms was ready and we were able to make our way over to the Villas to check it out.





Villas signage:



What’s my favorite thing on the Villas sign? The fact that they have rooms with running water… you know, for people who love to be clean! Love it!

I'm still a bit confused by the large birdhouse in the middle of the Villas lobby:





We were on the second floor, studio rooms 2560 and 2562. The last two rooms at the end of this hallway:



That’s right... and the picture doesn’t even do it justice. I swear that hall got longer and longer and longer every time we returned to our room. It was like a magical stretching hallway… of doom!

Here are a couple not so great pictures of the bed and pull out sofa in one of the studios.






Our view definitely wasn’t one for the guidebooks but it really wasn’t too bad. Looking out from the bed or couch it was a nice woods view room, it let the perfect amount of light in, and was actually very quiet!



Up next: Lunch and some fun at Epcot!

[luvlifeinfl]

Awesome, when I got to the end that was a tease for me, wanting more pictures.

[Mukta]

Best title ever! I can't wait to read more about your trip.

[accord99cutie]

can't wait for more!!!

[Fallen Angel]

love it so far!!

[harveyt0206]

Can't wait for the rest of the report. So far it is great. I love the Wilderness so can't wait to see more pics.

[DawnBerg]

Awesome trip report...sounds like you guys had a wonderful time and I can't wait to read the rest. Makes me anxious for our trip in August. Thanks for sharing.

[diddy_mouse]

Wow, I almost teared up a little upon seeing the pics of the Wilderness Lodge. It's my favorite deluxe resort. I loved coming back after a long day and seeing that lobby virtually empty and so quiet. Our room was right down the hall across from the Mercantile. Can't wait to go back!

And I can't wait for more of your TR!

[WishIWasAtWDW]

great trip report so far!! absolutely love the pictures! i really want to stay at the akl and at the wl sometime. so i am very excited to hear all about how your trip was! can't wait to read more.

[foreverbelle]

Ahh WL my favorite resort. Loving the report thus far. I can't wait to go back there in Feb.....

[jjbuster2]

Love the pics!! I'll be at WL in just 58 days...can't wait to see more

[mouselvrmom]

Ooh, I'm so glad you got your trip report started, Holly!

I'm totally loving it!! And I'm so glad that you didn't let Dale control the steering wheel. I'm sure Chip was much better at controlling the steering.

[disneygirl1]

Loving the report so far HollyBelle! Can't wait to read some more!