[catfish1999]

Hi all.
We just got back from a weekend at Disney, and I figured I share some of my experiences.
"We" is my hubby and my son who turned 13 on May 14. (my other DS is now 18 and being seen with his parents at a theme park is a fate worse than death)
I picked the birthday boy up early from school and we headed up I-95 from South Florida. Three hours later we were driving up the road to Wilderness Lodge and had that butterfly feeling again. There's nothing like that feeling when you pass the Disney sign and you know you're "home".
We checked in and I casually asked the very nice CM, Whitney if there were any upgrades available (after I mentioned that it was my DS's birthday...hey I'm not proud!)..and it worked! We were upgraded to a one bedroom villa. It was AWESOME! There's a full size refridgerator and stove, stackable washer/dryer and my personal fav...the jacuzzi tub. I miss that tub....
If I had known about the upgrade ahead of time I would have planned to bring groceries, but as it was we basically used the kitchen only for milk and juice, but it was nice to have.
We ate dinner at Whispering Canyon because my hubby and I had been telling my son how good it is since last Sept., and he'd really been looking forward to it.
We had to wait a bit as we did not have PS, so we explored the lobby, the mercantile, the pool area etc.
We had a really fun waitress at WC who went by the name of Heada Lettuce! She had a great since of humor and kept playing with my son's hair (or lack thereof, as he just got a buzz cut!)
The pulled pork is awesome....highly recommend it.
When we got back to the room, we were surprised and delighted to find a Mickey Mouse autographed birthday card and balloons for my son, AND a card and balloons for my husband and my anniversary! Now, our anniversary is not until August, and when we were at WDW last Sept, we were celebrating our anniversary and had mentioned it then, so I'm not sure if they were just early or had mixed up the dates, either way it was a very nice surprise!
Saturday we woke early, grabbed a quick bite at Roaring Forks and got to MK about 30 mins before the park opened. Since we're fairly frequent visitors, we only had a list of a couple of things we just had to do. The park was a little more crowded than I anticipated for this time of year. Good for Disney...bad for cranky new-teen.
We did see Mickey's Philharmagic (a first for us), Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, and hit a lot of shops. I've always wanted a Mickey Mouse watch and this time I bought one at the watch shop on Main Street. Life's too short to not have a MM watch!
By noon we headed over to Epcot to check out the beautiful flowers at the Flower and Garden show. The displays are awesome. My only regret is that the battery in my camera pooped out before I did
I did get some beautiful shots and as soon as I can figure out how, I plan on posting them
We wanted to eat lunch at Le Cellier, but they were booked up (did I mention that we're not much for planning ahead?), not only that, but my FAVORITE CELTIC ROCK BAND WAS NOT THERE so we meandered over to France and had a very nice meal at Chefs de France. I recommend sitting near the window where the a/c vents are
For some reason I started feeling kinda icky (no offense Chef's) so we skipped the rides and for once really enjoyed just looking at the flower displays and poking around in the shops. It's really kind of nice to just relax some times, and not push it.
We headed back to WL and spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool. That was enough to put us all in a post park coma, so we ordered sandwiches from Miss Jenny's (room service) for dinner and called it a day.
On Sunday we went to AK and did the Kilamanjaro safari (never knew an elephant could pee that much!) had breakfast at Tusker House, saw the Legend of the Lion King and the Flights of Wonder bird show which I had never seen.
We then took the bus back over to MK because DS had some money burning a hole in his pocket and he was sure that he would find something there. I don't need much convincing to visit the MK! The crowds were much smaller on Sunday.
After wandering in just about every store there and riding on a few more rides, we hopped the boat for the ride back to WL. My DH and I LOVE MGM, but my DS is not a thrill ride fan and did not want to go on RnR or ToT, so we decided to skip MGM this time. After more pool relaxing we decided to have dinner at Artist Point. Now, my hubby and I had dined there last Sept. when we went for our anniversary, and we weren't planning on going this trip, but somehow it just drew us in, so we popped in as they were opening at 5:30 and were seated right away. My son was hesitant because he thought it would be "stuffy" and that he would not feel comfortable in that atmosphere. Keep in mind that most of his meals out come from a drive-through!
Our waiter, Paul, was very personable and made just the right suggestions. We had the venison spring rolls appetizer which was very good, and for dinner my son ordered the cedar plank salmon (amazing), my DH had the buffalo steak (a little to exotic for me, but I tried it and it was very tasty), and I had the filet. I highly recommend that if you plan on doing one nice meal during your next WDW trip, go to Artist Point. To finish we shared a berry cobbler. I had heard that this was worth the trip in and of itself, and we missed out on it last time, so I was bound and determined to have it this time. Now, when my dear auntie Babs, a very gentile southern belle would taste something she really enjoyed, she would say..."that is the best thang I ever put in mah mouth". In this case it truly applies! This was without a doubt one of the best meals I have EVER had. My husband agrees and he is not only hard to impress, but he is a former executive chef at a 4 star hotel, so he knows good food.
I've come to realize that this is more of a restaurant review than a trip report, but for the first...twenty years or so of visiting WDW I only had food of the fast food variety. Now that I am able to splurge once in a while, I am really amazed at what I've missed.
Back to the room and a nice long soak in the jacuzzi, and I was out like a light!
Well, Monday morning came too soon, and it was time to check out
This trip may have been short, but we had a great time, did some things we hadn't done before, and enjoyed being pampered at the Villas. I hope everyone has the chance to do the same!

[TINA]

Thanks for the report. Its sounds wonderful. Tina

[tinkerbell]

it must be so wonderful to be close enough to go for a weekend :)
It sounds like everything went really great! specially the nice upgrade ..wow !

[sandanv1]

Sounds like you had a great time. I just love weekend trips. And an upgrade to a villa - bonus!!! and a Jacuzzi - double bonus!!!

My DS started groaning about our frequent trips to WDW at about 16 - until he discovered there were 16 year old girls there too Then he could'nt wait to go, and usually had 1 or 2 friends tagging along. It amazed us when we met up with them in the park they were never alone, they always managed to hook up with a group of girls.
He continued that trend through several girlfriends up until he was 21, and got engaged.

[Dana]

Thanks for the trip report. I am glad to hear you and your family had a great birthday weekend for your DS. The Wilderness Lodge really hooked you up with that awesome upgrade! I am so happy for you. Thanks again for the trip report. You are right. Life is to short to not own a MM watch. I am wearing mine as I type.

[tinkerbell]

Wilderness Lodge came in as #1 in the Disney Magazine Readers poll which shocked me .. we have never wanted to stay there .. Poly came in second and .. what was really the shocker .. AKL came in third!

[unome1434]

sounds like you guys had fun! Happy belated Birthday to your DS! I know how you feel about wanting to go back! I wish I could drive to Disney, however, being from Hawaii, we can't even drive out of the state!

Kristina

...ooooo look I just made 100 posts....Yah for me!

[CaraMia]

Just wondering...did the hotel charge you to upgrade ?? Where is S. Florida are you? It also takes us 3 hrs to drive up from where we are (broward county). Not sure when we are going back though...maybe Sept or OCt.

[tiggerlover1971]

sounds like you had a wonderful time

[kizzmitt]

We enjoyed WCC also. The resort looks very nice, I want to stay they if they ever come out with discounts again! Sounds like your son had a very nice birthday.