Trip Report Melting! Wilderness Lodge in August

Hi friends!

We left the World a week ago, and spent a few days in St. Pete before getting back home Wednesday. I brought a nice little head cold back with me, so I've been lazy. I got all my pictures edited, so here we gooooooo!

Cast: Me & R (29 & 28)
Resort: Wilderness Lodge, standard view
Dates: August 9-13
Why?: R had a work trip from the 13-16th so we tacked on a WDW trip!

This trip was the first time we hired someone to come house/dog sit instead of taking Chipper to a family member's house. One of my student photographers stayed with him, and it went well (as far as I know...he is still alive and acting normal, so). This was right before we headed out to the airport.



I'm sure he didn't miss me making him take pictures.

We left the house at about 9:30am to head to Memphis. Our flight got delayed a bit. It was good because it gave us time to stop and get gas before we got to the airport (better than getting it when we're anxious to get home on the way back). We took off at 12:55. I was a little worried about making out Flight of Passage FP that evening, but I had my fingers crossed!

Flight was a little bumpy, but thankfully on time. We had our room text when we landed! Woot!

There was almost NO ONE at the Magical Express line, so I was worried there wouldn't be many busses. It took about 20 minutes to get on one and get going, so that's not terrible.



On our way!



We made it!



It rained all the way there, but it stopped by the time we arrived. We got there at 5:30 and headed to the room.









The room was nice enough. It wasn't spectacular, but we liked it! The best part was that we could see the castle from the balcony!



It's itty bitty in the picture, but it was a nice view! Unfortunately, we never got to watch the fireworks from the room. We almost made it the last night, but the bus was too slow (a theme on this trip).

The balcony was so tiny, and there was some kind of a truck bay outside so it was loud. I didn't spend much time out there because of those things and the heat, but it was still a cool view :)

Up next: Will we make FoP?
 
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sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
MK Day continued

We had a reservation for Be Our Guest, so we headed that way. We were about 15 minutes early, so R took off to use the restroom, and I checked us in. I didn't realize you just went right in, so I stood off to the side with my "rose" and waited. So glad we preordered, since the other line was backed up past the check-in station :eek:





Does this thing have your order programmed into it? Or linked to your band and it shows the order when you scan it?



We didn't have to wait long to pay, then we sat in the....whatever room has the rotating Belle and Beast. (just googled it, The Rose Gallery)







We both got potato leek soup hoping it would be similar to the stuff Biergarten used to have. It was good, but not the same. I got the Croque Monsieur and R got the French Dip. Both meals were delicious. I got about halfway through mine before I was STUFFED.

After lunch, we had another FP to get to. This one, I was really looking forward to because I knew it'd be closed on our next trip.



Watched the train ride by while we were in line.











That last one isn't sharp, but I liked the light in it. I had one that was sharp but it didn't have the glow from the opening at the top of hill. I had fun taking pictures on Splash! We got decently wet this time around. We had a really cute picture, but it never showed up on the app. :(
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Guests who pre-order at BOG are given a yellow rose as a "signal" to the CMs that you are a pre-order and can head down the left side of the bridge. When you hand the yellow rose to the CM at the register, you scan your band ~ your order appears on the screen and the CM goes over your order to make sure it is correct and accepts payment. Your MB then is the "tracking device" for your order.

Those who do not pre-order are given a red rose at check in and proceed down the right side of the bridge to the ordering kiosks. If they have a MB, they scan it at the kiosk and again the MB serves as the tracker. If there is no MB, the red rose is scanned and serves as the tracker.

Should you ever stay at WL again, here is the deal with the buses:
* Direct bus to MK (nine times out of 10, faster than the boat)
* WL and Contemporary share a bus to DHS and AK.. In the mornings, CR is picked up before WL (during peak times each resort will have its own direct bus to DHS/AK.) WL is dropped off first upon return.
* WL and Ft. Wilderness Campground share a bus to Epcot. WL is first picked up and dropped off.
 
Notes from Neverland

Notes from Neverland

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Should you ever stay at WL again, here is the deal with the buses:
* Direct bus to MK (nine times out of 10, faster than the boat)
* WL and Contemporary share a bus to DHS and AK.. In the mornings, CR is picked up before WL (during peak times each resort will have its own direct bus to DHS/AK.) WL is dropped off first upon return.
* WL and Ft. Wilderness Campground share a bus to Epcot. WL is first picked up and dropped off.
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We are about to stay at WL and I wanted to pick your brain on this. Based on the above, do you recommend MK by bus for quickest route? Obviously boat might be more unique, but bus if time is a concern? Also, best route to Ohana from WL in your opinion? MK by bus then bus to Poly? Monorail maybe?
 
susan lees

susan lees

Well-Known Member
What you did with your blister was actually the best thing to do. The skin over the blister is protection against infection which popping it can introduce. Glad you had no further issues with it. Really enjoying your report and great pictures :joyfull:
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
TheDude23 said:
We are about to stay at WL and I wanted to pick your brain on this. Based on the above, do you recommend MK by bus for quickest route? Obviously boat might be more unique, but bus if time is a concern? Also, best route to Ohana from WL in your opinion? MK by bus then bus to Poly? Monorail maybe?
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We always use the bus to MK in the morning and take the scenic boat ride back when we leave.
For 'Ohana either take the bus or boat to MK and ride the resort monorail (3rd stop) to Poly.
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuvalu said:
Guests who pre-order at BOG are given a yellow rose as a "signal" to the CMs that you are a pre-order and can head down the left side of the bridge. When you hand the yellow rose to the CM at the register, you scan your band ~ your order appears on the screen and the CM goes over your order to make sure it is correct and accepts payment. Your MB then is the "tracking device" for your order.

Those who do not pre-order are given a red rose at check in and proceed down the right side of the bridge to the ordering kiosks. If they have a MB, they scan it at the kiosk and again the MB serves as the tracker. If there is no MB, the red rose is scanned and serves as the tracker.

Should you ever stay at WL again, here is the deal with the buses:
* Direct bus to MK (nine times out of 10, faster than the boat)
* WL and Contemporary share a bus to DHS and AK.. In the mornings, CR is picked up before WL (during peak times each resort will have its own direct bus to DHS/AK.) WL is dropped off first upon return.
* WL and Ft. Wilderness Campground share a bus to Epcot. WL is first picked up and dropped off.
Click to expand...
I was almost positive they were scanning the rose. It definitely had a little mickey head on it, like the magic band. Could have been for looks though.

The bus stuff is hella confusing. Alls I know is I don't care for the buses....period. From or to anywhere. I'd pay $7-10 to Lyft every time I went to a park if I could :cautious:

susan lees said:
What you did with your blister was actually the best thing to do. The skin over the blister is protection against infection which popping it can introduce. Glad you had no further issues with it. Really enjoying your report and great pictures :joyfull:
Click to expand...
Good to know! I was most afraid of infection, so I'm glad I did the right thing. I can imagine a theme park is not a great place to have an open wound.
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuvalu said:
I was trying to avoid him having to go through security to board the monorail at the Contemporary. If he takes bus/boat to MK he will not have to go through security to get on the resort monorail. :)
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He'd have to go through security as he gets off the boat though, right? It's right there on the dock. And the bus, definitely you'd have to go through it before you can get to the monorail.
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We really didn't have that much else we wanted to do, but we decided to go grab a citrus swirl. I had to! I was wearing my Orange Bird gear! :D




I wanted a picture in front of the Sunshine Tree Terrace, but there was a scrim over it, probably for painting or something :oops: Next time!

While we enjoyed our treat, I snagged a FP for Big Thunder. It was at 2:30ish I believe, so we had a little time to wait. We decided to check on Pirates and it had finally opened! Of course everyone else decided to go too since it had been down all day. The wait was already posted at 45 minutes, and it can't have been open for more than 15 minutes.

Oh well...we had time to kill, so we hopped in line. We only waited about 30 minutes, and it went by quickly.





Had to get a glamour shot of the redhead before she changes.



When we got out, guess what? It was time for our FP! yay!



That was the only picture I took during this time :rolleyes:. But we rode Big Thunder and it was just as fun as always. When we got out, the parade was about to start. My plan was to snag a spot in Frontierland and then just follow the parade out of the park. So I found a sort of decent spot.







I couldn't really see the performers on the street though, which are some of my favorite parts of the parade. So we moved further down. But I still couldn't see great. It's really tricky to get a spot where you can see much unless you wait in your spot for a bit (duh). I hate standing around waiting for parades and stuff though, so I usually just deal. I had my 85mm lens though and I wanted to use it!

So we moseyed on, and I was just crossing my fingers I'd stumble upon a spot. I figured if I did, we'd stop, if not, whatever...we'll just head out. I noticed the train station had a couple of spots along the rail upstairs, so that's where I was headed.

However, as I got to the spot where the path out of the park starts (in front of the Chamber of Commerce), there was space by the lamp post that was PERFECT. I could photograph the performers coming straight at me. I couldn't believe my luck.

Here we are waiting


Our photographer was earning his ears and seemed a little nervous. He did well though! Plus he was from Memphis, which is only an hour away from us, so that was cool :)

Up next: Too many FoF pictures :D
 
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sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just buckle in, y'all. I took a lot of pictures.







This lady in the previous picture was one of the Trolley Show dancers from this morning. I only know because I noticed her smile was kind of odd...I feel like a jerk for noticing that but :cautious:










I love Tiana and Prince Naveen :inlove:



These girls are my fav!








Told you there were a lot :p

More in the next post. I was so happy with these!
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster


You can tell from these that it was cloudy again. It was actually kind of nice to not have the sun beating down on us while we watched the parade. It feels SOOO much worse when the sun is just piercing into your skin. Yuck.




You slay that dragon, Phillip!




Love the detail of the spinning wheel on Maleficent








OOOOOO so cute :inlove::inlove::inlove:









Um. Donald. Where is your hat?! :eek::hilarious: He looks so weird.




Ok I promise, almost done.
 

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