[Tish]

First let me answer a few questions.....

1. Security at the park is primarily the same as my last trip in May. Bags are checked at entrance. Only difference I noticed is more D Security gaurds around. They cruise the parks and hotel lobbies, often in groups of 2. There is one practically everywhere you look. I didnt notice such a presence last trip, but I could be wrong.

2. About the WL Villas: As I said before the hotel is truly beautiful. Typical Disney, they have paid attention to every small detail. Dont forget to take the time to notice all the little things. We had 7 nights at the Villas and one at the lodge. I DEFINTELY prefer the villas. I was worried about the distance from the villas to the lodge but was pleasantly surprised to find that the villas are right there. In comparison to some of the other resorts the Villas are closer to the lodge than most wings are in other hotels. It is about a 2 minute walk from villa lobby to main lobby, and thats at a leisurly pace. I prefer peace and quiet in a resort and the Villas give you this, whereas the lodge was kinda loud, especially if you are anywhere near the pool. I guess it just depends on what you like. After a week in the spacious 2 bedroom villa, our move to the lodge (we had a courtyard view) was disappointing. The rooms are quite small, especially if you are used to the Poly or Contemporary, as are the bathrooms. The Villas have VERY large bathrooms and our room which was the one with 2 queen beds had a large changing room with sink and full size mirror in addition to a separate small bathroom with shower and toilet AND a huge walk in closet. I would suggest if you are staying at the WL Villas to request a room on the lodge side, close to the lobby and elevators (the hallways are very long and daunting when your feet are killing you...we had the last room at the end of the hallway and we dreaded the hallway walk at night). One more thing...the Villas are right at the bus stops and only a 5 minute walk to the boat launch. ANy specific questions...just ask!

DAY 3....Woke to rain so decided to sleep in a bit. BY the time we got up and ready the rain had stopped (but the day remained cool and overcast) and we headed to MGM. Arrived about 10:30 and TT had a 60 minute wait, but Rockin roller coaster was only 15 so we hit that one first. This was on Friday so crowds were a little heavier. After RR the line at TT was down to 15 minutes so we got fast passes and then went stand by, so we could ride it twice. Got the same scenario both times, the up first one. We really enjoyed the new TT. Did Who wants to be a millionaire, The Great Movie Ride (first time for us and we found it entertaining), Star Tours, Indiana Jones & Beauty and the Beast . We had lunch that day at Sunset Market ( I think thats what it was called) and most of us had the Catalina Pizza. Not impressed but it was sustenance and thats all that mattered. Went back to our hotel at closing (7 pm) and had dinner at the Whispering Canyon cafe. What a hoot! The 3 husbands in our group were the BEST at "My little buttercup"! LOL! We laughed so hard. We didnt ask for ketchup but had fun helping the other tables deliver their 50 bottles. Regardless of what the food was like, this restaurant is too fun to pass up. And the food was pretty good (we all had the all you can eat skillet). Tried to hit the hottubs, but there was a waiting line to get in, so skipped it and went to bed. Middle daughter still sick today. So she spent the day sleeping in the room (dont worry shes old enough, and we checked on her often).

DAY 4....Saturday, again at MK because it was the only day they were having Spectromagic. The park was crowded today, so the rides took us a bit longer. We got almost everything in though then lined up for the parade at 6:30 on main street. The parade was great and even though the park closed at 9 everyone seemed to leave afterwards, so we ran back to Frontierland and rode Splash Mountain twice (in the cold!) and then did ThunderMoutain 4 times with no line. At 9 we started towards Main street and found that there were only a small handful of people waiting to see the 9 pm Spectromagic. This would have been a much better choice. The park was practically deserted in Frontierland! We ate a late dinner of hotdogs at Caseys corner and watched the end of the parade again from our table, very nice! Browsed through the shops along mainstreet and got to our boat launch at 10. First problem we found with WL transportation. The boat launch was deserted...CLOSED, so we thought no problem and went to the bus stops. NO bus stop for WL. The boats only run 45 minutes after the park closes, so we had to take the monorail to the TTC and then catch a bus to our hotel. took about an hour, grrrrr.

DAY 5....Sunday, Woke to rain and cold. We decided to have a sit down breakfast to wait out the weather at Chef Mickeys. Weather didnt go away though so we changed our plans and went back to MK again because they have the most indoor attractions. We figured we would be the only brave souls to go out in this weather, but the park was crowded anyway. Got on a few rides before we were too miserable then headed back to our rooms to dry off. The rain stopped in the late afternoon so at 4 we went to MGM to ride RR and TT and catch Fantasmic. Always a great show!

DAY 6....Monday and my brother in laws birthday! It was warm and humid in the morning and a quick but heavy rain came in early afternoon, but then the weather was ok. We did Dinosaur twice, primevil whirl, triceratop spin, the lion king show, and the safari. Had lunch at Pizzafari and were done by 2. Tarzan was cancelled due to weather so I have still not ever seen this show! By this point in our trip the women are fed up with pin trading as our husbands are addicted and we are having to stop at every single CM. To add to this my brother in law decided for his birthday to buy an autograph book and get a birthday pin and EVERY SINGLE PERSON to wish him a happy birthday had to sign his book. Now we are at the point where it is taking us twice as much time to get anywhere, but they were having fun! That evening we took the boat over to MK to see the fireworks and someone told the captain it was BIL's bday so we had to wait while the whole boat signed his book. That evening was beautiful, although just a little cold, but we enjoyed the fireworks from the back of Cinderellas castle.

DAY 7...our last full day at WDW. My cousin and her family were supposed to leave the night before, but a snow storm in Boston gave them the opportunity to stay till Wednesday at little extra cost. They werent technically snowed in, but the airline recognized their concern with getting extreme delays while travelling with a 10 month old who had develloped a nasty cold while in Florida. So the airline (Delta) allowed them to switch their tickets to Wednesday for only $50.00. Of Course the weather today was gorgeous since it is our last full day! Noone particullarly wanted to do Epcot, they hadnt been before, but we agreed to do it once (I happen to love Epcot). We took the bus to the TTC and rode the monorail in because everyone loves the monorail. Test Track had no lines so we rode it twice and at 11 went to the world showcase. As soon as we hit the UK everyone was hooked and wanted to explore every nook and cranny! We had such fun talking to the CM's from the different countries! After UK we went to the gateway and took a boat to the Boardwalk for lunch. Nothin fancy, but we really enjoyed our corndogs in the afternoon sun with the killer birds and were saving room for ice cream across the lake. Rented the biggest surrey bike they had to get us over there thinking it would be a relief to our aching feet, LOL....Those bikes are hard work! But it was certainly one of our funnier vacation moments! We had to push the bike up the last hill! We had 2 Kitchen sinks for the 11 of us and didnt even dent them. It was a good idea and they made the "piggie" announcement and everything, but then you get it and its dripping and melting everywhere and there is big chunks of unidentified things floating in it and it really turns out to be quite disgusting. But it was fun! Went back by boat to Epcot and finished the countries then saw Illuminations at 9. Great fireworks! The best at WDW IMO. We didnt eat dinner at Epcot because we wanted to see everything before it closed, but I looked at the menu in Norway and I will definitely make time for it next trip!

DAY 8.......Wednesday Feb 12......We spent last night in the lodge and felt pretty cramped. The rooms are really small! LAST DAY and we are all depressed! We got up at the crack of dawn to check out and make it to the MK in time for the opening of the gates. Ive never done this before, but will make it a point to do often on return trips! We loved it!!!! It really gets your day started Disney style to see the characters come in on the train and greet everyone and countdown! When the ropes lowered we headed straight for Fantasyland as these are the rides that have been most crowded. Rode everything in Fantasyland in about 30 minutes. Then worked our way around the park through frontierland. At 10 am you could have driven a bus down the streets throughout the MK. We kept rushing knowing the crowds were just behind us, but they never came. We didnt find a line anywhere! Just walk up to the ride and get right on! After lunch at about 1:00 we hit Space Mountain and the sign said 5 minute wait. Went in and there was noone in there, just a bunch of CM's waiting to put people on the ride. So we rode it twice before heading to Main Street to do some last minute shopping then off to the boat launch and back to the WL. It was just our luck....The day we leave was the most beautiful day I have ever seen in FLorida. The Temp was about 72 in the sun and not a cloud in the sky AND the park was all but empty! But everything good must come to an end! Our limo picked us up at 4 pm and we were back in Texas at 7:30, EXHAUSTED!

The few things I learned this trip.....I am a die hard Poly fan, and although I liked the WL I will return to the Poly on future trips.

Dont travel without medical insurance cards.

Catch the opening show at MK!

I will ALWAYS do WDW in the value season cooler months. No more summer time trips for me. The cool weather and non existent crowds was heavenly!

[trishb]

Tish...I love your trip report! You were there the week after we were. So sorry about the rain. It doesn't seem to have effected your attitude any. Glad you had a great time!

[BDavis932]

I found that even rain can't bring down the loyalest Disney Fan. I love Disney, even in the rain! Some of our best days at Disney World we spent drenched!!

Great report!! Thanks!

[dab]

Tish, I too am sorry to hear you had bad weather. Sounds like you were all troopers and made the best of it! We too found the Sat, Sun & Mon crowds to be rather high (or at least more than what we expected for this time of year) when we were there the week before you went. I am really interested in the WLV, but like you, I am a die hard Poly fan. So you say you'd stay at Poly next time... why not the villas again? Seems like the extra room, kitchen, washer dryer etc... would be hard to beat.
A WLV question for you.... how close is parking? I assume the best mode of travel to MK is the boat from the lodge. We don't like to take the Disney busses so I'm wondering if we'd have to walk too far to our car. That is the one thing that kinda stinks about the deluxe resorts... parking is usually sooo far away and we end up using valet and that just adds on $$. At the Poly it isn't an issue due to the monorail access but just curious about WLV.

[Tish]

Parking??? Funny, I didnt notice any. Anyone know the answer to that? It could have only been right outside of the front entrance, but honestly I never saw parked cars! I guess you dont think about it unless you have a car there.

Not only is the boat the best transporation to the MK...It is the ONLY direct route. There are no buses that go from WL to MK. You have to use the TTC in order to use a bus. The boat was great though! It is a big boat with lots of indoor seating. Very similar to the ones they use at Boardwalk to get to Epcot. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a boat, and only once had to wait for more than one boat (that was at closing at MK and it took 2 boats to get everyone back). My only complaint about the boat system was the fact that they close so quickly after closing, so shopping on Main Street for that extra hour is impossible. The only other resort that shares boat transportation with WL is Fort Wilderness. There is also another small boat that makes a trip between WL and the Contemporary only. We used this one to get us to the monorail and it runs much later than the MK boats.

I have tried to think of specific reasons why I would choose the Poly over WL. I guess the monorail access is a big one! I just love the ease of using monorail transportation. Also the Poly is a smaller hotel so there are less people using the pool and it just seems more quiet at the Poly. There were many times that we wanted to take a quick swim, but the pools at WL were always packed, even late at night. And the hot tubs....impossible, but since there are no hot tubs at Poly I guess that doesn't count.

The Villas by themselves are great! The washer and dryer were a luxury!!!!! And it was great having water, sodas and snacks on hand in the kitchen. I would have thought Id died and gone to heaven had we had this room for just my family. My husband and I in the master bedroom with the whirlpool bath and the kids in the other bedroom, but we travelled with my cousin and her family so I still had my kids in my room, snoring and talking in their sleep (LOL). Our room during the value season was (with tax) $598 a night, during peak season it doubles. Unfortunately thats too high for my budget, but if I could afford it I would do it in a heartbeat!!! (We split the cost with my cousins family so only paid $300 a night). Even better would be the Poly having these 2 bedroom villas!!!!! If that were the case I would find a way!!

If you are staying in the Villas, you wont be disappointed! Even the minor transportation inconveniences wont be a big deal with the great room you have. (If you are used to the Poly or Contemporary I think you might be disappointed in the LODGE rooms but not the Villas). I think the only way I would do the WL again would be in a Villa, but if Im only going to get one room Id rather spend my money on the Poly. Maybe Im just a creature of habit . BTW...the villas have VCR's so pack a few videos for the kids, and unlike the lodge I was able to hook up my laptop to the phone line and got great dial up speed. We werent able to hook up to the lodge phone lines, someone said something about the phones being digital in the lodge (???????).

[BDavis932]

We are staying in a studio in the villas in may. One for us and one for my parents (for their 40th Anniversary).

With your knowledge of the resort, which floor and view would you request?

Is the pool at the villas really busy, too? Or just at the lodge.

Can you see the electrical water parade from the beach at the villas?

How is roaring forks in the lodge? Did you eat there?

Are there souvineer mugs at the lodge? What, other than soda, can you refill there? I know at the value and moderates there is soda, and water, and tea. Any juice???

Thanks for you help, and for the great trip report!!

[Tish]

You will LOVE the Villas for just your family! ENJOY!

Location: I recommend requesting a room on the lodge side of the building facing the lake. The elevators are about a 1/4 of the way down the building so the lodge side is closer to the lobby and elevators. I think every floor has the same view. We were on the 5th floor and saw trees, just like the other floors. Even on the 5th floor we only had a tiny view of water, not enough to see anything, so I dont think floor really matters. But I liked the 5th floor because I could see more of the forest. I believe the building only has 5 floors (I could be wrong).

The Villa pool was quiet, but the hot tub at the pool was always packed.

Just around the corner from the Villa pool is the small beach (a very short walk). Yes you can see the water pageant from there, but during our trip it didnt always come as far as our hotel. I dont know why. (From the Villas you can hear the music but we couldnt see anything. Although you might be able to see it from the lodge side of the building, the rooms on the corner or maybe the ones facing the lodge).

Yes you can buy souvenier mugs at Roaring Forks. I didnt notice any juice, but I didnt look. We used ours for soda and coffee, so Im sure Tea is available too.

Roaring forks serves typical fast food fare. The grill was open until 11 pm for hot foods (burgers, pizza, soups). The chili is soooo good and homemade. Also my husband got the philly cheesesteak sandwich one night and said it was excellent. They also have a nice little fixins bar. The pre made sandwiches were only mediocre though.

I dont know if this is customary, but one nice thing we found (VERY VERY NICE): One morning we wanted to hit Chef Mickeys for brunch, but didnt have time to take the boat over. We went out front to ask if there were any cabs available and were told that the hotel would be happy to take us to any hotel we wished. Up pulled a WL suburban and we were whisked off to the Contemporary in record time! The trip was free, but of course we tipped the driver well. If this is a new service, it certainly has my vote! It sure makes up for the few transportation inconveiences that WL is known for! It also shows how far these WDW resorts will go to please us. I cant say enough about the resort staffs! They are the best anywhere!