Trip Report *Completed* We Got No Troubles, Life Is The Bubbles, Down at Disney

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my first ever trip report. I discovered this site about a year ago and have been reading trip reports ever since. I hope you enjoy following along with mine.

The Cast:

DH Paul and me, Lisa


DS Adam and DSGF Kara
They graduated from high school in May and will be attending the University of Kentucky this fall.
"What Team?"
"Wildcats!"
Sorry, couldn't resist the High School Musical reference!

DD Allie and DDF (DD friend) Sarah
Allie takes awesome photos and I plan to use lots of her pictures in my report.

When? July 13-21, 2014
Where? Disney's Wilderness Lodge
Why? Our 25th Anniversary and Family Vacation

Day 1
July 13, 2014
We usually take 2 days to drive to WDW. Since we had extra people with us on this trip and would need 2 hotel rooms, we decided to save the hotel money and do the drive in one day.
We planned to leave our home in Cincinnati at midnight, but Paul and I had last minute packing to finish and Kara and Sarah both forgot things that had to be picked up from their homes.




Allie decorated the van for the trip!



We took a quick selfie and we finally hit the road about 1 am. Sorry for the crappy photo quality, but I had to include it!

I thought it would be fun to pass out little treats themed to each state we would drive through on the way to Florida. One thing came to mind when I thought about items produced in Kentucky, unfortunately I didn't think bourbon was appropriate for all members of our group.



Luckily I found an alternative at the UK campus bookstore!



The next state was Tennessee. Moon Pies are made in Chattanooga!

Next up was Georgia. I debated between peaches and peanuts and finally decided on


Peanut M&Ms!!


PALM TREES!!! We finally made it to Florida! We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center for free orange juice.

The next several hours dragged by. Disney should invent some form of magical transportation that whisks you to WDW as soon as you cross the Florida state line!

Finally, we saw this beautiful sight!


We couldn't believe we were finally here!

Minutes later the excitement reached a new level as we saw this…..



One last turn and we had reached our home for the week…..

Disney's Wilderness Lodge

Up next, exploring the Wilderness Lodge!
 
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LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We pulled up to the portico and a CM with an iPad asked if we were the Brown family. We said that we were and she said those magical words I'd been waiting months to hear,"Welcome Home!" My eyes immediately started filling with tears. Paul handled getting the bags unloaded for bell services while the kids and I entered the lobby. The whoosh of air conditioning, the soundtrack in the background and the amazing multi story lobby took our breath away. This was our fourth visit to the Wilderness Lodge, so it truly was a homecoming for us. But it was the first Disney visit ever for Sarah and Kara. It was great to see the look of amazement on their faces as they got their first taste of Disney magic.


We had booked 2 rooms and for some reason the website would only let me do the online check in for one of the rooms. No big deal, the CM at the registration desk had us checked in in no time. I had requested connecting rooms, but there weren't any available. They were able to put us in rooms right next to each other, we just didn't have the connecting door. Because our rooms did not connect, our magic bands would only open the room to which each person was assigned. In order for us to be able to go back and forth, they issued us 2 KTTW cards to use to visit the other room. The CM handed us our welcome packet and "Happy Anniversary" buttons. I asked for 2 "First Visit" buttons and 2 "I'm Celebrating" buttons which she happily supplied. With that we were off to our rooms.

Kara, Allie and Sarah were in room 4026


Adam, Paul and I were in 4028


Gotta love those ears!








Mirror shot!






We had woods view rooms. Look what we could see peeking out from behind the trees! We could also see the monorail traveling to the Contemporary, but I never managed to get a good photo of it. Kara couldn't believe it when we told her that the monorail actually drove inside the Contemporary. We found out later that night that we could see Wishes from our balconies. It was a bit of a tree obstructed view, but we loved it!!

After checking out our rooms, we realized we were starving. We headed down to Roaring Fork to get dinner.



I had read here on the forums that Roaring Fork was using a different service method from our previous trips. Instead of ordering at each station and checking out after you had gathered all of your food, you now gather snacks and drinks, order your entree at the register and receive a number. You take the number to your seat and your order is delivered to your table. Roaring Fork was still crowded, but the new system seemed to alleviate some congestion. Breakfast still operates by the "old' method and it was pretty crowded at each station. We purchased our mugs (we weren't on the dining plan), placed our orders and waited for our meals. I only managed to get pictures of mine and Paul's. Everyone else began to devour their food as soon as it arrived!


Paul had the Chicken Caesar Salad. I thought this was a picture of it, but I think it is actually my Wilderness Salad. I will look for a picture of the Chicken Caesar Salad.


Another view of the Wilderness Salad. I could only eat about half of it. It was delicious.

No pictures, but Adam had a Burger and fries. He declared the burger better than the burgers he remembered from our previous visits. Kara had a Turkey and Swiss sandwich with chipotle mayo. She loved it. She ate it multiple times during the week. Sarah had the Chicken Breast sandwich with ham, cheese and some type of sauce. She said it was awesome. Allie had the Roast Beef and Blue Cheese sandwich.

For dessert I had a Magic Cookie Bar! Oh how I love them! Kara had been dying to try one after hearing me say I couldn't wait to eat one. Everyone had a few bites of the Magic Cookie Bar. We all loved it. Sorry that the picture doesn't show the whole thing! We were too excited to eat it!


It may not look great in this photo, but take my word for it, they are delicious!

Allie and Sarah wanted to go swimming, but it had started to rain, so we toured the lodge and checked out the gift shop while we waited for the rain to stop.


I loved these big comfy chairs. They were new since our last visit in 2012. Sadly, I only got to sit in one for about 5 minutes the entire week!


Love this totem pole.


We were disappointed to see these trees surrounding the bridge and the creek that runs from the lobby, down the waterfall and into the pool. Apparently it needed some refurbishment.


Adam and Kara posed by the totem pole for me. I just realized I never got a picture of Allie and Sarah by the totem pole.
 
LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The rain stopped so Allie and Sarah headed to the pool. I took a few photos of the grounds while they swam.








I got the girls out of the pool around 9pm. They got changed and we all headed down to the beach to watch the electric boat parade. This is a fun event on a day when you are relaxing at the resort. It doesn't last very long, but it is pure Disney. After that, we discovered that we could watch Wishes from the balcony. Then, it was time for bed, because tomorrow we were heading to the Magic Kingdom!!!
 
Doc Disney

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Love it already! I can't believe you guys drive down that would drive me nuts haha the wilderness lodge looks amazing I will have to keep it on my radar as a good place to stay
 
mrdrift

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
What an exciting start to the trip report. Great pictures of the resort and family. Will be following along. Happy 25th anniversary, my wife and I will spend our 25th anniversary next year at Disney world also.
 
slowjoe170

slowjoe170

Member
Excellent trip report so far. We stay at the WL every year in December. We actually stayed in room 4028 a few years ago. I believe it was right above the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Looking forward to the next installment
 
slowjoe170

slowjoe170

Member
slowjoe170 said:
Excellent trip report so far. We stay at the WL every year in December. We actually stayed in room 4028 a few years ago. I believe it was right above the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Looking forward to the next installment
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Now that i'm thinking about it, it was rm 4048 . 4028 is closer to the lake.
 
LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Doc Disney said:
Love it already! I can't believe you guys drive down that would drive me nuts haha the wilderness lodge looks amazing I will have to keep it on my radar as a good place to stay
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So glad you're enjoying it! We have driven to Disney 4 out of 5 trips. Driving down is usually fun because we are so excited, but driving back is not fun, makes the Disney blues set in really quickly! We LOVE the Wilderness Lodge. We spend lots of our time at Magic Kingdom and you can take a boat from Wilderness Lodge to MK. We love that. Definitely keep it on the radar for future trips, I think your family would love it.

SharonD said:
Great start - the Wilderness Lodge is our favorite.
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Thanks for reading! We love it too. Sometimes I feel like we are missing out by staying there multiple times and not trying something new. But the kids love it and we all know our way around so it feels like home.

mrdrift said:
What an exciting start to the trip report. Great pictures of the resort and family. Will be following along. Happy 25th anniversary, my wife and I will spend our 25th anniversary next year at Disney world also.
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Thanks for following along! We honeymooned at Disney World so we felt like being there on our 25th would be perfect. It was hard to decide if we were doing an adults only trip or to include the kids. Obviously we decided that with Adam heading for college this would really be a great family experience. So glad we did. There will be time for that adults only trip when they're both in college! Enjoy your 25th next year!

Allym146 said:
Awesome! Love the idea of a snack from each state. Hopefully that made the drive go by a little quicker:). Can't wait to read more!
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Thanks! The snacks were fun. Everyone enjoyed them. Everyone was most excited about the Kentucky snack because it was first. It was funny that they got so excited about that one because we live only a few minutes from the KY border so they only had to wait about 10 minutes for the first snack ! LOL. I think it was all the excitement that we were finally on our way!

prfctlyximprct said:
I'm in love with your report already!! Everyone looks so happy and seeing the wilderness lodge is making me all teary eyed! The totem pole is awesome! I want to try roaring fork, glad you liked the new system! Following along :)
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Thanks! So glad you are following along! I know you & your friend will love Wilderness Lodge! Totem pole makes a great photo op! We love Roaring Fork. I think there is a great amount of variety.

joshsprincess921 said:
Great start!!! Absolutely love your idea of the snacks through each state. Such a cute idea.
I can't wait to see more!!!
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Thanks! I had lots of fun figuring out what to include for the snacks. Everyone really enjoyed them, too! Hoping to post our first MK day this evening. Thanks for following.

coachwnh said:
I'll be reading pool side as you update. Love the road trip to Disney!
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Thanks for following along! Enjoy relaxing by the pool. You guys certainly "earned" a few days by the pool after all you packed in to your trip. My husband told me I'd never be able to do the relax by the pool thing at Disney. I have a feeling he's right!
 
LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
slowjoe170 said:
Excellent trip report so far. We stay at the WL every year in December. We actually stayed in room 4028 a few years ago. I believe it was right above the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Looking forward to the next installment
Click to expand...

slowjoe170 said:
Now that i'm thinking about it, it was rm 4048 . 4028 is closer to the lake.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reading. I think it's great that you stay at WL every year. My husband and I said, "No way!" When we read that you'd stayed in 4028. That would have been really funny if we'd stayed in the same room! Hope to get our MK day posted this evening. Thanks for following along!
 

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